2016 archive
A Polonius for All Seasons 0
In the Portland Press-Herald, Alan Caron points out that, in his own fashion, Donald Trump is following that blowhard Polonius’s advice, “To thine own self be true,” because he can’t flipping help it.
Not that Trump hasn’t tried. For a while, he brought in new people. He worked with the national party on fundraising and field operations. Seasoned veterans of national campaigns helped him with messaging. He began to read from a teleprompter rather than rely on stream-of-consciousness riffs in his speeches. And his polling numbers began to rise.
But Trump’s attempts to broaden his support among women, more educated suburban voters, Hispanics and moderate Republicans were short-lived and at times painful to watch. He seemed to be awkwardly out of his element talking to a mainstream America that doesn’t think and act like him. . . .
Quickly enough, his bad habits began to take over. He couldn’t help himself.
The “Wikileaks Revelations” 0
Where oh where is my fainting couch?
I must clutch my pearls and swoon.
Afterthought:
If this stuff had appeared in The National Inquirer rather than at a website whose first name is “Wiki,” it would not have inspired even one editorial cartoon.
Trumpling Tirades 0
Daniel Ruth reviews the now-infamous Billy Bush-Trump tape and is not impressed.
(snip)
What Trump failed to understand (so what else is new?) is that indulging in obscenity-laced monologues is a perverse art form, requiring timing and tone of voice.
A great example of this occurred on April 29, 1983. The Chicago Cubs had gotten off to a horrible start to the baseball season. After losing yet another game, the team was booed by the Wrigley Field patrons. When asked about the catcalls, the soon-to-be ex-manager Lee Elia delivered a three-minute masterpiece of vulgarity, including at least 35 permutations of a four-letter word we dare not print. The oration deserves to be enshrined in Cooperstown.
Geeking Out 0
Fluxbox on Slackware —Current with qmmp playing The Abandoned Room, the GKrellM usage monitor (bottom right), and (shaded) Terminator and Firefox on my new-to-me Gateway monitor that I picked up for 15 bucks at the local DAV thrift store.
(The wallpaper automatically changes every 30 minutes because I wrote a script. I do like my pretty pictures.)
Ailes and Trump, Workout Buddies? 0
I used to listen to Al Franken when he was on Air America. He is a thoughtful and impressive person.
Via Raw Story.
You’ve Heard of Dune Buggies? 0
Now learn about buggy dunes.
All That Was Old Is New Again 0
The American Scholar reprints Reinhold Niebuhr’s 1937 article about the rise of Fascism in Europe.
Read it.
“Some People Are More Equal Than Others”* 0
Andres Oppenheimer wonders why it took so long:
Where were McCain, New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and dozens of other high-profile Republicans who didn’t break with Trump until the Oct. 7 release of Trump’s now infamous video?
Most of them, like McCain, explained that they had made their difficult decision because “I have daughters.” Where were they when Trump demonized Hispanics? Don’t they have any Hispanic friends?
Read the rest.
________________
*With apologies to George Orwell.
The Hottest Thing in Tech 0
Click to see the image at its original location.
Rumor is that Samsung’s new model will be the “Samsung Nova.” Initial reports are that it’s a blast to use.