Actually open up the New Testament and read it

My Sunday movie was Vermiglio. It is the name of a village high in the Italian Alps. The time is WWII. Cesare runs a farm and is also the area’s school teacher. He has (I think I counted) eight children. Also with the family is Pietro from Sicily who is a friend of son Attilio and a deserter from the army. The movie is mostly about the family, though Pietro does have an influence, mostly by falling in love with oldest daughter Lucia. There’s also little boy Pietrin who is enamored with Pietro and has a lot of questions about life. When the war ends Pietro is encouraged to visit his family back in Sicily. As one character says, “Men who come back from the war have secrets.” With that setting the views, of course, are gorgeous. The acting is well done. The story is quiet and heartbreaking. It deserves the awards it has won and has been nominated for. There might be an LGBTQ angle to the story. Daughter Ada is secretive, has a good friend in Virginia, finds and enjoys her father’s pornography, and has a great deal of guilt over it. The nasty guy made a big deal about signing an agreement with Greenland and Denmark about putting more US forces on the island and doing so while at the United Nations General Assembly. This seems to have quieted his quest to take over Greenland, though my fear is the increased US military will make an attack possible. A tweet by Nero plays golf includes a tweet by Capt. Karjalainen:

Denmark just pulled of the diplomatic heist of the decade. They basically got Trump to re-sign the 1951 Greenland agreement, but added a genius “poison pill”: the deal is only valid as long as the US stays in NATO. Trump gets the domestic headline, but Denmark quietly locked them into the European security architecture. Masterful.

Lisa Needham of Daily Kos reported the nasty guy is doing for his plans for his triumphal arch the same thing he did to his ballroom – declare it is a military site and thus vital to national security. I hate to quote the nasty guy’s tweets, but this is the quickest way to say it. The arch:

will house, store, and have the rapid ability to use large numbers of drones, plus Snipers, on both the roof and plaza areas, and additionally have and hold large quantities of sniper ammunition in storage.

Of course, he also says there was a “strong request” from the military to turn the arch into a military complex. Needham wrote:

How will Americans make a pilgrimage to the Temu Trump Arch to venerate Dear Leader if the thing is also a military installation bristling with weapons? Do civilians normally just get to stroll through those sorts of things?

All this, well the arch all by itself, would be a violation of the Commemorative Works Act. A suit is being brought by a group of veterans. A big question is whether they have standing. The people who do have standing: Congress. The people not doing anything to stop this monstrosity: Congress. When this story broke Michel Martin of NPR spoke to retired Major General Randy Manner about arming the arch. The important points Manner made: Saying the military begged for it is an insult to the military, though it could have come from Secretary Hegseth. Actual admirals and generals are absolutely opposed to this absurd idea. Storing ammunition there is absurd, it offers insufficient protection. One does not advertise where the ammunition is being stored. One puts snipers nests where one intends to do the shooting and the only ones who will be around it are Americans – so the nasty guy is implying the target for the snipers is us. This is close to the flight path to the Reagan Airport, a terrible place to put drones. This is a site that does not need a military presence because there would be no enemy threat there, it would not be a combat zone. All that should scare every American. Needham also reported that Hegseth has announced all male service members 30 and older will be tested for their testosterone levels. Anyone with a deficiency will be given “treatment pathways.” Needham wrote:

That testing is mandatory. You can’t waive it by saying “Pete, unlike you, I am not so insecure in my masculinity as I age that I need to start juicing and shooting T.”

Doctors say screening for low T is weird when there are no symptoms. And high levels of T increase the risk of infertility. Needham noticed that this appears to be gender-affirming care, the same thing this administration is eager to deny to trans people. Hegseth claims it is different. But hypocrisy is frequently the point of this administration. And eventually this requirement is supposed to be rolled out for female service members. How is that going to work out? Definitely not great. Especially since they’re trying to ban actual trans soldiers. Clay Bennett posted a cartoon on Kos. He titled it, “Pete’s gender-affirming care.” It shows Hegseth’s desk with bottles and syringes. The label on one is facing out and says:

Testosterone Warning: High levels of testosterone can cause irritability, aggression, and impaired judgment.

Yup, Hegseth definitely wants the aggression and won’t notice the irritability and impaired judgment. In the comments of Tuesday’s pundit roundup for Kos I saw a cartoon that has been deleted, so I can’t credit the creator. It said essentially, “How can there be a triumphal arch when there have been no triumphs?” David Rothschild tweeted:

Republicans' largest donor (by far) is hosting a robust debate on his platform about whether Jews are white. Corporate Media will ask precisely 0 Republicans about their largest donor's all-consuming misogyny, xenophobia, antisemitism, he will instead by referred to as a visionary industrialist.

A comment by Dartagnan quotes an article in Salon:

If Talarico wins, the white evangelical leadership is very worried about an earthquake among their "faithful." Their biggest nightmare, apparently, is that their congregations actually open up the New Testament and read it. "This is why there’s a growing panic in the Republican ranks over the campaign of James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in Texas, and it’s not just fear that he could beat Ken Paxton, the state’s Republican attorney general. Win or lose, Talarico — a seminary student-turned-politician — embodies an existential threat to the right’s long-standing myth that to be Christian must necessarily mean voting Republican. “As a young evangelical we were taught repeatedly and clearly: It is not possible to be a Christian and a Democrat,” Brad Onishi, a research associate at the University of California, Berkeley and co-host of the “Straight White American Jesus” podcast, told me. “But candidates like Talarico are changing that. His theological acumen and keen ability to use the language of the New Testament to disarm bad-faith religious attacks is showing a new way forward.”

In response to a tweet and article about Sen. John Cornyn and Bush II holding a fundraiser in Dallas to benefit tight senate races but definitely not Texas candidate Ken Paxton, Evan Sutton tweeted:

lol at all the people who've been going "Why isn't Dubya speaking out about Trump??" folks, he's committed to the same f---ing project.

Back in May nasty junior was married. The big news at the time was that daddy didn’t bother to attend. But it was a lavish, three-day party, befitting someone who is rich and wants to impress people in how important he is. The party was held on private islands in the Bahamas and ended with fireworks launched from a barge. The bride wrote on Instagram, “It was everything we dreamed of and more.” Last week Justin Elliott, Brett Murphy, Joshua Kaplan and Alex Mierjeski of ProPublica investigated one important detail of the party – nasty junior paid for very little of it, even though his financial worth is estimated at $300 million. Umar Kremlev, a Russian oligarch close to President Vladimir Putin paid for a great deal – hundreds of thousands of dollars. There were about 50 guests and most of them wondered why a few tended to stand off by themselves and speak Russian. The obvious questions are: Why? And is this a national security issue? Because also obvious: If Kremlev spent so much money on nasty junior he is expecting something in return from the son of the Oval Office occupant. The article goes into detail on who Kremlev is – he has a record of extortion and battery and Ukraine imposed personal sanctions. It also mentions the everlasting efforts of Kremlin operatives trying to build relationships with US government officials and their families.

The same tired anti-trans fearmongering won't bring a win

This past Monday NPR host A Martínez spoke to reporter John Ruwitch about the big news in AI – Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei posted a long online essay that an intentional global slowdown of AI development is needed because the pace of advancing is too fast to keep it safe. Companies need independent auditors embedded to check safety concerns. Shortly after it was posted CEOs of other AI developers agreed. This was prompted by companies reporting AI agents going off script. Amodei worries that in six to twelve months swarms of AI agents could take over the internet, that humans lose control of AI. While some companies could take some steps on their own they need government support. There is also only so much the public will trust them to do on their own. Members of Congress are starting to push for that. But the nasty guy says in AI development the US is ahead of China and he wants to keep the advantage. At the moment there are similar concerns in China. The regulation needs to be global. Leila Fadel of NPR followed that by talking to Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas and the bill he is promoting with Bernie Sanders to ban superintelligent AI. Casar defined superintelligent AI as smarter than humans, impossible for humans to control, able to defy commands, and could develop weapons of mass destruction. “No company should be able to build this kind of artificial intelligence that humans could not control or contain.” This bill says international agreements need to be reached, which we’ve done before with nuclear nonproliferation agreements. Other bills must be passed to protect the US and show the world we are serious. But this faces the nasty guy who wants no protections so the US can stay ahead of China and Mike Johnson who thinks Big Tech should be in charge of AI safety, which is like robbers in charge of law enforcement. Also, CEOs could promise to each other to slow down development, but could revoke that promise. That’s not a safety system. On Tuesday, there was "The Pro-Human Assembly" - a gathering held that day in Washington where politicians, celebrities and religious leaders discussed AI. NPR host Scott Detrow talked to reporter Geoff Brumfiel about it. Brumfiel mentioned the paper clip problem.

You imagine an AI who's given a simple task - make paper clips - and everything starts out fine. They build a little factory, and they start doing it, but they keep thinking about how to make more paper clips. Then it starts mining iron ore, maybe, in huge quantities, destroying the environment or diverting resources from other areas. Eventually, maybe some humans figure out what this AI is doing and try to shut it down, and it decides to get rid of the humans in the name of covering the earth in paper clips.

That is similar to the AI agents that infiltrated another company earlier in the summer. Another recent development is recursive self-improvement, an AI training itself or a successor system. That could quickly get to a superintelligent AI. And the other superintelligent beings around here (us) haven’t been good to the environment. But isn’t that just an engineering problem? A company developing corporate culture, technology, and engineering all at the same time can feel overwhelmed. But it’s just tech. We got this. The public isn’t convinced. The tech people really don’t understand how AI works, how the training yields the results. So where to regulate? Even so, there are rules to be established – don’t create deepfake for harassment and scams. Watch for unhealthy attachments to chatbots. Prevent it from hacking. Like airlines there are government regulators and industry organizations working on safety. We need both. Emily Singer of Daily Kos reported on political ads that target transgender people.

GOP operatives clearly hope the fearmongering will ignite their base and get them to the voting booth since polling shows that even Republican voters are angry about President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy, his war in Iran, and other matters. But American Principles Project, a right-wing super PAC, admitted on Thursday that the deluge of anti-trans ads won’t be enough to save the party in November. In a memo to Republican campaigns, the group warns GOP candidates that “Republicans face significant headwinds in the upcoming midterms,” and says that while Republican ads on culture war and diversity issues are “important,” they “may not be sufficient” to stave off defeat. “To win in 2026, GOP candidates will need to both highlight Democrats’ cultural radicalism while also proposing a compelling economic alternative,” the memo states.

Ah, there’s the problem. Because of the nasty guy Republicans don’t have a compelling economic alternative. And Democrats are now blunting the attack with, “Here they go again.” The same tired anti-trans fearmongering. Guess they don’t have anything better to talk about. In today’s pundit roundup for Kos Greg Dworkin quoted David Graham of The Atlantic discussing the case of a new Democratically controlled house impeaching the nasty guy. The legal case is solid. But...

The political case for impeaching Trump is shakier. Regardless of the results in November, Democrats are unlikely to get enough votes in the Senate to convict and remove him, meaning that a third impeachment would hit the same dead end as the first two. An impeachment can still be effective as a way of damaging a president, but Trump is already deeply unpopular and will never face voters again, so the upside is limited, and an impeachment might give him a way to rally his remaining base around him—which would only strengthen his power and resolve. But what if House Democrats impeached Trump’s Cabinet members instead?

In the comments Dworkin included a tweet by Philip Lewis that includes a video:

A massive group of demonstrators is currently forming a human chain around the Kennedy Center following Trump’s threats against it.

That video shows a large crowd. Jonathan Nicholson added:

If you're not from DC or the DMV, you may not get why this of all things is bringing people into the streets. People have had 1st dates w/ their spouses here, been introduced to ballet or opera, or just gone on a crisp fall day to watch the planes fly over. Truly very special.

A meme posted by exlrrp reminds me of the time I took a tour of the Kennedy Center (more than a decade ago) and the guide took us into rooms the public usually doesn’t see where US dignitaries can greet dignitaries from other countries. The guide told us which country donated the décor of each room. The meme says:

Some interesting facts: The Kennedy Memorial is made of irreplaceable marble that was gifted by Italy. Matisse tapestries found throughout were gifted from France. The massive starburst chandelier in the opera hall, and lights along walkways were a gift from Sweden. The record breaking stage curtains was a gift from Japan, they had to build special looms to weave them because of how big they are. The grounds are beautiful with displays of art. This is what Trump is destroying.

Another meme posted by exlrrp is from US Democratic Socialists.

The biggest mistake in American history was not dragging Trump off to prison within 24 hours of January 6th. And we’ll pay for that for the rest of our lives.

No B.S. Just fix it.

Eric Schmeltzer is a Democratic communications consultant who writes Build a Better Donkey. He wrote a contributing article for Daily Kos discussing Democrat Zohran Mamdani, Mayor of New York, and Democrat Josh Shapiro, governor of Pennsylvania. What they have in common is they are cutting red tape. This isn’t the deregulation favored by Republicans, which is all about removing customer protections so corporations pollute and scam without breaking the law. Mamdani has been cutting red tape for those applying for small business licenses. Shapiro did it when an I-95 bridge collapsed in Philadelphia in June 2023 and he had a temporary replacement in use twelve days later. Shapiro also ordered a review of how the state handles the 2,400 different licenses, permits, and certifications it hands out. Teacher certification went from ten weeks to three or less. Schmeltzer says the villain isn’t the government worker, but but the institutionalist.

Not evil, not lazy. It’s people who are wedded to all those 6,000 regulations Mamdani cited, because they know why each one is there. Every rule started with a reason. Somebody got sick from a bad batch of ice cream, so now you need a permit to sell it. Then something else happened, so another rule got stacked on top of that one, and another on top of that. And nobody in government has ever lost their job for adding a rule. So the rules stay, decades after the reason is no longer valid, because that’s just how things are done and there’s no incentive to change them (but plenty of cost if you do and something goes wrong). As Mamdani’s own buildings commissioner said, the job now is to “get out of our own way.”

Yeah, cutting red tape had been the nasty guy’s line. We must keep Republicans from snatching this idea of a functioning government from Democrats. Well, part of that is Republicans don’t want a functioning government (see DOGE). For the solution the first part is get all Democrats running with this idea so that it becomes a party brand. Show voters what happens when Democrats run things. The second part is to fix what’s broken, to have Congress reverse what DOGE did. Just cutting regulations isn’t enough. “Somebody has to answer the phone, process the form, and hit the deadline, and Trump fired those people.” Yeah, Republicans won’t like the restaffing. Schmeltzer came up with a slogan for this attitude:

“No B.S. Just fix it.” Why that one? Because it’s how people already talk. It covers the rule nobody can explain and the excuse for why nobody can change it, in two letters. And Trump can’t say it anymore, not after DOGE, not without the room laughing. The second ice cream permit is B.S. Six weeks on a nursing license is B.S. “That’s the way it just is” is B.S.

This is a way to push the brand. Kos of Kos discussed the campaign of Democrat Ben Gruber, running for the Wisconsin state assembly. His district is rural, yet he seems to have a chance. He has made some inroads in the district because from his previous jobs he has a reputation of getting things done. That resonates with the people there because they know about getting things done – the hay must be baled before the rainstorm. “‘It doesn’t always have to be pretty,’ Gruber said. ‘It just has to get done.’” Gruber is able to talk to people by asking about shared values and what they need. An example is healthcare. He then tells them how Republicans are making what they need harder to get and that these have been Democratic goals since forever. And when culture war issues come up, like the state paying of prisoner sex-change operations, he deflects the discussion back to economics. Back to getting things done. Which is why the nasty guy is popular in this district. He gets things done, he’s willing to act. Kos wrote:

I’ve written about the same phenomenon. Our politicians have too often blamed norms, traditions, institutions, and procedural obstacles for their inability to change a system that increasingly benefits the wealthy and powerful. It’s excuse after excuse after excuse. But Trump just does what he wants. Yes, he’s using that power toward ends we vehemently oppose, and many of his actions have been clawed back by the courts. But that has helped reveal the contours of presidential power—what a president can do, what the courts will stop, and what survives those challenges. And it turns out a president has far more power than we were led to believe. The next Democratic Congress and president need to be just as laser-focused on using the power that voters give them to deliver tangible economic benefits to everyday people, without hiding behind norms and traditions that entrench the status quo. Do that, and maybe some of those conservative voters in Gruber’s rural district will be impressed enough to reassess their partisan affiliations.

That some who reassess might be enough to dramatically change politics. In today’s pundit roundup for Kos Greg Dworkin quoted Jonathan Last of The Bulwark discussing Rep. Thomas Massie introducing articles of impeachment against Pete Hegseth.

All in all, it’s a pretty thorough document. You know what else it is? A good start. Thomas Massie just pointed the way for the next Congress. We don’t need to wait for 2029 to start pursuing accountability for the criminal acts carried out by members of the Trump administration. A Democratic-led House should impeach all of the officials around Trump who have committed high crimes and misdemeanors.

The reason for needing to do that is to declare at least Democrats believe their actions are illegal, unethical, and just morally wrong. Without saying that Republicans, joined by a few Democrats, will keep doing illegal, unethical, and morally wrong things. Bill in Portland, Maine, in his Cheers and Jeers column for Kos quoted late night commentary. Here’s a couple:

“After a judge ruled that President Trump can’t add his name to the Kennedy Center, Trump announced that he’s shutting it down and canceling the planned renovations. Yup, Trump is shutting it down because it doesn’t have his name on it—as opposed to his casinos, which shut down because they did have his name on them.” —Jimmy Fallon “Diesel is now so expensive my Amazon driver just told me he’s leaving my package in Ohio and I should come get it.” —John Fugelsang