Method and Madness

"Nothing is more exhilarating than philistine vulgarity."

-Vladimir Nabokov

An exuberant sunrise.

But already giving way to gray skies with snow on the way after last night's dusting.

One final exam is now on the books, with one to go. How did I do? No clue, but overall it seemed okay. I keep reminding myself that the dumbest guy in the program graduates with an LLM in Taxation from NYU, and they don't print your GPA or class rank on that diploma.

Thinking very early this morning about the vulgarity of the current administration. The expletives rolling out during interviews and at public events. The dehumanizing way they talk to and about women and minorities. The women themselves in that awful circle, all disfigured by plastic surgeons and achieving something horrible in their quest to be what they think a man wants to see. The whorehouse makeover of the White House, with its rococo gold everywhere and tacky swirled sign that looks like something you'd see at a three star resort with pretensions of a fourth or fifth star.

Anyway, it occurred to me that this isn't random crudity, a sign that none of these people come from good stock. They don't, of course, not a damned one of them, but this is something different. It's vulgarity by design, a vehicle for wearing all of us down, for lowering the level of discourse to a place they can manipulate. And they want you down in the mud with them. At that point, what's to criticize, when there's no standard or societal expectation or norm of civil conduct?

It's a revolutionary act, a project of mass vandalism that tears down every standard of decency so they can fill it with their filth.

And the really clever ones mask the outrageousness of what they're saying by wrapping it in our own moral sense. Take this gem from our vile congressman and my former Kiwanis-mate, Jimmy Patronis:

Part of my growing disdain for the Sunshine State is that it creates people like this, and then elects them to high office. He wasn't such an ass back in the 90s--just a dim bulb scion of a successful restaurant family.

I have not encountered these stories seeking empathy for smugglers, but let's assume for the sake of argument that they exist. Shouldn't a Christian nation, to quote the baptismal covenant of my own faith tradition, "strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being"? By "justice" I'd suggest the due process a country built on the rule of law guarantees--if these same individuals came into Jimmy's fantasy Christmas dinner with an axe and started swinging, we'd still formally charge and try them (and then, if it's the South, torture them to death in some new, novel form of execution that feels properly retributive to the Good Christians down there). Our country is engaged in piracy and murder right now. We have institutional responses to the constant human curse of addiction--sending the military to kill those involved in the drug trade has never been on the list.

Anyway, the response of civilization to these Philistines should be to double-down on projecting a true conservatism. We should watch our language, as tempting as it is to slip into vulgarities when describing the present moment. Cleave to our institutions--church and community, the glue that holds us together. Be kind. Read a little Marcus Aurelius, and try to live into that wisdom. Also Camus.

Interrupted in the midst of all this by another almost weepy client who's reached the end of the old financial rope. Expect a lot more of that in the months ahead. And this person was a vocal MAGA supporter, thrilled this time last year at the glorious economic future promised once the Goths were permitted through the gates.