Paine of Democracy

Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776: 

"Men who look upon themselves born to reign, and others to obey, soon grow insolent; selected from the rest of mankind their minds are early poisoned by importance; and the world they act in differs so materially from the world at large, that they have but little opportunity of knowing its true interest, and when they succeed to the government are frequently the most ignorant and unfit of any throughout the dominions.”

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What does it mean to get old?

The day after Halloween I was walking to my car and saw a piece of candy on the sidewalk, still in the wrapper. I really wanted it, but I also really, really didn't want to bend down to pick it up. So I kept walking.

I was thinking about that candy after I went inside, disappointed in myself. I went back out and got it. That was a close call though, I had almost turned old!

Yesterday I only had about 2 hours of sleep, woke up at 4:00 a.m., drove Zuzu to Philly and back, taped up my big toe to stabilize its torn ligaments, skipped dinner, and played some serious racquetball for a solid hour and a half.

This morning I was standing on the windowsill fixing our window, took a funny step onto the couch, and came crashing to the ground. It hurt like crazy and at first I thought something could have been broken, but it looked and sounded ridiculous, so you can imagine Emma, Gretel, and Zuzu's laugh riot. Gretel in particular was thrilled that she "saw the whole thing, hahaha!" Then she reenacted it for everyone's amusement.

And why shouldn't they all laugh? Sure, I'm hobbling a bit today for three distinct reasons, but I'm fine. If I were old, my bones would have been turned into rubble, I would now be more bruise than non-bruise.

I remember walking home from school with my friend when we were in first grade. We saw a lady slip on some stairs, wobble, almost fall down, but then catch herself. We both burst out laughing. She scolded us, said that it wasn't nice to laugh at old ladies when they almost fall down. She was right. She was old.

Bob Dylan is 82, still touring. Is he old? No way. As he says- he not busy being born, is busy dying. As long as I still have the strength to bend down and pick up candy, recover from occasional lack of sleep, and play my racquetball soul out of my body, I'm still busy being born. 

November 3, 2023

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Great day at the thrift shop. I found books I didn't have by David Foster Wallace, Don DeLillo, and Chuck Palahniuk, along with one by the sociologist Robert Putnam. And I discovered at the check-out that it was half-price day. 

I also found three Bukowski books I did have but couldn't help buying, including my favorite, Post Office. The opening line is one of the best ever and it has popped into my mind hundreds of times in the years since I first read it.

November 3, 2021

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"You know when that shark bites with his teeth, babe, scarlet billows start to spread."

My God, the horror of those lyrics!

November 3, 2021

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THIS JUST IN: Trump announces that if he loses, his first 2024 campaign rally will be held tomorrow night.

November 3, 2020

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I can't decide whether I should drink coffee or wine.

November 3, 2020

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My Final Pre-Election Result Thoughts

Whatever happens tonight, let's face it, a majority of voters will have chosen, leaving many devastated. Wait, that's not quite right... the majority of the voters in enough states that have electoral votes that add up to 270 will have chosen. (My God, what a stupid system!) 

The losers will need to approach this with some sort of spirit of acceptance... not acceptance of opposing policy, but acceptance that a devastating loss was indeed possible.

Keep in mind that I'm saying this while supporting Biden but believing that Trump has the edge. Supporters of both need to approach this in the same spirit.

To draw from Trump's recent tautology, we are what we are. That doesn't change with one election, but the palpable tension is due to not knowing who the hell we are yet! Are we good or are we awful??? 100% of us have no reason to be sure, but we find out tonight.

There are still things we can all agree on though. 

We can all speak out against cruelty and against cruel policies. 

We should always counter lies with facts, with better arguments. 

An expert knows more than a lay person, that's what makes them an expert. 

Since we believe OUR vote must count, EVERY vote must count. 

Since we take our own health seriously, we must take public health exponentially more serious.

We can all believe that when police break up a group of lawful protesters, violently and unlawfully, the police are the anarchists.

And we can believe that the police are on our side when they risk their lives arresting sex offenders and murderers. (After all, they are doing that for us.)

We can change the world through violence and destruction or through conversation. Violence, or an implied threat of violence, can never trump debate, so to speak. 

If we're a government of the people (as I believe we are), then we're all personally responsible for the government. If Trump wins, I'm personally responsible for not doing enough to persuade enough people to vote for Biden.

And if Biden wins, Trump and his followers didn't do enough to convince me and those like me. (To be quite honest, not many tried.)

Did you know that we can all agree on the abolishment of the Electoral College too? It's true! Maybe not tonight, but soon when Texas flips blue, Republicans will have no longer have a path to victory and will have 100% metaphysical certitude that it's an outdated and broken system! 

Does that make them hypocritical? Yes! But no more hypocritical than the Democrats who at that point will no longer want to get rid of it. 

I think it's a ridiculous system and we need to get rid of it no matter who would benefit.

This might sound like Pollyanna-ish, but we can all follow Anne Frank's example of never losing a belief in the goodness of people.

"Human greatness does not lie in wealth or power, but character and goodness. People are just people, and all people have faults and shortcomings, but all of us are born with a basic goodness. Whoever is happy will make others happy too. I don't think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains."

The interesting thing about that quote is that it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, making the world a better place just by believing in it.

Our guiding moral principle must be to act in a way that everybody can follow, and that the intention of our actions should lead to human flourishing.

These things will all still be true tomorrow and onward, and we can always still hold our leaders accountable to these principles, no matter who they are.

After Lincoln defeated the Confederates, at Appomattox he had the Union band play Dixie. It was a symbolic gesture aimed toward reconciliation. 

If Biden wins should he play Dixie??? Probably not! If Trump wins should he throw a trash can through a plate-glass pizzeria window??? Again, probably wouldn't be the right thing. I don't know what either party should do, and you probably don't either. But let's allow our belief in our shared set of principles guide us.

November 3, 2020

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Roman poet, Lucan, was born on this day in 39AD.

"Might was the measure of right."

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Red sky at night, voter's delight?

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This guy Trump, he's a weird guy! Don't you think?

Does he want to win? I don't know. He reminds me of one of a handful of people who have worked for me over the years who do everything they can do to get fired, and when they get fired, it blows their mind. 

He's not going to win any votes by saying he's going to fire Dr. Fauci after the election. Fauci-haters are already voting for Trump 100%, maybe even 110%. His idiotic rant could only get people to not vote for him, right?

"Does he want to win?" It's the wrong question. Of course he wants to win. We should never mistake his lack of discipline for strategy, right? Wrong. Part of his appeal is his lack of discipline in itself. No strategy is the strategy.

David Foster Wallace asked the right question while covering McCain, of all people, as he ran for the Republican nomination 20 years ago.

"Spring 2000--midmorning in America's hangover from the whole Lewinsky-and-impeachment thing--represents a moment of almost unprecedented cynicism and disgust with national politics, a moment when blunt, I-don't-give-a-shit-if-you-elect-me honesty becomes an incredibly attractive and salable and electable quality. A moment when an anticandidate can be a real candidate. But of course if he becomes a real candidate, is he still an anticandidate? Can you sell someone's refusal to be for sale?"

The answer: YES! Apparently an objective reason to not vote for Trump, becomes the precise reason an unreasonable person is more likely to vote for him! 

Maybe this all makes sense. I'll drive to work tomorrow blindfolded in reverse and see if I get there faster.

November 3, 2020

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Number one, don't trust my political predictions. 

Number two, here's a political prediction for Tuesday. Democrats win the House by a huge margin, and lose the Senate by a very small margin. Trump goes into full voter fraud mode, of course with zero proof. He'd rather destroy institutions than face facts. In this case he wants to destroy the House of Representatives, by undermining their credibility with accusations that they were not legitimately elected... which also undermines institution of representative democracy, and I say that without hyperbole. Trump's True Believers will either believe the lie or overlook it, focusing instead on some sort of whataboutism- what about Obama? What about the Clintons? What about the things some Broadway star that nobody ever heard of said about the president? Anything to steal any focus away from the fact that the president wants to undermine Congress's Constitutional responsibility to check his power so he can concentrate his power based on obvious lies. 

Again, I'm probably wrong. But vote, and ask your descendants to record your vote on your tombstone.

November 3, 2018

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If this election has proven only one thing... it's that we need better schools. Pick any other issue... that issue is crap compared to people being able to understand a basic outline of it.

November 3, 2016

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You know, when the Cubs were down 3 games to 1 Nate Silver pointed out that Trump had a better chance to win the election. The Cubs came back and won it.

November 3, 2016

Postscript- I was ahead on this!

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DANGER: don't give your children Halloween candy! Have a stranger give it to them.

Number of confirmed deaths caused by doctored Halloween candy given to children by their relatives: 1 

Number of confirmed deaths caused by doctored Halloween candy given to children by strangers: 0 

From the Harper's Index, October 1999

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I'm calling the election early- Obama 319, Romney 219. (Florida, Colorado, Ohio, Wisconsin, New Hampshire for Obama... Virginia, Iowa, North Carolina for Romney.)

November 3, 2012

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Faye- "Ben walks in James Dean's footsteps on a mission to find Phil."

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The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 2 into orbit on this day in 1957, much to the consternation of a dog named Laika.

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Richard Nixon addressed the nation on this day in 1959, asking the "silent majority" to join him in solidarity on the Vietnam War effort and to support his policies. The silent majority, what a load of crap!

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On this day in 1986, the Lebanese magazine Ash-Shiraa reported that the United States had been secretly selling weapons to Iran in order to secure the release of seven American hostages held by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon.

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Bob Feller was born on this day in 1918. Fresh out of high school, he struck out 17 Athletics.

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Lois Smith was born on this day in 1930. She's one of the last of James Dean's co-stars who are still living.

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Roseanne Barr was born on this day in 1952.

"People say to me, 'You’re not feminine.' Well, they can just suck my dick."

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Dennis Miller was born a year to the day later. 

"You know there is a problem with the education system when you realize that out of the 3 R's only one begins with an R."

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Léon Theremin left us on this day in 1993, cue the creepy music.

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Another notable birthday- Hal Hartley (1959) 

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Another notable deathday- Henri Matisse (1954)

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Friends, welcome to madness.

Woodie Guthrie- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Choo-choo, choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo-choo,

Choo-choo, choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo-choo,

Choo-choo, choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo-choo,

Chooka-choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight,

A, B, C, D, E, F, G.

Hoodoo, voodoo, seven, twenty-one, two,

Haystack, hoe-stack, hey do the hoe-ta,

High boga, low joker, ninety-nine, a zero,

Sidewalk, streetcar, dance a goofy dance.

Choo-choo, choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo-choo,

Choo-choo, choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo-choo,

Choo-choo, choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo-choo,

Choo-choo, choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight,

A, B, C, D, E, F, G.

Blackbird, blue jay, one, two, three, four,

Trash-stack, jump back, E, F, G.

Big man, little man, fat man, skinny man,

Grasshopper, green snake, hold my hand.

Choo-choo, choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo-choo,

Choo-choo, choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo-choo,

Choo-choo, choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo-choo,

Choo-choo, choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo.

Mama cat, tom cat, diapers on the clothesline,

2, 4, 6, 8, run and hide.

Crazy man, lazy girl, pony on a tin can,

I'll be yours and you'll be mine.

Choo-choo, choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo-choo,

Choo-choo, choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo-choo,

Choo-choo, choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo-choo,

Choo-choo, choo-choo, chooka-chooka, choo.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight,

A, B, C, D, E, F, G.

And one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight,

A, B, C, D, E, F, G.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijaALgHfUp8

November 3, 2013

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Huh, Mo Rocca was at Wheatland today, and a few blocks away we had a Morrocan lunch at work. Coincidence???

November 3, 2016

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The Hill- Trump says soldiers might fire on migrants throwing rocks

Huh...just read that the Nigerian army just followed Trump's advice. So much for the "Trump just says mean things" argument. It takes a real True Believer to believe the "mean things" he says have no real world consequences.

http://hill.cm/gHxjz4m

November 3, 2018

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Great documentary on Netflix, Tricky Dick and The Man In Black... about the time Johnny Cash played for Nixon at the White House. I never heard about that before. Nixon requested that Cash play a few specific old country songs. He didn't, but he did play What Is Truth? Cash's sister says people need to hear the message today. "You better help the voice of youth find, What is Truth?"

https://youtu.be/S0KQWTBljjg

November 3, 2018

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Houston Rockets fan eludes security and escapes.

https://fb.watch/gyPWGuuBva/

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Lucan again- "The gods conceal from men the happiness of death, that they may endure life."

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Confucius- “The man who chases two rabbits, catches neither.”

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Campbell- "We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us."

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Tom Waits- "The folks who know the truth aren't talking...The ones who don't have a clue, you can't shut them up!"

Sounds kind of familiar.

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Voltaire- "The more a man talks, the less he knows."

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Terkel- "'Curiosity never killed this cat’ — that’s what I’d like as my epitaph."

He was cremated, sadly no epitaph!

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Locke- "No man's knowledge here can go beyond his experience."

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Oscar Wilde- "I can resist anything except temptation."

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Dennis Miller again- "Sure, the lion is king of the jungle, but airdrop him into Antarctica and he's just a penguin's bitch."

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Normie- "I just got back from New York. You ever been there? There was a big gay parade going on there when I was there, and I never been to one of them, and I like a parade. I always like a parade. So, I go there, and it turns out, it's just a bunch of gay guys."