L.A. Times

In addition to the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times Editorial Board has published a simple opinion that Trump is unfit. Biden might be old and stutters, but he doesn't want to destroy the country like Trump does. He doesn't want to round up millions of migrants, put them in detention camps and deport them. 

There is literally no end to the ugly things that Donald Trump wants to do, and we can use the (Nazi) Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 to get a glimpse of what these fascist authoritarians want to do to this country. I, probably like many, many others, urge you to read Project 2025.  Here is a good link to get you started: The People's Guide to Project 2025.

Editorial:  One candidate is patently unfit for the White House. It’s not Biden

by The Los Angeles Times Editorial Board

July 11, 2024

Democrats are in crisis at the moment, divided over whether President Biden should stay in the race after his disastrous debate last month or clear the way for another, younger candidate. 

Biden’s shaky performance raised concerns about whether he can win in November, and prompted calls from prominent Democrats, columnists and others for him to step aside. It’s up to the Democratic Party to sort this out. But it’s time to refocus attention on the only candidate in the race who is patently unfit for office — any office — and an imminent threat to democracy: Donald Trump.

It’s unbelievable that the nation is spending so much time on the question of Biden’s verbal acuity, when the greatest concern ought to be that his challenger is a self-aggrandizing felon and twice-impeached election-denier. Trump fomented the Jan. 6 insurrection, shows contempt for the rule of law and shamelessly lies in pursuit of more power. He’s an authoritarian who admires murderous despots, wants to jail his political enemies and has publicly flirted with declaring himself a dictator on his first day back in office.

With fervent support from the Republican Party, he peddles cruelty, racism and misogyny, demonizing immigrants as “poisoning the blood of our country,” demeaning women‘s looks and intelligence, and using disgustingly fascist language to criticize his opponents as “vermin.” He’s a man who lied about his wealth for years to cheat on his taxes, whose business was convicted of criminal tax fraud, and who’s been denounced by many former aides and Cabinet members as a  “malignant narcissist” who recklessly puts himself before the American people.

Trump is the only man in the presidential race manifestly unworthy of holding a position of power, and has no business ever returning to the White House. If the GOP had any decency left, its members would be discussing whether to dump Trump for a candidate who isn’t out to bulldoze democratic institutions in favor of autocracy.

Voters should resist viewing this contest through the politics-as-usual lens of past elections. This November is not about dueling personalities, middle-of-the-road policy differences, or as some might see it, an 81-year-old man being the lesser of two evils compared with a 78-year-old man. It’s nothing short of a referendum on our 248-year democracy, and a choice between a trustworthy public servant who upholds American values and a serial liar who wants to push the country into authoritarianism.

Leaders of the Democratic Party have to stop the self-defeating discussion about Biden’s fitness and decide whether to replace him or unify behind him. And Americans must start hearing more about how the records, positions and character of Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and any of the prominent Democrats being floated as possible replacements make them all unquestionably superior to Trump.

Original.

Blind Loyalty?

Dan Rather takes the position that I have held recently. That is: let the dissenters speak, let those who are worried about Biden speak out and be heard. This does not mean, of course, that we have to agree with them or automatically disagree with them. The open discussion of ideas and, well, everything, is part of the American experience. 

Blind Loyalty? That’s the Other Guy

The Democrats need discourse, not discord

DAN RATHER AND TEAM STEADY JUL 11

It’s been too hot in Texas to spend any meaningful time outside, which has left this reporter with few options except to watch the post-debate discourse on social media and cable news. Big mistake. Frankly, I am alarmed at what I’m witnessing. If you wonder why Donald Trump has been so quiet lately, it’s because he doesn’t need to campaign. Why waste a good lie and ad dollars when he can sit back and watch the Democrats implode? 

President Biden insists he’s in it to stay, bad debate or not. Those who question that decision, or support his withdrawal, are now being told some version of salute and get in line, don’t rock the boat, or change can’t happen. It’s similar to an expression by an old Texas football coach who once said you have to “dance with the one who brung you.” To do otherwise is apparently not acceptable.

It is shocking to me that to criticize Biden is now being labeled as blasphemous. To worry about our democracy under a president who is losing a step – or worse — is seen as unpatriotic or even somehow showing tacit support for Trump. 

In the same breath, I hear, “What about Trump? Why isn’t the media calling on him to get out?” I won’t speak for others, but at Steady I can point to hundreds of posts written over the past several years about why he is unfit to serve. If our position is unclear, then I have failed. Going forward, we will continue to highlight his lies and generally outrageous behavior.

Whether Biden should stay in the race is a discussion we all must be having. Yes, keeping Trump out of D.C. forever is vital. But to be silenced and shamed for the very act of questioning Biden’s ability to lead is undemocratic. We are better than that. If we have learned anything in the last eight years, it is that blind loyalty is dangerous — see Trump, Donald J.  

I am not, repeat NOT, endorsing a Biden withdrawal from the race. Nor am I endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, or anyone else. What I am endorsing is a conversation about strategy, one without intimidation. To be shouted down for raising your voice is un-American.

If this angers you, I’m sorry. I get it. The unknown is almost as terrifying as another four years of Donald Trump. But I am here to tell you, to the best of my ability in the days I have left on this earth, the truth, or as close to it as possible. And sometimes that is not pleasant. But our democracy needs a big injection of truth right now. And I mean right now, as in today.  

If we were kept in the dark by our journalists, or even worse, the White House staff or Biden campaign purposely deceiving us about the president’s health, it is beyond troubling. This cannot be swept under the rug. It needs sunshine. 

The loudest argument against having an open discussion is a lack of time to change course, which is, frankly, insulting. This is America. We can and will do what’s needed to protect our great country. Never say can’t … that’s a word on the outside of my vocabulary looking in. If you want the side eye from me, tell me something can’t be done.  

One final note — I’m most proud of the comments section on Steady. It is an open forum where intelligent, well-informed people have smart, civil debates. In response to a post last week, many of you were upset with even the notion of questioning the present course. That is your right. It is also the right of others to talk about a different way forward. Please allow them to do so.  

If you value independent journalism that provides critical information to protect our democracy, please consider upgrading as a supporting member. It allows me to keep Steady sustainable and free for those who cannot afford it, especially in an election season when we need everyone to see it. Thank you.

Original. 

Beryl from space

The wife and I have lived in and around Houston off and on for about 40 years. We survived many hurricanes during those years: Alicia, Allison, Ike, Rita, and several other not-so-deadly or expensive, but annoying, storms. We retired from working and left Houston in early  2017.

That summer, a Cat 4 Hurricane Harvey flooded most of Houston killing almost 70 people. I remember, we had just moved to the RGV (Rio Grande Valley). Harvey came up from the south and sat offshore about 100 miles east of Brownsville for several hours, as if it was considering whether or not to fuck with us. It wasn't all that huge of a storm yet. 

We went to bed nervously, hoping the storm wouldn't head for us overnight and we'd wake up and might not be able to flee (they close the bridge if sustained winds reach 45mph). When we woke the next morning, the storm was moving to the north, thank goodness. Rockport eventually got flattened and flooded, and then the storm went back out to sea, strengthened some more and then drifted over to Galveston. It hit with an 8'-12' storm surge, and dumped around 60" of rain on the Houston area. So glad we had moved six months before Harvey hit. That's called dumb luck.

 

Beryl Makes Landfall in Texas

After tearing through the Caribbean and the Yucatan Peninsula, Hurricane Beryl swept ashore over the Gulf Coast of Texas on July 8, 2024. The Category 1 storm had sustained winds of up to 80 miles (129 kilometers) per hour at landfall and brought high gusts and heavy rain to the Houston area.

This image (top of page) shows Beryl at 7:43 a.m. Central Daylight Time (12:43 Universal Time) on July 8, about 3 hours after making landfall near Matagorda, Texas. As it moved north toward Houston, Beryl dumped 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 centimeters) of rain over the metro area. Local authorities reported flooding along roads, downed trees, and power outages. 

This GeoColor image (above) was captured by the ABI (Advanced Baseline Imager) on the GOES-16 (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-16). GeoColor images show natural color reflectance during the daytime and multi-spectral infrared bands at night. The satellite is operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which includes the National Weather Service. NASA helps develop and launch the GOES series of satellites, which observe Earth from about 22,000 miles (36,000 kilometers) above the equator.

(would have been an image inserted here, can be found here)

Beryl formed in the Atlantic Ocean on June 28 before explosively intensifying into a major hurricane. Rapid intensification occurs when wind speeds increase by at least 35 miles (56 kilometers) per hour within 24 hours. Between the afternoon of June 29 and the morning of June 30, Beryl’s winds increased by 65 miles per hour to become an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 hurricane. 

This explosive strengthening was fueled, in part, by warm ocean temperatures. Across the Northern Hemisphere, ocean temperatures for the January-April period averaged 2.12 degrees Fahrenheit (1.18 degrees Celsius) above normal, according to NOAA. Despite the waning El Niño, temperatures at the sea surface and at deeper depths are still above average in many places, according to Josh Willis, an oceanographer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 

After making landfall on Carriacou Island in the Caribbean on July 1, Beryl continued to strengthen. On July 2, the storm became the earliest Category 5 hurricane observed in the Atlantic basin in NOAA’s record. An astronaut aboard the International Space Station took the photo above on July 2, as Beryl churned through the Caribbean Sea.

Beryl was downgraded to a tropical storm a few hours after making landfall on July 8, but as of noon local time in eastern Texas, hazardous winds and flooding rain continued to batter the region. Over 2.6 million people were without power in the state, according to PowerOutage.us.

Original.

Are hurricanes getting stronger? Yes.

Pitch

I would not normally do this, but I am posting the verbatim text from a recent email I got from the Biden team. Won't do it very often. 

It encapsulates simply what I have thought for awhile, namely, that the American people have seen Trump up close and they want no more of that chaos, grift, and bullshit. Sure, some people like him. Even love him. As if he's some kind of second coming. It's sad to see so many people identifying with authoritarian Trump, but let's remember we've had a sizable number of American Nazi's in this country before. Many, many Americans favored Hitler. That authoritarian streak continues in this country.

The American people have seen who Donald Trump really is.

The delusion.
The lying.
The racism.
The xenophobia.
The admiration of dictators.
The utter cruelty.

Instead of properly handling the COVID crisis, Trump played golf and told people to inject bleach. Instead of accepting the 2020 election results, Trump riled up a mob that ransacked our Capitol and violently attacked law enforcement.

Donald Trump is a threat to our democracy. And he is a threat to everything we hold dear.

It's our shared responsibility to defeat Trump once and for all and save our democracy -- but it will be impossible if donors like you sit on the sidelines.

The MAGA Right has stockpiled millions of dollars to spread absurd falsehoods, and we must respond with strength.

Your $25 to defeat Donald Trump can't wait another day. Another hour. It's needed immediately to fight back against Trump's lies and protect our freedoms. Will you pitch in $25 or any amount?

It's July

This happens now and then on this blog: I get rather involved in things unrelated to the blog and don't get around to making posts. Happens with my contributions to social media too. Lately there have been a few other things demanding my attention:

1) Hurricane Beryl, which threatened us with a direct hit for several days before bending northward and taking aim at the Houston area. All that packing and preparation to flee was good practice, I guess. Living on the coast, one has to really keep an eye on tropical storms. It's a little unnerving, to know that, for any given storm, we could lose the house and everything in it. Having a little Xanax now and then helps!

2) Family visits, which just blow everything out of the water. We had planned a trip up to Michigan recently but had to cancel it almost at the last minute. 7 members of the family were planning on coming up to "house-sit" for us while we were gone, but when we actually were here, it was a pretty crowded house. You don't really need to "entertain" the family, but you should. Don't want to be too much of a mudge, even if I am a bit of a mudge. Xanax helps here too.

3) Health. The wife has had more than her share of aches, pains, and other health issues over the last couple of weeks. Tending to her reminds me of all the hard work that goes into "caregiving" for a family member. It's exhausting, and it can be hard to find some time for yourself. I have a feeling that this will only intensify as we get older. Xanax, please?

4) Being lazy. That's subjective, of course, but I do not hesitate to put off until tomorrow what I could have done today. And by the time you get around to posting something, the news has already moved on to something else. Except for Biden's poor debate performance, that might just become an axiom of the news media. 

So there can often be large gaps between posts. C'est le vie. It's not that I am avoiding the news of the day, I'm just avoiding mentioning anything about it. And, no, I don't take that much Xanax, but it can sure help take the edge off sometimes. We live in very stressful times, and it shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. Since I don't drink like a fish, I seek other methods of stress relief.

Oh yeah, Happy Birthday, America! Let's don't give up our democracy in favor of this orange scourge of a lying criminal. We can do it!

Philly Inquirer

I heard about the New York Times Editorial Board's opinion piece saying that, "to serve his country, President Biden should leave the race." I pushed myself to read that garbage. Contrast the NYT with the Philadelphia Inquirer, who also published an Ed Board opinion with a similar title: "To serve his country, Donald Trump should leave the race." The Philly Op-Ed is much closer to reality. Trump has been a fucking lying clown for decades. Biden had one bad "debate."

I am not normally a conspiracy theorist, but I would not put it past Trump and his criminal cabal to have somehow spiked President Biden's water with something or dosed him somehow with something that made him loopy. Let's remember that Trump loves him some Vladimir Putin, the Russian war criminal, and Putin is the kind of guy whose opponents just keep jumping out of high buildings to their deaths, or somehow mysteriously get poisoned. Trump is always praising Putin. They're practically best buds.

And then you have President Biden looking, acting and sounding totally different and strong the next day at a rally in North Carolina. The difference between Thursday night's and Friday afternoon's President Biden is like night and day. I would not expect the Biden administration to accuse the Trump gang of such an act, even if they actually suspected it. That's just the kind of accusation that Trump would make if Trump had been the one to have a really bad debate. And actually, Trump did have a really bad debate. He lied his ass off rapid-fire, using the old Gish Gallop technique, and the viewers got to see how crazed Trump is. Anyone voting for Trump has no right to call themselves a patriot.

I think I may have to cancel my NYT subscription and start one up with the Philly Inquirer.

To serve his country, Donald Trump should leave the race.

The Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Board

June 30, 2024

President Joe Biden’s debate performance was a disaster. His disjointed responses and dazed look sparked calls for him to drop out of the presidential race.

But lost in the hand wringing was Donald Trump’s usual bombastic litany of lies, hyperbole, bigotry, ignorance, and fear mongering. His performance demonstrated once again that he is a danger to democracy and unfit for office.

In fact, the debate about the debate is misplaced. The only person who should withdraw from the race is Trump.

Trump, 78, has been on the political stage for eight years marked by chaos, corruption, and incivility. Why go back to that?

To build himself up, Trump constantly tears the country down. There is no shining city on the hill. It’s just mourning in America.

Throughout the debate, Trump repeatedly said we are a “failing” country. He called the United States a “third world nation.” He said, “we’re living in hell” and “very close to World War III.”

“People are dying all over the place,” Trump said, later adding “we’re literally an uncivilized country now.”

Trump told more than 30 lies during the debate to go with the more than 30,000 mistruths told during his four years as president. He dodged the CNN moderators’ questions, took no responsibility for his actions, and blamed others, mainly Biden, for everything that is wrong in the world.

Trump’s response to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection he fueled was farcical. He said a “relatively small number of people” went to the Capitol and many were “ushered in by the police.”

After scheming to overturn the 2020 election, Trump refused to say if he would accept the results of the 2024 election. Unless, of course, he wins.

The debate served as a reminder of what another four years of Trump would look like. More lies, grievance, narcissism, and hate. Supporters say they like Trump because he says whatever he thinks. But he mainly spews raw sewage.

Trump attacks the military. He denigrates the Justice Department and judges. He belittles the FBI and the CIA. He picks fights with allies and cozies up to dictators.

Trump is an unserious carnival barker running for the most serious job in the world. During his last term, Trump served himself and not the American people.

Trump spent chunks of time watching TV, tweeting, and hanging out at his country clubs. Over his four-year term, Trump played roughly 261 rounds of golf.

As president, Trump didn’t read the daily intelligence briefs. He continued to use his personal cell phone, allowing Chinese spies to listen to his calls. During one Oval Office meeting, Trump shared highly classified intelligence with the Russian foreign minister and ambassador.

Trump’s term did plenty of damage and had few accomplishments. The much-hyped wall didn’t get built. Infrastructure week was a recurring joke. Giant tax cuts made the rich richer, while fueling massive deficits for others to pay for years. His support for coal, oil drilling, and withdrawal from the Paris Agreement worsened the growing impact of climate change.

Trump stacked the judiciary with extreme judges consisting mainly of white males, including a number who the American Bar Association rated as not qualified. A record number of cabinet officials were fired or left the office. The West Wing was in constant chaos and infighting.

Many Trump appointees exited under a cloud of corruption, grifting, and ethical scandals. Trump’s children made millions off the White House. His dilettante son-in-law got $2 billion from the Saudi government for his fledgling investment firm even though he never managed money before.

Trump’s mismanagement of the pandemic resulted in tens of thousands of needless deaths. He boasts about stacking the Supreme Court with extreme right-wingers who are stripping away individual rights, upending legal precedents, and making the country less safe. If elected, Trump may add to the court’s conservative majority.

Of course, there were the unprecedented two impeachments. Now, Trump is a convicted felon who is staring at three more criminal indictments. He is running for president to stay out of prison.

If anything, Trump doesn’t deserve to be on the presidential debate stage. Why even give him a platform?

Trump allegedly stole classified information and tried to overturn an election. His plans for a second term are worse than the last one. We cannot be serious about letting such a crooked clown back in the White House.

Yes, Biden had a horrible night. He’s 81 and not as sharp as he used to be. But Biden on his worst day remains lightyears better than Trump on his best.

Biden must show that he is up to the job. This much is clear: He has a substantive record of real accomplishments, fighting the pandemic, combating climate change, investing in infrastructure, and supporting working families and the most vulnerable.

Biden has surrounded himself with experienced people who take public service seriously. He has passed major bipartisan legislation despite a dysfunctional Republican House majority.

Biden believes in the best of America. He has rebuilt relationships with allies around the world and stood up to foes like Russia and China.

There was only one person at the debate who does not deserve to be running for president. The sooner Trump exits the stage, the better off the country will be.

Original, and you can read the NYT Ed here.