Random Thoughts

1. I must admit that I feel a tad guilty that the first time I saw this image on the Rod Dreher site, my first thought was "Thank God it wasn't one of us." Yet another unneeded reminder that journalism can be a dangerous profession.

2. Apparently it was 1960 again last week. I guess that means it's the wrong month for me to admit that one of my favorite first cousins is a Charismatic Catholic just like Ms. Barrett. So I'm a bit perturbed that so many otherwise smart people choose to respond to the possibility that Ms. Barrett might be appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by pulling out the old "Catholics are weird" card. Not to mention the inevitable "dual loyalties" card that was supposedly retired in 1960.

3. Apparently Bernie Sanders was not a fluke. At least that's what I deduce from the recent election in New York of Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Though I must admit it was fun watching some allegedly mature adults try to write off Sanders as yet another white male politician as if Jewish Socialists from New England win presidential primaries all the time.

4. Bill Clinton and James Patterson wrote a book. Who knew Patterson had it in him?

This Is Embarrassing

In her comment to a Rod Dreher article on "sexting," blogger Erin Manning mentioned how her daughter used the term "Utopian bride" to comment on how ridiculous she (the daughter) considered "sexting" to be and then went on to comment about how 80% of her daughter's peers would not get that reference.

Quick confession: Though I am familiar with Thomas More and his book Utopia, I have never read enough of the book to be familiar with that reference either. In fact, I had to look it up. And I suspect many of my peers -- who are, of course, a lot older than Ms. Manning's daughter -- would not get that reference either.

That just goes to show what I get for depending so much on Masterplots.

Big Hollywood Turn Me Loose and Set Me Free

I was going to post a comment on John Nolte's Big Hollywood site last night until I remembered that Lent starts today and that I promised myself I would give up silly political arguments for Lent. Which means I probably won't be commenting on any site between now and Easter.

Besides, as much as I love many of the old movies that are often discussed on Big Hollywood -- and it should be obvious by now that I have a great deal of affection for old movies -- and as much as I sympathize with certain conservative values -- I love motherhood, America and apple pie as much as the next person -- I don't quite feel comfortable with many of the opinions expressed on that site. There are some conservative sites -- such as Rod Dreher's Crunchy Con site -- that seem quite open to discussion, even with people who disagree with them, as long as said disagreements are expressed in a civil manner. And then there's Big Hollywood.

Plus when you have a grandmother who was dispossessed by the Mexican Revolution and former classmates who were exiled to the US by the fall of Saigon, you get really, really tired of Americans who are always kvetching about how horrible it is to live in a country where not everyone agrees with their political opinions. Americans who would have you believe that they are worse off than people in Cuba and China just because their views are not fashionable. No one likes a person with a perpetual martyr complex -- especially an unearned martyr complex -- and it is hard to have an honest discussion with such a person. I don't like such people when they argue on behalf of the left and I don't like such people when they argue on behalf of the right.

So I am giving up the Big Hollywood site for Lent. Wish me luck.