May the Fourthum Be With You
Steven L. Taylor
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Sunday, May 4, 2025
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45 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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BlueSky.
https://www.politicususa.com/p/catholic-organization-blasts-white
You load sixteen tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter, don’t you call me, ’cause I can’t go
I owe my soul to the company store
SpaceX workers in South Texas vote yes to create City of Starbase
On a lighter Sunday vein:
I’m simply gobsmacked that ANY attorney would think that a large purple dragon (in or out of a suit) is an appropriate watermark on a court pleading. But as Cracker reminded me, unlike our Fearless Leader™ and company, he at least understood the correct response to the Magistrate’s order.
eta – if the ABA link works, view with wonder what $20 bought for his professional his branding. The mind boggles.
https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/magistrate-judge-is-breathing-fire-over-law-firms-dragon-logo-on-legal-pleadings
~~~
With the Papal conclave coming up next week, people have been watching the movie Conclave. It was entertaining, well done, and did portray the process well. But I want to recommend another movie which came out in 2019: The Two Popes. It is on Netflix.
The wife and I rewatched it last night. It is about the fictionalized relationship between Pope Benedict XVI and then Cardinal Bergoglio of Argentina before Benedict’s fairly unprecedented retirement from the Papacy. With Anthony Hopkins as Benedict and Jonathan Pryce as Bergoglio, it is great acting for one. Two, I think it brings out the conflict within the Roman Catholic church better than Conclave. There is a lot of focus on Bergoglio’s role in his relationship with the Argentine junta and military dictatorship, their oppression and the “desaparecidos”. Besides entertaining there was a lot more to chew on.
@Scott:
Dear Wife and I watched Conclave around two months ago. We saw the Two Popes in 2020.
Another movie to watch- The Shoes of the Fisherman
Three potential violations of the United States Constitution for the United States House of Representatives to consider when they impeach President Donald Trump for impersonating a Holy Man.
…when they impeach President Donald Trump…
I know, I know.
In my dreams.
It took a few cups of coffee but I finally got it.
@Mister Bluster:
Well, Trump told Kristin Welker that since he’s not a lawyer, he doesn’t know if he has to uphold the Constitution.
This is the defining scene in all of Star Wars.
It changed the general theme from a war of liberation to a family saga.
If Vader were merely the guy who betrayed and murdered Luke’s father, we wouldn’t have had three bad movies showing how he came to wear a helmet, nor the many cameos in the animated series and other movies (except Rogue One).
The Declaration of Independence is not, alas, a statement of principles, but the justification for some colonies to break away from British rule. It details the many failings and shortcomings of such rule under the then current king.
So, what does this part say about the current occupant taking up space behind the Resolute desk:
For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world;
For imposing taxes on us without our consent;
For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury;
For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses;
@Bill Jempty: And if you still need more papal entertainment, you might try Luca Paolo Sorrentino’s HBO series The Young Pope and its follow-up series The New Pope.
@Scott: Like Disney in Florida, SpaceX’s plans require authority to make decisions the state constitution and statutes have reserved for local governments. In Florida, Disney effectively became a special district to provide utilities and roads (at their own expense, and more importantly, on their own schedule). In Texas, SpaceX requires the ability to build roads, permit certain construction, and close beaches from time to time.
@charontwo:
Just more childishness from the incompetent Trump-Musk MAGA regime and its unqualified DUI hires.
They should stop tinkering with Grok and focus on lowering egg prices and helping Ukraine like President Trumpflation promised to do “on day one.”
Businessness face bankruptcy due to Trump’s reckless tariff trade wars, but the Republican White House is too busy with dumb Twitter memes to care.
@Mister Bluster: I didn’t even notice it beyond being an expected Star Wars Day pun until you mentioned it.
Clever. Not a believer and don’t celebrate the holiday, though.
@Kathy:
Was that necessarily a good thing?
@wr: The Young Pope looked like schlock, is it any good? Conclave was my favorite of last year’s film fare.
@Kathy: Exactly!!! He shoulda just severed Luke head from shoulders rather than hand from wrist!
(Tune in tomorrow for another episode of Just Cracker, Executive Producer/Showrunner.)
@Kathy: That all of those things are okay as long as they are
1) for the “preservation” of the “union,” and
2) they’re not happening to “me.”
@DK: It had its moments. Throughout the series, it dangles the question, what is this guy really up to? Jude Law is very good in it.
The Pope of Grimace Village
Charlie, they took my thumbdrive!
@Kingdaddy:
It certainly went off the rails when Leia was revealed to be Luke’s sister. After the kiss scene no less.
@Rob1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Osjg0HywtbE
Various versions have gone viral:
“Link”
A top Trump priority is drawing attention to himself, being the center of attention. Mission accomplished.
@CSK:..
That was his body double Donalda Chump on January 20. 2025 who took this oath:
Now I have a vague memory from Trump’s earlier term that he said something like “The Constitution does not use the word uphold so I don’t have to do that.”
I suspect that this is what I am thinking of.
Remember when Trump’s lawyers argued he never swore to ‘support’ the Constitution?
@Scott: What I don’t understand is why all the media reports I’ve read about the incorporation vote refer to the hamlet as a city. I assume there are certain legal things involved around the Texas definition for a city that affect ordinances and taxes and yeah company town but sheesh.
To all you Star Wars folks, “Live long and prosper.”
Again, this is what’s so very wrong about our press. Politico headline, paraphrasing, “Trump still wants Canada and Greenland, but rules out force to Canada.” I’m sorry, but did they forget to add the pre-qualifier, In a batshit bonkers statement anti-thetical to 80 years of established American values, of you know, not just talking about taking over foriegn countries as if that’s an actual thing he could or would do… Could go on, but you get the point. Our press, the worst. Why I visit this site frankly, for rational ananlysis of not just the event or policy or statement as a matter of fact, and leaving it there, but to actually examine what it means and what the implications are. So, shout out to you otb.
Doc Taylor mentions Star Wars action figures in another thread (in the context of having 30 dolls), and I just wanted to be an old man shouting at the clouds about this:
Back in the 70s and 80s, Star Wars figures were cheaply made, with very simple sculpts that represented the characters more than they resembled them.
Today, there’s an emphasis on possibility and fidelity to the on screen appearances, and they run $20-25 for the small, more for the larger 6”.
And they’ve just lost something special, in addition to being way too expensive for a kid to have 30. They’re just boring. There’s certainly a lot of artistic technique and engineering skill that goes into creating a McClunky Barbell Gloryholio that looks just like the character that was seen for 30 seconds in the bathroom of the diner on Corosant, gesturing our hero towards the stall he wished to share with them, but there’s no real artistic interpretation.
There’s no game of “what is the minimal set of details required to capture the recognizable likeness?”
For that, you need to get to the Lego minifigures, and even those are getting more and more detailed.
It’s just a bit sad. Kids these days get everything spoon fed to them.
@Kathy:
Could have been worse. Critic John Simon expected it to be divulged that Leia was Luke’s mother. He wasn’t a Carrie Fisher fan.
@Kathy: That set the stage but It still would’ve been just good v bad without that scene of Vader’s death. There is where the story was defined, A classical tale of a young man realized his all-powerful father was just another human and forgave him for his cruelty.
It’s an old story….
@Gustopher:
Decades ago, I saw a Mad magazine cartoon about two parents who gave their kid a huge fancy ride-on fire truck toy for a gift. The kid opened the box, removed the truck, and then climbed into the box to use it as…a fire truck.
Some things never change.
@DK:
Every television series started after 2001 that I have watched has turned out to be schlock. CSI Miami, Picard, Hawaii Five-0.
@Gustopher:
I could deal with the fact that they were more representative than resemblance. What I couldn’t stand about the Star Wars dolls was that the elbows and knees didn’t bend and the capes were a nightmare. The G.I. Joe dolls were better cause they could actually sit and bend right.
My parents wouldn’t buy me Barbies but they’d buy me as many Leilas, Scarletts and Lady Janes as I wanted.
Also, kids these days have shit dolls. Like, the expensive Star Wars ones are for us. The kid versions just suck. What I’d love to get my hands on is a full set of Destructicons to show my brats what an awesome toy is.
The one toy that I really wanted but was smart enough to not ask for was the U.S.S. Flagg.
Golfer Jim Dent has passed away. He was 85.
Dent was one of the very few black players on the PGA Tour in the 70’s and 80’s. He never won there but did take home the trophy 12 times on the Senior Tour*. He was known for his long driving. 13-time PGA Tour winner Dave Hill cracked that Dent’s problem was his putting was equally long.
Anyway Dent got his start at golf in a way that don’t happen much anymore. He was a caddy and since he was from Augusta Georgia, Dent sometimes carried a bag at The Masters. RIP.
*- Black golfers on the Senior Tour aren’t common either but a few like Charles Owens, Dent, and Jim Thorpe shined there. Of those three only Thorpe won on the PGA Tour. Other black golfers who won on both the PGA and Senior Tours are Charlie Sifford and Lee Elder.
@Mr. Prosser: All incorporated municipalities in Texas are cities.
https://texapedia.info/municipalities/
@Beth:
Destructions? Do you mean the Decepticon Constructicons? Green construction vehicles with purple windows that merge to become Devastator?
There have been a bunch of reissues of the original molds, including a recent Tonkanator as Autobots in yellow and black, and about three different reissues over the past 15 years or so in original colors. So, that’s very doable.
And then some new versions including a set being released now-ish (annoyingly individually) that attempt to resemble the animation models.
Which brings me to my silliest complaint about toys — Transformers. In the 80s, the toys were very simple (car stands up, splits, becomes oddly proportioned robot with lots of car parts). The cartoon took a lot of liberties with the designs to make them look more human (change proportions, remove car parts, etc) and be easier and cheaper to draw. There was really no way to go from the animated vehicle to the animated robot. It was just cheap to animate and close enough.
And now, 40 years later, riding high on nostalgia, they are releasing amazingly over complex toys that match the simplified animation models — tucking away wheels, hiding the car windshield and unfolding a fake windshield for the robot chest since it was a different size, turning the toys completely inside out. An amazing bit of engineering to replicate really cheap, simplified animation models.
I’m not sure if it is brilliant, really stupid, or both. I’m leaning towards really stupid, but it is a technological marvel to be able to mass produce a plastic toy that does all of that and which mostly holds together.
@Bill Jempty: This is why I stream free sites like Tubi, Roku, and Pluto. I’m watching schlock, too, but I have no expectations that will be dashed because of it.
@Gustopher:
Yes, I was wrong, the Constructicons. I got Devastator as a kid and that was one of the best Christmases.
I also had Autobot city which was a wild one. It’s a robot! It’s a city! It’s a tank?!
No longer tries to hide it:
During a private dinner at Mar-a-Lago, Trump personally apologized to Enrique Tarrio, the former national chairman of the Proud Boys, for the treatment of January 6th rioters under the Biden administration according to a tweet from Tarrio.
@DK: “The Young Pope looked like schlock, is it any good?”
Not schlock at al. It’s very serious, from one of the world’s great contemporary filmmakers.
Can’t guarantee you’ll like it, but if you don’t it won’t be because it’s Popesploitation…
@Bill Jempty: “Every television series started after 2001 that I have watched has turned out to be schlock. CSI Miami, Picard, Hawaii Five-0.”
Dude… you are so watching the wrong shows.
The last decade of streaming has produced a flood of great dramatic art not seen since the European and Japanese films of the 1960s or the American films of the pre-Jaws 70s. And somehow you have missed them all because you’re watching… the revival of Hawaii 5-0.
Here’s a hint: With the notable exception of The Good Wife, everything aired on CBS for the last three or four decades has been schlock. And I say that as someone who ran two series that aired on CBS…
@wr:
Only the first two of 10 seasons. I quit the show when a helicopter with a giant magnet picked up a moving truck. By willingness to put up with stupidity had finally been broken.
And I watched those episodes on a streaming service. Paramount I think.
The Nanny was a CBS show and it is my and DW’s sitcom of choice when we eat dinner*. When we’re through with all 6 six seasons, not sure if I will introduce DW to Gilligan’s Island or Night Court.
*- We do this six nights a week. Previously watched sitcoms include the Original Odd Couple, Hogan’s Heroes, Benson, Barney Miller, F Troop, Get Smart.
Oh for fuck’s sake, now the imbecile wants to reopen Alcatraz.
When is everyone going to acknowledge there is something seriously wrong with him, mentally?
@Beth: my knowledge of Transformers is somewhat extensive, matched only by my love for them.
Your Autobot City was either Metroplex — robot to city to rolling aircraft carrier thing? — or Omega Supreme — robot to rocket base with rocket, launch tower, track/roads, and tank that drives along those roads via batteries (he more disassembles than transforms). Both very fun. Both great playsets for smaller toys in addition to everything else they do.
Your parents may have messed up in countless other ways, but they were good on plastic transforming robots.
@Bill Jempty:
IIRC, Macguyver did it too, with an armored car
Personally, I preferred Bugs Bunny vs Elmer Fudd.
@Mikey: Everyone? Won’t happen.