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Well put from Williamson
We could do with a good deal less passion in our public life. The alt-right knuckleheads rallied behind Donald Trump not for reasons having to do with policy — they have no serious policy agenda at all — but because he gives voice to their passion, that passion being the desire to shock and annoy the politically correct busybodies and transnational economic elites by whom they feel condescended to.
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Recursive and foreshadowing
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The Tree
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The NFL and Trump
I’m amazed that my lack of interest in sports is now considered patriotic! One thing to remember is that in the age of revenue sharing you can’t watch/participate in anything sports related without supporting the NFL. Yay! Let us read more books.
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Quote of the day – podcast edition
From Kevin Williamson – one of my recent favorite pundits:
Congress can use a little less self-importance and a little more self-respect.
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Quote of the day – Joni Mitchell edition
Despite her prominence among the young musicians of the 1960s and 1970s, and her writing of “Woodstock” (where she was prevented from performing because her manager thought it was more advantageous to appear on The Dick Cavett Show[74]), she did not align herself with the era’s protest movements or its cultural manifestations. She has said that the parents of the boomers were unhappy, and “out of it came this liberated, spoiled, selfish generation into the costume ball of free love, free sex, free music, free, free, free, free we’re so free. And Woodstock was the culmination of it.” But “I was not a part of that,” she explained in an interview
Identities strike again I suppose. Making one’s costless opinions (on Climate Change, Trump, the Vietnam War in this case) of primary importance is perplexing, particularly when I do it. Granted people do talk a lot about parenting, work, etc (i.e stuff they actually do every day) the opinions are useful proxies for something I suppose.
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American in 2017, in one headline
also
crimes were committed by people who identified as Juggalos
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Quote of the day
From this documentary about Leonard Cohen
It’s odd – his relationship with the material world seems perfect, i.e. something to be consumed, not pursued or desired. The concepts aren’t diametrically opposed, but it does change the outlook.
He is a very good example of going through life as a tourist, like Hoffer, which I suppose is why I’m drawn to him.
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Quote of the day for our modern, anxious times
Judge lest ye be judged
Which is putting it strongly. The amount of time and effort put into posturing in the comment section is remarkable, and the more identifiable someone is, seemingly the more posturing.
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American under delegated, retired, military rule
I suppose we’re at the point where someone should point out that if you combine
- the presence of John Kelly selected as Trump’s chief of staff, Mattis as secretary of defense, and the host of other flag officers in his administration,
- Trump’s seeming aversion to the nitty gritty aspects of administration
- Trump’s inexperience with the subject matter
We largely have retired military rule – if they’re not making the actual decisions, they’re influencing the available options enough to where they might as well be. It’s a good thing for the most part – Trump seems content to play court jester and social media director, and not much beyond that. Seemingly he’s capable of being somewhat presidential, but seems content to delegate any actual decision making to others, and just issue commentary.
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The non special theory of our times, and media engineering
What if we don’t live in meaningful times, and what if the truly notable facts of the 2016 election are
- A crowded Republican field – allowing the only candidate Trump an opening against more establishment types
- A phenomenally unpopular Hillary Clinton
Coupled with
- Advances in media engineering (like “financial engineering” creating new mortgage products, subprime and otherwise) allowing the media to profitably saturate America with “junk” (not necessarily fake”) news.
- Increases in generalized anxiety due to Facebook, lack of physical activity and sleep deprivation
Match those two things together and we feel like we’re in some deep important times, even if in terms of importance it’s like we’re stuck in the 50s with out the cold war.