www.thornwalker.com/ditch/morley_short_takes_6.htm
April 24, 2022
Short takes, no. 6
By EDWARD MORRISON MORLEY
Editor’s note: Mr. Morley, for some reason, persists in submitting these short takes, which apparently he finds thought-provoking. Since he is very sensitive, it would be hurtful for TLD to turn him down, however provoked TLD editors might be. Readers can use their own discretion, if you get my drift. On the other hand, Mr. Morley, so far, has not attempted to compete in any women’s sports, so let’s cut him some slack. Excelsior!
1. Problems with white(s). Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, speaking on St. Patrick’s Day 2022: “This past winter was pretty intense: trial by snow, trial by firefighters union. I’m getting used to dealing with problems that are expensive, disruptive, and white. (pause) I’m talking about snowflakes, I mean, snowstorms, snowflakes.” So white Bostonians, not to worry. Boston snowflakes — and there are a lot of them — need to head for cover. Wait? What? Oh, not that kind of snowflake. Readers might amuse themselves by imagining the reaction if Wu (apparently a member of the despised-in-Boston Asian community) had said “problems that are expensive, disruptive, and black.”
2. Predicting the future. Some people are passing around a supposedly prophetic quote from Stephen Spielberg in an interview concerning his 2002 film “Minority Report”: “The Internet is watching us now. If they want to. They can see what sites you visit. In the future, television will be watching us, and customizing itself to what it knows about us. The thrilling thing is, that will make us feel we’re part of the medium. The scary thing us, we’ll lose our right to privacy. An ad will appear in the air around us, talking directly to us.” But, dear readers, don’t panic: the film is set in 2054, so we have roughly another
3. Speaking of Ukraine ... Wait! What? You weren’t? Common. After all, how could you be distracted from inflation, COVID, metastasizing Build Back Better bills, flourishing censorship by Big Tech and Big Entertainment, cancel culture, the Squad, and whatever it is that universities are up to these days??? Anyway, Netflix is now broadcasting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s pre-presidential comedy show “Servant of the People” (“Poignant,” “Emotionally draining,” “I can’t watch more than an episode.”) In addition, on YouTube you can watch Zelensky comedy videos, some of them not exactly suitable for a family audience. However, how does that differ from some of the current administration’s program proposals, which are apparently so X-rated they have to be hidden in thousand-page-plus omnibus bills? (Ed. note: Answer: the Bidenista platform is much more obscene.)
4. Secret Service minders on the ball. Also speaking of Ukraine (notice the smooth transition), according to the New York Times,
Do we actually know who “they” are yet? Are they the same they who didn’t let Unka Joe see firsthand the most porous border in the world in his own country? And are we to infer that J.B. Biden was also disappointed about that? They are letting him out of the
5. Mental health alert. This item contains materials that can be harmful to a normal person’s mental well-being. Please duct-tape your head before proceeding. The same issue of the Times carries a “guest opinion editorial” titled, “Madeleine Albright Warned Us, and She Was Right.” The author? Hillary Clinton.
Apart from wondering how much money the Times paid into Hillary’s growing campaign fund, are any of you obtuse enough not to see that this is one more trial balloon being launched by the Times? Do yourself a favor and don’t read this self-serving puff piece. Most of the anecdotes are Hillary-related (“Madeleine was
6. A lesson on compassion. Tim Maliyil,
Mr. Maliyil, when he’s not expounding on ethics to the unwashed, is CEO and Data Security Architect for AlertBoot, which, according to an interviewer, “protects customers from data breaches that damage their credibility, reputation, and overall business.” No word on whether his deep philosophizing on Twitter does damage to his credibility, reputation, or overall business. On another site, Maliyil seems to be speaking autobiographically: “... the power of search engines also is their downside — anyone can post an answer, even if they don’t know what they’re talking about.” Tru dat!
7. Payback for Joe Manchin. It took a while, but Sen. Joe Manchin (Don’t Really Know What Party–W.Va.) is starting to get real payback for defying the regressives in the Democrat Party. Up to this point, they have more or less resorted to 
Christopher Flavelle, Julie Tate, and Erin Schaff, with a deck that reads: “At every step of his political career, Joe Manchin helped a West Virginia power plant that is the sole customer of his private coal business. Along the way, he blocked ambitious climate action.” The piece is accompanied by an ominously dark picture of a power plant spewing what the reader is free to think is toxic fumes into the atmosphere.
The fact that the story was a lead item on a Monday morning also sends a clear message. One would almost think the regressives are trying to push Manchin into the Republican Party where he could join the Mitt Romney wing. (Let’s see, is that the right or left wing? ... but I digress). Ω
April 24, 2022
Published in 2022 by WTM Enterprises.
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