The coarsening of America

Or do words not matter?

We were going to tip toe past a certain former President’s rally at Madison Square Garden instead of wallowing in the mire. Honest! 

This blog delights in the bon mot, the well aimed jest, humor that is irreverent — even scabrous. But not even sycophants like Sean Trumpitty are laughing at black men “carving watermelons” or punch lines having Puerto Ricans hailing from a “floating pile of hot garbage.” Amid a torrent of NSFW vulgarities, we heard that the Democrat(ic) nominee is a whore, stupid, and “lazy as hell.”

Although he tried to distance himself, “The Republican nominee who wants a televised military tribunal for Liz Cheney for treason just can’t bring himself to object to [the comedian’s] routine, Jim Geraghty laments at National Review. We got to think the campaign hand-picked the entertainment and not because it came cheap.

 Another retired military man speaks out

(The list, here.) Retired Navy Admiral William McRaven perfectly encapsulates what this wretched scrivener has been trying to say during this annus horribilis of a campaign, now down to its last week.

Being a person of good character matters. Doing what is right matters because when a leader exhibits honor, integrity and decency, it instills those qualities in the culture of the institution and in the next generation of leaders. What will the culture of America look like if Donald Trump is re-elected? What will the next generation of leaders look like if they are followers of Donald Trump?

Or do you still believe the Proud Boys’ 01-06-21 visit to the Capitol spontaneous generation? The work of that traitor, Pelosi? Admiral McRaven refers to a small volume the library at Blaska Stately Manor acquired on a visit to George Washington’s Mt. Vernon.

“When George Washington was 12, he began copying by hand Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation. The first rule states:”

Every action done in company ought to be with some sign of respect
to those that are present. 

 ‘Civility’ formed Washington’s character

Rules of Civility is a 17th Century book of etiquette translated into English from a  compilation written by French Jesuits a century before. (Might qualify as timeless advice!) In her forward to the 1989 reprint, Letitia Baldrige writes “Most of the rules embrace strong moral virtues … the young writer refers constantly to modesty and self restraint.” Two more such rules:

Rule 21) Reproach none for the Infirmities of Nature, nor Delight to put them that have in mind thereof.

Rule 22) Show not yourself glad at the Misfortune of another though he were your enemy.

Rule 65) Speak not injurious words, neither in jest nor earnest; scoff at none though they give occasion.

Young George also copied this sage advice: “Rule 2) When in Company, put not your Hands to any part of the Body not usually discovered.” I.E., don’t scratch your balls at the State of the Union, which conjures another MAGA favorite trope: that Michelle Obama is a man.

The indentured servants are not voting for Kamala or her running mate (Bernie Sanders in a hunting jacket). Damning their support for taxpayer-financed sex change for illegal immigrants is fair game. But for Gawd’s sake, we are in no danger of “losing our country” if the wrong candidate wins. Our opponents are not the anti-Christ! Disagreement is not treason. Name-calling advances no agenda. Cheap shots convince no one. (Let’s build some faith in democracy.) Admiral McRaven was a Navy Seal. He avows:

I am a conservative, and I would love to be part of a Republican Party I can be proud of, one that stands for the values, the decency, the sense of duty and honor and country which so many previous Republican presidents strived for.

Blaska’s Bottom Line: Teddy Roosevelt called the presidency “a bully pulpit” — “bully” meaning “excellent” not school-yard tyranny. Way back when, Joseph N. Welch brought low our own Joe McCarthy by asking if he had left, at long last, any sense of decency.

Or is cheap gas more important?