A Simple Desultory Menippic

Jason Kuznicki

Jason Kuznicki is a research fellow at the Cato Institute and contributor of Cato Unbound. He's on twitter as JasonKuznicki. His interests include political theory and history.

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32 Responses

  1. KatherineMW says:

    It wasn’t in the dictionary, so I had to Google “definition + menippic” and I still didn’t get a definition.

    You stumped Google, Jason. I didn’t think that was even possible any more.Report

    • Jason Kuznicki in reply to KatherineMW says:

      Menippean satire. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menippean_satire

      “The genre of Menippean satire is a form of satire, usually in prose, which has a length and structure similar to a novel and is characterized by attacking mental attitudes instead of specific individuals. Other features found in Menippean satire are different forms of parody and mythological burlesque, a critique of the myths inherited from traditional culture, a rhapsodic nature, a fragmented narrative, the combination of many different targets, and the rapid moving between styles and points of view.”

      Essentially all of my fiction is Menippean, albeit short, with only one or two that don’t quite fit the bill. I changed it here to echo a song title, of course.Report

  2. Vikram Bath says:

    I’m lost. I think the second-to-last paragraph had a revelation that I missed.Report

  3. Damon says:

    This is why you never talk to cops. And never call them “sir”. That suggests that they are higher in status than you. They aren’t. They are your employees.Report

    • KatherineMW in reply to Damon says:

      But somehow, they’re employees that can choose if they’re going to fine, beat, or shoot you, and not face consequences for doing those things without cause.Report

      • Mad Rocket Scientist in reply to KatherineMW says:

        The way government crafts the system to protect itself against the bad behavior of it’s agents is at the root of my libertarian ways.Report

      • KatherineMW in reply to KatherineMW says:

        Most civil servants do face consequences for bad behaviour; for example, there are investigations and losses of office for even fairly minor conflicts of interest.

        Cops are the exception, not the rule, with the danger from them being intensified because they and the military are the only agents of government authorized to use physical force.Report

      • Mike Schilling in reply to KatherineMW says:

        The way the wealthy and powerful can do the same (e.g. the Pinkertons having been used as a private military to crush the labor movement, or more recently the Koch brothers using private goons to prevent a reporter from “infiltrating” one of their meetings) is one of the reasons I would distrust a purely libertarian state.Report

      • Mad Rocket Scientist in reply to KatherineMW says:

        I don’t see civil servants getting punished (facing criminal charges or bearing the cost personally) for bad behavior very often. And usually when I do, it’s for glaring misconduct that can’t be hidden & makes superiors or the organization look bad.

        And the rare times when a civil suit succeeds & the victims are awarded damages, the money comes from taxpayers, and the guilty usually continue on in the current, or even a new position.

        As for the pure libertarian state Mike imagines I dream of, I don’t. What I want is merely equality under the law.

        As for private security keeping reporters out of private meetings… your point is?Report

      • Mike Schilling in reply to KatherineMW says:

        Do you recall the incident? A reporter who had paid for a room at the hotel where the meeting was taking place was informed that he needed to leave the place, with “or else” strongly implied.Report

      • Jaybird in reply to KatherineMW says:

        An example of the gummint doing such:

        http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/03/biden-team-apologizes-to-reporter-for-sticking-him-in-closet/

        “Scott – You have our sincere apologies for the lack of a better hold room today,” wrote Vice President Biden spokeswoman Elizabeth Alexander last Wednesday to Orlando Sentinel reporter Scott Powers. “Lack of a better hold room” is an interesting way of putting it. In order to keep Powers from mingling with guests at a Democratic fundraiser last Wednesday, Powers was escorted into a storage closet by a Biden staffer.

        At least the gummint apologized.Report

      • Glyph in reply to KatherineMW says:

        Powers was escorted into a storage closet by a Biden staffer.

        If only they showed a belief in constrained Powers more often…Report

      • Mike Schilling in reply to KatherineMW says:

        “You shouldn’t stick me in a closet. My mother stuck me in a closet once. Once!”Report

      • Mike Schilling in reply to KatherineMW says:

        I read the story. The reporter was covering a Biden fundraiser held at a private home, where “cover” means he gets to listen to Biden’s talk, but not to interview or mingle with the ones giving the money, for instance to find out what they think they’re buying. This is fine with him. It’s S.O.P. What he’s upset about is that while he was waiting for Biden to show up, he had to wait in a small room with the use of one chair and a table, instead of a nicer one with more comfortable furniture. (“Closet” makes it a better story, but even with half of it full of stuff, there was space for a table and a chair. It sounds like one of those walk-in closets that we less affluent call “living rooms”.) This is exactly what Jefferson meant when he called a free press the guardians of liberty. Sure, they’ll talk to who they’re told to talk to and go where they’re told to go, but they’ll do it sitting on something upholstered. Because that’s freedom.Report

      • Brandon Berg in reply to KatherineMW says:

        Do you recall the incident? A reporter who had paid for a room at the hotel where the meeting was taking place was informed that he needed to leave the place, with “or else” strongly implied.

        Lee Fang? As he himself said, he had booked a room for the night before, and then was asked to leave the next morning, because the entire hotel was booked for the meeting that day. I would assume, since he didn’t say otherwise, that this was after checkout time, at which point the hotel management was well within its rights to ask him to leave.

        And Jesus, those comments! You guys drive me nuts sometimes, but every time I read the comments at a straight-up lefty site, I’m reminded to be thankful for what I have.Report

      • Mike Schilling in reply to KatherineMW says:

        I arrived at the hotel the night before the event, but was followed closely by security and asked to leave the next morning before the Koch meeting guests arrived.

        Yeah, that’s a perfectly normal way for a hotel to treat a paying guest. God knows I’ve never dared to hang around a hotel after I checked out to sit by the pool or have a drink or two.

        At any rate, as I recall it (I think it was a different reporter), he wasn’t asked to leave by hotel management, he was told to leave by one of the Koch’s “security” thugs.Report

      • Mike Schilling in reply to KatherineMW says:

        Also, if you sprinkle in some “Moochelle”s, you can pretend it’s the comment section at Reason.Report

  4. Tod Kelly says:

    Synchronicity! This reminded me very much of a classic Ray Bradbury story I was just writing about.

    Nicely done, Jason.Report

  5. J@m3z Aitch says:

    “We’ll start by impounding your car. Asset forfeiture.”

    “But I don’t have a car. I was only out jogging.”

    Not so far fetched. I was ticketed once for riding my bicycle the wrong way down a one way street, a d although you don’t need a license to ride a bike it put points on my (car) driving record.Report

    • Mike Schilling in reply to J@m3z Aitch says:

      I was once ticketed for parking facing the wrong way. The ticket read “More than 18 inches from the curb”, presumably on the grounds that I was several yards away from the *other* curb.Report

      • Glyph in reply to Mike Schilling says:

        Weird. Was there a difference in the two penalties? Presumably parking facing the wrong way is its own violation, why go with a different charge?

        Unless he was just being a wiseacre.Report

      • Mike Schilling in reply to Mike Schilling says:

        All good questions.Report

      • Mad Rocket Scientist in reply to Mike Schilling says:

        Depends on how the code was written. It’s possible it was something along the lines of “the right side wheels can be no more than 18″ from the curb”Report

      • DavidTC in reply to Mike Schilling says:

        @mad-rocket-scientist
        Depends on how the code was written. It’s possible it was something along the lines of “the right side wheels can be no more than 18? from the curb”

        That would tempt me to park on the wrong side of the street…mostly on the sidewalk.

        Or argue in court that left and right are relative directions. Those _were_ my right wheels, my car was actually facing the other way, it’s just that the seats in my car are aimed backwards.

        Granted, if my car was ‘built that way’, they could ticket me for having all sorts of problems with my car, like no license plants on the back and no rearview mirror and and no headlights (Has anyone ever thought to make backwards driver seats illegal?) and all sorts of things wrong, and also for driving in reverse down the street. But they didn’t actually _give_ me those tickets at the time, and can hardly give me tickets now for behavior then, so tough luck.

        I have a feeling that argument would not actually work in court.Report

  6. BlaiseP says:

    If you’re being intimidated by a single police officer, ask to see his badge. Write down his name and badge number. When he asks why, tell him he hasn’t heard the last from you or your lawyer. Look him square in the eye, tell him he’s wrong on the facts and you consider his behaviour objectionable. Either he minds his manners or you intend to file a report with the police chief at the earliest possible opportunity.

    This will get his attention. Civilians are supposed to be deferential. Cops get used to it. They’re not sure how to treat someone who pushes back politely but firmly.

    Do not allow a policeman to intimidate you. Be rigorously polite. Do not appear to resist his questions. He’s not going to have a word with the DA on your behalf because you Came Clean. He will lie to you, every chance he gets, the law allows him to lie. Do not lie to him but inform him in as bland a manner as possible that you will answer all his questions in due time — but first things are first, get the badge number and the name. They have to give you that much information. It will set them back on their heels. And it will keep them guessing.Report

  7. This was excellent, Jason.Report

  8. Major Zed says:

    Don’t Talk To Police. But in your car, at a traffic stop, I guess I would have to go with Blaise’s advice.Report