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.
Saturday, January 23, 2016
GOP '16 Menu: a Tealiban Extremist and a Sales Weasel.
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| 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.
Friday, November 13, 2015
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.
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.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
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?
Sunday, July 12, 2015
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.
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.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
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.
Saturday, February 28, 2015
This week's outrageous murder of Boris Nemtsov is but a tip of the iceberg, the bulk of which is missed by the English-lingual press. Along with Anna Politkovskaya and Sergei Magnitsky the man is now a victim of political terror.
The world's largest country, home to 150 million people, the country that gave us Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, Aivazovsky and Kandinsky, the country with amazingly rich culture and history, is bound to swim in the filthy waste of its own moral degradation for years to come. Lack of ordinary conscience in too many hearts and common sense in too many
minds is the underlying reason.
Suppression of free speech in the last year has reached levels unseen even back in 2012. Somehow, this has gone by largely unnoticed by Huffington Post, CNN, or Fox News. Moreover, the degree of support of such oppression among the common folk does not receive nearly enough attention in the west.
In this video, we see ordinary Russian citizens protesting the war in Ukraine. These people are bullied not by the police or the Security Services, but by their fellow countrymen. (The blue-and-yellow flag is Ukrainian).
Such is a nature of a dictatorship: oppression of people by their own kind, not just by the Evil Man Upstairs, be it Saddam Hussein, Joseph Stalin or Vladimir Putin.
The attackers in the video think they are being patriotic. They have no idea what is it they are doing to themselves, to their children. There is no law without free speech. There is no feedback and no way to govern effectively without free speech. They are handing their own government a terrible license to squash any one of them individually.
President Obama had to issue a statement of condemnation and a call for a transparent investigation, of course. He had no choice. Still, I am sure, he realizes that demanding justice of the current Russian government is nothing short of naive.
It is probably time to address the nation as a whole, because a significant portion of it -- though hopefully not a majority -- supports the policies of Kremlin.
The world's largest country, home to 150 million people, the country that gave us Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, Aivazovsky and Kandinsky, the country with amazingly rich culture and history, is bound to swim in the filthy waste of its own moral degradation for years to come. Lack of ordinary conscience in too many hearts and common sense in too many
minds is the underlying reason.
Suppression of free speech in the last year has reached levels unseen even back in 2012. Somehow, this has gone by largely unnoticed by Huffington Post, CNN, or Fox News. Moreover, the degree of support of such oppression among the common folk does not receive nearly enough attention in the west.
In this video, we see ordinary Russian citizens protesting the war in Ukraine. These people are bullied not by the police or the Security Services, but by their fellow countrymen. (The blue-and-yellow flag is Ukrainian).
Such is a nature of a dictatorship: oppression of people by their own kind, not just by the Evil Man Upstairs, be it Saddam Hussein, Joseph Stalin or Vladimir Putin.
The attackers in the video think they are being patriotic. They have no idea what is it they are doing to themselves, to their children. There is no law without free speech. There is no feedback and no way to govern effectively without free speech. They are handing their own government a terrible license to squash any one of them individually.
President Obama had to issue a statement of condemnation and a call for a transparent investigation, of course. He had no choice. Still, I am sure, he realizes that demanding justice of the current Russian government is nothing short of naive.
It is probably time to address the nation as a whole, because a significant portion of it -- though hopefully not a majority -- supports the policies of Kremlin.