In Defense of Wonks

 

Klippenstein is a good reporter and a generally good egg, but my God, the juxtaposition of housing as a problem (which can be understood in terms of zoning, affordability, Nimby-ism, etc.) and matters of foreign policy, that are obviously understood as federal in nature, is just...

Look, I would like it if HUD had a strong hand and a strong plan for overriding local twattery that keeps housing unaffordable. But there are limits to what can be legally done at the executive level to demand housing access--it's complicated!

Foreign aid is a bit different, isn't it--it's one thing, it doesn't go through state and muni filters You're not dictating to developers and actual neighborhoods with people in them about what they do and don't want. It doesn't have a myriad of red tape things to fool about with. 

We're not talking about the difference between apples and oranges, but apples and eggs. Knowing the difference is very useful, because you really shouldn't expect apples to fall out of any aperture of a hen. Klippenstein isn't an idiot and isn't juxtaposing those things thinking otherwise. 

STAY THE F*CK CALM!!

On one hand, Trump doesn't want people to PANIC about COVID-19, like the Churchillian stateman that he calls himself, but on the other hand, liberals are going to ban energy (because with wind, you know, on a breezeless day you won't be able to watch your seven-eight hours of Fox News), take your guns, shutdown the economy and auto production, destroy the suburbs, get rid of cows, and kill you with soup. (And apparently do a "reverse racism" by teaching kids history I think he's saying, right?)

I feel like we are getting very mixed and very silly messages here. Is it possible that Trump....always lies? Wow. Stay tuned, folks.

UPDATE: Brief addendum--Trump has said a shit-ton lately about the destruction of the suburbs and about Democrat-led cities being "on fire". You know what can destroy suburbs? Wildfires. You know what's on fire? The fucking West Coast. If Trump wants to do presidenting, now would be a pretty good time to pull his big-boy pants up and try it, right?

Trump Goes on About Suburbia, Again

I don't think it should shock anyone that Trump is saying that ending the AFFH rule is good for the suburbs--after all, he started his career with housing discrimination and was pushing this same message on Twitter just a little while ago, as well. The guy is demonstrating pretty unvarnished "there goes the neighborhood" racism and it's not new with him, but it's also probably part of his campaign strategy, which makes me wonder if his folks like, focus-grouped that. And I'm sure they did.

(What a strategy, though--woof!)