tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post2929195202334132271..comments2024-03-28T10:42:53.231-05:00Comments on TYWKIWDBI ("Tai-Wiki-Widbee"): Peter Wonson's "Swan Song"Minnesotastanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01382888179579245181noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-44003622782343289672020-12-02T23:00:45.875-06:002020-12-02T23:00:45.875-06:00William, as a resident of the Southern US who cons...William, as a resident of the Southern US who considered myself politically unaffiliated until Trump convinced me to join the Democrats, I have two thoughts to share on your frustration:<br /><br />1. We have multiple "off switches" for a destructive president. However, we purportedly are a democracy, and subject to an obscene level of partisanship in a two-party system. A majority of one party's voters thinks Trump is GOOD for the country, which is enough to block meaningful action. Almost half of our voters, and about a third of all eligible voters, voted that he should get a second term. As baffling as that is, it's enough support to negate extraordinary action.<br /><br />2. I have feared since 2016 that some crazy would take things into their own hands. As destructive as Trump is, I can't imagine how bad things would get if he were martyred.<br /><br />Also: I spent New Year's in Wellington, traveled the North island for a week. Your country is absolutely gorgeous, and I can't wait to return. I'm jealous of you for Jacinda Ardern.Kylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11855214534590407379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-23346266119403673782020-11-19T10:49:17.920-06:002020-11-19T10:49:17.920-06:00You are quite welcome to vent here, WilliamRocket....You are quite welcome to vent here, WilliamRocket. I wish I had the time to write a detailed reply to your "cri de coeur" we'll call it.<br /><br />One thing that Trump has done that should be beneficial in the long run is that his behavior and actions have caused literally millions of Americans to come out of their chronic self-centered smugness to the realization that there are elements and attitudes in our country that are frankly frightening. There is a recognition that while Trump has been a firebrand, the fuel was already there, and there are concerns about how long and how intensely (not whether) "trumpism" will outlast trump. The polarization that now exists is so severe that the usual compromise politics that Biden grew up with will be difficult to achieve. One hopes that the eventual resolution or subsidence of the pandemic and its attendant social and economic ills will provide some relief, but TBH there are a lot of angry and fearful Americans nowadays.Minnesotastanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01382888179579245181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-48578558925226493742020-11-19T09:10:48.050-06:002020-11-19T09:10:48.050-06:00This is really fascinating. I thought the expressi...This is really fascinating. I thought the expression came from Tennyson's poem <i>Tithonus</i> and the line "And after many a summer dies the swan," that's also the title of an Aldous Huxley novel. It's not one of his better ones in my humble opinion, although, funny enough, his best novel--again my humble opinion--is his swan song, <b>Island</b>.<br />Anyway you prompted me to check the <b>OED</b> which has the earliest recorded use of "swan song" from Carlyle in 1834, twenty-six years before Tennyson's poem.<br />Thank you for sending me on that deep dive. Christopherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10320886074658710855noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-38037044433537323362020-11-18T20:22:20.946-06:002020-11-18T20:22:20.946-06:00I timidly submit that while a swan song about trac...I timidly submit that while a swan song about trachea is um ... important... of greater merit would be a discussion about the legal ways you can rid yourself of a noxious president.<br />I live in New Zealand, where a local national news source informs me that the USA has passed the quarter million mark regarding actual people who have ceased to live because of the Corona virus.<br />Real living, breathing people with families and friends, that have died from a disease that the government did far less than what was morally required.<br />The virus is horrific indeed, yes, but we shouldn't shield ourselves from the fact that the United States has a president that has done and continues to do, the USA a disservice.<br />I live far away, across many thousands of kilometres of salty water, yet I metaphorically weep for what is happening in your country.<br />And while you all seemingly live by the rules laid down on a piece of parchment a couple of hundred years ago, I always assumed that you had laws in place to stop the top guy destroying your country, your credibility, ... yourselves.<br />I am but an ordinary guy, I work with a hammer and wood and at home I care for unwanted cats and rabbits, but I have enough intelligence to wonder about the stars, the universe ... enough intelligence to act in line with my morals to stop someone ruining the very fabric of my existence.<br />It seems amazing that the USA lacks such a safeguard, such an off switch.<br />I have written, perhaps on this site, maybe others, about my thoughts on the American people treating their president the way John Fitzgerald Kennedy was treated ... and lacking any edit button I hope that my views were not displayed, for I am not an actual fan of people being shot, but there must be some way that will end a 6 year old man child's spoilt tantrum.<br />If his insane actions affect me here in New Zealand I am going to be mighty pissed off.<br />I apologise for unloading on you, you surely feel the pain more, but there really is no where to vent, so thanks.<br />WilliamRockethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06353376414079333348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-11906986594761469462020-11-18T13:30:34.445-06:002020-11-18T13:30:34.445-06:00If you think that's weird, check out the woodp...If you think that's weird, check out the woodpecker tongue. http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek030308.htmlMiss Cellaniahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16056319889765739429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-51828996643899466192020-11-18T12:07:48.864-06:002020-11-18T12:07:48.864-06:00> even at the end of a career of learning.
i d...> even at the end of a career of learning.<br /><br />i did not know that you could retire from learning? maybe i am just 'naturally nosy', so retiring from that would be like, a non sequitur?<br /><br />I-) <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-90335916384381316562020-11-17T19:30:21.517-06:002020-11-17T19:30:21.517-06:00Nitpicking is always welcomed here in TYWKIWDBI. ...Nitpicking is always welcomed here in TYWKIWDBI. Text amended. Thank you, dragonmamma.Minnesotastanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01382888179579245181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4912713243046142041.post-65651783422921134122020-11-17T17:28:22.312-06:002020-11-17T17:28:22.312-06:00I've got to pick a nit: You are paraphrasing C...I've got to pick a nit: You are paraphrasing Chico Marx, not Groucho.dragonmammahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13586472866640318921noreply@blogger.com