On the Creation of New Religions, Plus Miscellany

I saw Doris Kearns Goodwin speak in Hershey Thursday night. I'm so glad we have a voice and perspective like hers. 

She started off with some solace for Phillies fans.

"As a fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers growing up and the Red Sox later on, take it from me, you need to endure many losses. Sometimes there's nothing to do but wait until next year."

Then on to politics.

Yes, Democracy is on the line, but she reminded us that it has been on the line before. 

She looked at the current political climate through the lens of Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson. 

Abraham Lincoln conducted an election when the country was at war with itself. 

Teddy Roosevelt assumed the presidency when his predecessor was shot by an anarchist, and it was a time with many similar social and economic issues like we have today.

Franklin Roosevelt was president during perhaps the most fraught time of the 20th century, from the Great Depression to World War II.

She actually worked for Lyndon Johnson. She was hired specifically by him, and a week later an old article that she wrote came out in a national magazine... an article calling for his removal from office over the Vietnam War! 

Guess what Johnston did. He said that he'd give her a year, and if he couldn't convince her that he was right, then he couldn't convince anybody. 

Her husband wrote Johnson's Selma speech. He had one day to write it. He asked to be left totally by himself, and every once in awhile he would send a paper underneath the door for correcting. He had spent several hours trying to get the first sentence right. Once he did, the rest flowed.

"I speak tonight for the dignity of man and the destiny of democracy."

Wow. That whole speech is a knockout.

Selma was about voting rights. African-Americans made up 55% of the population but only 2% were able to get registered to vote, because they would ask them questions designed to be unanswerable. 

"Please explain the 13th Amendment. How about the 16th?"

"How many seeds are in that watermelon? How many jelly beans are in that jar?"

I'd say that democracy was on the line in mid-60s.

Imagine trying to be president with the Vietnam War raging and social upheaval at home.

We can see the outcome of all of those times of turmoil because we have the benefit of hindsight, but in each of those times nobody knew what the future held. We're in some trouble right now, but imagine the uncertainty we faced as a country through history.

She gave some examples of their leadership styles.

On Lincoln's leadership:

-It is critical to create a diverse leadership team that can bring different points of view, life experiences and strengths—and who feel free to argue and question assumptions.

-Be accessible. Reach out beyond the bubble of your inner circle.

-Manage your emotions—especially in difficult times.

-Use your sense of humor.

On Teddy Roosevelt's leadership:

-Develop an overarching message that cuts through the divide. 

-Call for fundamental fairness, a square deal for all, the right of all to rise to the level of their talent and discipline. 

-Forge a middle path between extremes.

-To capture attention, talk in stories instead of facts and figures.

-Bring your message directly to people.

On Franklin Delano Roosevelt's leadership:

-In times of crisis, you must strike the right balance between realism and optimism, addressing brutal realities while still expressing hope for the future.

-Be sure you have someone close by who can speak truth to your power. 

-Make time to think, relax and replenish energy.

She recounted one of her favorite letters that somebody wrote to him. "My roof has fallen off, my dog ran away, my wife is mad at me, I lost my job, but everything's all right now because YOU are there."

Now that's a leader!

On Lyndon Johnson's leadership: 

-Make your priorities clear.

-Recognize the value of social relationships.

-Never underestimate the power of individual persuasion.

She said that not only through these four presidents, but through all of the presidents, there is a single most important quality- character.

Draw your own conclusions as to how character factors into the 2024 election.

She ended with a note that I think about quite often. People say that government is the problem, but it's not true. WE are the government. We are genuinely a government of the people. The fact that we are a democratic republic does actually mean something. We need to stay engaged, and continue to fight for self-representation. No matter how easy it would be to fall into cynicism, never forget the simple fact that our destiny is up to us.

October 12, 2024

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Mulholland Drive was released on this day in 2001. I had written off David Lynch as a guy trying to be weird for the sake of weirdness. Rarely have I been so completely wrong. I was on a road trip and stopped at a theater. I didn't really want to see it but there wasn't anything else. My mind was blown. I feel like oeuvre is something akin to the creation of a new religion, it taps into our deep subconscious roots. With Mulholland Drive there are times the it's as if I understand it completely, yet it would be impossible to put into words, which is something that religious people say.

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Gretel and I caught a feisty baby garter snake when we were releasing the water snake we caught last week.

October 12, 2023

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Huh, so maybe this tells us something?

October 12, 2020

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I follow Donald J. Trump on Facebook and also Donald J Trump, a parody profile with no period after the J. There have been a bunch of times lately that J. says something so half-witted that I just stare at that little period in disbelief... "Wait, THE PRESIDENT, said that???" It's honestly gotten much worse lately. I keep thinking of Michael Che's joke from last week's Weekend Update, "I don't know how to ask this, but are we sure it's okay to make fun of this guy?"

October 11, 2020

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Tuckered twosome.

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Pregnant ladies have no sense of humor! When I knock on Emma's belly and say, "Hello, McFly!" she just doesn't get it.

October 12, 2013

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America's first insane asylum opened up on this day in 1773, and it's been downhill ever since.

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Anniversary of weird things. First Columbus Day in 1792, first pledge of allegiance in 1892.

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Occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer, Aleister Crowley, joined us on this day in 1875.

"One would go mad if one took the Bible seriously; but to take it seriously one must be already mad."

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Dick Gregory joined us on this day back in 1932, back in the good old days.

"The only good thing about the good old days is they're gone."

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Deborah foreman, Nicolas Cage's off-screen and on-screen crush in Valley Girl, was born on this day in 1962.

I could watch that film any night of the week. I could recite its lines ad infinitum, not unlike some Muslims reciting the Koran.

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Robert E. Lee left us on this day in 1870.

"I cannot trust a man to control others who cannot control himself."

Reminds me of someone.

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Gene Vincent left us on this day in 1971, at the age of 36.

"Well I took her over to a soda fountain over on Bo's She had an Ice Cream Sundae and a hot cup of Jo She leaned way back just to straighten up her hose Well the ice cream melted and the coffee froze."

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Sid Vicious might have murdered Nancy Spungen, on this day in 1978. How could he not?

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Norwegian metaphysician, Peter Wessel Zapffe, left us on this day in 1990.

"The horror of existence stares us blank in the face and we sense, in one devastating blow, that all souls are hanging by their own web and that a hellish abyss lurks beneath."

He must have woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

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John Denver left us on this day in 1997. 

"There was nobody on the mountain when I started out that day. I skied down this very tough run, all out of breath, I skied right onto the lift. I was riding up again, sitting there, catching my breath, looking down at where I'd just been a few minutes ago- all this physical stuff going on. When suddenly I was hypersensitive to how beautiful everything was. The sky was a blue you only see from mountain tops. Then I became aware of the other people skiing, the colours of their clothes, the birds singing, the sound of the lift, the sibilant sound of the skiers going down the mountain. All of these things filled up my senses and, when I said this to myself, unbidden images came one after the other- the night in the forest, a walk in the rain, the mountains in springtime. All of the pictures merged and then what I was left with was Annie. That song was the embodiment of the love that I felt at the time. In the 10 minutes it took to reach the top of the mountain, the song was there."

ANNIE'S SONG

You fill up my senses

Like a night in a forest

Like the mountains in springtime

Like a walk in the rain

Like a storm in the desert

Like a sleepy blue ocean

You fill up my senses

Come fill me again

Come, let me love you

Let me give my life to you

Let me drown in your laughter

Let me die in your arms

Let me lay down beside you

Let me always be with you

Come, let me love you

Come love me again

Let me give my life to you

Come, let me love you

Come love me again

You fill up my senses

Like a night in a forest

Like the mountains in springtime

Like a walk in the rain

Like a storm in the desert

Like a sleepy blue ocean

You fill up my senses

Come fill me again

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Murder victim and martyr of the gay movement, Matthew Shepard, lost his life on this day in 1998.

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Wilt Chamberlain left us on this day in 1999.

"The man who won't loan money isn't going to have many friends - or need them."

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Huffington Post- Morals Without God, by primatologist Franz de Waal

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frans-de-waal/morals-without-god_b_316473.html

October 12, 2009

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Presented without comment- Norm Macdonald on the secret of life.

https://youtube.com/shorts/xWjz-f0iZ28

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In honor of Monty Python's 50th anniversary, I'm fresh out of Venezuelan beaver cheese as well.

https://www.slashfilm.com/best-monty-python-sketches/

October 12, 2019

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Gary Gulman's State Abbreviations, a perfect comedy bit.

If you have HBO, his new special is great. (It's also great if you don't have HBO.)

https://slate.com/human-interest/2019/10/gary-gulman-state-abbreviations-joke-how-to.html

October 12, 2019

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Mulholland Drive- Llorando

https://youtu.be/P1-_k3qjhw0

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Fun fact, the voice in your head is always the same volume, it can't go softer or louder.

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Ayn Rand- “The question isn’t who is going to let me, it’s who is going to stop me.” 

From Forever 21:

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The great Flannery O'Connor, from a letter to her friend, the playwright Maryat Lee:

"I hope you don’t have friends who recommend Ayn Rand to you. The fiction of Ayn Rand is as low as you can get re fiction. I hope you picked it up off the floor of the subway and threw it in the nearest garbage pail. She makes Mickey Spillane look like Dostoevsky."

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Sam Harris, Lying- "Of course, the liar often imagines that he does no harm as long as his lies go undetected. But the one lied to almost never shares this view. The moment we consider our dishonesty from the point of view of those we lie to, we recognize that we would feel betrayed if the roles were reversed."

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Nietzsche- "I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you."

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Hitchens- "I can't alter the fact that I'm a primate. I can conceal it better than some people can."

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Dan Rather- "Waiting in line for hours to vote should be considered less a story on voter enthusiasm and more a story on voter suppression. No one should have to wait hours to vote."

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Norm Macdonald's SNL monologue- "I don't know if you remember this but I used to actually be on this show. But now, this is the weird part, right? It's only a year and a half later and they asked me to host the show! So I wondered, I go, 'Hey, wait a second here. How did I go, in a year and a half, from being not funny enough to be even allowed in the building, to being so funny that I'm now hosting the show? How did I suddenly get so goddamn funny?' It occurred to me, I haven't gotten funnier. The show has gotten really bad!"

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Socrates- "Strong minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, weak minds discuss people."

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Aristotle- “Be a free thinker and don’t accept everything you hear as truth. Be critical and evaluate what you believe in."

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Confucius- "Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated."

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Groucho Marx- "While money can't buy happiness, it certainly lets you choose your own form of misery."

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Diderot- "The most dangerous madmen are those created by religion, and ... people whose aim is to disrupt society always know how to make good use of them on occasion."

Reminds me of that guy who held that upside-down Bible in front of the church that one time.

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Montesquieu- “If triangles had a god they would give him three sides.”

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Steven Pinker, The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century- "In explaining any human shortcoming, the first tool I reach for is Hanlon’s Razor: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."

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Yiddish expression- "If God lived on earth, people would break his window."

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Gautama Buddha- "Your mind is a powerful thing. When you filter it with positive thoughts, your life will start to change."

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Stephen King, Full Dark, No Stars- "He supposed that even in Hell, people got an occasional sip of water, if only so they could appreciate the full horror of unrequited thirst when it set in again."

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John McWhorter, Nine Nasty Words: English in the Gutter — Then, Now, and Forever- "Where we have the space to carefully assemble and burnish our sentences, something like already or grocery store comes out; meanwhile, we spit out fuck when it’s time to run away from a lion."

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Rodney Dangerfield:

-My wife is such a bad cook, in my house we pray after the meal.

-I’m so ugly my mother had morning sickness…AFTER I was born.

-I know I’m ugly. I tell my doctor I want to get a vasectomy. He said with a face like mine, I don’t need one.

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Sibilant- making or characterized by a hissing sound

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