March, 2017 archive
If One Standard Is Good, Two Must Be Better 0
In these parts, there have been several instances of black persons imprisoned for minor, almost miniscule crimes, dying in jail from neglect, with this being perhaps the most unspeakably egregious case.
Meanwhile, a rich white banker convicted of bribery and bank fraud gets a “Get Out of Jail Free” card because he has high blood pressure.
The editorial cartoonist for my local rag is not amused.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Rear your children politely.
They say the 6-year-old came across her father’s handgun and accidentally fired it.
Guns and stupid, guns and stupid,
They go together like a horse and carriage.
This I tell you brother,
Mix them together to make your carnage.
Second Thoughts? 0
I fear not enough persons are having them.
Mythbuster 0
The Rude One marvels at Trump’s fact-free interview with Time Magazine. Here’s a snippet (emphasis added, warning: language):
When someone believes their own mythology, they become parodies of themselves. Trump has never not been that parody, and now, as his supposedly legendary dealmaking ability falls to pieces in the health care bill debacle, he is frantically trying to maintain the illusion of the myth. Without that myth, he’s just a sad old man in an ill-fitting suit who wants to play truck driver.
Stop the Pressers! 0
In The Roanoke Times, history professor Robert A. Strong recounts examples of lies from various Presidential administrations from Eisenhower (denying spy flights over Russia) through Kennedy (denying having Addison’s disease) through Carter (denying planning military action to rescue the hostages in Iran) through Reagan through Clinton and so on. He points out that the lies have generally ranged from national security issues to campaign promises to personal issues, but that they stopped short of denying objective reality that was in public view.
He maintains that Trump’s lies are different in both degree and kind (emphasis added).
In a piece that eerily covers the same ground, Der Spiegel suggests that Trump is more interested in freedom of propaganda than in freedom of the press.
McCurry believes that Trump would like to curtail press freedom. “If he could issue an order that the only coverage allowed of him was positive, he would do so without delay.”
History 0
I’m a Southern Boy. I grew up under Jim Crow and went to segregated schools, as I have mentioned from time to time in these electrons. I had ancestors who owned slaves. My degree is in history with a concentration in U. S. Southern.
As I’ve added experience to my studies, I have more and more concluded that race and racism are constant undercurrents (and sometimes overcurrents) in American politics, however energetically white Americans try to pretend otherwise.
A half century ago, Richard Nixon’s odious Southern strategy caused the Republican Party to morph into the party of racism and bigotry.
Nixon thought that he could use Southern bigots and racists to cement his power (that worked out very nicely, did it not?); now, half a century later, his strategy had come full circle and the powers that he invited into his party have consumed it. Bigotry and racism are fundamental elements underlying Republican polices and positions, central elements to their campaign strategies.
This week, the results of Nixon’s decision to open Republican doors wide to racists played out quite publicly in Republicans’ failed attempt to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act, the health care law that Republicans chose to refer to as “Obamacare,” for reasons that Atrios summed up brilliantly yesterday so I don’t have to.
Trumpling Freedom of Religion 0
(Link fixed.)
In The Seattle Times, Rabbi Daniel Weiner reflects on the recent anti-Semitic vandalism of his synagogue, in which the words, “Holocau$t is face hi$tory,” were spray-painted on its wall. He responds to persons who believed that he unfairly blamed Donald Trump for the deed. Here’s an excerpt (emphasis added):
There has been much documented about the intersections between Trump associates and the “alt-right” — a cleansing euphemism for white supremacy. Trump’s actual regard for vulnerable populations, Jews among them, is inconsequential to his intoning of the classic “dog-whistles” of anti-minority tropes. If he is truly aware of the implications of his words, it is troubling. If he plumbs the abyss out of mere political expediency, it is equally dangerous, displaying a reckless disregard for truth and propriety unworthy of the office he currently holds.
When you blow a dog-whistle, don’t be surprised when the dogs respond.
Projecting the Loss 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Stanton Peel returns with another post about Donald Trump; Peele argues that Trump’s reaction to Republicans’ pulling their “they laughingly call it a health care” bill is a classic illustration of psychological projection.
Here’s a bit:
Um, Mr. President? No votes were taken with Democrats present.
Psychological projection is a syndrome in which humans defend themselves against their own unconscious impulses or qualities by denying their existence in themselves while attributing them to others.
Donald Trump’s speech on the defeat of the health care bill he supported was a model of projection.
Do please read the rest.
Droning On 0
And the gavel came drone:
In July 2015, William Merideth, 47, was at home in Hillview, Kentucky, America, when his daughter came in from sunbathing in the garden to say there was a drone buzzing overhead. As a firm believer in his Second Amendment rights, Merideth loaded up his shotgun with bird shot, waited until the camera-fitted quadcopter came over his home, and then took it down with a single shot – which bought the drone’s operators running.
If some unknown dude were droning over my daughter when she was sunbathing, I might have been inclined to do the same thing. There is a time and a place . . . .
At the link, the story drones on for a few more paragraphs.
Football uber Alles 0
For once, football’s “winning is the only thing” invisible plastic shield proved vulnerable.
After nearly 12 hours of deliberation, a Dauphin County jury of seven women and five men found Spanier guilty of a misdemeanor count of endangerment. He was acquitted of a second endangerment count, as well as a felony conspiracy charge.
That it’s a misdemeanor is irrelevant. That it’s a conviction is everything.
Meanwhile, in related news of “Get Out of Jail Free” cards . . . .
Ryan’s Derp (Updated, Kicked to the Top) 0
It’s not the war.
Afterthought:
Thanks, Obama.
Addendum:
SeattlePI previews the next strategy to make America sick again.
Votes Matter 0
Pandora points out the Trump voters shouldn’t be surprised now that they are getting what they voted for.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Nothing like a little playtime to make the workday go faster.
