The Articles Of Impeachment Are Half-Baked

December 15, 2019 in The USA

A quick note on the two articles of impeachment that are about to pass the House in the coming days. I think they are poorly written. This is what a committee of Democrats came up with over a weekend? Well, honestly, can any academic come up with something great over a weekend? I still have dreams about having to write 20-page papers over a single weekend, which I did back in my University days. Results were mixed. I remember if I started a paper more than a week before the due date, results were far better.

My issue is not with the opening resolution. That’s actually okay, since it paraphrases the resolutions from both the Nixon and Clinton drafts. That’s a little cheeky. Fine.

But I find the language of each article to be intentionally weak. They are intentionally devoid of details. In fact, they allude to crimes and actions, but don’t detail them. The document seems to assume he reader knows the details. I find this unacceptable.

I also lament the dryness and repetition of the language. Both articles begin with the identical summary of the power of the House of Representatives to impeach the president. Why not begin the first article with “President Donald J. Trump abused his power and violated his oath of office”? Why not strengthen the second article to read “President Donald J. Trump abused the power of his office to obstruct both the House of Representatives and to obstruct justice in the Independent Counsel investigation, between 2017 and 2019”? Expand it, Democrats. The Mueller investigation and the withholding of aid from Ukraine are part of one big criminal conspiracy to improve Trump’s odds of winning an election.

These thin articles lack deals and impact. The words don’t punch. The seriousness of the articles are not conveyed in the language. The English language is incredible in that there are many ways to convey a message or tell a story. These articles don’t leverage the inherent strengths of the English language.

There are those who agree and disagree with this assessment. Fred Kaplan of The Washington Post argues that the articles are incomplete and weak. His colleague, Dhalia Lithwick, concedes that they are weak and lacking details, but they had to be in order to reduce the amount of words the Republicans could chew on, rant about and distort.

I will always look to the proposed articles by Brianne Gorod and Elizabeth Wydra as what could have been. They are fantastic. Notice how each article begins:

Article I
In his conduct while President of the United States, Donald Trump, in violation of his constitutional oath to execute faithfully the Office of President of the United States, has abused the office of the presidency by employing the powers of the office to advance his own political interests, rather than the interests of the nation….
Article II
In his conduct while President of the United States, Donald Trump, in violation of his constitutional oath to execute faithfully the Office of President of the United States, has abused the powers of his office to try to prevent his wrongdoing and abuses of the public trust from being discovered….
Article III
In his conduct while President of the United States, Donald Trump, in violation of his constitutional oath to execute faithfully the Office of President of the United States, has been personally enriching himself in violation of the Foreign Emoluments Clause….

That is how it should have been done. Start each article with the point and then list details below. These articles would have been home runs. They detail the crimes, and name those who did the crimes (Trump, Giuliani, Mulvaney). They even tie the president’s decision to abandon the Kurds in Syria to his plans for a Trump Tower in Istanbul.

Instead we have the worst-written articles of impeachment in US history. Look, we know Trump will be acquitted next month and will probably be re-elected. But why couldn’t the Democrats come up with articles that would be remembered and admired for decades to come?

The opposition party is like the articles themselves: Lacking clarity, conviction and courage.

We’re so doomed in 2020.

God Wanted Him To Be President

November 26, 2019 in The USA

Trump’s best jokes have been when he pardons turkeys. Seriously, he tries. While he doesn’t land his jokes with a jocular lightness, you can see that he’s not at all mad when he roasts his opponents while pardoning turkeys.

But this comment earlier today was not a joke. This was another embarrassment. Just before Trump signed the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Coin Act, he quipped:

"I'm curious why wasn't it done a long time ago? And also, I guess the answer to that is because now I'm president, we get things done."

Uh huh. Right.

Why wait a hundred years for a centennial celebration, when, with a little foresight, you could have arranged this during the Obama administration, on the 90th, or even the 95th. It takes a genius -a genius I tell you- to see things this clearly. No wonder, as Rick Perry reminds us, God wanted Trump in the White House.

One of these California congressmen is in very serious trouble.

It's Time To Write The Articles Of Impeachment

November 22, 2019 in The USA

Brianne Gorod and Elizabeth Wydra put together three fantastic, hypothetical articles of impeachment against Donald Trump in The New Republic. They are detailed, yet focused. And it’s precisely what the Democrats should put together in December. They don’t need any more public witness testimony. It is time to impeach.

I suspect that the the articles written by Gorod and Wydra will align closely with the real indictment the House Judiciary Committee will approve sometime in December. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee will probably prosecute the case before the Senate. Yesterday, we saw a preview of his closing arguments. It ought to be a slam-dunk case, but he will fail to persuade more than two Republican senators to vote guilty.

Based on the law and the evidence, the Senate should vote to remove the criminal president from office in January, but barring a miracle, that won't happen. Instead, it will fall to the voters to remedy the horrible mistake they made three years ago. If Trump is re-elected, we can probably write finis to our little democratic experiment in the United States.

Car Review: My 2019 Lincoln MKC 2.3T Reserve

November 15, 2019 in Automobiles

Mister Sterling here. If you’ve watched the news on American television in 2019, you have probably seen the ad above. Lincoln has a few thousand MKC crossovers to sell to make room for the new Corsair. I am here to argue that the MKC is worth a serious look if you are stepping up to a luxury vehicle for the first time. That’s precisely what I did.

You will see these ads now that you have clicked on this post.

This past spring, I replaced my trusty, 2009 Hyundai Elantra Touring with a 2019 Lincoln MKC 2.3T. I love it. For such a buttoned-down, conservative-looking crossover, it has more than enough features and nice design touches to keep me happy. More important, it encourages driver focus through comfort and sound insulation. It's a tiny corner office on wheels. While small on the inside, it has some classic Lincoln mid-century modern touches, like the return of Bridge of Weir leather seating and the 1960s-style interior door panels. Every Lincoln model since 2014 has only built on that aesthetic. It’s a big reason why the Continental is the best sedan assembled in the US.

Before I dive into a long review, let’s cut straight into the pros and cons.

Pros:

Overall an excellent design with great attention to detail.
Has a distinctive, American version of automotive luxury that Lincoln has brought back to the market.
A great, buttery smooth ride.
Better than expected handling.
Driving confidence through power - a free-spooling 2.3-liter turbo that Ford has almost perfected.
An outstanding THX audio system that is worth paying extra to get.

Cons:

Small cargo area.
Small fuel tank - expect more frequent fill-ups.
Lacks the latest tech and some expected tech in 2019, like a front-facing camera.
Driver aids are not worth the extra cost. Some should have been standard, anyway.
Styling is too safe and conservative for younger buyers.
Steering wheel design could be better

This is a crowded market, and there aren’t many premium crossovers that auto journalists are really excited about. But I am going to try to make the case for the outgoing MKC. It was the second model of the current Lincoln resurgence, and its first great crossover. I don’t think the first Aviator was great. And I think the first generation MKX was a sad, rebadged Ford Edge. But Lincoln finally got it right with the MKC. It also helps that they hired a new spokesman who gave us a little history lesson about Lincoln. The brand doesn’t try to be cool. It doesn’t try to run with the Germans. It’s a brand that comforts you. Lincoln makes the car that you’d agree is the most comfortable you’ve driven. This ad was an a-ha moment. Lincoln got its voice and identity back. Sure, McConaughey is talking to himself, and this is ripe for parody. But he’s saying what Lincoln hadn’t said since the 1980s. Uncool IS cool, and Lincoln is a great American brand.

The MKC is not an exercise in slapping Lincoln badges on a Ford. It shares its platform with several Ford vehicles that ride on the C1 platform (C for “Compact”). They include the Ford Kuga/Escape, Focus, Fusion, Lincoln MKZ and even the Volvo V40 wagon that I love. So there is some sharing of parts and components. Notably, it has an almost stock Ford SYNC 3 system and the same gauge hood, wiper and turn signal stalks as the Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ. It has the same interior door lock buttons as the previous generation Ford Explorer. And it has the same headlamp and fog lamp control panel as almost any Ford going back to the last decade. I will return to the instrument panel and gauges in a bit, but this gets the familiar Ford switchgear out of the way. In the following sections, we turn to the Lincoln gear.

The Lincoln MKZ was the first new Lincoln that put the brand on the path to regained success. It had a new design language, inside and out, and a revitalized attention to design detail. The MKC came next, and it was crucial. It was the vehicle that would represent the fastest-growing segment in the industry: the luxury compact crossover. That’s where brands make their big profits. Today there are close to 50 models and variants of luxury compact crossovers for sale in the US, representing three continents. The MKC entered a crowded field in late 2014 that only became more crowded today. It was supposed to be a big hit. It was only a modest hit, selling between 24,000 and 28,000 units per year in North America, China, Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. Not a flop by any means.

It’s tough for both Cadillac and Lincoln to compete against Lexus and the three big German brands. But niches can be carved out in this industry. Cadillac tried the sporty, performance route. Lincoln looked to America’s past to re-capture what it calls “quiet luxury,” or American luxury.

All Lincoln vehicles are available in three trim levels that emulate wine and liquor labels: Select, Reserve and Black Label.

My MKC is a Reserve in Ruby Red with the 2.3 turbo motor (part-time AWD comes with that upgrade), THX audio system, panoramic sunroof, climate package, splash guards, and an ivory interior with dark espresso walnut wood trim. The total cost with tax was a little over $42,000, about $8,000 less than what it would have cost two years earlier. Buying a vehicle at the end of its production run can save money, provided it's not a high performance vehicle or has a final special edition. Also, it is worth noting that all American-made vehicles depreciate faster than their foreign counterparts, and American manufacturers are more likely to offer discounts and incentives. I certainly didn’t overpay for my MKC.

Interior

In Lincoln’s view, “American Luxury” starts with the details. The MKZ and MKC introduced the rear light bar to all Lincolns (I think Porsche quickly re-introduced their lightbar after seeing what Lincoln did). Inside, the MKZ and MKC have a modified version of the Ford Fusion interior. The instrument cluster is the same (minus an outside temperature display, which is annoying). The turn signal and wiper stalks are also the same (which I like a lot for their sculpted shape and solid tactile feel). After that, the Lincolns add all the things that differentiate the models from the Ford. They get a power-adjustable steering column, real wood trim, a unique center stack with push button gear selectors, and felt-lined storage compartments. Next come the premium leathers. The comfortable leather seating is by Bridge of Weir (Scotland) with deep, soft seams (similar to the seats in Mercedes sedans today), a leather-wrapped steering wheel by Wollsdorf (Austria), leather armrests, plus eye-catching french stitching on nearly the full length of the center console -from the storage compartment forward to the extra padding for the inside knees of the front occupants. Finally, there are (faux?) leather panels inside the doors with classy, asymmetrical stitching. The stitched door panels are a highlight for me. They remind me of mid-century furniture designs which Lincoln is trying to copy in future models. The 1962-64 Continental is a design and luxury triumph. Its Bridge of Weir seats, fine finishes and suicide doors make it a mid-century design icon, right at home in Los Angeles, Las Vegas or Palm Springs. So the MKC tips its cap to that tradition in the door panels. It’s small but I eat that up.

The interior of the MKC is a small personal sanctuary. An optional full panoramic sunroof goes a long way to brighten and open up the small space. I think the big reason the interior is small is because the interior walls are so thick. The doors feel heavy - think the opposite of the 4Runner and Wrangler doors, which are very light. Head to the cargo area, and you see the walls protruding into the hatch opening. Owners will appreciate the noise insulation and peace they get inside the MKC. But those thick walls cut into cargo capacity. There’s no way a golf bag could lie horizontally (still a benchmark for luxury automakers). My cargo area can barely hold two carry-on rollers, two beach chairs, some shopping totes and a deconstructed beach tent. That’s the most I carry. But at baseline, it’s small because I always have the tent and beach chairs in there year round. I’m a New Yorker. I don’t have an extra closet for summer gear.

Lack of cargo space aside, the MKC is a very pleasant vehicle to sit in. It can accommodate two adults in the back seat just fine. It has a little more legroom than a BMW 3 Series or the last generation Infiniti QX50 (a key competitor of the MKC). There’s less rear room than the similarly sized Subaru Forester and my previous car, the Hyundai Elantra Touring. Up front the MKC is a cozy, luxurious space for two. I do think the MKC is a personal luxury vehicle, best for singles or empty nesters. More on that in my conclusion.

The latest episode of Regular Car Reviews takes a look at what was entry-level luxury in 1970 with the beautiful Chrysler Imperial. It was super smooth, and wasn’t made to haul more than some luggage. Mr. Regular has a great tangent about how in the 1950s and 60s, it was sexy for a white collar salaryman to have clean fingernails. The MKC is a clean fingernails car. It’s a high riding luxury cruiser for people, not things.

Mr. Regular says that several movie villains from my childhood used nail files. I remember one.

When I first saw the MKC interior (in the 2017 movie Get Out, no less), I did not like the push button gear selector at all. It’s oversized, and simply reminds me of old people. Hell, it even resembles a weekly pill organizer in a way. But once the MKC rose to the top of my list list of new car candidates, I had to try out the buttons. And they are fine. On a typical drive, I only push the buttons six times, including the push of the engine stop-start button, which is included in the column of big buttons. Lincoln knew owners would push a button and forget it, and they were correct. Now the shifter is a thing of the past throughout the Lincoln brand.

The 2019 MKC running the latest version of Android Auto (October 2019 update)

The buttons clean-up the space where a traditional shifter would live, but it doesn’t really add interior storage space. It just looks super clean. The cup holders are in a prominent central location and there’s a storage compartment ahead of them. That compartment was too small for most phones when the MKC was released in 2014. And now, virtually no phones can fit neatly in that compartment. So when you have a phone tethered for use with Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, that phone will rest partially inside the compartiment (oh, but the new Motorola RAZR will, have you seen that marvel?). Pity there isn’t an alternative tethering location, like the mustang does inside the center storage console. Speaking of which, the center storage console in the MKC is very deep. Well over a foot. You can hide a lot of things in there. It’s not wide enough for a laptop or tablet (a feature that Acura pushes with its MDX), but it is the biggest gadget storage location in the vehicle, and has a charge-only USB port if you don’t need to use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.

One more element of the interior that hasn’t aged well is the steering wheel. Just as the MKC was introduced, the trend from premium automakers was to make steering wheels beefier and more racing-inspired. The stitching become more prominent and some manufacturers started to offer flat-bottom steering wheels. While flat bottoms and Alcantara polyester would be out of place in a Lincoln, the MKC and MKZ share essentially the same steering wheel as the Ford Fusion. It’s comfortable to hold at the 9 and 3 position, as well as the less orthodox but very comfortable 8 and 4 position. But it is not comfortable to hold at the long-taught 10 and 2 position. There’s not enough room for the pinky fingers to comfortably rest at 10 and 2 for long periods of time. The curvature to the horn/airbag core seems just a little too high. I found this same issue in the previous generation Ford Explorer with its larger steering wheel. The feel of the wheel is such an important factor in liking or buying a car. Having one-third of possible hand positions not be super-comfortable is something MKC shoppers should investigate. Always spend time with the steering wheel and take note of how it is designed. In the technology section, I will detail the many buttons on the MKC steering wheel.

But sometimes many buttons are a good thing, in my opinion. The climate control buttons are a smaller version of what was offered in the last generation Ford Explorer. Everything except the heated steering wheel can be controlled with the buttons without having to go into the SYNC 3 touchscreen (which you can do). Automatic climate control, while decades old in luxury cars, is new to me and it works really well here. Turn the system on, press the Auto button, and then set your desired temperature. The large audio volume and tuning knobs are unique to the MKC. In future Lincolns, these knobs remain but get a lot smaller.

The audio and climate control buttons and knobs in the MKC.

The audio and climate control switches in the 2019 Ford Explorer - the MKC’s big brother.

Aside from stepping up to the Reserve trim and getting the panoramic sunroof, the only other option I'm thrilled I got is the THX audio system. I think in any car, amplifier wattage is the compensation for poor acoustics. So whether it is a Rockford Fosgate system a college student has in her Mitsubishi Lancer or a Harmon/Kardon system in a Subaru or BMW, opting for the audio upgrade is always a smart choice. The THX-certified system in the MKC is outstanding, with more than enough power and clarity for the small cabin. The MKZ and MKC are the last Lincolns to include a standard CD player and that is still the superior medium for the ultimate in sound quality and loudness. The THX system (which might be made by Sony, like the system in the Explorer) sounds best when playing a Compact Disc. Sirius XM radio, as compressed and undersampled as it is, also sounds enhanced with this system.

With the Reserve trim, all interior lighting is LED, as expected. Ford delivered a nice bonus lighting feature with colored LED ambient lighting, not unlike the Mustang and Edge. There are six colors to choose from, in addition ti white. While the color doesn’t stretch to the back seat, as it does in high-end BMW models, it's a nice touch for the front passengers. It shows off the sculpted and sloping center stack, which was designed by Korean-born designer Soo Kang. It’s not a surprise that the MKC was a hit with women. The interior has an elegant flow to it, and some of that feel carries over to its replacement, the Corsair. It was pretty clear from the Corsair debut presentation in New York that the Corsair is aimed at women.

Exterior

Outside the MKC is more generic. It’s conservative for the times, actually. Back in the 90s when we saw sketches and design concepts for the crossovers of the 21st century, they looked wild with their egg-like profiles and huge wheels. Now those cars are on our roads, and they are kinda “meh.” The Lincoln has just a few details that give it a hint of personality. Muscular horizontal lines bulge out over each wheel well to emphasize power and all wheel drive. They almost remind me of the Dr. Zapatinas designs of the Alfa Romeo 156 and Subaru B9 Tribeca. The bulges don’t project as much, but their presence is felt. The rear hatch (tailgate - as the industry calls it) is where a lot of money went into the design. It’s totally copied after Audi’s crossovers, but it’s still an impressive piece of molded aluminum with a great LED light bar. Open it up, and the brake lights rise with it, just like the Audi. So supplemental lights are on the rear bumpers, as required by Federal law.

*“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery…”*

Up front is where Lincoln made the biggest improvement to the MKC. Ford didn’t have to do this, but the final model year, the 2019 MKC got the new signature Lincoln grille and front fascia. Also called the Continental grille, it adds a ton of class and distinction to the vehicle. Gone is the art deco waterfall grille and unconventional front hood seam. In is the facia seen on all Lincolns, as well as distinctive LED daytime lamps and LED fog lights. This is a huge improvement and has gotten more shoppers to look at Lincoln, including me. I would not have gotten the MKC with the old grille. As much as I liked the drivetrain and the competitive price, the old grille was a turn-off for me.

My MKC rides on fairly generic 18" partially polished star alloys (shown in the two photos above). The factory-supplied tires are Michelin Latitude Tour HP 235/50R18. Apparently these are the wheels and tires you get if you get the upgraded THX audio system. That suits me just fine as I not only get the upgraded audio, but I get a little more tire sidewall. The 18’s look slightly odd in wheel wells that can accommodate 22" rims, but as I'll explain later, these wheels help maintain the buttery ride.

All exterior lighting, as expected at this price point, is LED. This is only my second car, but the first to have full LED lighting inside and out. We’re starting to see full LED lights for the entry level Jeeps, so it only makes sense that we should only see LEDs in the luxury segment.

Mechanical

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This is a big area where Lincoln sold me. When I first paid serious attention to the MKC at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show, I asked a Lincoln rep if the MKC had the same 2-liter EcoBoost motor and 6-speed transmission as the Ford Escape. He replied yes, but then he said I could also get the MKC with a 2.3-liter motor. Simultaneously we smiled and exclaimed, "the Mustang motor!" Well, not the same configuration. It has a different tune. It’s turned sideways. But yes, it’s the same motor, which is made in Ford’s plant in Valencia Spain.

I like 2.3-liter turbos the most out of all four cylinder motors. The late 80s Mercedes 190E offered one. The Ford Sierra / Merkur XR4Ti also had one. 2.3 liters means you can pay the extra costs in taxes or fuel (or both) over the general global tax threshold of 2 liters.

The Ford 2.3 EcoBoost, in this quietest and most tame form, generates 285 horsepower and 305 lb-ft of torque. That extra torque over the standard 2-liter motor is very welcome. Acceleration is quite good. 0 to 60 takes a brisk 6.5 seconds -about 1.2 seconds faster to 60MPH than the personal luxury vehicle of my childhood, the BMW E30 3 Series. That is quick enough, and the Lincoln does it almost silently. The Ford 2.3 EcoBost can run on normal 87 octane fuel without issue, but power is slightly reduced from the numbers above.

Attached to that motor is the very common GM/Ford 6-speed transmission, used in the previous generation Explorer, Edge, Escape, and outgoing Fusion and Flex. The particular model used in the MKC is the 6F50, designed to handle up to 300 horsepower and some towing. This drivetrain was most common in the Ford Explorer EcoBoost from the last generation. I liked it in the Explorer and I like it even more in the slightly lighter MKC.

The part-time all wheel drive (AWD) system used is also common among Fords, and made by Dana (the same company that makes solid axles for trucking as well as the Jeep Wrangler). The AWD models include a real-time torque map which shows that the vehicle spends most of its time driving the front wheels. The rear wheels kick in when slippage occurs, when the throttle is opened up from a dead stop or when the driver accelerates to pass at highway speeds. I noticed that when I accelerate past 4,000 RPM, a good amount of torque (up to 40%) is sent to the rear for a brief period of time.

Everything else mechanically is par for the course. Electric power rack and pinion steering. MacPherson struts in the front. Multi-link suspension in the rear. Disc brakes all around. That could be my old Hyundai or my dad’s Subaru. But what isn’t my Hyundai is the addition of active dampeners. And so this is where I get to describe the ride.

Ride and Handling

The MKC has a buttery smooth ride. Once it gets up to speed (which is pretty quick) it simply does its thing and cruises while absorbing road imperfections and bumps. It’s a ride that will not tire out the driver. In Lincoln’s view, the highly cushioned ride reduces stress and delays driving fatigue. The active dampeners can be set to Comfort (soft - not quite Town Car / bounce house, but noticeably bouncy), Normal (medium), or Sport (firm), which is more like the Audi Q5 or BMW X3. The ride is the most adjustable handling feature of the vehicle, and Lincoln has expanded handling and damper adjustment settings in their crossover and SUV models since.

One would expect a vehicle focused on smoothness wouldn’t have any great handling, but this is where the MKC surprises. It’s more engaging and handles better than expected. Cornering is confident. Body roll is minimal, and so is understeer. The MKC feels very planted and mainly flat around corners. By my mild driving standards, a contemporary Subaru feels very planted, while rear-drive performance cars like the Jaguar F-Type and Ford Mustang are a level above. The MKC feels slightly more planted than a contemporary Subaru, which really surprised me. With the ride set to Sport, the MKC feels more like a Mazda CX-5 than a baby Ford Explorer. While the steering lacks sharpness and feedback, the electric power steering doesn’t feel too light. There’s a bit of weight to it. The sharpest steering crossover I’ve driven is the Alfa Romeo Stelvio, and the numbest steering feel I’ve driven is probably the Nissan Murano and Jeep Cherokee. The MKC is like most crossovers - somewhere in the middle. But the handling is definitely closer to a Mazda or Acura than a unibody Jeep or Nissan SUV.

Performance and Sport Mode

Let’s get the fuel numbers out of the way. I average a little over 26 MPG in everyday driving, which is a mix of elevation changes, stop and go traffic and highway cruising. I do most of my driving close to sea level in the New York City and Long Island region, with occasional drives upstate and into the edge of the Appalachian mountains in western New England. I have averaged 29 MPG in warmer weather, and when I get my coasting and “hypermiling” techniques just right (being extra gentle with my right foot). But between 26 and 27 MPG is what a responsible, conservative driver can expect in an MKC 2.3T. The fuel tank is a smaller than average 15.7 gallons, so frequent fuel stops are unavoidable no matter what your driving style. For comparison the BMW X1 fuel tank is 16.1 gallons and the Infiniti QX50 has a 16 gallon tank.

In normal driving mode (D), the MKC is very buttoned down. RPMs tend to hang at 2,500 at cruising or 3,500 and 4,500 when accelerating. And that’s pretty much the MKC power band -between 2,500 and 4,500 RPM. That’s where peak torque lives. If you want peak torque to be accompanied by peak horsepower, you have to increase the RPMs, and that’s where sport modes (S) comes into play.

When I first used sport mode, I thought it was more like performance theater. The transmission holds each gear a little longer. That causes the motor to rev higher. But aside from slightly better handling, all I felt was that I was unnecessarily consuming more fuel. Also, Ford knows how to make a Sport mode more fun, but not in this Lincoln. Put a Mustang with a digital gauge cluster in sport mode, and you see an animation and a lot of text and graphics turn red. Do that in the new Lincoln Corsair, and you see a high resolution animation through the steering wheel. But in the MKC, sport mode is indicated by a thin reddish pink line inside the gauges and an equally feeble "Sport" indicator in the driver's display. I remember the tiny 2011 Lexus CT250h having a more dramatic color and gauge switch.

The MKC has one major odd feature, and that is the damper settings can be programmed for each driving mode, normal (D) and Sport (S). So if you wanted an oddball setting of firm suspension in D and soft, bouncy suspension in S, you could. But the default is medium dampening in D and firm in S.

The MKC has small plastic shift paddles, just like several other Ford models on this global compact platform. The only practical use for them is the downshift paddle (the left one). You you need to make a quicker pass on the highway, kicking-down to fifth gear can help. But at baseline the transmission wants to upshift to sixth gear over 40MPH. Add the fact that Sport mode improves shifting anyway, and the paddles are simply not necessary. This isn't a performance crossover, and the software is going to override your gear selection within seconds regardless.

So if you want firmer handling and more revs, simply press the S gear selector. That’s easy and you can do it while in-motion.

Technology Driver Aids and Safety

Driver Alert Control in Lincoln vehicles is a technology pioneered by Volvo.

The MKC falls short here - so much so I think the Tech Package package can be skipped without regret. This is because by most accounts, the emergency brake and lane keep assist in the MKC is not as reliable or as accurate as other systems. It’s nowhere close to one of my favorite systems, Subaru EyeSight, which is so simple and reliable, my elderly parents use it with confidence. My MKC doesn’t have the Tech Package. That package includes semi-autonomous parking (which is very good!), front-facing parking sensors (those should be standard, as the rear sensors are standard), emergency brake assist, adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, and my favorite feature, the driver alertness reminder. It’s the same Driver Alert Control (DAC) that was developed by Volvo in 2007 when Ford still owned them. If you drive for a long, uninterrupted time, or if your steering inputs seem abnormal to the system, a coffee icon appears inside the tachometer, reminding you to take a break. I would have loved this feature be standard in the MKC. But we have computers in our pockets now, and they have timer apps. Better still, when running Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, a push of the voice command button on the steering wheel can set up a reminder to take a break. That’s what I do when I drive between New York and New England. I ask the Android Assistant to remind me to take a break in two hours.

The Driver Alert Control as it appeared in Volvo cars in 2007.

I do like the overall look of the Ford Fusion gauge cluster in the MKC. I actually don’t want a high definition computer screen through my steering wheel. I need crisp information, and being a luxury car, I want it to look good. When I first drove a BMW, it was a base E46. I liked what I saw through the steering wheel. I saw a sporty, clear gauge cluster, uniformly lit, all in a very modernist, sans serif typeface. Having just gotten into Swiss watches, I thought that BMW was appealing to the same clientele. The MKC instrument panel is a high contrast mix of white LED-lit numerals against matte black with medium resolution LED displays within the two main gauges, and in between. The needles are digital. The numerals are physical and sit in dials that have some depth, like a chronograph watch.

The fuel gauge and distance until empty always appears inside the speedometer. The display inside the tachometer can show real-time torque levels to all four wheels (AWD model), fuel economy for the current trip, or real-time fuel economy (which can be reset any time). The left side also displays alerts and driving settings. It’s simple, and a little behind the next generation of vehicles now coming out. And yet it is so much more than what I had in my Elantra ten years ago.

Can you spot the difference between Normal driving mode (top) and Sport Mode (below)?

The technology hub in the MKC is Ford SYNC 3. I have used all versions of SYNC, and I think SYNC 3 is the first version to be reliable, practical, and invaluable. It’s also very secure, requiring an extra step when pairing with phones. SYNC 3 is not flashy. It has a flat color scheme and user interface. In a car, this is fine. I’ll take boring and reliable over a sexy system that can’t run Android Auto (I’m talking to you, BMW). Now I do have some gripes. Ford should have put an outside temperature display in the gauge cluster, as the only way to see the outside temperature is in SYNC. This means if you have Apple CarPlay or Android Running, you won’t see the outside temperature and you’ll have to ask your phone to tell it to you. The only other gripe I have is the heated steering wheel can only be activated while using SYNC. You can see the heated steering wheel icon in the video screenshot above. The MKC has physical buttons for all climate functions except for the heated steering wheel. I’m almost certain future versions of SYNC will let you control heated steering wheels and seats with voice commands. It would have been nice to have it activated with a button on the steering wheel. As I said that steering wheel has a lot of buttons -12 buttons and two D pads- and some are only used in setting up driver preferences.

The Ford Fusion has an outside temperature display in its instrument panel. That’s missing in the 2019 Lincoln MKC.

So let’s say you skip the Tech Package and settle for regular cruise control. It doesn’t reduce the number of buttons on the steering wheel. Let’s take a look at these 12 buttons (22 if you include the D pads up top!).

2015 model shown (notice the engine start/stop button has since been moved away from the Drive and Sport Mode buttons)

That’s a lot of buttons. My favorite cruise control switch was the stalk design that Toyota and Subaru used to have. Simply push in and push down to activate cruise control. Even Subaru’s controls today are simpler than the six button setup used by Ford and Lincoln through 2019. Ford has simplified it a bit in 2020, but what we see in the Lincoln MKC is the end of a cluttered era. There are three rocker switches that act like six buttons. One turns the cruise control on and off. Another resumes or cancels the previously speed. And a third both sets and adjusts the speed. It’s all very busy. Through practice, I have learned to stick to the “left edge” buttons to get cruise control activated. And of course it has to be complicated, so the sequence of button presses starts with the bottom left. So first, find and press “ON” and then run your finger or thumb up along the edge to the button marked “SET.” The buttons are small and don’t illuminate well at night, so this older driver has to do it all by feel. Fortunately, I don’t have to use cruise control much as I spend half my time in the New York region in heavy traffic or at stoplights, and I seldom use cruise control at night. But I wanted to point this out as another example of how the MKC steering wheel could be better.

On the right lower quadrant of the steering wheel are three identical pairs of buttons to pick up phone calls, control the audio volume and initiate voice commands. These buttons are far easier to memorize and find by feel, and there’s no worry over whether pushing the wrong button will cause me to rear-end someone.

The voice command button is your friend, especially when running Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.

The voice command button on the steering wheel (above) is the biggest tech feature in the MKC. I find myself using it often. While the Germans and even Hyundai have gone far beyond voice commands in 2019, this is still a very useful feature. Press the voice command button while running regular Ford Sync 3 and you have several navigation, radio, music, text messaging and phone commands available. Press the button while tethered to a phone and you instantly have access to Siri or Android Assistant. That greatly expands what you can do, including more advanced speech-to-text for sending and responding to messages, managing Google maps with your voice, launching music services and podcasts, or asking your phone to set reminders (as mentioned above for driver alertness). Time to destination and weather are also available via voice command to your Apple or Android phone, and I expect abilities and commands to expand each year. It’s here that the MKC can keep up with the times, so long as Apple and Android continue supporting SYNC 3.

The MKC was the first Lincoln to offer an always on, always connected wireless modem (which I think is still the technical term). This allows owners to see the location of their MKC, lock and unlock the doors, start and stop the motor, plus view the current odometer, fuel level and motor oil life using the Lincoln Way app (same as the Ford Pass app). The vehicle data can also be linked to Amazon Alexa accounts. That same always-on cellular connectivity gives owners the option to subscribe to a wireless data plan (provided by AT&T) to set up a Wi-Fi network in the cabin. The SYNC 3 system can also download updates if the vehicle is near a wireless network (like a house, a Starbucks or other public wireless network).

The MKC and MKZ we're also the first Lincolns to feature active noise cancelling technology in the cabin. It uses the 9-speaker audio system to suppress road noise. I can't judge how good it is because it cannot be turned off. But Lincoln says it is on, and it works. I do have to stress that the cabin is super quiet. 30 years ago the quietest new auto interior was the Lexus LS400. With the MKC I bought a quieter cabin for about $5,000 more than LS400 sticker price in 1990. That first Lexus, well equipped, cost about $75,000 in 2018 dollars.

The MKC even has some unique Ford tech from the 1980s and 90s. It has the famous Ford keyless entry keypad, called SecuriCode, on the driver’s side door -a fantastic feature that incredibly debuted in the fall of 1980 on premium Ford and Lincoln models. And it has MyKey programmability, an interesting but also annoying feature in which you can turn one of your keyfobs into a designated ‘teen driver’ or other unreliable driver key. A MyKey can limit the vehicle's top speed, alert the driver when he exceeds a preset speed, activate a constant fasten seatbelt chime, block Sirius XM channels that feature profanity, and prevent any driving safety system from being disengaged, such as stability control. It can even alert the driver of a low fuel level miles sooner than usual.

What I found annoying about MyKey is that it wasn’t easy for me to clear the programming after I was done trying it out. It took a few tries over several days. In the end, I was able to revert my spare keyfob to a regular key only while the MKC was in Drive.

That’s about it for driver aids and technology. As for safety, the MKC has what we expect from cars costing $20,000 less, which is full disc brakes with ABS, stability control, traction control, a multitude of airbags, and a “good” moderate overlap front and side crash tests rating from the IIHS. That puts the 2019 MKC just a notch under the IIHS Top Safety pick threshold, which was won by the very similar 2019 Ford Edge.

Luxury

I think part of what puts a vehicle in the luxury class today is theater. In addition to all the exterior and interior features mentioned above, the Lincoln MKC has the welcoming and hospitality features that are expected in luxury vehicles today. Lincoln calls it the “Lincoln Embrace.” It’s mainly show, but you have to expect something more when choosing a Lincoln over a Ford. Different badging, a big grille and finer leather seats don’t cut it anymore. So following what I believe was Mercedes in the early 2000s, today’s Lincolns turn on the daytime running lights, some rear LED lights, and the door handle and puddle lights once the key holder is within 3 meters of the vehicle. Some interior lights also illuminate before the key holder enters the vehicle. And the side view mirrors automatically fold when the motor is started and stopped. These are all luxury car essentials, but it took Lincoln until this decade to roll them out across their range.

Who Is It For?

This is the question that Jason Torchinsky asked when he reviewed the MKC in early 2015. One would think that a compact luxury crossover would appeal to affluent families with one child. But that is not the case here. Auto journalists and attentive shoppers can detect that a difference of a couple of inches in either the exterior or interior can put a vehicle in a different class. Take the MKC's interior room. It is similar to the previous generation Audi Q3 and Infiniti QX50, which are on the small side. But measure it outside, and it’s larger than those vehicles. On the outside, the MKC is about the same size as the previous generation BMW X3 and Subaru Forester. Lincoln set up the MKC to compete against the larger BMW X3 and Audi Q5. But step inside and it’s clear that it’s small like the Audi Q3 and BMW X1. So the interior and exterior dimensions are not in-step with its European competition, not to mention the gold standard in family luxury crossovers, the Lexus RX. The interior is smaller than the exterior suggests. That means that the MKC is not a family vehicle.

Torchinsky noticed this as well in his review and was a little perplexed. He thinks the cozy interior came down to chunky exterior proportions and the aforementioned thick interior walls. In his review at the first press drive event, Andrew P. Collins noted that a lot of work went into balancing light and space in the cabin. The raked windscreen and sloping center stack are great for the passengers up front, but it must be a factor in reducing cargo space in the rear.

Here is how Lincoln described their MKC customer in 2014:

MKC gives Lincoln a compelling offering in the small premium utility vehicle segment, the fastest-growing part of the luxury market. The segment has grown by 25 percent since 2012 and by more than 200 percent since 2009. The segment growth is being driven by new luxury buyers who are coming into affluence, as well as by current luxury owners who are moving from larger vehicles to smaller ones as their life desires change.
With MKC, Lincoln continues its move toward targeting a younger, more diverse customers. The vehicle also positions Lincoln to resonate with drivers in desirable markets on the East and West coasts.

Automotive press releases will never cease to impress me with their verbal gymnastics. That is a lot of words describing two different types of affluent, urban customers (and those urban centers are called Southern California and the Northeast Corridor). One type of customer is the older professional couple -the affluent empty nesters- who want a smaller vehicle overall but also a more comfortable ride height. The other type of customer is younger, and childless. These are affluent singles and couples who want to reward themselves with their first luxury vehicle. And while Lincoln dances around this, I think they are correct. The MKC appeals to both younger and older childless couples who are ready to break into the $40,000-$50,000 new car price range. Lincoln is a very popular ‘first luxury car’’ brand, and that helps explain their popularity with families that don’t come from money, including the children of immigrants, single women and black customers.

The MKC is a personal luxury vehicle for someone who isn't irked by the lack of a big cargo hold. It wouldn't handle a trip to IKEA very well (my Hyundai wagon, which had a deeper cargo area fared a lot better at). The MKC is not for heavy lifters. It's just as Mr. Regular said today. Lincolns are for the 'clean fingernails' crowd.

Like my Hyundai Elantra Touring review ten years ago, I have written another long review of a car I own. I love my MKC. Years of thought and research went into my choice, and it's the car I hope to own for the next ten years. It's worth a serious look as Lincoln pushes to sell the remaining new models.

Are you single? Do you need a new daily driver? Do you have a new car budget of $45,000? Do you not care about German automotive brands? Are you willing to pay more for an extra peaceful and plush cabin? The MKC might be the dream car you've been overlooking for months.

I close this long review with three videos that helped lock my decision.

The 2019 MKC reviewed by Justin Pritchard of AutoTrader Canada

2015 Lincoln MKC vs. 2015 Acura MDX by the boys at AutoGuide. Sami Haj-Assad is also one of the hosts of the excellent Unnamed Automotive Podcast.

2015 MKC review by the best video journalist in the auto industry, Tom Voelk

Screaming Crying And Whimpering

October 29, 2019 in The USA, Sports

Watching Trump this fall has been fucking beautiful. He is not taking his political death well. He never learned how to do the damn job. He’s dumb. He got caught trying to force one or more countries to believe an insane conspiracy and assist him in discouraging Democrats from voting in 2020. And he couldn’t enjoy one good day because of his own ineptitude and inability to stop talking. This has been amazing. It would be a little more amazing if he was paranoid, drinking and trashing the White House. But it’s still amazing.

He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. No one does.

While The Democrats Are On Break The Shit Hits The Fan

October 15, 2019 in The USA

The title of this post says it all. The shit hit the fan last week. The Democrats should never have taken their recess. The Republic is burning down.

Donald Trump decided to play lawyer. He had the White House council send off a raving, angry letter to three of the four Democratic chairs leading the impeachment inquiry, confirming that we are in the midst of a long-standing constitutional crisis. It shouldn’t be a surprise that the primary author of the letter was Trump himself. But more significantly, Trump also destabilized northeastern Syria, while the two goons who hired Rudy Giuliani are claiming to be part of a joint defense arrangement with the president and the Russian mob. Seriously, read that piece by Marcy Wheeler. In a week of historic events, John Dowd’s letter to the House Intelligence Committee is as significant as any Nixon quote from the Watergate saga.

I wrote the paragraphs below last week before it was confirmed on Saturday October 12 that the president, and not a real lawyer, wrote that letter:

I really like George Conway's reply to Trump’s letter. The White House letter is manifestly an impeachable offense. Article One gives the House of Representatives the "sole power of impeachment", and neither the executive nor the judicial branch can dictate the process the House chooses to use to discharge that duty. The White House is showing absolute contempt for the House's constitutional authority, and presuming to tell the Speaker what process she must follow! It's hard to believe that the White House counsel actually went to law school and passed the bar exam. Oh, and by the way, Trump has apparently given the president of Turkey the green light to invade northern Syria and massacre the Kurdish fighters who lost about 11,000 men fighting ISIS as our allies. So much for Trumpian loyalty, and so much for a coherent foreign policy. The orange one must go.

But I'm still very concerned that higher courts will agree with Trump. Then the Republic and the Constitution are officially dead. We first examined this when the administration started to refuse to share documents with the House in April, as well as start to block people from testifying. This breakage of the constitution is now unprecedented. And what is the remedy? The military is with Trump. The police departments from coast to coast are with Trump. Are we suddenly inches away from a Pinochet-style junta? Who has the power to restore regular order?

Fiona Hill’s testimony to the House ought to spell the end of Trump. In a normal world, we would be free of him and the GOP.

Two Colossal Public Meltdowns In One Day

October 02, 2019 in The USA

This is, “I’m not a crook.” This is, “You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore.” Only much, much worse. Someone spare a thought for Finnish president, Sauli Niinistö. American Democracy: “Keep it going on.”

Trump’s first TV / YouTube appearance, around 13:00 today.

Notable moments:

07:25: Trump claims that the Democrats have been trying to impeach him since January 2017. That’s partially true.

11:05: Trump demands to know the identity of the whistleblower and the leaker(s). Calls them spies.

14:40: Trump tells a “Sir Story.”

15:50: Trump confirms that “Fake News” is now “Corrupt News.”

And Trump’s second appearance, around 15:00.

Notable moments:

26:49: Trump: I knew there were many people listening to my July 25 call, so it couldn’t have been improper.

31:10: Trump accuses House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff of helping to write the Whistleblower report. A shocking new defense talking point.

34:40: Trump boasts that he can handle the political storm. I believe him. He lives on stress.

39:05: “Stable Genius”

39:55: Trump threatens to sue people over how he was treated in the 2016 election and the Mueller investigation. He seems to imply that he wants to sue the DOJ/FBI, which are under his control.

41:20: Trump: Nancy Pelosi hands out subpoenas “like they’re cookies.” Mmmmm. Cookies.

44:40: “Biden and his son are stone cold crooked.”

45:05: The question that should eventually destroy Trump: “What did you want President Zelinsky to do about Vice President Biden and his son, Hunter?” Trump blows up a little. Keep asking him that exact question.

UPDATE, October 3 2019: The Rude Pundit: Trump’s Madness Today By The Numbers

New York City Doesn't Need A Mayor

September 29, 2019 in The USA

Mayor Warren Wilhelm’s dismal, embarrassing presidential campaign taught me something: New York City has too many elected positions. We got on just fine without a mayor for four months. We don’t need a mayor. We also don’t need borough presidents, who are basically cheerleaders for their respective boroughs. All we really need is the City Council, the CCRB and the City Comptroller. Maybe the Council can appoint a city manager -a de-facto mayor- that they can hire and fire at will. But the Council has the power. The Mayor is just a public face and figurehead. The mayor of New York has always been a dead end job. But now I realize it is an unnecessary job. Let’s revise the city charter and get rid of the office.

An interesting footnote to de Blasio’s four-month vacation, er, I mean campaign, is that he was tailed and harassed by the PBA and the NYPD. The police decided to do a little work slowdown in response to the firing of one of their own who murdered a low-level offender on the street. And what happened? New Yorkers had a slightly better summer as a result. Up until to the UN General Assembly, I saw fewer cops, and I felt no less safe.

So thank you for the work slowdown, NYPD! Our hearts are breaking for the poor, unappreciated NYPD rank and file. To my knowledge, the police have never been held accountable for their behavior. They have been groomed to expect that incompetence and even murderous misbehavior will-and should-be dismissed, with no ill consequences for the police. If that really begins to change, it will constitute a revolutionary moment in police/community relations.

Imagine a New York with fewer cops and no mayor. One can dream. I dream of just that, in federalized city known as the District of Gotham.

Donny Sold Us All Out

September 28, 2019 in The USA

Donald J. Trump sold us out. All 350 Million of us. He did it to make a few million and gain an advantage in his re-election bid. His plan is to have foreign nations kneecap whoever Democrat is leading the nomination race. This week it is Joe Biden. Next week it could be Elizabeth Warren.

The crimes of Donald Trump are so much simpler than Bob Mueller or we realized. For years we asked, “What do foreign nations have on Trump?” What they have is his simple, desperate need to cheat and win the 2020 election. Oh sure, he wants to make a few million on the side. And yes, he is a money launderer, a fraudster and tax cheat. He probably owes some mobsters and oligarchs money as well. But Russia isn't hanging a sex scandal or some elaborate crime over Trump. They just know that nothing means more to him than winning another term.

All these crimes related to foreign policy and phone calls boil down his desperate need to cheat in the upcoming election. And since he needs to cheat at elections (just like his golf game), they know exactly what he wants. And all Trump has to do to get it is sell out 350 Million Americans. So he trades favors with Russia, Saudi Arabia, Israel (the embassy move), Turkey, the UAE and Ukraine. All of those nations would agree to an exchange of favors. Putin, in particular loves the mild destabilization of NATO and the EU. He probably wishes it was in chaos, but he’ll take whatever he can get. Our closest allies wouldn't help Trump win an election. These are the shady actors he's dealing with. Now we know, after digging for 3 years. We know what Trump is all about. Now what are we going to do and how quickly?

He sold us out. We knew he punched us in the gut. Now we know when and how many times. How does it feel, America?

Quick Thoughts On The Whistleblower Report

September 27, 2019 in The USA

The whistleblower did his homework. He knew how to format his complaint. It took him days to write it. The right-wing claim that a lawyer wrote it is nonsense. A good CIA agent would have looked at other complaints in the public record for guidance on how to write one himself. He knew what it took to make it presentable to Congress. No lawyer necessary. He's an investigator. He researched and wrote it himself.

Oh, and I swear to fucking gawd, if the news media makes-up a cute name for this crime, like Ukraine-gate, my head will explode. Nothing is a -gate. Only Watergate is a -gate!

Not one computer to be seen in this office. Little boy Trump needs big colorful pictures.

Crash And Burn

September 24, 2019 in The USA, Human Rights

August 2019 is the month this presidency crashed and burned. Donald Trump has 55 Million guaranteed votes in November 2020, sure. But a president cannot remain in office being president only for the bigots, racists, xenophobes and deplorables. He hasn't won any new support in the states he needs to win: Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan. Slandering over 4 Million Jews certainly didn't cushion his 200,000 vote lead in Florida.

Oh, and there might be a recession coming sooner rather than later? Yeah, sooner.

In my previous post on Trump’s catastrophic August, I hinted that it could get worse in the final eight days. Okay, I actually wanted it to be worse. And holy shit, did it ever. Donald Trump ended his August with massive mistakes, being distracted (when isn’t he?) and by breaking laws. This incredible crash and burn extended into Labor Day weekend, so I will count that weekend as part of Trump’s August downfall.

And I am not exaggerating here. Trump is not liking his job. He is working less. He is losing his temper more. And the only comfort he has at night, is that 55 Million Americans love him. He is their hero. They believe anything he says. They believe he never called white nationalists “very fine people.” They believe that he sacrificed his billionaire lifestyle to selflessly serve as President. In fact, they believe his claim that he has lost billions in net worth since becoming president. They will never fail to believe him.

Where do I start? Remember in my previous post I wrote that bad things happen in August? That was a reference to the fact that both World Wars began in August. And that’s perfect place to start, because Donald Trump was scheduled to fly to Denmark to make a bid for Greenland, and then go to Poland to help them mark the start of WWII. You know, the 80th anniversary of Germany invading Poland. August 1939. Well we know the Denmark trip was canceled. And so too was the Poland trip. Hurricane Dorian had formed in the Atlantic and was threatening to strike Puerto Rico and northern Florida. Trump canceled his trip to Poland so he could “focus” on tracking Hurricane Dorian, and sent a message of “congratulations” to Poland through yet another bonkers White House lawn press gaggle. He seriously had no idea what the trip to Poland was for, aside from an opportunity to eat red meat and socialize with white people. And how did he “focus” on Hurricane Dorian? You know how he worked that weekend. Fuck this guy.

The end of August was a colossal, criminal thud. Trump is insisting that next year’s G7 summit be held at his golf club at Doral (Miami). He sent Pence to his resort in Ireland, when Pence’s meaningless meetings were 300 miles east, in Dublin. And Trump found time to attack someone who really, really bothered him: Debra Messing. Trump has no interest to prove to the world that he’s normal. He’s ill, and he seems to accentuate his illness as part of his marketing.

We don’t need a president right now. The office is incredibly powerful. But having Trump in that office is incredibly dangerous and volatile. He has already commited a long list of impeachable offenses. He continues to commit crimes, with impunity, and without any fear of punishment. Our lives are in danger. Fact. It would be simply be better and safer to have an empty White House for the next 16 months. Tell all Federal agencies to follow the policies as they existed in December 2016 and set on auto-pilot. Fucking hell.

Liberals Can't Be Bullies

September 17, 2019 in The USA, Human Rights

All the lectures and all the talking-down to Liberals to be civil are bullshit. Complete bad faith bullshit. The following is a good example why.

I visited a War Relocation Center (a WWII Japanese-American concentration camp) for the first time this month. It was the first of ten camps built, in Hunt Idaho, which opened in August 1942. I walked the land, walked the trails, and spent some time in the tiny, silent and somber visitors center. But one of the first things I saw, aside from a replica of a sentry tower at the entrance, was a pickup truck. An overweight middle-aged couple owned it. They were walking around the monument parking area, reading the interpretive signs. They seemed to be engaged for the few minutes they were there. They were visiting the park on a bright, sunny Saturday in the Idaho desert. They could be at one of the parks in Twin Falls, full of barbecues, lawn games, dogs and cold beer. But they came to this sad prison camp site for a reason. I assume they came to learn.

But the pickup truck threw me off. It was a slightly lifted American truck. That’s normal in Idaho. I Can appreciate modified pickup trucks myself. The decals on the rear window are what I noticed. There was a skeleton hand raising a middle finger. There was a decal reading, “I burn diesel. Mind if I smoke?” And there was the classic Calvin-like character taking a piss. He was pissing on the word “Liberals”. So here was a little irony. A Republican couple (I’ve stopped calling them Trump supporters now - if one is a Republican, then that’s redundant, and also dated once they have a new leader) was visiting a prison camp that held US citizens, while on the same day, the party and administration they support is holding immigrants of all ages in multiple prison camps. I didn’t see them turn around and leave, but that’s what they did. They opted not to go further onto the walking trails with more interpretive signs. I guess they finally understood that reading about peoples’ constitutional rights being revoked and peoples’ rights to freely move taken away conflicted with their “own the Libs” worldview.

I’m pretty sure Republicans would love to send all registered Democrats into prison camps. We’re just the majority that keeps getting in the way once in a while. Donald Trump doesn’t want an approval rating from anyone who voted against him. He just wants a 100% approval rating from Republicans. He’s the president for the ruling minority only. Everyone else might as well not exist.

If you are the president for only 60 Million voters, a 50% approval rating (which he doesn’t have) is a perfect score. Screenshot captured 09/16/2019.

I thought about those current facts, but then I thought about the pissing decal again. I would love to put a Fuck Trump, or Death to Deplorables (maybe a “Deplorables Hunting License”) decal on my Lincoln. I advocate that if anyone is a registered Republican, they are hostile members of a hate group that needs to be deported, put into prison camps, or simply executed. This nation would be immediately better if we killed-off the 60 Million or so voting Republicans who are making life miserable for the 70 or so Million who have never voted Republican. They are making life miserable for the majority simply because they want to. There is no unity and harmony in this nation anymore. So fuck it. Kill all the Republicans. Let’s fix this mess.

The Drei Pfeile (Three Arrows) symbol of the anti-fascist parties of Germany. Used by ANTIFA groups today. — The *Drei Pfeile* (Three Arrows) symbol of the anti-fascist parties of Germany. Used by ANTIFA groups today.

But I can never put that argument on my house, front lawn or motor vehicle. It would be a matter of days until my vehicle’s rear window was smashed by a tire iron. See, the Right Wing gets to troll, insult, threaten, harass, and taunt. They can decorate their vehicles with thin blue lines, punisher skulls, crosses, pro Republican slogans, anti-BLM stickers, anti-immigrant slogans, confederate flags, stickers against colored people and stickers with misogynist meanings. We liberals cannot do that. Even if we tried, it wouldn’t be long before a social media moderator, employer, journalist, or right-wing deplorable on the street called us out for it, damaged our property, or terminated our employment. We liberals still live in a civil society. It was the 60 Million deplorables who left it. Let me make that crystal clear: the 60 Million deplorables broke their social contract. They are an anti-social hate group that wants to burn the Republic down rather than share it with anyone who disagrees with their ideology.

I wouldn’t dare slash the tires or smash the window of a truck that had a confederate flag or an anti-liberal sticker on it. The owner very likely has a gun. And more important, I don’t damage other people’s property. But if I put an Antifa sticker on my vehicle, I’m pretty sure some deplorable would call the cops on me, especially in my excursions into Pennsylvania or upstate New York. The deplorables get to bully and retaliate. They get to call the cops. They are allowed to brandish their weapons. We Liberals aren’t allowed to open our mouths, let alone strap an AR-15 to our backs. Even when we have the facts on our side, we lose. Facts and truth are useless today.

An “Open Carry” rally in Campbell, Ohio, 2010.

Remember the rules that applied to Jackie Robinson? There was an unwritten rule that he was not allowed to reply to insults or taunts, and he was not allowed to throw a punch at anyone who hit him. It would be the end of his career. Similar rules apply to us liberals.

Now I know that my fellow liberals would tell me that this is not a problem. Deplorables go low, we go high. We don’t damage property or threaten to shoot Republicans. We don’t drop to their level. But there are a few rebels like me who believe that if we aren’t allowed to bully and troll them back, then we’ll never be rid of them. Shouldn’t we try to get rid of them? Maybe get rid of is too strong a term. Isn’t it time we tamed the deplorables (do you like the 1984 Reagan Bear in the Woods ad reference there)?

Put another way: The bedbugs are a metaphor. The bedbugs are Republicans. You know what I mean? And did you see what happened to a fellow liberal when he made that joke? It strengthens my argument, folks. We liberals can’t joke about the deplorables. Nor can we express our rage through art. We are told to keep it civil. The right-wing is a protected class.

If shaming worked, I’d advocate shaming the deplorables. But that no longer works. We need to tame them. Isolate them. Sometimes insult them, and make sure they don’t hurt more people. Who knows how many of them want to go on a gun rampage on election day next year? A lot of violent men might go over the edge next year.

I badly want to put an Antifa sticker on my Lincoln. I really do. But I Love my Lincoln, and I don’t want some white nationalist with a tire iron or gun anywhere near it. I know I can’t make the deplorables go away. And I also know that I can’t wish them away. They will always be a significant and destructive minority in this country. They can threaten and intimidate. And they know that most of them will never lose a job or serve prison time because of it. I just think that’s wrong.

Yeah. It is wrong.

All Senate Republicans Need To Go

September 16, 2019 in Human Rights, The USA

All Republicans need to be banned from office. The party is a hate group that wants to destroy the republic to appease the 40% of Americans who support them. But let’s just rip the Senate in today’s post.

The latest, credible allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh again show us why the Republicans are a disgrace. They could have nominated Amy Coney Barrett to the Court. She’s next in line. But they just had to ram through this sexual predator, liar, and utter scumbag. Sooner of later, Kavanaugh and Thomas will be gone. I hope through impeachment, but I can’t expect the Democrats to reverse these grave mistakes.

The new allegations have made the push to remove Susan Collins more intense. As bad as Susan Collins is, the performance of Lindsey Graham during the Kavanaugh hearings was even worse. He was vitriolic, irrational, and a disgrace to the Senate. It past time both he and Susan Collins were shown the exit.

The Logical Endgame Of Mean Spirited Partisanship

September 03, 2019 in The USA

I should have a post up soon about the last week of Donald Trump’s catastrophic August Until then, I want to share this important point by Tom Socca in Slate this morning. I’m sure other smart pundits and academics have brought this up in articles, books, and lectures. However this is a great way to explain how the GOP went through a radical change in the decades preceding Trump. This change, of course, paved the way for Trump and future GOP leaders. It shouldn’t be surprising that it goes back to the to first Democrat to win the White House after a 12 year drought - Bill Clinton. We know that the GOP treated Jimmy Carter as an illegitimate president while he was in office, and for decades afterward. With Clinton, the disrespect extended to what could have (should have) been interpreted as a constitutional crisis: the Federal government shutdowns of 1995 and 1996.

At the time, the feeling was that the House, led by Newt Gingrich, was throwing a tantrum and they would come around to accept the fact that they would have to work with Clinton. But they sent strong signals that forever changed the GOP. The GOP no longer had to work with anyone. They could seriously obstruct the mechanisms of government. Don’t like a policy or the Affordable Care Act? Shut down the government. Or how about ensuring that a Democrat can never nominate a Supreme Court justice if the GOP holds the US Senate? That’s the new rule. or how about the recent scenario in Oregon where the GOP realized that it couldn’t stop a carbon tax bill from becoming law. They just disappeared (and the Democrats inexplicably took the bill off the Governor’s desk, which is another story).

Ronald Reagan floated the idea of doing away with anything founded by Democrats. That includes Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, AMTRAK, the EPA, and the Civil Rights Act. Today, the idea has progressed under this logic to oppose anything that was not only led or founded by Democrats, but anything that is shared, or meant for everyone on US soil. That would include National Parks and Monuments, highways, public roads, municipal water systems, and even the Statue of Liberty, the example that Socca uses this morning.

I have written here that today’s Republican party would rather burn the Republic down than respect a political party that represents the majority of citizens. Republicans don’t want to share a country with brown people and women. We intellectuals are finally constructing the history of how our Republic caught fire 25 years ago. The party divide is logical, but also mad. It extends to the media we consume, the sneakers we wear, the cars we drive and the restaurant brands we choose. It’s logical. It’s mad. And it’s also unsustainable, as the Republic burns.

The Worst August Of Trump's Presidency

August 23, 2019 in The USA

I have shared this before: August can be terrible. I love it. It’s summer. But in modern world history, it’s awful.

August 2017 was a total disaster for Donald Trump. August 2018 had some major setbacks, some obstruction, and some foreshadowing of future news regarding Trump’s racism. But this August has been the worst August of Trump’s first term. There are still 8 days left to this August. And there will be at least one more Trump August.

Let’s start with how this month began, with the aftermath of two gun massacres and this - this sick, twisted, bizarre photo. This is perhaps the most obscene thing a US president and his spouse has ever done. It was this moment that we should have realized that Donald J. Trump had lost his mind. But we needed some more insanity to draw that conclusion.

It came the following week, with news that after a conversation with Senator Tom Cotton months ago, Trump became mildly obsessed with a plan for the US to purchase Greenland from Denmark. Once Trump publicly admitted the news leak (relatively rare for him), the Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin declared that Trump had “lost it.” She finished her piece with this:

..the media and Congress should stop pretending Trump is fit to govern. He’s not. He needs to go as soon as possible, by whatever legal or electoral means possible.

But wait. There would be more. Donald Trump believes that he has done more than any president before him. On Israeli relations, he naturally thinks that he has had the most success. He also naturally thinks that any service he provides to Israel should translate into American Jewish voter support. So when he saw poll numbers showing that he will receive fewer votes from practicing Jews in 2020 than in 2016, he decided to launch a fierce, anti-semitic attack. Just as he weaponized racism against Democrats of color last month, he did it again to American Jews this month. And just in case there was any doubt or confusion as to what he meant, he repeated it, more clearly, the next day. Even the Donald Trump from 2018 might have tried to explain away his remarks via tweet, or called the video footage “fake news.” But this time, he doubled down on his bigotry and showed it off to the whole world.

When Trump launched racist attacks against Freshman Democrats of color last month, pundits tried to analyze and explain them. Even this blogger saw his racist attacks as a campaign strategy. But this month, there’s no explanation needed. Trump dropped an atomic bomb of hatred and bigotry. The Washington Post’s Dahlia Lithwick wrote:

So, Donald Trump, who just in the past two days refused to visit Denmark because it wouldn’t sell Greenland, tossed an anti-Semitic canard out to see how it landed on American Jews, retweeted a conspiracy theorist who claims Trump is the king of the Jews, reversed himself on gun policy and payroll taxes, and mulled ending birthright citizenship by way of executive order, just keeps on trucking. No check in sight.

Within the same 22 hours or so that he slandered nearly 5 Million Americans, Trump angrily canceled his state visit to Denmark. It confirmed that Trump didn’t really want to go to Denmark in the first place, even though he invited himself to visit just a few weeks ago, leaving the Danish royals, Danish government and the US State Department very little time to set up the visit and associated events.

Last year, I wrote in this blog that the Trump presidency is unsustainable. He will complete his term (or terms), but his presidency and the Republic will crash and burn before the end of his tenure. To my amazement and surprise, significant journalists are now reflecting this point of view, 30 months into his presidency. In the same piece quoted above, Dahlia Lithwick writes in terms I haven’t seen her use before. She has called Trump unfit many times, but this was -to my knowledge- the first time she acknowledged that Trump is seriously hurting us. In previous months, Trump’s tweets, erratic behavior, insults towards allies and canceled trips (how many now? two?) were analyzed as distractions from his policies and destruction of government agencies. Allies would invite him to visit less often than previous presidents, and when he would visit, they would treat him to comfort food and parades. The advice was, ignore the drama, focus on the administration’s policies, resist the administration in the courts, and wait for Trump to go away. Then, we should all encourage the next Democratic president to restore some normalcy, clean up Trump’s mess, and begin the long process of repairing the Republic.

But now, in August of 2019, there is this realization that we were sadly mistaken to wait for the next Democratic president. Trump’s presidency is destroying us. It isn’t just the policies. It’s everything he does. We need a president to be a leader and a healer. Trump only wants to pour gasoline over everything. His slander, insults, rage, temper tantrums, excessive personal time, his ignorance and his inability to think about the future are taking a serious toll on the public. The Trump presidency is destroying our national morale. It is destroying our mental health and national psyche. It is bringing a recession sooner than expected. It is making us lose sleep. It is making us drink more. And it is even, possibly, making us commit suicide more than before - especially the poor white people who voted for him. We’re in the Trump maliese. It makes the Carter malaise look like a wonderfully stable, fun and happy time. I will insist to the end that it was, dammit.

Dahlia Lithwick’s piece was prompted by an article by Matt Ford in The New Republic. It goes into detail about just how American life is much more difficult under Donald Trump. Simply put, why are we doing this to ourselves? I thought his last point was incredibly strong. Life is too short to live another day with this lunatic as our president:

He largely spends his days as president in unstructured “executive time” where he fields calls from outside advisers and ingests massive quantities of raw Fox News coverage. The work of solving the nation’s problems, except insofar as it rallies his supporters and keeps him in office, is a largely secondary concern. Soon after Trump took office, White House aides tried to persuade him that the national debt would become unsustainable in the future. “Yeah, but I won’t be here,” he reportedly replied. Trump’s time may be limited, but so is ours.

Which brings us to a third piece written within 24 hours of the previous two. James Fallows of The Atlantic explains that Trump would simply be unable to hold employment for 30 months if he were on a corporate or non-profit board, a company executive, or perhaps his best example, an airline pilot.

It took 30 months, but Trump has finally gone full lunatic. It started with twisted photos from Dayton and El Paso three weeks ago, and it continues with Greenland, full anti-semitism, and erratic economic policy. He rocked the markets again today. Just a president pouring gasoline on everything. The House should have opened impeachment proceedings in February. They were warned. They must open formal impeachment hearings immediately, even if it is only to strengthen the guardrails to keep this president -and the republic- from falling off a cliff. Trump's wear and tear on the citizenry is finally showing. We've very tired, and we’ve had enough. The House shouldn’t be in recess. it should be working on articles of Impeachment six days a week.

The final Trump Tower press conference on August 15 2017 was incredible. But so was this press gaggle on August 21 2019. The two together show a man who is not just unfit for office, but incredibly unhinged, angry and dangerous to us all.

If you drink, please continue to do so. Responsibly, of course.

Racism Will Win

July 31, 2019

It has won before. It is winning now. And for what? Well, I see it as two things.

First, we need to acknowledge that this is a long, slow, final rage from the American white majority. Racism still sells, and it might just work for one more presidential term. It might not work this time. But it did work in 2016, along with many foreign-produced memes.

Second, and more crucial to Trump, the rage, the racism and the “two minute hate” is entertainment. Trump has turned politics and government into a sick reality TV show. What are the Trump chants? Lock her up. Send her back. What does he direct his supporters to do? Attack Baltimore. Attack cities. Attack people of color and immigrants. And if anyone accuses you of being a racist, remember, it is you who are the victims and it is they who are the real racists.

Trump has made racism the center of his 2020 campaign. He has poured gasoline all over the fire he started.

And his 60 Million supporters love it. For them, it is entertainment. It’s a great show. It’s a show about insulting, enraging, “triggering” and “owning” the libs.” For them it is fun. The price of admission is burning down the republic. But in their mind, they’d rather burn it down than share it with brown people, queers and women. So it’s a double win. They have fun and leave nothing behind for future generations. My generation has a name for such people: Boomers. More on that later this year on this blog.

800px-Manchester_anti-Brexit_protest_for_Conservative_conference,_October_1,_2017_IMG_2855.jpg

Exiting the EU Is A Suicide Pact

July 30, 2019 in Economics, Human Rights

This has become a suicide pact. The UK had a great arrangement with the EU. They helped write the terms of the trade zone. They got to keep their own currency and manage their own immigration and visa system. The UK was a unique, powerful member of the Eurozone.. Now they are going to trigger an economic disaster, as well as lose Northern Ireland and Scotland. Simple as that. The Union is about to be broken, and they caused it themselves. And this Eton-Oxford elitist (who intentionally acts like a buffoon to disarm the UKs normally aggressive press) will go down in history as the man who killed-off the UK.

There Is No Opposition Party

July 29, 2019 in The USA

You can print the headline now: "Trump wins second term by the thinnest of margins: One electoral college vote: Wisconsin." The Democrats are beyond sad. They are not a political party. They are mainly a bunch of inept, elderly politicians who can't win against memes and fake news stories spreading like wildfire on social media. No can win against that. Issues and likability used to matter. Now it is rage and lies all over the Internet. The Information Superhighway that was supposed to expand the public sphere and make us more informed is now a major factor of our downfall. This blog was born out of the 1990s cultural and media studies theories on what the Internet could be. And now this is a journal of the downfall of American society.

The U502 Ford Explorer Restored Greatness To The Nameplate

July 18, 2019 in Automobiles

I bought a new car for the first time. My current car was purchased by my partner. Before I write about my new Lincoln MKC, I have to make a comment about a somewhat-related Ford product, the fifth generation Ford Explorer. We collectively know it as the current preferred vehicle of police departments. It’s the car of authority. But it’s also the first great Explorer since the classic second generation in the mid 1990s. It’s not that the third and fourth generations were poor vehicles. They added many safety features and motor and transmission upgrades. But the cache of the nameplate was restored with the fifth generation. This Explorer got people excited about the Explorer again, and it didn’t need a two-tone Eddie Bauer edition (although that would have been sweet, and I have this feeling we’re going to see a two-tone Explorer in generation six).

2001 Ford Explorer, © Ford Motor Company

The U502 Explorer is basic, but ticks all the boxes for those who need a full-size SUV outside of big cites. It’s quiet. It has safety features and driver aids. It’s got comfortable seats and years of Ford innovation. It can tow. You can get it with a V6 or the mustang’s motor. It’s easy to own and maintain. The 6F35 transmission was reliable and stronger by the time it was put into the heavy Explorer. And it can go off-road to a fair extent, like the more expensive Range Rovers and Jeep Grand Cherokees.

Trump's Final Chapter Is Florida

July 05, 2019 in The USA

I’m not sure how Trump leaves the White House. But I am sure that his final years are at Mar-a-Lago. He’s no longer a new yorker. He is a Forida man going forward. I don’t think he could come back to New York ever again, given the odds that he could be indicted by the state Attorney General.