November 1, 2022

There is no longer a "We the People of United States"

There is no longer a "We the People of The United States"

by Hal Brown

The morning after Halloween I envisioned zombies dancing when I read title of this column this morning:

America must step out of this self-destructive zombie dance

The title of the column by Amanda Ripley (the author of “High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped — and How We Get Out”) suggests she is going to give us an answer.

Here are a few excerpts:

High conflict — the kind that is self-destructive and stubbornly resistant to resolution — is not mysterious. And we have much more wisdom about how to respond to it than we think.

The only good option is to do counterintuitive things. We must step out of the zombie dance we are in... One lesson I’ve learned in covering dysfunctional conflict for the past five years is that most people, even very violent people, want to live. And they want their families to be safe. That is one thing we all have in common. Horrific incidents such as the one at Pelosi’s home offer an unusual (and fleeting) opportunity to invite people to do something differently.

Here's where she began to lose me as she explained solutions The bolds are hers.

First, sign the contract. All over the world, the U.S. government has pushed politicians to sign codes of conduct in times of conflict. Gang-violence interrupters do this every day in Chicago and other cities — urging combatants and their supporters to join a nonaggression pact. It’s time to invite American politicians and pundits to do what we’ve long asked other people, in far more harrowing circumstances, to do.

Uh oh, with the word "invite" my wishful thinking alarm just went off.

She went on:

In politics, this might mean pledging not to dehumanize one’s opponent on social media or elsewhere (by saying they are evil or hate the United States, for example). The codes could include vows to accept the results of the election after reasonable due process and, of course, to condemn all acts of violence, especially when they are perpetrated against a member of the opposition.

Really? What world is she living in?

Going down the rabbit hole to her next highlighted paragraph:

Walk the walk. Part of how we got into this mess is by watching politicians and pundits gleefully attack each other on TV. Part of how we get out of it is by doing the opposite: having credible messengers from each side demonstrate human decency.

She concludes that section with:

One thing Americans still do exceptionally well is to produce original, creative content. We tell stories that move people to imagine a better world. Now is the time to tell a different story, one of courage and decency alongside honest debate.

This is true, but assuming this content is produced, where does it go to reach the people who need it the most? Fox News, the fever swamps of social media? I don't think so.

Here's her next suggestion:

Right-size the fear. One predictable cause of collective violence is collective fear. When threat levels are high and fear is mixed with contempt, disgust and humiliation, humans will feel they have no choice but to annihilate one another.

This is what disturbs me in the last paragraph of the essay. Who are the "we" (my bold) below?

We, the public, are being manipulated by conflict mongers. We are being turned against each other and we are all suffering, to different degrees. It is time to question these storylines, to question our fears as often as we have learned to question truth. And then demand something radically different, something that will enable us to coexist. We know how to do this.
There is no collective "we" in the United States and other countries where there is a battle between a group, call them "bad people" who want a facisist country as long as their side is in control, and "good people" who want democracy where, to be corny, the Gold Rule prevails. Here and in countries like Brazil the most recently, the good people barely outnumber the bad.

There is, alas, no "we the public" - just as there is no longer a "we the people" as in the first paragraph in the U.S. Constitution.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Democratic and Republican politicians have taken to holding up their pocket sized copies of the U.S. Constitution. Here's something Trump and Obama have in common. Someone decided it was worth publishing pocket Constitutions with them on the cover. The Obama is $9.99 and Trump's is $14.99. It's as it if has become a prop.

Historians and constitutional scholars correctly debate what the Founders meant by "we" and the words in the preamble to the document.

It certainly wasn't everyone in every case in every way. But it was clear that they wanted "a more perfect union" and to insure a mechanism for amending the Constitution over time. Perhaps some like George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton envisioned the 13th Amendment freeing the slaves would be ratified about 100 years later in 1865.

It is now up to the Supreme Court to interpret what the Founders meant and how it should be applied to the issues of the day. The basic question remains: what is the meaning of "we the people?"

Clearly, there is a significant segment of the population that doesn't want "we" to mean everyone.

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October 31, 2022

Mired in Muskland, Third Edition

Mired In Muskland

by Hal Brown

Click to enlarge

Twitter got off to a rocky start that Musk caused himself when he retweeted a horrible lie about Paul Pelosi and didn't delete it for hours. He could have anticipated the five-fold increase in racist tweets and done something to remove them too.

I am still recovering from pneumonia and find that I don't have the mental energy to write anything about politics. I'm trying to amuse myself by developing a comic series about Elon Musk. Who knows, maybe it will get his attention. Through the character Head Twit Bot (really me trying to be both his conscience and his therapist - I was a therapist for 40 years) I am trying to send Chief Twit (below right) a message.

Although the comic has only two characters at present if I keep this up I anticipate adding new ones either as guests or regulars. For example, this guy:

I thought of today's comic strip when I went to sleep last night and put it together when I woke at 2 AM with an intense pain under my ribs so to divert my attention. I spent more than two hours making it. Of course I posted it on Twitter. It will be interesting if I'm banned because of it.

Two examples of Musk doing what I assume is his best to be funny:

This is just too, too weird:

Excerpts from Musk's letter to advertisers

The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is
important to the future of civilization to have
a common digital town square, where a wide
range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy
manner, without resorting to violence. There
is currently great danger that social media
will splinter into far right wing and far left
wing echo chambers that generate more
hate and divide our society.

In the relentless pursuit of clicks, much of
traditional media has fueled and catered to
those polarized extremes, as they believe
that is what brings in the money, but, in doing
so, the opportunity for dialogue is lost.

That is why I bought Twitter. I didn't do it
because it would be easy. I didn't do it to
make more money. I did it to try to help
humanity, whom I love. And I do so with
humility, recognizing that failure in pursuing
this goal, despite our best efforts, is a very
real possibility.

That said, Twitter obviously cannot become a
free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be
said with no consequences!

Fundamentally, Twitter aspires to be the
most respected advertising platform in the
world that strengthens your brand and grows
your enterprise. To everyone who has
partnered with us, I thank you. Let us build
something extraordinary together.

It all sounds great, which rhymes with hate, which apparently will have no place on the new Twitter according to Chief Twit.

It is more than a cliche since this is a both legal and a generally accepted exception to free speech:

When there actually is a fire, shouting fire could cause a panic, so properly notifying theater management is the appropriate way to handle it if you are the first to smell smoke.

Neither I nor my alter ego, Head Twit Bot, should have to explain to Elon how hate speech, conspiracy theories, and lies which can incite people to act violently is an exception to free speech.

Obama's quote for the day and my comment (not about Elon Musk):

During a weekend campaign rally in Georgia, Obama acknowledged Walker's status as a great football player but questioned what other qualities he had that made him worthy of being a United States senator.
"Some of you may not remember, but Herschel Walker was a heck of a football player... does that make him the best person to represent you?" Obama asked the crowd. "Let's say you're at the airport and you see Walker and you say, 'Hey, there's Herschel, Heisman winner. Let's have him fly the plane!'"

I wouldn't be so sure that one of Walker's alter personalities - he's admitted to having had about a dozen - has developed so he can actually fly an airplane. Either that of he has an honorary pilot license.

Recent archives (entire archives are in right column)

BLOG STATS:

Last week Canada was in second place with over 100. This week it has been Russia.

October 30, 2022

Second Edition Mired in Muskand Comic Series

By Hal Brown

The first edition is here.

Pictoon Number One for Oct. 30 (click images to enlarge)

Updated based on this:

Update based on this:

These are the images I used to put this together:

This is where I found the gold Lexus. It was made for a sheik.

I'm still recovering from pneumonia and woke abut four times over the night coughing. At 3 AM I also managed to knock a glass of water off my bedside table and got my pillows and sheets soaked. By then I was pretty much awake and got the idea for my first pictoon. By 4 AM I couldn't wait to find and put the images I needed together so I made myself a cup of coffee and the result is what you see above.

Created with love from my sickbed

The more I learn about Musk and his life the more fascinated I am by him. For example, what he finds amusing, or perhaps downright hysterically hilarious isn't exactly what I'd call adult humor. I added the image below:

The most famous quotes from "Apocalypse Now" are Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore's saying "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" and Col. Kurtz's last words, "the horror, the horror," but then there's this:

Will Twitter turn into the Chief Twit's version of Mr. Dark's Pandemonium Carnival? Beware the merry-go-round.

Full disclosure: Depending on the terms and scope of authority and I'd consider being put on the Twitter Moderation Council.

Hal Brown's Blog - changed to Hal Brown's Stressline