House of Eratosthenes

Something you need to understand about this guest blogging gig over at Cassy Fiano’s: She gets ten times as many hits over there as we do over here. Of the people who read her regularly, we’ve engaged in spirited debate with a tiny, tiny fraction of ’em, and I’m guessing just a tiny fraction more came to be aware of us. And so when we picked up the baton an hour or two ago we published a pre-drafted page that had been edited and edited, endeavoring to introduce ourselves to those unacquainted without too much bloated bloviating.

I’m pretty sure we failed in the brevity department. Oh, well.

But I’m pleased we placed so much emphasis on bullshit things said by people for the sake of getting attention. For here it is just a hundred and six minutes later, and look what Sister Toldjah has put up. It’s as if some cosmic divine kismet read our remarks and thought to itself, “This stuff that Morgan K. Freeberg guy is saying, doesn’t make sense; we’d better make some things happen that will make his comments make some sense.”

The theme is, people saying nonsensical things to get attention. Showing off for other people, and in so doing, losing track of what the facts do & do not support.

Saying nonsensical, stupid crap.

I must say, I am amused, feeling somewhat vindicated, that Sister Toldjah heard these things at a wedding reception. What happens at a wedding reception? People get nervous as all holy hell. They act around each other in a manner much more civilised than they’d like. That’s the point where the family of the groom holds court with the family of the bride…for the last time, until, maybe, in the hospital when the first grandchild is about to be born. And so people put-on-airs. They say things that may or may not make logical sense — usually, not — for the express purpose of making themselves popular, or trying to make themselves not-unpopular.

We need to improve our standing in the world.

PFFFFFFTT!! Yeah, right. I’m so sick of this meme.

Some smelly guy in Gay Paris is pissed off at us because we did something, we need to turn ’round and run out of Iraq and Afghanistan before international resentment sets off World War III. Some other guy in London or New South Wales is pleased as punch we did what we did…well, he just doesn’t count.

It would be patently absurd if you were to run around saying something stupid like “We need to improve our standing with Morgan K. Freeberg.” But you know what? That would make more sense. There are other folks smarter than me, but as an individual, I’m accountable for the opinions I have. “The World”…that’s just a false sense of consensus. It goes to what I’ve been saying for awhile now — when we say “everybody” wants something or “everybody” is pissed off about something…”everybody” does not mean “everybody.” “All” does not mean “all.”

Words like “everybody” and “all”…and “the world”…those things all really mean one thing: “Me, and people who agree with me.”

We shouldn’t be putting up with these phony aggregates. Nobody anywhere should be left with the impression that they can improve their posturing, by engaging them.

Who are these smelly frenchmen, anyway? What happens if we don’t do anything about global terrorism and we end up with Chicago or Philadelphia being bombed — is someone from France going to cover the cost of rebuilding, since we went dormant just to make them happy? Maybe send over big sacks of francs? Send along a couple more Statues of Liberty to auction off?

Bah. Have a couple more glasses of champagne and shut your cake hole. Standing with the world…bleh. More like standing with a bunch of deranged moonbats who happen to live overseas.

And what’s up with this other voice, saying McCain isn’t qualified to be Commander in Chief because he was shot down in a war zone. What, Obama somehow is?

Fine situation we have here with so-called old-fashioned etiquette. If I went to a wedding reception and said, simply, “Reagan Won the Cold War” that would be a horrible infraction. But you can jawbone this Move On Dot Org nonsense all afternoon long, until bride-n-groom drive off with all those tin cans trailing behind…and that’s all okay. Yeah.

Have another glass and stick a sock in it.

Cross-posted at Cassy Fiano.

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Overheard at a Wedding ReceptionSunday, July 27th, 2008

Overheard at a Wedding Reception
Sunday, July 27th, 2008