1. This is the time to remember Lewis Carroll's Through The Looking Glass:
“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.” “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master—that’s all.”A perfect reminder of what is happening in much of American politics at the current time. Debate has become something quite similar to Humpty Dumpty's opinions, and the bit about who the master might be at the end is crucial.
It also connects to the Power Of Naming. Who is allowed to name and define me and my body? Who is allowed to define democracy? Freedom? Markets? Impeachable offenses?
That last sentence links to this:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is backing a resolution to change the Senate’s rules to allow for lawmakers to dismiss articles of impeachment against President Trump before the House sends them over.What do the Senate Rules about impeachment mean, after all? What matters is which is to be master, of course.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) announced on Thursday that McConnell has signed on as a co-sponsor to the resolution, which he introduced earlier this week.
2. Linked to the above, I found this news (not news?) most interesting:
A Justice Department inquiry launched more than two years ago to mollify conservatives clamoring for more investigations of Hillary Clinton has effectively ended with no tangible results, and current and former law enforcement officials said they never expected the effort to produce much of anything.What matters is who is to be master, not the likelihood of tangible results from an inquiry.
3. Finally:
Just a clerical error! Anyone could have accidentally deleted an important video (or election results)! Because what matters is which is to be master, or to remain one.The surveillance video taken from outside Jeffrey Epstein's jail cell on the day of his first apparent suicide attempt has been permanently deleted, federal prosecutors said Thursday.Epstein, the disgraced financier who was facing federal sex-trafficking charges, was found semiconscious in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, or MCC, in New York around 1:27 a.m. on July 23.But that video is now gone because MCC officials mistakenly saved video from a different floor of the federal detention facility, prosecutors said in a court filing.
But be of cheerful heart, my sweet and erudite reader! Humpty Dumpty did fall off the wall at the end and all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again.