Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[iam416]

[Dr. Strangelove]

There was a general agreement on how America should perform on the world stage between the parties, especially after the McCarthy Era. The foreign policy of Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, LBJ, Nixon, and Ford were not terribly different when seen in retrospect. Even on domestic policy, the administrations of Eisenhower and Nixon accepted the basic structure of the FDR-created welfare state and accepted the general premise that govt could be a force for good.

Vietnam, Watergate, and several economic collapses in the 70's destroyed the credibility of the centrists in a similar way to what Trumpists say about the Establishment today.

[hack]

I don't think she or Bernie know what socialism is either. Or, they know what it is and want to be called socialists anyways despite not actually advocating for real socialism.

[iam416]

[hack]

I LOL'd hard at the notion that people are less political. The only things you see more than anti-abortion declarations are pro-Trump ones. I drove some of I70 this summer and saw just as much as I see on rural PA roads. But the hardest LOL ever is that LARRY SUMMERS is capable of having an experience that changes his opinion on something. That will never happen.

Ryan Lizza's piece in Esquire on the Nunes family farm in Iowa did a very good job making some of those rural voters into real people, and painting a real picture of a real town.

[iam416]

[iam416]

[hack]

That's a fair point and in many cases one must let it happen. Once upon a time "curation" was something done only in museums, and the word meant something specific. Now that anybody can put any three similar things together and call it curation that word is gone. Is what it is. But there's an actual cost beyond the luxury of word choice when political debate is replaced by two sides slinging labels at each other. We should talk about actual policy actions direct.

[hack]

I was through there last week, cutting through Akron for the McGuinn/Hillman show Wednesday night before moving on up to Toronto. Pretty sure I saw "Trump" mowed into the side of a hill on State Road 7. Might have still been in WV. Quite a few Stand With Kavanaugh signs too.

[iam416]

[iam416]

[hack]

Is what it is. Isn't good for us, but is what it is. I recall a fascinating conversation had with two conservative gentleman at the top of Mt Le Conte in the Smokies, at a lodge with no power, so all there was to do at night was talk to people. Describing what socialized medicine actually is -- "this is how you go to the doctor or hospital where I'm from" -- was a big winner. Dealing with the facts and not the labels is something people can do if asked. Probably in small groups though.

I do wonder if the viral video can help in this regard. More room for full sentences than in a sound bite.

[hack]

Yeah, it wasn't the prettiest of drives. Was fine. You're right about the stretch south of 70 in WV though. That was great fun for a while, as well as whatever road I took to get over there from I68.

[Dr. Strangelove]

I actually think the stretch of the Ohio River between East Liverpool down south past Wheeling is fairly pretty once you ignore all the smokestacks and giant power plants. But the entire length of the River is almost certainly the most depressed part of the state. Between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati the river towns I'd recommend are far and few between. On the Ohio side I'd probably only say Marietta. It's been a looooong time since I've been in Parkersburg but I don't remember it being that bad. Maysville, KY is a charming, little place with a much better preserved downtown than most.

Incidentally, one of the worst industrial hells you'll ever see is just west of Huntington, WV, just across the border in Kentucky on US Route 23. Miles and miles of oil refineries, storage tanks, and I think a nuclear plant?

[iam416]