TODAY'S RAMBLINGS

Happy Monday.  Since Friday, I've had not one but two unexpected communications.  The first is important enough that it constitutes the majority of today's post, and the second is hot news from the world of art and appears below in UNWASHED MASSES. 

While both evoke the concept of false equivalence to some degree, it is the first where the contrast between what's important and less so is most stark.  It came via the stridently libertarian brewing cog Günther Strobel. 

Summary:  woke bullshit (which I have highlighted here previously and hate myself) transcends all else for Mr. Strobel.  You see, it seems Günther feels put upon and his voting is going to reflect that going forward.

I will now cede the floor to my dear friend, but I do have - shocker - an elitist comment or two at the conclusion.
 

I prefer to discuss these matters face-to-face over drinks, but I would like to address the paragraph containing the phrases “trashing anyone that’s not white and Christian and straight” and “seeking to divide us along cultural and geographic lines”, implying that the Democratic Party is more benign.
     
As a Cis( what?!), Heteronormative, Gender-Stable, Culturally-Christian, Straight, dripping-in-Privilege White Male (and Patriarch of a Nuclear Family to boot!), some members of the Democratic Party view me as a “problem” that needs to be “fixed”.  According to some Intersectionality chart, I am the Oppressor in a distorted Marxian sense.  A few of the terms above also define you, Mr. P Darwin, so perhaps you should check your “Unconscious Bias”( feel free to drop in any other Woke jargon here).  

I know your heroes Coates/DiAngelo, etc. will dismiss this as a textbook example of “White Fragility”.  I care not.  

Returning to the subject of dividing, I feel that some Democrats dream of uniting a coalition of POCAAPILGBTQIA to defeat “White Supremacy” which may include me, but seems to encompass everything from Capitalism to simply being punctual. 

A few years back, during the Reign of the Orange One, a prominent member of the Democratic Party stated, and I paraphrase, “We will not seek, or advocate for the vote of the White Working-Class.” I was stunned.  I know you like to think that Republicans don’t like Black people, but even they would accept the vote of working-class Blacks. 

Identity politics is a dangerous thing.  Actual white racists (remember skinheads?) failed to ignite a race war in the ‘80s but the Woke Democrats may yet achieve this.  A civil war would be the ultimate unintended consequence of “good intentions”.  Forgive my lack of nuance. 

Politically and economically, I prefer limited government and I’ll take my chances with the chaos of the Free Market over some government program based on “Equity”.  I may be a registered Republican, but I have no love for the GOP and I only registered because I live in San Francisco! 

At the Federal level, the Libertarian Party has provided an escape valve from the nausea of the Democratic and Republican parties.  At the local level, in the political monoculture of San Francisco, I have voted Democratic, but only to keep the Progressive/Democratic Socialists at bay. 

To conclude this brief, snarky and incomplete rant/response, I will say this.  For as long as the Democratic Party remains the Party of Political Correctness and the Guardians of the Woke, then at the Federal level, my answer must remain:  never.

Thank you, Günther.  I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to write this.

And I completely agree that The Psycho Woke need to get lives and go away.  Further, I despise identity politics and that stupidity needs to go away, too.  And there are plenty of assclowns in the Democratic party, no doubt.  Exit stage left, please.

But Mr. Strobel apparently missed a critical part of my post on Friday, and it is my overall response to him today.

So to Günther and all of my other libertarian or conservative or Republican friends:  this false equivalency isn't right and it's hurting our country.   We need to stand together and demand better of ourselves and our leaders, and small shit about protecting (or banning) drag queens doesn't matter.

Again, I hate identity and so-called "woke" politics at least as much as anyone.  And the Democrats fucking up their relationship with the working poor was/is stupid.

But it's the Republicans who gave us and continue to give us Trump.  They let a coordinated attempt to overthrow our government go unpunished.  They're banning books.  They are determined to control women's health care, and now the Republicans are threatening our financial standing in the world. 

While progressives and Democrats do plenty of stupid things (including hectoring conservatives and Republicans), and do their best to alienate those they should be attracting, it is just not the same as undermining our democracy and country. 

In other words, the two things are not equivalent. 

Wow, it is great to be elite and on the right side of history.  Have a great week.

FROM THE UNWASHED MASSES

From the ridiculous to the sublime.  When one's famous artist cousin decides your own art is worthy of inclusion in a lecture he's giving - well, let's just say I was floating around my apartment on Friday when I got wind of this.

As you'll recall, my first cousin is Charles Clough, an artist of some renown.  This Saturday, .May 13th, he is speaking on the topic of art over time, on a Zoom session held at an historic lodge outside of Buffalo.  He's doing the same thing live a few days before onsite at the venue, the Textbook Roycroft. 

And in some kind of fit of artistic madness, he is including my new AI Art Gallery in his talk (!).

The virtual talk will be a tad early for us - 8AM - but here's the link and I hope you'll join me this coming Saturday.

Next:  I had a feeling at least one reader would take issue with Mr. J's comments regarding Oakland losing its pro sports teams because of the city's problems with crime, homelessness, public schools, etc.  That reader - in a surprise to no one - was Hunter Deuce, and folks, he came in fast and hard.

I don't know who Mr. J is, but he really needs to pull his head out of his ass.
 
The city of Oakland has always had issues, but that didn't deter the A's from drawing a little over 2 million fans in one season just 9 years ago.  I would love to hear him explain specifically how the issues he describes are related to the A's or Raiders leaving Oakland.

KLUF

Fun Fact:  Ebony and Ivory is Günther Strobel's favorite song.