Trumpism as Cult

The kind and number of Trump ’ s administrative gaffes , his incessant daily lies , his boorish behavior , his total and complete doing the exact opposite of what he said he would do to restore the lives of all those disaffected voters in those four states in the Midwest he won by a hair….all that is meaningless to his true believers .
As Trump himself has said , he could shoot someone in the middle of 5th Avenue and not a vote would change for him .
And he is correct .
There has always been a good @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trumpism is closer to being a cult than a lot of us realize , and Trump instinctively seems to know this .
Evangelical Christians have embraced Trump as some sort of prophetic fulfillment : If Donald Trump gets a little bored on his flight home from the World Economic Forum in Davos , Switzerland , he can always page through a book handed to him by a delegate not long after he arrived : “ God and Donald Trump.
” The volume , written by Stephen Strang , a leading Pentecostal figure and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is an easy read—part spiritual hagiography , part Fox News bulletin and part prophecy .
It ultimately says far less about Trump than about the charismatic Pentecostals who were some of his earliest religious supporters and who now view his election as the fulfillment of God ’ s will .
Scholar and author Janja Lalich , who has extensively studied the phenomenon : `` I think there are plenty of similarities—enough to be concerned about . ''
In order to Trump to exist , he knows that he must create and nurture a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ That is why he preaches every day , the notion of “ fake news ” in our mass media ( with the exception of Fox News ) .
He tells his followers that what they hear and what they read is either outright false or a conspiracy against him .
Moreover , he tells them that he is , in his own words , “ the anointed one ” who will allay their fears of being marginalized , of being swept aside by hordes of non-white and non-Christian immigrants to our country .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ thrall of Donald Trump then those who followed Sun Myung Moon or Jim Jones , or any one of dozens of similar leaders who blended religious fervor with politics .
In both the examples above , what started out as a religious movement crossed heavily over into politics : Moon created the Washington Times and later the Unification Church purchased United Press International ( UPI ) .
Jones , of course , started out as a local religious phenomenon in San Francisco who ultimately took a core group of followers to Guyana , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ committed mass suicide after having assassinated Congressman Leo Ryan ( D-CA ) who was investigated Jones ’ s group .
Cults require a sense of being oppressed in order to survive .
They also need to have a leader who , in some sense , is extraordinary to the extent of being the sole possessor of “ truth , ” be it religious or political .
In Trump ’ s case it pervades his speeches and both private and public commentary : Liberals , the UN and NATO victimize the United States ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ world ( read : Latin America and Africa ) are sucking the economic life out of America .
Trump ’ s strategy is no less than the same one employed by Hitler to devastated Post-WWI Germans .
In Trump ’ s case , it is Hispanics , Muslims , and Afro-Americans who are the victimizers , not Jews and Communists .
The imperative to keep the believers in state of continued agitation results in Trump ’ s having frequent “ rallies ” in places where he can reinforce his message of racial and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all that he alone has the answers .
That is why his Republican followers have abandoned standard Republican values such as the primacy of the family as the basic social unit .
His followers look the other way as families are broken up and/or incarcerated at the border .
It can be said that the Obama phenomenon was in a sense the same as that of Trump .
Democrats turned out in vast numbers to elect Obama , the first African-American president , twice .
Many , including this writer , thought Obama @ @ @ @ @ @ @ politics .
The key difference , though , was that Obama preached standard Democratic values which have been held for well over a hundred years .
That is not the case with Trump .
The reaction to Trumpism has been , in some quarters , incredibly strong .
He has been pilloried in most of the mainstream media .
Even well known conservative columnists and pundits have disengaged from any notion of Trump-as-President .
Internet chatter simultaneously mocks and ridicules him .
Yet such mockery of Trump only serves to increase the ardor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reinforces what he has said about their being oppressed .
Trump has been winnowing out the Republican Party of moderates and what remains of it now is a puissant following unwilling to budge from Trump ’ s preachings .
His 16,000 public lies and false statements are , if not meaningless to them , they are truths .
And if they are truths no amount of preaching to them will dislodge them from their belief in Trump .
Dislodging must be self-realized .
And so the American political world is divided into two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who are nominally Republican but who really supercede traditional Republicanism and a much larger number of left to left-of-center Democrats who react viscerally to Trump ’ s outrageous behavior .
Neither can connect with the other .
The fear of standing up to Trump So now , in the middle of Trump ’ s impeachment , we see his Republican allies defending the same Trump who , before he won the office , despised him like no other candidate in generations .
Sen. Ted Cruz , whose father was victimized by Trump as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ President Kennedy and who publicly called Trump “ a total fraud ” now just as publicly holds him in the highest esteem .
'Condemned to Republican hell ' : Ted Cruz faces GOP knives for anti-Trump message at RNC speech And so it is repeated for all Congressional Republicans to hear , loud and clear .
There is to be no deviation from Trump ’ s pronouncements .
First , they ( most ) live in abject fear of saying the truth at the possible expense of being turned out of the a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dear Leader ” now owns , lock stock and barrel .
Ted Cruz ’ s “ conversion ” is symptomatic of what has happened .
Second , a sizeable number of office holders , particularly in the House , where they must stand for election every two years , are indeed Trumpists who came to Congress with the so-called Tea Party sweep in 2010 , all financed with enormous sums of money given by conservative billionaires like the Kochs , Sheldon Adelson , the Murdochs , the Scaifes , the Waltons and dozens @ @ @ @ @ @ @ used working class disaffection with the Federal government to promote private profit at the expense of the public good .
At the end of the day Trumpism is supported by a shrinking number of Republican true believers who are being manipulated by the monied class ( capital ) of which , oddly , Trump the populist is one .
The strategy has paid off great dividends to them .
But a steady diet of getting the short end of the stick leads to reconsideration and it will be more powerful than liberals ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he ’ s going after “ entitlements ” —but not until after the election .
All those old folks down in Tampa are gon na love that .
The inevitable outcome with cults is always disaffection .
Sooner or later .
Our job should be to make it sooner rather than later but not by calling the opposition a bunch of numbskulls .
Just given them the facts , Mam .

The kind and number of Trump’s administrative gaffes, his incessant daily lies, his boorish behavior, his total and complete doing the exact opposite of what he said he would do to restore the lives of all those disaffected voters in those four states in the Midwest he won by a hair….all that is meaningless to his true believers. As Trump himself has said, he could shoot someone in the middle of 5th Avenue and not a vote would change for him. And he is correct.
There has always been a good deal of religiosity In America politics and Trumpism is closer to being a cult than a lot of us realize, and Trump instinctively seems to know this. Evangelical Christians have embraced Trump as some sort of prophetic fulfillment:
If Donald Trump gets a little bored on his flight home from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, he can always page through a book handed to him by a delegate not long after he arrived: “God and Donald Trump.” The volume, written by Stephen Strang, a leading Pentecostal figure and the longtime publisher of Charisma magazine, is an easy read—part spiritual hagiography, part Fox News bulletin and part prophecy. It ultimately says far less about Trump than about the charismatic Pentecostals who were some of his earliest religious supporters and who now view his election as the fulfillment of God’s will.
Scholar and author Janja Lalich, who has extensively studied the phenomenon: "I think there are plenty of similarities—enough to be concerned about."
She wrote that members of "totalistic" cults—those that consider their ideology the one true path—share four key characteristics. They 1) espouse an all-encompassing belief system; 2) exhibit excessive devotion to the leader; 3) avoid criticism of the group and its leader; and 4) feel disdain for non-members. That all sounds unnervingly familiar.
In order to Trump to exist, he knows that he must create and nurture a sense of otherness in our politics. That is why he preaches every day, the notion of “fake news” in our mass media (with the exception of Fox News). He tells his followers that what they hear and what they read is either outright false or a conspiracy against him. Moreover, he tells them that he is, in his own words, “the anointed one” who will allay their fears of being marginalized, of being swept aside by hordes of non-white and non-Christian immigrants to our country.
His followers are no less in the thrall of Donald Trump then those who followed Sun Myung Moon or Jim Jones, or any one of dozens of similar leaders who blended religious fervor with politics. In both the examples above, what started out as a religious movement crossed heavily over into politics: Moon created the Washington Times and later the Unification Church purchased United Press International (UPI) . Jones, of course, started out as a local religious phenomenon in San Francisco who ultimately took a core group of followers to Guyana, where, at his order, they committed mass suicide after having assassinated Congressman Leo Ryan (D-CA) who was investigated Jones’s group.
Cults absolutely require a sense of being oppressed in order to survive. They also need to have a leader who, in some sense, is extraordinary to the extent of being the sole possessor of “truth,” be it religious or political. In Trump’s case it pervades his speeches and both private and public commentary: Liberals, the UN and NATO victimize the United States; the “shit hole nations of this world (read: Latin America and Africa) are sucking the economic life out of America. Trump’s strategy is no less than the same one employed by Hitler to devastated Post-WWI Germans. In Trump’s case, it is Hispanics, Muslims, and Afro-Americans who are the victimizers, not Jews and Communists.
The imperative to keep the believers in state of continued agitation results in Trump’s having frequent “rallies” in places where he can reinforce his message of racial and ethnic hatred, oppression, and above all that he alone has the answers. That is why his Republican followers have abandoned standard Republican values such as the primacy of the family as the basic social unit. His followers look the other way as families are broken up and/or incarcerated at the border.
It can be said that the Obama phenomenon was in a sense the same as that of Trump. Democrats turned out in vast numbers to elect Obama, the first African-American president, twice. Many, including this writer, thought Obama to be a new voice in American politics. The key difference, though, was that Obama preached standard Democratic values which have been held for well over a hundred years. That is not the case with Trump.
Playing into Trump’s hands
The reaction to Trumpism has been, in some quarters, incredibly strong. He has been pilloried in most of the mainstream media. Even well known conservative columnists and pundits have disengaged from any notion of Trump-as-President. Internet chatter simultaneously mocks and ridicules him. Yet such mockery of Trump only serves to increase the ardor of his followers because such pushback only reinforces what he has said about their being oppressed. Trump has been winnowing out the Republican Party of moderates and what remains of it now is a puissant following unwilling to budge from Trump’s preachings. His 16,000 public lies and false statements are, if not meaningless to them, they are truths. And if they are truths no amount of preaching to them will dislodge them from their belief in Trump. Dislodging must be self-realized.
And so the American political world is divided into two warring camps: a core of followers who are nominally Republican but who really supercede traditional Republicanism and a much larger number of left to left-of-center Democrats who react viscerally to Trump’s outrageous behavior. Neither can connect with the other.
The fear of standing up to Trump
Lolich again states:
She continues: "The people around Trump, and the Republicans in Washington, absolutely kowtow to him, either out of fear they're going to anger him, or out of adulation. That behavior is very typical of a cult."
So now, in the middle of Trump’s impeachment, we see his Republican allies defending the same Trump who, before he won the office, despised him like no other candidate in generations. Sen. Ted Cruz, whose father was victimized by Trump as being part of a conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy and who publicly called Trump “a total fraud” now just as publicly holds him in the highest esteem.
Why?
'Condemned to Republican hell': Ted Cruz faces GOP knives for anti-Trump message at RNC speech And so it is repeated for all Congressional Republicans to hear, loud and clear. There is to be no deviation from Trump’s pronouncements.
Two things:
First, they (most) live in abject fear of saying the truth at the possible expense of being turned out of the a Republican Party, which our American “Dear Leader” now owns, lock stock and barrel. Ted Cruz’s “conversion” is symptomatic of what has happened.
Second, a sizeable number of office holders, particularly in the House, where they must stand for election every two years, are indeed Trumpists who came to Congress with the so-called Tea Party sweep in 2010, all financed with enormous sums of money given by conservative billionaires like the Kochs, Sheldon Adelson, the Murdochs, the Scaifes, the Waltons and dozens of other wealthy, all of whom used working class disaffection with the Federal government to promote private profit at the expense of the public good.
At the end of the day Trumpism is supported by a shrinking number of Republican true believers who are being manipulated by the monied class (capital) of which, oddly, Trump the populist is one such. The strategy has paid off great dividends to them. But a steady diet of voters getting the short end of the stick leads to reconsideration and it will be more powerful than liberals’ disgust. Already, Trump has said he’s going after “entitlements”—but not until after the election. All those old folks down in Tampa are going to love that!
The inevitable outcome with cults is always disaffection. Sooner or later. Our job should be to make it sooner rather than later but not by calling the opposition a bunch of numbskulls. We should ust “give them the facts, Mam.”
###


dailykos--2020-01-29--So when do they give out the awards already?

This impeachment thing/fakeout/publicity stunt is dragging out too long for something we know how it ’ s going to end .
It ’ s like watching “ Titanic ” and thinking the ship won ’ t sink this time .
Get real .
So what we should be doing now is making the nominations for performances , dramatic moments , incredible plays ( sorta thinking Academy Awards/Superbowl type event coverage here ) .
No doubt Schiff and McConnell are up for lead male supporting actor/Game MVP .
( Trump doesn ’ t count as anything here but a trophy — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ home ) .
I don ’ t think the Rethugs have any female effort strong enough to take topdog woman title away from Pelosi .
Susan Collins is the best melodramatic player they can come up with , and she always plays the same part .
Boooorrring .
Now for a screwball bimbo award they ’ ve got PLENTY of candidates .
Even male bimbos .
At this point looks like the Dems have the best screenplay/ground game , though they don ’ t have any mastery over the air — i.e .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ they ’ ll get a fair amount of noble from this thing , even if it ’ s still that and $ 8.75 will just get them a latte at Starbucks .
But those plaudits look neat in a political resume .
Supporting cast/best defensive team , ….. aaaaaaaah , who cares who wins those things ?
As course this impeachment thing is as rigged as the Academy Awards , Golden Globes , the playoffs for the Superbowl* and they ’ re not even trying to hide it .
I liked the prequals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ All the President ’ s Morons , etc .
But in the end they just fizzled , the reports , the court convictions , the missing transcripts tantalized , teased , but in the end just left us with an aching hardon for truth .
But eventually this over-hyped extravaganza will be history , a few lines written on some thumbdrive or books someplace , record-book facts nobody will much care to look up .
But the whole point is the game : Make it big , make it loud , make everybody @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it , whether the schmucks watching on TV or the pitchsters who use it to further their careers .
Just think about this : Who do you think makes the most money out of the Superbowl — the winning team , or the guys who run the Superbowl ?
And now a word from our sponsors … *Note : The Superbowl is not rigged .
At least I don ’ t think so .
But it does make some people a lot of money .

This impeachment thing/fakeout/publicity stunt is dragging out too long for something we know how it’s going to end. It’s like watching “Titanic” and thinking the ship won’t sink this time. Get real.
So what we should be doing now is making the nominations for performances, dramatic moments, incredible plays (sorta thinking Academy Awards/Superbowl type event coverage here). No doubt Schiff and McConnell are up for lead male supporting actor/Game MVP. (Trump doesn’t count as anything here but a trophy — the winning side gets to take him home). I don’t think the Rethugs have any female effort strong enough to take topdog woman title away from Pelosi. Susan Collins is the best melodramatic player they can come up with, and she always plays the same part. Boooorrring. Now for a screwball bimbo award they’ve got PLENTY of candidates. Even male bimbos.
At this point looks like the Dems have the best screenplay/ground game, though they don’t have any mastery over the air — i.e. media slant — game. Pretty sure they’ll get a fair amount of noble from this thing, even if it’s still that and $8.75 will just get them a latte at Starbucks. But those plaudits look neat in a political resume.
Supporting cast/best defensive team, ….. aaaaaaaah, who cares who wins those things?
As course this impeachment thing is as rigged as the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, the playoffs for the Superbowl* and they’re not even trying to hide it. I liked the prequals : Mr. Mueller Goes To Washington, All the President’s Morons, etc. But in the end they just fizzled, the reports, the court convictions, the missing transcripts tantalized, teased, but in the end just left us with an aching hardon for truth.
But eventually this over-hyped extravaganza will be history, a few lines written on some thumbdrive or books someplace, record-book facts nobody will much care to look up. But the whole point is the game: Make it big, make it loud, make everybody feel they have to be part of it, whether the schmucks watching on TV or the pitchsters who use it to further their careers. Just think about this:
Who do you think makes the most money out of the Superbowl — the winning team, or the guys who run the Superbowl?
And now a word from our sponsors …
*Note: The Superbowl is not rigged. At least I don’t think so. But it does make some people a lot of money.


dailykos--2020-01-29--White House Impeachment Defense Leaves Already-Vulnerable GOP Senators With Zero Cover

I have already written about how I feel Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi should be credited for playing superb political chess outfoxing McConnell and Trump by delaying the articles of impeachment .
And I have already written about how I feel McConnell throughout it all has played his cards in this game of impeachment poker rather horribly .
The case in point being that , as I am writing this diary , now that Trump ’ s impeachment team has closed out the “ best ” ( and I use the term loosely ) argument they had in his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ McConnell may NOT have the votes to avoid calling for more witnesses in Trump ’ s impeachment .
I feel like it should be worth pointing out , that those last two points are not un-related .
While objective observers may rightly point out how flimsy and lacking much substance Trump ’ s defense team offered at the trial , it makes sense , considering that they feel they this is basically an easy win for Trump , as removing him from office would require a two-thirds Senate supermajority , which is virtually @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It is hard to put up much defense , when your client ’ s behavior is largely indefensible , after all , but again , as far as his grip on the office is concerned , it matters little .
However , because Trump ’ s defense team did so poorly at , well , defending his behavior , this leaves little cover for those vulnerable GOP Senators facing large swing-state electorates in November of this Presidential year .
Senators like Susan Collins of Maine and Cory Gardner of Colorado , whose states @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Then there are Senators like Martha McSally of Arizona , Thom Tillis of North Carolina , Joni Ernst in Iowa , and Georgia ’ s David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler , whose swing states were close to being won by Clinton .
Perhaps even South Carolina ’ s Lindsey Graham , Texas ’ s John Cornyn , and even McConnell himself , might be feeling a little nontrivial pressure this Presidential year , especially if the Trump boost they are banking on , fails to materialize , or downright backfires , as it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the mid-terms , such as with Kansas ’ s Kris Kobach , AL ’ s Roy Moore , and PA ’ s Rick Saccone .
Had Trump ’ s defense offered up a better performance than a sick fish filling in for Gordon Ramsay , these Republican Senators would be in a much better position to convincingly say they do not need to hear from more witnesses , give Trump the exhonerating votes he is looking for , and be on their merry ways to their lobbyist-catered brunches and second homes .
Instead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ felt little need to offer up an actual defense , we are now seeing the result , with the mutiny against McConnell .
Those GOP Senators know that if they do not build up enough of a image of a fair and impartial trial before voting to keep Trump in power , it will be harder to separate themselves from Trump ’ s coattails .
With quite a few of those Senators facing considerable swing and undecided voters , part of an American electorate that has shown time and time again that they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it should be growing increasingly , painfully obvious , the deal they are making : protect Trump , at the risk of losing your own seats in power .
You know how bad the Trump defense ’ s performance was ?
We are talking about the same Republican Senators who were so outraged by a single hyphenated word that they were essentially spewing fire out of their nostrils to acquit Trump and get back at those foolhardy lower-chamber House upstarts .
But Trump ’ s team was so bad , they actually @ @ @ @ @ @ @ push for witnesses as part of the trial — pretty much the one thing Trump and McConnell were trying to prevent .
Honestly , it is a sight to behold , how poorly Trump , McConnell , and the Republican Party have played their impeachment hand .
And if the upcoming questioning , and strongly possible additional witness testimony are about as disastrous for the GOP as anyone can easily predict — they face the last logical political choice : continue to protect Trump ’ s grip on power , or save their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s resignation .

I have already written about how I feel Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi should be credited for playing superb political chess outfoxing McConnell and Trump by delaying the articles of impeachment.
And I have already written about how I feel McConnell throughout it all has played his cards in this game of impeachment poker rather horribly.
The case in point being that, as I am writing this diary, now that Trump’s impeachment team has closed out the “best” (and I use the term loosely) argument they had in his defense, news is currently spreading that McConnell may NOT have the votes to avoid calling for more witnesses in Trump’s impeachment.
I feel like it should be worth pointing out, that those last two points are not un-related.
While objective observers may rightly point out how flimsy and lacking much substance Trump’s defense team offered at the trial, it makes sense, considering that they feel they this is basically an easy win for Trump, as removing him from office would require a two-thirds Senate supermajority, which is virtually impossible with today’s Senate. It is hard to put up much defense, when your client’s behavior is largely indefensible, after all, but again, as far as his grip on the office is concerned, it matters little.
However, because Trump’s defense team did so poorly at, well, defending his behavior, this leaves little cover for those vulnerable GOP Senators facing large swing-state electorates in November of this Presidential year. Senators like Susan Collins of Maine and Cory Gardner of Colorado, whose states voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016. Then there are Senators like Martha McSally of Arizona, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Joni Ernst in Iowa, and Georgia’s David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, whose swing states were close to being won by Clinton. Perhaps even South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham, Texas’s John Cornyn, and even McConnell himself, might be feeling a little nontrivial pressure this Presidential year, especially if the Trump boost they are banking on, fails to materialize, or downright backfires, as it seems to have done several times in the mid-terms, such as with Kansas’s Kris Kobach, AL’s Roy Moore, and PA’s Rick Saccone.
Had Trump’s defense offered up a better performance than a sick fish filling in for Gordon Ramsay, these Republican Senators would be in a much better position to convincingly say they do not need to hear from more witnesses, give Trump the exhonerating votes he is looking for, and be on their merry ways to their lobbyist-catered brunches and second homes.
Instead, because Trump’s defense apparently felt little need to offer up an actual defense, we are now seeing the result, with the mutiny against McConnell. Those GOP Senators know that if they do not build up enough of a image of a fair and impartial trial before voting to keep Trump in power, it will be harder to separate themselves from Trump’s coattails. With quite a few of those Senators facing considerable swing and undecided voters, part of an American electorate that has shown time and time again that they will punish corruption at the ballot boxes, it should be growing increasingly, painfully obvious, the deal they are making: protect Trump, at the risk of losing your own seats in power.
You know how bad the Trump defense’s performance was? We are talking about the same Republican Senators who were so outraged by a single hyphenated word that they were essentially spewing fire out of their nostrils to acquit Trump and get back at those foolhardy lower-chamber House upstarts. But Trump’s team was so bad, they actually forced the GOP Senators’ hands to push for witnesses as part of the trial — pretty much the one thing Trump and McConnell were trying to prevent.
Honestly, it is a sight to behold, how poorly Trump, McConnell, and the Republican Party have played their impeachment hand.
And if the upcoming questioning, and strongly possible additional witness testimony are about as disastrous for the GOP as anyone can easily predict — they face the last logical political choice: continue to protect Trump’s grip on power, or save their own — by pushing for Trump’s resignation.


dailykos--2020-01-29--Good News Roundup, January 29, 2020

Good News Roundup, January 29, 2020

That Thing is doing some more target shooting at his foot : Trump Predicts ‘ Beginning of the End ’ for Fox News Keep going , Mr. Unpresident !
You push from the right , and we ’ ll push from the left .
Wouldn ’ t it be loverly if Faux Noise disappeared from TV screens in airports , dentists ’ offices , etc.
?
?
Here ’ s a possibly-good news story indicating that the media may have learned something from the 2016 election .
“ BUT HER EMAILS.
” Following the 2016 presidential election , those words @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one of the most grievous errors made by the press in its coverage of the campaign : that it overhyped Hillary Clinton ’ s use of a private email server to balance out Donald Trump ’ s more serious indiscretions and dodge accusations of partisanship .
As 2020 loomed , media-watchers feared a repeat performance .
In September , when we first learned that Trump had asked the president of Ukraine to investigate the Bidens , such fears started to crystallize—with “ Hunter Biden had ties to a dodgy Ukrainian gas company while @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the “ emails ” role .
James Fallows fretted , in a widely shared essay in The Atlantic , that Hunter was “ Patient Zero of the next false-equivalence epidemic.
” Fast forward four months , and a full-blown crisis of false equivalence has not materialized—at least , not yet .
[ Following Pam Bondi ’ s hammering of the Bidens yesterday ] our media this morning is not saturated with phoney Biden claims ; in many places , the ongoing drama surrounding John Bolton—the former national security adviser who will claim , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ saw Trump doing what Democrats are impeaching him for—takes top billing .
On Twitter and on cable news , meanwhile , pundits and anchors have been aggressive in tackling Bondi ’ s arguments .
Allsop goes on to note that the primary audience for Bondi ’ s bloviating – like that of all the Rethugs – is the MAGAT base , but he also cautions that the constant repetition of damaging word associations – “ Biden ” and “ corruption , ” “ Biden ” and “ investigation ” – can also affect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by asking “ some deep structural questions about our coverage : If the president says it , is it really news ?
We can ’ t just ignore this , can we ?
What does balance look like , and should it be our central concern ?
” Let ’ s hope the media quickly learn to answer those three questions with “ No , ” “ Yes , we can ” and “ No , balance shouldn ’ t be our central concern – truth should be.
” U.S. Bank fired her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ companies are clamoring to hire her .
Coverage of this story in the Portland Tribune included a lovely quote from James : The statement from Lee Henderson , U.S. Bank V.P .
of Public Affairs and Communications , indicated that the bank has dug in its heels : The article went on to report that Henderson had stated that there were other ways James could have gotten the money to Eugenio , but he refused to say what those were .
He also claimed that she had been disciplined before for “ failure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has contradicted that by giving the press copies of her last two employee reviews , which were positive , and providing copies of over two dozen awards and accolades from the bank .
Just a thought here : if you ’ re a U.S. Bank customer , especially a long-standing one , read the full story from the Oregonian , then think about calling your branch manager about it .
And if you don ’ t like the response , maybe consider switching to a different bank .
Moms Rising finds a sweet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ They also delivered cupcakes to the Senate Press Gallery to thank the reporters , and will deliver more cupcakes to the in-state offices of vulnerable Rethug senators .
It ’ s of course unlikely that any of those Gutless Oath-breaking Phonies will change their votes , but actions like this are good for publicity .
And after all , the audience we ’ re trying to convince is the American public .
Automatic voter registration measure could appear on November ballot in Ohio Ohioans would automatically be registered to vote upon applying for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or other state-issued ID , under a proposed constitutional amendment submitted to the state on Wednesday .
The amendment , backed by the ACLU and other groups , also would allow eligible Ohioans to register to vote and cast a ballot on the same day throughout the early voting period .
This would reinstate and expand what previously was referred to as “ Golden Week , ” which state lawmakers eliminated in 2014 .
The amendment campaign group , Ohioans for Secure and Fair Elections , is targeting the presidential election in November @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the proposed amendment is a required , statewide post-election audit .
The group announced Wednesday it had submitted paperwork , including a summary of the proposed amendment and the amendment text itself , to the state Attorney General ’ s Office .
The filing is the first part of a multi-step process that eventually will require the amendment campaign to gather signatures from hundreds of thousands of Ohio voters across the state .
The state Attorney General ’ s Office now has 10 business days to determine whether the proposed ballot language is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ proposed amendment .
Chattanooga Takes First Step toward Possible Community Land Trust Launch [ Jelle Scharff and Bas van der Leeden ] founded their curious startup , Blue Roof , to do something about the thousands of tonnes of used sanitary products that are filtered out of the city ’ s sewers annually and incinerated – a process that releases CO2 and contributes to the climate crisis .
Gas masks donned , Scharff and Leeden go to a local sewage works to collect toilet trash ( think wet wipes , tampons and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is then rinsed , shredded , compressed and dried into strips of substrate .
The growing medium has a sour , unpleasant odour , which , according to Scharff , “ means there ’ s life in there , which is good for the plants.
” Green roofs are subsidised in Rotterdam and Blue Roof has 15 clients on its waiting list , according to Scharff .
The company hopes to install its first large-scale roof in 2020 .
Blue Roof is among dozens of startups based at the abandoned Tropicana leisure centre @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which was originally owned by Centre Parcs .
The city has set itself the ambitious target of eliminating waste by 2050 to become a world-leading circular economy ( Amsterdam has similar goals ) .
It has certainly risen to tough challenges before , having rebuilt itself almost entirely after the Nazi blitz of 1940 .
Other entrepreneurs in Blue City include one turning rotten mangoes into an alternative to animal hide , another transforming used coffee grounds into coffee cups , and yet another growing mushrooms in used coffee grounds .
And some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : The Biggest Celestial Event of the Year Could Happen Tomorrow ... or not for 100,000 years Sometime this week , you might walk outside in broad daylight , look up at the sky , and see a luminous orb as bright as a full moon .
Only it wouldn ’ t be the moon .
… You ’ d be seeing the light from a supernova—the final , powerful flash of a dying star .
Supernovas are nearly impossible to predict .
But astronomers have recently started discussing the rare possibility with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ... For the last few months , astronomers around the world have been particularly interested in [ Orion ’ s ] right shoulder , the home of a star called Betelgeuse , one of the brightest stars in the sky .
Betelgeuse—which , yes , is pronounced like Beetlejuice—has been dimming more than it ever had before .
Astronomers have long known that Betelgeuse is aging and , like many old stars , is bound to explode sooner or later .
Could this mystery dimming mean that a supernova might be imminent ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Betelgeuse supernova , you could be standing in the center of the biggest city in the world , and you would certainly see it , ” says John Barentine , an astronomer and the director of public policy at the International Dark-Sky Association , a nonprofit that works to mitigate light pollution .
“ You couldn ’ t miss it.
” Even more spectacular , the display would stick around .
The gleaming orb would remain visible for more than a year , perhaps even longer .
Vera Rubin Gets a Telescope of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ colleague Kent Ford , discovered that … the universe — all those galaxies and the vast spaces between — was awash with dark matter , an invisible something with sufficient gravity to mold the large scale structures of the universe .
Esteemed astronomers dismissed her findings at first .
But half a century later , ... the National Science Foundation announced that the newest observatory joining this cause will be named the Vera C. Rubin Observatory .
The name replaces the mouthful by which the project was previously known : the Large Synoptic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ observatory , jointly financed by the N.S.F .
and the Department of Energy , under construction on a mountain called Cerro Pachon , in Chile , will begin operating in 2022 .
By recording images of the entire sky every few days , it will produce a time-lapse movie of the universe .
It is the first national observatory to have been named for a woman , the announcement said .
“ Named after an astronomer who provided important evidence of the existence of dark matter , ” wrote France Córdova , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the NSF Vera C. Rubin Observatory seems destined to make science history with its extraordinary capabilities that will come to bear in the next few years.
” The eccentric and prolific wildlife breeder and dealer known as “ Joe Exotic ” was just sentenced to 22 years in prison… , convicted in April on two counts of murder-for-hire—he ’ d plotted to kill a wildlife sanctuary founder who had been critical of him—and 17 wildlife charges , including the slaying of five tigers .
... Did you know there are more tigers living @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than remain in the wild ?
A few are in accredited zoos and sanctuaries .
Many more are pets , or attractions at roadside zoos or breeders at facilities where the public can go pet them and cuddle their cubs .
As our investigation showed , this is a problem for both the tigers—many are neglected , abused , and exploited—and for humans .
No matter how tame they may seem at times , they ’ re still wild animals .
Many are killed or abandoned once they become too dangerous to pet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Exotic ’ s mistreated menagerie , these captive tigers won ’ t , and can ’ t , ever be released into the wild .
They , like most captive tigers in the U.S. , serve no conservation purpose whatsoever .
In honor of Superb Owl Sunday this weekend , here ’ s a cool article about how and where to find owls : Now is the best time of year to go owling .
You don ’ t need to be a life-listing birder or skilled field naturalist to enjoy spotting and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the perfect outdoor activity for the whole family .
And if you are a serious bird nerd , the winter offers more rare owl opportunities , too .
The great horned owl ’ s hoot is pretty much unmistakable ... A common hooting pattern is a longer hoooooot , followed by two or three shorter hoots .
Come January , they ’ ll begin setting in the nest – far earlier than most other birds .
An evening walk is a great way to enjoy the spectacle .
You can often get an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Once you hear one , scan thick tree branches and other potential perches .
The great horned owl ’ s outline is unmistakable .
[ In ] some years , snowy owls can be found in many parts of North America , from farm fields to airport runways .
These irruptions , as they ’ re known , are tied to lemming abundance in the north country .
Local birding groups or the iNaturalist app can help you find a snowy owl near you .
A snowy owl will often stay in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And my favorite Superb Owl , the charming little Northern pygmy owl , an Oregon resident : People Who Talk To Their Pets Are Smarter Than Those Who Don ’ t Celebrate by solving a puzzle today !
It ’ s a great way to distract yourself if the GOP ’ s assholery is getting you down .
Jigsaw puzzles , word puzzles , visual puzzles , mechanical puzzles – take your pick .
They ’ re all fun , and they ’ re all good for keeping your brain stimulated .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the NY Times “ tiles ” game , which combines pattern and color discrimination with enough need for strategy to keep it interesting .
If you want to check it out , here ’ s a link .
Below are screenshots of what two of the games look like ( they ’ re currently running four different designs which change every day or two ) .
The idea is to find the same design element in two different tiles , which you can then clear by clicking first on one tile and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is to clear the board without making any false matches .
I like to see how many individual matches I can make ( the maximum is 45 ) ; other players prefer to see how few moves it takes them to clear the board .
The puzzle on the left , based on Josef Albers ’ studies of color interactions , is my favorite .
Quote of the day Just a reminder that the GOP has been the way they are today for a verrrrrrrry looooooong time : Old Hippie Dude ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ great source of laughs , and there were a couple of true gems in the collection this past Sunday : www.goodnewsnetwork.org/… More Americans Visited Their Library in 2019 Than the Movies – By Far www.goodnewsnetwork.org/ ...
This Collapsible , Self-Cleaning Steel Straw Could Finally Spell the End of Disposable Plastic Alternatives [ Since it will retail at $ 69 , it ’ s hardly the universal solution to straw pollution , but for those who can afford it , it ’ s very cool . ]
www.dailykos.com/ ...
The Big Dog Problem [ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disparity , written by a guy ] www.alternet.org/… Are Trump and his ilk manipulating the markets for personal gain ?
Investigative business reporter William Cohan lays out the evidence [ Not exactly good news , but if this is proven and gets wide publicity , it ’ ll definitely hurt tRump , the Mnuchbag , and lots of other Grasping Outrageous Plutocrats . ]
From Indivisible , via email .
This was sent last Friday , but the actions are still relevant .
Send Jerry Nadler and his wife your good wishes You @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s wife was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December and that he had to miss attending the impeachment trial on Monday in order to be with her as they determined her treatment going forward .
I ’ m planning to use my postcard-writing skills to create a card for them , wishing her success and thanking him for his heroic work during the impeachment hearings .
Maybe some of you would like to do the same .
❤ In closing , always remember that our goal is to create a Blue Tsunami @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you can to make that happen !
And keep your eyes on the prize : Thanks to each and every Gnusie for your smarts , your hearts , and your faithful attendance at our daily Gathering of the Herd .

Welcome!
Greetings Gnusies, Gnewbies, and casual drop-by readers! We’re gathered here at Good News Roundup to refresh ourselves with some upbeat news stories, some inspiration, some music, some laughs, and some ways you can take action against the God-awful Over-reaching Plutocrats currently running ruining our country.
The past ten days have given us a powerful lesson in who we are versus who they are. Our founder, GoodNewsRoundup herself (aka Goodie) summarized it perfectly on Saturday:
The Democrats have shown us who they are this week. The Democrats have shown us who *we* are this week. We are Hakeem Jeffries calling a cover up, a cover up, and demanding justice for America. We are Val Demings pointing out Trump’s witness intimidation as a form of obstruction. We are Jerry Nadler laying bare the hypocrisy of Republicans ignoring the constitution. We are Sylvia Garcia explaining how Trump's charges against Biden are politically, and only politically, motivated. We are Zoe Lofgren bravely pointing out that not only did Trump break the law, but that he didn’t care about the law. We are Jason Crow teaching us that actual combat veterans take Trump's betrayal of fighting troops personally, even if they are from another country. And best of all, we are Adam Schiff, reminding America that right matters. And truth matters. And without right and truth, we are lost. ✂ ...over the next few days, as [Senate Republicans] lay out their pathetic, dishonest, and disingenuous defense, we will see the worst of them: the lying, the yelling, the “righteous” indignation..., the refusal to get more evidence, all leading up to the quick acquittal. And I know that some people will be shaken and upset by their performance. ... But I welcome it. I invite it. I can’t wait for it. Show us your souls, Senate Republicans. Show us your lack of character, you enabling, cowardly, craven, sycophants. Bring all your monstrous , disgusting, and shameful flaws right out in the open. I dare you.
Well, it looks like they took Goodie’s dare 😉 – they’ve been showing themselves to be even more shameless, more hypocritical, and more scornful of the law than we thought they’d dare to reveal. Fortunately, that all adds up to “even more stupid,” since we can assure them that this sham trial will destroy them even faster than a fair trial would have, since now they can’t claim even a square inch of moral ground. We’ll be watching (well, actually, I can’t bear to watch or listen to them, but I can catch up online). We’ll keep track of every lie, every smear, every bit of law-dodging and law-breaking, and we’ll hold the GOP accountable – every single one of them.
Here are two good theme songs for the coming weeks and months:
x YouTube Video
x YouTube Video
* * * * *
Good political news
That Thing is doing some more target shooting at his foot:
Trump Predicts ‘Beginning of the End’ for Fox News
From Daily Beast:
President Donald Trump lashed out Tuesday morning at Fox News even as the network continued to defend him at every turn of the ongoing impeachment trial. “Really pathetic how @FoxNews is trying to be so politically correct by loading the airwaves with Democrats like Chris Van Hollen, the no name Senator from Maryland,” Trump tweeted, equating political correctness with any attempt to hear from the “other” side. “So, what the hell has happened to @FoxNews,” he continued. “Only I know! Chris Wallace and others should be on Fake News CNN or MSDNC. How’s Shep Smith doing? Watch, this will be the beginning of the end for Fox, just like the other two which are dying in the ratings. Social Media is great!”
Keep going, Mr. Unpresident! You push from the right, and we’ll push from the left. Wouldn’t it be loverly if Faux Noise disappeared from TV screens in airports, dentists’ offices, etc.??
Here’s a possibly-good news story indicating that the media may have learned something from the 2016 election.
But Hunter Biden…
From the Columbia Journalism Review:
By Jon Allsop
“BUT HER EMAILS.” Following the 2016 presidential election, those words entered American media lore as shorthand for one of the most grievous errors made by the press in its coverage of the campaign: that it overhyped Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server to balance out Donald Trump’s more serious indiscretions and dodge accusations of partisanship. As 2020 loomed, media-watchers feared a repeat performance. In September, when we first learned that Trump had asked the president of Ukraine to investigate the Bidens, such fears started to crystallize—with “Hunter Biden had ties to a dodgy Ukrainian gas company while his dad oversaw Ukraine policy” playing the “emails” role. James Fallows fretted, in a widely shared essay in The Atlantic, that Hunter was “Patient Zero of the next false-equivalence epidemic.” ✂ Fast forward four months, and a full-blown crisis of false equivalence has not materialized—at least, not yet. [Following Pam Bondi’s hammering of the Bidens yesterday] our media this morning is not saturated with phoney Biden claims; in many places, the ongoing drama surrounding John Bolton—the former national security adviser who will claim, in a forthcoming book, that he saw Trump doing what Democrats are impeaching him for—takes top billing. On Twitter and on cable news, meanwhile, pundits and anchors have been aggressive in tackling Bondi’s arguments.
Allsop goes on to note that the primary audience for Bondi’s bloviating – like that of all the Rethugs – is the MAGAT base, but he also cautions that the constant repetition of damaging word associations – “Biden” and “corruption,” “Biden” and “investigation” – can also affect Dems, often subliminally. He ends by asking “some deep structural questions about our coverage: If the president says it, is it really news? We can’t just ignore this, can we? What does balance look like, and should it be our central concern? ”
Let’s hope the media quickly learn to answer those three questions with “No,” “Yes, we can” and “No, balance shouldn’t be our central concern – truth should be.”
Good news from Oregon
U.S. Bank fired her for a Christmas good deed. Now companies are clamoring to hire her.
From The Oregonian:
In the week since her story made international news, Emily James, the banker fired from a U.S. Bank call center in Portland for a Christmas Eve act of kindness, has been “overwhelmed and emotional” from the outpouring she’s received. ✂ On the day before Christmas, James had gotten permission from her manager to leave the call center and drive to a nearby gas station, where [Marc Eugenio,] a bank customer was stranded. He couldn’t access the money from his paycheck at the bank, so James gave him $20 of her own money to buy gas, then went back to work. The bank fired her a week later on New Year’s Eve, James said, calling her helpful hand an “unauthorized interaction with a customer.” Then last week her account to The Oregonian/OregonLive went viral. She’s had several job interviews, including with other local banks, but hasn’t yet started another job. Several companies reached out over social media, wanting to hire her.
Coverage of this story in the Portland Tribune included a lovely quote from James:
"I can't change the world but I can change the world for that one person," James said.
The statement from Lee Henderson, U.S. Bank V.P. of Public Affairs and Communications, indicated that the bank has dug in its heels:
“Our policies and procedures for call center representatives are in place to both help and protect our employees and customers,” he said in a written statement. “Ms. James’s employment was terminated because rather than using the proper processes and procedures to help the customer, she chose to pursue a course of action that placed herself and the bank at risk.”
The article went on to report that Henderson had stated that there were other ways James could have gotten the money to Eugenio, but he refused to say what those were. He also claimed that she had been disciplined before for “failure to follow procedures,” but James has contradicted that by giving the press copies of her last two employee reviews, which were positive, and providing copies of over two dozen awards and accolades from the bank.
Just a thought here: if you’re a U.S. Bank customer, especially a long-standing one, read the full story from the Oregonian, then think about calling your branch manager about it. And if you don’t like the response, maybe consider switching to a different bank.
* * * * *
Good national news
Moms Rising finds a sweet way to get the message to senators
From a Moms Rising email:
BONUS Inspiration: Delivering Impeachment Cupcakes and tens of thousands of your signatures to Capitol Hill on Thursday! THANK YOU to all who added their name to our call for the Senate to support a full and fair impeachment trial. We made a big splash on the Hill yesterday delivering your message along with some clever sweet treats.
They also delivered cupcakes to the Senate Press Gallery to thank the reporters, and will deliver more cupcakes to the in-state offices of vulnerable Rethug senators. It’s of course unlikely that any of those Gutless Oath-breaking Phonies will change their votes, but actions like this are good for publicity. And after all, the audience we’re trying to convince is the American public.
Automatic voter registration measure could appear on November ballot in Ohio
From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:
Ohioans would automatically be registered to vote upon applying for or renewing a driver’s license or other state-issued ID, under a proposed constitutional amendment submitted to the state on Wednesday. The amendment, backed by the ACLU and other groups, also would allow eligible Ohioans to register to vote and cast a ballot on the same day throughout the early voting period. This would reinstate and expand what previously was referred to as “Golden Week,” which state lawmakers eliminated in 2014. The amendment campaign group, Ohioans for Secure and Fair Elections, is targeting the presidential election in November for the amendment. Another element of the proposed amendment is a required, statewide post-election audit. The group announced Wednesday it had submitted paperwork, including a summary of the proposed amendment and the amendment text itself, to the state Attorney General’s Office. The filing is the first part of a multi-step process that eventually will require the amendment campaign to gather signatures from hundreds of thousands of Ohio voters across the state. The state Attorney General’s Office now has 10 business days to determine whether the proposed ballot language is an accurate and fair summary of the proposed amendment.
Chattanooga Takes First Step toward Possible Community Land Trust Launch
From Nonprofit Quarterly Joseph Dycus reports in The Chattanoogan that a nonprofit group called Chattanooga in Action for Love, Equality, and Benevolence(CALEB) has received a $20,000 grant from the city’s affordable housing trust fund to conduct a study about the viability of a possible community land trust system for low-to-moderate income housing in the northeastern Tennessee community. The resolution, notes Dycus, allocates the $20,000 in housing trust fund dollars to “coordinate the development of a comprehensive study which will assess the feasibility of establishing and sustaining a community land trust in Chattanooga.” The introduction to the initial study that led to this initiative makes some points that will be familiar to all of us living in gentrified areas, points that are too often overlooked when a city is celebrating an “urban renaissance” (bolding mine): The massive purging of African Americans from Chattanooga’s urban core hasn’t been a fluke. It’s not that the city’s “Renaissance”—nationally lauded as a success story of public-private partnerships, collaborative vision, and massive investment—hasn’t yet reached the level needed to address decades of poverty, community disinvestment, and racism. Our development model has been structured on inequality. Housing, amenities, and public support have centered on attracting a higher socioeconomic class of people—wealthy, professional, overwhelmingly white—regardless of the effect on working class and historically marginalized communities that have called Chattanooga home. Those benefits and burdens of development haven’t fallen equally; rents increase, but wages are kept low. Establishing a self-sustaining community land trust could certainly be helpful in dealing with these inequities. It’ll be interesting to see what happens in Chattanooga.
* * * * *
Good international news
From Positive News:
The Dutch city with a circular vision
[Jelle Scharff and Bas van der Leeden] founded their curious startup, Blue Roof, to do something about the thousands of tonnes of used sanitary products that are filtered out of the city’s sewers annually and incinerated – a process that releases CO2 and contributes to the climate crisis. Gas masks donned, Scharff and Leeden go to a local sewage works to collect toilet trash (think wet wipes, tampons and the like), a foetid mess that is then rinsed, shredded, compressed and dried into strips of substrate. The growing medium has a sour, unpleasant odour, which, according to Scharff, “means there’s life in there, which is good for the plants.” Green roofs are subsidised in Rotterdam and Blue Roof has 15 clients on its waiting list, according to Scharff. The company hopes to install its first large-scale roof in 2020. Blue Roof is among dozens of startups based at the abandoned Tropicana leisure centre [now renamed Blue City], which was originally owned by Centre Parcs. The city has set itself the ambitious target of eliminating waste by 2050 to become a world-leading circular economy (Amsterdam has similar goals). It has certainly risen to tough challenges before, having rebuilt itself almost entirely after the Nazi blitz of 1940.
Textiles made from dried rotten mangoes
Other entrepreneurs in Blue City include one turning rotten mangoes into an alternative to animal hide, another transforming used coffee grounds into coffee cups, and yet another growing mushrooms in used coffee grounds.
And some random good international news from Future Crunch:
As of last month, more than half of Colombia’s municipalities are free of landmines, and the country is on track to remove all mines by 2021. Reuters Child marriage in Bangladesh has dropped by two thirds in the past 20 years, and the country is on track to for zero under-15 marriages by 2021. IFPRI Tunisia has become the first Arab nation to begin providing sex education for elementary and middle school students. Washington Post China has ... banned all commercial fishing on the Yangtze – the first ban ever for Asia’s longest river - to restore aquatic life. SCMP
* * * * *
Science news
The Biggest Celestial Event of the Year Could Happen Tomorrow...or not for 100,000 years
From The Atlantic:
Sometime this week, you might walk outside in broad daylight, look up at the sky, and see a luminous orb as bright as a full moon. Only it wouldn’t be the moon. … You’d be seeing the light from a supernova—the final, powerful flash of a dying star. Supernovas are nearly impossible to predict. But astronomers have recently started discussing the rare possibility with a bit more enthusiasm than usual... ...For the last few months, astronomers around the world have been particularly interested in [Orion’s] right shoulder, the home of a star called Betelgeuse, one of the brightest stars in the sky. Betelgeuse—which, yes, is pronounced like Beetlejuice—has been dimming more than it ever had before. Astronomers have long known that Betelgeuse is aging and, like many old stars, is bound to explode sooner or later. Could this mystery dimming mean that a supernova might be imminent? ✂ “At the predicted brightness of a Betelgeuse supernova, you could be standing in the center of the biggest city in the world, and you would certainly see it,” says John Barentine, an astronomer and the director of public policy at the International Dark-Sky Association, a nonprofit that works to mitigate light pollution. “You couldn’t miss it.” Even more spectacular, the display would stick around. The gleaming orb would remain visible for more than a year, perhaps even longer.
World’s oldest known asteroid impact site found in Australia
From USA Today:
Some 2.2 billion years ago, an asteroid slammed into the Earth, leaving behind a massive, 43-mile-wide crater in what's now Western Australia, scientists announced Tuesday. It's the world's oldest known impact site, the new study said, one that also may have changed Earth's climate: It occurred at a time that coincided with Earth’s recovery from an ice age known as "Snowball Earth," where most of Earth’s surface was covered with ice sheets up to 3 miles thick, according to a statement from Imperial College in London. The impact left behind a scar on the land that's known as the Yarrabubba impact crater. "The age we've got for the Yarrabubba impact structure makes it the oldest impact structure on the planet," study co-author Chris Kirkland, a geologist at Australia's Curtin University, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. That's about half the age of Earth itself and 200 million years older than the previous record-holder, the 190-mile-wide Vredefort Dome in South Africa, according to Space.com.
Vera Rubin Gets a Telescope of Her Own
From the NY Times:
Dr. Rubin, with her colleague Kent Ford, discovered that … the universe — all those galaxies and the vast spaces between — was awash with dark matter, an invisible something with sufficient gravity to mold the large scale structures of the universe. Esteemed astronomers dismissed her findings at first. But half a century later, ... the National Science Foundation announced that the newest observatory joining this cause will be named the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. The name replaces the mouthful by which the project was previously known: the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, or L.S.S.T. The observatory, jointly financed by the N.S.F. and the Department of Energy, under construction on a mountain called Cerro Pachon, in Chile, will begin operating in 2022. By recording images of the entire sky every few days, it will produce a time-lapse movie of the universe. It is the first national observatory to have been named for a woman, the announcement said. “Named after an astronomer who provided important evidence of the existence of dark matter,” wrote France Córdova, the Foundation’s outgoing director, “the NSF Vera C. Rubin Observatory seems destined to make science history with its extraordinary capabilities that will come to bear in the next few years.”
* * * * *
Animal news
Good news for exotic animals:
What’s the price for mistreating captive tigers?
From a National Geographic email:
The eccentric and prolific wildlife breeder and dealer known as “Joe Exotic” was just sentenced to 22 years in prison…, convicted in April on two counts of murder-for-hire—he’d plotted to kill a wildlife sanctuary founder who had been critical of him—and 17 wildlife charges, including the slaying of five tigers. ... Did you know there are more tigers living in captivity in the United States alone than remain in the wild? A few are in accredited zoos and sanctuaries. Many more are pets, or attractions at roadside zoos or breeders at facilities where the public can go pet them and cuddle their cubs.
As our investigation showed, this is a problem for both the tigers—many are neglected, abused, and exploited—and for humans. No matter how tame they may seem at times, they’re still wild animals. Many are killed or abandoned once they become too dangerous to pet. ...
In the case of Joe Exotic’s mistreated menagerie, these captive tigers won’t, and can’t, ever be released into the wild. They, like most captive tigers in the U.S., serve no conservation purpose whatsoever.
In honor of Superb Owl Sunday this weekend, here’s a cool article about how and where to find owls:
Owling: A Field Guide to Finding Winter Owls
From the Nature Conservancy “Cool Green Science” blog:
Now is the best time of year to go owling. You don’t need to be a life-listing birder or skilled field naturalist to enjoy spotting and listening to owls. It’s the perfect outdoor activity for the whole family. And if you are a serious bird nerd, the winter offers more rare owl opportunities, too. ✂ The great horned owl’s hoot is pretty much unmistakable... A common hooting pattern is a longer hoooooot, followed by two or three shorter hoots. ✂ Come January, they’ll begin setting in the nest – far earlier than most other birds. An evening walk is a great way to enjoy the spectacle. You can often get an owl to answer your own hoots. Once you hear one, scan thick tree branches and other potential perches. The great horned owl’s outline is unmistakable. ✂ [In] some years, snowy owls can be found in many parts of North America, from farm fields to airport runways. These irruptions, as they’re known, are tied to lemming abundance in the north country. Local birding groups or the iNaturalist app can help you find a snowy owl near you. A snowy owl will often stay in the same general area for weeks or longer.
And my favorite Superb Owl, the charming little Northern pygmy owl, an Oregon resident:
People Who Talk To Their Pets Are Smarter Than Those Who Don’t
From I❤Dogs:
I admit it: I talk to my pets. I even have a different voice for each one. My non-animal friends think it’s silly and more than a little crazy to carry on these one-sided conversations. But Nicholas Epley, professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago, disagrees. He feels it’s perfectly normal to engage in this behavior, and it may actually indicate a higher level of social cognition. Epley is the author of Mindwise: How We Understand What Others Think, Believe, Feel, and Want. He is considered one of the world’s foremost experts on the phenomenon of anthropomorphism – the tendency to assign human thoughts, feelings or characteristics to a non-human object or being. ✂ “For centuries, our willingness to recognize minds in nonhumans has been seen as a kind of stupidity, a childlike tendency toward anthropomorphism and superstition that educated and clear-thinking adults have outgrown,” he writes in his book. “I think this view is both mistaken and unfortunate. Recognizing the mind of another human being involves the same psychological processes as recognizing a mind in other animals, a god, or even a gadget. It is a reflection of our brain’s greatest ability rather than a sign of our stupidity.”
* * * * *
Random holiday heads up for January 29th:
National Puzzle Day
(more info at Holidays Calendar)
Celebrate by solving a puzzle today! It’s a great way to distract yourself if the GOP’s assholery is getting you down.
Jigsaw puzzles, word puzzles, visual puzzles, mechanical puzzles – take your pick. They’re all fun, and they’re all good for keeping your brain stimulated.
Lately I’ve become rather obsessed with the NY Times “tiles” game, which combines pattern and color discrimination with enough need for strategy to keep it interesting. If you want to check it out, here’s a link.
Below are screenshots of what two of the games look like (they’re currently running four different designs which change every day or two). The idea is to find the same design element in two different tiles, which you can then clear by clicking first on one tile and then on the other. The goal is to clear the board without making any false matches. I like to see how many individual matches I can make (the maximum is 45); other players prefer to see how few moves it takes them to clear the board.
The puzzle on the left, based on Josef Albers’ studies of color interactions, is my favorite.
* * * * *
Quote of the day
Just a reminder that the GOP has been the way they are today for a verrrrrrrry looooooong time:
I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends... that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them. – Adlai Stevenson
* * * * *
Some laughs
Old Hippie Dude’s Tweets of the Week are always a great source of laughs, and there were a couple of true gems in the collection this past Sunday:
John Fugelsang @JohnFugelsang Putin is America’s worst president since Cheney. m i t h @ManlnTheHoody trump could shoot someone in the senate and still get acquitted 53-47. unless he shot a republican, then it would be 52-47. And over at Cheers and Jeers, Bill in Portland Maine noted that tomorrow is: Dick Cheney's birthday. He turns 666. Again. I avoid posting Showercap’s more obscene and gross commentary in my GNRUs (although it’s always extremely funny), but this perfect take-down of the Gormless Obfuscating Posturers is simply funny: In a bit of laughably disingenuous pre-coordinated bullshit the likes of which hasn’t been seen since the Brooks Brothers Riot or the Bowling Green Massacre, Senate Republicans engaged in a little theatrical whinging, sort of the political equivalent of every over-serious audition-room rendering of On My Own. The idea seems to be that Adam Schiff, in referencing last week’s widely-reported “head on a pike” story during his closing statement, hurt their senatorial fee-fees so much that they’re now basically allowed to ignore the House’s entire flawlessly-constructed case, and also have their moms take them out for ice cream. * * * * *
Hot lynx
www.goodnewsnetwork.org/… More Americans Visited Their Library in 2019 Than the Movies – By Far
www.goodnewsnetwork.org/...This Collapsible, Self-Cleaning Steel Straw Could Finally Spell the End of Disposable Plastic Alternatives [Since it will retail at $69, it’s hardly the universal solution to straw pollution, but for those who can afford it, it’s very cool.]
www.dailykos.com/...The Big Dog Problem [a smart and memorable take on gender disparity, written by a guy]
www.vogue.com/… Meet Najiah Knight, the 13-Year-Old Girl Upending the World of Professional Bull Riding [I’m ambivalent about posting this, since I abhor the exploitation of animals for entertainment, but this Native American girl from Oregon is amazing...] [I’m ambivalent about posting this, since I abhor the exploitation of animals for entertainment, but this Native American girl from Oregon is amazing...]
www.alternet.org/… Are Trump and his ilk manipulating the markets for personal gain? Investigative business reporter William Cohan lays out the evidence [Not exactly good news, but if this is proven and gets wide publicity, it’ll definitely hurt tRump, the Mnuchbag, and lots of other Grasping Outrageous Plutocrats.]
* * * * *
Action items:
From Indivisible, via email. This was sent last Friday, but the actions are still relevant.
Call your senators. If you have a Republican senator, click here to call them and make sure they know you’re watching, you expect them to do better, and you’ll remember in November. If you have a Democratic senator, click here to call them and thank them for standing firm. They’re getting a lot of angry calls, and it’s good to hear from supporters. We expect that senators’ staff will be answering office phones today, while the trial is in session, and again on Monday bright and early. If you have trouble with the links above, you can also call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
Expand your calls’ impact: Once you’ve called your own senator, if you’re feeling like you want to do more, particularly if you’re in a blue state where your senator’s vote isn’t in question, join our Hubdialer program. Here’s how it works: you call another friendly activist in a red state (these are people who are already on our side) and ask them to call their Republican senator about impeachment. If they agree, you can press one button and transfer them straight to the senator’s office. It’s an easy and effective way to multiply your impact. Click here to sign up for a shift.
Send Jerry Nadler and his wife your good wishes
You’ve probably heard that Jerry Nadler’s wife was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December and that he had to miss attending the impeachment trial on Monday in order to be with her as they determined her treatment going forward. I’m planning to use my postcard-writing skills to create a card for them, wishing her success and thanking him for his heroic work during the impeachment hearings. Maybe some of you would like to do the same. ❤
* * * * *
In closing, always remember that our goal is to create a Blue Tsunami in 2020!!! Do whatever you can to make that happen! And keep your eyes on the prize:
x YouTube Video
❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤
Thanks to each and every Gnusie for your smarts, your hearts, and your faithful attendance at our daily Gathering of the Herd.
❤💙 RESIST, PERSIST, REBUILD, REJOICE!💙❤


dailykos--2020-01-29--The Dershowitz Theory On Impeachment Has Taken Root In Republican Caucus

According to a new story in the Washington Post , Alan Dershowitz ’ s legal conspiracy theory presented on the floor of the Senate Monday night that impeaching a President required a statutory crime has now caught on in the Republican Caucus in the Senate as the rationale for not calling witnesses since the entire constitutional premise for Trump ’ s impeachment doesn ’ t exist .
www.washingtonpost.com/… I watched the Dershowitz presentation and wondered what the Republican Senators were thinking at the time .
He was the last presentation of the evening and as the cable news shows came @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t seem to know what to make of it .
On Tuesday CNN had legal scholar for hire Jonathan Turley on and he said that he disagreed with the Dershowitz theory that a statutory crime was necessary to impeach a President .
Jeffrey Toobin , CNN ’ s resident legal analyst has been debunking this argument from his former Harvard professor every chance he gets and virtually no legal scholar in America agrees with Dershowitz , yet it is picking up fans in the Republican Caucus and now openly being cited in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Post story and Maddow Blog www.msnbc.com/ Last night on Lawrence O ’ Donnell ’ s MSNBC show The Last Word , Harvard constitutional law professor Lawrence Tribe made this plea to the Senators and the public on the dangers of letting this argument prevail .
That video is at the top of the page .

Lawrence Tribe Debunks Dershowitz Yet Again
According to a new story in the Washington Post, Alan Dershowitz’s legal conspiracy theory presented on the floor of the Senate Monday night that impeaching a President required a statutory crime has now caught on in the Republican Caucus in the Senate as the rationale for not calling witnesses since the entire constitutional premise for Trump’s impeachment doesn’t exist. www.washingtonpost.com/…
I watched the Dershowitz presentation and wondered what the Republican Senators were thinking at the time. He was the last presentation of the evening and as the cable news shows came back on post hearing, they didn’t seem to know what to make of it.
On Tuesday CNN had legal scholar for hire Jonathan Turley on and he said that he disagreed with the Dershowitz theory that a statutory crime was necessary to impeach a President. Jeffrey Toobin, CNN’s resident legal analyst has been debunking this argument from his former Harvard professor every chance he gets and virtually no legal scholar in America agrees with Dershowitz, yet it is picking up fans in the Republican Caucus and now openly being cited in their public statements according to the Washington Post story and Maddow Blog www.msnbc.com/
Last night on Lawrence O’Donnell’s MSNBC show The Last Word, Harvard constitutional law professor Lawrence Tribe made this plea to the Senators and the public on the dangers of letting this argument prevail. That video is at the top of the page.


dailykos--2020-01-29--Hamilton County, Indiana Political Geography and Trends

Hamilton County , Indiana , located just north of Indianapolis , is the fourth-most populous county in Indiana .
It is a fast-growing suburban county that , for most of its history , has been staunchly Republican .
However , in the Trump era , it has trended Democratic .
The Democratic trend is not due to an influx of minorities – Hamilton County is , and has always been , heavily white .
The Democratic trend is instead due to college-educated white suburbanites leaving the Republican Party .
Hamilton County can be divided into five parts , and I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first is the city of Carmel , in the south-western part of the county .
As of the 2018 population estimates from the Census , Carmel has roughly 93,000 people , making it the fifth-largest city in Indiana and the largest suburb of Indianapolis ( though its neighbor Fishers is close behind on both counts ) .
Carmel is full of wealthy , well-educated suburbanites who used to vote solidly Republican .
In 2008 , as Barack Obama was narrowly winning Indiana , Carmel voted 60-39 for John McCain , and that was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democrats at the time .
Four years later , Carmel reverted to its heavily Republican roots and voted for Mitt Romney by a 65-33 margin .
Most people at the time thought that Carmel would stay Republican for the foreseeable future .
But then Trump came around , and despite Trump ’ s strong win statewide in Indiana , the well-educated suburbanites of Carmel reacted badly to him and voted for Trump by a margin of only 9 percent – 51-42 .
And two years later , even as Democratic U.S .
Senator @ @ @ @ @ @ @ margin , Carmel swung even more to the left , voting for Republican candidate Mike Braun by only 47 votes – a margin of 0.11 percent .
Therefore , from 2008 to 2018 , Carmel moved from voting 11 points more Republican than the state as a whole to 4 points more Democratic than the state as a whole .
Next up is the neighboring city of Fishers , directly to the east of Carmel .
Fishers is also a wealthy , well-educated suburb that is just barely smaller in population than Carmel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the left since 2008 , though not quite as dramatically as Carmel .
Fishers voted 59-40 for John McCain in 2008 , one point to the left of Carmel and 10 points to the right of the state .
Just like Carmel , it swung about 5 points to the right in 2012 , voting for Romney by a 65-34 margin .
And then , also like Carmel , it swung dramatically to the left in 2016 , voting for Trump by a 53-39 margin , only 14 percentage points .
That was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about 1 percentage point to the left of Carmel , while from 2016 onward it has been about 2 percentage points to the right of Carmel .
Fishers voted for Mike Braun in 2018 by a margin of about 2 percent .
Thus , Fishers went from being 10 points to the right of the state in 2008 to voting about 3 points to the left of the state in 2018 .
Located in the geographic center of the county is the county seat , Noblesville .
Noblesville has matured from a small @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it is less well-educated than Carmel or Fishers and thus has not swung as far to the left as they have .
Noblesville voted 62-37 for John McCain in 2008 , 26 percentage points to the right of the state and 4 percent to the right of the county as a whole .
Like everywhere in Hamilton County , it swung further to the right in 2012 , voting for Romney by a 68-30 margin , 28 points to the right of the state and ( again ) 4 points to the right @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it swung to the left , but by a smaller margin than Carmel or Fishers – it voted for Trump by a 62-31 margin .
This was only 12 points to the right of the state , but now also 12 points to the right of Hamilton County .
The difference between Noblesville and Carmel , only 6 percent in 2012 , widened to 21 percent in 2016 .
And in 2018 , Noblesville voted 57-39 for Mike Braun , which was again 12 points to the right of the state , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ County .
Thus , Noblesville has moved left compared to the state , but since the state has moved to the right , Noblesville remains a solidly Republican city and will likely remain that way for a while longer .
Located directly west of Noblesville and north of Carmel is Hamilton County ’ s newest major suburb , Westfield .
As recently as 2000 , Westfield had fewer than 10,000 people , but as of the 2010 Census it had roughly 30,000 , and recent estimates show it having over 40,000 people .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Westfield voted 64-35 for John McCain , four percentage points to the right of Noblesville , 8 points to the right of Hamilton County , and 30 points to the right of the state .
In 2012 it voted 69-30 for Mitt Romney , putting it one point to the right of Noblesville , five points to the right of Hamilton County , and 29 points to the right of the state .
But in 2016 , Westfield , with a more educated populace than Noblesville , moved further to the left , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Thus , Westfield voted 7 points to the left of Noblesville , 5 points to the right of Hamilton County , and only 5 points to the right of the state .
Westfield ’ s shift to the left continued in 2018 , when it voted for Mike Braun by a 54-42 margin , which was 6 points to the left of Noblesville , 4 points to the right of Hamilton County , and 6 points to the right of the state .
Thus , Westfield ’ s shifts have been the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ County compared to the county as a whole – Westfield has consistently been between 4 and 8 percent to the right of Hamilton County .
Finally , we come to the rural areas of Hamilton County .
These areas have been growing at a much slower rate than the suburban areas , and have notably different electoral trends .
In 2008 , they voted 63-36 for McCain , two percentage points to the left of Westfield , and then in 2012 they voted 69-29 for Romney , one point to the right of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , while Westfield ( and most of the rest of the county ) lurched to the left , the rural areas actually swung further to the right , voting 68-25 for Trump , putting them 19 points to the right of Westfield .
They had been only 5 and 6 points more Republican than Hamilton County as a whole in the 2008 and 2012 elections , respectively , however in 2016 they were 23 points to the right of Hamilton County .
In 2018 , the rural areas remained by far the most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Mike Braun by a 63-32 margin , 12 points to the right even of Noblesville , which is now the 2nd-most Republican area of Hamilton County .
These trends are due to the fact that the educated voters in the remainder of the county , who are pushing the rest of it to the left , have not moved up to the rural areas , at least not yet .
Thus , most of the voters in the rural areas are white working-class – precisely the kind who would swing Republican in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hamilton County as a whole used to be significantly more Republican than Indiana as a whole – it voted 23 percentage points more Republican than Indiana as a whole in 2008 , and a very similar 24 points more Republican in 2012 .
But then , in 2016 , Hamilton County shifted to the left while Indiana as a whole shifted to the right , with the result that both jurisdictions voted very similarly – both gave Trump margins of 19 percent .
And that trend continued in 2018 , with Hamilton County @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Indiana as a whole .
Considering the diverging political trends of Hamilton County and of Indiana as a whole , and Democrats ’ lack of victories there in recent years , it is likely that the next time a Democrat wins Indiana , they will carry Hamilton County .
This line graph illustrates the political trends of Hamilton County ’ s cities .
Here are some township-level maps of Hamilton County : And finally , a bonus map for those of you who made it down this far… a precinct-level map of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ County .
Quick note about the poll : the final option should say “ < 50 % ” .
I can ’ t change the poll after the article has been published .

Hamilton County, Indiana, located just north of Indianapolis, is the fourth-most populous county in Indiana. It is a fast-growing suburban county that, for most of its history, has been staunchly Republican. However, in the Trump era, it has trended Democratic. The Democratic trend is not due to an influx of minorities – Hamilton County is, and has always been, heavily white. The Democratic trend is instead due to college-educated white suburbanites leaving the Republican Party. Hamilton County can be divided into five parts, and I will discuss each of them.
The first is the city of Carmel, in the south-western part of the county. As of the 2018 population estimates from the Census, Carmel has roughly 93,000 people, making it the fifth-largest city in Indiana and the largest suburb of Indianapolis (though its neighbor Fishers is close behind on both counts). Carmel is full of wealthy, well-educated suburbanites who used to vote solidly Republican. In 2008, as Barack Obama was narrowly winning Indiana, Carmel voted 60-39 for John McCain, and that was seen as an exceptionally strong performance for Democrats at the time. Four years later, Carmel reverted to its heavily Republican roots and voted for Mitt Romney by a 65-33 margin. Most people at the time thought that Carmel would stay Republican for the foreseeable future. But then Trump came around, and despite Trump’s strong win statewide in Indiana, the well-educated suburbanites of Carmel reacted badly to him and voted for Trump by a margin of only 9 percent – 51-42. And two years later, even as Democratic U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly lost re-election by a 6-percent margin, Carmel swung even more to the left, voting for Republican candidate Mike Braun by only 47 votes – a margin of 0.11 percent. Therefore, from 2008 to 2018, Carmel moved from voting 11 points more Republican than the state as a whole to 4 points more Democratic than the state as a whole.
Next up is the neighboring city of Fishers, directly to the east of Carmel. Fishers is also a wealthy, well-educated suburb that is just barely smaller in population than Carmel. Fishers has also swung substantially to the left since 2008, though not quite as dramatically as Carmel. Fishers voted 59-40 for John McCain in 2008, one point to the left of Carmel and 10 points to the right of the state. Just like Carmel, it swung about 5 points to the right in 2012, voting for Romney by a 65-34 margin. And then, also like Carmel, it swung dramatically to the left in 2016, voting for Trump by a 53-39 margin, only 14 percentage points. That was the inflection point – pre-2016 Fishers was about 1 percentage point to the left of Carmel, while from 2016 onward it has been about 2 percentage points to the right of Carmel. Fishers voted for Mike Braun in 2018 by a margin of about 2 percent. Thus, Fishers went from being 10 points to the right of the state in 2008 to voting about 3 points to the left of the state in 2018.
Located in the geographic center of the county is the county seat, Noblesville. Noblesville has matured from a small town into a major suburb, however it is less well-educated than Carmel or Fishers and thus has not swung as far to the left as they have. Noblesville voted 62-37 for John McCain in 2008, 26 percentage points to the right of the state and 4 percent to the right of the county as a whole. Like everywhere in Hamilton County, it swung further to the right in 2012, voting for Romney by a 68-30 margin, 28 points to the right of the state and (again) 4 points to the right of Hamilton County. In 2016, it swung to the left, but by a smaller margin than Carmel or Fishers – it voted for Trump by a 62-31 margin. This was only 12 points to the right of the state, but now also 12 points to the right of Hamilton County. The difference between Noblesville and Carmel, only 6 percent in 2012, widened to 21 percent in 2016. And in 2018, Noblesville voted 57-39 for Mike Braun, which was again 12 points to the right of the state, and 10 points to the right of Hamilton County. Thus, Noblesville has moved left compared to the state, but since the state has moved to the right, Noblesville remains a solidly Republican city and will likely remain that way for a while longer.
Located directly west of Noblesville and north of Carmel is Hamilton County’s newest major suburb, Westfield. As recently as 2000, Westfield had fewer than 10,000 people, but as of the 2010 Census it had roughly 30,000, and recent estimates show it having over 40,000 people. Those people were originally mostly Republicans – Westfield voted 64-35 for John McCain, four percentage points to the right of Noblesville, 8 points to the right of Hamilton County, and 30 points to the right of the state. In 2012 it voted 69-30 for Mitt Romney, putting it one point to the right of Noblesville, five points to the right of Hamilton County, and 29 points to the right of the state. But in 2016, Westfield, with a more educated populace than Noblesville, moved further to the left, voting for Trump by a 58-34 margin. Thus, Westfield voted 7 points to the left of Noblesville, 5 points to the right of Hamilton County, and only 5 points to the right of the state. Westfield’s shift to the left continued in 2018, when it voted for Mike Braun by a 54-42 margin, which was 6 points to the left of Noblesville, 4 points to the right of Hamilton County, and 6 points to the right of the state. Thus, Westfield’s shifts have been the most consistent of any city in Hamilton County compared to the county as a whole – Westfield has consistently been between 4 and 8 percent to the right of Hamilton County.
Finally, we come to the rural areas of Hamilton County. These areas have been growing at a much slower rate than the suburban areas, and have notably different electoral trends. In 2008, they voted 63-36 for McCain, two percentage points to the left of Westfield, and then in 2012 they voted 69-29 for Romney, one point to the right of Westfield. But then, in 2016, while Westfield (and most of the rest of the county) lurched to the left, the rural areas actually swung further to the right, voting 68-25 for Trump, putting them 19 points to the right of Westfield. They had been only 5 and 6 points more Republican than Hamilton County as a whole in the 2008 and 2012 elections, respectively, however in 2016 they were 23 points to the right of Hamilton County. In 2018, the rural areas remained by far the most Republican area of Hamilton County, voting for Mike Braun by a 63-32 margin, 12 points to the right even of Noblesville, which is now the 2nd-most Republican area of Hamilton County. These trends are due to the fact that the educated voters in the remainder of the county, who are pushing the rest of it to the left, have not moved up to the rural areas, at least not yet. Thus, most of the voters in the rural areas are white working-class – precisely the kind who would swing Republican in 2016 and remain Republican in 2018.
Hamilton County as a whole used to be significantly more Republican than Indiana as a whole – it voted 23 percentage points more Republican than Indiana as a whole in 2008, and a very similar 24 points more Republican in 2012. But then, in 2016, Hamilton County shifted to the left while Indiana as a whole shifted to the right, with the result that both jurisdictions voted very similarly – both gave Trump margins of 19 percent. And that trend continued in 2018, with Hamilton County voting only two percent more Republican than Indiana as a whole. Considering the diverging political trends of Hamilton County and of Indiana as a whole, and Democrats’ lack of victories there in recent years, it is likely that the next time a Democrat wins Indiana, they will carry Hamilton County.
This line graph illustrates the political trends of Hamilton County’s cities.
Here are some township-level maps of Hamilton County:
And finally, a bonus map for those of you who made it down this far… a precinct-level map of the 2018 Indiana U.S. Senate election in Hamilton County.
Quick note about the poll: the final option should say “<50%”. I can’t change the poll after the article has been published.


dailykos--2020-01-30--Republicans Were Ready To Pass On Witnesses Then Dershowitz F***ed It All Up

Allan Dershowitz lost his mind on the Senate floor Wednesday and I get to say one day that I was there when it happened .
When historians are chronicling Donald Trump ’ s tenure in office , included in every one of the hundreds of books that are certain to be written on the Trump presidency , there will be a reference to the case presented by Allan Dershowitz in Trump ’ s Impeachment trial because it may have changed the decision on witnesses .
His legal argument would earn a F grade for any first year law student , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ regard to where this goes and what that might mean for Trump .
It could be argued , based on the questions that the House Managers were losing the momentum that erupted after the John Bolton revelations on Monday .
It looked like we were heading for witnesses Tuesday night .
By Wednesday morning the counter narrative provided by FOX and the administration was taking some flesh off of Bolton .
Republicans were warming to his far out argument that a crime was necessary for impeachment .
Dershowitz must have gotten high off @ @ @ @ @ @ @ upon him by Trumpites because he went all in crazy by making the argument that whatever a president does is fine as long at it is in the public ’ s interest , to be determined by the president as the sole arbiter on whether it meets that standard .
By overplaying this argument in to the extreme , Dershowitz has now saddled the Republican Senators with this argument .
They must explain to America how with their vote to acquit that they didn ’ t just sanction absolute power for future presidents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them around long after Trump is gone .
This won ’ t get an acquittal , but I feel better about at least witnesses than I did earlier today .

Allan Dershowitz lost his mind on the Senate floor Wednesday and I get to say one day that I was there when it happened.
When historians are chronicling Donald Trump’s tenure in office, included in every one of the hundreds of books that are certain to be written on the Trump presidency, there will be a reference to the case presented by Allan Dershowitz in Trump’s Impeachment trial because it may have changed the decision on witnesses. His legal argument would earn a F grade for any first year law student, but it may have unintended consequences with regard to where this goes and what that might mean for Trump.
Based on the content of Republican Senator’s questions being submitted, it appeared that the House Managers were losing the momentum that erupted after the John Bolton revelations on Monday. Though It looked like we were heading for witnesses Tuesday night, by Wednesday morning the counter narrative provided by FOX and the administration was taking some flesh off of Bolton however.
Republicans also seemed to be warming to his far out argument that a crime was necessary for impeachment. Dershowitz must have gotten high off the fumes from all the adulation heaped upon him by Trumpites because he went all in crazy by making the argument that whatever a president does is fine as long at it is in the public’s interest, to be determined by the president as the sole arbiter on whether it meets that standard.
Dershowitz has now saddled the Republican Senators with this argument with their vote for acquittal. They must explain to America how with their vote to acquit that they didn’t just sanction absolute power for future presidents. This kind of stank can follow them around long after Trump is gone. Trump’s celebrity lawyer may have inadvertently insured a witness with his antics.