There's the rub

The theme at Goat Rope lately is the work of Ralph Waldo Emerson, with a special focus now on his lecture/essay The American Scholar.

Full disclosure: I'm doing this for several reasons. One, it's kind of a busy time and having a regular theme makes it easier to feed a blog. Two, I'm trying to figure out Emerson and see what there is in his work that makes sense today. 

I must admit that I can read whole pages or even essays of his and have no idea of what he's talking about. But then he'll have some great zingers that are keepers. Here's one of those:

This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.

That, alas, is the tough part.

 A BLAST FROM THE PAST. Here are some progressive planks from the Republican Party platform...of 1956.

BAD NEWS WAITING TO HAPPEN. Extremist groups on the right are ramping up these days, enraged by both possible gun regulations...and the fact that there's a black man in the White House.

WOULD YOU, COULD YOU EAT AN EYE? No, I say, don't ask me why.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED