Category: Politics

  • Election Day

    It’s Election Day in NYC. It’s sort of a holiday here, in the sense the schools are closed… sort of. There is no in person learning happening, but the kids are remoting into for their lessons. So, the whole family is together today. The wife is working, and the kid and I are on the couch working on our respective computers.

    And, sadly, I’m not excited about this election. We are voting for Mayor in the City, and I really don’t like either candidate. Silwa is a character from New York City Past, and just seems out of touch for the current NYC. Eric Adams feels like the new “conservative” Democrats. You can’t win an election in this town running as a Republican, so most moderate Republicans became Democrats, and that’s Eric Adams. Again, not excited about either one.

    I quote Desus and Mero when it comes to being mayor of this city; It’s the only job where you are hated by everybody on day one. Seriously, what kind of person wants that job?

    It has left me with this feeling of dread in my stomach this election. I was anxious in 2016, 2018 and 2020, as I did feel that Trump and his allies were a threat to this country. This time around, I feel like it’s going to get broken no matter who wins, and things will get worse. I know that this is a dangerous mentality to have. It’s very close to the feeling of hopelessness.

    And that’s what makes me very uncomfortable with myself.

  • It’s the Media’s Fault: The New Godwin’s Law?

    There is a Kids in the Hall sketch where an employee is reprimanded for using the word “ascertain” too often. You can see for yourself. I started thinking about this sketch again when I see some political post from friends, and even non-political posts.

    Such as, no matter what the topic is, at some point someone will chime in that the “problem” of the topic is being caused by the media. That the root cause is the media, or it is being made worse by the media.

    Example: Supply chain issues? Being blow out of proportion by the media. Covid infection rates among children? Media is making it sound worse. Debt ceiling debate? Media.

    I think you get it.

    But now, the more I hear someone say it’s “the media’s fault” the more I begin to think that the person saying it is just lazy. I think it’s a new form of Godwin’s Law, which states that the longer an online discussion goes, the likelihood of a Nazi comparison increases.

    Personally, I think it’s a thought-terminating cliché, meaning a person thinks they are saying something insightful and profound to bring a discussion to their desired end, but in reality, I think they gave up on trying to think through the problem and defaulted to the cliché.

    Seriously, everything can’t be the fault of one industry. Somethings, sure, but not everything.

  • Labor Day is Political Now?

    I found it odd over the past couple of days that Labor Day, a day set up to celebrate the US labor movement and unions, seems to have been co-opted by Conservative and Republicans, a very anti-union group, to assail people who are out of work. I saw many postings that were to the effect of, “If you aren’t working, you don’t get the celebrate.”

    I mean, I’m surprised but not surprised at this development. I mean, it’s just Labor Day, and normally a nice end to Summer Vacation. But on the other hand, why wouldn’t people try to make this divisive? It’s an old Conservative/Republican thing to blame poor people for not being wealthy. I have heard the trope all my life from people saying, “Just go get a job,” as if that will solve everything. Usually the people yelling that are college educated, and make way over minimum wage.

    I remember my grandfathers, both who worked through the Depression. One was college educated and management, and the other had a high school education, worked at a factory, and was a member of a union. Both of them respected work, and the fact that a person had a job, no matter what that job was, was to honored. “Always respect a man with a job,” they both would say. And, being that both of them started working during The Depression, they also respected that sometimes people get knocked down through no fault of their own. And they also taught me that kicking someone when they’re down is never heroic.

    I guess what I felt was the loss of decency. There are people out there that don’t want to work and take advantage of the system, but there are more people out there that want a job, to be responsible and take care of their families. The fact that people of one political persuasion don’t have the decency to see and understand that is disappointing. Depressing actually.

  • Who Visits Gettysburg, and Why?

    This weekend, we went down to VA to pick up our kid who had been visiting friends for a week. The drive back to NYC would take us through the hellscape that is the I-95 corridor from DC to NYC. It can take anywhere from 5to 8 hours just to get home. So, we thought we’d go a new route; Virginia to Maryland, to Pennsylvania, to New Jersey and then NYC. Waze said it would take seven hours, which was then same amount of time if we took the direct I-95 path.

    Anyway, the halfway point was sort of close to Gettysburg. As I am a pretty huge Civil War buff, and a big Lincoln Fan, we decided that a stop at the National Military Park and Battlefield would be a good idea.

    But this isn’t going to be about the battlefield or the park. This is about the people who come and visit Gettysburg, and why.

    When I encountered people, it was at the Visitor Center, which had a good introduction to the park, and the bathrooms. The first observation I made was that the people visiting are overwhelmingly white, myself included. The other thing I noticed was a lot of former and current military, and I knew this by the veteran caps and t-shirts that they were wearing. And then there were lots of conservative people, and I mean lots of them. I can say this with confidence due to the t-shirts, and bumper stickers that said, “Don’t Tread on Me,” “Blue Lives Matter,” and “Trump.”  And also, lots of guys sporting AR-15 buttons and pins. That’s not to say that there weren’t other people out there, because there were. I would describe this group as people who weren’t in other two groups, but still white.

    The people I did talk to were all nice, and very friendly. We brought the dog with us, and throw in a kid, and I came across as pretty non-threating. What I got from people is that they wanted to see Gettysburg to honor and respect the history. Also, the thought that “things were simpler then,” came up often, which I found fascinating as a civil war seems to me to be a very complicated thing.

    For me, I’m just happy that Americans want to experience our history. The reasoning behind it is never the same for each person, and that’s okay. Some are there for the fighting and the war, others are there to see where our new birth of freedom began.

  • Two Mass Shootings, Again

    Two mass shootings happened in the span of a week, and only now, for me, is it sinking in what has happened.

    I am not proud of this fact, but it felt normal.

    The poor guy in Boulder, CO standing outside of the grocery store saying that he feels like no place is safe pretty much sums it up. No place is safe, and we are all fine with it.

    Asian-Americans have been saying for over a year that they are being scapegoated for Covid-19, but did anyone listen? People had been pointing out for a year that the rhetoric that Trump and his supports were using was hurting Asian communities, but it was blown off. In fact, I saw a conservative friend ask why it was okay to “UK Variant,” but why couldn’t he say, “China Virus?”

    It doesn’t register for most people anymore. Even when it turns violent. Even when the inevitable AR-15 or whatever semi-automatic people killing gun is used, it doesn’t matter.

    Apathy has won.

    Most Americans see the hate, see the use of guns to kill large numbers, and they shrug because we have given up. There will be another racist attack. There will be another mass shooting. And we give up.

    We give up because it will turn into a debate about free speech and the 2nd Amendment.

    But it’s not about that. It’s about hate and fear. And are we going to do something? When will it be different? Or when will I blog about this same thing all over again?