I have to admit I am enjoying it immensely but Trump is falling apart in a rather spectacular manner. He is talking crazy and doesn’t seem to know it. I admit he talked crazy in the past but there seemed to be a method to his madness then and he mostly held it together to not obsess over petty grievances. Yes, he talked crazy but it seemed like he was just trying to rouse his voters. Now he is just talking crazy.

It is so nice to be a Harris supporter now because really she has a very low bar to jump here. She just doesn’t have to be old and crazy for 90 days. I pretty certain Harris can clear that bar. Really Harris should just aim for dull and boring and see how far that takes her because she is a shoe in to get the votes of that small number of people who bases their decision on a person’s sanity.

Also, I am so glad I don’t have to defend my Biden vote when people would ask “You are going to vote for senile old man.” I then would have to admit I would vote for Biden if he was sitting in a wheelchair and drooling uncontrollably while talking to his dead mother on live television. I simply didn’t care if the other choice was Trump. Now, I can comfortably gloat.

Who is voting for the crazy old man now.

I read Right Wing writers from time to time just in case lightening strikes and there is something valuable there. More often than not though it is a lot of whining about how the world used to be a better place before the modern world intruded on it. Roger Kimball represents this type of Right Wing writer.

Kimball knows what he is talking about. Some might even call him an intellectual. He has read all the right books, seen all the right art which enables him to throw the great names out with the best of them — Nietzsche, Marx, Van Gogh, Duchamp, Warhol and on and on. Dada that, Avant-Garde this. He gives the impression of someone who knows what he is talking about. But when all is said and done it is still whining and he reaches a shrill filled pitch in What the Right Gets Wrong About Art.

I provide the link above but don’t feel compelled to read it. It is difficult reading. He overwhelms the reader with his knowledge about art, history and philosophy. You might know a few things about art but he knows a lot of things. And I mean a lot but it rarely helps his argument. He is just rolling off facts at a rapid clip that I sometimes forgo what exactly was he talking abou. You can’t really argue with him which I think is the point. So be warned, don’t get too bogged down on reading this article, it will only make you crazy.

What I learned was that he truly hates modern art. He hates the artists who produce them. He hates the institutions who support them. He hates the politics the art is associated with. Modern Art is ugly. Furthermore, the art critic is unable to assess art as art because art is also political. The critic should only have to look at the canvas, the brush strokes, the colors and not consider anything about what might be going on in the artist’s life to make him paint this particular piece of art.

By this standard then Kimball would have you look at the statue of David without knowing any of the biblical history regarding David. In Kimball’s view, a person can be completely ignorant of the story of David and still be able to appreciate the art. Probably But that isn’t how it happens, is it? Most people who see the statue also know the story of David. Kimball acts as if artists before 1900 were simply creating beautiful art straight out of their heads instead of producing art that their benefactors wanted to see and, more importantly, buy.

From the title of his article, I was expecting a call to arms for right wingers to get out their paint brushes and canvases and start painting. Instead it really is a tirade against modern art without the context of how this is important and why a right wing movement in art would improve both culture and then politics. Kimball gives a weak analysis of why right wingers surrendered culture and art to the left. Apparently Right wingers don’t take art seriously because it isn’t necessary for life, not like business and science. Then, what is Kimball’s idea for changing this?

If Art is a luxury in the minds of the Right, an idea that Kimball obviously disagrees with, how does he propose changing what appears to be a very fixed idea among Right Wing people. Kimball offers the idea of beauty that art brings to life. The beauty of art gives human beings a glimpse at something greater than ordinary life. So why aren’t Right Wingers willing to give up on numbers and embrace beauty? Not a clue. More importantly, how does this change. Kimball has no ideas on how to change this dynamic.

I suspect Kimball sees the futility of his situation. The Right just isn’t interested in Culture. They are interested in Business and, to a lesser degree, Religion. They want a society committed to Capitalism and Christianity and have little interest beyond that which puts Kimball in a difficult position. The Left disagrees with him and the Right doesn’t care.

The truth is that there is nothing stopping Right Wingers from getting out their paintbrushes and having a go at it. As Kimball admits, it was the Right who abandoned culture, what then needs to happen is for the right to try and reclaim it and stop this awful whining. This also means that if politics is downstream from culture then Kimball is in big trouble trying to change anything until Right Wingers get out of the pews and the board room and into the art studio.

The Right believes that Commies will take over if the Democrats win and the Left believes that Fascists will take over if the Republicans win. Everyone is saying that the future of the Republic is at risk. Both sides are ramping up for a contested election that may end in violence. The idea that this violence will end in separating into two different countries is being discussed as a real possibility.

Yet the press is talking about the following minutia:

1. Trump, in private, calls Harris a bitch
2. Walz military service is “stolen valor.”
3. Trump believes Harris’ crowds are bigger than his through AI trickery.
4. Vance dressed in drag while in college.

Yep, it seems that the Republic is very much in trouble and this is how the press expects us to make our decision. Try to find something at any of the main news sites and you will find shockingly few stories about real issues.

I can provide a good example of this in that I learned today that the Ukraine had invaded Russia. Over a week ago. I somehow missed it.

Now, I admit that this is probably my fault. I got so sidetracked by the JD Vance in drag scandal and the Trump called Harris a bitch scandal that I just overlooked this important event.

This is also precisely the point. How are you supposed to find the good stuff when it is hidden in all this bull shit.

But the most important election in our life time. Blah, blah, blah, blah …..

I want to make some additional comments about Donald Trump, in private, calling Kamala Harris a bitch making the headlines. The more I think about it the madder I get. This is a ridiculous waste of space. Is there anyone on this planet who doesn’t think that Trump, in private, calls Harris a bitch? I can’t see that it is in any way shocking behavior. I would be more shocked if he wasn’t calling her a bitch. It is the whinny cry of the class tattletale who the teacher can no longer stand because the student has absolutely no discretion on what is valuable information and worthless information. Like I said previously, so what. He should be able to say anything he wants in private. Now the people hearing this should tell him to not talk like this but I am inclined to believe that they kept their mouths tightly shut. I guess confirmation might be helpful to the very few doubters out there but it is hardly Watergate reporting.

J.D. Vance was overheard telling his son to shut up about his Pokemon passion the other day. Of the many sins of Vance this is way down on my list of something to be concerned about. In fact, it puts him in a relatable situation the many parents might experience — their children being annoying while he is trying to get something done. Maybe he could have handled it a bit better but when a person is busy and a child is pestering him about Pokemon, it seems like a reasonable place to snap. Shut the Hell up seems about right. This is an unremarkable bit of justifiable annoyance. It doesn’t make him a bad parent and it is certainly unworthy of a top position on the Daily Beast’s top 10 Cheat List.

Nor do I care much about Doug Emhoff, Kamala Harris’ husband, having an affair while he was married to his first wife. To be clear, I wouldn’t care even if he had been having an affair while being married to Harris. If Harris and Emhoff have made their peace about it, it is none of my business. Wait, let me expand on that thought. Even if they still were fighting about it today, it wouldn’t be any of my business. And I really think it’s ballsy for Republicans to leak this bit of news to the press when Donald Trump, a frequently unfaithful husband, is their standard bearer.

However, I don’t blame the political operatives dredging up such nonsense though. They are just doing their jobs. They are paid to find dirt and to publicize it. They are hoping that some piece of dirt might influence voters to decide for them.The problem is the press and selling newspapers. They can print the dirt or not. Dirt sells newspapers, so the press will headline any and every personal indiscretion in the hopes that this bit of salacious gossip sells more newspapers. Sadly, it must work or else the press wouldn’t be spending so much time talking about these trivialities.

This doesn’t excuse the press in the least. It is comparable to a parent feeding his child only sweets because that is all she will eat. A diet of chocolates would damage the health of the child. They aren’t getting the fruits and vegetables required for a healthy diet. Just because the American Public buys bull shit doesn’t mean you have to serve bullshit. Every headline taken up with Doug Emhoff’s first marriage and J.D. Vance’s snappy parenting, is space taken away from topics that really matter — things like homelessness, or immigration, or inflation or the situation in the Middle East.

Thanks for the information though I am sure I will find it helpful on November 5.