Court Watch Part VIII. The only restraint edition.

Jefferson County Courthouse, Port Arthur, Texas.

July 14, 2026

In a blistering opinion, a Federal Court judge ruled that President Donald Trump improperly used a $10 billion lawsuit he filed against the IRS to extract personal benefits from the government and prevented the terms of a settlement agreement from taking legal effect.

And more locally:

Laramie County sheriff ordered to appear in court, explain why law firm can’t inspect records

July 23, 2026

Headline in the CST:

Wyoming attorneys oppose Trump’s AG pick

71 Wyoming attorneys signed onto the letter.  Lummis and Barrasso will ignore it.

August 1, 2026

Charges against an Olympic kayaker for vandalizing the reflecting pool have been dropped. 

That was predictable, but what the Justice Department admitted was not.  It admitted the damage was the result of "flawed installation by the contractor" as well as "the rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration in the weeks surrounding Independence Day 2026."

Every lawyer associated with this should be dismissed and disbarred.  Trump should be impeached.  The victim of these false charges should sue for malicious prosecution.

Closer to home:

Wyoming archaeologists take BLM to court over Native sites, human remains

August 5, 2026

The U.S. Attorney’s Office dismissed all charges against David Hearn, Justin Carreno, Sophie Dennison-Gibby and Cameron Thiers for the pool vandalization that never occured.  Donald Trump had previously described these people as “SICK, DERANGED PEOPLE".  He's the sick deranged people, but people who aren't victims of Trump Derangement Syndrome and think he's something other than a rampaging deranged narcissist know that. 

Now, even after the Toddler's tantrums, no charges are pending at all. They never should be.

Lawsuits should, and I predict will, be filed against the government over this.

August 8, 2026

The DC Circuit ordered Trump to halt his illegal ballroom construction but, in a wussy move, stayed its decision for fourteen days in order to allow Trump to appeal, which he, or rather his administration, will.

The Court, in its decision, noted:

Whether or not a massive ballroom should be constructed is for Congress to decide and is not a matter for Executive self-help.

August 11, 2026

It's not that there aren't some really issues here.

Judge dismisses closed primary lawsuit for the second time

But it does provide a good example of why it hurts things for everyone when a gadfly like Skovgaard decides to play lawyer.

August 12, 2026

Court steps in to counter coup attempt.

August 18, 2026

Good news:

Retired Cheyenne attorney renews legal challenge to Secretary Gray’s handoff of voter data feds

Gray violated the law on this and needs to be held fully accountable. Courts looking at this issue have uniformly supported the states that refused to provide the information.

Gray should be made to recover the information he supplied.  This was illegal.  

August 25, 2026

This doesn't decide the ultimate issue:

Supreme Court allows Trump administration to move forward with order imposing restrictions on mail-in voting

But coming when it does, it may very well be the law in a practical sense this election cycle, and impact the election.  It's specifically designed to frustrate Democratic voting.  However, as Amy Howe reports:

A separate ruling by the same judge, in a case filed by a different set of plaintiffs, temporarily prohibits the U.S. Postal Service from implementing one provision of the executive order anywhere in the United States. That ruling remains in effect, at least for now.

The decision is flat out wrong and the Supreme Court will regret it.  The Democrats are increasingly like to win both houses of Congress this Fall and they will begin to work on major Supreme Court reform. Trump can prevent that while he's in office, but he's becoming the political kiss of death for GOP candidates and when a new Democratic President comes in, this order will come off and the Supreme Court will be radically reformed.  Perhaps first up will be age limitations, likely 70 years of old, which will wipe out the conservative majority on the court.

A decision like this one will help bring about that downfall.  So does stuff like this:

Supreme Court allows White House ballroom construction to continue for now

The mail in voting one at least has some think judicial reasoning Staying ballroom construction was the obvious choice here and the Court didn't do it. That probably signals that they'll let this insane project go forward.

August 27, 2026

After Election Loss, Reid Rasner Sues A Sixth Person For Defamation

One of Rasner's previous suits is in the CST today on the pending summary judgment motion.

August 31, 2026

The Supreme Court sealed its fate today in holding that the Plaintiffs in a case challenging the legality of Trump's illegal construction of a giant garden shed on White House Grounds lacked standing.

Bullshit.

Justice Roberts, who dissented in the 5 to 4 decision, noted that the construction was likely illegal.  It is. This was a standing decision.

So construction will commence and may well get completed. The legality will be ruled upon in the future, and then the heaping pile of shit hopefully blown to the ground by a future administration that will rely on this decision. The Supreme Court will go to 13 members, and an age limitation will be put on the justices guaranteeing a liberal majority on the court for a century.

September 10. 2026

Twenty states filed two separate lawsuits against the government alleging the Trump administration illegally weakened the Endangered Species Act.

September 11, 2026

The 1st Circuit Court of Appeals refused to lift an injunction on the USPS prohibiting the implementation of crybaby's attempt for a fall coup by banning mail in voting.

Last edition:

Court Watch Part VII. When the last law was down.

Labels: 2020s, 2026, Abortion, Chuck Gray, Court Watch, law, Politics, South Korea, St. Sir Thomas More, The 2021 Insurrection, The Second Trump Administration, Wyoming, Wyoming (Powell), You heard it here first

The 2026 Election, 22nd Edition. The Stupid on Stilts Edition.  Appendix 1.

Prior endorsements and race list:

And so we're off and running for the General Election, which in Wyoming's case means the election is pretty much over for the statewide races.  Sure, the contest officially carries on, but chances are that the Republican nominees will take everything.

Still, this year, there's a chance, here and there. . . 

So, our early predictions.*

Governor:

Republican.  Eric Barlow

Barlow is a rancher, veterinarian, and long time legislature.  

He's won this race and the General Election in this case is a mere formality.

Democrat.  Kenneth Casner

75 year old making his third pointless bid for the Governor's office. He won't win, everyone knows he won't win, and he shouldn't be running.

Casner's appearance says something, however, about the state of the Democratic Party in Wyoming, and it's the opposite of what's happening in much of the rest of the country.  In much of the country Democratic voters are rising up and tossing out geezer candidates, but in Wyoming the Democratic ranks are so depleted the Democrats are falling back on them, which is not a good sign.

Casner would have done his party a favor if he hadn't run.

Constitution Party:  Rebecca Bextel.

The Constitution Party is a gadfly far right political party which was once the home of people who now populate the Wyoming Freedom Caucus.  Indeed, it's their proper home, which shows in the one candidate of theirs which we know to exist, Rebecca Bextel.

The central figure in CheckGate, Bextel is flat out delusional and is running as she feared that Brent Bien would lose and there would not be any candidates running for the true interpretation of the Double Secret Constitution known only to the Wyoming Freedom Caucus.  Bextel appears to seriously believe that Barlow could only win if vast hoards of Democrats, which don't exist in Wyoming crossed over to vote for Barlow and that in the general election the great mass of MAGA/WFC true believers will carry the day.

With the WFC having received a titanic dope slap in the primary, a rational person in her position would drop out. But then, running as a Constitution Party candidate shows demonstrated irrationality.

Endorsement:  Barlow by far.

Secretary of State

Republican:  Robert Short.

Short is an excellent choice and will take the office.

Democrat:  Bryan McCarthy.

McCarty actually has an impressive business background and has worked as an auditor.  He should be given credit for running, although he probably should have run for State Auditor.

He's going to lose and it's not even going to be close.

Endorsement:  Robert Short.

State Auditor

Republican Kristi Racines won an uncontested Republican primary race and no Democrats ran.

State Treasurer

Curt Meier won his bid to run again in the primary for the Republicans and no Democrats ran.

Senator

Republican:  Harriet Hageman.

63 (soon to be 64) year old incumbent Congressman with a terrible record on public lands who came up due to the "hate Cheney" wave two years ago.  If she wins, she'll be 70 at the end of her first term.

Democrat:  James  Byrd.

72 year old former legislator, geophysicist, and businessman.  Really impressive overall, but he is in his 70s.

This race features two candidates who are pushing what we regard age limits.   Hageman is a nightmare of a candidate however.

Byrd actually stands a chance in this race, but it's a real uphill battle.

Endorsement:  We won't vote for Hageman, which leaves Byrd the only realistic choice, and by and large he's a good one, but we aren't doing an endorsement yet.

House of Representatives

Republican:  Chuck Gray

Gray is a carpetbagger about whom Wyomingites know utterly nothing, other than he's an adoring sycophant of Donald Trump, he sent Wyoming's voter rolls to the Federal Government illegally, he has a nasty public personality, and he's a Californian who went to Wharton.   About him personally, we know  utterly nothing.

Having received only 25% of the primary vote, his election to the House can't be assured.

Democrat:  Lisa Kinney

About the worst candidate the Democrats could have chosen for this position, 75 year old Kinney can't win the office and is a remnant of an earlier era in more ways than one.  Her being the nominee is a sign of the absolutely pathetic state of the Wyoming Democratic Party.

Libertarian:  Shaun Johnson

Like the Constitution Party, the Libertarian Party has become so obscure their state's organization doesn't even list their candidates. This is the only one we know to exist.

Johnson is a lawyer presently in Thermopolis.  I don't think he stands a chance, but I'll note that former Wyoming legislator Tim Stubson, who once ran for Congress, has endorsed him, which shows the depth to which a lot of Republicans despise Chuck Gray.

Write In:  Kevin Christensen?

A building movement to mount a write in campaign for Christensen, who ran in the GOP primary, exists.  He came up late in the primary election and got 21,632 to Chuck's 31,222.  While that's about 9,000 more votes, both Balow and Gilat, both seen as early possibilities for defeating Chuck, received over 10,000 votes.  Even gadfly Reid Rasner received a little over 10,000 votes.

If we had Alaska's system, Christensen, along with Friess and Balow, would be on the election in the Fall.  If we had the system in which the top two vote getters were on the ballot, Gray and Friess would be.  Given all of this, there's a really strong indicator that many of those who voted for a candidate other than Gray would vote for Christensen.

Overall, therefore, this race remains in a state of flux while its seen if enough momentum can build up to create a write in campaign for Christensen against a well funded Chuck.  

Endorsement:  Kevin Christensen.  I'm early in doing this, and I note that some disaffected Republicans are saying they'll vote for Kinney. But Kinney is at best a lesser of two evils.

Superintendent of Public Instruction

Republican:  Steve Harshman

Harsham is a long time Wyoming educator from Natrona County who was in the legislature for many years.  He's an excellent choice for this office.and he will win it.

Democrat:  Ana Cordova.

Cordova won the contested Democratic primary.  She's a Wyoming native and extremely well educated.  She only returned to the state recently, however, and really has no chance in this race.

Endorsement:  Harshman.

Friday, September 10, 1976. A bad day for aviation.

176 people were killed in a collision between a British Airways Trident and a Yugoslavian DC-9 near Zagreb.

The Fighters for Free Croatia hijacked TWA Flight 355 that was flying between New York and Montreal.  A different group hijacked an Indian Airlines flight between New Delhi to Mumbai.

South Africa relaxed rules applying to "coloureds" but not black Africans.

Dalton and Cleo Trumbo at House Un-American Activities Committee hearings, 1947. 

Dalton Trumbo, blacklisted screenwriter who was originally from Colorado, died at age 70 in Los Angeles.  A Communist, some of his screenplays were credited to fronts during the McCarthy Era.

Last edition:

Tuesday, September 7, 1976. Mao dies.

Labels: 1970s, 1976, China, Communism, Mao Zedong, People's Republic of China, People's Republic of China v. Republic of China

Tuesday, September 10, 1946. The call within a call.

Albanian born Sister Agnes Teresa Bojaxhiu of the Loreto Sisters' Convent while riding on a train from Siliguri to Darjeeling heard the call of God that; "I was to leave the convent and help the poor while living among them.".

She is known to us today as Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

St. Mother Teresa with the Reagans.

Veteran fighter pilot from World War Two Fred Morrison sketched his concept for a toy plastic disc

It would become the Frisbee.

Last edition:

Monday, September 9, 1946. Truman writes Bess.

Labels: 1940s, 1946, Harry S. Truman, The written word, White House

Tuesday, September 10, 1901. Goldman arrested.

Communist/Anarchist Emma Goldman, looking pissed off.

A nationwide roundup of anarchist resulted in the arrest of the perpetually pissed off looking Emma Goldman.  She was released on September 23.  William McKinley, who had been shot by Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist, continued to recover.

Goldman in 1886, age 17, apparently before she was perpetually pissed off.  In this photo she bears a remarkable resemblance to Ella Cordova.

The U.S. Treasury announced a massive bond buy back.

Last edition:

Monday, September 9, 1901. McKinley rallies.

Labels: 1900s, 1901, Theodore Roosevelt, William McKinley

Sunday, September 10, 1876. The last day of Slim Buttes.

Dr. McGillycuddy at Slim Buttes. who tried to save the life of Chief American Horse.

Crook led his hungry troops away from the smoldering village at Slim Buttes and headed for the Black Hills, pursued by the Sioux which harried them. Captain Anson Mills, and two battalions of the Third Cavalry captured a Miniconjou village  Crazy Horse and his followers attempted to rescue the camp and its headman, (Old Man) American Horse (there were two Plains Indian chiefs by that name).  They failed.  American Horse was wounded and died in spite of an Army surgeon's effort to save him.

Anson Mills, in his early 40s at the time, was an inventive officer.  He named and laid out El Paso as a surveyor and invented the Mills cartridge belt that influenced all modern military web gear and which, in turn, made him rich.  He passed away in 1924.  Married to Hannah in 1868, only one of their three children survived until adulthood, something common at that time.  Showing the change in how Arlington is viewed, one of his two children to suffer premature death, Anson Cassel, is buried there in spite of dying at age 15.

Mills supported women's suffrage and prohibition.

Last edition:

Saturday, September 9, 1876. Battle of Slim Buttes.

Labels: 1870s, 1876, Battle of Slim Buttes, cavalry, Cheyenne people, Crazy Horse (Tȟašúŋke Witkó), George Crook, Great Sioux War, Horsemeat March, South Dakota

Something is going on, and I'm not the only one sensing it.

Something is finally going on causing a definite shift in views, and support, for Donald Trump.

This was my through at 3:00 a.m. when the dog woke me up. I started to read the news items for the day shortly after that.

And then, taking a look at the blogs I follow, I ran across this:

Something New Is Happening. Republicans Are Stopping Me to Say Thank You.

For years the reaction from most Republicans was anger. Lately it's been something else.

Adam Kinzinger is right, something is happening.

It was Lincoln who is attributed as saying; "You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time."*I've thought of that from time to time over the last two years as it seems like Trump has managed to pull off fooling a lot of the people a lot of the time.  Having said that, he never fooled all of the people at any one time.  Frankly, if every eligible American had voted, he wouldn't be President.

Donald Trump is a horrible human being and he reflects the worst in American culture in every fashion. Beyond that, he reflects the wort of the wealthy.  That so many have willingly followed where he was leading, which was never clear in the first place, is simply amazing and speaks very poorly of Americans.

But the fact of the matter is that Americans actually never wanted to go where he was leading.

Boiled down to its essence, Trump reflected a nativist, isolationist, view that's always existed in American culture.  At various times that view has dominated the country.  We just don't recall that as it hasn't dominated it since December 7, 1941.  It came back as the voting class aged into a demographic where the lack of cooperation and involvement in the globe and its result was forgotten. The Great Depression/World War Two generation is dead.

Trump also reflected an American culture that was ill at ease with much that the progressive left stood for.  Transgenderism, multiculturalism, economic globalism, were all things that were on people's minds in various degrees.  Biden's failure to control illegal immigration over the Mexican border was the final straw for a lot of people for various reasons.  While that was a real problem, it also unleashed racist nativism that most Americans had assumed was a thing of the past, but which very much turned out not to be.

And then there were those who voted for him, some holding their noses, for a host of other reasons.  The Democrats failed to learn that the seas of blood from infanticide prohibited many voters from considering them where they otherwise would.  As AOC stated, "Woke 1 was weird" and that prevented many from voting for Democrats.  Trump left Biden with the disastrous surrender in Afghanistan and many blamed, and still blame, Biden for that.  And Biden was a flat out horrifically bad candidate in 2024 given his very obvious mental decline.

What was always obvious to those not besotted with Trump is that he was in a rocketing mental decline 2024 and that he was surrounded by weirdos and extremist.  That wasn't as obvious to others.

But it's true.  The fringe hard right of Protestant Evangelicalism, which many other Christians find to be unsettling at best saw, and still see, Trump as a way to bring about a new Israel in the form of the United States.  National Conservatives, a totally different group, saw Trump as a useful idiot whose laziness would allow them to remodel the globe on the 19th Century lines they adhore while bring about an cultural reform that would make Franco proud.  People with fringe economic theories saw the same silly putty mind of Trump being something they could use to implement their radical economic theories.

But most people who voted for Trump didn't hold most of the more odd views associated with his administration. They didn't read Project 2025, didn't have time to read it, and didn't have the interest to read it.

So, most people who voted for Trump wanted him to stop illegal immigration and send the illegal migrants home, to stop the evolving trend of weird gender theory (which was very much there), and to get out and stay out of foreign wars.  Quite a few, but not all, thought if that meant making the country more "white",more "protestant", and more protectionist, a bit, that was okay, as long as that didn't really mean they had to do anything themselves.  And an overwhelming majority of them really didn't back any particular aspect of conservatism, let alone far right conservatism, whatsoever.

Populism, it must be remembered, is just as much of a left wing thing as a right wing one.

People don't like to admit that they made a mistake.  They'll admit it, but only reluctantly.  And this is all the more the case now due to the internet, which has made people's declaration of support so much easier to recollect.

But something has happened.

I think that the trade war with Canada was the last straw.

Literally nobody but the willfully deluded believes that launching a trade war with Canada made any sense whatsoever.  All of the excuses for it were complete bunk. Even the scaled dairy tariffs that some like to cite to have never come into effect as they require such a massive amount of Canadian imports of American dairy to take effect.  Canada  has been our friend and neighbor for over a century.

Donald Trump likes to claim to be a master negotiator but in reality he's just an arrogant asshole bully.  A lot of other nations have managed to deflect his tariffs one way or another without launching a trade war with the US as they're counting on Americans coming to our senses, although they are moving on. Canadians, however, are proud and their tired of putting up with the arrogance that Americans show around the world.  We aren't the most advanced nation in the world, nor the freest.  Everyone but we know that, and the Canadians, who live next door, very much know it.

Canada has a history of being willing to endure for its own aims and has defeated the US in wars twice.  It had enough.

Americans, for their part, have a history of abandoning wars they were not keen on at the onset.  New England nearly left the union during the War of 1812 and it refused to stop trading with the United Kingdom during the war.  New England, again, basically chose not to participate in the Mexican War, which became, up until the current war, the most unpopular war in American history.  Americans were never hugely convinced that we needed to be in Vietnam and when the things got really tough, we left.

The President of the United States insulting Canada is frankly shocking to most Americans.  It's almost impossible to find anyone who supports it.  A lot of rank and file Americans are open about being shocked, many hoping that Canadians do not end up hating Americans because of it (the ship has sailed on that, they do).  And this followed hard on the heels of the administration repeatedly lying about the war in Iran, which Americans never supported either.

We're now seeing an American population that finds itself being hated by its closest neighbor, which many American adore, while fighting a war against a country that many suspect is a proxy war for another country, while the Chief Executive supports the brutal rape of another country by a vile dictator, while we steal another country's resources.  At home prices are going up on everything while he has the unmitigated gall so suggest that doesn't matter.  

In the recent primary election here, for the first time, even the hard right Wyoming Freedom Caucus had people who were angry with Trump.  As Trump's intellect is stunted, he's a fan of data centers which many people in rural communities are not, and that's angering people here and in other rural areas.  He's taken a sharp stick and poked agriculture in the eye, and ranchers are actually complaining about it.

The trade war with Canada will make this infinitely worse.

When the price of toilet paper goes up, and it's going to go up, people aren't going to metaphorically take it sitting down, even if they physically will have to.

Trump's support in Wyoming is at 54%.  Down from 75%.  We're now close to having a majority of Wyomingites that don't support him.  

Cowboy Joe Six Pack isn't going to be thrilled about any of this.  Paying $6.00 for diesel in a truck that will go up in price 10% in order to order an Argentinian Big Mac.  

And, this winter, wait until Joe learns where these are made:

Ski-doo from their (Bombardier) website, posted under fair use exception.

Like Donald now?

Not so much. 

I think things have shifted.

Footnotes:

*Apparently, he actually didn't say that.

Monday, September 9, 1946. Truman writes Bess.

 Dear Bess:

It is a quarter of six Monday morning. I spent all of yesterday here at the desk and saw only Clifford just before lunch. He wouldn't stay for it because he said he must have one meal on one Sunday with his wife who is in town.

Twas nice to talk to you but I'm sorry I called so early. Did my baby ever get up? Hope your weather isn't so warm as ours. We have summer time back.

I slept well but hot, and some mosquitoes bit my hands and face. Night before last I went to bed at nine o'clock after shutting all my doors. At four o'clock I was awakened by three distinct knocks on my bedroom door. I jumped up and put on my bathrobe, opened the door, and no one there. Went out and looked up and down the hall, looked into your room and Margie's. Still no one. Went back to bed after locking the doors and there were footsteps in your room whose door I'd left open. Jumped and looked and no one there! The damned place is haunted sure as shootin'. Secret service said not even a watchman was up here at that hour.

You and Margie had better come back and protect me before some of these ghosts carry me off. Vivian called last night. He's at the Statler and will have breakfast with me this morning. Hope everybody is well.

Lots and lots of love, Harry

Last edition:

Friday, September 6, 1946. A new direction on occupied Germany.

Labels: 1940s, 1946, football, Germany, Germany (Stuttgart), Sports, The Cold War, West Germany

Monday, September 9, 1901. McKinley rallies.

President McKinley rallied and doctors were cautiously optimistic he would recover.

Vice President Theodore Roosevelt, acting on the news, departed for the Adirondacks to go  hiking.

Last ediction:

Sunday, September 8, 1901. McKinley on the verge of death.

Labels: 1900s, 1901, Crime, Death, William McKinley

Saturday, September 9, 1876. Battle of Slim Buttes.

Today In Wyoming's History: September 9: 1876  The second day of the Battle of Slim Buttes, South Dakota, sees the first day's fighting.  The 3d Cavalry had surrounded a Sioux village undetected the night prior and charged this morning.  American Horse was mortally wounded.  Indian survivors fled to the neighboring Cheyenne and Sioux village.  In he meantime, elements of additional cavalry and infantry units arrived at the occupied village.

Sioux and Cheyenne under Crazy Horse to counter attacked but were surprised by the numbers of soldiers then in the occupied camp.  They did open fire and Crook, in command, formed defensive positions, and then sent forward skirmishers.  This was effective in driving the Sioux and Cheyenne away.  110 Indian ponies were seized in the village, along with  a supply of dried meat, a 7th Cavalry guidon from Company I, the bloody gauntlets of Capt. Myles Keogh, government-issued guns and ammunition, and other related items.

This concluded the first day's fighting.

Wyatt and Morgan Earp left Dodge City, Kansas for Deadwood, South Dakota in hopes of filing mining claims.

Last edition:

Thursday, September 7, 1876. The Northfield Minnesota Raid.

Labels: 1870s, 1876, Crime, Minnesota (Northfield), Northfield Minnesota Raid, The James Gang

Monday, September 9, 1776. United States.

Today In Wyoming's History: September 9: 1776   The term "United States" was adopted by the Second Continental Congress to be used instead of the "United Colonies of North America.

The succinct declaration provided:

In all continental commissions and other instruments, where the words ‘United Colonies’ have been used, the style be altered to ‘United States".

Last edition:

Wednesday, August 14, 1776. This Day in History: The Great Seal of the United States

Labels: 1770s, 1776, American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson

 

Religion & Rhetoric: The Significance of Religion to the Patriot Cause in the American Revolution

CliffsNotes of the Zeitgeist 154th Edition.Trump's approval rating in Wyoming falls from 75% to 54%. Privation. The idiotic "republic not a democracy" line surfaces again. Viking funerals. Miley.

Barely hanging on in Wyoming.

Which is really remarkable

Wyoming is one of the few states where Trump has a positive approval rating, probably mostly attributable to the importance of the extractive industries to the economy, and due to agriculture.  Trump actually has farmers and ranchers upset now and as he's set to import foreign beef and hasn't really made any immediate actions addressing agriculture's concerns, this trend may continue.

Trump's endorsement of Megan Degenfelder fell flat in the state, and hardcorse Freedom Caucus rank and file were actually upset with his endorsement of Degenfelder followed by Hageman's endorsement of her as well.  So some cracks are actually appearing.

And now Trump's at odds with his Wyoming voters over data centers.

We don't see these statistics for Wyoming very often, which is no surprise given the low population of the state, but it will be interesting to see how this develops.  If he falls below 50%, and that's close to being the case, it may start a sort of freefall.

Trump only has a positive approval rating in 13 states.  Most of these states are ones in which he barely has a positive rating.  Wyoming has the highest approval rating of any state, which shows the extent to which Trump's really in trouble.  All of Wyoming's neighbors also have positive Trump approval ratings except for Colorado.

I've long thought that most of the Trump "supporters" are just followers.  When things begin to fade, and paying high prices at the pump and supporting data centers is creating fading, a lot of former supporters will claim to have never supported him. We see stuff like that all the time.

Just wait for the upcoming toilet paper shortages due to Trump tariffs on Canada.

Suffering privation

One thing about all of this is how absolutely tone deaf the Administration is to the suffering its causing, both here and abroad.

He's cutting off access to foreign good that Americans use (Bombardier also makes snow machines) and wiping out foreign markets for US products (Canadians used to buy a lot of American bourbon). At the same time, he's telling fairy tales about how you shouldn't mind, with the most recent example being that while you are paying a little more at the pump, it's not a big inconvenience and your sacrifice is worth it so Iran doesn't get the bomb.

Whether or not Iran was close to getting a bomb at any point during the Trump administration is an open question.  But beyond that, Americans, in spite of what we may collectively choose to imagine about certain eras, don't do sacrifice on the home front very well.  World War Two was the biggest example of restrictions for a national effort and people hated it.  Cheating and the black market was absolutely rampant.  The whole concept that the nation all pitched in and glady endured shortages is complete crap.  Even one of the most patriotic demographics, farmers and ranchers, notoriously evaded rationing illegally by selling livestock under the table.  And that was in a big national effort.

Americans aren't keen on high prices on anything.  Protectionist efforts only really work well in an economy if they're introduced really early, or they cause resentment.  If you are going to put up restrictive trade barriers, including tariffs, you need to do it nearly immediately, and you better have a really good reason for doing it.

We're doing it because Peter Navarro has Trump's ear and Trump has always liked the concept.  Trump's mind on this is rooted in the 1970s when the US was worried about Japanese imports.  Navarro is 77 years old.  Pining for the economy of the post World War Two world won't work, and making Americans suffer for a pipe dream won't either.

It particularly will not when a rich guy like Trump doesn't join in the suffering.  His fans like to note that he's not taking his pay. . . but not that he flies everywhere, including on golf trips, on the government dime.

We are a democracy, dumbass.

The moronic line "we're a republic, not a democracy" has been around for years.  I've heard it many times myself and corrected the speaker, usually with the speaker then looking deflated.  Democracy and republic are not only not mutually exclusive, they don't even describe the same thing.

Ancient Athens was a pure democracy, everything could be voted on by its citizens.  The United Kingdom is a parliamentary democracy, people vote for the House of Commons and the Parliament then functions as the government. We're a democratic republic, which isn't actually all that difference but which does make for problems if the elected representatives won't do their jobs, as they won't right now.  In a parliamentary democracy, they have to.

People who spout the "republic not a democracy" line have not thought out what they're saying at all.  Recently, in the MAGA crowed, it's "constitutional republic".  I've heard that from MAGAs great and small, including one Harriet Hageman. 

It's frankly a stupid comment.

It's been going around the last week, however, so somebody is feeding it out as a talking point for idiots.

And then there's this:

Worland Man Wanted His Ashes Put On USS Constitution Model And Set Aflame On Boysen

I guess it's humorous, sort of, but then, sort of not.

Miley

Miley Cyrus is provoking outrage as she's put out her last album as "Miley", which apparently somehow upsets fans of Dolly Parton.  As I don't care for Cyrus' music or Parton's, it doesn't mean much to me, but what struck me is that when I hit on the news story Cyrus was there wearing see through everything so you can see all of her really horrible tattoos.

They are truly bad.

They're the sort of tattoos that people who are junkies get from other junkies. What the heck?

Last edition:

CliffsNotes of the Zeitgeist 153rd Edition. The Hunt for the Golden Pheasants, Delusional monuments, Recovering the imaginary 1950s.

Labels: 2020s, 2025 White House Vandalization, 2026, Bowling, Dancing, Donald Trump, Doug Burgum, Golf, J. D. Vance, Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, The Second Trump Administration, Washington DC Vandalization, Zeitgeist