Postnormalism

I guess No Drama Obama is putting the lie to this poster.  As soon as he "came out" for gay marriage, my friend sent me a message saying, "Joe Biden just cost Obama the re-election, I think."  He may be right, but I don't know.  Aren't the people voting for Obama already Postnormal?  In the next election, the choice of candidates couldn't be clearer.  For most of my life, my friend's complained about the candidates being too much alike.  As Bukowski wrote, "It's a choice between warm shit and cold shit."  So many of my friends would vote for third party or a write-in candidate.  I know that I have received many votes for President of the United States of America.  And there is something in that.  It will be part of my legacy.  But I have a friend who by himself is responsible for the election of Bush II.  He was a radical Political Science professor who had no love for Gore saying that there wasn't any difference between the two candidates.  Gore lost by hundreds of votes in the Sunshine State.  My friend persuaded at least that many kids to vote for a third party candidate.  I've aways blamed him for what happened and still think he is solely responsible for everything that has happened since then.  

Anita posted a nice bit of internet research on Postnormalism on her blog yesterday (link).  Seems the term has been in use for awhile but not as we are using it here.  I thought to change the term to Postmoralism, but that has been used, too.  I will eventually get around to researching both and developing my own descriptions.  I like both terms and think they represent two distinct but interrelated things.

But here is more of it.  CNN reported that Andy Warhol's painting "Double Elvis" sold for $37 million.  This is what we can call Postjournalism where facts don't matter.  What is a "fact" anyway.  Warhol's "Double Elvis" is NOT a painting.  It IS a silkscreen print.  And that, I think, is important.  What is the most money anyone has spent on a silkscreen print?  That might be the reference point for a good story, but it would require research.  And I'm certain CNN is not paying for that.  Pretty certain.  I once had a friend who worked for CNN a long time ago.  It was the worst salary schedule you could imagine.  She was practically paying them to let her work there.

Around the same time, I had dinner with Hannah Storm in Atlanta who said that CNN was just a launching platform.  I just wanted to put that in here 'cause it makes me look cool.

My favorite quote of the day comes from a story on Zuckerberg's showing up at a meeting with potential Wall Street investors wearing a hoodie.  Apparently it rankled some who saw it as a sign of immaturity.  The response I liked best was actually a headline for an article: "Odd Analyst Mocks Zuck's Hoodie, Ironically Sounding Stupid in a Suit While Doing So."  I'm going to be using that at the factory, I promise.