#714 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Wednesday July 26)
Good morning,
HEADLINES
Time for more headlines…
Last month was the hottest June since 1850, when records began being kept.
MLB outfielder Jared Kelenic got frustrated the other night, so he kicked the water cooler. Now he’s on the disabled list with a broken foot. Now that’s frustrating…
The NFL has its first openly gay assistant coach.
The museum dedicated to children’s author Roald Dahl has posted a sign declaring his racism was “undeniable and indelible.”
Several Democratic Congresspeople boycotted the speech of Israeli Head of State, President Isaac Herzog. Never mind that, as Head of State, he doesn’t represent the Netanyahu government. By doing so, these people are providing cover to Republicans who claim that Democrats are soft on Israel. Of course, most Democrats continue to adhere to America’s traditional bipartisan support of Israel. All this can do is hurt Biden’s reelection bid. Performative politics that help the adversary. Good thinking…
The Freedom Caucus apparently thinks Marjorie Taylor Greene is just too soft and threw her out. Meanwhile, one of their members commented that shutting down the government would be just fine, since “most of what we do here anyway is bad.”
NO LABELS
No Labels is still considering mounting a ticket of a Republican and a Democrat, in hopes of offering Americans a “middle party” and not force them to make a choice between Trump and Biden. By their reckoning, the American public wants neither of the leading candidates—Biden, the incumbent, or Trump, the destroyer. But I believe they are misreading the tea leaves. All incumbents in the year or more before their reelection bid have low approval numbers. But when presented with the alternative case, all the recent incumbents (save, notably, two) have won reelection with relative ease (Reagan, Clinton, Bush II, Obama). Only Bush I and Trump fell short. One needn’t write Joe Biden’s political obituary just yet. There’s a long way to go and No Labels will serve to do what Liz Cheney suggests no one of conscience can do—increase Trump’s chances to ascend to the White House once again.
By their very participation, No Labels may help Donald Trump achieve the presidency. Right thinking on encouraging that America longs for moderate leadership. But this is the wrong strategy.
DO WE HAVE A SOCIETY ANYMORE?
Our society is strained to levels not felt since pre-Civil War times. Certainly, there have been periods of social unrest and deep political divisions. But, other than the sporadic outbursts historically against immigrants and racial outbursts, American society was reasonably social and respectful, even among those against whom discrimination was felt. There always was an underlying sense that we were all “in this together,” even when our chosen methodologies for achieving a better life/country/world might diverge. Now, it seems there are tears in our social fabric that seem broad and virulent.
Wendy Brown suggests an excellent definition of what it is to be “social”:
“The social is where citizens of vastly unequal backgrounds and resources are potentially brought together and thought together. It is where we are politically enfranchised and gathered (not merely cared for) through provision of public goods and where historically produced inequalities are made manifest as differentiated political access, voice, and treatment, as well as where these inequalities may be partially redressed.”
For a discussion of whether we belong to a society, with the damage that has been done to our society and civility: https://www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/online-only/we-live-in-a-society/
When the basic structures of our society are under siege, the delicate balance of our system is threatened. We are at that point today.
LOVING HIS FASCIST FRIEND
This, from Peggy Noonan, former speechwriter for Ronald Reagan, in the May 20, 2023 Wall Street Journal:
“What was that strange thing between Messrs. Trump and Putin? People say Mr. Trump just likes dictators, but I don’t know. He’ll trash anyone and has—his own vice president, “Little Rocket Man,” China during the pandemic. He never trashes Mr. Putin.
What was that? What is it?”
[Note: italics are Ms. Noonan’s]
The danger is real.
Have a good day,
Glenn