Politics

He's clearly in full-on "fuck it, I guess this falls to me" mode.

Includes this absolutely breathtaking excerpt:

But Kelley’s attorney had argued that President Donald Trump’s mass pardon of Jan. 6 rioters should apply to Kelley’s conviction in the murder plot because it “directly relates to the events at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.”

Crazy how some old White guys still have decency.

archive.is link

Last week, the words “transgender” and “queer” were deleted from the National Parks Service website for the Stonewall National Monument, to demonstrate compliance with one of Trump’s executive orders. A biographical note about legendary activist Sylvia Rivera was nonsensically edited to read “At a young age Sylvia began fighting for gay and rights,” with no effort to even replace the deleted, dreaded word “transgender” from where it had originally appeared (following “and”). Historic descriptions about why Stonewall mattered were hastily truncated to read: “Before the 1960s, almost everything about living openly as a lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) person was illegal”—missing the two letters that made up what had been “LGBTQ+.”

Within hours, queer and trans groups and activists organized a protest at Stonewall to condemn the erasure, with hundreds of people rallying to condemn the administration’s attempts to edit trans people out of the nation’s history. These sorts of protests are now following each new Trump decree, every agency Musk has ravaged. The sites are expanding: from DC sidewalks to Congressional offices, from Stonewall to Tesla dealerships. The day after the protest against trans erasure, a small group picketed the Manhattan Tesla dealership, one of a number of actions across the country that day, each organized autonomously to locate the fight with Musk in any city or town where Teslas were sold. The signs and chants varied, but all illustrated the collapse of Musk’s business interests into his government takeover, tying his “Swasticars” to the “broligarchy.” On Monday, they were still popping up outside Tesla properties. In San Francisco, a sign was spotted in the dealership’s upper window: “We Hate Him Too.”

On Monday, also known as President’s Day, another wave of the Reddit-organized 50501 protests hit dozens of cities. 50501 seems to be drawing out some people who have never organized a protest before. “I decided to pick the ball up and do it myself. And I learned a lot extremely quickly,” said one organizer in Pennsylvania. Indivisible is now running with the Tesla protest idea, urging people to plan their own “Tesla Town Halls” wherever they are. “If you’re in Texas or California,” their guide suggests, “consider a SpaceX facility or X (formerly Twitter) headquarters.”

Mere weeks ago, media outlets were still publishing pieces asking where the “resistance” was. It seems we are now well past that: Possibly, that’s because “the resistance” is bubbling up in too many places to track. When we look back on these weeks, we may see a broader narrative was emerging: The rolling protests everywhere may turn out to be more sustainable than the mass one-day turnouts by which many judge the strength of a movement.

archive link: https://archive.ph/4XuVz Long read so here's a summary:

The Ukraine War has revealed several surprises:

War returned to Europe despite expectations of permanent peace The conflict primarily involves the US and Russia rather than European powers Ukraine showed unexpected resilience Russia demonstrated economic resilience against sanctions Europe showed geopolitical and economic passivity

According to Todd, the European Union's problems stem from the Maastricht Treaty, which:

Led to deindustrialization Created a quasi-religious faith in the euro Resulted in loss of national sovereignty Produced political passivity and resignation among citizens Encouraged elites to reject nationalism in favor of "Europeanism"

On the United States, Todd argues:

America has transitioned from world's factory to world's largest consumer The US is losing its technological edge to China in several areas The dollar's global dominance may be threatened by BRICS expansion and de-dollarization efforts American education is declining, particularly in STEM fields The decline of Protestantism has removed the moral center of American power

Todd's analysis of Western decline includes several factors:

The rise of neoliberalism has led to destruction of industries and social structures Educational regression in the West Loss of industrial capacity Increasing inequality and social atomization Technology stagnation outside of IT

The reviewer notes that Todd's main weakness is excessive pessimism that may overlook possibilities for renewal and adaptation in an uncertain era. This 2024 book appears to synthesize Todd's long-standing contrarian views about Western decline, particularly focusing on how the Ukraine war has exposed underlying weaknesses in Western economic and political systems.