Friday’s Forum
Steven L. Taylor
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Friday, April 18, 2025
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53 comments
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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).
Follow Steven on
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BlueSky.
Don’t know why this didn’t go up as scheduled.
But better late than never.
They never stop.
Texas bill would test water supply for hormones in birth control, abortion medication
The “Sharia Law is coming” people are back. As if they never left.
‘Political hysteria’: How Gov. Abbott’s campaign against EPIC City impacts Muslims across Texas
Just wait until the far right Christianists find out that the newly passed school voucher law (which they demanded) will fund vouchers that can send Muslims children to private Islamic schools.
Driving while brown…
US citizen held by ICE despite judge seeing birth certificate
U.S.-born American citizen under ICE hold in Florida after driving from Georgia
@Liberal Capitalist: Thankfully, they released him.
U.S. citizen released from jail after arrest under Florida’s new anti-immigration law
@Scott: They tried this in Wyoming this last legislative session, as well. Turns out there aren’t any labs capable of running such tests for those types of things in Wyoming.
And yes, you’re next …
But will a passport in your pocket keep me from being detained?
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/doctor-email-immigration-leave-country-rcna201698
If I were part of the press pool at the occupied White House, I’d ask the felon if he wants to fire Powell because he was appointed by a moron.
I’m 95% certain he’d say yes.
@Jax: Well, there’s a whole bunch of recently terminated research scientists who need work, so….
@Flat Earth Luddite:
Well, your passport obviously won’t protect ME, but I don’t have an exit this am. Nor enough caffeine yet apparently.
But seriously, did any of us ever think that as a US citizen they might need to find an immigration lawyer to protect them in the United States? I know it wasn’t on my bingo card.
It seems pretty clear that the administration is picking hills it is willing to die on, including bringing Harvard to heel and ensuring that Abrego Garcia never comes back to the US. It is casting both of these as all hands on deck and no backing down. Although I understand that is Trump’s MO on about everything, I will be curious to see if he can “win” both of these, let alone what else they decide to spend all their political capital on.
Trump has been doing some saber rattling about interest rates and the Fed’s independence, threatening to fire Fed chairman Powell. It’s been in the news, Elizabeth Warren has warned about “crashing the markets.”
Here is a detailed discussion of the relevance of something called Humprey’s Executor to all this:
“Adam Tooze”
Some excerpts:
Etc., etc. then,
etc., etc.
@charontwo: Wonder how the bond market will respond to Trump’s pressure to politicize interest rates.
A Scottish MP, Christine Jardine, has suggested a special “fast track” visa for highly skilled Americans interested in relocation to the UK due to current leadership. In her speech, she specifically cited the LGBTQ community.
In a separate issue, she’s also asking for clarification as to why the US consulate in Edinburgh is being closed. There’s been one there since the 1700s apparently.
It appears that freakin’ David Brooks and Bill (son of Irving) Kristol have gone all WOKE! and called for “an uprising” against the trusk administration (DB) and Bill wants to Abolish Ice.
Hell hasn’t frozen over yet, but it’s having a bit of an ice storm.
@Jen:
I’m as startled as Jardine by the closure. First time I voted in a U.S. election, it was there.
@becca:
I think Kristol’s been anti-Trump since the escalator descent.
@becca:
I think Kristol’s been anti-Trump since the escalator descent.
@becca:
I think Kristol’s been anti-Trump since the escalator descent.
@CSK: @CSK: @CSK:
I don’t know how that triple repetition happened. Sorry.
Not content until he destroys everything:
Trump Opens a Huge Marine Protected Zone to Commercial Fishing
It’s hard to describe how much I detest this man and his minions.
@CSK</I don’t recall BK joining in the calls for abolishing ice during the first debacle. As I recall, there was much pearl clutching on the right at the thought of such things.
This is the Upsidedown.
@CSK</I don’t recall BK joining in the calls for abolishing ice during the first debacle. As I recall, there was much pearl clutching on the right at the thought of such things.
This is the Upsidedown.
@becca:
The replications seem to be contagious. 😀
I’ve noticed the comment count updates whenever a new blog post is added.
Folks, you often get duplicate posts of yours because you hit post and it feels like your post is not being loaded onto this site as quick as you expect it to load (you see for example a white screen for a few moments after you hit post/publish) so you either hit post again, or try the back button and if your post is still there you hit post again, or while the screen is white during the time your post is being loaded onto this site you hit refresh, and all of these actions can lead to double posts.
I would advise that folks exercise a bit of patience, create your post (and I recommend that you copy your post on your computers clipboard before you hit post), hit post and just wait. You will either wait a bit and your post will be available to read in the comments, or you will get an error message (time out or something like that). Also, sometimes you see your post but when you then click out of the thread and click on another and go back to the thread you posted in it does not show up, but at that point you can click refresh and it usually shows up just fine.
If you get an error message, the odds are good that if you decide to hit the back button, see your comment and then decide to hit post again, most likely we will not see duplicate posts because getting an error message usually really does mean your comment did not upload to the site properly and it should be okay to try again.
All these duplicate posts are not fun to look at, lol.
Also, I hope folks get a chance to step back from focusing on the news this weekend and can relax, and even if you do not celebrate the religious parts of Easter, if you have kids, or grandchildren to hang with, I hope you still get a chance to have a fun weekend.
ETA: This just happened to me, I hit post and I get the spinning circle that was spinning forever, but after a minute or so this post showed up just fine. If I had hit post again while the circle was spinning I might have created a double post. Waiting over 30 seconds for your post to load may seem like an eternity, but it should eventually load w/o hitting posts more than once.
@inhumans99:
I post mainly from work. Sometimes I get interrupted with actual work (outrageous), and come back to finish the comment a few minutes later.
Now and then I’ll post the comment, hit “BACK,” and then get interrupted. When I go back to the blog, my comment shows in the box, and I hit post because I forgot I’d already done so.
Other times, yes, it takes too long to post. But if I don’t check whether the browser marks as loading (blue spinning circle in the tab), I assume I haven’t hit post and then click on it again.
It’s not impatience. It’s inattention.
Trump announced that his new revamped Homeland Security Council will be headed by Fox host Mark Levin and retired NYPD detective and actor Bo Dietl.
My theory is computer processes posts in roughly normal time but does not update the display, so out of sync.
I generally keep multiple tabs open in my browser, this is the solution I have come up with:
1 – click the “post comment button” then wait maybe 30 seconds or so.
2 – close the tab you posted from
3 – reopen the tab
4 – you will likely NOT see what you posted. Click the litter “reload” widget at the upper left corner, your post will appear.
Just did as I just described, worked as described.
Here is an account of how the GOP has, since the1930’s, become gradually more and more corrupt, and taken the Congressional legislation right along – culminating, clearly, with our current egregiously corrupt government.
“Hartmann“
No yoke this time.
A few weeks a go I reported that Panera had raised the price of my regular Breakfast Sandwich order, sausage, egg and cheese on ciabatta. Turned out that the higher price that I was charged was the result of an error by the cashier.
Today it got real. My S, E & C on C breakfast sandwich is now $6.89 a 30¢ increase. I noticed that other egg sandwiches have also increased in price.
Damn that Trump! I know that he ended the Ukraine war on day one like he said he would but can’t the man do something about the price of eggs?
Comments are taking longer to post than they have in the past.
If I sit and wait and don’t touch the keyboard or the trackpad after I hit Post Comment my remarks will appear in about 60 seconds.
@Joe:
“Never comes back to the US” appears to be the administration’s new fallback position. Recall that they previously insisted that they could apprehend him, and other US residents, and imprison them in a foreign land indefinitely with no contact with the outside world. The courts may have compelled them to give up on that in Garcia’s case, so of course they’re going to try to claim victory in some way. Even if they end up having the ability to legally bar him, in particular, from returning to the US, that was not the constitutional crisis-level outrage.
@Mister Bluster:
What? Isn’t an increase in price something?
So. In a press conference Weds, RFKJr said this about autistic people:
As it turns out, a different family member (not the trans daughter) is autistic. She has played baseball (badly, like me), written poems, and gone on dates. She has a boyfriend. She is super fun to talk to – one of my favorite conversation partners in the world. She most definitely can use a toilet. I taught her that long ago, in the very normal way that happens with small children.
She is also vaccinated. Because she doesn’t want to get sick. She wore a mask during Covid, because she doesn’t want to get other people sick. She is a good citizen. A better citizen than that piece of shite which is now leading HHS. He is a leading example of someone who doesn’t know enough to know they don’t know anything.
I’m feeling pretty miserable right now, watching both of my children get demeaned, if not demonized by assholes that somebody put in charge because they were mad about not being able to call someone a “retard”. I am also angry. I am “full Papa Bear”.
@Jay L Gischer:
I’d be enraged, too, if I were you.
@Jay L Gischer: During Trump’s press appearance with the dictator of El Salvador, he also mentioned using these prisons for the mentally ill, shortly after suggesting we should send American citizens to the concentration camps.
This brings to mind two thoughts:
1) Eugenics, of course. Presumably with some sort of assessment of how autistic is too autistic to contribute to society (otherwise, Elon Musk, who claims to have Asperger’s (aka, Autism for Nazis) would end up in the camps)
2) There is no way that any of these “law enforcement” organizations are prepared to handle a large number of non-verbal autistic adults in one place.
@inhumans99: Every time I post I wonder if this will be the post that makes OTB just crash and burn.
@Mister Bluster: Why not take a minute to just try breathing exercises, a brief moment of relaxation. The box-breathing technique (inhale for one second, hold for one second, exhale for one second, hold for one second) is said to do wonders.
@Gustopher: For what it’s worth, Musk is clearly spectrum. If over the years I have been more sympathetic of him than the median OTB commenter, it is because of this. At the same time, being spectrum is no excuse for some of the stuff he has done (not said, done). I blame the drugs.
It was called Aspbergers in my lifetime. I knew a kid down the street diagnosed with it. I liked him a lot. I’m happy to comply with the shift in terminology, but hesitant to call out people who are a bit behind the curve on terminology.
@Mister Bluster:
It’s just the display that does not update, so they falsely seem to take a long time to post. If you see a spinning circle, it’s bogus, the post has really finished, the display just does not show it.
I explained this upthread here, @charontwo: , except you really only need the usual 5 seconds, it only takes longer for long complicated posts.
Welp, this is a good ad. A solid political message. Nathan Sage running for Senate seeking to replace Joni Ernst.
I particularly liked the line about dying of cancer caused by their workplace. I know a woman who had both her brother and son die like that. It’s messed up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_exwupZcvhc
@charontwo:..bogus…
When I enter remarks in the comment box and then hit the Post Comment key, nothing changes. No spinning circle.
Then about 60 seconds later the comments post.
Edited to Add: Just now when I hit Post Comment my remarks posted immediately for the first time in a while.
@Gustopher:..relax…
I sit at Panera for several hours every day to use the free internet and drown myself in all the Dark Roast caffeinated coffee that I can drink for $16.75 a month. Sometimes I order food. For some reason the HVAC system constantly blows cold air so that I have to wear a winter jacket inside most of the time. Even at that I frequently find myself almost nodding off. Somehow I manage to catch myself almost asleep just before I fall out of the chair onto the floor.
Maybe I’ll try the breathing exercises tonight when I’m lying in bed watching Chinatown.
ETA: Back to the delayed post. This one took a full 60 seconds.
@Jay L Gischer:
This is exactly why I cringed when I read about the proposals to group all of the various phenomena and conditions into a broad category, Autism Spectrum Disorder. As a child who was determined by testing to not have autism “because his score doesn’t match it,” I ought to be thanking God every day that I dodged that bullet. Sadly, I don’t think about it often enough. Born 50 or 60 years later, and I’d have been fwkt educationally. It’s a tribute to Beth’s toughness that she escaped SPED and flourished.
One of the students that I tutor at PCC was telling me last term that her son was recently diagnosed as autistic (or is it “on the spectrum,” [and does the difference really matter considering that considerable numbers of SPED staff are no smarter or more tactful than JFK, Jr.]?). I cautioned her that she may sometimes need to fight with the school for her child and advised her to press for what she thinks will be best for him rather than just to let the so-called experts decide things. I hope she and her husband are up to the task.
Interesting morning today. Trump has managed to make himself a major issue in our Canadian election. Waited an hour in line for the first day of advance polling today. I have never waited more than five minutes to vote in any election of my lifetime and I am in my late fifties. My wife has never been particularly interested in politics and she watched the leaders debate last night.
One real positive is that our travel this year will all be in Canada. We will get to the east and west coasts this summer. Heading to the states is no longer attractive to us even if it is normally convenient. A late middle age white couple would probably be safe enough but we can’t stomach the idea of any part of the money we would spend going to support the awful things the US government is doing
@Mister Bluster:
Does sitting further away from the vents help?
The vents are all in the ceiling and are spaced so that to move away from one gets you closer to the next one. There is a gas fireplace however seating near it is almost always taken. There have been times when I have worn my long underwear here in the summer when they have the air conditioning set to North Pole Below Zero.
I have no idea why my reply to CSK double posted. I kinda feel a little special because it double posted in red, like I was saying something IMPORTANT and devastating. Silly internet.
Usually the comment permitter informs me, with a polite prompt, that my comment has already been submitted if I am impatient. Looks like doge got wind of this random kindness and put an immediate stop to it.
Awesome sauce.
https://www.classaction.org/news/tesla-lawsuit-alleges-automaker-manipulates-odometer-readings-to-avoid-warranty-obligations
@Mister Bluster: WA! Most restaurants I’ve been to don’t spend that much money and effort designing HVAC systems. Then again, I’ve never been to a Panera with a fireplace, either. You must be going to some sort of flagship location.
Where’s today’s forum?
@just nutha:.. flagship location…
For what it’s worth the Panera in Marion IL, 13 miles east, also has a fire place.