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One Group, Clearly, Is Deranged

Paul Krugman:

YouGov’s surveys subdivide Republicans into those who do and those who don’t support MAGA — and the economic views of these two groups are very different. A remarkable 65 percent of non-MAGA Republicans say that the economy is getting worse, while only 11 percent say that it is getting better. […]

Aside from MAGA Republicans, Americans are bunched at the upper left, with few people seeing the economy getting better and the vast majority seeing it as getting worse. Non-MAGA Republicans are much more similar in their views to independents, and even to Democrats, than they are to MAGA.

So how big is the group that believes that we have a good economy? Only 19 percent of Americans.

The MAGA/non-MAGA split amongst self-identifying Republicans is striking. Non-MAGA Republicans have views on the economy that almost exactly mirror those of independents — neither of which are that far from those of Democrats.

And let’s face it, “MAGA” is a euphemism for the Donald Trump cult of personality. These are the people who think it’s fine, just fine for him to be putting his name on buildings, his signature (and perhaps face) on currency, putting his face on “special” edition US passports, erecting gold statues of himself, holding a UFC fight on the White House lawn to celebrate his birthday — not to mention the not-even-trying-to-hide-it-or-excuse-it abject corruption.

It’s rather depressing that 20 percent of the US population is in this cult. But I choose to be edified by the fact that it’s only 20 percent. That’s not that much higher than the 13 percent who believe “Bigfoot / Sasquatch is a real, living creature”. This whole thing is a political boil that is starting to burst. Rats leave sinking ships.

(To read the entire article, click here)

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A federal judge just handed trump a stinging legal rebuke, ordering his name stripped from the Kennedy Center and ruling that only Congress has the authority to rename a building created by an act of Congress in 1964 as a living memorial to John F. Kennedy. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper made it plain in his 94-page ruling: “The Kennedy Center’s organic statute makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board’s unilateral say-so.” The judge also blocked the administration’s plan to shut the whole place down for two years starting July 4th for what trump called a “complete rebuilding.”

Predictably, trump did not take the news gracefully. He went straight to Truth Social to blast whine about Judge Cooper, saying the judge “should be ashamed of himself” and framing the whole thing as the “Radical Left” wanting the Kennedy Center to “DIE.” In classic trump fashion, he didn’t just complain about losing. He picked up his toys and threatened to go home, announcing he was instructing the Commerce Department to transfer control of the institution back to Congress, writing that he has “no interest in continuing” unless he’s free to do things his way.

The lawsuit was brought by Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio, who argued, correctly as it turns out, that what trump’s board did was flatly illegal. Beatty called it a desecration of a sacred memorial “for his own vanity.” The legal principle here is not complicated: Congress named the Kennedy Center for Kennedy, and only Congress can change that. trump can chair the board, fire the trustees, and secure $257 million in renovation funds, but he cannot simply rename a federally chartered memorial on a whim. The courts, at least for now, are holding that line.

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Another Disappointment

Perhaps disappointment is too strong a word. I left the theater (yes, I actually ventured out to a real theater today) feeling…underwhelmed. As I told a friend, perhaps i’m so thoroughly familiar with the lore of the Backrooms world that nothing really grabs me about it any more. I found Kane’s original five videos far more engaging.

Don’t get me wrong: the performances were spot on. The sets and effects were of a quality that we’ve all come to expect from a summer movie. But in trying to explain what the “monster” was, I think Kane and crew missed the mark. The monter in his original videos is never explained; it just is, and I think they should’ve done the same with the movie. The unknown (and its motivations) is far more viscerally frightening than a monster whose origin and motivations are all explained and tied up with a neat little bow.

Or maybe I’ve just become so old and jaded that movies in general no longer give the that endorphin rush they used to when I was in my 20s and 30s.

At this point, I’m expected to be sorely disappointed by the two other movies I’m actually going to a theater to see this summer, Disclosure Day and of course, DUNE 3. I hope i’m proven wrong; I hope at least one of them wows me.

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They’re Scared

Good.

“Shut up you ugly f—.” That’s what the Democratic Party’s official account told Stephen Miller, after he mocked a Senate candidate as “transgender” to insult his looks. And honestly? Good.

Here’s the full exchange, because context matters.

On Wednesday, the DNC posted a photo of Talarico, the Texas Senate candidate, with the caption “Fired up. Ready to go. It’s time to take back Texas.”

Stephen Miller, the architect of family separation and the cruelest immigration policies in modern memory, quote-tweeted it: “The Democrats made history in Texas by nominating their first transgender senate candidate,” needling Talarico over his appearance.

For the record, Talarico is not transgender. He’s a straight, cisgender Christian man with a girlfriend.

Miller knew that. The “joke” wasn’t really about Talarico. It was the same tired playbook: use “transgender” as a slur, treat an entire group of people as a punchline, and dehumanize for sport.

So the DNC fired back. “Shut up you ugly f—.”

Predictably, conservatives clutched their pearls. “WHAT THE F—? DEMOCRATS TURN TO PROFANITY INSTEAD OF POLICY,” screamed Fox News.

The party of “f— your feelings,” the people who turned cruelty into a brand and put it on hats and flags, suddenly discovered the importance of civility the moment someone gave it back.

Yes, some Democrats winced and called it embarrassing.

That’s the instinct that’s gotten the party steamrolled for a decade. The endless belief that if they’re just polite enough, dignified enough, the other side will play fair. It never does. Stephen Miller is not owed politeness. He’s owed exactly what he dishes out.

You cannot shame people who have no shame. You cannot out-civility a movement that mocks the dead, the disabled, and entire minorities for fun. Sometimes the only language a bully respects is being told to sit down.

For once, a Democrat didn’t bring a strongly worded statement to a knife fight.

More of this.

[source]

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Again, Needs A Half Bath On The First Floor

I’m just not sure where it could go. I’d get rid of the wall at the back of the living room to connect directly to the kitchen. Ideally if you’re a fan of the “open concept,” get rid the basement/basement stairs and both walls between the living and dining rooms (you’d need a massive beam to hold up the 2nd floor there since one of those is probably structural) and install an open-riser, see-through, self-supporting steel staircase.

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