Day 3214

Jeez. I'm getting so tired of politics. I feel like yelling "You guys are doing it all wrong" to both political parties. I'm sure nobody will listen but I'm convinced that Democrats would do a lot better if they abandoned their confrontational, in-your-face tactics and the Republicans would do better if they completely rethought their stance on immigration.

The other day I heard a Democratic friend say that they thought it was important to get out the vote, but they were afraid they might actually be encouraging someone to vote Republican. Bingo. Every time an angry mob screams obscenities from a Senate Gallery or chases a Senator out of a restaurant, you risk encouraging a non voter to get off the couch and vote against you. I don't think the politics of rage actually works. A lot of people have enough problems in their lives already. The last thing they want is a political circus. These undecided people may not march or put up yard signs, but when you make them feel like it is unsafe to go out to dinner or even enjoy a movie they will vote against you. If you block traffic with a protest on their way to work, they will definitely vote against you.

If the Democrats need to become less confrontational, the Republicans need to quit antagonizing Hispanics. What is wrong with you guys? Hispanics are practically begging to become Republicans. These guys are entrepreneurial. They work hard and tend to form businesses at a much higher rate than the general population. They still believe in the nuclear family and their kids tend to grow up with both a Mom and a Dad. They're even more religious than the general population. Isn't this the demographic you've been looking for? Republicans should be working to reform immigration laws and make it easier for Hispanics to become citizens. Quit being stupid. Welcome these guys into the fold and you could stay in power forever.

I can't quite put my finger on what has made our political system so crazy, but I think social media has a lot to do with it. Remember the Arab Spring? Everyone thought that sharing things in real time on Facebook and Twitter was going to bring democracy to the middle east. It brought total chaos instead. Libya, Egypt, and Syria crumbled. Maybe we're next. I think we need to bring back the smoke filled room where politicians can create practical, workable compromises without the scrutiny of social media pressure and a 24-hour news cycle. Winston Churchill, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and many others would never have survived in a world dominated by silly memes and Instagram pictures.

I'm discouraged by politics, but I was encouraged that the market rallied today. Maybe this week's free fall was just a normal market correction or perhaps the selloff was an investor temper tantrum about interest rates. All I know is that I'm too old to weather another major crash.

I'm probably too old to deal with my perpetual roof problems as well. I'm almost certain the roof will leak again tonight. We had a horrendous, heavy rainfall this afternoon. That's usually all it takes. I've called the roofers several times but I'm sure that there are leaks all over town. I wouldn't be surprised if the roofers were planning to move to Florida for six months. I hear that there's lots of roof work in the Panhandle.

Dash seemed like a normal dog today. I don't know how the little guy does it. He's like the Energizer Bunny of Dalmatians.

Kuuipo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3207

There is no truth anymore. It's gone. All we have left are carefully constructed narratives. Keep in mind that a narrative is just a story. I say this as a person who has spent most of his adult life constructing narratives. I'm an advertising writer. There's a good chance that I might have convinced you to buy something you didn't really need. I might of even convinced you to believe a lie. That'a what a narrative is meant to do. It's really not that hard to influence someone when you can engage their emotions.

This is why I'm deeply distrustful of politics. Politicians have become addicted to narratives, mostly because they are much more effective than looking at things objectively. I have to give the Democrats credit. They are great at creating a good narrative. The threat from Russia is genius. Not a day goes by without hearing about Russian meddling. Hmm. I can't recall the Democrats caring about Russia one way or the other since the days of John Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Democrats knew that there were still a few old school Russia Hawks in the Republican Party though, and if they could peel away a couple of them, their opponents might lose their slim majority and legislation could be blocked. It worked. Warhawks like John McCain became allies instead of adversaries and it was McCain who ended up casting the critical vote to save Obamacare.

The Republicans seem to like narratives as well. The need for a border wall is a narrative calculated to appeal to people's emotions. If you really want to stop people from crossing a border, a wall probably isn't the most effective way to do things. A wall is basically useless, but it is a powerful symbol. It got a president elected.

I wish that politicians didn't feel the need to create stories that are meant to fan the flames of human emotion. We are already a divided country and these narratives are just making a bad situation worse. A narrative that is gaining traction now is the idea that under certain circumstances it is perfectly OK to say that someone is guilty until they can prove their innocence. It doesn't seem to bother the people who created this narrative that this is exactly what happened during the Salem Witch Trials. They knew that when you combine a huge voting block with an explosively emotional issue and stir vigorously, you have a witches brew that just might provide you with the kryptonite you need.

I find it a bit distressing that many of my friends seem all too willing to burn the witch. When you abandon due process and have politicians who actively condone mob rule under the guise of resistance, all is lost. What ever happened to the preponderance of evidence standards that have guided our judicial system for so many years? Have we really returned to the McCarthy era or the dark days of the Salem Witch Trials? I thought about these things as Dash and I walked by the pathetic little circus that seems to be still taking place in the park. That's what we've got right now in this country: a pathetic circus.

Lightning is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day