Images courtesy of Power Line's The Week in Pictures
and its Comments section.
Saturday, April 25, 2026
Friday, April 24, 2026
EVs ... Second Thoughts
Earlier this afternoon I was at a neighborhood birthday party, chatting with a couple of neighbor guys about the impracticality of electric cars in our region. We were largely in agreement but some of the back and forth clarified my negative thoughts about EVs.
I have not changed my mind that an EV is practical as a second car for a homeowner who will use it to get to work, school, the grocery, the doctor, etc within a 45 mile range from home, and park it in his/her garage every night where a charger will top up the charge.
Some businesses which have fenced lots in which the vehicle can be overnighted and which do a lot of short hops in town and to nearby suburbs might find EVs work as well.
Except … few families buy a new "second" car. The second car used around town is often an older once-first car that is paid for and still runs okay, even if we no longer want to risk it hundreds of miles away on a roadtrip.
Our "new car' is typically what we'll use if we find the need (or desire) to go 200-300 miles from home for work or play.
The consequence is that few EVs are purchased, and those mostly for virtue signaling. Buyers try to use them for longer-distance travel and have grief. Horror stories abound.
The advertised EV mileage is on nice days on level ground with a light load, and no a/c or heat drawing power. You will get less, often much less. Charging stations are often unavailable due to vandalism, damage or overuse.
My conclusion … in the US today, current EVs are very much a niche product. In a future US with a headstrong progressive government - determined to force EVs upon us - a reevaluation might come up with a different answer.
Thursday, April 23, 2026
The Legacy Question
We formerly said lame-duck presidents were crippled by a lack of clout. We may have to revise that judgment.
It has occurred to Donald Trump that he cannot run again and - to the extent he operates within the parameters of normal presidential action - can do exactly as he chooses between now and Jan. 20, 2029.
I expect him to campaign for Republicans later this year, as it would be to his advantage to have GOP majorities in both houses of Congress. But what happens in 2028 is other people’s problem, not his own.
I can imagine some part of Trump would be just fine with historians treating him as sui generis, one of a kind and non-replicable. Another part would prefer his innovations to continue for another couple of presidential terms. Which one will win? Maybe even he doesn’t yet know.
If he leaves behind what will inevitably be known as the Trump Ballroom, the Tr(i)ump(hal) Arch, and a slimmed down FedGov, maybe that will suffice.
A Zinger
A well-deserved put-down of former President Obama on X, by Fox News contributor Ben Domenech. It responds to an Obama tweet congratulating Dems for winning the VA gerrymandering referendum. Hat tip to Power Line for the link.
Your museum is a tribute to the ugliness of your soul.
Talk about hitting the target … that’s center mass.
Where We Are ... My View
I'm guessing Trump is not pushing the Iranian regime for a deal because he believes an internal civil war is more likely if we aren't bombing the crap out of them. Being actively attacked tends to paper over differences, whereas economic warfare (the blockade) might exacerbate internal differences.
This of course raises questions. First, is a civil war possible given the IRGC has most of the guns? Second, will life get bad enough fast enough for enough Iranians to shift the national center of gravity? And third, what proportion of the IRGC aren't martyrdom-seeking fanatics but signed on as a smart career move and are faking to-the-death commitment. I don't know those answers, I'm not certain anybody knows.
I do know the conventional wisdom is that regime change requires boots on the ground. Trump seems to be betting that's no longer true, we'll see what happens.
Tuesday, April 21, 2026
The IRGC … Latter-day Templars
Here is a link to another column discussing the internal conflict in Iran. Eric Florack writes at PJ Media that Iran could be en route to a civil war featuring the IRGC vs. the civil government.
The IRGC, he claims, reports both directly and exclusively to the Supreme Leader, the top Ayatollah. He likens it to a company, I think it more nearly resembles the Knights Templar.
The Templars were a Catholic military order that became so powerful and wealthy eventually the Pope saw them as a threat to his own power. He excommunicated them and had them slaughtered.
Florack is right about one thing, if the IRGC cannot continue spreading havoc across the Middle East and beyond, they have no reason to exist. So don’t expect them to “go quietly.” If they go at all it will as the Templars went - violently.
Never Popular
Power Line’s Scott Johnson posts commentary by Harvey Mansfield, a very rare bird indeed. He was a Harvard professor of government, now retired, who is a Republican! My favorite quote:
Affirmative action was never popular. By effectively excluding white males, it violated the basic rule your mama teaches that two wrongs don’t make a right. It was originally said to be temporary because those it benefited would catch up and become equal. But when that did not happen, it had to substitute “equity” for equality, and make affirmative action permanent.
And to cover over this move, professors entered the sensitive practice of grading and created a false equality by giving everyone an A. Grade inflation was the necessary companion of affirmative action.
Proverbially, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Nevertheless, it is still hellish.
Monday, April 20, 2026
PL Agrees
On Saturday I wrote about dead or missing rocket and nuclear scientists raising suspicions. I concluded it was likely a coincidence. That a fair number of such cases happen with regularity, perhaps as many as are claimed, without anything nefarious occurring.
Today Power Line's John Hinderaker chimes in with the same basic view. It won't hurt to investigate but don't be surprised if the whole thing quietly dies, for lack of evidence of foul play.
A Casablanca Clone
We are all familiar with the Bogart - Bergman film Casablanca, I have watched it repeatedly and you have probably done the same. Less well know is the Bogart - Bacall film To Have and Have Not, which I watched for the first time last night.
I recorded it off TCM because I often like Bogart films and the personal 'chemistry' between the stars is well-known. My reaction to THHN is the following.
The two films have very similar plots, are set in similar 'exotic' locales, deal with Vichy and Free French conflicts, and honestly, THHN could almost been 'cribbed' off the Casablanca script. They didn't have the same writers and this time the guy Bogey plays seems to get the girl (actually irl).
What was the fascination with French colonial backwaters? Sleazy dives and the lowlifes that inhabit them make sense, so does a main character with at least some freedom of action. Hoagy Carmichael couldn't rescue the THHN music, Casablanca's Sam was much superior.
My overwhelming reaction to THHN was it was pleasant enough but it felt like a Casablanca clone. with a less memorable supporting cast.
Sunday, April 19, 2026
Why the Unhappy Turn Left
Power Line’s John Hinderaker does a nice column summarizing what is known about conservatives being happier people than liberals. This is true internationally and has been known for decades. A quote I particularly like.
People who are unwell may be especially attracted to liberal politics over conservatism for a variety of reasons, and this may exacerbate observed ideological gaps net of other factors.
What he is reaching for here is “projection,” the psychological term for seeing in others or in society the cause of one’s own shortcomings. It is a defense mechanism. It is easier to blame society for one’s failures, instead of recognizing one’s own failures.
Saturday, April 18, 2026
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