Thursday’s Forum

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FILED UNDER: Open Forum
Steven L. Taylor
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 Twitter

Comments

  1. Kingdaddy says:

    But which is the real Thursday forum?

    1
  2. Gavin says:

    It’s been 24 hours. I look forward to MAGA’s excuses why Trump’s promises about ending the Ukraine war Immediately With One Phone Call were so much talk.
    The question you should ask is.. what else that came out of Trump’s mouth was just talk?

    The fun irony is that the one phone call which did take place to Putin was from Xi to discuss trade agreements and a deepening of the Russia-China relationship.

    2
  3. Daryl says:

    @Kingdaddy:
    One is the red pill forum. The other, the blue pill forum. Choose carefully.

    2
  4. Daryl says:

    On Tuesday everyone’s favorite commentator defended the indefensible, Elmo’s Nazi salute, by linking to a series of still photos.
    Please take a look.
    https://outsidethebeltway.com/musks-nazi-salute/#comment-2980221
    Yesterday I found this on IG.
    I urge you to watch.
    https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFJBerdSwkb/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
    Compare and contrast…
    https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFGp1AHy6VI/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
    Now, please, do not pile on everyone’s favorite commentator.
    We know what he is. No need to repeat it over and over and over and over and over….

    5
  5. Sleeping Dog says:

    Question of the day: Will president felon pressure GM to change the name of the Denali SUV to McKinley?

    10
  6. Crusty Dem says:

    The big news on science Bluesky (because Twitter is very dead for science now, thanks Elon!) is that the Trump administration halted NIH study section mid-review and sent scientists home (not a great decision, short or long-term, will just end up costing more $$$). Additionally, word is that grants aimed at helping minority students (summer programs for students from poor areas, etc) have received notification that funding is halted.

    Scientists are, understandably, irate.

    4
  7. CSK says:

    Trump is calling for MSNBC to be shut down

    1
  8. Matt Bernius says:

    @Crusty Dem:
    Yup, I’ve heard that too… completely right that temporarily suspending work is a HUGE waste of money.

    Likewise, I’ve been hearing that a lot of executive branch workers have been essentially subjected to loyalty interviews (which include asking their opinions on Trump and which of their colleagues they think should be fired). That is absolutely toxic.

    3
  9. Kathy says:

    @Crusty Dem:

    Hey, that bird flu pandemic won’t start itself.

    @Matt Bernius:

    It’s perfectly normal operating procedure in stalinist and hitlerian regimes.

    3
  10. SC_Birdflyte says:

    In M. Scott Peck’s book People of the Lie (1985), he identifies the characteristics of such persons:
    “In addition to the abrogation of responsibility that characterizes all personality disorders, this one would specifically be distinguished by:
    a) Consistent destructive, scapegoating behavior, which may often be quite subtle.
    b) Excessive, albeit usually covert, intolerance to criticism and other forms of narcissistic injury.
    c) Pronounced concern with a public image and self-image of respectability, contributing to a stability of lifestyle but also to pretentiousness and denial of hateful feelings or vengeful motives.
    Intellectual deviousness, with an increased likelihood of a mild schizophrenic disturbance of thinking at times of stress.”

    3
  11. Kathy says:

    At some point the obsessive, incessant accumulation of wealth by the oligarchs has to cross over into some kind of mental disorder. I refer to it sometimes as the Burns’ disease, after a Simpsons ep where Mr. Burns says of his fortune “I’d give it all up for a little more.”

    5
  12. Crusty Dem says:

    @Matt Bernius:

    Frankly, some of this is not wildly abnormal, there’s usually some mild fuckups with new administrations, particularly GOP ones which really fail to account for the complexity of the job they’re undertaking (and generally are poor at govt management). Astounding that one party cannot find people with the competence to do the actual job they’re elected to do…

    @Kathy:

    To be clear, the Biden administration wasn’t exactly doing a stellar job halting the forthcoming pandemic. But yes, the post-loyalty purge Trump administration will be a full disaster.

    1
  13. Mimai says:

    @Crusty Dem:
    Yep, I posted about this yesterday evening in the open forum. It’s a mess. People are indeed irate. I’m one of these people. And irate isn’t typically my thing.

    The communications embargo, coupled with the abruptness of it all (eg, study section meetings cancelled), has been especially unsettling. ProPublica has been reaching out to the community for comments.

    A related concern is that future funding (eg, a university faculty member getting an NIH grant) may be contingent on whether the organization (eg, university) is in compliance with new federal DEI dictates. Regardless of whether the grant has anything to do with “DEI” stuff.

    This is not dissimilar from discussions on federal disaster relief being contingent on things that have little to do with the disaster itself.

    7
  14. MarkedMan says:

    In the early days of the internet I used to have quite the list of bookmarks, sites which I found truly useful. Gradually these dwindled as google and other search engines became better, and I found I could just google a question and the first couple of hits usually provided the answer. I fear we are regressing dramatically and I don’t see any going back. Today I searched for “Why do I only have one level of undo in Excel” and got dozens of replies. The first three or four were obviously AI generated, were extremely wordy, gave all kinds of background I didn’t need, before getting around to not answering the questions. Scrolling through, the rest appear to be about the same.

    Companies have neglected their Help functions, because most people just google. It’s going to be very frustrating unless they restaff up and start producing good user manuals again.

    2
  15. Scott says:

    @Matt Bernius: What? They are not considering merit? I thought we were in a new age of meritocracy.

    3
  16. Joe says:

    I wonder the extent to which an administration can legally sequester funds allocated by Congress. There is clearly a lot of discretion – as when an administration, for example, announces some level of funding for a particular disaster. But my understanding is that the discretion is not endless – as when Trump was impeached for threatening not to fund Ukraine unless they announced an investigation of Biden. Surely somebody here knows the parameters.

    2
  17. becca says:

    @Kathy: Enough is never enough when the lust for money and power defines a person.
    I would be a terrible billionaire. It would destroy me. Money attracts a lot of dirt. Human dirt. I don’t want further confirmation that so many people are greedy selfish parasites.
    Also, fear of kidnapping, of your family being kidnapped, driving in armored vehicles, etc. Sounds insanely stressful. Never being able to take a walk in the park or go to the grocery store…
    Anyway, good news is I like to keep things simple. I’m lucky. We don’t have a lot, we don’t want a lot, but we have all we need.

    2
  18. inhumans99 says:

    So Los Angeles is burning again, Hughes fire in Santa Clarita (right where Magic Mountain is located), no structures so far, just brush, thank goodness.

    Sepulveda Pass, and the school my sister teaches at is pretty close to the fire, also glad she is still teaching remotely this week. At least the evacuation orders have been lifted.

    Los Angeles needs to catch a break sometime soon.

    4
  19. Michael Cain says:

    @Sleeping Dog:
    If you read that EO, only the mountain’s name is changed. The National Park and Preserve explicitly remain named Denali. There’s a catch-all clause at the end that says the actions in the EO should only be taken if they don’t conflict with existing statute. That may be problematic for the “Gulf of America”. The name Gulf of Mexico is used in a variety of treaties and other international agreements the US has agreed to.

    2
  20. Michael Cain says:

    @Joe:

    I wonder the extent to which an administration can legally sequester funds allocated by Congress.

    The Impoundment Act of 1976 requires the President to spend funds appropriated by Congress, and for the purposes named by Congress. Past SCOTUS decisions have upheld that law as constitutional.

  21. Joe says:

    There’s a catch-all clause at the end that says the actions in the EO should only be taken if they don’t conflict with existing statute.

    Stated another way, @Michael Cain, they couldn’t be bothered to research the issue.

    1
  22. Rob1 says:

    The pseudo-morality President is also anti-science. The “new Golden Age” is being heralded by an alchemist.


    Trump hits NIH with ‘devastating’ freezes on meetings, travel, communications, and hiring

    This kind of disruption could have long ripple effects,” says Jane Liebschutz, an opioid addiction researcher at the University of Pittsburgh who posted on Bluesky about the canceled study sections. “Even short delays will put the United States behind in research.” She and colleagues are feeling “a lot of uncertainty, fear, and panic,” Liebschutz says.

    https://www.science.org/content/article/trump-hits-nih-devastating-freezes-meetings-travel-communications-and-hiring

  23. CSK says:

    Trump has revoked SS protection for Mike Pompeo as well as John Bolton.

    1
  24. Gustopher says:

    @Kathy: Wealthy man Bryan Johnson is totally normal.

    https://bsky.app/profile/krang.bsky.social/post/3lgevmjfkrc2v

    Nighttime erection data from my 19-year-old son, @talmagejohnson, and me. His duration is two minutes longer than mine.

    Raise children to stand tall, be firm, and be upright.

    Not unhinged at all. Perfectly hinged.

    3
  25. Mister Bluster says:

    A federal judge temporarily blocks Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship
    U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour ruled in the case brought by the states of Washington, Arizona, Illinois and Oregon, which argue the 14th Amendment and Supreme Court case law have cemented birthright citizenship.
    The case is one of five lawsuits being brought by 22 states and a number of immigrants rights groups across the country. The suits include personal testimonies from attorneys general who are U.S. citizens by birthright, and names pregnant women who are afraid their children won’t become U.S. citizens.

    2
  26. beca says:

    @CSK: The Biden Administration gave Pompeo, Bolton and another fellow SS protection because of credible threats from Iran on their lives, because they carried out trump’s policies.
    I hope all the current minions take notice. Selling your soul to trump is irrevocable and his thirst for revenge is unquenchable.

    2
  27. CSK says:

    : @beca:

    I have no doubt Trump is delighted that Bolton and Pompeo now have to worry about their safety and that of their families.

    4
  28. JohnSF says:

    I may have missed some earlier commentary on this (been busy on site with digital library stuff, lol)
    But the wtff is up with the pardon for Ulbricht (the “Silk Road” guy).
    What possible justification is there for this?
    Or even any motive, if justification is impossible, which seems to be the case?
    A financial conduit for the cryptocoin maniacs?
    El Ron’s ket’ dealer?
    What?

    And “law and order” Republicans are just fine with this?
    I mean, the guy was clearly guilty, and not of trivial offences either.

    4
  29. wr says:

    @CSK: “Trump has revoked SS protection for Mike Pompeo as well as John Bolton.”

    On a theoretical level I find this disgusting. He’s basically setting them up to be killed.

    On the other hand, couldn’t happen to a nicer couple of guys.

    1
  30. wr says:

    @JohnSF: “What possible justification is there for this?”

    Apparently the libertarian crypto bros love the guy, and they gave Trump a lot of money.

    4
  31. CSK says:

    The Senate has confirmed John Ratcliffe, 74-25, to be CIA director.

    1
  32. charontwo says:

    @JohnSF:

    He has a following, people who are big Libertarians, players in Crypto, which now appears to include the Trump family.

    I have read Part 1, have not yet gotten to Part 2 (it’s pretty long):

    Part 1

    Part 2

    1
  33. Mister Bluster says:
  34. JohnSF says:

    @charontwo:
    ‘Tis a twice told tale: once your “ideals” lead your business interests into the dodgy side of town, you are pretty certain to end up doing dodgy deals with dodgy people.
    Reminds me of a horticulture enterprise and bars owner I knew, and was helping out with stuff, back in the last century.
    Ended up entangled with some very unpleasant folks, as “investors”.
    Me, about to leave London: “You’re making a big mistake. Back out, if you can. Anyway, I’m gone. Don’t bother calling. Because the phone and address you have for me are dead.”
    Never did learn what became of all that.

  35. dazedandconfused says:

    Fell asleep on the couch watching “Return Of The King” a few days back and awoke to the credits. The final coda for that film was a song “Into The West”, a singing performance that stunned me to fully-awake. Can’t imagine a better job. Made a note to myself that to find out who sang that. Classically trained, I bet to myself.

    Found out it was Annie Lennox of The Eurythmics fame. Classically trained? Yup, that and much much more. Nice to see she is still around and doing well. A life well-lived

    1
  36. Mikey says:

    @Gustopher: What. The. Actual. Fuck.

    There is a list of things in this world I’m interested in, and “my son’s nighttime erections” is about 1000 spots below the last item on that list.

    2
  37. JohnSF says:

    @Gustopher:
    WTF? Is he standing by with a tape measure and a stop-watch?
    Like somebody said: “Weird.”

  38. JohnSF says:

    @Michael Cain:
    How about the Gulf of Mutual Incomprehension?

    1
  39. JohnSF says:

    @dazedandconfused:
    It’s a lovely song.
    And in some ways, closer to Tolkien than the films themselves.
    All of the Peter Jackson version, always seemed to me to miss the sorrow and loss that was at the heart of Tolkien’s tale.
    Aragorn’s mother, dying: “I gave hope to the Dunedain, I have kept no hope for myself.”
    In the film, Celeborn sails off.
    In the book, he did not.
    Tolkien implies he could not bear to leave the Middle Earth he loved.
    And as for his granddaughter Arwen, seeing her Aragorn dying:
    “Not till now have I understood the tale of your people and their fall. As wicked fools I scorned them, but I pity them at last. For if this is indeed, as the Eldar say, the gift of the One to Men, it is bitter to receive.”
    “Then she said farewell to Eldarion, and to her daughters, and to all whom she had loved; and she went out from the city of Minas Tirith and passed away to the land of Lórien, and dwelt there alone under the fading trees until winter came. Galadriel had passed away and Celeborn was also gone, and the land was silent.”
    “There at last when the mallorn-leaves were falling, but spring had not yet come, she laid herself to rest upon Cerin Amroth; and there is her green grave, until the world is changed, and all the days of her life are utterly forgotten by men that come after, and elanor and niphredil bloom no more east of the Sea.”

    1
  40. Jax says:

    Testing….testing…..I’ve had computer problems….first world problems, really. I bought a gaming computer, and the keyboard didn’t fit how I type.

    Jesus fucking Christ, I love my new keyboard.

    Beth, Stormy Dragon, Kathy, I love you. I’ve never felt so helpless. Or so helpless to help my kid. What the actual fuck.

    1
  41. dazedandconfused says:

    @JohnSF: Annie captured the melancholy big time, didn’t she? She also hit impressive highs for a contralto. Gave it all she had for a movie sound track which nobody would likely pay any attention to. A consummate pro. I felt like I had found a diamond in the weeds but then discovered they gave it an Academy Award for Best Original Song, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, and the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.

    I believe Tolkien was processing his WW1 trenches trauma. So many aspects point to it. Making Samwise (the low-class Tommy) the true hero. The Ring of Power (imo) is the awesome but mysterious power of strident nationalism, safe only in the hands of those who lack the power to wield it.

    1
  42. JohnSF says:

    @dazedandconfused:
    If you read Tolkien’s letters and interviews, and the published draft material for LOTR, the effect of WW1 is obvious.
    But also, which gets missed, the alienation of one concerned with the “Deep Matter” from everyday life of the “hobbits”. Both the pain of war, and the pain of knowledge as alienating.
    And the corruption of “right” by “advantage”.
    Of course, Tolkien was also a rather reactionary Catholic anarchist distributionist aesthete.
    Rather difficult to pigeon-hole, from a modern pov.
    The Ring seems to have been above all a command of minds, and knowledge of things, and perhaps a capability to direct nature, than any vulgar Marvel-style “super power”.

    Tolkien’s comments on Sam are interesting: he both said he was in many ways a bit simple, and yet also an agent of redemption.
    And he also ends up longing for something beyond the secular Shire.
    For he was also a Ring Bearer.

    I have a bit of an interest in Tolkein, both due to the books, and also because he he used to live just a mile away, in Lickey Hills.
    His mother’s grave is a minutes walk from my house.

    1