Random Thursday for Aug 6, 2015

No matter how low you set the bar, Donald Trump finds a way to go under it.

In the midst of the outrage about the outrage over Cecil the lion’s death, there was an insightful comment in the Dallas Morning News, in a letter by Don McElfresh, published on August 3, 2015.  Cecil’s death represents a loss of innocence, because “. . . most people, down deep inside, want to believe that not everything is for sale.”

Jon Stewart ended his run on The Daily Show with a lecture on three different kinds of B.S.  “If you smell something, say something.”  Words to live by.  I’ll do my best.

An impressive article by James Fallows in The Atlantic (Jan/Feb 2015 issue) called “The Tragedy of the American Military” gives words to feelings I couldn’t express:  “Reverent but disengaged” and “we love the troops, but we’d rather not think about them.”  Doonesbury had a good one, too.

It used to be that saying “I’m not politically correct” was a way to try to communicate an uncomfortable truth.  Now it’s a lame excuse to give in to your dark side.  I’m talking to you, Donald Trump.

(Image is “cow staredown” by Ray Dumas on Flickr.  CC BY-SA 2.0.  Don’t look them in the eye.)