2017 archive
Reality Show Governance 0
Der Spiegel looks back on a year of Trumpery. A nugget:
Follow the link for the rest.
I’ve Been Polled 0
I received a call on my cellphone the other day.
Thankfully, it was not from the Health Care Enrollment Center, the phishing scam that calls me pretending that they have “received my inquiry” when I have made no inquiry. (I keep blocking their numbers and they keep calling with new, likely spoofed numbers.)
It was from a legit polling outfit calling about Tuesday’s election. I answered frankly about my political predilections.
One of the questions was, “What made you choose between Ralph Northam and Ed Gillespie.”
I said, “One is a good and decent human being; the other is not.”
At which point the pollster lost it.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Be polite to your friends.
The gunman said when he pulled the trigger, the weapon fired and shot his friend in the head.
Racing Downward 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Benjamin Mitchell-Yellin makes an argument that downward comparison is an element of Donald Trump’s appeal. Here’s one of his examples; visit the link for the complete essay.
Escape Clause 0
Elie Mystal reports. A snippet:
This week, we have as close as we’re going to get to contractual evidence that sexual harassment and assault is both contemplated and condoned when powerful men are involved.
No matter how many people are “outed” for their sexual misconduct (Louie CK, Mark Halperin, Donald Trump) there are people who resist the notion that this behavior is somehow authorized. There are people who refuse to accept that we have erected a system and society designed to allow men to victimize women they meet, and then protect those men from their accusers.Follow the link for Exhibit A.
Idiot Abroad, Reprise 0
Warning: Language.
The Galt and the Lamers 0
In the Hartford Courant, Colin McEnroe looks at the results of Tuesday’s elections and makes a some predictions. In particular, he suggests that the inside-the-beltway punditocracy will invariably draw the wrong conclusions (after all, that’s what they do–he doesn’t say that, I do).
I particularly want to highlight his “Three Commandments of Political Analysis”:
II. Thou shalt occasionally ignore I.
III. If a Libertarian lieth with a Green, everything whereon they subsequently sitteth shall be unclean.
In the bulk of his column, he focuses on item II, suggesting that Tuesday’s outcomes may well offer lessons for the 2018 national races; follow the link for his reasoning.
I want to comment a bit on item III:
Remember, a Libertarian is one who seeks an elaborate, fancy-smancy rationale for denying the existence of the common good. Libertarianism is a creed that appeals most notably to 15-year-old boys, regardless of their ages.
For all practical purposes, a Libertarian in today’s political scene is little more than a Republican who’s ashamed to admit it.
Idiot Abroad 0
Dick Polman assesses Donald Trump’s performance in China and finds it shedding light on his character–nope, not the right word modus operandi.
Follow the link for his reasons for saying that.
Droning On 0
It appears the drone has finally come home to roost.
Cole Kelley has been charged with reckless endangerment, having reportedly flown the drone around pyrotechnicians while they set up the traditional fireworks show, according to police reports.
Space Needle security were alerted to the incident about 2:45 p.m. Dec. 31 after Kelley reported crashing the nearly seven-pound aircraft on the roof of the structure.
The device was captured and subdued by aforesaid “pyrotechnicians.”