A Phlaming Phoenix

I mean… Leviticus through Deuteronomy is one long string of genocides that were committed by Israelites and justified by “God said to.” There’s even a story in there where the Israelites don’t want to commit yet another genocide because the army they’re up against is bigger and stronger, and God tells them basically, “If you don’t go do that genocide I’ll kill you where you stand.” This brutality seems expected in that context.

There are places like this or the Castro district in San Francisco that attract queer people and have large queer populations.

I worry that not doing debates for this cycle would be the start of a tradition of not doing them anymore, ever. To some degree, I’m in favor of doing them even knowing they’re only ceremonial.

But even as I write that out, I wonder if the whole thing needs a facelift. This kind of televised debate was made up in a world where television had the broadest media reach. It was a public service to broadcast debates, and there was a time when that might make up the majority of what a voter knew about the candidates.

Now we have the Internet and no need to shoehorn a Very Formal Debate into a prime time slot. Debates could be shorter and focused on the details of particular issues, allowing the candidates to converse more directly on topics. I would listen to a whole year of weekly podcast episodes like that leading up to an election.

Exactly. “Capitalism could use a new coat of paint.”