Empty Kevin

Kevin McCarthy grew up in Bakersfield. He's as empty as a wine bottle in an abandoned treehouse. Will he end up as second in line for the presidency? 

Hope Hicks

Hope Hicks worried that January 6th might damage tRump's legacy, which is like worrying that your bad breath might stink up a cesspool.

Useless complaints about grammar, diction and punctuation

Below are some useless complaints about problems in logic, diction and punctuation.

1. Avoid the Oxford comma, the one that should not come before the "and" in a series like red, white and blue. The purpose of the Oxford comma is to demonstrate that the author does not know what a comma in a series means. (It means "and" in this case.) So unless you want to write "red, white and and blue," get a grip on the series comma and its meaning.

2. "Tranche"! Tranche is a fancy word for a portion of something.  It's from Old French, and what could be more elegant, unless you find, like me,  Old French beyond your reach. In that case you could use "portion" instead. For the last year every host on MSNBC has been required to use "tranche" twice in each paragraph; enforcement of this rule is finally easing.

3. Tranche has been replaced by the word "reticent," which MSNBC hosts apparently think means "reluctant." So they say things like, "Trump was reticent to give up his plan to use force." In English a reticent person is one who is inclined to keep her thoughts to herself. 

4.  Begging the question is always used incorrectly on television. It does not mean that someone has said something that automatically demands you question it. It is an argument that takes the form the X is true because everyone knows that  X is true. The question and answer are based on the same assumption in the hope that you won't notice. 

5. Rhythm?  These days sports talkers demand that athletes do things in rhythm. If Klay Thompson misses a long shot, it's because he hasn't gotten his rhythm. Or so they say. I believe that professional sports is hard enough already. Demanding people play basketball in rhythm is asking too much. And next announcers will be demanding rhyme. 

6. Pronouncing silent letters. Nearly everyone now pronounces the silent letters in "often," "kiln" and "arctic." The last person I heard say "kiln" correctly on  TV was Al Gore, so I know I've lost. 

 

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Exceptionalism

From time to time American exceptionalists claim that America is exceptionally hated, more hated than Russia, "and everyone knows that." But do we?

To check on America's reputation, I turned to The Reputation Institute, a real organization, not a name from a superhero movie. According to The Reputation Institute, Canada has the best overall rep but falls short in critical aspects like brand-name products. America does not have the best reputation, not even among tourists, who prefer France. (America comes in second on the tourism scale.)

According to The Reputation Institute, "The US was considered about average in terms of national reputation, known mostly for its technology sector and its recognizable brand-name products. One reason that pushed the US out of the list of the top 20 reputations was the US Supreme Court ruling in favor of super-PACS, a decision that has caused many people at home and abroad to lose trust in the American political system."

That analysis seems dated, but The Reputation Institute points out that it is itself known as "the world's leading research and advisory firm for reputation. We provide  the single-best way to measure, communicate and manage reputation performance." They add that certain places where the rights of women are being curtailed  (Afghanistan? Florida? ) can expect to lose standing in the next survey. 

Trans

A million or more Americans identify as trans. Estimates differ. Currently trans people are under attack by the Repubs, who need minority groups to hate, to accuse of cannibalism, pedophilia, etc. Preaching murderous hatred is how Trumpers gain power.

There's a sense in which trans people do not need a defense. They've done nothing wrong.  

Why War?

H. W. Brands, a historian, often asks his classes, "Why does war exist? Nearly everyone is against war."

Brands suggests partial answers. One reason war exists is that civil relationships can't resolve all disagreements. Our founders believed that slavery would wither away, and it did wither in the North. But not in the South. It took a war to end American slavery.

Another answer is that war simplifies complex issues. That is a comfort. And in a war the ends can sometimes justify the means--to a degree, war liberates fighters from morality. We firebombed Tokyo and incinerated 100,000 civilians. 

Maybe there is something more basic. We are a branch of the chimpanzee family, sharing about 98% of our DNA. Studies show (some disagree) that chimpanzee groups are naturally violent within the group and against other groups. Chimps and humans are the only mammalian species known to attack each other in well-organized onslaughts. Or so some (but not all) experts say. 

The Evidence

The Republican try at minority rule has had some success, particularly in their Gerrymandering. But many tactics  have not worked. 

There's a basic weakness in their reasoning. Repubs think that if they make voting difficult, people of color won't register or make their way to the polls.  That would leave voting to white folks. The Repubs think that if voters need extra identification, well, black people aren't up to getting IDs and will not bother to register. Repubs think that banning drop boxes will get their candidates elected. 

The evidence suggests otherwise.

also on FB under "SusanandGaryGoss"

If you can't do the time, don't do the crime.

Trump, loser, may soon be facing criminal trials. He will join a list of historic national leaders. Aaron Burr, a former Vice President, was tried for treason but not convicted. Spiro Agnew, as crooked as a skunk's ball sack, resigned as VP  in 1973 and pled no contest to tax evasion.  He was fined $10,000 and placed on three years unsupervised probation. 

Original Joe's

Original Joe's famous Italian steak restaurant opened in San Francisco's Tenderloin in 1937. The version we visited is in Daly City; it is well known. We ate there for about $65 each without drinks. 

It's somewhat curious. The place has two large parking lots, and both (as our son-in-law had warned us) were full when we arrived at noon on a Friday. We parked on a residential street. 

Every well-cushioned seat in the place had a bum in it except for our table, which we had reserved. The food tasted good. Our server was adequate and expressionless--he spilled only one glass of water on Susan. There was a dude lurking in the men's room to pass out towels. Very 1937. 

We had a good feed and a great time with our friends, but I wonder why the place is so extra popular.

q

Banksy

On Sunday we learned that someone had painted a Banksy mural on the back wall of the Masonic Lodge in Windsor, California. Amazing news even, as my daughter Maggie wrote, if it's a fake. Susan and I went to look at it. We found maybe eight people standing around it, chatting and taking photos. 

Windsor is an undistinguished but pleasant new town here in wine country. I understand that there is another Windsor someplace. Maybe a Banksy will put our Windsor on the map. 

There exists an outfit that authenticates Banksy work, Pest Control. Perhaps we will hear from them.

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Farce

 Now that the farcical orange fellow has called for a suspension of the Constitution so he can be installed as president for life, what will the Repubs do? Think of the dismayed party core, the thousand professional political operatives who manage winning campaigns and good public relations. And think of the rich donors frantically attempting a dismount. 

It's been crowded on the back of the orange tiger, and now the tiger has jumped off a cliff. 

At this point it looks like the Repubs can't win with Orange or without him; he will savage them if they reject him. 

Stupid

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote: "Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice." You can't negotiate with the stupid. Facts don't matter. Reason falls on plugged ears.

Ron White: "You can't fix stupid."

George Carlin pointed out that half the population is of below average intelligence. 

One sign of stupid people is that their decisions tend to harm those around them and also harm themselves. Like the old folks living on social security who vote for grotesque Republican leaders who shout on TV that they will cut social security. Or like the Oathkeepers. 

Democracy is in a constant struggle with stupidity.

also on FB as SusanandGaryGoss