Second Stage

Miles Fidelman on Substack

As I’ve written previously, I’ve been reading Richard Nixon’s memoirs, and I’ve just gotten to his retelling of the 1968 election. I’ve been struck by the parallels with our most recent election. “There were going to be seven key states in the 1968 presidential campaign: New York, California, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Michigan.” Unlike 1968, The Democratic Convention wasn’t a shitshow. Then “It seemed as if the Democratic Convention was confirming every indictment of their leadership that I had made in my convention speeches. Television magnified the agony of Chicago into a national debacle.” Still, like then some were unsatisfied: “McCarthy and his zealous followers had been embittered by the convention because their efforts to pass a peace plank in the platform were defeated.” “The Deep South had to be virtually conceded to George Wallace. I could not match him there without compromising on the Civil Rights issue, which I would not do.” This time the George Wallace voters had become the core of the MAGA Republican Party. “Lyndon Johnson stayed home in the White House, and Humphrey became a handy target for everyone on the left who hated the Johnson Administration and the Vietnam War.” It’s no wonder Nixon won. The only difference, as I noted yesterday (https://open.substack.com/pub/milesfidelman/p/in-stark-contrast?r=3ahemj&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web) Nixon ran a campaign stressing hope and unity - and went on to finish what Kennedy started - bringing a measure of resolution to the Cold War, landing men on the moon, and starting to clean up the environment. Trump promises a different course.

Miles Fidelman on Substack

So… what would happen if NY locked Trump up, and he was not able to show up to take the oath of office? WHO'D LIKE TO FIND OUT? What say you?

In Stark Contrast

Richard Nixon's Acceptance Speech & Inaugural Address

Miles Fidelman on Substack

And now for something completely different: Testing the limits of what purports to be Intelligent, and in the best tradition of Captain James T. Kirk, I challenged ChatGPT thusly: The Answer is 42. We are here to find the Question. Let Infinite Improbability Reign in Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combination. ChatGPT Replied: Ah, you're channeling the spirit of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy—Douglas Adams' brilliant work where the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything is indeed 42, but the question itself remains an elusive mystery. In a universe of infinite improbability and diversity, the search for that question becomes a journey itself, full of strange and unexpected twists. Infinite diversity in infinite combinations could be a metaphor for how different perspectives and possibilities can offer countless interpretations, but none may quite capture the ultimate question that fits the answer of 42. Perhaps the question isn't one to be found, but to be created—through experiences, choices, and discoveries. What's your take on it? ---- The AI punted the question. It could not create.

Miles Fidelman on Substack

#Election2014 #America250 It is Time to Acknowledge that We the People are Angry, and it is a Righteous Anger. It is Time Again for We the People to Stand Up for Truth, Justice, and the American Way "It does not take a majority to prevail... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men." Samuel Adams "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, ... (to this) we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. The Founders "We declare our right on this earth...to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary." Malcolm X It is time to Declare that We are not Germany in 1933, or Iran in 1979, or Russia in 2012. That This Aggression Will Not Stand. That We Will Never Give In, Never Surrender. It is time to Stand for our more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity. It is time again to resolve that those before shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” No More Mr. Nice Guy, It's Time to Be Angry, It’s Time to Play Hardball It's time to Show Up, Sign Up, and Speak Up for America, By Any Means Necessary Miles Fidelman, Civic.Net - Rebooting Democracy, Rebuilding America

It’s Time for Outgoing Democrats to Play Hardball

Much can still be done between now and Inauguration Day to put limits on the excesses of the incoming Trump administration.