Campaign 2024. Already? #234
By Hank Silverberg
I did not watch Donald Trump's "town hall" on CNN this past week. Frankly, I wasn't interested. I was pretty sure he would spout the same old nonsense about "rigged" elections and call Biden and Desantis nasty names. I was pretty much certain he would lie about everything, and there was no surprise when all the stories about the event came out. That's exactly what they reported.
Surprisingly, the next day as I was watching my usual ten minutes of CNN in the morning as I got dressed, I saw an ADVERTISMENT for Trump on air. It's a bit early for that. I know some of the candidates have been strolling around Iowa and New Hampshire where they hope to make a splash in the early primaries. But really, anyone who doesn't know what Trump and Ron DeSantis stand for by now must be from Mars. As for President Biden, we know what his positions are on everything. He's been in office for two years.
I don't know about you, but I am not ready for America's worst nightmare, a repeat of the 2020 election in 2024.
Trump's cult followers are still squealing and if the GOP doesn't desert him soon, we are in for 18 months more of baseless allegations on "woke" culture, leftist conspiracies and other such nonsense.
Looking forward, the economy IS getting better as we recover from the Pandemic (if the debt ceiling debate doesn't sink it), but setbacks on abortion, gun control and voting rights have done little to energize the left, and much to depress the middle.
Parents are more distracted by debates over book bans to spend much time on national issues, and if I were paranoid, I might think that was some kind of vast right-wing conspiracy.
Mainstream Republicans, the Mitt Romney wing you can call it, seem impotent, puzzled and confused by it all, while the MAGA cult continues to foam at the mouth and push forward with their ludicrous agenda of a full border wall, more power for the one percent, and a gun in every closet.
Then there is one other Republican running for President who is getting some traction. No, not Nikki Haley. She's as conservative as DeSantis, but to rational to make any progress with the Trumpites.
I'm talking about millionaire Vivek Ramaswamy who is spending lots of his own money and starting to show up in the polls. (Less than 5%).
What's he all about? Well, his latest proposal is to remove all Gen Z adults between 18-25, from the voting rolls unless they serve in the military, work as a first responder or pass a civics test.
All I can say to that is that half the Republican members of Congress couldn't pass a basic civics test. Remember it's the party that gave us George Santos and Lauren Boebert.
Who will end up as the winners when it all moves on.
Vladimir Putin, for one. He will continue his onslaught on Ukraine with impunity because of confused messaging from the United States and hesitation from Europe, which seems reluctant to do anything without us.
China, which has come out of the Pandemic with its economic engine revving up faster than a brand- new Tesla EV will also be a winner as they trade their way into control of the Pacific ring--Taiwan be damned.
I'd like to be more optimistic. America has faced bigger crises than this. But we don't have an Abe Lincoln or an FDR to pull us out of this mess. We don't even have a Tip O'Neil to negotiate the debt limit nonsense. And the world is doing nothing but getting hotter--literally.
Now that I have sounded off, here's some real news.
Solar Power
Much has been written and discussed about the future of solar power. One of the major obstacles has been the amount of land big solar farms have to use to produce industrial demand for electricity. But there is now a growing alternative, putting those solar panels on lakes or ponds. The concept is rapidly growing in Asia and is beginning to pop up here in the United States.
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| (Floating panels in New Jersey, courtesy Ciel Terre) |
The solar panels are simply attached to rafts floating on the water instead of using up land that could be devoted to buildings or farming. A study published in the journal Nature Sustainability this past March indicates more than 6,000 cities in 124 countries could generate all of their electricity using floating solar. And there is another advantage. The study says having solar panels on the water lowers evaporation levels and saves enough water to fill 40 million Olympic sized swimming pools. Potable water, like gas and oil, is becoming a scarce commodity.
There are some obstacles, of course. The same people who complain about the ugly solar farms on land won't like them on water, either. And I suspect the potential for storm damage would be greater on water than on land. There are also higher costs upfront. Floating solar is about 10-15% more expensive than land-based panels.
But it is clear fossil fuels are not the answer to our energy future, and all other options including floating solar need to be put into the mix.
Right now, the largest floating solar farm in the U.S. is in Millburn, New Jersey at a water treatment plant. It produces 8.9 megawatts. In comparison, the largest floating solar panel array in the world is in Dezhou, China. It produces 320 megawatts.
Cohoes, New York is working on the first municipality-owned floating solar farm in the United States with some financial help from the Federal Government.
Long popular in Asia, floating solar catches on in US | AP News
The Threat Within!
Take a look at the picture shown here. It was posted on Twitter by the Anti-Defamation League on Saturday. It's a group of white supremacists called the "Patriot Front" marching in Washington, D.C. in what's described as a "flash demonstration." That tactic means they don't promote it or get a permit.
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| (Courtesy ADL) |
The ADL says this group has distributed antisemitic propaganda more than 74 times. Since 2019 the neo-Nazi group has been responsible for the vast majority of antisemitic propaganda across the country. It also includes hate messages about the LGBTQ+ population.
The group has caused other trouble as well. Thirty-one of them were arrested in Idaho last year for rioting at an LGBTQ Pride event, and the FBI has traced some other incidents to them as far back as 2021. The group was created after the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017 where a divergent group of right-wingers clashed over tactics. You may remember one counter-protestor was killed there.
I note here that the "Patriot Front" marchers are hiding their faces behind masks, so they really don't want you to know who they are. And they know their ideology is NOT popular. Let's hope it stays that way.
Tribute To Gordon Lightfoot
We have lost one of the most influential performers of the late 20th century. Gordon Lighfoot passed away last week. Lightfoot's music spoke to a generation looking to the future and acknowledging life's troubles in the 1970's. His songs included "If You Could Read My Mind," "Sundown," "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," and "Early Morning Rain," among many others.
Here is a tribute to Lightfoot presented by my long-time friend Dave Berger. Dave says he learned this soulful rendition of "Early Morning Rain" from musician Jim Albertson back in the mid 70's.
Dumbest Quote of the Week
I try to find something a little different each week because there are some celebrities and politicians who make dumb comments every single day.
This week I came across a comment from Alabama Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville.
It was during a conversation about the quality of our military in which Tuberville complained to reporters that our armed forces have been weakened by liberal ideology. Put that dumb concept aside for a minute and jump to something else he said in the same interview. (You can read the full story at the link below.) Tuberville was asked if "white nationalists" should be allowed to serve in the military. He then asked reporters to define "white nationalists."
The reporters explained that white nationalists are white supremacists who support some Nazi views. This was Tuberville's response:
"You think a white nationalist is a Nazi? I don't look at it like that. I look at a white nationalist as a Trump Republican."
He went on to place himself within that category.
So, to be precise, a man who has already served three years as a United State Senator considers himself a "white nationalist," yet he really doesn't know what they stand for--racism, hate, division, white supremacy. (See above.)
I can't believe the good people of Alabama knew who they were voting for. Or did they?
(Your comments and suggestions for this blog are welcome, see comment section below)
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