September, 2024 archive
“Tempered Rhetoric” 0
Seth takes a closer look at the Republican Party’s expressed desire to “tone donw the rhetoric.”
“History Does Not Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes”* 0
At the Portland Press-Herald, David B. Offer hears a rhyme. Here’s the first line of the couplet:
Follow the link for the rhyme.
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*Mark Twain.
False Equivalence: Comparing Apples to Cow Pats 0
Colby Hall notes that (some) Trump is trying to blame Democrats’ rhetoric for the recent thwarted assassination attempt. They are equating claims that Trump represents a threat to democracy (he does) with Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen (it wasn’t).
Here’s tiny bit from his article:
The problem is that the comparison makes no sense. It is a brazen false equivalency that flat-out ignores the fact that what caused Jan. 6 — Trump’s false election claims and his continued spouting of them — is precisely the threat to democracy that Hume invokes.
Crucially, the difference between Hume’s examples of inciting claims is simple: one is true, and one is false. The claim that fueled Jan. 6, that the 2020 election was stolen, is false. If it were true, few would criticize Trump for complaining about it. It was not true.
QOTD 0
P. D. James:
She had always believed–somewhat to her surprise–that God existed but was unconvinced that he was moved by the worship of man or by the tribulations and extraordinary vagaries and antics of the creation He had set in being.
James, P. D., The Murder Room (New York: Knopf, 2003) p. 49
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
I commend to your attention Harry Shearer’s interview with Gary Marcus on this week’s episode of Le Show about AI and Silicon Valley’s reckless over-hyping of its capabilities.
The interview starts at about the 28 minute mark and lasts a little less than half an hour.
All That Was Old Is New Again 0
Thom points out that racial hate seems to be the only strategy that Trump and Vance have left.
He also notes that their racist tactics are–er–not unprecedented in America’s history.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” (Updated) 0
The stupid.
The shot rang out on September 15 inside the Costco location near Kalamazoo on Century Avenue.
The firearm was inside a woman’s purse when it went off.
The gun’s legal owner was shot in her hand, according to the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office.
It burns.
Addendum:
The MSP officer, whose name was not released, was off duty Sunday when the gun “accidentally discharged” from inside her purse at the Costco on Century Avenue off Michigan Avenue in Oshtemo Township.
Words fail me.
On second thought, no, they don’t.
Guns do not “accidentally” discharge, but they can, indeed, “negligently” discharge.
“Accidentally” and “negligently” are not synonyms.
Karen Karen-Like 0
Honest to Betsy, you couldn’t make this stuff up.
Real Big Men 0
Michael in Norfolk wonders why so many men seem to be afraid of women.
QOTD 0
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin:
Growing old is like being increasingly penalized for a crime you haven’t committed.
A Notion of Immigrants 0
At The Colorado Sun, Mike Littwin debunks de bunk. A snippet; follow the link for context.
(snip)
Whether the apartment buildings in question — housing mostly Central American migrants — are dilapidated and run down and have been cited over the years for a long list of code violations is not up for debate. It’s true. Rep. Jason Crow, who represents Aurora in Congress, called the conditions “squalid” in a tweet while saying the gang issues are “grossly exaggerated.”
And also not up for debate is whether Aurora is a war zone or a migrant wasteland. That’s simply false.
Aside:
Methinks the reason Republicans lie so much about so many things is that truth is not on their side.
Gutting Out the Vote 0
Sue Jarrett, writing at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, outs house speaker Mike Johnson’s misdirection play.
The Disinformation Superhighway 0
Dion Lefler looks at the flood of mis- and disinformation flooding primarily “social” but also other media following last week’s presidential debate and concludes (emphasis added0:
Follow the link for his reasoning.
A Notion of Immigrants 0
Farron comments on J. D. Vance’s doubling down on his racist lies about Haitian immigrants..
PoliticalProf adds an observation.
As I have noted before, Richard Nixon’s southern strategy has come full circle and consumed the Republican Party.
It is now the party of the New Secesh.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
And, again, politeness becomes child’s play . . . .
One more time, “responsible gun owner” is an oxymoron.
