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Not a bad statement to capture the overall arc. Walter Russell Mead tweeted, "The George W. Bush administration inadvertently revived the American left; President Obama returned the favor for the nationalist right." ... ... Sugar was in North Dakota to write on the election, and here is an excerpt on her escape from our American nightmare:
Soon, the sun will rise over Fargo. The road between here and Winnipeg feels longer than it did on Sunday, when I drove in. At the border, the guard paused before returning my passport. "Do you write your articles with a political bias?" he asked.
There didn't seem to be a good answer to that question. I was sent here to watch this moment pass, and describe what I see; but how to explain that my work is by nature an extension of me? "Man, I'm just coming to see what it looks like," I said. [WFP]
... ... A true statement. Binyamin Applebaum tweeted, “After months of chatter about the implosion of the Republican Party, we are instead witnessing the obviation of the Democratic Party.” [NYT] ... ... Miley Cyrus is crying over the election results. I wonder: when you are that rich and white, how can you feel it that hard? ... ... Vox headline: "Trump’s win is a reminder of the incredible, unbeatable power of racism." Lately, I had been noting that America is not that bad or evil, despite Trump's Republican nomination, because he won in a heavily fractured field of over a dozen candidates, and it seemed a certain thing that he was going to get creamed and sautéed in the general election. I said that I tended to seek consolation for my failure in the idea of a racist, bad America, and that I was doubtlessly wrong about that. Well, maybe I was right after all. ... ... I haven't been able to get into my routine and my books with this dramatic election news. It's that much harder on me, because this falls directly after Victor's visit, which had already thrown my off my routine for a couple of weeks. If only Hillary had one early last night, I'd probably be back to my comfortable ways and feeling a gentle and familiar boredom. At least the weather is cooler. I'm wearing sweatpants now. ... ... I suppose I should leave the puzzle aside this evening and work on putting the grocery list together. ... ... Seeing how I am fairly caught up with the grocery list, I better put the puzzle back. I have been flirting with the idea of opening my Master Poker program. Texas Hold 'Em has been on my mind, because I had the little fantasy during Victor's stay that they might get restless one evening and ask me for suggestions, leading me to get them into a little poker game. Everyone would put in five dollars to give the game a little edge and make it more interesting: no button, an ante, each player limited to making no more than one raise per betting round. And this fantasy got me thinking how this might be a nice way to spend time with a few friends, if I had any. ... ... I've come across the Poem du jour website. It has this neat feature where you can click up some quotes by some funny guys. Here's one from George Carlin: "We're all fucked. It helps to remember that." [Poemdujour.com] ... ... I opened the Master Poker game, after all. I can use a break from the puzzle, I think: it can seem a little slow and a grind. I have the poker game, I paid 60 dollars for it, and it is a good program: why not take advantage of it? Incidentally, if I did get Pop and Vic to play Hold 'Em, and I was the one instructing them on how to play, I now see that I would have made an interesting mistake. I would have only had one more card after the flop, calling this one the river card, thus making for six cards in play - the two hold-cards and the four common cards. I think I like this variation better. Seven cards has always struck me as too messy. Having one less betting round isn't such a bad idea either.
Soon, the sun will rise over Fargo. The road between here and Winnipeg feels longer than it did on Sunday, when I drove in. At the border, the guard paused before returning my passport. "Do you write your articles with a political bias?" he asked.
There didn't seem to be a good answer to that question. I was sent here to watch this moment pass, and describe what I see; but how to explain that my work is by nature an extension of me? "Man, I'm just coming to see what it looks like," I said. [WFP]
... ... A true statement. Binyamin Applebaum tweeted, “After months of chatter about the implosion of the Republican Party, we are instead witnessing the obviation of the Democratic Party.” [NYT] ... ... Miley Cyrus is crying over the election results. I wonder: when you are that rich and white, how can you feel it that hard? ... ... Vox headline: "Trump’s win is a reminder of the incredible, unbeatable power of racism." Lately, I had been noting that America is not that bad or evil, despite Trump's Republican nomination, because he won in a heavily fractured field of over a dozen candidates, and it seemed a certain thing that he was going to get creamed and sautéed in the general election. I said that I tended to seek consolation for my failure in the idea of a racist, bad America, and that I was doubtlessly wrong about that. Well, maybe I was right after all. ... ... I haven't been able to get into my routine and my books with this dramatic election news. It's that much harder on me, because this falls directly after Victor's visit, which had already thrown my off my routine for a couple of weeks. If only Hillary had one early last night, I'd probably be back to my comfortable ways and feeling a gentle and familiar boredom. At least the weather is cooler. I'm wearing sweatpants now. ... ... I suppose I should leave the puzzle aside this evening and work on putting the grocery list together. ... ... Seeing how I am fairly caught up with the grocery list, I better put the puzzle back. I have been flirting with the idea of opening my Master Poker program. Texas Hold 'Em has been on my mind, because I had the little fantasy during Victor's stay that they might get restless one evening and ask me for suggestions, leading me to get them into a little poker game. Everyone would put in five dollars to give the game a little edge and make it more interesting: no button, an ante, each player limited to making no more than one raise per betting round. And this fantasy got me thinking how this might be a nice way to spend time with a few friends, if I had any. ... ... I've come across the Poem du jour website. It has this neat feature where you can click up some quotes by some funny guys. Here's one from George Carlin: "We're all fucked. It helps to remember that." [Poemdujour.com] ... ... I opened the Master Poker game, after all. I can use a break from the puzzle, I think: it can seem a little slow and a grind. I have the poker game, I paid 60 dollars for it, and it is a good program: why not take advantage of it? Incidentally, if I did get Pop and Vic to play Hold 'Em, and I was the one instructing them on how to play, I now see that I would have made an interesting mistake. I would have only had one more card after the flop, calling this one the river card, thus making for six cards in play - the two hold-cards and the four common cards. I think I like this variation better. Seven cards has always struck me as too messy. Having one less betting round isn't such a bad idea either.
