The Progress Pond

After more than twenty years of operating a fully independent progressive website (first Booman Tribune and then Progress Pond) I have moved my operations to Substack. I resisted this move for years even though it’s been clear to me for a long time that it made financial sense. Ultimately, I did not have much choice. Last November, I suffered what I believe was a malicious attack on the database here.

I always hesitate to write about my ancestry because inevitably I’ll get a note from my parents informing me that I’ve gotten some detail wrong. But I know I have ancestors who came over on the Mayflower, and ancestors from Prussia who founded the town of Berlin, Pennsylvania, and an ancestor who arrived in the 19th-Century from Northern Italy.

Sébastien Lecornu resigned as French Prime Minister less than a month into the job. The reason is that he cannot cobble together a coalition that will pass a budget.

I felt badly Edgar Maddison Welch of North Carolina when I found out what he had done. Completely suckered into believing a bogus conspiracy theory promoted by foreign intelligence agencies and domestic right-wing agitators, Welsh traveled on December 4, 2016 from his home state to the Comet Ping-Pong pizzeria in Washington DC and committed some felonies.

Carl Hulse of the New York Times does a good job of highlighting two major factors that have convinced the congressional Democrats to force a government shutdown. Both of them are based on trust. The first relates to President Trump’s threat to retaliate by firing federal workers. Democrats believe they have a powerful message on health care, with some Americans set to face soaring premiums unless Republicans agree to extend federal subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.

One of the great passages from Roman history comes right at the beginning of Book One of Tacitus’ Annals, where he is discussing how Augustus seized power and ended the Republic for good.

Every day under the fascist regime is worse than the last, meaning that every day for the foreseeable future will be the worst day of our lives. This will never be clearer than on this coming Tuesday when Donald Trump travels to the military base in Quantico, Virginia. While there he will meet with virtually every top commanding general and admiral, ranked one-star and above, along with their senior enlisted leaders.

It looks like we’re going to have a trial to determine if James Comey or Andrew McCabe is a liar. Both are former directors of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, so this isn’t a great outcome for the FBI. There are a number of oddities about this case, but one of them is that the alleged underlying misconduct benefited rather than hurt Donald Trump. So, let’s talk about the underlying misconduct.

As I continue through one of the busiest work months I have experienced during my career, I post as time permits. Jimmy Kimmel’s return to late night after Disney pulled the plug on his talk show last week is a good reason to take a quick break and post. Here is his opening monologue. Jimmy gets right to the point, and stands his ground.

I don’t know if the numbers are accurate, but as best as I can ascertain, the Washington Generals (often operating under aliases) played The Harlem Globetrotters over 16,000 times. They won approximately three times. The last time they won, in 1971, it was because the Globetrotters lost track of the time and the score and couldn’t make up a 12-point deficit. Fans were displeased. Children cried. It never happened again.