Month: September 2017

Republicans swing again . . . and miss at Obamacare: Daily Bullshit, September 26-28, 2017

benfell

Updates

  1. Originally published, September 26, 11:55 am.
  2. September 27, 11:27 am:
    • The New York Times reports that Donald Trump is attempting to shore up support from his (authoritarian populist) base after making deals with Democrats and backing the establishment-favored candidate in the Alabama U.S. Senate primary against the populist (social conservative) Roy Moore.[1] (National Football League)
    • Taking the view that he would support players who “took a knee” to protest abortion and nonetheless regarding it as “a bad idea,” traditionalist conservative Rod Dreher joins traditionalist conservative David French in support of the players’ right to protest.[2] (National Football League)
    • San Francisco Police are disproportionately issuing citations to Uber and Lyft drivers.[3] (Ride-sharing)
  3. September 27, 12:28 pm:
  4. September 28, 12:39 am:

Obamacare

With Rand Paul, John McCain, and Susan Collins in opposition, and Democrats united in opposition, the votes aren’t there in the Senate. But Republicans pledge to keep trying.[5]

Alexander Bolton, “Senate won’t vote on ObamaCare repeal bill,” Hill, September 26, 2017, http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/352503-senate-wont-vote-on-obamacare-repeal-bill

National Football League

“Only Donald Trump could make taking a knee during the National Anthem a patriotic thing to do,” writes Rod Dreher.[6]

Rod Dreher, “Trump’s Football Follies,” American Conservative, September 25, 2017, http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/trump-football-follies/

Glenn Thrush and Maggie Haberman, “Trump’s N.F.L. Critique a Calculated Attempt to Shore Up His Base,” New York Times, September 25, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/25/us/politics/trump-nascar-nfl-protests.html

Benjamin Wallace-Wells, “The N.F.L. Protests and the Future of the Anti-Trump Movement,” New Yorker, September 25, 2017, https://www.newyorker.com/news/benjamin-wallace-wells/the-nfl-protests-and-the-future-of-the-anti-trump-movement

Ride-sharing

This text has been moved, refined, and much further developed in a new blog entry, “San Francisco’s war on Uber and Lyft drivers.”

Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez, “SFPD: Uber, Lyft account for two-thirds of congestion-related traffic violations downtown,” San Francisco Examiner, September 25, 2017, http://www.sfexaminer.com/sfpd-uber-lyft-account-two-thirds-congestion-related-traffic-violations-downtown/

North Korea

May Bulman, “North Korea-US war ‘inevitable’ if Kim Jong-un gets missiles that can target US cities, warns defence expert,” Independent, September 27, 2017, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/north-korea-us-war-kim-jong-un-missiles-reach-us-cities-icbm-defence-experts-a7969321.html

  1. [1]Glenn Thrush and Maggie Haberman, “Trump’s N.F.L. Critique a Calculated Attempt to Shore Up His Base,” New York Times, September 25, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/25/us/politics/trump-nascar-nfl-protests.html↩
  2. [2]Rod Dreher, “Trump’s Football Follies,” American Conservative, September 25, 2017, http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/trump-football-follies/↩
  3. [3]Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez, “SFPD: Uber, Lyft account for two-thirds of congestion-related traffic violations downtown,” San Francisco Examiner, September 25, 2017, http://www.sfexaminer.com/sfpd-uber-lyft-account-two-thirds-congestion-related-traffic-violations-downtown/↩
  4. [4]May Bulman, “North Korea-US war ‘inevitable’ if Kim Jong-un gets missiles that can target US cities, warns defence expert,” Independent, September 27, 2017, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/north-korea-us-war-kim-jong-un-missiles-reach-us-cities-icbm-defence-experts-a7969321.html↩
  5. [5]Alexander Bolton, “Senate won’t vote on ObamaCare repeal bill,” Hill, September 26, 2017, http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/352503-senate-wont-vote-on-obamacare-repeal-bill↩
  6. [6]Rod Dreher, “Trump’s Football Follies,” American Conservative, September 25, 2017, http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/trump-football-follies/↩

MADmen promise MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction): Daily Bullshit, September 24-25, 2017

benfell

Updates

  1. Originally published, September 24, 3:23 am.
  2. September 24, 10:43 am:
    • Susan Collins indicates that it is very unlikely she will support the latest Republican effort to “repeal and replace” Obamacare.[1]
    • The time has come to be seriously alarmed by the possibility of war with North Korea.[2]
  3. September 24, 12:14 pm:
    • I’ve worked on the commentary under North Korea some more. This might be headed for a blog entry.
  4. September 25, 4:01 am:
  5. September 25, 11:56 pm:
    • It might be possible to “totally destroy” North Korea. But it wouldn’t be fast.[3]

North Korea

The text that was formerly here has been moved to and further developed in a new blog entry, “MADness and North Korea.”

Farnaz Fassihi and Ben Kesling, “Tensions Rise as U.S. Warplanes Skirt North Korean Coast, Pyongyang’s Envoy Sharpens Threats,” Wall Street Journal, September 23, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-warplanes-fly-alongth-koreas-coastline-in-show-of-force-1506193762

Julia Manchester, “Former top CIA official: US ‘running out of options’ on NK,” Hill, September 24, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/352081-former-top-cia-official-running-out-of-options-on-nk

Barbara Demick, “Escalating tension has experts simulating a new Korean War, and the scenarios are sobering,” Los Angeles Times, September 25, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-korean-war-20170925-story.html

Obamacare

Senators Rand Paul, John McCain, and Susan Collins make three Republican ‘no’ votes on the last-ditch effort to “repeal and replace” Obamacare. Republicans can only afford to lose two votes, so as long as these three maintain their presently expressed positions and as long as Democrats remain united in opposition, the bill is doomed.[4]

Louise Radnofsky and Ted Mann, “Sen. Collins Says She Will Probably Vote ‘No’ on Latest GOP Health-Care Bill,” Wall Street Journal, September 24, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/sen-collins-says-she-will-probably-vote-no-on-latest-gop-health-care-bill-1506262125

  1. [1]Louise Radnofsky and Ted Mann, “Sen. Collins Says She Will Probably Vote ‘No’ on Latest GOP Health-Care Bill,” Wall Street Journal, September 24, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/sen-collins-says-she-will-probably-vote-no-on-latest-gop-health-care-bill-1506262125↩
  2. [2]Julia Manchester, “Former top CIA official: US ‘running out of options’ on NK,” Hill, September 24, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/352081-former-top-cia-official-running-out-of-options-on-nk↩
  3. [3]Barbara Demick, “Escalating tension has experts simulating a new Korean War, and the scenarios are sobering,” Los Angeles Times, September 25, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-korean-war-20170925-story.html↩
  4. [4]Louise Radnofsky and Ted Mann, “Sen. Collins Says She Will Probably Vote ‘No’ on Latest GOP Health-Care Bill,” Wall Street Journal, September 24, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/sen-collins-says-she-will-probably-vote-no-on-latest-gop-health-care-bill-1506262125↩

Republicans try again to repeal Obamacare: Daily Bullshit, September 19-23, 2017

benfell

There is a new blog post, “My generation,” up. It returns to many of the same themes as its predecessor, also titled “My Generation” (yes, with a difference in capitalization), from over six years ago.

Updates

  1. September 20, 10:06 pm:
    • John Cassidy lays out the evil of the latest plan Republicans are now trying to pass to “repeal and replace” Obamacare.[1]
  2. September 23, 12:04 am:
    • John McCain has announced his opposition to the latest Republican effort to “repeal and replace” Obamacare, possibly dooming yet another attempt.[2]
    • The story of a now-deceased Soviet officer who decided against all available evidence that an apparent U.S. missile launch was not really happening has come to light months after his death.[3] (Nuclear War)
    • Uber has lost its license to operate in London but says it will appeal and may continue to operate while it does so.[4]
  3. September 23, 11:13 am:

Obamacare

This attempt[5] appeared to have a better chance of success[6] until John McCain announced his opposition.[7]

We may now commence with unlimited and utterly pointless speculation about what happens next with Obamacare. I’m not having any of it.

Stephanie Armour, Kristina Peterson, and Louise Radnofsky, “Latest Push for a Health-Law Repeal Picks Up Speed in the Senate,” Wall Street Journal, September 19, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/latest-push-for-a-health-law-repeal-picks-up-speed-in-the-senate-1505850983

John Cassidy, “The Graham-Cassidy Health-Care Bill Is a Potential Disaster,” New Yorker, September 19, 2017, https://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/the-graham-cassidy-bill-is-a-potential-disaster

Peter Sullivan, “GOP chairman declares bipartisan ObamaCare fix dead,” Hill, September 19, 2017, http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/351431-gop-chairman-declares-bipartisan-obamacare-fix-dead

Noam N. Levey and Lisa Mascaro, “Sen. John McCain delivers a potentially fatal blow to GOP effort to repeal Obamacare,” Los Angeles Times, September 22, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-mccain-obamacare-senate-20170922-story.html

North Korea

John T. Bennett, “Trump Threatens to ‘Destroy’ North Korea,” Congressional Quarterly Roll Call, September 19, 2017, http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/trumpth-korea-united-nations/

Nuclear War

We don’t know and certainly don’t appreciate how lucky we were to survive the Cold War. This is why I am so alarmed by the fashionable bashing of Russia over alleged interference in U.S. elections last year; we’re already effectively in a new Cold War over Vladimir Putin’s incursions on Georgia and Ukraine and his support for the Syrian regime. It seems like politicians are begging for excuses to return us all to the bad old days of nuclear terror.

Public Radio International, “The unsung Soviet officer who averted nuclear war,” September 21, 2017, https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-09-21/soviet-officer-who-averted-nuclear-war

Uber

Sarah Butler and Gwyn Topham, “Uber stripped of London licence due to lack of corporate responsibility,” Guardian, September 22, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/22/uber-licence-transport-for-london-tfl

  1. [1]John Cassidy, “The Graham-Cassidy Health-Care Bill Is a Potential Disaster,” New Yorker, September 19, 2017, https://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/the-graham-cassidy-bill-is-a-potential-disaster↩
  2. [2]Noam N. Levey and Lisa Mascaro, “Sen. John McCain delivers a potentially fatal blow to GOP effort to repeal Obamacare,” Los Angeles Times, September 22, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-mccain-obamacare-senate-20170922-story.html↩
  3. [3]Public Radio International, “The unsung Soviet officer who averted nuclear war,” September 21, 2017, https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-09-21/soviet-officer-who-averted-nuclear-war↩
  4. [4]Sarah Butler and Gwyn Topham, “Uber stripped of London licence due to lack of corporate responsibility,” Guardian, September 22, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/22/uber-licence-transport-for-london-tfl↩
  5. [5]John Cassidy, “The Graham-Cassidy Health-Care Bill Is a Potential Disaster,” New Yorker, September 19, 2017, https://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/the-graham-cassidy-bill-is-a-potential-disaster↩
  6. [6]Stephanie Armour, Kristina Peterson, and Louise Radnofsky, “Latest Push for a Health-Law Repeal Picks Up Speed in the Senate,” Wall Street Journal, September 19, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/latest-push-for-a-health-law-repeal-picks-up-speed-in-the-senate-1505850983↩
  7. [7]Noam N. Levey and Lisa Mascaro, “Sen. John McCain delivers a potentially fatal blow to GOP effort to repeal Obamacare,” Los Angeles Times, September 22, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-mccain-obamacare-senate-20170922-story.html↩

Donald Trump is an ass, ‘Daddy’ edition: Daily Bullshit, September 17, 2017

benfell

Updates

  1. Originally published, September 17, 4:34 am. And just so we’re keeping score, predecessors in the “Donald Trump is an ass” series are here, here, here, and here.
  2. September 17, 11:54 am:
    • I’m leaving this on Joe Arpaio’s pardon here:

      The Protect Democracy Project (PDP), a group of former Obama administration lawyers, contend in their proposed amicus brief that [Donald] Trump’s pardon of [Joe] Arpaio violates due process and separation of powers. Thus, Judge [Susan] Bolton should declare the pardon null and void.[1]

Donald Trump

Usually, I hold off publishing an issue of the (Supposedly) Daily Bullshit when I only have one article unless I have some substantial commentary to offer. But Rachel Kraus’s article is valuable not only for its insights about the relationship between Ivanka Trump and her father, Donald, but for some broader cultural commentary in the category of stuff I suspected but hadn’t seen documented: Kraus doesn’t really document it here either but rather takes it for granted, which seems rather surprising for me: I think I should have seen something along these lines somewhere along the way in those thirteen years I was back in school on the way to my Ph.D. if it was really so elemental.

Let’s be clear: I’m not saying Kraus is wrong. Rather, I think Kraus is probably overwhelmingly right. Her work looks to me like good critical analysis and I find no fault whatsoever with her conclusions. I don’t know how else you interpret, for example, chastity balls where daughters pledge their virginity to their fathers (not one of Kraus’s examples). I agree with Kraus’s analysis of the father walking the bride down the aisle to essentially hand her off to the groom. These are displays of ownership and control, relics of an era when women were chattel. And of course, Kraus is right in tying Ivanka’s label for her father, “Daddy,” to kink,[2] although I’m thinking more along the lines of incest (which Kraus doesn’t quite take up but also doesn’t really exclude).

So it’s Sunday. Read Kraus’s article. It’s so worth it.

Rachel Kraus, “Dissecting Donald and Ivanka’s Relationship, with the Help of Sylvia Plath’s ‘Daddy,’” Los Angeles Review of Books, September 16, 2017, http://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/essays/dissecting-donald-ivankas-relationship-help-sylvia-plaths-daddy/

Joe Arpaio

Marjorie Cohn, “Will Judge Overturn Arpaio Pardon?” Truthout, September 17, 2017, http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/41965-lawyers-ask-judge-to-overturn-arpaio-pardon

  1. [1]Marjorie Cohn, “Will Judge Overturn Arpaio Pardon?” Truthout, September 17, 2017, http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/41965-lawyers-ask-judge-to-overturn-arpaio-pardon↩
  2. [2]Rachel Kraus, “Dissecting Donald and Ivanka’s Relationship, with the Help of Sylvia Plath’s ‘Daddy,’” Los Angeles Review of Books, September 16, 2017, http://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/essays/dissecting-donald-ivankas-relationship-help-sylvia-plaths-daddy/↩

Donald Trump is an ass, Dreamers edition: Daily Bullshit, September 12-16, 2017

benfell

There have been two blog posts recently. The latest is The corruption of the Left. And I forgot to include mention of The Ethics of our Society in the last issue. (Yes, it’s been that long.)

Following up on an earlier blog post, “Forecasting Donald Trump’s demise,” it is possible that authoritarian populist disaffection over the alleged Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals deal between Donald Trump, Charles Schumer, and Nancy Pelosi (see Unauthorized migration below) could bring Trump down. Authoritarian populists are the larger part of Trump’s “base.” If they do indeed abandon him, his support will largely be reduced to that of politicians hoping to advance an agenda. That’s a pretty tenuous thread. Paleoconservatives, the more prominent part of Trump’s “base,” have few differences with authoritarian populists on migration, so Trump loses them at the same time—not that this really matters since paleoconservatives are very much a fringe tendency.

The reason this becomes important is that authoritarian populists have a significant presence in Congress. Functionalist conservatives want to keep authoritarian populists on board but are already disgusted with Trump. And in this, they’re joined by the original #NeverTrump folks, the neoconservatives. So if—and this is still a pretty big if—authoritarian populists actually turn against Trump, the remaining members of Congress will have no reason to continue to back him. And they can probably advance their agenda more successfully under a President Pence.

Updates

  1. Originally published, September 13, 4:28 pm, under the headline, “Nothing in particular. Mostly some Hillary Clinton blah-blah.”
  2. September 13, 8:35 pm:
    • Donald Trump reached agreement with the Democratic Party leadership—according to the latter—on enshrining protections for migrants brought here as children in law, although the two sides dispute whether funding for a wall on the Mexican border is to be included.[1] (Unauthorized migration; corrected)
  3. September 14, 10:11 am:
    • Donald Trump denied that an agreement had been reached on protecting migrants who had been brought here as children.[2] (Unauthorized migration)
    • The headline on this post has been changed to “Donald Trump is an ass, Dreamers edition.” If you’re keeping score, predecessors in this series are here, here, and here. As for ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, that was here.
    • Authoritarian populist reaction to Nancy Pelosi’s and Chuck Schumer’s announcement of a deal on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was fast and furious.[3] (Unauthorized migration)
  4. September 14, 12:42 pm:
    • I added a comment on the alleged Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals deal (Unauthorized migration) to the top of this post.
  5. September 15, 10:46 pm:
    • A federal judge has enjoined Jeff Sessions from cutting funding for “sanctuary cities.”[4] (Unauthorized migration)
    • The Washington Post has more on Republican anger at Donald Trump over his possible Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) deal with Democrats.[5] (Unauthorized migration)
    • A Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel upheld California’s Foie Gras ban.[6]
    • Added to the commmentary at the top of the post.
  6. September 16, 7:24 am:
    • The California legislature approved a compromise version of a measure to expand protections for unauthorized migrants in the state. Governor Brown was party to the negotiations[7] which I guess means he can be expected to sign it. (Unauthorized migration)

Brexit

I’m a little surprised it’s taken this long for somebody to point this[8] out.

Jennifer Rankin, “Free movement: a circle that cannot be squared in the Brexit debate,” Guardian, September 13, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/sep/13/free-movement-circle-that-cannot-be-squared-brexit-debate

Income inequality

An essential feature of neoliberalism is that it adds a strong anti-labor bias to capitalist libertarianism. This, ultimately, is why Hillary Clinton could not be elected. More on that below.

Catherine Rampell, “No wonder so many American men feel like they’re falling behind. They earn as much as they did in 1972,” Washington Post, September 12, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/rampage/wp/2017/09/12/no-wonder-so-many-american-men-feel-like-theyre-falling-behind-they-earn-as-much-as-they-did-in-1972/

Democrats

I’m classifying this with the Democratic Party post-2016 election, because, as much as a whole bunch of folks—pathetically including Bernie Sanders—wish and, I think, sometimes delude themselves believing it were otherwise, the Democratic Party remains the party of Hillary Clinton. And there’s too much money and too much power there, even as an “out of power” party, for it to be otherwise. Which is the very point none of these fools will take in: The Democratic Party, no less than the Republican Party, is the antithesis of any project to reduce the influence of money in politics.

Other than being entirely too generous to Clinton, which I’m almost willing to forgive as a possible attempt to appear even-handed, Sarah Jones does a nice job in a not-quite-harsh-enough review of Hillary Clinton’s new book, What Happened.[9] For the most part, I think Jones does “get it.” As for the sympathy, see David Remnick, who downplays everything that is important about the 2016 election in order to—I guess, since there’s no other reason I can see—sympathize.[10] There is, despite that, useful stuff in Remnick’s interview and background—I don’t cite it as a book review because it’s surely much more and, really, not all that much about the book.

Sarah Jones, “Hillary Clinton Doesn’t Get It,” review of What Happened, by Hillary Clinton, New Republic, September 13, 2017, https://newrepublic.com/article/144797/hillary-clinton-doesnt-get

David Remnick, “Hillary Clinton Looks Back in Anger,” New Yorker, September 25, 2017, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/09/25/hillary-clinton-looks-back-in-anger

Unauthorized migration

Whatever the truth of the outcome of a meeting between Donald Trump, Nancy Pelosi, and Chuck Schumer, and despite cautions present even in the initial reporting,[11] versions of the first Hill headline below spread widely, including on conservative outlets. Breitbart, which is run as authoritarian populist by paleoconservative Steve Bannon, labeled Trump “Amnesty Don” and drew a predictable reaction.[12]

My thoughts are with the ‘Dreamers,’ the migrants brought here without authorization as children. I suppose there’s a silver lining in that at least Trump says he wants a deal, but it seems to me that all this drama can only add to their stress.

John Binder, “‘Amnesty Don’ Trends at Number One on Twitter in Washington, D.C.,” Breitbart, September 13, 2017, http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/09/13/amnesty-don-trends-at-number-one-on-twitter-in-washington-d-c/

John Binder, “Report: Trump Caves on DACA, Wants ‘Quick’ Amnesty for 800K Illegal Aliens,” Breitbart, September 13, 2017, http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/09/13/report-trump-caves-on-daca-wants-quick-amnesty-for-800k-illegal-aliens/

Jordan Fabian and Max Greenwood, “Trump, Dem leaders reach agreement on young immigrants,” Hill, September 13, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/350596-trump-holds-working-dinner-with-schumer-pelosi

Ian Mason, “Steve King: If Reports Correct ‘Trump Base Is Blown Up, Destroyed, Irreparable,’” Breitbart, September 13, 2017, http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/09/13/steve-king-if-reports-correct-trump-base-is-blown-up-destroyed-irreparable/

John T. Bennett, “Trump Denies Schumer-Pelosi Claim of Agreement on DACA, Wall,” Congressional Quarterly Roll Call, September 14, 2017, http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/trump-denies-schumer-pelosi-claim-of-agreement-on-daca-wall/

Robert Costa, “Trump’s die-hard supporters are fuming after an apparent about-face on ‘dreamers,’” Washington Post, September 14, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/09/14/according-to-democrats-trump-has-done-an-about-face-on-dreamers-his-diehard-supporters-are-fuming/

Jonathan Easley, “Right explodes in anger over Trump’s immigration push,” Hill, September 14, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/right-explodes-in-anger-over-trump-deal-daca-dreamers-democrats-pelosi-schumer-hannity-coulter-ingraham

Brandon Carter, “Federal judge blocks Trump from denying funds to sanctuary cities,” Hill, September 15, 2017, http://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/350937-federal-judge-blocks-trump-from-defunding-sanctuary-cities

Jazmine Ulloa, “California lawmakers approve landmark ‘sanctuary state’ bill to expand protections for immigrants,” Los Angeles Times, September 16, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-ca-essential-politics-updates-california-lawmakers-take-final-action-1505534909-htmlstory.html

Foie Gras

Maura Dolan, Jenn Harris, and Geoffrey Mohan, “Chefs react angrily as federal appeals court upholds California ban on foie gras,” Los Angeles Times, September 15, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-foie-gras-9th-circuit-20170915-story.html

  1. [1]Jordan Fabian and Max Greenwood, “Trump, Dem leaders reach agreement on young immigrants,” Hill, September 13, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/350596-trump-holds-working-dinner-with-schumer-pelosi↩
  2. [2]John T. Bennett, “Trump Denies Schumer-Pelosi Claim of Agreement on DACA, Wall,” Congressional Quarterly Roll Call, September 14, 2017, http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/trump-denies-schumer-pelosi-claim-of-agreement-on-daca-wall/↩
  3. [3]John Binder, “‘Amnesty Don’ Trends at Number One on Twitter in Washington, D.C.,” Breitbart, September 13, 2017, http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/09/13/amnesty-don-trends-at-number-one-on-twitter-in-washington-d-c/; John Binder, “Report: Trump Caves on DACA, Wants ‘Quick’ Amnesty for 800K Illegal Aliens,” Breitbart, September 13, 2017, http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/09/13/report-trump-caves-on-daca-wants-quick-amnesty-for-800k-illegal-aliens/; Jonathan Easley, “Right explodes in anger over Trump’s immigration push,” Hill, September 14, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/right-explodes-in-anger-over-trump-deal-daca-dreamers-democrats-pelosi-schumer-hannity-coulter-ingraham; Ian Mason, “Steve King: If Reports Correct ‘Trump Base Is Blown Up, Destroyed, Irreparable,’” Breitbart, September 13, 2017, http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/09/13/steve-king-if-reports-correct-trump-base-is-blown-up-destroyed-irreparable/↩
  4. [4]Brandon Carter, “Federal judge blocks Trump from denying funds to sanctuary cities,” Hill, September 15, 2017, http://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/350937-federal-judge-blocks-trump-from-defunding-sanctuary-cities↩
  5. [5]Robert Costa, “Trump’s die-hard supporters are fuming after an apparent about-face on ‘dreamers,’” Washington Post, September 14, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/09/14/according-to-democrats-trump-has-done-an-about-face-on-dreamers-his-diehard-supporters-are-fuming/↩
  6. [6]Maura Dolan, Jenn Harris, and Geoffrey Mohan, “Chefs react angrily as federal appeals court upholds California ban on foie gras,” Los Angeles Times, September 15, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-foie-gras-9th-circuit-20170915-story.html↩
  7. [7]Jazmine Ulloa, “California lawmakers approve landmark ‘sanctuary state’ bill to expand protections for immigrants,” Los Angeles Times, September 16, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-ca-essential-politics-updates-california-lawmakers-take-final-action-1505534909-htmlstory.html↩
  8. [8]Jennifer Rankin, “Free movement: a circle that cannot be squared in the Brexit debate,” Guardian, September 13, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/sep/13/free-movement-circle-that-cannot-be-squared-brexit-debate↩
  9. [9]Sarah Jones, “Hillary Clinton Doesn’t Get It,” review of What Happened, by Hillary Clinton, New Republic, September 13, 2017, https://newrepublic.com/article/144797/hillary-clinton-doesnt-get↩
  10. [10]David Remnick, “Hillary Clinton Looks Back in Anger,” New Yorker, September 25, 2017, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/09/25/hillary-clinton-looks-back-in-anger↩
  11. [11]Jordan Fabian and Max Greenwood, “Trump, Dem leaders reach agreement on young immigrants,” Hill, September 13, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/350596-trump-holds-working-dinner-with-schumer-pelosi↩
  12. [12]John Binder, “‘Amnesty Don’ Trends at Number One on Twitter in Washington, D.C.,” Breitbart, September 13, 2017, http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/09/13/amnesty-don-trends-at-number-one-on-twitter-in-washington-d-c/; John Binder, “Report: Trump Caves on DACA, Wants ‘Quick’ Amnesty for 800K Illegal Aliens,” Breitbart, September 13, 2017, http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/09/13/report-trump-caves-on-daca-wants-quick-amnesty-for-800k-illegal-aliens/; Jonathan Easley, “Right explodes in anger over Trump’s immigration push,” Hill, September 14, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/right-explodes-in-anger-over-trump-deal-daca-dreamers-democrats-pelosi-schumer-hannity-coulter-ingraham; Ian Mason, “Steve King: If Reports Correct ‘Trump Base Is Blown Up, Destroyed, Irreparable,’” Breitbart, September 13, 2017, http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/09/13/steve-king-if-reports-correct-trump-base-is-blown-up-destroyed-irreparable/↩

Hillary Clinton still blames everybody else: Daily Bullshit, September 7-10, 2017

benfell

Democrats

I wish Democrats were as concerned with, for example, my entitlement to a job as they seem to be about Hillary Clinton’s perceived entitlement to the presidency. But then I guess they wouldn’t have nominated her in the first place, would they?

Edward-Isaac Dovere and Gabriel Debenedetti, “Democrats dread Hillary’s book tour,” Politico, September 7, 2016, http://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/07/hillary-clinton-book-tour-democrats-242419

Jonathan Easley, “Clinton’s score-settling frustrates Democrats,” Hill, September 7, 2017, http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/349548-clintons-score-settling-frustrates-democrats

Donald Trump, who “loves children,” punishes children for the (non-)sins of their parents: Daily Bullshit, September 5-6, 2017

benfell

Updates

  1. Originally published, September 6, 3:13 am.
  2. September 6, 7:46 pm:
    • Amy Davidson Sorkin has just about everything you need to know about the wrongful arrest of a Utah nurse by a cop who absolutely should have known better which was witnessed by other cops who absolutely should have known better.[1]

Unauthorized Migration

It seems to me like something of a tangent in an analysis of costs of a border wall, but Vanda Felbab-Brown defends the North American Free Trade Agreement by blaming job losses on technology.[2] While this is a standard functionalist conservative and neoliberal (and therefore neoconservative by implication) claim, I very much doubt that many of those who have lost jobs will be persuaded.

At this point, having suffered sixteen years of being unable to find gainful employment; having, in that time, gotten all of four interviews and of those, only one (maybe) resulting from the countless thousands of applications I have submitted; and having, in that time, finished a Bachelor’s degree, a Master’s degree, and a Ph.D., there is exactly one argument that will persuade me: A real fucking job, right fucking now. Not the promise of a job. Not even the opportunity to “apply” for a job. And certainly not any nonsense about how the economy has changed and I should be “entrepreneurial.” And I’m not interested in what anybody has to say about the economy until they have that job for me because that’s the only thing that matters and until I have that job, as far as I’m concerned, they haven’t the foggiest idea what they’re talking about.

I’m completely done with the bullshit. Job now. End of story. Full stop.

Other than that, Felbab-Brown’s article is useful.

Vanda Felbab-Brown, “The Wall: The real costs of a barrier between the United States and Mexico,” Brookings, August, 2017, https://www.brookings.edu/essay/the-wall-the-real-costs-of-a-barrier-between-the-united-states-and-mexico/

Brian Bennett and Joseph Tanfani, “Trump tells Congress to resolve fate of ‘Dreamers’ as he phases out their protections from deportation,” Los Angeles Times, September 5, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-dreamers-20170905-story.html

John T. Bennett, “Trump Ends DACA Immigration Program — With a Twist,” Congressional Quarterly Roll Call, September 5, 2017, http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/trump-ends-daca-immigration-program-twist/

Golden Showers

Benjamin Wittes, “How to Read a News Story About an Investigation: Eight Tips on Who Is Saying What,” Lawfare, September 4, 2017, https://lawfareblog.com/how-read-news-story-about-investigation-eight-tips-who-saying-what

Police

I may have more to say about this later but there are a few points here that bear notice: First, the cop was self-righteous even as he was flat wrong. Second, he was acting under orders from a supervisor for which the same criticism applies. Third, the entire incident was witnessed by other cops who also should have known better but did nothing. Fourth, he would have gotten away with it had the nurse’s lawyer not succeeded in obtaining and releasing the cop’s body cam video.[3] Fifth, this kind of thing is almost certainly a lot more common than police advocates would have you believe.

Amy Davidson Sorkin, “What the Utah Good-Nurse, Bad-Cop Video Says About Medical Privacy,” New Yorker, September 5, 2017, https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/what-the-utah-good-nurse-bad-cop-video-says-about-medical-privacy

  1. [1]Amy Davidson Sorkin, “What the Utah Good-Nurse, Bad-Cop Video Says About Medical Privacy,” New Yorker, September 5, 2017, https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/what-the-utah-good-nurse-bad-cop-video-says-about-medical-privacy↩
  2. [2]Vanda Felbab-Brown, “The Wall: The real costs of a barrier between the United States and Mexico,” Brookings, August, 2017, https://www.brookings.edu/essay/the-wall-the-real-costs-of-a-barrier-between-the-united-states-and-mexico/↩
  3. [3]Amy Davidson Sorkin, “What the Utah Good-Nurse, Bad-Cop Video Says About Medical Privacy,” New Yorker, September 5, 2017, https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/what-the-utah-good-nurse-bad-cop-video-says-about-medical-privacy↩

Comey drafted exoneration letter for Clinton long before email investigation complete: Daily Bullshit, September 1-2, 2017

benfell

Updates

  1. Originally published on September 1, at 5:16 pm.
  2. September 2, 3:58 am:
    • Apparently the University of Tampa withdrew, under pressure from the American Association of University Professors, its decision to fire Kenneth Storey, so he could resign.[1] (Houston)

Hillary Clinton

It is starting to look like the FBI’s reputation isn’t done being besmirched in its investigation of Hillary Clinton’s email server.

Stephen Dinan, “Judge orders feds to release details of Clinton email probe after FBI refused request,” Washington Times, August 31, 2017, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/aug/31/judge-fbi-must-disclose-hillary-clinton-email-prob/

Charles E. Grassley and Lindsey O. Graham, “Transcripts: Comey Drafted Conclusion in Clinton Probe Prior to Interviewing Key Witnesses,” August 31, 2017, https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/transcripts-comey-drafted-conclusion-clinton-probe-prior-interviewing-key

Houston

Jeff Weiner, “Fired professor: Hurricane Harvey ‘karma’ tweet a ‘heartbreaking’ mistake,” Orlando Sentinel, August 30, 2017, http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/political-pulse/os-kenneth-storey-hurricane-harvey-apology-20170830-story.html

Claire McNeill, “Update: UT professor initially fired over Harvey tweet resigns instead,” Tampa Bay Times, August 31, 2017, http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/gradebook/reinstate-ut-professor-who-was-fired-over-harvey-tweet-national-faculty/2335794

  1. [1]Claire McNeill, “Update: UT professor initially fired over Harvey tweet resigns instead,” Tampa Bay Times, August 31, 2017, http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/gradebook/reinstate-ut-professor-who-was-fired-over-harvey-tweet-national-faculty/2335794↩