{"id":25165,"date":"2025-07-12T17:39:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T00:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/?p=25165"},"modified":"2025-07-22T11:28:21","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T18:28:21","slug":"no-necessary-nations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/2025\/07\/12\/no-necessary-nations\/","title":{"rendered":"No Necessary Nations"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>Stephan Marche on how there are no necessary nations, and no permanent global order;<\/li>\n<li>Judges, appointed both by Republicans and Democrats, speak out against the Trump administration;<\/li>\n<li>Heather Cox Richardson identifies one key failure in the Texas floods, the result of a Trump policy;<\/li>\n<li>And NYT shows how FEMA answered fewer and fewer emergency calls, because of firings by the Trump administration, even *after* the floods happened;<\/li>\n<li>How the new Superman movie is &#8212; like so much else &#8212; too &#8220;woke&#8221; for conservatives;<\/li>\n<li>Similarly, how Charlie Kirk thinks *all* immigrants threaten his values.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div align=\"center\">&#8211; &#8211; &#8211;<\/div>\n<div align=\"center\"><\/div>\n<p>Quoted by The Week, <a href=\"https:\/\/theweek.com\/edition\/theweekus-saturday-wrap-2025-07-12-120001\">Saturday Wrap<\/a>, 12 July 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Stephen Marche in The Guardian:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>One of the great ironies of history is that the triumph of MAGA has led to the piecemeal destruction of everything that once made America great, and on every level. Its power derived from a reliable trade network, with logistical chains that were the wonders of the world, combined with a huge alliance network, and the greatest scientific and technological institutes in the world. It is systematically destroying all of those strengths far more thoroughly than any enemy could. The lesson the Americans once taught the British, they are teaching the rest of the world: There are no necessary nations. There are no permanent global orders.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>\\<\/p>\n<p>Speaking of which:<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/07\/15\/multimedia\/12dowd-bphm\/12dowd-bphm-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp\" width=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>NY Times, opinion by Maureen Dowd, 12 July 2025<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/07\/12\/opinion\/trump-cabinet-hegseth-bondi.html\">Trump\u2019s Cabinet of Incompetents<\/a><\/p>\n<p>This is about how Pete Hegseth unilaterally ordered suspension of delivery of weapons to Ukraine, without telling Trump. NY Times reporter Shawn McCreesh challenged Trump on this point.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>In a follow-up the next day, McCreesh asked Trump if he had figured out who had ordered the munitions to Ukraine halted.<\/p>\n<p>When Trump said no, McCreesh pressed him: \u201cWhat does it say that such a big decision could be made inside your government without your knowing?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trump bristled. A jester like Hegseth had kept the king in the dark on a consequential move.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf a decision was made, I will know,\u201d Trump blustered. \u201cI\u2019ll be the first to know. In fact, most likely I\u2019d give the order, but I haven\u2019t done that yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It is not reassuring, at a time of man-made and natural disasters, that the president is spouting gobbledygook and his maladroit cabinet members are spinning out.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a paradox: If you choose your cabinet based on looks, you are likely to end up with a cabinet that makes you look bad. Running government is harder than bloviating on Fox News and assorted podcasts.<\/p>\n<p>And if you demand \u00fcber-fealty from your advisers, you will end up surrounded by toadies who don\u2019t level with you.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\\\\<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s good to know there *are* intelligent, rational people still in the world. Even if none of them are in the Trump administration.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/nytjudges12jul25.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/nytjudges12jul25.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>NY Times, The Editorial Board, 12 Jul 2025<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2025\/07\/12\/opinion\/editorials\/federal-judges-quotes-trump-administration.html?unlocked_article_code=1.V08.TzNT.uBL9T-R-5m_F&amp;smid=url-share\">\u2018Egregious.\u2019 \u2018Brazen.\u2019 \u2018Lawless.\u2019 How 48 Judges Describe Trump\u2019s Actions, In Their Own Words<\/a> [gift link]<\/p>\n<p>About 12 screens of quotes from various judges, appointed both by Republicans and Democrats. I&#8217;ll just quote a few.<\/p>\n<p>James E. Boasberg, District of Columbia District, Appointed by Barack Obama<\/p>\n<p>On a judge\u2019s order blocking deportations:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cIn an egregious case of cherry-picking, defendants selectively quote only a fragment of the court\u2019s response here to mischaracterize its position.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Patrick J. Schiltz, District of Minnesota, Appointed by George W. Bush<\/p>\n<p>On the revocation of a student\u2019s visa:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThe court cannot imagine how the public interest might be served by permitting federal officials to flaunt the very laws that they have sworn to enforce.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Stephanie A. Gallagher, District of Maryland, Appointed by Donald Trump<\/p>\n<p>On the deportation of an asylum seeker to El Salvador:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDefendants have provided no evidence, or even any specific allegations, as to how Cristian, or any other class member, poses a threat to public safety. &#8230; This is a court of evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\\\\\\<\/p>\n<p>And *of course* the haphazard firings of federal employees by the Trump administration made response to the Texas floods worse. (How could they not have?) Here&#8217;s one missing link:<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/HeatherCoxRichardson.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/HeatherCoxRichardson-289x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"289\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Letters from an American, Heather Cox Richardson<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/heathercoxrichardson.substack.com\/p\/july-10-2025\">July 10, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>On July 4, the day Trump signed the bill, flash floods devastated central Texas, leaving more than 100 people dead and about 160 still missing. Local officials immediately blamed cuts to the National Weather Service (NWS) for the disaster, but reviews showed that NWS meteorologists had predicted the storm accurately and had sent out three increasingly urgent warnings at 1:14 a.m., 4:03 a.m., and 6:06 a.m.<\/p>\n<p>But four hours passed before the police department in the City of Kerrville issued a warning. It wasn\u2019t until 7:32 that the city urged people along the Guadalupe River to move to higher ground immediately. The missing link between the NWS and public safety personnel appears to have been the weather service employee in charge of coordinating between them. He took an unplanned early retirement under pressure from the \u201cDepartment of Government Efficiency\u201d and has not been replaced.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The piece goes on. Why are Republicans so obsessed about waste, abuse, and fraud? Which they assert with no evidence.<\/p>\n<p>\\<\/p>\n<p>Also this, concerning Kristi Noem, she of the hair.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/07\/11\/multimedia\/11cli-fema-hctf\/11cli-fema-hctf-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp\" width=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>NY Times, 11 Jul 2025<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/07\/11\/climate\/fema-missed-calls-texas-floods.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Vk8.HZRd.zn6zK44YkS7l&amp;smid=nytcore-ios-share&amp;referringSource=articleShare\">FEMA Didn\u2019t Answer Thousands of Calls From Flood Survivors, Documents Show<\/a> [gift link via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.joemygod.com\/2025\/07\/fema-didnt-answer-thousands-of-call-from-texas-flood-survivors-call-center-staffers-had-been-fired\/\">JMG<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Subtitled: &#8220;Two days after deadly Texas floods, the agency struggled to answer calls from survivors because of call center contracts that weren\u2019t extended.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Two days after catastrophic floods roared through Central Texas, the Federal Emergency Management Agency did not answer nearly two-thirds of calls to its disaster assistance line, according to documents reviewed by The New York Times.<\/p>\n<p>The lack of responsiveness happened because the agency had fired hundreds of contractors at call centers, according to a person briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal matters.<\/p>\n<p>The agency laid off the contractors on July 5 after their contracts expired and were not extended, according to the documents and the person briefed on the matter. Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, who has instituted a new requirement that she personally approve expenses over $100,000, did not renew the contracts until Thursday, five days after the contracts expired. FEMA is part of the Department of Homeland Security.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\\\\\\<\/p>\n<p>The new Superman movie is too woke for many conservatives.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/compote.slate.com\/images\/0323e453-176e-408e-b715-446b8f1706cb.jpeg?crop=1560%2C1040%2Cx0%2Cy0&amp;width=1280\" width=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Slate, Joshua Rivera, 12 Jul 2025<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/slate.com\/culture\/2025\/07\/superman-2025-new-movie-james-gunn-twitter-villain.html\">The Real Villain of Superman Is \u2026 the Discourse<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;In James Gunn\u2019s new movie, the Man of Steel takes on his most fearsome foe yet: the culture wars.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>and<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-apps\/imrs.php?src=https:\/\/arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/XO242DYSXNO6BCDJ44ZENZOU64_size-normalized.jpg&amp;w=916\" width=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Washington Post, Larry Tye<\/strong> (author of a book about Superman), <strong>12 Jul 2025<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2025\/07\/12\/superman-woke-controversy-immigration-trump\/\">Fear of a \u2018woke\u2019 Superman<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;Conservatives are upset with a very un-MAGA Superman movie. But the character has always engaged with the politics of his time.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>I am not going to analyze or summarize these pieces. I&#8217;ve never been interested in superhero movies, or comic books; I never saw the original Christopher Reeve version of Superman in 1978. Superhero stories strike me as infantile fantasies; sorry, fans!<\/p>\n<p>But superhero comics and movies were always about defeating villains and restoring justice to the world, right? And such justice doesn&#8217;t seem to be a concern of the current MAGA administration.<\/p>\n<p>I saw a graphic on Facebook today about this. It read, Star Wars, too woke? Star Trek, too woke? Superman, too woke? No: it&#8217;s just you, who&#8217;s grown up to be a bad person.<\/p>\n<p>\\\\<\/p>\n<p>One more, on that very theme.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.joemygod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/CharlieKirk2025conventionhands-660x330.jpg\" width=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>JMG, 11 Jul 2025<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.joemygod.com\/2025\/07\/charlie-kirk-legal-immigration-is-also-the-problem\/\">Charlie Kirk: \u201cLegal Immigration Is Also The Problem\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Another thing that this generation increasingly believes is they don\u2019t necessarily believe that immigration makes your country better. You get Mamdani, you get Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib. It\u2019s not just illegal immigration. It\u2019s <em>legal<\/em> immigration that is also the problem. When you allow a bunch of people into your country legally and they don\u2019t share your values, turns out they don\u2019t always assimilate.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Sigh, this has been going on for centuries. Values change.\u00a0 Kirk is obsessed with preserving the privileges and values of his youth, and doesn&#8217;t know any better. History will go on, and conservatives like him, who resent any king of change, will always feel themselves on the losing side of history. (See Prothero.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stephan Marche on how there are no necessary nations, and no permanent global order; Judges, appointed both by Republicans and Democrats, speak out against the Trump administration; Heather Cox Richardson identifies one key failure in the Texas floods, the result &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/2025\/07\/12\/no-necessary-nations\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[86,50,18,41,54,93],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","category-human-progress","category-lunacy","category-morality","category-politics","category-progress"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25165"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25258,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25165\/revisions\/25258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}