The wildfires in California are horrific, and that’s just the beginning: at this writing, there are nearly 100 major wildfires in the West, half along the coast. There’s a series of major disasters underway, and the best we can do at this point is contain the damage.
What makes it worse is, we can be pretty sure it’ll happen again — and again, and again.
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It helps to read things through before reacting.
For most of the country, this topic isn’t even on the radar. As usual, California’s out beyond the normalcy curve. And yet, even much of California (and most of the rest of us) lack the context to follow what’s going on. So, to help understand both the law and the backlash, here’s a bit of background:
(more…)The first major candidate to drop out of the Democratic Primaries, Senator Harris was nevertheless in the race long enough to eviscerate Uncle Joe in the debates and to get spanked by Tulsi in her own turn. Her fundraising was legendary but her polling was abysmal (particularly after the Gabbard debacle), and she dropped out not only before New Hampshire and Iowa but actually before 2020 — on the 3rd of December 2019, in fact, before even such notable losers as John Delaney and Marianne Williamson.
As a result, we never profiled here alongside the other candidates — a deficit we mean to make up for now. So who is she really, and what was she before? (more…)
Yesterday, Democratic voters in fourteen states and American Samoa participated in our quadrennial contest, where we choose the contender for the upcoming presidential race. People flocked to the polls in overwhelming numbers, in many cases swamping the facilities and staff to register their selection.
Common wisdom has it that the winner on Super Tuesday will (more…)
One could write volumes about Donald Trump the celebrity, the business mogul, the particularly slimy real estate developer, and so on. I’m giving that a miss. As a public person I find him odious and in business I’d resort to extreme measures to avoid him (I haven’t ruled out self-defenestration). Beyond saying that, it’s entirely immaterial for our purposes. Our subject is Donald Trump as president: the pros and cons of his tenure, his chance at escaping unscathed from impeachment to run again, and his likelihood of winning in 2020 based on the issues. That should be enough for one article.
(What: You didn’t honestly think I would give him a pass just because he’s the Evil One, did you?) (more…)
Storied wealth, culture, and aristocratic society. Massive mansions full of servants next to scenes of unspeakable poverty. Vast green plantations capable of feeding entire nations. And supporting it all, the Peculiar Institution that is slavery. (more…)
The present situation has almost nothing to do with a border wall.
I submit that Mr. Trump is attempting to (more…)
Tonight, angry Democrats stormed out of a meeting with the President on border security after failing to reach an agreement over the color of the new wall panels presently under construction in the Sonora Desert.
“This is an unprecedented abuse of power,” said Minority Leader Schumer. “No president should hold the government hostage.” (more…)
Whether it’s the news sites or more interactive social media, we keep running into the same effect. I know you’ve seen it, but I’ll remind you anyway. There’s this picture of a ragged guy on the sidewalk wearing his old army jacket. The caption reads “Take care of homeless vets before feeding refugees!”
To some this makes perfect sense; to others it’s horribly offensive. To me it’s an obvious trick, a false dichotomy — don’t fall for it. (more…)
As of this writing, it’s about twenty-four hours before the Iowa Caucuses begin. This year there’s a good chance that we’ll know the results by the end of the night thanks to Microsoft. (Watch the video; it’s awesome.)
Just before the caucuses, the New York Times decided to endorse John Kasich, the solidly conservative governor of Ohio. And… well, let’s face it: The man’s got zero chance in Iowa. So who cares?
We ought to (more…)
The Not Fake News 