The Rose Garden and White House happenings: Listening to voters’ concerns
We’ve covered furphies before in these pages: misconceptions, spread around water coolers. So called because of the Furphy water tanker company that carried water to the ANZAC troops in the trenches in WW1. There’s a Wikipedia article on it.
There’s no reason not to go back for evidence - after all, that’s what’s freed an innocent man after way too many years in prison on a life sentence. Someone finally listened, and re-examined the physical evidence with new techniques proving it was someone else related to him. The same with a lot of abuse crimes: re-examining the evidence objectively often shows the unequal power plays and manipulation by perpetrators using authoritative structures to intimidate victims’ families. When you’ve worked with psychologically abused survivors, you get to recognise the echoes of truth in voice and gesture - believe me, reflexes can’t be faked. (I still shriek in fear if a car approaches too fast from either blind spot, and it’s close to 34years since my crash. Rape is worse.)
But what we’re talking about with JURIES is what we ask cake judges, maths quiz examiners, wine connoisseurs, art competition judges etc to do - suspend your own prior knowledge and opinion and listen with an open mind to a fresh file of detailed information. I can do that professionally - I live by Standards and Guidelines and I have a professional Code of Ethics, all of which provide evidence that I treat all people equally and fairly while at work, keeping their information confidential. If you’re going to discount that and delve into my private communications among friends, then I guess I can no longer work as an impartial employee of the Electoral Commission, or the public service..... I probably shouldn’t even be allowed a library card any more. Who knows what I’ll try to read??
Joanne — “- I live by Standards and Guidelines and I have a professional Code of Ethics, all of which provide evidence that I treat all people equally and fairly while at work, keeping their information confidential. If you’re going to discount that and delve into my private communications among friends, then I guess I can no longer work as an impartial employee of the Electoral Commission, or the public service..... I probably shouldn’t even be allowed a library card any more. Who knows what I’ll try to read??”
Was the world ever that pure? Can it ever return to that purity if it had been? I mean the world before the social media explosion refining tattle- telling into a fine art?
Nixon was caught in his malfeasance by an old-fashioned tape recorder. Think what he could have gotten away with in the email era!
Pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth are part of the human condition.
So why bother with any professional or ethical code at all? Why bother with any moral code or system of laws? It’s obviously a free-for-all system of might-over-right where the richest and the loudest bullies win.
Some even interpret the Bible as the ultimate proof of such endless struggle.
joanne said:
So why bother with any professional or ethical code at all? Why bother with any moral code or system of laws? It’s obviously a free-for-all system of might-over-right where the richest and the loudest bullies win.
Some even interpret the Bible as the ultimate proof of such endless struggle.
I am off to church after another injection of coffee. I’ll try to collect my thoughts and return later!
An American friend sent this to me yesterday; the timing is delightful (Our conversation has nothing to do with politics, in fact we were talking about long-lost relatives, and how the lessons of human history keep repeating)
SAYINGS OF A JEWISH BUDDHA
• If there is no self, whose arthritis this?
• Be here now. Be someplace else later. Is that so complicated?
• Drink tea and nourish life; with the first sip, joy;
with the second sip, satisfaction; with the third sip, peace;
with the fourth, a Danish.
• Wherever you go, there you are. Your luggage is another story.
• Accept misfortune as a blessing.
Do not wish for perfect health, or a life without problems.
What would you talk about?
• The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single Oy.
• There is no escaping karma.
In a previous life, you never called, you never wrote,
you never visited. And whose fault was that?
• Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness.
And then what do you have? Bupkis.
• The Tao does not speak. The Tao does not blame.
The Tao does not take sides. The Tao has no expectations.
The Tao demands nothing of others. The Tao is not Jewish.
• Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.
Forget this and attaining Enlightenment will be the least of
your problems.
• Let your mind be as a floating cloud.
Let your stillness be as a wooded glen.
And sit up straight. You'll never meet the Buddha with such
rounded shoulders.
• Deep inside you are ten thousand flowers.
Each flower blossoms ten thousand times.
Each blossom has ten thousand petals.
You might want to see a specialist.
• Be aware of your body. Be aware of your perceptions.
Keep in mind that not every physical sensation is a symptom
of a terminal illness.
(From the book ZEN JUDAISM by David M Bader)
Edited to remove a typo
Joanne, this is priceless! I will confess that I plan to steal these words of wisdom for future use. Thanks for sharing.
Truly a must read....
https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/A_Declaration_of_Conscience.htm
Excerpt...
“Smith reminded her Senate colleagues of what she called “the basic principles of Americanism,” seemingly channeling constitutional framer, James Madison. She listed the principles as “The right to criticize; the right to hold unpopular beliefs; the right to protest; the right of independent thought.” Exercising these rights, she said, “should not cost one single American his reputation,” adding that every American holds beliefs that could be considered unpopular at some point. Otherwise, Smith pointed out, Americans would not be free thinkers and “thought control would have set in.”
mtierney said:
Truly a must read....
https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/A_Declaration_of_Conscience.htm
sort of like Romney's impeachment vote
ml1 said:
sort of like Romney's impeachment vote
I truly hope you are right, I had always admired Romney’s public persona. The 2020 me, battered by the hate and anger so quick to rise, fears it might have been a spiteful action.
I hope I am wrong.
mtierney said:
I truly hope you are right, I had always admired Romney’s public persona. The 2020 me, battered by the hate and anger so quick to rise, fears it might have been a spiteful action.
why? because you don't believe Trump actually did all the things he admitted doing and Romney was voting guilty just out of spite?
mtierney said:
I truly hope you are right, I had always admired Romney’s public persona. The 2020 me, battered by the hate and anger so quick to rise, fears it might have been a spiteful action.
I hope I am wrong.
You can read what he said about why he voted as he did -
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/05/us/politics/mitt-romney-impeachment-speech-transcript.html
Specifically, he said this, and you can tell us whether you think his statement is correct, or whether you think he voted as "a spiteful action".
"The president asked a foreign government to investigate his political rival. The president withheld vital military funds from that government to press it to do so. The president delayed funds for an American ally at war with Russian invaders. The president’s purpose was personal and political. Accordingly, the president is guilty of an appalling abuse of public trust.
"What he did was not perfect. No, it was a flagrant assault on our electoral rights, our national security and our fundamental values. Corrupting an election to keep oneself in office is perhaps the most abusive and destructive violation of one’s oath of office that I can imagine."
The President of Ukraine, repeatedly, denied these accusations...no quid pro quo.
Democrats began seeking reasons to impeach DJT immediately after defeating HRC, who, incidentally, ran a lackluster campaign. And I am being kind saying that. The plainly partisan impeachment process was an embarrassment for Democratic House members. Who will be left standing after the caucus and convention? My money is on HRC.
If there is someone to point a finger at to explain the election of Trump, that would be Hillary. For a professional politician to be defeated by a street fighter amateur must haunt Mrs Clinton, as her recent public appearances suggest.
mtierney said:
The President of Ukraine, repeatedly, denied these accusations...no quid pro quo.
Democrats began seeking reasons to impeach DJT immediately after defeating HRC, who, incidentally, ran a lackluster campaign. And I am being kind saying that. The plainly partisan impeachment process was an embarrassment for Democratic House members. Who will be left standing after the caucus and convention? My money is on HRC.
If there is someone to point a finger at to explain the election of Trump, that would be Hillary. For a professional politician to be defeated by a street fighter amateur must haunt Mrs Clinton, as her recent public appearances suggest.
Just like your hero, you can't let go...BUT THE EMAILS !
"If there is someone to point a finger at to explain the election of Trump, that would be Hillary."
I will agree that HRC ran an ill-conceived campaign. But if there's anyone to point a finger at, it's surely everyone who voted for the other guy, along with everyone who told and repeated baldfaced lies (not policy disagreements) about her over the past 20-30 years.
President Crimes pardons his donors and friends, still firing people who affect his narrative of Ukraine fiasco.
Watched about half the debate last night, and, felt sad. Bloomberg most likely has never raised a hand to hail a cab, catch the attention of a waiter, or ask to speak before in his life. He demonstrated this lack of knowledge last night. Going for the stony face, tight-lipped look, he used eye-rolling as his communication tool.
I didn’t see any “winner” last night.
California has been flaunting its liberal image and lifestyle, while denigrating Washington and POTUS every chance it gets. Hollywood stars shriek the liberal message from safe within their designer clothes and mansions. Who walks the streets in its cities?
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/19/us/california-homeless.html
How do you spell chutzpah? The California governor and state legislators just might have to choke a little when they seek assistance to get out of the hole they helped dig. Speaking of state legislators, the first one who needs to go is Nancy Pelosi. She should have stayed home for more than a weekend or two, and gone for a long walk in San Francisco to see what is happening in her home state.
Excerpt:
“Homelessness declined in most states in 2019, compared with the year before, according to a report published in January by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. But in California, it increased by 16 percent, or 21,306 people, the report said.
“Mr. Newsom called homelessness a national crisis in his speech, but did not acknowledge the outsized role that California plays in the problem. Nearly half of all unsheltered people in the United States live in California, though the state accounts for just 12 percent of the U.S. population.
“But Mr. Newsom did not hold back from describing the severity of the problem, saying at one point, “We own it.”
“Parts of the governor’s speech called for immediate, concrete measures. He announced that 286 state-owned properties, including fairgrounds, armories and vacant lots, were available as of Wednesday for local governments to use for “homelessness solutions.”
“One hundred camping trailers used by the state during emergencies would be deployed across the state for temporary shelter, he said.”
Are there pool houses, cabanas, guest houses, four car garages with apartments above, etc, ready to be offered by Hollywood’s rich and famous? We shall see — or not.
mtierney a few days ago seemed surprised that I'm not a liberal and asked how I classified myself. Technically, I don't, but thanks to this easy questionnaire, I can say I'm definitely not a Communist.
ridski said:
mteirney a few days ago seemed surprised that I'm not a liberal and asked how I classified myself. Technically, I don't, but thanks to this easy questionnaire, I can say I'm definitely not a Communist.
Me, either. Those Q’s, though ...
Got a chuckle out of this one, thanks to our office messaging system:
Slacking is part of human nature and will only increase in societies where there is no promise of personal financial gain.
ridski said:
mteirney a few days ago seemed surprised that I'm not a liberal and asked how I classified myself. Technically, I don't, but thanks to this easy questionnaire, I can say I'm definitely not a Communist.
Looked back to 2/15 and couldn’t find the question. But, then, perhaps mteirney asked.
https://twitter.com/warroom2020/status/1229184015212728320?s
mtierney said:
That’s some Grade A typographical snark. Well done!
mtierney said:
Looked back to 2/15 and couldn’t find the question. But, then, perhaps mteirney asked.
https://twitter.com/warroom2020/status/1229184015212728320?s
I see that I asked you what “category” you placed yourself. You failed to answer me.
However, I am sorry for the snippy typo remark— put the blame on watching the debate last night!
The typo germ infects us all at once time or another
mtierney said:
I see that I asked you what “category” you placed yourself. You failed to answer me.
I answered in this post.
OK, no one can really claim to be all that shocked, but seriously: WTF?
Russia Backs Trump’s Re-election, and He Fears Democrats Will Exploit Its Support
A classified briefing to lawmakers angered the president, who complained that Democrats would “weaponize” the disclosure
Sometimes I think, maybe you should stop reading and turn off cable TV and freakin' chill. But this is some crazy siht. No-rules politics. Suck it, Moralists. This is hardball.
Picture the "battle of wits" between Putin and Trump. Who would you put your money on? Certainly not the semi-literate Neanderthal in our corner.
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Better call Saul....
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/14/us/michael-avenatti-nike-convicted.html
Some 30-year-old-recollections got Kavanaugh before a “jury” of politicians, Joanne.
“If we’re going to trawl back to something you wrote back 25 or 45 years ago and not allow for personal growth nor the ability to objectively compartmentalise personal views to weigh evidence, then we’re lost as a society because everything we’ve been taught since the Enlightenment is a furphy.”
what is a “furphy”?