Blogging a little politics: "Virtue is Ever-Vigilant" edition.

[vulgarweed]

Book of Virtues author Bill Bennett is under fire for his fascinating remarks about how to reduce the crime rate ("of course that would be reprehensible").

I'll take the 8/2 odds on Bennett having counted on being heard only by an audience that shares his fucked-up racist shitbag opinions (pardon my French), with the usual winknudge that's Fascist for "of course you understand the truth about those people, but we need at least some of their votes."

Gotta know when to fold 'em, Billy-boy. Know when to walk away and know when to run. I'll bet Karl Rove knows what to throw away and what to keep.

And meanwhile in the Blogosphere, DailyKos was having its politest, most eloquent, most rational shitstorm ever. I guess it's because the first poster sets the tone.

(The whole exchange in the comments is ginormous and well worth reading--well, aside from the excessive fawning like Bambi's going out of style--and maybe the funniest moment is when someone takes someone else to task for being disrespectful in addressing Senator Obama as "dude.")

Expatjourno takes exception and sets the tone for a different dialogue entirely. *shudder*

Me, I think both OPs make good points. I'm a flip-flopper that way. But maybe they are both inadvertently proving each other's.

Comments

[tehta.livejournal.com]

Has anyone cited A Modest Proposal yet? This is so very, very awful it sounds like satire. I know it isn't, but it sounds like it...

[vulgarweed.livejournal.com]

You know, I don't think I have seen that cited yet! You're right, it's obvious.

But hardly anyone would say what Bennett said with the intent of satire because it's just too offensive. "Ha ha, genocide would be so convenient! Pity we're too virtuous to seriously entertain the notion!"

[murasaki99.livejournal.com]

What is the Book of Virtues?

And why do all my alarm bells go off when someone deigns to be the 'authority' on virtue? 0_0

[vulgarweed.livejournal.com]

Bennett's 1993 collection of sanctimonious bloviations. Here's the Amazon listing. There's a virtual small industry based on this now, including children's books and teacher's guides.

A few years later Bennett had himself a little gambling scandal (hence all my allusions to games of chance...)

Alarm bells should ALWAYS go off in these cases. :)

[tehta.livejournal.com]

I want to look the book up now, just to see what the entry on 'compassion' says.

[very-improbable.livejournal.com]

I feel the same way you do about those two dKos posts. I really don't envy Senator Obama his job.

Sigh.

[vulgarweed.livejournal.com]

It's all very headdesky, isn't it?

[very-improbable.livejournal.com]

It's a desk with a deep, deep head-shaped groove worn in it.


Also, there's something about your heroic-pose Hogwarts-house political icons that still gets me right here. *taps chest*

[vulgarweed.livejournal.com]

Hee. Well, memories. But mostly I think about how I want a Slytherin!Durbin one so I have the complete set from my state.

as Bill and Ted would say ...

[tinderblast.livejournal.com]

Party on, dude!

Re: as Bill and Ted would say ...

[vulgarweed.livejournal.com]

Those are the only movies I've ever actually liked Keanu Reeves in. (There were a couple others I liked in spite of him, but...)

Re: as Bill and Ted would say ...

[tinderblast.livejournal.com]

Those and Rivers Edge are the best he's done. He's fabulous in the Bill and Ted movies.