Category Archives: Politics

Simplicity and Idiocy

Posted on Friday 7 March 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

American idiocy; War images flagged for removal in Pentagon DEI purge; Why are conservatives obsessed with the debunked link between vaccines and autism? Trump and Musk are ungoverning; I admit that I follow a Facebook group called America’s Cultural Decline … Continue reading →

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Many Lies, No Coherent Plan

Posted on Wednesday 5 March 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Commentaries and fact-checks about Trump’s speech to Congress last night. Dana Milbank on how Trump has set the country back 100 years; Fred Kaplan on Trump’s unhinged plans for the rest of the world; And Heather Digby Parton and David … Continue reading →

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Stepping Outward, from Tariffs to Globalization

Posted on Tuesday 4 March 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Rationales for tariffs against Canada and Mexico: perhaps Trump just hates Canadian decency, how his rationales keep changing, and in any case they’re foolish; With my thoughts about two possible motivations; How Trump is losing the 21st century: by alienating … Continue reading →

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Triage, and Kittens

Posted on Monday 3 March 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Busy weekend, so I’m behind and have three days of political links to catch up on. I’ll triage. Reactions to the meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump/Vance/et al; Conservatives react by projecting; And links without comments about corruption, witchcraft, getting … Continue reading →

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Moving to the Dark Side

Posted on Friday 28 February 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

The big news today was the contentious meeting at the White House between Trump, Vance, and Zelensky, which signals an abandonment of US foreign policy as a leader of the free world and a signal that Trump is aligning the … Continue reading →

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Conservatives Espouse Principles, But Behave Very Differently

Posted on Thursday 27 February 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

With an example of a Florida Attorney General suing Target for selling products the MAGA folks find objectionable; what happened to free enterprise? Let the market figure it out! Our Orwellian fascist government wants to eliminate past social media posts … Continue reading →

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What Kind of Nation Does America Want to Be?

Posted on Wednesday 26 February 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

The dichotomy revisited, today via Heather Cox Richardson: how Democrats, and Republicans, differ in their approaches to raising money, and spending it. Her distinction echoes George Lakoff’s, and the conservative inability (or refusal) to take long-term consequences into account; Why … Continue reading →

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Largely Unnoticed?

Posted on Tuesday 25 February 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Two big topics today: how Trump is aligning with dictators, breaking 75 years of America as leader of the free world; With items from NYT’s Fred Kaplan, Atlantic’s Tom Nichols, and Robert Reich. Some reflections from two books I’ve just … Continue reading →

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Yearning and Discontent

Posted on Monday 24 February 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Why is half of American cheering for chaos? Jonathan Rauch on “patrimonialism”; DOJ deletes data on cop misconduct; Project 2025 and conspiracy theories; Kari Lake spreads the social security lie; a Trump lie about office workers; Why firing IRS workers … Continue reading →

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Gaslighting Reality

Posted on Sunday 23 February 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Trump’s lying reaches new levels; and Musk’s DARVO strategy. (Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender) – – – NY Times, Peter Baker, 23 Feb 2025: In Trump’s Alternate Reality, Lies and Distortions Drive Change, subtitle “Condoms for Gaza? Ukraine started … Continue reading →

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