tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911334903016795718.post6881579604621307249..comments2023-07-06T10:55:44.311+02:00Comments on Attempted Essays: The Tucson Shootings and Moral ResponsibilityFrancis Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00422476000328664994noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911334903016795718.post-21141613372923110312011-01-14T12:31:07.033+01:002011-01-14T12:31:07.033+01:00Just occurred to me my use of the word 'filth&...Just occurred to me my use of the word 'filth' above might be considered hate speech by some. I'd like to change that phrase to "purveyors of pontification" to tone down my rhetoric a tad. See, I'm trying.Donhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15868032379100492694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911334903016795718.post-65969551679256160062011-01-14T09:52:53.631+01:002011-01-14T09:52:53.631+01:00More civility would be welcome. However, I must ob...More civility would be welcome. However, I must object to the assumption that most of the caustic rhetoric comes from the Right. During the Presidential race there was plenty of muck racking and harsh language from both sides. Also, I well remember the Bush years when he and Cheney were subjected to some of the most vile libel I've ever heard. What is truly disturbing is that much of it came from so-called journalists. Paul Krugman comes to mind. This most recent example of what Palin has called 'blood libel' is just another shameful example of leftest tactics to use a tragedy of epic proportions for their own political ends. It makes no difference to these purveyors of filth that their sly insinuations of conservative guilt couldn't have been further off base. I see it every day on the pages of the NYT's and the Washington Post and various prog blogs all over the net. Thankfully, this latest run of vitriol has run it's course. <br /><br />Obama did well with his remarks the other night. In this particular case it was the journalists and not the politicians that showed a lack of moral character. Well, except for one Sheriff Dupnik, who's public speculation on the murderer's motives turned out to be dead wrong. <br /><br />I hope we've learned something from this. Unfortunately, I suspect the lessons of this week will be forgotten or ignored by the vast majority of pundits. Nobody's every accused me of being an idealist unfortunately.Donhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15868032379100492694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911334903016795718.post-79754864144512921432011-01-14T02:45:19.470+01:002011-01-14T02:45:19.470+01:00This was a wonderful discussion about the conflict...This was a wonderful discussion about the conflicts that politics raises these days. <br /><br />You know that line by bono:<br /><br />"Does it make it easier on you now, <br />'cause you got someone to blame."<br /><br />That's the whole point, we are looking for someone to blame for these attacks. Maybe just one man was to blame. Maybe it took a village to raise him. Maybe we are all a little bit to blame.<br /><br />ninaNina Kaurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00815750214278153508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911334903016795718.post-53925446671379657332011-01-13T19:48:21.742+01:002011-01-13T19:48:21.742+01:00Nice of you to drop by, Lisa, and thank you for yo...Nice of you to drop by, <b>Lisa</b>, and thank you for your kind remarks!<br /><br />In further discussions on the subject on-line (pretty fruitless in the main :-|), I remembered John Stewart's rally on October 30 last year and the general tone of all those who were there - appealing, above all, for <i>civility</i> in public discourse (Obama made a similar point today in Arizona). Palin, given her <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O9co-1EirY" rel="nofollow">blood libel</a> remarks, about which jams also <a href="http://thepoormouth.blogspot.com/2011/01/blood-libel-for-pitys-sake.html" rel="nofollow">posted</a>, has understood nothing.<br /><br />Oh, and let me say how much I enjoy your blog - lady, you can <b>write</b>!Francis Hunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00422476000328664994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911334903016795718.post-13548043276208553822011-01-13T19:26:57.256+01:002011-01-13T19:26:57.256+01:00I feel more intelligent for just having read this ...I feel more intelligent for just having read this post and the comments.<br /><br />Francis, well done. This post is so thoughtful in its approach. I'd tired of the frantic shrieking from both sides to the point where I'm not willing to say anything publicly about what happened in Arizona.<br /><br />Thank you for the wonderful comments you've left at my blog. I apologize that it's take me a few days to come and read your wonderful essays.<br /><br />Hi, Susan and Jams! Smart company you keep.lisahgoldenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11158660223296807317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911334903016795718.post-28145447866907328512011-01-13T03:24:46.027+01:002011-01-13T03:24:46.027+01:00Yes, Francis, I know the whole poem ends with thos...Yes, Francis, I know the whole poem ends with those lines which are perhaps the most frightening ever written. The American elite supported Hitler with access to arms and money early on and then found even more profit in the war itself. There were speeches and fine words spoken at Nuremberg but many of the best Nazi scientists were spirited away to continue their work. <br /><br />There really are a preponderance of good people in the world, many who simply don't have the tools to work out a better way of living in harmony. I sincerely hope better days will come.susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16747450215034568033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911334903016795718.post-33471562029455479772011-01-12T08:57:49.726+01:002011-01-12T08:57:49.726+01:00You are so right Susan!
I have loved Yeats since ...You are <i>so</i> right <b>Susan</b>!<br /><br />I have loved Yeats since I was a boy, and have written about him <a href="http://francishunt.blogspot.com/2010/04/wb-yeats.html" rel="nofollow">here</a> before.<br /><br />The final couplet of <i>The Second Coming </i> which you quote contains frightening hints of a ghastly vision of what it may come to if we don't change the way we do things (though in the original context - the poem was written in 1919 - it can be seen, perhaps, as a foretelling of Auschwitz). But today it still hits me in the guts with a feeling of brooding horror: <br /><br />“…And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,<br />Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?”Francis Hunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00422476000328664994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911334903016795718.post-89339514934439803212011-01-12T04:13:53.223+01:002011-01-12T04:13:53.223+01:00You mentioned competition and I immediately though...You mentioned competition and I immediately thought of the insidious remains of social Darwinism that are still extant in the world but most especially in the USA. It's no longer fashionable to promote eugenics but there's still a real problem among those who hate the other, mostly white people who didn't get what they considered to be their fair share of the good times. <br /><br />The major corporations, banks, and their government lackeys still practice the theory even though they wouldn't admit so. Unfortunately, they're mostly unknown and their criminal activities are unacknowledged by the media. Now we're faced with the dilemma of a violent society attacking itself rather than transcending competition and embracing cooperation as a logical alternative.<br /><br />I'm a bit of an idealist too and even though I can't imagine a Utopia the world would share I also hope for a return to sanity. There's another poem by Yeats that could well speak for this time:<br /><br />TURNING and turning in the widening gyre<br />The falcon cannot hear the falconer;<br />Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;<br />Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,<br />The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere<br />The ceremony of innocence is drowned;<br />The best lack all conviction, while the worst<br />Are full of passionate intensity.susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16747450215034568033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911334903016795718.post-19499032473136730232011-01-12T02:09:30.546+01:002011-01-12T02:09:30.546+01:00Like you I have no love for Palin, the Tea Part et...Like you I have no love for Palin, the Tea Part et al. To hold her directly to blame is foolish but hopefully she and her likes will think twice about such inflammatory rhetoricjams o donnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17315325008175184363noreply@blogger.com