November, 2018 archive
“Backfire Intelligence” 0
Meet the Keystone Kops of political (in)operatives: Joe Patrice dissects the plot to pay some women to gin up phony sexual misconduct allegations against Robert Mueller.
“The Other” 0
In a piece that I suspect fear will be quite useful in examining the results of this election, regardless of the outcome, Cannon Thomas explores the dynamics of “us” vs. “them.” Here’s a bit:
Here’s what mobilization against “them” looks like:
- We identify people or groups of people who are a threat to what we value and begin to have intense automatic emotional reactions to them. These emotions are well-studied and arise before we have even mentally processed the content of what the other person is saying.
- That gut emotional response shapes and informs all of our opinions and attitudes. The reaction precedes any rational awareness of the content of the issue, and our attitudes are very hard to change from that point. We create very elaborate and convincing arguments for what we already felt. People are wired to assume what they see is all there is, so we fail to realize that we are becoming entrenched in a very limited perspective.
- We minimize or marginalize the other person or group. We process them as less human, more limited or impaired on a moral level, and as less “right” than we are. How else could they fail to see what is so obvious to us?
- We mobilize against them to protect what is “right” or “good.” Sometimes we do it with the sense of being engaged in a moral good; sometimes we do it with a frustrated defensiveness. Regardless, we fight for what we believe is right.
The result, in any situation where cooperation is required, is disastrous.
Remember, for Republicans, everybody else is a “them.”
“A Pointless Waste of Time” 0
David points out that fact-checking Trump is a pointless waste of time, because his dupes, symps, and fellow-travelers don’t care and everyone else is already on to him.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Rack up another one for politeness.
The boy did not survive.
QOTD 0
Craig Washington (in a floor debate in the Texas legislature about banning flag-burning as a means of protest):
H/T to my brother for telling me of this quotation.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Scatter politeness about your home.
The girl apparently shot herself with a handgun, the sheriff said.
QOTD 0
Rex Stout, in the voice of Archie Goodwin:
After habits get automatic, you’re no longer aware of them.
Stout, Rex, Might As Well Be Dead (New York: Bantam, 1993), p. 19.
What a Difference an “i” Makes 0
Look up these two words:
- venal
- venial
Compare the definitions.
