No writer’s block for me

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I was dreading having to write my next Reader column here from Aurora. I told the Reader’s editor it was unlikely I’d get it done unless I woke up in the middle of Saturday morning. Damn it worked and its now on Substack with the Reader to follow on Thursday or Friday. I also did it only on my computer without endlessly printing versions as I jumped from iteration to iteration. That was a revelation.

Over the past couple weeks I’ve generated a plethora of column ideas and today the same thing occurred with me sending cryptic and not so cryptic ideas to myself in emails. Tonight I may put a few of them on this page to show how one person brainstorms work. Here’s my inbox:

Working my way up from the bottom (with significant edits where my eyes couldn’t see the small letters and words on my cellphone.

“Our way of life” was never to make Americans mean, stupid and bobble heads: The way of life phrase is Congressman Pete Stauber’s slogan papering over his spineless acquiescence a trait that was never any American hero’s way of life. I’m thinking how in the Indivisible Era I could 86 him in a fifth campaign….by which I mean take him off the November menu.

Can AI algorithms be programmed to take garbage out and could this affect democracy or tyranny? Lie factories like China, Russia and Trump World want the news and Internet to tell their BS as truth. I wonder if AI might end up being useless if lets lies pass as truth thus becoming an obstacle for state propaganda by bad nations. I expect this to become a much pondered question as more of us succumb to AI.

Ridicule – rules for its use. Trump employs ridicule, usually devoid of wit just as it is employed against him. He’s a big boy so in my world he’s a legit target. However, there is no question when it is employed against him his supporters…..for the pre-tariff time being, only dig down deeper to support him. This needs to be taken into consideration.

Truth, good faith trust Can any Trump supporter deny Trump’s foes (like me) don’t have good cause to distrust Trump? If they said, of course, he can be trusted why should anybody take their denials seriously? This gets at the challenge of talking Maga world which might be easier if Trump blows up America and his fault can’t be denied.

The Narcissist’s Prayer Something that my son mentioned a day ago which perfectly describes Trump’s thinking:

That didn’t happen.
And if it did, it wasn’t that bad.
And if it was, that’s not a big deal.
And if it is, that’s not my fault.
And if it was, I didn’t mean it.
And if I did, you deserved it.

And finally because humor should be our ally in saving America I gave this photo from Duluth (I think) that they put in a downstairs bathroom. I bought it for them for a Christmas stocking stuffer. We need all the humor we can muster.

About the author

Harry is a ferociously good natured eccentric in Duluth Minnesota who detests traitors dressed up as Uncle Sam. You can find somewhat better edited writings of his at the Duluth Reader "contributors." page. The URL is:
https://duluthreader.com/contributors/h/84/284-harry-welty