This was one of those weekends, to add to one of those months to add, to add to one of those years.
● Spent Saturday night (about 7 hours) in the ER after my father fell. He's alright, so that's good. But he said something that bothered me. I was there with him the whole time of course, but he thanked me for coming. I said of course I would be there, and he said that it seems a lot of people wouldn't do that anymore. This statement bothers me. I've been wondering what he sees in the world that makes him think that's true. Have we become that shitty as a human race that this could be true? I know some people that I doubt would go... that makes me really sad, actually. It seems like the shitty among us keep finding new depths.
● Ric Ocasek died, adding to the toll of dead musicians in the past year. I guess there's a race between musicians and billionaires to see who can pile up more dead this year. I don't miss the billionaires. I do miss the musicians. That actually confirms something to me that I think conservatives have wrong: artists are more important than businessmen.
● Felicity Huffman got sentenced to 14 days in prison for the college bribery scandal. This has brought howls of "white privilege." Ridiculous. The reason she got no real jail time is because her "crime" involves handing large amounts of her own money to a school in the hopes that her kids could enroll there. Who is actually harmed by that? Yes, I know, some other student who didn't make it, right? Yeah, but since she could have donated the money openly and gotten the same treatment, is there really a genuine harm? Now compare that to all the "innocent" young black men we're supposed to believe are in jail because they lack white privilege. (White privilege apparently extends to black women, as they don't go to jail either.) What did they do to get there? First, most (like their white prisoner cousins) have long, long, long histories of violence, robberies, B&E, beating their girlfriends, etc. NONE of them are in on a single charge. And what they did was shoot a fellow black male over drug turf, beat a black girlfriend to a pulp, rob and beat some old black woman for her money, or rape someone. Don't talk to me about white privilege over this. That's BS. A white woman who gives away millions in a bribe to help her daughter is not the moral equivalent of thug who terrorizes his own neighborhood and destroys lives.
● Also on Huffman, I do think that this scandal has exposed the issue with elitism. But I find it rather disturbing that the elitist left is crapping on her as a sacrificial lamb. They're all doing it. They're all rigging the game. They all protect their own across the board for all their behavior. Burning Huffman at the stake will not rid them of that stain.
● I think the Democratic field is set, and much quicker than expected. No outsider jumped in. Starbucks guy bailed out. The fringe freaks are done, even if some are still talking. I think we're looking at Biden v. Bernie v. Warren with a VP lineup of Harris, Buttguy, and (insert accent-wall outsiter here).
Thoughts?
● Spent Saturday night (about 7 hours) in the ER after my father fell. He's alright, so that's good. But he said something that bothered me. I was there with him the whole time of course, but he thanked me for coming. I said of course I would be there, and he said that it seems a lot of people wouldn't do that anymore. This statement bothers me. I've been wondering what he sees in the world that makes him think that's true. Have we become that shitty as a human race that this could be true? I know some people that I doubt would go... that makes me really sad, actually. It seems like the shitty among us keep finding new depths.
● Ric Ocasek died, adding to the toll of dead musicians in the past year. I guess there's a race between musicians and billionaires to see who can pile up more dead this year. I don't miss the billionaires. I do miss the musicians. That actually confirms something to me that I think conservatives have wrong: artists are more important than businessmen.
● Felicity Huffman got sentenced to 14 days in prison for the college bribery scandal. This has brought howls of "white privilege." Ridiculous. The reason she got no real jail time is because her "crime" involves handing large amounts of her own money to a school in the hopes that her kids could enroll there. Who is actually harmed by that? Yes, I know, some other student who didn't make it, right? Yeah, but since she could have donated the money openly and gotten the same treatment, is there really a genuine harm? Now compare that to all the "innocent" young black men we're supposed to believe are in jail because they lack white privilege. (White privilege apparently extends to black women, as they don't go to jail either.) What did they do to get there? First, most (like their white prisoner cousins) have long, long, long histories of violence, robberies, B&E, beating their girlfriends, etc. NONE of them are in on a single charge. And what they did was shoot a fellow black male over drug turf, beat a black girlfriend to a pulp, rob and beat some old black woman for her money, or rape someone. Don't talk to me about white privilege over this. That's BS. A white woman who gives away millions in a bribe to help her daughter is not the moral equivalent of thug who terrorizes his own neighborhood and destroys lives.
● Also on Huffman, I do think that this scandal has exposed the issue with elitism. But I find it rather disturbing that the elitist left is crapping on her as a sacrificial lamb. They're all doing it. They're all rigging the game. They all protect their own across the board for all their behavior. Burning Huffman at the stake will not rid them of that stain.
● I think the Democratic field is set, and much quicker than expected. No outsider jumped in. Starbucks guy bailed out. The fringe freaks are done, even if some are still talking. I think we're looking at Biden v. Bernie v. Warren with a VP lineup of Harris, Buttguy, and (insert accent-wall outsiter here).
Thoughts?
Andrew,
ReplyDelete● First, glad to hear your father is alright. My dad was recently in the hospital for a pacemaker, and the whole time he complained about the fuss everyone was making over him. I guess that’s my segue into saying it's all a matter of perspective. The media is always telling its viewers/listeners/readers that things are worse now than they've ever been despite all metrics to the contrary. As far as human isolation goes, if you read old books, you'll see that those experiences are nothing new. I find it hard to believe that we are more isolated now in our connected age. As to whether our interactions are more superficial today, while the argument is compelling, it's hardly supported by more than anecdote.
I think the important thing is, be there for the people you love. And if they feel like they've got something special because of it, well, they're still right, aren't they?
● Conservatives have a tendency to mistake businessmen for entrepreneurs. They are not the same animals. (Many entrepreneurs are terrible businessmen who were lucky enough to fall in with a businessman along the way.) This is a devastating miscalculation on a number of fronts. One, it dismisses failed entrepreneurs because—I guess—they weren't very good businessmen. Two, since most artists don't make careers of their art obscures from them the fact that every artist who pulls a buck, even just once, is an entrepreneur. Two-point-five, almost everyone is an artist in some respect, so it dismisses everyone. Three, businessmen are more conservative than most conservatives, that is, they will always back the status quo, no matter how much it gets shaped by liberal progressive statists.
● I've been putting it out on Twitter, and it's found some purchase with a few of the accounts I regularly chat with, that a defining feature of the left is their inability, either real or feigned, to make distinctions—oftentimes simple distinctions. The idea that large bribes to the ivy leagues are on par with violent street crime is an example almost too good to expect, and yet…
● Scapegoating is real and it is everywhere. Different subject, but I watch with nervous bemusement as Jewish conservatives get branded Nazis and Israel gets labeled a white supremacist state. I don't know the timeframe, but I'm certain the Jews will be persecuted yet again, and probably for being literally Hitler the next time around.
● Biden is getting so much bad press, he will probably Trump his way into the Democratic nomination.
Andrew, I'm very glad your father is alright.
ReplyDeleteGypsyTyger
Andrew,
ReplyDelete1) Glad your dad is alright.
2) I think if Bernie or Warren withdraws in the near future Biden will have a tough time of it but if both stick around they will hand the nomination to him.
3) The NYT is really clowning itself over Kavanaugh.
4) I've very curious about where this Iran thing will end up. I don't think either side wants war but it might happen. Iran's proxy strikes are getting harder as our sanctions bite deeper.
Thanks, everybody. It was kind of scary, but it turned out well.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteAnthony, The NYT has really embarrassed itself, but I don't honestly know that they care. I don't think their readers care if they wrongly smear a conservative.
Iran is looking like it could end up turning into a shooting match by accident.
tryanmax,
ReplyDeleteThe thinking left has intentionally abandoned any sort of equivalency. They have replaced it with hyperbole. The drones made the switch without realizing anything had changed. They just dropped the idea of equivalency from their lexicon.
On society, I think what bothers me is two things. First, it seems that our culture pushed the bad and ignores the good even though the vast majority of people is good. Flipping this around would make a much better world and would improve mental health, as well as driving people toward the better. Secondly, the sh*tty among us seem to keep sinking lower and lower all the time. How much lower do they sink and why are we supposed to let behave that way unmolested? It bothers me.
Thanks, GypsyTyger. Not a happy moment.
ReplyDeleteBiden's gang story sounds like he stole it from Ron White...you know, 'Cornpop' is 'Tater Salad's half-brother..
ReplyDelete