4 ms·

John McCain’s campaign trail: ‘The Weasel, Twelve Monkeys and the Shrub’ (2000)

56 points by di 8y ago

Herodotus38 8y ago
This is sort of tangential, but I was wondering if anyone here who is a fan of David Foster Wallace has seen the movie on Netflix about him? I wasn't sure if it's good. Edit: it's called "The End of the Tour".
- cwmoore 8y ago
  I saw the movie. I had hoped it would be good, but I can't say that it was meaningful to me. The protagonist became a terrible shell of himself to have met his idol, and the idol himself was not a traditional hero, rather a matured one. I admit, I have yet to read Infinite Jest. I truly enjoyed Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon, to whom David Foster Wallace was often compared, and I am glad you pointed out the author of TFA so I might read this present piece.
- nesyt 8y ago
  I liked it. It made me happy and sad.
ajkjk 8y ago
Dang, do I ever love DFW's rambling. It's so enjoyable compared to everyone else's rambling. I have always wondered why he uses the word 'which' in a way that nobody else does, as in: "...he had to eject, which basically means setting off an explosive charge that blows your seat out of the plane, which ejection broke both McCain’s arms and one leg and gave him a concussion and he started falling out of the skies right over Hanoi." The second 'which' does not seem grammatically correct to me, but he does it _all the time_, and he probably knows the rules better than anyone. I assume it's a archaic form that he was the last holdout for?
- ComputerGuru 8y ago
  It’s very much grammatically correct, but it’s certainly fallen out of favor. You’ll see it in older scientific papers.
- 1123581321 8y ago
  I do it. I don’t believe it’s archaic. “Whose” refers to people, so things need a different word.
jacquesm 8y ago
So, there goes John McCain (he just died). It's a real pity, he seems to have been one of very few politicians on the Republican side that actually spoke his mind and that stood up to the bully. His voice will be sorely missed, both within the USA as well as outside of it. I lost a family member to cancer last week (@60), it went from A-ok to gone in the space of two months, it's a very harsh disease.
- InclinedPlane 8y ago
  The voice that matters most for a politician is their vote, McCain did not use his vote to stand up to Trump, quite the contrary.
  - jacquesm 8y ago
    McCain being part of the Republican party would be expected to vote along the lines of that party most of the time so I see no surprise there. But given the ample opportunity that others have had to speak out it is surprising that so few do and allow all this to assume the mantle of acceptability. That McCain chose to make himself heard deserves recognition, even if his voting record is as it is, especially today.
    - boomboomsubban 8y ago
      His voting record helped cause the deaths of around 80 Yemeni children in the past month. I'm sure their families are relieved to know that McCain opposed outside influence in US elections.
      - jacquesm 8y ago
        I don't think I was arguing from a position of any kind of agreement with US foreign policy.
      - dogma1138 8y ago
        Ah yes his voting record magically guaranteed a proxy war between Iran and KSA in Yemen and Syria. The Middle East was a fucked up place before the impact of US foreign policy and it will still be fucked even if the Us goes into full isolationism, dictatorships and theocracies with forced national identities governing non-heterogenous ethnic groups tend to cause that. It’s the same reason why European empires broke down and why the Balkans are in such a mess.
cloakandswagger 8y ago
I'm surprised that these topics about McCain are appearing and sticking around. From HN's guidelines: "Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon. [...] If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-topic." If this is the new standard then it's a worrying incursion of US politics into HN. Can someone make a convincing argument as to how McCain's death is of particular interest to hacker culture? My feeling is these topics are sticking around because they're honoring a guy that seems beloved by both sides of the political spectrum (no dispute from me there), but it doesn't change the fact that this doesn't fit HN guidelines. Edit: And before someone mentions it, I'm aware that I myself am breaking the guidelines by questioning the appropriateness of this topic. I think it's a fair discussion to be had when neither the flagging mechanism or HN's moderation staff are enforcing what should be the principal rule of the site.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- Herodotus38 8y ago
  I think the majority of the votes are not due to McCain but because the author is David Foster Wallace, who is fairly popular on HN. The article, albeit about McCain, is broad and at times focused on the realities people involved in political journalism, youth engagement in politics, why we try like certain candidates, etc... At least that's my opinion

56 points by di 8y ago

This is sort of tangential, but I was wondering if anyone here who is a fan of David Foster Wallace has seen the movie on Netflix about him? I wasn't sure if it's good. Edit: it's called "The End of the Tour".

cwmoore 8y ago
I saw the movie. I had hoped it would be good, but I can't say that it was meaningful to me. The protagonist became a terrible shell of himself to have met his idol, and the idol himself was not a traditional hero, rather a matured one. I admit, I have yet to read Infinite Jest. I truly enjoyed Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon, to whom David Foster Wallace was often compared, and I am glad you pointed out the author of TFA so I might read this present piece.
nesyt 8y ago
I liked it. It made me happy and sad.

ajkjk 8y ago

Dang, do I ever love DFW's rambling. It's so enjoyable compared to everyone else's rambling. I have always wondered why he uses the word 'which' in a way that nobody else does, as in: "...he had to eject, which basically means setting off an explosive charge that blows your seat out of the plane, which ejection broke both McCain’s arms and one leg and gave him a concussion and he started falling out of the skies right over Hanoi." The second 'which' does not seem grammatically correct to me, but he does it _all the time_, and he probably knows the rules better than anyone. I assume it's a archaic form that he was the last holdout for?

ComputerGuru 8y ago
It’s very much grammatically correct, but it’s certainly fallen out of favor. You’ll see it in older scientific papers.
1123581321 8y ago
I do it. I don’t believe it’s archaic. “Whose” refers to people, so things need a different word.

jacquesm 8y ago

So, there goes John McCain (he just died). It's a real pity, he seems to have been one of very few politicians on the Republican side that actually spoke his mind and that stood up to the bully. His voice will be sorely missed, both within the USA as well as outside of it. I lost a family member to cancer last week (@60), it went from A-ok to gone in the space of two months, it's a very harsh disease.

InclinedPlane 8y ago
The voice that matters most for a politician is their vote, McCain did not use his vote to stand up to Trump, quite the contrary.
- jacquesm 8y ago
  McCain being part of the Republican party would be expected to vote along the lines of that party most of the time so I see no surprise there. But given the ample opportunity that others have had to speak out it is surprising that so few do and allow all this to assume the mantle of acceptability. That McCain chose to make himself heard deserves recognition, even if his voting record is as it is, especially today.
  - boomboomsubban 8y ago
    His voting record helped cause the deaths of around 80 Yemeni children in the past month. I'm sure their families are relieved to know that McCain opposed outside influence in US elections.
    - jacquesm 8y ago
      I don't think I was arguing from a position of any kind of agreement with US foreign policy.
    - dogma1138 8y ago
      Ah yes his voting record magically guaranteed a proxy war between Iran and KSA in Yemen and Syria. The Middle East was a fucked up place before the impact of US foreign policy and it will still be fucked even if the Us goes into full isolationism, dictatorships and theocracies with forced national identities governing non-heterogenous ethnic groups tend to cause that. It’s the same reason why European empires broke down and why the Balkans are in such a mess.

cloakandswagger 8y ago

I'm surprised that these topics about McCain are appearing and sticking around. From HN's guidelines: "Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon. [...] If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-topic." If this is the new standard then it's a worrying incursion of US politics into HN. Can someone make a convincing argument as to how McCain's death is of particular interest to hacker culture? My feeling is these topics are sticking around because they're honoring a guy that seems beloved by both sides of the political spectrum (no dispute from me there), but it doesn't change the fact that this doesn't fit HN guidelines. Edit: And before someone mentions it, I'm aware that I myself am breaking the guidelines by questioning the appropriateness of this topic. I think it's a fair discussion to be had when neither the flagging mechanism or HN's moderation staff are enforcing what should be the principal rule of the site.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
Herodotus38 8y ago
I think the majority of the votes are not due to McCain but because the author is David Foster Wallace, who is fairly popular on HN. The article, albeit about McCain, is broad and at times focused on the realities people involved in political journalism, youth engagement in politics, why we try like certain candidates, etc... At least that's my opinion