I've long urged friends and acquaintances who are on the more privileged side of life – specifically those who rationalize that today’s Republican Party still bears even a vestigial connection to patriotism, or market competition, or even sanity – to reconsider the wisdom of killing the goose that has laid all of their golden eggs: a mixed society that’s been vested – ever since the WWII generation – in science, infrastructure, rule-of-law, rising-tolerance, pragmatic negotiation, respect-for-facts and - above all - a thriving/dominant middle class.
Is a return to 6000 years of feudalism, as pushed by heirs of Stalin -- plus a world cabal of inheritance brats – truly in their long term interest?
These fellows – who seem to think the American Revolution was inspired by Edmund Burke or Dr. Phil, instead of Thomas Paine – deem themselves to be smart guys. Yet my parents – and even laborers and cabbies of the 1940s – had more vocabulary and understanding of Adam Smith, or Karl Marx, or John Locke, or the U.S. Founders than any of the tech-bros or ‘investment economists’ I know.
Having grown up in a Rooseveltean society that carefully dispelled the incantations of Marx, by use of science, infrastructure, rule-of-law, tolerance, and a thriving/dominant middle class, many rich fools now assume they can reverse all of those miracles – and the greatest wealth-generation the world ever saw -- yet somehow remain safe from Old Karl’s revived spectre.
They can’t. But it seems they must learn it the hard way...
... by waging all-out war vs. the one clade that stands in the way of their lordly ambitions – all of the fact using professions, from science and teaching, medicine and law and civil service to the heroes of the FBI/Intel/Military officer corps who won the Cold War and the War on terror.
The very same professional castes who know bio, nano, cyber, nuclear and all the rest. And who will not take kindly to being oppressed and immiserated, along with a working class that is driven to proletarian wrath. Those are the millions who are targeted, beyond headlined travesties toward poor immigrants.
As if absolutely determined to hire a tumbrel ride, these 'elite' fools seem incapable – and too incurious – ever to study basic things that my parents’ generation discussed in detail, while working with the Greatest Generation’s hero – FDR – to cancel what then seemed an inevitable communist revolution. Veering society instead toward something more complex and successful and diverse and responsible and free.
Alas, the hedge parasites, petro princes, monopolists, tech-bros, inheritance brats and kremlin "ex" commissars wallow in flatterers, rather than lifting their heads to study what worked.
And so, as nest-trashing greed sends wealth disparities skyrocketing past French Revolution levels, we must seek another voice who might be persuasive.
Charles Dickens had the right of this:
Along the Paris streets, the death-carts rumble, hollow and harsh. Six
tumbrils carry the day’s wine to La Guillotine. All the devouring and
insatiate Monsters imagined since imagination could record itself, are
fused in the one realisation, Guillotine. And yet there is not in France,
with its rich variety of soil and climate, a blade, a leaf, a root, a sprig, a
peppercorn, which will grow to maturity under conditions more certain
than those that have produced this horror. Crush humanity out of shape
once more, under similar hammers, and it will twist itself into the same
tortured forms. Sow the same seed of rapacious license and oppression
over again, and it will surely yield the same fruit according to its kind.
...
Shall I put it in simpler language? When flatterers persuade you to close off every civilized form of redress, then what do you expect to be the reaction?
That we’ll go meekly to the concentration camps? Here’s a musical riff for you that pre-dates Les Miserables:
Allons enfants de la patrie…
…do you hear across the land those
who would engorge upon our children?
Watch that scene in Casablanca.
Then look up the words behind the anger!
Leading to the second stanza’s fulmination…
It’s us who they’d dare to
Return to ancient slavery!
Stanza, schmanza.
If it ever truly comes to the refrain… Aux armes, citoyens!...
... it will be too late for you would-be lords to negotiate, or to win a deal.
We know the location and schematics of every prepper bunker.
And your Uber-Tumbrels driver is almost there.
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== An important lagniappe: Do the Re-Register Gambit! ==
Following up on a perennial question. Are there ANY high Rrepublicans who are clearly NOT blackmailed Kremlin agents, but have tried to stand up to the madness that has taken over the Party of Lincoln, Eisenhower and Reagan?
Here is the comprehensive alphabetical list of all U.S. Senators and House Republicans since 2015 who either voted against Trump in key moments (impeachment, election certification, Jan 6 commission) or retired/resigned rather than face MAGA pressure—covering every state with at least one such member:
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Senators
Bill Cassidy (LA) – Voted to convict Trump (2021)
Bob Corker (TN) – Retired post-Trump clashes
Ben Sasse (NE) – Resigned to academia
Lisa Murkowski (AK) – Survived, rank-choice Still independent critic
Mitt Romney (UT) – Retiring, impeachment votes Continues open criticism
Pat Toomey (PA) – Voted to convict (2021)
Richard Burr (NC) – Voted to convict (2021)
Susan Collins (ME) – Voted to convict, survived
Thom Tillis (NC) – Retired post-clashes
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House of Representatives
Adam Kinzinger (IL) – Retired post-impeachment Still fighting Trump publicly
Anthony Gonzalez (OH) – Voted to impeach (2021)
Brian Fitzpatrick (PA) – Remained, dissenting votes
Dave Trott (MI) – Retired, became Independent
Fred Upton (MI) – Retired post-impeachment Occasional public critic
Jeff Flake (AZ) – Retired anti-Trump Occasional public critic
John Katko (NY) – Retired post-impeachment
Justin Amash (MI) – Left GOP, retired, Independent run Independent-minded
Ken Buck (CO) – Resigned early dissent Continues criticism of Trump
Liz Cheney (WY) – Ousted, primary loss Actively fighting Trump
Mike Gallagher (WI) – Resigned impeachment dissent
Paul Mitchell (MI) – Left GOP, retired 2021
Peter Meijer (MI) – Primaryed post-impeachment
Notice how how many have been driven out of office? And this doesn't include the THREE Republican Congressmen who declared or alluded that their party is rife with "orgies" - (think the film Eyes Wide Shut) - that lead inevitably to blackmail. (And blackmail is the ONLY theory that explains 20 years of Republican behavior.)
Will these folks join Romney and GOP former Crown Prince Paul Ryan in finally, finally gathering a True Republican Party? Or else (shudder) join Elon's latest whimsey?
Not likely.
FAR better? If millions of Dems and Independents who live in gerrymandered GOP districts should re-register as Republicans! Hold your nose and do it! It would:
- protect you from being accidentally purged from voter rolls before November 2026!
- utterly mess up their calculations!
- let you vote in the only election that matters in your district - the Republican primary. And thus give a chance to some moderate adult, reducing gerrymander-induced radicalization.
Hold your nose and do it! And spread word.
27 comments:
Reconsidering "the wisdom of killing the goose that has laid all of their golden eggs" seems to me to be the main reason why Trump voters are changing their minds. Theoretical issues of a loss of freedom (inconceivable to most people) carries less weight than being able to feed their families.
Hi Dr Brin
Of your wagers you probably need to retire the pH meter by the seaside - the oceans have become - more acid - but measuring that is a LOT more complex than using a pH meter
On a previous posting I did link to an explanation of just how complex it actually was
The rest of them are pretty bullet proof
Duncan I agree. But it is polemically very powerful. And any panel of retired senior officers would insist the test be more thoroughly checkable. And since I am utterly unworried about that outcome... and any denialist will be ... I don't expect that to be a problem.
Just as a 'can't anyone here play this game?' lament, rumpT seems to have congratulated the president of Liberia during their first meeting for his excellent command of English.
I don't expect the prez of MAGA to bother to look up the official language of Liberia (or the interesting reason it's English) but couldn't a staff member have let him know beforehand? Or maybe they did, but after 10 seconds he forgot....I know this is small potatoes compared to destroying NOAA, FEMA and all the other vitally important agencies that have been DOGE'd, but by Athena it grates.
Pappenheimer
P.S. the Mauna Loa CO2 monitor shows a June average of 430.51 ppm, 4 points higher than last year. At least they're still showing the data.
correction - that's May data.
Kilauea has been going off since December 2024, and the VOG-meters show that the vapors frequently cover a chunk of the Big Island. Playing Devil's Advocate, would that have an impact on CO2 readings?
I vote in Missouri's Second Congressional District. (I'm not to blame for Ann Wagner, I promise.)
We have open primaries in Missouri. You show up at the polling place on election day and tell the official which ballot you want--it's that simple--and so party registration isn't something that matters to me.
In the last four or five primaries, I've paid attention to who the Republican candidates were; and I hardly ever could tell them apart. They were mostly all about guns for Jesus and "protecting girls' sports". In the last Republican primary, almost every candidate claimed that their opponent was insufficiently MAGA.
My one try at voting in a Republican primary was a failure: I'm partly responsible for our disgraced governor, Eric Greitens.
There are 3 reasons to re-register Republican in a gerrymandered or otherwise red district. If you live in an open primary state like Missouri, or a (better) General nonpartisan primary state like California, that reduces one of the reasons. You can already vote against monsters.
The other two reasons are still valid. It messes their calculations, but above all prevents you getting purged a week before the next election, along with most democrats.
The CO2 observatory is placed so that it gets air that has blown over thousands of kilometers of ocean, not over the volcano. The wind is very reliable and they know of and can delete the rare occasions when the volcano can affect readings.
The rot in the GOP goes back much farther than 20 years, and it is not blackmail.
It is the effect of poor education and rabid preachers, and it is most notably the effect of the GOP not hesitating to primary anyone that does not toe the party line. The democrats need to learn that last lesson, and quickly.
There are very few conservatives that actually live their stated ideals, just like there are very few libertarians that actually vote for liberty.
America has always had genocidal assholes but now it has genocidal assholes that own the presses, the internet, and the judges.
It ain't all blackmail.
It's evil.
Evil like the low cum rancher.
Evil like the commenter with the "nice" ICE agent next-door neighbor.
Evil like the folks here that brag about being Federalist Society members.
Evil like those here that enable oligarchs, and claim that "good" billionaires that own their own space program are some kind of savior-genius.
Dr Brin gives away the entire game when he admits to Duncan_C that historical Seawater pH Data has minimal scientific & comparative value, as inaccurate LITMUS PAPER served this purpose until WW2, the Beckman Glass Electrode technique was not routinely adopted until after WW2 & our current Spectrophotometric pH measurement standard was not it common use prior to 1989, giving rise to serial inaccuracies which are magnified by a historical lack of scientific reproducibility protocols relating to fresh water fraction & oceanic measurement depth.
And why do fresh water fraction & oceanic measurement depth matter so much in Seawater pH measurements?
Because the Freshwater pH of rivers, streams & lakes normally range from a pH of 5 (acidic) to a pH of 8 (basic), depending on the surrounding substrate, while the pH of UNDILUTED saltwater averages closer to 8.2 (but is naturally lower in areas of freshwater intrusions) and seawater density (along with pH) routinely varies by depth.
Yet, as Dr Brin also admits, he is more concerned with the POLEMIC VALUE of his Ocean Acidification Argument than he is with its Scientific Validity, especially when it comes to playing 'gotcha' on those credulous dupes who accept his dishonest wagers.
As to the execrable politics, I will not comment, except to note that all those Marxists (which I supposedly hallucinate) are as real as the face attached to Matthew's prole-covered nose, assuming that 'ze/zer' has the courage to confirm the true extent of his political sympathies.
Best
While matthew's 'evil' theory has redolence... and certainly fits our trio of MAGA ingrate-traitors here... I deem it to be an utter copout. It cedes a vastly important territory of my own Republican neighbors, several of whom I would trust with my life a long time before I'd trust matthew with a burnt match.
Decent folks who are gradually persuadable, if you use the tactic no dem pol ever tries... and that's picking one Fox narrative to glom onto like a lamprey and never let it go.
Are such folks a majority of Republicans? Well... close. Close enough that I'd rather win this phase of civil war through destroying Fox's hypnosis powers and building a Rooseveltean coalition than by marching through Georgia.
But m refers to my theory about TOP republicans, and while many ARE totally corrupt or wholly owned by oligarchy or terrified of being primaried... or death threats... NONE of those factors would have the universal compulsory effect of blackmail.
Take Lindsey Graham. How many times has he tried to say "I'm done with Trump, clearly hoping to escape, only to grovel the very next day? What other thing could do that? Anyway, he's the poster boy of blackmail.
You lie top to bottom, twit. STep up NOW with $$ stakes whether I simply avowed that ocean pH measurements have to be statistically corrected across millions of measurements. But ALL scientists in the field know - and can prove - that your cult is killing the oceans our children will need. And on that basis... BRING IT, FOOL! That panel of retired officers awaits. And you are a jibberiong, rabid-frothing, capering loony.
“For all its beauty, honesty, and effectiveness at improving the human condition, science demands a terrible price—that we accept what experiments tell us about the universe, whether we like it or not.” —David Brin, Existence, 2012 novel
And hence the desperate hatred of science (while claiming otherwise) of our gone-made nostalgist-cultist neighbors.
"The other two reasons [to register Republican] are still valid. It messes their calculations, but above all prevents you getting purged a week before the next election, along with most democrats."
I hadn’t thought about getting purged. I guess that could happen to me if I had a surname that sounded Hispanic, Black or Muslim, or if I hadn’t lived at the same address for years. I’ve never registered as anything, though; and I have no clue how to do it.
Question about your blog’s comment editor: is there some place where I can learn which HTML tags will work? I experimented with the last comment and found that <i></i> works but <blockquote></blockquote> doesn’t. HTML entities seem to work, probably because they just pass through unchanged to one’s browser.
Bill. I kinda gave up on that long ago.
University of Maine still show the NOAA's data for average surface sea temperature
Even if Trump manages to shutter Mauna Loa Observatory, there's still Cape Grim, and a few other sites.
Only tags that work are <b>b: bold</b>, <i>i: italics</i>, and <a href="link" title="Snarky tooltip">a: anchor</a>,
Just some facts for the guy who won't accept any facts that don't align with his fascist views: https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/04/09/partisanship-by-race-ethnicity-and-education/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSZ1h-bydS4
I think the main thing cowing most of the Republican leaders is the threat of being primaried and the threat of assassination of them and their families by MAGA supporters. The threat to their families is particularly important. That said there are some likely blackmail subjects. And Lindsey Graham does come to mind. He walks, waddles and quacks appropriately. But there is another motive even for him. He is a born toady.
And I agree with doing lamprey impressions on particular issues. I only disagree on how to go about it.
Apparently, Post-Doge, some citizens discovered that have lost their ID Card entries in the Federal Data Base. It might be useful to check if one still has a personal, valid passport, ID Card or drivers license.
John D. Rockefeller once told William McKinley, the president he owned, "I don't want an educated workforce, I want an obedient workforce." The Republican Party has been trashing American education ever since. Rockefeller also paid literally hundreds of church leaders around America to preach against labor unions and claim that they are communist and/or socialist. This is why so many people in the US think that unions are commie. They mostly don't know what either communism or socialism are, half of them think they're the same thing, and anything that appears to help people in any way is some shade of "Marxist" - anything that isn't cut-throat competition, anyway.
Paul SB
Damien Walter- in one of the best pod-videos all year - explores implications of DUNE. Frank Herbert’s message against dark age feudalism got buried as millions yearn for one of the most oppressive societies ever depicted in mythology. Watch this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f1UumjWTa0
"Messiah myths are never true."
Calculemus!
Damien Walter asks, first with Spice and then with Enlightenment, what would result if kings and priests share instead of hoard?
In the same vein, my Calculemus! refers to numeracy, computation, FORTH, WJCC, and especially A.I.
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