Monthly Archives: May 2025

The next entry in the unfortunate story of elections since the 2024 national election – for metaphorical goats – is coming from Omaha, NB. Parts of Omaha, as I understand it, are heavily Democratic, but the 2021 regularly scheduled mayoral election, which is officially nonpartisan and features a nonpartisan primary from which the top two proceed to the general election, resulted in victory for incumbent Jean Stothert. In fact, it was solid:

Just short of a 30 point victory for the incumbent. But in 2025? Stothert faced Democrat John Ewing just a few days ago, whose political experience consisted of winning, and keeping, the post of Douglas County Treasurer in 2007. How did his mayoral run go?

A ten point victory over a favored incumbent is hard to dismiss. Of interest is the turnout, substantially less in 2025 than in 2021. I’d interpret that to mean Independents and Republicans, disgusted with the national Republican scene, expressed themselves by staying home in numbers of around 30,000, or voting Democratic; meanwhile, Ewing’s improvement over previous defeated challenger Neary of around 12,000 is less impressive, but still worth noting.

Electoral victories are not trophies. For the Democrats, who seem little disposed to admit errors, this is an opportunity not to wave victory flags, but to convince skeptical conservatives that they can deliver sound governance and be worthy of future serious consideration, especially if the Republicans continue to nominate buffoons for national seats.

I think the Democrats need a major reform, but good luck to Mr. Ewing. We need two respectable political parties, and we have zero. His victory will push the Republicans to consider reforms, no matter how much that stings the arrogant assholes currently running the show. Hopefully, the Democrats will figure that out, too.

I need to catch up on my reading, because something Steve Benen said a couple of weeks ago is really resonating for me. It’s all about Alcatraz:

With this in mind, Trump’s directive to “rebuild” and “substantially” enlarge the prison, preparing it to house dangerous felons again, isn’t just pointless. It would also be, as The New York Times put it, “extraordinarily expensive” — even as the administration plans to cut billions of dollars from federal law enforcement.

So why make enormous investments of time and resources into renovating an unnecessary prison? Apparently because the incumbent president — himself, a convicted felon — thinks it would be cool to use this as a “symbol.”

My bold.

That’s right – President Trump’s preparing a future prison cell for himself.

I’m surprised Colbert didn’t catch that.

Wheatpasted, wheatpasting, etc:

Flyposting (also known as bill posting) is a guerrilla marketing tactic where advertising posters are put up. In the United States, these posters are also commonly referred to as wheatpaste posters because wheatpaste is often used to adhere the posters. Posters are adhered to construction site barricades, building façades and in alleyways. [Wikipedia]

Kind of cool, even without context. Noted in “Furor over Trump’s targeting of law firms heats up with court fight and ad campaign,” Ryan J. Reilly, NBC News:

“Big law, stop bending the knee,” reads a poster from the “Big Law Cowards” campaign by the liberal nonprofit group Demand Justice. The group says the ads will be wheatpasted strategically around Washington on Thursday near the locations of the firms that have reached deals with the administration. The group will also have a mobile billboard circulating with ads criticizing the firms, along with a broader digital campaign.

Attention solely focused on making money, as Big Law does, often misses the bigger context. That is, essential strategic thinking at the highest of levels can be missed. Money is all.

In this post, I mentioned replacing the current Parties as a solution to current political dilemmas, and it appears a few other people are having the same thought. Let’s have WaPo summarize the strategy of Independent Center:

Their objective is both relatively small and, in terms of impact, potentially massive.

Rather than trying to run a third-party presidential campaign that would require billions of dollars and untold resources to get ballot access in all 50 states, they hope to win up to a handful of House races with centrist candidates who will not accept support from either major party.

In this era of such narrow margins, that might deny Republicans and Democrats the 218 votes needed for the majority and create a protracted negotiation for a coalition government.

“We’re going to that new center. So I will say that people are scared of this being a spoiler. Yes, we’re trying to wreck the system. We’re trying to disrupt the entire duopoly,” Brandon said during Thursday’s video call.

But for what do they stand?

The Independent Center is founded on the core beliefs of enhancing individual freedom and personal choice. We trust the people of our country to decide what is right and good and important. We believe that people flourish when our system of government allows them to choose what is best for themselves, their families, and their communities. And we know that our nation will succeed and thrive when we work together to achieve economic growth, fiscal responsibility, and social tolerance so we can enjoy a happy, safe and prosperous future.

Looking over the balance of the agenda, it has a definite Republican tilt. For example:

♦ that individual creativity and innovation are the drivers of economic growth in our country. We embrace new technologies and innovations to advance our economy and improve our living standards. We can ensure that future generations inherit a more abundant, stronger and more secure nation.

New technologies? I hope they’re not hiding cryptocurrencies behind that expansive phrase.

Finally, the use of the phrase common-sense, as I’ve noted before, is a big red-flag when it comes from politicians. Common-sense, when applied to a nation of 300+ million, is a mythical attribute, and those spouting proposals defended by claims of common-sense should be ignored – and ejected from the profession.

Independent Center is chock-full of such claims. Here’s the title of their solutions section:

Our Common-Sense Solutions

Sorry, guys, but no. How about this, instead?

Our First Solution: We Will Not Lie To You!

That’d make me a lot happier.

From the NBC News report of Jeanine Pirro’s nomination to the position of U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C.:

Trump made the announcement on his Truth Social, mentioning Pirro’s previous roles as a prosecutor and a judge, and said she was “currently Co-Host of The Five, one of the Highest Rated Shows on Television.”

And Fox News noted (same article):

In a statement after Trump’s announcement, a Fox News spokesperson said Pirro “has been a wonderful addition to The Five over the last three years and a longtime beloved host across FOX News Media who contributed greatly to our success throughout her 14-year tenure. We wish her all the best in her new role in Washington.”

And her own producer?

Pirro pushed conspiracy theories about voting in the aftermath of Trump’s 2020 election loss, and she came up in litigation filed by Dominion Voting Systems. Fox News tried to redact what one of Pirro’s executive producers thought about one of her post-2020 election monologues, with the producer writing, “This is completely crazy.”

And, ah, how many folks cheered at the news that she’s co-host of The Five? What does that have to do with the qualifications for being a U.S. Attorney in one of the most important district offices?

Yeah. Not much.

President Trump continues to exhibit symptoms of chronic incompetence and/or dementia, and Fox News just encourages it. Regardless of what the Democrats are doing, this is not an honorable behavior by Fox News.

The sad part is that, professionally, she may be qualified for the position, although assertions that she’s nuts by those who should know is a detractor. But don’t throw this crap about television ratings into the mix. It just makes Trump look like a lunatic. Which he is.

Perseveration:

the act of saying or doing something repeatedly when there is no longer any reason to do so:

• Many of the errors that the children made consisted of verbal substitutions and perseverations.
• Perseveration may be a sign that a child is on the autism spectrum. [Cambridge Dictionary]

Noted in this WaPo article title. “Carolyn Hax: 4 a.m. bathroom breaks become perseverations on life’s mistakes.“

President Trump thinks he’ll suspend habeas corpus,

… a legal procedure by which a report can be made to a court alleging the unlawful detention or imprisonment of an individual …

does he?

Someone should tell him that’d true for himself as well.

One difference I’ve noticed between Trump I and Trump II: where’s his family? Melania’s made clear her distaste for the President, but what of the three kids, Ivanka, Eric, and Don, Jr., plus spouses, who were so salient in the first Administration, and have disappeared, more or less, from view in this second Administration?

I decline to speculate on Trump family tensions, but I cannot help but wonder if the kids foresee disaster awaiting them and Dad, and only by not being part of the Administration can they hope to avoid being mopped up by Trump’s enemies when his incompetence drags him down.

Just wonderin’.

CNN, along with every other media outlet in the world, is reporting the new Pope is … Robert Prevost of the United States:

Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost of the United States has been elected the 267th pope and will soon step onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica as the new leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.

Prevost, 69, from Chicago, Illinois, is the first ever pope from the United States. He will be known as Leo XIV.

I think I must have a buck somewhere that says President Trump will claim credit for Prevost’s election. Sigh.

Republican star – no matter how much I don’t like his refusal to recuse back in his first run for governor against Stacey Abrams (D-GA) – and Governor Brian Kemp (R-GA) is out of the running:

Governor Brian Kemp (R) just formally announced he’s not going to run for Senate next year against Senator Jon Ossoff (D). It’s difficult to convey how big a coup this is for Democrats and how big a setback it is for Republicans for the 2026 midterms. Candidate choice is always important but seldom decisive. This is an exception. Ossoff was (and is) a favorite against everyone but Kemp. [Josh Marshall, TPM]

And it’s voluntary. I agreed with Mr Marshall, above – only Kemp could give Senator Ossoff (D-GA) a real contest, and Governor Kemp is signaling that, in a year and a half, he doesn’t think he can beat the Senator.

Now, Marshall thinks Kemp has Presidential ambitions, and he might. But getting a Senator’s seat builds momentum – but losing such a race could destroy Kemp’s chances in a Presidential race. No one likes a loser, which explains why then- and now- President Trump ran around screaming about Democratic cheating in 2020. It wasn’t just that he couldn’t accept being a loser, but it also endangered his chances of re-attaining the Presidency.

And winning back the legal sanctuary of the Presidency.

In any case, if Kemp foresees disaster in a friendly, conservative-if-purple State, well, it could make next year’s election very interesting for the balance of the Senatorial races.

It’s always good to see demi-gods agreeing with me. In this case it’s conservative lawyer and former Federal judge J. Michael Luttig, commenting on the same quote that drew my attention recently, wherein President Trump thinks he needs to consult brilliant lawyers to decide if his oath to uphold the Constitution really applies to him. Here’s Huffpost’s report:

Catachresis:

1. : use of the wrong word for the context
2. : use of a forced and especially paradoxical figure of speech (such as blind mouths) [Merriam-Webster]

I’ve been running across a lot of unfamiliar words of late, although this seems a specialist word for grammarians, and I’m definitely not a grammarian. The Merriam-Webster link also discusses grammarian usages of catachresis, mostly in what appears to be a snitly way. Noted in “Your existential terror is adorable,” Rachel Manteuffel, WaPo:

Slackmoji is essentially an adorable medium. You can, as my colleague Chloe Coleman has, choose a little cartoon frog as an avatar for yourself and illustrate your feelings that way. Perhaps you feel shame.

And while you admit you feel ashamed, you’ve also cutened it up for public consumption. It’s … processed. Indirect. Ironic. Visually catachrestic. It’s like poetry.

I recall castigating someone, in email, for using an emoji. This is back in the BBS days, where it was all ASCII, not the emoji-enabling UTF-8, and so it was nothing more than :). I told them it was lazy and would never last.

I was half-right. Yes, that’s shamelessly stolen from someone giving a speech concerning X Windows at one of the UNIX conferences a long time ago. Or maybe it was the commentary.

This sounds tawdry and, in view of the Constitution, slightly nutty:

In a little-noticed lawsuit filed last week, the America First Legal Foundation sued Chief Justice John Roberts and the head of the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts.

The case ostensibly proceeds as a FOIA lawsuit, with the Trump-aligned group seeking access to judiciary records. But, in doing so, it asks the courts to cede massive power to the White House: the bodies that make court policy and manage the judiciary’s day-to-day operations should be considered independent agencies of the executive branch, the suit argues, giving the President, under the conservative legal movement’s theories, the power to appoint and dismiss people in key roles. [TPM]

This doesn’t make much sense, does it? I think what’s going on here is that an extremist right wing group that currently holds the White House wants to be rid of the Constitution, but it doesn’t just dare to declare the Constitution no longer applies. The Constitution is damn near holy writ for a large majority of the citizenry that covers a large portion of the political spectrum. Worse yet, given Republican gun control politics, that segment will be heavily armed, alarmed, and annoyed.

What’s the next best thing? Gut the Constitution. I see this lawsuit as an attempt to kill the Constitution without actually admitting they’re killing the Constitution. This is a perhaps subtle distinction from the article’s quoted experts:

These are all facets of an escalating campaign to erode the independence of the judiciary, experts told TPM. The lawsuit demonstrates another prong of it: close allies of the president are effectively asking the courts to rule that they should be managed by the White House.

Will the courts permit their self-dissolution? I’m sure at least one judge can be persuaded to agree, but I doubt SCOTUS would agree. Although Justices Alito and Thomas are alarmingly agreeable to the Trump Adminisration’s suits, there have been 9-0 decisions against Trump, and I suspect that’ll happen here.

But no doubt the reasoning is You don’t know ’til you try. This is a lawsuit to keep an eye on.

Here’s the text as reported from WaPo:

Floriography:

Floriography is a coded communication where each flower and color holds symbolic meaning. Stemming back thousands of years, the language of flowers reached a pinnacle of popularity in the Victorian era. Intentional flower combinations allow the giver to communicate without uttering a word. [Petal Republic]

Noted in this fashion video. Keep your eyes on the back wall.

If you can.

Nobel Prize-winner Paul Krugman remarks on a report that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told a bunch of big investors that the China tariffs will not last long:

While news media and some investors may still be credulous enough to believe Trump’s boasts, harder-headed players will look at his U-turns and conclude that he runs away when confronted. Why would China be “very nice” now that it knows that Trump can be rolled? On the contrary, China will be even less likely than before to make concessions. And other countries will be more willing to stand up to Trump and more likely to make deals with Beijing.

We are, in short, in a worse position than we were before Trump began his tariff bluster. Being a cowardly, loud-mouthed bully presiding over utter chaos is not an effective negotiating strategy.

A smart guy would hire an expert with a great track record to run a problem area.

Might I suggest to President Trump that he hire his predecessor, President Biden? A spectacular track record when it comes to economics.

Flummoxed:

Informal. utterly bewildered, confused, or puzzled:
When I walk into a store to buy video equipment and see the multitude of options, I’m befuddled and flummoxed. [Dictionary.com]

Our source gives 1835 as the oldest known usage; flummoxed was certainly old, even out of date, when I was a kid. Noted in “Trump’s familiar routine after failing to cut deals with Congress: Signing legally dubious executive actions,” Toluse Olorunnipa and Ashley Parker, WaPo:

Here, have a picture. Some bad movies lead to great stills, but not this one.

G. K. Chesterton’s character Father Brown has led to at least two TV series, both eponymous and, depending on your taste, either one or the other is charming. It also has led to one or two movies, and at least Sanctuary of Fear (1979) is, ah, not charming, as my Arts Editor put it.

It’s a poorly thought out drama. Brown is now an American catholic priest in New York City, where he happens across a young woman who arrived in the big City just a few months prior. Equipped with a job typical of the era, and ambitions to make it on the stage, she is afflicted with strange incidents: a man is shot as she walks through Central Park, but disappears before she, or a man she swiftly recruits, can climb a fence and render aid. Her boss’ office is rifled and the blame affixed to her; she’s locked into her gym and late to a performance, and as she arrives late her understudy, on stage, is shot to death; the aforementioned body puts in another appearance; & etc.

Yes, it actually is interesting. But Father Brown’s later TV series, such as that starring Marc Williams, support themselves on character and charm as well as plots, and there’s precious little present here. Oh, there’s a little, such as Brown’s lovely interaction with a traffic court judge, but in the main it’s whine, whine, whine, everyone hates me, guys on the make, and a resolution that no audience member would have found.

Which cuts the fun in half. I almost wanted to see the resolution to the subplot involving an annoying monsignor and the accounting of the parish’s books, just because the monsignor was so annoying. Maybe he could join the slain.

But no such luck. In some ways this is a typical TV movie of the era, conceived in the pursuit of lucre, a pursuit that puts little value on a quality product.

A pity.