July 3

 Sunny and very warm. In the 80s now but will be in the low 90s this afternoon. I got out and watered things on the patio. I am watering every other day so tomorrow I think I might get an hour in pulling weeds and, maybe, digging out some of the soil in one of the buckets I am retiring. I also baked a frozen quiche for breakfast and now it is time to catch up on my reading.

The first item on the list was this piece by Arnold Isaacs on Tomdispatch. Several people and news sites have covered some of the attempts Trump and his minions to erase people and events from our history. They aren't the first to do that. I think the first example I read about, which may be--at least in some details--apocryphal, was the case of the first emperor of China,  Qin Shi Huang. In 213 BCE, having unified much of the territory, he ordered the burning of books he thought subversive. And, for good measure, those found in possession of such books or who spread the ideas in those books were buried alive. The move wiped out history, philosophy, and poetry. The Trump people have an ideal of America as a white, Christian, male dominated society which leaves little room for the achievements of women, racial and ethnic minorities, or gender diverse people.

Rachel Biticofer posted an interesting summary of the legal history of individual rights through the last century. A little over 15 years ago I first expressed my opinion that the U.S. was engaged in a debate over which future course it would follow. One path would lead to a diminution of Federal power and return to more powerful and independent states. The other would lead to a more powerful Federal government with states basically functioning as subservient provinces. Right now the "debate" resembles a cage match--or scorpions in a jar.