Noem, Patel, Kennedy, Hegseth, the whole infestation in the cabinet, are all Trump’s little creations, fashioned in his own graven image. They have no real qualifications, in the sense of intelligence, insight, or training, for their roles. They are just appearance, cosplayers from central casting.

Trump’s war on immigrants is not unlike Putin’s war on Ukraine. The same desperate fear about a worldview under threat is at play, abetted by lies about ethnic violence and changing appeals to flimsy legal justifications. This is the political climate in which religious ideas about “chosen ones”…

I have no new information to offer today. I simply refuse to believe that the American population is deaf, dumb, and blind. A lot of us may have grown up as Republicans. Others may have a soft spot for Republican platforms, even Republican rhetoric. But we aren’t engaged now in partisan wrangling,

Any responsible person unsure about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines would welcome more information. The current skepticism, however, is really a spiteful opposition to fact, the height of stupidity. It’s a mortal disease that infects the whole body politic, spread by fools and sociopaths.

Don’t waste time trying to make sense of the MAGA cult. It is pure malice and spite directed against those who represent what they don’t have or can’t be. It’s even willing to surrender to billionaires who flatter their outlook or to endanger people in the name of pro-life. Logic is no impediment.

Apparently, the 4k boxset of The Third Man has been out for a few months. Not long ago, I would have been all over it. Yet, notwithstanding the dire state of the free world, it holds some interest. It’s that good a film. I wonder how this new version compares to the superb Criterion blu-ray.

Tonight Rachel took the brass at MSNBC to task for their treatment of Joy Reid and all those staff members caught up in the changes who were cavalierly removed from their jobs. It was a heartfelt moment. Thanks, Rachel, for giving voice to what many of us were feeling.

I’ve just attended the town hall conducted by Massachusetts rep Jake Auchincloss. I came away much impressed. He was quick on his feet and had no gaps in his knowledge or ideas. The event managed to counteract the voice in the wilderness syndrome that can plague me. Anyone else there? Thoughts?