Liberals, Take Your Lumps

 In response to a dear friend's discussion triggered by the response of spineless and flip-flopping republicans to various things Trump-related:

Your account is compelling, toothy, vivid and dead on. But the GOP world appears to be utterly chaotic and evil by design. I guess the question is how did elitist do nothing liberalism that started in the '90s enable and facilitate this phenomenon. The nihilistic version of the "right" was really hatched by Newt Gingrich. He never had any use for integrity which he viewed as chumpness. Winning was the thing. But I don't think we would have had a Newt without a Clinton. And the more I look at the American politics of my lifetime (the first presidential election I remember was Nixon/McGovern), the decline has hinged on a group of well off white liberals who became attached to the same material privileges their rich conservative counterparts derived from the decline of the middle class and the demonization of people of color. They became understandably obsessed with politics that shielded them from scrutiny, i.e. orthodoxies regarding terminology, microagressions, and eliminating scrutiny of libertinism. It became clear to many that presidencies and supermajorities wouldn't facilitate any of the actual policies that would restore the middle class, properly house and educate the poor, or sustantively right the wrongs of racism. The liberal elites had no intention as it turned out to change the course. They and their clients just wanted to slow the decline down a bit. I have to say, against all indications and instincts, Biden has proven to be the first president since Johnson to be willing to, and know how to do anything for non-rich people. And he didn't have any supermajorities like Clinton and Obama.

Espionage

 With Trump, whatever you think he might have done, it's always worse.  He's clearly hoarded secret documents to sell or to ward off Kompromat.  It's the most despicable, disgusting thing imaginable.  But it's been clear for years that Trump is a sadist and revels in wickedness and heartlessness.  He's always looking for new ways to transgress and win stress-tests of whatever systems America and humanity count on.

The Trump mob and the republicans in general have moved the goalposts many times and have done many scary and despicable things.  But this flirting with demonizing the FBI and their action is maybe the most dangerous and scary of all.  Without an intelligence system, we are susceptible to unthinkable levels of mischief from Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia etc.  If you are a republican, please stop.  Please think about this reckless act of self-destruction.

OT

From a FaceBook discussion:

As arguably the oldest book in the world, I don't think it cares much what we think, nor should it. If we assume that every sentence of a miraculously preserved record sent through eons of time and space to be immediately edifying in the way that motivational/inspirational quotes are, I think we are expecting the wrong things and missing out on the amazing things. Genesis, and the OT in general, if they have an overall theme, seem to be about how the chosen people, and, ultimately the Messiah (God), have a very checkered genealogy. We are all both divine and dirty. I mean, we're made out of dust and spirit.

George Crumb

 Trigger warnings: Crumb critique mixed in with admiration; use of an anachronistic word that is not recommended for current use, but that is felt to be essential to the understanding of historical states of mind:

I’ll confess that as a student I kind of detested Crumb's music as sissy, precious, and corny.  I loved rhythm and his music seemed to be all fermatas.  I felt like notation was a sort of necessary evil and should be as efficient as possible, his scores were self-indulgent and drew attention away from the music’s deficiencies.  (I had other issues I won’t go into.)  Of course, my attitude softened (as I did) with time and I began to admire many things about him and his music.  I particularly came to admire the fact that he did all of his highly original work while working as a music professor (at first, I  believe, in group piano classes).  But I also came to enjoy the way he played with the concepts of movements of various lengths (including very short) within a larger composition, something I did a lot of, possibly influenced by him.  I also came to admire his exquisite sense of tonal envelope, of decay, especially regarding the piano.  I think there were three post Debussy 20th century classical composers who seemed to understand the piano, and he was one of them.  Principally, he understood and utilized the incredible phenomena of extended decay and sympathetic resonance that make the piano a miraculous invention.  I have since come to enjoy the humor and audacity in his titles, narratives, literary/etc. references.  And, in the era of computer notation, his scores are, of course, works of art in themselves.  I sat directly behind him at an 8 hour Crumb marathon at Symphony Space in ’89 or ’90.  I wasn’t totally over my issues with his music, but the Space was a block from my apartment and it was, like, $7 or something.  The music got a little samey, and the corniness a little more evident after a few hours, but I watched Crumb the whole time and was touched by his humility, graciousness, etc.  Just a very nice, modest, thoughtful person who was really enjoying the music and the people, complimenting the performers, talking with and taking interest in whoever approached him.  Onward and upward, GC!