I don’t care about you. I just want your vote.

Gregg Matson of the Daily Kos community discussed why Republicans don’t like public education. A few days ago I had added this to a list of Republican reasons, “this” being laid out in a quote Matson used to begin his piece. I was a bit surprised by the date on the quote.

“Republicans don’t like the educated because the educated don’t like what the conservatives are selling: simplistic, ahistorical, sometimes hate-driven topical solutions to sophisticated, often systemic problems.” Max Taves, THE SACRAMENTO BEE, 2/24/1924

Corporate bosses want the populace educated only enough to operate their businesses. They do not want a populate educated enough to be able of critical thinking and able to challenge their rule. The slide began when Reagan was governor of California and proposed “simplistic, marketplace-centered solutions to all society’s problems.” Students reacted with demonstrations and disruptions of teaching. That reinforced the opinion on the right that “free or cheap college education only produced whiny troublemakers.” They branded public education as a major cause of civil rights riots and general animosity to revered cultural traditions. Of course, the revered cultural traditions include the claim that corporate bosses are supposed to be at the top of the social hierarchy and in control of everything with solutions that were best for the country (meaning, of course, themselves). That brought a reduction in government support of education. Requiring students to pay would make them take it more seriously and not squander it on parties and “destructive ‘anti-American’ politics.” Less educated voters can be convinced that law and order is better than expanded democracy. But these days keeping people unaware that things aren’t as simple as the rulers want us to believe is getting harder. Matson concluded:

We are still confronted with realities that our rulers would rather we avoid learning about, even though ignoring them will lead to disaster. Congratulations to America’s plutocrats. But with college protests in the 2020’s echoing the 1960’s, we again must realize that if we want our children to inherit an inclusive society wherein all people can live comfortably, the solutions are the same now as then. We need to know our rights and responsibilities, and how to effectively use them. In essence, we need a modern education infrastructure that prioritizes teaching people how to learn.

A week ago Mark Sumner of Kos reported the nasty guy wants to restore “presidential impoundment.” That’s a president refusing to spend money authorized by Congress, and the Constitution says Congress determines spending. The practice dates back to Thomas Jefferson, but a law was passed back in 1974 restricting its use because Nixon abused it by refusing to spend money on subsidized housing. The nasty guy has already said how he will bend the federal government to his own will, including dismantle agencies, purge insufficiently loyal employees, and turn the FBI and DoJ into agents of retribution.

Unlimited use of the Impoundment Act goes well beyond even the authority of a line-item veto. It would allow Trump to halt funds at any time to inflict pain or apply pressure. It’s easy to see how this program might be used to force a weakened Congress into signing on to legislation provided by Trump, to slice out programs that had fallen out of favor, or to destroy whole departments. It’s hard to see how Congress could negotiate any kind of meaningful legislation when Trump could come in and selectively block funding. It’s not hard to see how this could be an extension of Trump’s ability to punish his enemies, especially in the wake of calls to “defund” the entire state of New York following Trump’s felony conviction on 34 counts in a Manhattan courtroom. It’s an idea that seems laughable ... until you add impoundment. ... An unlimited presidential impoundment authority isn’t a “budgetary issue.” It’s full control of the entire government. Which is exactly why it’s on Trump’s agenda.

Also a week ago Sumner reported that the nasty guy was on Dr. Phil’s show. Part of the discussion went like this:

“I think you have so much to do,” said Phil McGraw. “You don’t have time to get even.” Trump didn’t exactly agree. “Well, revenge does take time, I will say that,” Trump admitted. “And sometimes revenge can be justified, Phil. I have to be honest. Sometimes it can.” Anyone who thinks they're going to talk Trump out of scoring some sweet revenge has somehow missed the fact that vengeance is Trump's personal philosophy, his campaign theme, and his deepest desire. Vengeance “R” him.

Sumner said every time the media talks about the nasty guy’s agenda and doesn’t mention revenge they’re missing the most important component of his plans. Earlier this week Sumner discussed another nasty guy first – meeting with a parole officer. Sumner wrote it before the meeting and it was private so there is no report afterward. As part of the meeting he should have been asked whether he has been associating with anyone with a criminal record. That could violate the conditions of parole. Which could be touchy since so many of his associates are convicted felons: Bannon, Stone, Flynn, and at least 10 more. Also on Monday Sumner reported on one statement the nasty guy said at his Las Vegas rally that Sumner says the nasty guy actually said the truth, yet the media will ignore it.

“We need every voter. I don’t care about you. I just want your vote,” he said.

And the media is ignoring it, the same way they’re ignoring what he says at every rally and crafting a story about what they want their readers believe was said at the rally. Aldous Pennyfarthing of the Kos community discussed conservative media complaining about an item in a report of expenses of District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s prosecution of the nasty guy. The item is $1 million to hire outside lawyers to respond to Congressional inquiry of the trial. Conservative media wasn’t upset with so much Congressional inquiry (read: Congressional meddling in attempt to thwart the trial) that the DA’s office needed $1 million to respond to it. They were upset that such a gaudy sum was spent in pursuit of the nasty guy while the rest of the New York City budget was facing cuts (not that they actually cared about the things NYC wasn’t spending money on). Pennyfarthing concluded:

So what we have here is yet another example of extreme GOP chutzpah. Let’s break it down: 1. Conservatives forced Bragg to defend his case—which he eventually won with a unanimous verdict—against their interference. 2. They then attacked him for successfully defending his case with the help of a $1 million appropriation, which he wouldn’t have had to make had it not been for their meddling. 3. Their chief rationale for exempting Trump from any and all state prosecutions involves the outright lie that crime is spiraling out of control in New York. 4. Finally—and this is the coup de grâce—their solution for addressing what they claim is rising crime but is actually falling crime is to elect a convicted felon president. So that’s your modern Republican Party in a nutshell. Nice, huh?

Today Sumner reported the next level of cult worship by Republicans. Since the attempt to rename a Washington airport after the nasty guy failed, they need something bigger. There is an Exclusive Economic Zone that extends 200 miles out from every American shore (including American Samoa). It is a zone where the US claims special economic privileges for things like fishing and oil. A bill may have been introduced by Rep. Greg Steube of Florida today to rename the 4,383,000 square miles of EEZ after the nasty guy.

It’s not quite stamping every map with Trumplantic, Trumpacific, and Gulf of Trump ... but it’s every bit as ridiculous. Like other Republican efforts to show their loyalty to Trump, this proves that there really is no limit. Now that Steube has raised the ante, stand by for the Trumpissippi River, the great state of Trumpessee, in the United States of Trump, on planet Trump, in the Trumpar System, in the outer arm of the Trumpy Way galaxy of the Trumpiverse. But it does have its upsides. Think how much easier geography will be when all of the answers are the same

. In a pundit roundup for Kos Greg Dworkin quoted David Rothkopf of the Daily Beast. Rothkopf’s topic was about the first time the nasty guy came to the Capitol since the attack. He met with Republicans behind closed doors. Even so, word got out:

After having led an assault that put many of them in peril, Trump demonstrated his control over the party and the complete lack of character of virtually all of its members, by demanding that they publicly bend the knee before him. They slavered. They sang his praises. They collectively sought to wash away his sins in one of those most repugnant displays of public ass-kissing in American history.

Down in the comments exlrrp shows a doctored photo of the Supreme Court. Kavanaugh is wearing his red beer hat, Alito is holding his tackle box. Thomas his holding bags of money. And Roberts is asleep in his reclining chair. Sumner, in his weekly 7 stories to know column for Kos, wrote about the nasty guy being scheduled for a virtual visit with the Danbury Institute, a Christian Nationalist group. Yeah, there are all kinds of things wrong with that statement. I want to focus on one particular thing. The Danbury Institute says abortions are “child sacrifice.” They also complained that the murder of Trayvon Martin got too much attention at the time, meaning they saw nothing wrong with the murder. So why is abortion equivalent to child sacrifice, yet the murder of Trayvon Martin isn’t?