That Other Political Blog

From the Washington Post  today: The Trump administration has instructed officials at the Environmental Protection Agency to freeze its grants and contracts, a move that could affect everything from state-led climate research to localized efforts to improve air and water quality to environmental justice projects aimed at helping poor communities. Trump also imposed a gag order/media blackout at the EPA. The EPA was formed in 1970, during the Nixon administration.  It has one mission:  To protect human health and the environment. Trump's owners don't like the EPA.  The EPA interferes with things they want to do, like drilling for oil anyplace they damned well please, releasing toxic chemicals unfettered into the air, water, and ground, burning unlimited amounts of coal (and strip mining to get it), But we have the EPA to thank for our relatively clean air and water. We have a collectively short memory.  In 1969, the Cuyahoga River (and other industrial rivers in the U

Trump has had a busy first weekend in office, attempting to eviscerate the ACA by executive order, ordering a federal hiring and pay freeze, reinstating the Global Gag Rule , blocking a policy that kept mortgage costs low, freezing new or pending regulations, and withdrawing from the TPP (can't say I'm upset about that one, but it was already stalled in Congress, anyway).  With all that going on, he still had time to brag about the size of his... inaugural crowds. Now, I understand that some men have difficulty estimating size.  Trump has had to defend his size estimates before.  ( Small hands ?)  Although given how Rubio caved on Trump's Secretary of State nominee, I'm pretty sure Trump is convinced his is, at least, bigger than Rubio's. But this weekend's feud about whether his inaugural crowds were larger than Obama's (they weren't) or the Women's March on Washington (they weren't) was ridiculous.  There was ample photographic evidence t

January 20th is usually an OK day. It's often cold and snowy where I live, but I like snow.  A few years back, it was so unseasonably warm it was possible to golf on January 20th, which I did.  Mostly, it's a work day, a church day, or a holiday (sometimes, it is Martin Luther King Day).  Once in a while, I escape to sunnier, warmer climes on January 20th, and that is a wonderful change of pace. Every four years, the date has additional significance, as our republic witnesses a peaceful transition of power.  Eight years ago, it was historic as the first person of color ever elected became our 44th president.  16 years ago, even amid my unhappiness about the Supreme Court-driven outcome of election that preceded it, I could still appreciate Inauguration Day for the stability it represented, its pomp and circumstance and ceremony,  and the history and import of the advent of a new president and administration. Mostly, January 20th is OK. Not this year.  I'm dreading t

I found this in drafts -- from 2012.  I don't think it's finished, but I decided to "publish" it anyway. I was recently accused of bigotry, but not against any racial, ethnic, cultural, or religious group. Apparently, it is now bigoted to call out someone else for demonstrating bigotry. George Orwell, welcome to 2012. It was an example of a tactic I've been witnessing more and more in our political discourse lately, particularly from the political right (there I go, being bigoted again). In a nutshell, it goes like this: If someone criticizes you, it means you are now a victim. If you can spin it so that you are a victim of the same thing you've been criticized of, so much the better. Here's an example: In a discussion during which an attempt was made to distinguish between the tiny percentage of radical Muslims who pose a threat to Americans and the millions of American Muslims who live peacefully, a gentleman asked how we know that our Musl

This week, the Supreme Court ruled in the Hobby Lobby case.  Everyone should be concerned and upset about this ruling, especially women. Reproductive Rights and Equality for Women I'm still in my 40's, so I can't claim to be a groundbreaking feminist, though I have had to fight for equality a few times.  But mostly, the heavy lifting was done before I came along.  I grew up expecting my reproductive rights to be there.  By the time it affected me, Roe v. Wade was old news.   I took an interesting medical ethics class in college, and we studied the law and controversy around abortion, around things like frozen embryos, cloning, etc.  It was one of my favorite classes.  (I took it the same quarter I took a logic class -- and I think the combination of the two proved very beneficial for my ability to analyze an argument!) The problem, as I see it, is that these same arguments continue today.  I'm a bit shaken because this is supposed to be settled law.  The state c

Hi everyone, I was in Washington, DC last week on business, and had the privilege of being in Washington to watch the election results. We found a bar in the hip, up-and-coming 14th and U neighborhood that was having a watch party for like-minded folks.  MSNBC on all the televisions, but hundreds of noisy people making it impossible to listen.  We got there early for dinner and sat at a table with people we didn't know at the beginning of the evening, but were friends (at least, Facebook friends) by the end of the night. We chatted and waited for the election results to come in.  As the early results trickled in, each new blue state got cheers and applause, and each red state good natured booing (and laughter).  We all had US maps with red and blue crayons; some used them to make their predictions, others to follow and count electors. We expected to stay very late, then give up and take a cab home without knowing the result of the election.  I admit I was very afraid that shenaniga