In very bad news, the NYT reports (not paywalled) that existing concentrations of wealth and power are coalescing in support of djt: “Trump, Raking In Cash, Expands His Power in the G.O.P. Money World -- His super PAC, which is said to have amassed $400 million alongside its nonprofit arm, has grown even more influential. And powerful groups for congressional Republicans are being stocked wih Trump allies. President Trump is harnessing the Republican Party’s all-encompassing deference to him to exert even greater control over the G.O.P. big-money world, which had long been one of the party’s final remaining redoubts of Trump skepticism. .... The changes — both in personnel and financial firepower — amount to a fundamental reordering of Republican finance, and an extraordinary expansion of Mr. Trump’s already overwhelming sway. .... Plenty of the money that Mr. Trump is raising comes from corporate interests eager for better access to him [so they can tell him in person what to give them in return for their bribes].”
Well there we have it. The wealth and power elites are falling in line behind a leader they know is a morally rotted, chronic liar, traitor, thief-kleptocrat, sex predator, shameless fornicator and a lawless, convicted fraud and felon. All of that is well-documented in the public record. None of it is anyone’s opinion.
That shows how much these American wealth and power elites care about the public interest, democracy, the rule of law, civil liberties, truth, etc. They don’t care enough to not support and feed the MAGA monster. They protect their wealth and power first and foremost, preferably at the expense of the public interest. Everything else is cynical fig leaf lies and deceptive window dressing.
Qs: If one accepts that Republican-aligned wealth and power elites are coalescing around djt, what does that make them, valiant patriots, authoritarian monsters on a par with djt, something in between, or something else entirely? And, what about the rank and file who supported and enabled this horror show, are they mostly blameless innocents who were just bamboozled and manipulated or mostly something else, and if so, what else?
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The Nation reports about djt’s monstrous picks for federal judges and how Dem incompetence helped MAGA kill the federal courts: “Trump Has Made His First Round of Judicial Picks—And They’re Terrifying -- The appointments—which include an attorney who helped steer a major anti-trans case—are as much about the failures of the Democrats as the ruthlessness kleptocratic authoritarianism of Republicans. .... The nominee who should really give pause to liberals—along with anyone who wishes the Democratic Party would fight harder for control of the courts—is Trump’s pick for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals: Whitney Hermandorfer. If confirmed, she’ll replace Jane Branstetter Stranch, an Obama appointee who took senior status last year, pending confirmation of her successor. [Biden had picked] Karla Campbell, one of Stranch’s former clerks. But the Senate, controlled then by Democrats, refused to confirm her. I have no idea why. Campbell, a white woman who worked for the Peace Corps and the Department of Interior in addition to her legal work, was as inoffensive a pick for a circuit judge as you could reasonably get. Republicans were playing hardball with all of Biden’s judicial nominees by the end, but there was no objective reason for the Democratically controlled Senate to capitulate to the minority party.”
This exemplifies why the old Dem Party leadership has to go. Dem elites catastrophically failed and betrayed us during Biden’s time in office and in the 2024 elections. There was no reason for Dems to capitulate to MAGA in putting judges on the federal bench when Biden still had the power to get decent judges put on the federal bench. That incompetence and failure was catastrophic and unforgivable. Now, a bunch of corrupt, vicious, authoritarian judicial MAGA chickens are coming home to roost. They’re gonna crap all over us, our democracy, rule of law and civil liberties.
Q: Are too many elite Dem politicians stupid, incompetent, and/or quietly complicit with MAGA and its corrupt tyranny, or something else?
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Scripps News reports another example of MAGA elites aggressively moving to shut down sources of seriously inconvenient information: “NOAA says it will discontinue its billion-dollar disaster database --The database has measured the estimated direct costs of major weather disasters in the U.S. since 1980. Information collected so far will remain accessible but will no longer be updated. [The database has information collected] from federal and state agencies and insurance companies to estimate the dollar impacts of individual events such as hurricanes or wildfires. As the data accumulates, it also provides insight into historical weather and climate trends, and future-looking disaster risk mapping for the whole U.S. But NOAA said Thursday the tool ‘will be retired, with no updates beyond calendar year 2024’. The changes were made in ‘alignment with evolving priorities, statutory mandates, and staffing changes.’”
So, these changes are made in alignment with evolving priorities, statutory mandates, and staffing changes.[1] What are the evolving priorities and staffing changes? In my opinion, for the most part they are, (1) most importantly, preventing reliable information about global warming damage from becoming public, (2) firing experts capable of collecting and analyzing global warming damage data, and (3) replacing reliable global warming data with cynical MAGA lies and crackpottery.
Footnote:
1. I did some fact and context checking with Pxy.
Q3: Find and comment on reliable expert estimates of annual climate change damage to the US economy and society generally.A3: .... long analysis ....Long-Term Projections and Cumulative Risks
GDP Impacts
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that by 2100, climate change could reduce U.S. GDP by 4% under a central scenario, with a 5% chance of losses exceeding 21%-equivalent to $5.7 trillion in 2023 dollars.Social Cost of CarbonA 2022 study recalculated the social cost of carbon-the economic damage per ton of CO₂ emitted-to $185 per ton, tripling the federal estimate of $51. This metric underscores the hidden costs of emissions, from flood damage to healthcare burdens. Cumulatively, U.S. emissions in 2023 (~5 billion tons CO₂) imply $925 billion in annualized future damages.Societal Inequities and Distributional Impacts
Climate change exacerbates existing inequalities. The poorest third of U.S. counties face projected damages of 2–20% of county income under high emissions, compared to minimal impacts in wealthier regions.Conclusion
The U.S. economy already faces $150 billion in annual climate damages, with costs projected to escalate nonlinearly as warming exceeds 2°F. These figures, however, mask deeper societal fractures-disproportionate burdens on marginalized communities, systemic infrastructure vulnerabilities, and intergenerational inequities. While models like the Framework for Evaluating Damages and Impacts (FrEDI) project $2.9 trillion in annual losses by 2090, such estimates hinge on emission trajectories and policy responses.
Q4: Is there any empirical evidence, other than MAGA criticisms (e.g., the American Enterprise Institute) that too much information in the disaster database lacks reasonable quality, objectivity, utility, and/or integrity? How do most climate science experts view the database? Has there been any reliable cost-benefit analysis that supports firing NOAA employees, and if so what does that data say?A4: .... long analysis ....Workforce Reductions: Absence of Cost-Benefit Justification
The Trump administration’s staff cuts at NOAA, including the database team, lack empirical support from reliable cost-benefit analyses.Conclusion: A Data Gap With Far-Reaching Consequences
The retirement of NOAA’s disaster database exemplifies the tension between scientific rigor and political expediency. While methodological critiques from Pielke and others highlighted areas for improvement, the broader scientific community [non-MAGA experts] consistently relied on the dataset for critical applications in climate adaptation and disaster response. The absence of cost-benefit analysis for staffing cuts-coupled with the database’s demonstrated utility in saving lives and resources-underscores the decision’s disconnect from empirical governance. As climate risks accelerate, this loss of institutional knowledgemay leaveleaves communities navigating an increasingly hazardous future with one less compass. (correction added for clarity)
That is just as I thought. Kleptocratic authoritarian MAGA politics is screwing us, lying to us, ripping us off and knowingly destroying the environment for trickle up profit.
