Stabbed By Ghosts

The polls, polls, polls, polls, polls, polls, polls, I can't stop looking at freaking polls!

If I had to put money down right now, I would put it on Kamala, not because I like her, but because 538 has her winning 53% of their election simulations based on the most current aggregate polling. The pollsters are weighted in the model according how close their prior predictions reflected reality.

Some support for Kamala has decreased recently and it is making me very nervous, thus the hawkeying, as if that helps. She's winning 53% of the simulations, but of course that does not mean that she will win. The nerds out there can roll their 20-sided dice, and pretend that 1-11 represents Kamala winning and 12-20 represents Trump winning. 

So what use are the polls?

First, they SHOULD tell Trump himself that there's a chance he could lose. He genuinely doesn't believe it, or at least he acts like he doesn't believe it. He puts forth only two possible options- he wins, or the election was rigged. I'm not sure if you've heard, but he's not too big on democracy, or democratic republics for that matter.

(I promise you that Trump's internal polling is fantastic. If you're a polling company and Trump is your client, are you going to give him bad news? Sure, if you want to be fired. Instead, you aren't going to lie about the numbers, but you're going to shade it towards his liking. If a survey heavy with unlikely voters is better than a survey with likely voters, you'll take a lesson out of the Trump playbook and downplay the one you don't want him to know. Sure, it is going to give him a false view of reality, but it's not as if he was going to accept the results anyway.)

Second, it establishes a baseline. Of course the polls are not going to be 100% on the money (that would be called an election), but they do tell us something.

In 2008, the polls were basically dead on. Nate Silver correctly predicted 35 of 35 Senate races, along with 49 out of 50 presidential races. I think he missed North Carolina. 

In 2012 the polls benefited Obama by two points. 

In 2016 and 2020 they benefited Trump by two points. In 2016 it was enough, in 2020 it wasn't. (Trump won in 2016, and Biden won in 2020. Somehow a large part of the country can't say that sentence out loud.)

Hillary Clinton was winning 80-90% of 538's simulations up to two weeks prior to the 2016 election. Then like 10 days before the election, Comey released his letter saying that he was reopening his investigation into her, and in the end she was only winning 68% of the simulations. Trump went into the election with momentum on his side and won. 

Yes well, that does happen. If you roll a six-sided die, once in a while it ends up one or two. That was basically Trump's chance. 

It was a different story in 2020. Trump's campaign manager told him that he should let the Covid news conferences be run by the experts, since he was doing such a bad job at them that he was losing support, and that was the end of his campaign manager's job. Trump believes that if you say something over, and over, and over, it becomes true. Yes, he's proven that it can work with people's beliefs, but it doesn't work with science, i.e. reality. It doesn't work with diseases, and it doesn't work with elections.

His attorney general, Bill Barr, debunked every single one of the election fraud conspiracy theories, and said that he lost for the exact reason everybody in his own circle had been telling him for months that he was going to lose. He kept offending people in the suburbs, and it turned them off. You can clearly see it in the votes by precinct.

Biden was way ahead, and even though Trump outperformed the polls, it was all for nothing. The only thing he got out of it was a measly insurrection.

In the 2022 midterms, after Republicans overturned Roe versus Wade, the polls benefited Democrats. People who previously weren't categorized as likely voters, came out to vote in great swaths.

Will that continue, or will Trump continue outperform the polls? 

The battle between the two groups reminds me of the Steven Wright joke- "For my birthday I got a humidifier and a de-humidifier... I put them in the same room and let them fight it out."

So who will win, the humidifiers or the de-humidifiers? 

Many of his supporters were not counted as likely voters previously, but now that they voted in the last two elections, maybe they are being counted properly and he'll lose his polling error edge.

Kamala is aiming for the middle voters, like Liz Cheney. Trump is aiming for the Laura Loomers of the world, the far right conspiracy fringe. Which is the best strategy? It remains to be seen.

I tend to suspect that Kamala has inspired more people than Trump has radicalized with his lies, but I can tend to be overly optimistic.

I certainly hope she wins, but concerning hope, a friend recently sent me this passage from Margaret Weis's Dragonlance book, Dragons of Autumn Twilight:

Raistlin- "Hope is the denial of reality. It is the carrot dangled before the draft horse to keep him plodding along in a vain attempt to reach it."

Tanis- "Are you saying we shouldn't hope?"

Raistlin- "I'm saying we should remove the carrot and walk forward with our eyes open!"

So poll-watching has become obsession, my way of walking forward with my eyes open. One can hope, but only with clear eyes can we see the world for what it is and direct our energy and intention.

That said though, it's really starting to drive me me absolutely crazy that it's so close that it's basically going to be decided by the polling error. 

If the polls are on the money, and the election were today, Kamala would win. If it shifts one percentage point one way or the other, it's going to be a blowout. 

Whether it's a blowout for Kamala, or a blowout for Trump, what will it say about us? Not much more than we already know, unfortunately, even though great significance will be attached to the result. The population will be as evenly split after the election as before, but The Fickle Fifty Thousand in the middle of 7 states, the Ken Bones of the world, will shift it one way or the other, causing some 90 million to feel poorly represented, but we will still be whatever it is that we are.

How will they decide how to vote? I don't know. A month or two ago I prophesize that it would be decided by something that hasn't yet happened, and I still don't think that thing has happened yet. My guess is that it's going to be due to something that comes to light the final 10 days of the election, same as it did in 2016. 

At this point, I'm expecting 18 more days of October Surprises, followed by 4 days of November Bombshells.

(Tomorrow's October Surprise for the left is the release of Bob Woodward's newest book, War, certain to have some unbelievably details, some of which have already been released. Unbelievable that Bob Woodward's greatest achievement might no longer be starting the chain of events that brought down Nixon, it could possibly be uncovering truths that could be the final undoing of Trump.)

The right knows this is happening tomorrow, and I expect them to release something big as well.

Whatever those future bombshells are, they could have a big effect on The Fickle Fifty Thousand. (Or maybe we should call them the Fickle Fifteen Thousandth of a Percent, since 50,000 /345,000,000 = 0.00015. I'll work on it.)

They don't represent us as a whole, one way or another, and sadly, if they are persuaded to vote for Trump because of his lies, they will be even less representative of us, since their support was grounded in falsehood 

The endless stream of never-ending lies from Trump is something very difficult to contend with. It's easier to tell a lie, than to fact check a lie. It's easier to get somebody to feel something, than to get somebody to think something. It's easier to get somebody to believe a lie, than to believe the truth. 

It's easier to destroy rather than create. That's true of everything, including democratic republics.

Extreme statements grab our attention, and somebody with no shame, or even pretense of telling the truth, ends up grabbing all of our attention. His own surrogates on the news programs don't even try to justify his lies anymore, instead they deflect, saying that they wouldn't have said X the same way. Even today, JD Vance called Trump's lies "exaggerations." 

Whatever helps you get to bed at night, J.D., if that is your real name, which it isn't. 

These negative human traits are easy to exploit. Trump knows this and has hacked a significant chunk of the nation's collective brain.

Will Trump's endless stream of lies tip the polling error in his favor? Maybe. Nate Silver said that in the last week, at a time that Trump ramped up his Lie Machine, the race might have changed from a slight edge to Harris to truly even. Is there correlation? There could be.

So what's the solution here? I don't know, but I'm going to keep hawkeying to trick myself into thinking I have a measure of control, taking deep breaths, staying as laser-focused as I can, calling out bullshit when I see it, and continuing to take Michelle Obama's advice to "do something."

October 14, 2024

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The lovely Lillian Gish was born on this day in 1893.

"When I was in films, we pretended to kiss but we didn't. It was considered unsanitary. Now they swallow each others' tonsils. It's disgusting."

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On this day in 1912, former president Teddy Roosevelt was shot at point blank range as he was campaigning. Right afterward he gave a 90-minute speech with the bullet still inside him! He said in part, "Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose." Wow, that's a tough guy.

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Imagine seeing your $1.4 million artwork shredded before your eyes one second after buying it. And then imagine selling it for $25.4 million three years later.

October 14, 2021

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Ascribing Trump Offenses To Other Presidents

The Bed-of-Nails Effect makes us lose track of just how historically awful Trump is, and individual instances of callousness, incompetence and corruption can blend together with none standing out. Take a minute and look at him anew by imagining Trump offenses ascribed to other presidents.

George Washington- Could not not tell a lie. The Virginia Gazette cataloged 25,000 demonstrable lies in his first term.

John Adams- Wanted to build a wall on the eastern border, "AND ENGLAND'S GOING TO PAY FOR IT!" 

Thomas Jefferson- Said that if he didn't win reelection, it was rigged against him. Often "kidded" about wanting to be president-for-life.

James Madison- Ongoing public feud with the parents of a soldier who was killed in the Revolutionary War.

James Monroe- Declared the press an enemy of the people, that the country would be better off without it.

John Quincy Adams- During his reelection campaign, his former Nation Security Advisor accused him of aiding and abetting England, who was universally found to have helped him win his previous campaign. 

Andrew Jackson- Greatest talent was his preternatural ability to make up mean nicknames for his political opponents, such as John Quincy "Slow-Brained" Adams.

Martin Van Buren- Well-known for pardoning and commuting sentences of political allies, demanding that his attorney general lock up his political rivals, and floated pardoning himself.

William Henry Harrison- Died of pneumonia while giving a several hour speech in the rain. It was all about how he trusts the president of Portugal above US Intelligence. 

John Tyler- Fired anyone with the power to investigate him that he viewed as disloyal to him personally. Half of his cabinet wrote tell-all books painting the same picture of him easily bored, never reading, focused strictly on image, mean-spirited, petty, easily corruptible, motivated purely by transactions, etc.

James K. Polk- Wanted to trade Puerto Rico for Greenland. (Might have thought Greenland is where money is from.)

Zachary Taylor- Went on and on and on about a debunked conspiracy theory about a former congressman killing one of his interns, despite requests from her family to stop. Invented the word "bigly."

Millard Fillmore- Had his press secretary declare that the size of his inauguration was much bigger than Taylor's, despite daguerreotypic evidence.

Franklin Pierce- Lost a billion dollars building casinos in Atlantic City.

James Buchanan- In the lead up to the Civil War, told the Confederates to stand back... but added that they better stand by too, just in case.

Abraham Lincoln- Accused of sexual misconduct by 1 score and 6 women.

Andrew Johnson- Refused to participate in any way with a totally real impeachment that he insisted was a fake-hoax-witch-hunt of an impeachment.

Ulysses S. Grant- Talked more about the heroism of the Confederacy than victory of the Union, triggering a resurgence of widespread racist sentiment. When asked if he feared for more lives being lost in the Civil War, he said, "Not at all. I stand very far away from the fighting."

Rutherford B. Hayes- After any bad news published about him, he sent telegrams to all his supporters- "COUNTERFEIT PROCLAMATION!!!"

James Garfield- Famous for his bright orange make-up that he thought made him look extra-healthy. After becoming a laughing stock, blames his looks on newfangled light bulbs, saying he looked much better when lit with whale oil lamps. 

Chester A. Arthur- Said he would date his daughter, if she wasn't his daughter.

Grover Cleveland- Invited conspiracy theorists to the White House who believed that leaders of the Republican Party and many of the most popular stage actors of the day were involved in an underground pedophilia ring.

Benjamin Harrison- Lost the popular vote but won the presidency. Repeatedly blamed his popular vote loss on millions of Irish immigrants voting illegally.

Grover Cleveland- "There were very fine people on both sides... of Benjamin Harrison."

William McKinley- Caught on a phonograph recording saying he covered for Spain murdering and dismembering a journalist working for an American newspaper. 

Theodore Roosevelt- Believed the human body only has a finite amount of energy, so you don't want to get too much exercise and use it all up. 

William Howard Taft- Had several famous affairs with burlesque stars, just after his wife gave birth, and broke a campaign finance law by not disclosing that he paid them to keep quiet.

Woodrow Wilson- Responsible for hundreds of thousands of pandemic deaths, admitted he was downplaying it all along, that he likes downplaying it. Thought he could control the virus with the Power of Positive Thinking, insisting it "will just go away." And maybe it wasn't a great idea to disband Taft's Pandemic Response Team?

Warren G. Harding- He had multiple campaign managers over 5 years and countless top officials credibly accused, investigated and indicted for a wide variety of crimes such as lying to Congress, fraud, and money laundering.

Calvin Coolidge- Pressured Sri Lanka to announce an investigation into his political rival, threatening to withhold Congressionally-mandated aid it needed to fend off an invasion from India.

Herbert Hoover- Passed a tax bill making the rich vastly more rich (because what harm could from that?), but lost sleep at night, haunted by the single Senate vote against him, that protected millions of people with pre-existing conditions through Coolidgecare. 

Franklin D. Roosevelt- New Deal! But only for Blue States. Withheld federal aid from Red States because their governors weren't nice enough to him. Also, bought into Goebbel's Big Lie Theory of Truth.

Harry S. Truman- "Up next, bombing a hurricane."

Dwight D. Eisenhower- Publicly called his own generals "warmongers and war profiteers." Privately called war dead "suckers" and "losers." Threatened to disown his own son if he joined the military. When asked about sacrifice, said that he wished he stayed home and made a lot of money instead of leading the Allies to victory over Hitler.

John F. Kennedy- So eloquent! Remember this very famous, and very sane, quote? "Look, having nuclear—my uncle was a great professor and scientist and engineer, Dr. John Kennedy at MIT; good genes, very good genes, OK, very smart, the Wharton School of Finance, very good, very smart—you know, if you’re a liberal Democrat, if I were a conservative, if, like, OK, if I ran as a conservative Republican, they would say I'm one of the smartest people anywhere in the world—it’s true!—but when you're a liberal Democrat they try—oh, do they do a number—that’s why I always start off: Went to Wharton, was a good student, went there, went there, did this, built a fortune—you know I have to give my like credentials all the time, because we’re a little disadvantaged—but you look at the nuclear deal, the thing that really bothers me—it would have been so easy, and it’s not as important as these lives are (nuclear is powerful; my uncle explained that to me many, many years ago, the power and that was 35 years ago; he would explain the power of what's going to happen and he was right—who would have thought?), but when you look at what's going on with the four prisoners—now it used to be three, now it’s four—but when it was three and even now, I would have said it's all in the messenger; fellas, and it is fellas because, you know, they don't, they haven’t figured that the women are smarter right now than the men, so, you know, it’s gonna take them about another 150 years—but the Persians are great negotiators, the Iranians are great negotiators, so, and they, they just killed, they just killed us."

Lyndon B. Johnson- Waffle and waffle and waffle on denouncing white supremacists, but continued to accept their support. Actively worked to make it harder for many to vote, figuring tge fewer votes the better.

Richard M. Nixon- Trade war with China, hurting farmers and industry, but made an exception for his daughter's business.

Gerald R. Ford- So clumsy! And also separated thousands of children from their mothers at the border as a stated deterrent to immigration, without a plan to reunite them.

James Carter- Barred from running a charity, ordered to pay $25 million to the victims of his fraudulent university.

Ronald Reagan- Said his face was more presidential than Geraldine Ferraro's.

George H. W. Bush- Often referred to himself as a loser for getting shot down in WWII, saying he always preferred pilot's who weren't shot down. 

William J. Clinton- When credibly accused of sexual assault, said at a campaign rally, "Did you see her??? I don't think so!"

George W. Bush- His sister was caught on tape saying he paid someone else to take the SAT's for him. Bragged incessantly about passing a dementia test. Mocked nursing home residents, the same day he rolled out an ad campaign targeted toward senior citizens. 

Barack Obama- Rose to national political prominence by demanding repeatedly for years that McCain produce the long-form of his birth certificate. At the White House Correspondents' Dinner, he cracked some jokes about a failed businessman, devoid of humanity, and evidently summoned some demon.

October 14, 2020

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There's barely a clearer example of Trump's pure incompetence and immorality than this- he just mocked nursing home residents at the same time that he's rolling out new advertising targeting senior citizens. 

To those who donated to his campaign, money well spent!

October 14, 2020

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Confucius- "The superior man understands what is right; the inferior man understands what will sell."

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Granted, I'm not the greatest legal mind of my generation, but here's my analysis of the Scalia and his intellectual descendants' Constitutional Originalism, as it applies to things that have come up since the Constitution was written (human rights, gay marriage, super PACs, assault weapons, corporations having the same rights as people, etc.)

If they like something a lower court disallowed, they rule that the Constitution didn't forbid it. If they don't like something a lower court allowed, they rule that the Constitution didn't explicitly allow it. So through a semantic trick, they get to assign Constitutionality to all their personal beliefs.

Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong, but either I like what Dan Rather said today- "If you want to be an “originalist” in law, maybe you should go all the way. Cooking on a hearth. Leeches for medicine. An old mule for transportation. Or maybe you can recognize that the world changes."

October 14, 2020

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Danny Devito- "antonin scalia retire bitch"

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I'm overdue to watch Best of Enemies again, the documentary on the debates between Gore Vidal and William F Buckley. Looking back on their debates after decades, it all boiled down to the one time that Buckley called Vidal "a little queer" with venom on his tongue. Even Buckley knew that such an ad hominem attack meant he handed Vidal the win. I do have to give Buckley some credit for his erudition though, without it I never would have learned my my favorite word of all-time- hobgoblinization!

October 14, 2018

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Socrates- "When the debate is lost, insults become the losers tool."

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Nice day at the beach with this little bugger.

October 14, 2018

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Kellyanne Conway says that the Harvey Weinstein allegations prove that Democrats are hypocrites. I'm sure some are. There's a slight difference though- a week later Weinstein is ostrasized by all (except for some reason, Oliver Stone) and booted from the Academy, whereas Trump was declared better than Bill Clinton by his apologists and then made president. Everyone but a hypocrite can admit they are both awful people.

October 14, 2017

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Headline for 2017: Bob Dylan Reinvents Himself Again, Wins Nobel Prize for Economics.

October 14, 2016

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I passed a church sign that read "SIN IS WORSE THAN EBOLA." Imagine how bad a sin it would be if someone CREATED ebola. Wait, that's what God did. So how should we judge Him for that???

October 14, 2014

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Gretel disappointed me by keeping her composure after she pulled off my hand. Look at her investigating it with a Buddhist detachment.

October 14, 2014

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Happy Columbus Day everybody! Hey, out of racism, slavery and genocide, which is your favorite?

October 14, 2013

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Who cares about Good Knievel??? You gotta take risks!

October 14, 2012

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Spider Eyes is with the cat angels...

October 14, 2010

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On this day in 1943, prisoners at Sobibor extermination camp covertly assassinated most of the on-duty SS officers and then staged a mass breakout. Wow!

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Chuck Yeager became the first person to break the sound barrier on this day in 1947.

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On this day in 1962, an American reconnaissance aircraft took photographs of Soviet ballistic missiles being installed in Cuba, and thus began the Cuban Missile Crisis. Today, every day is a Cuban missile crisis and we don't even realize it.

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Another notable birthday- Harry Anderson (1952)

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English astronomer, Martin Ryle, left us on this day in 1984.

"The benefits of medical research are real - but so are the potential horrors of genetic engineering and embryo manipulation. We devise heart transplants, but do little for the 15 million who die annually of malnutrition and related diseases. Our cleverness has grown prodigiously - but not our wisdom."

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Benoit Mandelbrot left us on this day in 2010. He developed the concept of fractals, and even referred to himself as a fractalist, saying that they represented "the uncontrolled element in life."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEw8xpb1aRA

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The social psychologist Philip Zimbardo left us on this day in 2024. His NYT obituary:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/24/science/philip-zimbardo-dead.html

I didn't know he was friends with Stanley Milgram in high school in the Bronx. Man, must have been a good setting to foster psychological thinking.

He was popular in high school, then moved to Hollywood for a year in high school and got picked on, then moved back to the Bronx and was popular again. Yep, that type of experience will help shape you into one of the most preeminent social psychologists of your generation.

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Cyndi Lauper's She's So Unusual was released on this day in 1983. Just a perfect album!

A gem, Money Changes Everything:

https://youtu.be/8ffc0TCGIG4

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Pulp Fiction was released on this day in 1994.

Mia: “Don’t you hate that?”

Vincent: “What?”

M: “Uncomfortable silences. Why do we feel it’s necessary to yak about bullshit in order to be comfortable?”

V: “I don’t know. That’s a good question.”

M: “That’s when you know you’ve found somebody special. When you can just shut the fuck up for a minute and comfortably enjoy the silence.”

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The Steve Bartman Incident took place on this day in 2003, at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois. on the 95th anniversary of clinching their last world series. He leaned over and deflected a ball that was going to be caught that would have put the Cubs in position to win the NLCS. The Cubs ended up folding and losing. People were throwing debris at Steve Bartman and he had to be escorted from the stadium. His personal info was put online and people threatened him at his house. The Cubs players took total responsibility for the incident, and when they won the World Series in 2016, they gave him a ring.

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Dwight D. Eisenhower was born on this day in 1890.

From his farewell address: “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.”

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E. E. Cummings was born on this day in 1894.

"For whatever we lose (like a you or a me),

It's always our self we find in the sea."

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Oscar Charleston was born on this day in 1896. During his 18-year career in the Negro Leagues, he batted over .300 nearly every year and posted an average above .400 three times. 

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Hannah Arendt was born on this day in 1906.

"The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e., the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (i.e., the standards of thought) no longer exist."

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Nixon's White House Counsel, John Dean, was born on this day in 1938.

"Probably about 20 to 25 percent of the adult American population is so right-wing authoritarian, so scared, so self-righteous, so ill-informed, and so dogmatic that nothing you can say or do will change their minds."

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Cliff Richard was born on this day in 1940.

Rik:

Oh, Cliff

Sometimes it must be difficult not to feel as if

You really are a Cliff

When fascists keep trying to push you over it

Are they the lemmings?

Or are you Cliff?

Or are you, Cliff?

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Erwin Rommel committed suicide on this day in 1944. He was given the option after plotting to undermine Hitler. It was believed that he was so popular among the Germans that morale would take a huge hit if he was executed. By killing himself his staff was spared, and his family got his pension.

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The AV Club- How Homestar Runner changed web series for the better

Remember this guy? The article points out how odd it is the feel nostalgic about something so recent. Indeed.

http://www.avclub.com/articles/how-homestar-runner-changed-web-series-for-the-bet,104146/

October 14, 2013

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Vanity Fair- Donald Trump’s Fake Renoir: The Untold Story

Such a perfect, simple story. Trump claims his Renoir is the original but the original is at the Art Institute of Chicago, and he won't let it go. It's a lie. Trump's so-called Power of Positive Thinking does not change reality, it does not make a fake painting a real painting no matter how much he wishes it to be true. The Power of Positive Thinking will not stop North Korea from destroying South Korea, or stop him from paying out $25 million to people he scammed. "Reality is reality" is a statement he couldn't possibly agree with, he believes that "reality is what you believe."

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/10/donald-trumps-fake-renoir

October 14, 2017

Postscript: There are so many Trump whoppers of grave significance, I love when there's a meaningless one like this to really put his grip on reality in perspective.

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Hey everyone, I just drove my car off a cliff, proving that I'm a phenomenal driver. Wouldn't it just be so nice if everything, good and bad, was just extra evidence of how great you are?

https://thinkprogress.org/trump-insurance-stocks-8c2edd4db513/

October 14, 2017

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The Atlantic- AMERICAN DEMOCRACY IS IN CRISIS

Very worth reading- clear, concise, precise, brings it all together. No need to get caught up with the name of the author, could have been anyone.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/09/american-democracy-is-in-crisis/570394

October 14, 2018

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The Onion- Nation’s Indigenous People Confirm They Don’t Need Special Holiday, Just Large Swaths Of Land Returned Immediately

https://www.theonion.com/nation-s-indigenous-people-confirm-they-don-t-need-spec-1839033177

October 14, 2019

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Huffington Post- Trump Torched For Mocking Biden, Elderly People With Weird Photoshopped Tweet

Mocking nursing home residents, especially during the current moment... yep, there's always a new low. You can hear his supporters, "It's just a joke!" Yes, just a joke mocking nursing home residents, by comparing Biden to them who he despises. The premise is corrupt.

Need more proof? Imagine that Buttigieg was the nominee and posted this meme with Trump's face where Biden's is. If a Trump supporter thinks that would be inconceivable, cruel, and devoid of humanity, then they are starting to get it.

One thing is certain- if someone enjoys this type of leadership, they deserve this type of leadership.

https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5f866e7ec5b6e9e76fb87380

October 14, 2020

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The Onion- Trump Testing 2024 Waters By Inciting Iowans To Burn State Capitol To Ground

https://www.theonion.com/trump-testing-2024-waters-by-inciting-iowans-to-burn-st-1847864099

Haha!

October 14, 2021

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Aldous Huxley- "The majority of human beings behave as though death were no more than an unfounded rumor."

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Hayao Miyazaki- "When you die, you can't see sunsets."

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Confucius- "A superior man is modest in his speech but exceeds in his actions."

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Stephen King, The Running Man- "In the year 2025, the best men don't run for president, they run for their lives. . . ."

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Rodney Dangerfield:

I tell ya, when I was a kid, my old man never liked me. He took me to the zoo. He told me to go over to the leopard and play connect the dots.

I could tell that my parents hated me. My bath toys were a toaster and a radio.

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Addendum

More Hannah Arendt quotes...

Hannah Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil- "The trouble with Eichmann was precisely that so many were like him, and that the many were neither perverted nor sadistic, that they were, and still are, terribly and terrifyingly normal. From the viewpoint of our legal institutions and of our moral standards of judgment, this normality was much more terrifying than all the atrocities put together."

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Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism- "Before mass leaders seize the power to fit reality to their lies, their propaganda is marked by its extreme contempt for facts as such, for in their opinion fact depends entirely on the power of man who can fabricate it."

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Hannah Arendt, The Life of the Mind- "Clichés, stock phrases, adherence to conventional, standardized codes of expression and conduct have the socially recognized function of protecting us against reality, that is, against the claim on our thinking attention that all events and facts make by virtue of their existence."

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Hannah Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil- "For politics is not like the nursery; in politics obedience and support are the same."

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Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism- "There is hardly a better way to avoid discussion than by releasing an argument from the control of the present and by saying that only the future will reveal its merits."