Whitcomb: New Reason to Go Downtown; Pick Another Issue; Ancient Politicians

Whitcomb: New Reason to Go Downtown; Pick Another Issue; Ancient Politicians

 

“Whatever time says,

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their joy insists

on springing forward.’’

-- From “Day After Daylight Savings,’’ by Margaret Hasse

Here’s the whole poem:

 

(New England is so far east that it should shift to year-round Daylight Savings via joining Canada’s Atlantic Time. For today, prepare to take a long afternoon nap to catch up with your sleep.)

 

 

“Under the pressure of the cares and sorrows of our mortal condition, men have at all times and in all countries, called in some physical aid to their moral consolations—wine, beer, opium, brandy, or tobacco.’’

-- Edmund Burke (1729-1797), Anglo-Irish politician and writer

 

 

“The noblest kind of retribution is not to become like your enemy.’’

-- Marcus Aurelius (121-180 A.D.),  Roman emperor and philosopher

 

 

 

Track 15, the big new food hall at downtown Providence’s Union Station, will open on March 18. It should be one of the most joyous events in the city in the past few years.

It will highlight one of Rhode Island’s greatest competitive strengths, its food. But I wish it could be combined with a European-style market selling produce, fish and so on.

The  18,000-square-foot, $25 million project will include a large central bar, a new home for seven Rhode Island-based restaurateurs,  seating for over 300 patrons inside and a 10,000 square-foot plaza which will provide outdoor seating for 100 people and a home for special events.  

Let’s hope that state tourism people are already promoting it.

And more good news: Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport is the fastest-growing airport in America. (I just wish they had more international flights. There are more and more reasons to leave the country these days, fast….)

 

 

Dangerous Distractions

There’s been endless discussion of Trump’s State of the Union Address, which predictably was a Niagara of brazen lies, florid exaggerations, threats, gloating and boasting. But few Americans take the time to verify anything he says. That’s perhaps his strongest shield.

 

But here’s something to look at:

 

And his niece Mary Trump’s take on the carnival of bombast:

 

Check out the federal buildings that Trump wants to sell (some to his pals?) including in New England:

 

xxx

 

Meanwhile, Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, has gotten into a fight with Trump that includes his threat to yank some federal education funding over her state’s support of letting transsexuals – in this case, girls who “used to be boys”   --  play in school sports. This is part of the MAGA mob’s general hatred, in our very multicultural nation, of “diversity, equity and inclusion,’’ and is one of the issues that the MAGA mafia use to distract voters from Trump economic and social policies, which slam many in his base, especially those who could be euphemistically called  “low-information’’.

 

(I myself oppose letting “former boys’’ compete against girls in sports because these trans athletes still retain some male physical characteristics that give them an unfair advantage.)

 

MAGA’s success in pumping up culture wars is a major reason why millions vote against their own socio-economic self-interest as they are told to hate that nebulous thing “woke,’’ which basically means to be nice to people regardless of race, sexual preferences and various other personal characteristics. In any case, white males will continue their traditional dominance in America.

 

Is Governor Mills inadvertently promoting Trump for an illegal third term?  He has “joked’’ (?) about seeking one, despite what the Constitution says. She and other Democratic leaders should emphasize the economic-justice positions that have served the party well, while attacking the ever-thicker corruption of the national Republican Party led by a megalomaniacal conman aided and abetted by billionaire suck-ups.

 

Meanwhile, the governor, who is 77, has made noises about challenging incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins, 73, in the next election. Senator Collins has displayed a highly successful political amorality, weakly opposing Trump on some issues but generally going along with the guy, who remains very popular in some parts of the Pine Tree State, especially in huge, rural Aroostook County. She’s celebrated for her very strong constituent services and willingness, as the late Providence Mayor Vincent Cianci used to say of himself, “to go to the opening of an envelope.’’

 

Anyway, like Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee, who’s 73, and many other important politicians these days, Janet Mills is mighty old to stay in elective politics. So is popular Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, who’s 75 and plans to run for re-election next year. Then there’s Trump, who will be 79 in June.

 

Indeed, McKee’s announcement that he’s running for re-election seems bonkers to me, what with the baggage of  his administration’s inept reaction to  the Washington Bridge disaster,   the RIBridges data breach (Deloitte again didn’t protect us!), excessive secretiveness and a general lack of the sort of energy, eloquence and ingenuity we need in a state’s chief executive.

 

Normally, many voters would think it was time for a Republican to take over the governorship, but that was before so much of the party turned to fascism. There are, it is true, some thoughtful, honest and competent Republican governors. In New England there’s the very popular Phil Scott of Vermont, who has opposed Trumpism, but most GOP governors have displayed cowardice in dealing with their party’s national leader. God knows that we need a responsible right-of-center party – old-fashioned, Eisenhower-style “conservatives’’ -- but we don’t have many now in positions of power.

 

 

Stabilize the Population

As I’ve long said, the Dems also need to accept – especially considering the election results! -- that while immigration raises the GDP and brings cultural and economic dynamism, especially in business formation, it needs to be dramatically cut for some years so that both native-born U.S. citizens and newcomers can better adapt to each other and to address the fact that the immigration wave we’ve had for decades reduces inflation-adjusted wages for lower-income Americans. This causes much bitterness and frustration as the very rich, who benefit from the inflation-adjusted fall in the wages of lower-income Americans, get ever richer and more politically powerful. And it adds much fuel to demagogues’ campaigns.

 

Meanwhile, a reminder: Immigrants commit crimes at much lower rates than native-born Americans, though you’d never know it from listening to MAGA people:

 

 

Cutting Federal Revenue

“A Quisling:’’  From Norwegian war-time leader and Nazi collaborationist Vidkun Quisling (1887-1945)  

 

You might think of this as you try to get through to someone at the IRS who hasn’t been laid off this tax-filing season:

 

The Trump regime, while asserting that it’s trying to reduce the federal debt, will gut staffing at the IRS, which means that less money will be collected as  returns are more superficially reviewed, the threat of being audited shrinks and tax evasion increases. This is good news for the plutocrats/Quislings around Trump who, with legions of tax lawyers, are already well positioned to avoid taxes. In short, the gutting of the IRS will cost many billions, not save them.

 

Meanwhile,  taxes will be reduced, with the rich getting the biggest benefits. But then, it is their government!

 

I should note that there are some patriotic billionaires, such as Mark Cuban, who bravely speak out against the Trump regime, risking retaliation.

 

 

Europe by Itself

Now that the U.S. government is an ally of the world’s leading mass murderer, Britain and its European Union allies realize that they must build up their armaments and other parts of their defense capability ASAP to protect themselves from the fascist aggressor in the Kremlin.

 

Increasingly, Europeans have come to realize that they must be willing to pay more in taxes to do this. This will be a strain and may also require cuts in (too generous?) social programs, but it could also revitalize European industry, as, for example, some of Germany’s ailing automobile industry is retooled to make tanks, and computer hardware and software sectors are prodded to strengthen themselves in the face of Russian cyber warfare. The Kremlin is a master of online disinformation, which they used to help elect Trump both in 2016 and 2024. Elon Musk’s Twitter is a favorite place for Russia’s litany of lies.

 

Also, America’s former NATO allies now must stop the traditional sharing of military and other secret information with the U.S., since Trump might send that information to Putin’s team.

 

As with the U.S. in World War II and the first Cold War, the urgent need to become more powerful and dynamic could press Europe to eventually become stronger than the U.S.  -- that is, if European nations can compromise on issues between themselves. A very big if.

 

xxx

 

With the United States increasingly corrupt, and its economic policies unpredictable, erratic (tariff policies change by the day!) and unreliable, American investors would do well to shift more of their money to enterprises in much more honest, stable and better-run foreign places, such as Scandinavia, Japan and, yes, Canada.

 

 

Religion’s Slide

The gradual decline of religious faith in America –- most notably in the Blue States -- is sad in some ways but inevitable. Many well-educated people increasingly see organized religion as simply organized superstition and anti-science. And there are disillusioning scandals, such as the sexual abuse of minors by clergy,  financial crimes and coverups. Further,  watching the rise of far-right MAGA-style white evangelism, more than a few of whose leaders are rich crooks suckering their followers to send them money, has also, fairly or not, led to much rejection of religion in general.

 

Still, most people who aren’t in any formal religious organization ruminate on the mysteries of existence, and seek the numinous.  And some of those hymns are beautiful.

 

 

As Shakespeare, via Hamlet, so famously said:

“There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

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