Harris or autocracy

In a perfect world, when Barack Obama was president he and the Democratic Party would have been building a strong bench of capable younger politicians who could have run for the White House. But we don't live in that world, and for whatever reason it didn't happen. President Biden's decision to step away from the election was courageous but late. His inner circle and first lady Jill Biden should have persuaded him far sooner. And keeping his fading capabilities hidden is deeply troubling.

Nevertheless, Biden was one of the best presidents in my lifetime. He led us out of the pandemic, extricated us (not without blunders) from the Afghanistan war, oversaw a stunning economic comeback, led investments in infrastructure and education. Under the Biden administration, renewable energy is the second largest source of power and climbing. He energized the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to, among other things, eliminate "junk fees" hidden in many customer bills. His accomplishments are legion and historians — if they exist — will remember him well. Most of all, he believed in our experiment in self-governance and saved us from Trump in 2020.

Now the Democrats have Vice President Kamala Harris and the future of our nation rests in her hands.

That Donald Trump is utterly unfit for even the position of dog catcher is well known to readers of Rogue Columnist. A second Trump administration will be the end of our republic. We can see this is the blueprint Project 2025 — however much Trump tries to deny his interest in enacting it. The measures would gut the Constitution, eliminate checks and balances, and create an authoritarian president. We might have future "elections," but they would be the same as those held in Russia and China. Remember, Trump cozies up to Xi, Putin, and Kim Jong Un. He emulates strongmen.

The party of Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Goldwater, Reagan, and the Bushes is long gone, replaced by a cult of Trump and his running mate, the "hillbilly" J.D. Vance — actually a man who grew up in a middle-class family, graduated from Yale, and worked as a venture capitalist, the very people who helped hollow out the industries of the heartland.

Harris faces a difficult campaign. Early on, I was impressed by her accomplishments as a prosecutor, California attorney general, and U.S. Senator. But I'll admit she seemed bland as vice president. Admittedly, this is the office that "Cactus Jack" Garner from Texas — FDR's first VP — likened to a "bucket of warm spit" (although he used a saltier word). It's an office meant to fade in the background, attend funerals, fly the flag. Harris has been above reproach.

Trump and his cult don't care for smart women, and many "progressives" don't either. All those too precious to vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016 gave us Trump and the far-right supermajority on the Supreme Court. Trump is a bully in debate. But Harris can handle bullies — although so could Clinton but it didn't matter.

So I'll leave it to Matthew Yglesias to make a case:

The reality is that over the past few months, she has managed to improve her numbers, while Biden’s have only gotten worse. She polls better than Biden in matchups against Trump. And what’s more, at this point, Biden is almost surely dragging her down since she needs to vouch for him as a candidate. But more to the point, she’s a candidate with dramatically more upside than Biden. Like anyone, she has political vulnerabilities. But it’s not hard to sketch out a strategy to address those vulnerabilities, while it’s extremely hard for Biden to address his.

Most of all, though, whether or not she’s the optimal candidate, she’s a politician who would be capable, not only of dramatically outworking Biden, but dramatically outworking Trump. Harris could be doing large numbers of brief, reasonably friendly media appearances where she does what any normal politician could do: deliver crisp, clear versions of Democratic Party talking points about how Trump is a criminal who wants to blow out the deficit with regressive tax cuts and she is a prosecutor who wants to protect abortion rights and make the rich pay their fare share of taxes.

Another perfect world might have entailed the Democratic National Convention picking a candidate, as both parties once did. Abraham Lincoln was a surprise pick in 1860, winning on the third ballot. But American politics hasn't worked this way for many years. As for a running mate, I want Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, although Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly would be another strong choice.

The comments section awaits you.

 

 

 

 

Comments

[iaed]

I'm grateful the Democrats seem to be coalescing around Harris. I hope it continues.

Regarding Biden's departure being late in coming, I think it was actually good he waited until now. Heather Cox Richardson (a historian, btw) noted that, by waiting until after the Republican convention, Biden slammed the door behind them. They are stuck with Trump and Vance. Trump is now the geezer along with his many malevolent traits. And Vance is a huge problem in his own way.

https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/videos/507646105045285

[Reality Street]

All due respect, but the notion that Biden courageously stepped aside is quite naive. He was tossed out kicking and screaming after it became clear (to most of us, and certainly to Dem heavyweights) that he was a sure loser.

Hyperbole aside, Harris does have a chance. But not with Whitmer as a running mate. A female VP on the same ticket as the would-be first female president would be wildly inept and a sure loser. Doesn’t matter if that’s unfair. It is.

Kelly would be a much better choice. But nobody’s heard of him.

At this point, the only thing that matters is beating Trump. Stupid idealism got us into this mess with all the damn fool Berniecrats and Clintonians and woke insanity.

Biden could have corrected the course and courageously built up a viable bench of successors.

But no.

So here we are.

[AzRebel]

Authoritarian president? Due to congressional dereliction of duty, our country has been run by Presidential executive orders for decades. Each successive president issues dueling executive orders. Now that the supreme court had been purchased at auction by the billionaire class. We are a one branch of government country.

So now we are given the chance to vote on the only branch that is still operating.

Choose America, the orange clown or the giggler.

[Joe]

As a registered independent voter in Arizona I'll vote Trump before I vote for Harris. I'm hoping that Mark Kelly runs, or any number of other well qualified Democrats. Fingers anxiously crossed!

[Kenneth Thomas]

As an Arizona Republican, I voted against Trump in the GOP presidential primary and against Kari Lake in the regular primary. Like Jeff Flake and the McCains, I am no fan of Trump or MAGA.
I hope Mark Kelly is chosen as the VP candidate. He is far better than J.D. Vance and has the lifetime experiences that make Vance look inconsequential.
The whole attempted Trump political assassination topic gets put into perspective by the experiences of Senator Kelly and his wife Gabrielle Giffords. Kelly's expertise as a retired naval aviator and combat pilot would be helpful in the White House situation room.

I'm ready to contribute to a Harris-Kelly ticket.

[Cal Lash]

I'll wait until Harris and a VP are officially designated before I decide whose race it is to lose.
I've always had great respect for Mark Kelly as a person and generally agree with his politics.
That said, in my opinion since General George Washington was president the US had had 5 maybe 6 individuals qualified to run the country.

[Cal Lash]

I meant to be president not"run the country."

[Stephanie Oliver]

My support goes with Kelly, who is humane and smart.

[Helen Highwater]

Look for Vance to be fired and replaced by the big orange oracle. Vance has the personality of the couch he had sex with.

[DoggieCombover]

Harris always comes across to me as a giddy sorority girl who is, "OMG, can you believe I'm VP!!" No gravitas whatsoever.

I think Kelly would have buried Trump as a candidate, now I'm not wanting him on the ticket. He needs to hold his Senate seat, another campaign is not what we need right now, and VP's don't really matter.

That said, it looks like the smoke-filled room is alive and well, and all the deep pockets are coalescing around Harris, looks pretty well orchestrated. Probably waiting for Taylor Swift and Obama to seal the deal...

But it seems Biden stepping down has energized the D's, money and enthusiasm are definitely on the upswing. So here we are...

[Bobson Dugnutt]

Mark Kelly appears to be on the short list for Harris' running mate.

He might help keep Arizona in the Democrats' column, he didn't alienante anyone like Sinema, and Ruben Gallego looks like a favorite to succeed Sinema. (The GOP also continues to advance troglodytes like Kari Lake.)

Kelly would also send a message. Trump was recently shot at during a rally. Kelly's wife, Gaby Giffords, was also the victim of an assassination attempt and has suffered much worse, more permanent injuries from her shooting. It would make Trump's shooting pale in comparison.

I don't think astronaut holds the same heroic aspect among younger voters. More than half of the country wasn't alive for the Moon landings or the Apollo missions, and the more recent memories of spacefaring were the Challenger and Columbia disasters. Kelly is also a younger, less experienced senator -- as was Harris -- so he doesn't bring the institutional memory and wise counsel that Biden brought Obama.

If Kelly is picked, Katie Hobbs will get to pick another Democrat to fill the seat. Some Arizonans have said they'd like the successor to be, funnily enough, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego. Ruben and Kate Gallego could be the first divorcees to serve together in Congress.

[2002 subaru outback]

Progressives didn’t withhold their vote for Clinton because they are allergic to smart women, they did so because of her perceived bloodlust for military adventurism. Likewise, the challenge with Harris will be some of her failed criminal justice reforms, but luckily for her, jailing parents for truancy violations is a bit more forgivable than orchestrating regime change in Libya.

[AzRebel]

Stand by your man worked wonderfully for Loretta Lynn. No so for Hillary. She was forever tainted as the fool who would endure the worst indignity ever served on a wife. She did it for power and money. It paid off for her. However, her deal with the devil meant she would never achieve her one and only goal since she was a child, the presidency.

[Bobson Dugnutt]

@AzRebel, "Stand By Your Man" was Tammy Wynette, not Loretta Lynn.

[Reality Street]

But The Good Ol’ Blues Brothers Boys version was priceless.

[AzRebel]

As a life long CW fan, I'm going to crawl into a coal mine in shame.

[DoggieCombover]

Hillary was a terrible candidate, plain and simple. Her platform was "I'm not Trump!" with little articulation of much else. The kids running her campaign blew off Bill and Carville when they told them she was headed for a loss and was not engaging traditional Democratic voters--what do those geezers know anyway? How bad a candidate do you need to be to lose to trump?

Outback sez: "Progressives didn’t withhold their vote for Clinton because they are allergic to smart women, they did so because of her perceived bloodlust for military adventurism."

And there you have the rest of the progressive's problem, it's more important to be ideologically pure than actually win an election, so you take your ball and go home rather than sully yourself...

[Reality Street]

Gotta agree with Doggie here.

I’ll go further: The Bernie Bunch stuck us with Trump.

[Cal Lash]

What's CW stand for?

[AzRebel]

There's only two kinds of music, Country and Western. C & W

[Cal Lash]

Oh! I turned the radio off in 54. I only recall one song that had voice and instruments that I liked and still recall.
Ring of Fire.
My car radio still dosen't work at 282000 miles. Can't think of a reason to fix it.
The Air conditioner is still pumping cold air.

[Anonymous]

Car 54 where are you?

Car 54 where are you?

Dispatcher- "Sarge, Cal turned his radio off again."

Sarge - "Dammit to hell, you can take the boy out of Iowa, but you can't take the Iowa out of the boy. I'm just glad he finally agreed to wear shoes."

Sarge - "Captain, Cal turned his radio off again."

Captain - 'Dammit to hell, that's it. When he comes in assign him to follow the mayor around. If we have to reach him, we'll call her and she can relay the message to him."

Sarge - "Cap, she's not going to be happy"

Captain - " I know. Tell her we'll name a park after her."

[Cal Lash]

Extremely true.
Right Margaret?
Ha!

[Cal Lash]

Now days they got a whole squad driving the mayor.

[Rob Moore]

I for one was hoping for an open democratic convention. Would provide a more transparent path for Harris - instead of the back-room maneuvering to place her on the ticket. Curious if anyone saw the Aaron Sorkin article imagining the democrats nominating a moderate republican to run against Trump. If the goal is to defeat trump - someone like Romney may be worth considering.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/21/opinion/biden-west-wing-aaron-sorkin.html

[Bobson Dugnutt]

The open convention canard is all fantasy fiction by the political press desperate to cling to their waning influence and relevance.

Rob Moore's "back-room manuevering" is the same as the Democratic Party having processes in place for a candidate succession -- in fact, both the Democrats and GOP have near-identical processes to avoid a repeat of the 1968 Democratic convention. Since then, the primaries and caucuses have winnowed the field so parties will have a clear-cut nominee by the time they host their conventions.

Tens of millions of people have already voted for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the Democratic primary. Harris' whole job since 2020 was to be an understudy for Biden for the moment that did come to pass on July 21.

Biden giving his full support to Harris has unified the party to also give their backing to her.

Also, in the first two days since the torch was passed to Harris, individual donations to Harris' campaign averaged about $80 million per day through ActBlue. That's an unprecedented scale for individual voters giving $10 to $50.

It's crystal clear that the Democratic Party followed rules, exhibited discipline by backing the most obvious choice for a successor, and even Democratic voters supporting Harris through their dollars and their voices. If you go on social media and see "Kamala is brat" or coconut emojis, that is genuinely organic and spontaneous support.

And no, the Democrats do not owe the press a narrative to hang their takes on.

[Bobson Dugnutt]

If 2024 can't get any more bizarre, Reality Street and I are in complete agreement about the Bernie Bunch sticking us with Trump.

Every presidential cycle draws a candidate who has a less-than-zero chance of winning the presidency but inspires a messianic movement of voters. These voters are drawn to the candidate for being an outsider who promises maximalist positions, and for these voters, the point seems mainly to stake a moral high ground and demand the impossible to rage against what they can't have rather than working toward the goal.

Often, these messianic voter movements do more harm than good. Bernie Sanders was responsible in 2016, only at the margins in places like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, but the damage was done.

Bernie Sanders, to his credit, recognized the damage he has done and has been a team player with the Democrats since then.

The messianic voters seem to be of a personality type; many of the Bernie voters eventually grew up and became more pragmatic about their political choices. But there's always that remnant, and this year, the Bernie Bunch is coalescing around Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s candidacy.

[iaed]

Any of you think Trump should get "equal air time" vis à vis Biden's speech to the nation tonight?

[Pancho Villa’s second cousin on his mother’s side]

Tequila with a worm is man’s drink. A presidente candidate with a worm es loco.

[2002 subaru outback]

“this year, the Bernie Bunch is coalescing around Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s candidacy.”

Where do you people even pull this stuff from?

Bernie supporters were by and large some flavor of progressive-democratic-socialists who mainly wanted 1. Some form of socialized healthcare and 2. Taxation of the billionaire class. It was an obvious swing to the left led by a youth who were wronged by the 2008 recession, disappointed by Obama’s promises of HOPE as he bailed out banks and kept us at war. Many of these people have largely given up hope on basic tenets of the American dream like owning a home or even having the privilege of retiring at a reasonable age. I was first eligible to vote in 2014 and that is my exact economic reality to this date, despite working full time since that very year. Sanders recognized this, and even if his promises were heavy handed and probably unrealistic, he never came across as out of touch in the way that Clinton did.

RFK represents… none of that. He’s just a spoiler vote for dumbass skeptic libertarian types who were mad about authoritarian stuff like the vaccine mandate. He’s the savior of Facebook boomers who read the Epoch Times, not to mention, his stance on Israel is entirely incompatible with the populist Left. The only thing he has in common with Bernie is that he doesn’t toe the line of party politics. Luckily, Sanders was smart enough to see the writing on the wall and not run as an independent, unfortunately for RFK the party of “saving democracy” is doing everything in their power to sue away his spot on ballots.

For what it’s worth, you have to figure that if a candidate like Sanders didn’t run in 2016, none of his base would’ve participated in the election anyhow. The youth vote is apathetic, and when it isn’t, it rarely sways elections. But for all the criticisms of his base, the dems have clearly recognized that his platform does speak to the concerns of many Americans. A lot of Biden’s biggest plays (expansion of ACA, attempts at student loan forgiveness, climate policy) seem unimaginable without Sanders swinging the party in his direction. It’s now being reported that Bernie had a heavy hand in Biden’s first 100 days policy for 2025, so clearly the DNC is convinced that voters want some of his social democrat flair, but it’s all water under the bridge now.

Now it’s time to Save Democracy for the third time in eight years, not by invigorating voters to elect someone that they actually feel excited to vote for, but to scare them into submission because the alternative option is so much worse. Luckily for them, I agree, and I’ll be participating despite how jaded it all makes me feel. But if we end up with Trump and he and/or Vance doesn’t become our autocratic eternal Good Government Leader, a lot of you will have some explaining to do.

[Cal Lash]

"Autocratic eternal Good Government Leader"
Love a phrase.

[iaed]

Subaru, I think I understand what you're saying, but the phrasing is a bit awkward for my comprehension. So—who are voting for at the top of the ballot this November, and why?

[Cal Lash]

Not Bernie nor RFK.

[Cal Lash]

I prefer
Deb Haalland and
Winona La Duke.
They understand living with the land.

[2002 subaru outback]

I consistently vote blue, but I don’t really care for the party, I just dislike the other party more. At the same time, we can paint republicans as evil due to their insistence on corporate welfare, criminalizing abortion, and consistently being on the wrong side of the culture war— you dems lose me with the fear mongering about Trump abolishing democracy when he gets elected. Like I really hate that guy but I have never seen a cognizant explanation of how Trump is going to become Putin 2.0.

Anyhow, I appreciate the discussion on here. I hope I don’t come across as too snarky, maybe I gotta tone it down. I have a tendency to be critical of dems but it’s only because I feel disappointed in their inability to actually produce a candidate that people are excited and optimistic to vote for. Harris is exciting because she’s not Biden, but she doesn't make me confident in the future of the country. Three presidential elections in a row now, voting just feels like damage control. Was it always this way?

[Cal Lash]

Ha!
Of course, paleface.
Geronimo

[Cal Lash]

2002 subaru outback.
You know of anyone you think is actually qualified to be president?
Someone that
makes you feel comfortable about the future?

[Bobson Dugnutt]

@2002 subaru outback, for starters, Donald Trump has promised to make the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 the blueprint for his second administration.

At more than 900 pages, Project 2025 would seem as apocalyptic and fever-brained as the Unabomber manifesto, but it was written by people who worked in the first Trump White House and plan to go back. Trump is gaslighting when he says he has no idea what Project 2025 is about. The lead author of it, Kevin Roberts, has a book about Project 2025 coming out in September.

https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2024/07/remember-that-obscure-project-2025-document-that-democrats-smeared-donald-trump-with-by-claiming-he-knew-what-it-was

The foreword is written by JD Vance, a gofer for Peter Thiel. Author John Ganz, who just released a book about the 1990s origins of the modern far right, has the must-read bio of Thiel:

https://www.unpopularfront.news/p/the-enigma-of-peter-thiel

Ganz: "So, let’s sum up. Peter Thiel believes he belongs to an elite group, often understood in implicitly or explicitly racial terms, that is entitled to set aside democratic governance in favor of pursuing a program of technological progress and national restoration. He believes the political means to accomplish this is through a charismatic leader with manipulative, populist appeals to past national glory and against parasitic immigrants and culturally decadent liberalism. For him, even the most milquetoast, reformist liberalism is “tantamount to communism.” He’s obsessed with romanticized fantasies of absolute power, domination, and control. He dreams of wielding the the national security state against enemies both foreign and domestic. He envisioned a kind of imperialist world-state controlled not through deliberative bodies like the U.N. but directly by the intelligence and secret police bureaus. He combines the ideology of white collar, petit-bourgeois intermediary class with its emphases direct management techniques and closely-held ownership with the grandiose, world-spanning designs of an industrial titan."

[iaed]

@2002 subaru outback — Democracy is messy, no doubt about it. (Nearly a century ago Will Rogers wrote something to the effect of: I'm not a member of any organized party, I'm a Democrat.)

Cal asks a valid question: Who do you think would make you feel comfortable about the future, would be qualified to be president?

[Cal Lash]

"The friend of the present order of things condemns all political speculations in the gross."
Malthus

[Cal Lash]

A chill has set in.

[Cal Lash]

Kendrick tells
Lake she is a loser!

[Cal Lash]

Garland says he will arrest every Mexican cartel members.
He needs to Follow Joe out the door.

[Cal Lash]

US user drug consumption.
"Nothing will Change.
Marco Ruiz

[anonymous]

cal, you account for 31.8% of the comments on this thread which exceeds the 25% limit. Please start using an alias or wait until the comments increase.

May I suggest using:

The red headed stranger in the black hat

The Iowa Kid

Ruben Ortega's mouthpiece

Talton club president emerit

[Cal Lash]

Fuck you.
Use you real name.

[Cal Lash]

Would the Olympics in France be safer if the OAS had assassinated Degaulle?

[Cal Lash]

Munich Council of Religion makes LSD A REAL religion.
Did they get gods approval?

[Cal Lash]

Garland arrests.
He needs to join Joe.
The Summerians were snorting poppies 5000 years ago.
"Mexico is a Cartel"
Charles Bowden

[Bal Der Dash]

Alone in the desert
Pecking away
Like a rabid armadillo
Afraid of its shadow
Fuck everyone

[Cal Lash]

Si

[Cal Lash]

I do use my real name.

[Cal Lash]

Comon Jon it's time to make your pen from hell smoke.
Not only are there two JD Vances there are two Joe Bidens. But only one "I did not change" Donald Trump. 49 percent of the god people have a new god that defies bullets.
The world news from Breitbart to Aljazera is of a world on fire.

[Rogue Columnist]

I do my best, Cal, but I also have my day job. I wish so many commenters hadn't deserted us. No minds are changed today.

[Cal Lash]

I change my mind everyday. Today I decided not to shower.
Maybe tomorrow.
And I'm trying to determine if I should NOT ever vote again.
Insanity prevails.

[Cal Lash]

The World is at War.
The Planet is on Fire.
****
"AND (YES) WE PLAY GAMES!
HIGGINS

[Ruben]

When I say we had a choice, I am only joking because we rarely have a choice in things. I'm talking about us proles.

Back when AZ had a manageable couple of million people.

Choice one: Totally unmanageable, cancerous growth. Total chaos, no thought for future consequences past the next month.

Choice two: Thoughtful growth, using space, materials and methods with consideration for consequences far out into the future. The Talton process.

Choice three: Total controlled growth, over the top control, example Arcosanti. Grow up, not out.

Choice three -failure.

Choice two - Treat Talton like a red-headed step child, ship him out of state.

Choice one- let her rip. Money. Money. Money. Money. Money...................

Current AZ 20 year drought is the worst in 1,200 years.

Water? We don't need no stinking water.

[Ruben]

I forgot to finish my thought. It wasn’t that the proles/commentators abandoned the blog. The war was lost. Game over. We used to have lively discussions on how to accomplish positive things for Phoenix. We lost badly. When youve been run over by a steamroller you don’t feel chatty.

All you’re left with is the worthless “silent majority “ who come on and say things like “oh Jon, please don’t quit. We don’t plan to contribute cause we are worthless, but you keep doing all work, while we watch.”

[Cal Lash]

Some of the best sex was at Arcosanti.
AND
About 30 percent of Arizona folks believe it's OK to use up everything cause it gets really great after you die. Another 60 percent don't care.
That leaves few to comment here.

[iaed]

What has become of Soleri? Is he still in Portland? I wonder whether he would apprise us of the prevailing mood there. Is downtown still a shadow of what it once was? Or is it making a comeback?

[Ruben]

It’s pretty disheartening. The Arizona GOP continues to go down the rabid hole. Yes, that’s the right word. With 50 percent of the spineless, cowardly republicans living in fear of the 50 percent frothing, bat shit crazy, angry, old, mentally unstable remainder of the party you get candidates moving forward to the general election when the should be rounded up and delivered to the nearest dog pound.

[Ruben]

Soleri bought a heavy coat and moved to Portland, Maine so that he wouldn't have to get a new tattoo.

[John]

When I was first trying to decide whether to subscribe to the Washington Post or the NYT, I decided on the Post because it allowed comments on almost all its articles and the Times allowed them on only a few.

Then I read the comments. Nothing special, pretty middle of the road. .

Now I prefer the Times. But by far the best comments are on this blog. Insightful, unpredictable, stimulating and funny.

So, Jon please keep sharing. Something. Anything! At least to give your commenters a place to vent. People this witty shouldn’t have to hold it in.

This is not sarcasm. I am very serious.

Plus Jon, your writing is smart and best of all, original thinking. I don’t find much of that at the Post or the Times.

[iaed]

What does the match up look like between Gallegos and Lake? And what about Kelly as VP pick? Arizona is getting lots of attention these days.

[Cal Lash]

Not impressed with Arizona primaries.
The General election will tell us how treacherous the political path will become.

[Cal Lash]

Soleri lives but bin awhile since I heard from him. He has been doing cleanup projects behind the homeless.
Drove by his old family home last week on North Mountain. Sent him an email that folks are asking about him.
Other history.
Jon Sellers died recently.
Jon was a famous motorcycle dirt track champion and lead Detective on the
Don Bolles murder case.
Its been over a year since my friend Dave Wagner died. He authored the book.
The Politics of Murder.
So its been a lot of years since I first sent Jon Talton a note bad mouthing Mega cities (think 15 mintues) and threatened to blade Phoenix and plant Sajuaros.
Well that's the Good News. That is also the title of a book by Edward Abbey where Phoenix goes up in flames.

[Chris Thomas]

The handoff from Biden to Harris has been shockingly good. And respectfully, the choice is simply Harris versus white Christian authoritarianism. Anybody dawdling or contemplating a meaningless protest vote -- including my friend Mr. Lash-- is ignoring that reality.

Want three more lawless monarchists on the Supreme Court? More tax cuts for billionaires? The collapse of NATO? Further crippling of environmental and safety regulation? Use of the Comstock Act to make interstate transmission of birth control illegal? Then don't vote for Harris. You'll be happy.

[soleri]

Thanks, Cal.

I pretty much exhausted my complaints about Phoenix but not Portland. Here's a video from the wonky City Nerd who mostly dislikes Phoenix but really loves Portland. It astonishes me how someone so perceptive keeps putting lipstick on my adopted pig of a city.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57AQhVdq-9g

So, why does Portland animate so much anger on the right? Well, it might be the left's incessant smugness in which the world is neatly divided between noble victims and vile oppressors (read: white males). There's not too much nuance here but it does have the ominous if obscure intellectual pedigree called Cultural Marxism.

As luck would have it, this presidential election pits the two opposing incarnations of our national divide. Kamala Harris is the woke candidate who will ensure that victims get their fair share of wealth and pwer. Donald Trump is the elderly white male blowhard mocking the drift of civilization to ever wider schisms in our national identity.

I'll be voting for Harris for all the good reasons Rogue offers. But that doesn't mean I'm happy since I find her political personality facile and glib. That said, she is sane unlike her con artist opponent - she won't blow up the world in a fit of pique.Trump does offer an inviting exit ramp off this ideological freeway called DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) but these fissures in our social cohesion are impervious to a political solution. We're a nation of angry and petulant citizens living in a civic wasteland guarded by sociologists.

Portland shows what happens when earnest do-gooders decide to impose fairness from unwarranted self-confidence. Phoenix is what happens when your do-gooder ideals were inadequate for the arduous task of creating a real city.in the first place. Both approaches are incomplete and show the danger in making politics an all-or-nothing process. We are as a nation perilously close to losing a coherent explanation for our national purpose and identity. What necessarily follows will be grim and tragic.

[Ruben]

Interesting video soleri. I did some cyphering and estimate that the gentleman in the video visited 6% of the Phoenix metroplex. Jon, is that better than "the valley"?

I'm glad he didn't visit Fiesta mall. That is a scene out of a horror movie and testament to Jon's prediction that for decades we have been building future slums. I never thought the slums would arrive in just twenty years.

I have friends who moved to Queen Creek when I thought no one would live out there. They are now moving to the new edge of town, five miles south of Florence. Yikes.

I'd like to type more but my back is hurting. It's a sad time in Payson, AZ. The village idiot just got elected mayor. We had two years of progress, now it's back to "No taxes, no services". Can you believe that slogan was a winner?

[Ruben]

The 6% comment was in comparison to the blind men trying to describe an elephant.

I’m always struck by the political map showing downtown blue surrounded by all red everywhere else.

When I traveled the country, if you said Phoenix to someone, their brain visualized Scottsdale. That hasn’t changed thanks to television coverage of events here.

Sun City was probably the worst thing to ever happen to Arizona. It told the world, “Send us all your cranky. Grumpy, prejudiced, pains in the ass old people and we’ll get them out of your hair”. What a terrible mistake it was.

[Cal Lash]

Defense Secretary Austin just made sure there will be no closure to 911.
I've not been a Austin or Antony Bliken fan.

[Cal Lash]

The existentialist world we live in?
Try the film
"The Passenger"
staring Jack Nicholson.
Probably one of
Jack's best performances.
Produced in 1975.
Released in 2005.

[iaed]

Soleri, good to hear from you. Between the lines it sounds like you've resigned yourself to Portland. My memories from 50 years ago are of a city I didn't want to leave. Doubtless I wouldn't recognize it today.

Cal, what's your beef with Blinken?

[Cal Lash]

Bliken To much control.

[Ruben]

Blinken. Too much control?

Isn’t that his job as one of Santa’s lead reindeer?

[Ruben]

I just witnessed an interesting scene in peaceful downtown Payson. I was waiting at the light at Bonita and the Beeline highway. At all four corners were people holding anti- trump signs. Along came a long line of atvs and trucks with Trump flags. What occurred was the largest display of middle finger salutes and shouted F words that I’ve ever seen in public.

The meeting of both parties couldn’t have been a coincidence.

I would put the average age of all participants at 50, 60, 70.

If these are the “adults” in the room, it’s going to be an interesting campaign.

[Cal Lash]

Ruben,
I've been Informed that PMO has infected the Weirdos?

[Cal Lash]

Bliken, the state department and the CIA in Venezuela.
Since 1806 the US has been interfering in the other Americas.
God Bless America we're coming to save the world. Unless China gets Hegemony first.
The Hundered year Marathon.
Palefaces continue planet destruction.
Geronimo

[Reality Street]

Was in Portland on business last month. Took public rail transit from the airport to be environmentally responsible (and a Cheap Charlie). Babbling junkies started getting on at the first stop. None paid, as far as I could tell. They make that real easy. As we rolled into downtown, a butt-naked lunatic outside ranted in my direction. Walking to my hotel, passed by angry bums and clots of obnoxious teens and young “adults” with pierced faces and shitty attitudes. I was later assured that most neighborhoods in Portland aren’t like this. Whatever. Took an Uber to the airport. Glad to leave. Smug nihilists and shitbirds can have it.

I’d vote for a headless chicken over Trump, but Harris is a joke.

[Cal Lash]

Hillbilly Elegy

[Cal Lash]

Reality street. Will she be worse than 40 of the 46?

[iaed]

Reality, you've voiced your disdain for Hilary, Bernie, and few others here. What don't you like about Harris?

[Reality Street]

My disdain has been largely misinterpreted.
Regarding Bernie and Hillary, I disdain the fools who spent their energies promoting a candidate who could not possibly win, and to the great detriment of another who was weak but viable. My disdain of the candidates was secondary.
Harris is similarly weak but viable. I disdain those who didn’t push forwards a stronger candidate. But look, first woman etc. etc. Just like Hillary was supposed to be. Let’s double down!
I also disdain Harris herself because she’s a shallow opportunist with no genuine principles who maneuvered her way upward in some genuinely sleazy ways.
She has plenty of company in that regard and is not Trump, so there’s that. But I view with utter contempt the starry-eyed fools who seem to think she’s some sort of inspirational goddess of democracy.

[Cal Lash]

Reality Street, you related to
Reality Winner?
I like your strong wording:
Utterly contempt,Disdain, sleazy, starry eyed fools, inspirational goddess. Wow!
Maybe the plan all along was
how it played out?
So I sat downwith my campfire sage astrologer who said it looks like, GUNS.

[Ruben]

I did research and i was able to pinpoint the exact moment the concern for climate change went off the rails in the US and was never able to get on track again.

It was in a bar in 1974 and the tv news guy said, “climate change is going to cause the ocean to rise 3 centimeters by the year 2030”. One drunk asked the other drunk, “what’s a centimeter?”

The other drunk answered, “hell if i know. That’s what commie socialists use instead of inches. Want another beer?”

The rest is history.

[Reality Street]

And both those drunks are dead by now and never did give a shit.

[Cal Lash]

Ruben I was in that bar,
Maria's Cantina
that nite.
And Maria said,
eso es mas pequeno,
Pendejo!

[Cal Lash]

"Democratic vp spot gets ugly."
A short secret primary is now taking place.

[Ruben]

The race is on.

An illegitimate politician.
A legitimate politician.

VS

A Grand circus clown.
A circus clown trainee.

[DoggieCombover]

Currently listening to Rogue interview on KJZZ...

[DoggieCombover]

Interesting headline and story on front page of Republic this morning: "AZ Republicans Lining up to support Harris" Imagine that, real Republicans rearing up on their hind legs to reject the maga bullshit. They perceive the existential threat to the party, but is it too late? They deserve to wander in the wilderness for forty years for enabling madness.

Other positive news on secondary headline is that trump lawyer has flipped on the fake electors. I wouldn't want Kris Mayes to have my ass in her crosshairs.

Sleep well...

[Ruben]

Actually Doggie, I can’t sleep. This isn’t news to many of you on this blog, but for some reason it hit me tonight. As a species, we’ve stopped evolving. We’re either stagnant or even moving backwards.

Our technology is advancing at light speed and leaving us behind. It can’t end well for most of mankind. Maybe an evolutionary collapse will reduce human numbers by half or two thirds. That’s a bunch of folks.

I’m haunted by how badly we mishandled Covid. The solution was pretty straight forward. Treat it like a serious bad flu based on your risk factors. Not depending on what political party you belonged to.

Our newest generation is losing herd immunity against many childhood diseases because certain hollywood actors (lacking medical degrees) don’t like vaccines.

I could go on and on about our financial systems, supply systems, transportation systems, you get the gist of the situation. You’ve seen the scenes on TV. A minor glitch and thousands are left staring at their phone, frozen in place.

Growth for growth’s sake. Population, business, construction, cars, consumption. Growth. Growth. Growth. The philosophy of a cancer cell. You all know how cancer ends.

We are marching along on a bad path. We’re being left behind by unfeeling technology. When the time comes, you better make sure your phone is either edible or can be used as a weapon.

Like Doggie says, sleep well, if you can.

[Cal Lash]

Talked to Susan Calvin this morning. She said she and Elijah (Lije) Baley are leaving the planet for other worlds. She is leaving her Robots in Charge.
Jenkins.

[Cal Lash]

I gave away my large poster of Edward Abbey yesterday to a dude at the Dairy Queen in Picacho. We discussed the race to the bottom of politics. Didn't see any confederate flags.
32 years ago I pick nicked at the top of Picacho Peak. Red wine and a woman.

[Your neighborhood mechanic]

You gotta wonder why this blog seizes up like a 1970’s British 10 cylinder Jaguar?

[Bobson Dugnutt]

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz drew more people to Glendale for one rally than the Arizona Coyotes drew in an entire season lol.

[Cal Lash]

I have to agree with Jon's statement that during JON'S LIFETIME, Biden was his best president. I say that despite my over all opinion of Biden and his numerous decisions I thought were bad. Biden was likely first elected with the help of Jimmy Hoffa and the Teamsters. Possibly with the approval of east coast crime family's. Among a number of decisions I disagreed with was his twice support of George Bushs murderous illegal war on Iraq. Biden today continues supporting world wide murderous intervention in other countries with open support from the state department and clandestine CIA intervention.
However its Unlikely much will change after the upcoming election.
As a famous writer once pointed out about humans,
"Killing is Fun."

[Ruben]

NASA BOEING STARLINER ASTRONAUTS

Is this the modern day Gilligan's Island??

"Two passengers launched that day
for a three day tour
a three day tour."

I hope they make it home safe.

Memo to NASA: Mars? Are you kidding? Mars? You can't make it 250 miles and back !

[Cal Lash]

I approve a one way ticket to Mars for Elon.

[eclecticdog]

Glad Walz got the pick (but he's no friend to the Natives) -- Astro-boy is not exactly my glass of Tang. Hopefully Harris will follow her ex-boyfriends advice (and I paraphrase): "if you can't take their money and then screw them you ain't got no business being in this business." Trump is busy screwing screwball Loomer and taken his eye off the football.

Gonna be an interesting time: genocide in the middle mess, or thermonuclear war worldwide.