The New Clarion

No Proof January 6 Was an ‘Armed Insurrection’: this, the Sicknick thing, and the fact that it just dissipated the day of make this “insurrection” talk smell of Reichstag fire more than coup d’état. The author went through the charging documents for the perpetrators and found no indication that there were guns in the Capitol on January 6th. It shouldn’t be up to an opinion columnist on a blog to uncover these facts but here we are.

Coronavirus – Anthony Fauci Is a Public Health Official, Not Our Parent: this is how you get fascism.

Rand Paul – Why We Need to End the Forever Wars Now: I think all it would take is for Congress to repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force of 2001 that somehow allows the President to wage war in Afghanistan, Iraq, and (somehow) Syria. It is simply outrageous that this is still going on and it is frustrating that Senator Paul stands mostly alone on this.

MA Undersecretary for Climate Change David Ismay – “We Have to Break Your Will.”: naturally, he resigned once this all became public. Not because he was lying, but because he stated an “inconvenient truth” that could give away the show.

The Energy Solution for Texas — And the US: this is a great analysis of a problem. Every grid in America is susceptible to this; wind and solar capacity is inherently unreliable and must be 100% backstopped by natural gas generation. But it isn’t because that would be expensive and generally we get away with it, with the added “bonus” of maintaining the fiction of solar and wind’s cheapness.

But the real problem is this: when you enforce ersatz markets, you get shaky, unstable results. If the market were allowed to work, reliable energy sources and on-site fuel would be prevalent with spot capacity provided by more-expensive, but readily-dispatchable sources. All it takes is freedom because the market need and wealth is there.

Dolly Parton’s 2021 Super Bowl commercial is playing a rich man’s game: repugnant editorial. The commercial—linked within—is delightful, as is Dolly Parton herself.

What went wrong with the Texas power grid?: right question, wrong answers. Electricity is a very controlled, regulated industry even at its most deregulated. It is Ptolemaic in its layers of solutions to flaws brought about by its flawed premise: we need an energy Copernicus to go back to first principles and let an actual market get established.

Grid operator requests energy conservation for system reliability: we should be aiming towards a future of energy abundance. Wind and solar energy are unreliable and fail when they are needed most, while introducing chaos into the grid.

A World Without Billionaires Would Be Brutal: a little more utilitarian leaning than I’d prefer, but it’s an unusual sentiment nonetheless.

Mandalorian’s Gina Carano Under Fire For Jeffrey Epstein & Holocaust Posts: this is sickening because her Instagram post was not offensive and was actually quite trenchant. A robust civil society does not informally restrict speech, and a free government does not formally restrict speech. Her treatment—and the wider “cancel culture” movement—is evidence against the former even though it doesn’t rise to actual censorship.

Iran’s Dissidents Plead with US to Keep Up “Maximum Pressure”: heartbreaking that we were so close to the finish line. We’ll now likely pursue a strategy of propping up the regime as a counterweight to newfound-allies Saudi Arabia and Israel.

MAGA Blood Libel: Why Are They Hiding The Medical Report?: he was cremated to “lie in state” at the Capitol‽ This smells, and you know that it’d be trumpeted if it had been “MAGA murder.” The fact that it’s not suggests that the truth is inconvenient for the story or those using the events of January 6th to their advantage.

Want to Fix the Senate? Repeal the 17th Amendment: yep. (I found this podcast episode on the subject persuasive.)

What can you do about the Trumpites next door?: this is pathological. I don’t know how this sort of person re-enters the fray. What level of projection would one have to entertain to think that the neighbor cleared your driveway as a recruitment tool à la Hezbollah?

Inside One Prosecutor’s Revolt Against DA Gascón’s Criminal Justice Agenda: wow, sounds like this guy complied with his boss’s order and then expressed his opinion of the order. What a travesty that the District Attorney wants blanket flouting of the legislature’s directive!

AOC faces backlash as critics point out she wasn’t in Capitol building during riot: how dare they doubt her story even though she was across the street from where the violent rioters were. I mean, she could’ve experienced trauma from home watching it on TV. (I confess to taking a certain glee in those who have changed the hashtag from #AOClied to #AlexandraOcasioSmollett.)

Schumer Used Violent Rhetoric To Sic A Mob On Supreme Court Justices: this is what incitement sounds like. I don’t know why the mob listening to this didn’t storm the Court but maybe they weren’t let in, the bronze door is more formidable than some windows, or norms were quite different before the 1619 riots. But the words he used were far more fiery and targeted than Trump’s—leaving aside that the Capitol rioting had already started by the time he was giving his speech and his anodyne call to action.

Chuck Schumer & Joe Biden – ‘Climate Emergency’ Powers: they should’ve limited the National Emergencies Act when they had the opportunity provided by the hated Trump. This is a trial balloon directed at one Maddow viewer in particular from the Senate leader, who won’t do it himself. “Sclerotic” doesn’t even begin to describe Congress.

Clarity in Trump’s Wake: this is a long essay but insightful in its sprawling. The people versus the elites; populism versus oligarchy. Trump was so close to what we needed—someone willing to take on the oligarchs but not susceptible to their weaknesses—but his lack of principle made him tack slightly nihilist.

We are where we are thanks for false dichotomies and package dealing: doubt the anthropogenic global warming hypothesis and you’re a denier and anti-science—even as Climategate illustrated that the climate modelers did not deserve respect and skeptics’ anti-science was heavily localized to these scientists; balk at critical race theory and you’re a white supremacist—despite relishing in the objections of Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, Glenn Lowry, John McWhorter, Coleman Hughes, and a raft of other black intellectuals criticizing the racism of the “antiracism” and “diversity” movements; and skepticism about the handling of the pandemic is tarnished as anti-science, anti-expert, and apathy towards others’ safety—despite the general early compliance with staying home, helping the elderly with shopping, and runs on N95 masks.

The false dichotomy of populism versus oligarchy is essentially collectivism or collectivism. But Trump’s pragmatism blinded him to the dichotomy and he chose the side that stuck it to the elites. The Third Way to which Trump held some promise to lead us is individualism. We need a new coin, rather than keep restricting ourselves to one side or the other.