Genocidal maniacs doing genocidal things

I am not caught up.


Imperialism

Israel

Palestine

07_09:10:47-2
Fig. 1. The ruins of a terminal at the Gaza airport. Image by Said Khatib (Agence France-Presse) on September 9, 2018, via the Times of Israel,[1] fair use.

Ishaan Tharoor notes that Israel’s colonization activities have led some observers to doubt the feasibility of a two-state solution for a decade. I’m not sure, but I think it might actually have been longer than that (though Ben Birnbaum’s article proclaiming “the end of the two-state solution,” from March 2013,[2] is the oldest I can find in my archive), and a pogrom conducted by settlers against Palestinians makes those doubts impossible to ignore.[3]

Ishaan Tharoor, “Violence in Israel puts spotlight on the ‘one-state’ reality,” Washington Post, June 23, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2023/06/23/israel-palestine-one-state-two-reality-violence/

Russia

Ukraine


Fig. 2. “Destroyed Russian military vehicles located on the main street Khreshchatyk are seen as part of the celebration of the Independence Day of Ukraine in Kyiv, August 24.” Photograph by Gleb Garanich for Reuters, August 24, 2022,[4] fair use.

Francesca Ebel and Kamila Hrabchuk, “Delivering mail in war-ravaged Ukraine: ‘There are still people living here,’” Washington Post, June 22, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/06/22/mail-delivery-war-hulyaipole-ukraine/


Neoliberalism

Democratic (neoliberal) Party

Joe Biden
Hunter Biden

I get that stupid people do stupid things. Not all of them get to invoke a powerful politician, alleged to be sitting next to them.[5]

I was going to just let this pass. The Republicans obsessing with this have something else to pull from their eyes. I had forgotten that I have a page for Hunter Biden. It has now been updated with these stories.

Apparently, the investigation continues.[6]

Devlin Barrett and Perry Stein, “Hunter Biden reaches deal to plead guilty in tax, gun case,” Washington Post, June 20, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/06/20/hunter-biden-plea-deal/

Devlin Barrett, Jacqueline Alemany, and Perry Stein, “IRS whistleblower says Justice Dept. slowed, stifled Hunter Biden case,” Washington Post, June 22, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/06/22/hunter-biden-whistleblower-transcript-garland/


  1. [1]Agence France-Presse and Times of Israel, “20 years after its opening, destroyed Gaza airport embodies grounded peace hopes,” Times of Israel, September 12, 2018, https://www.timesofisrael.com/20-years-after-its-opening-destroyed-gaza-airport-embodies-grounded-peace-hopes/
  2. [2]Ben Birnbaum, “The End of the Two-State Solution,” New Republic, March 11, 2013, https://newrepublic.com/article/112617/israel-palestine-and-end-two-state-solution
  3. [3]Ishaan Tharoor, “Violence in Israel puts spotlight on the ‘one-state’ reality,” Washington Post, June 23, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2023/06/23/israel-palestine-one-state-two-reality-violence/
  4. [4]Reuters, “Ukraine puts destroyed Russian tanks on display in Kyiv,” August 25, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/ukraine-puts-destroyed-russian-tanks-on-idUSRTSALV9Q
  5. [5]Devlin Barrett, Jacqueline Alemany, and Perry Stein, “IRS whistleblower says Justice Dept. slowed, stifled Hunter Biden case,” Washington Post, June 22, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/06/22/hunter-biden-whistleblower-transcript-garland/
  6. [6]Devlin Barrett and Perry Stein, “Hunter Biden reaches deal to plead guilty in tax, gun case,” Washington Post, June 20, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/06/20/hunter-biden-plea-deal/

Rich people just couldn’t quit Jeffrey Epstein

Jeffrey Epstein


Fig. 1. “Donald Trump with his future wife Melania Knauss, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at Mar-a-Lago in February 2000.” Photograph credited to Davidoff Studios Photography/Getty Images, February 2000,[1] fair use.

India McTaggart and Nick Allen, “Prince Andrew may have contacted Jeffrey Epstein after Duke claimed he’d cut ties,” Telegraph, June 21, 2023, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2023/06/21/prince-andrew-contacted-jeffrey-epstein-jp-morgan-report/

Joe Miller, “Lawyers say Wall Street should be ‘on notice’ after Epstein settlements,” Financial Times, June 22, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/2d7e6671-5779-49ab-9b26-c36291f63a44


Anthropocene

A lake in Ontario marks the Anthropocene as having begun around 1950. That is, if scientists decide it does in a series of votes.[2]

Sarah Kaplan et al., “Hidden beneath the surface,” Washington Post, June 20, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/interactive/2023/anthropocene-geologic-time-crawford-lake/


Pennsylvania

Marijuana

Jan Murphy, “Bill would allow Pa. patients to get medical marijuana regardless of illness,” Harrisburg Patriot-News, June 21, 2023, https://www.pennlive.com/politics/2023/06/bill-would-allow-pa-patients-to-get-medical-marijuana-regardless-of-illness.html


  1. [1]Martin Pengelly, “‘She say anything about me?’ Trump raised Ghislaine Maxwell link with aides,” Guardian, October 4, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/oct/04/trump-ghislaine-maxwell-epstein-maggie-haberman-book-confidence-man
  2. [2]Sarah Kaplan et al., “Hidden beneath the surface,” Washington Post, June 20, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/interactive/2023/anthropocene-geologic-time-crawford-lake/

Allegheny County Council overrides Executive, raises county worker minimum wage

Neoliberalism

Work


Fig. 1. The spectre of Death, in the form of a large skeleton, rises with the smoke and flames of the burning Asch Building during the Triangle fire, as people jump and fall to their death. Artist unknown, from International Ladies Garment Workers Union Photographs (1885-1985) at The Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

Gillian McGoldrick, “Pa. House votes to raise state minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026,” Philadelphia Inquirer, June 20, 2023, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/pennsylvania/pennsylvania-house-passes-bill-raising-minimum-wage-20230620.html

Ryan Deto, “Allegheny County Council overrides Fitzgerald veto, enacts county-worker minimum wage,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 20, 2023, https://triblive.com/local/allegheny-county-council-overrides-fitzgerald-veto-enacts-county-worker-minimum-wage/


Imperialism

China

Cuba

I guess that if we see the world as bipolar, with China and the United States; or tripolar, adding Russia, it would make sense to expect some serious investments by each of these countries in spying in each of the others. And when Donald Trump was president and I first started hearing suspicions about Huawei, I was inclined to dismiss them as sinophobic; certainly Trump and his followers manifest no small number of such phobias.

But now we’re seeing the price of Trump’s hardline policy toward Cuba, with the latter turning to China, which of course has an interest in Cuba’s spectacular—I’m sure—geography. Huawei and ZTE showing up on these spy sites,[1] though, has me wondering if maybe the worst doomsayers, that the companies will not and likely cannot protect their customers’ privacy, including confidential communications, from the Chinese government, were right.

Kate O’Keeffe, “U.S. Tracked Huawei, ZTE Workers at Suspected Chinese Spy Sites in Cuba,” Wall Street Journal, June 21, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-tracked-huawei-zte-workers-at-suspected-chinese-spy-sites-in-cuba-355caddc


Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 2. “Jake Angeli (Qanon Shaman), seen holding a Qanon sign at the intersection of Bell Rd and 75th Ave in Peoria, Arizona, on 2020 October 15.” Photography by TheUnseen011101 [pseud.], October 15, 2020, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Tom Nichols, “Trump Seems to Be Afraid, Very Afraid,” Atlantic, June 21, 2023, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/06/donald-trump-fox-bret-baier-interview-fear/674467/


  1. [1]Kate O’Keeffe, “U.S. Tracked Huawei, ZTE Workers at Suspected Chinese Spy Sites in Cuba,” Wall Street Journal, June 21, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-tracked-huawei-zte-workers-at-suspected-chinese-spy-sites-in-cuba-355caddc

United Parcel Service drivers will get air conditioning. Good, I’m glad they’re getting it. But this is not about the climate crisis.

Neoliberalism

Work


Fig. 1. The spectre of Death, in the form of a large skeleton, rises with the smoke and flames of the burning Asch Building during the Triangle fire, as people jump and fall to their death. Artist unknown, from International Ladies Garment Workers Union Photographs (1885-1985) at The Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

I am still more than a little mystified by the headline on Kate Aronoff’s article. This has absolutely nothing to do with the climate crisis. It’s about United Parcel Service drivers getting air conditioning in their vans,[1] which is a good thing, and to be duly noted here, but not about the climate crisis.

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania provides us with the latest example of the games Democrats play. One chamber in the state legislature has passed an increase in the minimum wage that the other chamber is bound to reject. Democrats control the former chamber, burnish their undeserved reputation for fighting for workers,[2] but, in actual effect, uphold the all-important neoliberalism because they know the other chamber will kill it. Republicans control the latter chamber, burnish their undeserved reputation for business-friendliness, but are the bad guys for denying an awful lot of Pennsylvania workers a raise.[3]

Yes, in our ultra-polarized horse race, the Democrats will wound the Republicans just a bit. It’s a loss the Republicans can bear—as long as they float on Donald Trump’s hot air, but, as we saw with the 2022 midterms, only as high as they can float on Trump’s hot air, which, an awful lot of the time, simply wasn’t high enough.

I think if I were a Republican, I’d probably want to be in a coma for the next ten or twenty years, however long it takes to purge the party leadership of this vote-losing madness.

Kate Aronoff, “The Teamsters’ Strike Has Already Claimed a Climate Win,” New Republic, June 16, 2023, https://newrepublic.com/post/173746/teamsters-strike-already-claimed-climate-win

Lora Kelley, “Why It Matters Who Caused Inflation,” Atlantic, June 16, 2023, https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2023/06/why-it-matters-who-caused-inflation/674448/

Greg Jaffe, “Lexi Rizzo fought to unionize her Starbucks. Now she’s out of a job. Her struggle is just beginning,” Washington Post, June 17, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/interactive/2023/starbucks-union-fired-worker/

Madhumita Murgia and Anjli Raval, “AI in recruitment: the death knell of the CV?” Financial Times, June 18, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/98e5f47a-7d0d-4e63-9a63-ff36d62782b8

Gillian McGoldrick, “Pa. House votes to raise state minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026,” Philadelphia Inquirer, June 20, 2023, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/pennsylvania/pennsylvania-house-passes-bill-raising-minimum-wage-20230620.html


Human Science

Inquiry

Quantitative
Artificial idiocy

Madhumita Murgia and Anjli Raval, “AI in recruitment: the death knell of the CV?” Financial Times, June 18, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/98e5f47a-7d0d-4e63-9a63-ff36d62782b8

Cordilia James, “The Best AI Apps to Try Now,” Wall Street Journal, June 19, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/ai-apps-tools-214958d8


Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

Housing


Fig. 2. Most of the homeless encampments I’ve seen around Pittsburgh have been on the North Side. This one is downtown, right by a Parkway (Interstate 376) onramp. Photograph by author, May 22, 2023.

Homelessness has become increasingly visible in Pittsburgh since the pandemic and it’s one more thing Mayor Ed Gainey is mishandling.[4]

Jordan Anderson, “As Smithfield shelter closure potentially pushes more to the street, advocates work to create a protective policy for unhoused people,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 20, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/social-services/2023/06/20/pittsburgh-homeless-smithfield-shelter-sager-settlement/stories/202306190072


Imperialism

China


Fig. 3. “Map of Qing Empire filled with the flag.” Graphic by Daniel222potato [pseud.], via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Discussions for the [new joint military training facility] facility on Cuba’s northern coast are at an advanced stage but not concluded, U.S. intelligence reports suggest. The Biden administration has contacted Cuban officials to try to forestall the deal, seeking to tap in to what it thinks might be Cuban concerns about ceding sovereignty. Beijing’s effort to establish a military training facility in Cuba hasn’t been previously reported. . . .

China and Cuba already jointly run four eavesdropping stations on the island, according to U.S. officials. That network underwent a significant upgrade around 2019, when a single station expanded to a network of four sites that are operated jointly, and Chinese involvement deepened, according to the officials.[5]

Warren P. Strobel et al., “Beijing Plans a New Training Facility in Cuba, Raising Prospect of Chinese Troops on America’s Doorstep,” Wall Street Journal, June 20, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/beijing-plans-a-new-training-facility-in-cuba-raising-prospect-of-chinese-troops-on-americas-doorstep-e17fd5d1


Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

Healthcare

Kris B. Mamula, “UPMC prevails over Allegheny Health Network for Washington Health System,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 20, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/business/healthcare-business/2023/06/20/washington-health-system-upmc-allegheny-health-network-merger-highmark/stories/202306200071


  1. [1]Kate Aronoff, “The Teamsters’ Strike Has Already Claimed a Climate Win,” New Republic, June 16, 2023, https://newrepublic.com/post/173746/teamsters-strike-already-claimed-climate-win
  2. [2]Gillian McGoldrick, “Pa. House votes to raise state minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026,” Philadelphia Inquirer, June 20, 2023, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/pennsylvania/pennsylvania-house-passes-bill-raising-minimum-wage-20230620.html
  3. [3]Gillian McGoldrick, “Pa. House votes to raise state minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026,” Philadelphia Inquirer, June 20, 2023, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/pennsylvania/pennsylvania-house-passes-bill-raising-minimum-wage-20230620.html
  4. [4]Jordan Anderson, “As Smithfield shelter closure potentially pushes more to the street, advocates work to create a protective policy for unhoused people,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 20, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/social-services/2023/06/20/pittsburgh-homeless-smithfield-shelter-sager-settlement/stories/202306190072
  5. [5]Warren P. Strobel et al., “Beijing Plans a New Training Facility in Cuba, Raising Prospect of Chinese Troops on America’s Doorstep,” Wall Street Journal, June 20, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/beijing-plans-a-new-training-facility-in-cuba-raising-prospect-of-chinese-troops-on-americas-doorstep-e17fd5d1

Happy Juneteenth! But, um, I guess that’s not what Juneteenth is about

Neoliberalism

Academic repression

Critical Race Theory History


Fig. 1. “Re-enactment of the moment Booker T. Washington and his family was emancipated at Booker T Washington National Juneteenth Celebration of Freedom,” Photograph credited to National Parks Service, 2019, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

[I]n a display of either ignorance or lying, right-wingers have been trying to cite critical race theory as the origin of “wokeism.” But critical race theory is not what they say it is. Critical race theory is in fact a niche tradition created in the academy in the late 1960s by Black law professors who needed to make sense of the post-civil rights movement era. Legal victories were notched but racial inequality remained. So, these scholars started focusing on systems, rather than just on the bigot shouting slurs or the KKK mailing threatening letters. They argued that it was not enough to make public racism taboo if housing law, the criminal legal system, job discrimination, a poor tax base and poor schools all combine to create and recreate structural racism.

Old concepts were discarded. Critical race theorists realized the liberal idea of “color-blindness,” where one doesn’t see race, went from being a tool of progress to one of conservatism. If you didn’t see “race,” you didn’t see how the violence of the past creates violence now. You chose not to see how segregation and redlining sunk whole neighborhoods into poverty. You chose not to see how the ideal of meritocracy means rich white kids can get subsidized by parents to go for prized internships, while Black kids can’t afford to work and not get paid.

New concepts were created. In her 1989 article “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex,” Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the idea of intersectionality to describe how many forms of oppression can tie up one’s life like a sticky, poisonous spiderweb.[1]

Nicholas Powers, “This Juneteenth, We Are at War Over Our Right to Teach Black History,” Truthout, June 19, 2023, https://truthout.org/articles/this-juneteenth-we-are-at-war-over-our-right-to-teach-black-history/


Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 2. Department of Justice photograph of seized materials, reportedly partially redacted, via the Washington Post, August 31, 2022,[2] public domain.

Carol D. Leonnig and Aaron C. Davis, “FBI resisted opening probe into Trump’s role in Jan. 6 for more than a year,” Washington Post, June 19, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2023/06/19/fbi-resisted-opening-probe-into-trumps-role-jan-6-more-than-year/

Tori Otten, “Federal Judge Orders Trump to Shut Up About Classified Docs,” New Republic, June 19, 2023, https://newrepublic.com/post/173778/federal-judge-orders-trump-shut-classified-docs

Tori Otten, “Why Did the DOJ Resist Investigating Donald Trump’s Role in January 6?” New Republic, June 19, 2023, https://newrepublic.com/post/173774/doj-resist-investigating-donald-trumps-role-january-6


  1. [1]Nicholas Powers, “This Juneteenth, We Are at War Over Our Right to Teach Black History,” Truthout, June 19, 2023, https://truthout.org/articles/this-juneteenth-we-are-at-war-over-our-right-to-teach-black-history/
  2. [2]Devlin Barrett, “Justice Dept. says Trump team may have hidden, moved classified papers,” Washington Post, August 31, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/31/trump-documents-removed-storage-room/

‘Put up or shut up’ for ‘lab leak’ hypothesis won’t shut white Christian nationalists up

COVID-19 Pandemic


Fig. 1. Photograph by author, November 8, 2022.

No later than Monday, and perhaps sooner, America’s director of National Intelligence must, by law, “declassify” and make public all “information relating to the origins of Covid-19”. . . .

Public Law Number 118-2, which was passed on March 20, is short at just 418 words but is to the point and gives the intelligence officials little, if any, wriggle room to hold things back.

It is one of the few things that those on either side of the Covid origins debate have come together to agree on, albeit for very different reasons.

Those who think the virus emerged naturally have dubbed it a “put up or shut up” law. Lab leakers, on the other hand, see it as a means to lift the lid on an episode they believe the US government itself is partly responsible for as it part-funded the high security lab in Wuhan.[1]

This strikes me as a bit foolish. First, we need motive for the intelligence community to have been withholding evidence. Apart from entirely cringe-worthy paranoia about U.S. funding, we have none. We do, however, have motive on the part of Donald Trump and his supporters, who have made very clear that they will not accept as credible anything that contradicts their predetermined views; who, early on, saw COVID-19 principally as a threat to his re-election chances, sought at every opportunity to dismiss and diminish a highly contagious and life-threatening disease,[2] and this has set the stage for everything that has come since, including when Trump contracted the virus himself.[3]

At a press conference on Sunday [March 15, 2020] – the same day that state governors declared closures of bars and restaurants and when the Covid-19 death count shot up in Italy – the American president spent more time gushing over the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut, heaping praise on big corporate retailers for keeping Americans well-supplied, and praising Friday’s rise in the stock market (“almost 2,000 points!”) than, say, addressing the health concerns of the public.[4]

If the intelligence release doesn’t back the “lab leak” hypothesis, Trump’s supporters will simply accuse the “deep state” of failing to comply with the law. No doubt, there will be hearings in the House of Representatives. Of course, if it does (and this, we can say at this point, is unlikely[5]) there will be some deeper conspiracy which our spaghetti-on-the-wall types will surely supply.

Because it never ends.

Samuel Lovett and Paul Nuki, “Three things to watch as US intelligence prepares for Covid ‘lab leak’ reveal,” Telegraph, June 16, 2023, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/us-intelligence-prepares-for-big-lab-leak-reveal/


Human Science

Inquiry

Quantitative
Artificial idiocy

Cordilia James, “The Best AI Apps to Try Now,” Wall Street Journal, June 19, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/ai-apps-tools-214958d8


Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 2. “Jake Angeli (Qanon Shaman), seen holding a Qanon sign at the intersection of Bell Rd and 75th Ave in Peoria, Arizona, on 2020 October 15.” Photography by TheUnseen011101 [pseud.], October 15, 2020, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Tell me again how we have law that applies equally to everyone:

[A]bsent from [Michael R.] Sherwin’s 11-page presentation [on the January 6 coup attempt investigation] to [Merrick] Garland on March 11, 2021, was any reference to [Donald] Trump or his advisers — those who did not go to the Capitol riot but orchestrated events that led to it.

A Washington Post investigation found that more than a year would pass before prosecutors and [Federal Bureau of Investigation] agents jointly embarked on a formal probe of actions directed from the White House to try to steal the election. Even then, the FBI stopped short of identifying the former president as a focus of that investigation.[6]

The Washington Post report makes clear that Merrick Garland and other leaders at the Department of Justice were determined to at least delay, if not bury, any investigation into Donald Trump or his circle, in significant part due to the risk of appearing ‘political,’ which is, of course, itself a political decision, and as the discrepancy between other probes and DOJ efforts widened, that decision could not be sustained.[7]

The process did not go quickly. Lawyers at the [Federal Bureau of Investigation] and Justice Department launched into what became many weeks of debate over the justification for the investigation and how it should be worded; one time-consuming issue became whether to name Trump as a subject.

With the FBI investigation still not opened, late in March a federal judge presiding over a civil case made a startling ruling: [Donald] Trump “more likely than not” committed federal crimes in trying to obstruct the congressional count of electoral college votes.

The determination from U.S. District Judge David O. Carter came in a ruling addressing scores of sensitive emails that [John] Eastman had resisted turning over to the House select committee. After reviewing the documents privately, Carter wrote that the actions by Trump and Eastman amounted to “a coup in search of a legal theory” and that “the illegality of the plan was obvious.”

Carter, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, took the opportunity to express frustration with the pace of the criminal investigation.

“More than a year after the attack on our Capitol, the public is still searching for accountability. . . . If the country does not commit to investigating and pursuing accountability for those responsible, the Court fears January 6 will repeat itself.”[8]

Carol D. Leonnig and Aaron C. Davis, “FBI resisted opening probe into Trump’s role in Jan. 6 for more than a year,” Washington Post, June 19, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2023/06/19/fbi-resisted-opening-probe-into-trumps-role-jan-6-more-than-year/


  1. [1]Samuel Lovett and Paul Nuki, “Three things to watch as US intelligence prepares for Covid ‘lab leak’ reveal,” Telegraph, June 16, 2023, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/us-intelligence-prepares-for-big-lab-leak-reveal/
  2. [2]Aaron Blake, “The timeline of Trump’s coronavirus response is increasingly damning,” Washington Post, April 7, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/04/07/timeline-trumps-coronavirus-response-is-increasingly-damning/; Robert Costa and Philip Rucker, “Woodward book: Trump says he knew coronavirus was ‘deadly’ and worse than the flu while intentionally misleading Americans,” Washington Post, September 9, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/bob-woodward-rage-book-trump/2020/09/09/0368fe3c-efd2-11ea-b4bc-3a2098fc73d4_story.html; Adam Gaffney, “Trump sees the coronavirus as a threat to his self-interest – not to people,” Guardian, March 17, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/17/trump-sees-the-coronavirus-as-a-threat-to-his-self-interest-not-to-people; Susan B. Glasser, “A President Unequal to the Moment,” New Yorker, March 12, 2020, https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-trumps-washington/a-president-unequal-to-the-moment; Ben Mathis-Lilley, “Multiple White House Staffers Diagnosed With COVID-19 as Trump, Pence Hold Photo-Ops With the Elderly,” Slate, May 8, 2020, https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/05/multiple-white-house-staffers-covid-19-trump-pence-meet-elderly.html; Tom McCarthy, “‘They don’t give him enough credit’: the voters who back Trump, even through the pandemic,” Guardian, May 18, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/18/they-dont-give-him-enough-credit-the-voters-who-back-trump-even-through-the-pandemic; Laura Meckler, “With pressure and threats, Trump pushes to fully reopen schools. Schools say: Not so fast,” Washington Post, July 8, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/trump-schools-cdc-pence/2020/07/08/8a52d400-c14b-11ea-b4f6-cb39cd8940fb_story.html; Dana Milbank, “For Trump, a reckoning has come,” Washington Post, February 28, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/28/trump-reckoning-has-come/; Ashley Parker, Yasmeen Abutaleb, and Lena H. Sun, “Squandered time: How the Trump administration lost control of the coronavirus crisis,” Washington Post, March 7, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-coronavirus-response-squandered-time/2020/03/07/5c47d3d0-5fcb-11ea-9055-5fa12981bbbf_story.html; David Remnick, “How the Coronavirus Shattered Trump’s Serene Confidence,” New Yorker, March 22, 2020, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/03/30/how-the-coronavirus-shattered-trumps-serene-confidence; Rich Tenorio, “In virus epicenter NYC, disaster guru puts blame squarely on Trump White House,” Times of Israel, April 2, 2020, https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-virus-epicenter-nyc-disaster-guru-puts-blame-squarely-on-trump-white-house/; Ishaan Tharoor, “Trump wants to lift lockdowns. Other countries’ attempts show why the U.S. isn’t ready,” Washington Post, April 21, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/04/21/trump-wants-lift-lockdowns-other-countries-attempts-show-why-us-isnt-ready/; Joanna Walters, “Donald Trump goes without mask at Michigan Ford plant despite company request,” Guardian, May 22, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/21/trump-ford-factory-mask-michigan; William Wan and Aaron Blake, “Coronavirus modelers factor in new public health risk: Accusations their work is a hoax,” Washington Post, March 27, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/03/27/coronavirus-models-politized-trump/
  3. [3]Associated Press, “Trump said to be improving but next 48 hours ‘critical,’” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, October 3, 2020, https://triblive.com/news/politics-election/concerning-signs-in-trumps-care-despite-word-hes-doing-ok/; Derek Hawkins et al., “President’s blood oxygen levels dropped twice in recent days, doctors say,” Washington Post, October 4, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2020/10/04/trump-covid-live-updates/; Melissa Healy, “Trump received dexamethasone for COVID-19. Here’s what that says about his condition,” Los Angeles Times, October 5, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2020-10-05/trump-dexamethasone-covid-19-condition; Colby Itkowitz et al., “Chief of staff says next 48 hours ‘critical’ as Trump says he’s doing well,” Washington Post, October 4, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2020/10/03/trump-covid-live-updates/; Soo Kim, “Donald Trump ‘Gasping for Air’ Video Raises Questions About President’s Health,” Newsweek, October 6, 2020, https://www.newsweek.com/coronavirus-donald-trump-breathing-difficulty-gasping-air-white-house-hospital-discharge-1536598; Laura King and Chris Megerian, “Trump stages drive-by for supporters after doctors disclose more serious symptoms,” Los Angeles Times, October 4, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-10-04/trump-receiving-powerful-lung-drug-doctors-disclose-revealing-more-serious-symptoms; Gina Kolata and Apoorva Mandavilli, “Trump’s Covid Treatments Are Aimed at Preventing Severe Illness,” New York Times, October 3, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/03/health/Covid-trump-treatments.html; Robert Mackey, “Trump Is Hospitalized With Covid-19, Days After Mocking Biden for Wearing a Mask,” Intercept, October 2, 2020, https://theintercept.com/2020/10/02/trump-tests-positive-covid-48-hours-mocking-biden-wearing-mask/; Maeve Reston and Gregory Krieg, “White House sows confusion about Trump’s condition as source tells reporters next 48 hours will be critical,” CNN, October 3, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/03/politics/donald-trump-coronavirus-walter-reed/index.html; Felicia Sonmez et al., “Trump returns to White House from hospital; may not be ‘out of the woods,’ doctor says,” Washington Post, October 5, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2020/10/05/trump-biden-live-updates/; John Wagner et al., “Trump at hospital after positive coronavirus test; Kellyanne Conway, two senators test positive,” Washington Post, October 4, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2020/10/02/trump-biden-live-updates/
  4. [4]Samuel Lovett and Paul Nuki, “Three things to watch as US intelligence prepares for Covid ‘lab leak’ reveal,” Telegraph, June 16, 2023, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/us-intelligence-prepares-for-big-lab-leak-reveal/
  5. [5]Michael Hiltzik, “Despite latest reports, there’s still not a speck of evidence that COVID escaped from a Chinese lab,” Los Angeles Times, February 27, 2023, https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2023-02-27/contrary-wsj-claim-theres-still-not-a-speck-of-evidence-that-covid-escaped-from-a-chinese-lab; Karen Kaplan, “The problem with the lab leak theory,” Los Angeles Times, March 14, 2023, https://www.latimes.com/science/newsletter/2023-03-14/coronavirus-today-the-problem-with-the-lab-leak-theory-covid-wuhan-market-coronavirus-today; Dhruv Khullar, “Lab Leaks and COVID-19 Politics,” New Yorker, March 3, 2023, https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/lab-leaks-and-covid-19-politics; Ciara Linnane, “Leading infectious-disease expert says COVID-19 is now endemic, but Americans are divided on whether pandemic is over,” MarketWatch, March 10, 2023, https://www.marketwatch.com/story/leading-infectious-disease-expert-says-covid-19-is-now-endemic-but-americans-are-divided-on-whether-pandemic-is-over-cc391dec?g=ef386d39-3a07-4fb1-997f-4e6eb5e975aa; Katherine J. Wu, “The Strongest Evidence Yet That an Animal Started the Pandemic,” Atlantic, March 16, 2023, https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2023/03/covid-origins-research-raccoon-dogs-wuhan-market-lab-leak/673390/
  6. [6]Carol D. Leonnig and Aaron C. Davis, “FBI resisted opening probe into Trump’s role in Jan. 6 for more than a year,” Washington Post, June 19, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2023/06/19/fbi-resisted-opening-probe-into-trumps-role-jan-6-more-than-year/
  7. [7]Carol D. Leonnig and Aaron C. Davis, “FBI resisted opening probe into Trump’s role in Jan. 6 for more than a year,” Washington Post, June 19, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2023/06/19/fbi-resisted-opening-probe-into-trumps-role-jan-6-more-than-year/
  8. [8]Carol D. Leonnig and Aaron C. Davis, “FBI resisted opening probe into Trump’s role in Jan. 6 for more than a year,” Washington Post, June 19, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2023/06/19/fbi-resisted-opening-probe-into-trumps-role-jan-6-more-than-year/

Pittsburgh’s gonna fight blight? Sorry, war’s over, blight won.

Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

Housing


Fig. 1. Most of the homeless encampments I’ve seen around Pittsburgh have been on the North Side. This one is downtown, right by a Parkway (Interstate 376) onramp. Photograph by author, May 22, 2023.

Ford Turner, “A bill to help Pittsburgh fight blight is close to passing as Pa. lawmakers continue budget talks,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 17, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-state/2023/06/17/pittsburgh-blight-bill-pennsylvania-budget/stories/202306160092


Gilead

White Christian nationalism


Fig. 1. If one weighs by geography rather than population, Pennsylvania is very much a white Christian nationalist kind of place. Photograph by author, January 5, 2023.

Jonathan Chait argues that Ron DeSantis is campaigning to racist bigots.[1] We might suspect he’s competing for the same voters as Donald Trump (and Doug Mastriano). This makes sense if the majority of your voters are racist bigots, which might be true of Republicans, but, since the 2022 midterms, still appears unlikely to be true of the general electorate.[2]

Casey Quackenbush, “The Constitutional Kamikaze,” New York, June 13, 2023, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/06/the-dark-money-behind-mark-mecklers-convention-of-states.html

Laura Brodie, “The disgraced Confederate history of the ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ flag,” Washington Post, June 14, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/06/14/confederacy-dont-tread-on-me-flag/

John E. Finn, “How ‘constitutional county’ declarations undermine the Constitution – a legal scholar explains,” Conversation, June 15, 2023, https://theconversation.com/how-constitutional-county-declarations-undermine-the-constitution-a-legal-scholar-explains-206834

Jonathan Chait, “Ron DeSantis Wants More Honoring Confederates, Less Funding for Black History,” New York, June 16, 2023, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/06/ron-desantis-fort-bragg-confederacy-black-history-massacre-poll-tax.html

Megan Guza, “‘May their memories always be a blessing’: Jewish community comes together after gunman is convicted in synagogue massacre,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 16, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2023/06/16/pittsburgh-tree-of-live-synagogue-shooting-trial-verdict-robert-bowers/stories/202306160050

Twitter


Fig. 1. “Elon Musk shared a video of his entrance on his Twitter account.” Photograph attributed to Elon Musk, October 26, 2022, via the New York Post,[3] fair use.

William Cohan’s essays have been pretty good on the whole Elon Musk buying Twitter thing throughout a nonsensical saga that clearly hasn’t gotten any more sensible.

As a former restructuring and bankruptcy advisor at Lazard, I can recognize the signs of a company in distress. After all, it’s a pretty obvious tell that there’s financial trouble brewing when a company stops paying its bills as they become due. That’s a recipe for financial disaster, or bankruptcy, or both. Last time I checked, if a company has more than 12 creditors—as Twitter does—then any three of them can join together to put a company into an involuntary bankruptcy proceeding. And Elon [Musk] is in danger here. At some point, the creditors he is mindlessly stiffing on a regular basis are going to get sufficiently pissed to throw Twitter into bankruptcy.[4]

Uh oh. And yeah, it’s just weird:

But I don’t get it, dude. Elon [Musk] is the world’s richest man, with a net worth of some $233 billion, according to Bloomberg, up an astounding $100 billion so far in 2023. Why is he not paying the people he owes money to? Why is he risking an involuntary bankruptcy filing? And then, of course, there is the upcoming interest payment of around $300 million due to the group of seven or so banks that still hold Twitter’s $13 billion of debt used to pay a portion of the $44 billion Twitter purchase price. I know Elon made the interest payments owed in January and in May. But will he make the next one, due in September? I suppose not paying those (metaphorical) nickels and dimes is one thing. But if he doesn’t pay the banks the $300 million he owes them in September, he will be asking for trouble in the form of a financial restructuring, or worse, a bankruptcy filing.[5]

Remember what I keep saying: If it doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t make sense, and it cannot last. Oh, and Elon Musk is a continuing, clear, and present danger to his own wealth.

William D. Cohan, “Will Elon Lose Control of Twitter?” Puck, June 18, 2023, https://puck.news/will-elon-lose-control-of-twitter/

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 1. “Jake Angeli (Qanon Shaman), seen holding a Qanon sign at the intersection of Bell Rd and 75th Ave in Peoria, Arizona, on 2020 October 15.” Photography by TheUnseen011101 [pseud.], October 15, 2020, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

There is a hint—it’s bare, but there—in the New York Times report that Jack Smith may be developing additional cases against Donald Trump that Judge Aileen Cannon might have felt the criticism of her earlier rulings. Alan Feuer reports that Cannon is deferring to her magistrate judge in more motions.[6] If this is true, then something missing from the public record may be the conversations Cannon had with other judges, especially after she was overturned. Yeah, I’m thinking of this tweet:[7]

Marc Fisher, “Trump’s path to indictment: ‘Isn’t it better if there are no documents?’” Washington Post, June 10, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/06/10/trump-classified-documents-path-bathroom-indictment/

Michael S. Schmidt et al., “Trump Supporters’ Violent Rhetoric in His Defense Disturbs Experts,” New York Times, June 10, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/10/us/politics/trump-supporter-violent-rhetoric.html

Kyle Cheney, “He devised a fringe legal theory to try to keep Trump in power. Now he’s on the verge of being disbarred,” Forbes, June 11, 2023, https://www.politico.com/news/2023/06/11/john-eastman-disbarment-trial-trump-00101407

Richard Nixon [Justin Sherrin], “On the Trump/Nauta Indictment,” Patreon, June 11, 2023, https://www.patreon.com/posts/on-trump-nauta-84420752

Marina Pitofsky, “Barr ‘shocked’ by Trump indictment details: “If even half of it is true, then he’s toast,’” USA Today, June 11, 2023, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/06/11/bill-barr-donald-trump-classified-documents-indictment/70310878007/

Paul Rosenzweig, “The Three Biggest Obstacles to Convicting Trump,” Atlantic, June 11, 2023, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/06/three-biggest-obstacles-convicting-trump/674366/

David Aaron, “How Much Prison Time Does Former President Trump Face? Applying the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines,” Just Security, June 12, 2023, https://www.justsecurity.org/86901/how-much-prison-time-does-former-president-trump-face-applying-the-u-s-sentencing-guidelines/

Isaac Chotiner, “Will the Judge in Trump’s Case Recuse Herself—or Be Forced To?” New Yorker, June 12, 2023, https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/will-the-judge-in-trumps-case-recuse-herself-or-be-forced-to

Spencer S. Hsu et al., “Trump scrambles to find lawyer before first federal court appearance,” Washington Post, June 12, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/06/12/trump-documents-lawyer/

Molly Jong-Fast, “Even a Damning Federal Case Can’t Break the GOP’s Devotion to Donald Trump,” Vanity Fair, June 12, 2023, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/06/donald-trump-federal-indictment-case-gop

Eric Lutz, “Judge Aileen Cannon Could Blow Up Trump Documents Case,” Vanity Fair, June 12, 2023, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/06/aileen-cannon-trump-documents-case

Nick Madigan, Verónica Zaragovia, and Richard Fausset, “Floridians Would Make Up Trump’s Jury Pool. Here’s What Some Are Saying,” New York Times, June 12, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/12/us/trump-voters-florida-jury.html

Jeannie Suk Gersen, “The Case Against Trump Is Strong, but There Are Problems Ahead,” New Yorker, June 13, 2023, https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-case-against-trump-is-strong-but-there-are-problems-ahead

Shayna Jacobs et al., “Trump arraigned, pleads not guilty to 37 classified documents charges,” Washington Post, June 13, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/06/13/trump-court-miami-indictment/

Bess Levin, “Trump Basically One Day Away From Hiring a Lawyer Who Advertises on the Side of a Bus to Defend Him,” Vanity Fair, June 13, 2023, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/06/donald-trump-lawyer-search

Hugo Lowell, “Trump finds no new lawyers for court appearance in Mar-a-Lago case,” Guardian, June 13, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/13/trump-finds-no-new-lawyers-mar-a-lago-documents-arraignment

James Risen, “Trump Is a Predator Who Feeds on Lackeys,” Intercept, June 13, 2023, https://theintercept.com/2023/06/13/trump-indictment-aide-walt-nauta/

Jesús Rodríguez, “In the MAGA mirror, Trump’s legal peril looks like a personal threat,” Washington Post, June 13, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2023/06/13/trump-arraignment-courthouse-crowd/

Gabriel Sherman, “Donald Trump Advisers Worry Over Legal Team Civil War: ‘It’s All Coming to a Head,’” Vanity Fair, June 13, 2023, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/06/donald-trump-legal-team-indictment

Maanvi Singh, “Trump claims ‘political persecution’ in speech after arraignment,” Guardian, June 13, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/13/trump-new-jersey-speech-after-arraignment

Jeffrey Blehar, “Pardoning Is Not Enough: We Must All Perform Seppuku for Donald Trump,” National Review, June 14, 2023, https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/pardoning-is-not-enough-we-must-all-perform-seppuku-for-donald-trump/

Alan Feuer, Maggie Haberman, and Glenn Thrush, “They Are Trump’s Aides and Lawyers. Now They Could Be Trial Witnesses,” New York Times, June 14, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/14/us/politics/trump-lawyers-witnesses-nauta-corcoran.html

Quinta Jurecic, “Trump Can’t Bluster His Way Through Court,” Atlantic, June 14, 2023, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/06/trump-cant-bluster-his-way-through-court/674395/

Bess Levin, “Melania Trump Is Apparently in a Zen Place About Her Husband Potentially Going to Prison,” Vanity Fair, June 14, 2023, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/06/melania-trump-donald-trump-documents-case

Michael S. Schmidt and Charlie Savage, “Judge in Trump Documents Case Has Scant Criminal Trial Experience,” New York Times, June 14, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/14/us/politics/aileen-cannon-judge-trump-documents.html

Prem Thakker, “Trump ‘Is Scared Shitless,’” New Republic, June 14, 2023, https://newrepublic.com/post/173620/rump-is-scared-shitless

Glenn Thrush, Nicholas Nehamas, and Eileen Sullivan, “Trump Is Arraigned on Documents and Obstruction Charges,” New York Times, June 14, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/13/us/politics/trump-arraignment-documents.html

Aaron Blake, “6 big questions ahead on Trump’s indictment,” Washington Post, June 15, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/06/15/6-big-questions-trumps-indictment/

Alan Feuer, “In Miami, the Only Violence From Trump Supporters Was Rhetorical,” New York Times, June 15, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/15/us/politics/trump-protests-proud-boys.html

Mathew Ingram, “The tech platforms have surrendered in the fight over election-related misinformation,” Columbia Journalism Review, June 15, 2023, https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/tech-platforms-election-denial-meta-twitter-trump-reinstatement.php

Stefania Palma, “Jack Smith: the federal prosecutor taking on Donald Trump,” Financial Times, June 15, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/7fb3fa61-42ec-4f5b-9eda-523dfb368e1e

Alan Feuer, “Evidence in Trump Documents Case Hints at ‘Ongoing Investigations,’ Filing Says,” New York Times, June 16, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/16/us/politics/trump-documents-case.html


Human Science

Inquiry

Quantitative
Artificial idiocy

Kevin Jiang, “Google’s new AI search function is revolutionary — but don’t believe everything it says, experts say,” Toronto Star, June 15, 2023, https://www.thestar.com/business/technology/2023/06/15/googles-new-ai-search-function-is-revolutionary-but-dont-believe-everything-it-says-experts-say.html


Neoliberalism

Trade


Fig. 1. “Container ship Hyundai Smart just comes in the Port of Hamburg.” Photograph by Hummelhummel [pseud.], September 11, 2013, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Rana Foroohar, “America is telling a very different story about trade,” Financial Times, June 18, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/e4e87c54-8265-4f04-ac67-d9cebbc54507

Academic repression

Critical Race Theory History

Robin D. G. Kelley, “The Long War on Black Studies,” New York Review of Books, June 17, 2023, https://www.nybooks.com/online/2023/06/17/the-long-war-on-black-studies/


  1. [1]Jonathan Chait, “Ron DeSantis Wants More Honoring Confederates, Less Funding for Black History,” New York, June 16, 2023, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/06/ron-desantis-fort-bragg-confederacy-black-history-massacre-poll-tax.html
  2. [2]David Benfell, “It should be obvious by now: Donald Trump and Doug Mastriano are not the future of the Republican Party,” Not Housebroken, March 29, 2023, https://disunitedstates.org/2023/03/26/it-should-be-obvious-by-now-donald-trump-and-doug-mastriano-are-not-the-future-of-the-republican-party/
  3. [3]Thomas Barrabi, “Elon Musk barges into Twitter HQ as deal nears: ‘Let that sink in,’” New York Post, October 26, 2022, https://nypost.com/2022/10/26/elon-musk-barges-into-twitter-headquarters-as-deal-nears/
  4. [4]William D. Cohan, “Will Elon Lose Control of Twitter?” Puck, June 18, 2023, https://puck.news/will-elon-lose-control-of-twitter/
  5. [5]William D. Cohan, “Will Elon Lose Control of Twitter?” Puck, June 18, 2023, https://puck.news/will-elon-lose-control-of-twitter/
  6. [6]Alan Feuer, “Evidence in Trump Documents Case Hints at ‘Ongoing Investigations,’ Filing Says,” New York Times, June 16, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/16/us/politics/trump-documents-case.html
  7. [7]Richard Nixon [Justin Sherrin], “That is, if I were a Judge and was overturned in this manner, I would find it hard to leave the house” Twitter, September 21, 2022,
  8. [8]Richard Nixon [Justin Sherrin], Twitter, September 21, 2022,

Tree of Life shooter convicted on all 63 counts

Gilead

White Christian nationalism


Fig. 1. If one weighs by geography rather than population, Pennsylvania is very much a white Christian nationalist kind of place. Photograph by author, January 5, 2023.

Casey Quackenbush, “The Constitutional Kamikaze,” New York, June 13, 2023, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/06/the-dark-money-behind-mark-mecklers-convention-of-states.html

Laura Brodie, “The disgraced Confederate history of the ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ flag,” Washington Post, June 14, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/06/14/confederacy-dont-tread-on-me-flag/

John E. Finn, “How ‘constitutional county’ declarations undermine the Constitution – a legal scholar explains,” Conversation, June 15, 2023, https://theconversation.com/how-constitutional-county-declarations-undermine-the-constitution-a-legal-scholar-explains-206834

Megan Guza, “‘May their memories always be a blessing’: Jewish community comes together after gunman is convicted in synagogue massacre,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 16, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2023/06/16/pittsburgh-tree-of-live-synagogue-shooting-trial-verdict-robert-bowers/stories/202306160050


Neoliberalism

Work


Fig. 2. The spectre of Death, in the form of a large skeleton, rises with the smoke and flames of the burning Asch Building during the Triangle fire, as people jump and fall to their death. Artist unknown, from International Ladies Garment Workers Union Photographs (1885-1985) at The Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

Kate Aronoff, “The Teamsters’ Strike Has Already Claimed a Climate Win,” New Republic, June 16, 2023, https://newrepublic.com/post/173746/teamsters-strike-already-claimed-climate-win

Lora Kelley, “Why It Matters Who Caused Inflation,” Atlantic, June 16, 2023, https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2023/06/why-it-matters-who-caused-inflation/674448/

Greg Jaffe, “Lexi Rizzo fought to unionize her Starbucks. Now she’s out of a job. Her struggle is just beginning,” Washington Post, June 17, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/interactive/2023/starbucks-union-fired-worker/


Pennsylvania

Erie


Fig. 3. Lake Erie, from Presque Isle State Park. Photograph by author, April 3, 2021.

Jamison Hixenbaugh, “Erie County Awaiting Results of FCC Broadband Access Map Challenge,” Erie News Now, June 16, 2023, https://www.erienewsnow.com/story/49089808/erie-county-awaiting-results-of-fcc-broadband-access-map-challenge


My next car is coming into focus

Electric vehicles

Don’t get me wrong. I remain very happy with my present vehicle, a Toyota RAV4 XLE Premium Hybrid, even as wear starts to crop up, some weatherstripping there, some paint chips and the barest beginning of corrosion here. But a move to electric is likely inevitable. And it looks like Toyota might have the technology in 2027 that meets my specifications,[1] just as I finish paying my car loan.

Solid-state EV batteries can be charged in under 10 minutes and power a vehicle over a range of 1,200km — 2.4 times the distance achievable with conventional lithium-ion batteries.[2]

1,200 km is over 700 miles (my old “compromise” point with slow-charging lithium-ion batteries) which means I would now only be worried about where to find a charging station at the beginning of the day; even if the range proves to be exaggerated, the car can be recharged in under 10 minutes. That it’d be all electric means I would no longer face internal combustion engine (ICE) maintenance costs. For me, this is a no-brainer; assuming charging stations for this battery technology are available, I would almost certainly have to go this way.

Akito Tanaka et al., “Toyota bets on solid-state as CATL eyes Thailand,” Financial Times, June 15, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/09e23ac9-f73a-4104-aa2e-33ea48eba67a


Gilead

Abortion


Fig. 1. Sign at demonstration in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, May 3, 2022. Janni Rye, via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

Wellspring’s ability to operate is rooted in the hands-off brand of conservatism that characterized Wyoming politics before hard-liners began gaining influence. In 2011, lawmakers worried about the Affordable Care Act potentially mandating enrollment in an “Obamacare” plan approved a resolution that put a constitutional amendment to a public vote. It passed, giving adults the right to make their own health-care decisions.[3]

It’s in the courts, with the state alleging the abortion is not healthcare.[4]

Tori Otten, “N.C. Lawmaker Pretends She Never Got an Abortion After Switching Parties to Pass Abortion Ban,” New Republic, June 15, 2023, https://newrepublic.com/post/173680/north-carolinas-party-switching-lawmaker-helped-ban-abortion-now-pretends-never-got-one

Karin Brulliard, “America’s unlikeliest abortion clinic has opened in its reddest state,” Washington Post, June 16, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/06/16/wyoming-abortion-bans-clinic-opens/


Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

Housing


Fig. 2. Most of the homeless encampments I’ve seen around Pittsburgh have been on the North Side. This one is downtown, right by a Parkway (Interstate 376) onramp. Photograph by author, May 22, 2023.

Lizabeth Gray, “The Carina Apartments in Garfield bring new life to B’nai Israel,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 16, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/life/Buying-Here/2023/06/16/the-carina-apartments-garfield-bnai-israel-congregation/stories/202306130111


Neoliberalism

Banking

Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and Credit Suisse, 2023


Fig. 3. “The monument sign in front of the parking lot of the Silicon Valley Bank headquarters at 3003 West Tasman Drive, Santa Clara, California.” Photograph by Minh Nguyen, March 13, 2023, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

If enacted, the bill would ensure the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has the power to seize bonuses, other performance-based compensation and any profits from the sale of securities that senior executives received in the 24 months before their bank failed.[5]

The bill follows up on criticism from both parties following the Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and First Republic Bank collapses this year.[6]

Andrew Ackerman, “Pay Could Be Seized From Failed Banks’ Executives Under Senate Bill,” Wall Street Journal, June 15, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/senate-clawback-bill-would-take-pay-from-failed-bank-executives-2961137c

Work


Fig. 4. The spectre of Death, in the form of a large skeleton, rises with the smoke and flames of the burning Asch Building during the Triangle fire, as people jump and fall to their death. Artist unknown, from International Ladies Garment Workers Union Photographs (1885-1985) at The Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

A jury has ruled that reverse discrimination is a thing. I think there is a reasonable argument that Starbucks should not have fired Shannon Phillips and woefully mishandled the situation—I’m fine with her getting her money.[7] Whether or not Starbucks’ conduct was racist remains a question for me.

Steve Bohnel, “Fitzgerald vetoes minimum wage hike bill, saying it violates county charter,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 14, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-local/2023/06/13/fitzgerald-vetoes-minimum-wage-hike-bill-stating-it-violates-county-charter/stories/202306130122

Oona Goodin-Smith, “Starbucks ordered to pay $25.6M to manager who says she was fired for being white after viral Philly arrests,” Philadelphia Inquirer, June 14, 2023, https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia/starbucks-philadelphia-manager-white-verdict-philadelphia-black-men-arrests-20230614.html

Eric Levitz, “Larry Summers Was Wrong About Inflation,” New York, June 14, 2023, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/06/larry-summers-was-wrong-about-inflation.html


Gilead

Right-wing militias

Police White supremacist gangs


Fig. 5. Photograph by Lorie Shaull, April 1, 2021, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.

David Nakamura, Mark Berman, and Holly Bailey, “Minneapolis police engaged in pattern of misconduct, Justice Dept. says,” Washington Post, June 16, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/06/16/minneapolis-police-report-doj/


  1. [1]Akito Tanaka et al., “Toyota bets on solid-state as CATL eyes Thailand,” Financial Times, June 15, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/09e23ac9-f73a-4104-aa2e-33ea48eba67a
  2. [2]Akito Tanaka et al., “Toyota bets on solid-state as CATL eyes Thailand,” Financial Times, June 15, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/09e23ac9-f73a-4104-aa2e-33ea48eba67a
  3. [3]Karin Brulliard, “America’s unlikeliest abortion clinic has opened in its reddest state,” Washington Post, June 16, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/06/16/wyoming-abortion-bans-clinic-opens/
  4. [4]Karin Brulliard, “America’s unlikeliest abortion clinic has opened in its reddest state,” Washington Post, June 16, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/06/16/wyoming-abortion-bans-clinic-opens/
  5. [5]Andrew Ackerman, “Pay Could Be Seized From Failed Banks’ Executives Under Senate Bill,” Wall Street Journal, June 15, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/senate-clawback-bill-would-take-pay-from-failed-bank-executives-2961137c
  6. [6]Andrew Ackerman, “Pay Could Be Seized From Failed Banks’ Executives Under Senate Bill,” Wall Street Journal, June 15, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/senate-clawback-bill-would-take-pay-from-failed-bank-executives-2961137c
  7. [7]Oona Goodin-Smith, “Starbucks ordered to pay $25.6M to manager who says she was fired for being white after viral Philly arrests,” Philadelphia Inquirer, June 14, 2023, https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia/starbucks-philadelphia-manager-white-verdict-philadelphia-black-men-arrests-20230614.html

What do you say to a billionaire who doesn’t pay his bills? A Colorado judge says vacate the premises

Gilead

Twitter


Fig. 1. “Elon Musk shared a video of his entrance on his Twitter account.” Photograph attributed to Elon Musk, October 26, 2022, via the New York Post,[1] fair use.

Elon Musk isn’t paying his bills in Colorado.[2]

Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton, “Boulder landlord succeeds in evicting Twitter over unpaid rent,” Denver Post, June 14, 2023, https://www.denverpost.com/2023/06/14/boulder-twitter-eviction-unpaid-rent/

White Christian nationalism


Fig. 2. If one weighs by geography rather than population, Pennsylvania is very much a white Christian nationalist kind of place. Photograph by author, January 5, 2023.

If secession doesn’t work, I suppose there’s always the “constitutional county” movement. Think “Oath Keepers” or “constitutional sheriff” but with the the official imprimatur of local government.

When these [“constitutional county” or “Second Amendment sanctuary”] resolutions instruct county police not to enforce certain laws, such as red flag laws that allow the confiscation of firearms from certain people, they violate Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution. Article 6 declares that the Constitution itself and federal laws are “the supreme Law of the Land” and cannot be overruled or superseded by state laws or laws at lower levels of government.[3]

John E. Finn, “How ‘constitutional county’ declarations undermine the Constitution – a legal scholar explains,” Conversation, June 15, 2023, https://theconversation.com/how-constitutional-county-declarations-undermine-the-constitution-a-legal-scholar-explains-206834

Speaker of the House of Representatives, 2023


Fig. 3. Photograph credited to Office of Congressman Kevin McCarthy, date inconsistent with title but given as November 9, 2022, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Kevin McCarthy has lost control of House Republicans. That’s one takeaway, at least, from the truce the embattled speaker of the House reached with the Freedom Caucus earlier this week. Yes, that deal—spurred by a rebellion from McCarthy’s right flank in response to the budget deal he reached with President Joe Biden late last month—technically means that the House can return to normal business. (Normal business, in this instance, means symbolic votes about gas stoves—literally.) But it also spells serious trouble, both for McCarthy and the country.[4]

What you really need to know here is that the House of Representatives Freedom Caucus is still throwing a temper tantrum and it could deprive Kevin McCarthy of the speakership. And it could derail a federal budget later this year.[5] All of this, of course, would be little surprise given the lengths McCarthy had to go to to win the speakership in the first place.[6] But after the debt deal[7]—okay, this is embarrassing in retrospect—I thought perhaps McCarthy and his dissidents might manage to keep it together. This wasn’t actually clear even at the time—and still isn’t.[8]

Alex Shephard, “Kevin McCarthy Is Losing His Grip on House Republicans—and Power,” New Republic, June 15, 2023, https://newrepublic.com/article/173658/kevin-mccarthy-losing-grip-house-republicansand-power

Abortion


Fig. 4. Sign at demonstration in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, May 3, 2022. Janni Rye, via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

Tori Otten, “N.C. Lawmaker Pretends She Never Got an Abortion After Switching Parties to Pass Abortion Ban,” New Republic, June 15, 2023, https://newrepublic.com/post/173680/north-carolinas-party-switching-lawmaker-helped-ban-abortion-now-pretends-never-got-one

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 5. “Jake Angeli (Qanon Shaman), seen holding a Qanon sign at the intersection of Bell Rd and 75th Ave in Peoria, Arizona, on 2020 October 15.” Photography by TheUnseen011101 [pseud.], October 15, 2020, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Trump has built a political juggernaut out of shameless lying. Or perhaps not even lying. It’s practically a cliché at this point to refer to the philosopher Harry Frankfurt’s definition of bullshit, which Frankfurt describes as distinct from, and worse than, a lie, in that the bullshitter doesn’t even care whether or not what he’s saying is true. Trump is a consummate bullshitter—but the courtroom is an inhospitable place for that sort of bluster. It’s an environment designed for careful, systematic evaluation of meaning and argument. In court, Trump is no longer on his home turf. In that sense, the Mar-a-Lago indictment represents the latest collision between the legal system and Trump’s insistence on defining the terms of his own reality.[9]

Mr. [Donald] Trump is in the position of waging a presidential campaign and preparing a defense at the same time. Complicating matters, he has been forbidden from discussing the latter with a number of people who could presumably help him with the former, some of whom are no doubt wondering who is saying what to the government as they go about their jobs.

In court in Miami on Tuesday, the federal magistrate judge who handled Mr. Trump’s arraignment ordered the former president not to discuss the case with his co-defendant and personal aide, Walt Nauta, saying that any communications about it would have to go through their lawyers.

The judge also made clear that he did not want Mr. Trump talking about the facts in his indictment with any potential witnesses, leading prosecutors to agree to provide him and his lawyers with a further list of people with whom he would have to be careful in conversation.[10]

Imagine working for such a man as Donald Trump, possibly having done or witnessed illegal things at his behest, and wondering what your co-workers are telling prosecutors.[11]

[Walt Nauta] is just the latest in a long line of lackeys who have faced ruin, thanks to their close ties to [Donald] Trump. Some are low-level employees like Nauta, while others are well-paid professionals, like attorney Michael Cohen or former Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, both of whom ended up in prison as a result of their loyalty.

What they all have in common is that they have weak personalities and were easily seduced by Trump into doing his bidding, even when they knew that what he was asking them to do was immoral or illegal, or both.

Trump is a predator: He hunts for people he can convince to commit crimes — and then do jail time — on his behalf. Then he moves on, leaving the wreckage of their lives behind.

But each Trump lackey is a stand-in for the entire GOP, which has surrendered its soul to Donald Trump. The Republican Party today is dominated by insipid personalities easily swayed by Trump’s demagoguery and eager to be told what to do by an autocrat.[12]

The provision that Mr. [Donald] Trump not discuss the case with potential witnesses could be difficult to enforce, given that Mr. Trump’s speaking style is often ungovernable. It could be especially challenging with regard to Mr. [Walt] Nauta, whose job is to trail the former president, day in and day out, catering to his every minor need.[13]

[Donald] Trump has a Houdini-like ability to extract himself from legal and political traps. The special counsel had an early stroke of bad luck in the judge appointed to oversee the case—Aileen Cannon, who also oversaw Trump’s lawsuit to hamstring the Justice Department’s investigation last year. Cannon botched that case so thoroughly, upending normal legal principles in service of an outcome favorable to Trump, that the conservative judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit were forced to step in and set things back on track. If Cannon handles the prosecution of Trump like she did his earlier suit, she’ll have an enormous amount of discretion to make the special counsel’s life difficult in prosecuting the case.[14]

“[Aileen Cannon is] both an inexperienced judge and a judge who has previously indicated that she thinks the former president [Donald Trump] is subject to special rules so who knows what she will do with those issues?” said Julie O’Sullivan, a Georgetown University criminal law professor and former federal prosecutor.

In theory, Judge Cannon could step aside on her own for any reason, or the special counsel, Jack Smith, could ask her to do so under a federal law that says judges are supposed to recuse themselves if their “impartiality might reasonably be questioned” — and, if she declines, ask an appeals court to order her to recuse.

There is no sign that either of them is considering taking that step, however — or what its legal basis would be.

The appeals court last year found that she was wrong about jurisdiction law, not that she was biased. And judges have previously heard litigation involving presidents who appointed them — including the Trump search warrant lawsuit, in which, notably, two of the three appeals court judges who reversed her intervention were also Trump appointees.[15]

[Donald] Trump has folded the indictment into his quest for reelection, demanding a chance to deal out retribution against those who have wronged him. [Aileen] Cannon’s role in the courtroom suggests another way to understand the stakes of a second Trump presidency. Given another four years, he’d be able to further refashion institutions in his image—and, in doing so, limit their ability and willingness to hold him to account again.[16]

Such retribution, of course, is precisely what the “fuck your feelings” and “make a liberal cry” crowd desperately desires.[17] But with Trump’s re-election chances near zero,[18] no matter how the mainstream media plays it, I think some of them might realize on some level that there’s a significant possibility they aren’t going to get it.

One reason for the absence of conflict in Miami, Ms. [Rachel] Kleinfeld wrote in an email, was that the prosecutions of Jan. 6 protesters — which now amount to more than 1,000 criminal cases — have had “a real deterrent effect” on those who might have once considered violence. She also said that many people remain “angry at [Donald] Trump for failing to provide monetary support for those jailed on his behalf after Jan. 6.”

Other people, Ms. Kleinfeld went on, seemed to have stayed away from pro-Trump protests, including those this week, fearing that they might become entrapped in what they believe to be “false flag operations” by the [Federal Bureau of Investigation].[19]

But with Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube all dismantling their anti-disinformation efforts,[20] the provocations will surely resume. Trump might return to his formerly favorite platform, Twitter, which is now a completely safe space for disinformation and hate speech, at the end of the month.[21]

Spencer S. Hsu et al., “Trump special counsel shifts focus of possible indictment to S. Florida,” Washington Post, June 7, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/06/06/miami-grand-jury-trump-classified-documents/

Alex Isenstadt and Kyle Cheney, “Trump notified that he is the target of an ongoing criminal investigation,” Politico, June 7, 2023, https://www.politico.com/news/2023/06/07/trump-notified-that-he-is-the-target-of-an-ongoing-criminal-investigation-00100920

Devlin Barrett, Perry Stein, and Josh Dawsey, “Trump charged in classified documents case, second indictment in months,” Washington Post, June 8, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/06/08/trump-classified-documents-mar-a-lago/

Marc Caputo, “‘Prosecuting Politicians is Hard Here’: Why South Florida is a Tough Place for DOJ to Try Trump,” Messenger, June 8, 2023, https://themessenger.com/politics/trump-south-florida-miami-doj-jury-challenge

Ankush Khardori, “The Chaos Inside Trump’s Legal Team,” New York, June 8, 2023, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/06/donald-trumps-lawyers-on-his-dysfunctional-legal-team.html

Hugo Lowell, “Donald Trump charged with illegal retention of classified documents,” Guardian, June 8, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/08/donald-trump-charged-retention-classified-documents

Stefania Palma, “Donald Trump says he has been indicted on federal charges in documents probe,” Financial Times, June 8, 2023, https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/trump-is-desperately-trying-to-define-the-narrative-about-his-federal-indictment

Gabriel J. Chin, “Trump indictment unsealed – a criminal law scholar explains what the charges mean, and what prosecutors will now need to prove,” Conversation, June 9, 2023, https://theconversation.com/trump-indictment-unsealed-a-criminal-law-scholar-explains-what-the-charges-mean-and-what-prosecutors-will-now-need-to-prove-207469

Joseph Ferguson and Thomas A. Durkin, “Trump charged under Espionage Act – which covers a lot more crimes than just spying,” Conversation, June 9, 2023, https://theconversation.com/trump-charged-under-espionage-act-which-covers-a-lot-more-crimes-than-just-spying-207373

Alan Feuer, “Trump-Appointed Judge Is Said to Be Handling Documents Case,” New York Times, June 9, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/09/us/politics/aileen-cannon-trump-judge.html

David Gilbert, “‘We Need to Start Killing’: Trump’s Far-Right Supporters Are Threatening Civil War,” Vice, June 9, 2023, https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxjjgb/trump-supporters-are-threatening-civil-war

Ankush Khardori, “The ‘Lock Him Up’ Election,” New York, June 9, 2023, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/06/trump-indictment-turns-2024-into-lock-him-up-election.html

Tom Nichols, “Trump’s Indictment Reveals a National-Security Nightmare,” Atlantic, June 9, 2023, https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2023/06/trumps-indictment-reveals-a-national-security-nightmare/674362/

Jennifer Rubin, “Merrick Garland and Jack Smith come through: Trump will face justice,” Washington Post, June 9, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/06/09/trump-indictment-garland-smith-justice/

Jonathan Turley, “Trying Trump: Scandal May Be His Element — But This Time May Be Different,” Messenger, June 9, 2023, https://themessenger.com/opinion/trying-trump-scandal-may-be-his-element-but-this-time-may-be-different

Aruna Viswanatha, Sadie Gurman, and C. Ryan Barber, “Trump Charged Over Willful Retention of Classified Information, Obstruction,” Wall Street Journal, June 9, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-associate-also-indicted-in-mar-a-lago-documents-case-759cbb17

Marc Fisher, “Trump’s path to indictment: ‘Isn’t it better if there are no documents?’” Washington Post, June 10, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/06/10/trump-classified-documents-path-bathroom-indictment/

Michael S. Schmidt et al., “Trump Supporters’ Violent Rhetoric in His Defense Disturbs Experts,” New York Times, June 10, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/10/us/politics/trump-supporter-violent-rhetoric.html

Kyle Cheney, “He devised a fringe legal theory to try to keep Trump in power. Now he’s on the verge of being disbarred,” Forbes, June 11, 2023, https://www.politico.com/news/2023/06/11/john-eastman-disbarment-trial-trump-00101407

Richard Nixon [Justin Sherrin], “On the Trump/Nauta Indictment,” Patreon, June 11, 2023, https://www.patreon.com/posts/on-trump-nauta-84420752

Marina Pitofsky, “Barr ‘shocked’ by Trump indictment details: “If even half of it is true, then he’s toast,’” USA Today, June 11, 2023, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/06/11/bill-barr-donald-trump-classified-documents-indictment/70310878007/

Paul Rosenzweig, “The Three Biggest Obstacles to Convicting Trump,” Atlantic, June 11, 2023, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/06/three-biggest-obstacles-convicting-trump/674366/

David Aaron, “How Much Prison Time Does Former President Trump Face? Applying the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines,” Just Security, June 12, 2023, https://www.justsecurity.org/86901/how-much-prison-time-does-former-president-trump-face-applying-the-u-s-sentencing-guidelines/

Isaac Chotiner, “Will the Judge in Trump’s Case Recuse Herself—or Be Forced To?” New Yorker, June 12, 2023, https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/will-the-judge-in-trumps-case-recuse-herself-or-be-forced-to

Spencer S. Hsu et al., “Trump scrambles to find lawyer before first federal court appearance,” Washington Post, June 12, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/06/12/trump-documents-lawyer/

Molly Jong-Fast, “Even a Damning Federal Case Can’t Break the GOP’s Devotion to Donald Trump,” Vanity Fair, June 12, 2023, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/06/donald-trump-federal-indictment-case-gop

Eric Lutz, “Judge Aileen Cannon Could Blow Up Trump Documents Case,” Vanity Fair, June 12, 2023, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/06/aileen-cannon-trump-documents-case

Nick Madigan, Verónica Zaragovia, and Richard Fausset, “Floridians Would Make Up Trump’s Jury Pool. Here’s What Some Are Saying,” New York Times, June 12, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/12/us/trump-voters-florida-jury.html

Jeannie Suk Gersen, “The Case Against Trump Is Strong, but There Are Problems Ahead,” New Yorker, June 13, 2023, https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-case-against-trump-is-strong-but-there-are-problems-ahead

Shayna Jacobs et al., “Trump arraigned, pleads not guilty to 37 classified documents charges,” Washington Post, June 13, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/06/13/trump-court-miami-indictment/

Bess Levin, “Trump Basically One Day Away From Hiring a Lawyer Who Advertises on the Side of a Bus to Defend Him,” Vanity Fair, June 13, 2023, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/06/donald-trump-lawyer-search

Hugo Lowell, “Trump finds no new lawyers for court appearance in Mar-a-Lago case,” Guardian, June 13, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/13/trump-finds-no-new-lawyers-mar-a-lago-documents-arraignment

James Risen, “Trump Is a Predator Who Feeds on Lackeys,” Intercept, June 13, 2023, https://theintercept.com/2023/06/13/trump-indictment-aide-walt-nauta/

Jesús Rodríguez, “In the MAGA mirror, Trump’s legal peril looks like a personal threat,” Washington Post, June 13, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2023/06/13/trump-arraignment-courthouse-crowd/

Gabriel Sherman, “Donald Trump Advisers Worry Over Legal Team Civil War: ‘It’s All Coming to a Head,’” Vanity Fair, June 13, 2023, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/06/donald-trump-legal-team-indictment

Maanvi Singh, “Trump claims ‘political persecution’ in speech after arraignment,” Guardian, June 13, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/13/trump-new-jersey-speech-after-arraignment

Jeffrey Blehar, “Pardoning Is Not Enough: We Must All Perform Seppuku for Donald Trump,” National Review, June 14, 2023, https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/pardoning-is-not-enough-we-must-all-perform-seppuku-for-donald-trump/

Alan Feuer, Maggie Haberman, and Glenn Thrush, “They Are Trump’s Aides and Lawyers. Now They Could Be Trial Witnesses,” New York Times, June 14, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/14/us/politics/trump-lawyers-witnesses-nauta-corcoran.html

Quinta Jurecic, “Trump Can’t Bluster His Way Through Court,” Atlantic, June 14, 2023, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/06/trump-cant-bluster-his-way-through-court/674395/

Bess Levin, “Melania Trump Is Apparently in a Zen Place About Her Husband Potentially Going to Prison,” Vanity Fair, June 14, 2023, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/06/melania-trump-donald-trump-documents-case

Michael S. Schmidt and Charlie Savage, “Judge in Trump Documents Case Has Scant Criminal Trial Experience,” New York Times, June 14, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/14/us/politics/aileen-cannon-judge-trump-documents.html

Prem Thakker, “Trump ‘Is Scared Shitless,’” New Republic, June 14, 2023, https://newrepublic.com/post/173620/rump-is-scared-shitless

Glenn Thrush, Nicholas Nehamas, and Eileen Sullivan, “Trump Is Arraigned on Documents and Obstruction Charges,” New York Times, June 14, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/13/us/politics/trump-arraignment-documents.html

Aaron Blake, “6 big questions ahead on Trump’s indictment,” Washington Post, June 15, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/06/15/6-big-questions-trumps-indictment/

Alan Feuer, “In Miami, the Only Violence From Trump Supporters Was Rhetorical,” New York Times, June 15, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/15/us/politics/trump-protests-proud-boys.html

Mathew Ingram, “The tech platforms have surrendered in the fight over election-related misinformation,” Columbia Journalism Review, June 15, 2023, https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/tech-platforms-election-denial-meta-twitter-trump-reinstatement.php

Stefania Palma, “Jack Smith: the federal prosecutor taking on Donald Trump,” Financial Times, June 15, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/7fb3fa61-42ec-4f5b-9eda-523dfb368e1e


(dis)United Kingdom

Prime minister


Fig. 6. President Reagan on the South Lawn during the arrival ceremony of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of the United Kingdom. U.S. Government photograph, November 16, 1988, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Lucy Fisher and George Parker, “Boris Johnson found to have committed ‘multiple’ contempts of parliament,” Financial Times, June 14, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/602315b0-2080-4eea-b6bd-5e9f16c2651c


Imperialism

Russia

Ukraine


Fig. 7. “Destroyed Russian military vehicles located on the main street Khreshchatyk are seen as part of the celebration of the Independence Day of Ukraine in Kyiv, August 24.” Photograph by Gleb Garanich for Reuters, August 24, 2022,[22] fair use.

[Vladimir Putin losing touch with reality] might be considered an occupational hazard for someone whose default position is to tell bare-faced lies when confronted with uncomfortable truths, as he did when Russian forces launched their initial invasion of Ukraine in 2014. Back then, he repeatedly denied Moscow had any military presence, when all the evidence showed the opposite was true.

Similarly, the Russian leader has continued to deny any involvement in the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014, even though international investigators say they have found “strong indications” that Putin personally approved the use of the BUK missile systems that were used to shoot down the aircraft.

Putin’s ability to inhabit his own fantasy world was again very much in evidence this week when he was interviewed by a select group of ultra-nationalist bloggers and journalists.

With his so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine failing miserably to achieve its objectives, Putin has found himself under pressure from ultra-nationalists, such as Yevgeny Prigozhin, the uncompromising leader of the Wagner Group. Having seen his mercenary paramilitary organisation suffer massive losses – currently estimated at more than 30,000 – in its effort to capture the eastern city of Bakhmut, Prigozhin has directed his ire against the Russian leader, warning that his failed strategy could ultimately result in a new 1917-style revolution.[23]

To tell you the truth, I’m not sure any of these people are much in contact with reality. Pity the soldiers who fight and die for delusions. Which is pretty much how Con Coughlin sees it, with Vladimir Putin, a failed president, presiding over a failed and eviscerated military, left with nuclear weapons as the one option that hasn’t failed him because Xi Jinping won’t let him use them.[24]

The proposition that Xi is the one thing standing between the world and thermonuclear war is interesting—awfully interesting. I have to wonder how, precisely, Xi has communicated to Putin that the latter must comply. It must have been an interesting conversation.

Gabriel Gavin, “Putin admits Russia doesn’t have enough weapons and drones,” Politico, June 13, 2023, https://www.politico.eu/article/vladimir-putin-ukraine-war-russia-doesnt-have-enough-weapons-and-drones-putin-admits/

Max Seddon, “Putin sides with Russia’s military in clash with Wagner,” Financial Times, June 14, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/b9d91a08-0f89-4986-855b-42232c5291a6

Sam Skove, “Ukraine War Could Last a Decade, Top Ukrainian Official Says,” Defense One, June 14, 2023, https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2023/06/ukraine-war-could-last-decade-top-ukrainian-official-says/387523/

Con Coughlin, “Putin is retreating into dangerous fantasies,” Telegraph, June 15, 2023, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/06/15/vladimir-putin-is-retreating-into-dangerous-fantasies/


Illiberalism


Fig. 7. Photograph by Joachim F. Thurn, August 1991, Bundesarchiv, B 145 Bild-F089030-0003, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE.

Frances D’Emelio and Colleen Barry, “Silvio Berlusconi, former Italian leader tarnished by multiple scandals, dies at 86,” Los Angeles Times, June 12, 2023, https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2023-06-12/silvio-berlusconi-dead-italy-prime-minister

Ishaan Tharoor, “Silvio Berlusconi’s political style lives on,” Washington Post, June 13, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2023/06/13/silvio-berlusconi-trump-netanyahu-far-right/

David Horovitz, “Netanyahu loses a key vote. Now a torn, troubled Israel waits for the fallout,” Times of Israel, June 14, 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-loses-a-key-vote-now-a-torn-troubled-israel-waits-for-the-fallout/


Bill Cosby


Fig. 8. Bill Cosby, after his prison release. Photograph by Tim Tai, 2021, via the Philadelphia Inquirer,[25] fair use.

Beatrice Forman, “Nine women in Nevada sue Bill Cosby for alleged sexual assaults after state drops statute of limitations,” Philadelphia Inquirer, June 15, 2023, https://www.inquirer.com/news/nation-world/bill-cosby-sexual-assault-lawsuit-nevada-janice-dickinson-statue-of-limitations-20230615.html


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Now He Has Left Us With No Congress,” Vanity Fair, January 6, 2023, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/01/kevin-mccarthy-tries-to-save-speaker-bid-on-january-6-anniversary; Nolan D. McCaskill, “Kevin McCarthy wins House speakership on 15th vote,” Los Angeles Times, January 6, 2023, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2023-01-06/mccarthy-speaker-jan-6-anniversary; Nolan D. 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