It’s election day back in the USA. As of this writing, I have seen no returns or other reports on the potential outcome of what just might be the most important presidential vote in my lifetime. I’m nervous about the outcome, not because I have any questions about who is the better-qualified candidate to lead our nation these next four years, rather I have my doubts about the competence and intelligence of the electorate.
I guess the above sounds pretty generic in the sense that a supporter of either of the candidates could reasonably make that statement. Although I don’t delve into politics much these days on the blog, regular readers I’m sure know where I stand on the issues our nation faces and the leadership we need to successfully move into the future. I’m no Trump fanatic, far from it in fact. But just as I chose the clown over the crook in 2016, I’ll take the asshole over the idiot in 2020. I do hope it turns out that way and I reckon I’ll know for sure soon enough.
All of this is a leadup to a post that appeared on my Facebook newsfeed yesterday, written by a “friend” from back in my Korea days named Martin Kelly:
No, that’s not what I am saying. ….I’m not saying I think all Trump supporters are Nazis. I’m saying I know that for a fact. The sky is blue, the sea is green, all Trump supporters are Nazis.But surely you are not accusing 39 million……
Yes, I am. Sure, of course, some of them are nice guys. But there were nice guy Nazis too
Wow. That is without a doubt the most ignorant thing I have read from someone I know on Facebook in all the years I’ve been wasting time on that platform. And if he is any indication of just how stupid my fellow Americans have become then I truly do fear for my country. I actually went back and looked at his profile page to see if maybe I was missing his sarcasm or some context where such an outrageous comment would make sense. There was none.
I don’t know why I even bothered responding. Someone that far gone with Trump Derangement Syndrome can’t be saved by offering up a rational opposing view. Instead, I said this:
Reductio ad Hitlerum (/ˈhɪtlərəm/; Latin for “reduction to Hitler”), also known as playing the Nazi card,[1][2] is an attempt to invalidate someone else’s position on the basis that the same view was held by Adolf Hitler or the Nazi Party.[3] One example would be that since Hitler was against smoking, this implies that someone who is against smoking is a Nazi.[4]Coined by Leo Strauss in 1953, reductio ad Hitlerum borrows its name from the term used in logic called reductio ad absurdum (“reduction to the absurd”).[5] According to Strauss, reductio ad Hitlerum is a form of ad hominem, ad misericordiam, or a fallacy of irrelevance. The suggested rationale is one of guilt by association. It is a tactic often used to derail arguments because such comparisons tend to distract and anger the opponent.[6]
Wikipedia
And just in case the words were too big for his closed little mind, I added a helpful illustration:
Oh well, nothing I can do about politics except live as best I can with whatever the future may bring. Thank God I have the benefit of living thousands of miles away from my troubled homeland.
So, after that experience, I went out to ease my mind with some darts competition. Somehow the headgear of the tournament director was comforting:
Good fortune was with me as I drew Christy, one of the top players here in Barretto, as my partner. She did the heavy lifting and I made some meaningful contributions as we sailed our way to victory without losing a game.
I also received my meat delivery yesterday. How’s this for a slab of beef:
A small turnout for today’s Wednesday walking group.
And as always, thank you to my readers for blessing me with your presence here at Long Time Gone.
Oh wait, I almost forgot. Turns out that litter DOES grow on trees here:
And I’m also going to share the unlikely news that I DID NOT see a discarded facemask during my hike today.
Until we meet again, then.
Well, you could be at least partially right. I just blogged that Trump isn’t going to win by a landslide, although he does seem to be on course to win. This seems to indicate that the “shy Trump voter” wasn’t nearly as numerous as previously thought, and it may also validate your sentiment that the average voter is stupider than s/he should be. It’s incredible to me that all four members of the Squad have been reelected, but yeah: people are idiots. America as a whole, however, isn’t so stupid as to vote Biden into office. (Although North Carolina and/or Georgia might make a liar out of me yet!)
Well, I woke up at midnight last night and thought about coming downstairs to see the results. But then I was afraid I wouldn’t get back to sleep if the news was bad. And it is not looking good this morning.
It’s been said that people get the government they deserve. But something smells bad about this outcome.
I think the rhetoric on both sides is a bit overblown. I seriously doubt that the US will self destruct if (Trump/Biden) is elected. When George HW Bush (and President Trump) was elected, the Democrats predicted the end of the US as we know it.
Same for the Republicans on the (re)election of President Obama.
Last I checked, the US is still here. I optimist and believe that things have a tendency to swing back to the center from whichever side they overswing.
Anyway, I digress a bit. LOL
On a non-political note, I assume you have made it to the top of Easter Mountain at one time or another? Just dont remember. 🙂
Brian, What will be, will be. I’m more pessimistic than you though.
Yes, I’ve done the Easter mountain climb once before. It’s really tough. The Hash does an Easter run up there every year. Well, not this year because of the COVID bullshit. I might give it another go someday but it will be a challenge for sure.
Another American perspective here. From afar, as I’ve learned in conversation with European interlocutors, Democrats and Republicans look and sound the same, and everything seems minor and petty—small differences in degree, not in kind. I’ve heard some Europeans scoff at what we Yanks call “socialism,” saying that whatever is happening in America is a far cry from real socialism. I beg to differ, and I temper the European criticism with the knowledge that, were I to say something like “Labour and the Tories are basically the same to me,” I’d be accused of lacking nuance. We see things from our own perspective, and a far-off perch makes all problems both smaller and less significant. My point: for us Yanks, this election is urgent, dead-serious business. Yes, I agree that America will survive whatever happens over the coming weeks, and if Biden ends up in the Oval Office, we’ll survive that, too. But such a path seems consistent with a deadly downward trajectory that some thinkers, like the one I linked to above, have been talking about for years. (Malcolm and I are no longer on speaking terms, but his intelligent blog is worth a read. I respect his mind even if I don’t like his character.)
Enjoyed Malcolm’s post. I don’t recall what led to the falling out.
Well, perhaps the best scenario under a Harris administration (does anyone really think Biden will be our leader?) is that she will overreach. Damage will be done of course, but maybe not permanent damage, and the American people will wake up and throw the bums out of office. Of course, now that they’ve learned to steal elections maybe they don’t care.
Thought this put things in perspective LOL
From the “Daily Stoic”
“It’s easy to sit here and say this has been a bad year. But is it really so bad? Is it 1865 bad? Winter of 1777 bad? Was it as bad as many of the years in Marcus Aurelius’s reign? The years at the end of Nero’s? How about 1919—when the world was mopping up after the Great War just as a pandemic was making landfall? Or ’68, which had civil unrest, terrorist bombings and a major influenza outbreak on top?
“The Stoics would simply have pointed out those other examples to help you see that you still have options left. There is still room to maneuver. All is not lost.
“They’d want you to have some perspective and also to grasp this simple, black and white truth: Humanity will either survive this or we won’t. You will, or you won’t. Things looked dark in 180 AD, in 1777, in 1865, in 1919 and in 2009. But guess what? We made it through. We survived.
“This hasn’t been a bad year. It’s been a year. A year more like some and less like some others. But it is what it is. You don’t control what it has been, but you have some influence over where it’s going—there’s still a couple quarters left to play. So focus on that. Stay objective and don’t despair.
“It’ll get better…or as Marcus quips in Meditations, it won’t and you won’t be around to worry about it anymore.”
Thanks, Brian. Everything is relative I guess. I know I won’t be getting consumed by Biden Derangement Syndrome but I also won’t hesitate to point out just what a useless piece of shit my fellow Americans have chosen to elect.