Trump’s Delegate Lead is Overstated

by James J Heaney Posted on 27 February 2016

UPDATE: I have launched a Poor Man’s Stop-Trump Delegate Tracker based on the “Nightmare Scenario” laid out in this post.  The media and narrative-driven, math-challenged insiders have largely set their sights on March 15th as the pivotal day, just as this post predicted.  As I said when I first posted this, don’t listen to ’em!

Somehow, in the last four days, a large portion of the GOP has gone from, “Trump is a joke who cannot possibly win; therefore we don’t need to fight him,” all the way to, “Trump is an inevitability who cannot possibly be fought; therefore we won’t,” with no stopover in the middle.

This is very irritating.  As of today, 118 delegates have been awarded, out of a total of 2,472; we’re only 5% of the way into the voting. Donald Trump needs 1,237 delegates to clinch the nomination. He actually has 81, which means he’s just 7% of the way to the total he needs. Calling this game for Trump would be like calling the NCAA college basketball championship after the first minute and a half of gameplay.

Can we give it some time, people? After all, comebacks have occasionally happened before, in both sports and politics.  I’ve never seen a basketball game where Louisville leaps out to an early lead over Duke  — say, 4 points to 2 points — and Coach Krzyzewski says, “Oh, well, I guess it’s over!” and forfeits!  The color commentary never says, “Louisville now has a commanding lead… TWICE as many points as Duke! Duke can never come back from this!”

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The Longest Confirmation Battle in History

by James J Heaney Posted on 16 February 2016
Supreme Court Justice Henry Baldwin is chiefly remembered for the drama he caused by dying.
Supreme Court Justice Henry Baldwin is chiefly remembered for the drama he caused by dying.

President John Tyler had a very bad relationship with Congress.

Tyler had been elected Vice-President in 1840, and, like many Vice-Presidents, was added to the Whig ticket as an afterthought, his purpose to balance out William Henry Harrison and win votes in the South, not to actually govern. After all, in 1839, no U.S. President had ever failed to serve out his full term. Indeed, Tyler was an ex-Democrat, having left the party (and resigned his Senate seat) less than ten years earlier over President Jackson’s expansions of executive power. Though the Whigs were happy to have him, he was not exactly ideologically orthodox — even in a party as ideologically chaotic as the Whigs.

Upon election, Tyler did not even start working in (or near) the White House; he stayed at his home in Virginia and participated in political decisions exactly twice, both times when the President sent him a letter asking his advice on a particular appointment. He spent a grand total of two hours doing his job as Vice-President (“presiding over the Senate”) and was otherwise happy to draw his salary in total obscurity.

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Chris Christie May No Longer Receive Communion

by James J Heaney Posted on 4 February 2016

This morning, Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ), who is running for president, attacked Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who is also running for president, by arguing that Rubio is too pro-life. From the New York Times:

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Against Trump: A Roundup

by James J Heaney Posted on 29 January 2016

I expect to add to this list as the race continues.

First Things: Nikabrik’s Candidate
National Review: Against Trump
National Review: Symposium: Conservatives Against Trump
Ten Pro-Life Women: Dear Iowans
CatholicVote.org: Not. Trump.
Matt Walsh: Dear Christians, If You Vote For A Godless Man, You Are Asking For Tyranny
Weekly Standard: King Trump
Sen. Ben Sasse: Tweets Against Trump
Jay Nordlinger: How Trump and Clinton Supporters are Alike
William Kristol: The Confidence Man
David Harsyani: Donald Trump Is Not The Solution To GOP Incompetence
William F. Buckley: On Trump the Demagogue
Weigel, George, et. al.: An Appeal To Our Fellow Catholics
James J. Heaney (as BCSWowbagger2): Trump’s Wall Won’t Stop Abortion

Robert Oscar Lopez: …on an entirely different note, It’s Too Late To Dump on Trump
GitHub: TrumpScript v1.0

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Should I Watch: Utopia?

by James J Heaney Posted on 26 December 2015
It is hard to capture the essence of Utopia in one image, but that yellow suit and the eyepatch are a good start.

Type of Show: In the 21st Century, there are two kinds of shows: dark (think Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies) and bright (think Guardians of the Galaxy).  Some straddle the middle, or vacillate between the two.  Utopia is unlike all of them: its plot and characters are pitch-black, darker than anything I’ve seen recently.  But its tone — everything from its color palate to its music to its dialogue — is brighter than anything since Pushing Daisies.  It’s a drama, but often feels like something else.

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10 Ways NPR’s Star Wars Was Better Than The Movies

by James J Heaney Posted on 23 December 2015


This guest post comes from local Star Wars fanatic Luke LoPresto.  He was saying nice things about the NPR Star Wars radio drama on Facebook, and, as a big fan of radio drama myself, I asked if he’d write up something for De Civitate.  He did!

Esb-radio

At first blush, it doesn’t seem like there’s any good reason to listen to NPR’s 1981-1996 radio adaptations of Star Wars. Take away all the groundbreaking visual effects, iconic actors, and revolutionary design, and it sounds like all you have left is the dialogue — not exactly Star Wars‘ strongest point. But with Brian Daley’s writing and John Williams’s legendary soundtrack backing it up, you actually get something well worth listening to! Here’s ten reasons why you should pick up NPR’s Star Wars radio plays:

10. The Lost Biggs Scenes

These deleted scenes are some of the most well-known, giving the audience a look at Luke Skywalker’s life on Tatooine before a pair of robots came into his life. They also establish Luke’s friendship with fellow pilot Biggs Darklighter, who is defecting from the Empire and will later fight in the assault on the Death Star. In the movie, Biggs gets about two lines of dialogue and an out-of-place moment when Luke mourns Biggs’ death, like they were BFFs. Well, that’s because they were.

However, this sequence, which takes up the first episode of the radio drama, does suggest quite a backstory. Biggs mentions that he’s still first mate on an Imperial starship, having not yet joined the rebellion. The plot of the entire movie probably takes place over no more than a few days, yet in that time Biggs managed to jump ship, find his way to the rebellion, and become a member of Red Squadron in barely more time than Luke did! Not impossible, but still seems improbable…

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Should I Watch: The Man in the High Castle?

by James J Heaney Posted on 5 December 2015

Should I Watch? is a new feature in which James will write brief, to-the-point reviews of television shows, because he watches quite a few.  Like most features on De Civitate, James will probably not have time for it over the long haul and this will end up being the only installment. For the first column, James watches Amazon’s new prestige drama, The Man in the High Castle.

the-man-in-the-high-castle-titles-2
Still from The Man in the High Castle’s hauntingly effective opening credits 

Type of Show: It is unfair to call The Man in the High Castle a heavily-serialized drama. Like many other shows written for the “binge-watching” audience (House of Cards &c.), it is way more serialized than that.  As a series of episodes, it is unintelligible; it can only be understood as a full, season-long story.

What It’s About: In 1947, the Nazi Reich and Japanese Empire conquered America.  Now, in 1963, Juliana Crane and Joe Blake are helping the Resistance smuggle films that depict an impossible world where the Allies won.

Where People Watch: Amazon Prime (subscription only), The Pirate Bay (illegally)

What James Watched: The entire 10-episode first season, which is all that has been released so far.

Best Part: Mad Men won a bunch of awards for its powerful, faithful evocation of the 1960s. The Man in the High Castle goes much further: it powerfully, faithfully evokes a 1960s that never happened: a 1960s America that has been quietly perverted by anti-Semitic propaganda and seppuku.  The world it creates feel real in every detail, from production design to tiny quirks of dialogue, and that world-building is entrancing. Obergruppenführer John Smith (really? that’s the name of a main character?) is singled out in most reviews as a standout, and I must agree: every regime will has its collaborators, and some of them will be true believers. Smith is fascinating.

Worst Part: The Man in the High Castle is, even at this early date, obviously joining Lost’s tradition of asking questions that it has no intention of answering.  The refusal to commit to and advance the broad story drains the show — and apparently its writers — of any sense of urgency.  The story is ten hours long, but has less character development and change in all that time than your average 90-minute B-movie. What’s there is good, but it is soooo slow in coming and involves soooo many long silent shots of people frowning that you start wishing you were watching Peter Jackson’s Hobbit movies, which were somehow less overextended than The Man in the High Castle.

Should I Watch?: 

NO.

 

The Man in the High Castle could work very well, if its first and (probable) second season were smashed together into a tightly-paced six-episode miniseries.  Watch the pilot episode for its gorgeous production values and world-building (the pilot is free on Amazon even to non-subscribers, so, bonus).  The rest of the series just isn’t worth the time it asks for, so bail out and go watch the original Red Dawn, which has far less verisimilitude but a hell of a lot more entertainment value.

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Vox: Pedantic and Unproductive Microaggressor

by James J Heaney Posted on 13 November 2015

Furthermore, any behavior or language which is unwelcoming—whether or not it rises to the level of harassment—is also strongly discouraged. Much exclusionary behavior takes the form of microaggressions—subtle put-downs which may be unconsciously delivered. Regardless of intent, microaggressions can have a significant negative impact on victims and have no place on our team.

There are a host of behaviors and language common on tech teams which are worth noting as specifically unwelcome: Avoid “well, actuallys”—pedantic corrections that are often insulting and unproductive…

—Vox Product Team Code of Conduct, published 10 November 2015

“Philosopy majors actually earn a lot more than welders.”
—headline, Vox, 10 November 2015

“There is a better way to run presidential debates.  Actually, there are several.”
—headline, Vox, 5 November 2015

“Democrats are in denial.  Their party is actually in deep trouble.”
—headline, Vox, 19 October 2015

“Why the reasonable-sounding ’40-hour workweek for Congress’ idea would actually backfire”
—headline, Vox, 5 October 2015

“Russia says it’s bombing ISIS in Syria. It’s actually bombing their enemies.”
—headline, Vox, 30 September 2015

“Researchers said a popular antidepressant was safe for teens. It was actually deadly.”
—headline, Vox, 19 September 2015

“Kudzu hasn’t actually taken over millions of acres. These other invasive species have.”
—headline, Vox, 25 August 2015

“E-cigarettes and health — here’s what the evidence actually says”
—headline, Vox, 24 August 2015

“How Obama’s Clean Power Plan actually works — a step-by-step guide”
—headline, Vox, 5 August 2015

“USA’s Mr. Robot actually does everything True Detective pretends to do”
—headline, Vox, 29 July 2015

“Which Republicans actually debated one another, in one chart”
—headline, Vox, 7 August 2015

My personal favorite, because it is simultaneously so completely disconnected from reality and so darn smug about it:

“The truth about ‘political correctness’ is that it doesn’t actually exist”
—headline, Vox, 28 January 2015

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EXCLUSIVE: Synod Reaches Compromise! Remarried Catholics May Receive Communion, But Only At Extraordinary Form Masses

by James J Heaney Posted on 5 October 2015
Actually Pope Pius X or XII saying Mass in St. Peter's
EXCLUSIVE photos of the Synod on the Family, courtesy Fr. Rynne

The 2015 Ordinary Synod on the Family has today reached an “Extraordinary” compromise between “liberal” and “conservative” factions, De Civitate has learned. Speaking under condition of anonymity, Fr. Xavier Rynne of Boston confirmed that Catholics who have divorced, remarried, and remain sexually involved – thereby committing themselves, according to the constant teaching of the Church, to a life of unrepentant adultery – will be allowed to receive the Eucharist, a major victory for a faction led by Cardinal Walter Kasper, which has emphasized the importance of “mercy” over “legalism” and “the Gospel of Jesus Christ”.

However, in order to win support from reactionary bishops whose obsession with obeying Jesus borders on the Pharisaical, the enlightened Franco-Kasper faction was forced to make major concessions to conservatives. Although not all agree: “I prefer to see this not as a concession,” said Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi, “but as a wonderful opportunity for irregular couples to learn a new language!”

Under the apostolic constitution ratified Tuesday morning, remarried Catholics may present themselves for communion at Holy Mass only if the Mass is said entirely in the Latin language, with the priest facing away from the people, using the medieval Tridentine Rite. They must receive the Body and Blood of Christ on the tongue, while kneeling, at an altar rail, may only receive if they have also received the Sacrament of Reconciliation within the past forty-eight hours, and will be strongly discouraged (like most followers of the “extraordinary form”) from receiving every week, or even every month.

Immediate reactions are mixed. “Two steps forward, one step back is better than no steps forward,” wrote Michael Sean Winters of the National Catholic Reporter. “It’s past time progressive-minded Catholics started paying attention to the burgeoning Traditional Latin Mass movement, and this gives us a great opportunity to start looking at ways to support that movement. After all, if the TLM is exploding in membership and interest despite the huge demands it places on its supporters, then how much more would it grow if we got some Marty Haugen tunes into the TLM hymnals?”

Reached for comment at his confessional, Fr. John Zuhlsdorf, resplendent in camel-hair vestments, remarked, “Repent! For the day is at hand!” ate a locust, and then asked this reporter, “Seriously, are you here for confession or what? And how can you even tell what I’m wearing from behind the screen?”

The Society of St. Pius X has issued a vigorous condemnation, but, Superior General Bishop Bernard Fellay noted in his statement, “To be fair, we were going to issue a vigorous condemnation no matter what.”

Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of DignityUSA, cancelled plans to release a statement of her own, saying, “Bishop Fellay pretty much covered it.”

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Bill Nye’s Big Lie and Science’s Bigger Problem

by James J Heaney Posted on 30 September 2015
DID YOU KNOW THAT…? Embryology has clearly established that, biologically speaking, human life begins at conception. NOW YOU KNOW.

As a child, I was a religious fan of Bill Nye The Science Guy’s PBS show.  I watched every episode, and, as a result, I didn’t actually need to pay attention in science class until about the middle of 6th grade.  On a few occasions, I even corrected my teachers with information gleaned from his program!  I wanted to be a scientist when I grew up, and that was largely thanks to The Science Guy.  (I did end up a computer scientist, technically, but, with a mere B.A., I’m really a tradesman.)  Nor are Bill Nye’s talents limited to explaining science to children: his episode of Stargate: Atlantis was one of the best things that ever happened to that franchise.  My faith in Bill Nye was not extinguished by growing up.  When I saw that Nye had come out in favor of anthropogenic climate change, that was (more or less) when I stopped seriously arguing the point.  As the old saying goes, “Nye locuta est; causa clausa est.”

I’m reconsidering that decision.

Bill Nye put out a video last week arguing for abortion rights.  I’ll let you watch it.

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Posted in Abolitionism, Mere Opinion | 7 Comments