that something very
peculiar happening …
need to acknowledge
New York Times Opinion Columnist Paul Krugman was thinking about the question Ronald Reagan asked during a debate with Jimmy Carter back in 1980.
Mr. Reagan asked, “Are you better off now than you were 4 years ago?”
Mr. Krugman, in an Opinion Piece titled, The Peculiar Persistence of Trump-stalgia, pondered which of the two current Presidential Candidates comes off better asking that question.
Mr. Krugman writes, “So how can anyone think that the Reagan question favors Trump? Spoiler alert: I don’t have a full explanation. But at the very least, we need to acknowledge that something very peculiar is happening.“
Mr. Krugman has been an Opinion columnist since 2000 and is also a distinguished professor at the City University of New York Graduate Center. He won the 2008 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his work on international trade and economic geography.
And his opinion piece is a wonderful collections of ponderings on the economic patterns of the last 4 years.
But know what?
Who needs to confine his salient point to economics?
Mr. Krugman’s salient point being, as I see it, is at the very least, we need to acknowledge that something very peculiar is happening.
Boy Howdy, but at the very least, we need to acknowledge that something very peculiar is happening.
I am reminded of a baseball game I went to with my kids back in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The home town team was the West Michigan Whitecaps, named after the white capped waves on Lake Michigan.
Of course the team wore Navy Blue caps with a wavy logo.
This night I am thinking of we were sitting in the Family Zone.
A section that was supposed to be family friendly with no drinking.
The whole stadium was no smoking of course.
The section was bench seating, bleachers with a back and me and my kids sat in a row
Another Dad sat with his kids in the same row.
Between me and the other Dad was a guy who looked like he played lead guitar for ZZ Top.
He had a heavy nylon biker jacker of some short and a baseball cap pulled down low and dark sunglasses.
He had long hair, a long beard down to his belt buckle and a long mustache flaring out over his cheeks and covering his mouth.
Peeking out from under his moustache was a cigarette that was replaced as soon as he finished smoking it.
In one hand was a beer.
The wind was such that the smoke went right into the face of this other Dad.
He looked like a nice enough guy with khaki slacks and a polo shirt and windbreaker topped off by a really nice haircut.
You know the type, a nice, well behaved, golf Buddy, at home in a world of people who followed rules.
Every time Mr. ZZ Top exhaled, Buddy would make a big show of waving at the smoke in front of his face.
Finally, he leaned over and said, “Sir, there is no smoking.”
Mr. ZZ Top reached up and with two fingers slowly removed the cigarette from his mouth, turned, ever so slowly, to Buddy and blew out a lungful of smoke and looked Buddy in the eye.
“No shit?” he said.
Mr. ZZ Top turned back to the game and returned the cigarette to his mouth.
Buddy caught my eye and I shrugged.
I wanted to say, at the very least, we need to acknowledge that something very peculiar is happening.
Thinking of Mr. Krugman’s article and its salient point, about all I can say is … well Mr. ZZ Top said it better than I ever could.
No Haiku For You 