Things I Don't Expect from the New York Times

I was rather surprised that Michell Cottle, the Times national politics OP/ED writer said that, "Democrats Need a Wartime Consigliere. Hakeem Jeffries Isn’t One." 

To be clear, the Godfather reference is not a surprise, but the fact that she suggested that the Democrats need a fighter, and not a milquetoast advocate for the "Norms", surprised me.

On Monday, less than a week after the Democratic Party’s election romp, the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, should have been riding high. Instead, around lunchtime, he stood stoically behind the lectern in the bowels of the U.S. Capitol, as reporters grilled him about the group of Senate Democrats who had joined Republicans to wind down a government shutdown showdown that polls suggested Democrats were winning: Was Mr. Jeffries disappointed in these colleagues? Did he think Chuck Schumer should remain the Senate Democratic leader? Would the base’s fury over the deal hurt the party in next year’s midterms?

………

If anything, that was an understatement. Democratic voters are spoiling for a fight, and many think their party’s leadership does not have what it takes to “meet the moment,” as I keep hearing. Already, a bevy of progressive House hopefuls, many of them challenging Democratic incumbents in the midterm primaries, have vowed not to support Mr. Jeffries for leader if elected. In New York, a young, lefty city councilman is reportedly readying a run for Mr. Jeffries’s congressional seat.

………

“Hakeem Jeffries was chosen at a time when he was expected to be a peacetime leader, a coalition builder,” said Amanda Litman, the head of Run for Something, a group dedicated to getting young progressives into elected office. “He is not well suited to being a leader of the opposition — a wartime consigliere.”

………

He has the political pragmatism of his predecessor, Nancy Pelosi, but not her wicked street-fighting record, nor her gift for making the opposition’s, and especially Mr. Trump’s, head explode. To grip the imagination of his political allies and opponents, the minority leader needs to find a way to be less even-keeled — maybe even a bit of a jerk.

Gee, but what about civility?

This Pissed Me Off

I saw Some Like it Hot musical play at the Hippodrome Theater.

It was a good production, and the people working the sets probably have PTSD, the set work was insane. (In a good way)

What pissed me off was that somewhere between ⅓ and ½ of the audience headed for the exists when the final curtain fell.

So, they were heading for the exit as the actors were taking their bows.

That is just f%$#ing rude. 

Actors are people, so it's not the same as ignoring the credits and heading for the door at the end of the movie.

Deep Thought

 I was at a company holiday party tonight.

Nothing on toward untoward happened, in fact I have never been at a company holiday party or anything unusual has happened.

But it did remind me of a rule that I have, and one that I highly recommend to you.

Never, ever, drink alcohol at an office party.

It's fine for family events, but the potential for something going wrong at a company function is just too great.

If you want to get drunk and make an ass of yourself, that is what Purim is for.

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Quote of the Day

You can train husbands but occasionally they slip the leash and run amuck

—Mercia Tapping on the Moth Radio Hour.

Sharon^* and I were both in the car when this came on the radio, and I think that both of understood the truth of this statement.

^*Love of my life, light of the cosmos, she who must be obeyed, my wife.

A Question for My Older Brother

When I describe East Coast vs West Coast culture to my friends I often say "The East Coast is kind but not nice, the West Coast is nice but not kind," and East Coasters immediately get it. West Coasters get mad. 😂😂😂

— Jordan Green (@jordonaut) January 21, 2021

Niceness is saying "I'm so sorry you're cold," while kindness may be "Ugh, you've said that five times, here's a sweater!" Kindness is addressing the need, regardless of tone.

— Jordan Green (@jordonaut) January 21, 2021

Do you find this characterization, that "The East Coast is kind but not nice, the West Coast is nice but not kind," to be accurate?

I do know that you have been less than enamored of the culture of the West Coast at times.

Man, This is Lame

The folks at Number 10 Downing Street are are freaking out at the possibility that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will invite Barack Obama to their wedding:

As if wedding planning isn’t hard enough.

Britain’s Prince Harry and his American fiancée, the actress Meghan Markle, have told aides they want former U.S. President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, whom the young couple has grown close to, invited to their May 19 wedding.

But the government of Prime Minister Theresa May reportedly senses a diplomatic scandal in the making, the British newspaper the Sun reported, and would prefer the former U.S. first couple not make a high-profile appearance on British soil before current president Donald Trump — himself presumed absent from the guest list — comes for an official visit.

There are concerns among senior Foreign Office and 10 Downing St. officials that another perceived national snub will make it impossible for Theresa May to meaningfully engage with Trump, the paper reported in what it called a Christmas Day exclusive.

A senior government source reportedly told the Sun: “Harry has made it clear he wants the Obamas at the wedding, so it’s causing a lot of nervousness. Trump could react very badly if the Obamas get to a royal wedding before he has had a chance to meet [Queen Elizabeth],” the paper reported.

The reason that Donald Trump hasn't met the Queen is because a state visit would be a complete clusterf%$#, and inevitable the protests, and the inevitable over-reaction by the British constabulary, would be an embarrassment for all involved.

This sort of spectacle would almost certainly be a political disaster for the Tories as well.

This perfect storm of lame amuses me.

Trump Gets a Bull Durham Lesson

The lesson in the movie Bull Durham is Never Call the Umpire a C%$#sucker.

When Trump disparaged (I would argue threatened) Federal Judge James Robart after he issued an injunction against his attempted Muslim ban, it was clear that no one in the Judiciary would be happy with this.

The 9^th Circuit of Appeals ruled against rescinding the injunction, and what is significant is that they did so in a per curiam opinion.  (Note that the crack reporters at the Times somehow missed this.)

A per curiam opinion is unanimous, but it is also unsigned, and except in extremely rare cases (Corrupt Supreme Court Justices covering their asses in Bush v. Gore), it means something very specific.

To quote Scotusblog, "Traditionally, the per curiam opinion was used to signal that a case was uncontroversial, obvious, and did not require a substantial opinion."

In other words, it's a way to say, "Your Kung Fu is weak, and you are stinking up the place."

I think that the appellate court would have ruled in much the same way, and probably unanimously, had Trump not called out Judge Robart, but I think that it did so as a per curiam ruling was a message to the Trump as to what constitutes appropriate behavior with regard to the judiciary.

The only question is whether Trump will learn from this.  (I'm guessing that he won't)

The standard disclaimer applies here, I am an engineer, not a lawyer, dammit.<sup>*

*</sup>I love it when I get to go all Dr. McCoy!

Get a F%$#ing Grip

I was reading Talking Points Memo, and came across a very overwrought article titled, "Christie And Cruz Hammer Cancer-Stricken Jimmy Carter On The Trail."

Seriously. This is a bit much.

Cancer or no cancer, it is OK to criticize a former President's policies.

There is nothing wrong, for example, with my saying that I was stunned to discover that Jeb Bush was the stupid Bush brother, and it is fine to say this regardless of the health status Jeb, or George W., or George H.W. or any of the Bush Crime Family^™.

They disagree with the foreign policies of the Carter administration, I do too, but on the opposite side of the issue: They felt that Carter was too unwilling to use military force, while I consider Jimmy Carter to be a war criminal for the evil that he inflicted on Afghanistan.

The validity of these viewpoints has nothing to do with his health.

If they were making jokes about his cancer, I could see a cause for outrage, but this is a different kettle of fish.

Best Resignation Letter Ever

Matt Taibbi writes a goodbye letter to Rolling Stone that should make his former bosses proud:

Today is my last day at Rolling Stone. As of this week, I’m leaving to work for First Look Media, the new organization that’s already home to reporters like Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill and Laura Poitras.

I’ll have plenty of time to talk about the new job elsewhere. But in this space, I just want to talk about Rolling Stone, and express my thanks. Today is a very bittersweet day for me. As excited as I am about the new opportunity, I’m sad to be leaving this company.

More than 15 years ago, Rolling Stone sent a reporter, Brian Preston, to do a story on the eXile, the biweekly English-language newspaper I was editing in Moscow at the time with Mark Ames. We abused the polite Canadian Preston terribly – I think we thought we were being hospitable – and he promptly went home and wrote a story about us that was painful, funny and somewhat embarrassingly accurate. Looking back at that story now, in fact, I’m surprised that Rolling Stone managing editor Will Dana gave me a call years later, after I’d returned to the States.

I remember when Will called, because it was such an important moment in my life. I was on the American side of Niagara Falls, walking with friends, when my cell phone rang. Night had just fallen and when Will invited me to write a few things in advance of the 2004 presidential election, I nearly walked into the river just above the Falls.

At the time, I was having a hard time re-acclimating to life in America and was a mess personally. I was broke and having anxiety attacks. I specifically remember buying three cans of corned beef hash with the last dollars of available credit on my last credit card somewhere during that period. Anyway I botched several early assignments for the magazine, but Will was patient and eventually brought me on to write on a regular basis.

It was my first real job and it changed my life. Had Rolling Stone not given me a chance that year, God knows where I’d be – one of the ideas I was considering most seriously at the time was going to Ukraine to enroll in medical school, of all things.

………

No journalist has ever been luckier than me. Thank you, Rolling Stone.

Read the whole thing.

It's funny and gracious, and everyone at Rolling Stone should be proud of what he said.

Google Realizes That it Has Created a Monster

They are now giving glassholes instructions on how not to to be complete jerks:

Google, in perhaps a tacit realization that it has spawned a small army of particularly insufferable cyborgs, has issued an etiquette manual for the first generation of Google Glass users (or “Glass Explorers” as they’re called).

With a list of unsolicited “Do’s” and “Dont’s” posted on Google’s Glass website, the tech giant highlights a number of central concerns around the subjectivities its wearable computing system is creating. High among them, the fear that “Glassholes” start living their lives as nonstop surveillance robots.

One “Do” and a corresponding “Don’t” advise “explorers” to not use Glass to record others in their vicinity without permission:

………

Dont: Be creepy or rude (aka, a “Glasshole”). Respect others and if they have questions about Glass don’t get snappy. Be polite and explain what Glass does and remember, a quick demo can go a long way. In places where cell phone cameras aren’t allowed, the same rules will apply to Glass. If you’re asked to turn your phone off, turn Glass off as well. Breaking the rules or being rude will not get businesses excited about Glass and will ruin it for other Explorers.

It appears that Google is beginning to realize that its early adopters have all the social skills of a toaster, (perhaps less than said kitchen appliance if one considers the toaster from Red Dwarf), and this does not make them good ambassadors for the technology.