It's only Our Democracy(TM) when they get their way. "So much for the party that says it is defending democracy." Yes, by limiting who voters can vote for. "Since Democrats can’t win on Joe Biden’s policy, and they can’t win on Joe Biden’s record, they have to stack the deck by giving Americans fewer choices at the ballot box." Remember when Democrats won elections by buying votes? "There are brand new super PACs — plural — devoted to crushing third-party candidates. Democratic National Committee mobile billboards troll Kennedy at events. And party donors are funding legal efforts to try to keep him off the ballot." They have to, because deplorable-shaming fails. "Most Democrats do indeed see a vast difference between Biden and Trump. But they are skeptical that discontented voters — many of whom already feel alienated or patronized — will be receptive to the message that they should 'get over' themselves." The problem with democracy is that we ask too much of it. Then grifters claim to know what the collective will is. "The word 'democracy' appears to have become polite shorthand for insisting that an insular minority in control of the government always knows what is best for the vast, unrepresented majority." If that isn't abrasive, divisive, or patronizing, it's probably hectoring, condescending, or deplorable-shaming.
Don't expect any coverage of those failures on public radio. Russiagate was not NPR’s only miscue. Its listeners have noticed. "NPR was not All Things Considered during the pandemic. Its motto since Trump's election has been All Approved Things Considered." I liked the formulation "All Liberal Things Considered." I was being kind. "Even back then I referred to NPR’s two main shows, 'Morning Edition' and 'All Things Considered' as 'Morning Sedition' and 'All Things Distorted.' The very voice tones of Susan Stamberg and Noah Adams could peel lead-based paint, so smug, supercilious, and obnoxious as they were." Why might we get more Trump? He taps into discontent of long standing. “How Do I Hate NPR? Let Me Count the Ways.” Old, still on point. Kids, behave, or I'll turn "Prairie Home Companion" on! "The only downside to defunding NPR would be libertarians no longer having as many threats to deploy to incentivize good child behavior."
Public money for broadcasting is censorship per se. "There remains the question of why the public should give huge amounts of money to a media outlet that is so politically biased. News outlets have every right to pursue such political agendas, but none but NPR claim public support, including from half of the country that embraces the viewpoints that it routinely omits from its airways."
The weekly round-up of pithy elaborations on traditional Cold Spring Shops themes follows.
1. Deny coherent beliefs, enjoy the incoherence. "Without truth, all arguments collapse like sandcastles."
2. Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. "People often rebel against rules to assert their autonomy. Try to coerce me to do X, Y, or Z, and I’ll do the opposite just to prove that I’m my own person."
3. Antifragility acknowledges reality. "Markets work when we let them, and sometimes even when we try very hard not to."
4. Yes. Next question? "Is Saudi Arabia trying to sabotage Biden?" One proxy war in support of Ukraine, another proxy war in support of Iran. The House of Saud can read a map.
5. Fourth Turning Alert. "Society is in a death spiral, and unless we stop it now, collapse is coming." The study hints at, but fails to understand, ekpyrosis. That elaboration calls for a longer take.
7. Worth repeating, never enough! What is your fair share of what someone else has earned? "High-income earners already pay disproportionately high taxes and receive disproportionately low amounts of the proceeds from their economic activity."
8. Wolves, sheep, supper? "Too many people think democracy works only if they get to dominate their opponents." What went wrong? Asked, answered? "Most people care more about outcomes than process. If the people feel relatively prosperous and safe, they don’t much care about the details."
9. The claim generalizes. "For women and children, the road to hell is paved with Democrats’ good intentions." Intentions, that article continues, must be measured by their results. "Biden is our president and his policies are a stain on this nation’s soul. Like many Democrats, he believes it is enough to have the right feelings, never mind the consequences."
10. Institutions are civilization. "If 'manners and customs' and a common language and other elements of a common American culture are thrown out as well, what remains is more likely to be a failed state along the lines of Lebanon or Somalia than a flourishing democracy."
11. If we're doing all this wrong, why aren't you outcompeting us? "People in rural areas don't like being told they should be grateful for every effort big city progressives make to micro-manage their lives for them."
12. Never underestimate Dementia Joe's ability to ... "Is Biden Really Going to Let Netanyahu Lose Him the Election?"
13. You have to Trust The Science(TM)! "The third time was a charm, because while they conducted the first two studies, enough crashes had occurred over the year to provide the roadway designers the discretion to add a light."
14. Bidenomics. "If we are FORCED to pick a winner in the cheap meat hunger games, Spam wins every time."
15. His positions are closer to the median voter's preferred bundle. "Democrats nervous Trump wooing centrists from Biden."
16. The man of system, brought low by reality. "The more one assures himself that he has a complete rational control of his environment, the more he diminishes his actual capacity for dealing with it."
17. Reality has a steep grading curve. "The result for many people is that their ability to experience sexual satisfaction is blunted, and they often find it hard to attract partners who are mainstream."
18. Reject the false binary. Maybe they'll listen. "Showing up to vote but refusing to vote for anyone who appears on the ballot takes effort, and can therefore be a powerful way for voters to convey their displeasure to decision makers."
19. Downsizing the crew is another false economy. "Umpteen million dollars’ worth of freight is stuck — and won’t arrive on time –— all because the railroad wants to save a buck or two on crew costs. It’s almost guaranteed that at least some of the delayed trains will require unplanned recrews, which only increases costs. And the late arrivals could be the last straw for some shippers, who would give up on rail and shift their freight to trucks."
20. That real debt ceiling. "When the Treasury holds an auction on a new issue of bonds (needed to pay off the interest on old bonds) and nobody shows up to buy because they doubt its ability to pay interest on the new paper, our country’s debt becomes worthless."
21. California dreaming. “Graffiti shows you where the city hurts.”
22. A worse outcome than a Tom Clancy novel? "Ukraine is suffering from its own war weariness. I believe the war will be over by Christmas, if not sooner. Its conclusion will satisfy no one."
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