I spent way too much time hanging out here the last week or so and I got confused - who are the
good guys and who are the
bad guys?
Early on I figured that some good guys were Kerry, Kossacks, even Oprah; and some bad guys were Bush, Alito, James Frey.
On the other hand, maybe Oprah is a bad guy and James Frey is a good guy?
Bush is clearly a bad guy - isn't he?
But a large number of Kossacks agree with Bush. Does that make Bush a good guy, or are many Kossacks bad guys?
Well, I finally teased out a common thread having to do with truth, honesty, ends and means - ethics in general. Seems a lot of us and them are in the same boat.
Welcome abooooard, and report for the life boat drill.
Oprah/Frey
There are so many important things going on in the world. Under the circumstances the Oprah/James Frey/Million Little Pieces flap struck some as pretty fluffy pop-culture noodling. Even setting aside that at least one diary on the subject made the RecList and generated 213 comments it did offer a useful view on `truthiness' that illustrates some broader issues.
James Frey "embellished" his memoir to make himself a more hard-core bad-ass than he really was, and thus heightened the redemptive significance of his recovery from addiction.
So is James Frey a dry-drunk in denial, like George Bush; or is he a misunderstood victim who just dressed up his story to hammer home a deeper truth? His intentions were good, heart's in the right place, ends justify the means.
· Many comments criticized him for departing so far from the truth.
· A goodly number of comments offered their own painful climbs from addiction, and the necessity of brutal honesty in doing so. (BTW - The equivalent of Purple Hearts for each of you that "went there and did that")
· Many cited the emotional power and inspiration of the story as overcoming the departures from provable, reality-based fact.
· I didn't see any, but I hope there were some comments on the degradation of emotional power and inspiration if the story is so far from true. (I could inspire you with the story of how I ran the Boston Marathon after having my leg amputated, but how inspirational would it be if you knew I walked around the block after stubbing my toe?)
Alito/Filibuster
After days - actually weeks - of the certainty that Alito's nomination was going to sail on through the Senate there emerged a last gasp of hope. A possible filibuster effort was on, led by Kerry and Kennedy. As this movement grew `net-roots' there were various and sundry Senators who were not ruling out support of a vote against cloture. Live action diaries and comments flew madly. Senator X hasn't committed - Call! Fax! S/he's likely to give more weight to constituents? Here, use my zip (or pick a zip from this list). Caller ID proves the lie? Tell them you are currently out of town on a business trip.
This is important, our mission is worthy, heart's in the right place, ends justify the means.
· This was supposed to be the grass-roots impacting representative government - not "Freep this poll".
· If it's OK for you in Alabama to "pretend" to be a constituent in Oregon in order to further the cause is it also OK for employees of a business in Chicago to "pretend" to be voters in Nebraska if the actual residents of Nebraska are piling on their representatives to stop that business from coming in to their state?
Bush/War on Terra
George Bush's prime raison d'etre is to protect Americans and fight the "War on Terra'" That may require secret wire-taps, detention, rendition, severe interrogation. The safety of every American is at stake, no more important mission, heart's in the right place, good intentions, ends justify the means, and so forth.
Yeah, right. Whatever it takes to get the job done. Our cause is just, our heart's are in the right place, and the ends justify the means.
Just sayin'.
I know I'm supposed to hang out here and dialogue with the five people who will read this diary, but I have to fulfill a larger promise - pour wine, pet cats, serve nice dinner, and eschew politics for the rest of the evening.