@35 Pamela:
What's kind of sad is that, though some have said it is meant to help him gain leverage internationally, it will only serve to inflame his opponents domestically.
EVERYTHING serves to inflame his opponents domestically, so what's the difference? If his initial statement had been what they claim they want, "I am not worthy," they'd be screaming right this minute about how stupid he was to refuse it.
It is useful to paint Krauthammer as a nutcase in disguise.
There's no disguise. He's a nutcase, period. And a tool.
Matt #23: Dick Cheney IS an unearthly horror from the netherworld.
"Oh, nonsense. It was an insult to Bush, personally."
Then you'll be fine with foreign journalists hurling shoes, rotten apples, etc. at Obama and all other future presidents, right?
Yes. I'm fine with that and with the punishment fitting the crime, which as somebody upthread pointed out, was basically disturbing the peace. The fitting punishment for that is NOT being beaten up by security thugs and getting your arm broken. What part of "free speech" as a natural right don't you get? Or is it that free speech, to you, is a right that brown people don't have?
I was in high school and I remember it vividly. A messenger came in with a note for the teacher, who up to that point I didn't like very much, and as I watched him read it he actually turned white -- all the blood drained out of his face. I'd never actually seen that happen to anyone before. Then he announced that JFK had been shot, but we didn't know if he was dead or not. In the hall after class I heard a boy shouting, "He died!" I was crying in the bathroom with another girl when another teacher came in with an evil little smirk on her face and said, "What are you crying for?" I never forgave her for that and I never will.
James at #45: Hear, hear!
Scott Taylor @43: there's another relevant quote, about "justice" rather than "deserving," by G.K. Chesterton -- I may not get this exactly right:
Children are innocent and love justice. The rest of us, being sinners, naturally prefer mercy.
Patrick, I forgot to say: your post is great. What a beautiful epitaph.
Read Childhood's End when I was, oh, 7 or 8 ... it had a huge
effect on me -- opened up the vastness and wonder of the universe, and
taught me not to take everything at face value. Sir Arthur: Ave atque vale.
#74--Susan: was Ezar Vorbarra a good guy or a bad guy, given the plans laid down in green silk rooms?
I was just trying to say that "good guy" and "bad guy" aren't really useful, or even justified, ways of looking at real humans. It's fine in a popcorn movie, or if you're fighting Nazis, but one of the reasons I value the Vorkosigan books so much is that there's very little of that in them. There are people who do bad things and good things, and even if the balance is almost all on one side, the label doesn't always fit.
I don't know how to unscramble the scrambled, by the way, so I couldn't read some of your comments (later).
albatross @14: So, what are some examples of SF where the identity of the good guys is somewhat ambiguous?
Nobody's mentioned Lois McMaster Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan books. The father of the men who attacked Cordelia and caused Miles's disabilities ends up supporting Miles in a Council vote. The Cetagandans who invaded Barrayar and killed 5 million people turn out not to be faceless minions of evil. The Betan psychologist sent to "help" Cordelia when she goes home after the war refuses to believe that she is sane and tries to get her brain wiped. The soldier who rapes a terrified prisoner spends the next 20 years trying to make it up to the child she bears. "Ambiguous" is just a word for "really human."
#10 ::: Xopher ::: (view all by) ::: February 20, 2008, 06:42 PM:
But JESR, she's not interested in the truth. No one that far to the wacky right is. She's interested in implying that since Obama is mixed, he must be a Communist.
Not quite -- she's implying that he is the product of a Communist plot, which in turn implies he's a Commie too.
#23 mjfgates - February 07, 2008, 06:23 PM said:
There was a time when Michael Mukasey had a reputation as a fair jurist. Conservative, but reasonable. Watching his performance as AG, I have to wonder: How much did they pay him? or is it just that *all* conservatives are evil?
Another possibility, which I personally think more likely than either: they've got something on him. After all, most people have something in their history other people could use against them; nobody's totally pure and without anything embarrassing (at least) in their past. Hmmm, you say, could our Fearless Leaders be slimy blackmailers? Well, we already know they're power-hungry greedheads; why not?
I like, but don't looovvvve, either Obama or Hillary, and I couldn't make up my mind until last night, when I realized that -- much as I love the Big Dog -- I'd rather not see any dynasty established in our politics, not even one I like. Two Bushes was bad enough; two Clintons, though not bad in themselves, still pushes our politics in the direction of hereditary aristocracy. Not that it will make any difference if Hillary is the nominee in November; I'll vote for her willingly. But for today, I voted Obama.
I'm with Lee at #58. In fact, when I first read the post, I thought it was about somebody getting a new pet. And even leaving possible bullying aside, having to tell everyone how to pronounce and/or spell your name for your ENTIRE LIFE doesn't sound like much fun to me.
Hobbit Gump
Bag End Confidential
David Hobbitfield
...and attract enough lawyers willing to work free of charge ...
Maybe there's some hope ... maybe even Ralphie-boy can't find any such lawyers.
Pyre at 46: Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy was not a "lord," although he was an aristocrat -- that is, his family were aristocrats. So it's Mr. and Mrs.
When I started "The Eye of the World" I thought it was the usual post-Tolkien derivative stuff ... and when I finished it I knew it was original and worth following up on. His respect for and interest in women characters is the thing that I've always liked the most, but his writing had many more good points than just that. So sorry to lose him before he could write a dozen more.
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|---|---|
| 2009 | 4 |
| 2008 | 14 |
| 2007 | 12 |
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