Pun Salad

This would have been much better Eye Candy for my RFKJr item.

I plan on avoiding election coverage tonight on both TV and Internet. For the usual reason: the talking heads keep talking even when they don't have anything interesting to say.

But I'll check when I get up tomorrow morning, and I sincerely hope the election will be settled by then. Which will make Mr. Ramirez's cartoon either irrelevant or a dire warning of things to come.

I still plan on following the quick-and-EZ voting algorithm I described last month. And I share the sentiment expressed in Chris Freiman's tweet:

By not voting, I’m increasing the power of your vote—you’re welcome

— Chris Freiman (@cafreiman) October 31, 2024

But note that only applies if you're voting for president in New Hampshire.

Also of note:

• Don't blame me either. In his election-eve GOTV effort, Nick Gillespie sez: Trump and Harris Are Terrible. Don't Blame Me for Not Voting for Them.

  With a day left before the 2024 polls close, I'd like to say something to the Republicans and the Democrats, the Trump chads and the Harris stans: Don't blame me for not voting for your shitty candidate.

  There's a reason why presidential contests have been as tight as they have been for a while, and why control of Congress has flipped back and forth so much over the last couple of decades. It's not because of voters like me, who just want to vote for politicians and policies that won't bankrupt the country or rob me of the ability to make meaningful decisions in my life. It's not too much to ask for candidates who aren't colossal assholes, mental incompetents, or fakers that routinely lie and dissemble about all sorts of stuff. Your parties don't stand for anything consistent or appealing or responsible or responsive. You're not going to win elections easily until you stand for something consistent, productive, and respectful of the people you seek to govern.

  But apparently that's too much to ask from our major political parties.

  Nick wrote in Chase Oliver, the Libertarian Party candidate. Back in May, I found him to be Unacceptably Stupid on Israel and foreign policy generally. At the time, writing in Nikki Haley was something I considered, but… hah.

• I like his Menckenesque headline. Gerard Baker in the WSJ: America Will Get What It Votes For—Good and Hard. His interesting observation:

  Increasingly rigid party discipline, growing partisan ideological cohesion and institutional changes like reducing the scope of the Senate filibuster have moved the U.S. closer to a parliamentary system, in which electoral victory results in the execution of a broad political agenda.

  But elections are supposed to have consequences for losers too. Voters not only select the way ahead for the country. They tell one of the parties: “We don’t want you. Change.”

  Losing political parties that want to win again heed the electorate’s verdict and change accordingly—their leadership (usually), and, without abandoning their core values and philosophy, the policies and programs they offer.

  At some point in the coming days or weeks, one side or the other will have to acknowledge (or maybe not—we’ll come to that later) that the choice it presented this time was rejected by the voters—and that it needs a new one.

  The self-mortification will be especially painful because on both sides there is a strong sense that this was a very winnable election. Losing when you think the other team isn’t even fit to take the field offers a sobering message: You’re even worse.

  Will that self-mortification bring beneficial change? It's a free link, click through to find out what Baker thinks.

• Meanwhile at the University Near Here… My campus spy forwarded me email sent to (apparently) all UNH faculty, students, and staff by UNH President Elizabeth Chilton. Key paragraph:

  In the days ahead, as election results come in and the outcomes of both national and local races become clear, I encourage everyone to continue fostering a campus atmosphere of respect and civility. Our community encompasses a broad spectrum of perspectives, experiences, and political views; this diversity enriches and strengthens our educational environment. To support these important conversations, NH Listens will host a Post Election Healing & Dialogue space on November 6th from 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. in the Memorial Union Building, Room 330/332.

  Healing and dialogue. Very touchy-feely!

  Depending on the trauma, I'm not sure MUB 330/332 will be a large enough space for healing.

  And UNH apparently will not attempt to compete with Georgetown U. The Free Press reports on Legos, Cocoa, and Coloring Books for Georgetown Students.

  On Wednesday, the day after the election, most of us are going to roll out of bed, have our breakfast, and get on with our day—no matter which presidential candidate wins. But students at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy—where diplomats and policymakers are molded—have another option: They can play with Legos. Seriously.

  In an email to McCourt students, Jaclyn Clevenger, the school’s director of student engagement, introduced the school’s post-election “Self-Care Suite.”

  “In recognition of these stressful times,” she wrote, “all McCourt community members are welcome to gather. . . in the 3rd floor Commons to take a much needed break, joining us for mindfulness activities and snacks throughout the day.”

  Agenda at the link. If you're in the area. Maybe they won't check ID; I hear they're loose about that down in DC.

• A news story? This story, by Molly Ball, was on the WSJ front page yesterday: America Faces a Third Referendum on Trump’s Dark Message. Sample:

  As Trump and his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, make their final pitches to a divided nation, Trump’s essential argument has changed remarkably little over the course of three presidential campaigns: that the system is rigged and foreign invaders threaten the nation. What has changed is the context, as Trump’s decadelong dominance of American politics has rearranged the electorate in response. Now, an election that stands on a knife’s edge is poised to settle the central question—whether a discontented country will endorse or reject another installment of his destabilizing vision.

  I am far from a Trump fan, but this is remarkably slanted for a news story, especially in the WSJ. We just got through a bunch of people asserting that Trump's Madison Square Garden rally was a replay of the pro-Nazi rally there in 1939; and it's Trump who has the "dark message"?

  To be fair, there are (as I type) 2445 comments on the online version. Many of them making the same point.

• Ain't that peculiar, baby? Peculiar as can be. Brian Doherty examines The Peculiar Phenomenon of Libertarians Supporting Donald Trump.

  Former President Donald Trump's sketch comedy portrayal of a would-be authoritarian, filtered through his antic norms-busting style, gives his fans an out: Libertarians nervous about Trump are just too uptight and antiquated to understand his appeal in this comedy podcast age, they might say. Being sincerely alarmed about Trump makes you the yokel—a deluded victim of Trump Derangement Syndrome.

  But Trump, through the insult comedy and random ravings, is consistently a man of authoritarian temperament: He craves using government power to punish media that displeases him (including threatening broadcast licenses); desires legal immunity from accountability for himself and all government law enforcement; and most significantly, his prime campaign action point is launching an unprecedented in this century police/military action against millions of people living peacefully and productively in America.

  (Headline inspiration here.)

• But Elvis Costello said… Bryan Caplan is not amused: I Don't Find the Election Funny at All, and I Have a Great Sense of Humor.

  Don’t I at least see the entertainment, the hilarity, in this situation? No. I don’t find the election funny at all, and I have a great sense of humor.

  American democracy was already a disgrace when I wrote The Myth of the Rational Voter back in 2007. Readers often ask me if anything that’s happened in the meanwhile has changed my mind.

  Answer: While my expectations were already very low, politicians and voters have worked in tandem to make my pessimism look like optimism. Much of the American left somehow managed to play Dr. Frankenstein with the corpse of socialism, while figuring out how to invent and propagate a new secular religion that is Orwellian and Kafkaesque at the same time. Much of the American right, similarly, has forgotten whatever half-hearted appreciation they ever had for free markets in favor of xenophobic scapegoating of immigrants and international trade. Perhaps the Republican shift is largely rhetorical, but it’s still grotesque to hear.

  I still "try to be amused", Elvis.

Recently on the book blog:

Once again, a loosely-themed book from "America's funniest science writer", Mary Roach. And that loose theme is humanity's love/hate struggles with the other living species with which we share our planet.

Mary bounces around a lot. The first chapter ("Maul Cops") has her attending a training session (given by Canadians in a Reno casino) on predator attacks on people. (What's the best way to shoot a bear who's trying to eat your father-in-law? How do you tell if a victim has been mauled by a bear, cougar, or wolf?)

You may remember a few years ago I reported on the book A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear; the author had a great deal of fun with the onetime libertarian-dominated town of Grafton NH, which tried to draw a cause-and-effect arrow from the town's budget-cutting to its difficulty dealing with bears. Reader, Mary travels to Aspen CO, not known for its libertarian leanings (except for drugs), and describes bear problems there. Bottom line: if they live near your town, they are gonna visit your town, looking for pic-a-nic baskets. Stay clear.

But bear problems in America are nothing compared to elephant problems in India. They kill about 500 humans every year. Mary travels to investigate. And discovers monkey bites. And dog bites. And (whoa) snake bites kill 40,000 Indians per year. (She's usually funny; she isn't here.)

And lest you think she concentrates on the animal kingdom… well, OK, she does. But she also has a chapter on killer trees. A lot of people die because they are in an unfortunate spot when a tree decides to die and take someone with them. And there's another chapter on killer beans.

Fun fact: the CDC estimates that 10,000 Americans are killed or injured every year in trying to avoid hitting an animal. Next time you see a squirrel in the road ahead, just say Sorry little feller, it's either you or me and keep driving.

The one yarn I especially liked was the US Navy's battle against Midway Island albatrosses. Worried about birds that might have a fatal encounter with arriving or departing planes, they tried all sorts of abatement procedures over years, some of them quite amusing. (But, often, not for the albatrosses.)

Bottom line: "Naval Air Station Midway" closed in 1993. It is now "Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge". Yes, the gooney birds defeated the might of the United States Navy.

My previous reports on Mary's books: Gulp, Grunt, Spook, My Planet, and Packing for Mars. I still have a couple to go: Stiff and Bonk. Portsmouth Public Library has them both, so maybe I'll be getting to those next year. And maybe she'll come out with something new. I hope so.

About that "America's funniest science writer": I'm pretty sure she's the world's funniest science writer. Prove me wrong.