I looked into it, because I’m so horrified at the state of things down there in Foggy Bottom, but I can’t apply for refugee status in Canada. Canada still considers this a safe country.
I’m thinking about that. Is the US of Assholes still a safe country? And what does it mean that Canada thinks so?
We’re three weeks out from the 2026 midterm election, and Trump is making all kinds of noise about how the Democrats are going to steal the election, while at the same time, he’s trying to gain control of each state’s election process, stationing ICE near polling places, having practice ballot-seizings… and everybody remembers January 6th of 2021, when he tried to coup Congress to stop them certifying Joe Biden as president and in the middle of things maybe eliminate a couple of enemies, like Mike Pence, Nancy Pelosi, and AOC.
But we’re 6 years futher into Stinky Don’s slide into dementia, into a presidency whose approval ratings have gone about as sour as any president’s in recent memory have gone (which is saying something, isn’t it, W?) and whose base is crumbling into stale, stale cookies. Can this crippled old bagadoo muster the wherewithall to actually steal the whole country from us? And here’s the real question: are we all pathetic enough to let it happen?
And is Canada right about us? The answer to those questions and many others might come as soon as three weeks from today.
–
Over the weekend, I found my self in an extended go-’round with an English guy who at the beginning of things had seemed somewhat reasonable and worth talking to about various topics where I knew we disagreed. I held out hope for a lot longer than I probably should have. By the end of our “debate” this morning, I was 100% convinced that there was no there there. If you bring up stuff he doesn’t like he starts repeatedly screaming about “the left” and how “the left” is fundamentally delusional and always wrong about everything because “the left.”
It was truly disheartening and disappointing. The longer it went on, the more vehement he became and the more obviously he strove to find some path to “victory(?).” His one article of faith (and it was faith) is that everything any leftist says is some received false notion and can’t possibly be true. In the end, he resorted to abandoning our”conversation” and started one elsewhere that was meant as character assassination and miscast what I said while still crowing about “the left” and how I’m “a racist.”
So in the end we come to this. Yes, I am on the left, and proudly so, and as to whether I’m a racist… probably? But this dude is definitely a delusional RWNJ. The more we got into it, the more it became clear that the supposed reasonability and willingness to explore ideas was a veneer overlaying a whole lot of postmodern ideology.
I’m still looking for a right-winger I can talk to and consider views I have that might be wrong. Didn’t find that here, and by golly, it seems more and more unlikely that I ever will. The best I’ve found for this so far are Saagar Enjeti and Emily Jashinsky over on Breaking Points, but I’m nobody so I don’t talk to them, I just listen to Krystal Ball and Ryan Grim talk to them.
And yeah, I learn stuff, and sometimes I call shenanigans. But at least they show it’s possible for there to be some kind of continuing discussion.
–
We’re a couple of days into the aftermath of the Ukrainian bombing of 3 Russian data centers, and the cascading effects of that destruction on the discourse on the internet. Bot activity on the web from Russian servers has beend own to .4% of usage prior to the attacks. There’s no clear data on the full effects, but with at least a couple of major Yandex data centers offline, there’s widespread reporting of a marked drop in right wing troll activity online.
I can only see this as a good thing, just a few weeks out from an election.
–
Ilhan Omar’s being targeted by HSI (Homeland Security Investigations), who raided her Washington DC residence, looking for any evidence they can find of irregularities in her immigrant status, so that they can revoke her citizenship and deport her ahead of the midterm elections.
My sense is that this is backfiring. One has only to look at Elon Musk, who is the subject of reports that he came to this country with undocumented status and then bought his way in. The same can be said for FLOTUS, who is the subject of similar reports and who, for some reason, got a “genius” visa in the midst of her immigration process.
My guess is that they will find no irregularities in Omar’s legal path to naturalized citizenship, but that this will not dissuade Trump from targeting her and trying to remove her from office and from the country.
–
Please consider liking and commenting on this post. Subscribe if you can – it costs you nothing (you no longer have to have a wordpress account to like or comment) and clicking on the buttons helps this site thrive! Also, do be a dear and share this post with those you know who might appreciate it!
