A head-fake debate pushed by Jill Stein

Let's look at this "Free and Equal" debate set for tonight, as puffed by Stein in a Thursday email.

TL/DR? Jill Stein loves it because there's nobody to her left that got invited.

People involved?

Christina Tobin is the debate organizer and/or moderator and creator of the Free and Equal Elections Foundation. Not a candidate.

Thomas Massie? Tea Party wingnut congresscritter; not running for prez. Second debate moderator.

Randall Terry? Arguably an anti-abortion terrorist. Past his shelf life. Constitution Party candidate.

Chase Oliver? Nominal Libertarian Party nominee, seeing the sand being washed out from under his feet by various state LPs.

Jill Stein? Investments hypocrite, as regular readers know.

So, why didn't Tobin invite a Claudia de la Cruz of the Party of Socialism and Liberation, even if not at 270 EVs at this time? Many states, like here in Tex-ass, have not yet opened the doors for candidates to get on the ballot as write-in choices. Or, where's the practically invisible Bill Stodden of the Socialist Party USA? And god, is he practically invisible.

Alt-history: Kinky Friedman as Texas Gov

 

Kinky Friedman, who (in)famously, and hilariously, ran for Texas governor in 2006, and who passed away a couple of weeks ago, probably could have had the job if he had serious-ed up at some point.  That said, per that link, years of hindsight later made me realize that, at some point, he thought he might just win, that scared the hell out of him, and refusing to serious up was the antidote.

Texas Monthly offers its thought on what would have happened had he won. It first notes that he shot himself in the foot on at least one occasion when he DID get serious, per his "crackheads and thugs" comment. 

Personally, I thought he had no idea what his constituency was. If he really believed it was the Venn diagram overlap of people who wanted both legal marijuana and organized prayer in public school, it was pretty small.

And, it was pretty weird for a Jew who traded on his Jewishness to want prayer in public schools, but I digress. Back to the Monthly.

Good alt-history only changes one big thing. This changes one moderate serious one, by having state officials rule against Strayhorn Rylander on having "Grandma" as part of her ballot listing. It then moves from alt-history to alt-degeneracy with having Friedman challenge Democrat Chris Bell to a drinking contest to combine their campaigns.

After that, it gets seriously non-serious. And, so, we'll ignore analyzing that laugh track piece and look at reality.

Other than taking up the idea of Rylander not being "Grandma" (and using that to camouflage multiple marriages, too), here's the serious skinny.

It involves Kinky getting serious. Versus the other three, as I noted at the time, he had openings. Beyond that, his schtick wore thin with repetition anyway.

Other than the laugh track, per link No. 3, the first part of getting serious was, per link No. 3, figuring out your constituency. Since Kinky ran later, twice, and as a Democrat both times, that's easy. So, going more serious than the Monthly, we get Kinky to realize that Democrats don't back school prayer. But, would he have? After all, in 2006, some people were pushing him as being to the right of Tricky Ricky.

That said, alt-history also has to have some chance at really happening. Given that Kinky was still supporting prayer and the 10 Commandments in school as late as 2013, and went beyond that on religious intolerance by saying "love Jesus or go to hell," this had about as much chance as Kinky kicking away a rescue dog in Utopia. That second link in the paragraph is an adapted version of a newspaper column I wrote about his campaign. Sadly, per that first link, he almost won the Dem primary for ag secretary in 2010. (Contra Gilberto Hinojosa, skipper of the SS Texas Democratic Minnow, that's another sign of the ongoing weakness of the party statewide.)

Beyond that, the Monthly is laughable in another way. IF Kinky got just serious enough to be elected, by inciting non-Grandma and Tricky Ricky to attack each other even more, by knowing his constituency, and by belittling Bell, there would have been no second term.

First, he had no coattails, so no help in the Lege.

Because of that, the Lege would have dramatically tightened ballot petition signature rules for independent candidates. Kinky as incumbent would have gotten on the ballot again. Nobody else.

Second, the wingers would have co-opted his "five Mexican generals" on the border, or more serious versions of that.

So, the only real alt-history questions are:

1. How little would Kinky have gotten done in his solo term?

2. How badly would he have gotten crushed in 2010?

3. Who would the GOP crusher be?

That last one's the curious one.

In reality, Kay Bailey Cheerleader Hutchison challenged Tricky Ricky in the 2010 primary. Would Perry have been hors de combat after the 2006 loss, or stubborn enough to try again and possibly lose anyway? Would some other non-Bushie GOPer make the run? (In reality, Perry took 51 percent in a three-way primary. Debra Medina, No. 3, was a Tea Party nutbag.) As in, would Strangeabbott have thrust himself forward four years early? Can't see who else it would have been; John Cornyn wasn't leaving the Senate.

In this, we'll say that relative unknown Abbott has to go to a runoff against Hutchison, where he wins. Little else changes in Texas politics.

And, with all of that said, also consider this more of a takedown obit than my original.

Yes, AC is making most of you Tex-ass Texans wimps

I say YOU and not ME because, per this Texas Monthly story on the issue, I rarely use it, and basically never have it running during the daytime when I am home and yes, you read that right. And, yes, with strategic shutting of vents and use of box and ceiling fans, it IS possible to sleep at, or at least near, that 82°F overnight temperature the EPA suggests; Vox discusses that and daytime temps as well.

At home, I benefit from an apartment complex swimming pool, I should add.

And, since I run a small biz where I'm the only full-time on-site employee, it runs somewhere between 78 and 80 there. 

I HATE places that run it anywhere below 74. Yes, 72, not just 70, is loathsome, ridiculous and ...

Climate killing. So, librulz who claim to care about the environment? Look in the mirror.

The reality is that if you get outside and exercise in the outdoors enough, you'll grow at least somewhat heat-tolerant. 

Update: No, I am not joking, per this story about permanent residents of Death Valley:

Those who are here that long have more blood in their systems, which allows the body to more efficiently carry heat from the core to the skin. They’re also able to sweat more to shed heat.

There you go.

Even if my daytime numbers are too high for you, by not running it at all? The EPA still says 78 for daytime; I'd set it at 80, even. And, if 82 is too hot at night? You should be able to do 80, or 78 to start, with enough fans. (I have two box, a smaller oscillator, and a ceiling fan in my bedroom.)

The story is interesting in noting Japan ranks right up alongside the US in degree of AC "penetration." Lots of Japan can be pretty humid, but, lots of it can also be not that hot.

Abortion, Amarillo and avarice

I had a group of related items that, once the last one came up on my radar screen, I pulled from this week's Texas Progressives Roundup to run separately.

Amarillo nutters, after the city council rejected it, have Mark Lee Dickson's abortion travel ban on the November ballot as a referendum. I've written about Dickson's lies before.

Off the Kuff also looked to Amarillo and its forthcoming vote on an abortion "travel ban".

Do Texas crisis pregnancy centers help anybody? ProPublica asks. 

This:

But an investigation by ProPublica and CBS News found that the system that funnels a growing pot of state money to anti-abortion nonprofits has few safeguards and is riddled with waste.

Is the nut graf.

And here:

In some cases, taxpayers are paying these groups to distribute goods they obtained for free, allowing anti-abortion centers — which are often called “crisis pregnancy centers” and may be set up to look like clinics that perform abortions — to bill $14 to hand out a couple of donated diapers.

Distributing a single pamphlet can net the same $14 fee. The state has paid the charities millions to distribute such “educational materials” about topics including parenting and adoption; it can’t say exactly how many millions because it doesn’t collect data on the goods it’s paying for. State officials declined to provide examples of the materials by publication time, and reporters who visited pregnancy centers were turned away.

Are some of the details.

That last part is important. These people, both the state officials and center officials are like rats or moles that don't want to see the light of day.

Texas progressives: Kuffner kall-out and more!

Even after MSM DC insiders last week did a mix of a mea culpa, or rather, more, a tua culpa of finding other members of their tribe at fault for not reporting more in Dementia Joe's health, Philly broadcast media reporters admitted asking Joe Biden questions that his own staff submitted to them. And, then said they weren't pressured. In other words, they're willing flak.

Beyond the duopoly framing, Radley Balko has a scathing takedown of the Trump immunity ruling.

UT offers pro-Palestinian protestors probation instead of suspension. Well, that's something, something akin to shutting the barn door after the DPS thugs left it open, but not blaming the students for that. Will THIS finally lead Kuff to write ANYthing about Palestine? Nahh.

Congresscritter Lloyd Doggett calls on Biden to withdraw. Will THIS finally lead Kuff to write ANYthing about Biden's debate clusterfuck? Nahh. Kuff DID, in his weekend link dump, cite noted Blue Anon fellator, and also noted Zionist, Josh Marshall, in a paywall piece that fuck no, I don't pay to read Blue Anon Zionism.

Looking at that burning national political issue, SocraticGadfly first notes that the Philadelphia Inquirer blew it with its one-party presidential withdrawal editorial, then turned a gimlet eye on DC media insiders pointing fingers at each other over not reporting more, earlier, about Biden's health, then finished by noting that dueling insider leaks of "he's stepping down / no he's not"were reminiscent of Noam Chomsky being dead/not, two weeks earlier, as new manifestations of Schrödinger's Cat. Kuff, harder for you to hide!

On the issue of dropping out, timely nice national Democratic commissars are worried about Chicago 2024 being a repeat of Chicago 1968, Chris Hooks compares Biden to LBJ.

State judge Francisco Dominguez told Ken Paxton to go fuck himself over his harassment of Annunciation House.

Can Strangeabbott and his wheelchair (and underground border mineshafts?) hold out 30 more years? That's how long it will take to build his version of the border wall at current rates.

Texas drivers do suck.

The Observer talks about how Texans for Lawsuit Reform, which helped the state GOP pivot hard right, is now in the crosshairs of the harder right. That's even as wingnut trial lawyers have stretched civil litigation into strange new forms. Part of the problem? TLR supported Kenny Boy's primary challenger in 2022.

Blue Heron Farm will no longer be shopping at Tractor Supply. 

 Steve Vladeck notes that Chief Justice John Roberts has taken a sharp turn to the right. 

 Frank Strong recaps a month of not-bad school board activity.  

Reform Austin inquires about shark attacks. 

Finally, the TPA mourns the death of former Texas blogger Jack Cluth, who got his start down in Seabrook and remained true to his voice to the end

Libertarian Party shitshow only increases; Alaska fake Green Party horns in

I said this spring that I looked forward to the Green Party further withering on the vine with three-time retread and BDS hypocrite Jill Stein at the top of the ticket, and the Libertarian Party imploding with all of the Mises Mice related fuck-ups before, during and after its national convention.

Well, in Colorado, the Mice have officially nominated Brainworm Bobby, aka RFK Jr., instead of the official nominee Chase Oliver. We know the national committee, led by Angela McAwful, will do nothing legally, unless I'm about to be incredibly surprised. That's in contrast to the national Green Party, which expelled Alaska's GP after the 2020 election for not nominating Howie Hawkins. And, assuming the LP executive committee does nothing? Money aside, I don't think Oliver has the cojones to sue state LPs.

Beyond that, also at Independent Political Report, a leaked document says several LP thought leaders (Mises Mice, I presume) claim extensive election irregularities and are hinting at legal action.

Shock me!

Half of my comment there, after saying something to Libertarian election theft truther Nuña:

(O)n the big picture, I've long envisioned that Libertarianism in general believes lawsuits replace government regulation, so why should individual Libertarians bemoan lawsuits within the party?

Well, it's true!

Beyond Libertarian self-sorting stereotyping, isn't this further reflection on the mismanagement by McAwful? Shouldn't Mice and non-Mice in the LP figure out a compromise candidate and a way to get this person to replace McAwful?

==

Speaking of disorganized and Alaska? Also at IPR, the decertified Alaska GP has nominated vanity candidate Jasmine Sherman. This is for no other reason to poke the national GP. At the same time, yes, the national GP hasn't gotten anybody to create a nationally-certified state chapter.

That also said, that's not an actual political party AT ALL, contra its original claims. Apparently they got busted, whether by a commenter at IPR besides me, or something else, because they deleted their original Facebook page. The new one? I shit you not: "The Sherman/Blu Bear's Green Party of Alaska Group." With all of TWELVE members! Per Helen Reddy: "I am Blu Bear! Hear me roar!" And yes, I recognize that's the last name of the Alaska Native "Veep" candidate. You're not really, any more than Sherman is the Prez candidate, because you're not a party and you won't get 3,614 petition signatures.

As for Blubear's background? Teh google sez the only Pomo Nation is in California. She could have moved, of course. 

Or, like Sherman, she's a member of another Pomo nation, if you catch my drift.

Vive le France! Actual leftists winning

This isn't like three days ago, with Der Starmer and New New Labour winning in the UK, in a low-turnout vote that saw LibDems (no better) as the second-biggest beneficiary.

Instead, actual leftists of the New Popular Front appear poised to take the lead, under the leader of former French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who arguably is poised to be the leader in the next French presidential election, looking way ahead to 2027, in part for his quick work in assembling this coalition for the first round of voting, and steering it to victory after Marine Le Pen's National Rally. (At a minimum, young as he is, I think if Macron was eyeing a third term, that's off the table now. I don't know if he's term-limited or not.)

One thing to note, and hinted at in that first piece. Within France's population, size, and position on the world stage, when the French president's party also controls the National Assembly and Senate in the French parliament, a French president is stronger than their American counterpart. When that's NOT the case, they're often weaker. It's called, in an oh-so-French way, "cohabitation." In the past, an opposition Parliament has usually ceded foreign and defense policy to the president, but, after the first round of voting, both the left and right indicated that probably wouldn't be the case this time.

More here.  Mélenchon clearly and smartly does not want the premiership himself.

Update, July 8: Macron has rejected the resignation of his premier, Gabriel Attai (who said at the time it was announced, indirectly, that the snap election was stupid).

What that means, among other things? A re-evaluation of France's stance in the Russia-Ukraine War may be possible, though pre-election pledges say the left won't withdraw support. We'll see, given how fractious that coalition is. Proxy war supporters Sunday were otherwise spinning, spinning, spinning, glad that Le Pen lost but in shock that Macron did as well.

And, if Macron resists? His stupidity in calling this snap election will probably further hoist him by his own petard.

Finally, wait for the smear jobs. Some have already happened since Oct. 7, namely, that Mélenchon, like Corbyn, has been accused of being antisemitic for his anti-Zionism. That said, per the last link above, the New Popular Front closed ranks on Israel-Gaza in a way that, on paper, while not blank checks for Israel, might be a little bit loose, depending on whether the "all hostages released" is the horse before the cart, or the "real ceasefire" is.. But, we'll see just how that one, also, actually plays out. A follow-up story on the election indicated the NPF will have a tougher line against Israel than Macron.

Per Wiki pages? Mélenchon's own party, La France Insoumise, at one time supported withdrawing from NATO, among other things. He himself supports Ukraine, and hedges on whether or not this is a proxy war. He looks askance at Israel, and at Zionist lobbying and influence outside of Israel. French Communists? One need not talk about the factionalized and fractionalized French Left; the French CP is plenty of example. Socialists? Also factionalized, and imploded in the 2022 presidential election. The Ecologists (French Greens coalition) have as many Assembly seats as the Socialists; both have more than the Communists. Mélenchon's party, in fact, has half the coalition's total. (All numbers from the 2022 election, of course.)

That said, the leftist coalition is already being a bit fractious. But, a "technocratic government," like Politico Europe postulates? Not happening.

And, the idea that Le Pen lost? Bullshit from European neoliberals. The Rally picked up as many new seats as the leftist alliance, and more than them by proportion of previously held seats.

Both winners and losers? The French citizenry. Until both center and left shake out more, instability is at risk and the Fifth Republic, even with a strong presidency, could become like the Fourth. That's this Yank's final thought from across the pond. Note that Macron had to put his self-launched party into a broader coalition, and that Mélanchon had to join a broader coalition as well. Yes, he has a tough line, but, with post-election finger-pointing, Macron as a "busted flush" may be worse off.

Russia-Ukraine update: Chasiv Yar

On Twitter last week, Nat-Sec Nutsack™ types were talking about how Russia's offensive categories were surely dying if it still couldn't capture Chasiv Yar.

Ready to eat those words now, since at least the key part of it has fallen?

Oh, this concept in general is the reverse of the Bush-Obama claims that "we've killed the No. 4 leader" of Taliban/ISIS/ISIL/bin Laden's towelheads, etc. Remember how often we heard those claims? Credit to Trump for reducing that, to the degree his staff even knew what they were doing.

The story goes on to blame "Republicans in Congress." It ignores that, on some key artillery munitions, only one US company, with only one US plant doing the work, makes them, and that it's way behind schedule.