tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-143661452024-03-14T00:08:00.395+00:00Letters, postcards, notes on the fridge...and all the things I'd send if I had enough stampsHoustonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04152915247313867734noreply@blogger.comBlogger663125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14366145.post-49650261481947834982017-02-05T18:06:00.001+00:002017-02-05T18:06:28.964+00:00The Constitutional Crisis We Didn’t Have<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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In the last 48 hours, a judge blocked President Trump’s “Muslim
travel ban”, Trump insulted the judge, the Justice Department appealed the
judge’s ruling, and a Federal Appeals court denied the appeal. So, for now, the
travel ban is in check. Until the next move. <o:p></o:p></div>
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And, for now, our Constitution is in good shape. Everything
worked as it should. But I am left feeling somehow more fragile, not less.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So much of the commentary I read, especially on the left, is
alarmist. Perhaps that’s as it should be, given these exceptional times. But it’s
tiring. Two weeks in, and I’m as exhausted by the dire analyses as I am by the
dire administration. <o:p></o:p></div>
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While I risk parroting a White House talking point, I
interpret pretty much everything the President has done, so far, as the
fulfilment of promises he made while campaigning. That, in itself, is admirable
– the following through, the doing what you said you would do. In many
contexts, that would count as integrity. The specifics of what he’s doing are,
of course, a different matter. The actions are execrable, odious, and
small-minded. <o:p></o:p></div>
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But, so far, however deeply I disagree with his policies,
however incompetent and fatally conflicted I find many cabinet nominees,
however hypocritical and myopically partisan I find the leaders of the House
and Senate, however dismaying I find the dumbing-down of the discourse, and
however bewildering – even dangerous – the staffing and governance of the
Executive Branch, I am not yet convinced that this is anything more than a hard
right government getting on with its business.<o:p></o:p></div>
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And from the perspective of democracy, there’s nothing
intrinsically wrong with that. We’ve had dickheads, incompetents and ideologues
in power, before. It’s never good, and protest we should, but it isn’t a crisis
for the foundations of our country, even when it is a crisis for decency,
fairness, and immediate justice.<o:p></o:p></div>
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What the Muslim quasi-ban brought into the light, however,
is how quickly it could all turn. <o:p></o:p></div>
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For many years, both the right and the left have excoriated
judges who haven’t agreed with them. I think Republicans have been guiltier of
fostering anti-judicial sentiment than Democrats, but it’s been a two-party
game. (Citizens United, anyone?) When a case goes against you, the judges are “unelected
activists” who deserve nothing but your contempt. <o:p></o:p></div>
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This watering down of respect for the Judicial Branch has
consequences. It attempts to delegitimize one of only three branches of
government that keep our country in delicate balance: the legislative branch,
the executive branch, and the judiciary. Declare the judiciary to be illegitimate,
and they are, by implication, ignorable. Labelling judges “unelected” and calling
their rulings “assaults on democracy” is a rhetorical tactic to cast them as
opponents to our democratic values, the enemies of “real” democracy.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This is ridiculous, of course. The Constitution created one
of the three branches specifically to rule on what the other two branches could
and couldn’t do. And it made sure that branch wouldn’t be subject to the
whimsical mob in electoral popularity contests. <o:p></o:p></div>
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This body of “unelected activists” isn’t supposed to be responsive
to the electorate, or to the House or Senate or President. It is specifically
supposed to be independent from them. It has both eyes on the constitution, not
one eye on the next election.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s nothing new to say that restricting freedoms is
necessary for the security of the country – as Trump has marketed his ban. It’s
also nothing new to deride judges who rule against you. Saturday, Trump called Justice
James Robart a “so-called judge” and his opinion “ridiculous”. Actually pretty
mild stuff, by Trump’s standards. But hardly a respectful dissent.<o:p></o:p></div>
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What kept our democracy intact over the weekend was that,
while insulting the judge and, by extension, the legitimate role of the
judiciary, the Trump administration played by the Constitution’s rules. While
Trump engaged in petty pugilism on Twitter, his Department of Homeland Security
complied with the ruling, giving appropriate instructions to its field staff
(including customs officials at airports), and his Department of Justice
followed the procedural rules in filing an appeal.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Without wanting to indulge alarmism, I will admit that I imagined,
Saturday, just how fragile a moment that was.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Our Constitution was held together by a large number of
people deciding to follow the rules. There was no constitutional crisis. And
that is to be noted and honored. But we saw exactly how one might happen.<o:p></o:p></div>
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If, on Saturday, President Trump had gone one step beyond Twitter
insults, he might have declared Justice Robart to be genuinely illegitimate. If
he felt the country was with him, he might have invited Paul Ryan and Mitch
McConnell to join the fray, publicly decrying the obstacle of the judiciary,
preventing him from exercising the will of the people. <o:p></o:p></div>
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More directly, if President Trump had ordered the Department
of Homeland Security to enforce the ban, contravening Justice Robart’s ruling,
how many of its staff would have risked career and livelihood by saying “No” to
the President? Would some factions of the border force comply with the courts, while
other factions complied with their boss?<o:p></o:p></div>
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The enforcement of a judge’s ruling can be a very fragile
thing. Who gets sent in to tell armed border officials to disregard the
President? Federal Marshalls? And, then, what? Two groups of armed guys on the Federal
payroll in a stand-off at the airports? <o:p></o:p></div>
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Not likely. But that’s the point. It only works if everyone
follows the rules. <o:p></o:p></div>
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So many have commented that this is a man who has relished
changing the rules of politics. We have to hope there is one set of rules he
will voluntarily be bound by: the set he pledged to uphold in that oath a
couple of weeks ago. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Houstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04152915247313867734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14366145.post-90740507503370158102016-11-12T17:34:00.002+00:002016-11-13T16:40:08.245+00:00Things to leave behind<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I was in Amman, Jordan,
when I woke up to the news of our next president. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The day before, I’d
been walking in the dust of the largest refugee camp in the Middle East. A
hundred thousand people crammed into a small space in a vast desert. The
collected refuse of somebody’s bombs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It was tempting to judge
the relative merits of my pain against theirs, in order to size mine smaller. But
contesting who’s got it worse doesn’t make you feel better. There was no
contest, and I still felt shitty. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">At some point, I saw that
the refugees in the camp weren't a contrast, but an extension of us. I
was looking into the Syrian face of what happens when a megalomaniac wields power
by pitting the weak against the weaker. That’s not a contrast with us. It’s the
logical extreme of Trump’s strategy: a stronger brew of the same poison.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We Americans have
indulged in the ultimate luxury: the belief you can burn it all down, and you’ll
still be all right. And, feeling righteously judgmental, from the dusty distance
of the Jordanian desert, I dwelled on whether I had more contempt for Trump
voters, or for those who didn’t get off their asses to vote at all. I didn’t
have to choose. It’s dead easy to feel superior to both.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">That superiority is as
cheap as my grief is real. We (progressive) Americans are incensed that this human
Molotov cocktail should be visited upon us without the popular vote. Less than 30%
of Americans voted for the outrageous orange ogre. But less than 30% voted for
Hillary, too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So let’s deploy the mirror
before the megaphone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We failed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">(It may feel too soon to say that. We are
wounded and grieving, still wailing from the blow. Isn't it inhumane to render
a report card on the battered?</span> But
our battering *was* the report card. My bruises will only heal by moving forward.) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I don’t mean we lost. I
mean we failed. We failed to energize the majority of Americans. What we
proposed – our candidate, policy, message and image – did not inspire. It may
have been righteous and just, it may have been love versus hate, it may have
been thoughtful and smart and <i>good</i> in
the depths of its soul. But it did not move us – Americans, as a people – to
action.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We have to acknowledge the
unsettling truth that more than 70% of our fellow citizens did not vote for our
candidate or our ideas. The <i>plurality</i>
voted for no-one at all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">To be clear: This is
not a diatribe against the non-voting. This is about <i>us</i>. <i>We</i> failed to bring
the country with us. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Democracy, after all, is a popularity contest. It is also noble and glorious and it has changed the
world. But at core, it’s a popularity contest: the popularity of policies,
ideas, candidates, images, messages. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">While we are incensed
and dispirited and butt-hurt and soul-sore about Trump’s win, we seem mostly to
have missed that neither of the options presented to America was popular. Which,
sadly, also means ours wasn’t popular.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In our pain, we don’t
seem to be focused on the blunt truth of an overwhelming majority: <i>all</i> the people who didn’t come to the
party we invited them to. We were left standing by a full punch-bowl with our
dorky friends in a mostly empty room. The best people in the world, our beautiful,
dorky friends. But it was a total bust of a party.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We have failed to
inspire anyone other than ourselves. We can call it a movement, or we can call
it a 26% minority. And, if we’re brutally, horrifically, crushingly honest, that
number is soft. A bunch of people are in there with us only because they were
repelled by the alternative. In the future, we won’t have the luxury of an
opponent who’s a trash-fire insult to intelligence and decency.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So. Now. What?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Well, I’m still working
through my disappointment and anxiety. But here’s what I’ve got so far: There
are a few things I think I need to leave behind<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">My indignation.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I have felt very
judge-y, this week. This moment seems to have invited us to judge everyone. We are
indignant that more people <i>should</i>
agree with us – and that those who don’t are assholes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We are incensed that
racists, sexists, xenophobes and climate deniers elected a racist, sexist,
xenophobic climate denier. They are haters and buffoons. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We, by contrast, are
lovers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It doesn’t look like
love, to me, when we cherry-pick the worst of Trump and apply it to those who
voted for him. Yes, they were willing to back someone odious who represents
things we can’t stomach. But that doesn’t automatically mean they are odious
and support the things we can’t stomach. That’s flawed logic as well as flawed
love. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We <i>know</i> that many who voted for Hillary did it begrudgingly, holding their
noses as they punched the ballot. So why isn’t that as likely to be true about
Trump voters?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Don’t mistake me. I see
racism. I see misogyny. I see homophobia. I see intolerance and fear of every flavor and stripe. I see these things in America, and not just in the election.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">But while I see those things, I don't presume that </span>26% of Americans voted Trump because they <i>are</i> those things. The people who dislike <i>my</i> candidate should not be reduced to the cartoon characteristics of <i>their</i> candidate. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The phrase “working-class
white men” is already reductionist enough. It has become pundit short-hand for “poor
white trash.” But the shoe doesn't fit. Trump voters were slightly <i>better off</i> than average. And talk to me about the black men and the
Latino men who voted for Trump <i>in greater
numbers</i> than for Mitt Romney. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By now, we are all tired
of analyses trying to dissect “the Trump voter”. I am ready to seek the humanity and the divine
in the 70% of America that disagreed with me this week. I am not ready to
presume I know them. And I should not be judging those I don’t know. I am not
ready to write them off. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We don’t get to wave “Stronger
Together” signs and wear “Love trumps hate” t-shirts while rejecting our fellow
Americans as sexist, racist, homophobic fascists. Not without looking like
hypocritical bigots ourselves. There are bad people out there. I just don’t see
them everywhere. And I’m sure I need to work on myself.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">My intellectual arrogance.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The stink of
intellectual condescension has been wafting about a bit, this election. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Many of us – perhaps only
semi-consciously – spent the campaign looking down on the under-educated,
pitying them not having a clue what they were voting for. Our progressive
friends dismissed Trump voters as ignorant. OK. How’s that high horse working out
for us?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This election was the
death of many things. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One, I believe, was our
comfort in the fundamentals of the educated liberal consensus. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Dead is our underlying
hypothesis that people are mostly rational actors. Dead is our implicitly Cartesian
idea that people will think things through – based on principles and ideals and
rights and economics – and vote based on their conclusions. Dead is the idea
that better thinking, better policies and better philosophies will win in the
end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Of course, progressives
know that you need to move people in their guts, not just their brains. We’re
just not good enough at it. And we tend to think that what moves us will move
the masses. We believe that our better ideas and good intentions can even move
people enough to make them see past a weak candidate. Like Al Gore. Like John
Kerry. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Like Hillary Clinton.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Don’t hate on me. We
knew. We knew from 2008. And we knew from very, very early in this campaign that
her like-ability numbers were little better than Trump’s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As with Al Gore and
John Kerry before her, Hillary was qualified and talented and tireless,
outstanding in so many ways. And like them, she was a weak candidate. She didn’t
spark a fire in most people’s hearts. Folks didn’t feel her in their guts. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">People formally trained
to value head-centered, deductive, rational analysis tipped to Hillary. College-educated
voters weighed the pros and cons and backed her. But only just: not by
overwhelming majorities. And many, many stayed home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Rational solutions to
rationally framed problems are essential. They just aren’t<i> </i>persuasive. Neuro-scientists have mountains of evidence that we first
arrive at how we feel, and only then apply post-hoc rationales to fit.
Everything else is just confirmation bias – the pervasive human drive to interpret
all new evidence as proof of our pre-existing views. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sure, we have to have
better ideas. But we also have to make people give a shit about having ideas at
all. Smart, on its own, doesn’t win. Few people judge a movie by how smart it
is. They judge it by how it makes them feel and whether they want to tell their
friends. We like action-adventures, horror films, rom-coms. All implausible, all
emotionally invigorating. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When we compared the
candidates’ like-ability numbers, we came to the wrong conclusion. Since
neither candidate was liked, at least Clinton wasn’t at a disadvantage. Or so
we thought. Our mistake was to confuse like-ability with charisma. Neither candidate
was like-able. One had charisma.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He was a TV star the
media loved to cover, who made people feel things. He got a dismissed class of
people off the couch, and then played to the crowd. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Assume for a moment
that progressives’ policies are perfect. Assume our message is competitive.
Assume the imagery is appealing. That’s not nothing. It’s all hard and essential.
And insufficient.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We must, must, must run
candidates who intrinsically resonate with enough Americans to energize an election.
We must seek them, we must develop them, we must <i>prioritize</i> them. We can never again be seduced by the wonk-appeal
of the idea that a charisma deficit can be overcome by talent, depth,
deservingness, strategy, organization or ground-game. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Our rightness doesn’t
matter unless we can spark a fire in people who aren’t yet moved.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">My cynicism.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For eight years, we excoriated
the right wing because they had such deep contempt for Barrack Obama that they
refused to accept him as their President, claimed he was the devil and called
him names.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Now, look at us. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Mm-mmm. My people, my
people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Oh, I feel it, right
enough. I am in a <i>rage</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But our angers, theirs then and
mine now, are no different. So, I refuse to be who they were. Where they went low,
I mean to go high.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I will do so while taking great solace in
this: Democracy worked. It didn’t work out the way I wanted, but it worked. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I began the election cycle
as a Citizens United cynic. I would have told you Democracy had been ripped
from the hands of the people, and placed in the moist laps of the moneyed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I was wrong. On the right, the rivers of super-PAC money rushed
down a drainpipe. And on the left, while Bernie didn’t win, he emerged a
power-broker and his movement pushed the Democratic platform farther to the
left than it’s been in my life-time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The hypothesis that
billionaires and corporations could simply buy elections was disproved. (Trump,
after all, didn’t spend his billions.) The quaint idea that pissed-off masses can
rise up and rattle the halls of power turned out to be more than a populist fantasy.
I may hate the outcome, but democracy, it turns out, still has some kick in her.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Unless someone can
prove to me that Russians hacked the voting machines, I plan to double-down on democracy.
That means accepting I lost, turning my rage into fuel, putting my helmet back on,
and getting my ass out on the field. It’s not time to abandon the sport. It’s
time to bring better game.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">***<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Enough. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There is rightful space
for anger and fear and mourning, for our spirits to sob or wail or roar. I don’t
know how long it'll be before I feel renewed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In the meantime, I shall
hold my grief. I shall sit with my anxieties. I shall comfort my friends. I shall
keep my ideals. I shall stoke my passion for justice. I shall suit-up for the
fight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And I shall leave a few
things behind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo credit: AP Photo/Matt Rourke</span></div>
</div>
Houstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04152915247313867734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14366145.post-61542143189434880132016-07-27T20:09:00.000+01:002016-07-27T20:09:21.516+01:00On Booing Bernie<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i>…or 5 things I’m trying to understand.</i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><br /></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Bernie Sanders supporters booed Bernie Sanders on Monday. They didn’t boo with him; they booed <i>him</i>. Not even the man they revere was
shielded from the shower of barely restrained disdain unleashed by
never-Hillary progressives. All of a sudden, Bernie was somehow, simultaneously,
messiah and apostate – Pilate and the Christ in a single corpus.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2016/07/26/us/26bernie-speech/26bernie-speech-videoSixteenByNine310-v2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2016/07/26/us/26bernie-speech/26bernie-speech-videoSixteenByNine310-v2.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But even if they weren’t so publicly trying to find an elusive balancing point between adulation and aggrievement, I’d still be thinking about
Bernie’s supporters, this week. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Most of the energy directed at Bernie die-hards
has been vitriolic. Even among Democrats appealing for unity, there’s no
shortage of glib condescension and name calling, painting Sanders hold-outs as mis-guided, stupid, or
divorced from reality. That puts me off. Not only is it hypocritical, it’s unhelpful. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Besides, I’m rather inspired by them. After decades of
complaining about political apathy – perhaps especially on the left – Americans
are witnessing real passion in the Sandernistas. I’m glad people are so engaged, feeling so
strongly about charting the future course of our democracy. That doesn’t mean
I agree with them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have enough friends in the Bernie-or-bust / never-Hillary
camp that my social media feed runs a pretty good stream of anti-Hillary news
and memes. And, I have to say I’m grateful to them for asserting their
perspective so voluminously -- else I wouldn’t sense as clearly the distress so many
folks in progressive circles are feeling.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
These are people whose politics lean generally with mine. But the vehemence of their views
about the Democratic nominee has put me in touch with something I either don’t
understand, or, otherwise, find disheartening. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
These are thoughtful people who know they have one of four
choices in this Presidential election:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
1. Vote for Trump</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
2. Vote for no-one, and sit out the election.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
3. Vote for Hillary.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
4. Vote for a third-party candidate.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: -18pt;">The Bernie-or-bust folks won’t vote for Trump. No matter how
they hate Hillary, they know the Tangerine Turd Trumpet is worse. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Likewise, they’re passionate enough about politics – as
conveyed on social media, at rallies and in Philadelphia – that they’re
unlikely to stay home on election day. Abstinence is rarely the child of
passion.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, they’re left with two viable options: Vote for Hillary
or vote for a third-party candidate. (The alternatives most often mentioned: Green Party candidate Jill Stein, and Libertarian Gary Johnson.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To the folks who are going to hold their noses and vote for
Hillary: I have deep empathy with how torn I imagine you feel. She’s not really
the candidate I want, either. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To the folks intending to vote third-party: I’ve been keen
to ask you about some things I don’t understand. That’s not veiled
condescension. I genuinely don’t understand the thinking behind your choice.
And I’d like to.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve been trying to find a rationale that makes it a good
idea. I’m struggling.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To vote for a third-party candidate in this election, you have
to believe one of two things, either:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A. You believe a third-party candidate can win.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
B. You believe that a third-party candidate can't win, but you're going to vote for one anyway.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you believe a third-party candidate can win, your
understanding of how the US electoral system works isn’t based on facts. Indeed, it’s such a mathematical
impossibility, that -- without wanting to be at all presumptive -- I don’t
think very many people actually believe this.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, that leaves only one option: Folks are considering
voting for a third-party candidate they know can’t win. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Voting for someone who can’t win is a fascinating choice.
And, again, I mean that genuinely. It’s been fascinating me since the primary
battle was lost and “#feeltheBern” gave way to “#neverhillary” – a moment when
the positive animus of engagement transmogrified into a blunt epithet of
rejection.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, trying to understand that choice, I've turned to the phrases I hear most often from Bernie-or-busters.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>1. “I don’t want to vote
for the lesser of two evils.” <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This first reason to vote for someone who can’t win has
immediate and strong appeal. It’s a statement of personal principle. And it’s
intrinsically optimistic. The clear, though unstated, implication is that there’s
a third option that isn’t evil. There’s a third option that’s good, and you’d
definitely want to choose that, rather than choose the lesser of two
evils. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And, so long as you see a third-party candidate as that
non-evil, good option, then this rationale says you should vote for them. This framing sees the candidates as the
options.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But we’ve already stipulated that no third-party candidate
can win. So, while there are several <i>input</i>
<i>options</i> – ie, the candidates – there
are only two <i>outcome options</i>:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A. Trump wins.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
B. Hillary wins.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, the idea that there <i>isn’t</i>
a third option is true. It’s perhaps regrettably true, but it’s true.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Beyond this logical problem, there are two further reasons I’m
not persuaded by this seemingly optimistic appeal. First: It implicitly equates
the badness of Trump and Clinton. It
does this by labelling them both “evil”, levelling the conceptual playing
field. Whatever you think of Hillary, you’d have to be pretty extreme to put her in the same category as Trump.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Second: Choosing the lesser of two evils is often a terrific
strategy – one that can create good outcomes. Indulge an analogy. Imagine
you hate Brussel sprouts – I mean really detest them and find them inedible. In
a situation where you’d otherwise starve, you’re given only two options for
nourishment: Brussel sprouts and moose shit. Food you like is not an option.
This is a time to eat Brussel sprouts, and live. Choosing the lesser of two
evils is the only strategy that makes sense. It’s the same as choosing the
better of two outcomes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you still bought into the “lesser of two evils” framing, however,
you’d actually be voting for the least of <i>three</i>
evils. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A. Trump wins outright.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
B. Hillary wins outright.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
C. Trump wins a three-way split. Trump still wins, but explicitly <i>because </i>progressives split the opposition.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>2. “Don’t vote your
fears.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Another optimistic, principled exhortation that resonates deeply
with me. Even without Trump, you’d want
to vote for your hopes, not for your fears. You could argue this is the perspective
that defines us as progressives. We believe in making change to improve the
world – to move toward something better. It’s the opposite of pandering to
fear. It’s the opposite of “taking our country back”. To where? To when? From
whom?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We like to think it’s the right wing that panders to fear.
Progressives are about hope. When they go low, we go high. “Don’t vote your
fears” challenges us to vote our hopes – even if it means voting for someone
who can’t win.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Bernie supporters didn’t hope for Hillary. So, why would
they vote for her? Because they’re afraid of a Trump presidency? With that framing, voting for Hillary would
be motivated by fear. And that could feel like a betrayal of a deep progressive
value: hope.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But I don’t understand how the optimism of the aphorism
trumps the tragedy of its implication. Our hopes and fears are inputs; they are
stimuli. They shouldn’t be confused with outcomes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Viewed through the lens of outcomes – especially binary
outcomes -- voting your fears is a pretty good strategy. Indulge another
analogy. You’re standing on a cliff edge. “Don’t vote your fears” is terrible
advice. “Don’t worry about falling; believe you can fly!” No matter the appeal
of flight, and no matter the real benefits of self-confidence, choosing life
requires a healthy respect for gravity. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, how do you “vote your hope” when you revile the
candidate or the “corrupt Democratic machine”? You vote for ideas. Issues. Platforms. Vote
for the things that matter to you. Vote for the outcomes that matter to you.
And then – and this is the essence of voting hope – vote for whomever has the
best chance of making the greatest number of those things happen.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If my policy wish-list more tightly cleaved to the Greens or
to the Libertarians, it would give me pause. But I think I’d still vote for the
candidate who has the best chance of making something happen. For me, voting my
hope means voting for the best chance of making something <i>good </i>happen. <br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>3. “Vote your conscience.
Vote with your heart.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Having acknowledged the attraction of the first two appeals,
I have to say that this is the one I understand the least. Of course, I understand the powerful value of
conscience and heart. I wish there were more of both in our practice of
government and governing. But I also wish there were a truckload more reasoning
and empirical evidence.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Vote with your
heart” implies you should discount what your head is telling you. Isn’t the
ideal to vote with both head <i>and</i>
heart? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Vote your conscience,” in the voice of never-Hillary
stalwarts, suggests there can be no conscientious vote for Hillary. But if the
outcome of the election is mathematically binary – it’s either going to be
Hillary or Trump – then how can there be a conscientious vote for anyone other
than Hillary? We know the most vulnerable people in our society will suffer
under Trump. Would you knowingly choose an outcome that hurts the most
vulnerable people in society?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Heart and conscience are profound forces. I hope they steer
us to use our incremental power for the benefit of the future of our nation.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>4. “Don’t vote for a
corrupt system.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The most well-reasoned argument I’ve read in support of
voting for a third-party candidate posed that the best way to make a
statement was to cast a protest vote for a third party. Even a tiny up-tick in
third-party voters will demonstrate the dissatisfaction in our democracy.
Whether you think the parties are ethically bankrupt, or you think the
two-party system itself needs to be torn down, it’s appealing to register that
grievance in a way that undermines both the major parties and the system,
itself.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A protest vote may get your voice heard. But I still don’t
understand why you’d use your vote that way.
Firstly, it’s already been heard.
Both parties have faced insurgencies, this year. The parties are well
aware that everyone’s pissed. Secondly – and especially given that the parties
already know you’re pissed – you will have used your vote in a way that doesn’t
change anything. So, you will have effectively voted for the status quo – the
very thing the Bernie revolution railed against.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The extreme version of this one is to vote third-party in
the <i>hope</i> that Trump wins. Because
that’ll teach the Democrats a lesson – especially the DNC. The premise is that
suffering four years under Trump is simply the price to pay for a better system
in the long run. I don’t buy that the path to utopia runs through chaos. But
even if there were a chance it might, how would this amount to something other
than self-centredness? The choice of
individual suffering is yours to make, but are you so sure of this path that
you would choose to vote for the suffering of others: of low-wage workers,
Hispanics, Muslims, LGBTQ folks, …? That seems a very privileged position to
take.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>5. “She’s a liar.
Lock her up.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Okay. I completely buy that if both candidates are objectively unfit for office, it's tough to do anything but flee.<br />
<br />
But what’s the specific claim about her that would make
you conclude she's unfit for office? And, then, what’s the evidence that the claim is true? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To be clear, I’m not suggesting there aren’t some really
good answers to this question. I just
haven’t heard one, yet, that had strong evidentiary support. I'm an empiricist, which makes me expect evidence in all circumstances -- but especially when the claims double as right-wing sound-bites.<br />
<br />
But the deeper point, for me, is – I’m being repetitive –
about outcomes. There have been liars who’ve been good presidents (John F
Kennedy). And terrible presidents who have been pillars of virtue (Jimmy
Carter).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The few things I’m sure – from the evidence – Hillary’s lied
about, neither disqualify her from office (in my view) nor qualify her for a
jail sentence. They just haven't been things that would make me use my vote to keep a progressive agenda out of the White House. I'm open to new evidence.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you view your vote as a tool, not as endorsement of an
individual, how would you deploy that tool in this election? Can you dislike a
candidate and still vote for them if they’re most likely to get good shit done?
If so, then why not this candidate? And, if not, then it seems more like a personality contest than a process for influencing government. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
***</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You can tell I’m writing this more to work through my own
shit than to attempt influencing anyone. For one thing, it’s five pages. No-one
reads five pages anymore.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For another thing, it’s all deductive. The folks I’m talking about (or, ostensibly, to)
are in a place that is more angry than analytical. I brought a logical argument to a funeral.<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Passionate Bernie supporters are pissed. I
understand wanting to punish someone. …or the whole system. For having screwed your candidate. For having
screwed you. For having sullied the one pure thing that’s touched our politics
in recent memory.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I understand the anger.
What I can’t understand is the impulse to honour the anger with
self-destruction. Yes, I know that self-destruction – the ball of righteous
fire – is more pure than what feels like assimilation. Assimilation feels like shit.<br />
<br />
Belief is pure. Fury is
righteous. Anger is energizing.<br />
<br />
But anger is only worth a damn if you can make something good
come out of it. Otherwise it's just anger.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Don’t do what’s pure. Do what works. Make the world better. Protect it from evil.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
Houstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04152915247313867734noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14366145.post-84367381207832377182015-11-01T17:47:00.003+00:002015-11-01T17:47:57.169+00:00Taco contributing a bit of autumn colour<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Houstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04152915247313867734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14366145.post-10215341829373991122015-06-07T11:30:00.000+01:002015-06-07T11:30:42.782+01:00Pensive among the poppies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Houstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04152915247313867734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14366145.post-12844612957425039112015-05-31T10:00:00.001+01:002015-05-31T10:00:20.564+01:00Red and green<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Houstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04152915247313867734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14366145.post-5073770519722042292015-05-30T14:47:00.005+01:002015-05-31T09:49:32.322+01:00Taco: One year old<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Houstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04152915247313867734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14366145.post-61975489869847380282015-04-26T09:56:00.002+01:002015-04-26T09:56:49.489+01:00Taco amongst the bluebells, at 11 months<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Houstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04152915247313867734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14366145.post-64145056390249604692015-04-19T07:34:00.000+01:002015-04-19T07:34:02.942+01:00Almost summer means almost swimming!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Houstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04152915247313867734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14366145.post-31550113682700957272015-04-11T17:20:00.001+01:002015-04-11T17:20:16.015+01:00Taco at 10 and a half months<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Houstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04152915247313867734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14366145.post-19614734090677189772015-03-23T19:40:00.002+00:002015-03-23T19:40:51.774+00:00Putting her foot down: Taco at 10 months<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Houstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04152915247313867734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14366145.post-51879395852138639112015-02-08T18:25:00.002+00:002015-02-08T18:25:30.087+00:00Taco on a sunny winter day<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Houstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04152915247313867734noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14366145.post-41765714204856983902015-01-01T18:21:00.003+00:002015-01-01T18:21:45.823+00:00Taco stalking a New Year's Day tennis ball<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Houstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04152915247313867734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14366145.post-56667276069617610162014-12-14T23:23:00.003+00:002014-12-14T23:23:17.572+00:00You coming or what?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Houstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04152915247313867734noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14366145.post-40298132605143494492014-12-14T23:22:00.001+00:002014-12-14T23:22:27.875+00:00Are you blind? It's right over THERE!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Houstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04152915247313867734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14366145.post-58580030876369183562014-12-14T23:21:00.001+00:002014-12-14T23:21:21.571+00:00I got a stick! I got a stick! I got a stick!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Houstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04152915247313867734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14366145.post-48955107634686689932014-12-08T14:32:00.002+00:002014-12-08T14:32:58.990+00:00Taco at almost 7 months<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Houstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04152915247313867734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14366145.post-67808475123852918512014-11-20T21:17:00.000+00:002014-11-20T21:21:04.013+00:00Nice day for chasing a ball<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Houstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04152915247313867734noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14366145.post-33822083016544982572014-11-09T11:41:00.001+00:002014-11-09T11:41:08.167+00:00Taco appears to be stumped<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Houstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04152915247313867734noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14366145.post-64758943927295926102014-11-09T11:38:00.002+00:002014-11-09T11:38:45.959+00:00How to camouflage a taco<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Houstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04152915247313867734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14366145.post-60770545911655620442014-10-05T15:54:00.001+01:002014-10-05T15:54:39.694+01:00Have expressed this exact thought so many times...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">...but never this beautifully.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 32.5pt;">“</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 18.0pt;"> </span><b><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18.0pt;">The photographer was set in his
ways. A traditionalist, he did not have any faith in digital cameras, no matter
how many millions of pixels they were capable of producing today. To him, half
the pleasure of photography was working in a darkroom bringing pictures
manually to life. He disliked the immediacy of digital cameras—the way you
could see a shot seconds after taking it. At heart photography should have a
certain degree of mystery in it, something ineffable and elusive, which was why
he liked being in a darkroom developing pictures. It was a hands- on process
you could not measure or ever replicate exactly. The photograph slowly emerging
in its chemical bath was like a woman undressing in front of you—slowly slowly
everything was revealed."</span></i></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 18.0pt;">
</span><span lang="EN-GB"><br /><br />
</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">— Jonathan Carroll</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Found <a href="http://browndresswithwhitedots.tumblr.com/post/97828218219">here</a>. His <a href="http://www.jonathancarroll.com/blog/index.php">blog </a>and his <a href="http://browndresswithwhitedots.tumblr.com/">tumblr </a>are both intensely beautiful.</span></div>
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Houstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04152915247313867734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14366145.post-83210774874288653322014-09-21T17:33:00.003+01:002014-09-21T17:33:48.178+01:00Taco: Less and less puppy. More and more dog.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Houstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04152915247313867734noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14366145.post-73461262652060950772014-08-20T19:39:00.001+01:002014-08-20T19:39:18.264+01:00Taco at 11 and 12 weeks<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Train ride!!!</div>
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Watching a hawk.</div>
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Chillin' like a boss.</div>
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Grandmommy and Grand-dog.</div>
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Morning nap.</div>
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Houstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04152915247313867734noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14366145.post-68406485715870222282014-08-20T18:20:00.002+01:002014-08-20T18:23:23.099+01:00Taco chillin' like a boss<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Houstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04152915247313867734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14366145.post-89918667249420075632014-08-20T18:19:00.003+01:002014-08-20T18:19:57.286+01:00Mom left today<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
...but we pre-celebrated her birthday six times, and introduced the grand-dog.<br />
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Houstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04152915247313867734noreply@blogger.com0