For some reason I just can’t concentrate this week on a single subject. As I start to think deeply on a subject, suddenly I am distracted and my mind starts to consider the new subject. That may be a pattern I have as cooler weather slowly seeps in and the weather mellows out for a while.

So I will start writing this and see where the thoughts take me.

 *It is finally beginning to look like even the most hard core MAGA politicians now have to admit that human caused climate change is real and incredibly serious. But that doesn’t mean they will do anything substantial because their paycheck (or bribe or “campaign contribution”) depends on their refusal to do anything to companies that are among those that contribute to global warming.

• Yes there has been a warm earth in the past that had cataclysmic weather, but the rise in temperatures occurred over thousands, even millions of years – not the 200 or so years that we have seen in this current bout of warming. The rapid warming will not be followed by a rapid cooling. It will take thousands, maybe millions of years just like it has before

• Remember the issues we used to talk about pre-Trump? Health care, guns, access to abortion, good schools, Social Security and Medicare, hunger and homelessness among others. Our public discourse has been hijacked by “cultural” distractions which corporate media, social media and MAGA politicians have used to totally divert the conversation. MAGA politicians and their minions create momentary ‘crises’ that force us to fight the fire directly in front of us while the rest of the forest burns in the background.

• So tired of hearing lies from the right concerning the economy. Wages and spending power are actually rising. A Democrat once again walks into the presidency following an irresponsible MAGA president who has left the economy in a wreck. President Biden resurrected the economy just as Obama did before him and Clinton did before them. Democrats keep the country stable and thriving. But thanks to corporate media and social media Americans can’t seem to understand that.

• Interesting that the list of drugs that Medicare will be negotiating prices on with the Pharma reads almost like a list down from the most advertised drugs on TV. At least it looks like it to me based on what little TV I watch. No doubt the drug companies advertise the crap out of these specific drugs because they are so profitable.

• Almost comical to see Chuck Grassley come to the immediate defense of Pharma and denigrate the negotiations as ‘government setting the prices for drugs.’ Far from it, Chuck! It is a negotiation, just like they negotiate with the VA and countries like Canada. Tell the truth, Chuck. 

• Sure makes me wonder yet again why Iowans voted for a party first clown and liar like Grassley instead of a man of integrity like Admiral Michael Franken. 

• There is sure history being made around us daily. Among other things we live in the era of the most corrupt Supreme Court ever. Heading up the list of corrupted judges is Clarence Thomas who is simply in a class by himself. You almost wonder if a day goes by that Clarence doesn’t get a grift. By the way, the corruption appears to be only among the MAGA court members.

• I will end this rambling post with a few words that the extremist right seems to be proud of but may be reluctant to have discussed. That is their plans to completely redo our form of government and install their dream of a Unitary President under a plan called Project 2025. You must understand that while Project 2025 was drafted with another Trump presidency in mind, the expectation is that ANY ‘Republican’ elected would be expected to implement this.

(4 minutes)

Project 2025 contains ideas that have been bouncing around the extremist right for a long time. The main idea is simply that the President is in charge and cannot be restricted by the legislature or the courts. The president is also in charge of the administration and appointments would revert to the spoils system that was in use up to the 1880s. 

The Supreme Court is looking for cases to gut the power of the regulatory commissions. Couple this with the ideas in Project 2025 and we essentially will have a one man rule. By the way Project 2025 is written by the Heritage Foundation which is mostly underwritten with money from the oil industry.

Thom Hartmann discussed Project 2025 in his daily newsletter Thursday. He delved deeply into the history and its current application of similar systems. Stated simply there are few and they are dictatorships. Here is a short excerpt from Hartmann’s newsletter. I suggest you read the whole newsletter to get a flavor of how far removed it is from American ideals:

One of the most disturbing aspects of Project 2025 and other plans for future Republican presidencies is their consolidation of power in the hands of the president, reflecting the way government is run in Hungary, China, and Russia rather than the checks-and-balances envisioned by our nation’s Founders.

They would outright end the operational independence of the of the Department of Justice and the FBI, turning both into tools (or weapons) the president alone could wield.

The Federal Reserve, with its ability to turn on the monetary spigot to ensure “the good times roll” or turn off the spigot to induce a recession would also become the president’s political plaything.

Ditto for the Federal Communications Commission, which has the power to not only regulate but even shut down over-the-air radio and TV broadcasts that displease it, as well as wielding a largely today-unused power of censorship over cable TV and the internet.

And the Federal Trade Commission, which has the power to grant billion-dollar favors or inflict severe punishments on companies, would lose their independence because they could be used to reward or destroy companies that have earned the favor or ire of the president.