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Monday, January 31, 2022

Post #5546 M: McClanahan on CSA and Secession; Religious Liberty in the West

Quote of the Day

It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life,
that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.
Ralph Waldo Emerson  

 McClanahan on CSA and Secession

 Religious Liberty in the West

Political Humor

 Choose Life

 Political Cartoon

                                  Courtesy of Margolis & Cox via Townhall

Musical Interlude: #1 Hits of 1983

Lionel Richie, "All Night Long"

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Post #5545 Social Media Digest

 Facebook

Well, I got suspended from Twitter--AGAIN. This time it involved Trump.
 
SPOILER ALERT: I do NOT like Trump. Never liked him, long before he ever got into politics. To anyone who has followed me on Twitter, maybe even here on Facebook, this is no secret. I'm not going to rant about him here. I have family and relatives, including a close cousin who is a gushing Trumpkin, who supported and voted for the man. I've been a registered member of the Libertarian Party since 2016. Let's just say my relatives and I agree to disagree about Trump and politics.
 
Even though Trump has been banned from Twitter for obvious things (if I did a fraction of what he did on the platform, I would have been banned years ago; I think Twitter let him get away with stuff because he drew people to the platform), there are plenty of Trumpkins on the platform.
 
If you aren't familiar with what he's done since leaving office, he has this pompous 
stationery like "from the desk of the 45th POTUS", and I don't think Twitter filters these images.
 
Now I'm not going to go into the events of Jan. 6 or his earlier extortion of Ukraine President Zelensky, but I supported his impeachment and conviction both times, all counts. I'm not going into his unprecedented rejection of election results and his immoral and illegal actions in the aftermath of the election. This deals with Mike Pence. As you know, Trump schemed to deprive Biden of enough electoral votes to throw the election into the House where each state would have 1 vote, and Trump was convinced he controlled enough states to win reelection. This was insane and would never get past SCOTUS review.
 
Keep in mind the electoral college met on Dec. 14, and that was the "real vote". The Jan. 6 vote in Congress was mostly ceremonial. Trump had lost about 61 of 62 court cases, including at SCOTUS. It was no accident that Trump held a rally in DC just before Congress was to ratify the election.

 

Pence had made it clear he did not have authority under the 12th Amendment to reject the public Dec. 14 results. We also know the radical Trumpkins targeted Pence for the crime of disloyalty to Trump on Jan. 6 and Trump specifically threw Pence under the bus.
 
So what does all of this have to do with Twitter today. Well, if you remember, there was the disputed Hayes/Tilden election of 1876. Tilden, the Democrat, won 51% of the vote, but lost all 20 electoral votes in dispute in the Compromise of 1877 to lose by a single electoral vote. In essence, Dems ceded the election in exchange for an end to Reconstruction. Eventually Congress in 1887 passed the Electoral Count Act.
 
So one of the things Congress has been looking at in a bipartisan fashion in the aftermath of the election is reforming said act. Susan Collins (R-ME) is involved, and, of course, Trump is still pissed at her vote to convict him in the second impeachment (over Jan. 6). 
 
So Trump (the Moron) argues in his statement that the whole discussion of reform "proves" the (disloyal) Pence did have the authority to reject electoral votes. Um, no it doesn't. Read the 12th Amendment: "The President of the Senate [VPOTUS] shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted". There is no wiggle room for him to refuse to accept state results.
 
So the Trumpkin troll basically repeats Trump's assertion that Pence had let us down.
I have had my fill of Trump's election lies and attempts to subvert the Constitution--I had no dog in this fight; I didn't support Biden or Trump in 2020.
 
I responded something to the effect that a Traitor-in-Chief should be publicly executed. To be honest, a treason conviction can result in a death sentence but probably more relevant to Trump's misconduct under 18 USC Ch. 115 are §2383. Rebellion or insurrection or §2384. Seditious conspiracy. These can result in fines, imprisonment and/or ineligibility for future office. Public executions have not been done I think since the 1930's.
 
I am pro-life and oppose capital punishment, even for scum like Donald J. Trump. I was engaging in literary license, unhappy that Pence's life was being targeted by Trump's lawless mob and wanting to redirect attention to Trump's own misconduct.
 
The suspension happened literally instantaneously; I didn't have a chance to view the tweet in question. It was bizarre, initially claiming I was harassing the Trumpkin troll. Obviously their algorithms don't understand context.

Twitter


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Sunday, January 30, 2022

Post #5544 M: Kibbe on the Origins of COVID-19

 Quote of the Day

We give up leisure 
in order that we may have leisure, 
just as we go to war 
in order that we may have peace.
Aristotle 

 Political Humor

 Abbeville Institute This Week

 Kibbe on the Origins of COVID-19

Choose Life

 Political Cartoon

                                                     Courtesy of Gary Varvel via Townhall

Musical Interlude: #1 Hits of 1983

 Rogers & Parton, "Islands in the Stream"

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Post #5543 Rant of the Day: "Oh, a Republican POTUS would be no better on the economy"

 Any familiar reader of my blog knows I have little tolerance for the mainstream media or Fox News Channel. It wasn't always that way; when I visited my maternal grandfather, a retired grocer, for Christmas break one year (Dad was stationed in West Germany with the family), he would watch all 3 national network evening news (NBC, CBS, ABC) consecutively, a rather quirky option in his Fall River market. We really didn't discuss politics, but he was a rare Massachusetts Republican, while I was more of a liberal Democrat (with pro-life and fiscally conservative views). I did regularly watch the news but with work and my part-time MBA studies in Houston in the early 80's, I somehow caught a syndicated version of Headline News on a local channel in a more convenient time slot. Of course, it became easier to schedule things with my newly purchased VCR. Of course, much has changed since then: multiple 24-hour news channels. news episodes on demand and via podcasts, Youtube clips,  etc. I have multiple news alert subscriptions and the like.

I did watch Fox News Channel for a while, but maybe for at most a couple of hours a day (evening newscast, maybe Glenn Beck, O'Reilly, O'Hannity and Colmes, and Red Eye) and special event broadcasting, like election days. I wrote a number of rants on Bill O'Reilly's economic populist rubbish (including Big Oil conspiracies). There was a time around the Tea Party movement where I had hoped that FNC would migrate into a direction more to my pro-liberty preferences; they had signed George Will and John Stossel to add to Andrew Napolitano's presence; Murdoch had acquired the Wall Street Journal. I had perhaps unrealistic expectations of higher quality content, deeper, more articulate, nuanced commentary. But, alas, FNC has a virtual lock on the center-right news media, and I'm not representative of their typical viewer. They did maintain a small cluster of progressive contributors to window dress being "fair and balanced", but forget it if you were expecting an Oxford-style debate. Ironically, although O'Reilly notoriously promoted his "no spin zone", nearly all their news coverage has been replete with predictable soundbites from their regular contributors and guests (including politicians). I wouldn't say I stopped going to the channel altogether, but I think the "jump the shark moment" when they were blatantly promoting Trump's 2016 candidacy, at one point alerting viewers to Trump plane arrivals for campaign events.

Today I might tune in CNN (which provides the context for the post title) during "business hours" (although the progressive "Reality Check" op-eds are enough to get me to change channels). I'll occasionally check FNC, but before long someone like Tomi Lahren comes on and I'm done. (There's something about that woman that annoys me like a teacher's fingernails scratching the blackboard.)

As I write, one year into office, Biden is struggling with a 40.9% job approval, especially on economic numbers, with decades-high inflation offsetting any relevant wage gains; with the omicron wave surging, projected hiring has come in below projections, and we're still millions of jobs shy of the pre-pandemic number, despite all of Biden's record spending, mandates and other policies. Biden, of course, is hyping "record growth", cherry-picking low points in state/local shutdowns (for which "Trump is responsible") and taking credit for businesses rehiring and reopening which isn't really "growth'. Obama used to pull the same nonsense, putting the first 3 and 4 months of job losses on Bush's ledger and taking full credit for the bounce; it is is arbitrary and intellectually dishonest. The fact is we had the slowest recovery in history.

If you do a Google search on Biden, job approval and the economy, you'll find citations, including a CNN post showing the lowest rating since Carter was in office. So the context was a progressive contributor putting her spin on the bad poll by suggesting what I quote in the title.

First, let me point out that in general I agree with the general sentiment that Presidents don't have a lot they can do to directly affect the general economy. There are a lot of factors affecting growth, including but not restricted to global supply chains, logistics and resources (including labor flows), technology (including production capacity and improvements), competition and trade policy, consumer demand, natural disasters, etc.It's not like there's a jobs faucet that got stuck on Trump's watch and Biden had it repaired.

Nor am I taking a partisan stand here. I didn't like Trump's trade and immigration wars, massive spending or deficits, and pushing the Fed to adopt negative rates. There are some things he got right, but he seriously departed from GOP orthodoxy since the Reagan years. So if the troll confounded Trumponomics with GOP policy, I have an issue with that.

Second, it's difficult to argue counterfactuals like the contributor was doing. However, I argue that there are a number of ways that a President can at least foster economic growth policies:

  • reduce economic uncertainty. It wasn't helpful that almost immediately Biden was talking about rolling back tax cuts on businesses and tried to impose an OSHA vaccine mandate on large employers which risked current operations. He also supported morally hazardous unemployment supplements making it more lucrative for many people not to work.
  • reduce/flatten taxes and regulations. One of the things Trump got right was cutting noncompetitively globally high business taxes, shifting from a worldwide tax system to a more territorial tax system. Government regulations also raise business costs, a disincentive to growth.
  • lower spending and cut the deficit. Government competes with business for investor dollars, basically raising the cost of business.
  • lower trade and labor barriers. I am not going to go into a detailed defense of the unambiguous compelling case for win-win global trade and comparative advantage. Biden is pushing protectionist Buy American policies. Immigration constraints hurt multiple industries, notably high tech and agriculture.
  • reject industrial policy. The idea that political elites can improve on decision making in the private sector of 330M consumers is beyond hubris.
  • support sound money. Inflation is a particular regressive tax on lower/middle income consumers. "Beggar thy neighbor" currency wars are counterproductive races which lose the benefits of trade, including exporters to the global market.

While not all Republicans, especially Trump, have been equally committed to this agenda, there is little doubt the GOP is more likely to adopt most of it, and the preponderance of economic evidence supports it. Biden is still trying to hype Obama's policy of "investing" in partisan special interest policies in green energy, education and infrastructure.

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Saturday, January 29, 2022

Post #5542 M: China Changed the Ending of "Fight Club"; The Pandemic and School Choice; The Constitution and Change

 Quote of the Day

Early to bed, early to rise 
makes a man healthy, wealthy,and wise.
Benjamin Franklin

 China Changed the Ending of "Fight Club"

 The Pandemic and School Choice


The Constitution and Change

Choose Life

 Political Cartoon

                                          Courtesy of AF Branco via Townhall

Musical Interlude: #1 Hits of 1983

Bonnie Tyler, "Total Eclipse of the Heart". My favorite hit of 1983.

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Friday, January 28, 2022

Post #5541 M: Stossel on Alternatives to Government Monopoly Schools; Parental Rights and Education Choice; Biden's SCOTUS Moment

 Quote of the Day

Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. 
We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, 
but rather we have those because we have acted rightly. 
We are what we repeatedly do. 
Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.
Aristotle 

 Stossel on Alternatives to Government Monopoly Schools

Biden's SCOTUS Moment

Choose Life

Parental Rights and Education Choice

 Political Cartoon

                                           Courtesy of AF Branco via Townhall

Musical Interlude: #1 Hits of 1983

Billy Joel, "Tell Her About It"

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Thursday, January 27, 2022

Post #5540 M: McClanahan on Buckhead Secession; Prohibition: Governors, COVID-19, and the Pandemic

 Quote of the Day

Men for the sake of getting a living 
forget to live.
Margaret Fuller 

 Political Cartoon

 McClanahan on Buckhead Secession

Prohibition: Governors, COVID-19, and the Pandemic

 Choose Life

Musical Interlude: #1 Hits of 1983 

Michael Sembello, 'Maniac"

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Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Post #5539 M: Underfunded NY Schools?; McClanahan on the "Cult of Robert E. Lee"; Economic Liberty For Home-Based Businesses

 Quote of the Day

No army can withstand 
the strength of an idea 
whose time has come
Victor Hugo 

 Underfunded NY Schools? Really?

 McClanahan on the "Cult of Robert E. Lee"

 Economic Liberty For Home-Based Businesses

 Choose Life

 Political Cartoon

                                  Courtesy of AF Branco via Townhall

Musical Interlude: #1 Hits of 1983 

Eurythmics, "Sweet Dreams Are Made of This"

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Tuesday, January 25, 2022

Post #5538 M: Stossel on Why Progressives Ruin Cities; McClanahan on Whether MLK is a Conservative

 Quote of the Day

Never interrupt your enemy 
when he is making a mistake.
Napoleon Bonaparte 

 Stossel on Why Progressives Ruin Cities

 McClanahan on Whether MLK is a Conservative

 Political Cartoon

 Choose Life

Musical Interlude; #1 Hits of 1983 

The Police, "Every Breath You Take"

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Post #5537 J

Shutdown Diary

The latest stats from WaPo:

The latest vaccine stats from CDC:

 Well, definite signs of a top, although a modest decline from nearly 800K cases a day still dwarfs the statistics we had seen during the earlier waves. It's just stunning how quickly omicron spread; WaPo reports Delta's percentage now amounts to less than 1%. But make no mistake; this is serious with many healthcare personnel burning out over the stress and providers are looking to bring back infected personnel sooner to handle heavy patient loads. Let's hope that we get this wave under control before a new deadlier, more infectious mutant strain emerges.

From an extended family perspective, the casualties continue to mount. One of my older nephews  and separately his ex-wife have it (different cities; share a son, so far uninfected); his younger brother (waiting for test results) has a wife and 1-year-old son who likely caught it from his infected mother-in-law, a school teacher. I mentioned the little dude in a recent post; his fever has broken, but he's sleeping longer than usual. Of course, at least 2 nephews and a niece (I have 21 overall) were infected by earlier strains during the pandemic. I don't know how many of my siblings have gotten their boosters. My sister-in-law, mother of the 2 brothers cited above, hasn't yet, and she has certain health challenges. Oddly, my brother and she had been planning to socialize with both families with MLK weekend, but one of my cousins and her husband had flown to Dallas to attend the Cowboys' NFL playoff game, and so my brother and his wife drove up to Dallas for a mini-reunion. My cousin's daughter is a nurse who got infected at work early in the pandemic.

One topic I didn't expect to revisit so soon is not only food inflation but empty grocery shelves back at both Walmart and Lidl. Oh, don't get me wrong; we aren't talking another run on toilet paper, egg and meat shortages (and my freezer is well-stocked. But, for instance. Lidl had basically locked down a large section of their fresh meat section (which usually stocks chicken products), I found a number of promoted specials out of stock, etc. At Walmart, I found multiple gaps of empty shelves in the frozen foods section. I didn't really check any relevant shelf labels, but an infrequent indulgence since my graduate days at UH has been frozen/fresh packaged burritos. (I love my Tex-Mex). You could find some multi-packs of frozen ones, especially breakfast, but otherwise where there were normally say two or three well-stocked shelves, I saw maybe a dozen or so packs. Now my "burrito test" may not be reliable, valid or representative; it's probably very idiosyncratic. (No, Lidl doesn't sell them..)

Can We PLEASE Have Better Overtime Periods in Sports?

The Bills-Chiefs closing 2-3 minutes in the fourth quarter saw a flurry of improbable scoring drives and lead changes with the Chiefs, with a mere 13 seconds on the clock, doing downfield to hit a game-tying field goal.  Then the Chiefs won the coin toss in overtime to score a game-winning touchdown without the Bills ever getting  a single down on offense.

You name almost any other sport, and I can't stand most of their tiebreakers, too, including but not restricted to:

  • soccer, with a series of kicks on goal
  • baseball, with a lead runner on second base
  • tennis tie-breakers.

I do not like gimmicky finishes. I prefer an extra period/inning/etc. and each team given a reciprocal  opportunity to score under normal game playing conditions

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