No need to worry about AI

We live in strange times.  Here is Steve Bannon and Bernie Sanders telling us we need to rein in AI.  It is too dangerous and needs to be regulated.  Here are tech bros running AI companies who are sounding an alarm that AI needs to be regulated.

But wait.

Trump said concerns are overblown.  No need to be concerned.  No need to be alarmed.  Fears are overstated.

But wait.

Isn’t that the guy who said global warming is a hoax, who said he would end the Russian war against Ukraine on his first day in office, who said that Covid would be over in weeks, who had a better health plan than Obama, who would end inflation, and who would end the war against Iran in a few days and then in another few days and later in another few days, etc.?  I’m not so sure I want to trust that guy.

Mail-in ballot victory, but we need more

One of the few things I have in common with Trump is that we both vote using mail-in ballots.  For some reason he decided that it was ok for him, but not for me.

Now the Supreme Court has ruled that he does not have the power to prevent states from using a system of mail in ballots.  

He’s mad at the Supreme Court justices he appointed, evidently thinking that since he appointed them, they should follow his wishes.  On the other hand, two justices–Thomas and Alito (not his appointees, just his lap dogs)–voted that the President of the U.S. can arbitrarily mess up voting systems.  

If normal people ever get back into power, one of the structural reforms we will have to make is to fix the Supreme Court.  There are any number of ways to do that, and I won’t go into them here, but it should be high on the agenda. 

James Talarico on Jimmy Kimmel

As probably every reader knows, the FCC Chair, in a move right out of Dictatorship 101, threatened Jimmy Kimmel with legal problems if he interviewed Texas Senatorial candidate James Talarico.  The FCC Chair said that late night TV hosts could not interview political candidates, ignoring the fact that Trump was interviewed on that very show when he was running for president.

So Kimmel put the interview on YouTube.  Please watch it.  Talarico explains his positions, but he is also very funny.  The YouTube video already has over 6 million views.  It should have more.  It is really one of the best political interviews I have seen.

10 Commandments in Texas schools

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 9 to 8 that Texas schools can be required to post the 10 Commandments in every classroom.  The U.S. Supreme Court had ruled this to be unconstitutional in the past, but the Fifth Circuit now contains quite a few Trump appointees, six of whom voted with the majority.  

Here is what I don’t get.  Given the behavior of Texas politicians, wouldn’t it be more important to post the 10 Commandments in the halls of the Capitol, in the legislative chambers, in the Governor’s official, and anywhere Ken Paxton does business?

Cutting SNAP benefits

The “Big Beautiful Bill,” passed in July 2025, made it harder to qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which you may know as SNAP.  This has meant that over one million children have lost food assistance.  And the ballroom construction continues.  

Now Vance is pushing for another change in the assistance program.  Money would be diverted from working single mothers to provide more assistance for married families, one of whom does not work.  We all know that single moms are generally bad people, right?  Let’s punish them.  And their kids.

See Jessica Grose, “The White House’s Miserly Family Plans,” New York Times, (Sept. 12, 2026), p. A21. 

Firemen save Trump on 9/11

I did not realize that Trump was brought to safety on 9/11 by two strong firemen.  I don’t know why he did not tell us this before; it certainly seems almost providential.

When I heard about this I was moved to write a poem.  I titled it

“Trump is saved”

The sky was blue,

The planes flew 

Into the walls.

The frantic calls

Came to nine-one-one.

This was no fun.

But give a shout.

Trump made it out.

Fetterman

Never really trusted him.  That whole thing about tattooing the dates of people killed in Braddock while he was mayor struck me as some kind of public performance.  He garnered publicity trying to revive his town of Braddock, but that wasn’t so impressive.  Braddock is tiny.  Weissport has more people than Braddock.

You can tell a great deal about a politician by the way he treats his staff, and from the earliest days of his Senate career, word was that he treated his staff like crap, and he evidently hasn’t improved.  I never could abide “pro-labor” types who acted like overseers to their own employees.

The whole hoodie business annoyed me from day one.  I have never been known for my clothing style, but if I were in the U.S. Senate, I would dress the part.  The hoodie thing was simply a way to draw attention, just like the tattoos.

I hate the way he treats his wife, an immigrant.  He should be a champion for immigrants.  He is not.  She ought to divorce his ass.

Finally, he is not very bright.  It is obvious from many of his comments, from his failure to do what his doctors advised, and his statements on current issues, including his stand on Israel and his sucking up to the worst President in U.S. history.

For thirty-two years I lived in a state that had adopted three Progressive reforms–the initiative, the referendum, and the recall.  I know there were some problems with the initiative, and I don’t remember the referendum being used, but I really miss that recall.  Pennsylvania doesn’t have the recall.  We are stuck with this clown for over two more years.