Month: May 2024

Of ‘BlueSky’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

One of the most annoying aspects of the Trump Era is how radicalized both the Far Right and Far Left have become. What’s worse, all of this is happening in the context of the center simply not existing — you have to pick a side, one way or another.

Anyone who claims to be a “centrist” is a fool. They are, by default, tacitly siding with MAGA because MAGA exploits any time someone refuses to pick a side.

But wait, it gets worse.

Because of the nature of modern politics in America, once you do pick a side, you are forced to defend the dumbest, most radical positions of your side. With all that in mind, let’s address what I’ve experienced on the Twitter clone Bluesky.

Up until recently, the service just seemed like an updated version of the very inward looking WELL service of the 1990s. It was at first invite only and once I got access to it, it seemed very much a place for exiled smug Twitter liberals to sit around and smell their own farts.

But all of that has changed since the start of the war in Gaza. Now, the service is dominated by Far Left radicals who freak the fuck out if you, in any way, quibble with their orthodoxy. They get really mad!

They get so mad that it’s kind of a surreal caricature of what conservatives think anyone who disagrees with them are like. I sometimes feel like I have a better understanding of why MAGA people double and triple down on their fascism whenever anyone calls them out on it.

I recently got into an argument about a comment I made about how part of democracy is the marketplace of ideas where everyone yells at each other until we collectively come to some consensus about what direction the country will take.

When I refused to say what views I might have that don’t fit the Leftist orthodoxy might be, THAT caused heated debate. The more I thought about this particular issue, the more I realized it would be wise to just refuse to be pinned down.

The point is — once you get into that type of argument, the whole thing becomes a no-win situation. It’s a trap. It’s like when a wife asks her husband if her new outfit makes her “look fat.” If you’ve gotten to that point, you’re screwed. There just is no way to admit to something that doesn’t fit the Leftist orthodoxy without THAT being the thing you get yelled at, not the issue that first introduced the subject in the first place.

So. I don’t know. I will continue to use BlueSky, but I’m on a hair trigger when it comes to anything I might believe that might upset the Far Left.

Worse Case Scenario: Trump’s Second Term

By Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

When thinking about what might happen in Trump’s second term, there is a key thing to contemplate: is Trump too dumb and lazy to go full tyrant while still pretending to care about the rule of law?

Is it possible that his political and historic purpose is simply to destroy the United States by totally and completely making the unpreceded move of going full tyrant without giving a shit about anything but staying in power? I only broach this because he repeatedly during his first term seemed to indicate that he was prepared to just extend his time in office without an election because he “deserved it.”

If he did such a thing during his second term, then that would probably be the set up for a revolution / civil type situation that would destroy not only the United States in the near term, but the entire post WW2 liberal order. WW3 would probably happen and billions of people might die specifically because of the actions of one Donald J. Trump.

There is a chance, of course, that somehow, someway, Trump is convinced to press for a Constitutional Convention that would put MAGA Enabling Acts into the document. Doing such a thing would at least keep Trump within the boundaries of the law — even if the law was now extremely fascist.

So, that’s kind of the spectrum we face in a second Trump Administration. On one end, the country collapses into revolution / civil war and chaos and on the other, we become something more like Putin’s Russia. I’m aware of how hysterical that sounds at the moment, but all signs are pointing towards something along those lines being our choice.

Why I Won’t Self-Publish

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

First, let me get some things out of the way. I totally validate people who self-publish. You do you. Second, I tend to find people who self-publish to be a lot like introverts — both won’t shut up about their lot in life. (Wink.)

I mean, extroverts have just as many problems as introverts, but we don’t talk about them.

Anyway, the key thing about not self-publishing is I have not only a huge fucking ego but a chip on my shoulder. I’m a strong believer in reach for the moon and you just might fall into the stars.

But having said all that, there are some basic things I have to admit to myself — by trying to get traditionally published, there is a pretty good chance I will NEVER GET PUBLISHED. I say this with the weight of being a “late bloomer” hanging over my head.

Not only am I old to be just an aspiring novelist, I also have a long, well documented history of being something of a drunk crank. So, lulz?

But I’ve made up my mind. I would rather never get published than self-publish. That’s what I’ve decided and I’m sticking to it.

The Death of Discourse?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

One of many alarming signs of the decline and fall of the Second American Republic is how the discourse on — pick a subject — has become a blood sport. Just staking out An Opinion on ANYTHING is enough to rile people up.

But let me be more specific — not to sound too Red Pilled, there is a Media Narrative that exists about the world around us. If you have the temerity to believe ANYTHING that doesn’t adhere to that orthodoxy, there is hell to pay.

This most comes into play on subjects like trans rights and anything to do with the culture wars in general. The orthodoxy on trans rights is often so murky and fluid that you don’t even know what it is unless you are Very Online.

Meanwhile, in all my years of life, I’ve never seen anything as controversial as the current war in Gaza. Twitter Leftists have such an absolute orthodoxy that you have to absolutely adhere to that it can really make your head spin. What’s worse, that orthodoxy makes absolutely no sense.

They are so absolute in their views that they apparently would rather have a second Trump term than compromise for the sake of democracy. It’s crazy. Totally and completely bonkers.

I’m reminded of what I’ve read about the corrosive politics found in Weimar Germany right before the Nazis took over. I fear that should MAGA take over again that there will be whole chapters of some future American history book devoted to how fucked up the politics of 2024 were.

Anyway. Good luck, folks. You’ll need it.

The Political Nihilism Of Twitter Leftists

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Twitter Leftists have radicalized in just the last 24 hours, since the student protests in New York City were crushed by the NYPD. I understand their anger. But some of the rhetoric that Twitter Leftists have generated in the last day or so is rather overwrought.

They clearly want something that is simply not possible given the metrics of current geopolitics — Biden to embrace their most radical positions in regards to the war in Gaza. This is just not going to happen. And I understand that Twitter Leftists are so frustrated that they suddenly have begun to proclaim that they would rather Trump be president.

But this is political nihilism in the extreme. They are so frustrated that they can’t get what they want, that they have decided to burn everything down. This is a not great, Bob, type situation because we already have the Far Right wanting the same thing.

The idea that anyone — especially a Leftist — would want Trump to be president for any reason boggles my mind. Any Leftist who advocates such a thing clearly has not thought this through. That is the politics of spite.

But, here we are, with a small — but vocal — group of Twitter users bitching and moaning about something that Biden doesn’t even have any control over: the actions of the NYPD.

The Electoral College & Twitter Leftists

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The central problem of American politics is the Electoral College. As the nation’s political divisions grow more and more severe, the fact that the Electoral College forces us into a Blue – Red dichotomy becomes a bigger and bigger problem.

If we elected presidents on the basis of the popular vote, then we would have numerous parties to chose from. What would probably happen at times like these is some center-Left party that opposed the Gaza war would begin to gain traction.

Now, I’m assuming this new non-Electoral College system would go something like this — we would have a two-round system with the run-off election for president being between the top two vote getters of the first election.

But we’re stuck with the Electoral College.

So, are in a situation where fucking Twitter Leftists want to burn everything to the ground because of some misguided belief that President Biden is implicated in what has been happening on college campuses across the nation. Twitter Leftists are so upset over what’s happening that they want to indict the whole system…but don’t have any ready solutions.

They are just mad. Sometimes they go so far as to say they would rather people vote for Trump — yikes! — and sometimes they twist themselves into rhetorical pretzels that boil down to, “Well, we should get rid of the Electoral College.”

It’s all a very fucked up situation without any ready solution. There’s just no ready answer.