The idea of caring for the country is difficult for him to fathom

I finished the novel The Prospects by KT Hoffman. It is the story of Gene, who is transgender and gay. The story opens at the start of his second season with the Beaverton Beavers, a Triple-A minor league team under the Major League Baseball Portland Lumberjacks (yes, this is fiction). Gene used to be teammate and friend with Luis back when they were both playing for Stanford University, though Gene is annoyed that when Luis left school early to the majors Gene was forgotten. Luis wasn’t in the majors for very long before starting his own journey through the minor leagues. Now he has an emotional support dog. Gene was glad he faced Luis only a few times during the year when their teams played each other. But then Luis was traded to the Beavers. And given Gene’s position of shortstop. Yeah, we know where this is headed. The book’s cover is a big clue. But minor leagues, especially Triple-A, are known for people leaving – being called up to the majors, being traded to another team, being sent down to an even lower level, or seeing it is time to end a career. Can a relationship last when notice of a move can come just hours before it happens? Gene is well supported by the coach, Stephanie Baker, a lesbian. He’s also offered essentially free housing by team captain Vince and his husband. Gene feels comfortable with his teammates seeing him naked in the locker room. All that makes Gene feel he’s found a home with the Beavers. Yeah, that much support for a trans/gay athlete in professional sports is still a fantasy, but a guy can dream it could happen soon. I’m thankful to Hoffman, who is trans and gay, for providing a glimpse into that dream. Michael Lewis wrote the book The Fifth Risk, about how the federal government works. I think the fifth risk is the one nobody is even looking for. Calanbo of the Daily Kos community wrote about the book and what Lewis is planning next. Lewis, who wrote the books Moneyball and The Big Short, went to various federal agencies and asked them to tell him what they do as if he was part of an incoming presidential administration. What he learned from those conversations became The Fifth Risk. Calanbo shared some of what Lewis wrote about for the Departments of Commerce (including weather reporting), the Department of Energy (its primary job is maintain the nuclear stockpile), and Department of Agriculture (including the administration of SNAP benefits). All of these departments have dedicated employees who make them better at serving and protecting the people. Calanbo also discussed how America shifted from a government where every job was a patronage job, to one where most of the workers are dedicated careerists. The impetus for that change was President James Garfield being assassinated in 1881 by a guy who didn’t get a patronage job. Calanbo wrote:

Without understanding how our government works, without knowing what these agencies do, it may be difficult for people to understand how damaging Project 2025 would be. Our federal workforce over decades has become professionalized, with advancement based on merit, not patronage, and consequently less susceptible to corruption and abuse.

What Lewis is planning next is to guide a series of articles to appear in the Washington Post on every Tuesday from next week to election day. The six writers involved have gone into some part of the federal government to learn about it in the same way Lewis did for this book. In a pundit roundup for Kos Greg Dworkin quoted Zeynep Tufekci of the New York Times discussing the listeria outbreak originating in a Boar’s Head meat plant that has killed a few and sickened many.

It’s easy for companies to complain about excessive regulation, but consumers shouldn’t forget how hard it is to keep mass-produced food safe. Your food is kept safe quietly, day after day, because of extensive regulations born of experience and science. Eagle-eyed inspectors who notice even the tiniest bit of misplaced raw meat can save lives. As this tragic listeria outbreak reminds us, regulations don’t work without accountability. When companies shirk their responsibilities, swift consequences should kick in, before someone dies or falls ill. Reports by the U.S.D.A. so far show there were no enforcement actions against Boar’s Head in the past year, despite these reports. It is unclear what penalties, if any, the company will face. Whatever they are, one can only hope they will deter other failures.

Don’t call them regulations. Call them consumer (or environmental) protections. Kos of Kos wrote the nasty guy is changing his tune on IVF and abortion. Perhaps it is because he’s trying to align himself with what women want? Hard to tell. But we can see the effect of his words. He probably isn’t attracting pro-choice women, considering the way Harris has been hammering the reason why Roe was overturned was because of the nasty guy. And by changing his tune he is pissing off anti-abortion activists. They had already felt unease with the nasty guy’s performative position or “strategic ambiguity.” But his recent proclamations go much further and allies are starting to back away. Wrote Kos:

Trump is in a tough place now: He can’t backtrack without admitting he was wrong, nor would he be able to easily rebuild trust with evangelical anti-abortion voters even if he did. Yet he can’t move forward as a pro-choice champion without further angering and alienating the most committed foot soldiers of the conservative movement. And he did it all for what? Is there a single pro-choice voter who is going to trust Trump on abortion and choose him over Vice President Kamala Harris? He gains zero by trying to pander to a pro-choice constituency that’s long lost. This is just more evidence that Trump’s instincts have abandoned him.

As for the nasty guy’s declaration he wants insurance to cover IVF – Joan McCarter of Kos reported that Democrats have a plan for that. Now that their party’s head is for IVF perhaps Senate Republicans will vote for it? If not, this is a way for Democrats to get Republican opposition on the record through a vote. McCarter reported that actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt explained the nasty guy’s tax plans quite quickly. Gordon-Leavitt would benefit nicely from what the nasty guy proposes, but says no thanks. Wrote McCarter, referencing University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School:

“Do you want to talk about who’s going to really help most Americans? It’s Kamala,” Gordon-Levitt says in his video. And he’s right, according to Wharton. That bottom quintile of earners would see $2,355 in tax relief, and those in the middle, $2,165. The top 0.1% who would get a $376,910 gift from Trump, but would have to pay an additional $167,255 in Harris’ plan.

I’ve been avoiding talking about the nasty guy’s disgraceful attempt to use the graves of fallen soldiers in Arlington National Cemetery as a campaign photo op, which is illegal. John Harwood tweeted quotes from New York Magazine that sums it up well:

“Trump doesn’t actually care about the country.” “The whole idea of caring about the country is difficult for him to fathom.” “He believes in the gangster ethos that all people are selfish and those who claim to uphold higher values are merely hypocrites.”

This matches my understanding that a person fully invested in maintaining the social hierarchy, which the nasty guy is, that person assumes everyone else is as fully invested. They don’t understand that some people may not care about the hierarchy at all. An Associated Press article posted to Kos discusses what’s going on with special counsel Jack Smith refiling indictments against the nasty guy in the case of interference in the 2020 election. The new allegations are in response to the Supreme Court granting presidents immunity for official actions. Smith carefully rewrote his indictments to conform to the ruling, leaving out the parts that might be considered official actions (like consulting with the Department of Justice, though it was to convince them to help with his insurrection). This AP article explains what is now in the indictment and what is next for the case. Alas, there will be a lot of wrangling over whether each bit is also an official act – or no it isn’t. And that will delay the trial until well after the election. Bill in Portland, Maine, in his Cheers and Jeers column for Kos, has several quotes from journalist Molly Ivins, who was good at lampooning the Texas Legislature and Republicans in general. Though Ivins died 17 years ago her comments are annoyingly still relevant. Here’s a comment from July 1994.

Jimmy Carter was a president the press just never cottoned to. Like the senators during the Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas hearings, they just didn’t get it. Actually it was pretty simple. Jimmy Carter has been out of office for thirteen years now. And every day for thirteen years, that man has gone out and behaved like a good Christian—for no money. Because that's who he is, and that's what he always was. But that was too simple for Power Town.

Again, the press was (and, alas, still is) strong supporters of the social hierarchy and Jimmy Carter wasn’t (and still isn’t). They didn’t understand that some people ignored or tried to subvert the hierarchy. When I wrote that Robert F Kennedy Jr. suspended his race for president I said I didn’t have sources ready. Since then I came across one, if you need it.

No one has to fail for others to succeed

Though a week has passed (computer upgrades can do that) I finally watched the 42 minutes of Kamala Harris’ acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. One could skip the 3 minutes of applause at the start. Here’s a few things that caught my attention. She talked about her upbringing, that her parents taught her to be fearless and never do anything “half-assed.” After receiving some sort of racism her mother also taught, don’t complain about injustice, do something about it. She grew up in a working class neighborhood that provided her and her mother with a support network. She was inspired by civil rights era lawyers, which prompted her to be a prosecutor. In that job her guiding principle was a harm to one is a harm to all. All of us are in it together. She continues that focus on community. She said we can move beyond division, which is what most Americans want. She will uphold the rule of law. In what she proposes she will be realistic and practical. In her jobs as prosecutor, senator, vice president she stood up for the common people against corporations and big people. She described the nasty guy. Imagine him with no guardrails. He will not take actions to improve people, nor national security. He will be in the White House only to improve himself. We are not going back (one of her taglines) She is there for a new way forward (another tagline) with a strong middle class. She was told she needed to take advantage for every opportunity. So one of her goals is to create the conditions for opportunity, which she called the Opportunity Economy. She grabbed ahold of the word freedom: Freedom from gun violence, the freedom to love with pride, freedom to breathe clean air, and freedom from pollution and climate change, freedom to vote, the Freedom that comes from safety and security. She gave strong support for Israel as well as support for Palestinians. I appreciated one more of her lines: No one has to fail for others to succeed. That line is in contrast to the actions of Republicans, billionaires, and other people highly invested in the social hierarchy. They believe the size of their success is shown by how much others fail. Fiona Webster posted a cartoon by Mackay showing Harris lassoing the word “Freedom,” yanking it out of the hands of the nasty guy as he shouts “Stop! Thief!” Another good speech of the last day of the convention was the one given by Gabby Giffords, who has made an amazing recovery from an assassination attempt that put a bullet in her head. She is now a strong advocate for gun control. Her speech is under 3 minutes. The day before Obama talked about Tim Walz and his flannels. The flannels are now a cultural thing. Kaili Joy Gray of Daily Kos briefly discussed flannels and included a photo of Walz sewing a button on one of his flannel shirts. Joan McCarter of Kos wrote that one of the heartfelt moments in the convention was when Walz declared his love for his children and Gus Walz shouted, “That’s my dad!” in response. McCarter has evidence that the nasty guy and his partner don’t love their kids the same way. Harris, in her speech, included the line, “As commander in chief, I will ensure America always has the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world.” A lot of progressives flinched at the phrase, “most lethal” and were angry with its use. Kos of Kos says we’re looking at it wrong. The nasty guy and many of his fans have abandoned America’s role as a global stabilizing force. He has been highly critical of our military personnel and of our military alliances. He wants to allow dictators to do as they please. Many progressives believe that a strong military leads to massive military budgets and to military adventurism. Yes, our national military budget is huge and much bigger than it needs to be, but that’s a political problem because Republicans throw money at defense to declare they are the party of security and to prevent spending in other domestic programs. But we do need a strong military (and I’m a guy who envisions a day when we don’t need one). There are a lot of hot spots around the world who want American protection. And that is the big reason: deterrence. China hasn’t (yet) invaded Taiwan because of America’s military. Wrote Kos:

The goal of a strong military isn’t to use it. The goal is deterrence. Supporting a strong military isn’t the same as supporting more war.

One more thing. Americans want a strong military and they are reassured that Harris agrees. Last night Harris, with Walz nearby, did an interview with Dana Bash of CNN. Kos reported Harris did just fine, even refusing to answer a question or two. It is Bash who had the problems. Bash may not have fumbled questions, but she did ask some silly ones and others that were supposed to be “gotcha” questions. Bash did have follow up questions that she would not have asked the nasty guy. Others in media haven’t asked them, either. Bash also left out a lot of context and assumed that she spoke for the voters. No, she spoke for herself and CNN. The whole thing was rather boring. No new and big revelations because Harris has already been reaching voters by stepping around big media. Big media has been clamoring for their interview. It’s been done now. No need for another. Sumner of Kos then discussed the Republican response to the interview. The summary: she didn’t give them anything they could use to attack her.

We claim the right to report that there's no knowable result

My new computer is closer to what I want and need it to be. I was able to copy my stash of browser tabs from the old computer (you go ahead and debate whether that’s good or bad... I’ll catch up later). I’m still getting used to the different layout of the keyboard. It has lots of new things for Windows 11 (much I’ll probably never use) and some keys, like “End,” are in slightly different positions. The only major computer thing not resolved is what to do about my music composing program – I haven’t had any composing time since before the switch. Walter Einenkel of Daily Kos wrote that Rachel Maddow, on her show Monday night, discussed Republican election games in Georgia. The Republican dominated Georgia State Election Board has passed a bunch of changes that would allow election officials to “question, delay, or otherwise sabotage election certification.” Democrats are trying to stop it. Einenkel wrote:

“I think part of understanding the importance of this tactic is that confusion and mistakes are probably the point,” Maddow explains. “It's one thing to say we want the right to flip an election result. That's going to be sort of a hard sell. It's another thing to say we want the right, and we claim the right to essentially report that there's no knowable result here, that there isn't any discernible result, that there's a big question about it, that it seems like there's a cloud over the result.”

Maddow saw hope in that Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp has asked the state attorney general whether or not he has the right to remove obstructive members of the board. Part of Kemp’s effort might be because the nasty guy has been critical of him. Mark Sumner of Kos wrote about campaigns raising and spending money. Harris has significantly outraised the nasty guy, with her mostly drawing from small donations and he drawing mostly from billionaires. As for spending, the New York Times reported that during the 2020 campaign about two-thirds of the money the nasty guy spent went to one company, American Made Media Consultants. What did this money buy? AMMC is a private company, so doesn’t have to say where it spent the money it received. The only hint is that it is run by the nasty guy’s former campaign director Brad Parscale. Also involved are son Eric and the Pandemic Prince. Receiving payment on a smaller scale is Red Curve Solutions. We do know a bit more about this one. Campaign Legal Center says Red Curve is used to pay the nasty guy’s legal bills. Another company is Launchpad Strategies and about this one is no information of who runs it and where the money goes.

These billionaires cut Trump big checks, then the checks go into a big black hole. What comes out doesn’t appear to be any recognizable campaign activity. Even before Harris entered the race, President Joe Biden was outspending Trump three-to-one on television advertising. The money going into these companies seems to disappear … which certainly makes it hard to discern whether Trump is running his campaign in a legitimate fashion or simply pocketing hundreds of millions in bribes.

Matt Davies posted a cartoon he titled Stop the Stale. It shows an elephant approaching the 2024 Word Salad Bar that contains tubs of “Wilted grievances” “Stolen Election Re-hash” “Stale insults” “Belittle Veterans” and a few more. In a pundit roundup for Kos Dworkin quoted William Kristol and Andrew Egger of The Bulwark:

As political obsessives, we confess it: We’re already getting a little sick of the “weird” thing. Weeks of seeing the same point every day about these guys! Surely there’s some other way we can— What’s that? There’s new audio out of JD Vance yukking it up with a podcast host who says that “the whole purpose of the postmenopausal female” is to help raise their grandkids? Okay, a few more days of “weird” won’t hurt.

Contrast that with this meme posted way down in the comments by exlrrp, showing Walz stopping to pet a cat. The caption says, “When you’re famous, they let you do it.” Joan McCarter of Kos reported that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has suspended his campaign for president and endorsed the nasty guy. I heard a lot about this over the weekend and don’t have time to track down the sources. Some say he did it because those who didn’t like Biden and went to Kennedy have now shifted back to Harris. That left Kennedy polling at 7%. All that shows the whole ploy, the whole purpose of his campaign, was to pull voters from Biden to help the nasty guy. McCarter then went on to document all the Kennedy siblings and cousins denouncing his move, much the same way they denounced his candidacy when he started. Kennedy has asked to be removed for several state ballots. He won’t be removed from Michigan’s ballot because he was nominated by a minor party and they don’t have time to hold another convention to nominate someone else. In another pundit roundup Greg Dworkin quoted Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Bunch described the placement of American flags around the hall during the Democratic National Convention.

Moments later, those flags were fanning the last and strongest waves of euphoria at an unforgettable Democratic National Convention, as the vice president pivoted toward defining American freedom as the right to make family choices, breathe clean air, or cast a ballot, and she vowed to defend those rights through strength. The Democratic delegates kept chanting “U-S-A! U-S-A!” — as if they were watching Steph Curry draining three-pointers against France in this cavernous basketball arena instead of an acceptance speech — as Harris staked her claim to the red, white, and blue.

A quote from Molly Ball of the Wall Street Journal:

“I am really happy to see that the Democratic Party is taking our rightful place as the patriotic ones,” said Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland, a rising star in the party who has been arguing for a forceful embrace of patriotism since he ran for office two years ago. “We cannot forfeit this idea of patriotism to people who claim it when they are not actually willing to sacrifice anything for their country.” Yet the convention’s unapologetic embrace of liberal causes, from abortion and gun control to climate change, was also a defiant insistence that their ideology is the new American majority, the new American normal—that it is those who insist on bygone gender roles and restrictive mores who are the “weird” ones, that a diverse, multicultural array of identities can lay claim to apple pie and the American dream. ... One strategist noted after watching Walz’s rural Minnesota football-coach presentation, “We’re not giving up on white guys”—as long as they are the type of white guys who aren’t afraid to cry and support their wives’ careers.

And a quote from Greg Sargent of The New Republic discussing the convention speech Harris gave.

But, in mulling what Harris means by all this, it’s crucial to appreciate what she did not do. Harris offered all this outreach to voters outside the core Democratic coalition without making serious concessions to the ideological preoccupations we associate with MAGA-style right-wing populism. There was no real accommodation with what might be called The World According to MAGA. Instead, Harris treated Trumpism and the MAGA movement as forces that must be decisively repudiated—and unequivocally left behind.

In the comments exlrrp posted a meme from Occupy Democrats listing some of the tough issues Harris avoided, including: “Electric boars versus sharks. ... With wind power you can’t watch TV when the wind isn’t blowing.”

When did we muddy the waters as to what it means to be a man?

My new computer is mostly set up – I’m using it now. Some things didn’t go smoothly, though most are resolved. And as I was about to buy the latest version of my music program they announce that as of today they aren’t selling it anymore. Something about the core of their program is too old to continue to develop on it. They negotiated a big discount to a different program. But I and my users forum friends have never heard of it. It also doesn’t read files from my current program and the transfer mechanism was improved after I last updated fourteen years ago – as each new release came out I’d ask my forum friends if an update was worth it. They would always say no. So I may need to keep the old program and old computer around to have a method of migration. I finished the book Educated by Tara Westover. I bought it a couple years ago because it was on a table of buy one, get another half off and I already had one from that table. This one looked good enough to buy for half off without reading a review to see if it is any good. And it is good. Westover writes quite well. From the title one would guess the book is about the struggle Westover went through to be able to get a good education. While true, that is only part of the story. The other, bigger, part is why it was a struggle. She is the youngest of seven children and the second daughter in a devout Mormon family. She assures us there is no correlation between religious/nonreligious and evil/good. So it wasn’t just that they were devout Mormon. In an author note at the beginning Westover lists sixteen names she says are aliases. I referred back to that list as I read and found the names of her parents, two brothers, and sister. Others in that list referred to roommates and minor characters. The story opens at the time of the Ruby Ridge incident where federal agents killed members of Randy Weaver’s family. Westover’s father, already declaring schools and modern medicine evil, thinks the agents will come after him and his family next. He makes sure their home in mountainous southeastern Idaho can be self sufficient. Only much later does she figure out her father might be bipolar. So she didn’t go to school. And wasn’t exactly homeschooled either. Sometimes she had access to textbooks and sometimes she didn’t and could only study them when her father didn’t demand her labor elsewhere. That bigger part is that her father is verbally abusive and her mother supports her husband. One older brother is physically abusive and her parents support him over her. Also, when his children work for him around the property he seems amazingly disinterested in safety. Yeah, that gets coupled with his distrust of modern medicine. So a lot of what Westover relates is the effect of all that abuse has on her. She is able to relate what it did to her at the time and also discuss what was really going on when she looks back on it fifteen years later. This isn’t exactly an enjoyable book. It is a very good, important, and worthwhile book. My Sunday viewing (yeah, the new computer was enough together and I needed a break) was the Netflix show Stand Out: An LGBTQ+ Celebration. This is the companion piece to Outstanding: a Comedy Revolution about LGBTQ+ comedian history I watched at the beginning of the month. This one is the actual comedy show the documentary was built around. Stand Out is about a comedy show back in 2022 in which more than two dozen comedians were able to participate. That by itself was groundbreaking. The minor downside is we get to see only 5-6 minutes of each one, though they were very good at making their few minutes count. And some of them only did an introduction to someone else, such as Lily Tomlin introduced Sandra Bernhard. I had hoped for more from Tomlin. My favorites were Tig Notaro, Wanda Sykes, and Sandra Bernhard, with my top favorite being Eddie Izzard who did a marvelous story of dogs protecting an estate (“The assassins are here!” said the dog) and how useless the 160 million years of dinosaurs were. All they did was roar at each other. There were no dinosaur poets. In the midst of my computer update I did read a few articles. In an article for The 19th and posted on Daily Kos, Amanda Becker discussed manhood as portrayed by the two recent political conventions. Walz made menstrual products available in public schools. Other men talked about fertility, pregnancy, abortion, being a caregiver, the challenges women have, and men giving up their careers so their wives could advance. The nasty guy made his entrance to “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World” and there was lots of “demonstrations of physical strength and masculine prowess.” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul told The 19th:

The generation of men who are fathers today, who were raised with mothers who more likely worked than not, who understood that a man had responsibility at home, it’s a 50-50 proposition. The men you saw ... helped raise kids, helped change diapers, helped find child care, helped buy the groceries. “For men to be able to stand up and talk about what it means when a woman is not able to get an abortion to save her life or the life of their child or future children, that's powerful. That hits right here. [She pointed to her heart.]

Ryan Hamilton, a married father in Texas with an infant daughter, said:

When did we kind of muddy the waters as to what it means to be a man? For me, and what I'm noticing at the convention, and it feels really good to see, being a man is standing up for the women that you love in your life, and being an example for your daughter.

From impossible, to possible, to real, to ordinary in 25 years

While I didn’t watch the Democratic National Convention live I did watch some of the speeches posted online. Many are worth sharing. This sounds like fun (though I don’t have a video): During the roll call to ceremonially nominate Harris and Walz DJ Cassidy spun a tune appropriate for each state – Bruce Springsteen for New Jersey, Dolly Parton for Tennessee, and so on. Daily Kos staff gathered photos of the various buttons available for delegates to wear. I like: “Make Stupid Embarrassing Again.” Pete Buttigieg: I only have excerpts of the text and this is an excerpt of that:

I'm thinking of dinner time at our house in Michigan when the dog is barking and the air fryer is beeping and the mac and cheese is boiling over and it feels like all the political negotiating experience in the world is not enough for me to get our three year old son and our three year old daughter to just wash their hands and sit at the table. It's the part of our day when politics seems the most distant. And yet the makeup of our kitchen table, the existence of my family is just one example of something that was literally impossible as recently as 25 years ago, when an anxious teenager growing up in Indiana wondered if he would ever find belonging in this world. This kind of life went from impossible to possible, from possible to real, from real to almost ordinary in less than half a lifetime.

Hillary Clinton’s speech, 17 minutes. The ovation when she came to the podium lasted close to two minutes. Dana Nessel, Attorney General of Michigan, spoke for four minutes. Her big line:

For the Republicans and the justices of the United States Supreme Court, you can pry this wedding band from my cold dead gay hands.

Senator Tammy Duckworth, who lost parts of both legs in the Iraq War, does a great defense of IVF in five minutes. Cole Emhoff, stepson of Harris, narrates a two minute video to introduce his father Doug to the convention. It’s a sweet story. Even better, the video was produced by Kerstin Emhoff—Cole’s mother and Doug’s ex-wife. As Ben Wexler tweeted:

Kamala’s husband’s ex-wife is supporting her more enthusiastically than Trump’s current wife is supporting him.

To which Kerstin replied: “Damn right.” Doug Emhoff spoke for 8 minutes telling about how he and Harris met and what she has done for his family, what she has done for the country so far, and what she will do. He didn’t shake the rafters as other speakers did and will. It’s just a sweet story. Michelle Obama, 20 minutes, a tribute to her mother, who died just a few months ago. She talked about how most people she knows don’t get second (or third or fourth) chances.

See, his his limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people—who happened to be black. I want to know. I want to know who's going to tell him. Who's going to tell him that the job he's currently seeking might just be one of those ‘Black jobs’?

Barack Obama, 37 minutes. This post includes the transcript. He also talks about Michelle’s mother and his grandmother.

But they knew what was true. They knew what mattered: things like honesty and integrity, kindness, and hard work. They weren’t impressed with braggarts or bullies. They didn’t think putting other people down lifted you up or made you strong. They didn’t spend a lot of time obsessing about what they didn’t have. Instead, they appreciated what they did. They found pleasure in simple things: a card game with friends, a good meal and laughter around the kitchen table, helping others, and, most of all, seeing their children do things and go places that they would’ve never imagined for themselves.

I heard that part about braggarts and bullies and thought that means they ignored the social hierarchy as much as they could and were not impressed with people who thought the hierarchy was of critical importance. One more step: Every speaker I’m highlighting tonight only used language of the hierarchy and supremacy to describe Republicans. When talking about Democrats they talked about the opposite – building community. NHBred of the Kos community posted a story about Tim Walz’ son Gus being neurodivergent and how the family made sure he got the help he needed. They now call his condition his secret power. And the 17 minute acceptance speech by Coach Walz, the VP nominee. He may not have given big speeches before, but he did an excellent job with this one. Some of what he said: In a small town we learned how to take care for each other. Everybody belongs. Everybody contributes. There is a commitment to the common good. A single person can make a difference. While others were banning books, we were banning hunger. I loved his contrast between the way Republicans define freedom and the way Democrats do. Project 2025 is an agenda that nobody wants, an agenda only for the richest and most extreme. And nobody writes a playbook and not use it. In the comments of a pundit roundup for Kos exlrrp posted a cartoon of people on a plane with this caption, “Attention, passengers: there will be some moderate turbulence while we pass through the energy field pulsing up from the Democratic National Convention.” I bought a new computer. The current one, which I’m using now, is ten years old and running Windows 7. I’m now getting websites, such as the bank that issued me a credit card, that refuse to talk to it. Others say, please update! So it is time. I don’t know how long setting it up will take. It may go smoothly, it may not. This will also be a time to update all the software, so that will take a chunk of the time. I probably won’t post again until it is done.

Furious that they’re losing in the marketplace of ideas

The speakers for the second night of the Democratic National Convention look like a good lineup, including Barack and Michelle Obama, but I haven’t listened yet (not even to excerpts). Instead I’ll go to my accumulated tabs about the opposition. Lisa Needham of Daily Kos reported that Indiana enacted an “intellectual diversity” law and a federal judge threw out a lawsuit seeking to block it. The law went into effect July 1. It says getting tenure is based in part on whether the professor fosters “a culture of free inquiry, free expression, and intellectual diversity” and whether students get a “variety of political or ideological frameworks.”

Using the term “intellectual diversity” is the giveaway. It’s a favorite term of the right when they want to complain about how conservative viewpoints aren’t insufficiently coddled by higher education. It’s also the only kind of diversity conservatives really like.

Some of the terms in the law are not defined, so professors don’t have guidance on how to avoid violating the law. Must Holocaust studies include Holocaust denial? Do chapters on slavery have to include the debunked claim that slavery was a benefit to the enslaved? The case was thrown out because professors have not yet been harmed and that is because Universities haven’t spelled out their policies yet. The law is based on the notion that since professors are employees of the government what they say isn’t “free speech” but “government speech” and that can be controlled by the university. All existing court decisions on academic freedom have declared that speech related to teaching or scholarship is free speech. These kinds of games with university professors are also being played out in Florida, Ohio, and Texas. Four states have already restrict tenure at community colleges. Over the last ten years six states have proposed (but not passed) complete tenure bans.

Conservatives will keep doing this because their war against higher education is part of their overall war on modernization and multiculturalism. They’re furious that they’re losing in the marketplace of ideas, and they will keep attacking their own universities until they break under the strain.

Andy Kroll for ProPublica and Nick Surgey for Documented, in an article posted on Kos, reported that Project 2025 has a “plan to train an army of political appointees who could battle against the so-called deep state government bureaucracy on behalf of a future Trump administration.” For that training there are videos, 23 of them, which is 14 hours of content.

The Project 2025 videos coach future appointees on everything from the nuts and bolts of governing to how to outwit bureaucrats. There are strategies for avoiding embarrassing Freedom of Information Act disclosures and ensuring that conservative policies aren’t struck down by “left-wing judges.” Some of the content is routine advice that any incoming political appointee might be told. Other segments of the training offer guidance on radically changing how the federal government works and what it does.

Some of the topics show how to attack specific parts of the government. They explain how to weed out and counter all the government language on climate change. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) reviews the regulations proposed by the government, so controlling it can control regulations that are approved. Viewers are told Washington is hostile to conservative values (“basic traditional values” – yup, racism is “traditional”) and how to deal with that. There is a section on how to keep career bureaucrats from derailing their efforts. They’re directed to talk to conservative media because that’s what conservative voters trust. They are advised how to avoid leaving a paper trail – talk to other people in person. The nasty guy may be trying to distance himself from Project 2025, but... Joan McCarter of Kos reported that Russell Vought, the architect of the plan, is delighted that JD Vance is the VP pick. Mark Sumner of Kos discussed the financial disclosure forms the nasty guy was required to file to comply with election campaign laws. They’re not as detailed as tax forms, but they are still enlightening. His income comes from peddling Bibles, trading cards, hefty fees at his golf facilities, and various other grifts. He also still owes a lot because of legal settlements he is in no hurry to pay.

What can be seen from even a casual glance is that, while Trump might not be as wealthy as he claims, he has more than enough income to pay his legal bills, donate to his campaign, and keep up even the most lavish lifestyle. In other words, all the begging he did to get other people to fund his legal expenses was a flat-out scam. ... He just doesn’t want to pay. And why should he, so long as there is a stream of suckers and losers who will sign up to cover his bills?

Sumner wrote about the continuing ways nasty guy supporters are trying to legally disrupt the election. Attempts to disqualify Harris. More attempts to suppress the vote. Attempts in Georgia to challenge the status of voters. I had mentioned that some election officials are ready to block certification. Sumner quoted Rachel Maddow’s opinion piece for the New York Times that considers the possibility that swing states are split and the outcome is up to Georgia:

The point of these certification refusals may not be to falsify or flip a result, but simply to prevent the emergence of one. If one or more states fail to produce official results, blocking any candidate from reaching 270 electoral votes, the 12th Amendment prescribes Gerald L.K. Smith’s dream scenario: a vote in the newly elected House of Representatives to determine the presidency. Each state delegation would get one vote; today, Republicans control 26 state delegations; Democrats control 22; and two are evenly divided.

Sumner added:

Republicans are engaged in a multi-layered approach to destroying democracy. They want to block Democratic voters from voting in the first place. If that doesn’t work, they have election boards ready to block certifications. And if that isn’t enough, they have a plan to simply generate as much confusion as possible, and then take advantage of that confusion. Republicans have put years into building these systems. Democrats aren’t going to remove them between now and November. But we need to be alert, aware, and informed if we hope to minimize the damage.

This afternoon Ari Shapiro of NPR talked to Stacey Abrams, an expert on voting rights and Georgia. They covered many of the same things. The audio is seven minutes and the transcript wasn’t ready when I posted.

What happens when a woman takes power

The Democrats are holding their convention! I’m not watching. The reports on liberal news, like Daily Kos, are a lot more fun to read than reports of the Republican convention. I even read through parts of the transcripts for some of the speeches. Here is line from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez:

And I, for one, am tired of hearing about how a two-bit union buster thinks of himself as more of a patriot than the woman who fights every single day to lift working people out from under the boots of greed, trampling on our way of life.

An excerpt from Hillary Clinton’s speech:

I wish my mother and Kamala’s mother could see us. They would say, keep going. Shirley [Chisolm] and Gerry [Geraldine Ferraro] would say, keep going. Women fighting for reproductive health care are saying, keep going! Families building better lives, parents stretching to afford childcare, young people struggling to pay their rent, they are all asking us to keep going. So, with faith in each other, and joy in our hearts, let's send Kamala Harris and Tim Walz to the White House!

Kos posted a bunch of photos of the first day. These people look like they’re having fun. Bill Madden posted a video tagged with the convention, but I don’t know how it relates. It’s a 3 minute video of young women singing “What happens when a woman takes power.” Mark Sumner of Kos reported that Shepard Fairey, who created the iconic poster for Obama, has created one for Harris. Obama’s poster is in red and shades of blue and has just one word: “Hope.” It has been much imitated, including using a different face and the words, “Nope” and “Dope.” The poster for Harris is mostly shades of blue with red for her lips and logo. Her word is “Forward.” A beautiful job and message. In a pundit roundup for Kos Greg Dworkin included tweets by Damion Schubert on why Walz (white rural dad) is so viscerally hated.

1. Theory 1: they know if they attack Harris, the MAGA base will go racist. (Don’t like this theory, it’s too smart). 2. Theory 2: They view Walz as a traitor. Straight white male, vet and football coach with a ‘keep govt out of our lives’ streak? 3. Theory 3: Walz pointing out they are weird is much more dangerous to them. If a black, gay trans person calls ‘em weird, they can shrug it off, but Walz is solidly a normie dad. When HE calls you weird, it just sticks more.

Way down in the comments is a tweet from Kid Phantasm:

OH NO, the GOP are accusing Kamala of being a communist. The only time in my lifetime this has happened was when Carter, Mondale, Dukakis, Bill Clinton, Gore, Kerry, Obama, Hillary and Biden ran for President. How will she handle this unexpected accusation?

exlrrp responded: “I’m older: add Truman, Stevenson, Kennedy, Johnson, Humphrey and McGovern to that list.” In the comments of another roundup are a few good memes and cartoons. An image by John Palmadessa shows the words:

Hope [with the Obama logo] History [with the Hillary logo] Healing [with the Biden logo] Harris

Republicans against Trump posted a photo of a sign, “Things I trust more than Donald Trump.” Some of them:

1) Flint, Michigan tap water. 2) Gas station sushi. 4) Taco Bell bathrooms. 5) Tom Brady putting air in my tires.

A cartoon posted by the Tennessee Holler shows a man standing on a big pile of cash with a “tax cuts” sign while beside the pile people hold signs saying, “Universal Health Care” “Affordable Housing” “Affordable College.” The man says, “You just want free stuff!!” David Folkenflik of NPR talked to Phillips O’Brien, strategic studies professor at the University St. Andrews in Scotland, about what might be the strategy of Ukraine’s incursion into Russian territory. The audio is four minutes. I’m working from the transcript. The US and other allies said they didn’t want Ukraine to attack Russia. That meant Russia had a huge advantage because it didn’t have to defend its border. Ukraine said enough to that. Another reason is Russia has very few reserves and has put all it has into Donbas. Ukraine has also captured a lot of conscripts. That shows how weak the Russian military really is. It also hits Putin’s image of being strong and able to protect his people. Ukraine doesn’t see this as an overreach because trying to only defend Donbas and slowly take it back is a meat grinder. Better to play on Russia’s weaknesses than its strengths. Ukraine isn’t going to simply leave. They’ll only retreat if faced with a big Russian force. James Waterhouse, Ukraine correspondent for BBC also has reasons why Ukraine invaded. One reason is to create a buffer zone around Sumy. Russia had been heavily bombing the city and surrounding region. Ukraine now occupies several important towns and strategic positions. This occupation is prompting Russia to redeploy its limited troops away from Donbas. Troops are moving towards Kursk, but not away from Donbas. All those captured conscripts are now able to be used in exchange for prisoners of war. The incursion puts pressure on Putin. His citizens now feel the horror and anger of an assault. Ukraine’s hold on Russian territory can be swapped for Russian held Ukrainian territory – if Ukraine can keep it long enough. Michael Harriot has a thread on Threadreader about the GI Bill and racism. White soldiers in WWII used the bill to improve their lives. With that improvement of the white middle class all white people benefited from it. Black soldiers, because of various racist policies in the Bill and in existing laws, were mostly not able to benefit from it. Though they could not use it to improve their lives, they still had to pay taxes that funded it.

Black Americans paid for roads & schools in those whites only suburbs. They funded public colleges they couldn’t attend. ... It was a white-approved national policy intentionally created to build & maintain the white middle class’ economic stability.

Joan McCarter of Kos wrote that last week was the 89th birthday of Social Security. The picture at the top of the post shows Franklin Roosevelt signing it into law. There is one woman in the photo. That woman is Frances Perkins. She was the first woman to be a cabinet secretary, serving as Secretary of Labor for twelve years under Roosevelt. She was instrumental in the creation and passage of many of the New Deal programs, especially Social Security. The Social Security website has a biography of her and some quotes by her. Back to marking the policy’s birthday. Over 66 million Americans depend on Social Security, half rely on it for most of their income, a quarter for 90% or more. Without it the poverty rate for seniors would be 38%, with it the rate is only 9%. It is an extremely efficient program with admin costs less than a penny on the dollar. Nearly 70% of voters rank it as very important. Republicans have said they want to cut it. Democrats want to preserve it. Who are you voting for this fall?

The press as currently configured aims for game & gotcha

I finished the book Our Dining Table by Mita Ori. This is a manga, or Japanese graphic novel. Yutaka is a young salaryman that doesn’t like to eat with other people (the reason is explained eventually). He lives alone and most of what he eats is prepackaged meals, though he does make pretty good rice balls. Minoru is about the same age. He has a brother, Tane, almost twenty years younger. They live with their father. Their mother has died. Minoru is pretty good at taking care of Tane, but neither he nor his father is much of a cook. They meet because Tane encounters Yutaka and takes a liking to him. Eating one of Yutaka’s rice balls seals the friendship. Tane wants Yutaka to teach his brother how to make them. Soon Yutaka realizes he’s enjoying eating with people. And the relationship with Minoru grows from there. In an afterward the author explains they saw two young men and a young boy enjoying a meal at a restaurant. Making up how that particular combination of people got together inspired the story. I enjoyed it. Alas, since graphic novels are so much faster to read, it barely lasted a day. I wish the author could have explored much of it in more detail and extended the story. The story has been turned into a TV series of eleven half-hour episodes. I think I see it is available on YouTube. Walter Einenkel of Daily Kos discussed the nasty guy’s obsession with crowd size. He claims his are bigger and that crowds for Harris were generated by AI. He even claimed the crowd he riled up on Jan. 6, 2021 was bigger than MLK had at the National Mall in 1963. The obsession is getting so bad other Republicans are begging for him to talk about anything else. It’s bad enough pundits and cartoonists have noticed. In a pundit roundup for Kos Chitown Kev quoted Renée Graham of the Boston Globe:

In common parlance, a size queen is someone fixated with a partner’s physical endowment. And Trump has always been obsessed with the size of his crowds. Arenas filled with people chanting his name and tittering at his stale insults reinforce the fragile sense of virility and strength of a man who has never won the popular vote in a presidential election. ... Oversized, compliant crowds are the window dressing of authoritarianism. That’s why Trump’s rallies seem reminiscent of the hours-long speeches that Fidel Castro regularly inflicted on Cubans during his dictatorial reign. Looking down both literally and figuratively at the masses, it’s not love Trump sees but a reflection of his own ruthlessness. For Trump, dwelling on crowd size pulls the spotlight from less desirable topics like Project 2025, the 900-page autocratic wish list he claims to know nothing about. It’s also a distraction, one that keeps the media playing the “What loopy thing will he say next” game. Like a toddler who recognizes how much attention comes with yelling a cuss word, Trump understands how to wrestle the media spotlight back in his direction.

In the comments is a cartoon by Drew Sheneman showing the nasty guy visiting a psychiatrist, who asks, “These very large crowds, are they in the room with us now?” A second cartoon by Sheneman shows a female elephant pushing a baby carriage with a grumpy Vance. The caption says, “GOP forced to carry J.D. Vance to term.” Mark Sumner of Kos reminded us that the nasty guy’s various legal cases are still out there and some may restart soon and might put him in a courtroom and not campaigning. However, my interest is more in the photo at the top of the post that shows the nasty guy appearing in public without his bronzer. He looks so pale. Kos of Kos discussed what happens to the Republican Party if the nasty guy loses. The discussion was prompted by David French, who has impeccable conservative credentials, endorsing Harris. He says he’s doing it not because he agrees with her on issues, but because he hopes “Donald Trump’s Republican Party Republican Party crashes and burns” allowing for something new. Kos wrote, first we recognize that MAGA is a world of grifters. They praise the grift. They’ve seen the nasty guy wield grift to amass cash and power and want in on the action. They’re horrible and don’t play nice with each other. Take out the nasty guy – and no one can fill his void – and they’ll all turn on each other. So will the Republican Party turn to responsible conservatives like Liz Cheney? Or will someone worse emerge? Joan McCarter of Kos reports that Congressional Democrats are beginning to coordinate an attack on Project 2025. They’re doing that coordination even while on August break. That is good in that members are in their districts and can hold informational meetings about what Project 2025 would do. Any attack, coordinated or not, is good. Kos wrote that the Beltway press is angry with Harris because she hasn’t had press sessions to talk about policy. Kos explained Harris is getting her message out just fine without them – which is one reason for their anger. As an example, Kos discussed a column by Margaret Sullivan of The Guardian that complained that Harris isn’t giving them due respect. Part of the reason why Harris hasn’t had detailed sessions with the Beltway press is when they do ask questions they are usually inane. The press claims Harris hasn’t talked about policy. But Kos wrote that policy is discussed in the rallies Harris and Walz are holding. And they don’t just toss out topics, they also explain the context. Some of the topics the press wants Harris to talk about – are you going to keep the head of the Federal Trade Commission? – aren’t of consequence to voters. Also...

Jeff Jarvis, a journalist and professor at the City University of New York's Graduate School of Journalism, reacted to [Sullivan’s] column with scorn, tweeting, “What ‘press’? The broken and vindictive [New York] Times? The newly Murdochian [New York] Post? Hedge-fund newspaper husks? Rudderless CNN or NPR? Murdoch's fascist media? No. [Harris] can choose many ways to communicate her stands with others outside the old press and with the public directly. The old press can and should be bypassed.” ... “When given a chance to ask questions, [the press sounds] like they're in a locker room, seeking quotes, not policy,” [Jarvis] added in another tweet. “This does nothing to inform the electorate. I know the argument about testing a candidate: but the press as currently configured aims for game & gotcha.”

The Beltway press has been covering for the nasty guy’s lies and muddled speaking while pushing Biden’s age as a problem for years. They spent two years covering Hillary Clinton’s email “scandal.” Yet, there is word that the nasty guy’s emails have been hacked and major news outlets won’t cover it.

A presidential candidate’s job is to win. That’s it! So pray tell, how does talking to The New York Times or any other national media outlet help that cause? Either journalists will ask ridiculous, shallow questions and waste everyone’s time, or they’ll fish for a gotcha quote they can use to generate “controversy” and clicks. Or they might actually ask a policy question, which … no one cares. Literally, no one. For decades, Democrats issued reams of policy white papers, and no one cared. At best, those policy proclamations are ignored; at worst, they become attack fodder for the other party.

Harris should talk to local news outlets in battleground states. Local coverage can stimulate voter turnout. But the Beltway press? She doesn’t owe them anything. Sumner wrote that Harris does talk about policy. This afternoon at a campaign event she talked about economic plans (the article I’m working from was posted before the rally). Sumner reported on four parts of Harris’ plan: Help first-time home buyers by offering incentives for builders to build starter homes instead of McMansions that give them a lot more profit. There is also down payment assistance, an average of $25K. Aid renters by offering credits to explore turning underused office buildings into apartments and to prevent investment firms from buying up houses, preventing people from buying them. Aid consumers by lowering grocery costs by stopping greedflation. And:

Republicans may talk big about the importance of having children, but their party is notoriously against programs that help feed, clothe, educate, and protect children after they are born.

Harris plans expanding the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit, and cut taxes for middle class people instead of rich people. All of these ideas make sense. They aren’t vague. They aren’t unworkable dreams. They won’t give the wealthy more money under the guise of helping everyone else. Brother will be visiting for a few days. I probably won’t post again until the middle of next week.

An older white guy who could have gone MAGA, but didn't

Anna Spoerre, in an article for Missouri Independent posted on Daily Kos, reported that abortion rights will be on the ballot in Missouri in November. Missourians for Constitutional Freedom turned in 380,000 signatures. They needed 171,000. They did it in 90 days. They were limited to that because of Republican fights over ballot language and their own internal disagreements over whether to included a viability ban. As they were gathering signatures Republicans tried to raise the number of required signatures. That attempt failed because of a series of filibusters, one which broke records. If passed (and all similar measures in other states have) the constitutional amendment will legalize abortion up to fetal viability, usually around 24 weeks. This would return Missouri to the Roe decision. Kos of Kos discussed the pro-Palestinian protesters that are turning their attention to Harris and will protest during next week’s Democratic convention. Their frustration is understandable – Biden’s unwavering support for Israel prompted the “uncommitted” campaign in the primary. And Harris hasn’t yet defined a policy much different. Kos pointed out that failing to support Harris before the election will backfire. The way to be heard (the purpose of protest) is to make sure Harris is elected, then protest. Support her and she’s more likely to listen. Withholding support will backfire because the nasty guy will be much worse for their cause. This afternoon I heard one rebuttal to that. If the nasty guy wins the pro-Palestinian voters will blame Democrats for not meeting their demands. A while back I wrote about the new law in Florida that allows faith-based chaplains into public schools to offer counseling services. Jay Waagmeester in an article for Florida Phoenix posted on Kos reported the Council of Florida Churches will be telling school districts that implementing the law is a bad idea. The law is written to say schools may, but are not required to, allow chaplains to be counselors. Faith leaders will tell schools the reasons why the law is a bad idea. First, the only requirement for a faith leader to be a counselor is to pass a background check (which, in this scenario, is insufficient). There are no requirements on being an adequately trained counselor of children. A student receiving inadequate or inappropriate care could open the school district to be held liable for negligence. Second, the school could be sued for religious coercion and indoctrination. Third, there probably won’t be counselors from Muslim or Hindu (or Satanic Temple) faiths to care for students of those religions, means those students will be discriminated against, another possible source of lawsuits. Better just ignore this law. Mark Sumner of Kos wrote about the two hour “conversation” between the nasty guy and Elon Musk on Musk’s X platform. Kos had noted it had lots of tech problems (Musk had fired most of his tech workers) and demonstrated the nasty guy’s “inability to complete a sentence.” Fortunately, many news outlets also recognized the conversation as a disaster. In a pundit roundup for Kos Greg Dworkin quoted Anand Giridharadas of “The.Ink” on Substack:

It’s being discussed more and more, but I truly think one of the most powerful and still underrated forces in the election is going to be the joy and relief millions feel watching Coach Walz and imagining that their dads and uncles and neighbors could wake up from their hatred. An argument against hatred and extremism and misogyny and resentment is powerful. But a living embodiment of someone who could have gone that way but didn’t — this is a force all its own. It’s very hard to rebut and fact-check and out-argue and deprogram these men who fell prey to Rupert Murdoch’s profit lust. But when you see an older white guy who is just happy and can’t wait for the future — wow. It is going to burrow deep into many people with lost relatives.

In the comments is a meme posted by THEE Harmless Artist. It is pretty cool art work. Alas, the artist isn’t named. The caption says, “The Blue Wave is Coming and it is covered in cat hair.” I haven’t written about the Ukraine invasion in a long time. Part of that is because Kos staff hasn’t written about it. But annieli of the Kos community has been writing about the war nearly every day for the 900 days it has been going on (yes, it has been that long). I haven’t read this author before, but I wanted to learn more about the Ukrainian incursion into the Kursk region of Russia. Yes, the one invaded is doing some invading of its invader. I can’t easily summarize what is says, though if you want to know more, this is a place to start. Be aware this post is already two days old. Almost two weeks ago the movie War Game came out. It looked intriguing and important to see. Then I heard it described as a thriller and interest is dampened. I mention it because I still think it is important. Mary Louise Kelly of NPR talked to the movie’s directors Tony Gerber and Jesse Moss. Their conversation is eight minutes. There is also a transcript. The setup is to imagine the events of January 6, 2021 happen again. This time part of the military joins the coup. Most of what we see is a collection of government officials in the bunker gaming out how they could prevent that coup. One of the characters describes it as an exercise in “Coup Prevention 101.” Most of the actors are real former top level government officials and members of Congress, plus law enforcement and military officials. That makes me wonder how much of the movie was scripted and how much improvised. Working through this exercise is important because the transfer of power is a gentleman’s agreement that was violated last time. It’s a vulnerability. But, when it is actually happening how to respond isn’t always clear. What is propaganda and what is fact? Are leaders prepared and able to handle the crisis? Is their plan an overreaction? Underreaction? Once the Insurrection Act is invoked, some democratic norms are suspended and getting them back can be difficult. The movie is a good step in a conversation this country needs because few people read 100-page reports. They are planning a screening on Capitol Hill in the fall. I hope it also gets screened at the White House and Pentagon.

Bullying makes no sense. It doesn’t help anybody.

Caitlin Sievers, in an article for Arizona Mirror posted on Daily Kos, reported:

Voters in November will be able to decide whether to amend the Arizona Constitution to guarantee the right to abortion, state election officials said Monday. The Arizona Abortion Access Act collected around 578,000 valid signatures, significantly more than the nearly 384,000 it needed to qualify for the ballot.

Yeah, Republicans found a meaningless discrepancy and filed suit, then appealed to the state supremes. The more I hear about this guy the more I like him. Marcus Baram, in an article for Capital & Main posted on Kos, reported that Tim Walz, now the Democratic Vice President candidate is a mighty climate advocate. He signed a law to generate all of Minnesota’s electricity from renewables by 2040 – faster than what’s mandated by California. He has a climate change subcabinet in his administration. Two weeks ago he welcomed a $200 million grant from the EPA to reduce climate pollution. The state has a strong record of holding polluters accountable. And he’s pretty good at communicating his policies. Climate organizations, such as Sierra Club, are praising him. J. Patrick Coolican, in an article for Minnesota Reformer posted on Kos, covered much of Walz’ history. High school geography teacher and assistant football coach in Mankato. In the National Guard for 24 years (most are out by 20 years) with the highest rank possible. Representative to Congress for a dozen years. In his second term as governor. Republicans don’t like him (always a recommendation). His daughter and son were born with the help of IVF.

“Tim Walz is a great pick because in addition to his blue collar background and his cultural fit with the blue wall states, as governor his accomplishments are mostly about improving the lives of middle class and working families,” said Jeff Blodgett, who was chief strategist for Sens. Paul Wellstone and Al Franken. “This ticket can now powerfully argue that they are the team that is squarely on the side of America’s working families.”

Kos of Kos explained that military service. Kos was in the military and his son is serving now. So he is a good one to tackle those trying to stain Walz’ service. They claim that Walz dropped out after he heard his unit was being deployed to Iraq in 2005. Kos explained that a step in their timeline they are using as proof is intentionally vague. What actually happened is that Walz filed paperwork to run for congress before his unit was notified of potential deployment. And before then he had served for 24 years. Also, “Republicans pretend to honor military service, but it’s all an act.” An Associated Press article posted on Kos asked Walz’ teaching colleagues and students what they thought of him. It’s all positive, and this in particular: Student Jacob Reitan told Gwen Walz, also a teacher, that he is gay. He told her before he told his parents. He felt comfortable around her because she had said her classroom is a safe space for gay students. Reitan then approached Walz that he wanted to start a Gay-Straight Alliance at the high school. Walz, the football coach and soldier – both bastions of masculinity that’s frequently toxic, volunteered to be the group’s faculty advisor. Reitan said that Walz could talk about bullying to the bullied and the bully, saying “bullying makes no sense. It doesn’t help anybody. And it made the school safer for me.” That story prompted Moms for Liberty to declare Walz “the most anti-parent candidate.” Which to me is another good sign. Thankfully, Mankato High School backed up Reitan and Walz. Also:

Adam Segar said Walz found a spot for him on the football team despite problems he had adding weight and muscle. Segar said that approach was commonplace with Walz—trying to make sure students and athletes who might not fit a traditional mold found a place.

I’ve accumulated a bunch of pundit roundups on Kos. One by Greg Dworkin quoted the blog mainly macro discussing British news:

An essential part of democracy is that voters should be able to receive information (news) that is not slanted to fit a particular political viewpoint. When this doesn’t happen then voters receive propaganda, and all the evidence suggests that propaganda can be very effective at influencing how people think and how they vote. When the propaganda involves right wing populism, it isn’t manufacturing consent but rather manufacturing discontent. Misinformation about immigration and asylum seekers is pervasive among right wing politicians and the media. Islamophobia has become endemic on the political right and its press, and feeds the racism so evident among the gangs creating havoc in our cities.

Media outlets promoted Brexit, though they knew the economic costs. Those costs have now occurred. “This shows us that impartiality is a very weak defence against propaganda.” Propaganda must be negated. A roundup by Chitown Kev quoted Paul Krugman of the New York Times discussing the politics of free school lunches. Krugman pointed out that students with adequate nutrition are more healthy and more productive as adults, which is helpful to all of society. Also, trying to find out which students can and can’t afford the free lunch is more expensive and cumbersome than feeding them all. In another roundup by Dworkin he quoted Jamelle Bouie of NYT talking about Walz deftly describing Republicans as “weird.”

Through all of this, Republicans still insist that they’re the party of normalcy. This is why they can’t quite deal with the charge that they’re weird. There’s a reason for this. For years, in the American political imagination, Republicans were the normal party and Democrats were the party of weirdness. This was one of the major themes of the 1972 presidential election, when the Republican Party of Richard Nixon framed itself as the party of normalcy and of faith in America as it is.

Way down in the comments is a cartoon my David Hayward, the naked pastor. It shows a psychiatrist saying to a patient: “Have you ever considered the possibility that they sold you the belief that you are a worthless sinner so you would open the door for them to abuse you the way they did?” Yet another roundup by Dworkin quotes Frank Bruni of NYT:

Poor Trump. Always forced to compete on an uneven playing field. Of all his feats of projection, which is psychology’s term for seeing your own methods and motivations in someone else, none fascinates me more than his incessant insistence that every one of his adversaries — that everyone, period — is the beneficiary of some scheme or scam that puts him at a disadvantage. If he triumphs nonetheless? It’s a testament to his peerless might. If he doesn’t? It was never a fair fight.

A last roundup, this one by Kev, quotes Sandra Haake of Salon. My summary: The nasty guy may be disavowing Project 2025, but the Supreme Court, in its recent decisions, has begun to implement some of its key objectives. “Project 2025’s deference to a strong (and crooked) chief executive” is given a boost in a redefinition of bribery. Declaring that “requiring web designers to serve same-sex couples was ‘coercing’ them to make ‘statements’ with which their Christian religion disagreed” advances Christian Nationalism.

Female athletes having to prove they're female

My Sunday viewing was the Olympic Closing Ceremony in Paris. It wasn’t as cool as the Opening Ceremony and didn’t hold my attention as much, but it was still good. It started with saving a bit of the Olympic flame in a lantern, then extinguishing the cauldron, then one person walking away with the lantern. That person was a French swimmer who had won four gold medals. The reason for moving the small bit of flame was because the ceremony was at the stadium and the cauldron was at Tuileries Gardens a few miles away. Shortly after the Opening Ceremony I heard the Olympic Flame wasn’t actually a flame. It was bright orange lights and lots of steam. It was done this way as part of the effort to make these games the most green and as green as possible. The focus turned to the stadium. The national flags and the athletes entered. During that time there were platforms in the center of the playing field that were in bizarre shapes. Those shapes made a bit more sense when the show started and shapes were individually outlined in lights. Ah, they were stylized shapes of continents. The show as about rediscovering the Olympics as five huge rings were pulled out of the continents. Gymnasts climbed over them and wheeled them to a central area. Then they were lifted up to form the five rings of the Olympics. Pretty cool. During that a grand piano and player were lifted up. The piano was hoisted up not to keep the body horizontal, but to hold it vertical, with the keys closest to the ground. To play it the pianist raised their arms upward. Yeah, quite cool! In that position the pianist accompanied a singer standing on one of the rings. Then came a rock band with various additional singers. Not my style of music, though most of the athletes and crowd got into it. And finally, the formalities. The Olympic Flag was lowered and passed from the mayor of Paris to the mayor of Los Angeles. Tom Cruise (he’s on the far side of middle age now, I wasn’t sure it was him) swooped in to fly the flag to Los Angeles where he parachuted out of the plane to a welcoming ceremony. I doubt all that was seen back in Paris. Was it for NBC viewers? Back in Paris the lantern and it’s small flame were brought in and representatives from five continents jointly blew it out. As for the prime time presentation on TV: NBC seems bad at synchronizing audio and video. The two seemed a bit off most of the evening. And a great number of commercials were political. I muted them and paid little attention. On Friday and Saturday I watched a little bit of the break dance (breaking) competition during prime time. I first watched on CBC (Canadian). They showed only the gold medal battle. I switched to NBC and they showed only the same. Oh well. SemDem of the Daily Kos community showed a photo of JD Vance in drag – wig and dress – taken at Yale Law School in 2012. SemDem includes some verification that the photo is real and is Vance. After noting that Vance has been among the most vile Republicans bashing the LGBTQ community, SemDen concluded:

If J.D. wants to put on makeup and wear a dress, I say let him. There’s nothing wrong with that. But it’s going to be a hard sell when he tries to say that other men who do the same are somehow a threat.

NPR did an eleven minute segment of the Canadian podcast series Tested. This is one of a few segments of the series that NPR has aired. The subject is the testing that female athletes endure to prove they’re female. The testing is done to eliminate women said to have an unfair advantage because of such things as high testosterone. Host Rose Eveleth looks at that statement. Isn’t advantage what sports are all about? Who is faster or stronger? Let’s look at advantages. There’s time to train and travel to competition. There’s money to afford coaches, training facilities, clothing, equipment, and that travel. Add to that mentality, determination, and focus. Then there are body advantages. Michael Phelps had a long torso and short legs, perfect for swimming. Tall people are better at basketball. There is a gene mutation that makes red blood cells better at carrying oxygen. Another mutation gives a slight advantage at sprinting. Eveleth lists another nine mutations that help with this or that. Why is the sporting world fine with some biological advantages but cries foul with others? The difference is sports are not divided by speed of blood oxygenation, but they are divided by sex. Next question: How much of an advantage do some of these sex-related differences give? We don’t know. No scientific studies have been done. Well, there was a study in 2017 that said higher testosterone levels correlated to performance in only some events, the middle distance track events. Yeah, that’s weird. It didn’t say how much advantage comes with higher levels. So other researchers looked at the data and declared it to be a mess. Even so, World Athletics used that problematic study to require women in these middle distance events to lower their testosterone to qualify to compete.

A big dose of theater

I’m home again. My trip was to Stratford, Ontario for their Stratford Festival. The Festival has four theaters that put on matinees and evening performances most days of the week. So I went for two days and saw four plays. Some people stay much longer and see the dozen put on during the season. The schedule of plays varies so one can choose a schedule to see the shows of interest. Since the town has the same name as Shakespeare’s birth place they always feature a few of the Bard’s plays, though I didn’t see any of them this trip. The first show I saw was at their big Festival Theatre. The play was London Assurance by Dion Boucicault, first performed in 1841. Grace Harkaway, under the care of her uncle, faces a clause in her parents’ will that she is to marry Sir Harcourt Courtly, though she is 18 and he has probably topped 60. She’s not interested in love. He is quite the dandy and quite interested in grace. There is Harcourt’s son Charles, much closer to Grace’s age, who is quite a carouser – until he sees Grace. Then Lay Gay Spanker shows up and Harcourt is smitten with her, with the small problem that her husband is still alive. Of course, there is a lot of fun sorting it all out with certain people learning appropriate lessons. As I was watching this I noticed parallels to The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde that came about 50 years later. Both stories start in London, then switch to a country estate. Once in the country a character assumes a different name. And there is even a reference to a handbag. One good thing about this play is, though there are three women’s roles to eleven for men those female characters are some mighty strong women. This was the first “preview” performance with the official opening in a couple weeks. It looked fully polished and ready to go. The second show was at the Tom Patterson Theatre. This is a big thrust stage in a new building (the last time I was at Stratford more than a decade ago this “theatre” was in a sport complex. The show was The Diviners, based on a novel by Margaret Laurence that most Canadian high school or college students have read (and, since I’m American, I haven’t). The story centers on Morag Gunn. She grew up in the fictional small town of Minewaka, Manitoba. Her parents have died, so she’s under the care of Christie, the town trash man, who turns out to be a good parent. Also in town are lots of Scottish immigrants (including Morag), French Canadians, and First Nation people (what Americans call Natives). In between the stories of Morag’s youth are stories of her present. He daughter, just turned 18, leaves, saying Morag isn’t being honest with her. Morag is in the process of writing a novel, but feels blocked while sorting through aspects of her past. Her publisher is threatening to cancel the contract. This was my favorite show. I thought it the most theatrical, meaning it took advantage of what live theater can do and film cannot. One of those things is overlap a scene from the past with a scene in the present, sometimes a prop from one taking a different meaning in the other. In addition to the main characters there was quite a company that played small roles (such as other schoolchildren) or filled in a historical scene (Morag’s ancestors deciding to leave Scotland) or added dance energy to a scene. Many times a folk violinist strolled through a scene. All of it marvelously done. What I saw was also a first preview performance, and also quite polished. The third show was in the Avon Theatre, known as the place where musicals are presented. And this one was, La Cage Aux Folles, the show that premiered on Broadway in 1983 and won six Tony awards. I hadn’t seen it before (though I did see the 1996 non-musical version The Birdcage starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane). It set a first for a show – it wasn’t about gay trauma, but about gay family. This is the story of gay couple Georges and Albin who run a nightclub featuring performances by cross-dressing men, including Albin as the star. Then Georges’ son Jean-Michel comes home and announces he wants to marry Anne – with the problem that Anne’s father is a politician who wants to clean up places of sin such as this nightclub. So Jean-Michel wants his birth mother there (he’s rarely seen her) and his day-to-day mother Albin not. So we get grand anthems of being who you are, a fun song about trying to act masculine, and a reminder to Jean-Michel who really acted as his mother. All wonderfully sung and acted with plenty of glitter. It’s a beautiful and uplifting show. My last show was Get That Hope, by Andrea Scott. This was in the much smaller Studio Theater that might hold hundreds patrons instead of thousands. This is a day in the life of the Whyte family of Toronto. Richard is the patriarch. He was born in Jamaica and today he wants to celebrate Jamaican Independence Day. His wife is also from Jamaica, as is Richard’s daughter Rachel. Richard and Margaret’s son Simeon was born in Toronto. The last character is Millie, who is Margaret’s caseworker and lives in the same building. That building is in the Little Jamaica neighborhood. The neighborhood is being renovated, and not for Jamaicans. That’s one theme mentioned and not explored very much. Rachel thinks Margaret doesn’t love her and wants to move out. Simeon was in the military, has PTSD, and doesn’t have a job. That’s another theme that could have been expanded. Much of the time it seems the characters do little beyond arguing. My opinion of the show is that it’s a lightweight, especially compared to the other three. It was also the shortest at 1:45 (including intermission) compared to 2:35 to 3:00 for the others. It could have been fleshed out more. Another person described it as “not ready.” I think the acting was fine and it was the play itself that wasn’t ready. Three out of four is a pretty good showing, especially since those three were so wonderful. I stayed at a Bed and Breakfast where I think I might have been the youngest guest. I was told when I made the reservation that all guests would be served breakfast family style at one seating at 9:00. This allows the guests to get to know each other, to talk about what shows they’ve seen and what shows they will see (as well as discuss the lake cottage...). I heard, “I was at the same two performances as you yesterday and I agree they were wonderful.” And... “Yeah, Get That Hope, wasn’t ready.” Some of my fellow guests come every year and stay for much longer than my two days. Some also attend events that include talks about some of the day’s plays put on by an organization separate from the Stratford Festival. Others decided attending all those events made for a day without much breathing room. There is one play I didn’t see at the Festival that I highly recommend. It is Something Rotten. It won a few Tony awards a few years ago and I saw it in Detroit. It’s the story of Nick and Nigel Bottom, who are theatrical competitors to Shakespeare. They contact a seer to envision a future theatrical innovation that will draw crowds. It is very much a spoof on theater. All of my fellow guests had either seen it and loved it or were to see it the afternoon I left. The Festival has extended its run into November. I decided for this trip into Canada I would rely on my credit card and not deal with the local currency and might have some left over. That mostly worked. The only time I had trouble with that was at the ice cream store. They didn’t take credit cards. For the small amounts they were charging, the card fees would be a bit much. They did take debit cards – but not US cards. Or there are ATMs not far away. I didn’t want to withdraw cash and only spend a quarter of it. I was a bit surprised and quite thankful that a local couple paid for my ice cream. I thanked them, and didn’t return for more the next day.

Bringing joy back to politics

If you pay attention to the news you’ve heard that Kamala Harris chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be her running mate. Walter Einenkel of Daily Kos had the job on that site of officially bringing the news to our attention, though community members also posted early. Einenkel talked a bit of the good stuff Walz has done for his state before comparing Walz to the opposition – as in all the weird stuff Walz has not done. An Associated Press article posted on Kos has a lot more on who Walz is – where he grew up (small town Nebraska), how well he he has worked with Republicans, and that he could help in the Blue Wall states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania (Blue wall, because if the Democratic candidate can keep all three they win, if they lose any one winning will be quite difficult). I was amused with a news report with Walz saying his hometown was so small his graduating class had 24 people – and 12 of them were cousins. That reminded me of my father, a generation older, who graduated in a class even smaller. jaybeleriand of the Kos community posted a photo that’s going viral, though it was taken a while back. Walz has just signed the bill for the state’s program for free lunch for public school students. He’s being hugged by a scrum of kids. The picture captures something that’s been missing in politics for way too long. That something is joy. Just by bringing joy back to politics will go a long way in this election. Last week Biden proposed reforms for the Supreme Court – a binding code of ethics, term limits of 18 years, and a constitutional amendment removing presidential immunity. Lisa Needham of Kos reported that Chuck Schumer has introduced in the Senate the No Kings Act to do something about the presidential immunity part. This act won’t have the force of a constitutional amendment, however it carefully explains why the Constitution gives Congress the power to do what’s in the bill. Second, the bill clearly explains who can challenge the law – only current and former presidents and vice presidents. This prevents conservatives from getting anyone to challenge the law, whether or not they’ve been harmed by it, something this Supreme Court has been way too wiling to ignore. Third, the case can be heard by the DC District Court and appealed to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals – and not the Supreme Court. Finally, the law will be retroactive. Previous Supreme Court rulings have allowed laws that say a law can be retroactive and can prevent the Supremes from ruling on it. There have also been several times when the Supremes issued a decision, followed by Congress overturning it. The only thing that will happen to this bill before a new Congress is seated in January is a Senate vote that forces Republicans to vote against it. And, before the election, that may be enough. Joan McCarter of Kos reported Justice Neil Gorsuch, during an appearance on Fox News, issued a veiled threat with a hidden topic and hidden target. Here are the parts McCarter quoted:

The independent judiciary … means that when you’re unpopular, you can get a fair hearing under the law and under the Constitution. If you’re in the majority, you don’t need judges and juries to hear you and protect your rights—you’re popular. It’s there for the moments when the spotlight’s on you—when the government’s coming after you. And don’t you want a ferociously independent judge and a jury of your peers to make those decisions? ... I’m not going to get into what is now a political issue during a presidential election year. I don’t think that would be helpful. ... I just say: Be careful.

McCarter wrote, “That’s a nice little fiction he’s trying to create,” considering the big gifts he and his cronies have given corporations, how little they’ve respected the rights of the little people, and how much they’ve gutted rights. Who is Gorsuch telling to be careful? A president and Congress trying to make the Supremes behave? Voters who might vote for reforms? Chief Justice Roberts? Only Gorsuch knows. The Michigan Constitution allows for citizen initiatives, which are different from citizen led amendments to the state Constitution. The people wanting the initiative collect a required number of signatures. Then the legislature may approve the initiative. If it does, the governor does not get to sign it or veto it, and it does not go on the ballot. If the legislature doesn’t approve it then it goes on the next general election ballot. For about 40 years, until two years ago, Republicans used gerrymandering to control the state legislature. At least once they used the citizen initiative to approve an abortion restriction they knew the Democratic governor would not sign. I don’t remember how far that got. Back in 2018 citizens had gathered enough signatures for a minimum wage/sick leave increase initiative. The Republican legislature approved it, which kept it off the ballot. And after the election, in the lame-duck session, they reopened the provision and loaded it with so many amendments that it was essentially gutted. Anna Liz Nochols of Michigan Advance reported last week that the Michigan Supreme Court said, nope, you can’t do that. The decision was 4-3 along party lines. The court said that if the voters had approved the provision the legislature would not have been allowed to amend it. So they can’t approve and amend. One of the judges called it “anti-democratic,” saying ever wonder why public opinion of politicians is so low? It’s tricks like this. I don’t know why almost six years has passed between when the legislature pulled this stunt and when the Supreme Court told them they can’t do it. So the minimum wage in Michigan will go up in February. Second, the minimum wage for tip workers (which is mighty small because restaurants assume servers will get enough in tips to cover the difference and twisted lawmaker arms accordingly) will also rise and within a few years be phased out. Third, workers get a minimum paid sick leave. Workers and Democrats praise the ruling. Republicans and small business owners call it devastating with Republican lawmakers demanding the legislature immediately be called back from summer break to “fix” it. They describe a catastrophe of small businesses laying off servers or closing, their usual apocalyptic way of describing things.

About 91% of restaurant owners say they will raise prices on menus and rooms and 58% said they’ll lay off employees to offset changes to minimum wage and sick leave, a survey published by the Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association in September 2022 found.

Perhaps. I noticed something not listed there: Restaurants saying their servers are now being well paid so the customer doesn’t need to tip as much. That got me thinking about my travels last month and how often when I made a purchase the worker would flip their computer screen over to show me all the options for entering a tip. These kinds of places did not have servers that brought food to me. I had to get it from the counter.