May, 2020 archive
Trade-off 0
Susan Estrich is less than optimistic about the effects of Donald Trump’s push to “reopen” the country. Here’s a bit from her article (emphasis added):
Stray Thought 0
The rule of law works so long as rulers believe that laws apply to rulers.
International Laughingstock Object of Pity
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The Trumpling of “American exceptionalism.”
We are a society of stupid.
Immunity Impunity
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At Above the Law, Elizabeth Dye takes a look at the recent firing of the State Department’s Inspector-General. A snippet:
The Entitlement Society, Verbal Gymnastics Dept. 0
David Kyle Johnson, writing at Psychology Today Blogs, pierces the smokescreen raised when someone tries to end an argument by saying, “I have a right to my opinion.” A snippet (emphasis added):
Simply put, the answer is no. Indeed, in almost all circumstances in which they are uttered, such assertions are false.
Note the qualifier in the last sentence above. Johnson is not saying that persons don’t have a right to their opinions in matters of opinion. Rather, he suggests that, when someone is reduced to actually uttering the words, “I have a right to my opinion” (or equivalent), he or she is justifying cleaving to an opinion shown to be demonstrably wrong, wrong, wrong.
Methinks he may be onto something.
Follow the link for the full article.
A Cavalcade of Spots 0
Sam muses about how advertisers are harnessing the current pandemic to pander to their potential purchasers by creating commercials of confoundingly conventional conformity.
All That Was Old Is New Again 0
My local rag reports on a recently-discovered letter written by a man’s mother, when she was still a teen, to her brother, who was in France during World War I, about life during the 1918 flu pandemic.
It is both fascinating and eerily familiar.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Once again, we are reminded that politeness is a family value.
The Fifth Freedom: Freedom from Citizenship 0
At NJ.com, Milton Hinton takes issue with the reasoning (I use the term loosely) of the “reopen” protestors. A nugget (emphasis added):
Aside:
In case you missed it in history class (do they still teach history classes?), here are the other four freedoms.
The Epidemiologist Speaks 0
As aside, I must say that this is potentially a most disturbing news item.
Image via The Bob Cesca Show Blog.
