Thursday Open Thread

11 thoughts on “Thursday Open Thread”

1. Today's quote may be especially appropriate, since the Dow was down more than 1,400 at opening!

   Log in to Reply

2. Tesla Meme Stock. Markos at DailyKos.

   Tesla’s price-to-earnings ratio—the amount of money investors pay for every $1 in earnings—is estimated to be 115.72 for 2025, according to the Nasdaq Composite. Ratios like that happen when investors expect massive growth. But what happens when there is no growth? What happens when sales and revenue start falling? 

   For context, compare that Tesla to 2025 estimates for Apple (30.74), Microsoft (29.26), and Alphabet/Google (17.83), or for major car companies like Ford (7.42), Honda (6.72), or General Motors (4.11). Once investors decide that Tesla stock is no longer a growth stock, forget it. 

   Log in to Reply

3. Philosophical Mimicry. John Holbo at Crooked Timber.

   Interesting read on how to organize your thoughts on ideal vs non-ideal political philosophies:

   Weeds evolve, under selective pressure, to resemble crops…

   To fix ideas, an example. The famous Southern Strategy – Atwater’s infamous statement. Let’s be blunt: you are a racist neo-Confederate. You can’t sell that, as such. But you can emphasize parts of it that sound kinda sorta more libertarian. Under Vavilovian pressure, white supremacy evolves, rhetorically, to outwardly resemble libertarianism – a philosophical crop plant – to ‘pass’ in environments in which outright expression of white supremacy would be weeded ruthlessly. You may even get into a situation in which most outward expressions of libertarianism are, as it were, mere mimics.

   …

   “Conservatism is the theoretical voice of this animus against the agency of the subordinate classes. It provides the most consistent and profound argument as to why the lower orders should not be allowed to exercise their independent will, why they should not be allowed to govern themselves or the polity. Submission is their first duty, and agency the prerogative of the elite. Though it is often claimed that the left stands for equality while the right stands for freedom, this notion misstates the actual disagreement between right and left. Historically, the conservative has favored liberty for the higher orders and constraint for the lower orders. What the conservative sees and dislikes in equality, in other words, is not a threat to freedom but its extension. For in that extension, he sees a loss of his own freedom…”

   I think this is basically right. If you read all the things we may call ‘conservative’, in a political philosophy sense, you see something of the sort in ALL of them. And there isn’t anything else we see in ALL of them. Hence this ‘theoretical voice’ is the unifying undertone.

   Log in to Reply

   1. You should read American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America. Yes you're right in part. But another significant part is the culture of the deep South and Appalacia. They invite this type of approach.

      Log in to Reply

4. Turning a recession into a depression. 

   Jonathon Chait at the Atlantic writes:

   "He has compounded the unavoidable damage to business confidence of any large tariff scheme by floating his intention for months while waffling over the details, paralyzing business investment. Even taken on its own terms, a successful version of Trump’s plan would require wrenching dislocations in the global economy. The United States would need to create new industries to replace the imports it is walling off, and this investment would require businesses to believe not only that Trump won’t reverse himself but also that the tariffs he imposes are likely to stay in place after January 20, 2029," 

   Log in to Reply

5. Degenerate Fluff Monkeys. The 2026 Election Cycle is Already Here. Josh Marshall

   For god's sake Dems, just start running already. 10-15% D shift in recent special elections; Tariffs will kill farm states; Maine just got intentionally knifed by MAGA Social Security head; Wisconsin will flip and removing R gerrymandering will ad 2-3 Democratic Reps; Colorado will flip 2 districts.

   Again, FER GOD'S Sake! Get yer name out, and start running weekly Empty Town Hall Town Halls in CO-01 & CO-05.

   Here's Josh Marshall on the Tariff politics:

   If and when this dam breaks it’s not going to be incremental. These tariffs have very, very few supporters even among Republicans – standing and saluting and cheering Trump like a degenerate fluff monkey isn’t the same as being a supporter. You’re not going to have a situation where a third or a quarter of Republicans are moving into an anti-tariff, take away his power faction and the rest are holding tight. It’s a dam breaking situation. And it’s because of that that I don’t think it comes to a vote at all. When Trump realizes that this kind of danger is on the horizon he always folds. Far better to zig and zag (which is weird, yes, but actually very on brand) rather than see his power publicly broken.

   Log in to Reply

6. There are three very good things about Trump's Tarriffs:

   1. He's not breaking the law. He's stretching the meaning of "emergency" but every President has pulled that in recent times. So it's not a direct threat to our Democracy.
   2. This is going to turn not just independents but even a chunk of partisian Republicans against him. There's a great line in The Secret of My Success where the wife says "Love is Love, but Money is Money." Even for the most rabid MAGA, watching your 401K drop by even 20% – that matters.
   3. The Republican Congress is signing off on this. 4 Republican Senators (I never thought I would be thankful for Paul & McConnell) voted with all the Democratic Senators to eleminate it just for Canada. The House will either refuse it or, if they pass it, it'll again be a handful of Republican votes.

   Yes my 401K is also getting trashed. But oh so worth it for this.

   Log in to Reply

7. The PUC Feels Very Pro-Forma to Me

   Impressions can be wrong but… they can also be spot on.

   Even for those of you that support the PUC taking us to the Dunkleflaute of 90% wind/solar – don't you want a vibrant thoughtful PUC diving into the specifics of exactly how it should be built out?

   Log in to Reply

8. I'm starting to think that Republicans never cared about the economy /s. 

   Log in to Reply

9. Found this morning on some reporter’s text chain:

   Dear Elon.  

   My 5 bigly accomplishments for the week are:

   1.  Sent texts and told lies.

   2.  Deported US citizens and alienated US allies.

   3.  Ignored Judges’ orders.

   4.  Crashed the Stock Market and Tanked the Economy.

   5.  Owned the libs. MAGA.

   Log in to Reply

10. Among all the Liberation Day celebrations, we missed this little gem …..

    National Security Council staffers fired in wake of Trump meeting with Laura Loomer

    Seems Looney Laura Loomer is doing some housecleaning at the National Security Council. 

    Log in to Reply