trump

Para Bellum

Igitur quī dēsīderat pācem, præparet bellum.

Vegetius, Epitoma De Re Militari, Book III preface

It’s always a surprise how little we truly know about what we think we know, which only makes sense: You don’t get very far if you begin on the presumption that you’re wrong. Proceeding on invalid, partial, incorrect, or incomplete information is a survival trait. There is no practicable method for knowing everything you’ll need to know before you begin, so instead humanity has learned to persevere against the impossible, adapting on the fly. It is at once a marvelous talent and terrifyingly dangerous flaw.

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Ranked-Choice Voting: How and Why?

Image: “Never Trump! I’d Rather Die!”

A few states have recently opted to change their elections process to Ranked-Choice voting, a method which, its proponents say, is designed to give third-party candidates a better chance of winning, or, failing that, at least an honest share of the vote.

Opponents have raised objections ranging from the process becoming too complicated to the contention that it’s no longer “one person, one vote”.

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Ignorance And Apathy Revisited

EDITORIAL

The F.B.I. just raided Mar-A-Lago, opened former president Donald Trump’s personal safe, apparently looking for documents relating to… oh, I don’t know; probably something or other, maybe classified maybe not. I’d tell you more except, just between you and me, I really don’t care.

Seriously: I don’t know about you, but I reached my limit of daily Donald Trump in late 2020, and my level of apathy toward him has just kept growing since then. At this point, arrest the man or don’t, and the amount of time I’ll spend paying attention to the proceedings will be zero either way. Why? Because I very much don’t care.

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Not Watching

Do you want more Trump? Do you?

Because this is how you get more Trump.

In 2015, I was eating a hotel breakfast of powdered eggs and meatless sausage, and I felt seriously ill — and not from the breakfast. It was the realization that CNN had chosen their favorite from the too-wide field of Republican contenders, and it was Donald Trump. They handed him an open microphone and watched the ratings spike, little caring what damage might be done to the American political system in the process.

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The Race To The Bottom

Don’t worry, Republicans: I’ll get to you in a second, but you lost in 2020. Sucks to be you.

When Joe Biden was anointed by the moneyed wings of the D.N.C. to become the approved candidate for the Presidency in 2020, it was an impressive gamble on the premise that we vote for the people with whom we most identify. It was a field that contained two highly capable, brilliant, and charismatic women, a massive populist machine that backed an unapologetic socialist, a Rhodes Scholar who nevertheless somehow wasn’t the smartest man in the room… Any of these people would have done the office proud. Instead, we managed to elect the only candidate who was worse at completing sentences than Donald Trump.

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You Didn’t Win.

(Editor’s Note: We’ve been sitting on this for a little while now; you’ve needed the break. On the other hand, now it’s Pride Month. This is the best context we can think of in which to release this particular rant.)

Right. It’s been five months now, and you’ve had a break. A little chance to rest and relax. You’ve had your little victory and your dance and celebration, and now it’s time for the bad news.

Sure, you beat Trump. But it’s time to stop pretending that you won.

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Who Is Elise Stefanik?

Today, the House G.O.P. selected a new leader for their Conference to replace Liz Cheney. Rather than a divisive conspiracy theorist or a decrepit senior member, they went with newcomer and relative unknown Elise Stefanik, a moderate representing New York’s border North Country.

But who is Elise Stefanik — really? Well, here are a few things you should know.

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Biden Declares War On Uber

No headlines say this. A few lines in some of the financial papers hint at it, explaining why every rideshare and gig delivery company just took a massive stock hit. Frankly, when it comes to hard news, it’s tough to go wrong with the financials.

On Wednesday the 5th, President Biden’s Department of Labor issued a reversal for the Trump-era “final rule” that defined most gig workers as non-employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act. In an interview, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh explained that this was designed to make gig workers eligible for the benefits everyone else gets. In reality, what it’ll do is force the contracting companies to limit worker hours, particularly during slow periods, so they aren’t suddenly required to pay overtime for someone who’s just sitting around doing nothing. For customers, it’s going to be just that much harder to get a ride at odd hours or to get food delivered.

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Of Course They Didn’t Convict.

Trump’s second impeachment is over in record time, and of course they didn’t convict him. They were never going to.

Some among you are disappointed, but what’s unsettling is that a few of you are actually surprised. You seem to have been under the misapprehension that this was a trial or something instead of the latest installment of the D.C. Bread And Circus Show (Hold The Bread).

(To be fair: I also thought it was a trial. My bad. -Editor)

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