I got Covid in late February and lost some weeks of writing this newsletter about Authoritarians.
For your information, my case was “mild” in the sense that it only kicked my ass for three days, and then laid me up in recovery for about ten more days. Each case is different; mine began with deep aching bones in my legs and back, a symptom I find nowhere in the Covid literature (nor did I cough, even once). Only on day 3, when I could not smell herbs, did we realize I had Covid-19—too late for my wife. She had already had one vaccine shot, but still caught a tiny 48-hour case, with a high temperature of 99.5 (she was able to go running on both days she had Covid). My son got a sniffle and moved on. For me, the tedious recovery featured lethargy and brain fog more than suffering. My recovery is 100% at this point, so back to authoritarianism.
Extremists of all kinds are getting spanked by facts. Take a look at this chain of events:
The National Intelligence Council (CIA, FBI, DHS, etc) published an official “finding” that almost everyone in Trump’s orbit, and the media apparatus supporting him and the GOP, believed and promoted bogus Russian propaganda claims about Joe Biden, Ukraine, Democrat scandals, and election fraud. Giuliani, Pence, Pompeo, FoxNews, and “prominent US individuals, including some close to” Trump, were willing instruments of a foreign intelligence disinformation operation directed by Vladimir Putin. Yeah, we knew that. Here’s the evidence: https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/ICA-declass-16MAR21.pdf
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler & major black community leaders got together at a press conference to denounce the small bands of violent anarchists who are still roaming the city, setting fires and breaking things. These angry, agenda-less radicals have succeeded in making everyone hate them. It’s quite a moment when prominent BLM figures actually endorse a police strategy of “kettling” people en mass to stop and contain these violent marches. Saying these are “not protests” and do not make black people safer, these prominent figures denounced the (mostly) young white males setting fires, asking their parents to intervene. This feels like a sea change. https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2021/03/you-are-not-helping-black-community-leaders-join-mayor-in-denouncing-anarchist-related-vandalism.html
Sticking with Oregon, here’s a provocative essay about how these dregs of Antifa have ruined Portland, by my pal Nancy Rommelman. In the libertarian Reason magazine, she argues that the protests have degenerated into mindless destruction of property, and competitive extremism, by a tiny band of status-seeking anarchist ass clowns. (Which is true.) I can’t agree with everything she says here; namely, I think this underplays the role of racist Donald Trump in deliberately provoking and inflaming idiot protestors. But it is worth considering her perspective. When not writing non-fiction about Portland crimes (To the Bridge), she has put herself on the line by criticizing some actors in the #MeToo movement, which led to protests and eventually the closure of one of her family’s coffee shops here. I judge her Not Guilty of thought crimes, however, and offer this as a right-of-the-left critique of Portland today. https://reason.com/2021/03/22/the-dream-of-the-90s-died-in-portland/
And here’s the Oregonian’s counter-take, on her take: https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2021/03/portland-activists-rage-mindlessly-against-the-machine-former-portlander-argues-in-provocative-reason-essay.html
As long as I’m on a Rightst bend, here’s the hilarious George Conway, of the Never Trump Republican wing, on just how devoted to Trump the Tumpeters are: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/10/26/george-conway-i-believe-in-trump-more-than-ever/
And keep laughing. I’ve written in the past (Last Days of the Mountain Kingdom, https://www.outsideonline.com/1920201/last-days-mountain-kingdom) about how there are so many communist parties in Nepal that you get lost searching the phone book. The Nepal Times suggests new names for the many groups in the region claiming to carry on the work of Marx/Lenin/Mao/whoever. They have reorganized their affiliations for them:
Nepal Communist Party (Un-unified)
Communist Party of Nepal (Unfit)
Communist Party of Nepal (Big Plop)
Underfed Marxist-Leninists (UML)
Unified Marxist-Leninists (Oily)
Nepal Communist Party (Royalist)
Communist Party of Nepal (Pvt Ltd)
Nepal Communist Party (Groucho-Lennonist)
Communicative Party of Nepal (Facebook-TikTok)
Nepal Communicable Party (Covid-19)
See the original column: https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/ncp-pvt-ltd/https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/ncp-pvt-ltd/
Did I mention I hate podcasts? Here’s an exception, I listened to every episode of this fascinating look at Ireland, through the case of a disappeared child. All mystery, with gripping storytelling, and a rich array of different Irish accents. Yes it was made by a friend, Maria Byrne. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07vf9qr/episodes/player
And lastly, if you wonder why so many vehicles on the road look and feel hostile, this from Jalopnik helps explain why even cars have become venues of macho confrontation: Pickups have gained 1,300 lbs on average since 1990, with front ends “warped into scowling brick walls, billboards for outwardly directed hostility. The goal of modern truck grilles seems to be… about creating a massive, brutal face of rage and intimidation.” Thanks to lobbyist loopholes, the modern pickup truck doesn’t even have an EPA milage rating, normal tax structure, or ability to fit down city streets. The massive size creates blind spots that contribute to pedestrian deaths, and their weight becomes a deadly force against other drivers, especially when combined with the reckless speed so characteristic of these angry, insecure Americans who want to project a USA Blue Collar Badass Manly Man image from their gas-guzzling $60,000 vehicle. Like guns and public health, this is yet another way that our culture and economy promote selfishness, and destroy the sense of reciprocity and mutual safety that we once expected of each other.
That selfishness is possible because, despite the US Intel report exposing the lies, people still believe whatever makes the pain go away: “Nearly three-fifths of all Trump voters believed the Jan. 6 riot had been “mostly an antifa-inspired attack that only involved a few Trump supporters.””
If you think this denial of reality is winding down, in Idaho, ultra-right activists, encouraged by the Lt. Governor, gathered to teach their children how burn masks. The stupidity is generational. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/07/idaho-mask-burning/