posted
Zell Miller challenging Chris Matthews to a duel. Bush refusing to go the NAACP because they called him bad names, and also refusing to go to the UN for the same reason.
How is this permissable? How is it permissible to put your personality over attending to the task at hand? How is it permissible for Miller to say that he supports a war in Iraq because of Sept 11th and even the sliver of a possibility that this may hurt his family, and what the hell does his particular family have to do with his role as a US Senator voting for the tens of thousands of Iraqi deaths and numberless injuries? If corruption is when you place personal interests over public duty, then these guys are brazenly corrupt. And this isn't about money, it's about morals.
How is that kind of pride a virtue? How has this become about getting them before the get us instead of attending the issue. Attend the issue. If the issue calls for a war, then authorize a war, but don't authorize it for because of a personal stake. Is that the foundation of public trust? How has public service degenerated into taking care of me and mine instead of, you know, the public. We have a bunch of guys, in our adminstration and terrorists, who are too busy fighting about how to get each other rather than looking at what the issue calls for. Is this permissible? Zell Miller talks about challenging Matthews to a fight about this petty disagreement. Last year, my friend Ronnie got shot and killed because he flirted with the wrong girl with the wrong boyfriend.
It's indicative in the same sort of behavior, but when white Senators exhibit it, we cheer their gumption and don't mind the foreigners getting killed, black kids exhibit the same behavior and someone from the neighborhood gets shot and their face on an "In loving memory" T-shirt. Ronnie's murderer should have known better. He should have know to attend to the issue and if his girl friend and Ronnie had smiled to much together at a party, he should have thought about why this is the case instead of How am I going to get him for this.
I've always thought it's easier to be a white jackass than a black jackass. Cheney didn't have to worry about Leahy pulling a gun. And neither Heinz nor the reporter felt that they were in mortal danger. But this ease of thoughtlessness creates a culture where you forget about attending the issue. And this of character we hope to aspire in public servants. It's that kind of keen-sighted courage that allows one to whistle blow if you are an accountant for Enron, and Kerry even displayed it in testifying to the Senate hearing so many years ago. Attending to the issue.
Real anti-intellectualism is the inability to attend to the issue calling for thought. It's that search for easy answers without even listening to the question. And the price one pays for anti-intellectualism is different across the world, and while Zell Miller, Cheney, and Bush may be given respect for their moxie, there attitude tells me that they are only a hot meal and a skin tone from being that same 20 year old prideful-murderer who kills people in streets of Oakland.
The problem is radical, violent, Islamic fundamentalism and it's clash with modern western Society. When we talk about the war on Terrorism, why are we talking about troops and body armor when the issue is, and has been since the beginning-- I even wrote an essay about it on Ornery right after 9/11- the nature of the clash between radical, violent, Islamic Fundamentalism and the West. But instead, we find it permissible to attend to something else, anything else, rather than the issue. We talk about having to defend children. And how to root out terrorists. And all of these effects of the actual issue, which is, the nature of the clash between radical, violent, Islamic Fundamentalism and the West.
Posts: 5600 | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
With respect, there are precious few humans who don't have an ego.
And it's damned difficult to be the "bigger person" and apologize, even if you know you should. I know I hate doing it, although I do my best to make myself do it when and where possible.
Zell Miller and Chris Matthews in a no-holds barred grudge match? Where do I buy a ticket?
quote:With respect, there are precious few humans who don't have an ego.
And it's damned difficult to be the "bigger person" and apologize, even if you know you should. I know I hate doing it, although I do my best to make myself do it when and where possible.
If that's the life you live, while I imagine it's nice, I don't envy it, and I don't think it's one we should be promoting.
Posts: 5600 | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
I have an ego, though let it withdraw when seeking the issue at hand. You say dispassionate when I'm pretty sure it's attentive. And we should be praising those who are attending to the matter as opposed to those who bask in concerning themselves with their interests. The thing about blind, gun-toting pride, is that it relieves you of your duty not to attend the issue. It proffers you the ability not to listen to anyone else, even when they are speaking the truth. I don't know if that's what we ought to cultivate.
posted
"I have an ego, it's just irrelevant when we should be concerned about the issue at hand."
To be fair, Irami, your ego isn't always irrelevant. But I DO think you try to maintain an even keel, which is admirable of you.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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posted
Seperating one's emotions from the issue at hand isn't always easy - even for the best of people.
As I tried to illustrate in an earlier post.
And "their interests", suggests conflicting interests or motivations, are a far cry from having an emotional response to a situation. Which may or may not be easy to put aside.
posted
Excellent points, Irami... These people have our country in the palm of their hands. Losing their tempers with the wrong person can cause the death of thousands. It's universal. People are going to have to learn to stop letting pride get in the way before they become statistics. But sadly... Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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