Top of Mind

The national debt is now over 31 trillion dollars. 31 Trillion.

***

EcoHealth Alliance, the U.S. nonprofit that used National Institute of Health funds to conduct dangerous coronavirus research in partnership with China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology prior to the global Covid-19 pandemic, has been approved for yet another five-year federal grant, despite a history of violating the terms of its contracts. (NR via Don)

***

North Korea fired a rocket over Japan. That is probably all the world needs to know about the reliability and responsibility of government leaders. Like flying up to foreign jet fighters, these people need to be the center of attention, need to be a player. Even if they stimulate an equally bent foreign leader to react and blow everyone up.

Remember, during the Cuban Missle Crisis, Castro begged the Russians to attack the U.S., despite knowing the first response by the Americans would be to obliterate Cuba and its people. Castro's peopel.

And remember, too, the mood in the Kennedy White House was to attack.

***

Top of Mind

“I want to thank all of you here, including bipartisan elected officials like Representative [Jim] McGovern, Senator [Mike] Braun, Senator [Cory] Booker, Representative Jackie — are you here? Where’s Jackie? — I think she wasn’t going to be here — to help make this a reality,” the president said.
The Indiana Republican, who was the co-chair of the House Hunger Caucus, had died earlier in an August car accident that also killed two of her staffers.

Jean-Pierre came to Biden’s defense, noting that it’s not “unusual to have someone top of mind,” especially at a “big event.” “If you put it into the context,” she continued, “it happened at an event where we were calling out the champions, congressional champions in particular, of this issue, this important issue when it comes to food and security.”

"Top of mind." What was she saying? It became a meme, repeated over and over by Jean-Pierre and her friends. What were they saying?

"Top of mind" is a marketing term referring to the idea of associating a particular need with a particular solution. Think 'Kleenex.' It's a relatively recent term. There is an idiom definition of "occupying one's foremost attention or concern."

If you Ngram it, it is rare, appearing over the last thirty years with 10% of the frequency of "Glioblastoma," a very unusual brain tumor.

Why would she use such a phrase? Because these people create bizarre beliefs and then assume their audience holds that ground in common with them.

These people create their own worlds, live in them, and demand you do too. "Top of mind" means nothing to the average guy who is not in marketing. So she takes it, repurposes it, and then uses that redefinition to explain why it's reasonable that the President of the United States is looking for a woman he knows is dead. In the same way, they create a fuel shortage purposely, give fortunes to Iranian theocrats who despise us, explain the advantages of declining police roles and the increasing public riots, redefine the meaning of "recession," raise deficit spending to fight inflation, fight discrimination with discrimination, declare the border 'secure'--all for our benefit--all outrageous notions delivered with a calm straight face, breaking serenity only to pose in astonishment when disbelief appears.