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You First.
Yesterday I bumped into Dennis Prager’s talk show (http://www.dennisprager.com/) and listened for about 5 minutes. He offered the hypothetical choice of being either blind or being deaf for the remainder of one’s life. Without pause he then promptly answered (paraphrased), “Of course I’d have to take ‘blind’…otherwise I couldn’t listen to music anymore.”
Of course I immediately shouted at the man, “What about all the Art you’d never get to see again, not to mention all the birds, bees, butterflies…” He didn’t pay me any mind, didn’t miss a beat (pun intended) waxing poetic about the joy of music in his life so I had to take my frustration out somehow. I promptly punched the “off” button for all it was worth.
Even though DP was someone I used to keep up with I couldn’t bear anymore of the chatter. Why? Because the “ deeper concept” apparently escaped him and he’s usually one of those rare “deeper” kind of thinkers. How had he missed the fact that his choice (as opposed to mine: “choosing” deafness) means his very own longterm survival is unlikely? When the blind survive it’s only because they are born into: 1) a “civilized” society; and 2) a polite society.
In case you really can’t imagine why The Blind need such a place to live here it is in a nutshell: 1) they need marketplaces/stores (which are built and run and maintained by the sighted); 2) the markets need the goods – foods and drygoods – to offer (which are manufactured and delivered by the sighted); 3) they need transportation – or well-maintained “paths” – to and back from those markets (which are built and run and/or maintained by the sighted); 4) at the same time they need a dwelling place in which to make use of their market purchases (built and now is maintained by the sighted); and lastly, 5) they need a source of revenue to trade for all of it [even a blind pencil salesman on a corner needs pencils…(and customers he trusts won’t pawn off worthless tokens for those pencils instead of real coins!)].
The deaf-me on the other hand still wants a Polite Civilized Society, but even in the places it is less than ideal in either of those qualities my lack of hearing will be of minor concern – if I’m prepared to defend myself and thereby keep shifting my field of vision (and set a good alarm system when I go to sleep!).
Sorry Dennis, for the world-traveler that I know you are I respectfully submit you’ve missed the big picture and have become way too used to living in (the final vestiges of) the First World.
Same Old Same Old
1) Fox News: because they proved they aren’t fair or balanced a) by marginalizing Ron Paul, a top-tier candidate in the two previous primaries, physically placing him to the far right of the group; and b) giving him almost zero opportunity to answer questions. I predict those sitting (again) with timers-in-hand will find he got about the same couple of minutes airtime when not simply responding to the couple of questions I heard put to the entire group. Oh yeah: Fox needs what, more band width or something because I never “got in” to the live stream until nearly 8:30 CST. Couldn’t they have “shared” the broadcast with the WSJ whom I believe I read was co-hosting?
2) Romney: he would have been giddy had he been the prez who’d gotten to sign that recent devilish version of the National Defense Authorization Act which gives the power to detain Americans on American soil INDEFINITELY without access to lawyer or right of habeas corpus. No problem for him-o. Pray to (your) God he’s not the nominee.
3) Santorum: when asked about gun rights and gun bans and his vote for gun locks he blathered on and on about how the NRA loved his bills and loves him….great. But what are they? Just another bunch of people who, ahem, happen to be wrong Constitutionally a whole bunch. Plus they like Santo are COMPROMISERS. Santo even said it himself in answering (paraphrasing) “Sometimes you have to pass gun laws that you don’t want just to make your opponents go away happy.” Oh, and he added that Ron Paul NOT voting for a national law protecting gun manufacturers (plus who-knows-what-else got slipped into it!) would have “ended the 2nd Amendment in this country (by forcing those businesses to close).” Um-m-m, Ricky, do you think all the “old” guns would go “Poof” magically on your say-so? But Ricky,you keep trying to make the ENEMIES OF LIBERTY “go away happy” or however you said it precisely. But you know what, that’s how Evil progresses: one compromise at a time with WEASALS like you. Ditto on the praying.
4) Perry: though he didn’t do “too bad” his comment about rejecting a “drawdown” of troops because he’d personally been in the midst of just such an action “in 1979” either in Turkey or Afghanistan – not sure which – then he grandstanded with a “NEVER AGAIN!” Oh yeah, Ricky2? So what you’re saying is “once in, forever in” is that it? We should NEVER have come back from the first Gulf War either? So once we come ashore we never leave. Hm-m-m, guess that means you were against leaving Europe after WWII (oops, that’s right we’re still there); and how ‘bout Vietnam, we should have stayed there and prevented all that slaughter we brought on those people (oops, that’s right, even I think we shouldn’t have left that mess – looked at those pictures of the helicopters leaving the Saigon rooftop lately?) Geez, maybe crazy “Uncle” Ron’s idea of staying at home IS the better plan then… Falling on my knees now.
5) Gingrich: don’t like the guy and I resent Fox positioning him in the middle considering he’s a failure in the primaries – couldn’t even manage to get himself on the ballot for today if I remember correctly BUT I had to love his going all up in JUAN WILLIAM’s FACE like he did over his “kids should get school-janitor jobs.” Oo-o-o-doggies he answered that TAUNT (it was not a question) with ice-water in the veins coolness and with a clarity that even JW probably understood. Made a great point about how unions are helping to run “education” into a black hole too. Pray Gingrich supports Ron Paul if Paul does well in SC. But sadly, the focus AWAY from Paul last night and on losers Perry & Gingrich means they will get write-ins if those are allowed.
