TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2024
Also, many broken toys seem to be drawn to him: We've been thinking about The Grand Inquisitor, a text we don't know real well.
For the record, it's a famous text—a text we were assigned in high school. The leading authority on the text offers this at the start of a lengthy thumbnail:
The Grand Inquisitor
"The Grand Inquisitor" is a story within a story...contained within Fyodor Dostoevsky's 1880 novel The Brothers Karamazov. It is recited by Ivan Fyodorovich Karamazov, during a conversation with his brother Alexei, a novice monk, about the possibility of a personal and benevolent God. "The Grand Inquisitor" is...one of the best-known passages in modern literature because of its ideas about human nature and freedom.
If recollection serves, the story involves some extremely gloomy "ideas about human nature and freedom." We've been thinking about the text largely because of the list of clips we encountered today at the Mediate site.
We humans! When freedom is bestowed upon us, our discernment can be quite limited. That said:
Thanks to the so-called "democratization of media," we're all living in a time when all ideas can be widely expressed and widely heard. When we humans are afforded that kind of freedom, results can be quite poor!
You're free to click on any link. Hegseth and Mace and Leavitt oh my!, and it pinwheels down from there:
Pete Hegseth Falsely Claimed Antifa Was Behind January 6
Nancy Mace Goes Full Area 51 Speculating About Drones
Trump Spox Karoline Leavitt Snubs Elizabeth Warren...With ‘Pocahontas’ Jibe
Is "something wrong" with Rep. Mace? Increasingly, we've wondered about that in the past year.
Leavitt is the incoming president's amazingly churlish young press spokesperson. She persistently makes us wonder how a person can get to be that way at such a tender age.
We're barely scratching the surface of all the depressing content floating around today. For the record, here's the latest from the commander himself, but also from one of New Jersey's three million mayors:
Trump GOES OFF on Judge Merchan for ‘Psychotic’ Decision Not to Overturn Felony Conviction
New Jersey Mayor Connects Missing Radioactive Material From Port Newark to Mysterious Drones
Thank you, New Jersey mayor! As the Grand Inquisitor knew, you simply can't let us humans go off and start devising ideas on our own.
With regard to the commander's latest rant, let us say this about that:
We ourselves thought the trial in question—the so-called Stormy Daniels "hush money" trial—was an embarrassing mess. We would assume that it's one of the ways those of us in Blue America conspired to help the commander gain votes in this year's election.
Did the 34 convictions help Candidate Trump? There is, of course, no way to measure or check some such suspicion.
Needless to say, it gets worse! Today's front-page report about Hegseth and his bodyguard strikes us as perhaps sadly revealing. We're referring to a part of the story everyone has agreed not to stress—the fact that the man who was left in a pool of his own blood was "a former member of the Iraqi Army’s elite counterterrorism service who is now an American citizen living in Texas."
For the record, here's that report in today's New York Times:
Hegseth’s Guard Left the Army After the Beating of a Civilian During Training
You have the freedom to click any or all of those links.
Thanks to the "democratization of media," everything is permitted! Every thought is broadcast today, and our human discernment is routinely quite poor.
If our recollection is accurate, the Grand Inquisitor explained to Jesus that we humans can't be permitted to think for ourselves. And that's even true in our own Blue America. It isn't only Them!
Sadly, this is the kind of smear I now expect from the NYT. Who cares about the back record of a guard hired by Hegseth? It's not like Hegseth did this or even approved of it.
ReplyDeleteAnd, despite the Times's headline, this guard wasn't convicted of anything, because his trial was overturned. So, we don't even have legal confirmation that the charge is valid.
People are not "broken toys". Thinking of people as objects, broken or otherwise, to be played with or manipulated, encourages dehumanization and mistreatment of others who are human beings, people not objects. The tendency of Trump and his minions to think this way about people is what results in atrocities and lack of empathy.
ReplyDeleteI don't know whether Somerby has always thought about others this way, but I am very glad he is not in the classroom working with children. This is the last kind of attitude that should be modeled, certainly not by our president but not by supposed liberal thought leaders either. Somerby should know better than to write ugly stuff like this.
When Somerby applies this kind of thinking to men like Hegstreth, Tucker Carlson, or JD Vance, calling them "lost boys" and asserting that their childhood experiences somehow broke them, he excuses their misbehavior. If lack of character were somehow the result of failure to cope with trauma, we would all have an excuse for whatever we do wrong, because life is difficult in one way or another for all. But reality is that boys are not irreparably harmed by parental divorce or parental neglect. Most children are resilient and learn from the flaws of the adults around them. Most go on to be normal, healthy adults who deal with life well and do not need to be excused for their bizarre behavior. That's why the failure of Republicans to hold their candidates accountable for their actions is itself a failure in leadership. And the same goes for Somerby, when he says that Trump needs to be pitied, not tried for his crimes.
No one would ever hold a broken toy accountable for anything. Toys are played with by others -- they don't engage in action by their own initiative. But perhaps Somerby's goal is not to analyze what humans do, but to let Republicans off the hook for anything they do in the pursuit of power, money, and sexual gratification. It sure seems that way. And that would make Somerby an instrument of the power seekers, not a regular guy writing a blog about actual people.
Metaphors have meaning, so they should be chosen wisely. Somerby doesn't do that, so he winds up being incoherent, which may or may not be what he seeks to achieve with his choices.
Anonymouse 6:19pm, do you think describing Bob as being gay, a would-be southerner, having the hots for his college roommates, and hating his mother, is instructive? Do you think that vomiting all over Bob in that manner is a bit more pejorative than calling your opponents broken toys? Do you think it makes sense for you to deplore the usage of “broken toys” as being simultaneously too personal and also too exculpating? Do you think that the harshness of “broken toys” is more out of place than the suggestion that references to Ancient Rome are odes to white supremacy? Do you think the sort of personal animus you and anonymices have for Bob is somehow more reasonable, more analytical, and more suited to a discussion as to the media in general and a presidential appointee in particular? Do you think any of that makes sense? No, you don’t. You’re just being paid to hate someone and that’s a job that’s right up your alley.
DeleteYou are putting words in @6:19’s mouth that weren’t said. You own that stuff.
DeleteAnonymouse 9:01pm, that stuff came straight from an anonymouse. All you anonymices read it and said not a word as to the appropriateness of it. One dolt even called it insightful. YOU own what was said. You are no one by choice, therefore you are every anonymous poster. You don’t get to hide in order to be unaccountable as to the nastiness you post.
DeleteThat’s a bit harsh considering you don’t know who I am.
DeleteAnonymouse 9:34pm, it’s not harsh at all. Your name is “Anonymous”. Anonymous is who you are.
DeleteFreedom is not something that is "bestowed upon us" as Somerby says, but rather something we exercise by exerting our agency within the confines of our existence. Use it or lose it. Do not sit around waiting for someone to make you free.
ReplyDelete"We ourselves thought the trial in question—the so-called Stormy Daniels "hush money" trial—was an embarrassing mess. We would assume that it's one of the ways those of us in Blue America conspired to help the commander gain votes in this year's election."
ReplyDeleteSomerby thinks this because, as he said at the time, he thinks Stormy Daniels was a grifter who extorted money from Trump, not someone Trump victimized and then coerced into signing an NDA in exchange for keeping quiet about what Trump did. Trump manipulated the election by suppressing news, in collusion with Michael Cohen with payments funneled through his business to disguise their nature. All of that was proven in court and Trump was convicted.
Somerby blames Stormy but the American people know better and understand what kind of man Trump is. Some voters admire that kind of guy. Somerby clearly identifies with Trump and not with Stormy (a failure of empathy on Somerby's part, that he cannot identify with E.Jean Carroll either, when rape was involved instead of a bit of bullying and some broken promises in exchange for consensual sex).
Somerby generally considers sex to be messy and embarrassing. That's between him and his therapist. If someone voted for Trump because of the scandals, they deserve what they have gotten. The rest of us don't.
I am glad Marchan made the right decision about Trump's verdict and sentencing. Trump is used to getting off no matter what crime he commits, used to pushing people around (including judges). Many of us blue voters feel relieved that justice is still working in NYC, and admire Marchan for not backing down to Trump's demands. That kind of courage and integrity are going to be sorely needed in the next 4 years, even if Somerby doesn't recognize what has happened. More and more, Somerby resembles the callow Republican voters who put Trump back in office, and bears little to no resemblance to any blue voter I know. If Somerby thinks sexual misbehavior elects Republicans, then I am wondering whether something is wrong with him.
"Thanks to the "democratization of media," everything is permitted!"
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like Somerby is complaining about the democratization of the media because there is free speech, which means that everything IS permitted, within the limits of the 1st Amendment. Is Somerby hinting that it should be otherwise? Is he going to support Trump's plan to sue everyone who says something he dislikes? Is Somerby going to support the efforts to intimidate the mainstream media into softballing Trump and his appointees even more than they are currently doing. Shouldn't citizens have the right to read and hear about even the crazy weird stuff, if they want to read that?
Somerby doesn't frame his discussion around free speech issues today. He talks about messy and embarrassing things about men who shouldn't have been appointed to jobs they are unqualified to hold (yes, Trump too). If those things were discussed more, perhaps voters might have made better decisions. Somerby argues that people voted for Trump because of that messy ugly stuff. But what is his evidence? Maybe not enough people understood what Trump did wrong to Stormy and the American voters in 2016? Somerby doesn't seem to understand it at all. But is Somerby hinting that he desires censorship and a controlled press? It sounds like that to me and Somerby says nothing to the contrary.
Are we going to see Somerby go full fascist on us? This seems like an argument in favor of Project 2025. Is that Somerby's next assignment -- touting the fascist line? I'd like to hear why anyone thinks that isn't where Somerby is headed today.
Because you're an idiot, that's why,
DeleteArgument ad hominem means you have no argument, 7:29.
DeleteAnonymouse 8:06pm, you asked to hear from anyone who doesn’t think Bob is a fascist.
DeleteYou heard from them and they are correct.
I didn’t expect a yes/no answer.
DeleteAnonymouse 9:52pm, no one thinks it was an honest question, so it’s even.
DeletePaul Krugman has been talking about crypto and why the Trump government is promoting it. Digby discusses it:
ReplyDeletehttps://digbysblog.net/2024/12/17/whats-with-all-the-crypto/
One of the main uses of crypto beyond speculating is laundering money and that is important to criminals. It should be no surprise to anyone that Trump is promoting yet another means of money laudering.
Digby wrote, "the only positive aspect of it which is that it may end up being the digital equivalent of gold which underlies the value of money in a purely symbolic way. But who needs it? What’s not working with the current system?"
DeleteWhat's not working with the current system? Record deficits. Record national debt. Little or no hope of ending the deficits. Is hyperinflation likely? I don't think so. Is it possible? Sure. It might be prudent to hold some bitcoin, an asset that might keep its value if the US dollar plunges.
I hear tulip bulbs and beanie babies are also sound investments.
DeleteDavid, you voted for the man who brought us record deficits. It’s all I you, doofus. And he plans to do it again. I’m in
Delete