Wednesday’s Forum
Steven L. Taylor
·
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
·
38 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).
Follow Steven on
Twitter
It’s been almost 48 hours since the world’s richest man , and a key advisor to our new President. threw a Nazi salute and we are supposed to have moved on.
We should not.
So here’s a clip from American History X, the story of two brothers who are involved in the white power skinhead and neo-Nazi movements, to remind you.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFF9OAiuBXl/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
Somewhere on social media someone commented that libtards need to look at the context of Musk’s “gesture” and not be ridiculous.
After Charlottesville when Trump told us there were very fine people on the white nationalist’s side we were told we didn’t hear what we heard and we were being ridiculous.
When Ivana Trump said that her former spouse used to keep a book of Adolf Hitler’s speeches in his bedside cabinet Trump told us “If I had these speeches, and I am not saying that I do, I would never read them.”
Again, we were being ridiculous.
When John Kelly told us that Trump told him, “Hitler did some good things” and said he could confirm previous reports that the former president spoke positively of the Nazi leader more than once we were told that Kelly “has totally beclowned himself with these debunked stories he has fabricated.”
Again, ridiculous.
Criticized for repeating exact phrasing once used by Adolf Hitler to argue that immigrants entering the U.S. illegally are “poisoning the blood of our country,” Trump insisted he had no idea that Hitler had used the same words.
Libtards again being ridiculous.
I beg of you, just look at the context.
I’ll leave you with this very tired and incredibly ridiculous passage;
“The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
How long until non-Trump-conforming websites are shut down?
How long until an Executive Order has the ISP’s just remove the sites from DNS, since the courts have struck down FCC Net Neutrality? As it is clear the US tech companies have bent over backwards to kiss the ring, it could be QED.
Asking for a friend, not for myself… I, for one, welcome our MAGA autocratic overlords, of course.
/s
Trump has pardoned money launderer Ross Ulbricht: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-pardons-silk-road-founder-ulbricht-online-drug-scheme-2025-01-22/
Every time Dump issues one of these Executive Orders, he’s going to be stepping on some toes. What the Dems need to do now is to make sure every one of them gets widely publicized in the most pointed fashion possible. For example, WRT the pardon of Ross Ulbricht, push the message “Trump loves money launderers. They’ve kept him afloat financially.”
@SC_Birdflyte:
I suspect it’s even worse: Silk Road was used to facilitate murder-for-hire and Trump wants to reestablish ways of funding right-wing political violence
It’s clear now what Speaker Mike Johnson’s real function is in the Trumpworld: the canary in the coal mine. If he survives the announcement of a policy, then it’s safe for Trump to step forward and claim it. Let’s see how this works out:
HANNITY: Are you saying that California, if they continue to aid and abet lawbreaking and harbor illegal immigrants, money from DC gets cut off?
MIKE JOHNSON: Yeah. We’re talking about conditions to this disaster aid.
I’ve already written to my Democratic representatives that if they don’t oppose this with every fiber in their bodies, they are no true Americans.
Source: https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lgccyx7agx24
Interesting that Zuck is embroiled in some serious legal trouble, accused of using pirated material from Russia to seed meta ai. He was deposed as recently as December 2024.
I am sure ***** will intervene on Zuck’s behalf. He might toy with Zuck a bit, make him do a little dance, make him sweat. Must really stick in his craw, since, according to Mrs Zuck, he likes to pretend he’s Caesar.
AOC responds to the ADL gaslighting:
https://x.com/AOC/status/1881493371900113227
From WAPO this morning.
It’s all fun and games until bird flu breaks out.
Trump has signed an executive order pulling the U.S. from the World Health Organization. The MAGAs are thrilled, just as they are about the pardon of Enrique Tarrio and the rest of the peaceful patriots.
I’m told that the DEI employees at Fed Agencies were notified that they are to be detailed to other internal work centers immediately–or be placed on Administrative leave, with full benefits.
So what’s going to happen, is that retirement-eligible DEI coordinators are going to get paid vacations and the rest are going to get positions description and duty changes–and keep pumping away.
These people are an inch deep. I’d if learned anything in the game of being ready to help kill America’s enemies–it’s this:
There is a counter for Everything (assuming one actually does the proper analysis to find their adversaries flaws)
@Liberal Capitalist: @charontwo:
Side-by-side video of neo-Nazis performing the salute, and of Musk saluting the Nazis. It’s the exact same gesture, down to the timing.
And so we know who groomed Musk into this noxious, anti-American ideology, here’s a video of Musk’s dad telling a podcaster his ex-wife’s parents moved from Canada to S. Africa because they were fanatically white supremacist Hitler apologists.
I’m sure the ADL and others who have been in meltdown mode over college kids protesting Israel’s Gaza strategy will be all over the Nazi-saluting oligarch in Trump’s White House, right? Right???
Meanwhile, egg costs and shortages are rising due to bird flu, while Trump plans to dismantle the WHO and assault Medicaid and Medicare. None of the above, nor Trump releasing hundreds of violent J6 criminals onto the streets, figures to lower prices or reduce crime.
Trump and Musk are trolling, not solving problems. They should soon be blamed for everything wrong in American life.
@DK:
“ADL on X.com”
See my post upthread for what AOC had to say.
@charontwo: It seems that
@elonmusk
made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge.
I managed to finish Skeleton Crew yesterday.
It was ok. Better than The Acolyte, for sure. A nice look at more normal people in the galaxy far far away. But I was left with too many questions, which require spoilers to even bring up.
SPOILER ALERT
You’ve been warned.
At Attin was an old republic mint. Meaning they must have been out of touch with the galaxy for decades. They seem unaware of “the war” (which might mean any of several wars), the fall of the republic, the empire, the rise of the new republic, and the entire Skywalker clan. So, what kept them going, and did no one ever think to check if things were ok, or if their “great work” was even good for anything anymore?
Other than that, I misliked that in the end, our brave heroes succeeded in protecting the money.
@SC_Birdflyte: This on so many levels. The RW got stories of the price of eggs to go viral.
My $Trumper secretary, after a discussion about the Dept of Education, when told of some of the things they did (she had zero idea) said, ‘Well maybe they should sldo a better job showing people what they’re involved in’
THIS IS THE DEM’S MOMENT
There is a hiring freeze now at the VA. When a Vet dies awaiting care, $Trump’s Fault–hiring freeze. Crops rotted in the field? sTrumps fault, no Guest Worker program.
There will be SO MANY EFFIN TARGETS of opportunity here to advertise what the government does.
But the current Dem leadership and Consultancy cabal will go cry on cable news with clutched pearls–thinking that talking about how afraid they are is moving the needles with the midterm voters they’ll need in 2026. It’s not, Pity is not envogue anymore as an activation emotion. Too many people are (and have been) caught up I’m seeing themselves as the victim.
@Kathy: The people of At Attin were not predisposed to question anything. They simply did what they did under the “benevolent” eyes of the Supervisor and the security droids.
I inferred that this “Great Work” had been going on for so long that they didn’t even really know why anymore, but again, there were not prone to questioning their apparently very safe and comfortable existences.
Also, they were always taught that outside the Shield were only hazards and doom, and to venture forth was forbidden.
@Stormy Dragon: Silk Road was also a fine place to buy drugs and cp/csam. All using bitcoin, of course, and Ulbricht got a cut.
“Trump pardons man who sold child porn” is a straightforward message.
Freeing Ulbricht was a goal of a bunch of libertarian groups. The same ones that want to do away with child labor laws, lower the age of consent, and legalize prostitution.
@Kathy: The folks on At Attin were also living in a pleasant dystopia, doing the bidding of machines, never questioning their role. It’s a gilded cage they stay in while misinformed about the rest of the galaxy.
There’s a fair bit of commentary in there for a kids show,
Also, I’m not sure the kids saved the money. I expect that most of it would go to the New Republic, as they are the logical successors of the previous Republic. I would like to see how rapidly expanding the money supply affects the broader economy.
Wife and I went out for breakfast this morning on the way to doing some chores. It was a bit after 9:00 and we got stuck behind some school busses. In our area the buses normally run between 7:00 and 8:00. Wife told me that they had delayed the start of school due to the cold. (It has been 3 days since it snowed and the roads are clear.) I looked and it was 7 degrees at 7:00 and 11 degrees at 9:00. Is there really and good reason to delay the start of school by a couple of hours just so it can be 4 degrees warmer? I kind of feel like the old guy complaining about the kids not walking uphill both ways to school like I used to do but I really can see a reason for this.
Steve
@steve: I hear you. Here in New Mexico, there’s a big difference in perceived temperature when the sun is shining vs. when it’s dark. (Being at 7000 feet may have something to do with it.) Schools here opened late, too. I thought it was strange and probably made people’s lives difficult for a morning, but eh….
@steve:
Since you mentioned buses, I’ll tell you it’s mostly because of the buses.
Buses are generally diesel vehicles, which do not like to start in the cold, especially in areas that may not have widespread use of engine block heaters (or many places to plug them in).
School may be delayed two hours, but the bus drivers are only delayed one hour, which gives them that extra hour in case they need a service vehicle to show up and get the bus started (or a substitute bus, if necessary).
Also even if they start right away it takes them a LONG time to warm up inside. My wife drives hers around the block a few times and then sits on a hot water bottle so she doesn’t get hypothermia.
Also also, in many large school districts there will be classrooms set up in prefab structures and those will need some time to warm up. My wife talked to a teacher who said she had run the heater in the prefab for an hour to get it up to only 40F.
@steve: Here in NH, cold weather delays are due to what @Mikey mentions–because the busses are a) diesel; and b) parked outside, it takes a much longer time to get the vehicles started.
There was a school shooting in Nashville today. Here are some other Tennessee school shootings: https://comptroller.tn.gov/content/dam/cot/orea/advanced-search/2023/SchoolSafetyDataBrief.pdf
@Mikey:
The Star Wars galaxy is kind of a crappy place. There are monsters, lots of armed people, war, and the most popular occupations seem to be bounty hunter and smuggler. There doesn’t seem to be any TV or books.
So, sure, they had it good and peaceful and were used to it, and it’s a kid’s show.
@Gustopher:
That’s what I wondered should whatever his name is win in the end. He’d have a crew of billionaires for a while, and then the money would devalue fast.
I also would like to know what happened to the pirate who originally intended to loot the mint. If he had been shot down, the ship would have been damaged.
@DK: He was just pointing at Mars!
GOP member wants bishop ‘added to deportation list’ after Trump prayer service
This is the GOP supporting unity and free speech.
@dazedandconfused: I saw someone saying it was a Star Trek salute. I couldn’t tell if they were good joking, bad joking or simply lying.
It was used in the Terran Empire in the mirror universe…
@Kathy:
There is definitely TV in Star Wars, as we saw it in the Holiday Special. There was a cooking show, and a documentary/news thing about Tattoine where Bea Arthur served drinks.
As far as everything else sucking, I expect it is because the galaxy is under a constant attack from midichlorians, who infiltrate their cells, and grant unstable people amazing superpowers. That cannot be good for peace and progress.
I am pro-vaccine, or at least mandatory anti-midichloral treatment for the public good.
@Gustopher:
My understanding is that few people will ever admit to having seen the holiday special.
In Rebels now and then there were propaganda broadcasts.
For that matter, trek also seems to lack TV. But they do have books and holodecks.
On other things, somehow I got ahead of all my (known) work, despite a very short, vey bad night yesterday. It was one of those nights when I couldn’t find a comfortable sleeping position, and any little thing, sound or sensation, woke me up. Not to mention my cold is at the coughing stage, and apparently one can cough while asleep. Of course, this does wake one up…
I must have slept 3.5 hours all told, and maybe not a full hour uninterrupted. And it had to happen when I had to get up earlier to present samples in Toluca.
NIH is in disarray. So too are other agencies. Due to the “pause” on communications. CNN story.
All current NIH study sections (peer review of grant proposals) were abruptly shut down. Those scheduled in the near future are as well. NIH officials couldn’t even communicate the shut down to reviewers or investigators.
Selfishly, this is terribly frustrating. I have approx $8 million in grant proposals that were scheduled to be reviewed tomorrow. And another $6 million in proposals to be reviewed in Feb.
Any one of these proposals takes months of work to prepare (this is an NIH problem, which I’ll set aside for the moment). Lots of livelihoods are at stake — and I’m just talking about my staff and trainees.
CDC and FDA are also incommunicado. What could possibly go wrong!?
@becca:
Zuckerberg is about as hapless as a multi-billionaire can be. He will play with Zuckerberg in the same way a cat plays with a wounded prey – bat him around for while then let him write another check to a ‘charity.’
@Mimai:
More from Science magazine.
Trump hits NIH with ‘devastating’ freezes on meetings, travel, communications, and hiring
While the left strokes or fingers their privates over Elon Musk and their Nazi fantasies, real news happens.
Donald Trump tells Putin find a way to end the Ukraine war, or sanctions.
That’s what leadership looks like. Biden and his kneepads have left the building.
@Connor: Hardee har har!!!! And what makes Trump’s threats any more threatening than the numerous sanctions the Biden Administration has already put on Russia, Putin, and his cronies?! You think Putin feels “threatened” because it’s Trump?!
I can see you’ve recently bought your own kneepads to fellate your beloved orange con man, hopefully you’ve put those on auto-subscribe on your Amazon so they arrive fresh every 4 weeks or so! You’re gonna need ’em! 😉 😉
Hail Mary full of grace.
Notre Dame’s in second place!
@Jax:
Won’t he also need a magnifying glass? At least those don’t wear out with use.
@Kathy: He’s ok, he subscribes to Zero Hedge, magnifying glass is included. 😉