inkbluesky

Have U.S. presidents killed poetry. One could say that poetry is way out of fashion, but for better or worse it has mostly moved on into the lyrics of pop music – a land where presidents dare not tread. So it isn’t surprising that modern presidential poetry is rare and thank goodness for that small consolation. Even back in the day Prez poetry wasn’t all that thoughtful, though probably deeply felt. Washington once wrote, “From your bright sparkling Eyes, I was undone”; just the kind of thing that makes high school kids gag. American leaders have a history of writing, and inspiring, poetry that is mediocre or just plain bad.

Abraham Lincoln, perhaps the most melancholic president, wrote some rather morbid poetry: “O death! Thou awe-inspiring prince/That keepst the world in fear.”

George Bush has not published any poems himself, though many consider his unique turns of phrase—or “Bushisms”—to be pure poetic genius. To wit: “One has a stronger hand when there’s more people playing your same cards.”

strange skies one 

strange skies two 

A study that shows the true stupidity of discrimination 

A recent example was carried out by economists Sendhil Mullainathan and Marianne Bertrand. They generated about 5,000 fake job applications and used a computer to add, at random, distinctively black or white names. The employers who received the applications systematically favored the Gregs and the Emilys over the LaTonyas and the Jamals. Perhaps even more perniciously, they paid attention to the qualifications of (apparently) white applicants, but did not notice the difference between mediocre black applicants and excellent ones.

This will probably not kill the meme that left alone employers would eventually stop discriminating because it is not in their economic interest to discriminate. Employers much like everyone else do not always do what is rational and ethical and even to their own benefit precisely because the impulses for racism are not rational.