Inquiring blue minds are eager to know!

MONDAY, AUGUST 8, 2022

Bonfire(s) of the inanities: Give the death of the late Chadwick Boseman, should Marvel Studios cast someone else in the role of T'Challa, the king of Wakanda?

This morning, on its opinion page, the New York Times was helping up think that one through. 

Meanwhile, is it possible that two of the passengers on the Titanic were, in fact, a gay couple?

This morning, with links all over its decaying online edition for the second straight day, the Washington Post was helping us think about that.

Slate entered the world, way back when, as an intelligent center-left site. Bright and early this very morning, its editors were helping us ponder such issues as this:

RICH JUZWIAK / AUG 07, 2022 / 6:00 PM
I’m Having a Very Distracting Reaction to My Hot Friends’ New Relationship

 Good solid thought-provoking stuff!  And of course, also this:

SLATE STAFF / AUG 07, 2022 / 8:00 AM
Help! Can I Use My Dead Wife’s Vibrator With My New Girlfriend?

You'd almost think that the whole Slate staff had pitched in on that rumination! (Sub-headline: "Is This Creepy?")

It's easy to see the terrible problem created by lunatic public figures like Alex Jones. It's easy to roll our eyes at the people who believe the things they're told by such disordered players.

But as our nation slides toward the sea, Slate is moving in the direction of the Daily Beast, which is now routinely tabloid. On occasion, we get the impression that the Atlantic may be drifting toward Slate.

Was there a gay couple on the Titanic? Should Marvel cast someone else as T'Challa?

Here within our own blue tents, our brightest inquiring minds want to know. We mention this as a way of suggesting—well, we'll let the Slate staff guess. 


12 comments:

  1. Agree with Somerby, here.
    The media should only report that the Republican Party are fascists.
    Anything else DOES seem like a distraction.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Certainly, the media has the time to explain that raising taxes reduces inflation, too.

      Delete

  2. Meh. Brain-dead rank-and-file dembots get what they deserve, that's all.

    ...and in any case, don't get fooled by it, dear Bob. In addition to being brain-dead, those are still utterly hate- and war-mongering publications...

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  3. Why does Somerby think it is wrong to write articles that people might want to read?

    He doesn't care about Chadwick Boseman because he (Somerby) is not black, but other people are and do care.

    Somerby doesn't like women much, so he wouldn't care about giving any woman pleasure, but he should understand that there are men who will care about this question too.

    Somerby perhaps thinks that media should be customized for his tastes, but that isn't how life works. I think the problem is Somerby's expectations, not media content.

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  4. "But as our nation slides toward the sea,"

    The nation is sliding to the sea because media contains subjects beyond Somerby'[s curiosity?

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  5. An inquiring habit of mind doesn't limit itself to just worthy subjects. It is applied to all aspects of life. Somerby seems to want to draw boundaries around suitable subjects and leave out many things that are part of most people's lives, as if these were unfit for thought. That is an odd, anti-intellectual, circumscribed approach to the variety of life. It is a very strange way to approach life in a diverse, multicultural society, much less a diverse world. What kind of person doesn't want to know anything more than a limited range of ideas?

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  6. At least he's not whining about missing MSNBC transcripts again.

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  7. Somerby is apparently well-educated, yet what is he hoping to accomplish with this site? Doesn't his own lack of interest in issues put him in the same boat with these trivia spreaders?

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  8. Mute is the point tonight, Somerby. Tonight,
    the two most beautiful words in the English
    Language are "Probable Cause."
    Suck on it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Digby says:

    "Some on the left revel in being the turd in the punchbowl, in finding the cloud in every silver lining. So, despite what Senate Democrats just passed for improving people’s lives, we will hear more from certain quarters more about the bill’s deficiencies, compromises and sellouts. Opponents tuned into that twitchiness mean to exploit it."

    Somerby is that turd.

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  10. A summary of what today's politics are all about:

    https://digbysblog.net/2022/08/08/hierarchy-people-and-their-discontents/

    ReplyDelete