You may now take your “Russian hacking” bullshit and shove it up your ass: Daily Bullshit, July 10-12, 2017

Updates

  1. Originally published July 10, 3:26 pm.
  2. July 10, 10:59 pm:
    • Saving you the clicks: Donald Trump, Jr., might be guilty of treason[1] or at least a crime.[2] (Golden Showers)
  3. July 11, 12:14 pm:
    • Republicans increasingly distrust colleges and universities.[3] (Conservatives and Academia)
    • Donald Trump, Jr., wanted compromising information on Hillary Clinton from the Russian attorney he met.[4] (Golden Showers)
  4. July 11, 3:18 pm:
    • Globalization policy has favored upward redistribution of income and politicians have done little to redress its impacts on the working class, regardless of race or geography.[5]
  5. July 12, 3:23 am:
    • A puff piece on Ted Cruz in the context of the Obamacare fight from a few days ago[6] that I’m only now archiving.
    • The reason I’m archiving that puff piece is because Ted Cruz’s Obamacare plan is gaining some traction.[7]
    • The idiot dad’s idiot “son and others at the meeting were ‘longing’ for information on the Democratic National Committee,” according to the Russian lawyer they apparently shouldn’t have met with.[8] (Golden Showers)
    • A journalist posed as an English teacher to observe a slice of life in North Korea and is interviewed for Vox.[9]
  6. July 12, 10:26 am:
    • That massive iceberg that was due to break off the Larsen C ice shelf now has.[10] (Antarctica)
  7. July 12, 3:25 pm:
    • The effort to “repeal and replace” Obamacare may now be mortally wounded as Rand Paul declares his opposition to “a giant insurance bailout superfund.”[11] And yes, by the way, Paul’s stance is consistent with capitalist libertarianism and part of what distinguishes it from its neoliberal progeny: Neoliberals pervert the capitalist libertarian ideology that political power is bad while economic power is good into an ideology pretty much as Arundhati Roy described it, that political power exists to serve corporate interests.[12]
  8. July 12, 5:41 pm:
    • A federal judge just ain’t buying the Trump administration’s attempt to weasel out of his order halting enforcement of Donald Trump’s order cutting funding to sanctuary cities.[13] (Unauthorized Migration)

Golden Showers

Whatever it is you don’t like in the world, just blame it on the Russians. They’re to blame for everything, whether it be Hillary Clinton’s election defeat or, now, U.S. environmentalists.[14] No need for any introspection or actual policy solutions here. And why worry about a new Cold War and mutually assured destruction when blaming the Russians is so extremely expedient?

All that said, the Associated Press story (here in the Seattle Times) seems to me to suggest that the Russians had an active ongoing effort to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, which intermediaries sought to bring Donald Trump, Jr., in on.[15] It’s not quite solid evidence but it is a hell of a lot closer than anything I’ve seen before.

There are some qualifications to this. First, while the Associated Press is notoriously reticent about publishing dubious information, the confirmation we have comes from Donald Trump, Jr.,[16] who may well be admitting to a crime.[17] Second, “Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican who sits on the intelligence committee, said the emails ‘certainly raise questions’ but added ‘we’re seeing only part of the picture.’”[18] I think the senator’s caution is warranted and this story feels to me too much like a rush for confirmation of what many people, especially journalists and Democrats, already believe. Third, that the Russians appear to have been meddling says little about the effectiveness of their efforts.

Zack Beauchamp, “Donald Trump Jr. may well have committed a federal crime, experts say,” Vox, July 10, 2017, https://www.vox.com/world/2017/7/10/15950590/donald-trump-jr-new-york-times-illegal

James Freeman, “What Did Hillary Know about Russian Interference?” Wall Street Journal, July 10, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-did-hillary-know-about-russian-interference-1499723857

German Lopez, “‘Borders on treason’: George W. Bush’s former ethics lawyer blasts Trump Jr.’s Russia meeting,” Vox, July 10, 2017, https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/7/10/15950612/trump-jr-russia-richard-painter

Chad Day and Eric Tucker, “Emails: Trump Jr. embraced help said to be from Kremlin,” Seattle Times, July 11, 2017, http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/trump-jr-admits-he-wanted-info-on-clinton-from-russian/

Louis Nelson, “Russian lawyer: Donald Trump Jr. wanted DNC info ‘so badly,’” Politico, July 11, 2017, http://www.politico.com/story/2017/07/11/russian-lawyer-natalia-veselnitskaya-interview-240393


Conservatives and Academia

Pew Research Center, “Sharp Partisan Divisions in Views of National Institutions,” July 10, 2017, http://www.people-press.org/2017/07/10/sharp-partisan-divisions-in-views-of-national-institutions/

Clara Turnage, “Most Republicans Think Colleges Are Bad for the Country. Why?” Chronicle of Higher Education, July 10, 2017, http://www.chronicle.com/article/Most-Republicans-Think/240587


Globalization

Chicago note: Josh Bivens, “Adding insult to injury: How bad policy decisions have amplified globalization’s costs for American workers,” Economic Policy Institute, July 11, 2017,


Obamacare

Bridget Bowman, “Cruz Walks Health Care Tightrope, With Eye on 2018,” Congressional Quarterly Roll Call, July 6, 2017, http://www.rollcall.com/news/cruz-walks-health-care-tightrope-with-eye-on-2018/

Paul Demko, “Conservatives bet on risky plan that could tank Obamacare markets,” Politico, July 11, 2017, http://www.politico.com/story/2017/07/11/cruz-lee-obamacare-health-care-240380

Dylan Scott, “Rand Paul sounds ready to kill the Senate health care bill,” Vox, July 12, 2017, https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/7/12/15958256/senate-health-care-bill-rand-paul-kill-it


North Korea

Sean Illing, “Fear, loneliness, and duty — an American journalist on daily life in North Korea,” Vox, July 11, 2017, https://www.vox.com/world/2017/7/11/15934856/north-korea-kim-jong-un-suki-kim-interview


Antarctica

But of course, all of the above is more important.

Jonathan Amos, “Giant iceberg splits from Antarctic,” British Broadcasting Corporation, July 12, 2017, http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-40321674


Unauthorized Migration

Sudin Thanawala, “Judge not inclined to reinstate Trump sanctuary cities order,” Minneapolis Star-Tribune< July 12, 2017, http://www.startribune.com/judge-not-inclined-to-reinstate-trump-sanctuary-cities-order/434148513/


  1. [1]German Lopez, “‘Borders on treason’: George W. Bush’s former ethics lawyer blasts Trump Jr.’s Russia meeting,” Vox, July 10, 2017, https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/7/10/15950612/trump-jr-russia-richard-painter
  2. [2]Zack Beauchamp, “Donald Trump Jr. may well have committed a federal crime, experts say,” Vox, July 10, 2017, https://www.vox.com/world/2017/7/10/15950590/donald-trump-jr-new-york-times-illegal
  3. [3]Pew Research Center, “Sharp Partisan Divisions in Views of National Institutions,” July 10, 2017, http://www.people-press.org/2017/07/10/sharp-partisan-divisions-in-views-of-national-institutions/; Clara Turnage, “Most Republicans Think Colleges Are Bad for the Country. Why?” Chronicle of Higher Education, July 10, 2017, http://www.chronicle.com/article/Most-Republicans-Think/240587
  4. [4]Chad Day and Eric Tucker, “Emails: Trump Jr. embraced help said to be from Kremlin,” Seattle Times, July 11, 2017, http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/trump-jr-admits-he-wanted-info-on-clinton-from-russian/
  5. [5]Chicago note: Josh Bivens, “Adding insult to injury: How bad policy decisions have amplified globalization’s costs for American workers,” Economic Policy Institute, July 11, 2017,
  6. [6]Bridget Bowman, “Cruz Walks Health Care Tightrope, With Eye on 2018,” Congressional Quarterly Roll Call, July 6, 2017, http://www.rollcall.com/news/cruz-walks-health-care-tightrope-with-eye-on-2018/
  7. [7]Paul Demko, “Conservatives bet on risky plan that could tank Obamacare markets,” Politico, July 11, 2017, http://www.politico.com/story/2017/07/11/cruz-lee-obamacare-health-care-240380
  8. [8]Louis Nelson, “Russian lawyer: Donald Trump Jr. wanted DNC info ‘so badly,’” Politico, July 11, 2017, http://www.politico.com/story/2017/07/11/russian-lawyer-natalia-veselnitskaya-interview-240393
  9. [9]Sean Illing, “Fear, loneliness, and duty — an American journalist on daily life in North Korea,” Vox, July 11, 2017, https://www.vox.com/world/2017/7/11/15934856/north-korea-kim-jong-un-suki-kim-interview
  10. [10]Jonathan Amos, “Giant iceberg splits from Antarctic,” British Broadcasting Corporation, July 12, 2017, http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-40321674
  11. [11]Dylan Scott, “Rand Paul sounds ready to kill the Senate health care bill,” Vox, July 12, 2017, https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/7/12/15958256/senate-health-care-bill-rand-paul-kill-it
  12. [12]Arundhati Roy, “How Deep Shall We Dig,” in Field Notes on Democracy: Listening to Grasshoppers (Chicago: Haymarket, 2009), 50-67. I would call particular attention to the following gem of a passage on page 58: “The ‘free market’ (which is actually far from free) needs the state, and needs it badly. As the disparity between the rich and poor grows in poor countries, states have their work cut out for them. Corporations on the prowl for ‘sweetheart deals’ that yield enormous profits cannot push through those deals and administer those projects in developing countries without the active connivance of state machinery. Today, corporate globalization needs an international confederation of loyal, corrupt, preferably authoritarian governments in poorer countries to push through unpopular reforms and quell the mutinies. It’s called ‘creating a good investment climate.’”
  13. [13]Sudin Thanawala, “Judge not inclined to reinstate Trump sanctuary cities order,” Minneapolis Star-Tribune< July 12, 2017, http://www.startribune.com/judge-not-inclined-to-reinstate-trump-sanctuary-cities-order/434148513/
  14. [14]James Freeman, “What Did Hillary Know about Russian Interference?” Wall Street Journal, July 10, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-did-hillary-know-about-russian-interference-1499723857
  15. [15]Chad Day and Eric Tucker, “Emails: Trump Jr. embraced help said to be from Kremlin,” Seattle Times, July 11, 2017, http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/trump-jr-admits-he-wanted-info-on-clinton-from-russian/
  16. [16]Chad Day and Eric Tucker, “Emails: Trump Jr. embraced help said to be from Kremlin,” Seattle Times, July 11, 2017, http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/trump-jr-admits-he-wanted-info-on-clinton-from-russian/
  17. [17]Zack Beauchamp, “Donald Trump Jr. may well have committed a federal crime, experts say,” Vox, July 10, 2017, https://www.vox.com/world/2017/7/10/15950590/donald-trump-jr-new-york-times-illegal; German Lopez, “‘Borders on treason’: George W. Bush’s former ethics lawyer blasts Trump Jr.’s Russia meeting,” Vox, July 10, 2017, https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/7/10/15950612/trump-jr-russia-richard-painter
  18. [18]Chad Day and Eric Tucker, “Emails: Trump Jr. embraced help said to be from Kremlin,” Seattle Times, July 11, 2017, http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/trump-jr-admits-he-wanted-info-on-clinton-from-russian/