Once more, I talk about what, I assume, everyone else is talking about today.
Perhaps I have the wrong end of the stick here and this massive nation wide rally was never supposed to have any direct political effect.
It’s just a way for people to express themselves en masse and demonstrate for their beliefs and make their political will known.
I suppose my relentless pragmatism makes me see the world in terms of what will solve the problem, and demonstrations ain’t it.
I have had further thoughts about my idea from the latter part of the video, though.
It would be called the American Hero Initiative and it would be framed as a call to action for politicians who want to be American Heroes and be part of the team that saves America from the forces of evil in this, her darkest hour.
Really push the idea that right now, they are surrounded by cowards and traitors, and it’s up to them to be willing to stand up and stand out and be the hero America needs.
Play up to that enormous American hero complex. Make it seem like they are the “only one person who can save the day” individualist hero they so admire.
And, of course, paint the alternative being as starkly, darkly villainous as possible.
“Are you ready to answer the call? Or will you let Lady Liberty down in her hour of need like all the other cowards and traitors?”
That kind of thing.
I am perfectly willing to push whatever buttons it takes in people in order to see that the side of the angels wins. I think that the left limits itself terribly with a very feeble and fearful sense of “fair play” that makes them incapable of the kind of emotional inspiration that the right specializes in.
There is nothing wrong with appealing to people’s emotions. Politics runs on inspiration. All the great leaders of the past were able to inspire people and bring them together and they didn’t do that with carefully researched white papers and logical arguments.
The battle is emotional and the right kind of leader inspires people by appealing to their hearts and their souls.
Because not everyone has a mind suited for rational discourse. That requires a certain level of cognitive strength and flexibility that is not universally shared.
But all life has emotions.
The left needs to abandon intellectualism and the sort of unconsciously bourgeoisie ivory tower thinking that makes it so hard for them to connect with working class people.
The first thing you have to lose is the snobbery and classism. You are not better than these people. They are your neighbors and their concerns are valid and real and worthy of consideration even if sometimes they can’t articulate them well.
And it has to come from a place of humility and equality. If you look down on them in any way, even just intellectually, they will feel it and they will mark you as one of the enemy and someone who is not on their side.
As opposed to Dumb Donnie. He preys on the people the left have left behind by at least being willing to lie to them convincingly.
Accept that some people can’t think their way to the truth. They are not built for it. They have employed emotional reasoning for nearly all their day to day decisions for most of their lives and it’s worked out well enough for them so far.
These people need leadership, and if they can’t get it from you, they will get it from scum-suckers like Dumb Donnie and be far worse off for it.
We could put Fox News out of business if we were willing to go to where they are, treat them with respect and humility, and try to see things their way.
And wouldn’t that be the enlightened thing to do?
More after the break.
Out of circulation
Once more, my life has become randomly more fucked up.
So I lay down for a nap. Already a risky prospect. Sleep a rough neighborhood for me.
I sleep a while. I wake up. I’m laying there like I do sometimes, just giving my brain time to catch up with the backlog of incomplete thoughts it always accumulates.
When suddenly I realize that I am shivering.
On a warm June night, I am shivering and shaking like I’ve got some old timey illness from the bad old days.
All while in my clothes and under my cozy comforter!
This did not come as a complete surprise. I’ve been feeling cold at odd times lately. Nothing like this chill but I’ll keep up from lying down and feel this layer of numbness on my skin, like I have been out in the cold for a while.
Basically I feel refrigerated. In June.
So obviously I am worried about this. I don’t think it’s yet another random symptom of dehydration although I am holding off on issuing a red alert until I’ve gotten at least a liter of water into me just in case.
But what really bothers me is the specter of low blood pressure. I’m on several blood pressure meds so it’s something I need to be aware of.
That and the fact that I don’t move around nearly enough to keep everything pumping and you can see why I have hypotension on my mind.
If my blood is not circulating enough, it’s not moving heat around my body enough, and that’s where feeling so cold comes in.
When I am done here, I am going to get up and grab the walker and walk around for a little while. Try to get the blood circulating so that I can feel the summer again.
I’ve had some success with just giving myself a bit of a wiggle. Flailing about with my arms and legs is not exactly calisthenics but it gets things flowing a bit better.
But I am determined to really get things flowing once I am up, so hopefully I have enough gas in the tank to do a bit of pacing and swinging my arms around.
God, i haven’t even mentioned the fact that because my fucking computer crashed while I was asleep, I ended up laying in bed till 9:30 pm when I normally get up and eat at around 8 pm.
Ain’t life ducky?
I will talk to you nice people again tomorrow.