I’m probably in fantasy land, but what if?..... Biden issues a full pardon for all things related to January 6 and for everything in Trump’s colorful past; but that pardon is conditioned on never running for public office again. The pardon goes away if he ever files for public office. Like I said, fantasy land, but what would the orange guy do?
Oh cute. Biden pardons Trump, loses the election and the democrats split. *But* Its ok because the republican (who elected Nixon) recovered quickly. Does anything seem a little off base here? The part that addresses a disaster caused by republicans will split, but don’t worry….yeah no.
Ok, here goes. From Triste Tropiques by Claude Lévi-Strauss (and I'm cheating a bit as the last paragraph of the book consists of one short sentence and one really long sentence, and I think you need both):
Just as the individual is not alone in the group, nor any one society alone among the others, so man is not alone in the universe. When the spectrum or rainbow of human cultures has finally sunk into the void created by our frenzy; as long as we continue to exist and there is a world, that tenuous arch linking us to the inaccessible will still remain, to show us the opposite course to that leading to enslavement; man may be unable to follow it, but its contemplation affords him the only privilege of which he can make himself worthy; that of arresting the process, of controlling the impulse which forces him to block up the cracks in the wall of necessity one by one and to complete his work at the same time as he shuts himself up within his prison; this is a privilege coveted by every society, whatever its beliefs, its political system or its level of civilization; a privilege to which it attaches its leisure, its pleasure, its peace of mind and its freedom; the possibility, vital for life, of unhitching [unhitching is italicized in the book], which consists --Oh! fond farewell to savages and explorations! --in grasping, during the brief intervals in which our species can bring itself to interrupt its hive-like activity, the essence of what it was and continues to be, below the threshold of thought and over and above society: in the contemplation of a mineral more beautiful than all our creations; in the scent that can be smelt at the heart of a lily and is more imbued with learning than all our books; or in the brief glance, heavy with patience, serenity and mutual forgiveness, that, through some involuntary understanding, one can sometimes exchange with a cat.
The Quiet American by Graham Greene: “Everything had gone right with me since he had died, but how I wished there existed someone to whom I could say that I was sorry.”
The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be, by Farley Mowat: "And so the pact of timelessness between us was broken and I went from him into the darkening tunnel of the years."
"Gatsby believed... in the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter - tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.... And one fine morning --
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."
If the problem is republican voters, then let’s work to change them.
Suggestion 1: get more Republicans to vote in the primaries ( not just the zealots and crazies), more Democrats an independents too. Offer a tax credit for first time voter registration, current voter registration, and participation in federal primaries. Turn easy access to the poles from a push by motivated Democrats into a pull by voters.
Suggestion 2: if you love democracy vote in Republican primaries (I’m speaking to you Democrats and independents), and when you do promote responsible Republicans to the general election, then vote as you wish. The Republican Party is not an impenetrable fortress, invade it and fix it from within.
FOR TWITTER USERS: Just got a notification from Lifelock that some 5 million users are impacted by a breach. You might want to check it out if you have a Twitter account.
Initially I was leaning toward a pardon for Trump, but only if he were not re-elected in 2024.
But a comment someone else left here changed my mind, as they pointed out that prosecuting Trump is the right thing to do, regardless of the consequences, and one should aways do the right thing.
“But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.” -- Middlemarch
Over at Politicususa, they're showing a Lincoln Project ad regarding Biden and the economy - lowest unemployment in decades, hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs, etc. Go look at it. As the article says, why is it the R Lincoln Project making the ad instead of the Ds. The question of the year. The economy is booming, and it is because of that "senile man in the basement" as Trump's Pets keep calling him.
Curious about potential charges against Trump. One charge I haven't heard mentioned was Trump's "dereliction of duty". I've heard many say a civilian can't be charged for that and I think Trump himself has said so..BUT why isn't there risk for "aiding and abetting..unintentional murder or manslaughter"...i.e. similar charges brought against the OTHER Minneapolis police officers who did nothing to stop/prevent George Floyd's death. How is sitting on your butt watching the violence happen and doing nothing to stop it when you could any different. I'm curious to hear the arguments for and against such charges and why those haven't been discussed in the media, although the dereliction has? Thanks
In light of this morning’s economic news, I thought these threads - both Krugman’s and the embedded one by Casselman - were worth pointing out: https://mobile.twitter.com/paulkrugman/status/1552437474667937794
I’m probably in fantasy land, but what if?..... Biden issues a full pardon for all things related to January 6 and for everything in Trump’s colorful past; but that pardon is conditioned on never running for public office again. The pardon goes away if he ever files for public office. Like I said, fantasy land, but what would the orange guy do?
Oh cute. Biden pardons Trump, loses the election and the democrats split. *But* Its ok because the republican (who elected Nixon) recovered quickly. Does anything seem a little off base here? The part that addresses a disaster caused by republicans will split, but don’t worry….yeah no.
Ok, here goes. From Triste Tropiques by Claude Lévi-Strauss (and I'm cheating a bit as the last paragraph of the book consists of one short sentence and one really long sentence, and I think you need both):
Just as the individual is not alone in the group, nor any one society alone among the others, so man is not alone in the universe. When the spectrum or rainbow of human cultures has finally sunk into the void created by our frenzy; as long as we continue to exist and there is a world, that tenuous arch linking us to the inaccessible will still remain, to show us the opposite course to that leading to enslavement; man may be unable to follow it, but its contemplation affords him the only privilege of which he can make himself worthy; that of arresting the process, of controlling the impulse which forces him to block up the cracks in the wall of necessity one by one and to complete his work at the same time as he shuts himself up within his prison; this is a privilege coveted by every society, whatever its beliefs, its political system or its level of civilization; a privilege to which it attaches its leisure, its pleasure, its peace of mind and its freedom; the possibility, vital for life, of unhitching [unhitching is italicized in the book], which consists --Oh! fond farewell to savages and explorations! --in grasping, during the brief intervals in which our species can bring itself to interrupt its hive-like activity, the essence of what it was and continues to be, below the threshold of thought and over and above society: in the contemplation of a mineral more beautiful than all our creations; in the scent that can be smelt at the heart of a lily and is more imbued with learning than all our books; or in the brief glance, heavy with patience, serenity and mutual forgiveness, that, through some involuntary understanding, one can sometimes exchange with a cat.
I was having kind of a crappy day and now I’m not.
Read every word of your newsletter and every comment.
My brain is buzzing and I, too, am heartened.
Signed,
A teacher
The Quiet American by Graham Greene: “Everything had gone right with me since he had died, but how I wished there existed someone to whom I could say that I was sorry.”
The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be, by Farley Mowat: "And so the pact of timelessness between us was broken and I went from him into the darkening tunnel of the years."
"Gatsby believed... in the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter - tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.... And one fine morning --
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."
If the problem is republican voters, then let’s work to change them.
Suggestion 1: get more Republicans to vote in the primaries ( not just the zealots and crazies), more Democrats an independents too. Offer a tax credit for first time voter registration, current voter registration, and participation in federal primaries. Turn easy access to the poles from a push by motivated Democrats into a pull by voters.
Suggestion 2: if you love democracy vote in Republican primaries (I’m speaking to you Democrats and independents), and when you do promote responsible Republicans to the general election, then vote as you wish. The Republican Party is not an impenetrable fortress, invade it and fix it from within.
FOR TWITTER USERS: Just got a notification from Lifelock that some 5 million users are impacted by a breach. You might want to check it out if you have a Twitter account.
Initially I was leaning toward a pardon for Trump, but only if he were not re-elected in 2024.
But a comment someone else left here changed my mind, as they pointed out that prosecuting Trump is the right thing to do, regardless of the consequences, and one should aways do the right thing.
"But as always, hope must have the last word." ❤️
“But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.” -- Middlemarch
or: "`God's in his heaven, all's right with the world,'" whispered Anne softly.
Oui!
Over at Politicususa, they're showing a Lincoln Project ad regarding Biden and the economy - lowest unemployment in decades, hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs, etc. Go look at it. As the article says, why is it the R Lincoln Project making the ad instead of the Ds. The question of the year. The economy is booming, and it is because of that "senile man in the basement" as Trump's Pets keep calling him.
Good question.
Curious about potential charges against Trump. One charge I haven't heard mentioned was Trump's "dereliction of duty". I've heard many say a civilian can't be charged for that and I think Trump himself has said so..BUT why isn't there risk for "aiding and abetting..unintentional murder or manslaughter"...i.e. similar charges brought against the OTHER Minneapolis police officers who did nothing to stop/prevent George Floyd's death. How is sitting on your butt watching the violence happen and doing nothing to stop it when you could any different. I'm curious to hear the arguments for and against such charges and why those haven't been discussed in the media, although the dereliction has? Thanks
They have been discussed in the media. See "Barb McQuade Urges Charging Trump With 'Manslaughter for Deaths on January 6": https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/mark-finkelstein/2022/07/21/msnbc-analyst-urges-charging-trump-manslaughter-deaths-january
thanks much