cheese it, the cops!

Nailed it...Sideways!

I am not sure where Dave Barry's stuff normally appears, but the annual year end summary is always helpful in gaining perspective on the past year. It may not be a valid perspective, because he does still drink a lot of concoctions involving coconut oil, metamucil and Everclear, but it is a perspective. And, it is never wrong...in it's underlying themes. At times, I picture his son calling him on Christmas Day and asking if Dave could send him some of the shelf Levitra because like the old TV commercial that they used to watch during the Superbowl, he wants to make his passes go longer and straighter. He would start crying, and wonder why he thought leaving the Miami Herald for the Boise Gazette was a good idea...

It's a shame, really. Like most years, he should win the Pulitzer for best description of the Zeitgeist and myraid of rough beasts preparing to assault Jerusalem. He wrote:

"We’re trying to think of something nice to say about 2020.
Okay, here goes: Nobody got killed by the murder hornets. As far as we know.
That’s pretty much it.

"In the past, writing these annual reviews, we have said harsh things about previous years. We owe those years an apology. Compared to 2020, all previous years, even the Disco Era, were the golden age of human existence.

"This was a year of nonstop awfulness, a year when we kept saying it couldn’t possibly get worse, and it always did. This was a year in which our only moments of genuine, unadulterated happiness were when we were able to buy toilet paper."

So, Zeitgeist nailed. Read on those who can read. If you're Trump, have Eric and Don Jr draw pictures and have Ivanka write some one line explanations. "Remember March Daddeee? It sucked." Something like that.

The Sound of Silence Can Be Really a Lot Better Than the Make a Noise Approach

"We must go on as a nation, and as families. Of course you still love your uncle, even if he is bellowing about stolen elections at Christmas dinner, just as you love your sister-in-law even while she’s trying to ruin a wedding reception by holding forth on socialist saboteurs. But neither they nor the millions of other diehards deserve our engagement. The sooner we refuse to continue such conversations, the sooner we might return to being a serious nation. " -- Tom Nichols

Tom Nichols is a very interesting guy. He's a Professor at the Naval War College, writes books about things like why knowing what the hell you're doing is no longer considered important in this country, and writes for The Atlantic. He has made a point throughout his written career that he writes not in his role as a Professor at the Naval War College, but rather as a civilian-citizen who is exercising his freedom of speech. Not that what he writes is really so controversial; he just is shielding the institution and himself from people like the Trump administration.

 

He appears often on CNN, MSNBC and PBS. I caught him last night, and when this particular article was referenced in Veterans Today, I wanted to share it immediately the contrast between media makes me think it should be worth reading for everyone. . It's one of the best arguments I have seen lately for the idea of silence when talking is not a productive strategy. Or, as Marcus Aurelius puts it, "Having no opinion is always an option."

 

He acknowledges that it's probably going to be hard; we are a nation of talkers, and free expression is kind of in our DNA. Except, when there is no sense to the conversation. Should I find myself on a panel someplace discussing the election, you can expect me to be as opinionated as possible. I don't forsee that happening, by the way. But, why do I want to argue about Trump when I'm buying a cheeseburger or with my neighbor right after greeting him with "Merry Christmas?"

 

There's an old joke that's really apropos here. "Don't wrestle with a pig. It will annoy the pig, and you'll get dirty." I'm certain that many of them feel the same way about us, by the way. Silence can work for all of us here...