2018 archive
Dis Coarse Discourse 0
Frank Harris, III, bemoans the descent into debasement. A snippet:
Stormy Whether or Not 0
Dick Polman remarks on evangelical “Christians” ability to look the other way. A nugget:
Tales of the Trumpling: Snapshots of Trickle-Down Trumpery 0
A trumpled school:
Often, when Caldwell raised her hand in class to speak, the boy would say that black people are dumb, referring to her with the N-word, the complaint charges. He also used sexually derogatory language, said Makayla Madkins’s sister Chardonnay Madkins, a 2010 graduate of the IB program.
No Surprises 0
The Sunday New York Times Magazine had (yet another) article attempting to understand Donald Trump’s base. It revealed a predictable stew of willful ignorance, fabulism, racism, and selfishness, with a side of Fox News.
I would not recommend wasting your time with it; there is nothing new to see.
Instead, read Chauncey Devega’s recent article, in which he gets right to the base of the Republican debase. Here’s a bit:
However, there is one group of people who are honest about Donald Trump. White supremacists know that Donald Trump is one of their tribe. The Daily Stormer, the white supremacist website founded by neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin, described Trump’s comments last week as “encouraging and refreshing,” because they suggest that “Trump is more or less on the same page as us with regards to race and immigration.”
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Politeness is a family affair.
“The father received a phone call and, while he was on the phone, the daughter, in what appeared to be unintentional (sic), shot her brother with a .22-caliber revolver,” Indiana State Police spokesman Chad Dick told The Times-Mail in Bedford.
Stray Question 0
How does it feel to be a citizen of an international laughing stock?
Afterthought:
Somehow, current events are less painful when delivered by comics.
Dis Coarse Discourse 0
Robert Reich suggests the media practice truth in labeling as regards Donald Trump’s words and deeds. Here’s one of his points; follow the link for the other five (emphasis in the original):
3. Calling his lies “false claims” or “comments that have proved to be inaccurate.”
Baloney. They’re lies, plain and simple.
Early last year, the Wall Street Journal’s editor in chief insisted that the Journal wouldn’t label Trump’s false statements as “lies.” Lying, said the editor, requires a deliberate intention to mislead, which couldn’t be proved in Trump’s case.
Wrong. Normal presidents may exaggerate; some occasionally lie. But Trump has taken lying to an entirely new level. He lies like other people breathe. Almost nothing that comes out of his mouth can be assumed to be true.
For Trump, lying is part of his overall strategy, his M.O. and his pathology. Not to call them lies, or to not deem him a liar, is itself misleading.
The Art of the Con 0
Paul Krugman points out that you cannot make a deal with someone who cannot be trusted. A snippet:
(snip)
There are two things you need to realize about Trump’s utter unreliability. First, it has ramifications that go far beyond the recent shutdown. Second, it’s made possible, or at least much worse, by his enablers in Congress.