In Tenure Veritas: Libations From The Ivory Tower

 I have been grumbling lately about the excesses of "woke" culture, but with CPAC going on, um... no.  Let's take another perspective today.  This morning, let's have a look at an interesting piece I read quite recently that does the whole "wokeness" thing very insightfully.  If you are not familiar with Victor LaValle, he has been making quite a name as a science fiction/fantasy writer, and justifiably so.  The man can write.  And as opposed to a hack like me, he can write well . One of the observations that has been beaten like a dead horse, though, is the observation that H.P. Lovecraft was racist.  Did you know that Lovecraft was racist?  Just askin', in case you didn't know.  That... he was racist.  Like actually, completely over-the-top, Trump/Limbaugh-style racist.  And in fact, he was.  However, that horse isn't just dead.  It's glue at this point.  Whatever you think you're getting by beating this horse, well...

 I think I'm going to handle this a little differently.  Time for some changes.  'Cuz.  I have been throwing up music clips with nothing more than some fun with titles and subtle or not-so-subtle references to politics, or my own posts.  Jazz in particular, though, is a weird genre.  There is a high barrier to entry, in econo-jargon, and much of what I post is either obscure or challenging, even by the standards of a strange genre like jazz.  I think what I want to do for a while is something that I have occasionally done, which is provide some guidance.  What I plan to do is spotlight someone interesting, and give some advice on how to listen.  Pop music is lowest-common-denominator dance music, background music, and other such meaninglessness, and one needs no explanation because there is little if anything to explain.  Jazz is different.  So, I'll post some piece by an artist and some commentary about what is happening, why it is...

 Just a quick "I told you so."  Berserker warrior, Elizabeth MacDonough, whose job as the Senate parliamentarian allows her to slake her thirst for blood on the stupidity of legislative foolishness, has done the obvious.  Obvious, of course, to everyone except fools like Bernard Sanders.  MacDonough ruled that a minimum wage increase is not, fundamentally, a budgetary policy, and therefore it does not meet the Byrd rule.  It cannot be included in a reconciliation bill, and is subject to a filibuster.  Whether or not a minimum wage increase indirectly  affects taxation or spending rates is irrelevant because everything  indirectly affects the budget.  If indirect effects counted, the Byrd rule would be irrelevant.  In order for the Byrd rule to operate, MacDonough had to call bullshit.  So she did. Did I just tell you my opinion on a $15/hour minimum wage?  No.  No, I did not.  Your opinion on wage policy should have n...

 Neera Tanden will not be confirmed as Biden's Director of the Office of Management and Budget.  You see, Republicans are very, very concerned about politeness and propriety, and mean tweets are disqualifying for any kind of high office. OK, so obviously  this is bullshit and hypocrisy of the highest order for people who not only have, in the past, belonged to the First Church of Trump, Non-universalist, but still have no other gods before Trump.  Yet to see much of the commentary from the predictably identitarian left over Tanden, the different treatment of Tanden is about... identity politics.  Trump, as a white male, can be as mean as he wants, but Tanden can't because "identity," that's why. To a two-year-old with a hammer, everything is a nail, as the saying goes, and practitioners of identity politics are two-year-olds wielding hammers.  Yes, some things are nails.  We call them, "nails."  This is not a "nail." Why are Republicans treatin...

 OK, fine.  I'll make a quick comment about congressional procedure.  It is what I do in my real job.  Besides, I can't pass up an opportunity to note the intellectual deficiencies of one, Bernard Sanders.  I do not respect this man. The minimum wage.  What should it be?  If anything?  There are legitimate policy debates to be had.  What is not legitimate is the use of "budget reconciliation" to raise the minimum wage.  Quick refresher.  Senate rules allow the use of "budget reconciliation" as a procedure to bypass the filibuster because reconciliation bills automatically limit the time allocated for debate.  However, the Byrd rule, named for longtime West Virginia Senator, Robert Byrd, limits the use of reconciliation to legislation that directly affects the raising and spending of federal money (the... budget ), with the added requirement that no reconciliation bill can increase the deficit beyond ten years. Budgetary bills o...

 I expend enough virtual ink complaining about books that bother me for one reason or another.  Enough of that.  Today, let's have some fun with an outstanding book.  The Glass Hotel , by Emily St. John Mandel.  Perhaps the name sounds familiar.  Mandel received some well-deserved acclaim for Station Eleven , which came back to prominence when COVID hit because it describes a post-pandemic world, but the book really was great.  Mandel was no flash in the pan, and The Glass Hotel  is, in some ways, even more impressive.  Could I nit-pick?  Of course.*  However, you absolutely should read it. In the most general terms, the book is about the people affected by a Bernie Madoff-like Ponzi scheme, but of course, it is much more.  The titular hotel is a luxury hotel in the middle of the British Columbia wilderness where the con man, Jonathan Alkaitis, meets the characters at the center of the book.  A place out of time, metaphori...

 OK, so deal with the 80s mullet.  He was an amazing and unique guitarist.  Jeff Healey, performing "Confidence Man," live.  The studio version is on his debut album, See The Light .  Get it?  'Cuz... he's blind?  Today, someone would complain about that being offensive, or something.

 The analysis here is the culmination of observations over a long period of time, but the post is precipitated by a conversation which I will describe in broad strokes.  The details, for reasons which shall become clear, must be left opaque, and that necessity for opacity remains an ongoing frustration, and central to the observations here.  Cancel culture and identity politics.  In the most general terms, here was the precipitating conversation.  A fellow political scientist and I were discussing our mutual frustration with a specific topic about which we are afraid to speak publicly.  We are both generally inclined towards a policy goal, yet the associated activist group engages in such toxicity and reality-denying insanity that we are both afraid to speak in any public way on the core topic.  My conclusion, which was hardly original, was as follows.  The first rule of politics in a democracy:  don't make it hard to be your ally. There is a...

 Jim Hurst & Missy Raines," Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid," from Two .

 Marcus Miller, "Power," live.  What?!  Too soon?  C'mon, what else am I going to post?  Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Texas Flood?"  Think!  They don't have  water!  Power , on the other hand, uh... oh.  Wait.  Uh... You see, SRV was a blues  musician, and Marcus  is a jazz  musician, and since today is Friday , we play Marcus Miller.  You see?  Good taste.  I'm all about good taste.  Marcus Miller, ladies and gentlemen.

 During Sen. Mitch McConnell's (Trump-KY) attempt to salvage some dignity while continuing to bow to his godhead, he disingenuously asserted that Donald Trump may, in theory, be held legally liable for his conduct leading up to January 6.  Of course, if you believe that McConnell would actually advocate criminal conviction, I've got some peak-bubble GameStop stock to sell you.  Actually, I don't because I wasn't stupid enough to buy any, but you take my point.  May I interest you in some Dogecoin?  No?  Good.  You've been paying attention. Anywho, Donald Trump will probably  not be indicted, and he will not be convicted.  Knowing that, prosecutors will perform backwards induction, and decline to indict, as I have argued.  Instead, he will continue to bilk idiots out of PAC and superPAC donations while continuing to engage in domination games with Republican politicians as the party base goes crazier and crazier.  Yay. With respect t...

 Holy shit, Trump was acquitted!  This is the most surprising thing that has ever been totally not surprising!  Why was he acquitted?  How many times do I have to explain it?  I have other comments for this morning. Trump's silence throughout the impeachment.  This (ironically) deserves comment.  Donald Trump is many things.  "Taciturn" is not among them.  He was instructed by his attorneys that he needed to remain silent, as was his right, mirandized or otherwise.  Why?  This was the easiest "trial" in the history of trials.  Was there anything that could have happened that might have resulted in his conviction?  I kept telling you that his probability of conviction was zero.  Yet, if anything could  have led to conviction, it would have been Donald Trump saying anything .  Hence, his attorneys told him to keep his fucking mouth shut.  Seriously.  All he had to do was keep his fucking mouth shut u...

 Well, I suppose I didn't plan ahead.  I used In A Silent Way  on Friday as a tribute to the late, great Chick Corea.  Greatest album ever?  In contention, certainly.  Regardless, that would have been the obvious choice today, but that leaves me with so many backups.  Here are a couple of nice selections with some artistic diversity.  First, Jonas Hellborg, with the title cut from The Silent Life .  Hellborg is one of the most interesting bassists in jazz.  Then, how about some Trixie Whitley?  The daughter of Chris Whitley has her own thing going, and every bit as much talent as her father.  "Silent Rebel."  Here's an interesting live version.  The studio version is on Fourth Corner .

 Two related and contrasting pop culture observations for today.  First, the story roiling the science fiction & fantasy world is the news that continues to surface about what a douchebag Joss Whedon apparently is.  And unfortunately, he is not just a douchebag.  He created a hostile work environment on his sets.  Most recently, Charisma Carpenter, who played Cordelia Chase on Buffy , and then on the clearly, objectively superior Angel , told some rather horrific stories of Whedon's treatment of her.  What an asshole. On the other side of the political, social and cultural spectrum... country music.  Y'all know I love country as much as I love Buffy , but of course, "country" encompasses rather a lot.  Until a recent dust-up, I had never heard of Morgan Wallen, because I listen to real  country music.  Yeah, that means "pretentious, hipster douchebag" country, but with the word, "douchebag" doing something different in this paragraph...

 Trump's defense team lied a lot, because of course they did, but they made one kinda-valid point.  That word, "fight."  Last month, when Twitter blocked Trump, I wrote this post  explaining the complications, including the problematically ambiguous nature of the word, "fight."  And in fact, I pointed to the observation that Democrats use the word all the time.  It is used metaphorically all the time.  Hell, my undergrad advisor, Jack Pitney, wrote a book about the metaphor of politics as war, referencing Sun Tzu.   The Art of Political Warfare .  He then wrote one of the most brutal takedowns of Trump you can find-- Un-American: The Fake Patriotism of Donald J. Trump . Of course, this is an impeachment trial, not a criminal trial.  The Senate doesn't have to indulge points of philosophical bullshit.  Instead, Senate Republicans will indulge Trump's cult-like followers and ignore reality, thereby guaranteeing that this kind of ...

 Alvin Youngblood Hart, with a live version of "Fightin' Hard," which, oh no!

 The jazz world is morning the loss of Chick Corea.  It is not hard for me to pick a favorite Corea recording.  I don't have a single favorite album, but give me ten, and this one will always make my top ten.  Miles Davis, In A Silent Way .  Chick handles keys, along with Herbie Hancock and Joe Zawinul.

 I grumbled yesterday about the House managers' Wednesday presentation for indulging in specious reasoning.  They presented "new evidence," consisting of previously unseen videos of the riots, which had no bearing on Trump's guilt in inciting those riots.  Yesterday was better.  The House managers focused more on connecting the events to Donald Trump than on the old ultraviolence. Yet they also noted that Trump's acquittal ensures that this will happen again.  Yup.  There is a 100% chance that Donald Trump will be acquitted.  And this will  happen again.  Perhaps not instigated by Trump, since the dynamics of 2024 are difficult to predict at this point, but the Republicans now have a playbook.  Lie, cheat and steal.  And they are honestly, truly divided over the idea of violent insurrection as a solution to a lost election. Yes, after they acquit Trump, we'll be here again. But this one's for you, Senator Bundy  Cruz... Jane's ...

 OK, so I'm listening to the trial, because of course I am.  The managers gave the following quote:  "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."  The managers made the common mistake of misattributing the line to Voltaire.  Nope.  Evelyn Beatrice Hall.  Yes, I am a stickler for these things.  Also, I dig Voltaire, and the quote.  But get it right, or a snarky, self-important professor will chide you for it on a blog that nobody reads. Gahhh!

 OK, I realize that Donald Trump will be acquitted anyway, so analyzing the structure of the House managers' legal argument is something of an exercise in intellectual wankery, but I'm a professor.  You get that this is what I do for a living, right?  I can't help but assign grades.  The House managers do... not get an A from me. Ooooh, they tug at your heartstrings, don't they?  Oh, no!  So scaaary !  Watch the footage of the insurrection.  Are you shitting your pants?  Again?  They have more  footage!  The director's cut, this time with extra ultaviolence!  Don't you hate it when they get you to buy the DVD, and then release the director's cut, and you buy it again for that extra footage?  That sucks, man! No, I don't give a flying fuck about "the Snyder cut."  Fuck Zack Snyder. Regardless, there are two errors here.  First, and most obviously, Senate Republicans shall not, they shall not be moved.  W...

 Aaaaand... right after I tell you that Trump will get away with everything, we get word that there is a criminal investigation into Trump's attempt to pressure the Georgia Sec. State into conjuring just enough votes to flip the state for him, which would be, you know, election fraud.   So here's the thing about prosecutions.  As the old saying goes, you can indict a ham sandwich, and the meat in such a delight would have the right complexion, in Trump's case, even though I usually avoid such an obvious and overused joke, but whatever.  Nevertheless, could he be indicted ?  Sure.  But he'll never be convicted .  Why not?  A jury of Georgians?  How many Republicans are going to be on that jury?  Think this through.  Now do what we, game theorists, do:  backwards induction.  Given that Trump would be acquitted, why indict him? Will Trump be indicted in Georgia?  I cannot say for certain, but I would lean against it...

 As we prepare for the second acquittal of Donald J. Trump by the rigged jury of the US Senate, a few comments are in order.  Blah, blah, nation of laws, blah, blah, not a nation of men. Presidents are above the law.  (Oops.)  They just are.  The probability of Donald Trump's Senate conviction has always been precise, mathematical zero.  The probability that he will ever be convicted in any criminal court, for anything , is precise, mathematical zero.  Yes, he actually, literally can personally shoot someone.  Cut out the middle men.  He could personally hold a gun to your face, pull the trigger, kill you while laughing, on national tv, and he'd get away with it.  Why? Because most of a political party says so.  Not all.  Liz Cheney and a few others.  But as long as most of a political party says that Donald J. Trump is a living god whose actions are definitionally right, he will never be punished for anything ever.  ...

 Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) is at it again, trying to make me love her, even though there is so  much about which I disagree with her.  Top of the list, in terms of objective, mathematical, scientific importance would be climate change.  Cheney is a climate denier.  If you want a demonstration of Cheney's position, here is her position on Trump's withdrawal from the Paris accords. In objective, scientific, mathematical terms, the most important issue is climate change.  Period.  If you don't understand this, you don't have an "agree to disagree" disagreement with me.  You just flunked a math test, or a principles test.  Which does Liz flunk?  Both. These days, I'm a little more sympathetic to climate deniers, though.  I am a scientist, myself, and a statistician.  Ask me to explain atmospheric chemistry, and I can only give you the most cursory explanation.  Ask me to explain the numbers, and I'm in more comfortable territory...

 I'm going to keep this brief today.  I think.  I tend to title mid-week posts, "Quick take," and then ramble for longer than I intend, so whether or not this will be as brief as I currently believe, as I start to type is an open question, although you will be able to tell as you look at the overall length of the post.  I just don't know now , as I type.  Fun with time. And that  is part of why my posts are often longer than I intend. Anywho, last year, one of the buzziest of science fiction/fantasy novels was Gideon the Ninth , by Tamsyn Muir.  It was absolutely ludicrous, and over-the-top.  Necromancers in space, with the all-important woke angle.  But the thing is, it was hilarious .  It was good.  Rather than wallowing in the irritating, self-important tropes of goth convention, Muir wrote them, and had characters indulge in them, and then had the title character, Gideon Nav, undercut the whole thing with Joss Whedon-esque snark...