Category Archives: conservatives

More Items from the Authoritarian Playbook

Posted on Sunday 27 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

About the conservative agenda concerning colleges, and education; Charlie Kirk thinks you don’t need college; just watch YouTube videos, especially his own online courses; Education Secretary Linda McMahon admits her political motivations for dismantling her department; Brief items about a … Continue reading →

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Conservative Thinking Means Whitewashing the Past

Posted on Saturday 26 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

A take-down of David Brooks, as an example of a conservative white-washing and distorting American history; How National Park gift shops are removing books about that same history for the same reasons; A religious rant bout Obama and Russia, and … Continue reading →

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It’s Always About the Gap Between Ideology and Religion, and Reality

Posted on Tuesday 22 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

And whether humanity can “grow up” and thrive by living in reality and not fantasy. Infrastructure note about More tags; Paul Krugman on why the right would see AI as “communist” — because it’s reality-based; (Aside: another arc of history … Continue reading →

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Stories, Traditions, and Science

Posted on Saturday 19 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Why does MAGA hate science? Why do right-wing folks think Democratic policies have failed? And Paul Krugman on the top 10 political websites on Substack. – – – A significant essay, for my concerns. Salon, Kirk Swearingen, 19 Jul 2025: … Continue reading →

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History and Change

Posted on Tuesday 15 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump keeps a trophy for himself; Paul Krugman on why the Trump administration is killing science; How MAGA needs stories in which they are the heroes; Why Trump fans aren’t forgiving Trump about Epstein; Heather Cox Richardson about Trump’s “mandate” … Continue reading →

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The problem with the world is not evil. It’s ignorance, and delusion.

Posted on Monday 14 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Two thoughts from Yuval Noah Harari today; Ramez Naam on how AI models converge on “moderately left-libertarian political viewpoints”; Another piece about how people should be held accountable for tragedies; Heather Cox Richardson summaries the Epstein fiasco; WaPo’s Philip Bump … Continue reading →

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Responsibility, Certainty, and Doubt

Posted on Sunday 13 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Defunding weather science and disaster response to save money is like cancelling all your insurance policies to manage your household budget; LAT: Robin Abcarian on the implausibilities of expecting Medicaid recipients to replace deported farmworkers; NYT: Peter Baker on how … Continue reading →

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As I’ve Been Saying…

Posted on Thursday 10 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Is there any point in noting these same issues again and again? Yes. Because they are evidence of the decline of the US, which most Americans are not noticing, and I think this is important, not so much as this … Continue reading →

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Darkest Days

Posted on Wednesday 9 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Shorter items today. The Supreme Court and “emergencies”; How Trump reflexively blames Biden; And how Trump takes credit for what Biden actually did; The confusion over Epstein conspiracy theories; Trump wants more factories, but is expelling the workers who might … Continue reading →

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What Is America Thinking?

Posted on Monday 7 July 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Will scientific advances by the US continue? Do most Americans care? My take on the big picture of the cultural change in the US, and other societies; Heather Cox Richardson, and Nitish Pahwa at Slate, summarize what’s to blame for … Continue reading →

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