Weekend Open Thread

10 thoughts on “Weekend Open Thread”

1. Sociologists try to explain political polarization.  It's simple — just switch off your followers' primate brain and stoke their lizard brain.

   The media do their part to keep things inflamed. Conflict grabs attention.

   “We’re evolutionarily predisposed to pay attention to conflict, because we might be in danger. We don’t turn our head really quickly to look at a beautiful flower. We turn our heads quickly to look at something that may be dangerous,” Mason said.

   That’s a part of human nature anyone can exploit.

   “There are politicians who are good at this,” Mason said. “Trump is the best.”

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2. AP summarizes a situation  [few opponents get mentioned and there is no comment on the cliches uttered by those opposing her]

   Lauren Boebert switched districts in a bid to stay in Congress. Winning over voters won’t be easy

   Less happy with the switch is Republican state Rep. Richard Holtorf, now one of her opponents. “By Lauren Boebert district shopping and becoming a carpetbagger so she can keep her office in D.C., she has now become part of the swamp,” he said….

   Mike Lynch, minority leader in Colorado’s House of Representatives.  “I was a fan of Lauren Boebert when she first got there,” he said. “And then I think, for lack of a better term, she drank the Kool-Aid and became what she was fighting.”

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   1. "…or lack of a better term, she drank the Kool-Aid and…"

      should be "or lack of a better term, she drank the Kool-Aid [sic] and" as Flavor-Aid® was the drink of choice at Jonestown.

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3. It occurred to me in reading this article, "Election-year politics could topple Senate border deal" examining the fight to negotiate a deal over immigration and funding for Ukraine's defense, that the opposition illustrates the Nihilist's Manefesto:  "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven".  So apparently, Trump and his minions need to create Hell on Earth.

   It’s a familiar political dynamic, one that repeatedly has thwarted attempts to reform U.S. immigration law, including in 2013 when House Republicans sought to pin illegal immigration on a Democratic president and in 2018 when Trump helped sink another bipartisan effort. The path for legislation this time around is clouded by an election year in which Trump has once again made railing against illegal immigration a central focus of his campaign.

   Disruption, corruption and chaos are the weapons Trump and his supporters wield.  I hold at least a slender hope that Speaker Johnson won't let this deal collapse.  I don't know whether because of, or in spite of, his deep religious convictions, he isn't hoping to bring about the Apocalypse. 

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   1. The Apocalypse would be bad for business. Donors won't back it. Mike Johnson's religious convictions likely play second fiddle to corporate catering. His donor list is here. 

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      1. No doubt you are right.  It's not the Apocalypse that worries me, it's the Hell on Earth part that even the Billionaires seem most comfortable with.

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4. WOTD "Word Salad".

   For some reason the media news shows Trump's first five minutes of scripted sanity, then cuts away as he starts randomly spewing wierd shit.

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5. Election fraud really happens sometimes.

   Election Fraud Is Rare. Except, Maybe, in Bridgeport, Conn. – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

    

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6. To finish Bertrand Russell's sentence in today's quote – "Science is what you know, philosophy is what you don't know, and politics is trying to convince random low-infos to believe what you know isn't true."

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7. Oh noes, DeSatan dropped out of the GOP presidential race! Whatsoever shall I do?

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