MAGA is killing American Science…and America

 

Powerful piece in the Economist recently, “MAGA’s assault on science is an act of grievous self-harm.” In it, the editors note that the Trump Administration’s current attack on science is among the worst things that’s ever happened to the United States. It is driving the best researchers out of the country, and depriving us of myriad scientific and technical advances – the sort of thing that builds economies and prosperity.

It concludes (chillingly) that what Trump and his minions are doing is effectively turning over the future to China, and anyone else who might hate us.

Not Really Hers, But Brilliant Just The Same

Not Liz, But Pru

So, like a lot of people, a few days ago I saw what was said to be a posting from Liz Cheney taking the Democrats to task for inactivity in the face of a serious threat of Fascism. I accepted that it was from the former congresswoman. However, I soon learned that the letter had been misattributed. It had actually been written (and signed) by a Facebook user who goes by the name of PruPru. (It is still not clear who reproduced the letter and claimed it was from Liz Cheney.)

That said, when you read the posting, you have to think it is right on the money. PruPru begs Democrats to stop fund-raising and start fighting. She is dang tired (and aren’t we all?) of getting endless emails and messages begging for $20 here and $15 there, while it seems that the Party Elite is inert, and not confronting Trump in really meaningful ways.

She also has some excellent ideas about what the Democrats could do now, and how they could make the GOP actually squirm.

The letter is well worth reading, and you can see it here: https://www.facebook.com/DrPruLee/posts/pfbid038BY7yThGnhmksswQDbuEauChgPKA8wj5rnBVjZeGeh2kzEEGtFNoxDiQ29YrLfbnl

So, not really from Liz Cheney…

But damn! It makes good reading.

Three cheers to PruPru.

“Under-loved” (and underlovable) Matt Gaetz

Vote...if only to annoy him.

So this is pretty much volume two of yesterday’s post, the one about GOP gubernatorial candidate Kyle Langford’s suggestion that undocumented women could be allowed to remain in the U.S. so long as they agree to marry “incels.”

This one, though, is about Matt Gaetz (yes, he’s still around). It seems that on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, he said that “...Over-Educated, Under-Loved White Women Are This Nation's True Pandemic.” 

Hard to believe, but he really said that.

It seems college educated women are the group which, according to some polls, are the most anti-Trump. So, this is Mr. Gaetz’s interpretation of that data. Too much education, but not enough…well, you know. Call it, “being farped.”

Okay…

So if you had the slightest doubt about what Mr. Gaetz…and the Republican Party…think of women and their role in the world…

You may effectively bury it now.

This is not a joke. Even if it should be.

 

Husband Material?

Some stories you see in the news and you think, “This is a joke, right?” Except it isn’t. And you can’t believe it. So you check again. And it still isn’t. 

This is one such story: “Republican Governor Candidate Proposes Female Undocumented Immigrants Can Stay If They Marry ‘Incels’”

No. I’m not making that up. 

Kinda wish I were, though.

Lazy Young Men?

So I read the other day that House Speaker Mike Johnson has defended the GOP’s cut to Medicaid because it will get young men back to work. The headline I saw, in The Latin Times, was  Mike Johnson Says Men Need to Stop 'Playing Video Games All Day' and Get to Work: 'They're Draining Resources' "Return the dignity of work to young men who need to be at work instead of playing video games all day."

It was such an absurd statement that I had to go check to be certain it wasn’t a fabrication or a joke. But it seems to be true. Johnson really said something very much like that.

The first question, of course, is how on earth young, healthy, able-bodied men…none of whom would qualify for Medicaid…could actually be somehow getting it. The second question is how many young men really are wasting their lives playing video games all day. My guess is that the population of such individuals who are refusing to work and, instead, spending their waking hours blasting imaginary alien invaders to imaginary hells in imaginary universes is vanishingly small.

So I have to think that something else is going on here. I suspect that Mr. Johnson is trying to distract from the fact that cuts to Medicaid are not going to impact welfare cheats but rather the elderly, the infirm, infants, and young, single mothers. The cuts are, in other words, going to harm the most vulnerable among us for the benefit of a few obscenely wealthy and obscenely immoral billionaires.

The second thing I suspect is going on, though, is that we see in Mr. Johnson’s comment what the Rich and Powerful today really think of the people “below” them in social status. That is, for the 1%, there is no such thing as the working poor. Instead, there are merely scum who waste their time playing games…and whose extinction will do the human race no end of good.

There is something terrifying in that.

They Will Not Listen

Like a lot of people on the Left, I eagerly read the stories in the press and online about Trump voters who have changed their minds. I read that they have “buyer’s remorse,” and they regret their vote.

But, come, let’s be honest. Those Trump voters who are genuinely disappointed in Trump, and who might vote for someone else in future (if we still have elections in future) are the few, the proud, and the brave. 

The rest…don’t give a rat’s ass. From their point of view, things are just fine, thank you very much. Women and minorities are getting dinged. Immigrants and “foreigners” are being deported. College professors and intellectuals are being ignored. Know-it-alls …like scientists and doctors…have been chastened. All the people they hate are getting a middle finger…or a fist…squarely in the face.

It’s what they want. It’s what they longed for for years and years.

If, in the process, they lose their health care, or they cannot feed their children, or they lose their jobs and homes, or they suffer poverty, want, and disease…

Well, no problem.

They still get to own the libtards.

And nothing else matters.

Will Business People Wake Up?

So by the time you read this, it may be out of date. However, last month, the online publication Semafor ran an article entitled, “American business leaders are turning on Trump — fast,” by

Liz Hoffman and Rohan Goswami. In it, Hoffman and Goswami reported on American business people becoming increasingly disillusioned by Trump and his ever more destructive impact on the economy. 

True? False? Well, hard to say. These are the same people who heartily supported Trump on the theory that he would run the government “like a business.” It is hard to see them abandoning him now, just when he is acting most like a predatory raider conducting a hostile takeover.

Still, it would be interesting (and helpful) if they did wake up and notice that the Trump Administration is a total disaster causing no end of harm to no end of people.

But…the question remains. Even if they are convinced of Trump’s fundamental evil, will they do anything about it? I must confess, I kind of doubt it.

Heads Exploding

 There was an encouraging article in Politico a while back, “Congressional Republicans start backing away from Musk: The tech mogul hinted he might wade into spending negotiations again ahead of the next government funding deadline” by Lisa Kashinsky and Mia McCarthy.  In it, Kashinsky and McCarthy say that Republicans in the Senate and the House are getting enough pushback from their constituents that they may be, finally, slowly losing their patience with Musk and DOGE. In fact, they could…at last!...discover the courage to oppose him.

I hope this is true, but…well…I’ve not seen a lot of evidence for it on the ground. I’m very much afraid that the GOP will continue to be cowed by Trump’s MAGA and Musk’s money. I’m guessing that they’ll make a few vaguely defiant gestures, and then kiss the whip as they’ve done before.

Still…it would be wonderful if something like that did happen…and if the Congressmen and -women somehow found that they had a spinal column after all.

I mean, really, it would be worth it…just to watch while heads in the White House, the House, the Senate, and the Republican National Committee exploded with all the force and color of an outtake from a cheapjack ripoff of “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”

They are not listening

 So I saw this disturbing article in Politico, “House Republicans unfazed by protests: ‘We’re moving forward with the cuts,’” By Ally Mutnick and Lisa Kashinsky. Basically, it says that the GOP Congressmen and -women are ignoring the protests and demonstrations breaking out in the country. They simply don’t care what protestors, or you, think about what they’re doing. 

But that makes sense. They haven’t represented ordinary voters for such a long time. They represent Great Power, particularly great economic power. They are owned by Musk, now. What you want, or what anyone without a billion to their name wants, simply doesn’t matter.

Which means, unfortunately, that the traditional methods of influencing our government and its policy no longer work, at least not when you’re dealing with House Republicans. Demonstrations, messages, email, letters, and so on are useless. They couldn’t care less.

The question now is what do we do instead. I’m not sure. But, I notice with some interest that the one thing that does seem to be impacting the GOP is angry confrontations at town halls and meetings. That’s unfortunate. I wish there were a way to get our message across in a polite, civil, and controlled sort of fashion.

But if there isn’t…?

Well, one uses the tools one has at hand.

Including rage. And fury. And confrontation. 

How Much Danger Are We In?

Sometimes, when I’m writing these things, I worry about just how much trouble I could get into because of them. Trump and MAGA are not known for their mercy. They have consistently sought revenge on anyone who, they think, has not shown them sufficient deference.

I tell myself that I’m relatively safe. No one reads me, for one thing. So it’s not like I’m a serious thorn in their side. And even if I did have a massive audience, what does that matter? People are protesting and writing and speaking out all over the country, and the Trump/Musk administration still just does whatever it damn well wants to. 

But, still, maybe there is some small danger. Dictatorships have long memories and short tempers. They do remember their critics, even the smallest, even decades later, and act accordingly.

However, I’m hoping that there is safety in numbers. If we all of us…all us Democrats, Progressives, Centerists, and Never-Trump Republicans…continue to speak out and continue to protest, then we will number in the millions. Maybe far too many for even the most efficient secret police to track and imprison. 

And maybe…maybe…in the end…

In our teeming multitudes, each of us alone but joining so many others…

We, and not they, will inherit the earth.

Fear and Loathing in Congress

So I gather that one of the reasons that GOP congressmen and -women have been so supportive of Donald Trump is that they fear retribution. By that, I don’t mean simply that they will be rebuked or punished by their party–not even the extreme form of party discipline handed out by, for example, the fictional character Francis Urquhart in Michael Dobbs's House of Cards trilogy–but rather actual physical violence. 

At least according to an recent article in Vanity Fair, “‘They’re Scared Shitless’: The Threat of Political Violence Informing Trump’s Grip on Congress,” by Gabriel Sherman, Republican Congressmen have faced everything up to and including “credible death threats” from Trump’s more ardent followers if they fail to bend to the President’s will.

If this is true (and we do have to ask if that is the case), then it means we have entered a new and distressing period in American politics. We would have to ask if we still have a two party system, or rather one party and one political mafia that uses threats and intimidation to keep its minions in line.

And worse, it would be a mafia…

Without even the charisma and the cunning of Vito Corleone.

Poor Steve Bannon

Poor Steve Bannon.

Say what you like about him, but he does have an ideology. He does believe in something other than himself. That puts him far and away beyond some other figures on the Right.

And he worked like a champ for years to put Trump in the White House, not once but twice. I’m sure he saw Trump as his sledgehammer, the tool by which the old Liberal Institutions would be removed, leaving room for his carefully constructed National Conservative alternative.

Only, here he is, after all his labors…

And it turns out that the Prime Minister of his cardboard King is not himself, but Musk…who believes in quite a different utopia. If anything.

That must hurt.

A great deal.

Mesa, Jesus. "Steve Bannon Escalates Feud With Elon Musk, Calls Him ‘Parasitic Illegal Immigrant’." Newsweek, 19 Feb. 2025, https://www.newsweek.com/steve-bannon-escalates-feud-elon-musk-parasitic-illegal-immigrant-2032675.

Mike Pence....hero?

 

There is something amazing in the fact that Mike Pence, of all people, is emerging as a hero…one of the few figures in the GOP actually willing to take on Trump and MAGA. I certainly wouldn’t have thought it back when he accepted the VP role in Trump’s first administration.

Admittedly, I don’t think he’ll be able to achieve much. His party is now too fully wedded to the oligarchy and to corruption to follow him. Yet, the mere fact that he is present is comforting. Something about better a single candle than cursing the darkness in the Republican soul.

“Mike Pence emerges as one of the few Republicans willing to challenge Trump 2.0,”  By  Jill Colvin, Updated 6:53 AM CST, February 17, 2025, Associated Press (AP), https://apnews.com/article/pence-2025-interview-trump-lobbying-agenda-relationship-c035c2d4a235ec685eb5e8bfb4170f7b?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

If only Mitch had done this twenty years ago

 Interesting article. We learn that Mitch McConnell is leaving Congress at the end of his term. The tragedy is that if he had done this earlier, before Trump, he would have exited with a modicum of dignity. He would have been seen as a controversial but effective conservative legislator. As it is, he goes as a sad and pathetic figure who, like von Papen and Victor Emmanuel, aided the forces of absolute evil in the deluded belief that he could control them.

"Mitch McConnell, Longest-Serving Senate Leader in History, to Step Down from Role in November." Associated Press, 28 Feb. 2024, https://apnews.com/article/mitch-mcconnell-senate-retirement-34c79ef12bf62d14cb71d3c393f23a83.

A bit of video

 

The Vast Right Wing Conspiracy

In 1995, Hilary Clinton referenced the “vast right wing conspiracy” that had targeted herself and her husband. For this, she was roundly mocked and ridiculed.

Yet, here we are, just about 30 years later, and what have we discovered? Well, that there really was and is now a vast network of right wing think tanks, PACs, activists, politicized churches, schools, and organizations all of them directed and funded by a small coterie of extremely wealthy, extremely right-wing individuals. 

And moreover, this group is within a hair’s breadth of imposing an entirely new form of government on the United States--the plutocratic, theocratic, oligarchy envisioned in Project 2025 and embodied in Donald Trump.

So what do we do about it? Honestly, I don’t know. I do know that we have to keep fighting. And we have to make absolutely certain that never again does the GOP control all three branches of the government. Or, if possible, any of them.

And I also know this. Our Republic will not again be safe until we have confronted “the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy.” And the people who created it.

The people who for some reason believed that their right to obscenely great wealth, and enormous power...outweighed our right to truth, justice, well-being, and, indeed...

To life itself.

The vast right wing conspiracy...is real. 

J.D. Vance...

 So now we know 45's pick for VP.

We also know he can't get anywhere near real power.

Feel free to forward this image to others.

A word of explanation to the Republican National Committee

So, the other day, I read that the Republican National Committee, and the Republican establishment in general, just couldn't understand why Trump...a radical populist demagogue who openly employs quasi-fascist rhetoric...could possibly have become their party's front runner.

Shocked, they were, they said, just shocked...and utterly mystified.

I therefore did this little video to, shall we shall, explain things to them.

https://vimeo.com/166115668

The Most Moral Among Us

So, here’s something I’ve talked about before, but I’ll revisit it in light of the current election…

Certain figures in American politics (mostly on the Right) tell me, quite forcefully, that they represent the best in us. They say they are principled, strong, wise, and, for lack of a better term, genuinely American and truly Christian.

Which may be so…but…well…

I am a middle class, middle-aged chap who lives in the suburbs. I pay my bills on time. I don’t deal in drugs or steal cars or snatch purses. I have never cheated on my wife and don’t intend to. I don’t molest children. I even go to church on a regular basis.

And yet…

I just can’t escape the feeling that if those figures in politics, with all their self-professed morality, should come to power…

I might find myself in a very difficult position. I might find my, shall we say? position in society…terminated.

With extreme prejudice.

Santorum's Rise

As I watch the unexpected success of Santorum in the primaries, I'm struck by how many of his supporters are the working poor (or below), the dispossessed, the needy…the people, in short, who have been left-behind, alienated, or terrified by our postindustrial age. To them, it offers little but poverty, indignity, and a loss of self-worth as wounding as annihilation. They are looking for someone to blame, and pretty much anyone will do.

It is the great fault of Liberalism that it did not recognize those individuals nor seek them out as allies. (Let us face it, the Conservatives had a point. The Left of the last few decades has sympathized far more with spotted owls than unemployed men.) It is the great power, and shame, of the Right that it recognized those people before anyone else, and was eager and willing to exploit them.

Yet, in this the Right invited its own enslavement if not destruction…as I think, now, it begins to realize. With Santorum's rise, the Right of the Elite finds itself confronting another, very different Right, one that has very little sympathy with its libertarianism and secularism.

Already, the Elite has reason regret the forces it has unleashed. In time, I suspect, it will learn to fear them.