en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/8990209 Comments by EdWhitney http://www.samefacts.com/2018/09/everything-else/the-roots-of-anger/#IDComment1065161475 Correct so far as I understand also. Nary a peep about Trump's racism or appeals to white nationalism. The author has no issues with all that. One of the many hands holding the daggers probably belongs to the smarmiest man in politics. No other man on earth has as much to gain from the Oval Office falling vacant in the near future. Trump is the one thing standing between him and his lifelong dream, to which Almighty God has called him. The Thane of Cawdor can be patient for only a limited period before the time comes in which he must act. If Trump knew how to ask "Cui bono?" his paranoia would erupt, and he would have to let his base know about his suspicions. What would be the magnitude of the ensuing conflagration? Thu, 6 Sep 2018 20:42:29 +0000 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/09/everything-else/the-roots-of-anger/#IDComment1065161475 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/09/everything-else/the-roots-of-anger/#IDComment1065155766 The op ed says in essence that the author and colleagues have carried out a coup d'etat in order to avert a Constitutional crisis. That is an interesting position to take; I am glad not to have to defend it. I figure that we will know the identity of Deep Throated Cough by Friday, so that we can ask him/her to clarify that position. Thu, 6 Sep 2018 15:25:19 +0000 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/09/everything-else/the-roots-of-anger/#IDComment1065155766 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/07/elections/2016/justice-department-releases-fisa-warrant-applications-on-carter-page/#IDComment1064084916 It is an outrage that those Deep State federal judges signed off on FISA warrants to investigate Carter Page before he had been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, dontcha think? This is my understanding of what Trump supporters are upset about. Tue, 24 Jul 2018 16:02:34 +0000 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/07/elections/2016/justice-department-releases-fisa-warrant-applications-on-carter-page/#IDComment1064084916 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/07/president-trump/language-gaps-extension-of-remarks/#IDComment1063896554 Let A.E. Housman sum up the situation: The grizzly bear is huge and wild; He has devoured the infant child. The infant child is not aware It has been eaten by a bear. Tue, 17 Jul 2018 13:33:42 +0000 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/07/president-trump/language-gaps-extension-of-remarks/#IDComment1063896554 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/07/law-and-justice/does-the-constitution-authorize-immigration-restriction/#IDComment1063874143 I am so glad to live in a parallel where we do pass Constitutional amendments when we need to deal with changing circumstances. I am a professor of Constitutional law at a major law school, where my students this morning are discussing whether the 432nd Amendment conflicts with the 273rd. I am going to wait and see which of them sees that the key to the question is to be found in the 317th Amendment, and that student will receive an A. Mon, 16 Jul 2018 15:46:11 +0000 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/07/law-and-justice/does-the-constitution-authorize-immigration-restriction/#IDComment1063874143 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/07/domestic-politics/language-gaps/#IDComment1063798983 At one time, "objectivity" was a word which, applied to journalism, meant something like "accurate reporting of ascertainable facts." At some point, its meaning changed to "giving both sides of the issue." Hence our present dilemma. Fri, 13 Jul 2018 03:42:21 +0000 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/07/domestic-politics/language-gaps/#IDComment1063798983 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/06/political-science/aspirational-history-and-political-rhetoric/#IDComment1062939165 It pays to look at the Twitter feeds of some diehard Trump supporters now and then. Mollie Hemingway, for example, is full of comments on the FBI IG report on James Comey, but has been silent, I mean silent, on this particular situation. Ditto Byron York. Thank heavens for them that they have Robert DeNiro to turn to in troubling times. They are not even trying to stick up for Trump and Sessions. No doubt some fanatical Trumpsters are defending him, but perhaps these two Federalist Society types can serve as a barometer of when Trump has reached the limits of what he can get away with. Does this make sense to others? Or am I overlooking something? Sat, 16 Jun 2018 23:22:56 +0000 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/06/political-science/aspirational-history-and-political-rhetoric/#IDComment1062939165 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/04/journalism/lets-end-the-condemnation-derby/#IDComment1061459268 I do not insist that politicians condemn everything objectionable in the news, but I regret it when they fail to praise something greatly deserving of praise. James Shaw, Jr., the hero of the Waffle House shooting last Sunday, has now raised over $165,000 for the victims of the shooting. In normal times, this might be deemed worthy of a presidential commendation, or even a nice Tweet from a presidential Twitter account. Not that this president is incapable of giving praise where praise is due. For example, he did commend Kanye West yesterday for flattering him on social media, which included a very nice Tweet featuring a picture of a MAGA baseball cap. It took real guts for West to do that. In normal times, we might be shocked by the incongruity of the case. Normal times were what we had long ago, and they are not likely to return unless abnormal times are recognized for what they are. Fri, 27 Apr 2018 03:46:33 +0000 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/04/journalism/lets-end-the-condemnation-derby/#IDComment1061459268 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/04/international-affairs/insane-%e2%89%a0-insense/#IDComment1061455910 It is not feasible to assign Flannery O'Connor's great short story, The Artificial Nigger, in literature classes. C'est dommage. This has happened because we have neglected to develop students' awareness of the use-mention distinction; this is not just an academic fine point but it could make our discourse more civil. Utterances in quotes and outside of quotes have different meanings. The Nile is longer than the Chattahoochee, but "The Nile" is shorter than "the Chattahoochee." I realize that "the use-mention distinction" is not "an important concept in linguistics," but I wish it were widely understood and applied nevertheless. Fri, 27 Apr 2018 00:25:55 +0000 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/04/international-affairs/insane-%e2%89%a0-insense/#IDComment1061455910 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/04/crime-incarceration/theres-ordinary-genius-then-theres-this-video/#IDComment1061004782 In the early 1980s, "WKRP in Cincinnati" was a popular sitcom set in a rock and roll radio station. In the opening segment, they would play a soundtrack of someone in a car flipping through the dial as various quick clips come and go. In one of them, the announcer says, "…and though the senator denies he was intoxicated, he could not explain his nudity." For some reason, that little opening has come to mind in recent days. Cannot imagine why. Tue, 17 Apr 2018 02:43:24 +0000 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/04/crime-incarceration/theres-ordinary-genius-then-theres-this-video/#IDComment1061004782 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/04/britain/from-british-prime-minister-to-political-oblivion/#IDComment1060811902 And of course Nixon spent the years between 1964 and 1968, especially 1966, collecting IOUs across the country. I do not keep up with current politics enough to know who in either party may be collecting chits today. Thu, 12 Apr 2018 15:22:05 +0000 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/04/britain/from-british-prime-minister-to-political-oblivion/#IDComment1060811902 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/03/personal-moment/caiaphas-question/#IDComment1060338440 One difficulty we have in relating to these narratives is that they all happened so long ago, and happened to Bible characters rather than people like us. The High Priest had to decide whether he was face to face with the Messiah, but, being a Bible character, he was too blind to see what was in front of him. Back in 1994, however, we had a chance to be Bible characters ourselves. That was the year of the passing of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneeerson, who had been coyly noncommittal about whether he was the Messiah, but some of whose followers said with great assurance that he had met all the criteria for claiming that title. On June 12 of 1994, the Rebbe died in New York, an event that made the front page of newspapers everywhere. And on June 13, two of his closest followers appeared on Larry King Live, affirming that he had satisfied all the requirements for Moshiach Now! Nothing supernatural would occur, they told their audience (Maimonides says that nature remains in its usual course during the Messianic Age). Out in Santa Cruz, California, I listened with fascination and with the determination to look for evidence that the age of redemption was at hand, to be signified not by subjective visions of the transcendent, but by public evidence of the achievement of World Peace, the principal requirement that through the ages has kept the Jewish people saying that the Messiah had not yet arrived. "Death Shatters Jewish Hope for Messiah" read one newspaper headline. Aha! Exactly the headline that would have been written nearly two millennia earlier, thought I. But why not wait for three days and see if there are any signs of redemption which will be visible to all? And on the third day, the New York Times reported that full diplomatic relations had been established between Israel and the Vatican! A two thousand year era of hostility and mistrust had ended! I confess that I got a trifle funny in the head when that story appeared, and even funnier the following day when the Times reported that Fidel Castro had appeared in public for the first time ever in civilian clothes rather than military dress, a sure sign that the prophesy of Isaiah had been fulfilled, that swords were being beaten into plowshares, and fatigues were being exchanged for white guayabera shirts. And on the day after that, when Jimmy Carter went to North Korea to defuse the most dangerous situation in the world in a peaceful and respectful manner, the dots were all connected and the picture was complete. The Messiah had indeed arrived and the Messianic Age had begun! I was off and running (right into the hospital for a seven day mental health hold). Well, I never got any takers to join Christians for Schneerson to seek interfaith dialogue with Jews for Jesus. But I did come away with a question which seems relevant to our world today. Christians have long said that the contemporaries of Jesus did not recognize the Messiah in front of them because they were looking for a redeemer who would impose redemption by military force. My question is: would Christians recognize the Apocalypse (the Unveiling) if it happened with no spasms of violence and no tribulation for countless millions of people? If no one was Left Behind? Maybe some things are best left for Bible characters after all. Sat, 31 Mar 2018 03:47:01 +0000 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/03/personal-moment/caiaphas-question/#IDComment1060338440 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/03/health-medicine/my-favorite-roger-bannister-story/#IDComment1059224307 Well, I don't know about lightning examinations. But there is a ten second mental status exam that goes like this. You tell the patient to interpret a proverb: "Once a king, always a king, but once a knight is not enough." A normal response is laughter. You can then move on to the rest of the examination. Sun, 4 Mar 2018 20:09:58 +0000 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/03/health-medicine/my-favorite-roger-bannister-story/#IDComment1059224307 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/02/russiagate/the-smoking-gun-2/#IDComment1058869897 I am uncertain how to frame what the Russians did with our elections in 2016. Did they subvert our democracy? Or did they exploit a design flaw in our democracy? Their meddling on social media, their bots, their masquerading as American patriots, all of these things depend for their efficacy on one indispensible factor: the American voter, who must be depended upon to exercise critical thinking, an ability to assess the plausibility of apparently outrageous "facts" about a political opponent, and to be willing to consult multiple sources of news and information before committing to a candidate. Roger Sherman in 1787 was skeptical about the capacity of the people to make democracy work. They do not lack virtue, but they lack information and are easily misled, thought he. All government derives its authority from the people, but making decisions on governance requires that the will of the people go through some process of successive filtrations in order to be effective. We are outraged at the ways that a hostile foreign power worked to influence the outcome of a presidential election, and we might have the company of most of the framers of the Constitution. But if we are shocked, we cannot expect them to join us. An electorate which is not offended by abysmal ignorance in a candidate for the highest office in the land is not the fault of any foreign power. Vulnerability to hostile action from abroad is built into the design of the machine itself. Sun, 25 Feb 2018 05:06:14 +0000 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/02/russiagate/the-smoking-gun-2/#IDComment1058869897 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/02/culture-and-civil-society/maga-maggots-and-my-fifteen-minutes/#IDComment1058715509 MAGA--I thought that meant Mueller Ain't Going Away. Wed, 21 Feb 2018 16:34:51 +0000 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/02/culture-and-civil-society/maga-maggots-and-my-fifteen-minutes/#IDComment1058715509 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/02/everything-else/why-todays-indictment-is-very-bad-news-for-trump-and-congressional-republicans/#IDComment1058546108 Putin had reason to hate all things Clinton. President Bill was the one who expanded NATO with the help of Madeleine Albright. George F. Kennan, then in his nineties but still in possession of his marbles, warned that this was an enormous strategic mistake which would empower the forces of Great Russian nationalism, due in part to Russia's geographic vulnerability to invasion from the west and to historical memories related to same. I have not heard any of the talking heads discussing this as a factor in Russian meddling, and I am not able to judge its relevance, but if it is irrelevant, I would like to hear an informed pundit dismiss it and explain why it is a non-factor in the current situation. Was Kennan being prescient? Sun, 18 Feb 2018 04:05:26 +0000 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/02/everything-else/why-todays-indictment-is-very-bad-news-for-trump-and-congressional-republicans/#IDComment1058546108 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/02/firearms/parkland/#IDComment1058523495 It is regrettable that the shooter in this incident, unlike those at Columbine, Sandy Hook, Las Vegas and others, did not even have the goddamn common courtesy of killing himself and thus saddling the public with the costs involved with a criminal trial, like the Aurora Theater shooter did. Hundreds of hours of psychiatric evaluation are coming up. Let's just hope that some hot shot prosecutor with his eyes on the governor's mansion doesn't insist on pursuing the death penalty when the defense offers a plea bargain, as happened in Colorado (said prosecutor has dropped out of the governor's race, by the way). Sat, 17 Feb 2018 15:24:29 +0000 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/02/firearms/parkland/#IDComment1058523495 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/02/firearms/parkland/#IDComment1058501486 She wrote a good piece. Emmett Till was another example of a photo that made a difference in a major political issue of the time. You would need permission from the family of one of the shooting victims to make this happen, but perhaps reminding them of the decision of Till's mother would move them to make a considerable sacrifice for the purpose of making a difference in a central issue of our time. Sat, 17 Feb 2018 02:40:17 +0000 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/02/firearms/parkland/#IDComment1058501486 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/02/firearms/parkland/#IDComment1058490984 A point to consider for sure, but overshadowed by the tsunami of focused activism which would be generated by the images. Fri, 16 Feb 2018 20:09:04 +0000 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/02/firearms/parkland/#IDComment1058490984 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/02/firearms/parkland/#IDComment1058449062 A turning point in the civil rights saga was when the media were filled of photographs of Bull Conner turning his police dogs on peaceful demonstrators. This had a major impact not carried by the written and spoken words describing the state-sponsored violence. People could see what was being wrought. The war in Vietnam had become increasingly unpopular before the Tet Offensive, but images from that time, especially the iconic photo of the South Vietnamese official shooting a captured VC in the head, contributed to the electoral non-viability of LBJ. In 1969, the story of My Lai broke in the media, but the photographs in Life magazine of corpses in the ditch awoke millions of citizens to the horror of what was happening in their name. Ditto for the picture of the naked girl running and screaming after napalm had been dropped on her in her village. These images had a major influence on the consensus which emerged from their publication: an American public that said: Enough! When the Sandy Hook massacre took place, we had to rely on the written and spoken word to communicate the slaughter of innocents. We saw pictures of the adorable little ones when alive, but never of the room full of dead ones (which Obama did see and which moved him to tears and to call that day the worst of his presidency). The same was true of other domestic mass shootings; we hear and read the words, but never see the images. And so we send thoughts and prayers and stage candlelight vigils and sometimes pile stacks of flowers and teddy bears at the fence outside the site of the carnage. Then we move on and the gun lobby keeps its power over out political process. Imagine what would have happened to the public debate over gun control at the time of Sandy Hook if there had been pictures of the dead children in their classrooms as vivid as those of My Lai in 1969. Would Paul Ryan and the NRA have had as easy a time telling us that now was not the time for discussions of gun laws, or that this, however tragic, was the price of freedom? We hear words, but see no pictures. And the cycle goes on until the next time a mass shooting dominates the news cycle for a day of two. Have any pundits commented on this phenomenon? I have not heard or read anything in the media that I consume. Thu, 15 Feb 2018 22:08:17 +0000 http://www.samefacts.com/2018/02/firearms/parkland/#IDComment1058449062