Wednesday’s Forum
Steven L. Taylor
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Wednesday, May 27, 2026
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21 comments
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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).
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BlueSky.
Continuing yesterday’s discussion about Paxton defeating Cornyn, it is absolutely unreal to me that (as Eusebio notes) roughly 5% of the Texas residents who participated in the runoff sacrificed a US Senator with significant seniority (which folks here know results in better committee assignments and a fairly substantial amount of power) for a scandal-plagued wackadoodle who just might get beat.
It’s absolutely nuts.
@Jen:
The MAGAs are thrilled by Paxton’s win.
@Jen:
“Charlotte’s Web“
@Jen: ” for a scandal-plagued wackadoodle who just might get beat.” I am reminded of Hershel Walker – laughably ignorant, more baggage than AmTrak, and baby mommas aplenty – being enthusiastically endorsed by Trump for the Senate. One of the few positives of the Trump era is laying bare the rank hypocrisy of the Republican party in general and rightwing Christians in particular.
@charontwo:
I don’t think the loss of seniority is an overlooked issue. It’s just that the voters and the candidate don’t care much about seniority if their goal is to blow things up, throw sand in the gears, and be a reliable vote for every anti-constitutional, corrupt, and hypocritical motion and bill and that comes before the Senate.
@charontwo:
@Charley in Cleveland:
We know that voters select on impulse and not logic, so to expect them to recognize the advantages of seniority is fruitless. After all, it wasn’t too many years ago that So Dakota tossed out the incumbent House Speaker for the sin of being a Dem. Dumb, dumb, dumb, but good news for Dems.
Slightly NSFW:
https://www.oglaf.com/proverbs7/
I finished Patrick Wyman’s Lost Worlds yesterday.
For a change, I listened to the end credits, because I got home just as the book ended, and the credits ran while I parked the car. Near the end, there’s a statement that using the audiobook to train LLMs is expressly forbidden, and also forbids using the book for data mining.
I’m not sure I’ve run across this before. Sign of the time, naturally. I wonder, though, whether the warning about training LLMs shouldn’t come at the beginning. Maybe it’s just legalese to preserve the right to sue.
As to the book itself, it’s pretty good. This is high praise considering how I feel about books that deal with archaeology. I wish Wyman had spent less time reminding us what we don’t know, or repeating his premise that progress from hunter gathering to agriculture to cities doesn’t follow a straight line, or that moving from one step to the next isn’t inevitable. It makes parts of the book sound like he’s arguing with an absent opponent.
What I find amazing is how he can dig up evidence that a primitive existence could persist for millennia. It vividly shows how slow material and scientific progress was through most of our species existence.
@Jen:
It has become clear that this argument doesn’t count for what it used to, especially for Republicans. They seem perfectly happy to govern by executive order, rules/regulations, and judicial opinions rather than by laws enacted in Congress.
Just now, the dictator’s palace formerly known as the white House confirmed Iran’s claims about the MOU concerning the draft deal being negotiated.
Plug in solar is beginning to trend in the news.
I’ve said before a square centimeter of solar panel will produce as much power, under identical insolation conditions, whether it’s part of a huge solar panel farm, or hangs on someone’s balcony. Power doesn’t scale, but costs do. It still makes sense for some households to hang a few solar panels to plug into their home supply, and this makes it cheap enough.
If only we had a balcony in our apartment…
I’d still be concerned about the integrity of the installation in case of rain or snow. Nothing screws up an electrical installation more than water in the works. I assume this has been taken into account by the manufacturers, but I’d still make sure to get good quality.
I’d favor universal net metering, plus widespread adoption of home solar panels.
The Park Slope Food Co-op’s members have voted to boycott Israel, and stop stocking products from Israel.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/27/park-slope-food-coop-israel-boycott
The food coop is a wonderful place that answers the question: what if a grocery store were a democracy with socialist values and the temperament of an HOA? Everyone who shops there has to do a work shift of 4 hours labor every 4 weeks, and the only people who want to devote the time to run for the policy making positions are the exact people who shouldn’t.
I still owe a work shift from when I lived in Park Slope, decades ago, and if I ever returned and rejoined, I have no doubt I would have to complete that work shift.
My specialty had been stocking the supplements aisle, because it was organized by what the supplement was alleged to treat, but manufacturers were explicitly banned from making medical claims. I was really good at remembering useless nonsense, but all I can remember now is that eyebright is not good for eyes.
They also sold a product called a Roach Magnet and every time I saw it I thought “oh, god, what if it works? why would anyone want to attract roaches?”
Also, a story about a dog going on a shooting spree or something in Nebraska.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/26/dog-shotgun-nebraska-convenience-store
ETA: Added more from the article. I love the high tension food coop politicking. It brings back happy memories.
@Jen:
Leave Graham Platner and Abdul El-Sayed alone! It is imperative Dems take the senate. Thomas and/or Alito may retire in 2027.
@charontwo:..NSFW…
What ever you do DON’T click on the PREVIOUS key!
@DK:
Rode up to Kennebunk today for lunch, all back roads, saw about 2 dozen Platner, yard signs and one for Collins. Really doesn’t mean much, beyond a measure of enthusiasim.
@DK:
Rode up to Kennebunk today for lunch, all back roads, saw about 2 dozen Platner, yard signs and one for Collins. Really doesn’t mean much, beyond a measure of enthusiasm.
@DK:
Would they retire with a Senate that (probably) won’t confirm a federalist society hack?
It’s likely the democrats will take the White House (what’s left of it) in 2028. I mean now it looks likely. Two epochs and half an aeon from now, who knows. anyway, one figure neither Scalito nor Uncle Thomas would want to retire with a Democrat in the presidency.
Third option is the MAGA party loses the White House but regains the senate. In that case, they can rest easy that no justice nominated by a democrat will be confirmed while they own the senate.
Most likely, just to make sure and not attempt to replicate Justice Ginsburg’s fate, and assuming their party loses the senate, both might resign between the midterms and the next Congress.
Now this is inflation.
What’s been happening in Iran, and much predates the Taco Quagmire, is far, far, far removed from what took place in the US post trump pandemic. there’s really no comparison.
BTW, the 3.5-4% inflation under El Taco is lower than the rate was under Biden. But keep compounding in mind. If prices went up an average of, say, 20% between 2021 and 2023, this means something that cost $100 now costs $120. Adding more is on top of that, not from the base price. So now the thing that cost $120 will sell for $124.80, not $104.
TL;DR: Iran would benefit more internally from getting sanctions eased and the blockade lifted, than from further humiliating the orange ass, no matter ho much he deserves it. So, absent some Taco level idiocy, like resuming a full scale air war, or demanding conditions impossible for Iran to meet*, I’d expect the war to end before mid June.
After all, the party in the stronger position is reaching its limits.
*Such as the demand that Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and others sign on to the Abraham accords as a precondition to end the war.
@Kathy: Given that Trump has shown the US will not keep any agreement, I wonder if it might be in Iran’s interest to just go for a cease fire, rather than a peace deal, and leave oil shipment insurers very jittery and the price of oil higher. Maybe start tossing in more demands, like Israel giving up nukes.
Isn’t the goal of every capitalist to sell as little as possible for as much money as possible?
I’m just spitballing here, but a gulf running at 60-80% would keep oil prices high enough nations would have trouble refilling their srategic reserves. And that would raise the costs of a full war higher, and probably leave Iran safer than anything “deal” would.
@Gustopher:
That seems to be the way things are going. The talk is of a memorandum of understanding, opening up Hormuz and ending hostilities, with other matters to be taken up later.
Taco aside, Iran has little reason to trust the US given the history of US meddling in Iranian affairs. Though there’s blame to go around. Had hostages not been taken in 1979, relations between the two might have been easier. For instance, how much support would the US had given Irak, a Soviet client state with its own repressive regime, had there not been such animosity towards Iran?
Canada has ordered military radar jets from SAAB in Sweden.
The piece notes the Saab’s GlobalEye is based on Bombardier’s Global 6500 jet. Bombardier is a Canadian firm, based in Quebec. Now, this may mean SAAB makes the planes on license, or buys the planes from Bombardier and modifies them. Either way it’s more income for a domestic manufacturer.