Tag Archives: history

For eight years Mitch McConnell did everything in his power to block any initiative by President Obama; no matter the cost to the nation. It simply wouldn’t do to have the Democrats governing, to have a Democrat in the White House; especially not a popular black President. He never was much on democracy. McConnell couldn’t thwart the will of the people in the 2008 presidential election, but, from the start, it was ‘whatever it takes’ to ensure that...

What about impeachment?  There is no question that Congress can impeach Trump for his role in encouraging today’s assault on Congress.  What are the arguments for and against?  For impeachment: There is a real possibility that Trump will do something dangerous in the final days of his presidency. If he is impeached and convicted, he could be barred from running for President again.  Presumably impeaching him would have some precedential /...

Several White House aides and policymakers have resigned in the past 24 hours.  Frankly, I don’t get it.  First, it’s way too late to salvage your reputation.  Second, at this point you can (arguably) do more to protect your reputation by saying that you are staying to prevent Trump from doing something crazy in the final days of his presidency. ...

The events at the capitol today are horrifying, and to many of us seem like the natural outcome of Trumpism and the morally degenerate enabling of the Republican party.  But the events today may well end up strengthening our democracy. I suspect that Trump has badly overplayed his hand.  The images of thugs running loose through the capital will horrify a significant part of Trump’s law and order base.  In the court of public opinion, this will be...

Thoughts on the Invasion of the US Capitol  It’s all happening as I write, but here are a few reactions: 1. Fortunately we see Q-Anonics, Loud Boys and other right wing crazies invading the Capitol Building and not Black Lives Matter or the Left.  Think how many lives would have been lost if it had been the other way around. 2. It will be interesting to see how deeply investigators will delve into the lax security preparations for today’s...

— One of Sandwichman’s good questions prompted my revisiting an earlier writing of mine on wealth (circa 2000?). Extensively revised to the extent that it is hardly recognizable; here is, a, second, best effort. Herein, the terms wealth and capital are thought of as being interchangeable. For thousands of years, humans lived off the bounty of nature. Some societies still do, but, today, and for centuries now, most societies have lived...

The wins in Georgia are huge. Now, if Alabama, Mississippi, and South Carolina can just come up with their own Stacy Abrams, we could see a snowball effect that would change American politics forever. Well, at least, for a long time. Some might think that this outcome along with its portents can solve the electoral college problem. It doesn’t. Doesn’t solve the problem of someone as unfit as Mitch McConnell tyrannizing the nation. The few...

During the call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger , Trump cited a number of voting fraud – conspiracy theories. The State of Georgia Voting System Implementation manager, Gabriel Sterling debunked each theory as being inaccurate or false on Monday afternoon, January 4th. Its Monday and speaking in front of a poster that had many of the debunked claims Trump mentioned, Sterling starts off; “It’s whack-a-mole again, it’s...

Reichtum ist verfügbare Zeit und nichts weiter How it started (Charles Wentworth Dilke, 1821): THE PROGRESS OF THIS INCREASING CAPITAL WOULD, in established societies, BE MARKED BY THE DECREASING INTEREST OF MONEY, or, which is the same thing, the decreasing quantity of the labour of others that would be given for its use; but so long as capital could command interest at all, it would seem to follow, that the society cannot have arrived at that...

The 2004-2020 political red/blue shift: the intersection of geography, the economy, and ethnic migration It’s a very slow, holiday-shortened economic week. We’ll get new home sales, plus personal income and spending Wednesday, and jobless claims as usual Thursday. In the meantime, here is something I found revealing. It’s a map, created by Nathan Jordan,  a college student from Alabama (I think), showing the county-level change in Presidential...