Wednesday Open Thread

14 thoughts on “Wednesday Open Thread”

1. From NYT story on Berlusconi before 2001 Italian election:

   In any self-respecting democracy it would be unthinkable that (the top candidate) would recently have come under investigation for, among other things, money-laundering, complicity in murder, connections with the Mafia, tax evasion and the bribing of politicians, judges, and the tax police…He won the election anyway.

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   1. This is a chronic problem with a democracy. You cannot prohibit stupid people from making poor decisions.

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      1. Yes, however, a country (“a self-respecting democracy”) can limit the stupidity and its harm with strong institutions, education, and the rule of law.

         But, strong institutions and education cost money.  And, knowledge and the rule of law is sometimes inconvenient to the “freedoms” of oligarchs and autocrats.  So now we have stupid as both an enabler, and the goal, of authoritarians, the right, and our modern GOP.

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         1. One such institution that can enable stupidity would be the media, and Berlusconi had some size of a media empire. Obviously media can play an outsized role in democracy by miseducating low-info voters. We've got our Fox here in the States, then you could look at problems like OAN, Truth Social, and right-wing incursions into other media whether it's social or not.

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            1. This individual saw the train coming down the track 60 years ago.

               Newton Minow's Vast Wasteland Speech: How It Changed TV | Time

               Remember, the Internet is simply TV on steroids.

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         2. Sadly, you cannot force-feed knowledge into an unwilling recipient's head. It is a waste of time, money and effort. It is also unfair to those who want to receive knowledge and information.

            We will always have stupid low-information people amongst us. (I know. It is not PC to call people "stupid.") The euphemism is "low information.")

            I have several members of my family who are ignorant and proud of it. It makes life simpler and less frustrating when one is not overwhelmed with information to process.

             

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            1. I'm not really up on the PC thing so…is calling them fucking morons okay? 

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            2. I prefer the term "willfully ignorant"

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               1. Seems like maybe understatement for some — "willfully fucking ignorant moron" or maybe just "willfully fucking ignorant"?  (Does seem to require a "fucking" somewhere though, IMO . . .)

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2. The Southern Taliban Convention has decided that Wimmins cain't be no preacherman no more!

   The letter in October came as a shock to Linda Barnes Popham, who had been pastor of Fern Creek Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, for 30 years, the first woman to lead her congregation. She had served in ministry even longer, since she started as a pianist at age 16.

   But now, she read in the letter, officials of the Southern Baptist Convention had received a complaint about her church being led by a woman. The denomination was investigating, it said.

   https://youtu.be/e4q6eaLn2mY

    

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   1. Remember, it was only a century or two ago that most of them accepted the idea that women were actually human beings and not merely jezebels and temptresses. 

      BTW, whoever expected Rick Warren to be accused of being as a progressive and a feminist (of sorts)?

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   2. The most the Southern Baptists could do would be to refuse to seat the congregation's delegates at their Assembly, remove them from lists of "Southern Baptist" congregations, and whinge about how a woman ought not be a pastor.  I don't even think they can force the church congregation to stop using the word "Southern" in the name. I'm figuring that the Southern Baptist rigidity is likely to trigger even more congregations to leave, and even more individuals (like Jimmy Carter) to leave, too. They can explain away the trend, I suppose … but the numbers are pretty clear:

      https://research.lifeway.com/2023/05/09/southern-baptists-decline-in-membership-grow-in-attendance-baptisms/

       

      One of my sisters is an ordained minister, following in the footsteps of female pastors we had at the congregation I grew up in.

       

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3. This is how it's done ….

   Looks like the 20 non-Trump Republican House – who knew there were that many – spared Adam Shiff censure and possible $16 million fine today.

   Republicans Save Democrat Adam Schiff From Their Own Party (msn.com)

    

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4. Isn't this nice? Now our friends on the far left will have a progressive alternative …

   Cornel West seeking Green Party nomination for presidential run | The Hill

    

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