August, 2017 archive
Deconstruction 0
In the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Tony Norman argues that the upcoming HBO series, Confederate, has morphed from a what-if to a documentary. He maintains that current events make it clear that the South won the war.
I must quibble. The South did indeed lose the war.
The South won the peace with the deconstruction of Reconstruction and with the deployment of the myth (today it would be called a “P. R. campaign”) of the nobility of the Lost Cause.
Hood and Winked 0
Petula Dvorak puts the blame where it belongs. A snippet (emphasis added):
Except today, there are no hoods.
Donald Trump gave everyone permission to take those hoods off with his winks, nods and refusal to take a moral stand on racial hatred and intimidation during his campaign and during the first six months of his presidency.
In a related article, Austin Gonzalez, who was present in Charlottesville, calls out Donald Trump’s “many-siderism,” which, I reckon, is sort of like both-siderism on siderism growth hormones.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Gather ye politeness where ye may.
Police say the young man and a friend found the gun unattended in a city park. They took it home, and one of them accidentally shot the other.
Out, Out, Trumpled Spot 0
Dick Polman considers Donald Trump’s weaselly reaction to the racist terrorism by vehicle in Charlottesville, Virginia, yesterday. A snippet:
Of course, denying responsibility would’ve made him look even worse, because the sheer weight of the evidence renders him guilty as charged. Yesterday’s spilt blood is on his hands.
Read the rest.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
Leonard Pitts, Jr., argues that one factor contributing to yesterday’s racist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, was our society’s inability to be honest about racism. A snippet:
Like when people say that talking about racism is racism.
Or when they babble pious inanities like “racism goes both ways” and “all lives matter.”
Nor have news media always brought clarity. It was pundits, after all, who kept ascribing Donald Trump’s rise to “economic anxiety” even as his followers were yelling racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic slurs with unbridled glee. And leave us not forget how media have allowed the folks who brought such chaos to Charlottesville to brand themselves under a banal-sounding new euphemism — the “alt-right” — as if they were not the same bunch of mouth-breathing, lowlife racists they always were.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
A fell swoop of politeness:
A bullet hit the man’s finger, went through a bedroom wall and exited into the living room, according to the report. He was treated at a local hospital.
The Trumpled Fan Club 0
Dana Milbank finds unwavering support for Donald Trump in an (un?) expected place. A snippet:
Balderdash.
There is absolutely no reason to think Trump’s support has slipped in the slightest among those who like him best: the 144 million men, women and children of the Russian Federation. A poll released by the Pew Research Center end of June found that fully 53 percent of Russians have confidence in Trump, 67 percent there think he’s a strong leader and 62 percent find him charismatic and well qualified.
“Error Creating a Database Connection” (Updated) 0
I got the dreaded above-named error tonight. Fortunately, a quick trip to phpMyAdmin at my hosting provider to do a check, repair, and optimize fixed it and all is back to what passes for normal.
Afterthought:
I use GoDaddy. Their tech support is superb, and I say that as someone who wore a headset for six years.
Addendum, the Next Morning:
This morning I got a MySQL socket error. I ended up rebooting the VPS and everything seems to be working again. If you notice any wackiness, please drop me a note via the email link over there on the sidebar. —————->
The Trumpled Agenda (Updated) 0
Addendum, Later That Same Day:
The Charlottesville Daily Progress has more on today in hate. An excerpt:
There’s nothing like imported hate.
Full Disclosure:
I spent a year at U.Va. a long time ago, during which I realized I was not cut out to be an academician. (Dammit, it’s “academician,” not “academic.” “Academic” is an adjective, for Pete’s sake; “academician” is a noun. It’s called “grammar.” Grumble grumble.)
“The Thrill of Victory, the Agony of Delete” 0
It would appear that the International Olympic Committee has given up all pretense of being about anything other than mammon. Bob Molinaro reports:
Teed Off 0
Will Bunch:
The good news is that the experts still believe, despite the insane rhetoric and threats from both sides, that a nuclear war involving the United States, North Korea, and assorted allies is highly unlikely. In that sense, it’s a little like comedian Steven Wright’s joke about his plan to live forever: so far, so good.
Follow the link.
Image via Job’s Anger.