Tuesday’s Forum

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FILED UNDER: Open Forum,
Steven L. Taylor
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.

Comments

  1. DK says:

    Should’ve known electing a MAD Magazine parody president would turn US politics into a reality TV freakshow.

    MAGA figures push claims Trump assassination attempt was staged (MSN)

    Prominent MAGA influencers and former allies of Donald Trump are increasingly promoting conspiracy theories that the July 2024 assassination attempt at his Butler, Pennsylvania rally was staged. The theories, lacking evidence, gained traction after ex-counterterrorism official Joe Kent alleged the investigation ended prematurely, prompting speculation from figures like Tim Dillon, Candace Owens, and Ali Alexander. The claims reflect growing fractures in Trump’s base amid policy dissatisfaction and could shape the political narrative heading into future elections.

    Elect a clown, expect a circus.

    Tucker Carlson Apologizes for the Role He Played in Getting Trump Elected (Yahoo)

    As Carlson went on, he admitted that they, along with “millions of people like us,” are “the reason this is happening right now.”

    “So, I do think it’s like a moment to wrestle with our own consciences,” he added. “We’ll be tormented by it for a long time — I will be. And I want to say I’m sorry for misleading people, it was not intentional. That’s all I’ll say.”

    Carlson’s admission came after his brother suggested that those in power should consider utilizing the 25th amendment, which can declare the president incapable of fulfilling their duties.

    Hot air, cuckboi. Apologize to Hillary Rodham Clinton.

    9
  2. charontwo says:

    The surveillance state:

    ICE glasses

    Exclusive: ICE Glasses

    Homeland Security is making “smart glasses” to collect intelligence on Americans

    The secret recesses of the government already collect what are literally called “non‑cooperative biometrics,” where the data is captured without a subject’s consent. (The Defense Department sometimes prefers the more euphemistic term “non‑obtrusive biometrics” for collection that is silent, standoff at a distance, or otherwise invisible to the person being recorded.)

    That’s the world of ubiquitous surveillance that the Department of Homeland Security is looking to reproduce here on American soil.

    FBI Director Kash Patel hinted at the enormity of the biometrics effort in a social media post last December saying the Bureau “undertook a project earlier this year to vastly expand our overseas biometrics program,” adding: “We’ve worked with partners across the federal government at @DHSgov @CBP and more … to implement improvements at every level.”

    Then in January, Patel announced that the FBI had “doubled intelligence production at our threat Screening Center” — which maintains the domestic terrorism watchlist — pointing to “sharply increased biometric matches…”

    The ICE Glasses project is overseen by the Department of Homeland Security’s research and development arm, called the Science & Technology Directorate.

    Though Congress has been notified of the project, no members have said anything publicly, including Homeland Security Committee leaders Bennie Thompson, Rand Paul, Andrew Garbarino, and Gary Peters.

    When that federal agent near an ICE protest in Maine said, “We have a nice little database,” he wasn’t kidding. The only joke here is Congress.

    4
  3. Charley in Cleveland says:

    @DK: Well whaddaya know – over in Wingnuttia they now have questions about Trump’s pro wrestler worthy fist pump and faux resistance to agents trying to get him off the stage in Butler, PA. They’ve also noticed that Trump immediately marketed the event (saved by Jesus!), and never mentions the poor guy who actually did “take a bullet,” and lost his life. Given the reality TV essence of cabinet meetings, nothing can be said to be beneath Trump’s dignity. Stew in it, Tucker!

    6
  4. Daryl says:

    Fatso is getting ready to TACO and knows he fucked up by welching on the JCPOA, so he’s spreading the bullshit deep and wide.

    If a Deal happens under “TRUMP,” it will guarantee Peace, Security, and Safety, not only for Israel and the Middle East, but for Europe, America, and everywhere else.

    Imagine…guaranteed peace and safety EVERYWHERE!!!

    https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/116438239629407600

    7
  5. charontwo says:

    Oil markets suspicious trades. Inside information?

    Omission

    5
  6. Sleeping Dog says:

    @charontwo:

    I suspect this is the felon and/or a family member(s).

    3
  7. CSK says:

    @Daryl:

    I wonder why:

    1. Trump refers to himself in the third person,
    2. puts scare quotes around his name, and
    3. capitalizes the letters in it.

    1
  8. DK says:

    The bottom could be falling out in Trump’s polls (CNN)

    Two new polls released Tuesday morning showed Trump’s approval rating in the mid-30s: 36% in a Reuters-Ipsos poll and 35% in a Strength in Numbers-Verasight poll. They follow an NBC News poll over the weekend that showed Trump hitting a new low of 37%.

    Over the past month now, eight of nine quality polls tracked by CNN have shown Trump in the 30s.

    The only exception was a Fox News poll pegging Trump at 41%, but even that showed Trump with his worst numbers in its polls since 2017.

    The more his unpopularity rises, the more he’ll decompensate further into psychosis.

    The Long-Delayed Realization (Tony Davis)

    It’s frustrating to watch mainstream commentary suddenly “discover” concerns about Donald Trump’s fitness for office, as though this is a new development. Analysts now point to aging, possible cognitive decline, or personality traits to explain his behavior, framing it as a recent deterioration…

    …Yes, aging can exacerbate existing tendencies. Anyone in their late seventies will show some level of decline. But focusing solely on that misses the point. The argument that Trump is unfit to lead has never depended on recent changes alone. It has always been about patterns of behavior: an inability to process complex information, a disregard for expertise, a tendency toward impulsive decision-making, and a reliance on inflammatory rhetoric rather than coherent policy.

    For years, these concerns were dismissed or minimized. Now, as the consequences become harder to ignore, there is a sense of belated recognition—not just among commentators, but within ableist political institutions that once supported him.

    At age 79 or 69 or 39: Trump is “temperamentally unfit” as Hillary repeated ad nauseum. A creepy and childish pathological lying pedo is unqualified at any stage.

    Toddler Sent To Room While Grownups Talk (Wonkette)

    …White House officials have to keep the president far away from any decision-making about a war because his decaying brain now resembles a moldy block of cheese you forgot has been in the back of the refrigerator since 2006…

    …that’s the opening anecdote of the story: it was the afternoon of Good Friday, and an American F-15 had just been shot down over Iran. Trump spent hours screaming at his aides that the military needed to go in and get the downed pilots immediately. Since the military needed time to actually plan how to do that, the president’s aides gave him a juicebox and sent him to play with his Lincoln Logs or something:

    Aides kept the president out of the room as they got minute-by-minute updates because they believed his impatience wouldn’t be helpful, instead updating him at meaningful moments[.]

    And well they should be concerned. Both pilots were rescued, Trump went to bed, and six hours later sent out his infamous post warning Iran to “open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards.”

    While recovering from COVID, Joe Biden personally worked the phones to close a multinational hostage release involving Russia, after Trumpers + our dumbest demos (invariably blind to their ignorance) told us Biden was too elderly to function. So we replaced liberal competence with neofascist brainrot.

    Youth is no antidote to the toxins in American culture, with Zoomer males hustled by Nick Fuentes, Polymarket, Clavicular, and Draft Kings. Selfishness and stupidity have no political cure.

    8
  9. Gregory Lawrence Brown says:
  10. Kathy says:

    @DK:

    I’ve read a number of reports recently, that El Taco was astonished how easily Iran closed off Hormuz, though he had been warned about it.

    I think he may have imagined a physical barrier would be necessary. Like a cartoonishly large striped boom, like those on parking lots, or so many mines you could walk on them clear across the strait.

    2
  11. Sleeping Dog says:

    @DK:

    I wonder what the over/under is till his numbers are down to the crazed 27%?

    But he’s becoming more dangerous as he becomes unhinged..

    2
  12. Sleeping Dog says:

    Israeli soldiers punished over vandalism of Jesus statue in Lebanon

    I wonder what Mike Huckabee and other evangelical supporters of Israel have to say?

    2
  13. JohnSF says:

    @Daryl:

    “… it will guarantee Peace, Security, and Safety, not only for Israel and the Middle East, but for Europe, America, and everywhere else.”

    “Now where’s my Nobel prize, you ungrateful bastards?”

    3
  14. Kathy says:

    @JohnSF:

    Reminds me of an obscure Rob Dilan* song, Blowin’ up the World:

    How many wars must one man start
    before he can get the Peace Prize?

    The answer my friend
    is blowin’ up the world
    The answer is blowin’ up the world

    *Winner of the Noble Price for Writin’ Stuff Good

    3
  15. Kathy says:

    Looks like it’s TACO Tuesday

    El Taco has extended the ceasefire indefinitely, “while talks go on.”

    That almost makes him look rational. I can’t help but think it’s an aberration, or even his sycophantic clown car of a cabinet and advisers have reached their limit of insanity.

    2
  16. CSK says:

    @Kathy:

    Didn’t Suzy Wiles call some sort of emergency meeting the other day?

    2
  17. Kathy says:

    @CSK:

    Given the toddler Taco she’s charged with, and the clown car cabinet, I’d assume she’d call one very other day.

    2
  18. Kathy says:

    The repression continues. The Southern Poverty Law Center has been indicted on federal fraud charges.

    I’m sure it’s bunk, and that it will cost the SPLC a bundle to clear itself, and time it won’t be able to dedicate to worthier causes.

    2
  19. Kathy says:

    On the plus side, in the special election in Virginia voters approved the redistricting measure.

    2
  20. Kathy says:

    Also on the plus side, according to Paul Krugman in his substack today, polls indicate a majority in the US believe the economy was better under Biden.

    Of course, they think this because it’s true.

    1