[Source]

What the hell is wrong with these people?

The Times has a serious problem. One storyline into which any set of facts gets jammed, basically no matter what. I didn’t know how deep the sickness went. pic.twitter.com/CgMXLquesq

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) July 23, 2024

If I might be forgiven for stating the obvious, THERE IS NO WAY OF SELECTING A NOMINEE AFTER BIDEN STEPPED DOWN ON JULY 21 THAT DOES NOT INVOLVE METAPHORICAL SMOKE-FILLED ROOMS. The nominee will be selected by the party’s delegates. This is true whether they vote for the sitting vice president who was the only person members of the party voted for, or whether they vote for the two candidates chosen by the New York Times op-ed board after two weeks of panel discussions with Sydney Sweeney and Mitt Romney. A majority reaching a consensus is no less inherently democratic than weeks of fractious infighting. And in this case, is clearly the most democratic available option.

When the BLITZ PRIMARY crowd pretends that this is about democratic participation rather than their thirst for a dramatic reality show that would give them the DEMS IN DISARRAY narrative they’re hardwired for, they’re insulting everyone’s intelligence. And pretending not to understand why the vast majority of Democrats don’t want a weeks of bitter infighting four months before the election makes it worse.

Of course, I may miss this after the inevitable pivot to “it is outrageous for Democrats to suggest that Donald Trump’s age and obvious cognitive decline is an important issue.”

…Great point. It’s hard to claim the process is illegitimate among Democratic public officials or voters when you can’t actually find any objecting to the process.

Wisdom-of-crowd question:

As far as I can tell, *everyone* warning about the "rush to support Kamala Harris" is (a) on a newspaper editorial board, mainly NYT and WaPo, or (b) a newspaper / magazine columnist, like the fiesta in the NYT (attached).

What is an example of (c) a… pic.twitter.com/vkb6gUbXlj

— James Fallows (@JamesFallows) July 23, 2024

The post The dream that refuses to die appeared first on Lawyers, Guns & Money.

We set out to solve why a forest in the middle of Uruguay looked like that — and wound up discovering something much bigger.

Deep in the geographic center of Uruguay, there’s a peculiar group of trees just a few kilometers down the road from the small town of San Gregorio de Polanco. From the ground, it looks like any other forest, with tall trees reaching deep as far as the eyes can see. But from above, the view is mind-boggling: Hundreds of trees are arranged in perfect concentric arcs, all spiraling toward the center. Together, they look remarkably like a human fingerprint.

When we first saw this forest, thanks to a Reddit post, we were fascinated. Why had they been arranged in this shape? Who planted them there? And why — when you zoom out on satellite view — was the entire country of Uruguay covered in similar-looking forests? To answer that question, we went straight to the source: interviewing locals, experts, and people whose lives have been shaped by a transformed landscape and economy.

vote-democrat-president-congress:

House Democrats filed a bill Friday that would put Donald J. Trump’s name on a building. Congratulations! 

Introduced by Gerry Connolly of Virginia, Jared Moskowitz of Florida, and John Garamendi of California, the legislation would “designate the Miami Federal Correctional Institution in Florida as the Donald J. Trump Federal Correctional Institution.”

The Democrats’ bill is a direct response to the ludicrous bill filed this week by House Republicans who want to rename Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia after the twice-impeached, multi-indicted, one-term president. 

“Donald Trump is facing 91 felony charges,” Connolly, whose district includes part of the airport, said in a statement Tuesday. “If Republicans want to name something after him, I’d suggest they find a federal prison.“

On Friday, Connolly elaborated on his legislative proposal in a statement:

I see no reason to wait. Donald Trump faces nearly 100 felony charges. He has been found liable of sexual abuse and, subsequently, for defaming the victim of that abuse. He has been fined hundreds of millions of dollars in a civil fraud case. It is only right that the closest federal prison to Mar-a-Lago should bear his name. I hope our Republican friends will join us in bestowing upon Donald J. Trump the only honor he truly deserves.

Moskowitz, whose South Florida district is just an hour’s drive from the prison, offered his own generous take. 

“Everyone knows President Trump loves to write his name in gold letters on all his buildings,” Moskowitz said in a statement. “But he’s never had his name on a federal building before and as a public servant I just want to help the former president. Help us make that dream a reality.

Obviously, naming a Virginia airport after Trump, who counts an airline among his many failed businesses, is just plain silly.

A Florida prison makes much more sense. Trump is facing 88 federal and state charges, including 40 charges in the classified documents case being tried in Florida. If convicted, perhaps he could request being sent to the newly renamed Donald J. Trump Federal Correctional Institution nearby. They could even use gold-plating for his name. He loves that.

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I make exceptions for the young, usually, but if you make it to 80+ you got the full trip and had plenty of chances to express regrets, or not, so I feel no problem with assessing the life of people who were quite proud of themselves.