Yes, is acceptable and even preferable to stop and pet a dog, President Biden is after all a dog lover. Do we ignore the catcalls from the GOP or call it what it is? That party has lost it’s way and has subscribed to the facist narrative of a now disgraced former president and they politicize everything. It is upon us in the opposition not to follow suit. Deal with facts, tell the truth, let the courts decide what the facts are and move on to promote a reasonable, democratic and positive voice for democracy.
Thank you for an excellent column. One additional point, the boots on the dog illustrate the dangers of heat on animals. Whether the ground is hot due climate change or this previously unfathomable disaster that occurred due to it; the boot wearing dog is a reminder of the work that must be done to stop climate change and it tragic consequences.
Dogs can tell you a lot about people. They know when someone is bad or not to be trusted. Dogs tell us about people in another way: whether someone likes or dislikes dogs. I would never trust someone who doesn't like dogs. Biden likes dogs. Trump doesn't. That tells me a lot.
I agree that the saner heads in both parties must work together to find and exploit the common ground that we share. The common ground of maintaining our democracy.
But we must also not give up on trying to convince those still on the fence that the dangers of a Fascist style government outweigh the faults of our Democracy.
My fervent prayer is that when all of the 'dust' (noise) settles from the litigation come, eyes will begin see and ears will be able to hear voices of reason and kindness that are being drowned out in the cacophony of the moment. Let this be an urgent prayer for all.
Frankly, I don’t care what Republicans say. Their dear leader is an infantile giant toddler who does not weigh anywhere near 215 pounds -closer to 315 pounds- who spends most of his time ranting and calling people names on social media he is loony And a criminal
Points so well said and taken, again, Stephen! I just have to add that the petting a dog crime of Joe Biden brings to mind the tan suit or styrofoam cup ignominies of Barrack Obama. Neither one of them have ignorantly claimed to be “very stable geniuses” like the other guy.
Sorry for my polarizing comments. I really did not miss your points above about the dire consequences of unbending tribalism. Sometimes we have to build each other by pointing out the vast disparity of what is called out as wrongdoing. It’s hard to miss the difference.
Personally, I prefer to associate with folks who are kind to animals. It serves no healthy purpose to condemn another for being kind to an animal or a person. So, what's the point? Dismissal of those who show no compassion or tolerance for animals or people is simply the only solution to sanity.
Quote: "We are living in an unusually binary time." End quote. A house divided soon falls. The divisive psychopathy that has its grip on our country is causing and doing great harm. Sadly, more often than not, the hateful naysayers come from the right-wingers. Consider for a moment the remarks from the "new kid on the [Republican] block, Vivek Ramaswamy, calling Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) part of the “modern KKK.” Does Ramaswamy actually KNOW what the KKK stood and stands for? He likely would have been on their hit list a century ago. After all, his is not white. He is brown. He would not pass their "race-purity" test.
[According to Trump] "America has become a crueler, less forgiving, more politically violent and precarious place." Yep. And, THEY/Trump are at the epicenter of this horrid period in our history. Trump spews out volumes of hate and lies faster than a leaf-blower blows. Trump and his acolytes WANT division because that paves the way for their great plan for an American autocracy. One can trace the genesis of this assault on the Untied States back to Reagan and Gingrich.
As to President Biden's remarks, give it a rest people! The MEDIA is quick to leap for the insult. Joe Biden demonstrates humanity where the Trumpers demonstrate inhumanity and guile. The MEDIA thrives on dissention, hate, division, rage, and anger. The MEDIA ties into and celebrates the dark soul of the human. God forbid they would lift up and celebrate all the GOOD that the Biden administration has brought us in the last two years! Leaning once again on one of my favorite comic strip characters, Pogo, "I have seen the enemy, and he is us." Replace the 'us' with "Republican", and one knows who the real enemy is.
Complexity, details and nuance tend to get lost in large part because so much information and so many voices are coming at us all the time. Binary brief messages have a better chance of cutting through the noise. Our attention spans have shrunk to a few seconds reducing communication to “tweet size” bites bolstered by other strategies to gain attention. Marketers use certain sounds,& key words. Politicians use code words & visuals that hit you in your gut.
Ramaswamy trotted out a white supremacist talking point: people of color are the real racists and we are the victims. He only used black people to make his point.
DEsantis did the same thing with a twist when he & his spokesperson accused Dems of dressing up like nazis to launch a smear campaign. Never condemned nazis.
I’ve not decided if he/his education people were trolling or so incompetent that the list of enslaved people who “benefited” were mostly never enslaved or small children when freed. I mention trolling because Betty Washington Lewis was not only never enslaved she was white, George Washington’s sister and a slave owner.
I’m not looking for common ground in some of these places.
Well stated! Sound bites CAN turn around and bite. In so many ways Ramaswamy is on the wrong side of his generation's history. But, he sees himself as brilliant and entitled. As my mother mght have said, "Too full of himself". Only, he has the luxury of personal wealth to bolster his hideous ideas: Raising the voting age to 25?! When I was serving in the Military, one had to be 21 to vote. As a friend once mused, you could die for your country at 18 and vote for her only when reaching 21.
I think of him as a political foil useful to certain pols: “By providing a different perspective on the central conflict, foil characters can help to advance the plot and make the story more engaging.”
On the issue of attacking black people his avoiding brown people motivated by something else. Many cultures have a different idea about what ‘white’ represents. Understandable since it is a made up ‘thing’. And then there is the old definition of Caucasian:
--Anthropology. (no longer in technical use) of, relating to, or characteristic of one of the traditional racial divisions of humankind, marked by fair to dark skin, straight to tightly curled hair, and light to very dark eyes, and originally inhabiting Europe, parts of North Africa, western Asia, and India.
Years ago, when living in New England, I had friends who are from India. They were well-educated (studied in Britain) and exceedingly polite & gracious. Plus, were hardworking. Vivek claims to be a Brahmin. Not impressed. Some Bostonian Anglicans claim that nom de plume. Vivek has written several books, none of which I have or will read. His parents immigrated from India. His personal ideology suggests he be monitored carefully.
I'm off subject and will read the entry soon, but currently I'm prepping for a hurricane on the west coast of FL. Hurricanes happen, but global warming makes everything bad. No more (letter I) hurricanes...Irma, Ian, now Idalia. GO AWAY! Send good thoughts our way 🙏.
You know I dig ya, Steve, but methinks this is not worthy of your attention. Or ours. Is it really news? Let’s move past the noises these creatures make.
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.” - Marcus Aurelius
Hey, Steve, what was wrong with recognizing that the rescue dog was wearing footwear to protect its paws from the hot ground? Have the Republicans gone crazy to try and find anything to criticize about Joe? Answer: damn right stupid as well as crazy! So why was it “probably” a little “careless”?
Agree but just to play devil's advocate here -- many, many people died on that very same hot ground. It wasn't the most tactful remark. However, in criticizing Joe Biden for petting a dog, the Rs make themselves look utterly ridiculous and show once again that they have lost their tiny minds.
Excellent piece @StevenBeschloss. I will start with your paragraph about finding something to say about Trump that is not only true but has a little compassion. Re: the Supreme Court: what do Clarence Thomas and his wife have against ethics and transparency and honesty? I wish I could dig deeply and find something not extreme to say about them, just as you found something to say about Trump. Likewise I have nothing to say about MTG and her cronies that could be printed here as you always end your posts asking us to be respectful. For the GOP to criticize @POTUS about a dog comment that maybe was not the most artful shows just how low the GOPhas gotten. Those rescue dogs are doing such vital work. Service dogs also help people with disabilities. No one is perfect. @POTUS is human. And like every worker in America ( and thankfully I am 9 years happily retired) @POTUS is entitled to vacation and down time. Instead of focusing on dog comments the GOP should spend their working time trying to help lift up the lives of Americans who are not able to partake in the American dream, trying to enact laws that make women equal to men and give women choice over their own healthcare and the GOP should take a course in kindness and try to find the positive in every situation instead of building a world where everything is controversy and trying to take down the other side.
Thank you for your reasoned and thoughtful essay. I think we have to go on the path of protecting our democracy and really ignore Trump - it’s all blather and only for his base. He is not making inroads into independents at all. We have to elect our local and state representatives who will protect us not make screwball laws about gender, women, education, books. Since the GOP and the crazies have take over the red states, we have to be sure we maintain our states and make inroads into the GOP’s hold on the red states. A lot of people supposedly from blue states moved to red states in the last few years and that will affect the vote as well. Voting is simple but at the same time complex. It is our right and our duty to do so.
These critical people probably turn off "MASH" in total disgust, right? Light (or in Mash's case, not so light) humor to relieve tension in horrible situations.
There certainly are times I'm feeling as though there's a gun to my head, so to speak, and that I ought to be trying to ease the situation by seeking some connection to the gun holder, or at least an explanation of what occurred to bring whatever issue it is to this point.
This is the "being at a total loss" effect that clear thinking folks are dealing with, as you point out in this post, when it comes to trying to get a grip on needs of those who want to live in MAGAstan. We want to stop it from progressing but it's like trying to catch running water in ones hand--try as we they might, the water finds its way around and through.
So, let's hope a rude awakening descends on the MAGA-taliban, once the sentencing phase begins. Or, let's assure that an unassailable trouncing in the next election disarms this lot!
Yes, is acceptable and even preferable to stop and pet a dog, President Biden is after all a dog lover. Do we ignore the catcalls from the GOP or call it what it is? That party has lost it’s way and has subscribed to the facist narrative of a now disgraced former president and they politicize everything. It is upon us in the opposition not to follow suit. Deal with facts, tell the truth, let the courts decide what the facts are and move on to promote a reasonable, democratic and positive voice for democracy.
Can anyone honestly remember the last time any Republican did anything that was even slightly decent or humane?
Thank you for an excellent column. One additional point, the boots on the dog illustrate the dangers of heat on animals. Whether the ground is hot due climate change or this previously unfathomable disaster that occurred due to it; the boot wearing dog is a reminder of the work that must be done to stop climate change and it tragic consequences.
Arizona dogs have to wear booties to walk in the summer unless their owners are smart enough to take them at 5 AM!
Dogs can tell you a lot about people. They know when someone is bad or not to be trusted. Dogs tell us about people in another way: whether someone likes or dislikes dogs. I would never trust someone who doesn't like dogs. Biden likes dogs. Trump doesn't. That tells me a lot.
I agree Art.
I agree that the saner heads in both parties must work together to find and exploit the common ground that we share. The common ground of maintaining our democracy.
But we must also not give up on trying to convince those still on the fence that the dangers of a Fascist style government outweigh the faults of our Democracy.
My fervent prayer is that when all of the 'dust' (noise) settles from the litigation come, eyes will begin see and ears will be able to hear voices of reason and kindness that are being drowned out in the cacophony of the moment. Let this be an urgent prayer for all.
Well said!
Frankly, I don’t care what Republicans say. Their dear leader is an infantile giant toddler who does not weigh anywhere near 215 pounds -closer to 315 pounds- who spends most of his time ranting and calling people names on social media he is loony And a criminal
Points so well said and taken, again, Stephen! I just have to add that the petting a dog crime of Joe Biden brings to mind the tan suit or styrofoam cup ignominies of Barrack Obama. Neither one of them have ignorantly claimed to be “very stable geniuses” like the other guy.
Sorry for my polarizing comments. I really did not miss your points above about the dire consequences of unbending tribalism. Sometimes we have to build each other by pointing out the vast disparity of what is called out as wrongdoing. It’s hard to miss the difference.
Thank you.
Personally, I prefer to associate with folks who are kind to animals. It serves no healthy purpose to condemn another for being kind to an animal or a person. So, what's the point? Dismissal of those who show no compassion or tolerance for animals or people is simply the only solution to sanity.
Quote: "We are living in an unusually binary time." End quote. A house divided soon falls. The divisive psychopathy that has its grip on our country is causing and doing great harm. Sadly, more often than not, the hateful naysayers come from the right-wingers. Consider for a moment the remarks from the "new kid on the [Republican] block, Vivek Ramaswamy, calling Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) part of the “modern KKK.” Does Ramaswamy actually KNOW what the KKK stood and stands for? He likely would have been on their hit list a century ago. After all, his is not white. He is brown. He would not pass their "race-purity" test.
[According to Trump] "America has become a crueler, less forgiving, more politically violent and precarious place." Yep. And, THEY/Trump are at the epicenter of this horrid period in our history. Trump spews out volumes of hate and lies faster than a leaf-blower blows. Trump and his acolytes WANT division because that paves the way for their great plan for an American autocracy. One can trace the genesis of this assault on the Untied States back to Reagan and Gingrich.
As to President Biden's remarks, give it a rest people! The MEDIA is quick to leap for the insult. Joe Biden demonstrates humanity where the Trumpers demonstrate inhumanity and guile. The MEDIA thrives on dissention, hate, division, rage, and anger. The MEDIA ties into and celebrates the dark soul of the human. God forbid they would lift up and celebrate all the GOOD that the Biden administration has brought us in the last two years! Leaning once again on one of my favorite comic strip characters, Pogo, "I have seen the enemy, and he is us." Replace the 'us' with "Republican", and one knows who the real enemy is.
Complexity, details and nuance tend to get lost in large part because so much information and so many voices are coming at us all the time. Binary brief messages have a better chance of cutting through the noise. Our attention spans have shrunk to a few seconds reducing communication to “tweet size” bites bolstered by other strategies to gain attention. Marketers use certain sounds,& key words. Politicians use code words & visuals that hit you in your gut.
Ramaswamy trotted out a white supremacist talking point: people of color are the real racists and we are the victims. He only used black people to make his point.
DEsantis did the same thing with a twist when he & his spokesperson accused Dems of dressing up like nazis to launch a smear campaign. Never condemned nazis.
I’ve not decided if he/his education people were trolling or so incompetent that the list of enslaved people who “benefited” were mostly never enslaved or small children when freed. I mention trolling because Betty Washington Lewis was not only never enslaved she was white, George Washington’s sister and a slave owner.
I’m not looking for common ground in some of these places.
Well stated! Sound bites CAN turn around and bite. In so many ways Ramaswamy is on the wrong side of his generation's history. But, he sees himself as brilliant and entitled. As my mother mght have said, "Too full of himself". Only, he has the luxury of personal wealth to bolster his hideous ideas: Raising the voting age to 25?! When I was serving in the Military, one had to be 21 to vote. As a friend once mused, you could die for your country at 18 and vote for her only when reaching 21.
I think of him as a political foil useful to certain pols: “By providing a different perspective on the central conflict, foil characters can help to advance the plot and make the story more engaging.”
On the issue of attacking black people his avoiding brown people motivated by something else. Many cultures have a different idea about what ‘white’ represents. Understandable since it is a made up ‘thing’. And then there is the old definition of Caucasian:
--Anthropology. (no longer in technical use) of, relating to, or characteristic of one of the traditional racial divisions of humankind, marked by fair to dark skin, straight to tightly curled hair, and light to very dark eyes, and originally inhabiting Europe, parts of North Africa, western Asia, and India.
Years ago, when living in New England, I had friends who are from India. They were well-educated (studied in Britain) and exceedingly polite & gracious. Plus, were hardworking. Vivek claims to be a Brahmin. Not impressed. Some Bostonian Anglicans claim that nom de plume. Vivek has written several books, none of which I have or will read. His parents immigrated from India. His personal ideology suggests he be monitored carefully.
Give Vivek a break. He just got rid of his pacifier and blankie!😆
😂 I am reminded of a phrase my folks might have used: Young upstart!
Another great piece. I keep wondering where the "have you no sense of decency" moment might occur to break the fever, but I'm at a loss.
I worry that we had it and the answer was “no”.
We are in a bad place. Hopefully more clawing out than plummeting in.
I'm off subject and will read the entry soon, but currently I'm prepping for a hurricane on the west coast of FL. Hurricanes happen, but global warming makes everything bad. No more (letter I) hurricanes...Irma, Ian, now Idalia. GO AWAY! Send good thoughts our way 🙏.
Good luck be safe
Good luck.Be safe. I'm hoping for only rain in Bradenton.
You know I dig ya, Steve, but methinks this is not worthy of your attention. Or ours. Is it really news? Let’s move past the noises these creatures make.
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.” - Marcus Aurelius
Hey, Steve, what was wrong with recognizing that the rescue dog was wearing footwear to protect its paws from the hot ground? Have the Republicans gone crazy to try and find anything to criticize about Joe? Answer: damn right stupid as well as crazy! So why was it “probably” a little “careless”?
Agree but just to play devil's advocate here -- many, many people died on that very same hot ground. It wasn't the most tactful remark. However, in criticizing Joe Biden for petting a dog, the Rs make themselves look utterly ridiculous and show once again that they have lost their tiny minds.
Excellent piece @StevenBeschloss. I will start with your paragraph about finding something to say about Trump that is not only true but has a little compassion. Re: the Supreme Court: what do Clarence Thomas and his wife have against ethics and transparency and honesty? I wish I could dig deeply and find something not extreme to say about them, just as you found something to say about Trump. Likewise I have nothing to say about MTG and her cronies that could be printed here as you always end your posts asking us to be respectful. For the GOP to criticize @POTUS about a dog comment that maybe was not the most artful shows just how low the GOPhas gotten. Those rescue dogs are doing such vital work. Service dogs also help people with disabilities. No one is perfect. @POTUS is human. And like every worker in America ( and thankfully I am 9 years happily retired) @POTUS is entitled to vacation and down time. Instead of focusing on dog comments the GOP should spend their working time trying to help lift up the lives of Americans who are not able to partake in the American dream, trying to enact laws that make women equal to men and give women choice over their own healthcare and the GOP should take a course in kindness and try to find the positive in every situation instead of building a world where everything is controversy and trying to take down the other side.
Thank you for your reasoned and thoughtful essay. I think we have to go on the path of protecting our democracy and really ignore Trump - it’s all blather and only for his base. He is not making inroads into independents at all. We have to elect our local and state representatives who will protect us not make screwball laws about gender, women, education, books. Since the GOP and the crazies have take over the red states, we have to be sure we maintain our states and make inroads into the GOP’s hold on the red states. A lot of people supposedly from blue states moved to red states in the last few years and that will affect the vote as well. Voting is simple but at the same time complex. It is our right and our duty to do so.
These critical people probably turn off "MASH" in total disgust, right? Light (or in Mash's case, not so light) humor to relieve tension in horrible situations.
There certainly are times I'm feeling as though there's a gun to my head, so to speak, and that I ought to be trying to ease the situation by seeking some connection to the gun holder, or at least an explanation of what occurred to bring whatever issue it is to this point.
This is the "being at a total loss" effect that clear thinking folks are dealing with, as you point out in this post, when it comes to trying to get a grip on needs of those who want to live in MAGAstan. We want to stop it from progressing but it's like trying to catch running water in ones hand--try as we they might, the water finds its way around and through.
So, let's hope a rude awakening descends on the MAGA-taliban, once the sentencing phase begins. Or, let's assure that an unassailable trouncing in the next election disarms this lot!