Well, all this is interesting to me, anyway, and that's what matters here. The Internet is a terrible thing for someone like me, who finds almost everything interesting.
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Wednesday, December 27, 2017
Trump's challenge coin
America's 45th president isn't just awful in big ways, he's awful - narcissistic, grandiose, and divisive - in petty ways, too.
Did you catch Trump's whack-a-doodle interview in the New York Times? I have a theory about that interview...is it possible Trump did that goofy interview just to "Jedi mind-trick" the NYT?
Consider: Trump has been at war with the NYT for years. Perhaps, on a whim, or he's bored at Mar-A-Largo, he's like "Oh, here's an idea. Watch this..." Calls in the NYT, fires off wacky take after wacky take...JUST AS A GOOF.
And look what happens...NYT is getting hammered on social media for not asking the "hard questions," they're completely on the defensive. Meanwhile, Trump is probably sitting back and laughing his ass off.
People like Trump are master manipulators. They love f-ing with people. They get off on "pushing people's buttons." All just to feed his ego.
Anyway, that's just a theory I have. Give me a thumb-up or thumbs-down. Let's have a better New Year.
Thanks, Jeff, but I'm not blogging again. I might occasionally post something, that's all. Sorry.
And I don't think that Donald Trump is... sentient enough to have thought any of that through. Master manipulator? No, I think he just slipped the leash and ran out to play in the street.
I'm just disappointed that all the political comedians are on vacation right now. Admittedly, he'll provide plenty of material for them when they return, too. This is just a drop in the bucket when it comes to Trump crazy. (That said, I liked this summary from CNN.)
And that's one of the problems. Nothing sticks, because it's all crazy all the time.
Every so often, I'll read a retrospective of the past year or two of Trump. It's always amazing to me how much we've forgotten, that has simply slid past in the never-ending sewer flow of grandiose narcissism, clueless ignorance, blatant lies, bigotry, and other assorted batshit-crazy lunacy.
Jeff....I don't want to seem I'm pushing a book, but I can't help it. I just finished Fantasyland and how America went haywire by Kurt Andersen and it is fabulous! Tells why we are so crazy in America and how it's really getting out of hand now. I think you would enjoy it.
Thanks, Mary. My friend, Jim Harris, has been trying to get me to read Fantasyland, too. In fact, I see that it's his Book of the Year for 2017.
I've been resisting - partly because I've watched it happen in the past half century, so I think I know it fairly well already, partly because I'm depressed enough as it is, and partly because I've got a mound of books in my TBR pile to get to first. (And these days, nonfiction keeps getting shuffled to the bottom of the pile.)
I don't read as much as I used to, anyway - not even close. And if I could avoid thinking about this stuff, I probably would. I think I'm worn out by seeing my country continue in the wrong direction for so many decades, despite everything I could do to fight it.
I don't even want to blog anymore. I might have to, sometimes, or I'll explode. But in many ways, the 2016 election was the final straw for me. If my fellow Americans are that stupid - not just voting Republican, but not voting at all or throwing away their vote on some idiotic third party - even after the Bush Administration and everything else we've seen the GOP do in recent years and recent decades,... well, what can I do but just make myself even more depressed?
I don't know, Mary. It's the last day of the year. Maybe it's just the day to look backward, rather than forward, and so I'm especially disheartened by it all. But thanks for the recommendation.
It can be depressing...that's for sure. I find the most depressing thing is how gullible people are and how people have become so lazy. It's just easier to follow some fantasy than think for themselves or even think at all. I believe reality and fantasy are beginning to blur in a very unhealthy way. This book goes into many things besides religion and politics and how different Europe is than the US. We are much more prone to fantasy because in part, of the beginnings of our country. It goes back 500 years. It was founded on fantasy.. I guess the only hope is our youth and only time will tell there. Hopefully a better 2018 and don't stop blogging altogether. People like it and appreciate it.
This struck me: "Had Trump not been elected, everything I say about Fantasyland would still be true. I just wouldn’t have the convenient vessel that Donald Trump provides to illustrate what I’m talking about."
Also, he says, "As I started writing Fantasyland, I was focused on the last fifty years and then I realized that the sources and tributaries of post-truth go a long way back."
I regularly focus on the last fifty years, myself, because I lived it. I witnessed the beginning and the decades-long evolution of the Republican Party's "Southern strategy." I haven't thought about the 450 years before that, so the book does have new insights for me, I'm sure.
This is absolute FABULOUS and oh so sadly and horrifyingly true
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting, Mary. Have a Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteGood to see you blogging again, Bill.
ReplyDeleteDid you catch Trump's whack-a-doodle interview in the New York Times? I have a theory about that interview...is it possible Trump did that goofy interview just to "Jedi mind-trick" the NYT?
Consider: Trump has been at war with the NYT for years. Perhaps, on a whim, or he's bored at Mar-A-Largo, he's like "Oh, here's an idea. Watch this..." Calls in the NYT, fires off wacky take after wacky take...JUST AS A GOOF.
And look what happens...NYT is getting hammered on social media for not asking the "hard questions," they're completely on the defensive. Meanwhile, Trump is probably sitting back and laughing his ass off.
People like Trump are master manipulators. They love f-ing with people. They get off on "pushing people's buttons." All just to feed his ego.
Anyway, that's just a theory I have. Give me a thumb-up or thumbs-down. Let's have a better New Year.
Thanks, Jeff, but I'm not blogging again. I might occasionally post something, that's all. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't think that Donald Trump is... sentient enough to have thought any of that through. Master manipulator? No, I think he just slipped the leash and ran out to play in the street.
I'm just disappointed that all the political comedians are on vacation right now. Admittedly, he'll provide plenty of material for them when they return, too. This is just a drop in the bucket when it comes to Trump crazy. (That said, I liked this summary from CNN.)
And that's one of the problems. Nothing sticks, because it's all crazy all the time.
Every so often, I'll read a retrospective of the past year or two of Trump. It's always amazing to me how much we've forgotten, that has simply slid past in the never-ending sewer flow of grandiose narcissism, clueless ignorance, blatant lies, bigotry, and other assorted batshit-crazy lunacy.
I hope you have a Happy New Year, Jeff.
Jeff....I don't want to seem I'm pushing a book, but I can't help it. I just finished Fantasyland and how America went haywire by Kurt Andersen and it is fabulous! Tells why we are so crazy in America and how it's really getting out of hand now. I think you would enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteWhoops, I meant Bill, but anyone really would like it if they have a brain that is😊
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mary. My friend, Jim Harris, has been trying to get me to read Fantasyland, too. In fact, I see that it's his Book of the Year for 2017.
ReplyDeleteI've been resisting - partly because I've watched it happen in the past half century, so I think I know it fairly well already, partly because I'm depressed enough as it is, and partly because I've got a mound of books in my TBR pile to get to first. (And these days, nonfiction keeps getting shuffled to the bottom of the pile.)
I don't read as much as I used to, anyway - not even close. And if I could avoid thinking about this stuff, I probably would. I think I'm worn out by seeing my country continue in the wrong direction for so many decades, despite everything I could do to fight it.
I don't even want to blog anymore. I might have to, sometimes, or I'll explode. But in many ways, the 2016 election was the final straw for me. If my fellow Americans are that stupid - not just voting Republican, but not voting at all or throwing away their vote on some idiotic third party - even after the Bush Administration and everything else we've seen the GOP do in recent years and recent decades,... well, what can I do but just make myself even more depressed?
I don't know, Mary. It's the last day of the year. Maybe it's just the day to look backward, rather than forward, and so I'm especially disheartened by it all. But thanks for the recommendation.
It can be depressing...that's for sure. I find the most depressing thing is how gullible people are and how people have become so lazy. It's just easier to follow some fantasy than think for themselves or even think at all. I believe reality and fantasy are beginning to blur in a very unhealthy way.
ReplyDeleteThis book goes into many things besides religion and politics and how different Europe is than the US. We are much more prone to fantasy because in part, of the beginnings of our country. It goes back 500 years. It was founded on fantasy..
I guess the only hope is our youth and only time will tell there.
Hopefully a better 2018 and don't stop blogging altogether. People like it and appreciate it.
https://thehumanist.com/magazine/january-february-2018/features/loss-critical-reasoning-harming-america
ReplyDeleteA short interview from the author of Fantasyland
Thanks, Mary. That was very interesting.
ReplyDeleteThis struck me: "Had Trump not been elected, everything I say about Fantasyland would still be true. I just wouldn’t have the convenient vessel that Donald Trump provides to illustrate what I’m talking about."
Also, he says, "As I started writing Fantasyland, I was focused on the last fifty years and then I realized that the sources and tributaries of post-truth go a long way back."
I regularly focus on the last fifty years, myself, because I lived it. I witnessed the beginning and the decades-long evolution of the Republican Party's "Southern strategy." I haven't thought about the 450 years before that, so the book does have new insights for me, I'm sure.
I watch all of his posts about Star Trek he is a smart and thoughtful guy.
ReplyDelete