Congress can’t do anything except complain

I finished the novel Growing Up Weightless by John M. Ford. One viewpoint character is Matt Ronay, who grew up in the settlement on Luna. His age is given in hours – 115,000 of them. Computing his age isn’t quite the same as dividing the number of hours in a day and then by the number of days in a year, because on Luna there are 25 hours in a day and the hour before midnight is 72 minutes. What other measuring unit should they use? Luna’s revolution is 28 earth days. I figure Matt is about 13 years and 3 months. Which on Luna means he’s at the age to consider getting a job. One job open to him is joining the youth theater group. However, the job he really wants is to join the crew of a starship. He thinks about decorating his bedroom to look like the interior of a starship, but he figures that is too obvious. Matt knows many places in the Luna settlement that are “cold” – places where his father can’t use the colony surveillance system to keep track of him. So like a young teen. The other viewpoint character is his father Albin Ronay. One of his jobs is to chair the water board, making sure the Luna cities have enough water. We also learn that Albin is a composer and sometimes leads the Luna Orchestra. Matt has friends Ruby, Cissa, Tani, Jack, and Raf, all about his age. They like to play a roleplaying game and are planning to take the trains to explore other Luna cities, even to the one on the far side, and do it without parental knowledge. Very little of importance happens during the story, which is typical of kids that age. Just little scenes of growing up. Since the Luna colonies were founded through a joint effort of American, British, Russian, Japanese teams their speaking is full of Russian and Japanese phrases. They’re not translated and most of the time that doesn’t matter. Overall I enjoyed the story. Lisa Needham of Daily Kos reported:

It was part of a weirdly low-energy afternoon affair where Trump stood by while [White House staff secretary Will] Scharf plowed his way through a prepared statement that the executive order Trump was signing “reestablishes the longstanding norm that only the president or the attorney general can speak for the United States when stating an opinion as to what the law is.”

Yeah, that is indeed saying the nasty guy, his AG, and no one else gets to define what a law means. There is no such thing as judicial review. And that is saying he isn’t above the law, he is the law. And that mean’s he has declared himself king. No, that is not a “longstanding norm.” Scharf’s statement was part of the nasty guy’s assertion there are no independent agencies, such as the FTC, SEC, and the rest, that all of them report to and can be politically influenced by him. Emily Singer of Kos reported that the nasty guy has pulled his approval for New York City’s congestion pricing. This has been in place for about six weeks and has made a big difference in the congestion in Midtown Manhattan, improving travel times. Earlier this month a poll found 59% of New Yorkers want to keep the system. The nasty guy praised his pulling of congestion pricing and included the phrase, “Long Live the King!” Soon after that the White House tweeted an image of the nasty guy with a big grin and with a crown on his head. Mayor Eric Adams doesn’t care one way or the other. Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler of Manhattan said the nasty guy’s reasons “are utterly baseless and frankly, laughable.” Gov. Kathy Hocul said:

We are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king. The MTA has initiated legal proceedings in the Southern District of New York to preserve this federal program. We’ll see you in court.

Singer concluded:

Republicans love to talk about states’ rights and letting states make their own policy decisions. But this decision is just more proof that Republicans only care about states’ rights when it benefits them, no matter how unpopular their actions are or how much damage they inflict.

Singer also reported that the personnel cutting done by Musk and DOGE doesn’t consider how valuable those employees are. One batch cut were the employees working the government’s response to bird flu, the reason why egg prices are so high and which the nasty guy promised to bring down. Also affected are national parks and the JFK Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. Some Republicans are getting annoyed. Singer concluded:

But these same Republican lawmakers are doing nothing to stop DOGE’s destruction. In fact, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa said there is nothing Congress can do, even though Congress makes the laws that the executive has to abide by. “Congress can’t do anything except complain about it," Grassley said, according to a report from RadioIowa, “but I think we have to have sympathy and understanding for people that are laid off.” Cowards.

Singer reported that the nasty guy said he would not touch Medicare or Medicaid during an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News. Hours later he endorsed a bill from the House that includes massive cuts to Medicaid. Passing the bill in the House will be quite tight and in the Senate Josh Hawley said he doesn’t like cuts so deep. Alix Breeden of Kos listed 17 nightmarish things the nasty guy has done in his first month. I won’t list them all. + Pardoned those who stormed the Capitol + Tried to end birthright citizenship + Relaunched his Muslim travel ban + Attacked federal aid + Launched a personal vendetta against DEI + When a plane and helicopter collided he offered blame and gutted the aviation safety committee + He made enemies of Canada and Mexico, formerly our besties. + He issued a slew of anti-trans executive orders. + He opened the doors on Guantanamo Bay to house deportees. + He called to seize Gaza and remove its Palestinians. + He declared himself King + He kissed Putin’s ring again. Singer reported that the nasty guy is sucking up to Putin. Yeah, that’s been in the news a lot over the last three days. So I’ll include a bit I hadn’t heard elsewhere. It’s in response to the nasty guy saying Ukrainian president is a fraud because he hasn’t allowed recent elections. Yeah, Russia has destroyed lots of the country and many have fled, making elections impossible.

Even Republicans who usually kneel before Trump are against the idea of forcing Ukraine to have elections. Trump toady Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas said Russia wants Ukraine to have elections “because they want to meddle in them."

Ruben Bolling, in his Tom the Dancing Bug cartoon posted on Kos, shows what Luke Skywalker see if he went to the Rebel Alliance in 2025. Instead of the rebels showing resolve and creating plans they are making sure they don’t annoy Vader. The final frame shows:

Skywalker: Darth Vader is allowed in here?! Rebel Leader: We have to try to work with him! If we appear too extreme, we could lose the midterm elections! Vader: “Midterm ‘elections.’ (chuckle)”

Finally! Moscow Mitch has decided he would not seek another term in the Senate in 2026. He is in his seventh term and, if my math is right, would be about 90 at the end of an eighth term. The announcement gave Singer a chance to list some of the worst things he’s done in his tenure. + He weaponized the filibuster to keep legislation from passing. + He stole two Supreme Court seats from Democratic presidents. He blocked Obama’s pick to replace Scalia, then reversed his reasoning to approve a replacement for Ruth Bader Ginsberg before Biden could nominate someone. + He blocked dozens of Obama’s lower court nominees so the nasty guy could fill them. Yet when judges unretired last November to avoid the nasty guy appointing their replacement he said they were playing politics with the judiciary. + He blocked many of Obama’s initiatives. + Though he thought the nasty guy “stupid” and “narcissist” he gave the nasty guy his vote in 2024. + And, worst: In the second nasty guy impeachment he voted to acquit. In a pundit roundup for Kos Greg Dworkin included a tweet from Andrew Perez:

Among those Trump and Musk fired at the FAA: - Lawyers who help keep drunk or reckless pilots out of the skies - Air traffic control support staff - Employees who track potential new flying hazards like cranes - Staffers who medically clear pilots to fly

Maybe I can drive across the river to Windsor, take the train to Toronto, and fly to Europe from there... In the comments TweetLD tweeted:

What a legacy for Mitch McConnell; having achieved his lifelong goal of a corrupt SCOTUS, he's slinking out of the office without even the respect or loyalty of the corrupt party he served.

That was with a cartoon by Mike Luckovich showing Mitch at a podium saying, “My work is done here…” as behind him the Capitol is crumbling and in flames. Another cartoon (I think the artist is Crampton) was first drawn after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida. It shows Mitch outside the gates of Heaven, where the guardian says, “Thank you for all the ‘hopes and prayers’, Majority Leader McConnell, but we’re sending you to burn in Hell. For all eternity.” In the comments of a second roundup Michael de Adder shows Putin and the nasty guy playing poker. In front of Putin are tall stacks of chips and the nasty guy’s clothes. In front of the naked nasty guy is a lone American flag. The nasty guy thinks, “Nobody makes deals like me.” Much further down is a cartoon by Ellis Rosen showing a couple at a restaurant as their robot server says, “And with your meal tonight, might I suggest a strong password?”