I completely understand people sending "thoughts and prayers" (tm) after mass gun killings. It's pretty much the most that people can do at the moment. And people feel sickened and angry and want to do something. But I'm long past "thoughts and prayers" (tm) as the national response to such tragedies. For friends and acquaintances of the families offering them directly, yes, it's very appropriate as a source of comfort. But as a national response made into the ether? I understand it, but my own thoughts go elsewhere.
And these are indeed my own, completely personal thoughts. I don't expect others to feel this way. But I certainly hope they do, Because I'm totally subjective enough to believe they'd be right. What I mean is, if "thoughts and prayers" (tm) had a substantive meaning as a national response, it strikes me that they would be much better used before the fact. Focusing our thoughts before the next mass gun killing occurs on what we can do to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again, and praying with all our might that it never happens again. Indeed, it seems that if "thoughts and prayers" (tm) actually worked as a national response with the Almighty and public policy, that would seem a truly great use of them. It's sort of like when I hear defenders of guns say that "Now is not the time" to talk about dealing with mass gun killings right after a mass gun killing. I always respond that they're absolutely right -- the time to talk about dealing with mass gun killings is before the next mass gun killing. By the way, adding to this "Now is not the time after a mass gun killing" gumfummery is the reality that in 2019 (which are the most recent stats that I could find), there were 31 mass gun killings. (For the record, the FBI defines a "mass gun killing" as one in which at least four people are shot to death -- and that's not including the shooter.) That means there were more than one mass gun killing every other week! So, it doesn't leave a whole lot of wiggle room for finding when the proper time is to talk about mass gun killings I should also note that the same year there were 417 mass shootings -- that's eight every single week. So, you start to get the idea after a while that "thoughts and prayers" (tm) don't have the full beneficial impact one is hoping for. (In fairness, two mass gun killings in only one week, like this -- each with far more than just four dead, other than the shooter -- does throw the percentages off.) Over time, I've gotten a sense that "thoughts and prayers" (tm) as a national response is more for salving the anguish of those offering the best wishes than it is for the recipients. After all, as I said, people tend to want to do something after a tragedy. But that's the very reason I think that "thoughts and prayers" (tm) are somewhat counter-productive. After all, they do make if feel like one has done something, and so that's enough -- except reality shows there will be another mass gun killing in two weeks, every two weeks. Instead, though, even something as basic as writing to just one political representative or simply not voting for a candidate who doesn't support doing something about mass gun killings -- rather than only offering "thoughts and prayers" (tm) and leaving it at that -- may, in fact, be a step to actually help. All this said, if one does offer "thoughts and prayers" (tm) yet also speaks out or acts to do something, anything so that there won't be a next mass gun killing, great. I do understand people offering "thoughts and prayers" (tm). But if a person only offers "thoughts and prayers" (tm) and figures that's good enough, they did their part...nah, not so much for my taste. But hey, in the end, if a person really, truly, absolutely feels they must offer "thoughts and prayers" (tm) and do that only, so be it. My own purely-personal hope is that they will at least do so before the next mass gun killing and that their prayer is that there won't be another one ever again.
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For those who missed Last Week Tonight with John Oliver last night, his Main Story was about plastics. More specifically, it was about how recycling plastics isn't the great and easy panacea it appears to be on the surface. The report is very interesting, and includes some wonderful humor...most notably one joke that relates to the blob fish which they carry out to its wonderful fullness. And I should add that there is a joke at the very end which might pass by most people, who'll think it's about Spring Break -- and while that might be what prompted the joke, it's actually an allusion to the sign-off Jackie Gleason used on his TV variety show in the 1960s. I really admire people who make jokes that they know not everyone will get. Fun Fact: everyone doesn't have to get every single joke. It really is a noteworthy achievement for someone when they can do something so reprehensible that Louie Gohmert (R-TX) isn't the most offensive Congressman from Texas that week. But Chip Roy (R-TX) managed to accomplished that with his explanation that Texans believe so strongly in justice because they support lynching.
And yes, of course Chip Roy doubled down on what he said and didn't apologize. It would have been really easy to apologize, mind you, just explain you weren't talking about lynching, but Republicans today rarely apologize. Doubling-down is the standard. And Chip Roy isn't someone to apologize because he made it clear who he was, someone who thinks lynching is okay, a form of justice. For the record, lynching has nothing to do with justice. It's illegal, making it a criminal act, which is the very opposite of justice. Stringing someone up until their dead before they've had a chance to be arrested and had a trial defended by a lawyer before jurors and a judge is not justice. It's somewhat hard to tell why Roy's lynching love hasn’t had any call for a censure. Among my guesses is that there are far worse Republican abuses these days, and the bar is so low that this wasn’t low enough. But mostly, I think, it would probably be hard to censure him for using a general expression that he could claim, “Oh, for God’s sake, no, I didn’t say anyone should be lynched. I didn’t even mean people should be lynched, it’s just a good ol’ Texas expression, 'to find a rope,' not a lynching rope, oh, no, it just means we believe in catching the bad guys, because we believe justice.” Of course he meant lynching, but since he didn’t actually say that precise word, I suspect it probably would be hard to censure him for an inexact expression. I’m very glad that Chip Roy has gotten a loud, scathing response. More to the point, what disturbs me is not Chip Roy, but that his words have been met with silence by, as far as I can tell, every Republican in Congress. That's the problem. If you censured Chip Roy for that, you’d probably have to go after 99% of the caucus. Alex Wagner was on MSNBC on Friday talking about an article she wrote that day basically about hate speech, and she made the point that it isn’t that these Republican politicians are saying all these bad things and doubling-down on them, but that they actually look at it as a badge of honor to say them. They see saying these awful things as something good. And as ghastly as that is, I think she makes a good point. Today's Republican Party in Congress have long shown themselves for they are. And insurrectionist, racist fascist is not a good look -- made all the worse when they are now are siding with Vladmir Putin for attacking the American President. So, anyone who things my description is hyperbolic, it's sadly grounded in reality. As I've long said, the past four years were not about Trump, we always knew who he was -- this is about the Republican Party in Congress who enabled him and supported his actions, and continue to do so to this day.
On this week’s ‘Not My Job’ segment of the NPR quiz show Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, the guest contestant is Abby Phillip, host of Inside Politics on CNN. She and host Peter Sagal have a interesting, lively conversation about how she got started being interested in politics, helped by her enthusiasm. She also offers tips on how to answer questions on a TV panel when there’s really nothing new to add.
On this week’s episode of 3rd and Fairfax, the official podcast of the Writers Guild of America, the guests are screenwriters Chris Matheson & Ed Solomon who have written all three Bill & Ted movies, most recently Bill & Ted Face the Music. Separately, Ed Solomon has written Men in Black, as well as Now You See Me and its sequel, among others. franchise about what it takes to update a comedy franchise and deliver laughs in 2020. Chris Matheson’s credits include Mom and Dad Save the World, A Goofy Movie and Mr. Wrong. Together, they talk about what it takes to update a comedy franchise and also write comedy in a difficult year like 2020.
From the archives. This week's contestant is Caroline Cassil from Sutherlin, Oregon. If you don't get the composer style within three seconds (and the specific piece it's based on), you're not trying. The hidden song is tougher. Until halfway through, when a passage leaps out. But they're very well interwoven, so you have to catch the passage. There's also a wonderful musical joke between the classical piece and the hidden tune.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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