In folly ripe, in reason rotten

Headline in today’s New York Times:

Of course, we’ve been here before—with Roman Polanski, for instance (I wrote about his case here: https://drnormalvision.blogspot.com/2017/12/a-little-mistake-brief-look-at-satire.html).

A good number of show biz names leaped to the defense of the man who “gave a 13-year-old girl a Quaalude and champagne, then raped her . . .”(1), among the most egregious of them (considering the context) were Harvey Weinstein and Woody Allen. One Swiss filmmaker extolled Polanski as a “brilliant fantastic genius, [and] millions and millions of people love his work.”(2)

In Gérard Depardieu’s case, the letter defending him asserts that he is “probably the greatest of actors” and as a “genius” who has made France shine worldwide. The celebs for the defense actually make no case for the defense, preferring to claim that a “lynching” is going on. Such language actually undermines their defense by associating the accusations of Depardieu’s sexual offenses with the horror of the murders of innocent black men. No one has a tree picked out for the Frenchman, nor do they have a length of rope at the ready.

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I dealt with the issue of bad people doing good things in another post (https://drnormalvision.blogspot.com/2014/11/que-bella-voce.html), in which I referred to the case of Baruch Lebovits, a cantor who was found guilty of sexual abuse of a minor. Rising to the defense of this predator, “nearly eighty people sent letters to the judge, requesting mercy for Lebovits. They described him as charitable, kind, blessed with a beautiful singing voice . . .”(3)

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What lesson do we take away from this? I suppose one might be: Establish yourself as a person of talent (a singer, actor, writer, painter), get yourself a claque of admirers, encourage them to seek out the extremities of hyperbole, and in no case have them address the evidence pointing to your guilt.   

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(1) Kate Harding, https://www.salon.com/2009/09/28/polanski_arrest/

(2) http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/09/29/hollywood.embraces.polanski/

(3) http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/11/10/outcast-3 

Safe in America?

Hey, fellow Jews! They love us. Well, that’s slightly exaggerated; the truth is that Jews are looked upon by fellow Americans more positively than any other religious group. Here’s the evidence:(1)

So why are Jews so miserable? 

Some headlines:

'Not safe anywhere now'(2)

Poll: 70% of US Jews feel less safe than before (3)

Maybe it’s because “2022 saw the highest rate of recorded antisemitic incidents in the US.”(4)

Eric Levitz, in New York magazine, while asserting that "[t]he acceptable number of antisemitic hate crimes is zero," takes a basically “not to worry” stance toward reports of Jewish alarm.

There are 7.3 million Jews in America. Only an infinitesimal fraction of American Jews suffer acts of prejudicial violence, vandalism, or harassment in a given year. And by virtually every other metric, our community is thriving. We enjoy an extraordinary amount of political, economic, and cultural power in the U.S.

Levitz claims that even the Republicans, “for a party of reactionary nationalism, . . . are unusually Jew-friendly.”

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Then again, there’s always Texas.

Members of Texas Republican party free to associate with Nazi sympathizers(5)

In a 32-29 vote, the party’s executive committee decided against excluding from their organization those "known to espouse or tolerate antisemitism, pro-Nazi sympathies or Holocaust denial."

The issue wasn’t hypothetical. 

Two months previous, 

a prominent conservative activist and fundraiser was caught hosting white supremacist Nick Fuentes . . .

In October, The Texas Tribune published photos of Fuentes, an avowed admirer of Adolf Hitler who has called for a “holy war” against Jews, entering and leaving the offices of Pale Horse Strategies, a consulting firm for far-right candidates and movements.(6)

That’s the same Nick Fuentes who had dinner with Donald J. Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Nov. 21, 2023 together with Kanye West, “who has also been denounced for making antisemitic statements.”(7)

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The latest from Fuentes:

Nick Fuentes calls for death penalty to Jews, enemies of Donald Trump(8)

Feel safe now? 

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(1)  https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/12/how-bad-is-antisemitism-in-america-really.html

(2)  https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/not-safe-anywhere-now-american-jews-are-flocking-gun-training-classes-rcna120602

(3)  https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/poll-70-of-us-jews-feel-less-safe-than-before-israel-hamas-war/

(4) https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/13/us/us-jewish-community-fear-rise-antisemitism-reaj/index.html

(5) https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/04/texas-republican-party-vote-antisemitism

(6) https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/02/texas-gop-antisemitism-resolutio n/

 “In a separate move that stunned some members, roughly half of the board also tried to prevent a record of their vote from being kept.”

(7) https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/25/us/politics/trump-nick-fuentes-dinner.html

  

 

  

  

Language Follies 8

 “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds . . .”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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It would have been more correct for Emerson to have stated,  “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of some little minds . . .” As evidence I call to the witness stand Marjorie Taylor Greene. 

In a recently published book, filled with “[v]enom, score-settling, fiction, self-absolution, self-aggrandizement,” according to the Guardian UK, (1) Representative Greene demonstrates that her little mind is consistency-free. On the one hand, she claims that “Democrats abandoned the House chamber to the rioters and exited without resistance, in contrast to brave, gun-toting Republicans”; on the other hand, she asserts that “innocent conservatives and MAGA  grandmas  . . . peacefully walked through the Capitol on January 6 instead of real threats.”

Rioters or peaceful grannies? Which were the brave, gun-toting GOPers guarding against?

It’s foolish to expect an answer from someone who dwells on Planet Wacko.

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I would suggest that Rep. Greene read the writing on the wall—at least the writing on the walls of some UK soccer fields and purchase the shoes that are “Designed for Connection.” Perhaps she could walk herself into a connection with reality, if not consistency.

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The intrusion of reality into a false world is one purpose of parody. 

Here’s a cigarette advertisement that ran for a good while in the latter part of the 1940s:

And here’s the parody (aka, reality):

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To finish the month with a flourish, I offer three of my favorite pieces of mail:

1. What Middlesex County, New Jersey has to say about Yosemite National Park in California I don’t know. But I am to be the spokesman. What an honor!

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2. 
   
   I am of course determined not to miss out on “$0 benefits.” Who wouldn’t be?

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     3.  Speaking of determined, I can’t wait to discover “THE BEST WAY TO PROCESS HINDQUARTERS.” 

Where’s my knife?

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Going to the supermarket? How can you resist buying a pizza sauce that’s “Pizzeria Style”?

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Back in the 1940s, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus was really customer-friendly; for the price of admission they gave you a seat.

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And while we’re in the 40s (1949, to be precise) let’s note that Marjorie Taylor Greene (she of the space lasers setting fire to California forests) had a congressional predecessor, Senator Owen Brewster, who claimed that forest fires in Maine were set by foreign saboteurs.

Plus ça change and all that. 

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(1) https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/mtg-review-far-rabble-rouser-070011370.html