Trey Garrison

I remember when "Trey Garrison" (or is it Norman Asa Garrison III?) used to write for the late, unlamented "Dallas Blog", a rightwing blog run by Tom Pauken, chairman of the Texas Republican Party from 1994 to 1997, among other party positions and appointed government position. Both Pauken and Garrison were provocative and usually wrong. Garrison also wrote very occasionally for "The Dallas Morning News" and "D Magazine." But I lost track of Garrison long before the time that "Dallas Blog" itself ceased to be active about 2016.

"The Dallas Morning News" catches us up on what Trey Garrison has been up to:

“Trey Garrison came to us as a libertarian writer expressing carefully couched opinions about everything from diversity to rural life to running marathons,” said Mike Wilson, editor of The News. “His last op-ed for us ran almost nine years ago. Hatewatch has done good work exposing his overtly racist and misogynistic views. We haven’t missed him and will never have him back.”

If you care to read more about Trey Garrison, feel free. I'll just leave Mike Wilson's quote speak for itself.

"I'm pro-life and I voted for Beto O'Rourke"

Destiny Herndon-De La Rosa penned an op-ed for The Dallas Morning News explaining why she voted for Beto O'Rourke for US Senator from Texas. I love Destiny, and not just because she was the only one who begged me "Please don't go" when I quit blogging in 2010. She's probably one of the few writers who could successfully coax me to come back. She's a terrific writer, but she is also open-minded enough to consider alternative viewpoints. How else could a pro-life feminist consider voting for Beto O'Rourke?

Anyway, so here I am back at the keyboard. Read her op-ed, then come back here and read my open letter to Destiny.

McCain's Memoirs

Senator John McCain was one of the most interesting, puzzling, confounding politicians of our generation. I'm not going to go through all the details. That's what Wikipedia is for. But consider these facts. In 2004 McCain was talked about as a vice presidential candidate on the Democratic ticket with John Kerry. In 2008, McCain himself picked Sarah Palin for his own vice presidential candidate. How can the same politician be both of those things? Like I said, confounding.

This is the kind of politician that I'd like to hear off-the-record explaining what he was thinking. But that just doesn't happen. Politicians are never off-the-record, at least not when they are still in office. Because John McCain died in office, he'll never get to write his memoirs free from the obligations of future political campaigns. That's a shame. On the other hand, perhaps I hold out too much hope for learning what made him tick from his memoirs. A politician's memoirs may be written after he no longer needs to worry about facing the voters, but there's another judgment he's campaigning for at the end of his life: his legacy. I guess that's why political memoirs are so often disappointing. McCain's probably would have been, too. We'll probably never know how he himself balanced the puzzling contradictions in his political career. How much was principal? How much craven political opportunism? Which was which?

Just Say NO to Concealed Carry

Do you wonder how much Facebook knows about you? Or just what it knows that leads to Facebook filling your feed with ads like this:

Say NO to sweaty holsters that print and hurt. Say YES to one that carries three extra magazines and can be worn with Gym Shorts. Fall back in love with concealed carry.

Rest assured that Facebook's algorithms can't be all that good that it thought I would be a good target customer for that ad.

---

P.S. The next ad Facebook decided to show me asked, "How much will a DWI cost me in Texas?" Does Facebook know something about me that I don't?

Dichotomous Thinking

It might not seem like it, but I often try to understand how people that I otherwise recognize as intelligent and educated can hold beliefs that I consider to be, for lack of a better word, wacko. What's the difference in how their mind works and how mine does that might explain the different beliefs we hold?

John Ehrenreich, in a Slate article ("White Evangelicals' Continued Support of Trump Feels Surprising. It Shouldn't.") offers a theory predicated on fundamental differences in how conservatives and liberals see the world. These differences are probably set very early in life and individuals (myself included) are probably powerless to do much about them. It's just the way we see the world.

Ehrenreich:

Conservatives also show a greater tendency than liberals toward dichotomous thinking and have a stronger need for certainty and cognitive consistency. ("I don't do nuance," George W. Bush famously told Joe Biden.) ...

Dichotomous thinking, a trait associated with conservatism, is equally central to evangelical thought: God and man, saved and unsaved, Christianity and secularism, abstinence or the devil, male and female, life begins at conception and not at some nebulous time between then and when consciousness and rationality emerge. There is no room for ambiguity.

I guess what I'm saying is that "I do nuance."

Don't Trust Anyone Over Thirty

A blogger I've admired for over a decade (I think it's been that long; my memory might fail me) has recently decided to scrub the Internet of all of her old opinions. I know, I know, foolish quest. The Internet is forever. Anyway, she posits a new law: "Nobody should be allowed to put any of their dumbass thoughts or feels on the internet until at least 30."

When I was young, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, the campus anti-war movement had a rallying cry, "Don't trust anyone over thirty." I'm well past that milestone now, but I still think there's a nugget of wisdom there.

Wars are still started by old men but fought and died for by young men.

National debt is still piled up by old men but inherited by the next generation.

And absolute gun rights are enshrined and defended by old men but we bury the child victims that result.

Don't trust anyone over thirty. Still sounds good.

Jade Helm 15 Redux

Remember Jade Helm 15? Maybe you don't, at least if you're a relatively sane American not given to conspiracy theories. To refresh your memory, Jade Helm 15 was a series of joint military exercises conducted in the US southwest in 2015. The right wing went batshit crazy accusing Barack Obama of all sorts of evil motives. According to Wikipedia,  

 

Jim Shea of the Hartford Courant's wrote that the conspiracy theories included: a "psychological operation aimed at getting people used to seeing military forces on the streets" so that they do not realize when an invasion actually takes place.

Well, Jade Helm 15 came and went without a military coup. You might think that the right wing crazies will be ever vigilant against any new signs of the US military on the streets. Just kidding. In fact, President Donald Trump now wants the US military to conduct a grand military parade down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC. The generals are against it. The Democrats in Congress are against it. The Republicans in Congress are against it. The mainstream press is against it. You know who isn't against it? The right wing crazies. Apparently, being against military putsches isn't some kind of general principal with them, so important that they will protest the first signs of military on our streets. They are only against such operations if the black guy is in charge.

May I Have a Word: Shithole

Our current president has so normalized aberrant behavior that hearing him describe African countries as "shitholes" comes as no surprise. Republicans don't bat an eye, offering no comment (as long as he signs their tax cuts for the rich, they'll tolerate anything from him). Democrats are scandalized, not by his choice of language, but by his racism. And the White House itself flip-flops faster than one can keep up with, first offering no denial, then, wait for it, Trump himself denying he used vile and racist language. In other words, just another day at this White House.

Matt Schlapp: Trump absolutely didn't say Haiti was a shithole but if it turns out he did say it he was 100% right and he meant it in a beautiful, compassionate way and if you don't acknowledge Haiti as a shithole then really, you're the monster. And the media is the real enemy. https://t.co/2e6rL41kGE

— Jonathan V. Last (@JVLast) January 12, 2018

Mega Millions $450 million jackpot

The Mega Millions $450 million jackpot was won by one lucky person. Not me. I knew that before the drawing because I didn't buy a ticket. But after the drawing, I knew that I wouldn't have won because the numbers I would have picked weren't the winning numbers. You see, I always don't play the same numbers. Once again, the numbers I always don't play didn't win. Lucky me.

 

The average American spends about $200 a year on lottery tickets, although residents of some states spend far more. According to a study by LendEDU, the average Massachusetts resident spends $735 annually on lottery tickets, while those in Delaware or New York are likely spending about $400 a year, or $33 per month.
-- CBS News

So always never playing the same numbers saves me $200/year without ever missing out on the jackpot...yet.  ;-) 

American Self-Centeredness

It's often claimed that Americans have little knowledge of the rest of the world. It's the source of jokes. You know, like the report of the American tourist in Japan surprised by how many American brands he sees all around: Toyota, Sony, Nikon. Today we have evidence of self-centeredness in the White House (as if more evidence on that front is needed).

In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year’s Eve on record. Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that our Country, but not other countries, was going to pay TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to protect against. Bundle up!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 29, 2017

Here's the context for that quote: a world map from the University of Maine's Climate Change Institute showing today's temperatures in relation to average temperatures from 1979-2000. Regions colder than average are shown in blue. Regions warmer than average are shown in red.

When our president can't see farther than the end of his nose, our country is in great peril.

May I Have a Word: Racial Resentment

Before the election, racial resentment closely predicted who was going to vote for  [Trump], and after the election, it absolutely nailed who had voted for him.
So what is it? If the nation elected its president on that basis more than any other factor, shouldn't we know better what racial resentment is? Can't we just call it racism?

-- Jim Schutze

No we can't. Nothing gets a racist to plug his ears and say, "Nyah, nyah, I can't hear you" faster than to use the word racist to describe him. Racists have managed to make even the word "racism" politically incorrect, even when applied correctly, that is, to racists. You see, racists believe that if their racism can be defended with anecdotal evidence, then, ipso facto, it's not racism. Against black people? Point to a black criminal. Against Hispanics? Point to an immigrant without correct documents. Against Muslims? Point to a terrorist who shouts "Allahu Akbar." It can't be racist to be against blacks, Hispanics, and Muslims if one can point to a bad black, Hispanic, or Muslim. (Or alternatively, point to a single good one: "One of our attorneys is a Jew" as Roy Moore's wife infamously put it.)

That brings us to Richard Spencer. As Jim Schutze says, he's a racist who doesn't rely on euphemism. He's also on The Dallas Morning News's short list for "Texan of the Year." He sounds much like what I imagine Adolph Hitler must have sounded like to Germans in the 1930s.

"Because, for us as Europeans, it is only normal again when we are great again. Hail Trump! Hail our people! Hail victory!"
-- Richard Spencer

Hitler had electoral success then. So too do Richard Spencer's preferred candidates today. Allowing him, the politicians he supports, and the racist next door shame you into dropping the word "racism" from your vocabulary is already a minor victory for racism. Call racism what it is: racism.

Blockchain Blog

It occurs to me that this eponymous blog deserves a proper name. I'm thinking of "Blockchain Blog." Thoughts?

The Long Island Iced Tea Corporation's stock rose by 432 percent on Thursday after the company announced that it would be changing its name to 'Long Blockchain Corp.

Bloomberg

Tax Cut and Jobs Act

Congress passed and the President will sign the "Tax Cut and Jobs Act." The "Tax Cut" is assured. The "Jobs" are an act of faith. All Republican senators voted in favor of the bill. All Democratic senators voted against it. What does this tell us about the state of American politics?

It tells us that Republicans are in favor of small government. Their governing philosophy is that by cutting taxes, they'll starve government of revenue and benefit cuts (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act in particular) will inevitably follow.

It tells us that Democrats are in favor of government benefits. Their governing philosophy is to pay for those benefits through taxes. Those taxes are needed to pay government benefits (again, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act).

The tension lies in the fact that the voters have a foot in both camps. Voters like both the benefits and the tax cuts. That way might lie ruin, but there we are.

The Life Cycle in Christmas Cards

In early middle age, more and more Christmas cards you send aren't returned, because your friends' addresses no longer change so much from year to year.

In late middle age, sending Christmas cards gets more depressing as first a few and then more each year get returned marked "deceased."

Be thankful for middle, middle age. It's not a stable state of nature and it won't last forever.

May I Have a Word: Uggianaqtuq

According to the New York Times:

The Inuit have a word for changes they are seeing to their environment: uggianaqtuq. It means "to behave strangely."

Tragically, according to Vox:

The Trump administration is backing away from calling climate change a national security threat, a move that contradicts nearly three decades of military planning.

Behaving strangely, indeed. 

Can I have Bocce Balls in my Carry-on Bag?

Yes.

May I Have a Word: Just Joking

When Al Franken defended his boorish behavior towards a woman on a USO tour, his defense was that he intended it as a joke that, in hindsight, was never funny. Donald Trump "jokes" repeatedly, for example encouraging rough treatment by police when arresting suspects. Or at least that's how his apologists explain his statements: just joking. Most people don't accept the "just joking" defense (and for the record I don't either), but I read something today that explains where it comes from:

Humor is often a kind of aggression. Being laughed at is aversive and feels like an attack. Comedy often runs on slapstick and insult, and in less refined settings, including the foraging societies in which we evolved, humor can be overtly sadistic.

Steven Pinker, How the Mind Works

So, yeah, many people find cruelty to others to be funny. For them "just joking" is not just a defense. It's the simple truth of what those people find to be "funny."

Introducing Donald Trump

Searching the archives of this blog, I notice that there is no mention of Donald Trump. Maybe that's not surprising, as I took an extended hiatus from 2010 to 2017. In any case, it's time to rectify that. In case you didn't know (i.e., in case you have been living under a rock for that last two years), Donald Trump is a bully, a blowhard, a narcissist, a compulsive liar and a political know-nothing. It doesn't surprise me that such people run for political office. It doesn't surprise me that they occasionally even get elected (I'm thinking of you, Louie Gohmert). What does surprise me is that 46.1% of all American voters knew all that about Donald Trump and still said, "Yeah, that's who I want running the country."

The Future of Conversation

Someone just forwarded me an email that began "You didn't get this?" When I went to reply, Gmail offered me three ready-made answers, the first of which was "No, I didn't get it." I clicked that and then clicked Send. The entire text of my reply was generated automatically by Gmail and suggested to me. Soon our conversations will be nothing but Google talking to itself.

I'm Back

I'm back. Expect random thoughts at random intervals.