The Unpopularity Contest Edition of the de Vere’s Irish Pub Pub Quiz Newsletter

 

Unpopularity

Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,

Elections often seem like popularity contests. This year, our presidential election seems like an unpopularity contest, with many Americans voting against a candidate, rather than for one.

In the last days of campaigning, and especially in the hours since FBI Director James Comey announced that Hillary Clinton will not be indicted because of newly-discovered emails on Anthony Weiner’s computer, the tone of the two campaigns has diverged. Donald Trump continues to make aggrieved and vengeful statements, arguing, for example, that “now it is up to the American people to deliver justice at the ballot box.” This rhetoric is familiar and perhaps troubling, for “delivering justice” is how the Obama administration speaks of the Abbottabad confrontation with Osama bin Laden.

Hillary Clinton, by contrast, has stopped talking about the FBI and emails, and has returned to the rhetoric of unity and optimism that she has tried out in different speeches and in the three debates, or so I have learned from many of the people I follow on social media. On Twitter and Facebook, Clinton partisan and UC Davis professor Pam Houston has been curating some thoughtful commentary that has alternated between exuberance and outrage. Houston brought to my attention a stirring “closing argument” campaign video (titled “The Story of Us”) that will help to convince some Clinton supporters that they should vote for their candidate, and not just because they oppose the other guy. I’m sure that Donald Trump has a similar video, filled with bleak assessments of our country, and an assertion that “[he] alone can fix it.”

The former U.S. Senator from Illinois, Carol Moseley Braun, once said in an interview that “The really important victory of the civil rights movement was that it made racism unpopular, whereas a generation ago at the turn of the last century, you had to embrace racism to get elected to anything.” We will see what becomes less popular as a result of this election (xenophobia? Racism redux?), and what becomes more unifying, if anything. If, according to NBC, “62% of Voters Say Election Has Made Them Feel Less Proud of America,” then obviously we voters need something to rally around. We need something to trust, in which we can invest our hope, something that can persevere. With the help of American democracy and perhaps some inspiring rhetoric from someone with a name other than Obama, perhaps we can start to imagine what that unifying force will be on November 9th, and then again on January 20th, 2017.

Speaking of November 9th, I will be appearing on the Capital Public Radio show Insight Wednesday morning to discuss social media and the presidential election of 2016. Tune in if you want to hear me approximate my own insights about a couple of these enthusiasms.

In addition to issues raised above, tonight expect questions about pilgrimages, Kiss, the place where champions play, state governors of yesteryear, Bob Marley, ladies seminaries, cannon balls, proteins, that which bores, Linda Ronstadt, cherished desires, sea ports, vegetables, Barry White, natural sodas, Pulitzer Prizes, readables at weddings, totems of freedom, large painters, civil engineering, music in Reykjavik, plays with the word “THE” in them, Canada favorites, first ladies, niacin and other nutrients, beasts, a palpable hit, Olympic champions, Northern Ireland, the problems with ego, essential playmates, lighthouse boards, the jump from radio to television, and Shakespeare.

Thanks to the Pub Quiz regulars who came to Poetry Night last Thursday. Our next event takes place on November 17th, and will feature DR Wagner and Alice Anderson. See you tonight!

 

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Here are four questions from last week’s quiz:

 

  1. Mottos and Slogans.  With four letters in its name, what snack store uses the slogan “Too Much Good Stuff”?
  1. Newspaper Headlines.   This week Twitter announced that it is killing off an online video platform that it owns. Name the platform. Hint: Twitter does not own YouTube.
  1. Nancy SEALS. The United States Navy’s SEAL teams, commonly known as the Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy’s primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. SEAL in this case is an acronym for what three words?
  1. The Lincoln Highway. Formally dedicated on this date, October 31, in 1913, the Lincoln Highway ran coast-to-coast from Times Square in New York City west to Lincoln Park in what American city?

 

P.S. Vote.