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CSotD: Random weekend roundup

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Mike Peterson October 20, 2018 1 minute 3 comments

Surprise #1 today came when Stephen Collins served up what, in the first panels, looked like yet another “wedded to tech” gag with a “Motel of the Mysteries” homage, but then turned into something much more specific and quite funny. You should go read the rest.

Or it might just be me: I’ve got a couple of Smart TVs and am in the process of cutting the cord, which is a little more complex when you live far enough out in the boonies that an indoor antenna won’t pull in anything.

Fubo gives me my regional stations as well as a good selection of cable offerings, but, as in Collins’ cartoon, there is a learning curve to streaming everything.

The other issue is that the connection drops out from time to time, and I don’t know if it’s because Fubo is still in its infancy or because I’ve bought cheap-ass Smart TVs.

Which reminds me of when CDs first came out and people complained that the sound was tinny and the problem was mostly that they had a lot invested in really good stereo systems around their vinyl but were using cheesy starter-set CD players.

Maybe if I trace around the edges of my Smart TVs with a green Magic Marker …

The other surprise comes because I generally pass over “I Hate Hillary” cartoons. They contain a lot of Boy-Who-Cried-Wolf factor, because, when you hammer a topic too often, nobody listens when the charge is valid.

All of which is to say that I agree with Gary Varvel on this one, which is quite a surprise.

But yesterday I heard a report on NPR — which I would note is neither Fox nor Breibart — in which Hillary doubled-down on her support for Bill’s affair with Monica Lewinsky and #MeToo be damned.

Granted, back then, I, too, passed it off as a consensual affair between two adults.

At the time. And I’d defend that.

However, most of us have since become a lot more woke on the topic of 22-year-old employees of 49-year-old bosses.

It’s a bit like freaking out over the number of Founders who owned slaves: There is a colossal and critical difference between “excusing” it or “accepting” it and cautiously, thoughtfully analyzing the complexity of history and human nature and social context.

That is, it’s horrific that any of our Founders owned slaves, but there you have it. And it’s proper and intelligent to ponder the principles of their writings in light of the fact.

But ponder, don’t knee-jerk, either direction.

Much of history requires a great deal of pondering, which is what makes it so interesting.

And, in this particular case, while I don’t think he should have been forced to resign, I do think he should have been honest, apologized profusely, served out the rest of his term and then disappeared into the mists of history.

As for context, a quarter century has passed since she said, “You know, I’m not sitting here, some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette,” but she sure is sitting there standing by her man today and it won’t do.

It simply will not do.

Though, speaking of Herself, Phil Hands serves up a slow floater destined to be slammed over the right field wall.

Trump doesn’t believe in “guilty until proven innocent.” He believes in “guilty even after being proven innocent.”

And the problem with “Animal Farm” as a model for the current administration is that, at the end, the animals puzzle over the fact that they cannot tell the pigs from the farmers.

That’s not how it turns out in real life. It’s not that they can’t tell them apart. It’s that they don’t realize they should be able to.

They are reasonably sure that “Four Legs Good, Two Legs Better” was always our slogan. And if you point out that it wasn’t, they’ll respond that it should have been.

And they know Snowball sabotaged the windmill. Lock him up!

Microeconomics

Between Friends turns its eyes on Kim, whose son, Danny, is looking to his future and, she suggests, her own.

I don’t get it.

That is, I get the point of the cartoon, and it reminds me of this wonderful classic episode from a dozen years go, though, at that point, Kim appeared to have her financial planning in hand.

But both the cost of, and the demand for, a college degree have gotten completely out of hand.

And I have friends who, for reasons they could not have helped or as a matter of choice, didn’t have kids until they were in their early 40s.

I try to be generous in processing their situation, given that I was empty-nested by 45 and so have had a chance to rebuild after my kids-in-college years.

But, come on, Kim. Graduate school?

You’re on your own, Danny. If you really need a masters, somebody will pay for you to get it or at least help make it practical.

It reminds me of a passage from Jules and Jim, which was inspirational then and still rings true:

Prof Albert Sorel taught me the little I know. He said “You want to be what?”
A diplomat.

Are you rich?
No.

Can you legitimately add a famous name to your own surname?
No.

Then forget diplomacy.

But what’ll I become?
Curious.

That’s not a profession.
Not yet. Travel, write, translate. Learn to live everywhere. Begin at once. The future belongs to the curious. The French have stayed behind their borders too long. Newspapers’ll pay for your escapades.

I’ve told kids that journalism is the worst-paying (well, nearly) career field that requires a college degree, but it’s so much fun that we’d do it for free (some of us do), and that my only regret is that I don’t make enough money to be able to travel.

On the other hand, I then admit, if it really mattered that much to me, I’d be a travel writer.

Give them roots. Give them wings. Give them space. They’ll figure it out.