Author: Matthew Groff

  • At MOMA

    Yesterday, I took the kid to MOMA. I thought that she was at the age that we could go to a museum and she would be able to start recognizing some paintings that she had seen before in the books we have at home. I was correct, and she remembered “Starry Night,” and “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon.” And when I say “recognizing,” what I mean is that she would say, “I know that picture.” I think that’s a good start when it comes to art appreciation.

    Out of everything we looked at, the kid really latched on to Gretchen Bender’s “Dumping Core.” I don’t want try to explain it here, as the link does a better job. When we went into the little theatre space that 13 tv screens were in, I thought the exhibit would be a stimulation overload for the kid. I was surprised at how serious she took it. When we left, I asked what she liked about it, and she told me that she liked how the music and pictures worked together.

    What caught me was the Frank O’Hara exhibit. They had some of his original manuscripts, and drawings. I’m not the biggest fan of poetry, but something about his work, and how it was portrayed. It stuck with me; his work and what he was able to accomplish in his notebooks. It left me inspired, and wondering if there still aren’t new things I can learn and try.

  • Don’t Fight the Last War

    There is a very good chance that Democrats will lose this next election, ensuring that Trump gets four more years. It’s not that Democrats are moving too Left. It’s the fact that there really aren’t any more moderate Democrats left.

    It was hammered home to me in “The Audacity of Hate” by Thomas B. Edsall that I read yesterday. Edsall starts the piece by referring to Karl Rove and Matthew Dowd deciding on a “Base Strategy” for the Bush ’04 campaign, wherein they would go after the social conservative base by appealing to fear and anger. The reasoning; less than 1 in 10 voters was considered to be “swing voters.” Turning out the converted made more sense than hoping to convert the questionable. And it worked. It worked so well, that Trump did it again in ’16, and he’s trying again in ’20.

    But the Democrats are still playing a game of winning moderates over, and they have a serious fear of Bernie. This is where they are making the same mistakes they made with Hilary. Sure, moderates would save the party for the future, but the base will win the election. You need people excited and enthusiastic about winning to get out there, and talk up Bernie, and get people to show up in droves.

    Can Bernie actually deliver all of his promises? No, but has Trump delivered on any of his? Trump’s base thinks so, and they will show up in the polls.

  • The Barr Saga Continues

    I know the NYTimes is reporting that Barr is upset with Trump for calling himself the law of the land, but the cynical part of me is still having a hard time believing that is true. I guess there is a chance that Barr has been blindsided by Trump, and that Barr honestly wants to do the right thing… Yeah, I just don’t buy it.

    What I see is more along the lines of Pandora’s box or a tube of toothpaste. Trump is out and you can’t put him back in. That’s what makes me think is happening to Barr and the Justice Department right now. They cannot contain the President anymore after the impeachment trial. I believe that is why Trump’s pardons and commutations happened yesterday. That was Trump flexing muscle, saying to Barr and Justice, that if you convict my people, I will just release them, and belittling your work.

    Also, to digress for a second… The people who got the pardons and commutations all committed white collar crimes. It’s also like Trump is saying that bribery, tax evasion, corruption aren’t really crimes. I find it funny, as that those are the crimes that have always been swirling around Trump.

    What is left is for Barr to resign, and that places us all in a “devil you know,” situation. I thought Jeff Sessions was a bad choice, but then we got Matthew Whitaker who was amazingly unqualified, which lead to Barr who was supposedly was going to be “an adult in the room,” but we see how that worked.

    So… who is hiding out there to be next?

  • Oh, Bill

    Bill Barr that is. Oh, that poor old guy. He is having a very rough week, and sadly, no one feels bad for him.

    This is the same guy who auditioned for the role of Attorney General by writing an obstruction of justice memo that supported Trump’, and appearing on Fox News. To me that says the guy knew how to get Trump’s attention and what Trump would react positively too.

    And this is the same guy who was in on all the Ukraine things. Not only did John Bolton say he was in the room, but Trump even named the Barr as being a part of the deal on the phone call to the Ukrainian president.

    But somehow with Roger Stone does Barr claimed to be bullied, and have to stand up for himself? Hell man, Jeff Sessions seems to have more backbone and respect for the Justice Department. And that is not saying a whole lot.

    Yeah… So… Do I even need to remind everyone of the false summery of the Mueller Report, or the speech he gave at Notre Dame? This guy knows what he is doing. He sucked up to Trump so he could be in a position so he could push forward his ultra-Conservative agenda.

    The bed you make…

  • Report on the Politicians, and the Reporters Who Follow the Campaigns

    I follow the politics of the country as if it were a form a reality television; It tries to imply that its real, but it’s all fake. And that fake show is reported as reality. Not that I blame the press for it, but I also feel that no one really has been honest about it for a while. Like, even the people on “The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth,” seem more interested in looking cool, or that they know how phony it all is, but they are right in the middle of it. I don’t think anyone has been honest about the whole fake business that politic and the reporting of politics has become sine Hunter Thompson in “Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail “72.”

    I was trying to describe this to my wife the other night as the New Hampshire results were coming in on cable television. And then we switched over to watch “The Circus,” and that’s when the idea hit me; I would like to follow all the campaigns and the reporters, and share with everyone all the crazy shit that happens in the stage craft of campaigning. I’m not a reporter, so I have no idea what the ethics of that job is in those situations.  I would be an outsider peeking in.

    I wonder if I could do this, and get someone else to pick up the tab?