I didn’t watch the ceremonies, but it appears no anti-Mamdani protesters showed up in NYC to disrupt them. I’m guessing there was enough of an NYPD presence that they didn’t dare. So that’s a relief. And from what I can see from some distance, Mayor Mamdani did not put a foot wrong this week.
I want to call your attention to an article at TPM, How 9/11 Conspiracy Theories Are Still Shaping Our World by Mike Rothschild. This is fascinating stuff, and a lot of it I didn’t know. I wasn’t tuned into right-wing nutjob media in those days. Or ever. But it shows how the (extremely inaccurate) alt-narrative of the day spun by Truthers was being crafted even before the dust cleared. The character in this bit is named Bill Cooper.
Cooper seemed to know a lot for someone complaining he didn’t know anything. Just 40 minutes into his first hour on the air, Cooper declared that whatever the media and government will say about the Towers will be a lie. The buildings could not have collapsed solely due to being hit by a 737. He knew, without a doubt, that the government did it and would pin it on someone else, because it was the same thing that happened in Oklahoma City in 1995 — an act he claimed was carried out by the FBI and pinned on the innocent members of the militia movement, as an excuse to arrest and purge them.
And more than anything, he knew it because it was obvious to anyone with a brain.
“The core of the building being blown out” could have only happened thanks to shaped charges that were “placed on the main structural members” of the buildings, Cooper announced, referencing the steel reinforced concrete pillars holding the building together that never could have simply crumbled.
“Airplanes didn’t bring those buildings down,” Cooper thundered. “And if you think they did, you have air between your ears.”
I remember that on September 13, 2001, I visited Union Square Park in Manhattan to see what was going on, and there was one young man there standing a few feet from the George Washington statue and yelling that 9/11 was an inside job. I realize now that pretty much the whole conspiracy theory and most of its variants were already spreading everywhere. And the culture that supported this nonsense is still alive and well and continues to undermine the connection between U.S. citizens and reality. The many Covid conspiracies and the irrational belief that Dr. Fauci somehow caused the pandemic come to mind.
And my commemorative September 11 essay over at Patheos, I Watched the Towers Fall. Here’s What You Missed, could have been subtitled It Didn’t Happen the Way The Truthers Say It Happened.
It’s been a while since I’ve communicated with them, but so much of what Truthers believed just wasn’t true. The towers did not neatly collapse into their own footprints but sent debris and bodies and dust flying everywhere, over considerable distance. The other five buildings of the seven-building World Trade Center complex were all destroyed by flying debris, much of which was on fire, as were at least a couple of buildings that were outside the World Trade Center. No explosions such as what you see in a controlled demolition were visible before the towers collapsed. The billowing light gray plumes one sees in the photos is dust, not smoke. And if you really want to know how the towers fell, read the comprehensive report from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). It matches what I saw.
In other news — it might gratify you to know that the two-day Republican Trumpapalooza Convention was a ratings flop. Fox News, one of the few networks that aired the whole thing, actually got fewer viewers for Trump’s big second-night speech than they usually get in that same time slot. See also “Doesn’t Give a Sh*t”: What the Convention Revealed About Trump by Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling at The New Republic. In brief, Republicans are growing disillusioned with Trump.
There are a lot of stories today about how money is pouring in to “save” the Republicans in the midterms. Republican candidates are starting to outspend the Democrats. I’m guessing most of these will be negative ads, as Republicans literally have nothing to run on. So we’ll see how it goes.
Tangentially related to the Trumpalooza, John Fetterman graced their gathering via a video. Quote I saw today: Fetterman is the first rat in history to climb onto a sinking ship.
I've been thinking how his brain must've short circuited from his stroke. Everything but the lizard brain got killed off. Same primitive brain that drives conservatives. A psychic I follow says his marriage is in trouble – I can't imagine what his wife has gone through.
It's amazing how his wardrobe gives him away – the hoodie that made him stand out when he first appeared has given way to a suitable for Fox News business suit. If he had dressed conventionally from the start, his wardrobe wouldn't be such an obvious clue.
I have to believe he's turned to shilling for Israel only for the money and power.
It's kind of amazing how certain lost people – Krysten Sinema also comes to mind – find themselves when the smell of money gets strong.
The thing I'm scared about is Trump's threat – from a few days ago – to shut off trade if the Federal Reserve doesn't lower interest rates. If anything the recent inflation data is pushing them toward raising rates. Nice Global Economy you got there. Shame if something would happen to it…
A former conservative federal judge has sounded the alarm on the possibility of Republicans carrying out “another Jan. 6” after the midterm elections.
Judge J. Michael Luttig, who was nominated by former President George H. W. Bush to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, tore into the GOP and President Donald Trump in a scathing op-ed for The New Republic warning of “The Final Battle for America’s Democracy.”
Luttig, 72, said a “catastrophic end” for American democracy could come on Jan. 3, 2027—the start of a brand new House.
I know truthers among the far left. There's something I can't relate to in being certain of something that there's no evidence of. Bush was as surprised as any of us. AF1 flew in circles after it left FL with no certainty where POTUS would be safe. There were no trumpd-up theatrics for several days. Had it been an inside job, the show of heroics from the WH would have been nausiating. The fall-back defense to that it that it was SUCH an inside job that Bush was unaware.The political show is all a front – a shadow government is actually run by a cabal of [fill in the blank].
I think Maggie H. got it right – Trump blew off the 9-11 ceremonies when he found out he could not be the center of the ceremonies. Not only would respect for the tragedy not have pleased Trump's vanity, he would have had to share the spotlight with other (real) presidents who hold Trump in contempt. That's a deal-breaker.
It looks like Trump is in Ireland and getting the middle finger from the Irish people. Trump is pretending he's heard nothing of protests. ("They love me.") It will be up to the citizens of Ireland to show their true feelings.
I'm waiting for polling to find out if the Trump bribe has any traction. IMO, Trump will want to back away from the promise and turn in into an "idea". I just don't hear him obsessively pushing the idea like it's a real plank. Trump wants the idea to take off like the rumor of gold in California to create a stampede. The suggestion has all the substance of a soap bubble because 1) it's going to feed inflation far more than it will stimulate the economy 2) the premise that it will feed the economy conflicts with the fable of the "golden age of trump" myth and 3) it won't pass in Congress because the fiscal hawks will balk. I'd like to track the mention of the 5K bribe. Is Trump still spewing it or is he only responding to questions from the press (and playing it down.)
Regarding a coup after the midterms… Trump won't want the investigations that the House can do, especially as the corruption isn't well hidden, and (I think) there's a ton of people who previously worked in government who were fired at the hint of a warning that something the administration intended to do is illegal. Trump is trying to expand Executive Privilege to gag anybody from first-hand testimony of what the Trump Crime Syndicate did. It will fail (I think) and Trump may have been told trying to twist Executive Privilege is at best a delaying tactic.
Trump can pardon the guilty but the process of doing that weekly when the evidence shows the crimes actually happened and Trump always pocketed the money will boil away what's left of Trump's support. So I can see all that as a reason Trump might pull a coup in January but a coup is a stunt you only do once. The repercussons of a coup in January will force the legitimacy, and the issue of removal (impeachment) up from 2029 to 2027 and Trump is not prepared to win that war. If Trump is being impeached for a failed coup attempt, it may not be politically smart to buck the tide of citizen anger and vote to aquit Trump in an impeachment for a crime citizens KNOW happened. The GOP might throw Trump under the bus to try to redeem the GOP with voters over the next two years with Vance acting as President Ford did, trying to gloss over the crimes without defending Nixon.
You can succeed in a coup with massive popularity OR the support of the military. Trump knows he does not have the former and the later looks shaky to me or Whisky Pete would not be firing a general every week for an indication of loyalty to the Constitution. A beachhead they HAD to secure, they haven't – that's the obedience of the media. If Trump knows a coup attempt is a one-time tactic (because you are headed to jail if you fail), he won't go that route until his perception if that he's going to jail if he doesn't. Trump thinks he has two years after the midterms to turn his popularity around – he's looking for the simple trick that will do it. So I think he'll chicken out on a coup attempt, but I'm not betting money.
"I know truthers among the far left." The theories bend according to who is supposed to be blamed. In the past couple of days I've bumped into a few people on social media pushing the theory that Israel was behind it. It's trendy on the Left to hate on Israel now, I guess. I do remember the old claim that Jews who worked at the World Trade Center got warned to not go to work that day, which of course didn't happen. It's discouraging that people who are bright enough to tie their own shoes and fry and egg get taken in by nonsense like this, but they do.
Trump is like AI, powerful, dangerous, and impossible to control. He is destroying the republican party like a miscreant child ripping apart a functional family. Quite sad really. It has been some time since they, the republicans, presented themselves as anything but dysfunctional. Disfunction is consistent with the current state of nothing to run upon. Of course, a few remnants of the party survive but have only RINO status. Even MTG thinks a third party is her only option. She is right on that one.
Not only what survives as the republican party hugely repressive to even close to 19th century standards for womanhood, the men are suspect. Kimmel reported the gay dating service failed in Dallas during the convention. Of course, that might just have been a coincidence. Sure. But with that many guys known to like to kiss where they kiss, perhaps more than a coincidence. Perhaps.
I have admired comments from Pedigrees childless catdoghorse lady from SW Iowa before. When she comments it is quite a treat. It is usually to a brilliant essay like the one linked from the NYT.
Or channel FDR, Eleanor, and the interaction of the pair IMO.
Opinion | Blame Ronald Reagan – The New York Times