Politics Plus

Yesterday, Heather Cox Richardson’s “Letter from an American” for the previous night turned out to be a bit unsettling. Netanyahu has managed to push a measure through the Knesset limiting the power of the courts (to check excesses by the executive. It look like “Fascist Jewish State” is no longer an oxymoron. The letter also highlights, I’m sure without intending to, the superiority of the Political Compass, with its four directions, over the left-right distinction to describe political positions. Heather has to say “hard right” when what she really means is “authoritation right,” which I realize is longer, but has an exact definition, which “hard right” does not, and is therefore more clear. Also, as if that wasn’t enough, she touches on Abbott’s war crimes, Gym Jordan’s House Judiciary Committee, and Russia both bombing Odessa and raising the upper limit draft age. Here’s the link in case anyone wants a deeper dive (and hopefully isn’t too depressed already.)

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Common Dreams – Heatwave Chevron? As US Bakes, Former Meteorologist Names Heatwaves After Oil Companies
Quote – “I’m naming heatwaves to highlight this worsening climate problem and perhaps save lives by getting the public to focus on this weather threat,” [Guy Walton] wrote in an April blog post. “This year I’m naming major heatwaves after oil companies to shame them in the process and to identify culprits that are exacerbating these deadly systems.” Heatwaves are the deadliest type of extreme weather event in the U.S., according to The Weather Channel, killing more people on average each year than tornadoes or hurricanes put together. Yet they do not receive names like hurricanes or wildfires, and some experts have argued that changing this might help people take them more seriously and save lives.
Click through for story and evidence. The concept is not original to him – Seville in Spain has been doing it – but IMO it’s a good idea whose time has come.

The Inquirer – Why are Texas and Florida building their own large, sadistic armies?
Quote – This crucible of blood and bone is playing out against the cold slashing metal of barbed wire strung out along the Rio Grande River that divides the United States from Mexico in west Texas. The actors are a new breed of troops, accountable not to Washington but to an ambitious Republican governor in Austin, enforcing his Fox News bromides with brutal force.,,, In a story first broken by the Houston Chronicle’s Benjamin Wermund, based on a whistleblowing email from a state trooper complaining of inhumane conditions at Eagle Pass, and then amplified by the Times’ reporting, we’ve learned the past week that troops under the massive Texas state border operation dubbed Operation Lone Star are committing shocking acts that arguably add up to domestic war crimes.
Click through for details. The obvious answer to the question in the headline would appear to be that two governors (two for now, anyway) want to be absolute monarchs in their states and are forming armies to enforce that. But we can’t rule out the possibility that, unchecked, we could be looking at potential insurrection. And a possible shooting Civil War – again.

Food For Thought