October 8, 2004
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I’ve been strolling around the blogs this morning, rather than cleaning house or practicing my music. Having finally gotten back to the gym for the second time since I went down with a virus, I have allowed the sense of accomplishment to lure me into wasting lots of time. But it has been interesting.
Sandy (http://www.sandysknitting.com/) wants to see all our skies.
I haven’t taken any sky pictures recently, but I found this very typical patch of sky in the corner of a snap I had on hand. Show your sky, too!Mr. Joe (http://www.queerjoe.com ) has taken the interesting position that it is acceptable to be judgemental on questions of style, but not on morality. So we could fault Bill Clinton for eating at McDonald’s, but not for being unfaithful to his wife.
An aside. My mother claimed, when Clinton said, “I did not have sex with that woman,” that it was not a lie. “If that’s sex,” she said, “then a whole lot of nice little old ladies will have to change their opinions of themselves.” She was referring to what Florence King calls “everything-but girls,” who might have flashed their frillies, but still felt entitled to white wedding gowns. See her blog (http://www.livejournal.com/users/ozarque/22806.html ) for an interesting discussion — 19 comments — on whether or not it was a lie.
I found Joe’s view interesting because I have just exactly the opposite opinion. That is, whatever I may say to close friends and family, I would think it was tacky to make public nasty remarks about Mr. Bush’s looks and demeanor. I think it is entirely proper, however, to disapprove of his lying to the American people, or his acceptance of the torture of prisoners, because those are moral issues. It seems to me that we have a responsibility to distinguish between right and wrong, while we probably ought to learn some tolerance on mere matters of taste.
When the erstwhile Scarf Boy (http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=Matt62842003 ) objected to his friend’s unchivalrous behavior, he was himself being chivalrous — a desire to protect women from the cad in question is by definition chivalrous. If he had made snide remarks about his friend’s grammar, that would have been something else. Like maybe just petty.
I have to admit that I sometimes enjoy reading snide comments in blogs and editorials (I read Joe, don’t I?), and I greatly enjoy wickedly satirical fiction. Fran Lebowitz and H.L. Mencken are both enjoyable and thought-provoking reads. But in real life, decisions about where to shop, whom to vote for, and how to behave toward other people should surely be more about good and evil than about good taste.
Natalie (http://knitting.xaviermusketeer.com/ ) is on the home stretch with her DNA scarf, and so am I. I am halfway through the final repeat, and then I’ll have the seed stitch border to do, and that’s all. And then I’ll start the next one. Here is the scarf, not much changed from last time, but in an entirely new and different pose.
I may take it with me to the library opening tonight. I don’t know whether we performers will be allowed to mingle with the paying guests, or will be in a green room.Well, they probably don’t have green rooms at the library, but whatever serves as one. In any case, there might be some knitting time. We had a good dress rehearsal last night, so I am looking forward to the performance.
In other news, I did finish the snoods, helped out by the serendipitous discovery of a suitably-sized doily in my laundry room. Comments on what kind of housekeeper I must be to make serendipitous discoveries in my laundry room will be accepted or not depending on whether they are moral judgements or merely aesthetic ones.
Comments (4)
When you speak of Bush you declare this; “I think it is entirely proper, however, to disapprove of his lying to the American people, or his acceptance of the torture of prisoners, because those are moral issues.”
I never really followed the Abu Ghraib issue closeley. What did Bush say that was lying to the American people? Or did you mean that he just attempted to cover it up?
I do not have a closed mind about the Iraq issue, but sometimes I get frustrated with the news on these issues because I feel that the groups reporting on them are anti-bush, and that maybe they will do anything to make a story that makes Bush look bad.
For example, the media claims that the infrastructure in Iraq is falling apart and things are going downhill, but some good things are happening in Iraq and many Iraqi’s are in favor or what the coalition forces are doing. We just never hear about that side of the story. I mean there are 170,000 U.S. troops there and some of them are doing some good. But we never hear of any of the good things.
The main thing that bothers me is that I don’t know which side of the story to believe.
It is rediculous how Bush is so inaccessible. Press conferences with the media are almost non-existant with him. If I was president I would hold Press conferences at a high level of importance because they expose a President to questions that make them study and consider both sides of an arguement. From watching the debate last week, it was as if Bush couldn’t engage in an arguement. He also takes his assumptions and instincts and turns them into policy. I mean look at Iraq, there were no formal meetings held to discuss the pros and cons of going to war. He just went with his instinct and then boom, bombs fell on Baghdad. Maybe if there were press conferences and meetings held to discuss the issue, then the outcome would have differed. The question still remains; would Kerry do a better job?
Thanks for understanding the whole issue with the boy who disrespects others with his jokes. If you only heard some of the things he says.
I finished knitting the DNA scarf days ago, and still haven’t blocked it. I need to do that.
my grandfather (who’s currently 90) hates it when people talk bad about the president, whether he’s a good president or not…i think he thinks we should just keep it to ourselves and revere the guy for taking the massive job of governing the country. of course he was also born at the beginning of the 20th century and grew up in two communist countries. haha peace.