The Dangerous Playground

 

I just want you to do a thought experiment with me for a little bit. You are a park administrator. The town council has allocated certain funds to build a playground in the park you administrate. They want, specifically, a jungle gym, slide, and swing set--the sorts of things that would be attractive and fun for children. There is already a designated space and it has been partially paved. There is no compelling reason not to use the allocated funds to build the jungle gym, slide and swing set. 

However, you don't especially love the idea of the playground itself on general principles and are trying to save park administration money because you have as yet to be determined reasons and saving money looks great on your personal resume.

So you hire three, let's call them-- "Stooges". They say they are builders, and that's good enough for you, because they seem bright enough. And they use some pre-made kits to get the ball rolling and build something that looks like the promised picture--but there are lots of unused parts. They have no idea how those go together, and assume they are just extras and cart them off. 

They are, actually, reinforcing beams, retaining straps, cement screws--parts intended to ensure the whole apparatus doesn't cave in under the weight of child bodies, fall over in a stiff breeze, or send children flying. But these budget builder fly-by-nights had no idea how anything worked, and now, we have kids approaching a rickety playground of doom. 

Kiddie carnage awaits. 

President Biden and World Infrastructure (UPDATED)

 

Happening Now: President Biden participates with G20 Leaders in the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment event. https://t.co/IgrIBC5aza

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 9, 2023

Go on ahead and tell me how old my President is, and I will note for the record he made infrastructure week real here in the United States and has now moved on at the G20 to make it real for the world. We want a technological tide that lifts all boats, and leaves no nation left behind in a future of prosperity and peace.  

This might get lost in the flotsam and jetsam of the political moment: it shouldn't be. The access to high speed internet, to communications support, to technology is a form of freedom. Just as the access to plumbing increases life span, the access to the world opens up mental and social bandwidth, encourages the sharing of ideas, can be used to move us forward. 

In the comments of the last post I noted that the gatekeepers of social media can engineer freedom or authoritarianism on a whim. I still want to believe social media can be a great democratizing force for good--to expose the abuse of power and the violation of human rights. To build moral consensus. To reveal our human condition, each to each.  

The same with travel. There is nothing like broadening your horizons to broaden your mind. 

Don't get fooled by a handshake: Amtrak Joe gets what can be. Just let him cook. We know who a real world leader is. 

UPDATED:

Why do folks still say stuff like "campaigning from the basement?" 

Historic. Probably the first time that a @POTUS is received by #Vietnam’s communist party general secretary on that podium in front of the presidential palace. pic.twitter.com/tNeDNFGjKH

— C Nguyen (@CNguyenEc) September 10, 2023

We Need To Talk About Kevin

 

The bad boy from Bakersfield, the last of the "Young Guns", had some kind of signifying meltdown while the Democratic-led house of representatives were supposed to be talking about the "Build Back Better" bill. McCarthy delivered an hours-long screed that is doomed to be "lost in the sauce". No one cares , Kevin. about your reverie about the time long gone. They wonder if you are good for anything at all, but sadly, no. 

So, the BBB is not going to raise inflation. Actually, the CBO indicated that among other things, the BBB will reduce the deficit. So there is reason to believe a very persuasive argument for the Biden "Did we elect him to be FDR?" agenda exists and yes, some of us definitely did. We would very much like to "get back" to our economy providing good paying jobs. We think Biden knows what's up. 

And McCarthy doesn't. Does he realize the inflation the US faces is international--not something to do with Biden at all? He doesn't care. Does he acknowledge that Biden is trying to address high gas prices? Of course not. Even if there is ample reason to think that the high gas prices have a specific source, 

This non-entity grandstanded against lower drug prices and better living conditions for so many workers because he had to do something to look relevant while denying things regular US people need. And he looked like a petulant goober having a tantrum. 

And this is exactly what he is. And how his signifying outburst should be treated, an object of derision.  Because BBB is necessary and will improve upon the broke Trump economy that lost jobs and never planned to do anything to actually make America great(er).

We can do better, despite such losers. 

UPDATE: And he wasted everybody's time, because the bill (predictably) passed the House in the broad daylight of the morning. 

Infrastructure Week, Eh?

 

NOW: One “hoot” and the WH celebrates passing infrastructure with calling a lid and playing “Closing Time” over the loud speaker pic.twitter.com/3TAUByd9KB

— Brian J. Karem (@BrianKarem) November 6, 2021

It wasn't pretty but we have an infrastructure bill and it got passed. It was bipartisan. It's a BFD--and the progresive caucus votes against are basically a pro forma protest because the deciding votes were already in. Safe water, roads, and bridges. 

I think BBB is truly going to happen too, because I think passing this means less trouble ahead if I understand the reporting. After the really good job report and the recent Dow Jones highs, and now this hard-won legislative success, it really feels like we're in good hands. Not to denigrate the former administration because I've already done that enough. But to positivly state "Thank you Brandon!" as the Twitter trend says. 

 (The across the street neighbors who also have a thin blue line flag have posted a "Let's go Brandon" sign on their little bit of a lawn. I am almost of a mind to seek out a "Brandon Won" sign. But, I am not the one to start shit on the block, so no. But I find it a little worrisome, just not in a black flag kind of way. Yet.)

Speaking of A Hostile Work Environment....

 

Activists with Sunrise Movement confronted Joe Manchin this morning outside of his yacht on his way to the Capitol, in protest of his opposition to the Build Back Better social spending bill.

They followed him to his car, and then surrounded his car too. Some images: pic.twitter.com/IvDuEyXu0H

— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) November 4, 2021

Just recently, Sen. Manchin referred to his relationship with his colleagues on the Hill as a "hostile work environment" due to all of the partisanship. I seem to recall back in January there was a situation where the work environment was really hostile, and extremely partisan, and well, Manchin's reaction to that was "Why can't we all just get along?" or similar. 

So while I think he's completely wrong, I guess I'd give him points for consistency? As in "consistently wrong about what to do about all this". He's been complaining about how he really wants to see his party come down and do more negotiating (they have come down--they have negotiated!) and wants to see the impact of legislation on the debt and inflation and all this.... 

But when I see him and Sen. Sinema huddled with Mitch McConnell, the partisan motherfucker who denied President Obama a SCOTUS appointment and for a whole year and started ramming through Trump's pick in weeks, well....I think back to times when things were so much more bipartisan. (If there were such times, they were not ever in my lifetime, and I was born in Nixon's first term.) 

Anyway, I have been at times critical of the tactics of the Sunrise Movement because I think they might not be especially persuasive in their tactics and I sometimes question who and how they confront--because generally Democrats are trying to do something about the environment, but it's the GOP that really obstructs meaningful structural change. And as you can see in the above confrontation.... 

Joe Manchin has a really, really nice car.

The Mean Girl Just Jumps Out

 

So, hat-tip to Gawker for seeing the entire outfit, which reminds me of something I might have worn in high school. This is a US Senator. This is a person who apologized to another US Senator in an airport just recently because her constituents still thought she was someone who cared. And to the person who wanted a minute of her valuable time, she said "Noli me tangere".  Clearly she's wearing the hem of her garment closer to her vest for some reason, but she's a woman of mysteries. Evidently.

This gets us back to the age old question of when is it un-feminist to ream out a woman for stuff like her clothing choices or how she chooses to assert her physical boundaries, and whether we're judging too harshly or by standards we wouldn't hold any man up to, and I'm sorry--what is the male equivalent of this outfit? Jeans and a Senor Frog polo? My question is, would a Hill staffer get away with that getup? And is she possibly dressing for the job she actually wants? (Bartender in a college town gastropub?)

Is this some form of protest over being held responsible for people thinking she should probably act and vote like the person she set herself out to be when she ran for office? Is she checking her phone for job offers that are somehow better than being a US Senator--a person with actual power to effect change if she felt so moved? 

Am I being mean? Because something about her whole deal is just exceptionally vexxing to me, and I am not liking it. 

The Debt Ceiling Has to Go

 

So, did you all just see this giving birth to a prize watermelon effort that was put forward to just get a two-month extension on the debt ceiling, an artificial thing that shouldn't even exist because of course a nation who prides itself in the full faith and credit of its honorable debts pays those shits? 

Well, if you visit this blog, of course you did. And if you are a long time visitor, you know why I'm heated--we are past time to abolish  the stupid debt ceiling vote since it is absolutely a necessity and has become a political football. 

And it stays incredibly stupid after all this time: after some stupidly arbitrary legislative interval, responsible people have to once again explain that this is about paying the bills already due, like deciding whether to make your car payment or put at least the minimum on your credit card bill, like we haven't already been through this bullshit before. And the political grandstanders will act like that's not what it is, but say some dumb shit about how it's about new spending, which is nonsense, because of course there will be new spending. Like in a household, you have a mortgage payment and maybe a car loan, but that doesn't mean you don't still buy groceries or pay to fix the roof leak, right?

What Rhymes With "Ineffective Stunt"?

 

We all take ourselves to the porcelain refuge at one time or another, that watery bastion of comfort, release and repose. Sometimes we go for all the obvious mechanics of our digestive requirements, and at other times it is simply a place of solitude, a place to check one's clothing seams and makeup, or maybe even to escape protestors. 

I'm sympathetic to the idea that one should feel secure in the loo. I am also, however, not feeling charitable to someone who has set out to leave her principles in such doubt that we don't even know why she isn't sticking with what she told us were her principles, but is instead of doing her constituents' business, going to fundraisers and not even answering questions about what she does stand for. 

The activist who cornered Sinema in the ladies' room is an undocumented immigrant young person whose grandparents were deported. Our screwed up immigration and naturalization policies keep families separated for reasons that are needlessly stupid and cruel. We should do better in this country, but aren't. Sinema knows the terrain, but isn't showing follow-through on the mission: taking care of residents of Arizona who need their citizenship status fixed. It's a part of the Democratic agenda, but she's being capricious about that right now.

And she's shown disrespect to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which to me is very concerning. Senator Sanders points out that rather than thinking of Pelosi delaying a vote on legislation as being what Sinema called an "ineffective stunt", it was a procedural move based on the votes--totally within her prerogative. It's not about Kyrsten Sinema's preferences as a first-term senator, but all of Pelosi's understanding of how Congress works. And in the meanwhile, the legislation in question is unquestionably about benefiting her constituents (not ahem! the donors).

Now, you might look at the title of my blogpost, and assume I'm implying something not at all feminist. My goodness people, don't you know me yet? It rhymes with "sometimes you bunt". What matters is getting on base. But Sinema is being very off-base right now. 

We are not retiring shit without a run in this inning. That's how this game is played. I don't know what game Sinema is playing but she isn't playing it in the bathroom. 

Quick Question for Senator Sinema--

 

Activists who helped elect Kyrsten Sinema launch CrowdPAC to fund a primary challenger https://t.co/DPEmIw8ojw

— Salon (@Salon) September 29, 2021

Exactly how much fundraising do you suppose you have to do to hold on to your seat if you somehow have, inexplicably (or at least, inexplicably thus far) done your best to alienate the people who were your base? Because you can not go and get a whole new base, and even if Republicans are looking more favorably on you--look at Arizona Republicans. Look at 'em. They like a Democrat who doesn't function like a Democrat (preferably who doesn't function at all), but they would prefer a Republican who is like them. Which lately...

I mean. Look at them.

Sunday Morning TV Blues

 

President Biden needs to level with the American people about the fact that his “infrastructure” package is a $2.25 trillion liberal wish list with only about 25% being spent on traditional infrastructure like roads, bridges, tunnels and rails. Be honest with us Mr. President. https://t.co/du32oGCAsA

— Governor Christie (@GovChristie) April 11, 2021

So, unless your jobs plan comes from the Asphalt region of Infrastructure, all you've got there is sparkling socialism. (He's had problems with the idea of infrastructure for a while, though.)

Trump's Timed Tantrum

It's hard to fault people for thinking that President Trump's little rant yesterday was anything but impromptu given that there was a printed sign and handouts ready to go--that takes planning (if probably not a lot of foresight). I think it was more like a rig he had ready for some eventuality, but maybe not necessarily yesterday.  Reacting to Speaker Pelosi's comment that Trump appeared to be engaged in a "cover-up" was part of the timed tantrum, but the display also might have provided a screen for him not actually being able to do an infrastructure deal.

And Pelosi got that at once.

Of course, his hand-out and the sign on his podium were misleading. Of course, he had to Tweet later on that he did not either have a "tantrum". And of course, he's basically admitting that he just can't do his job.

But because I'm super petty, I'm just going to point out the damn misspelling of the word "accomplishments" in his handwritten notes. "Achomlishments."

Charitably, I can almost see this word getting spelled this way if he was starting out trying to write "achievements", realized "accomplishments" was a better word, and sort of short-circuited halfway through. But I've been reading his Twitter account for years, and for all I know, that was his very best try.

We've also been watching the last three years of his presidency, and this little episode also looks like some of his very best trying.

UPDATE:

pic.twitter.com/Oac6L3jwPd

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 23, 2019

The White House Twitter account, ladies and gentlemen. Fucking historic.

Hello--Goodbye

As noted the other night, Bannon's time art the White House was, indeed, about to draw to a close (although I'm pretty sure his presence will still be felt.) With Bannon's ouster, the betting window is now taking serious money for how long Sebastian Gorka will remain--I've never really been entirely sure what his job was, myself. I'm not really even sure what the impact on the White House will be--people who did not care for Bannon and thought his associations with the so-called "alt-right" were bad might feel that Bannon's leaving matters, but I can't help but note--Trump remains.

This was a week for other departures as well. After several CEO's left the president's Manufacturing Council and Strategy and Policy Forum, Trump ended them so that they could stop quitting on him. As a tidy capper to Infrastructure Week, Trump also wrapped up plans for an Infrastructure Council by scrapping it. Billionaire Carl Icahn will no longer advise Trump. (Steve Mnuchin's Yale classmates would like him to do the same.)

And the membership of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities sent Trump a "Dear Don" letter, which cleverly spelled out: "resist". His faith advisors are also concerned with what the president has been saying this past week. Pastor A.R. Bernard stepped down.

No wonder, then, that the President and the First Lady will not be attending the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony this coming December--he feels unwanted. I suggest that Trump doesn't have "personnel" problems--he has a Trump problem, and he takes it wherever he goes.

UPDATE: I forgot about all the Digital Council resignations. My apologies. There are just so many.

This is All So Very Wrong

PEOTUS Donald Trump's cabinet, etc., picks have, in retrospect, come to not actually look like the "best people" as was foretold in the Prophetic Book of Big Daddy Trumpisms.  For one terrible example, it turns out that being Secretary of the Department of Energy actually has a lot to do with maintaining our nuclear infrastructure, both regarding weapons stockpiles and energy generation, which is probably why the last handful of Energy Secretaries were actual scientists. Trump didn't have the least idea what the Energy Department did. Neither did former Governor of TX and Dancing with the Stars contestant Rick Perry. Rick Perry once actually wanted to do away with the Department of Energy.  Having no idea at all about what it actually did. Now he will sort of know.  But I think the actual comprehension, arriving this late in his life, sort of renders him at very poor odds of understanding his new role in this department which is actually very important, and which he deemed dispensable.

He chose snaggle-toothed former NY mayor Rudy Giuliani, who utterly fucked up ops during 9/11, to be his cyber-security guy, and it turns out he is shit at cyber security.  His Health and Human Services pick, the guy who will oversee the death of the ACA, seems to have benefited from insider trading which is very illegal. Another of the people Trump has selected to help with Technology issues is apparently a hardcore racist.   

Betsy DeVos is actually really unfit as all hell to be involved with Education. She doesn't know the difference between testing for proficiency vs growth. She doesn't seem to know that most kids in America attend public schools, or that public schools are responsible for living up to our ideal of educating disabled youth. I think she's awful.

But even while Trump is presiding over a crisis situation where he isn't appointing staff in line with the operational needs, he engages in Twitter Wars of shocking uselessness. All this while his own legitimacy is questioned. Because it has to be. There is too much information out there to pretend his legitimacy can't be questioned.  The sad finale to all this being, there will be  no end of scandal after this inauguration goes down.

Climate Sunday Bobby Jindal Edition

The Governor of Louisiana, a state which experienced a devastating hurricane ten years ago, rather prefers that climate change not be a feature of how President Barack Obama commemorates the recovery from this event.

I don't invest a lot in whether I'm doing anything Bobby Jindal finds appropriate, so I am going to not only talk about climate change, but name this post in his honor. I'm funny that way. Because, among other wild things, the state of Louisiana is kind of disappearing because of sea level rise.  The state loses as much as 50 square miles a year.

That's something former FEMA Director Michael Brown certainly doesn't think is necessarily real science.  Or rather he prefers not to believe that human activity is exacerbating the effect. But real science finds that sea levels are definitely rising. As for the folks who think global warming isn't happening or that human activity isn't causing it, it turns out they are sciencing badly, and real scientists can't reproduce their stupid data. (Reproducibility is totally a real science metric about whether results of a test are valid. This demonstrates that climate denialism isn't appropriately "skepticism" as much as it is "total fail". )

Just this Friday, Bill Maher hosted Rick Santorum on his HBO show, Real Time.  There was a "he said/he said" moment regarding whether 97% of scientists really did support climate change. Well, some would call it more than 97%.

Climate change is real. We need to ensure our infrastructure can support the worst case scenario (in 2005, for a minute, some observers thought New Orleans dodged a bullet, until the levees burst). We need to mitigate our carbon output. And we need to think about how climate change impacts especially the poor and less-mobile among us. We are foolish not to see this as a problem.

The whole Obama Labor Day Speech--

Well, I refuse to go backwards, Milwaukee. And that's the choice America faces this fall. Do we go back to the policies of the past? Or do we move forward? I say we move forward. America always moves forward. And we are going to keep moving forward today.

Let me just close by saying this. I know these are difficult times. I know folks are worried, and there's still a lot of hurt out here. I hear about it when I spend time in towns like this; I read about it in your letters at night. And when times are tough, it can be easy to give in to cynicism and fear; doubt and division - to set our sights lower and settle for something less.

But that is not who we are. That is not the country I know. We do not give up. We do not quit. We are a people that faced down war and depression; great challenges and great threats; and lit the way for the rest of the world. Whenever times have seemed at their worst, Americans have been at their best. Because it is in those times when we roll up our sleeves and remember that we will rise or fall together - as one nation, and one people. That's the spirit that started the labor movement. The idea that alone, we are weak. Divided, we fall. But united, we are strong. That's why we call them unions. That's why we call this the United States of America.

When the man does a good speech, he really does a good speech. Check out the whole thing if you haven't. What I'm impressed by is that he lays out what has been done during his presidency, why these policy choices made sense, and what he'd still like to see done, such as a plan to rebuild and modernize this country's transportation infrastructure--a plan that will not just create jobs, but will benefit all of us. (Since the "Road Fairy" doesn't come down in the night and lay asphalt, after all.)

I think it's a terrible cynicism I'm developing that in advance, I'm already expecting this to be pushed back on by the GOP. So I think, in advance, I'm going to push forward, or maybe, against their expected pushback:

How could anyone be against a meaningful jobs creation program for public works in a time of serious unemployment? Aren't jobs better than handouts? Doesn't a great nation deserve a world-class infrastructure? This is certainly a plan in line not just with FDR's WPA, but with the Dwight D. Eisenhower Interstate Highway initiative, which is one of the greatest public works projects in our history, connecting the open expanses of our countryside and offering a boon to commerce and industry! I, like I hope most Americans, want to see people back at work, and this looks like a good way to do it. I also appreciate that our infrastructure could use some work, too. This takes care of both issues.