You, Rachel Maddow and Heather Cox Richardson among others have helped me understand that what we face today is not new, rather a reincarnation of past evils. Seems much of today's evils can be traced to the Garden of Eden, the devil lurking within never goes away, just hibernates until the next asshole presents him/her self. The form may be new, certainly the players are but the substance very much the same. It is about one man's ability to play on the worst in certain people, allowing bad feelings to be played out in the open. We see this with likes of Comstock, Hitler, Stalin and Father Coughlin, to name a few. Each in their own way faced two contra forces, first one or some person(s) leading the charge against them and second their inability to stop themselves from self destructing, such is their hubris.
Dipshit 45 and JD appear to be in the self destruct phase. 45's adoration of Mark Robinson, the most odious of men may help swing NC. One possible road to a landslide Harris-Walz victory, associate 45 and JD with those very foul people they fully endorsed. In NC the MSM is delivering two messages, Robinson is an extremely vile person and 45 praises him as Martin Luther King on steroids. 45's campaign is in panick mode, so much so it is reported that they tried to get Robinson to drop out. Message to 45 voters here, if you cannot bring yourself to vote for Robinson, polls have him double digits behind Joel Stein, how can you justify voting for 45. His endorsement is a true equivalency. Allred v Cruz, another example of an odious candidate with 45's endorsement.
Time will tell but it appears there are more than one route to a H-W victory. May it be so.
It certainly feels like a cyclical pattern, perhaps the gyre that Yeats wrote about. My hope is that this is the death rattle of the patriarchy, and these horrible, retrograde men will be defeated once and for all. In Comstock's day, this ended with women getting the vote. Now it will end with women getting the White House!
Old Man said it before me but I was going to say that Mark Robinson certainly must be Comstock reincarnated but was born from a different mother. I will want to listen to this fascinating interview. Thanks, Greg!
It’s easy to see how a population can get so comfortable, and thus complacent, that they forget that history repeats itself. Here we go again, with attacks on personal freedoms that my generation thought we had long since gotten beyond.
"There would not be that many dildos in one small DC room again until the day in 2019 when Matt Gaetz and a phalanx of Republicans burst into that SCIF."
Apart from the valid points you make, I love reading you for your way with words. THAT crack is perfect.
The Puritan stain is alive and well. When we get complacent and apathetic someone or many someone’s will come along and wake us up with a hammer beating on a gong. We allowed ourselves to sleepwalk into this morass. I just hope we woke up in time to pull ourselves clear of it. The Comstocks of the world never die but seem to reincarnate into even more vile forms having learned their lessons with each successive generation.
Thanks, Greg. I imagine Comstack would have been honored to have had Amy Sohn's book on his shelf. Others (Alito and Thomas come to mind), not so much!
As they say: I can't even... I sit up here on my "view" hill, on my 10 acres, in my nice house, thinking, as often, there are more of us than them; why do women let jackass men get away with obscene abuse. Money is, obviously, a major answer. I spent so much of my life away working that I couldn't have a child, a pet, or even a plant. And so Good Old Boys despise "childless cat ladies." CCL=money=power= "men not required." But a lot of women work very hard. I had a union, though. The union execs tried hard but couldn't fully succeed in discrimination. And so the GOB despise unions. I feel ya, Trump, when you "HATE" Taylor Swift. She is everything you fear. She's fortunate, though, if she's found a good man. The love of my life kept saying, "Quit your job, and I'll marry you." One time, I was holding a container of rice pudding. I dumped it all on his head and said, get lost. Freedom from oppression requires sacrifice. Fortunately, not every man is a jackass. But for more who they truly aren't, it's past time to wake up, step out from behind the safe sidelines, and stand up. After they, again, take women's freedom, the GOB/P could come for you, as well.
There is no excuse for men to be on the sidelines here. The patriarchal architecture of our current society necessitates men to actively work to tear down the patriarchy. And good on you for dumping the rice pudding on his head. He deserved it.
Such a fantastic episode today!
Another victim of the Comstock Act was EROS Magazine, which ceased publication after the editor was convicted under the act: http://eros.110west40th.com/volumes/spring#1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Ginzburg#Ginzburg_v._United_States
Everything old is new again :/
Plus ca change...
TGIF🎉🎉🎉
You, Rachel Maddow and Heather Cox Richardson among others have helped me understand that what we face today is not new, rather a reincarnation of past evils. Seems much of today's evils can be traced to the Garden of Eden, the devil lurking within never goes away, just hibernates until the next asshole presents him/her self. The form may be new, certainly the players are but the substance very much the same. It is about one man's ability to play on the worst in certain people, allowing bad feelings to be played out in the open. We see this with likes of Comstock, Hitler, Stalin and Father Coughlin, to name a few. Each in their own way faced two contra forces, first one or some person(s) leading the charge against them and second their inability to stop themselves from self destructing, such is their hubris.
Dipshit 45 and JD appear to be in the self destruct phase. 45's adoration of Mark Robinson, the most odious of men may help swing NC. One possible road to a landslide Harris-Walz victory, associate 45 and JD with those very foul people they fully endorsed. In NC the MSM is delivering two messages, Robinson is an extremely vile person and 45 praises him as Martin Luther King on steroids. 45's campaign is in panick mode, so much so it is reported that they tried to get Robinson to drop out. Message to 45 voters here, if you cannot bring yourself to vote for Robinson, polls have him double digits behind Joel Stein, how can you justify voting for 45. His endorsement is a true equivalency. Allred v Cruz, another example of an odious candidate with 45's endorsement.
Time will tell but it appears there are more than one route to a H-W victory. May it be so.
It certainly feels like a cyclical pattern, perhaps the gyre that Yeats wrote about. My hope is that this is the death rattle of the patriarchy, and these horrible, retrograde men will be defeated once and for all. In Comstock's day, this ended with women getting the vote. Now it will end with women getting the White House!
“The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs.”
- Charles de Gaulle
Indeed.
Old Man said it before me but I was going to say that Mark Robinson certainly must be Comstock reincarnated but was born from a different mother. I will want to listen to this fascinating interview. Thanks, Greg!
I don't know that Comstock would have called himself a Nazi, though...
It’s easy to see how a population can get so comfortable, and thus complacent, that they forget that history repeats itself. Here we go again, with attacks on personal freedoms that my generation thought we had long since gotten beyond.
I know. It's like we can't break the cycle.
"There would not be that many dildos in one small DC room again until the day in 2019 when Matt Gaetz and a phalanx of Republicans burst into that SCIF."
Apart from the valid points you make, I love reading you for your way with words. THAT crack is perfect.
I was very pleased with that line. Thanks for saying so!
I have had this book since the end of 2023. I will now move it UP to read next after the aptly titled, "Lucky Loser." Thanks for reminding me, Greg!
Thanks, Steve. I'm sure you'll enjoy it!
The Puritan stain is alive and well. When we get complacent and apathetic someone or many someone’s will come along and wake us up with a hammer beating on a gong. We allowed ourselves to sleepwalk into this morass. I just hope we woke up in time to pull ourselves clear of it. The Comstocks of the world never die but seem to reincarnate into even more vile forms having learned their lessons with each successive generation.
The good news is, we can call this out, and we have historical precedent to turn to. Comstock was powerful, but he went down. They all do, eventually.
Thanks, Greg. I imagine Comstack would have been honored to have had Amy Sohn's book on his shelf. Others (Alito and Thomas come to mind), not so much!
I think he did like people writing about him. And she was much more objective than I've been!
As they say: I can't even... I sit up here on my "view" hill, on my 10 acres, in my nice house, thinking, as often, there are more of us than them; why do women let jackass men get away with obscene abuse. Money is, obviously, a major answer. I spent so much of my life away working that I couldn't have a child, a pet, or even a plant. And so Good Old Boys despise "childless cat ladies." CCL=money=power= "men not required." But a lot of women work very hard. I had a union, though. The union execs tried hard but couldn't fully succeed in discrimination. And so the GOB despise unions. I feel ya, Trump, when you "HATE" Taylor Swift. She is everything you fear. She's fortunate, though, if she's found a good man. The love of my life kept saying, "Quit your job, and I'll marry you." One time, I was holding a container of rice pudding. I dumped it all on his head and said, get lost. Freedom from oppression requires sacrifice. Fortunately, not every man is a jackass. But for more who they truly aren't, it's past time to wake up, step out from behind the safe sidelines, and stand up. After they, again, take women's freedom, the GOB/P could come for you, as well.
There is no excuse for men to be on the sidelines here. The patriarchal architecture of our current society necessitates men to actively work to tear down the patriarchy. And good on you for dumping the rice pudding on his head. He deserved it.
Greg, you dig up the most weird and actually wonderfully bizarre things. I am feeling fully equipped for a reincarnation of The $64000 Question!
Thanks, Gwen!