I Hope You Hate This Story
It takes kind of a junkie to listen to only one radio station in the car. Mine is POTUS – Politics of The United States. I have to subscribe to satellite radio for $18 per month to get it.
Lately I have been wasting my 60-cent-per-day Sirius XM radio subscription by listening to Middlesex, a novel about an intersex Greek kid by Jeffrey Eugenides.
If you are wondering how often I listen to Oprah Book Club recommended stories about coming to terms with modified gender identity, the answer is not very.
Why is this happening when the choice is to hoover up every detail about the final month of a presidential election?
The answer is simple: your candidate and the campaign you prefer are disgraceful and you should be ashamed, especially if you contributed. It reflects on you and I hope you hate this story.
One of the stars of the POTUS channel is Julie Mason who hosts The Press Pool in the afternoon. She interviews reporters who are covering various aspects of the race and she tries to be objective about the contrast between the narrative spun by the campaigns and anything that is, or ought to be, real.
Yesterday, she and her guest agreed that they could not stand this anymore. They described that segment of the show as a support group for those who had to cover the debacle.
And here I was thinking I was the only one who felt that way. Thank you @juliemason.
Michael Thomas is a published author and commentator. His audience is well educated and at least attempting to be thoughtful. He posted the following on Facebook yesterday:
“For the last several years, I’ve used FB as a kind of bulletin board. As of today, no longer. I’ve set up my own website, www.midaswatch.com, and it’s there, from now on, that I will post opinions, commentary, recommendations etc. You may click on it freely, and bookmark it. At present, there’s no comments page – and I’m not sure there ever will be. I think online argumentation and flattery/disparagement have become virtually pointless. I’ll continue to look in on FB now and then, to follow family and friends, to follow interesting discussions of art and books, to send birthday greetings, but I intend to cease to be a vocal presence. Truth to tell, I’ve come to find FB tiresome, especially in this political season.”
Key phrase – what some would refer to endlessly and wretchedly as the “money quote” — “At present, there’s no comments page – and I’m not sure there ever will be. I think online argumentation and flattery/disparagement have become virtually pointless.”
Here is another quote that caught my eye today. It could have described your candidate and your campaign:
“You’d think that the utter savageness on display here would horrify fans. Online celebrity feuds capitalize on some of the most vile and destructive social ideas: that sexual shaming is an acceptable response to a stated opinion; that women are manipulative liars; and that a person who missteps in a private dispute deserves to be punished by the crowd. And these days, nearly everybody has a story about being subjected to similar abuse online.”
Where did it come from? A story about various Kardashians.
When the Kardashians get done staging public spats they will not have a country to govern.
Your candidate is a disgrace. Your campaign is a disgrace. This could not be happening without your support. It is your fault and I hope you hate this story.
Sellers McKee, October 14, 2016 at 11:00 am said:
Amen.
Am proud to say I did not contribute one red cent to any campaign this season. Forgive me if that constitutes a double negative.
Am equally proud that I gave up on FB a good five years ago, but held onto my stock!
I did manage to watch about 4 minutes of the last debate before I turned off the tube in disgust, so perhaps that satisfies my “civic duty” this time around.
To vote or not to vote? For the first time in my adult life this is a serious dilemma. A vote appears to “condone,” which a thinking individual cannot. A failure to vote, while attractive, possibly contributes to the victory of the candidate or philosophy more loathed. Very tough.
PS: I wish they would stop handing out those “I made freedom count” stickers at the voting centers. Orwellian hypocrisy… Our votes count for very little and do nothing to increase our freedom.
Haven Pell, October 14, 2016 at 2:40 pm said:
as a Florida voter you matter so yours is a more difficult problem.
I am solving mine with Johnson Weld
Brandy, October 14, 2016 at 12:56 pm said:
Being a “deplorable” had its charm/comfort but all four candidates for POTUS are truely deplorable and degrade the pleasure there of 🙂
Haven Pell, October 14, 2016 at 2:39 pm said:
Thanks for the comment
Haven Pell, October 14, 2016 at 2:38 pm said:
This comes from Joe Ingrisano, a former law partner and current long distance bicyclist.
I read your column today and thought it terrific.
I tried to post a reply but my spam filter blocked me. Here is what I said:
“I’m glad you wrote this story. This campaign will end; the republic will endure, as Benjamin Franklin said following the convention: “A republic, if you can keep it” (The response is attributed to Franklin at the close of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, when queried as he left Independence Hall on the final day of deliberation, in the notes of Dr. James McHenry, one of Maryland’s delegates to the Convention.)
This is not the first fractious election in the nations’ history (see, elections of 1800, 1824, 1860).
One party will rebuild, another party will bear the burden of moving forward and addressing the real problem of a divided country, divided culture and divided congress.
But above all, we must first restore civility to our civics. The VP debate was a chance for two qualified candidates to speak to each other, to debate the issues. It collapsed to the point that you were counting interruptions.
I’m quite sad that the only places people listen and refrain from interrupting another in midsentence is in a church pulpit or courtroom. In court, if you interrupted your opponents’ presentation or a judge you would be warned once, held in contempt on the second try.
Imagine Lincoln and Douglas, debating the most profound question in the nation’s history, listening to the other for an hour before responding in rebuttal. Those debates were witnessed and published, and although they did not prevent the massive bloodshed, the candidates were heard, the issues were discussed and the country paid attention.
That’s not happening here…at all!”
Feel free to post it. Hope you and the family are well and would love to get together before this mess plays out.
Russell, October 14, 2016 at 2:57 pm said:
Cheer up. Haven- if Taki’s commentariat is any measure, things will get worse.
Haven Pell, October 15, 2016 at 9:18 am said:
Taki has done well on the idea that things will get worse. He has been less wrong than most.
GARRARD GLENN, October 14, 2016 at 4:28 pm said:
What about this idea. It’s a sort of homeopathic approach, wherein you voluntarily suffer a bit of the toxicity that assails you, thence to develop an immunity and resistance to it.
Vote for the candidate you think is most likely to be bounced out four years later. My guess is the Trumpeter will implode/explode in 4 years, or less. Out he will go. Whereas, Clinton, who will do little and thereby will likely offend fewer voters, is likely to hang on for an interminable 8 years.
So vote for Trump. His shelf life is likely considerably shorter than Clinton’s. His successor will likely have an Augean clean-up to complete post Trump, if there’s anything left to clean-up, that is.
Haven Pell, October 15, 2016 at 9:15 am said:
This is interesting thinking Gar. One unseen benefit of this election is the increased development of coping mechanisms. I commend your effort to rely on your self rather than whimpering about the absence of assistance from others.
It is possible the an elected Trump might not even make it to the inauguration.