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mrg / greg v goebel / NAFO

@gvgoebel.bsky.social

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mrg / greg v goebel / NAFO @gvgoebel.bsky.social · 2d

MrG's Blog & Notes for Week 41 / 2025
dv.airvectors.net
-- internet radio in my home
-- antijam drones
-- renewable energy in Ukraine
-- AI is not killing jobs yet
-- Trump wants to send in the National Guard ...
-- & prosecute his enemies ...
-- & won't get Nobel Peace Prize

MrG's Blog & Notes For Week 41

dv.airvectors.net

mrg / greg v goebel / NAFO @gvgoebel.bsky.social · 11h

This one's a little oblique.

Caffeine 🇺🇦 @caffeine.fellas.army · 12h

The far right is angry because they’re being judged by the content of their character rather than by the color of their skin

mrg / greg v goebel / NAFO @gvgoebel.bsky.social · 12h

Ewwwww ...

mrg / greg v goebel / NAFO @gvgoebel.bsky.social · 12h

Yes -- normally I'm not big on rants like this, but in this case it's both justified and welcome.

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mrg / greg v goebel / NAFO @gvgoebel.bsky.social · 13h

Trump is driving around with the pedal to the metal and running into things without a care. It is both good and bad that he is in rapid physical and mental decline. He goes away, that's half the battle: Trump is all the GOP has any more.

mrg / greg v goebel / NAFO @gvgoebel.bsky.social · 13h

I have to be patient because I don't know what it is they need to do. They best not cave in on agreeing to healthcare cuts, but I think they know that.

The GOP doesn't want to kill the filibuster, since they know that isn't really in their interests. They may do so anyway.

mrg / greg v goebel / NAFO @gvgoebel.bsky.social · 13h

I'm thinking the Dem leadership is in an unprecedented emergency, and of necessity is still trying to figure out what to do. Of course, also of necessity, people are frustrated with them.

Dems are cleaning up on special elections and straw votes, however.

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mrg / greg v goebel / NAFO @gvgoebel.bsky.social · 14h

The GOP eventually deposed Gingrich, but by then the damage had been done. Gingrich proved it was OK to tell voters ridiculous lies, and they would buy them.

mrg / greg v goebel / NAFO @gvgoebel.bsky.social · 14h

The slide towards Trump began with the election of Obama. That mobilized white supremacy sentiment in the GOP.

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mrg / greg v goebel / NAFO @gvgoebel.bsky.social · 14h

"Good. Even if this doesn’t work, it’s time to go on offense."

Absolutely right. If it actually doesn't work, we try something else.

mrg / greg v goebel / NAFO @gvgoebel.bsky.social · 14h

After desegregation, the Dixiecrats -- Southern Democrats -- signed up with the GOP. Eventually they took over the GOP, and worked to apply Dixiecrat governance to the entire USA,
meaning one-party rule, rigged voting, bigotry, bullying, and corruption.

Only good thing is they're in decline.

mrg / greg v goebel / NAFO @gvgoebel.bsky.social · 15h

Of course, Farage will insist the Afghan fellow was merely exercising free speech:

www.bbc.com/news/article...

How the simmering UK freedom of speech row reached boiling point

How did we reach a point where the UK is being compared to a 'tin pot Third World dictatorship'?

www.bbc.com

mrg / greg v goebel / NAFO @gvgoebel.bsky.social · 15h

LINK:

www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

The Constitution Allows for Term-Limited Supreme Court Justices

A former federal judge discusses how term limits for Supreme Court justices would afford them the same status and opportunities that retired justices and federal judges currently enjoy.

www.brennancenter.org

mrg / greg v goebel / NAFO @gvgoebel.bsky.social · 16h

Some do, but not enough of them.

www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...

Trump-ordered strikes on Caribbean boats have killed 21. An effort to stop them failed.

A Senate measure to stop President Donald Trump's strikes on boats he has claimed, without evidence, are carrying drugs failed to pass its first vote.

www.usatoday.com

mrg / greg v goebel / NAFO @gvgoebel.bsky.social · 17h

Exactly.

mrg / greg v goebel / NAFO @gvgoebel.bsky.social · 17h

I think "ironic" might have been a better word in this case than "interesting". After all, Trump people tend to be "free speech absolutists" -- though they don't understand what that means.

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mrg / greg v goebel / NAFO @gvgoebel.bsky.social · 17h

LINK:

newrepublic.com/article/2009...

Zohran Mamdani Is Threading One of the Trickiest Needles in Politics

For the general election, Mamdani has managed to expand his base while staying basically true to his primary-season beliefs. There’s a lesson in there for all Democrats.

newrepublic.com

mrg / greg v goebel / NAFO @gvgoebel.bsky.social · 17h

... even tentatively praising the Gaza cease-fire deal for which Trump is claiming credit. In sum, Mamdani's successes might be a hint to the hard Left that moderate Democrats are not really the enemy. However, we'll see what happens in November. [12/END]

mrg / greg v goebel / NAFO @gvgoebel.bsky.social · 17h

New Yorkers do not, as a rule, think highly of Trump, and so Mamdani has found the threats useful to his campaign. As a Muslim, Mamdani does have a challenge with NYC's Jewish community, but he's artfully managed to balance his criticisms of Israel ... [11/more]

mrg / greg v goebel / NAFO @gvgoebel.bsky.social · 17h

That was a provocative slogan for ideas that weren't so controversial close up, and giving up the slogan did not mean giving up the ideas. Of course, President Trump has, as expected, has targeted Mamdani with the usual threats and bluster. [10/more]

mrg / greg v goebel / NAFO @gvgoebel.bsky.social · 17h

Most significantly, Mamdani found out that moderate Democrat voters don't have much problem with his agenda, at least wanting to give him a chance with some of his more unconventional ideas -- though Mamdani has distanced himself from some hard-Left concepts, like "defund the police". [9/more]

mrg / greg v goebel / NAFO @gvgoebel.bsky.social · 17h

While Mamdani didn't hesitate to needle rivals Adams and (particularly) Cuomo, that was to be expected, and Cuomo's campaigning was clumsy. It was easy to make Cuomo look bad because Cuomo did so much to make himself look bad. [7/more]

mrg / greg v goebel / NAFO @gvgoebel.bsky.social · 17h

"He is less supportive of the Israeli government, the super-wealthy, and the police than many establishment Democrats. It was critical that he expand his coalition without changing his stances and turning into another unmemorable BLAH Democrat." [6/more]

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mrg / greg v goebel / NAFO @gvgoebel.bsky.social · 17h

"Mamdani is serious about stopping rent increases, expanding free childcare, creating city-owned grocery stores, eliminating fares for buses, starting a new department of community safety, and other proposals he made during the primary." [5/more]

mrg / greg v goebel / NAFO @gvgoebel.bsky.social · 17h

Mamdani had to broaden his voter base to win, not merely among voters, but among NYC's powerful backers -- the trick being that he had to do so without compromising his principles, Bacon writing: [4/more]

mrg / greg v goebel / NAFO @gvgoebel.bsky.social · 17h

Mamdani won the primary for the NYC mayoral election by 44% of the vote -- putting him well ahead of rivals Eric Adams and Andrew Cuomo, but not giving him confidence that he could win the mayoral election itself. [3/more]