The 2016 Race: Masks Come off, Standards Shatter.

This rant is a reaction to a rather depressing article on npr.org about hate messages on social networks, but it is more than that. I have been reading the news. I am connecting the dots. And I see one ugly picture. I see the shattering of standards of minimal decency, of treating all human beings with basic respect. The 2016 campaign isn't over, but the standards are gone.

The article I mentioned is about a social media app called Yik Yak. It is used on some college campuses to let the students chat with each other anonymously. Naturally, under the mask of anonymity, people could get a bit nastier than normal, but just how bad could it get? If you guessed threats of rape and calls for lynching, congratulations! You are correct.

That was just one dot, mind you. How about the incident with written hate message at CSU Sacramento last January? Another red dot.

There are more dots, to be sure, such as every other thing that comes out of the GOP front-runner's mouth. My favorite one is his retweet of "Jeb speaking Mexican", but there are plenty more, and plenty more to come.

I have said it before and I will repeat it: he is a salesman. The real problem is, that stuff sells. His personal contribution to the standards-shattering is probably significant: he came out, walking all over certain norms of social conduct and not only is he just fine, he is being rewarded. What a courageous pioneer.

Only two years ago, the country had a chance to "admire" Rush Limbaugh, but at least -- thank Goodness -- he has been loosing business. I will not claim that the standards were very firmly established. Nor will I deny that racism and hate were an issue all along. But at least, there was a widely accepted consensus that those were bad things.  In the offices and on public forums, people had to either be decent or to wear a certain mask if their spiritual face was too ugly to bear.

I had once told my kids that in Germany, swastikas were illegal, but in the United States they were only de facto illegal. Nobody would arrest a Nazi, but nobody worth hanging out  with will ever say hello to them, either. I told my kids they were lucky to have been born in America. This is the most successful nation in the world. We have standards here, for crying out loud!

Back in the twentieth century, the country has been at crossroads. Thanks to the human rights movement, thanks to the turbulent history of the 60's and 70's, we are headed in the right direction. Were headed, that is. A ship like USA doesn't turn easily, so it must be that for the last several years, we have been making a supertanker's equivalent of a swerve in the direction of the dark ages.

If Trump Had To "Go," Would He Excuse Himself Off Stage First?

When I was five, a visit to the bathroom was a serious blow to anybody's credibility, especially to my political opponent's. I would have used it against them, no problem.

Trump's recent lavatory-related jab against his rival was targeted at that level of maturity. Which, according to the cartoonist Scott Adams, is the right level to target.

Heck, if Trump himself needed to "go" during his rally, would he bother walking offstage, like a decent person? Or would he do it right there?

One thing for sure, if he did, he'd get roaring applause from his supporters. And he'd rise in polls once again. Given  everything else that's been going on at his rallies, this is the next logical step.

GOP '16 Menu: a Tealiban Extremist and a Sales Weasel.

AP Photo/ Isaak Brekken.

A certain blog I've been following lately, keeps calling Trump a master persuader. I would prefer the term Master Salesman. I am mulling over the possibility that he could face Sanders in November, and I am not sure I like the odds.

Bernie would argue like an adult. Trump's strategy could be summarized as strategic name calling. There is more to it than that, of course. I doubt Trump could out-govern Sanders, out-fix the injustices of the system, out-defend-the-nation, etc. But he had made many a sale in his business career, so he can surely out-sell Bernie, or anyone else running against him.

The aforementioned blogger, while quietly flattering Trump, has not really been so flattering to his voter base. Let me introduce you to the Moist Robot Theory, which states that most of us can be programmed subconsciously, by carerful choice of emotionally colored words.

That and large audience, which Trump can afford to pay for, is all he really needs to push his message. I hope the American voters are better than that in general, but the support Trump has been enjoying is an excellent case for Moist Robot Theory.

I am not saying all conservatives aren't very bright -- I know that is not true. I am not saying Trump isn't very bright. Nor am I saying that I myself  have never been an emotionally biased fool -- all of us have been. But whoever will be programmed by cheap verbal tricks while making an important voting decision -- well... I hope this doesn't apply to most Americans.

Ben Carson's Hidden Message.

I have a speculation about Carson's recent rise in the polls. No, the neurosurgeon is not actually dumb enough to believe his grain-in-the-pyramids theory. He is playing dumb, on purpose. If you doubt it, just look at what kind of talk got Donald Trump to the top of the polls this summer.

Or, remember Rep. Todd Akin and his brilliant insight into female anatomy. For those of you who had forgotten, he had claimed that a pregnant woman's body magically knows whether or not the conception has been through rape, and if so, it can abort the fetus on its own accord. Well, that one was actually a case of bona fide stupidity, but that is not the point.

The point is, someone had voted for that guy! That is yet another reminder of what kind of clientelle Mr. Carson is attempting to serve.

America is a nation of salesmen! The customer is always right. So is the market. So are the voters. Bill Maher, smart as he is, has no chance of changing any minds or hearts by calling Americans dumb. Coming back to Todd Akin example, one might get a fleeting, horrifying suspicion that Bill might actually have had a point. Still, every businessman knows that antagonizing the audience is asking for rotten eggs in the kisser.

A businessman won't argue with potential buyers. He will adapt to the reality of their demands, reasonable or not. Adapting is so much more practical than trying to change the world.

Thus, I speculate, Carson doesn't really believe in his own pyramid theory. His real message is: I am not siding with a bunch of egghead academics. I am one of you, folks. You know, just another American. It works. His numbers are up. I guess, we shouldn't ridicule Carson for his egregious ignorance. Instead, we should be flattered that he is trying to so hard to be one of us.

Tormenting Animals: Because We Can?

It is indeed a philosophical question -- and irrelevant to some -- whether we should be allowed to subject animals to pointless suffering. The recent killing of the majestic lion Cecil is a shocking reminder that the question is there. Another reminder is routine cruelty of the meat industry to not-so-majestic cattle and birds, whose muscle tissue is served daily on burger buns all over America. On the other hand, our friends from the religious right scream that we are all higher beings, God's creation, and not animals at all. If we cannot earn the status, let us magically award it to ourselves anyway.

Cecil has been killed by a licensed hunter, in perfect accordance with the law, though the way in which he's been killed ought to be illegal: for the last 40 hours of his life, the lion had to to put up with the sharp arrow in his flesh.

Is anyone in the whaling industry paying attention? What about cattle? The law protects them against cruelty, but the political pressure to enforce it isn't there. If we need to eat them, fine. Can  we kill them humanely, for Christ's sake?! Can we only kill what we need to? Can we learn to treat each other decently, while we are at it?

``You call my children animals!'' a priest had once screamed at the biologist Richard Dawkins. He must have heard something that Dawkins never said: that we are nothing but animals. It is up to us whether or not we act as higher beings. Either rise to the level, or shut up about not wanting to share 96% of your DNA with a chimp. Mammals are,in fact, capable of compassion. Are you?

Anti-Hillary TV Ads Are Being Tested in Labs.

In this NY Times article, Ashley Parker and Amy Chozick write of a peculiar research lab, financed by a Republican strategist. The lab is testing anti-Hillary TV ads for effectiveness. They use paid "experimental rabbits" from various voter groups.

The article remarks that "Republicans are acutely aware that early attacks labeling Mitt Romney as elitist were impossible for him to shake in 2012." That might be, but I doubt that Hillary will be effected by such attacks to the same extent. After all, Mitt Romney's message was off-the-leash capitalism, which didn't sit well with the majority of the voters.

Obama has been elected and re-elected by the economic scare, by the recession. Just as his predecessor has been re-elected by the terror scare of Sept. 11th attacks. Not to say that every election has the scare which ultimately decides the outcome. Indeed, a notable exception is the comedy of the year 2000, when W made it into the office by flipping the state of Florida -- they couldn't find a coin -- and by court decision.

One important feature that differentiates Hillary from the other side is the lack of certain attitude toward a drowning person. The GOP candidates come across as if they were telling a drowning man to calm down, take a lungfull of air, practice his strokes down there, and swim for the nearest public beach, all on his own. God forbid, they might infringe on someone's freedom by heading for a private  beach instead.

The message of self-reliance and personal responsibility is certainly a right one. I tell my kids that, by and large, they are on their own in this world.

However, coming from certain politicians, that's how the message comes across. Especially, if it is used to as an argument against affordable healthcare. So, the negative TV ads portraying a candidate as "elitist and out-of-touch" won't stick to Mrs. Clinton as much as they've stuck to Mr. Romney. It's her message that counts, really.

Je Suis Charlie 2.0.

To the Muhammad Art Exhibit attackers: if you two can hear me down there in the pits of hell, you schmucks are the reason why the contest had been held in the first place!

No, I did not participate in the contest, and would not want to.

If I had a good neighbour who happened to be a Muslim -- you know, smiles and hellos every morning, doing each other little favours, that sort of thing -- he or she would be another reason why I would not join any contest of the sort: out of respect for that person's feelings.

As it is, I have no close relationship with anybody who practices the faith. But I keep hearing of the nutters willing to tell me what I can and cannot draw in my own home. Pamela Geller may not be the nicest person in America, but the fact remains that her group was attacked on American soil for exercising their constitutional right. Attacked in their own backyard.

Perhaps, AFDI deserved a peaceful protest by decent Muslims, and things could have been said to put the bigots to shame. Islamic activists could have emerged with a moral victory. Instead we had two filthy individuals, who identified themselves with Islam, who did what little they could to perpetuate the ugly stereotype.

Whoever hates that faith, whoever loves the stereotype had received just what they wanted last Sunday. The Fox-Newsesque bigots a-la Ann Coulter must be delighted right now. Seriously, all the extremists out there deserve to hear this: you are the real reason why the pictures of the prophet are being drawn by defiant artists all over the world.