Monthly Archives: September 2026

The Wild Robot (2024) is a sweetly sentimental, but unsurprising story concerning a service robot lost in a crash of a spaceship on a planet. Upon returning to consciousness, if robots can be said to have same, it, now named Roz, attempts to find humans to assist; failing that, local wildlife are the next target. Using its advanced learning abilities to begin communications with the wildlife, it soon determines this is inappropriate, and attempts to signal for retrieval.

Lightning strikes and Roz is left caring for an orphaned runt water fowl, Brightbill. The story becomes a typical runt-to-leader tale combined with cooperation is better than predation. I particularly like the mama opossum who is, atypical for stories like this, fairly accepting at the thought of losing some of the offspring she’s raising. But if predation is bad, what will happen to the predators?

Soon enough, the story comes to a head as Roz helps the wildlife survive a brutal, dangerous winter, only to face a retrieval squad of its own in the end, and all that this entails.

For all that we have robots, there’s not a lot of new thoughts here. When something impossible is required, it happens with a wave of the metaphorical hand, with little cleverness. An inversion of the deus ex machina trope, one could say, but not uplifting.

Endearing, yes. Thought provoking, no.

Another threat from the President, this one not involving Iran:

President Donald Trump on Friday demanded that the Federal Reserve slash interest rates or else he will cut off trade with countries with which the U.S. maintains trade deficits.

Trump issued the sweeping ultimatum in a Truth Social post reacting to a much-stronger-than-expected monthly jobs report by urging the central bank and its chairman, Kevin Warsh, to “get smart” and cut rates. [CNBC]

From a home in the extended family, if memory serves.

A week out on his RNC, (you’ll have to dig around in that post) and he may be just discovering Republicans are dubious about attending; and then add in his fading and twisted endorsement power with which he loses even when he wins, with such failures as Senate nominee Ken Paxton (R-TX) and Senator Husted’s (R-OH) apparently failing reelection bid; and a Republican Party that is beginning to realize that November could be quite embarrassing. If he’s perceived as continually weak, attendance will be sparse, potential allies may insert distance, and minions, through which he projects power, could walk away rather than risk, well, jail at worst, and that’s fairly awful, especially when Trump is out of power.

So he’s flailing at the metaphorical control panel, pulling levers and yelling orders and threats, hoping to regain some of his perceived power. Like most arrogant amateurs, it doesn’t matter how much he fails, he still thinks he’s invincible and, in this case, dropping interest rates will somehow spur the economy without increasing an inflation rate already making voters uneasy.

That’s right. If he gets his way, an increasing inflation rate might finish him off.

Federal Reserve Chairman Warsh was nominated, quite recently, by President Trump, and confirmed by a Republican-controlled Senate on a 51-45 vote. That said, Warsh does not seem to qualify as Trump’s creature, as he’s not advanced proposals to lower inflation rates, but rather held them steady while hinting they might go up.

Consequently, Trump may be saved from himself by Warsh, only to go into an RNC that makes him look awful anyways. This is what happens to the mendacious amateur. They’re idiots.

Erick Erickson still seems optimistic about the election:

[The late Texas Governor] Ann Richards [(D-TX)] understood something the President’s PAC does not. Voters do not cast ballots as a thank you note. They cast them out of fear of what comes next. President Trump deserves credit for a secured border and for breaking Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz. He will not get a single vote he does not already have for either one. Tell people what the other side will do to them, and many will crawl over glass to stop it. The GOP must remember that President Trump is overwhelmingly disliked by the country as a whole and by the independent voters who will decide this election. But, my friends, Democrats are still absolutely despised. In a race between what people dislike and what people despise, dislike can win.

Ignoring Erickson’s ludicrous remark concerning the Strait of Hormuz, his remark about people despising the Democrats is important. But is it true?

Source: Gallup.

Democrats are tied with Republicans, and at the unattractive end of the scale with 27% apiece. I think Erickson has it right, and that Democrats who are feeling confident about the upcoming midterms would better spend their time analyzing why they don’t have more appeal than do the fourth-raters in the Republican Party.

But can Republicans organize a comeback? Like I says, fourth-raters: of course they can’t. Democrats will spend the next two years celebrating their big mid-term victory and fail to use that time to reconsider and reform.

It’s a merry-go-round, I tell ya!

CONTINUING IN THE ROLE

Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-OK) confirms the presence of an anchor caught in the coral reef:

“The challenge that we have is that we have to get over the narrative that ‘I don’t like this guy, so I’m going to vote for the Democrat,’” said Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.), according to audio obtained by The Bulwark. “Because I’m telling you right now, I’m hearing it already.”

“And what happens is that’ll impact me because . . . two things will either happen,” Bice added. “They’re going to vote for the Democrat and they may split [the] ticket and vote for me and a few others, or—this is my bigger fear right now—people don’t go vote.” [The Bulwark]

So an awareness that the poison that is Trump is pervading the Republican field and will cost them seats. Will Democrats figure this out? Or are their weaknesses going to doom them to look helpless?

Here’s the interesting part: dealing with the enraged Party leader. The more room GOP candidates seek to put between themselves and their President, the more likely he’ll be provoked and start yelling. After all, Party candidates avoiding contact with him is not congruent with an ego-satisfying vision of him being the well-beloved Leader who is saving America.

While I expect Republicans will move with delicacy in this matter, we may still see the Republican Party melt down before the midterms, and that would be quite shocking.

What might be the flame that starts the fire?

MICE TO THEIR STARTING STALLS!

Each racing mouse will be equipped with a 10 microgram weight around their waists to equalize the injustice of being born.

• Texas continues to be a highlight of the 2026 Senate races. First up, a specific poll from Texas Southern University that MediaIte sums up:
  

  The pollsters surveyed 700 likely voters in both TX-15 and TX-34, resulting in a margin of error of +/- 3.70%, and 600 likely voters in TX-28, with a margin of error of +/- 4.00%.

  In TX-15, which Trump won by 18 points in 2024, 50% of respondents chose [Democratic nominee James] Talarico and 42% [Republican nominee Ken] Paxton; TX-28, which Trump won by 10, was Talarico 51% and Paxton 41%; and TX-34, which Trump won by 10, was Talarico 53% and Paxton 42%.

  It’s like winning a special election: How much does this mean? Hard to say, but the boding is not well for Paxton, I think.

  I see one of the two, the report is ambiguous, also agree concerning a Trump endorsement:

  … the downward drag of Trump and the GOP’s poor polling on key issues like immigration and the economy.

  Click on the above MediaIte link to see the legendary Nate Silver’s rating of Texas. I’m surprised there’s been no mention of a good ol’ curseout in reaction by the President.

  Some Republican pundits, including my preferred Republican commentator, Erick Erickson, are plumb disgusted with Paxton – and, by implication, the Texas GOP:

  The only thing for which Paxton has ever shown prodigious energy is philandery and possibly corruption. He is a lazy candidate in a heated race, and laziness is not a flaw you can fundraise your way around. In the primary, I argued that Paxton could beat John Cornyn and that dragging the man across the finish line in November could cost Republicans the Senate. We have arrived at that moment.

  No doubt I stole that observation from Erickson way back when I suggested Paxton would be a mighty blow to the GOP cause. Honestly, while Trump’s endorsement was not a surprise, as he prefers weak asses that he can control in the important seats of Congress, the Texas GOP nominating Paxton, endorsement or no, was completely gobsmacking. Every primary voter who marked Paxton on their ballot should never be allowed a position of importance in the future.

  Unknown pollster Overton Insights has the two candidates in a dead-heat at 43.4% for Paxton and 44.0% for Talarico, take that for what you will.

  But can Talarico beat Paxton? In another post, Erickson notes a Tweet from some dude named Andrew Kaczynski:

  NEW: In a 2020 Zoom forum with climate activists, James Talarico spoke of “dismantling” capitalism, grouping it with White supremacy and climate change.
  In the same forum, he compared Texas’ oil industry to “cassette tapes,” saying it’s “not gonna last.”

  If this is, in fact, true, then Talarico’s going to have a helluva time winning in a State that practically worships capitalism – and for good reason.

• Were you thinking the lineup for the general election for the seat of the late South Carolina Senator L. Graham (R), now occupied by his sister Senator D. Graham (R), was set? You’re just a wee bit premature:
  

  Coming off a close loss in the Republican Senate primary, U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman suggested that voters write his name in as their choice in the November general election. …

  Speaking to reporters in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 31, Norman said “it was just shocking to me” that President Donald Trump got personally involved in the primary. [Greenville News]

  At least one political analyst thinks the political dynamic could change if Norman strongly dedicates himself to a tour of the State.

• The 1 September primary for the Senator’s seat for Massachusetts yielded a Democratic result of incumbent Senator Markey (D) 65.6%, Rep Moulton (R) 34.4%; Republican Michael Deaton (R) ran unopposed.

  Interestingly, Emerson College released a poll on 30 August and came to a 65% to 35% result. A 26 August poll from the University of New Hampshire had Markey winning 63% – 28%. Some redemption for other primary divergences.

  Perhaps this did in Moulton?

  In Tuesday’s Democratic Senate primary in deep blue Massachusetts, longtime Sen. Ed Markey is harking back to those [Boston Tea Party] roots as he pitches himself to voters as the anti-establishment candidate against Rep. Seth Moulton – despite arriving to Washington just three years after Joe Biden did in 1973. [CNN via yahoo!]

• In Iowa, does this mar Republican Rep Hinson’s (R) run for Iowa’s open seat in the Senate?
  

  Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ashley Hinson, a congresswoman pitching herself as a warrior against special interests in Iowa, and her husband, Matt Arenholz, have deep ties to the insurance industry, with Arenholz owning millions worth of interest in a private equity-backed brokerage.

  Documents reviewed by NOTUS reveal Arenholz also held a government affairs post at a leading insurance industry lobbying group, which has not been previously reported. He helped arrange meetings with Hinson and other Iowa congressional delegation members, the documents indicate. [NOTUS]

  I’m not feeling that surge of outrage, unless Hinson has empasized her alleged lack of ties to special interest groups. Nor am I aware of Iowa’s feelings on that particular subject. I always figure politicians have links to special interest groups simply out of necessity; the mistake is taking positions in them or advice from them without critical thought. This may have an impact on a very tight race, but it’ll be hard to measure.

  Speaking of tight races, unknown pollster Wedgewood Polls gives Rep Hinson a 50% – 48% lead over Josh Turek. The margin of error is specified as a largish ±4.6 points.

• Michigan State University measures Michigan Democratic candidate for Senate Abdul El-Sayed as leading Republican former Rep Mike Rogers (R), 48% – 44%.
• Incumbent Senator Ben Ray Luján (D) leads the write-in winner of the Republican primary, Larry Marker (R), 53% – 38% in New Mexico according to an Albuquerque Journal poll. According to local political expert Brian Sanderoff,
  

  “Ben Ray Luján has been active in New Mexico politics for decades. … Whereas his opponent, Larry Marker, he’s not known among the average New Mexico voter. So, what we have here is sort of like a David vs. Goliath.”

  David’s not doing all that poorly, to be honest. I wonder how many conservative voters are just plumb stubborn, and how many are uncomfortable with specific positions of Senator Luján’s.

• And in Alaska, the land of Dan Sullivans, Dan Sullivan (R) has endorsed Dan Sullivan (R), incumbent Senator, instead of … Dan Sullivan (R).

  There will be a test on this later.

FIN

That should be something to think about. Are the Republicans self-destructing? I suspect so. Will the Democrats follow them down the path?

The Democrats are talking it up again, on Meet The Press (via NBC News):

KRISTEN WELKER:

Okay, well, since we are on the topic of the court, let’s speak more broadly about it. Former Vice President Kamala Harris shares some of your criticisms, clearly. She’s called for expanding the Supreme Court from nine justices to 13. Do you support adding four more seats to the Supreme Court, Congressman?

REP. JAMES CLYBURN:

Yes, I do. I think that we are in a position now that calls from some significant actions taken by the Congress, and we ought to expand — and 13 is a pretty good number. A baker’s dozen would be a good number to have on the court. And I would hope we would get people on the court who will follow the constitutional underpinnings of this great nation of ours. The 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments have been interpreted different ways over the years. And we had in the Warren Court an interpretation of those amendments that I thought would be set for the future of the country. We have now a Supreme Court that has decided to reverse course, and take this country back, I say, to those rulings of Justice Taney, that said that no Black man has any rights that the white man must respect. That was the Supreme Court that made that decision. I had hoped that Clarence Thomas would follow the mordant underpinnings of that constitution of ours, but he has not done so. In fact, he’s decided to go all the way from an angry leftist to a very angry rightist.

The last time the Democrats brought this up, I cautioned that plunging ahead might alienate a significant portion of the independents because it would appear to be cheating by the Democrats. Indeed, this talk may have been a factor in the 2024 loss to the Republicans.

How about now?

Source: Pew Research Center [h/t Steve Benen].

But it’s not hard to see why Democrats feel this way, as the dominant conservative wing of the Court has been coming to conclusions that sometimes seem a bit nuts. Will this issue become a significant part of the campaign? I haven’t seen anything, yet, but there’s still time to deploy it. Or do Democrats see this as difficult to achieve with current likely outcomes of the midterms? I presume this is a legislative issue that must be signed by the President, or ignored, in order to become law.