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You Are America The Possible
A CITIZEN'S GUIDE TO HOW AMERICA WORKS #15 (by America The Possible)
Welcome to issue #15
YOU CAN’T MAKE THIS STUFF UP
DONALD QUIXOTE TILTS AT SCOTLAND’S WINDMILLS, SCOTLAND TILTS BACK.
The wind turbines visible from Donald Trump’s Turnberry and Menie golf courses have long enraged the president. Apparently, it spoils his view. At a press conference at his Ayrshire resort announcing a trade deal with the EU this weekend, Trump launched into an unprompted and rambling rant against windfarms, demanding that European countries get rid of theirs.
And he went on: “I don’t want windmills destroying our place. I don’t want these solar things, they go for miles, and they cover up half a mountain, and they’re ugly as hell, and they scare the whales.”
And on: “They should get rid of the windmills and bring back the oil,” Trump said. The windmills are really detrimental to the beauty of Scotland and every other place they go up.”
And on: “All the wind turbines are made in China, they kill birds, are inefficient, and are so ugly, so noisy and so dangerous that they will lead to the almost total destruction of Scotland’s tourism industry and cause the country to go broke.”
And on: When pressed as to what evidence he had for such claims, Trump provided an answer that seemed to draw deep from his core psychology. “I am the evidence,” he said. “I am considered a world-class expert in tourism. When you ask, ‘Where is the expert and where is the evidence?’ I say: ‘I am the evidence.’”
(Editor’s note: Today, more than half of all Scotland’s electricity comes from wind, nearly 2 million more tourists visit the country than in 2011, and the country has not gone broke.)
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MICROBYTE: TWILIGHT OF THE FREE PRESS?Once upon a time, Media acquisitions by billionaires seemed like a harmless sport for listless billionaires ever in the hunt for new ways to flaunt their billions. After all, how many G-5s, Tropical Islands, Mega-yachts, Ocean-front mansions in the Hamptons, Picassos, Pollocks, and Koons can one billionaire own? However, their foray into the media business has turned dangerous and now poses a serious threat to the very Idea of America. Let’s just say it appears, given what we’ve seen recently, that the new Owners of the Media are less concerned with the importance of a free press in a democracy, or the passion to search for truth, wherever it may lead, than, say, Katharine Graham, Bill Paley, Jock Whitney, or the Ochs-Sulzberger family. Media properties have become yet another fungible asset, something to be bargained away for more money, more power, and more influence. That, readers, is as clear and present a danger to America as any we’ve faced. If we lose the free press and the facts get censored by a government, the truth becomes whatever the people in power want us to know. To put it another way, when we no longer have a free press, we no longer have a democracy. We have a Russia, or a China, or a North Korea. Our founders, no doubt influenced by their experience under British rule, where censorship was common and truth could easily be suppressed, considered a free press as essential to a free society, a non-negotiable pillar of American liberty. Which is why, in 1791, they added the First Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of the press. James Madison considered a free press “one of the great bulwarks of liberty.” Thomas Jefferson famously said he would “prefer newspapers without government to a government without newspapers.” |
MICROBYTE: THE GERRYMANDER GANG.The infamous Gerrymander Gang is back in the news. Why now? Why again? Because as I write, the Great State of Texas is currently engaged in an unprecedented mid-decade redrawing of its congressional districts, a move being pushed by the state’s Republican leadership. The proposed redistricting seeks to give Republicans up to five additional safe seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, with the intent of bolstering the GOP’s chances of maintaining control of the chamber in the 2026 elections—even if their national performance slips elsewhere. Although Texas Republican Gerrymanderers hog the front page at the moment, they didn’t invent the art form. The term gerrymander originated in 1812 in Massachusetts, when Governor Elbridge Gerry signed a bill creating oddly shaped legislative districts designed to benefit his Democratic-Republican Party. One of these districts, in Essex County, was said to resemble a salamander, prompting critics to dub it the “Gerry-mander”—a blend of Gerry’s name and “salamander.” The term was popularized by a political cartoon in the Boston Gazette and quickly entered political discourse as shorthand for manipulating district boundaries to secure partisan advantage. Given what’s going on now in our beleaguered country may sound relatively harmless, but it’s a giant scam. Here’s a simple replay of how it works: Once every ten years, the Census Bureau releases new population and demographic data. Then, using the fresh data, states and local governments get to draw up new voting district boundaries–– supposedly to paint a more accurate portrait of the community as a whole––and make the democratic process more democratic. But in real life, when one political party, either party, controls the State Legislature, Gerrymandering becomes the mortal enemy of democracy. Two new words, Cracking and Packing. Cracking splits up groups of people with similar stats, let’s say people who mostly vote for Democrats, into multiple districts, watering down their votes. Packing does the opposite. Packing crams those Democrats into as few of the new districts as possible, watering down their votes everywhere else. Needless to say, that is not how our democracy is meant to work. What can we do?
What can you do? Get hold of the people you elected to office and let them know that if they don’t do something about Gerrymandering, your vote will go elsewhere. That, people, is how democracy is supposed to work. |
THIS WEEK’S FRONT PAGE
Just when we thought we were done with the Great Autopen Scandal:
THE WASHINGTON POST: “With the exception of the rigged Presidential election of 2020, the Autopen is the biggest political scandal in American history.” President Donald Trump
“Several inanimate objects have drawn Donald Trump’s ire over the years: shower-heads (“You know I have this gorgeous head of hair — when I take a shower, I want water to pour down on me”), paper straws (“These things don’t work”), LED lights (“The light’s no good — I always look orange”). But perhaps no artifact has attracted his ire like the Autopen. Specifically, Joe Biden’s Autopen.
The White House Counsel’s office has just begun reviewing tens of thousands of emails about clemency decisions Biden signed via autopen in the final weeks of his administration. Senate Republicans have promised to launch an investigation, and House Republicans already have; Rep. James Comer (R-Kentucky), the House Oversight Committee chair, subpoenaed senior officials of Biden’s administration to ask about who authorized the use of the autopen. Comer signed those subpoena notices with a digital signature, NBC News reported, a common practice among federal lawmakers, who also often have autopens.”
Versions of the Autopen have been used by Presidents since the days of Thomas Jefferson. His version was called a polygraph, and it’s currently sitting in a polished wooden box on the third floor of the Smithsonian.
“The earliest modern iteration of the Autopen was roughly the size of a drafting table and had its own room. Today’s autopens are much smaller than their predecessors, closer to the size of a toaster oven. And unlike the matrices that directed the mechanical stylus of Bill Clinton’s autopen, many of today’s machines scribble digitally preprogrammed signatures with their robotic arms.
Autopen conspiracy theorists can rest easy. The president’s autopen is indeed a closely guarded item within the White House. Historically, the existence and use of the autopen were kept secret for decades, with details about its operation and location tightly controlled. One former official remarked, “The autopen is the second-most guarded thing in the White House, save for the president.
Here’s a fun autopen fact: “If, say, the president is on Air Force One while his autopen is signing a letter in his name back at the White House, ‘FROM ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE’ is added to the heading — “just to note that he isn’t in the facility that day and no one’s trying to pull anything or sign it in his absence,” says a former aide. “It had to reflect where he was, even if it was getting autopenned.”
What a Surprise: The Great Autopen Scandal amounts to much ado about nothing.
Okay, now that we know all that’s worth knowing about the Autopen, perhaps the White House can move on to meatier subjects like wars, famine, tariffs, immigrant kidnappings, genocide, nuclear weapons, and may more Epstein stuff.
WHAT I’M READING NOW
Author: Kurt Andersen, Publisher: Random House, 442 pages) “Fantasyland is a provocative chronicle of American delusion and make-believe that constitutes a new paradigm for understanding our post-factual world. If you want to understand the politics and culture of twenty-first-century America, if you want to know how the lies between reality and illusion have become dangerously blurred, you must read this book.” “Kurt Andersen is America’s voice of reason. What is he––Canadian? The people who should read this book won’t, because it’s a book. –but reality-based citizens will get a kick out of this winning romp through centuries of American delusion.” Sarah Vowell. As an Amazon Associate, we earn commission from qualifying purchases. |
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
New Mike / Old Mike
New Mike: As chronicled by The New York Times, reacting to intense pressure from the angry MAGA base, Speaker Mike Johnson had on Tuesday shown a rare glimpse of daylight between himself and Mr. Trump. “We should put everything out there and let the people decide.”
Old Mike: Less than a week later, the speaker reverted to his more familiar posture of Court Lickspital, deferring to the president. “We need the administration to have the space to do what it is doing. If further congressional action is necessary or appropriate, then we’ll look at that. I don’t think we’re at that point yet, because we agree with the president.”
POLITICAL JOKE OF THE WEEK
 | Jon Stewart: What was the Rubicon that Epstein crossed that caused the Bro-Breakeup? Trump as Trump: “He hired my help, and I said, Don’t ever do that again. He stole people that work for me. I said, Don’t ever do that again. He did it again, and I threw him out of the place, persona non grata.” Jon Stewart as Trump: “You all know him as Jeffrey Epstein, the sex trafficker, but I knew his dark side. He was. I mean, the sex trafficking was okay. But he was also a low-level employee poacher. And that I cannot have!” Trump as Trump: “BTW, I never went to the Island. An, uh. Bill Clinton went there supposedly 28 times.” John Stewart: “You expect me to believe that Bill Clinton went to the island only 28 times! No way!” |
BOOBY PRIZE OF THE WEEK
Secretary of Defence, Peter “Pete” Hegseth, on women in the Military: “Dads push us to take risks. Moms put the training wheels on our bikes. We need moms. But not in the military.”
You're Fired!
Adm. Yvette Davids, U.S. Naval Academy’s first female Superintendent.
Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, U.S Military Representative to NATO.
Adm. Linda Fagan, the former commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard
Colonel Susannmah Meyers, Commander, U.S. Military base in Greenland
Adm. Lisa Franchetti, Chief of Naval Operations, the Navy’s highest-ranking officer.
Lt. Gen. Jennifer Short, Senior Military Advisor to the Secretary of Defense.
‼️ LATE BREAKING NEWS: Hegseth planning to run for Governor of Tennessee. Having spent a wild and woolly 6 months re-shaping the Defense Department, Pistol-Pete Hegseth is planning to reshape Tennessee. Let’s all join hands and pray for Tennessee.
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