Which brings us to the Democrats’ “big lie” — that Joe Biden was just fine. He was not. Yet he was encouraged to run again. When the party’s big guns (Bill Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama) finally hustled him off the stage, it was too late. Harris barely had a chance to leave the gate before it was over. Despite spending $1.4 billion, she was bound to lose.
Wednesday, November 20, 2024
The Trump Administration/Reality Show Nexus
Back around 2017, some people accused Donald Trump of treating politics and governing like a reality show: maintain lots of drama, create internal conflicts, and do whatever it takes to make sure people are watching.
This time around, a number of Trump administration figures (or appointees, at this point) are actual reality show or game show alums:
Sean Duffy, Transportation Secretary (The Real World)
Linda McMahon, Education Secretary (WWE)
Mahmet Oz, Medicare/Medicaid Admin. (two weeks on Jeopardy)
Donald Trump (The Apprentice)
I'm pretty sure I am missing some-- help me out?
Tuesday, November 19, 2024
Still Number One
After 11 weeks, I'm still number one in the country in Yahoo's College Pick'em. I explained my method here last week and it is... not scientific. But, apparently, effective!
Monday, November 18, 2024
So many great poems about... couches!
Zounds! I had no idea this would be such a popular topic!
Jill Scoggins told a great story:
Leather sofa has
“baseball stitching” that hubby
loves. So we keep it.
He’s a sports writer.
Sports rules his life. So it rules
mine to a degree.
Twenty-plus years on,
sofa needs retiring. But…
he can’t let it go.
“baseball stitching” that hubby
loves. So we keep it.
He’s a sports writer.
Sports rules his life. So it rules
mine to a degree.
Twenty-plus years on,
sofa needs retiring. But…
he can’t let it go.
We had this tale from IPLawGuy:
Made partner, bought couch
Office move, took the couch home
Cat pee; had to go.
Office move, took the couch home
Cat pee; had to go.
And Desiree's family had a dog/couch issue:
“No dogs on the couch!”
That is what my parents said.
“Yeah, right” said the dogs.
That is what my parents said.
“Yeah, right” said the dogs.
Dr. Daniel Price used the couch to good effect:
My plan: get her to
sit there, so that she'd then want
it. Sofa, so good.
sit there, so that she'd then want
it. Sofa, so good.
Christine, like WCWM, had a blue couch:
Faded, blue leather
Have spent so many a night
Enjoying sweet dreams.
Have spent so many a night
Enjoying sweet dreams.
And so many anonymous but excellent entries, like this:
Some timely advice:
I wouldn't sit there if I
Were you -- couch, three kids.
I wouldn't sit there if I
Were you -- couch, three kids.
And this:
Brown corduroy couch
So ugly but so comfy!
Felt like a warm hug
So ugly but so comfy!
Felt like a warm hug
And this:
Lumpy dumpy couch
Got it from the (wrong) roadside
Still sitting on it.
Got it from the (wrong) roadside
Still sitting on it.
And this:
Soporific couch
Two minutes before sleep hits
Magical sofa.
Two minutes before sleep hits
Magical sofa.
And, finally, this:
Three dogs. One love seat.
One has to go. A problem.
Dog ate the couch. Solved.
One has to go. A problem.
Dog ate the couch. Solved.
Sunday, November 17, 2024
Sunday Reflection: About Men and Christ
This election brought to the surface a view of masculinity-- an idea about how men should be-- that is not just dangerous but profoundly unChristian.
Here is how that ideal is portrayed:
-- Admirable men are rich, handsome, and powerful
-- Men have a duty to protect and control women
-- "Real men" don't admit being wrong, and are willing to fight for their honor.
It's a recipe for a dysfunctional society, of course. It takes away the agency of half the population, obscures the crimes of the powerful, and stifles change.
But also, and importantly given that most of these men identify as Christian, it runs completely contrary to what Christ taught:
-- It is acting to help others that is admirable, regardless of that actor's wealth, looks, or power.
-- Jesus's encounters with women were always respectful, and not controlling. Like men, they have agency to do what is right or not.
-- Jesus emphasized again and again the importance of humility and confession. As for protecting one's honor... he spoke directly to that. If someone strikes you, offer the other cheek; if they take your coat, give them your cloak.
Where are we headed?
Saturday, November 16, 2024
The most Detroit interview ever
Friday, November 15, 2024
Haiku Friday: Favorite Couch
Look how happy those bears are! And no wonder-- they have a great couch, as most of us have at some point in our lives. And some bad ones. Either way, let's haiku about that this week! Here, I will go first:
WCWM's couch
Blue, vinyl, sticky, lumpy
It could tell stories...
Now it is your turn! Just use the 5/7/5 syllable pattern and have some fun!
Thursday, November 14, 2024
PMT: The Most Significant Lie
Writing in the Washington Post, Kathleen Parker argued that the biggest lie of the entire presidential campaign was the claim that Biden was mentally fit for another four years of service. Here is how that piece ends:
By lying about Biden’s mental acuity and scrambling to turn an unpopular vice president into a hot ticket, Democratic Party leaders left voters dissatisfied with a last resort. How sad for President Biden that his legacy is President Trump.
She is right about the damage done by that lie. As a Democrat, I'm sick of being told by party leaders whose turn it is to run for president-- a process that hasn't gone so well for us. In 2028 there needs to be real, vigorous primaries and no anointment.
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
Appointments!
Donald Trump is wasting no time in choosing people for key roles in his administration. Here are some of the selections so far:
Marco Rubio, Secretary of State (previously, Senator)
Matt Gaetz, Attorney General (previously, Member of Congress)
Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense (from "Fox & Friends")
Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security (SD Gov.)
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services (prev. cand. for pres.)
Doug Burgum, Secretary of the Interior (previously Governor of North Dakota)
Doug Collins, VA Secretary (previously, Member of Congress)
John Ratcliffe, CIA Director (previously Director of Nat'l Sec., Congress)
Elise Stefanik, UN Ambassador (previously, Member of Congress)
Tulsi Gabbard, Dir. of Nat'l Intelligence (previously, Member of Congress)
Mike Waltz, Nat'l Sec. Advisor (previously, Member of Congress)
Lee Zelda, EPA Administrator (previously, Member of Congress)
Susie Wiles, Chief of Staff (previously, Trump campaign)
Bill McGinley, WH Counsel (previously, Cabinet Secretary)
Todd Blanche, Deputy AG (previously, Trump's defense attorney)
Thomas Homan, "Border Czar," (previously, ICE)
Steven Miller, Deputy Chief of Policy (previously, Special Advisor)
James Blair, Deputy Chief of Staff (previously, Trump campaign)
Dan Scavino, Deputy Chief of Staff (previously, Trump advisor)
Taylor Budowich, Deputy Chief of Staff (previously, MAGA Inc.)
Mike Huckabee, Amb. to Israel (previously Gov. of Arkansas, Fox News)
Elon Musk & Vivek Ramaswamy, "Department of Gov't Efficiency" leaders (Note: this doesn't actually exist, and will apparently be outside of the actual government. Curious.)
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
#1
Every year, I play a game with thousands of other people on the Yahoo platform called College Pick'em. Every week, I pick the results of 25 college games against the spread, and hope to move up among the others playing across the country. I usually enter in three categories: fans of Baylor, people from Minnesota, and then the pool of everyone in the country. Right now, I am #1 in all three. [And yes, Class of '31 is my ID).
You may wonder what I did to achieve this lofty status after 11 weeks of play. Do I assiduously research injury reports and the latest news on every team?
No, I don't.
Do I have favorites that I bet on regularly?
No, I don't.
Do I furtively seek out the spirits of college football to divine the outcomes?
No, I don't.
Instead, I have a pretty simple process: I always pick the better academic institution (and I do have a system for that). It doesn't have anything to do with football, but it does have a lot to do with betting. The spread is established by how bets come down on each side, and there is a bias against good academic schools, so people tend to bet against Duke and Stanford and Northwestern (for example) for an irrational reason-- academic prowess. The strong academic schools also tend to be smaller, so there are fewer alums betting on their alma mater, skewing the odds. It usually puts me above average-- but this year I have had that and a lot of luck!
Monday, November 11, 2024
Poems, from angry to resigned....
On the election, you told your truth. This came from CraigA:
Desiree had a tough task:
I looked at a class
of sad, scared faces Wednesday.
Tried to give them hope.
of sad, scared faces Wednesday.
Tried to give them hope.
Christine sought refuge:
I left Florida
Returned to my blue enclave
in woods, cocooning
Listening to jazz
And audio books so many,
Swimming clears my head.
Returned to my blue enclave
in woods, cocooning
Listening to jazz
And audio books so many,
Swimming clears my head.
The Medievalist.... well, he's in Texas:
Texas just parties,
The just love Ted Cruz a lot,
It bewilders me.
The just love Ted Cruz a lot,
It bewilders me.
Jill Scoggins had a rough evening:
Falling asleep then
waking up. Hoping results
are diff’rent. They’re not.
waking up. Hoping results
are diff’rent. They’re not.
And Anonymous steers us to the right task:
Love your neighbor, no
exceptions - such a hard task,
but I have to try.
exceptions - such a hard task,
but I have to try.
Sunday, November 10, 2024
Sunday Reflection: A Proud God
There are things about our modern worship that don't seem to fit with what I see in the Gospels. One of them, a big one, has to do with humility.
When I read what Jesus taught, I see an emphasis on humility, over and over. We are to see the log in our own eye, not the stye in another; we must give serve others to truly lead; the first will be last and the last will be first. It is there in so many parables, and of course in the example of Jesus's life and death itself.
So we have a faith that is centered on humility. Yet, we seem to imagine a God that requires constant praise, who completely lacks humility. Jesus implores us to love God, which is not the same as to praise him. The modern trend towards praise music at the exclusion of nearly everything else is just one sign of that.
It might be that praise is easy theology. There is no sorting out social issues or fretting about what we can do for the poor or conflicts over the source of our understanding. Many church leaders are all about avoiding conflict by standing on common ground, and they do that through praise theology.
And, of course, there is an industry-- particularly, a music industry-- built up around this easy theology.
I just can't imagine a God who needs our praise. What kind of God is that? But the fact that so many do imagine such a God makes it easier to understand how they have conflated God with Donald Trump-- who inarguably does demand praise.
Of course, there is some role for the praise of God, but it is for our benefit, not God's. Praise reminds us that God is greater than us, which is a root of my own theology. It's simple, but profound. Yet, that needs to be a starting place, not the whole message.
Saturday, November 09, 2024
Oops!
Friday, November 08, 2024
Haiku Friday: Post-election reflection
You know that I gotta go there, right? Here, I will go first:
Television glows
Red, blue, red, red, red, red, red.
"Magic Wall," so red.
Now it is your turn! Just use the 5/7/5 syllable pattern and have some fun!
Thursday, November 07, 2024
Political Mayhem Thursday: Now with even more mayhem!
Was I surprised by the outcome of the election? Yes, I was. Do I have some predictions about what comes next? Also yes:
-- First, the world isn't ending. And we have about two and a half months left of the Biden Presidency (remember him?) that could be very consequential-- if Biden is active and engaged. That could be a very big "if."
-- Second, some of the things Trump described doing "on day one" are just impossible to implement. For example, mass deportations would require huge amounts of personnel to carry out, and they just aren't available "on day one." Day 560, maybe... but even then it would be a hugely expensive and disruptive project and it could be we stop hearing about that for a while.
-- Third, the Elon Musk/Donald Trump relationship is inherently unstable. They both love the limelight, and Trump will be loath to share it. If they turn on one another, it will be a battle royal.
-- Fourth, the one thing Trump seems most likely to do is to cut taxes. He did that last time, after all, rather than build the wall and get Mexico to pay for it (among other things he talked about a lot in the campaign). Certainly, those tax cuts could juice the economy for a while, but it will also spike the national debt. But.... I seem to be the only person in America who pays attention to the national debt.
Wednesday, November 06, 2024
An important mission
I don't know about you, but I found yesterday to be kind of exhausting.
Yeah, I loved voting in the morning-- I always do. For the first time ever, I saw people waiting in a long line at my polling place. But wait they did, as they did all over the country. That was the best part of the day.
In Minnesota, we will have Tim Walz back here as full-time governor. And, in this new era, that will be a very important job. Here's why:
It's common to say we are becoming "two nations," referring to blue and red states, and there is some truth to that. But the deeper truth is that each state is becoming, in a way, its own nation. Red states are different than one another, and the same is true of blue states: Oklahoma is not the same as Indiana; Minnesota is not California. Texas is putting up its own border controls. My own state is an island surrounded by red-- we might as well be our own country, one that people flee to if they need an abortion.
To get through the coming years, a governor like Walz will be more like a president-- he will be leading a government that is largely cut off from the federal government both in culture and practice.
Are we ready for that?
Tuesday, November 05, 2024
Things to do today
1) Vote
2). Text a friend and see how they are doing
3) Have a good lunch
4). Don't check in on the news until after 7 pm
5) Read about sports
6) Check on when Christmas events will be happening where you live
7) Finish up those travel plans for the holidays
8) Watch a few old SNL clips
9) About 3:30, have a snack
10) Wear comfy socks
Monday, November 04, 2024
Poems of cuteness!
There were some great reflections on all that came to the door on Halloween. We had this from Jill Scoggins:
Student’s toddler as
a cow. So stinkin’ cute! Her
giggles made my day.
a cow. So stinkin’ cute! Her
giggles made my day.
IPLawGuy, I admire this kid (see picture of me above)!:
Last minute, half ass
Kid wearing a cardboard box
Brazen, made me laugh.
Kid wearing a cardboard box
Brazen, made me laugh.
And Anonymous saw some real cuteness:
Cutest ladybug
Red with black spots, tiny hat
Smile that melts my heart.
Red with black spots, tiny hat
Smile that melts my heart.
Sunday, November 03, 2024
Sunday Reflection: After Tuesday
On Tuesday, one candidate will win and one will lose. There will be spiritual crises for some on the losing side. The race has been so tied up with identity that it will be hard not to feel that identity challenged-- and, if we are honest, because our principles and identity are tied up with our faith, it could challenge that as well. After all, if principle so clearly shows one candidate should win, who are we when they don''t?
And that is when religion will have to be more than politics.
Hopefully, as with any moment of crisis, faith can help us transcend hardship and understand those things that are hard to understand. After all, the entire faith grew up under a hostile regime, something that the Bible describes often. (And yes, I realize that many Christians don't see Trump as hostile to faith, but that will have to be another post).
Saturday, November 02, 2024
A comedian's take on "that comedian"
Friday, November 01, 2024
Haiku Friday: At the Door
It's the day after Halloween, and at least some of us got to see some kids come to the door. What good costumes did you see? (I know we did a personal favorite costume of our own last week, but this is about them, not you). It can be from another year if you didn't get the experience this year. Here, I will go first:
A green witch appeared
With terrifying visage
Genuine deep fear.
Now it is your turn! Just use the 5/7/5 syllable pattern and have some fun!
