Thursday morning links

RE; 10,000 steps:

Possessing a bullshit detector refined over the past seven-and-a-half decades, I knew that.

Now do everyone should drink seven gallons of water a day.

#1 Phloda on 2026-07-16 08:58 (Reply)

QUOTE:

Seizing the Day - Will Trump invoke the Guarantee Clause to impose election integrity? A prediction... Plausibly, in acting to protect a republican form of government — as defined above — the President would be executing a policy laid out in the Constitution, and would not require policy from Congress to authorize his action.

Which, of course, is itself contrary to a fundamental of republican governance, that no one person has the power to overturn the electoral process. Otherwise, any pretext, even if false, would allow the executive to seize control of elections. So much for the notion that conservatism is inherently about small-government.

#2 Zachriel on 2026-07-16 10:32 (Reply)

Trump isn't a conservative. You make the common mistake than many SPs make, that being a liberal means you are ashamed of your country and therefor want to fundamentally change it. You consequently assume that the opposite is also true, that love of country is exclusive to conservatives. But liberals can and do want our nation to be strong and wealthy. Trump is a good example of that.

#2.1 jack walter on 2026-07-16 13:19 (Reply)

Can you point to where in the article it is implied that Trump plans to overturn the electoral process?

All I see is a desire by Trump (and others) to put a check on voting irregularities.

QUOTE:

So if President Trump announces that we have uncovered massive electoral fraud — as he almost certainly will — and that he is dispatching huge numbers of federal election watchers to oversee voting and counting in areas where fraud has occurred, he would be acting directly under a power that the Constitution has vested in him. For a state to have a “republican form of government,” it must have meaningful elections, and elections that are rigged are not meaningful. Stopping them from being rigged would be protecting a republican form of government. Congress has passed other election laws, mostly for reasons of combating race discrimination, but those aren’t strictly applicable to these circumstances.

Where is this "seize control of elections" you're going on about?

#2.2 Anon on 2026-07-16 13:59 (Reply)

Zachriel will respond to your question SOON!!!

#2.2.1 Mark Matis on 2026-07-17 06:10 (Reply)

jack walter: Trump isn't a conservative.

Conservatives tend to believe that traditional values and institutions are the bulwark of society, that too fast of change can result in unintended consequences or even anarchy.

Trump is on the political right, but he is not a conservative. He is a reactionary.

jack walter: You make the common mistake than many SPs make, that being a liberal means you are ashamed of your country and therefor want to fundamentally change it. You consequently assume that the opposite is also true, that love of country is exclusive to conservatives.

Neither of those represent our views or are reasonable uses of the terms liberal and conservative.

Notably, you didn't address our actual point, that one person having the power to overturn the electoral process is contrary to republicanism.

#2.3 Zachriel on 2026-07-16 14:21 (Reply)

Anon: Where is this "seize control of elections" you're going on about?

Well, you could look at the word "seize" and "impose" in the title and subtitle of the article under discussion.

Notably, you didn't address our actual point, that one person having the power to overturn impose his notion of election integrity based on his sole discretion is contrary to republicanism.

#2.4 Zachriel on 2026-07-16 14:31 (Reply)

If you've paid attention to Reynolds at all, you should recognize the choice of words as mockery and trolling of people like yourself.

If you read the link you should have noticed Reynolds made a brief constitutional argument and made reference to jurisprudence on the subject.

BTW, you really need to stop telling people who are ideologically opposed to you what they "are supposed" to believe or what their motives should be. We know you aren't motivated by concern for our self-interest.
You're trying to package your opponents in ways that are more convenient for you.

One more hint. Stop referring to yourself in the plural. Not only does it annoy people and make you look off, it makes you easily mockable.

#2.4.1 James on 2026-07-16 18:07 (Reply)

Ah, don't go too hard on the kiddieZ.

#2.4.1.1 Zachinoff on 2026-07-17 19:05 (Reply)

Yeah, my bad, that's on me. I foolishly thought Zach-bot would respond in good faith, rather than deflect and obfuscate as usual. After all this time I really should know better. My apologies to fellow MF readers.

#2.4.2 Anon on 2026-07-16 18:32 (Reply)

James: If you read the link you should have noticed Reynolds made a brief constitutional argument and made reference to jurisprudence on the subject.

Which was directly addressed. The power of the executive to unilaterally impose his own notion of election integrity based on his sole discretion is contrary to republicanism. You may believe the executive should be unconstrained, that is your opinion. But it is inconsistent with republicanism.

#2.4.3 Zachriel on 2026-07-16 21:45 (Reply)

The executive branch is always judged by judicial review. You need only observe the lawfare by Democrat appointed judges. There are three branches of government. Court packing is the purview of the Democratic party. See FDR or the current threats by the Democratic Socialists.

#2.4.3.1 indyjonesouthere on 2026-07-17 09:57 (Reply)

QUOTE:

Regarding Energy, the Left Wants Us to Live Smaller Lives. Americans Don’t Do That... You know what happened. In the name of “efficiency,” our clothes, towels, blankets and other items came out barely damp and far from clean.

That may be an example of early-adopter pain. When you buy a new product on the leading edge, it often has problems. The author may be judging a more mature technology by its early inception. In other words, their experience may not apply to newer machines.

QUOTE:

The best sources for inexpensive electricity are traditional legacy fuels.

Legacy fuel pricing does not always account for downstream effects (e.g. carbon emissions).

#3 Zachriel on 2026-07-16 10:48 (Reply)

Socialist fuel pricing, solar and wind, do not account for recycling of their toxic, non-recyclable disposal. Neither do they reliably provide power throughout the day/night. They are not robust.

#3.1 indyjonesouthere on 2026-07-17 09:47 (Reply)

The lawyers are going to sue Taco Bell because of the cyclosporiasis outbreak. I have no doubt that they will win in court but they shouldn't. Taco Bell is the victim too, they simply purchased the lettuce from a licensed food supplier. It is likely that the food supplier will be sued as well. Again, they are the victim too they purchased the lettuce from a government approved source. The lettuce came from Mexico. In most of these cases in the past the produce came from Mexico. I'm not sure we should buy produce from Mexico because of their extremely lax hygiene standards. The cyclosporiasis doesn't get onto the produce as a result of bad luck. It gets there because of lack of handwashing, taking a number two in the field, and other related ways. This has been going on for years and still we buy lettuce from Mexico. Let's just stop buying any produce that is eaten raw from Mexico.

#4 OneGuy on 2026-07-17 13:23 (Reply)

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Thursday, July 16. 2026

Thursday morning links