JayB

So why did GWB show up? The man is almost universally disliked in the black community (see voting patterns) and his administration has spent a good bit of energy dismantling and weakening the legislation people like King worked for. Oh, I suppose W does pay lip service to King's accomplishments. Can't imagine why guests gave him a hard time..... I was mostly referring to the notion of holding an activist funeral, like the one that you referred to above. If that's what someon wants to do, that's fine, but only if the guests know the purpose of the service in advance. In the case of CSK, I think that this was almost like a state funeral, and sometimes it's incumbent upon whoever occupies the office to make an appearance in order to pay the nation's respects. While they no longer occupy the office, I'm sure that's at least part of the reason why Carter, Clinton, and GB senior felt as though they should publicly recongize her passing by attending the services. It was basically a lose-lose situation for GW, as I'm sure that if he elected not to attend he'd be criticized for that as well.

As long as its clear that this is the purpose of the funeral, I'd say that's fine. That way people who harbor different outlooks, but pondered coming to pay their respects, and using their presence to comfort the survivors by showing them that the deceased were broadly loved and admired - can just send a card instead. It's just the bait-and-switch/abuse of sympathy aspect that I dislike, but advance notice would take care of that.

I don't think anyone would question the general principle that the quotes illustrate - although some would question the chronology, as both Teddy and FDR were long gone by 1948 - but the manner of, and the motives for the critique also matter. In some cases they're honorable, in some cases they're not - and the freedom to criticize in service of patriotism comes along with the obligation to endure criticism on the same grounds.

I still think it's in poor taste, and it's more a manners issue than a political one. Some members of my family went to a funeral where the passing of the deceased was especially tragic - really, really terrible - and some of the survivors turned it into an invitation for everyone in the audience to accept Jesus as their personal savior etc. The plea may have been entirely in keeping with the deceased's wishes, but I thought that using was in incredibly poor taste nonetheless.

Using the funeral-pulpit as a political platform - classy indeed.

Way to deploy the top-shelf simile, kemosabe. Awesome.

Huge negative score in the "Reflexive Western Self-Loathing Sweepstakes" to whoever's been printing these things and posting them on Capitol Hill. [imag]http://www.thestranger.com/blog/archives/freespeech.jpg[/img] Looks like someone out there's rubbing their eyes and realizing that not everyone who despises GW is an ideal ally. "Hey, maybe they're *not* actually fighting for anything like freedom after all....[scratching head]...wait a second...now that I think about it..." Maybe there's hope after all.

Daily Kos. If I were to disclose such things, the VRWC visit a swift vengeance upon me. After slipping up and making the indiscreet disclosure of the fake Hamas-Suicide Baby that they'd been assisting the CIA with, I've gotta watch my step.

I'm saddened that my subscription to WSJ ran out, but the high endorsement will send me to the nearest news-stand, since it's actually a rag I enjoy reading from time to time. And I'm sure that by using what's your bro's name Occam's(!) razor to decide which factors are more important: Something that happened a couple of generations ago at most and is still actively in violation of law and Resolution, or centuries ago and rather abstruse for most, one will not need to refer to the ol' Absurdio Reductum, but thanks for putting it into play! (did you see El Randle throw that TD pass to what's-his-name? Unexpected!) That's one of the interesting things about all of the reading that I did on the Middle East/Islam is that both Western and non-western authors suggested that the these events still plays a significant role in their collective memory. Maybe that's why hamas or some other such outfit has exhumed the reconquest of Andelusia as a theme in their elementary-school offerings. Related article below: http://www.slate.com/id/1008411/

I realize that you like the feel of newsprint gently baked by the butler so the ink doesn't soil your hands, but there is this thingy called the intraweb and the WSJ is on it! PS - isn't it about time you post the Americans & leisure time article from the Economist? That was a good one. Maybe you can share the good news yourself. I think part of the answer to the conundrum raised by the article is the fact that most people take a great deal of pride in the extent of their overwork, and overburdening, and tend to inflate their own numbers when reporting them. Protestantism, salvation by works, look what ye have wrought...

Yet they are true to their creed and require users to pay for access to most of their content. Perhaps a blogger has cut-and-pasted it somewhere for distribution to the teeming masses.

The most bizzare aspect of the encounter may have been her mastery of the adolescent male fight-lingo and etiquette. The "Yeah - I thought so - PUNK!" as I was walking away shaking my head was sheer artistry.

Yes comrade, 'tis with a weary hand and a heavy heart that I labor onwards... P.S. I can scan that WSJ article and e-mail it to you if you can't bear the thought of granting your patronage to the capitalist overlords.

One of those old-school Men's social clubs with the green desk lamps, leather-chairs, scotch - and complimentary copies of the WSJ on the table. Maybe after we buy a home my wife will let me build a small replica in a garage someday....

You have just joined Dave_Shuldt as the only poster to achieve a negative score in my "Reflexive Western Self Loathing Sweepstakes." Very dissapointing so far, as Sexual_Chocolate and others who had potential scored goose-eggs with their entries. There are two clear frontrunners at the moment, but seeing as how Jim has yet to submit his entry, any final judgement would be premature. Seems simple. If you don't like the cartoon, don't read it or send a letter to the editor, or protest peacefully. Unfortunately I think this is another case of political oportunitism by a minority. Though I'm not sure of the orginal point of the contest: draw cartoons of Mohammed to test boundaries - I didn't think they were so provacative, but I'm not Muslim. Bottom line - protest, boycott, but threatening life and property is quite out of line. Negative score for Jimbo, too. How the mighty have fallen... Edit: upon closer review allocating the bulk of the responsibilty for the incident to the Danish newspaper in question overrides the sentiments that Jim closed this statement with, so I will have to reconsider and grant this entry a positive score. Not a contender for first place, but a solid effort nonetheless.

If understanding is your goal, there's a great front-page article in today's WSJ concerning the precise context in which this situation occured. It doesn't stretch back to Hulagu's decimation of Babylonia, or the implosion of trading routes after the Euros found a sea-route to the far-East, the Moors'ejection from Spain courtesy of the battle of Grenada, the Ottoman's the battle of Vienna, and other key-milestones o' stagnation and decline that paved the way for colonization by some of their former subjects - so it may not be complete enough for your tastes, but it does quite a bit to explain the time lag between the cartoon's original publication and the Islamist pep-rallies that we're witnessing now.

Can you outdo Luna? Let's see what you've got.

You have just joined Dave_Shuldt as the only poster to achieve a negative score in my "Reflexive Western Self Loathing Sweepstakes." Very dissapointing so far, as Sexual_Chocolate and others who had potential scored goose-eggs with their entries. There are two clear frontrunners at the moment, but seeing as how Jim has yet to submit his entry, any final judgement would be premature.

Check the "Muslim Anger at Danish Cartoons," thread. I'm already on my second block of Havarti.

Ouch!!! I actually think the funniest thing about this is that someone has been following along and meticulously cataloging material, waiting for just_the_right_moment... Maybe when I move back to the PNW for good in 2.5 years maybe the anonymous lurker-rage will have been channelled into satirical screenplay and a full-sized effigy ready for burning in someone's backyard. Too funny.

Careful, Brian. You are crossing over to the dark-side here - at least if you were to judge by the response that I got when I said the same thing.

Hahaha. Way to go - keep after it. First the bullying by the AARP poster lady, now this. That's it, I've had it. I'm booking my Robert Bly retreat as we speak. I'm not sure how many people have heard this recording, but it reminds me of my own bashing. "While an operations manager employed by Jack in the Box restaurants is commuting to the job one morning, he calls his boss to leave a voicemail message announcing that due to the rainy conditions that morning he'll be late getting into the office. In the middle of the call he witnesses a minor traffic accident in which a lone male motorist runs a red light and clips an Impala occupied by four middle-aged women. Breaking off the explanation for his tardiness, the manager instead launches into a blow-by-blow description of the ensuing mayhem as the motorist gets out of his car and begins berating the four women (even though the accident was clearly his fault). Between bouts of hysterical laughter, the caller recounts the action as the four women assault, poke, and beat the hapless motorist with, variously, pepper spray, an umbrella, a large purse, and a Bible until he finally retreats back to the safety of his car. All of this, of course, is captured by his boss's voicemail account, creating an audio record of the event gleefully forwarded from mailbox to mailbox throughout the company." Click for Recording.

I definitely learned my lesson. I still get chills whenever I'm walking past the T-Wing at UW. By this time she's probably armed with a cane or a walker and won't hesitate to use it....

I thought you spent time working for the man and the union Jay. Misogny is already a field of study; it just doesn't grant degrees. Don't you get a certificate from Robert Bly when you complete one' of those Reclaim Your Inner Warrior/Manhood/Etc drumming-in-the-forest thingies, though?

I think I would have wasted several days trying to dig up the devastating put down that I should have come up with at the time. This story reminds me of my own little bizzaro interaction at UW involving a random angry woman. In highschool I'd noticed that the bigger I got, the less inclined random dickheads were to fuck with me, and even though it was no longer necessary to do so in college, I continued with the bulkification process. By the time I hit my humble apex, I think I weighed just shy of 180 and was benching about 100lbs over that. I was actually on the way to the gym on campus when I heard this stream of wild profanity coming from behind me. When I turned around this wild-eyed woman who must have been pushing 50 - at least - was throwing down her bike and coming at me full throttle. I looked behind me to see if she was screaming at someone else and I was just in the way, and when I turned around she was front and center, about 1/2 a second away from her first shove to my chest. "What's up now mothe%$#er!" "Wha..." "Yeah - what's up punk-ass! Cut me off, huh. Well we can settle this right ^%$ing here, mother^%$#" "What are you talking about, I didn't even..." "Didn't even &^$*ing look, did you you (*&^%ing punk." Shove.[Look behind me for a camera. Surely this is a joke.] "Hey - what's with the shov..." "What's with the cutting-me off, mother^%$er?" "Settle down. I..." "Are you gonna settle me down, you piece of shit. Huh?" Shove "Look lady, I don't know wha..." Shove "Listen - I...." This went on for at least a couple of minutes, and I was caught between confusion, and despair. All those years of lifting, all of the bulkification has clearly been for naught. This build I've been working on is not even sufficient deter violence from a rail-thin 50+ woman with waving skin beneath her arms and the beginnings of osteoporosis... I walked away listening to her strange, aggressive catcals. "Yeah - I thought so - PUNK." I walked away from the gym, back to my room, and pondered the sheer futility that had been the bulkification crusade. I kept going to the gym, but it just wasn't the same...