Just One Thing
The New York Times reported (link below) that former President Trump had sent a note to Attorney General Merrick Garland asking "The country is on fire. What can I do to reduce the heat?" This may sound uncharitable but that sure doesn't sound like Donald Trump does it? He's all about turning up the heat, all day every day. He's never NOT turned up the heat. So if this story is true, what are the possible reasons?
- Trump truly is concerned about divisions in this country and risks posed by a significant percentage of the population not trusting the DOJ and FBI to behave in an even-handed non-partisan way.
- Trump wanted to be on record saying that knowing that something significant was probably coming and he wanted to make a case to the public that the source of the national chaos is the DOJ rather than him.
- Trump suspected that something significant might happen because he knew that he was not cooperating with the government's efforts to retrieve classified material and he was trying to make a case to the DOJ to hold off on any aggressive action by suggesting that they, rather than he, would be the national arsonists if they proceeded.
I think these are in reverse order of likelihood. In other words, the last is most likely and the first is least likely. I'd like to believe that Donald Trump could care about the country first and foremost, before his own parochial interests. But there is simply nothing in his history, and certainly not in the last four years, that suggests that even his most patriotic moments are anything other than self-serving. It's always been clear that Donald Trump cares only about Donald Trump. If he can further his own interests by claiming to care about the people then he'll do it. If he can prevent a raid by pretending to care about national division, he'll do it. It's up to us whether we take him at his word. I, for one, don't.
Trump Asked AG Garland, 'What Can I Do to Reduce the Heat?': Report (businessinsider.com)
Today's Guests
Alex DeGolia is the director for US Climate at the Environmental Defense Fund. I thought it would be useful, interesting, and maybe even fun to have a guest on the show who supports what I think is one of the worst pieces of legislation of my lifetime, the poorly-named Inflation Reduction Act, which is nothing more than tax hikes funding boondoggle green-energy subsidies, with a little gov't negotiation of drug prices thrown in. Ugh. Anyway, it should be a spirited conversation.
Alex DeGolia | Environmental Defense Fund (edf.org)
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My friend and fellow Leadership Program of the Rockies graduate Lang Sias is the Republican candidate for Colorado State Treasurer. Lang is a retired Navy aviator (FA-18 primarily) and member of the Air National Guard (mostly F-16), currently a pilot for FedEx and a Republican state representative. After college, Lang attended the London School of Economics and got a law degree at the University of Michigan. Quite an interesting guy, right?
Other Stuff
It's Primary Day in Wyoming and Alaska.
In Wyoming, Rep Liz Cheney will lose the primary to a Trump-backed candidate named Harriet Hageman, a former Ted Cruz supporter who tried to keep Donald Trump off the ballot in WY in 2016. Clearly, for Trump, that's a much less bad sin than what Liz Cheney has done in the past 18 months. Plus Hageman pleads profusely that she was wrong, and misled by Cheney and friends about Trump whom she now believes to be the "greatest president" of her lifetime. Hageman will probably win by at least 20 points and 30 isn't out of the question.
Alaska is a much more interesting situation with three elections: Primary for US Senate, special election to fill a US House seat, and a primary election for that same House seat's next general election just a few months from now. Alaska uses a "jungle primary" and ranked-choice voting, both of which tend to give a more moderate candidate (or a Democrat) more of a chance in a fairly conservative mostly-Republican state. Lisa Murkowski, the incumbent moderate Republican senator, may not win the first round in the primary as she faces a Trump-backed Republican named Kelly Tschibaka (who has probably faced a lifetime of Chewbacca jokes) but she's at least somewhat likely to end up the winner in November as Murkowski is likely to be the second choice of lots of people where Tschibaka won't be.
In the House races, the biggest name is Sarah Palin but in addition to facing a Democrat in the special election she's also facing another well-known Republican, businessman Nick Begich III. Begich is a famous last name in Alaska politics though perhaps the most famous of them, Mark, who is Nick's uncle and served as one of Alaska's senators, is a Democrat. I'm generally impressed with Begich's answers on policy and I hope he wins the special election and I hope he wins again in November: CANDIDATE Q&A: U.S. House — Nick Begich III - Alaska Public Media Again, the issue could come down to how ranked-choice works because Begich could easily be the second choice of many Palin voters (or even of those who vote for the Democrat) whereas Palin is much less likely to be other voters' second choice.
If the Alaska elections are close, we likely will not know the results for three weeks or so!
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I have no idea if this guy is a good scientist or not but I know that conservative publications are somewhere between cautious and furious about children and adolescents going through gender transition. I personally am more cautious than furious, at least in most cases: Gender-Transition Doctor Jack Turban Research Compromised | National Review
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Jed Babbin goes the next step with the Beria comparison that I suggested yesterday: Lavrentiy Beria’s FBI - The American Spectator | USA News and Politics
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Some fun data here on the most-regretted baby names and where young American adults are moving, including a breakdown by race. If you think Denver seems like a very white city, the intra-US immigration data suggests it might be getting even more so: The most-regretted baby names, and more!
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Speaking of babies, if this allegation is true, it's quite incredible (in a bad way): NJ Office of the Public Defender et al vs. Department of Health et al - DocumentCloud
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If you're interested in actual science and policy around climate change, I highly recommend this: Judith Curry: Climatology, Climate Change, Computer Modeling, Green Energy, Greenhouse Gasses & Politicization of Science | #84 (buzzsprout.com)
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This may be right but I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon unless Trump is convicted of a serious crime...serious enough that even his supporters say "OK, I'd better look for another option"...and I think that's VERY unlikely: It’s Time for Republicans to Go Nuclear and Dump Trump (thedailybeast.com)
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THE feel-good story of the day: Dog, missing 2 months, found alive inside Missouri cave | AP News
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This dude pisses me off: Man filmed wrestling with shark on Long Island beach: 'Holy s--t!' (nypost.com)
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Here's how you know your country made some REALLY stupid decisions about energy:
Today's Videos
Very cool. I love traveling, though I wouldn't say they got much "quality time" in any state.
This is AMAZING. I've never ever heard of "spinner sharks" but they're real!