Wednesday, August 18, 2021

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Did you ever start reading a book and suddenly realize, "Wait I've read this before." Just had that experience with James Ellroy's LA Confidential. Only once the book was in my hands did I realize I had already read it (remembered reading The Black Dahlia but forgot I read this one too)... Porn Stache Donald Trump would be a good name for a lesbian Gordon Lightfoot cover band... Once I got a hundred pages into a biography of Jack Dempsey before realizing I had already that book... Not sure about you but I find myself actively avoiding any news or articles about Afghanistan because they are just making me sad and upset. It's a mental health thing. My condolences to anyone who served there or who had family members who did. This must be an extremely bitter pill to swallow... Having said that I feel I must comment on people noting that Joe Biden saying "the buck stops here" during his Afghanistan speech doesn't mean what he thinks it means. Most people get this wrong. As Truman meant it - it is a poker term meaning the dealer's "buck" (aka puck) stops here. That meant it was Truman's turn to pick a game (aka strategy or policy) and he wasn't going to shy away from that responsibility and pass the deal. Sadly the way Biden is going if he does pick a game I'm afraid it will be "Crazy Eights" while all the other world leaders are playing poker...   

No comments:

Post a Comment