In this job, it helps to have stock phrases. That way, you don't have to think up something new and clever every time you answer an email. Not when something old and clever will do.
For instance, if a reader writes to me, confused — my lucid, well-reasoned argument is just crazy to them — demanding I hold their hand and explain it to them again, perhaps using a felt board, I barely pause.
"Sir, I have found you an argument," I reply, quoting Samuel Johnson. "But I am not obliged to find you an understanding."
Not many actual Nazis write. But when imitators and admirers share their thoughts, to stretch the term, often in an argot I call the Fascist Plural, "We were amused at your feeble Semitic attempt at..." I often deploy a line that is my own, though well worn from use.
"You know, the whole Nazi thing didn't work out so well for the Germans."
What I'm really saying is, "Look to history." Because history is a guide.
We see how hatred blows back in the face of the hater. The old adage "hatred is taking poison and expecting someone else to die," is true, and on a national scale, multiplies. Didn't end well for Hitler. Despots, surrounded by yes men, make awful blunders. Mao's Communists remained in power, so got to write their history. But 30 million Chinese died in Mao's incompetence-induced famines.
They don't teach that in China. Squelching history is what totalitarians do. And budding totalitarians.
This past week, the U.S. Interior Department announced it will be putting warning signs outside the Smithsonian, advising the displays within are hopelessly biased (every accusation of this administration is a confession) because they include bad stuff, and not the cavalcade of greatness leading up to the apotheosis of national joy, triumph and achievement of Donald Trump, Imperator Supremus Maximae Gloriae.
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good column
ReplyDeleteCarol N
ReplyDeleteVery insightful! Question: did not receive your column Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Just a quirk?
ReplyDeleteHard to say. A handful of readers don't get the email because, unbeknownst to themselves, apparently, they can't receive email. It might be in your spam filter too. It did go out. Send me your email at dailysteinberg@gmail.com and I'll make sure it's there.
DeleteJoe Biden will not be forgotten, but the current demented & deranged toddler will be written out of history as soon as he's gone.
ReplyDeleteOf the 77 million morons that actually voted for him in 2024, it appears that a huge number of them have finally had it pounded into their thick stupid skulls that all he does is lie & the lie about those lies & lie about those lies!
With gas almost $5 everywhere & diesel even higher, food prices will skyrocket this winter & next year will be even worse because his utterly moronic tariffs on Canadian potash will make fertilizer even more expensive for the American farmers!
On top of all that, he is an actual traitor that prefers Russia over our allies & supports Russia taking over Ukraine! Last week he blamed Ukraine for raising fuel prices because they are attacking Russian oil output. But no blame on the Houthis for destroying a couple of oil pumping stations on that long oil line is the land of one of his favorite bribe sources, the Saudis!
He put that insane whackjob drunk Hegseth in charge of the Pentagon & he's doing his best to destroy our own military by kicking out some of the best & brightest military minds we have because they're black, women or took time to actually study what our enemies actually believe!
If the Democrats take over in January & don't get rid of him & his entire rotten to the core corrupt & incompetent cabinet, this country is doomed to become a Third World nation!
"Written out of history"? You're living in a dreamworld CS. He's the most consequential man of the past half century. They'll be analyzing him for the next hundred years. If there is a history, that is.
DeleteNot sure if many MAGAts have gotten the message yet — those are some thick skulls. Mentioned gas prices to my Fox-addled neighbor the other day and all they could say was “just imagine how much worse it’d be under Biden”. Sigh
DeleteYou gotta be kidding, Mr. Street. Harry Truman has always, far and away, been my favorite POTUS, and Joe has always reminded me of Harry. Down to earth, honest, and feisty. Neither of them took shit from anyone. That's probably why I like both of them so much.
DeleteOn the other hoof, Agolf Twitler reminds me of Herr Hitler, only more stupid. There's really nobody else in recent times who so closely resembles Adolf. Too many parallels to list here, far beyond my poor power to enumerate. Who is more remembered and more important in the grand scheme of things? Herr Hitler or Harry Truman? The History Channel was nicknamed the Hitler Channel. Not the Harry Channel. I rest my case.
Felonious has changed the course of world history more than anyone else since World War II. And he has changed our own history, natch, and made our future far worse. The Untied Snakes is now a pitiful helpless giant again, a lurching pedestrian who was clipped by an Orange Line train. Even if he recovers, he will never be whole again, and he will always walk with a limp and a cane. The orange tsunami has altered our landscape forever.
So many what-ifs. The one I always come back to is this one: What if Joe's son had not fallen ill and died? The far more likeable Joe would not have declined to run in 2016, and might have been able to stop the Hillary Express, and sent the Orange Guy back to Florida in disgrace. And then Joe might have gone on to serve two successful terms, basking in his popularity. And recent history would be a lot different.
America would have a smile on its lips and a song in its heart. Bluebirds would be chirping merrily, there would be rainbows and frolicking puppies and kitties, everyone would be prosperous and happy, and there would be joy throughout the land. And I would be young and healthy and vital again, and pitching for the Cubs tomorrow. Yeah. Right. And I would even leave you a couple of tickets.
You're welcome to enjoy whatever fantasy you like, Grizz, especially when reality is so bleak. But, as you (and others) have suggested this Biden 2016 alternate history a number of times, I, alas, am compelled to repeat myself in rebuttal.
DeleteHis 2 notably ineffective campaigns for president before that make it seem to me that a much more likely alternate history would just have involved Hillary winning against the orange carnival barker -- many folks thought she would, and she came very close to doing so. Back then, the prospect of following the first Black president with her "shattering the glass ceiling" as the first woman president seemed like progress on the march, which would lead to the things that you describe in your last paragraph.
I don't believe he'd have won the nomination over her no matter when he started campaigning. The fact that the rampant misogyny in this benighted nation would prevent her from beating a sexist, avowed pussy-grabbing fool has made things look a lot different in retrospect, IMHO.
An even more likely alternate history would have been to simply nominate the candidate who was more popular with the general electorate, resonated with the exact same sort of blue collar swing voters who found Trump appealing, and, as an added bonus, was an actual political progressive. There was such a candidate available (may have heard if him, name of Sanders), but the Democrats insisted upon the (nationally) unpopular corporatist war hawk instead.
DeleteBernie woulda been clocked. No way America elects a 75-year-old Brooklyn Jew and avowed socialist. Wouldn't have been close. The J-word and the S-word.
DeleteBernie was never ever the more popular candidate.
DeleteHe was the Gene McCarthy of 2016, an also ran who made the gullible voters hate the actual more popular candidate.
Had LBJ gotten the 1968 nomination running against Nixon, he would've won.
What happened in 2016 was, the loudmouthed people got the attention of the media, made the ancient, Brooklyn born Jewish Socialist look popular, but his popularity was just a mile wide & a sixteenth of an inch thick!
he never would've gotten even 35% of the vote against a bigger loudmouth than him, the demented & deranged lunatic we have now!
When are you insane Bernie Bros going to give up on that bizarre fantasy?
Well, we agree about that, Grizz!
DeleteUnlike with speculation about Biden's chances against Hillary, we have actual votes to consider with regard to Bernie. The "(nationally) unpopular corporatist war hawk" got about 3.7 million more votes than he did in the 2016 primaries. After 4 years of the orange guy, Biden got over 9 million more than Bernie, though the Sanders vote was cut into by Warren and others.
And that's on the side where his support would be considered the strongest. One can only imagine how he'd have been thrashed after being subjected to the types of ads that would have come from the right if he had actually been the nominee.
The "candidate who was more popular with the general electorate," even if that seemed to be the case in some early polls, never had to face the general electorate. Because he was soundly defeated by a candidate who was not quite as unpopular as Mr. O'Blivion evidently believes.
You guys are all wrong. Comparing the vote differential among primary voters (that is, registered Democrats) to the general electorate is comparing apples to kumquats. Look at the polling data in 2016. Clinton may have been more popular among registered Democrats, but Sanders was wildly more popular among independents, undecided voters, and a not an inconsiderable number of Republicans. All of the polls showed invariably that he was not only preferred over Clinton, they showed that he would have trounced Trump in the general election. I hasten to point out, Jakash, that, unlike with Biden or Sanders, we needn’t speculate as to how Clinton would have fared in the general election against Trump. She was nominated, and she lost. Also, why are you trotting out the 2020 primary results? I never said that Sanders would have defeated Trump in 2020, or that he would win now. I said that he would have won in 2016, because he would have. Why do so many of you bubble dwellers, in the face of blazing hindsight, have so much trouble acknowledging that you backed the wrong horse? The fact that you do goes a long way in explaining how your party managed to pull off the fairly amazing achievement of losing to Donald Trump. Twice.
DeleteOh and Grizz, your self-pitying sense of defeatism never fails to charm. I’m sure you also thought that Hilary should have been the candidate in 2008 as Obama certainly would have been CLOCKED since there’s no way a BLACK GUY could ever be elected.
I tend to agree that Bernie wouldn't have won. Nbot because of his age. But mainly because of his age. He wasn't that far left. After all many of the things he espoused like free health care we still want that today. Hillary certainly would have been better but she is still a war monger and how and Israel supporter. To go Grizz's if route what if JFK was not murdered. The only question is if he would have pulled the troops out of viet Nam. In early 1964 the troop level was 16,000. The expasion happened after the gulf of Tonkin and into 1965. I was a senior in high school at the time. My mind is pretty fuzzy but I don't recall Viet Nam being a thing or if there were many protests. No doubt JFK would have been elected in 1964. The big question is would Nixon have still run in 1968. As for ifs what if the Supreme Court didn't hand the vote to Bush. And of course Hillary won the popular vote in 2000
DeleteGlad to see the regular format and comments are back. I got the previous emails with no ability to comment.
ReplyDeleteThe email should have had a link in it, which would go to this site. Then, as in today's, there would be *another* link to go to the complete Sun-Times article, and then you'd hit the 'back' key to get back here to the comments.
DeleteIt took 70 years, but it looks like Germany is getting ready to ruin Europe. Again.
ReplyDeleteAnd this time, we will probably be an ally, rather than an enemy.
DeleteHow many movies and TV series will be produced of this era? This won't be erased in our lifetime. Pity the casting agent who has to find actors to portray these creeps.
ReplyDeleteThe "battle" against maga , Trump, Republicans and the heritage foundations project 2025 is largely being waged in our minds.. Meanwhile they use their power and wealth to reshape this country and the world .
ReplyDeleteIt is unlikely it will be undone in the coming election or in 2028.
Thinking that regaining the house and or Senate would result in Trump being removed from power is naive.
There is no growing movement evident or intimated emerging to reverse the madness gripping our nation.
When witholding federal taxes is eviscerated as a valid act to protest our circumstances we are in trouble. Keep babling on . For all the good it will do. Our country wasn't taken from us. We let them have it through weakness infighting and indifference.
Am now 79 for the next election, and (hopefully) will turn 81 in '28. With a young (just turned 42) Vladimir Futon waiting in the wings and drooling for a chance to ascend to the throne, through succession or election or who-knows what-else. The champagne is chilling, awaiting the Breaking News. Be careful what you wish for.
DeleteHave finally come to the realization that this madness will not end in my lifetime. If and when the Benighted States ever awakens from its long national nightmare, the Grizzster will already be long-forgotten dust.
If I may, I'd like to make an adjustment to the Latin phrase used in the column -- I'd like to change it to, Imperator Supreme Maximus Asinus; which translates to, Supreme Emperor of Maximum Ass.
ReplyDeleteA thought about forgetting or erasing Trump: Like Pearl Harbor and 9/11 stand as tragedies that will "NEVER BE FORGOTTEN", he should always be remembered as the person who brought America to its knees. IMO, he should forever be remembered as the worst president in U.S. history, the most corrupt person of our generation, and the most incompetent leader the free world has ever experienced.
ReplyDeleteUnless there’s worse to come. Don’t spike the ball until you’re in the end zone.
ReplyDeleteVladimir Futon, as Grizz calls him, will be even worse. May not be a 49 or a 50.
DeleteIndeed, NS. As you've pointed out numerous times, the reign of the orange felon, and particularly his reelection, have been the result of lots of factors that he's just riding the wave on. Brexit, the recent election in Germany, Ohio becoming a red state, etc., etc., etc., all point to a world out of whack. He obviously won't be forgotten -- the best hope is that he'll be rightly considered the incompetent traitor and criminal that he has proven himself to be.
DeleteI'm not even counting on the Dems taking the House, let alone the Senate. Too many people don't bother to vote, and too many others vote against their own actual self-interests to assume anything in this extremely disappointing nation.
Agree Jakash, I'm taking nothing for granted either. We're talking about American voters, after all. Winning the House would at least slow down the bleeding. No chance for Senate IMO.
DeleteNeil,
ReplyDeleteThanks for changing how we receive your newsletter, EGD.
I'm no fair-weather fan, but last week, the way I was receiving your newsletter was very unsatisfactory.
I know it's not you, and that you were needlessly blindsided, but it was not good.
Perhaps I've stumbled onto something you could ask your readers.
Horror stories about AI and all scrwing things up in their lives.