Who's the Asshole?

The uncomfortable poll results are in.

Good Afternoon.

So there’s good news and bad news in the poll results concerning my encounter with an angry, dog-shit throwing neighbor.

The good news is that only 8 percent of my readership thinks I was the asshole in the interaction, and only an additional 12 percent thinks I was mostly the asshole. That compares with 20 percent who think she was the asshole and an additional 35 percent who think she was mostly the asshole. Whew!

On the bad side of the equation, fully 45 percent of my readership, and remember, this is a readership naturally inclined to Wittes sympathies, thinks I am least “equally” the asshole. Them’s Joe Biden numbers there!

It ameliorates my pain only slightly that 80 percent thinks my neighbor was at least equally the asshole.

I will not not be dropping dog shit in her trash bin any more. I promise.

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“Compelling questions, even by the NYT’s high standards,” writes the estimable Jonathan Rauch, attaching the following screen shots. I’ll do my best.

First off, we have to note the ageism of this framing. There’s an assumption here that the 75-year-old libido should have cooled by now, that a gentleman who’s three quarters of a century old and still rearing to go on a daily basis must have “something more troubling” going on. Having not read the article, I have no idea if it challenges this notion. But let me do so here and now. There is nothing wrong with “wanting” sex every day—which may, in and of itself, be merely a sign of health.

There is something wrong, however, with expecting sex every day irrespective of what one’s partner is into. That’s the issue. Age has nothing to do with it.

No, I don’t understand Gen Alpha slang. In fact, this is the first I’ve ever heard of Gen Alpha.

Thus, no, I have no idea whether I’m a “sigma,” though I do have a friend named Sigma.

I also don’t know if I have “rizz.”

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A scheduling change on #DogShirtTV.

I’m afraid we’ve had to postpone tomorrow’s scheduled conversation with the estimable Yascha Mounk on his book, “The Identity Trap”—which, as you know, I was listening to when accosted by the woman wielding a bag of dog shit. The fault is entirely mine on this one. I wrote, but apparently never hit “send,” on my confirmation to Yascha of the time and date, so he never received it and went ahead and made other plans.

My scheduler will be fired, I assure you.

We have rescheduled the show for December 4, at 5:00 pm. The Zoom information is below the paywall for paid subscribers.

I hit “send” this time.

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Speaking of books, I had the pleasure of talking to Rachel Maddow about her recent book, “Prequel,” the other day for the Lawfare Podcast. It’s a really interesting book about the history of the fight against fascism in American in the 1930s and early 1940s. There’s a great deal in it that was new to me. I commend both the book and the conversation to you.

Here’s the YouTube version:

And here’s the podcast version:

While I’m sharing video and audio content from the week, here’s this week’s Trump Trials from the Bulwark Podcast. On YouTube:

And in podcast form:

And here is this week’s “Trump Trials and Tribulations.” In YouTube form:

And in podcast form:

By the way, if you haven’t subscribed yet to Lawfare’s YouTube channel, please do. It really helps us reach people—both you and others.

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Today’s #BeastOfTheDay, nominated by the estimable Frank Valadez, is the virgin-birthed shark pup of the Brookfield, Ill. zoo, about whom NPR writes:

The epaulette shark pup hatched this summer at Brookfield Zoo, just west of Chicago. Its mother has been at the zoo since 2019; in that time, she's never shared a tank with a male.

It's a rare case of parthenogenesis, a type of asexual reproduction, according to the zoo.

Frank notes that his niece is one of the zoo-keepers responsible for the new pup.