What can go wrong when you slash beer prices to boost attendance at an event? Before today, I thought the gradual descent into a riot was the only possible bad outcome. Thanks to Ron DeSantis's experiment with dollar beers, I now know another—crickets.
posted by matt in Tuesday, August 1, 2023
It's time to get a new lawyer, Mr. Oliveira. One that doesn't send invoices to Mar-a-Lago.
tags: politics
posted by matt in Friday, July 28, 2023
In the days and weeks immediately afterward, an overwhelming majority of Americans understood that the former president had incited it, for the purpose of staying in the White House. Two years of Trump lies and lukewarm media pushback later, that percentage is far lower, and an increasing number of Republicans now believe Trump was not responsible for his own coup attempt.
How much deeper into the looking glass are we going to fall if journalists fail to provide the most basic of context to our audience?
In an age when most journalism is produced and consumed online, with no physical "column inch" limit like with print, there is simply zero excuse not to include just a sentence or two of context about Trump's Jan. 6 conduct in every news account about him. The relative clause "who attempted a coup to remain in power" adds precisely eight words to a story.
Journalism is broken in many ways, the "horse race" nature of political journalism being just one of them.
tags: politicsjournalism
posted by matt in Sunday, May 7, 2023
Reid later asked Self about criticism that "prayers aren't cutting it" when it comes to addressing gun violence before the Texas Republican took aim at the analysis.
“Well, those are people that don’t believe in an almighty God who has... who is absolutely in control of our lives,” said Self, who later emphasized a need for more ways to address mental health and remarked that he’d “like to stay away from the politics today” to focus on the shooting victims.
If some god is "absolutely in control of our lives," aren't we powerless to change anything? How would addressing his bogey man of a lack of mental health resources help end gun violence?
You're an idiot, sir. You represent people who believe in a god, and those who don't. You've got a problem on you hands, as we all do, and you're tasked with fixing it. By all means continue praying if that's your thing. But you also need to get to work on developing real world solutions that address the problem. That's literally your job.
tags: politicsgunviolencetexas
posted by matt in Sunday, May 7, 2023
Ludwig said his grandfather had been immersed in 'a 24-hour news cycle of fear and paranoia.'
'[He would] sit and watch Fox News all day every day blaring in his living room. And I think that stuff really kind of reinforces this negative view of minority groups.'
He's not alone in his immersion in that cycle, I'm afraid. I think many people drown in it daily, unfortunately. Many from that generation in particular.
Fox News. All day. Every day. Blaring.
Yep, that's happening all over the country right now.
tags: politics
posted by matt in Thursday, April 20, 2023
I almost forgot...Trump was arrested and arraigned in New York City today.
I'm torn. I want him to face accountability for something, but I also want the clown show to end. Today showed me, again, that I likely won't get both.
tags: politics
posted by matt in Tuesday, April 4, 2023
"There’s a movement going on that people want, to bring the extremes back to the sensible and reasonable, responsible middle."
There's no convincing the extremes, so forget them. A candidate that truly speaks to the middle, I think, will find they don't need them because the middle is huge.
tags: politics
posted by matt in Sunday, April 2, 2023
"Nobody seemed to have paid attention, however, to an important detail: Disney had been simultaneously maneuvering to restrict the governor’s effort. In early February — at a public meeting held by the previous, Disney-controlled oversight board — the company pushed through a development agreement that would limit the new board’s power for decades to come."
Mess with the Mouse, you'll get the horns.
posted by matt in Saturday, April 1, 2023
I think Brian Eno has a copy of the Trump playbook: Create chaos, project certainty, reap rewards.
"For people like Steve Bannon, destruction is their main tool. That famous statement he said: 'Flood the zone with [expletive].' This is more and more what populists do. They think, OK, if we can create chaos, we know how to benefit. Because in chaos people retreat to those who look like they’re certain."
posted by matt in Monday, November 14, 2022
Four days after Election Day, projections for the Nevada Senate race are rolling in tonight–the Democrats will retain control of the Senate. Welcome news, in my view.
posted by matt in Saturday, November 12, 2022
Trump literally said this about allocating credit and blame for yet-to-be finalized performance of the slew of candidates he endorsed in races across the country:
“Well, I think if they win, I should get all the credit….And if they lose, I should not be blamed at all, OK. But it’ll probably be just the opposite.”
There are so many quotes to be considered the Trumpiest quote of all. That one is at least in the discussion.
posted by matt in Wednesday, November 9, 2022
The world held its collective breath today as Nancy Pelosi left Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It still wasn't clear if she was going to make her planned stop in Taiwan as she entered the air, so people around the world turned to flight tracking apps like Flightradar24 to watch as SPAR19 headed around the South China Sea and eventually turned North, heading around the Philippines and right for Taiwan.
I use Flightradar24 all the time, but couldn't get data to load this morning as so many people around the world watched our Speaker head East (and North) for democracy.
posted by matt in Tuesday, August 2, 2022
"I've never been part of negotiations as serious as these. There are more Republicans at the table talking about changing our gun laws, investing in mental health than at any time since Sandy Hook."
This is, indeed, encouraging, but he has likely had zero confidence on the issue over the last several years (decades?), so "more confident than ever" could still mean "not very confident at all."
posted by matt in Sunday, June 5, 2022
"That the party has moved away from conservative principles to this cult of personality that Liz Cheney is talking about. She's absolutely correct," [Riggleman] said."
Seems like we're seeing more and more Republicans say this, or something close to it, out loud.
tags: politics
posted by matt in Sunday, June 5, 2022
"Florida law dictates that special districts created by the legislature can only be dissolved with a majority vote of the district’s landowners. For Reedy Creek, that’s the Walt Disney Company."
This is political theatre at its worst. DeSantis isn't just dancing for the camera, he's doing so knowing that the bill is legally dead on arrival in the courts. We haven't heard from Disney yet, so I suppose it's possible they will accept the loss of the district in exchange for something. I seriously doubt that, though, and I doubt Orlando taxpayers are happy about absorbing a billion dollars of debt.
Part of me hopes DeSantis presses forward with his clown show, just so we can watch Disney kick his ass. The lawyers are already on it, I'm sure. Moron.
posted by matt in Friday, April 22, 2022
Ohio Republican Senate candidates are embroiled in a "Trump off" before the upcoming primary. The commercials are disgusting and, frankly, should be embarrassing to Republican voters (do they really believe that two Senators can fire Dr. Fauci, as candidate Mike Gibbons and his out-of-state endorser Rand Paul suggest in a recent commercial?).
While I'm glad to see Moreno go, he won't be missed by anyone, unless Gibbons expands to fill the resulting void in airtime. His commercials have zero substance, and essentially amount to "I love Trump, and I played football in sixth grade, so vote for me." We may find ourselves wishing Moreno was still around.
posted by matt in Monday, February 14, 2022
Jake and I drove down to Tiffin, Ohio this morning for his track meet. We took the back roads for the hour long drive, passing through three or four tiny towns, most of which consisted of a single intersection of two lane state highways, a few run down houses, and, usually, evidence of an abandoned storefront of some sort.
The politics of these tiny towns is on full display. It's not just pro-Trump (who is currently a non-candidate, ex-President) and anti-Biden. No, it's hatefully anti-Biden. "Joe and the Ho Must Go" kind of stuff (that's an actual, non-handwritten sign in a front yard that we passed).
Who does that? It's crazy to me that people who generally claim to be religious, "family value" type people can actively promote vitriol like that. It's not about policy, it's about hate and intimidation.
It's nuts.
And, I'm afraid, it's the real Ohio right now.
postposted by matt in Sunday, February 13, 2022
In a rare moment of bipartisanship, the House and Senate have passed by unanimous consent a bill that would give the chief of the US Capitol Police unilateral control to ask for support from the National Guard or federal law enforcement in the event of an emergency.
Please tell me they titled this bill the Trump is the Reason (TREASON) Act of 2021.
tags: politicstrumptreason
posted by matt in Wednesday, December 15, 2021
No, seriously...Infrastructure Day is finally here.
tags: politics
posted by matt in Monday, November 15, 2021
Wait, what's this? A Republican politician speaking of respecting each other’s level of comfort during a pandemic...in Florida?
There is hope.
posted by matt in Tuesday, October 26, 2021
The truth is, Trump's new media/tech group violated the terms of the AGPLv3 software license when it launched a test version of its new social media platform.
tags: politicssoftwarelicensingtruth
posted by matt in Monday, October 25, 2021
Hilariously, the Terms of Use for Trump's new social media site expressly indicate that users agree not to "transmit...excessive use of capital letters" (#20) and not to "disparage, tarnish, or otherwise harm, in our opinion, us and/or the Site." (#23)
I wonder how long it will take Trump to post his first, ALL CAPS disparagement on the site.
postposted by matt in Sunday, October 24, 2021
Looks like Trump's media/tech company "filed for trademarks on 'Truthing,' 'Retruth,' 'Post a Truth' and 'Follow the Truth.'"
Using "truth" in a trademark, while prohibiting disparagement of himself (see #23 on the site's Terms of Use) is very on brand for Trump.
posted by matt in Sunday, October 24, 2021
Hutchinson is right — the GOP is at a "past v. future"
crossroads. It's a little weird, too, because its newest members, the Trumpers, want to steer it back to the past on instruction from their overlord, while some of its long-standing members, those that came to the party long ago for the core principles of fiscal responsibility and small government, realize they've been duped and are trying to move to the beyond the trump nightmare.
tags: politics
posted by matt in Monday, October 18, 2021
CDC messaging, throughout the pandemic and across two administrations, has been horrible. The blame for messaging on post-vaccine risk and behavior is squarely on Biden's shoulders, though. And, frankly, a simpler, more scientifically accurate message about the risk to vaccinated individuals and their reduced capacity for transmission would probably encourage more to get the damn shot.
posted by matt in Sunday, September 26, 2021
Ending "relentless war" and starting "a new era of relentless diplomacy" sounds good to me.
tags: politics
posted by matt in Tuesday, September 21, 2021
Space Force, still a thing.
tags: politicsspaceforce
posted by matt in Tuesday, March 2, 2021
Coming "down the curve" is about to create some really strange politics. Republicans will become more progressive as they eagerly look for ways to move away from status quo policies of closures and restrictions. On the other side, Democrats will become more conservative as they seek to maintain these policies, fearful of another trip up the curve.
Meanwhile, we're stuck in the middle, exhausted and ready to move on. We're eager for a payoff from all of our efforts. We want to travel and visit family and friends. Hell, even people that hate crowds want to congregate a bit. Personally, I want to have a big family dinner at grandma's house, go to a restaurant with friends, and go to a baseball game. And. And. And.
Science tells us this will all be ok to do, too. The vaccines work. At preventing hospitalizations and death, they're nearly perfect. Each of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have shown effectiveness against the new variants. And on the question of whether they prevent transmission, basic virology and immunology tell us that no vaccine prevents all transmission, but any effective vaccine will reduce transmission. And, don't forget, the mRNA platforms they're built on are the technological silver linings of the entire pandemic - they can be adapted relatively quickly as new variants develop. It's the annual flu vaccine guessing game on a much shorter timeframe and without the guessing. We will benefit from this in the short term as the SARS-CoV-2 virus evolves, and in the long run as new viruses emerge, as they always do.
Oddly, as Democrats become more conservative through this process, they'll be tempted to shun the science while Republicans, who ignored it completely as the pandemic developed, may suddenly find a reason to embrace it.
We, the pandemic weary public, just need bold leaders to step up and move us forward. Democrats can be bold by bravely continuing to follow the science and recognizing what it's telling us. Republicans can do the same by resisting the urge to call on populist tropes ("reclaim your freedom!") to justify easing of restrictions, and, instead, pointing to the science and affirming its validity to their supporters.
There's obviously common ground here if anyone cares to look for it. It's the science, and it's been in front of us the entire time.
postposted by matt in Saturday, February 20, 2021
"I haven't changed. My party has."
tags: politics
posted by matt in Friday, February 19, 2021
So, regulation and oversight? What a concept!
posted by matt in Thursday, February 18, 2021
He brought the shock jock to political talk radio.
tags: politics
posted by matt in Wednesday, February 17, 2021
I didn't need a poll to know this, but here you go.
tags: politics
posted by matt in Monday, February 15, 2021
Happy Valentine's Day from @flotus.
tags: whitehousepoliticsvalentinesday
posted by matt in Sunday, February 14, 2021
Georgia's Republican Secretary of State once again proves he's one of few in his party willing to stand up to Trump. Brad Raffensperger epitomizes 'Country over Party' when few Republicans barely resemble it.
tags: politics
posted by matt in Sunday, January 3, 2021
No coup for you, Donny.
The dissent is actually interesting: the point made by Alito and Thomas is an extremely narrow one - they feel the Court must accept a filing on cases in which it has original jurisdiction (state v. state). In a bit of a slap, they explain that they would not grant any other relief (the injunction sought).
tags: politicselectiontrumpscotus
posted by matt in Friday, December 11, 2020
Trump doesn't realize he's on a Laffer curve with respect to his continued insistence that he won the election due to widespread voter fraud. And he's past the apex (way past it, in my mind) - he thinks he's garnering more respect from his base by continuing the act, but he's actually losing it with each tweet and temper tantrum.
postposted by matt in Tuesday, December 1, 2020
If DOJ had found any evidence, you better believe Barr would have paraded it across all media. Trump's continued insistence that the evidence is out there - and so much of it! - has become comical.
posted by matt in Tuesday, December 1, 2020
Four years in and on his way out, Trump may have realized, finally, how the Supreme Court works.
tags: politics
posted by matt in Sunday, November 29, 2020
I've never been a fan of yard signs. I actually wish more people would put flags in their yards for Election Day - I think it conveys unity and common purpose, rather than focusing on division and opposition. Maybe we can start a movement
tags: electionpoliticsyardflag
photo posted by matt in Tuesday, November 3, 2020
Well, Harris and Pence just might be the adults in the room.
tags: politics
postposted by matt in Wednesday, October 7, 2020
This is probably one of the most bizarre scenes of political theater I've ever witnessed. Trump left the hospital today in the midst of his treatment for COVID19 to return to the White House. Upon arriving, he proudly removed his mask while standing for photos on the balcony.
posted by matt in Monday, October 5, 2020
