Standing by Principles
In the remarkable TV series "The Good Wife," the female partner of the featured law firm becomes enamored of a rugged outdoors type while she is in the process of hiring him to be an expert firearms witness. She does this even while, after coming from three generations of Democrats, she is half taken aback and half intrigued when she finds that he is reading S. Palin's book. When she asks what he sees in the woman, he answers that he admires the way that Palin stands up for her principles.
It would have been interesting if they had taken this discussion a few lines farther, but the creators of the show left it there.
This man's answer wasn't saying much. In fact he was saying less than nothing, because while in certain circumstances it may be admirable to stand up for one's principles regardless, the thing that matters most by a long shot is what the principles are. The mass murderers from Caligula straight on through the Germans, the Soviets, and the Japanese in the midsection of the 20th century, and down to GW Bush, Saddam Hussein, Bin Laden, Ariel Sharon, and many other similar monsters in the Middle East in modern times all had principles that they stuck to, down to the last drop of the oceans of blood that they caused to be shed..
It has been reported that after Representative G. Giffords was shot through the head in Tucson a few days ago, S. Palin and other witches of the right wing world wasted no time in cleansing their websites of graphics and words that carried any suggestion of disposing of Ms. Giffords, other Democrats, liberals, and the like by violence (the "Who? Me? Syndrome).and that till then they had been displaying for all the world to see, while at the same time screaming that they could in no way be connected with the mowing operation in Tucson.
So much for standing by principles, because if they had really had the courage of their convictions, they would have left those things up. But the act of instantly taking them down had the effect of showing them in their true colors, much as the offending material had done.
It would have been interesting if they had taken this discussion a few lines farther, but the creators of the show left it there.
This man's answer wasn't saying much. In fact he was saying less than nothing, because while in certain circumstances it may be admirable to stand up for one's principles regardless, the thing that matters most by a long shot is what the principles are. The mass murderers from Caligula straight on through the Germans, the Soviets, and the Japanese in the midsection of the 20th century, and down to GW Bush, Saddam Hussein, Bin Laden, Ariel Sharon, and many other similar monsters in the Middle East in modern times all had principles that they stuck to, down to the last drop of the oceans of blood that they caused to be shed..
It has been reported that after Representative G. Giffords was shot through the head in Tucson a few days ago, S. Palin and other witches of the right wing world wasted no time in cleansing their websites of graphics and words that carried any suggestion of disposing of Ms. Giffords, other Democrats, liberals, and the like by violence (the "Who? Me? Syndrome).and that till then they had been displaying for all the world to see, while at the same time screaming that they could in no way be connected with the mowing operation in Tucson.
So much for standing by principles, because if they had really had the courage of their convictions, they would have left those things up. But the act of instantly taking them down had the effect of showing them in their true colors, much as the offending material had done.
posted by Carl (aka Sofarsogoo) | 4:24 AM
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