2017 archive
Trump in Translation 0
Dick Polman deciphers the hieroglyphics.
Parallels of History (Updated) 0
Paul Krugman see similarities between Trump and Caligula.
Writing a week later, Nicholas Kristoff suggests that Caligula comes off looking pretty good in the comparison.
Addendum, Early the Next Day:
Meanwhile, some buffoon at Forbes asserts that Caligula was a Democrat.
Words fail me.
White-in-more-than-one-way-wash 0
In The Roanoke Times, historian Robert Willingham points out just who, exactly, is guilty of “whitewashing history.” A nugget; follow the link for the rest:
__________________
*The statues were erected during the beginning of the Jim Crow era, roughly about a century ago.
Fatal Attraction 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Alice LoCicero explores reasons why “good kids” may be susceptible to appeals to join white supremacist groups. She theorizes that a misguided, even misappropriated, sense of justice may form part of the equation. An excerpt:
I’m not sure I buy her theory in toto and her article has a few leaps of logic (not that I necessarily disagree with the gist of what she says, but that the connections are not well-made), but I do think she’s on to something.
It’s only in cartoons that the bad guy twirls his mustache, and says, “What kind of evil shall I do today?” In real life, the baddest bad guy thinks that his actions are somehow justified or, at least, excusable.
Still Hanging on 0
In The Des Moines Register, Cameron Carr reminds us that white America has never faced up the the legacy of chattel slavery and the embrace of racism. Here’s a bit of what he says:
Read the rest, then look at this month’s news and dare argue that he’s wrong.
QOTD 0
George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax:
Anger is never without an argument, but seldom with a good one.
A Legacy Indeed in Deed
0
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports on a project to locate and expunge segregationist covenants that linger in the legal language of residential deeds. The covenants no longer have force of law, but, as property transfers have taken place, they continue to exist in the fine print. Here’s a bit:
It’s long been rendered unenforceable by state legislation and federal law, but it’s jarring nonetheless for Holman, a construction attorney, who said he’ll try to get a court to nullify it.
(snip)
So far, members of the Mapping Prejudice project have discovered some 5,000 deeds with racist restrictions. The covenants appear to be concentrated in the whitest Minneapolis neighborhoods, illustrating the long historical reach that racial restrictions have had on the city’s residential housing, while helping to explain the de facto segregation housing patterns that exist today.
If you are foolish enough to think that the past does not live into the present (or even if you are not), read the whole thing.
There’s an App for That 0
Thom speaks on several off-beat topics, then discusses how your smartphone spies on you. The relevant portion starts at the five-minute mark.
Truth-in-Labeling 2
Writing at the Colorado Springs Gazette, Ari Armstrong points out that words matter. An excerpt:
(snip)
Neo-Nazis are quite happy to be called “far right” because of the seeming implication that they have something in common with my “center right” friends. But they have nothing in common. Being a racist is not a more extreme version of being for low taxes (or the like); logically the two things have nothing to do with each other.
Happy Birthday to Me 0
From Pine View Farm is 12 years old today.
Who woulda thunk?
Along the way, I’ve learned a lot about web hosting, HTML, CSS, Linux, SQL, and computers. I’ve also learned a lot, mostly from Republicans, about hypocrisy, venality, and scurrilousness.
I value the former. I deplore the latter.
Every time I consider retiring this blog, something comes along, usually from the right side, to reset my outrage meter.
QOTD 0
Rex Stout:
. . . he had invited luck to contribute to the great cause, by sundry means from crackaloo to 10-cent bridge, and learned to late that luck’s clock was slow.
Stout, Rex, Some Buried Caesar (New York: Bantam Dell, 2008) p. 132)
Change of Pace 0
The old Mike Douglas Show would have weekly co-hosts. I remember watching the week that the Mills Brothers served in that role (I think only three of them were still around). I’ve liked their music ever since.
Frankie Laine also co-hosted the Douglas Show one week. By that time, he frequently wore glasses, tending to favor heavy black frames. He wore a different pair of glasses for each show, including a pair with built-in windshield wipers (which he quickly replaced after his entrance).
Contempt for Court 2
Prior to the event, Noah Feldman wrote of the implications of Donald Trump’s (then rumored) pardoning racist bigot-panderer Joe Arpaio. A snippet (emphasis added):
Such a pardon would reflect outright contempt for the judiciary, which convicted Arpaio for his resistance to its authority.
Every day of Trumpery ups the volume of vile and further erodes the rule of law.