AI: Cooking with gas in Nevada

“Does Trump even care about the midterms?” I asked in this newsletter back in January. 

A few days earlier the New York Times had asked Trump if there were any limits on his powers. Trump’s response: “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”

So “you can see why he gets bored when he hears about people struggling to pay for rent, groceries, insurance, utilities, and other costs,” I wrote at the time.

“Trump has asserted that his supreme authority domestically and bullying domination throughout the hemisphere can only be constrained by ‘my own morality,’ i.e., nothing at all,” I added.

“Does that sound like somebody who cares one way or the other if Titus, Lee, or Horsford gets beat?”

Fast forward to this morning, and The New Republic’s Michael Tomasky outlines why Trump probably has “a perverse desire for Republicans to lose” the midterms.

The reason “that should be most concerning to normal Americans,” Tomasky writes, is Trump “wants Democrats to win because he wants to be able to accuse them, with of course no factual basis whatsoever, of cheating.”

Unlike most elections since the start of this century, Nevada isn’t much of a national battleground state this year, so maybe Trump and his deplorable henchmen in the now corrupt and evil U.S. Justice and Homeland Security departments won’t bother with Nevada, instead attacking democracy in other states like … Alaska?

Then again, Nevada has committed the unforgivable sin (in Trump’s twisted mind) of voting for Trump’s opponent in two out of three presidential elections, so it wouldn’t be at all surprising if he targets Nevada with his customary filthy lies accompanied by bogus charges and unconstitutional acts of malice.

Hopefully, any crap he throws Nevada’s way will be the same as all the other unfounded charges he’s thrown at Nevada’s elections over the years, and get laughed out of court, withdrawn by the people who lodged them, or otherwise sink under the weight of their own baseless absurdity.

Nevada’s election system may end up being relatively untroubled by Trump’s post-election tantrums, which Trump will throw not because he thinks they’ll overturn the election, but because, as Tomasky notes, the thing that brings Trump the most joy is snarling at people. 

But even if Trump treats Nevada’s election as he’s treated Nevada’s economy, i.e., with malign neglect, the damage inflicted by his deliberate and vile efforts to undermine faith in democracy and elections in Nevada and the nation will be with us for a long, long time — another casualty of his “own morality.”

IN NEVADA CURRENT

Nevada’s fossil fuel future. A gas-fired electricity plant for yet another ginormous Switch data center is one of a dozen(!) new delivery points tied to a Nevada gas pipeline expansion planned by a subsidiary of Southwest Gas Holdings to meet AI power demand. And yes, this is the gas pipeline that is beloved and cheered on by your governor. Jeniffer Solis reports: Third data center gas plant seeks approval, as gas pipeline expansion advances

Still unaffordable though. “Home prices declined nationally and wage growth outpaced price growth in many counties, but those gains were not enough to meaningfully improve affordability across much of the country,” says the CEO of a real estate data outfit in a new analysis. Dana Gentry reports: Clark County home price drop among biggest in nation, report says

Re the aforementioned malign neglect. “As the political environment continues to sour for Republicans, a new analysis released by the Urban Institute on Monday underscores just how expensive everyday life has become in America: Gas and electricity prices are rising much faster than paychecks. Housing, childcare and healthcare are becoming a bigger strain for millions of people.” Stateline’s Kevin Hardy reports: Rising prices squeeze more Americans ahead of pivotal midterm elections

Good Luck