Various thoughts

All I can do now is watch and comment on the unfolding drama. Will it be a midnight trainwreck, delicately lit by many smelly dumpster fires? Or, will it be peace, prosperity and happiness upon the land (excluding Gaza and Ukraine of course)? 

The human psychology of politics and the economy

Politico: Republicans suddenly think the economy’s great and the election wasn’t rigged -- Less than two weeks since Donald Trump’s victory, consumer sentiment in the Republican Party has skyrocketed. Democrats, meanwhile, are despondent. Elections? Suddenly Republicans are on board with the reality that they’re secure. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he saw no evidence of fraud in the 2024 campaign. And the media landscape? Viewership of Fox News has surged since Trump’s win despite his harsh criticism of the network in the run up to Nov. 5.

Well, he said he was gonna do it

Are the Dreamers hosed?

The Wash. Examiner: Trump confirms plans to declare national emergency to implement mass deportation program -- President-elect Donald Trump confirmed on Truth Social early Monday morning that his incoming administration will declare a national emergency and use military resources to implement a mass deportation of illegal immigrants. The confirmation was made in response to an earlier post by Tom Fitton, journalist and president of Judicial Watch. .... “President Trump’s been clear; public safety threats and national security threats will be the priority because they have to be. They pose the most danger to this country,” Homan said.

Well, he said he was gonna do it

Is that a smelly dumpster being rolled into position before being lit on fire? 

The Guardian: Gaetz pick raises fears that Trump will seek ‘retribution’ on political foes --
With president-elect likely to use DoJ to crush enemies, only hope lies in staffers refusing to carry out illegal orders. Above all, the choice of Gaetz underscores the premium Trump places on selecting a loyalist who can help him expand his powers at the DoJ to further his revenge agenda, and avoid the conflicts Trump had at times with Jeff Sessions and Bill Barr when they were attorneys general in his first administration.

Project 2025

I'm not dead yet!

ars Technica: Trump’s likely FCC chair wrote Project 2025 chapter on how he’d run the agency -- Brendan Carr wants to preserve data caps, punish NBC, and give money to SpaceX. If Trump makes Carr the next FCC chairman after his inauguration, the FCC is likely to ditch consumer protection initiatives, like a recently announced inquiry into data caps, and attempt to regulate Big Tech companies while reducing regulation of Internet service providers. That could include forcing Big Tech companies to pay into a fund that subsidizes ISPs' broadband network construction. A Carr-led FCC could also try to punish news organizations that are perceived to be anti-Trump. Just before the election, Carr alleged that NBC putting Kamala Harris on Saturday Night Live was "a clear and blatant effort to evade the FCC's Equal Time rule," and that the FCC should consider issuing penalties. Despite Carr's claim, NBC did provide equal time to the Trump campaign. (Trump sure doesn't let facts get in the way) 

I'm NOT a Nazi!

Salon: "Makes us look like Nazis": Trump allies asked to stop talking about mass deportation "camps" -- The president-elect's advisers worry about how the word "camp" plays as they plot mass deportation schemes. Donald Trump’s allies have been told to stop saying the quiet part out loud. Rolling Stone reports that MAGA associates have been asked to stop using the word “camps” to describe potential facilities that would be used to house people rounded up in a massive deportation operation.

From the new Bluesky subreddit:

About Bluesky

The NYT writes (not paywalled):

How Bluesky, Alternative to X and Facebook, 

Is Handling Explosive Growth

Jay Graber 

Bluesky’s chief executive

Over the past week, Bluesky’s growth has exploded, more than doubling to 15 million-plus users as people seek alternatives to X, Facebook and Threads. It has rocketed to the top of Apple’s and Google’s app stores as the most downloaded free app. Its ascent has been so rapid that the company has been forced to grow up practically overnight.

Bluesky’s 20 full-time employees have been working around the clock to deal with the issues that come with hyper-growth: site outages, glitches in the code and content moderation issues. Most importantly, they have been trying to keep early users happy as new members have flooded in.

From its beginning, Bluesky aimed to separate itself from other social media. The project grew out of an idea from Jack Dorsey, a founder of Twitter, who said he hoped to build a “decentralized” social network.

That meant building the app with an “open protocol,” which keeps the social network’s power and decision making out of the hands of any one company or group of people. Mr. Dorsey called the project “Bluesky,” and it eventually became a public benefit corporation, a type of for-profit company that aims to have a positive impact on society rather than focus on maximizing shareholder value.

Bluesky was initially financed with a grant from Twitter under Mr. Dorsey; Mr. Musk cut ties with the Bluesky team after he bought Twitter. Bluesky later raised more than $23 million in two rounds of venture funding from private investors.

With Bluesky, “you’re no longer tied to a dominant algorithm that promotes either the most polarizing posts and/or the biggest brands,” Rose Wang, Bluesky’s chief operating officer, said in a recent video explaining the site to new users. She added, “It’s built by the people, for the people.”

Rose Wang, COO

We'll see how this plays out. Bluesky is still a pipsqueak.

Update: The Bluesky experiment is underway

Welp, I made my 1st post of substance on Bluesky. I linked it to my post here on authoritarianism. I switched my name from Germaine2 to Rational Politics. 

I tried to set up a feed called Rational Politics, but I'm unsure about how it works, or even if it works. That will turn out to be a work in progress, assuming I can ever figure it out. My son had to come over to help me get set up just to find the button to write a post. He intuitively understood immediately how to navigate Bluesky. But to me social media is strange and counterintuitive. 

The 300  character post limit was not as bad as I originally assumed. I'll just post a couple of sentences there and add a link to posts here. 

Now I need to figure out RegEx (regular expression) syntax to set up my feed parameters, whatever that means. RegEx is scary. 

A RegEx cheat sheet.

I've still got a lot to learn. I think I need to figure out "or", "and/or" and "and" to get set up. 

I have no idea about how this experiment will play out. I truly do not know what I am doing.

Well well, I ain't alone in the woods...........

 I have said similar myself, but leave it to John Fetterman to say it better..............

Sen. John Fetterman says Democrats can't get 'freaked out' over every move Trump makes

WASHINGTON - Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman warned his fellow party members in an interview that they can’t get “freaked out” over every move that President-elect Donald Trump makes. 

His remarks in the interview came after Trump tapped former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., as attorney general, prompting backlash and skepticism from Democrats and some Republicans. Gaetz was under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for sexual misconduct. After his resignation from Congress earlier this week, Democrats and Republicans have sparred over whether the committee should release its report on him. 

“If you’re already exhausted, freaking out, and it’s not even Thanksgiving, then you really ought to pace yourselves,” Fetterman told NBC News on Friday. “Because he hasn’t even been inaugurated yet.”

“So you really have to chill out, and you’re going to have to be more discerning or discriminate on what’s going to freak you out or what’s just trolling. Because it’s not the weather, it’s the climate now for the next four years,” he added.

Fetterman stands apart from many of his more progressive Democratic colleagues as a strong supporter of Israel and tougher border restrictions. He has clashed with progressive members including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. 

In the interview, Fetterman said that Democrats scolding Republicans “louder” isn’t going to be a winning strategy under a Trump administration.

“It’s like he’s the guy with the laser pointer, and we’re going to be the cat chasing around here or there. ‘He did that. Can you believe (it)? I can’t believe he appointed so and so.’ And like, I’m not going to be that. I’m not that guy. I’m not that Democrat. Because we knew that’s what’s going to happen,” he said.

“And, like, Gaetz was the ultimate troll. That’s got to be candy for him to have and watch everybody get triggered. I’ve said this before, it’s like, clutch those pearls harder and scold louder, that’s not going to win. And that’s been demonstrated in this cycle,” he said.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/11/16/john-fetterman-democrats-calm-down/76362222007/

It’s like he’s the guy with the laser pointer, and we’re going to be the cat chasing around here or there.

I get where Fetterman is coming from. Think the Dems might listen?  

Injustice: The future of American "justice"

What will come next is nicely summed up here. American injustice is coming to us all. This is just a friendly reminder. I did predict that for the elites and others who tow the authoritarian line, the rule of law would become crumble into not much of anything. We've already been there and done that. It was so much fun, we're gonna go there and do it again. He did 237 pardons and commutations from 2017 to 2021. This time I bet it will be a huge initial blast to pardon the 1/6 traitors, and maybe a slew of others, followed by not a lot more because the DoJ will have been shut down except for political enemies, critics and the like, none of whom will get a pardon or commutation. 

Search All Pardons and Commutations

August 25, 2017 | March 9, 2018 | April 13, 2018 | May 24, 2018  | May 31, 2018 | July 10, 2018 | May 6, 2019 | May 15, 2019 

July 29, 2019 | October 10, 2019 | November 15, 2019 | February 18, 2020 | August 18, 2020 | August 25, 2020 | August 28, 2020 | November 25, 2020 | December 22, 2020 | December 23, 2020 | January 13, 2021 | January 19, 2021 | January 20, 2021

Rational politics: A Mission Statement

I need a short mission statement for a Rational Politics feed on Bluesky. What do you think about this?

Rational politics. There is a vision of democracy that is public interest-centered, honest, and reasonably transparent. That brand of politics can be less ideological and less dominated by special interests. It can be more rational, evidence-based, transparent and inclusive than what the two main parties and third parties offer. Public-interest-centered democracy can reasonably accommodate both the public interest and special interest needs by balancing conflicting goals. A search for reasonable compromise policies is possible and necessary. Public opinion has to have reasonable influence and power relative to America's current political situation. This vision of democracy has to stand in steadfast opposition to the opacity, special interest power, corruption, ideological fantasies and self-dealing that permeates the main parties. Special interests include the Democratic and Republican parties themselves. 

Word count: 126

Suggestions? Is it too wordy, wonky or corny? Not specific enough? Too specific? Appealing as seriously overcooked broccoli? Mention morals, if so which ones, facts, true truths and sound reasoning?