Smirking Chimp

23 hours ago | smirkingchimp.com | Lynn Parramore

— from the Institute for New Economic Thinking There’s a familiar myth in American politics: that of the no-nonsense business leader who cuts through red tape and gets results. It fuels the belief that running a country is just like running a company—and that executives, with their boardroom instincts and bottom-line mindset, are exactly what government needs.

1 day ago | smirkingchimp.com | Heather Digby Parton

— from Salon There was a speculation boomlet a couple of weeks ago, after Donald Trump "promoted" national security adviser Mike Waltz to U.N. ambassador and temporarily tasked Secretary of State Marco Rubio with the job, that the name being floated as a permanent replacement was none other than Stephen Miller, Trump's trusted adviser and current deputy chief of staff.

1 day ago | smirkingchimp.com | Jeff Tiedrich

The Daily Chimp for Tuesday, 13 May 2025 The 25 most-recent front page postsMarjorie Cohn | Stephen Miller’s Argument for Suspending Habeas Corpus Is Legal GarbageIf White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller is to be believed, Team Trump is poised to drive another stake through the heart of the Constitution. On May 9, Miller told reporters that the administration is considering whether to suspend the right to habeas corpus – known as “The Great Writ” – in immigration cases.

2 days ago | smirkingchimp.com | Thom Hartmann

— from The Hartmann Report Pope Leo XIV just labeled AI one of the main threats facing humanity, saying it poses challenges to “human dignity, justice and labor.” He’s right, but it’s even worse than that: it represents, unless it’s rigorously regulated, a threat to democracy itself. In every generation, the enemies of democracy change costumes, but their playbook remains eerily familiar. They lie, divide, intimidate, and exploit every available tool to consolidate power.

2 days ago | smirkingchimp.com | Jaime O’Neill

By Dan Embree, shared here by his old friend, Jaime O'NeillI love a story, perhaps apocryphal, of a visit paid by Ralph Waldo Emerson to Thoreau who was in jail for protesting the war with Mexico in 1846. Emerson purportedly asked Thoreau what he was doing in the slammer to which Thoreau replied, "what are you doing out there?" I repeat this anecdote from memory, which is not as good as it once was. But this is surely the time to recall even apocryphal stories of resistance.