Festivus Forum
Steven L. Taylor
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Monday, December 23, 2024
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51 comments
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a retired Professor of Political Science and former College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored
A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
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Taking the Airing of Grievances seriously this year! Bring out the Festivus Pole.
It’s cold here in Northern New England (1 degree F). Hope everyone is getting some rest! I learned on Saturday that we’re hosting dinner on Wednesday, so today is going to be full-out prep work and cleaning. All good though, we’re healthy, we have a roof over our heads, and the fridge is full.
Peace to all y’all.
@Jen: It’s unseasonably warm, here, it was 37 yesterday and it’s 21 right now! I think we’ve only dropped below zero a couple times so far this year.
Silent Night
from the album
Peace
by
Rotary Connection
featuring
Minnie Riperton
1947-1979
RIP
Encore
It was a balmy 34 here on the lake. As usual, Sadie and I had the world to ourselves when we took our morning hike. Too many steep hills and woods to call it a walk. Plus, I let Sadie off leash when we get to the levee , yell “Zoomies!”, and she is off like a bolt. Since she is such a strong and sturdy girl, you can feel the earth move a bit when she’s coming at you, full-bore, with one of those tongue-flapping doggy grins and wild-eyed with happiness.
The forecast here is for rain starting tomorrow. We will have the Christmas roast beef here tomorrow and breakfast at the kid’s place on the 25th. I think the temp is supposed to be about 65 degrees.
Merriest of merry, everyone.
If only Greenland were integrated in an alliance led by the US…
Me, I’d offer to sell it for half the US GDP, immediate statehood for ten Greenland states, and President Xlon’s head.
The price and number of states is subject to negotiation. Upwards.
@becca: Dogs are such a gift. Wish I could bottle that joy! Pats and scratches from me for Miss Sadie, and a peaceful holiday to you and yours!
I wish I could wake up every day and be as joyful as my dogs are at the prospect of a brand new day!
I saw a meme the other day, it said A Dog’s Calendar, and every day of the calendar was marked Best Day EVER! It made me laugh.
@Jen: @Jax:
It’s a tropical 15 degrees here in northeastern Mass.
@becca:
Christmas cuddles to Sadie.
@Jen: @Jax:
I have a small furry lump nestled beside me as we speak.
@Jax: that is so funny cuz it’s true. @Jen: Sadie has a special place in her heart you.@CSK: Consider scratched. Is your furry friend canine, feline, other?
@becca:
He’s a long-haired miniature dachshund named Jack. I’m babysitting him while my sister’s recovering from a broken leg.
I had a chocolate Lab mix of my own named Lucy for over 14 years. A wonderful dog.
Chris Christie predicts that what will end the Musk-Trump bromance is when something goes wrong, and Trump needs to blame someone, and he picks Musk.
@Kathy: That article omits a bit of the fun — this statement was part of the troothing announcing the proposed next ambassador to Denmark, who apparently has their work cut out for them.
Also, if you pair the Greenland situation with Canada as the 51st state, invading Mexico, and retaking the Panama Canal, we can see a new Manifest Destiny taking shape. America should own the entire North American continental plate and outlying regions, and South America should rename themselves Mexico or something.
I fully expect Trump to somehow start talking about how spineless Democrat Polk got rolled by the English with the Oregon treaty, and that spineless Democrat Buchanan was foolish when he agreed to let Kaiser Wilhelm arbitrate the Pig War and we need those important territories.
You might think Trump knows nothing of the 19th century, but he has lavishly praised the fallen Republican Hero McKinley when troothing out that Denali must be renamed Mt. McKinley.
Make Denali Mt. McKinley Again.
@Kathy: I don’t think Greenland is separated out in world happiness rankings, but Denmark was at #2 in the list I looked at.
Why on earth would happy people want Donald Trump to be in charge of them?
@becca: Y’all know I love a good dog. We now have 4 at the house for Christmas because I also raised dog lovers.
@CSK:
The pug is snoring on the dog bed at the moment.
Using pug and snore in the same sentence is probably redundant or at least an assumed fact.
@Joe: Sounds like you have the makings for a madcap family Christmas!
@Jen: @Jax: @becca: @CSK: Whenever I want to complain about our 50 degrees but rainy weather in the Pacific Northwest, I remind myself that I could be dealing with brutal cold instead.
@Gustopher:
I bet the felon will try to get the 70,000 nukes Kennedy had.
@Franklin:
I don’t think the GQP would know happiness if it hit them over the head with satisfaction.
JD Vance struck fear in my heart when he suggested in the VP debate that the housing crisis might be solved by building homes on public lands.
Now Trump wants to rename Denali back to Mount McKinley.
I think it was @Jen and I who once discussed the novel/movie Smilla’s Sense of Snow, because it’s a story that couldn’t tell whether it wanted to be an action thriller or a poignant tale of grief and discrimination faced by indigenous people in Denmark and Greenland. The relevant point today is [SPOILER] the villain turns out to be an oligarch bent on world domination, starting with Greenland due to its strategic location and wealth of natural resources.
====
I’m trying to make light of this because it feels like insanity. Between Musk pulling strings in Washington, to media and politicians falling over themselves to kiss Trump’s ass, to Trump threatening to invade or conquer countries that are our neighbors and allies, it feels like this country is diving off a cliff.
My grievance for this hour.
Citizens who can’t read.
@Skookum: Ken Burns has a great history of our National Parks Service. He and many others are more than concerned that Trump will sell off Yosemite and Yellowstone to high-end developers, just to name a few national treasures he will destroy for the highest bidders.
Maybe they throw a few low cost housing bones to the unwashed, but it will only be window dressing.
@Skookum:
That’s ridiculous. What does Trump care what GM calls their products? “GMC Mount McKinley” would look silly in chrome on the stern one of those barges.
I happened to mention annexing Greenland in a comment a few days ago, thinking it was a moldy oldie. Then he brings it back up again. I guess it generated a lot of virtual column inches last time, might as well do it again.
@becca: Maybe Biden can protect Yosemite and Yellowstone by naming them after Trump? Would he really want to sell off bits of the Donald J Trump Great America Park and the Donald J Trump Greater American Park?
Week 2 of Hell Week proceeds apace.
I talked here about the plans I had for the turkey we get at this time of year. Well, this year they’re handing out a hunk of pork leg (no skin, no bone). I could figure out something to do with it, but instead I’m giving it to one of my coworkers. Now she will have two.
This happens in some years. Turkeys are hard to get, because they’re popular at this time of year in many countries around the world. Leg of pork is produced more widely, and there’s less demand for it worldwide in the holiday season.
And more likely January will see a glut of surplus turkeys at a steed discount anyway…
@Monala: Wow, you have a good memory, yes it’s likely that was me. I enjoyed the book and thought the movie was well done. And yes, I was reminded of that plot point when I saw the Greenland story @Kathy linked to. Trump, who rarely has the ability to focus on much at all, seems intent on controlling Greenland.
The House ethics report states that “there is substantial evidence” that Gaetz engaged in statutory rape, illegal drug use, prostitution, and received impermissible gifts and privileges. He also committed obstruction of Congress.
And this sleazebag is a hero to the MAGAs.
@CSK:
Those two have a lot of potential for a major disaster.
It may be President Xlon will back off when the felon Xitts something mean about him. If he doesn’t, or only temporarily, the felon will try to cast him out. This shouldn’t be too hard.
But what then? the president spent a quarter $billion to get the government he wants. H eon’t just go home. He can easily attack the felon, and his supporters, by funding primary challenges, even by funding Democrats to take Congress away from the felon.
Not to mention Xitting bad stuff about the felon (not hard at all), and spending a few tens of millions in publicity against the felon’s every move and whatever passes for his policies.
Imagine buying the presidency and not getting a good enough return. Outrageous.
It could get interesting, in a Chinese curse kind of way.
Enjoyable moment from the Trump speech the other day …. He said in public “Elon’s not gonna be president.. I’m safe, you know why? He can’t be, he wasn’t born in this country.” Followed by a very intended laugh.
That isn’t subtle, that’s a shot across the bow. The between-the-lines is, of course.. Don’t push me or I’m deporting you, rich or not.. and he’s already getting annoyed or he wouldn’t have done that little laugh.
Grievance of the Hour
Voice mails that start like this one just did minutes ago:
A very pleasant female voice stated: Today is Friday, December twenty-thirdish…
So its the 23rd. Probably not much activity the next two days.
I’m sorry you all are so bitter about a political election. But Merry Christmas to you all. Best of health and prosper in 2025.
@Gavin: All that says to me is that Trump is exactly the box of rocks I’ve long thought him to be. No one is suggesting Elon is the literal president, they’re insinuating he has the power to sway (which he does, because he’s richer than Trump by a lot).
It does seem as though maybe the “co-president” headlines might be getting under Trump’s famously tissue-paper thick skin.
@Jen:
That’s why we should keep repeating “President Musk.”
@CSK:
@Kathy:
Trump/Musk is liable to go sour sooner rather than later.
Not taxing billionaires is probably safe common ground.
But otherwise, Trumps inclinations are a mix of recycled paleo-con tropes, populist tit-bits, and above all, the vindication. celebration, and gratification of Donald Trump.
Musk otoh is a variant of tech-bro anarcho-capitalist fantasies and goals.
The two are quite likely to become highly incompatible at some point.
Tariff policies and their impact on global trade are one obvious stress line: Elon is hardly likely to be happy at the prospect of his global business empire being wrecked in a general economic dislocation.
Though how far Trump will double-down on daft in this area remains to be seen.
Them there’s the prospect of Musk and Ramaswamy coming up with some brilliant plan that causes political damage to Trump. He’s unlikely to react well.
@Jen:
@CSK:
I like to imagine it more like a solid, red hot plutonium rod implanted in the felon’s limbic system.
I think he does have a limbic system. it’s the lizard brain, after all.
@JohnSF:
You know, this isn’t getting much play in the news:
But sources told ABC News that Republicans came to an “agreement” on Friday to raise the debt limit by $1.5 trillion in the first reconciliation package of the next Congress, with a $2.5 trillion cut in net mandatory spending in the process.
Republicans Are Plotting $2.5 Trillion in Spending Cuts. Yes, Including Entitlements.
Social Security has famously been called the third rail of American politics. We may just find out just how much amperage it holds.
@Kathy:
The dream of some Republican”ultras” for decades.
And paring some of it may ultimately be necessary; who knows?
However, a fundamental revocation of it is unlikely to go down well with a very large percentage of the Trump vote base.
Especially if it hits at the same time as a Trump tariff induced inflation spike and then recession.
The fundamental US political problem remains as it has been for decades: the unwillingness to fund desired spending through taxation, and the slowly looming moment of a debt-funding crisis in the bond markets.
Likely to hit sooner if Trumps desire for low interest rates coincides with trade and tariff policies that hit countries with a trade surplus with the US.
Because much of that surplus gets recycled into demand for Treasury bonds.
Oops.
@Skookum:
The only possible response to that is to refer to it henceforth as “Mt. Musk-Drumpf”.
I’ve been thinking about Kay Granger sitting in a memory care facility form6 months while in congress, and honestly it’s a lot kinder than the Democrats dragging Diane Feinstein out for votes with her staff basically telling her what button to press when.
Like, both should have been gone, but the whole Feinstein thing was gross. We need fewer load bearing octogenarians in our system.
Also, are we sure the Republicans have a majority in the House right now, if everyone capable were to show up?
@Gustopher:
At all levels. I had a rather tense chat with the pastor of my parents’ church a couple of years ago, pointing out that any organization forced to rely on octogenarians for core functions (Treasurer, music director, deacon, etc.) was clearly already moribund, and should probably just fold gracefully while that was still possible.
@Kathy: I think the most likely path to universal healthcare in the US is rebuilding after a disastrous Republican attempt to “reform” Medicare, Medicaid and Health Insurance.
I don’t like that this is an accelerationist view, and a lot of people would get hurt, Honestly, I’d rather we kick the can down the road by tweaking around the edges with Democrat-style modest reforms until either we fix it all slowly without creating chaos or I just get old and die, so I’m really not accelerationist. But, I think there’s a really good chance the dog caught the car and will now tear it to pieces and people will then need to get a new car.
(The cliche dog-car metaphor was not tortured, it was simply exposed to enhanced interrogation techniques until it complied.)
@Gustopher:
It might just take a civil war. Like the last time there was a major change…
On other things, I helped a coworker buy plane tickets on Volaris. When it came to seat selection, all available seats were either extra legroom or further forward, and both required a fee. We were in a hurry*, so I just picked the cheapest for each flight. I wanted to see fi I could skip assignment, so it would give him one randomly on check in.
The point is these optional fees are becoming mandatory if you buy your ticket late.
* He’s flying tomorrow. Dec. 24th is one of the worst days to fly. Dec. 25th, in contrast, one of the best.
@DrDaveT: A fair number of octagenarian-congregated churches have designated trusts, foundational accounts, etc. in the hundreds of thousands, and even millions, I suppose. I live within walking distance of three at the moment, maybe more, and the church I attended before I moved had a budget of $160,000 per year and deposits in designated accounts of 4 times that. They can’t disband until the cash is depleted according to the terms of the trusts that granted it.
(posted this just now on yesterday’s Elon thread, and repost here for your enjoyment…)
Oops… another thing:
From Mediaite: Looks like Elon has a paid subscription to a racist South African acct called “Boer” (one of only two paid subscriptions he has.
So, a guy that grew up in apartheid South Africa and believes that management by intimidation is (still) a racist.
Who would have ever thought such a thing could happen?
WRT the dt-em bromance, I’m not at all optimistic that they’ll have a falling out—at least within the next few years. They just have too much to gain from one another. I think dt will play along as long as he sees a payoff such as Xitter buying TS, which could instantly deliver him 4+ billion actual dollars from what is now paper value that cannot be significantly cashed out.
@Gustopher:
I’m not an accelerationist at all. Acceleration means that a whole lot of people will get hurt and a whole lot will die. However, I’m really stuck right now between “fuck it” and “fuck you, we warned you. Now we all suffer together and I don’t give a shit.” Like, we’re leaving for MN to see the Trump voting in-laws. I seriously don’t know how I’m not going to tell my bigot* MiL and my stupid ass Boomer FiL to fuck themselves and the reason they won’t see their grandkids for the next 4 years is entirely their fault.
@Eusebio:
I’m pretty sure bribes will only take the two of them so far. Once they get back in the White House and Dr. Feelgood Jackson starts doling out the medical grade coke and MDMA, it’s Jover. Those two are chaotic with barely functioning brains. At some point one or the other is going to overplay their hand and get stuffed. There is a reason Russian oligarchs glow in the dark. The king may be a moron, but he’s still king. My money’s on Trump to take out Musk and then just take his money.
*She is 100% an anti-LGBT bigot with a lot of emphasis on the T. She also believes that homeless people should have ABSOLUTELY NO RIGHTS and should be turned into dog food. Seriously, her anti-homeless nonsense is not far off of my hyperbole.
@Just nutha ignint cracker:
Yes, but I suspect that their day-to-day operations do not depend on those octogenarians. Having a geezer congregation is one thing; having the geezers running the business is quite another.
@Beth:
In the 90s it was called “shock therapy.” It helped make Russia the oligarch and siloviki Vlad-hole it is today.
@Eusebio:
And @Beth, there’s two things the felon cares about: his money and his self image (or rather how he thinks other people see him). President Xlon can feed one, while he damages the other. There are other billionaires who can give the felon money, even large chunks of it, without soiling his image*.
True, none have shown much willingness to shower the felon with gold. I mean, neither Bezos nor Zuck gave him a quarter $billion in campaign money, nor did they use their data mining companies to promote him.
Either them or others are perfectly capable of buying the felon’s data mining company, and of promoting him in a variety of media. and if it’s in their self interest to do so, they absolutely will and let the world burn.
* If he had like one tenth of one millionth of a speck of honesty, he’d know no one damages his own image more than he does. whatever others do, is just piling on.
@DrDaveT: From what I can observe, most congregations, outside of evangelical mega churches and a few neo-Jesus Movement ones have congregations mostly over 50. Christianity appears to be ageing out. I’m not inclined to see current evangelical churchdom as Christian in any meaningful ways, but I hope I’m wrong.
ETA: Additionally, you might be amazed at how small the “business” part of church is.
I was listening to Guided By Voices and YouTube suggested Britpop. No, you fool, they’re from Ohio.