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From: Paul S Person <psperson@old.netcom.invalid>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Defining Our Terms: What Do We Mean by "Hard SF"?
Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2024 08:42:27 -0700
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On Wed, 14 Aug 2024 10:10:23 -0700, The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca>
wrote:

>On Sun, 11 Aug 2024 08:28:50 -0700, Paul S Person
><psperson@old.netcom.invalid> wrote:
>
>>On Sun, 11 Aug 2024 01:43:19 -0700, The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca>
>>wrote:
>>
>>>On Fri, 9 Aug 2024 08:46:06 -0500, "Michael F. Stemper"
>>><michael.stemper@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>If you are referring to my (elided) definition, I would say "no". =
Having the
>>>>technology to do something is different from the science behind it =
being
>>>>significant. Of course, my definition, like all definitions[1], has =
difficult
>>>>edge cases.
>>>>
>>>>> (I remember back in 2016 when someone called Bradbury prophetic for
>>>>> anticipating Donald Trump in that story...)
>>>>
>>>>Donald Trump was only six at the time that Bradbury wrote "A Sound of=
 Thunder".
>>>>(I'm not saying that you are supporting that opinion.)
>>>
>>>I haven't determined whether the person who said that was joking or
>>>simply clueless thinking he/she was reading a new story....
>>
>>Uhhh ... doesn't the /prophetic/ nature of the story depend on its
>>being published before the event? The longer before the better?
>>
>>All you need to do is look at the position of the Know-Nothing Party
>>of nearly 200 years ago to realize that Trump is nothing new [1]. A
>>resurgence, while not inevitable, was not inconceivable.
>>
>>Not, of course, that Bradbury had Trump as such in mind. Just how the
>>US might differ if someone went off the path.
>>
>>And RAH's Scudder could be seen as prophetic of Trump as well.
>>
>>[1] The immigrants being opposed are not from the same places, but the
>>idea is the same.
>
>Nehemiah Scudder was a religious demagogue who on the strength of his
>politically tinged faith gained power and ended the US republic.

Where do you think the bulk of his support comes from? Who do you
think the Republican Party has been pandering to since Roe v Wade?

Some of their most fervent voters are from groups that previously
never voted because to do so was to be "worldly". Whether those groups
will ever regain their previous position is unclear.

>How the heck you equate that to Trump is beyond me. I'd consider
>Scudder Jimmy Swaggert's wet dream maybe but certainly not Trump who
>likes to run beauty contests and grab women by their ****ies. More
>like a televangelist on steroids.

They only care about Presidential morality when they don't like the
President (Clinton). When he's /their/ guy (Trump), they don't care.
They make excuses. They focus on what he promises them.

Well, some of them, anyway. It's a very large group and the attitude
toward Trump naturally varies a bit from individual to individual and
from group to group. And, as Trump becomes increasingly unglued, he is
losing support. Vance isn't helping, except as anti-impeachment
insurance (no sane person would impeach or otherwise remove Trump if
it made Vance President).

>Though I do wish Heinlein could have written that story.
>
>And no question the villain in A Sound of Thunder WAS much more like
>Trump than Joe McCarthy.
--=20
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"