
If you’re on Bluesky and follow me, you’ve probably seen that I’m writing threads that really should be the basis for posts at LGM. You’ve also likely gotten a bead on where I am these days. Here’s a summary:
I say “seems” because it is possible that, behind the scenes, they are taking necessary steps. These include creating tight working groups — probably at the staff level — to develop contingency plans. And I don’t mean “contingency plans for how to handle another shutdown.” I mean plans for coordinating and leading massive civil resistance against an effort to nullify the 2026 (or 2028) election results, responding to a declaration of martial law, and reacting to a military coup.
Do they have a strategy for dealing with the administration if Trump dies and there is a smooth transfer to a smarter, more ideological Vance? What about if what follow is a power struggle between Vance, Miller, and other contenders?
And what will if they do if they ever regain control of the government?
I know that there is a network of lawyers and state attorneys generals who are coordinating and planning. But I have tapped my contacts and no one is aware of any effort to, for example, rope in people who have experience mobilizing against competitive authoritarian regimes — such as veterans of the Orange and Rose Revolutions.
Similarly, the only analogs to a “Project 2025” appear to be either bullshit sinecures or fundraising mechanisms. I would bet that there are hundreds of academics and policy experts willing to help – ones with specialized knowledge that the Democratic establishment doesn’t even know that it needs: in regime transitions, security-sector reform and demobilization, rebuilding civil society, and so on.
As horrible as things are, the fat lady hasn’t sung. The regime is rushing to consolidate control because Trump is wildly unpopular. The economy is only getting worse. The regime is making mistakes, and Trump is in obvious decline. He has no credible heir. But even a D+10 or D+12 environment won’t matter if the administration successfully fucks with the election. And if you don’t think it will, then you must have slept through August 2020–January 2021.
ETA: Edited for clarity.
The post The State of the Republic is Grim appeared first on Lawyers, Guns & Money.
She is shocked to see the poison being poured into the tender minds of our white youth:
Just remember Katie: That train’s never late.
The post Frau Goebbels takes her kids to the public library appeared first on Lawyers, Guns & Money.
"Deighton’s hero is an unreliable narrator whose commentaries should be sifted, not readily accepted. It isn’t that he deliberately sets out to hoodwink or misdirect us, rather that his outlook is hampered by blind spots. His entirely subjective account prevents him from presenting the whole picture or conveying the exact truth. Anomalies and distortions arise. As Deighton once explained: ‘What happens in The IPCRESS File (and in all my other first-person stories) is found somewhere in the uncertainty of contradiction.’ This makes for stimulating reading."Not a new insight, but this essay explores well how the author makes the most of this.
From the Weird History YouTube channel, an epic undertaking: telling the (US-centric) cultural history of the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s in just (just!) 16 hours.
This is like a mega ultra monster extended mix of We Didn’t Start the Fire. The videos are organized chronologically, with each year taking 15-30 minutes to summarize, so you can watch small bits here and there instead of having to ingest a whole decade in one go.
The Hyundai-LG Metaplant in Georgia is a joint battery production facility set up by the two South Korean giants. Representing at least $7.6 billion in direct investment, it's the largest economic development project in Georgia's history; it's expected to provide 8,500 jobs directly at the plant and 40,000 direct/indirect jobs statewide, bringing in a total of $4.6 billion a year. In short, once it's up and running, it will be good for the U.S. economy.
So I was surprised to learn that an immigration raid on the plant arrested over 300 South Korean workers. These were predominantly engineers and technical specialists, brought over by Hyundai subcontractors to install equipment for the battery and production line. "No company in the U.S. makes the machines that are used in the Georgia battery plant," an immigration lawyer told PBS, "so they had to come from abroad to install or repair equipment on-site — work that would take about three to five years to train someone in the U.S. to do."
The issue appears to be that the arrested workers were here on B-1 business visitor visas, but that the installation and repairs were taking longer than the visa period. However Christi Hulme, an American labor leader in Savannah, says local unions "believe Korean workers have been pouring cement, erecting steel, performing carpentry and fitting pipes."
"Basically our labor was being given to illegal immigrants," Hulme said, without providing evidence. ( I have a hard time believing Hyundai saved money by flying people over from Korea, and putting them up in a hotel, to do carpentry and plumbing.)
In any case, this post isn't about immigration, although that raid falls neatly into our culture of sensationalized news. And hot-button sensationalized news provides a gigantic distraction from a much quieter, yet far more radical occurrence that recently happened at another foreign automaker's plant in the American South.
At BMW's Spartanburg, South Carolina plant, humanoid robot company Figure has been running trials with their 'bots working on the production line. And they've set a record: A Figure 02 robot successfully completed a 20-hour continuous shift handling sheet metal panels, and it did it autonomously.
To be clear: The robot worked two shifts. Without taking a coffee break. Without going to the bathroom. Without stopping to eat, check its phone or field calls from its kids.
At press time, you could find a lot of media ink spilled about the Metaplant immigration raid. But you can't find any news of any labor unions protesting the robot that flawlessly worked a double shift. You'd think we'd see at least one labor leader saying "Basically our labor will be given to robots."