Good question from a Fox (!) Host:
JMG, 27 Jan 2026: Fox Host: Why Can’t Noem Just Say “I Got It Wrong”?
“I mean, people will trust you more if you say, ‘you know what? I did not get that one right.’ The moral of the story is wait until the investigation is over, as hard as it is, no matter where you are in law enforcement, let the facts lead your talking.
“Do not talk and then hope the facts match up later on. It’s OK to say ‘I don’t have an answer to that question right now,’ in fact, it’s preferable.” – GOP rep turned Fox host Trey Gowdy.
But the pattern is that conservatives are eager to jump to conclusions, because they just know that anyone who opposes their regime must be evil, left-wing agitators. Trump, in particular, never admits to being wrong, and never apologizes.
We watched a lovely movie last night called Train Dreams; it’s one of the Best Picture nominees for the Oscar this year. It’s dramatic and meditative, and resembles the films of Terrence Malick, as I noticed and the link here confirms, with its narration and lingering shots and occasional flashes of what may be hallucinations or memories or something supernatural. The early part of the film concerns the main character working as a logger clearing hillsides for railway construction in the Pacific Northwest. And one character says:
This world is intricately stitched together, boys.
Every thread we pull, we know not how it affects the design of things.
We’re but children on this earth, pulling bolts out of the Ferris wheel, thinking ourselves to be gods.
This is enlightened thinking, likely due to Denis Johnson, who wrote the 2011 novella the movie is based on. (The entire script, or transcript, is online.)
Another day, another killing by the trigger-happy hooligans of ICE.
NY Times: Minneapolis Live Updates: Videos Appear to Contradict Federal Account of Killing
Subtitled: “An I.C.U. nurse shot by federal agents was an American citizen with no criminal record, the city police chief said. A New York Times video analysis shows he was holding a phone, not a gun.”
The official narrative is calling the victim a “domestic terrorist,” because he was carrying a gun — which is perfectly legal, as Republicans have made sure for decades — which somehow justified the killing, despite the video evidence showing the contrary. You can’t believe anything the administration says.
Maybe. And maybe.
How do we understand this?
The Atlantic, Jonathan Chait, 22 Jan 2026: Why Conservatives Defend ICE, subtitled “Republicans deplore the mayhem in Minnesota—but blame protesters and Democrats for it.”
Continue reading
The significant speech at Davos wasn’t Trump’s, it was Canadian prime minister Mark Carney’s. Again, we’re living in history.
Vox, Caitlin Dewey, 21 Jan 2026: Canada’s prime minister just declared the end of the world as we know it, subtitled “Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s historic speech, explained.”
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What will it take for Republicans, or anyone, to stop him?
Slate, Fred Kapan, 20 Jan 2026: Yes, the Greenland Obsession Is a New Level of Madness for Trump, subtitled “The Mad King era is upon us. Will the people with the power to do something about it do anything at all?”
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Recent thoughts.
Inchoate conclusions. Provisional ideas. Things that have occurred to me. Promoting further explorations. Taking a day off from the news. No pics.
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About human nature and the arc of history.
First, broadly, the conservative project is to maintain the status quo; each generation should produce another as much like its as possible. And to expand. Have lots of babies, and thus prohibit abortion and homosexuality and any “lifestyle” that would inhibit having children and expanding the population. So that the next generation will be just like the current one, and the previous one, forever.
The progressive project Continue reading
Lots of discussion today about this.
CNN, 19 Jan 2026: Trump ties efforts to acquire Greenland to failure to win Nobel Peace Prize
