- Green Eagle has a theory. American generals figured out how to trick our berserk POTUS out of his war. The weirdest thing about this weird idea is that, with my President, it is quite plausible.
- Frances Langum watches the continuing drama of Fox News, so you don’t have to. In this week’s episode, Geraldo scampers back onto the plantation. He had been pretty upset at my President, frightened during the imminent start of WW III. But now that it’s over, he’s ready to join in blaming Democrats for the entire thing. Seems Trump was distracted by impeachment.
- It is hard to avoid a suspicion that verges on certainty that my President initiated the crisis for political effect. Ted McLaughlin at jobsanger provides statistical evidence on two intertwined points. The public does not believe Trump claims that the killing of Soleimani made the United States safer. Any wag-the-dog strategy has not worked.
- Tommy Christopher notices a Fox News poll that has bad news for Trump, but points out that viewers curious about what it shows would likely miss it on Fox. They would get the full story by watching MSNBC.
- Andy Borowitz reports that Iran’s Ayatollah is mystified. Trump likes every dictator in the world except him.
- At The Moderate Voice, Evan Sarzin writes with empathetic skepticism about the money soaked Bloomberg campaign, attempting to answer: what makes Michael run? Does Michael Bloomberg really want to be your President?
- Jonathan Bernstein sees the Republican party resisting the tide of history on healthcare. Opponents of Medicaid expansion are retreating in some places, losing in others. If Obamacare is overturned in the lawsuit Republicans are pushing, they will pay at the ballot box. They are in that box.
- Universal health care is too complex to make work. Scotties Toy Box restates that argument in a single sentence, turning it into a compelling case for universal health care.
- Libertarian Michael A. LaFerrara considers the question posed on quora. Why can’t libertarians name a single successful libertarian experiment in running a country? Michael dodges the question. Libertarians don’t try to run anything. They are against running things. A functioning government is, by definition, evil.
So is there a country, any country, with no functioning government, one in which libertarianism prevails?
We might try Somalia. - Iron Knee at Political Irony catches the conversation as Lindsey Graham provides the compelling logic that makes him unworried about any threat to humanity posed by climate catastrophe.
- Infidel753 sees the most important developments of the recently departed calendar year: accelerating decline of religion, accelerating international action on climate.
- In The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser, atheist Bruce engages with an evangelical pastor, answering sincere questions about personal history and previous faith.
- Vincent at A Wayfarer’s Notes is asked whether he believes in God, and decides a better question is: what does he believe in?
- North Carolina pastor John Pavlovitz writes with familiarity and compassion about those living in grief, having lost a loved one. Well meaning folks compliment them on their strength in the face of pain. Those who maintain after that devastation, he says, are not paragons of strength or even virtue. Survivors just try to survive. I’m old enough to have gone through it a few times, and I have witnessed it as well. Pastor John is right.
- The good Christians of Beltrami County have voted to ban refugees. PZ Myers explains the effect on the weather. You know, a few of my out-of-state friends had unkind things to say about bigotry here in Missouri after the Republican state legislature erected a bust of Rush Limbaugh in the State Capitol rotundra (No I’m not kidding). But even Missouri is on record as welcoming refugees.
- Our favorite Earth-Bound Misfit has a cheerful bit of child-rearing advice for when your kid won’t eat meat.
- M. Bouffant at Web of Evil joins in twitter combat. A free plant based meal is provided at the Golden Globes awards. Someone objects to typical Hollywood lack of choice. And our Web denizen points out the obvious, along with appropriate impatient insult.
- The Journal of Improbable Research goes all Crime and Punishment with one researcher convicted of fraud and another arrested for attempted murder. They were respectively sentenced to play the piano and accused of playing rock, poker, scissors with real weapons.
- Max’s Dad watches the new movie about desperate heroism in WW I. And he really likes and highly recommends 1917.
Skip to content
Seldom Balanced – Usually Fair