Describing Donald Trump and his supporters

I tried to collect in one place all the adjectives that describe Donald Trump’s qualities and so far have come up with the following list, not in any particular order:

Ignorant
Petulant
Narcissistic
Vain
Irrational
Reckless
Misogynist
Racist
Xenophobic
Swaggering
Law-breaking
Venal
White supremacist
Corrupt
Paranoid
Cruel
Lying
Abusive
Cowardly
Vulgar
Petty
Greedy
Boastful
Spiteful
Preening
Vindictive

I am pretty certain that I have not exhausted the possibilities and am open to suggestions to add to the list
[Read more…]

The puzzling appeal of mementos

Once again we have an utterly absurd fuss ginned up by Republicans over the fact that speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi had handed out to various people the pens used to sign the articles of impeachment. I had known that at formal signing ceremonies in the US, the pens that are used to sign the documents become important trophies that are given out as rewards. Barack Obama used 22 pens to sign the Affordable Care Act and Lyndon Johnson used 75 to sign the Civil Rights Act. Donald Trump also gave away dozens of pens after signing the trade pact with China, an event that no one will remember after a few weeks. But I wondered how you could have more than one pen and the above linked article explains what happens.
[Read more…]

The status of the Equal Rights Amendment

I had been wondering about what would happen to the Equal Rights Amendment ever since Democrats took control of both houses of the Virginia state legislature last November and said that they would ratify it, making them the 38th state to do so, the minimum number needed to pass a constitutional amendment. But there were some issues that had to be resolved. I had been planning to look into those issues and write a post about it but Crip Dyke over at Pervert Justice has saved me the trouble by providing a nice explainer.

Matt Taibbi excoriates CNN for its debate performance

He describes how before, during, and after the debate CNN completely abandoned any pretense of objectivity and neutrality and single-mindedly went after Bernie Sanders, using commentators who all belonged to the political establishment that views Sanders with a mixture of alarm and disdain. He says that CNN ginned up the Sanders-Warren ‘controversy’ in a cynical ploy to boost ratings for the debate.
[Read more…]

Things that will never happen – until they do

This cartoon by Ted Rall describes the process by which the unthinkable slowly becomes the reality.

Nothing embodies the law of unintended consequences more than weapons systems. When drones were first introduced as possible battlefield tools, contractors said that there was nothing to worry about in terms of them being converted into weapons systems. They would only be used for surveillance. Now we’re using them to kill top government officials.

Last night’s Democratic debate

Due to other commitments, I did not watch last night’s Democratic debate and so had to read reports of it. As I expected, much of the media attention on the debate was focused on the Bernie Sanders-Elizabeth Warren tension that CNN, the network that was airing the debate and which provided two of the moderators, did all it could to promote.

Jeet Heer of The Nation says that the blatant nature of CNN’s anti-Sanders bias was obvious and that it clearly has it in for him, a blatant example of which was where the moderator completely ignored Sanders’ denial of the charge made against him and asked Warren as if the charge were true.
[Read more…]

How private equity firms operate

I have written before about the terrible role that some private equity companies play in the economy, taking over businesses, loading them with debt they cannot pay, and then leaving them bankrupt while they walk away with a hefty profit. Emily Stewart has come out with a great explainer about how these private equity firms operate and the destruction they leave in their wake. You really should read the full article but here are some key excerpts.
[Read more…]

Royal family feud

I have expressed many times my distaste for the British royal family, or for royalty anywhere in the world for that matter, seeing them as utter parasites who should go out and get jobs. I am puzzled by the fascination that people seem to have about the minutiae of their lives and studiously avoid such stories. But recently I have been inundated with headlines about some split that seems to be happening and finally my desire to be informed about popular culture won out and I caved in to listen to Trevor Noah explain what is going on.

The knives are out for Bernie Sanders as his popularity surges

Political commentators are expressing surprise at the surge in support for Bernie Sanders and already the political and media establishment are trying to find ways to undermine him. His massive fundraising haul from mostly small donations and the endorsements from unions and the rise in polls could not be ignored any longer so now they are trying to foment conflict between him and Elizabeth Warren, a naked attempt to revive the ‘Bernie Bros’ narrative that was used in the 2016 campaign by some supporters of Hillary Clinton to suggest that Sanders’ support came largely from anti-women men.

Establishment columnist Margaret Carlson is urging other Democrats to attack Sanders now “before it is too late” (i.e., before he gets an overwhelming start to the nomination) while they are quick to criticize him if he should dare say the slightest word against their favored candidates like Joe Biden, accusing him of forming a circular firing squad. There have been conflicting recollections about a meeting between Sanders and Warren in 2018, and disputes about what was actually said, especially that Bernie has been on the record for decades saying that women can be president.
[Read more…]