One Quick Thing
I redesigned the website to make things more clean and simple. Not sure how I settled on the key lime background, but I like it. Hopefully the look of the site was never why you all visited in the first place, anyway.
Also – some people’s newsletters have been going to junk. I wish I could tell you why, but if you don’t see yours by Monday morning, check your spam folder. I’m committed to not missing a week so if it’s not there, that’s the reason.
Our Beloved Politicians
“Senator Ted Cruz traveled to Cancún on Thursday, during the worsening winter disaster in Texas, to vacation with his family. He will be staying at the Ritz Carlton until Sunday.”
There was probably a point in time, back in the day, when any reporting on Ted Cruz’s ill-timed vacation would have been limited to that headline. We’re way past that point in the evolution of the news, but wouldn’t it be nice? Wouldn’t it be so much simpler if we just let Teddy be Teddy?
This isn’t a screed against the state of journalism. That’s just a big, monolithic nothing that none of us can control, and it’s chosen to point its mighty, fact-finding cannon at a senator’s vacation this week. So be it. But this is a screed, and it’s against us. What’s wrong with us? When did we become such masochists? Each one of us has a very clear opinion about Ted Cruz – to do otherwise is un-American – and he’s either an evil moron or a patriotic freedom fighter. There’s no in between, although at this point I think even the patriot camp may think he’s a moron. The bottom line is that Ted Cruz is one of the top five most covered political figures in this country, and everyone knows his character well enough to judge it.
Maya Angelou’s famous quote works well here. “When someone tells you who they are, believe them the first time.” It was perfect for Trump, a guy who gave us ample reasons to question his character, each one slightly more absurd than the other. But it’s also perfect for this Cancún trip, and all the other irrelevant stupidity our politicians partake in. It’s heresy to critique someone like Angelou, but I think the quote reads better as “when someone tells you who they are, believe them the first time and direct your energy elsewhere.”
Seriously. Why do we obsess over the actions of Ted Cruz? Or Bill de Blasio? Or any number of public figures who have loudly declared themselves deficient in the decency the rest of us are still held to?
Why do we obsess over the actions of people who have already shown us their character?
Ted Cruz Goes to Cancún – while a promising children’s book – isn’t news. It’s certainly not new or noteworthy. Did any of you expect ol’ Ted to go around, shovel in hand, helping his neighbors? Or to crawl under his house with a hair dryer, defrosting pipes? No! Cruz is the type of guy who sues you when he slips on your patch of sidewalk. And everyone knows it.
At some point it’ll come out that he’s receiving stimulus money, or that he bypassed the vaccination line, and the whole cycle will start up again: NYT breaking news, angry op-eds with sarcastic titles, funny memes on liberal social media accounts, a bit on SNL. Somehow his actions will be contorted into a conservative display of individualism by his peers, and then those people will generate their own cycles of sarcastic headlines and cries of hypocrisy. And for what? To “prove” that Ted Cruz isn’t a great guy, and doesn’t deserve his seat in the Senate? Did anyone need convincing?
I know I’m kind of rambling here, but it’s ridiculous. We only have so much energy – why waste it on this guy? Or any of these people?
And it’s not just our politicians and celebrities. I see this energy suck creeping into personal lives as well. Conversations spent complaining about that person who keeps lying, keeps cheating, keeps scheming. Just trust what you see and move on.
One last thing on Ted Cruz… I stumbled upon Erick Erickson’s Substack while reading Rush Limbaugh obituaries. He’s a conservative talk radio host I’d never heard of, and Limbaugh seems to have been a mentor of his. So take that for what you will. But I enjoyed reading his take on the man, which was more about the personal than the professional. He also had this to say in a separate piece about the Texan senator.
“The people whining are the ones who should be heckled, not a man taking his wife and kids to the beach.
Optics my foot. Send all the politicians to Cancun and the situation would probably get fixed faster anyway.
Another thing — all the yelling about whether it was the renewals or the fossil fuels distracts from holding the bureaucrats responsible for this accountable. Now all the yelling about Ted Cruz again distracts from holding the actual culprits accountable for their poor decisions.”
Humps and Hugs
I went to a dog park today with two friends who are fostering a dog. The dog is adorable, but highly sexually active. Since middle school, nothing has made me laugh harder than dogs humping. I can’t explain it, but I don’t foresee a time in my life when that stops being the case.
At one point during a fit of laughter, the other dog’s owner told me not to worry. “It happens,” she said. I wasn’t sure if she was taking about my immaturity or the dog’s reproductive urges.
And before I go, two nice dopamine hits to finish off the week:
I mentioned last week that I had a new elderly friend in the neighborhood, and today I was treated to the view from her balcony. Some things repay themselves in spades.
– Emmett
Recent Posts:
Friday Ramble, February 19th – A great snowy run and some internet inspiration (Blog, 5 min)
What I’m Reading:
On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One April Morning – Haruki Murakami (Short Story, 10 min, audio)
“She’s the 100% perfect girl for me. The moment I see her, there’s a rumbling in my chest, and my mouth is as dry as a desert.”
Do You Know What Kills More Dreams Than Failure? – John P. Weiss
“Consider the choices you make. Do they bend towards calculated risk-taking? Do you sidestep fear and try new things, or do you stick with what’s safe and comfortable?”
What I’m Listening To:
The New York Times Company – Acquired Podcast
Thorough, definitive history of the individuals and companies behind the New York Times.