Aug 6, 2016
Aug 5, 2016
What We Miss
I have to admit that I get a little too sucked in. There's a tendency to yell and point at all the shitty things we don't like about the other guy's candidate while practically ignoring what "our" candidate wants to do. So we end up making a choice based on what we don't like about the brand on the outside of the box instead of making an informed decision based on what we know about the content inside the box.
We can't just go on voting against everything and everybody because that only gets us pretty much to where we are now - half of us are so "against it" that we don't vote at all.
We have to be able to vote for something.
One smallish case in point - here's a bit from Hillary's speech in Philly (via Alternet):
But anyway, my point is that I'll vote for Hillary partly because she's standing up and saying there's this real problem and we need to figure out something we can do about it. Which is in fact very different from Trump, who literally just makes shit up, tells us he's seen videos that don't exist, and has nothing to say about anything that might help us form some kind of reasonable policy.
Really, I'm not just against Trump, feeling I have nowhere else to go and I guess I'll hafta hang with Hillary. I've said something close to that in the past, but I'm a little smarter now - because I've been trying to do my homework.
So no, I'll go along with Hillary until or unless she bails on it - just like I try to do with all of 'em - hoping for the best while understanding I won't get everything I want, no matter who the candidate is or what issue I'm on about right now.
We can't just go on voting against everything and everybody because that only gets us pretty much to where we are now - half of us are so "against it" that we don't vote at all.
We have to be able to vote for something.
One smallish case in point - here's a bit from Hillary's speech in Philly (via Alternet):
We have to heal the divides in our country. Not just on guns. But on race. Immigration. And more. And that starts with listening, listening to each other. Trying, as best we can, to walk in each other’s shoes.I don't agree with the part of that article that tends towards cynicism. (Appearances to the contrary, I'm a skeptically pragmatic idealist - it's just that I can't always resist being a bit cynical, cuz holy crap dude, have you even seen what goes on up in here sometimes?)
So let’s put ourselves in the shoes of young black and Latino men and women who face the effects of systemic racism, and are made to feel like their lives are disposable.
But anyway, my point is that I'll vote for Hillary partly because she's standing up and saying there's this real problem and we need to figure out something we can do about it. Which is in fact very different from Trump, who literally just makes shit up, tells us he's seen videos that don't exist, and has nothing to say about anything that might help us form some kind of reasonable policy.
Really, I'm not just against Trump, feeling I have nowhere else to go and I guess I'll hafta hang with Hillary. I've said something close to that in the past, but I'm a little smarter now - because I've been trying to do my homework.
So no, I'll go along with Hillary until or unless she bails on it - just like I try to do with all of 'em - hoping for the best while understanding I won't get everything I want, no matter who the candidate is or what issue I'm on about right now.
Stumble forward.
Today's Quote
Clint Eastwood says 'When I was growing up, we didn't call it racism.' Emmett Till unavailable for comment.
--John Fugelsang
Compare And Contrast
Steely-eyed and focused vs twitchy and panicked
And btw - those Secret Service guys just jump into it no matter what. How straight-up amazingly awesome do you have to be to know your guy is a complete douche nozzle like Donald Trump, and still put yourself between him and trouble?
Steady as a rock and jumpy, erratic man pic.twitter.com/OxHzmWPXYu— Matt Ortega (@MattOrtega) August 4, 2016
And btw - those Secret Service guys just jump into it no matter what. How straight-up amazingly awesome do you have to be to know your guy is a complete douche nozzle like Donald Trump, and still put yourself between him and trouble?
Aug 4, 2016
Today's GIF
Breaking News: In spite of mounting pressure from GOP officials, the Trump campaign will not revamp the basic message at this time. They believe in their candidate and their candidate's message, and their candidate's unique ability to articulate that message.
We take you now to live coverage of Mr Trump's latest pronouncements:
We take you now to live coverage of Mr Trump's latest pronouncements:
image via Mock Paper Scissors
Meanwhile, at GOP Headquarters:
Just kidding - there are no black people working at GOP Headquarters. Let's not get silly.
An Armed Society
Here's one of the favorite bromides of the American Ammosexual:
I think maybe we're looking at large portions of the populace feeling intimidated into keeping silent; being reluctant to speak out because they're afraid some asshole with a gun might do something stoopidly shitty - and mistaking that forced reticence for courtesy.
Those two things are not the same.
And also too - the fact that Americans are heavily armed (and short-tempered) may be a contributing factor in our ever-increasing tendency to offload some of our societal responsibilities onto the cops.
Why would I knock on my neighbors' door to ask him to keep his dog quiet, when I'm afraid he'll shoot my ass? Am I being polite - or is it something else?
Just wanna point some of that shit out.
"An armed society is a polite society"
I think maybe we're looking at large portions of the populace feeling intimidated into keeping silent; being reluctant to speak out because they're afraid some asshole with a gun might do something stoopidly shitty - and mistaking that forced reticence for courtesy.
Those two things are not the same.
And also too - the fact that Americans are heavily armed (and short-tempered) may be a contributing factor in our ever-increasing tendency to offload some of our societal responsibilities onto the cops.
Why would I knock on my neighbors' door to ask him to keep his dog quiet, when I'm afraid he'll shoot my ass? Am I being polite - or is it something else?
Just wanna point some of that shit out.
Propaganda Works
Cool story, bro.
But wait - that's not Jacksonville, that's Cleveland. And oh gosh, that's the victory parade for the Cavaliers when they beat the Warriors for the NBA championship a coupla months ago.
Oops.
Dang - Breitbart lied to us? Another illusion shattered.
Aug 3, 2016
Today's GIF
We take you now to live coverage as our intrepid cadre of Press Poodles continue to strive gallantly to make Donald Trump seem like a viable candidate.
Today's Tweets
Meet another Gold Star family with some personal perspective on Donald Trump:https://t.co/z2eJfg9dv0— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) August 1, 2016
Crying baby ejected from Trump rally issues statement pic.twitter.com/NydOC41skZ— Ash Warner (@AlsBoy) August 2, 2016
Today's Political Leverage
Lotsa people have been wondering what's up with Paul Ryan. Why does he blast Trump for saying stoopidly shitty things while still supporting the nominee?
So it comes down to "damned if ya do and damned if ya don't", and that's how Trump always plays it. Everybody's fucked but him, which is a pretty good way to sum up the GOP Platform over the last 30 years, and also a plain-spoken interpretation of Ayn Rand's outlook, which means Trump is doing nothing but beating Ryan et al at their own game, which (hoping now) points up why you don't build a healthy society on the beliefs of a bitterly aggrieved former bourgeois fantasy hack whose life turned out to be exactly the kind of contradiction she railed against for 50 years.
So how 'bout it, Mr Speaker - will you tough it out and be the rugged individual St Ayn requires you to be? Or are you going to wuss out and ask somebody for a little help; a little teamwork; a little collective action?
You helped build that shit house - stop bitchin' about the stink and do something about it.
Ryan said Trump's criticism of Judge Curiel was "the textbook definition of a racist comment".
Ryan kept quiet when Trump went after Khizr Khan, and was rewarded by Trump coming out in support of Ryan's primary challenger.Now, Ryan's in a tight spot because he's trying hard to take his Party-Uber-Alles duties seriously, but at this point, he's trying to stand up for Party Unity in a GOP that split badly several years ago, and is in the process of splintering into smaller and smaller factions, heading rapidly for the Logical Extreme of becoming 20 million Parties Of One - which in a bit of sweet irony, is exactly what Ayn Rand's philosophy requires. Unity means there has to be a bit of sublimation of the individual in order to work in concert with as many others as possible (ie: making a collective effort, which is absolute anathema to The Randian Way).
So it comes down to "damned if ya do and damned if ya don't", and that's how Trump always plays it. Everybody's fucked but him, which is a pretty good way to sum up the GOP Platform over the last 30 years, and also a plain-spoken interpretation of Ayn Rand's outlook, which means Trump is doing nothing but beating Ryan et al at their own game, which (hoping now) points up why you don't build a healthy society on the beliefs of a bitterly aggrieved former bourgeois fantasy hack whose life turned out to be exactly the kind of contradiction she railed against for 50 years.
So how 'bout it, Mr Speaker - will you tough it out and be the rugged individual St Ayn requires you to be? Or are you going to wuss out and ask somebody for a little help; a little teamwork; a little collective action?
You helped build that shit house - stop bitchin' about the stink and do something about it.
Aug 2, 2016
Cracks In The Facade
US Rep Richard Hanna (R-NY22), and characterized as "Liberal Republican", via HuffPo - endorsing Hillary because he just can't stand to think of Trump as POTUS.
And BTW, Mr Hanna has chosen not to stand for re-election this time around, so while I think he's doing the right thing voting against his party's obviously bad choice of POTUS nominee, I'm not handing him any medals for political courage either.
The race for NY22 is called a toss-up right now, but shades towards a pickup for the Dems.
“I trust she can lead. All Republicans may not like the direction, but they can live to win or lose another day with a real candidate,” he wrote. “Our response to the public’s anger and the need to rebuild requires complex solutions, experience, knowledge and balance. Not bumper sticker slogans that pander to our disappointment, fear and hate.”I don't know much about New York's 22nd district, so I can't make a good guess as to the Gerrymandering effect, but in 2012, Mr Hanna ran unopposed and managed to get just 74% of the vote. Maybe 74% is a lot, but it seems like you're not exactly Mr Popularity when 45,500 people show up at the polls and still won't vote for you even though you're the only one in your race.
And BTW, Mr Hanna has chosen not to stand for re-election this time around, so while I think he's doing the right thing voting against his party's obviously bad choice of POTUS nominee, I'm not handing him any medals for political courage either.
The race for NY22 is called a toss-up right now, but shades towards a pickup for the Dems.
Today's Quote
“People who treat other people as less than human must not be surprised when the bread they have cast on the waters comes floating back to them, poisoned.” --James Baldwin
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