Steve Kelman on Politics, Culture, and Life, 2.9.24
Steve Kelman, Harvard Kennedy School prof, moderate Dem, pro free speech/anti cancel culture, pro tax rich, pro-Israel. Research improving gov performance, China interest. Blog reprints Facebook posts
Republicans obsessed with Biden infirmities
I get a daily Republican feed called the First. Almost every day it includes some snide remark about President Biden's infirmities. If we were talking about 8-year-olds, we'd say they were very mean.
Librarians as sex Offenders?
A document produced by the conservative Heritage Foundation presenting proposals for a Trump second term proposes that librarians who distribute Material that discusses transgender people be "classified as registered sex offenders."
Kaffiyeh and Dr. King
There was a picture in the Times today of a kaffiyeh being placed on the head of a bust of Martin Luther King at a pro-Palestine rally in Detroit. I found this insulting to the memory of Dr. King and the collaboration of Jews with blacks in civil rights work.
Landlines at home
26% of Americans still have landlines in their homes.
McDonald’s boycott in Mideast
A McDonald's franchise in Israel donated food to Israeli soldiers, and this has produced a boycott of McDonald's in the Middle East.
Tucker Carlson interviewing Putin
Marjorie Taylor Greene has expressed happiness that Tucker Carlson will be interviewing Putin. None dare call it treason.
Starbucks in US and China
From the Starbucks annual report I just received: Starbucks has 9200 stores in the US and 6000 in China. Only 320 in the UK, and few in Europe.
Iranian agents sent to Sweden to murder Jews
The lead story on Swedish TV news today is that two Iranian agents came to Sweden with the job of murdering leading members of the Swedish Jewish community.
Tucker Carlson on Tiktok
The Economist notes in a story that Tucker Carlson is quite active on Chinese-owned TikTok, and the pro-Trump pundit Ben Shapiro used TikTok this week to promote an anti-woke rap song he wrote.
Trump still using presidential seal
Trump is going around with a polo shirt with a presidential seal and the logo "45th President Donald Trump." Does anyone know if any former president has ever done anything like this before? I can't imagine Harry Truman or Dwight Eisenhower in a costume like this.
Empty offices at Google
"The buildings are half empty at 4:30," writes The Times. This is not a description of a federal office but of Google in the wake of many layoffs at the company and low morale.
Redirecting stock investments from China to India
The South China Morning post reports that Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are urging their international clients to redirect investments from China to India.
Steve, everybody is talking about Biden's infirmities. If it were just the right-wing group you mentioned, it wouldn't be a problem. The conclusions drawn by the Justice Department are very damning, but even worse is Biden's demeanor & the many mistakes he makes. You should discuss this with your Democratic friends who are in your age range or older. All of mine think Biden has at least some cognitive impairment and it is getting worse.