Monday’s Forum
Steven L. Taylor
·
Monday, October 20, 2025
·
26 comments
OTB relies on its readers to support it. Please consider helping by becoming a monthly contributor through Patreon or making a one-time contribution via PayPal. Thanks for your consideration.
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor Emeritus 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
Twitter and/or
BlueSky.
Went to the local no Kings event Saturday in North Oakland county which is pink to red area as you go father north. Huge turnout. We did have two arrests; two chuckleheads who had converted their trucks to “roll coal” and decided that the crowd along the road was too tempting to resist. What surprised me was that local Law enforcement was johnny-on-the-spot and arrested them both and towed their trucks. The reason I was surprised is that when I was younger in the 70’s, there was a pretty robust infiltration of Klan in the local Police and Sheriff offices (one I know was a relative).
I’m not sure if it had any effect in public attitude, but it was nice to find out I’m not the only one and judging by the honks of support, we are not as alone as it can feel like some times.
@Rick DeMent: I think No Kings Saturday was a shot in the arm of hope for the future.
The numbers swelled along with locations. There was was very little upset and few arrests. The local police did great jobs of keeping the peace. The whimsy of the inflatables helps cleanse and calm the outrage. It’s so good to laugh together.
We shook some rafters and made some noise and had a good time doing it. We should do that more often.
@ Steven Taylor
Speaking yesterday of “cringy” at No Kings, here’s a 50 year old woman arrested for dressing as a giant penis, bearing the message “No Dick-tators” in Fairhope, Alabama
The three cops struggle to secure her until they figure out how to deflate the costume. Predictably, the “scale of things” in context, makes the cops efforts look rather “small.”
Is this a 1st Amendment issue for the woman given how far we’ve moved the lines in our society regarding obscenity? F-bombs are ubiqitous today and at rallies on both sides. In fact, Trump, “God’s chosen” according to some, dropped the F-bomb on camera just the other day.
And would some local resident be willing to stand up for the prosecution in court and say, “Your honor, this woman’s penis offended me.” ???
Personally, I find the cops behavior here “cringy” and the woman’s protest “having a pair.”
@becca: Continue to do it but not so often it becomes routine and loses its uniqueness
This is a power we have not yet begun to tap.
Doubling the churn on Disney+ and Hulu is a huge effect, an effect that exceeds what might be expected for a show with late night ratings. IOW, that wasn’t just Kimmel fans. So far we’ve done serious economic damage to Target and to Disney, and that with very little visible organizing effort.
Corporations, law firms and universities, as well as retail businesses, need to be put on notice. The key is to target (heh) companies which have had a pre-existing relationship with liberal causes. It’s about the cowardice and hypocrisy. Alumni need to end their support for campus cowards, college-bound kids need to consider whether they want to attend a university run by spineless administrations. It should be made crystal clear to cowardly law firms that their lawyers will see their careers damaged if they hope for jobs in blue states. No kings, no cowards.
They may be the solid 45%, but even in the new math, 55% is a bigger number. We need the discipline to punish cowards whenever and wherever it is practicable. The spineless must be made to see that groveling before the king is not necessarily a wise move.
We should look at targeted work stoppages, for example an Amazon sick-out. If we’re doing demos, let’s start targeting MAGA churches. Our nuke is a national strike. We don’t want to pull that trigger prematurely, but we should be ready to commit completely if/when the time comes.
@Michael Reynolds: Yep. We still have the voting power of our $$$.
Why we should have very low expectations for any meaningful accomodation with the MAGA regime —-
Trump reposts AI-generated video of plane dumping sludge on No Kings protesters —President has previously posted deepfake videos and AI images like this one, which JD Vance called ‘funny’
A President doubling down on scatalogical denigration of the free speech/assembly rights guaranteed by the Constitution he has sworn to uphold, is a sure sign there will be no voluntary working relationship with his opposition.
And, Trump’s dysfunction manifests as a complex of multiple personality disorders on display every day, in response to every situation.
Along with the usual narcissism, on display here, are delusional thinking, paranoia, pathological deceit (lying).
Until some aspect of his power is curbed, this thing vectors in only one direction.
If this country makes it out of the bad spot it finds itself in, we need to codify into law the formal vetting of candidates for the highest office (and succession) for major personality disorders as screened by a composite panel of mental health professionals.
Aspirations of democracy or no, the next collective behavioral advance for human civilization, is to recognize that gross malignacy of personality must be selected against for positions of society wide leadership, as a point of sustainablity. Otherwise, given the mounting critical issues now facing our species, there’s a big Darwin Award in our future. Maybe the bigglyest.
@Michael Reynolds:
I wonder if the cancellation figures are for the US or globally. I did cancel my Disney+ subscription.
In part it’s because there’s nothing in it right now I absolutely want to watch. I lost patience and interest with the many marvel miniseries, and much of the Star Wars stuff as well (let’s face it: Andor was the high water mark). But the bigger part is to protest their obsequiousness to a dictatorial moron.
I miss CSK’s hot maga takes. And CSK.
Susan, please phone home.
@becca:
Becca, so nice of you to ask.
Hi, everyone. I’m still bouncing back and forth like a ping-pong ball between the hospital and rehab.
I read here every day.
I wonder whether I’ve become overly critical in addition to cynical about Str Trek, especially TOS.
Take the episode Space Seed, the famous Khan episode. My initial impression of it was “Villains and heroes engage in a battle for stupidity, which the villains win.” Key items, Kirk allows Khan too much information on the enterprise (remember the guy is scarily smart, and inflexible in his views), while Khan acts prematurely in attempting to seize power by first taking over the Enterprise*.
Actually it’s a perfectly good episode. It takes on more significance among fans as being the basis for the second Trek movie. More significance the episode itself deserves, perhaps. but still a perfectly fine episode, which BTW fills in some of the history of Earth and the Federation.
So why did I have that very negative first impression?
Partly it may be I’m writing again, and I keep asking myself “is this course of action logical or reasonable? should another character object and force an explanation?” and so on. Naturally I see it in other works, too.
The external explanation is modern streaming shows. the fewer eps and higher production values, compared to older shows, are not all. Some shows, for instance Foundation, tend towards more complex characterization and actions, but they are of a similar length to the old network shows.
So, a Foundation ep feels more like a chapter in a novel, told over about 50-60 minutes, while an ep of TOS is like a short story told over 45 minutes. There’s less action, overall, and far simpler characterization, too. So it’s easier to pick it apart and find flaws.
*Too many eps have adversaries take over the ship. you’d think Kirk’s command functions level password is “1234”. More if we add those where the controls simply don’t work.
@CSK:
Get better, we miss you.
I was thinking of reaching out, and decided to wait a couple of days to see if you checked in.
So, NASA is looking for alternatives to the chief nazi’s missile company.
Lots of luck with that.
Blue origin is already working on their lunar lander, in conjunction with some other companies (including Lockheed Martin, and Boeing*). Their target operational launch is 2030. Like Xtarship, the very originally named Blue Moon requires multiple rocket launches.
I should see if any betting markets are taking contracts against a NASA crew landing on the Moon next year. I’m 99% confident they won’t. Probably not by 2030, either.
Apollo was a cutting edge program, which required a whole additional series of crewed missions in earth orbit, Gemini*, just to find out what was possible. For all that, and for all its complexity, it was far simpler than NASA’s current plans.
I don’t mean the scope, I mean just landing one crew on the Moon. Each Apollo landing mission was fully contained in one (1) launch. This could not be done with today’s launch systems. In part it’s progress. Apollo also had very tight margins and the crews assumed huge risks.
This was driven by Cold War tensions and ambitions, as everyone learns in school. That pressure is absent today, not matter how much El Taco wants to use China as a bogeyman.
Hollywood is Lucy, I am Charlie Brown. I never really believe I’m gonna get to kick that football, but I can’t seem to entirely quit them. I wish I knew how.* It’s like one of those overly drawn-out medical scenes where they keep trying to shock a guy back to life. It’s dead, Jim. And then, suddenly, alive! But will soon be dead again, and I know it, but still. . .
This is not good for a control freak. A year from now I may have not one but two TV series. But more likely, I’ll have one of those scribbled dialog balloons over my bald head. Aargh.
*Movie reference cuz Hollywood.
@Michael Reynolds:
Asimov’s Law of Hollywood: Whatever happens, nothing happens.
I suppose it’s a much higher stakes version of NASA’s selection for space missions. There are far more projects to make than money to fund them. Higher stakes because NASA doesn’t have to turn a profit on New Horizons or the large infrared telescope (at least, not yet). New missions also don’t have to compete with older, established missions that are very popular with the public (although the robot infrastructure on Mars has advantages for further missions there).
On the plus side, a space mission is a flop only if the craft or instruments fail (see Mars Polar Lander). Not if they produce data the public cares little or nothing about (see the Mercury Messenger probe).
@Kathy:
I think one of the key differences is that NASA is not 1/3 idiots.
Speaking of Hollywood, I started season 3 of The Diplomat over the weekend. I almost saw the second ep on Sunday, then decided to repeat the Foundation experiment and watch only one ep per week. As it is I had to read the synopses of the past two season to remind myself what had taken place.
The premise of the show is that Keri Russell’s character gets named ambassador to the UK, right after a British carrier is attacked by terrorists in the Persian Gulf. It gets to delve into international relations and British politics (no clue how realistically).
It may appeal to fans of The West Wing. Lots of dialogue, too. Also, Alyson Janney showed up to play the US vice president in the second half of season 2. At the opening of season three, Bradley Whitford appeared as her husband.
@Sleeping Dog:
Thank you; that means a lot.
@Michael Reynolds:
While pitching the New Horizons mission to Pluto, the team was asked by the NASA administration to consider using solar cells instead of radioisotopes for electrical power.
Balloon Juice has a succinct and valid discussion of what Dems must do the next time they have power. The major headings are:
The filibuster must die
The Supreme Court must expand
The Citizens United decision must be overturned or defanged by the states
Tech monopolies must be broken
The wealthy and corporations must finally pay their fucking share of taxes
Those who corruptly abused power must be held accountable
Institutions must be reimagined, not just rebuilt
On Citizens United the post links to a long, detailed Center for American Progress piece laying out a legal strategy for prohibiting corporate political spending. Corporations are not natural, they are created by the states and have only such powers as the states grant them. And those grants of power can be changed by the states, even against existing charter holders. They also claim states can restrict the powers of corporations within their states, including corporations chartered in other states. IANAL but it sounds reasonable, if you discount the power of corporations v the power of states. And perhaps unnecessary if we pack the Court. But interesting.
The bit about holding people accountable is where we really dropped the ball last time. Even if we can’t convict Trump, we should be able to make examples of his myriad minions.
The Balloon Juice post also has a clip of James Talarico doing a great job of answering a question about trans athletes.
@gVOR10:
Jesus Christ, not trans athletes. It doesn’t matter if Jesus comes down and endorses it, it’s a losing issue. What happens in international sports? What happens with the Olympics? This is a poison pill.
@Rob1: if someone is dressed as a giant penis, holding a sign that says “No Dick-Tators” and does not have any potato puns… I support their arrest.
Yes, there’s a first amendment, but rights come with responsibilities, and an opportunity for a potato pun is an obligation and a responsibility.
@CSK: It’s good to read that you are bouncing, but not what you are bouncing between. Bounce to a better place soon?
@Michael Reynolds:
I believe this. People may need to come to terms with making some sacrifices as they choose to spend their money and time a little differently. Given the threats to our economy, culture, education, constitutional freedoms, etc., a little (or more) sacrifice is called for. On that note, if links to social media are identified as twitter, then I’ll know not to click them.
@Rob1:
The jokes write themselves, like the ones about her receiving pro bono representation (keeping it clean — modify the text as needed).
@Gustopher:
I’ll try!!!