Tag Archives: politicians

September 5, 2016

BB #56: Sour Bubbles

Looking back over the trail of sour bubbles, obvious themes emerge: Society, Politics, Media, The Interweb. Important topics that affect and reflect us. Topics I find filled with dire signs and portents, chill winds carrying a hint of smoke that makes my neck hairs stand up straight.

For example, Vin Scully is retiring. If that’s not a sign of the coming apocalypse, I don’t know what one is. Adding insult, my Minnesota Twins are having a bad season of truly biblical proportions.

So, a strange sour silly summer…

2 Comments | tags: Anyone But Trump, democracy, democratic society, dogs, Dunning-Kruger effect, emotional mind, Google effect, internet, interweb, millennials, nevermore, opinions, politicians, rational mind, rational thought, stupid, stupid people, stupid stupid stupid, stupidity, Trump is a loser, Trump is a monster, truth, Vin Scully | posted in Brain Bubble, Politics, Society, The Interweb

September 2, 2016

BB #55: Thunder Bubbles

By Wyrd Smythe

astonished I was thunderstruck — brought to a speechless halt — by a thought I had last night while hanging out with friends and (as required by urgent social custom these days) the talk turned to the candy corn-colored bag of GOP chickens come home to roost.

The thought suddenly that occurred to me: We might actually end up being very grateful for Donald Trump for the very simple reason that Hillary Clinton might well be losing against any reasonable, and sane, GOP candidate!

We might otherwise have been looking at strong odds on a Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio presidency (and, no, poor Jeb! never had a chance; he just doesn’t have the right stuff).

7 Comments | tags: Anyone But Trump, candy corn, Democratic Party, Donald Trump, election 2016, GOP, Hillary Clinton, HRC, Melania Trump, nationalism, Penn & Teller, Penn Jillette, politicians, psychopath, Republican Party, sociopath, Trump is a loser, Trump is a monster | posted in Brain Bubble, Politics

August 25, 2016

BB #52: Orange Bubbles

By Wyrd Smythe

Election chances as calculated by the FiveThirtyEight website.

How is it that I live in a world in which the graph above is real?

18 Comments | tags: Ani Kokobobo, Anyone But Trump, democracy, Democratic Party, democratic society, Donald Trump, election 2016, GOP, Hillary Clinton, HRC, Jennifer Rubin, Julian Zelizer, Khizr Khan, Michael Grunwald, politicians, Republican Party, Rosalie Chan, Trump is a loser, Trump is a monster | posted in Brain Bubble, Politics

August 22, 2016

BB #50: Blog Bubbles

By Wyrd Smythe

There is no question ‘the urge to write is strong in this one’ but these days I’m weary (on many levels) of writing structured blog posts. At the same time, after so many years of writing for presentation, it’s hard to relax one’s own rules enough for a major style change. But it’s what I keep reaching for.

Seeking that, as well as catharsis from a world that has either gone mad, or — at the very least — is driving me mad, I realized, a-ha: Brain Bubbles! While intended for off-the-cuff passing thought posts, many turned out as collections of related (or unrelated!) thought bubbles.

So pop the cork and let the bubbly flow…

Leave a comment | tags: Anyone But Trump, comment section, democracy, democratic society, Donald Trump, election 2016, GOP, NPR, politicians, Republican Party, social change, social issues, social media, Trump is a loser, Trump is a monster | posted in Brain Bubble, Politics, Society

August 19, 2016

The Week of Aug 14

By Wyrd Smythe

With modern live moving at such a fast pace, the span of a week often moves things along rapidly (even when one has deliberately taken the rat race off-ramp). My personal life doesn’t change much (because of that whole off-ramp thing), but the world at large careens along in its usual Zippy way.

But as I continue the summer project of converting my long-time storage room into an office-library (as intended when I moved in back in 2003), I do unearth long-lost personal archeology finds that take me back. A few bits go back to high school, but a lot of it is from college.

One significant find is from a few years after…

4 Comments | tags: Anyone But Trump, democracy, Democratic Party, democratic society, dialectic, Donald Trump, election 2016, GOP, Hillary Clinton, HRC, Khizr Khan, Olympics, politicians, Republican Party, social issues, social media, Trump is a loser, Trump is a monster, tyranny of the majority, US Constitution | posted in Life, Politics, Society

March 26, 2016

Birds and Bernie

By Wyrd Smythe

Bernie Sanders receives an endorsement from Finches!

So… The week began with a bomb in Brussels and a baseball game in Cuba. On one side of the Earth, images of terror and oppression; on the other, images of joy and freedom. It forms a literal global Yin-Yang reflecting the best and worst of human goals and actions.

From such high stakes and matters of import, the week quickly descended into the sewer, as the National Embarrassment led the Republican Party to new lows this election cycle.

5 Comments | tags: Anyone But Trump, Barack Obama, Bernie Sanders, birds, Brussels, Cuba, democracy, Democratic Party, democratic society, election 2016, finches, freedom, GOP, politicians, President Obama, Republican Party, Trump is a loser, Trump is a monster | posted in Politics

March 10, 2016

Great Again

By Wyrd Smythe

I think I’ve come full circle on Donald Trump. It’s an opposite circle from the one I traveled with William Shatner (and Bill Clinton and Barack Obama). This time I started out appalled, began to rethink my position, but moved back to appalled after all. So while I’m back to liking Shatner, Clinton, and Obama, I’m also back to hating Donald Trump.

His disgraceful apparent behavior, regardless of who he really is behind the circus ringmaster, is enough to disqualify him from politics (let alone from the Presidency of the USA).

His slogan claims he’ll make America great again. The “again” deserves some unpacking, but I got to thinking about the “great” part…

17 Comments | tags: Anyone But Trump, democracy, democratic society, Donald Trump, election 2016, GOP, politicians, Republican, Republican Party, social change, Trump is a loser, Trump is a monster, US Postal Service, USA, USAnian | posted in Politics, Rant

March 2, 2016

Minnesota Bern!

By Wyrd Smythe

Well, ya, sure, you betcha! I just gotta say that I couldn’t be more pleased that my state, good old Minnesota, is the first one to show some good old-fashioned common sense! We’re the first one to say No! to the strange political circus that has everyone in thrall.

In his speech last night, Trump bragged that he’d won a bunch (it was just incredible; tremendous; America’s gonna be great again) and done no worse than second place otherwise.

Not so fast there, Donnie Boy! Feel the Bern from Minnesota!

20 Comments | tags: Anyone But Trump, Bernie Sanders, democracy, Democratic Party, democratic society, Donald Trump, election 2016, GOP, Hillary Clinton, HRC, Idiocracy, Marco Rubio, Minnesota, politicians, Republican Party, Robert Frost, social change, social issues, The Road Not Taken, Trump is a loser, Trump is a monster | posted in Politics

February 27, 2016

Comment Section

By Wyrd Smythe

Watching the antics at the GOP debate this past week, I realized something: the Comment Section has won; it’s taken over public discourse. I wrote recently about how the interweb, especially Twitter, has embedded into modern life. Now I realize just how true that is!

Think about this: Republican candidates for one of the highest and most important public offices in the world — the so-called Leader of the Free World — are exchanging third-grade insults about sweating and pant wetting.

Surely fart jokes are just a drop in the polls away.

4 Comments | tags: Anyone But Trump, bat-poop bonkers, bat-shit crazy, Bernie Sanders, democracy, Democratic Party, democratic society, dialectic, Donald Trump, election 2016, Facebook, funny, GOP, Hillary Clinton, HRC, humor, Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio, politicians, Republican Party, social change, social issues, social media, Ted Cruz, Trump is a loser, Trump is a monster, Twitter, YouTube | posted in Politics, Rant

February 23, 2016

Frog in Hot Water

By Wyrd Smythe

Do you know the story about the frog in hot water? A frog in a pot of cold water sits happy and content while the water is slowly brought to a boil. This happens so slowly that the frog doesn’t notice… until it’s too late and frog legs are on the appetizer menu.

As with most such tales it may not bear close scrutiny, but as a metaphor for the human condition it fits a certain behavior rather well. We can sometimes remain blissfully unaware of small — but dangerous — changes around us… until it’s too late.

I’m reminded of that frog as I watch this election cycle.

3 Comments | tags: Anyone But Trump, Batman, Bernie Sanders, Citizen Kane, democracy, Democratic Party, Donald Trump, election 2016, GOP, Hillary Clinton, IMDB, interweb, Marco Rubio, Marshall McLuhan, media, politicians, Republican Party, social change, social issues, social media, Ted Cruz, Trump is a loser, Trump is a monster, Twitter | posted in Opinion, Politics