Miscellany

Monday
1 March 1916

CAMPAIGN LIES

There used to be a law in Ohio making it illegal to make false statements about candidates running for office.  Makes sense.  That law was struck down by a US Circuit Court in the past few days.  From what I have been able to observe, that law was struck down years ago.

I'VE GOT 12 INCHES, HOW ABOUT YOU?

An Australian teenager posted a photograph of himself holding a foot long Subway sandwich up to a ruler.  The sandwich was only 11 inches long.  So, what was the result?  A class action suit against Subway for misrepresenting its product to hapless consumers.  The consumers won!  In response, Subway has retooled its ovens to accommodate longer rolls.  I always thought there was something fishy going on.

NAME CHANGE

An English gentleman legally changed his name to "Bacon Double Cheeseburger."  His friends call him Bacon.  His wife is pregnant and he, a huge fan of John Travolta, has already decided to name his first born "Royale With Cheese."  If it is a boy, his friends will probably call him Roy.  Not so sure about a girl.  (Actually, I am making up the stuff about children.)

CO-OPTING RAGE

When we walk our fifteen laps around the track at the Y to warm-up each day, we usually end up talking to our friend Sherry about the FoxNews Republicans who people our local YMCA.  These are all people we like (most of them, anyway) and they seem to be Trump supporters.  One of them told us that Trump is saying the things they feel!

I don't get that.  The gentleman who made that statement is a nice guy.  He seems to be a successful entrepreneur.  He drives a nice car.  Takes his family on vacation.  Plays a round of golf every day, weather permitting.  Does he really feel the rage that Trump is tapping?  The other old white guys at the Y are the same way.  What do they have to be so mad about?

I used to use an article about pop culture by David Denby as a catalyst for a writing assignment about BRAVE NEW WORLD.  If there are any CCB types reading this, you will remember (I hope).  In it, he uses the example of white suburban rap groups (Read: Beastie Boys) who were writing their raps expressing the same rage that black groups from the inner-city were expressing.  These white suburbanites had co-opted black rage, but the fact was they had precious little to  be outraged about.  I'm sure Denby overstated his argument; maybe The Beastie Boys just liked the way their stuff sounded and maybe they also liked the amount of money it realized.  The point is that my Republican friends at the Y have done the same thing.  Is it possible they just like Trump's music.

AFFLUENZA

We walked the beach every morning when we were in Puerto Vallarta a few months ago.  That daily walk would take us by the resort where the "Affluenza Kid" and his mom were staying to avoid the sentence the kid received for a DUI.  His lawyer defended him by saying he lived a life of affluence so extreme that he could not be held accountable for  his actions.  The judge saw that for the BS it was.

I think that may be Trump's problem.  Affluenza.  Maybe he could go to a clinic to get it diagnosed and treated.  How else do you explain his TOTAL disregard for any social convention.  It isn't that he is an inveterate liar so much; it's just that he has never had a need to worry about the difference between fact and fiction.  It isn't that he is a bigot, a misogynist, and a shameless bully; his money has insulated him from any repercussions for his horrible behavior, so what do you expect?

Poor Donald.  He's just a victim of his upbringing.  Imagine the heavy burden of inheriting $200,000,000 from your father.  It's child abuse.  That's what it is.