(This is a re-post of Monday’s column which was lost after the database crash on Monday night)
Random Monday thoughts:
First, Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan is a huge part of the soundtrack to the lives of boomers, so the average person has no problem with his winning the award, despite maybe pulling for Phillip Roth, or Dom DeLillo. From Dwight Garner:
This Nobel acknowledges what weâve long sensed to be true: that Mr. Dylan is among the most authentic voices America has produced, a maker of images as audacious and resonant as anything in Walt Whitman or Emily Dickinson.
Dylan is probably the only Nobel Prize for Literature winner who was a household name. Most are people whose work is known only to the elites. Harvard Professor Richard Thomas teaches a course called âBob Dylanâ:
I donât see any difference between a poet like Catullus or Virgil and Bob Dylan. I think they are doing the same things. It has to do with control of language, connecting of lyrics and melodies. Thatâs what makes it timeless.
The professor notes that in songs like âLonesome Day Bluesâ, thereâs a stanza that goes:
Iâm going to spare the defeated, Iâm going to speak to the crowd
Iâm going to spare the defeated, âcause Iâm going to speak to the crowd
Iâm going to teach peace to the conquered, Iâm going to tame the proud
And itâs pretty much a direct quote of lines spoken in the âAeneidâ by the ghost of Aeneasâs father, Anchises, who he sees in the underworld, and who basically says to him: âOther people will make sculpture. Your art, your job as a Roman, is to âspare defeated peoples, tame the proud.ââ
Second, what is the point of having a third presidential debate? We already know almost everything about the Pant Suit, because the Right has been studiously putting her public and private life on display for the past 30 years. There is more we might learn about Mr. McGropey Pants, but donât expect to hear anything that sounds like policy. Expect the Pant Load to do nothing to elevate the discourse. If he says: âis the bitch through talking?â donât be surprised.
Third, his supporters will remain loyal, even after the election. The Boston Globe reports that election night could be the start of something terrible. For the past two weeks, Trump has been stoking fears that you canât trust what happens at the ballot box. This, from Cincinnati:
And if Trump doesnât win, some are even openly talking about violent rebellion and assassination, as fantastical and unhinged as that may seem.
âIf sheâs in office, I hope we can start a coup. She should be in prison or shot. Thatâs how I feel about it,â Dan Bowman, a 50-year-old contractor, said of Hillary ClintonâŚâWeâre going to have a revolution and take them out of office if thatâs what it takes. Thereâs going to be a lot of bloodshed. But thatâs what itâs going to takeâŚI would do whatever I can for my country.â
But, isnât Trump your garden-variety Republican, and arenât his supporters absolutely regular folks? After all, a sitting US Senator, Jeff Sessions, (R-Ala.) said in New Hampshire on Saturday that anti-Trump forces are trying to rig the election. All these people are mainstream GOP for sure.
And Mr. âin prison or shotâ Bowman is just another peaceful American who is deeply concerned about the economic well-being of the working class.
Canât you see Putin asking the UN to send in election monitors to certify the results?
Time to wake up America! Â You brought this on (i) by not voting in off-year elections, (ii) by not supporting media that search for truth, and (iii) by not insisting on the best possible education for your kids.
To help you wake up, here is Nobel Laureate Bob Dylanâs âTangled Up in Blueâ, recorded in 1975:
https://vimeo.com/150126587
Sample Lyrics:
Then she opened up a book of poems
And handed it to me
Written by an Italian poet
From the thirteenth century
And every one of them words rang true
And glowed like burninâ coal
Pourinâ off of every page
Like it was written in my soul from me to you
Tangled up in blue
Those who read the Wrongologist in email can view the video here.