CSotD: Misreading the law
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Our supple tribes repress their patriot throats,
And ask no questions but the price of votes;
With weekly libels and septennial ale,
Their wish is full to riot and to rail.
– Samuel Johnson
So Tim Eagan basically has it right in today's Deep Cover, but who cares? Is anybody listening?
We should probably start trying to find out.
What you hear on Facebook depends on who you friend. I made the (fairly common, I think) mistake of setting up one account on which I have current friends, old friends, relatives and professional acquaintances, instead of one personal and one professional.
This creates a pretty eclectic mish-mash of a newsfeed.
If you have not heard it on your feed (or, gasp, if you have no feed at all), I can assure you that the end of the shutdown is being saluted by the lunatic fringe with an outpouring of outrageous lies that are being accepted and shared, along with some simple insults that don't make a point beyond "we hate the government, especially the uppity Muslim in the White House."
And his wife, who is such a traitor to our values that she wants kids to eat healthy food and get some exercise.
This morning, they're sharing this:
And, by golly, there is a major piece of pork in the bill, though it's a bit of a technicality.
The bill specifically forbids new spending, but the Senate Appropriations Committee had, earlier in the year, approved $2.9 billion rather than the $775 million previously set for a dam project, which I think means the increase was on the table but not actually approved and thus shouldn't have gone forward.
So, okay, yes, that's pork.
But it's not Democratic pork. It greatly benefits Kentucky, home of Senate Minority Roadblock Mitch McConnell and was reportedly included to gain his support for the CR.
(Kentucky, of course, has a second Senator. Maybe he didn't return that call because he had a mouthful of pork at the moment.)
If the anarchists want to attack all of Congress for it, well, fine. Dump all the RINOs and install more Tea Baggers.
But if you go carrying pictures of Teddy Cruz, all I can tell you is, brother, you're gonna lose.
I hope. God, I hope.
On the other hand, a famous man once said:
(I)n the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility;
because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in
the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or
voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they
more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie,
since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would
be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into
their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe
that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously.
Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly
to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to
think that there may be some other explanation.
Sorry. Did I just violate Godwin's Law?
I don't think I did. Just as it's unfair to criticize the Continuing Resolution without reading it, it's unfair to cite Godwin's Law unless you read and understand it.
"As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1." — Godwin's Law
To start with, you can no more "violate" Godwin's Law than you can "violate" the Laws of Gravity. The Montgolfier Brothers didn't "violate" the laws of gravity. They didn't even "defy" them.
They understood them and applied them in a way that allowed them to fly.
And I understand that comparing people to Nazis can be unfair, obstructive and the sign of a losing hand, but that is an interpretation of Godwin's Law, not the law itself.
Standing in a wicker basket will not cause you to rise up into the air.
But if you stand in a wicker basket with a heat source and a large envelope in which to capture heated air, your chances of rising into the air increase dramatically.
Similarly, when you see everyone putting on brown shirts, smashing windows and burning books, you aren't admitting defeat and ending the discussion by pointing out the accompanying sense of deja vu.
Let's pretend for a moment that "Daddy's Home" is a political cartoon. This is where we're at.
Pray tell me what "discussion" I am shutting off by pointing out toxic, shameless use of the Big Lie?
Wouldn't mind shutting off the next iteration of this eternal discussion.
In other, less apocalyptic news
News of this excerpt from a Bill Watterson interview has been all over the cartoonist boards, and I'd be interested in reading the whole thing, if I could figure out how to get a print copy without subscribing to the magazine. (No, I don't live in a major city with big newstands. Yes, I realize that getting people to subscribe is part of their strategy. And, yes, they are just like Hitler.)
I'm impressed with his determination to stick with his ethical and artistic standards. And, by the way, I doubt he's walking the roads looking for cans and bottles to redeem: The reprint books seem to be selling pretty well.
Sometimes there comes along a Salvador Dali who manages to make commercial exploitation part of his schtick, but "schtick" and "art" tend to otherwise be separate, as are "success" and "excess."
The other day, though, Banksy pulled a stunt in which he set out a non-descript geezer on the sidewalk with a selection of his paintings priced at $60. The old fellow only sold a handful, and the press chortled over how few people took advantage of the chance to get an extremely valuable painting at such a ridiculously low price.
Or, put it another way, how few people buy art because they like it and want it, rather than because they think owning it will enhance their coolness.
I wish Banksy a long life, but I think whenever he does get to heaven, Dali is going to give him a big hug.
But I also think there is a connection between Banksy and Watterson, in that both have pondered what people think they are buying when they buy art.
A piece of art?
Or a piece of the artist?
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