Wednesday Potpourri

First, they call it an empathy poll. The question was: which political party cares more for people like you. In the past the balance tilted strongly toward the Democratic Party. Significant majorities of people believed that the Democrats cared more about them than did the Republican.

That was yesterday. Today, it’s another story. Harry Enten reported the results on CNN. The story comes from Newsmax:

A new "shocking" poll out of Quinnipiac University shows that after decades of Democrats leading, Republicans are now tied for being perceived as caring more about people's needs, CNN's Harry Enten said Friday.

"This to me is one of the most shocking pieces of poll data that I truly truthfully have seen this year or maybe in any prior year," Enten told his co-host, Kate Bolduan.

"We've got a tie even after this tariff war had already started, split between Democrats and Republicans on how people feel which party cares more for needs of people like you. And why is that so surprising?"

Second, this story writes itself. Our mentally challenged former vice president, one Kamala Harris, is trying to found a think tank.

The New York Post offers some of the humorous reactions:

Republican communicator Matt Whitlock said, “The ‘Kamala Harris Institute for Policies and Ideas’ sounds a little bit like a Babylon Bee headline. Sort of like if the Kardashians opened a think tank.”

Twitchy’s Doug Powers posted, “The Kamala Harris Center for the Unburdening of What Has Been should provide a bottomless well of material.”

Republican Party deputy communications director Abigail Jackson suggested the center be called “The Coconut Tree Institute,” referring to an often-mocked quote from Harris.

“I can only imagine the type of deep thinkers that will be affiliated with this venture…,” Joe Jackson said.

Third, meanwhile over in once-Great Britain, the two tiered system of justice prevails.

In yet another incredulous case, the British justice system has decided in its infinite wisdom that a Somali criminal will be allowed to stay in the UK because returning him to his home country would cause him too much “stress”.

The Telegraph reports that a judge in the upper immigration tribunal ruled that the asylum seeker would suffer “stress” if deported to his homeland, which would worsen his mental health, thereby breaching article three of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which protects against persecution and inhumane treatment.

Fourth, Gen Z continues to garner a bad reputation, for poor work habits and a deficient work ethic. They have been brought up on therapy, and this is what happens.

These words come from Dave Portnoy the impresario at something called Barstool Sports:

Gen Z – the generation born between 1997 and 2012 – has received a bad rap for laziness, entitlement, emotional sensitivity, and poor communication skills in recent years.

Since they’ve overtaken their baby boomer grandparents at the office, the changes are already showing for some of those managing them.

“They don’t want to work. They’re spoiled brats,” Portnoy said Thursday on “Varney & Co.”

“They’ve grown up in a world where it’s [an] everyone gets a trophy generation, and the idea of showing up and going through traffic and being at the office at 8:45 and working until six, they look at you like you’ve got 10 heads,” he continued.

Fifth, just in case you missed it, comedian Bill Maher had dinner at the White House. The New York Post reports Maher’s commentary:

At the outset of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” on Friday, the eponymous host delivered a lengthy monologue about his meeting with the commander in chief that left him unexpectedly charmed.

“Everything I’ve not liked about him was, I swear to God, absent. At least on this night, with this guy,” Maher, 69, said, appearing somewhat shocked by his own conclusions.

“I never felt I had to walk on eggshells around him. And honestly, I voted for Clinton and Obama, but I would never feel comfortable talking to them the way I was able to talk with Donald Trump,” the talk show host said, adding, “Make of it what you will.”

Admitting that he went in with guns blazing, Maher described how he printed out a list of insults that Trump had hurled his way over the years, including barbs such as “sleaze-bag” and “low-life dummy” — to see if the president would autograph the digs.

“I brought this to the White House because I wanted him to sign it, which he did … with good humor,” Maher said, holding up the Trump-signed sheet of paper as the audience broke out into applause.

“And I know, that as I say that, millions of liberal sphincters just tightened,” Maher quipped.

Sixth, you may or may not know, but I was associated with French psychoanalysis for many years. I walked away from it some three decades ago, and am now considered an apostate. See my post on February 9, 2024.

Dare I say that I was somewhat surprised to learn that the brother of Jacques Lacan’s putative heir, one Gerard Miller, has been called out for having raped women, after putting them under hypnosis. The story found its way into Elle magazine and has seriously damaged the reputation of one of France’s leading public intellectuals.

The following comes from The Pinnacle Gazette.

Gérard Miller, a prominent psychoanalyst and media personality in France, finds himself at the center of a storm of accusations involving sexual violence, following a series of investigations and testimonies that have surfaced over the past year.

The initial spark for these allegations came in January 2024, when Elle magazine published an investigation by journalists Cécile Ollivier and Alice Augustin. This article contained testimonies from several women who accused Miller of sexual assaults and rape during hypnosis sessions. Following this publication, the magazine was inundated with additional testimonies, indicating a troubling pattern of behavior. In response to the accusations, Miller acknowledged having had "unequal" but "consented" relationships, a statement that many have interpreted as an attempt to downplay the gravity of the allegations.

Need I say, I do not miss psychoanalysis. As of today, that world would consider me an apostate, and I wear the title proudly.

Young Gerard did not limit himself to hypnosis. He took advantage of his position at the psychoanalysis department at the university of Paris-8:

Reports emerged detailing how he had targeted students at Paris-8 University, where he directed the psychoanalysis department. According to Alice Augustin, he would often ask female students to stay after class under the pretense of discussing ideas, only to make advances towards them. This behavior, described as predatory, was reportedly well-known among his colleagues, yet little was done to intervene.

Do you find this shocking or surprising? I would recommend that you recall that the Marquis de Sade, a culture hero for the French intelligentsia, was imprisoned for having drugged and raped numerous women. More recently, in Avignon, a man named Dominique Pelicot was found guilty of drugging his wife and inviting men to rape her-- for decades. 

Seventh, a ray of sanity from Great Britain. The Wall Street Journal reports:

Britain’s Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling that transgender women can’t legally be considered women under the country’s equality laws

Eighth, just in case you were wondering what motivated the man who firebombed the governor’s mansion in Pennsylvania, David Bernstein has the answer-- he was doing it for Palestine:

Surprise, surprise, msm isn’t covering this, attack on Gov. Shapiro‘s residence was terrorism on behalf of the palestinian cause.

Ninth, yesterday I wrote about Elon Musk’s management style. In particular, I took issue with the analysis offered by Wharton professor, Adam Grant.

For those who wish to examine the question at greater length, here are some comments from someone who worked with Musk:

Andrej Karpathy on Elon's management style: If you have a big person who is also really smart and has a big hammer, things move quickly.

“He hates meetings. He keeps telling people to skip meetings if they're not useful.

He has a very good intuition for streamlining processes, making everything efficient —the best part is no part— simplifying, focusing, and just removing barriers, moving very quickly, and making big moves.

I do think you need someone in a powerful position with a big hammer like Elon, who's the cheerleader for that idea and ruthlessly pursues it. If no one has a big enough hammer, everything turns into committees, democracy within the company, processes, talking to stakeholders, decision-making, everything just crumbles.

If you have a big person who is also really smart and has a big hammer, things move quickly.”

Currently, I have several open consulting hours in my life coaching practice. If you are interested, email me at StuartSchneiderman@gmail.com.