The Commentariat -- Nov. 9, 2015
Internal links removed.
Afternoon Update:
John Eligon & Richard Perez-Pena of the New York Times: "Amid a wave of student and faculty protests, primarily over racial tensions, that all but paralyzed its flagship campus here, the president of the University of Missouri system resigned Monday, urging everyone involved to 'use my resignation to heal and start talking again.' The president, Timothy M. Wolfe, had grown increasingly isolated, with opposition to his leadership reaching a crescendo in the last few days: The faculty council issued a statement of concern about him; football players said they would refuse to play until he left, potentially costing the university millions of dollars; the university's student government on Monday demanded his ouster; and much of the faculty canceled classes for two days, in favor of a teach-in focused on race relations."
... The St. Louis Post-Dispatch story, by Stephen Deere, is here. With video of Wolfe's resignation announcement. See also story linked in Beyond the Beltway below.
Rebecca Ruiz of the New York Times: "Top Russian athletes, including Olympians and winners of prestigious events like the Chicago marathon, have for years participated in a systematic doping program that involved some of Russia's sports officials, the World Anti-Doping Agency said on Monday.The agency released a lengthy report here that described a pervasive doping culture among Russia's sports programs, evoking notorious drug regimes like the state-run doping system of East Germany."
Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. is a stickler for evenly distributing the workload of the Supreme Court, but he plays favorites among his eight colleagues when assigning the court's most important decisions. Not surprisingly, Roberts calls his own number more than anyone else's and assigns the next-highest number to Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, the pivotal justice on the ideologically divided court, according to a new study by Harvard law Prof. Richard J. Lazarus published in the Harvard Law Review."
Tom Krisher of the AP: "Volkswagen is offering $1,000 in gift cards and vouchers as a goodwill gesture to owners of small diesel-powered cars involved in an emissions cheating scandal. The offer announced Monday goes to owners of 482,000 cars in the U.S., many who are angry at the company because they paid extra for the cars to be environmentally sensitive without losing peppy acceleration.... The offer also includes free roadside assistance for the diesel vehicles for three years.... Volkswagen already is offering $2,000 to current VW owners to trade in their cars for new vehicles, and the gift cards and vouchers would add $1,000 to that." CW: I can't figure out how a VW owner can use these "gift cards" other than on buying a new VW or Audi.
Rupert Neate of the Guardian: "Pity Wall Street's bankers. Their year-end bonuses are expected to fall by 5 to 10% this year -- the first drop since 2011, according to a survey released on Monday. But before you reach for the tissues, realise the average bonus (on top of salary) paid to New York's 167,800 bankers last year was $172,860. The average US household income last year was $53,657, according to the US Census."
Jonathan Ferziger & Margaret Talev of Bloomberg: "President Barack Obama told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that while their differences on the Iran nuclear pact are 'no secret,' their countries must work together in fighting terrorism and seeking peace with the Palestinians. The split between the two leaders is on the 'narrow issue' of the nuclear agreement with Iran, Obama said as he met with Netanyahu in the Oval Office Monday for the first time in 13 months. 'We don't have a disagreement on making sure that Iran doesn't get a nuclear weapon,' he said." ...
... Peter Baker & Jodi Rudoren of the New York Times: "As [Benjamin] Netanyahu arrives at the White House on Monday for his first visit in more than a year, both [he & Barack Obama] have reasons to put the past behind them. They will discuss a new security agreement and ways to counter Iran. But few believe their relationship can ever be more than coolly transactional."
AND Charles Pierce awards the Sunday showz prize to Chuck Todd.
*****
** Elias Isquith of Salon posts a fascinating interview of New York Times reporter Charlie Savage, who has written a book, 'Power Wars: Inside Obama's Post-9/11 Presidency." The two took a "look at how bureaucracy, chance, politics and technology have so profoundly shaped [the Obama administration's] legacy. Alongside discussing what Obama really promised on the campaign trail in 2008, [they] also talk about the outsized influence of late-2009's failed 'underwear bomber,' and why the president has less control over the prosecution of leaks from his administration than you may suspect."
Martin Longman of the Washington Monthly is surprised he agrees -- to some extent -- with Ross Douthat on the reason white working-class Americans are experiencing an increase in suicides, alcoholism & drug use. Longman: "I think the best analogy I've seen for this is that white Americans have been playing the game on the lowest difficulty setting. Like a video game that allows you to start off as a beginner and advance to expert, people who have never had to deal with the worst the economy can bring are not as well prepared to deal with ever-increasing levels of adversity. What we're seeing is a lot of folks who are just giving up and turning to alcoholism and opioids because they don't have experience with playing the game on the expert level." ...
... Paul Krugman with some empirically-based suggestions on what is not causing high white despair & mortality. (Sorry, Ross, Krugman is not buying your "family values" argument.) "I know I'm not the only observer who sees a link between the despair reflected in those mortality numbers and the volatility of right-wing politics."
Michael Shear of the New York Times: "As Republicans across the country mount an aggressive effort to tighten voting laws, a group of former aides to President Obama and President Bill Clinton is pledging to counter by spending up to $10 million on a push to make voter registration automatic whenever someone gets a driver's license. The change would supercharge the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, known as the 'motor voter' law, which requires states to offer people the option of registering to vote when they apply for driver's licenses or other identification cards. The new laws would make registration automatic during those transactions unless a driver objected."
Your Tax Dollars at Work. Jerry Markon of the Washington Post: "Heaving under mountains of paperwork, the government has spent more than $1 billion trying to replace its antiquated approach to managing immigration with a system of digitized records, online applications and a full suite of nearly 100 electronic forms. A decade in, all that officials have to show for the effort is a single form that's now available for online applications and a single type of fee that immigrants pay electronically. The 94 other forms can be filed only with paper." CW: Makes Healthcare.gov look like a miracle.
Joby Warrick of the Washington Post: "Greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere reached another grim milestone earlier this year as carbon dioxide levels surpassed the symbolic threshold of 400 parts per million across much of the planet, the premier global meteorological association confirmed in a report to be released Monday. Figures compiled by the World Meteorological Organization showed strong growth -- and new records -- in the concentrations of all three of the most important heat-trapping gases, continuing a long-term trend with ominous implications for climate change, the group said."
Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "Senior House members said Sunday that there was a mounting consensus among American intelligence officials that a bomb brought down the Russian charter jet that crashed last month in the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, killing all 224 people aboard. 'I think there's a growing body of intelligence and evidence that this was a bomb -- still not conclusive -- but a growing body of evidence,' Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said on the ABC program 'This Week.' Representative Peter T. King, Republican of New York and the chairman of the Homeland Security subcommittee on terrorism and intelligence, went further [CW: as he always does!], saying on the same program that intelligence officials he had spoken to believed that the Islamic State or an affiliate was behind the crash." ...
... Brian Ross, et al., of ABC News: "New evidence in the investigation of the Russian airliner that crashed in Egypt indicates an inside man may have helped to plant an explosive device on board, aviation security officials told ABC News. Investigators today will be scrutinizing surveillance tape and employee records at Egypt's Sharm el Sheikh airport, from which the Russian jet took off, looking for a ramp worker who authorities say may have been recruited by ISIS to plant a bomb on the plane."
Presidential Race
Michelle Goldberg of Slate: "In general, the Bernie Sanders campaign has been overwhelmingly positive for American politics. It has, however, unleashed a minor plague of progressive white men confidently explaining feminism to the rest of us. Some of them rail against identity politics, while others use the language of intersectionality, a great boon to white men who want to inveigh against 'white feminism' without losing their left-wing street cred. Some just sound like surly conservatives complaining that affirmative action is racist. All are united in outrage that anyone could ever see a hint of sexism at work in the intense hatred that Hillary inspires among their ilk."
Shawna Thomas of NBC News: "... Dr. Ben Carson continued to defend his recollection of his past on NBC's 'Meet the Press' amid mounting questions about biographical discrepancies.... When asked about whether he was ready for the intense scrutiny and vetting of a presidential campaign, Carson said he was but pushed back on whether what he is experiencing is fair. 'I have always said that I expect to be vetted, but being vetted and what is going on with me..., you know, I have not seen that with anyone else.... Carson said this kind of scrutiny is born out of the 'secular progressive movement in this country.'... Yesterday, the campaign said he's raised $3.5 million in the past week. In a tweet, Carson attributed this cash infusion to "media bias.'" ...
... CW: Yes, I'm pretty sure the "secular progressive" press has never raised any questions about Hillary Clinton's past (cattle futures, Whitewater, e-mail server) or Bernie Sanders' (unemployed radical hippie). Those secular progressives are just picking on you, Doc, because you're a religious reactionary. ...
... Margaret Hartmann of New York: "Ben Carson is outraged that the media is [sic!] taking him seriously. A few months ago, Ben Carson was happily comparing things to Nazi Germany, saying appalling things about Muslims, and making wild claims about his near brushes with death. While the other candidates tangled with Donald Trump, the amiable pediatric neurosurgeon was free to focus on turning his moderately successful presidential campaign into a lucrative business venture. But a funny thing happened on the way to the bestseller list. Several polls showed Carson pulling ahead of Trump nationally, and suddenly the media started asking questions about the incredible tales from Carson's made-for-TV life.... Carson ... blasted the media's behavior in general, noting that they never scrutinized Barack Obama so harshly -- then running down a list of various scandals from 2008 that disprove his point.... [Carson] admitted on This Week that not everything he's written is accurate. 'Well, show me somebody, even from your business, the media, who is 100 percent accurate in everything that they say that happened 40 or 50 years ago,' he said." ...
... CW: Yo, Doctor Ben, you wrote Gifted Hands in or before 1987, not 40 or 50 years after the events you invented. But we already know from your tithing tax plan that you're not that good at math. Many of us may exaggerate our personal stories over time, & we do try to figure out how isolated events shape & alter our lives. Lots of people look for "hand of God" explanations, though probably a presidential candidate should not. Few of us borrow incidents from newspaper accounts (see Kevin Drum's entry, linked below) or insert ourselves, Forrest Gump-style, into real events (Detroit riots). Or just make up stuff out of whole cloth. ...
... Charles Blow: "Carson has pushed back on the biographical charges with more verve that he has exhibited at any of the debates. That is because the biographical charges don't simply threaten the Carson campaign, they threaten Carson the corporation -- the former I have always contended was simply a vehicle for the latter. Has no one else wondered why Carson's chief media surrogate isn't his campaign manager or communications director, but his business manager, Armstrong Williams? Carson may no longer be a practicing physician, but he is a full-time profiteer.... Media observers seem to me too focused on Ben Carson the candidate. I remain focused on Ben Carson the enterprise, and apparently, so is he." ...
... ** "An Unfit Candidate Struggles under Intense Scrutiny" -- an excellent post by Simon Maloy of Salon: "... the Republican Party and its voters have declared war on the very concept of competent, reliable governance, which has provided space for 'outsider' candidates who are manifestly unfit for the office of the presidency to seize the GOP electorate and retain a firm hold on it." ...
On Saturday a reporter with the Wall Street Journal ... published a story that my account of being the victim of a hoax at Yale where students were led to believe the exams they had just taken were destroyed and we needed to retake the exam was false. The reporter claimed that no evidence existed to back up my story. Even went so far as to say the class didn't exist. Well here is the student newspaper account of the incident that occurred on January 14, 1970. Will an apology be coming. I doubt it. -- Ben Carson, Facebook ...
Read on, people. -- Constant Weader ...
... Kevin Drum: "More Ben Carson news today! You remember Doc Carson's story about the psychology test hoax that proved he was the most honest man at Yale? Well, Carson says it really happened, and the proof is ... a piece from the Yale Daily News about a parody issue of the News published by the Yale Record. Apparently the parody issue announced that some psychology exams had been destroyed and a retest would be held in the evening. Hilarious!... It's clear that Carson's account is substantially different from the parody. He says the class was Perceptions 301 [not Intro. to Psychology 10(, as the Yale Record reported)]. He says 150 students showed up [not several]. He says everyone eventually walked out [because they were dishonest, not because they saw it was a hoax]. He says the professor showed up at the beginning, and then again at the end. He says the professor gave him ten dollars. None of that seems to have happened. And yet -- it certainly seems likely that this is where Carson got the idea for his story. He remembered the hoax, and then embellished it considerably to turn it into a testimony to the power of God.... It seemed like a strange story for Carson to invent, and it turns out he didn't. He took a story he recalled from his Yale days and then added a bunch of bells and whistles to make it into a proper testimonial." [Bracketed entries above by Brad DeLong] ...
... CW: Some actual expert on "perceptions" -- preferably someone with a medical degree -- should tend to Ole Doc. The man needs help. So do his gullible acolytes. I would guess that the fake psych test story is Carson's own "politically correct" way of getting back at the rich, white legacies who looked down their noses (or who Carson thought were looking down their noses) at the poor, black scholarship kid. Not only was Carson more honest & worthy than all of them put together, according to his story, his "honesty" was a gift that God granted to him alone. The true "chosen one" at Yale was not to be found among those entitled richy-rich snobs (whom Satan had chosen?), but in the unassuming, Jesus-like hero Ben Carson. Carson says BlackLivesMatter is "sickening" because it "bullies" people, but Carson has his own, more subtle, socially-acceptable & personally-beneficial method of crying discrimination. That will be 5 cents, please. ...
... Steve M. has a less cynical theory about Carson's "misremembering": "Did he actually fall for this hoax? I ask because I was a naive college student. Like Carson, I didn't have parents who attended college and I made it to one of the Ivies.... I look back and recall missing what to other people would have been obvious cues. Maybe that's what happened to Carson...." Steve also notes that the incident Carson borrowed took place when he was a freshman, not when he was a junior, as he claimed in Gifted Hands. In addition, the Yale Record story says the hoax exam was essentially the same as the real exam; Carson claimed the hoax test was "incredibly difficult," & that's why the 150 "dishonest" students walked out. ...
... MEANWHILE, Ophelia M. sends news from Easter Island:
... CW: Hey, it is called Easter Island. There's your proof, or at least proof enough for Ole Doc Carson. You may think Ophelia's contribution is a hoax like that Yale Intro to Psych 10 exam of yore, but Doctor Ben sees things you don't. ...
... Ana Maria Cox, in the Daily Beast, looks as Ben the Pyramid Guy from a Christian's point of view: "You can see [Carson's] 'thug' tale as self-aggrandizing, but to me it is strangely self-denying -- on some level, a kind of blasphemy. In making up a story filled with drama, he has failed to credit God for the original and true, if subtle, miracle within Carson: that a soft-spoken, nerdy young man born in inner Detroit did not have to become a thug at some point, that he was wise and respectful of his own potential without needing God to perform a parlor trick.... I think it cheapens the idea of miracles to think that humans needed one to create the pyramids, or that Carson needed one to put his life on the right track. It speaks to a lack of faith in humans -- and, in some sense, God. His creation is so much more awe inspiring than Carson seems to realize."
Every signer of the Declaration of Independence had no elected office experience. -- Ben Carson
Every signer of the Declaration of Independence had no federal elected office experience (emphasis added). -- Ben Carson, after the Washington Post & others disproved Carson's claim
Both the initial and the revised versions of Carson's claim are far off base. About half or more of the declaration's signers had held elective office previously, a reality that severely undercuts Carson's overall point that the drafting of the Declaration of Independence showed how a lack of political experience can produce landmark political achievements. As for his later addition of 'federal' to the comment, this makes the claim nonsensical, since there was no federal government prior to the signing of the declaration. -- Louis Jacobson of PolitiFact
Not only that, signing a protest letter to the king is hardly the equivalent of running a nation. I'll grant that Carson -- and nearly everybody else -- is able to petition the government. It is not a qualification for holding elected office. Carson's premise was nonsensical even if the signers had not held elective office. -- Constant Weader
... Ali Elkin & Ros Kransy of Bloomberg: "... Ben Carson 'will have to explain a lot of things away' given questions about whether parts of his life story have been exaggerated or fabricated, rival White House hopeful Donald Trump said Sunday." ...
... "I Can Take a Joke." Willa Paskin of Slate: Donald Trump's appearance on "Saturday Night Live" "is perfect for Trump, who gets to affably take his punches for being racist, which only makes his racism appear less virulent, a boon to him and his voters.... Trump was getting teased for imagining he can save the world. With insults like that, he has no need for compliments." CW: Couldn't agree more. Mildly spoofing racism or empty promises or whatever in the presence of a perp who graciously participates in the joke serves only to normalize the outrageous beliefs & remarks. Such "satire" is enabling & permission-granting. ...
... James Hibberd of Entertainment Weekly: "With Donald Trump hosting, Saturday Night Live jumped to its biggest overnight rating since 2012." CW: So, you know, screw those minority & immgrant protesters who were appalled by Trump's appearance.
"Rubionomics." Jonathan Chait: "Last week, Citizens for Tax Justice, a liberal think tank that uses mainstream economic tax modeling, analyzed Marco Rubio's tax-cut plan. Thirty-four percent of the benefits of the plan would go to the highest-earning one percent of Americans.... Rubio's proposal deliberately provides some benefits to Americans of modest income.... All told, Rubio's plan would reduce federal revenue by $11.8 trillion over the next decade. The entire [George W.] Bush tax cuts cost about $3.4 trillion over a decade, making the Rubio tax cuts more than three times as costly.... Oh, and Rubio has also called for an amendment to the Constitution requiring a balanced budget every year. Oh, one more thing: Among the Republican presidential candidates, Rubio is widely considered to be a moderate on fiscal issues.... The party's 'mainstream' economic thinking now lies at a point far beyond what used to be considered its fringe. It is a party that has lost all contact with reality, and continues to drift farther and farther over the horizon." ...
... Sahil Kapur of Bloomberg: "After strong debate performances, [Ted] Cruz and [Marco] Rubio -- both 44-year-old Cuban Americans -- saw their poll numbers rise and interest from donors jump. They are now locked in a third-place tie, according to a national Los Angeles Times poll ahead of Tuesday's debate in Milwaukee. As a result, Cruz and his allies have begun zeroing in on Rubio.... The Texas hardliner's mischievous branding of Rubio as a 'moderate' is the first shot in a showdown that may unfold in the coming days of the campaign. The label 'moderate' may seem anodyne, but in the context of modern Republican primaries, it is generally meant as an insult.... [Rubio's] Senate voting record is anything but moderate, featuring routine opposition to bipartisan deals to avert government shutdowns and debt default, as well as rejecting popular Democratic-led proposals such as raising the federal minimum wage and toughening equal pay for women laws." ...
... CW: Also, too, Rubio favors banning abortion even in cases of rape & incest. Someone who favors burdening a woman or girl with bearing & rearing her attacker's child is no moderate. Laura Chapin of US News (March 2015): "Cruz ... opposes abortion for victims of rape and incest. He also labels forms of contraception such as Plan B 'abortifacients', which isn't scientifically or medically correct." ...
... Days of the Jackass. Katie Zezima & Dave Weigel of the Washington Post: "The list of GOP politicians and operatives willing to take open shots at [Ted] Cruz has grown long: Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, former House speaker John A. Boehner (Ohio), Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.), fellow Texas Sen. John Cornyn, Sen. John Thune (S.D.), former senator Tom Coburn (Okla.) -- and on and on. Cruz does not appear to be bothered.... On the trail, the Texas Republican fondly recounts his skirmishes. His campaign blasts out fundraising e-mails quoting the critical words.... In other words, Cruz's status as persona non grata has become part of his political persona: He uses the enmity of others to paint himself as an outsider...."
Wrong Answer. Bradford Richardson of the Hill: "Carly Fiorina is defending her decision not to correct a man who characterized President Obama as a 'black Muslim'... and said 'he doesn't want this country to get ahead.'... at a diner in New Hampshire. Fiorina said it wasn't her job to defend the president.... 'I've said on many occasions: President Obama tells me he's a Christian; I take him at his word,' she said on Fox News on Friday. 'But the truth is, President Obama isn't on the ballot.'" ...
... Better Answer. "Well, he is black; he says so himself. But he isn't Muslim; he says he's a Christian, & I don't doubt him. Let's be clear, though; there's nothing wrong with being a black Muslim. This country embraces people of all faiths & people of no faith. But on that other matter: President Obama has said time & again that he wants this country to get ahead. I believe him. Like all of us here, President Obama is a patriot. Where I disagree with him is in the ideas & policies he has for moving the country forward. His ideas aren't working all that well. My ideas & proposals are better." Really, Carly, what's so hard about that? You've had plenty of time to think about it since you blew it, & all you can come up with is, "I don't have to defend anybody who isn't running for president"? Pretty stupid. And decidely not presidential. Or vice-presidential. Or undersecretary-of-commerc-ial.
Beyond the Beltway
Scott Gleeson of USA Today: "More than 30 football players at the University of Missouri will not participate in any practices or games until Missouri System president Tim Wolfe resigns or is terminated. Several black team members announced their decision to strike on social media Saturday night and Missouri's Legion of Black Collegians posted a statement on behalf of the team with a picture of players unified in support of the boycott. Wolfe's response to a series of racist incidents has been considered inadequate by many students who believe racism has poisoned the campus. A graduate student, Jonathan Butler, announced earlier in the week he was going on a hunger strike until Wolfe was removed. The most recent racist incident came Oct. 24 when a swastika was drawn with human feces on a college dorm's white wall.... Junior cornerback John Gibson tweeted that the Tigers' coaching staff and white teammates were also in support of the strike. And offensive lineman Paul Adams, a white player, expressed his support publicly on Twitter."
Relevant to yesterday's Comments:
By Randall Munroe. Thanks to D. C. Clark.
News Ledes
Washington Post: "A Jordanian police officer opened fire Monday at a U.S.-backed training center, killing at least four people including two American government contractors, officials said. The gunman also was killed. The shootings appeared to mark a return of terrorism-linked bloodshed as Jordan marked the 10th anniversary of deadly hotel bombings."
Washington Post: "Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy predicted a landslide victory on Monday as tallying continued in Burma's historic elections, with some in the military-backed ruling party beginning to speak of defeat."
New York Times: "A 43-year-old man was shot and killed and two others were wounded in a shooting inside a subway station at Eighth Avenue and 35th Street in Manhattan, by Pennsylvania Station, shortly before 6:15 a.m. Monday...."
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Reader Comments (21)
Too striking a coincidence to pass by:
Yesterdays comments about iPhone absorption, and today's edition of my favorite webcomic.
http://xkcd.com/1601/
In furtherance of our discussion of Dr. Ben's Fantastic Life, I'd like to say something about the imagined life. I suspect most of us occasionally imagine ourselves performing heroic feats. That is probably a good thing.
For instance, I have imagined what I might do in an Aurora Theater-type situation. Throw my body over that of a child? Yes. Run at the gunman as Ole Doc claims he would do? Nope.
I think imagining yourself in situations that call for heroism can help you make a split-second decision should you ever face such an imagined situation. Imagination, in other words, can prepare you for real-life circumstances. And not just ones that require great heroism. What would I do if somebody made a racist remark? What will I do if my boss makes a pass at me? What would I do if my car broke down on some lonesome highway? These sorts of imaginary musings seem healthy and "normal" to me. Dr. Ben's sort -- not so much.
Marie
There are lots of internet listings on NPD but this one is easy to read.
http://www.mentalhealth.com/home/dx/narcissisticpersonality.html
And note that they are 'difficult' to treat. Actually if you ask a psychiatrist they say 'impossible'.
Also note that even if you are not a mental health professional, it is easy to diagnosis a number of candidates for POTUS.
The bad news is that the majority of Republicans like delusion or maybe share it.
Interesting interview with Charlie Savage–-the consequences of underwear bomber and Scott Brown seen in a much more significant light. But I found this to be most informative: Savage is discussing the difference in the Bush administration's way of dealing with policy re: the law. Both Bush and Cheney were CEO's by background, had few lawyers on hand and those they did have (like John Yoo) were what I would call renegade.
"Obama and his administration are quite the opposite. Obama and Joe Biden, of course, are both lawyers and showed a clear tendency to put lawyers into policymaking roles around them. And this has consequences, having government-by-lawyer and not government-by-CEO. Lawyers are very incremental; lawyers have to really engage with the other side, because they have to prepare for everybody’s argument; they have to value process. That means they are going to be cautious about changing the status quo. They’re going to be cautious about dislodging what Bush has equipped to them."
And this corresponds to the old maxim about men (and women) of wealth, business, manufacturers, bankers & brokers being the ones who generally exert the worst influence on government.
Re: people whose heads are always down engaged in a little device that seems to be ruling their lives. This invention has remnants of the pacifier or Binky or blanket that little ones need for comfort and has become for bigger ones a constant companion so that even when a nice lady like Marie takes a bloke out to dinner he cannot contain his need for connecting to this device. Once I was talking to someone whose head was bent over his IPhone. I stopped talking; it was minutes before he realized. What were you saying?, he finally asked. I replied, "Obviously nothing that interested you."
Marie,
Thanks for linking my favorite comic. On the site, if you hover over any panel in the strip, an additional punch line pops up. Often the funniest thing in it.
BTW, I do not posses an iPhone. Still using my 20+ year old flip phone with a pull up antenna. Antiques Roadshow is after me. Please do not share my contact information with them.
@D.C.Clark: Thanks for confessing re: the iPhone. I thought I was the last person in the U.S. who, by choice, was using a less-than-4G phone. So now I know there are two.
I haven't come across anyone in the last year who didn't have an iPhone or android equivalent. I'm not agin 'em; they're just too expensive for my needs. (I do have a 3G with a touch screen. I hated the flip phones.) I may switch to a pay-go 4G plan sometime within the next year, but it's not high on my to-do list.
Marie
Wonder this morning how long we will be musing about the inner workings of Dr. Ben's peculiar mental state?
I shudder to think it could duplicate Sarah Palin's depressingly protracted shelf-life, but considering what might go on in that odd head (something I, too, cannot avoid) prompts this thought:
Yes, we all do live interior lives. We dream, we plan, we talk to ourselves creating scenes replete with mights and coulds and shoulds.
As of now, our focus is on Dr. Ben's fantasies about his past, the things that never happened that he wishes had, pseudo events he was foolish or unbalanced enough to talk or write publicly about as if they were real. To some degree, we all rewrite our pasts, casting ourselves as heroes or victims as best to serve us. Beyond our general interest in what makes other people tick, we are particularly fascinated by Dr. Ben's revisions because it would be nice to know if this Presidential candidate is simply a huckster in the great American tradition or just plain nuts.
But this morning I'm more interested in the narrative Dr. Ben is creating about his future than I am in his past. How does he think he will act when he is President? What does he say to himself about how he will treat foreign policy, deal with Congress, bring reluctant voters into his party's fold? What Oval Office scenes does he paint? How would his ideal country look? Does the prospect of creating it elevate or cow him?
I think we know how the Donald thinks he will behave. He will be the bully he presents himself to be, convinced of his own charm even if no one else is, just as I suspect Obama thought he could transform the country by bringing to bear his already proven rhetorical skills and his experiences as a community organizer and lawyer to further his heady vision of re-uniting a splintering country.
Trump and Obama both in their vastly different ways project some idea of what goes on in their heads about how they will behave or what they would do with a Presidency should it turn out they end up having one. With Dr. Ben and most of the other Republican candidates, I have none.
Running for office, one day at a time, seems to be all there is. Empty suits to inhabit an empty future.
I missed yesterday's colloquy about disconnection in our Moderne World. Marvin's comment about being the only one actually paying attention to the real world struck a chord. When I lived in Manhattan it was a bit of a joke that the only people who actually looked at anything were tourists. Everyone else was rushing, head down, to get somewhere. But this is a different sort of thing. As Marie says, it's a commonplace to see people in restaurants checking their e-mails or Facebook accounts and texting someone across town or on the other side of the country rather than speaking to the person across the table. I see it all the time but it's still weird, like a Woody Allen parody of the future.
It's funny how certain images can prompt very specific remembrances. The image of Marvin being the only person on a busy New York street award of his immediate surroundings reminded me instantly of a Ray Bradbury story I haven't read since I was about 13. I had to look it up because I wasn't sure of the title. It's called "The Pedestrian". Bradbury, writing in 1951, follows a peripatetic loner who goes out walking at night, to experience the actual world, the only human doing so. All others are entombed in their dimly lit domiciles, washed by the blue light of cathode ray view screens, all living life by proxy. One of Bradbury's snappy, acerbic little tales in which he indulges in a bit of self-deprecation. A robot police car approaches the pedestrian and demands to know his occupation. The man answers "Writer". "No occupation" spits back the robot.
The walker is eventually arrested and taken away to a psychiatric lab for research. Possibly some kind of anti-social troublemaker. Should be at home enjoying the fantasy world with all the rest of the properly adjusted types.
The interesting thing about the story is that Bradbury sets it 100 years in the future, but the date, 2053, is now less than 40 years off. Don't know what people will be hypnotized by at that point, but as D.C.'s cartoon points out, some version of this sort of thing has been going of for centuries. I can picture some 15th century mom or dad spitting out epithets about that damned Guttenberg and his printed books. "Used to be, people would sit around at night and tell stories. Now look at us!"
If today is cartoon day, check out Google's Doodle tribute to Hedy Lamarr and learn more about this inventive woman!
PD Pepe love your riposte! I'll have to remember to use it!
@Akhilleus: I'm not sure there isn't a qualitative difference between reading books & talking on your iPhone. Thomas Jefferson & the Bronte sisters did a lot of reading (& I think the sisters also read aloud, making the printed word a form of immediate communication). Such reading contributed to their understanding of the world.
How exactly does telling your sister what you had for breakfast do that? Yeah, I know when printing became cheaper, lower-quality reading material also became more widely available. One can argue that reading romance novels isn't any more enlightening than learning your neighbor is thinking about doing her laundry later in the day.
To me, reading & talking on the phone are both forms of communication. The reader is, in her way, responding to the author, & the author is communicating her ideas. If it's a silly book, devoid of ideas, then it has the same value as a silly phone call. I'm not saying neither has value: they do, as means of diversion, at the very least.
In the three-legged stool of literature -- character, plot & setting -- the phone freaks have forgotten about setting. That is, if you've snuggled up in a warm spot, or if you're on your daily subway ride, you may consciously devote these venues to reading, no matter the quality of what you're reading. If, however, you're sitting in a restaurant with your spouse or your friend, one would suppose you've consciously chosen to go to dinner with another person, not to talk on the phone with a third person.
The case Marvin S. mentioned the other day is less clear. If I was walking the same streets of Manhattan I walked every day to & from work, I might call someone while I was walking to make good use of that time. Some people Marvin observes are probably conducting business; they're "at work" even if not sitting in an office. I don't doubt there are many times it make sense to talk on the phone while doing some routine task -- walking in town, doing a jigsaw puzzle, whatever. But it also makes sense to spend some time experiencing your surroundings.
Marie
@MAG: How about, "Three minutes ago, I said I'd give you $10,000 if you'd get off that phone this second. Too late."
Marie
The Story of Ben. Chapter XXIII
So what do we have so far?
The ACA is worse than slavery
The ACA is worse than Nazi Germany
Obama is Hitler.
Democrats are Nazis.
If people in Germany had been armed to teeth, Hitler would never have taken over. Jews should have stocked up on the arms (the guy is a obsessed with Hitler!)
LGBT people are the same as child molesters and those who have sex with animals. And they're Nazi's too (okay, I added that one, but you know...)
Prison makes straight people gay. Gay Nazis. (Okay, I'll quit now.)
Obama is a psychopath because he's successful and looks normal (Carson should know).
Students taking AP courses in history will be signing up with ISIS.
The only rule for war should be "win". (Basically, fuck the Geneva Conventions.)
Muslims should not be allowed to run for president. (But psycho Christian liars, sign up right here.)
The founding fathers knew nothing about government.
The founding fathers were a lot like ISIS. They preferred to die for what they believed in.
Abortion is responsible for the deaths of most black people.
Pyramids were grain silos built by a fictional character.
I was the most honest person at Yale. I proved it by being taken in by a hoax.
God used to scatter ten dollar bills around so I could take the bus to church. Thanks!
West Point offered me a full scholarship. General Westmoreland told me so.
I used to be a murderous maniac who went after my mom with a hammer but god fixed me.
Everything everyone says about me is a lie.
The fact that people are checking up on my stories is proof that they hate me and are all out to get me. It's like living in Nazi Germany.
Okay, I say again that if this guy's particular neuropathology was not religion, he'd have been finished after the first three or four asinine allegations. The fact that every day we seem to find more and more lies and outrageous assertions backed up by even more stupefying reassertions shines a bright light on the nearly bulletproof armor that extreme Christianity can provide for the craziest candidates.
All the time and effort spent on this delusional guy is all about the special place Christians demand and receive in this society. People are absolutely petrified of calling this guy a demented person only because he and his flock and his party will play the god card and that'll show 'em all. So instead of talking about serious issues, we're dealing with a guy who was not, apparently, bright enough to pick up on a college prank and sat taking a fake exam for several hours.
Shit, if that were me, I'd want to invent some story about how it showed I was the smartest, most honest, coolest, bestest guy on campus too. Better than a sign saying "I am a schmuck" pinned to my ass.
But here I am spending time writing about it, so who's the real schmuck?
Pardon while I take this sign off.
Marie,
I'm not seriously comparing someone who's reading "Pride and Prejudice" or Time magazine with someone texting silly things on their iPhone.
Just having a little fun.
And hey, I'm a big fan of Guttenberg's invention. I'd hate to have to memorize long epic poems from ancient oral traditions in order to establish street cred as a person of literary bent. Much easier to read them.
Ya pays yer money and ya take yer chances.
Okay kids, step right up. Who wants to indulge in a little game of chance? I'm giving odds on how soon Bennie Carson (aka Killer) will begin comparing himself and his trials and tribulations to the crucifixion of Jesus. I will bet real dollars, American, that he's already been fitted for a crown of thorns to be worn before the yokels just as soon as he feels his chances at further bilking of Confederate bozos start slipping away.
In fact, he may suddenly recall that time when he had a vision of himself on the cross next to his good buddy Jesus who told him he would have to suffer the slings and arrows of the unbelievers and liberal scum who, thankfully, would all be taken to hell just as soon as the next infomercial is shot.
Ophelia M,
Nice photoshop of Dr. Ben at Easter Island. Could you please add a pyramid hat?
e.g. http://www.pyramidhats.com
Thanks very much.
I'm a Winnah!
I haven't an iphone, android, flip, or cell phone. Lived without them for 70 years. Guess I can make it the rest of the way without them. I'm doing fine without TV, too.
Haley,
Congratulations! Any day now a robotic police car will track you down and cart you away for psychological testing!
On the other hand, without all that other stuff, they may not be able to find you, which is pretty cool in and of itself. Although I'm not quite sure how you make it through the day without one of the many totally useless apps available for iPhones and Android devices, like the "Fake and Excuse" App which gives you instant "...access to over 45 realistic excuses and sound effects to help us in times of dire need. You know, stuff like killer bee attacks, government wiretaps..."
"Wolves are nearby!"
"I need to help this lady."
"Something just blew up."
and my personal fave....
"Ben Carson is at the front door with a hammer! Gotta go."
Greetings, D.C. Clark.
Lest credit be given where it ain't due . . .
I am only responsible for forwarding Easter Island Ben to Marie.
While I enjoyed my visit to Pyramid Hat dot com, I wonder if a colorful "Propeller Beanie" might not offer a special finishing touch.
FYI: One can take an online tour of Benny's home. Amid abundant self-referential displays is a portrait of The Doc with Jesus just behind him, "His" hand on Ole Doc's shoulder. Having worked as an artists' model during my undergraduate years, I've a special interest in hearing from Ben how their sitting went.
PPlease consider the environment before printing this - or any - email.
Did we cover the new spelling of 'proverbs' at Doc Carson's? He spells it 'poverbs' - and leaves it uncorrected.
@Haley Simon:
Poverb. Def. 1. Inspirational message for po' people. 2. Nonstandard action word or multi-word construction. Ex. "ain't," "had went." Often spelled "po-verb."
Marie
Haley -
A headline - which brought me to The Guardian & Doc Ben's House Tour - was scripted as follows:
"Ben Carson Has A Favorite Poverb"
I'm genuinely grateful that Carson has been providing me & my friends with so much laughter. Not sure of its half-life, but - so far - an effective antidote to the horror of our national (and international)
affairs.