Guilty X 34 = two solitudes in America

In Canada in the 1940s, we were experiencing what we described as Two Solitudes  between our French-speaking and English-speaking peoples:

...two peoples within one nation, each with its own legend and ideas of what a nation should be. ...the chasm between French and English communities growing deeper. ...a perceived lack of communication between English- and French-speaking Canadians.

We worked through several confusing, divisive, sometimes painful decades filled with questions about whether our Confederation could ever work for the whole country -- the Quiet Revolution in Quebec, the FLQ crisis, the Quebec referenda, the founding of parties like the Parti Quebecois and the Bloc Quebecois, stupid arguments against bilingualism, idiotic complaints about French on cornflake boxes and other excuses for periodic spasms of western alienation, etc. etc -- it is part of Canadian history and culture.

Today, I think we are seeing the same dynamic happening between progressives and right-wingers in the United States, with Trump as their personification. The MAGA true believers and their media enablers seem to have created their own world and they are determined to live in it, regardless of how delusional they are.

Today's Trump verdict is a case in point.

And on the lighter side!

This is one of those weeks for me personally -- so here's some funny stuff to lighten the mood:

First, some Poilievre makeup jokes:

What’s the difference between the Trudeau Foundation and the Poilievre Foundation?

The Trudeau foundation gives scholarships and encourages academic research, Poilievre’s foundation just leaves stains on his collars.

Does this guy have the makeup of a true Prime Minister? ;) pic.twitter.com/jE1cr8DQIZ

— Matt Grier (@MattGrierMusic) May 23, 2024

Pee Pee pic.twitter.com/sEAKPYuvri

— Brent Whiteside (@brent_whiteside) May 20, 2024

Next, haven't we all done this?

One of our boys’ daycare workers described “girl looking” as “I know I put it away
somewhere, but where?” and “boy looking” as “looking right at it and not seeing it”

— Lee Iverson (@leeiverson) May 14, 2024

Great threads: from sculptures to libraries, from Curb Your Enthusiasm to Cow 88, from TikTok to Kermit (NEW: update on Cow 88)

Here are some fascinating threads I have seen recently on Twitter - click to see all of the posts: 

Amazing sculptures:

2. Melancholy, a sculpture created by Albert Gyorgy, portrays the void that grief leaves us with.

"We may look as if we carry on with our lives as before. We may even have times of joy and happiness. Everything may seem normal. But this emptiness is how we all feel… all the… pic.twitter.com/mriA1t8ttX

— James Lucas (@JamesLucasIT) May 16, 2024

Into the long weekend: mosquitos and Poilievre and polls, oh my

Ahh, summer is starting at last!

MOSQUITOES! pic.twitter.com/wvHI7RLein

— Brittlestar (@brittlestar) May 17, 2024

Moving on to something even more biting, I think Pierre Poilievre is now finding there is a downside to being up 20 points in the polls -- people actually expect to hear something sensible from him sometimes, not the usual anti-Trudeau deflection three-word-slogan talking points. 

Some examples: 

In the Globe and Mail, Shannon Proudfoot describes why it matters that Pierre Poilievre pretends all the media is against him and refuses to even try to answer press questions: Pierre Poilievre is pretending he doesn’t know how his job works because it makes it easier

...Mr. Poilievre has spent the past two years energetically insisting that any journalist who asks him a spiky question is enacting some greasy partisan agenda. There are entire swaths of the media that he’s been training the public to see as #JustinJourno grifters....

...What he’s doing is insulating himself from any future unwelcome questions or scandals that might surface. And he’s teaching the receptive public to automatically distrust anyone critical of him. That means Mr. Poilievre doesn’t even have to be there to yell at some annoying reporter, because he’s already set the table for people to discount them.

Imagine what this looks like three years from now when – if current polls hold – Mr. Poilievre will be prime minister and perched atop a stout majority in the House of Commons.

Spending issues, policy choices, dumb programs, stinky e-mails, ugly behaviour from public officials – why, to poke at any of it is to be part of the conspiracy. To deny this, or to insist these are valid questions that the public deserves answers to? That’s what bought-and-paid-for stooges would say...

Today's News: Trump makes cowards of them all.

The more I see of the Congressional Republicans, the more they remind me of The Sopranos.

And anyone who doesn't fall into line gets sent to the Gulag.

The cowardice is appalling.

George Carlin put it best in 1988: "These are the people who are against street crime. They want to put street criminals in jail to make life safer for the business criminals!" https://t.co/OibIWkwofR

— Matt Ortega (@MattOrtega) May 15, 2024

Why isn't all of America pointing and laughing at these guys?

Another authoritarian marker- identical dress. I remember when Ba'th Party officials used to groom their mustaches so they would match Saddam's.@RadioFreeTom @ruthbenghiat @Timodc https://t.co/4GtSd6gYnR

— Bryan Fichter (@BFichter) May 14, 2024

People are losing respect for our system of justice because a Speaker of the House stands outside a courthouse to falsely denigrate it.

If you have no respect for the rule of law, Mr. Speaker,

At least have some self-respect. https://t.co/GOqjZ8Bj8w

— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) May 14, 2024

Because the speaker of the house serves at the pleasure of Donald Trump criminal defendant https://t.co/hRBrzGrkYg

— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) May 14, 2024

This is the guy they're supporting:

They were literally yelling “hang Mike Pence”. Trump is reported to have said, “Well, maybe he should be hung.”
His apologists will say that never would have happened, but if they’d found him, it very well may have. He was happy to let others do his dirty work, as always.

— CoPag (@CDub1974NC) May 14, 2024

And by the way, the New York Times also owes America an apology for acting as Trump's steno:

NYT gonna run 6 dozen articles on Biden's age to try and cover for the fact that Cohen directly described Maggie Haberman as a stenographer for Trump https://t.co/2ayuqSiAXm

— James Drippens (@ShamebyJames) May 14, 2024

More writings about the Israel-Hamas War: Biden's dream, IDF goals, casualty statistics, Israel divestment

I have seen several recent useful posts and comments about the Israel-Hamas War so I wanted to share them.

First, an interesting analysis from Dan Rather about Biden's Big Dream For The Middle East:

...why did Hamas attack [on Oct 7] seemingly out of the blue after years of, if not peace, then detente, in the Middle East? Perhaps because of a “grand diplomatic bargain” or “mega-deal” being negotiated among the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Israel — a deal that would include normalization of relations between Tel Aviv and Riyadh. Yes, the Biden administration had been quietly working on this deal for months, and Iran-backed Hamas reportedly wanted to blow it up. The ambitious agreement has far-reaching and game-changing implications.

... “Five leaders in the Arab community were prepared to help rebuild Gaza, prepared to help transition to a two-state solution,” Biden told CNN.

If Biden can hammer out an agreement with Saudi Arabia and Israel, it could be a diplomatic masterstroke that has many upsides: forging a pathway for Israel and the Palestinians to live as neighbors, improving Arab-Jewish relations in the region, reducing Iran’s power, perhaps appeasing voters at home, and finally bringing peace. The president is dreaming big. And in the Middle East, dreams die hard. Will this dream have a different ending?

Happy Mother's Day and other comedy bits

I liked this New Yorker cartoon -- says it all. 

I also saw this thread on X and yes, I could appreciate this sentiment:

Anyone who has ever worked in food service knows Mother’s Day brunch is the worst shift of the year. People are such assholes about everything which is so funny because - my guy, your mom can wait 10 more minutes, she’s used to disappointment - she had you.

— sheologian (@sheologian) May 11, 2024

Another constituency heard from:

The Monday after Mother’s Day used to be the busiest day at Family Court for temporary protective orders ..glad I’m retired.

— 🌻Debra Montanaro🌻 (@montanaro_debra) May 11, 2024

Today's news: the stupid, it burns!

What a crazy week it has been -- we've all been sick with what I am calling the Black Death Cold, plus a family member fell and now has a broken pelvis. I'm afraid to leave the house.

You spend your 40s thinking "hey, maybe aging isn't so bad, I'm enjoying my kids & my family, I'm still pretty fit & limber, I've got this" & then you hit 50 & your kids leave & your body falls apart & any illusion of control is crushed into dust.

How's your day going?

— David Roberts (@drvolts) April 18, 2024

It's been a crazy week politically too -- just when everyone was starting to pile on Pierre Poilievre for that meandering babbling stop at a Freedumb Convoy camp, he started to talk about how "his laws" were going to be passed with the Notwithstanding clause -- which means that he plans to chop our Supreme Court off at the knees before they find all "his laws" unconstitutional. 

So what horrors is he planning to inflict on Canada anyway?

Poilievre promises if elected, climate change will be the least of our worrieshttps://t.co/pY9T7CJzES

— The Beaverton (@TheBeaverton) April 27, 2024