How to Fix the GOP Tax Plan [Click] Instead of rolling it back, why not use a carbon tax to fix its regional tilt and benefit all Americans in the process?
And I thought 2016 was a lousy, rotten, stinkin' year! But, yes, I'll be glad to see the back of 2017, which proved the old saw that things can always get worse. I truly believed the Cheeto-in-chief - wait, that needs to be spelled differently, Cheato-in-Chief - would be impeached and possibly in Leavenworth by summer. I gather a lot of people believed that. But there he is in the White House (or at least on the golf course at Mara Lago) , big as life and twice as ugly, with no sign of indictment anytime soon. Depressing as all hell! And I don't even have any champagne to get smashed on tonight, only Pepsi. :P
While looking for The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump at Audible, which I found BTW, I also came across this:
One Nation After Trump [click] A Guide for the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate, and the Not-Yet Deported By: E. J. Dionne, Norman J. Ornstein, Thomas E. Mann Narrated by: E. J. Dionne, Norman J. Ornstein, Thomas E. Mann Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins Unabridged Release date: 09-19-17 Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Publisher's Summary This program is read by the authors.
A call to action from three of Washington's premier political scholar-journalists, One Nation After Trump offers the definitive work on the threat posed by the Trump presidency and how to counter it.
American democracy was never supposed to give the nation a president like Donald Trump. We have never had a president who gave rise to such widespread alarm about his lack of commitment to the institutions of self-government, to the norms democracy requires, and to the need for basic knowledge about how government works. We have never had a president who raises profound questions about his basic competence and his psychological capacity to take on the most challenging political office in the world.
Yet if Trump is both a threat to our democracy and a product of its weaknesses, the citizen activism he has inspired is the antidote. The reaction to the crisis created by Trump's presidency can provide the foundation for an era of democratic renewal and vindicate our long experiment in self-rule.
The award-winning authors of One Nation After Trump explain Trump's rise and the danger his administration poses to our free institutions. They also offer encouragement to the millions of Americans now experiencing a new sense of citizenship and engagement and argue that our nation needs a unifying alternative to Trump's dark and divisive brand of politics - an alternative rooted in a new economy, a new patriotism, a new civil society, and a new democracy. One Nation After Trump is the essential audiobook for our era, an unsparing assessment of the perils facing the United States and an inspiring road map for how we can reclaim the future.
Sandy Claws brought me some Crawford's Garibaldi Biscuits, the ancestral version of the Sunshine Golden Raisin Biscuit, AKA flycrackers, fly cemeteries, and so forth. Currants instead of raisins so a little different taste than what I recall, and more crunchy--but pretty good. Nice complement to a cup of black tea. Good enough to inspire me to try making my own after I retire.
I got some gardening done today--raked leaves, cut back cannas, and dehorned some roses. Still have to clean the kitchen window, may not get the fans over the range cleaned today. Will try, though.
I used to have access to a Scots bakery (run by a Pakistani) that made fly cemeteries-lovely pastry, even if they do look just like fly cemeteries. . .
Indeed, AFAIK HRC did answer that question with a resounding no. To a certain extent, Trump and indeed the Dem. Party establishment are both irrelevant at this point. As we have been saying, old Dems, New Deal Dems, Bernicrats, whatever label you want to use, as I see it have the monumental but perhaps not hopeless job of insurgently (ahem, is that a word?) taking back the Party. I think, if that can be done, there's a fair chance of running the Republicans out on a rail. But, of course, we're talking about Democrats, so there is plenty of opportunity to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Will Rogers: "I don't belong to an organized political party; I'm a Democrat." Which brings us to this:
This election was lost four and five and six years ago not this year. They dident start thinking of the old common fellow till just as they started out on the election tour. The money was all appropriated for the top in the hopes that it would trickle down to the needy. Mr. Hoover was an engineer. He knew that water trickled down. Put it uphill and let it go and it will reach the dryest little spot. But he dident know that money trickled up. Give it to the people at the bottom and the people at the top will have it before night anyhow. But it will at least have passed through the poor fellow’s hands. They saved the big banks but the little ones went up the flue. Nationally syndicated column number 518, And Here’s How It All Happened (1932), as published in the Tulsa Daily World, 5 December 1932.
Wishing everyone a better New Year. Remember Spiro Agnew and Oliver North. Agnew was removed with tax Evasion charges and Oliver North taught us that Congress is not the body to deal with crime. Was there a conspiracy? There was receipt of stolen property and an inducement to thievery.
At this point, I'd be happy if they could get Trump on jaywalking. Anything, just so long as he and his entire sorry administration sink into the quicksands of oblivion, and PDQ!
Puddle, Randy Bryce's campaign e-mails have been saying for a few weeks now that Ryan is seriously talking about resigning, er, retiring. If that happens, Heaven only knows what the Republicans would put up against Bryce. Of course, I only hear Bryce's side of the story; but, according to his campaign, he is making great headway, enough to scare Ryan into resigning. Hope it's all true. That would leave Trump and Pence to get rid of. Please, God, let it be soon!
Word on the net is that Ryan is talking about resigning because he is also in Mueller's cross-hairs. Rumor is he is tied to Russian money. Must be something fairly sizeable to make him talk about retiring. And I support Randy, but I don't think he is scaring Ryan - not yet, anyway.
The awakening of more activists is the *only* good thing about Cheetolini's "pretend presidency". One of the many reasons I objected to HRC was that her administration would have simply been a continuation and she would have employed incrementalism on every issue. People would have remained asleep and the corporations and the oligarchs would have continued in control. Now people *know* who is in control and we and they are making it clear that we're not having it!
I sincerely hope we have the great pleasure of watching Cheetolini taking a televised perp walk as he sobs his little snake eyes out. But they ALL have to go! Every single crook he appointed! There are hints that some of our "fine" Congressmen are under the microscope as well. It would just be a bonus if they get taken down too.
And Happy New Year, everybody! Let's hope 2018 doesn't suck to the same degree as 2016 and 2017.
Oh! And saw this on Facebook today: "Aren't time zones amazing? Australia is already in 2018, Europe is still in 2017, and the US is in 1950".
There might be some other examples, but Harry S Truman and Chester A. Arthur both greatly exceeded expectations as President. The opposite is far more common.
LOL Alan, That sounds vaguely familiar, though none the worse for that.
Susan, someone in one of my FB groups wished everyone a happy New Year with the hope that 2018 will not be the dumpster fire 2017 was. Well put, I thought.
America and the Great Abdication[Click] “When great powers fade, as they inevitably must, it’s normally for one of two reasons. Some powers exhaust themselves through overreach abroad, underinvestment at home, or a mixture of the two. This was the case for the Soviet Union. Other powers lose their privileged position with the emergence of new, stronger powers. This describes what happened with France and Great Britain in the case of Germany’s emergence after World War I and, more benignly, with the European powers and the rise of the United States during and after World War II.
To some extent America is facing a version of this—amid what Fareed Zakaria has dubbed “the rise of the rest”—with China’s ascendance the most significant development. But the United States has now introduced a third means by which a major power forfeits international advantage. It is abdication, the voluntary relinquishing of power and responsibility. It is brought about more by choice than by circumstances either at home or abroad.”
Hard to say if DT came up with it on his own, or is following instructions from his Russian bankers (and blackmailers?). There was some of it under Bush the Younger.
OK, I finally gave in. I forgot to take my cholesterol medicine this morning, and they say small amounts of alcohol with it are OK. So for the first time in a long time (maybe a year?) I shall partake of...hmmm.... a microflagon of warm rice wine. After such a long period of abstinence the alcoholic flavor is very striking, and the physiologic sensation well nigh instantaneous. Pleasantly distracting.
I always thought it sobering sitting in almost any cafe in Greece to see the giant ruins of a civilization that ruled the known world for more than a thousand years, and life goes on. . . .
Yes, and Greece is now one of the poorest nations in Europe, if not the poorest. How the mighty have fallen! Then again, in two or three thousand years, what will be left of the United States? Spent uranium and the plastic rings six packs of Coke come in?
How to Fix the GOP Tax Plan
ReplyDelete[Click] Instead of rolling it back, why not use a carbon tax to fix its regional tilt and benefit all Americans in the process?
--Alan
Peter Shumlin advises California on universal health care.[Click]
ReplyDelete—Alan
And I thought 2016 was a lousy, rotten, stinkin' year! But, yes, I'll be glad to see the back of 2017, which proved the old saw that things can always get worse. I truly believed the Cheeto-in-chief - wait, that needs to be spelled differently, Cheato-in-Chief - would be impeached and possibly in Leavenworth by summer. I gather a lot of people believed that. But there he is in the White House (or at least on the golf course at Mara Lago) , big as life and twice as ugly, with no sign of indictment anytime soon. Depressing as all hell! And I don't even have any champagne to get smashed on tonight, only Pepsi. :P
ReplyDeleteWhile looking for The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump at Audible, which I found BTW, I also came across this:
ReplyDeleteOne Nation After Trump [click]
A Guide for the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate, and the Not-Yet Deported
By: E. J. Dionne, Norman J. Ornstein, Thomas E. Mann
Narrated by: E. J. Dionne, Norman J. Ornstein, Thomas E. Mann
Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
Unabridged
Release date: 09-19-17
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Publisher's Summary
This program is read by the authors.
A call to action from three of Washington's premier political scholar-journalists, One Nation After Trump offers the definitive work on the threat posed by the Trump presidency and how to counter it.
American democracy was never supposed to give the nation a president like Donald Trump. We have never had a president who gave rise to such widespread alarm about his lack of commitment to the institutions of self-government, to the norms democracy requires, and to the need for basic knowledge about how government works. We have never had a president who raises profound questions about his basic competence and his psychological capacity to take on the most challenging political office in the world.
Yet if Trump is both a threat to our democracy and a product of its weaknesses, the citizen activism he has inspired is the antidote. The reaction to the crisis created by Trump's presidency can provide the foundation for an era of democratic renewal and vindicate our long experiment in self-rule.
The award-winning authors of One Nation After Trump explain Trump's rise and the danger his administration poses to our free institutions. They also offer encouragement to the millions of Americans now experiencing a new sense of citizenship and engagement and argue that our nation needs a unifying alternative to Trump's dark and divisive brand of politics - an alternative rooted in a new economy, a new patriotism, a new civil society, and a new democracy. One Nation After Trump is the essential audiobook for our era, an unsparing assessment of the perils facing the United States and an inspiring road map for how we can reclaim the future.
I hope the link works.
Forgot to say--yes, the link works, Cat.
DeleteAlan
Is Running Against Trump Enough for Democrats?[Click] I thought HRC answered that question. The
ReplyDeletethis link[Click] may or may not get you past their paywall, depending on which browser you use.
Sandy Claws brought me some Crawford's Garibaldi Biscuits, the ancestral version of the Sunshine Golden Raisin Biscuit, AKA flycrackers, fly cemeteries, and so forth. Currants instead of raisins so a little different taste than what I recall, and more crunchy--but pretty good. Nice complement to a cup of black tea. Good enough to inspire me to try making my own after I retire.
I got some gardening done today--raked leaves, cut back cannas, and dehorned some roses. Still have to clean the kitchen window, may not get the fans over the range cleaned today. Will try, though.
—Alan
Oops--"The this link[Click] may or" should read "The original story is in the Washington Post; this link [click]....
DeleteAlan
I used to have access to a Scots bakery (run by a Pakistani) that made fly cemeteries-lovely pastry, even if they do look just like fly cemeteries. . .
DeleteThose biscuits sound very nice, Alan.
DeleteIndeed, AFAIK HRC did answer that question with a resounding no. To a certain extent, Trump and indeed the Dem. Party establishment are both irrelevant at this point. As we have been saying, old Dems, New Deal Dems, Bernicrats, whatever label you want to use, as I see it have the monumental but perhaps not hopeless job of insurgently (ahem, is that a word?) taking back the Party. I think, if that can be done, there's a fair chance of running the Republicans out on a rail. But, of course, we're talking about Democrats, so there is plenty of opportunity to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Will Rogers: "I don't belong to an organized political party; I'm a Democrat." Which brings us to this:
DeleteThis election was lost four and five and six years ago not this year. They dident start thinking of the old common fellow till just as they started out on the election tour. The money was all appropriated for the top in the hopes that it would trickle down to the needy. Mr. Hoover was an engineer. He knew that water trickled down. Put it uphill and let it go and it will reach the dryest little spot. But he dident know that money trickled up. Give it to the people at the bottom and the people at the top will have it before night anyhow. But it will at least have passed through the poor fellow’s hands. They saved the big banks but the little ones went up the flue. Nationally syndicated column number 518, And Here’s How It All Happened (1932), as published in the Tulsa Daily World, 5 December 1932.
Some things hardly change, eh?
--Alan
My goodness! They don't!
DeleteIf insurgently is not a word, it certainly ought to be!
DeleteAlan
Wishing everyone a better New Year.
ReplyDeleteRemember Spiro Agnew and Oliver North. Agnew was removed with tax Evasion charges and Oliver North taught us that Congress is not the body to deal with crime.
Was there a conspiracy? There was receipt of stolen property and an inducement to thievery.
At this point, I'd be happy if they could get Trump on jaywalking. Anything, just so long as he and his entire sorry administration sink into the quicksands of oblivion, and PDQ!
DeleteI continue to hope for alien abduction-or maybe spontaneous human combustion. Neither one very likely, I suppose, but a fella can dream, can't he?
DeleteAlan
Awh, cm'mon, Alan. What alien would want him? I like spontaneous combustion though. Most fitting.
DeleteMy hopes/wishes for the new year involve all three (der turnip, Pence, and Ryan) leaving, and never coming back. I'm thinking about August.
ReplyDeletePuddle, Randy Bryce's campaign e-mails have been saying for a few weeks now that Ryan is seriously talking about resigning, er, retiring. If that happens, Heaven only knows what the Republicans would put up against Bryce. Of course, I only hear Bryce's side of the story; but, according to his campaign, he is making great headway, enough to scare Ryan into resigning. Hope it's all true. That would leave Trump and Pence to get rid of. Please, God, let it be soon!
DeleteWord on the net is that Ryan is talking about resigning because he is also in Mueller's cross-hairs. Rumor is he is tied to Russian money. Must be something fairly sizeable to make him talk about retiring. And I support Randy, but I don't think he is scaring Ryan - not yet, anyway.
DeleteOoh, Ryan...in with the Ruskies? Ya don't say! A fine, upstanding Republican like that. Isn't that delicious!
DeleteThe awakening of more activists is the *only* good thing about Cheetolini's "pretend presidency". One of the many reasons I objected to HRC was that her administration would have simply been a continuation and she would have employed incrementalism on every issue. People would have remained asleep and the corporations and the oligarchs would have continued in control. Now people *know* who is in control and we and they are making it clear that we're not having it!
ReplyDeleteI sincerely hope we have the great pleasure of watching Cheetolini taking a televised perp walk as he sobs his little snake eyes out. But they ALL have to go! Every single crook he appointed! There are hints that some of our "fine" Congressmen are under the microscope as well. It would just be a bonus if they get taken down too.
And Happy New Year, everybody! Let's hope 2018 doesn't suck to the same degree as 2016 and 2017.
Oh! And saw this on Facebook today: "Aren't time zones amazing? Australia is already in 2018, Europe is still in 2017, and the US is in 1950".
No, I'm sorry to say that Harry S. Truman is NOT president. ;-)
DeleteMe too!
DeleteThere might be some other examples, but Harry S Truman and Chester A. Arthur both greatly exceeded expectations as President. The opposite is far more common.
Delete--Alan
Reminds me of an old joke from the early days of jet passenger liners:
Delete"Why, these new jetliners are so fast you can have breakfast in San Francisco; lunch in Chicago; dinner in New York--and luggage in Tokyo."
LOL Alan, That sounds vaguely familiar, though none the worse for that.
DeleteSusan, someone in one of my FB groups wished everyone a happy New Year with the hope that 2018 will not be the dumpster fire 2017 was. Well put, I thought.
Happy New Year everybody! And onward to November.
ReplyDeleteFirst I am targeting retirement--three months to go.
DeleteAlan
In case you missed it:
ReplyDeleteGOP tax bill lowers liquor taxes.[Click]
-Alan
Of course it does. Yet another good reason to take up drinking.
DeleteAmerica and the Great Abdication[Click]
ReplyDelete“When great powers fade, as they inevitably must, it’s normally for one of two reasons. Some powers exhaust themselves through overreach abroad, underinvestment at home, or a mixture of the two. This was the case for the Soviet Union. Other powers lose their privileged position with the emergence of new, stronger powers. This describes what happened with France and Great Britain in the case of Germany’s emergence after World War I and, more benignly, with the European powers and the rise of the United States during and after World War II.
To some extent America is facing a version of this—amid what Fareed Zakaria has dubbed “the rise of the rest”—with China’s ascendance the most significant development. But the United States has now introduced a third means by which a major power forfeits international advantage. It is abdication, the voluntary relinquishing of power and responsibility. It is brought about more by choice than by circumstances either at home or abroad.”
—Alan
Whose choice would that be?
DeleteHard to say if DT came up with it on his own, or is following instructions from his Russian bankers (and blackmailers?). There was some of it under Bush the Younger.
DeleteAlan
Broke out the Pepsi a little early. I devoutly wish it were something considerably stronger. However, one makes the most of what one has.
ReplyDeleteOK, I finally gave in. I forgot to take my cholesterol medicine this morning, and they say small amounts of alcohol with it are OK. So for the first time in a long time (maybe a year?) I shall partake of...hmmm.... a microflagon of warm rice wine. After such a long period of abstinence the alcoholic flavor is very striking, and the physiologic sensation well nigh instantaneous. Pleasantly distracting.
DeleteAlan
Pleasantly distracting sounds good.
DeleteHappy New Year, everyone! To better times!
ReplyDelete💥 Happy New Year 2018! 💥
ReplyDeleteMay this be the year we get a Sea Change!
I always thought it sobering sitting in almost any cafe in Greece to see the giant ruins of a civilization that ruled the known world for more than a thousand years, and life goes on. . . .
ReplyDeleteIndeed.
DeleteAlan
Yes, and Greece is now one of the poorest nations in Europe, if not the poorest. How the mighty have fallen! Then again, in two or three thousand years, what will be left of the United States? Spent uranium and the plastic rings six packs of Coke come in?
Delete