WORSE THAN WATERGATE

03/25/201703/25/2017 / Marilyn Armstrong / 24 Comments

This was too good not to post. If you’ve already watched it, then you know and of course, if you’ve been following U.S. national events, you also know. But this is a very good wrap up and I didn’t know whether I should laugh or cry. Both? Because this is the worst of times for the U.S. … but maybe, if we prove we have a country that can withstand the worst, maybe it’s after all, a good time. The world is a crazy place and this is one crazy time to be living in it.

http://player.theplatform.com/p/7wvmTC/MSNBCEmbeddedOffSite?guid=n_maddow_atrump_170324

Someone commented yesterday (I wish I remembered who and I apologize) that “When you elect a game show host without any experience in government or legislation to run the United States, what could possibly go wrong?”

I think we are beginning to see an answer to that.

I feel so young again. Just like watching the press tear Nixon a new one, I get to watch a daily rundown of “How bad can it get? Film at 11!” There is nothing they can run on television that could be as fascinating as what is playing out in Washington DC. I feel downright young again.

MEANINGLESS? WHAT? YOU WANT ME TO TALK ABOUT MEANINGLESS?

03/25/201703/25/2017 / Marilyn Armstrong / 21 Comments

Meaningless? Don’t talk to me about meaningless!

Allow me to refer you to my most recent post, which I coincidentally published a couple of weeks ago. It really does say it all and I’m not up to saying the whole thing again. I have included the lively center of the post for your perusal.

We spend too much time trying to figure out what life means and too little time doing the stuff we enjoy. I suppose it’s normal to wonder if the reason you are sick, broke, or miserable is the result of something you did or failed to do. Normal, but a waste of time and energy because I’m going to explain everything and you’ll never have to wonder again.

Learning to accept the randomness of stuff that happens is tough. We want life to make sense. We want order. We want our messes and disasters to be important, meaningful. I’m pretty sure that some god has a message about this.

I’ve put a good bit of thought into why my life has regularly fallen apart. I know I’m imperfect, but whatever I’ve done wrong, it’s small potatoes in the scheme of things. Even in my darkest moments I doubt I’m so wicked that The Big Guy has in for me. Then I had an epiphany.

You can believe what you want, but you can’t know any more than I do. Believe as hard as you want. Believing isn’t knowing.

I KNOW NOTHING. NEITHER DO YOU.

Accepting you know nothing is a big step, so take a deep breath. Your next challenge will be how you can cash in on this new knowledge. What’s the point unless you can awe people with your brilliance — and make a few bucks?

WORDS

You need the right vocabulary to dazzle your audience. Impressively large words (4 or more syllables) in the right context can showcase your education and intelligence. People will make little cooing sounds to show their admiration.

Big words enhance your likelihood of getting a management position. You can write important books. Have a blog like me and I know you want to be just like me. Big words can take you a long way, if you are skilled at deploying them.

I will not repeat the entire post, but if by any chance you missed it — unlikely because I run with this one at least twice a year … it sums up my relationship with philosophy. Who knew it would take an entire lifetime to discover I don’t know anything and neither do you? But you can take a look at it the whole thing: WHEN NOTHING MEANS ANYTHING.

For some obscure reason, knowing nothing really empowers me. Go figure, right?

NO SUCH THING AS A STUPID QUESTION

03/25/201703/24/2017 / Marilyn Armstrong / 12 Comments

I used to work in advertising, an industry about which it can be said — without fear of argument or contradiction — there’s no such thing as a stupid question.

Or, for that matter, a stupid answer. It is an industry with a passion for stupidity. It embraces it. An industry in which the demographic bottom line makes a slow third-grader look like a budding Einstein.

When I worked at Doubleday, we used to put warning labels on books. “Warning: May contain sexually explicit material.”

Half the time, there was no sexually explicit material. It was boilerplate. We put it on boring books to make them look spicy. No surprise, we got complaints from customers who sought in vain for The Good Parts, but had found nothing but … literature. We pointed out we had said:

**“MAY contain sexually explicit material.”**

We hadn’t actually promised it. No guarantees, implicit, implied, or whatever.

calvin klein underwear

In the name of pure research, I asked my husband if he, as a man (not as my husband, as a reporter, or as an otherwise intelligent human being) thought naked women in men’s underwear advertising would be a good idea. He said (and I quote): “Well, it would probably be a smart advertising ploy.”

Psychological, sociological, or cultural explanations? Nah. Irrelevant. It’s about money. Advertisers will do anything to sell the product. Sex sells. It always has. Always will. Put a naked body on the cover of any book and it will sell better (not to me, but to somebody somewhere). The same book without a naked person will sell fewer books. Fact, not opinion.

Getting back to the important issue of marketing men’s underwear. The kid had a point. While I think women wearing the men’s underwear might confuse customers (presumably men), as you can see, there is far from universal agreement on that point. Of course there ought to be sexy, naked women selling men’s underwear. They should be gazing at it with longing. Rubbing it all over their bodies while they gasp with pleasure. Caressing their breasts with it.

As for the larger question — why aren’t men’s underwear manufacturers already doing this kind of advertising? Who says they aren’t?

EVENTUALLY, YOU WIN

03/25/201703/25/2017 / Marilyn Armstrong / 18 Comments

Three months after entering office, Drumpf got a whacking. He has gotten past other whacks, including people murmuring “treason” when his name comes up. That’s a little something to look forward to in our near future.

Today’s whacking was political … but it was more than that. It was also an unmistakable recognition that our system works. Turns out, 45 doesn’t run the government. If he wants to get anything done, he will will need help.

From … gasp …

Democrats!

Which was exactly what I expected because I can add on my fingers. (I hope you are impressed.)

Although Republicans are in power, the question remains: “What do you mean by Republicans?” This isn’t the GOP of old. Although in power, the party has razor-thin numbers. Moreover, the GOP is cracked up the middle and down both sides. The party has been breaking apart for years. It’s not unlike what happened to the Democrats when the “Dixiecrats” finally broke from the Democratic Party and moved to the other side. Tea Party ultra-rightists have been holding the GOP for ransom since 2008. This week they did to their own party what they have done to the Democrats for all eight Obama years.

They said no.

First, the White House tried to create a policy that would have been unpopular with everyone. That should have satisfied the right wingers, but it wasn’t evil enough. They wanted it all and when they didn’t get it, they said no. The failed attempt to ameliorate the ultra-right turned the moderates from “I’ll think about it” to “absolutely no way.”

Meanwhile, the media was having a great time. They deserved it. Personally, I felt like it was Watergate all over again. Me and the television, watching in utter fascination as the process played out.

And so our president realized — for the first time — he could not count on his party to vote for him or his policies. To accomplish anything, he will have to reach across that long, empty aisle and find Democrats willing to work to create policies that might benefit the people of this country. We’re not there yet, but the numbers are numbers. Unless this administration wants to go out on a record of nothing, they will have to … gasp …

Compromise.

Spice at the podium

WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 24: U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during a National Economic Council meeting in the Oval Office at the White House March 24, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images)

Drumpf thought he could yell at everyone. Twist arms. It didn’t work. In the end, politicians don’t work for the president. They work for voters. Election is the thing they can’t escape. Some of them may even have had other reasons, like a belief that voters deserved better healthcare than this monstrosity of a bill. After all these years, the Republican Party did not have a plan. For the past eight years, all they had to do was say no to everything. Now, they needed real legislation. Ideas. Policies.

Forty-five is blaming Democrats, but no one is buying it.

He’s the boss. His party owns both houses of congress. Failure to gain a simple majority goes to the top. No amount of pointing at the Democrats or anyone else will change it. Legislators will finally have to sit down together and create a plan. For everyone. Lives are at stake and no one wants to be the one who tells tens of thousands of voters they’ve been cast adrift to live or, more likely, die.

So what’s next? Anyone want to make a guess what will happen in the months to come? Three down, forty-five months to go.

It is going to be very interesting.