Kathleen J. Frydl

@kfrydl.bsky.social

414

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in 2024: Liberalism & the Modern Reinvention of the Corporate Person

previous: The GI Bill; The Drug Wars in America, 1940-1973

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Kathleen J. Frydl

I'd be shocked if data came back showing a new desire for Biden to step down is a top down phenomenon. Every relatively normal (non political junkie) Dem I talk to, every one, thinks the debate showed Biden needs to step aside. NY Times coverage is annoying, but the debate created this.

Lots of magical thinking on the timeline. Dem voters are both pissed & terribly frightened. This is a fact like death is a fact: there's no going around it.

Starting watching Peaky Blinders in the evenings. For stragglers like me, some of whom might share my sensibilities, I think a bowdlerized version with no more than 1 brutal beating per show would do well.

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Kathleen J. Frydl

This photo is pure 2024.

I've been ignoring/avoiding this trial a good primer:

The baffling case of Karen Readwww.vox.com How the mysterious death of a Boston cop led to an intense trial, a media circus, and a referendum on policing.

this is me when I land on a recipe page with too many pop-ups

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Kathleen J. Frydl

"Many of the people we interviewed offered an account not only of Jewish violence against Palestinians dating back decades but also of an Israeli state that has systematically and increasingly ignored that violence." www.nytimes.com/2024/05/16/m...

The Unpunished: How Extremists Took Over Israelwww.nytimes.com After 50 years of failure to stop violence and terrorism against Palestinians by Jewish ultranationalists, lawlessness has become the law.

There is no coming back from the debate imo & this amounts to only delaying what will already be a campaign hard-pressed to find enough runway to take off.

Breaking news: President Biden and his senior team said they accepted the grim ultimatum they’ve been hearing from almost all quarters of the Democratic Party — to demonstrate his fitness for office or face a significant effort to force him to step aside.

Biden and aides concede he needs to quickly demonstrate his fitness for officewww.washingtonpost.com Critics have been shaken by his relative inaction to directly address the panic ignited by his halting debate performance last Thursday.

happy 4th

Washington and Northern Virginia Told to Boil Drinking Waterwww.nytimes.com Algae blooms in the Potomac River prompted a boil water advisory for nearly a million residents in Washington and Arlington County.

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Kathleen J. Frydl

Companies decided to sink billions of dollars of new investment into manufacturing plants in the U.S. after the CHIPS and Inflation Reduction Act boosted incentives for U.S. production, Check out that spike in manufacturing plant construction. It dwarfs all prior increases. 📉📈 #️⃣#️⃣

Re Harris coming in for Biden, I appreciate L Polgreen's point that stepping in for a man judged incompetent is often how women land in power, but I think the more relatable story is a Gen Xer finally getting a spot that s/he should have had years ago following a saga of Boomer hanging on too long

those advisers & family members delaying a necessary convo w Biden b/c they can't see beyond their own self interest... you can manage a graceful exit or you can deal w an ugly one.

I am more hopeful than I was 72 hrs ago that --Biden will step down --& ppl agree that it's Harris & that's it.

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Kathleen J. Frydl

"The reason things feel so broke all the time, perhaps, is because they are." Outsourcing everything is good for corporate profits and bad for everything else. prospect.org/economy/2024...

Hello From the Middleman Economyprospect.org The reason things feel like they’re so broke is that they are.

Not enough attn paid to the fact that Simone Biles is the best gymnast in the world... at age 27.

Simone Biles qualifies for her third Olympics as Hezly Rivera snags fifth spot on the teamwww.nbcnews.com With four returning Tokyo Olympians, it is the oldest and most decorated U.S. Olympic women’s gymnastics team in history.

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Kathleen J. Frydl

" Biden and Harris are really the only two choices available at this late stage of the campaign." Yep. Every other idea floating around is total nonsense. prospect.org/power/2024-0...

Campaign Finance Laws Give Harris Big Boost in Biden Dropout Scenarioprospect.org If Biden were to withdraw his candidacy, only Kamala Harris could seamlessly use funds raised by the Biden-Harris campaign committee.

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Kathleen J. Frydl

It's just hilariously disingenuous. Imagine looking at, say, ALL OF HUMAN HISTORY and concluding that the biggest threat to liberty isn't abuse of power, but powerful people refraining from sufficiently wielding their authority out of fear that they might one day be held accountable.

It's not the worst of it, but what I may be actually angriest about (right now) is Roberts' smarmy smugness and dismissiveness in the final two paragraphs of section IV and the whole of section V. "Fear mongering," "extreme hypotheticals," "our perspective must be more farsighted," and this.

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Kathleen J. Frydl

From April. Spot on.

Legal pundits over time Dec 1, 2023: SCOTUS will reject Trump's appeal on an expedited basis Dec 22, 2023: They are letting the DC Circuit handle it to not even dignify it. Feb 28, 2024: The are taking the case on appeal but will completely reject the claim. June: SCOTUS says Trump is your God/King

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Kathleen J. Frydl

"A republic, if you can keep it." Plot twist: we can't.

Extremely busy today, including an urgent care visit to someone who could not need it more. But I'd really like to drop everything and go out in front of SCOTUS right now with a sign: "6 of y'all are a bunch of traitors."

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Kathleen J. Frydl

“In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law.” -Justice Sotomayor, dissenting www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23p...

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Kathleen J. Frydl

Don't forget to tip your Justices on the way out.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court sends Trump’s immunity case back to a lower court in Washington, dimming prospect of a pre-election trial.

It's a rogue Court.

I've heard some analysts say that fentanyl showing up in cocaine & amphetamine ODs is co-use, not contamination. But I don't think so. We keep seeing/hearing about stuff like this:

This is the ultimate in the Dem political class equating its own wellbeing with the welfare of its voters, or the country itself. I thought Clintons were bad in this regard, but man. Rather than make difficult decision now, they will facilitate a Trump victory in November.

Wow. Injuries plagued last night's Olympic trials:

U.S. gymnastics Olympic trials: Simone Biles places first heading to finals Sundaywww.washingtonpost.com The first day of competition in Minneapolis included an emotional ovation for the injured Skye Blakely.

I've always thought this was a winnable White House for Dems. Watching this unfold--the denial, the lack of leadership--is like watching a bunch of people tell me "I don't want to win."

This, right here, is my personal "shut up and unify; doesn't matter how you feel" stance/moment:

Opinion | Kamala Harris Could Win This Election. Let Her.www.nytimes.com The vice president is the obvious path out of the mess Joe Biden has created.

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Kathleen J. Frydl

Btw chevron deference got you this

Seriously. I come from a polluted country. Ya'll need to send a thank you note to epa everyday

Re: the "call on him to resign or shut-up" folks: I think what happened last night is that Biden lost his mandate as Dem standard-bearer; he did not lose his ability to run the WH for 6 months. If Dems lose in Nov., they want to go down fighting--having a candidate make the case & fight hard.