FRIDAY short TAKES.

The Trump presidency was civilization in action.  "On Trump’s watch, there was no full-scale invasion of Ukraine, no major attack on Israel, no runaway inflation, no disastrous retreat from Afghanistan. It is hard to make the case for Trump’s unfitness to anyone who does not already believe it."  Yes, I'm aware of all the ways the process worshippers cringe, and I concur with many of their points.  Their motivation, though, gives people who would rather not think about process all the time more reason to be cranky.  "Democrats try to strip candidates from the ballot, in the name of democracy."  It's politics.  "Voters don’t care about legislative victories; they care about their own families. And despite the best efforts of the left-wing media, American voters will see through the Potemkin presidency of Joe Biden."

It doesn't help that the self-styled progressives are as smug in their convictions as those Ivy League presidents.  "It’s hard to understand. And the great irony here is that progressive Democrats, who are precisely the ones who are most hysterical about the threat posed by Trump and Trumpism, are also the ones most adamantly opposed to making any compromise on border security as part of this deal. Or really anything else for that matter. This is not a recipe for success. I suppose that’s because they don’t really want a popular front against Trumpism but rather a popular front for all the stuff they feel comfortable supporting. But that’s not how a popular front works and it’s certainly not how Democrats are going to rebuild and expand their coalition for 2024."

Make that destructive politics.  "In the name of complaining about Trump's tyrannical tendencies, the NYT is truly worried that he will dismantle the existing machinery of real tyranny."  Wherever someone says "the government," substitute "Donald Trump."  "But isn't it funny that those who have supported expansive executive power over the decades are now crying over the prospect of its falling into the hands of a President they loathe? You had a system of checks and balances, but you didn't like it."

The weekly round-up of pithy elaborations on traditional Cold Spring Shops themes follows.

1.  They don't experiment against reality.  "Conservative parents do a better job of raising their children than liberals."

2.  Misgendering is deadly.  "The Democrat Party turned into the Brewster sisters from “Arsenic and Old Lace,” who coddle their mentally ill brother who thinks he’s Teddy Roosevelt to the point they make everyone else indulge him too."

3.  What you'd expect of an industrialized tribal society?  "But people outside the progressive elites can see with our own eyes that immigrants from the global South into Western Europe are not assimilating."

4.  Let's party like it's 1984.  "Wall Street or the Working Class: The Democrats Must Choose."  In 1984, they chose ... poorly.  "The Democrats would do better by revisiting their 1984 party platform which urged that workers should have 'actual ownership of the company, employee representation on corporate boards… and greater worker participation in management decisions.'"

5.  Strategically planning to avoid the real debt ceiling.  "Yes, it was a meeting about the possibility of forming a committee to have more meetings about the possibility of doing something to address the problem."

6.  Get the job done.

7.  Trofim Denisovich Fauci.  "White coat supremacy is no basis for a system of government."

8.  It is a path to penury.  "If it makes sense to recycle, then there is no need to mandate it. price and markets will take care of it. The very fact that it must, in most cases, be mandated to make it happen is proof it's a waste of time, resources, and labor."

9.  Speaking of paths to penury.  "The reason why the TikToker can’t afford the same standard of living that her parents probably did isn’t the fault of capitalism. It’s the fault of the government. If we address these issues with the consideration they deserve, we can stop young people from digging their own grave."

10.  The affirmative action corollary to the Peter Principle.  "What do you think about the mechanisms that led these particular individuals to be selected for top leadership positions?"  Three blind mice diversity hires.  "Be honest, that has to be how they got their jobs."  Turf them out! "Today, students from the schools along with some of the shocked Republicans present at the hearing say it is clear that all three must resign."  Where are the Democrats?

11.  Reality bats last, and reality is coherent.  "The purpose of a university is the pursuit of truth. So anyone who does not understand what truth is has no business leading one. When you hear someone say 'my truth' you should stop listening because that person has just exposed their intellectual vapidity."

12.  Mighty reality is walking up to bat.  "These extreme progressives keep desperately trying to use the words, phrases, and tactics that they've been successfully using for years to dodge questions about what they actually believe but for the first time they seem to be finding that nobody's buying their BS anymore... and we love it!"  Academia delenda est!

13.  American awesomeness!  "We kicked booty and had hot girls and generally understood that the hierarchy of humans went #1: Americans, #2: Most Everyone Else, and #3: The Damn Commies."

14.  Speaking of Damn Commies.  "Lucky we live in the U.S.!"