JJessica
What does the word "tyrant" mean to you as opposed to what it means to everybody else?
Larry Kilgore: "Tyrant" means to me somebody like Hitler or Lincoln who comes in and murders the people for their own political gain.
Jessica: You think Lincoln's a tyrant?
Larry: Yes, ma'am.
Jessica: That's not something you normally hear.
Larry: No it is not, but Lincoln and Hitler are very similar, but most Americans aren't aware of it.
Jessica: I'm sorry, I'm confused.
Larry: Hitler was the one that killed six million Jews. Lincoln was the one that killed six hundred thousand Americans.
Jessica: Was Lincoln the one that gave a lot of liberties to people as well?
Larry: [long pause] Not that I know of.
Jessica: "[who is African American]" No liberties that you can think of?
Larry: No, ma'am.
So now, instead of being spied on by the Executive Branch, it turns out we're being spied on by all the branches. I think— I think you're misunderstanding the perceived problem here, Mr. President. No one is saying that you broke any laws. We're just saying, it's a little bit weird that you didn't have to.
You shouldn't have talking points about a person before that person can talk!
So what I'm getting from Fox is this: Exploiting government largess, while reprehensive and morally corrupting for an individual, is A-OK for corporations. So, maybe this'll help: Don't think about food stamps, and Head Start, and programs like that as feeding and helping a small child. Think about it as investing in a promising start-up with a liquidity problem.
I think we drum good people out of politics who are defined by the single worst thing they've ever done, as opposed to the context of their public lives, and I think we make it much, much easier for people who have no business holding office to enter the process, because when you're not talking about ideas and world views and agendas, when you're talking about character and personality, it makes it very easy for someone to float through the process without ever having to explain themselves or demonstrate what they know.
If comedy is tragedy plus time, I need more fucking time. But I would really settle for less fucking tragedy.
Maybe a more nuanced alert system could allow for more productive intervention beyond “You have ten seconds to disperse”. Or we can agree to keep ignoring the roots of how systemically, historically disenfranchised many African American communities still are, only paying attention to them when we fear their periodic, fiery ball of anger threatens to enter our airspace, and once again breathing a blissful sigh of forgetful relief when it’s another near miss.