Fear itself

We have nothing to fear but, FDR famously said. I kind of remember hearing it, although he said it well before I was born. I may have heard it as a recording, or possibly from somebody else. Roosevelt was referring to the Great Depression of the 1930's, but the sentiment traces back at least as far as 16th Century Frentch writer Michel de Montaigne. 

No more. Today fear is a tool — to sell political agendas and, in passing, newspapers. “Be afraid,” says Michelle Cottle, an editorial writer for a newspaper called the New York Times, enthusiastically ratcheting up fear of Donald Trump.

"His capture of the Republican Party is essentially the political version of the mutant fungal outbreak that turned everyone into crazed zombies and wiped out civilization in 'The Last of Us',” Cottle says

Not to be outdone, a bunch of other Times pundits pile on.

All of this in service of an election that won’t happen for almost 18 months. The possibility that Trump might win that election is too terrifying to confront. 

(And there’s not a single vote to be taken for granted. The Times is also railing — already — against the mere possibility there might be a third-party candidate to muddy the waters. It can not be allowed. Not allowed, at least, if it might take a vote away from Trump's Democratic opponent. But then, they do that every four years, like clockwork.)

Really, we have better things to think about and any number of worse things to fear before then — pandemic viruses, raging forest fires, nuclear war, rising seas, failing crops, ravenous sharks, artificial intelligence (or maybe any kind of intelligence at all), TikTok.

We’d best be getting on with that. There'll be plenty of time to panic about The Donald next year.

The Great Grift

How billions in COVID-19 relief aid was stolen or wasted

Fraudsters used the Social Security numbers of dead people and federal prisoners to get unemployment checks. Cheaters collected those benefits in multiple states. And federal loan applicants weren’t cross-checked against a Treasury Department database that would have raised red flags about sketchy borrowers.

Criminals and gangs grabbed the money. But so did a U.S. soldier in Georgia, the pastors of a defunct church in Texas, a former state lawmaker in Missouri and a roofing contractor in Montana.

"Never has so much federal emergency aid been injected into the U.S. economy so quickly,"says AP, with an apparently straight face.

Government as performance art

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will visit the site in Philadelphia on Tuesday where an out-of-control tractor-trailer hauling gasoline flipped over on an Interstate 95 off-ramp, caught fire and destroyed a section of the East Coast’s main north-south highway.…

It's a law that's no law at all

Illinois has a new law banning book bans…stay with me here…it's a book ban ban that says, according to the state's Secretary of State and also state librarian, one Alexi Giannoulias, "let’s trust our experience and education of our librarians to decide what books should be in circulation.”

In other words, don't mess with the librarians. Librarians rule.

Also…

To be eligible for state funds, Illinois public libraries must adopt the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights, which holds that “materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation,” or subscribe to a similar pledge.

Which ought to be enough to get Dr. Seuss off the hook, not to mention that Harry Potter woman. And Thomas Jefferson, et. al. 

Which is a good thing overall.

But TikTok

Americans should prepare for cyber sabotage from Chinese hackers, US official warns

In comments made during an appearance at the Aspen Institute in Washington, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly said Beijing was making major investments in the capability to sabotage U.S. infrastructure.

So while we were inspecting our respective navels…

WASHINGTON (AP) — China has been operating a spy base in Cuba since at least 2019, part of a global effort by Beijing to upgrade its intelligence-gathering capabilities, according to a Biden administration official.

Our government, such as it is, knew, but didn't think to mention.

Ask me if I'm feeling a little grumpier than usual today. (But don't mention Donald Trump.)

(Also don't mention TikTok.)