Friends Across the Aisle

You know those inkblots where first you see two vases and then you see two faces and some people can only see the face while others can only see the vase? That's sort of how it is between Republicans and Democrats these days, and it's getting worse every day.

It is literally beyond my comprehension that anyone could have watched the debate between the two candidates for vice-president and come away thinking, "Yup, that's the guy for me! If anything happens to Kamala Harris, I definitely want Tim Walz as my President." Honestly, it would be a joke. Nobody could take him seriously. And yet they do, calling him "down to earth," or "the salt of the earth" and things like that. I know, he grew up in a middle-class neighborhood where kids stayed out til dark riding their bikes; that should count for something.

Those same people saw JD Vance as a sneaky, slick, snake oil salesman, while I thought he was pretty close to the second coming of Jesus. (Is that how you say it, or is Second Coming capitalized? I'm Jewish, don't ask me.)

Vance wished he grew up in a middle-class neighborhood. Instead he grew up in poverty and squalor with a drug addicted mother, yet somehow he flourished in adulthood and became a husband and father and lawyer, and then a Senator and now a VP candidate reminiscent of a young JFK, all by the age of 40.

At least that's how I see it. Can we still be friends?

Vice-presidential Debate

Tim Walz, Democrat

J. D. Vance, Republican

Last night voters got to see the two candidates for Vice-president duke it out in a nationally broadcast debate. Today all the pollsters are sharing the results of their telephone polls, focus groups and analysis by pundits. The results are less than surprising: Democrats think Tim Walz, shown above, won the night, while Republicans thought that J.D. Vance, pictured at right, was the victor.

While I thought there was a clear winner who demonstrated poise, intelligence and class while the other seemed like a total, blithering fool, I won't say who I thought won. 
 

Film Review: AM I RACIST?

Matt Walsh leading one of his anti-racism workshops.

Billed as a comedy, the premise of Am I Racist? is far from funny. These days, if you are white you are presumed to be a racist. After all, white people kept slaves and your ancestors were white so what more proof do you need? Apparently Matt Walsh, the film's star and one of its writers and producers, needed more. In this amusing "mockumentary" he sets out to learn if he really is a racist after all, and how can he stop being one.

A middling celebrity known mostly to conservatives who follow his show on Ben Shapiro's The Daily Wire, Walsh decides to get out and meet diversity experts in search of answers. Opting for a disguise to avoid being recognized, he morphs into a woke-looking lefty in granny glasses, jeans and sneakers, a long-haired wig topped by a man-bun and a wispy manner that might lead one to wonder about his pronouns. He then proceeds to get himself certified as a DEI trainer and holds several daylong workshops for self-described racists looking to rid themselves of bias, at $2,000 a pop.

Naturally the so-called "racists" we meet are all white. The only blacks in the film are two women holding their own workshops for white people guilty of that dreaded syndrome, White Fragility, who are willing to fork over really big bucks to be cured of it. The whole exercise wears thin soon enough, and the few laughs at the expense of Walsh's guileless subjects are barely worth the price of admission. 

Obviously most people felt that way: Our group of four went to a 7pm showing at an IMAX theater on a Saturday night and were the only people there, until a white couple showed up late with their three young children. The kids spent most of the time going back and forth to the concession stand, seemingly unaware of the dire disease lurking within them.