tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post114623528010185273..comments2024-03-28T12:10:26.197-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: United 93: No Heroic Deed Goes Unspoiled by the LeftGagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1146533659041293302006-05-01T18:34:00.000-07:002006-05-01T18:34:00.000-07:00Yes, Robert, so true. A friend had his car stolen...Yes, Robert, so true. A friend had his car stolen. They found it wrecked, of course. He had left a new pair of shoes in the trunk. One of the shoes was still there. "Wrong size . . . but you're not going to wear them either."<BR/><BR/>Isn't envy great?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1146488115239854002006-05-01T05:55:00.000-07:002006-05-01T05:55:00.000-07:00In literature, none have treated envy more powerfu...In literature, none have treated envy more powerfully than Dante (see Canto XIV, Purgatorio). In theology, see Aquinas. Like wrath and pride, envy is love perverted. People often confuse jealousy and envy. The latter is not the desire to have something someone else has. It is the desire to deprive someone of something they have.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1146442482636524592006-04-30T17:14:00.000-07:002006-04-30T17:14:00.000-07:00What an awesome post Bob. You have, I think, hit ...What an awesome post Bob. You have, I think, hit the proverbial nail on the head. The left cannot see the reality that is protreyed in United 93 for to do so would expose their BDS to the world.<BR/><BR/>Again, I stand in awe. Well DoneAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1146425600707305562006-04-30T12:33:00.000-07:002006-04-30T12:33:00.000-07:00FFH asked...Who coined the term "limousine Liberal...FFH asked...Who coined the term "limousine Liberals" that I hear all the time on Fox News?<BR/><BR/>I first heard the term used by Nixon's VP Spiro Agnew. He was talking about the NY and Hollywood elite and their affection for Lefty politics. It's the same "do as I say, not as I do" crowd so clearly personified in the likes of Barbara Strisand and Alec Baldwin. The same folks Tom Wolf wrote about in "Radical Chic."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1146345095363496682006-04-29T14:11:00.000-07:002006-04-29T14:11:00.000-07:00Once you inculcate a sense of entitlement in your ...<I>Once you inculcate a sense of entitlement in your people, you have opened the floodgates of envy. </I><BR/><BR/>This is so true. <BR/><BR/>Witness the tantrums in France due to the govt asking kids to actually work for a living, and the immigration protests of people who broke the law and are in the USA illegally, yet somehow think they are entitled to all the benefits of citizenry.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1146338776700473862006-04-29T12:26:00.000-07:002006-04-29T12:26:00.000-07:00"Rather, they hate the United States because they ..."Rather, they hate the United States because they envy us."<BR/><BR/>More dap would be:<BR/><BR/>"Rather, they hate the United States because we've got the groove."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1146338282347216792006-04-29T12:18:00.000-07:002006-04-29T12:18:00.000-07:00I am so green with envy about that analysis of en...I am so green with envy about that analysis of envy that I have copied it over to my page so I can have something on envy without the heavy lifting of trying to think about it.<BR/><BR/>Like so many on the left afflicted with envy, my mental mantra is now, "I'm trying to think but nothing happens. Fortunately, there's always cut and paste."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1146332304443131442006-04-29T10:38:00.000-07:002006-04-29T10:38:00.000-07:00Forging onward with the self-dissection, I've been...Forging onward with the self-dissection, I've been shocked to discover how subtle the roots and manifestations of envy are in this Rocky Road of a psyche. My tentative conclusions are that it involves fear, but mostly because of the denial-distortions in which envy flourishes. The deeper sources have to to with bedrock self-pity, hopelessness, and grief. <BR/><BR/>These are the world-view maladies that demand the remedy of gratitude, a conscious cultivation of gratitude, as an exercise if necessary at first. Self-pity (there should be a better term, "pity" is too favorable) is absolutely corrosive, and no benefit or concession to the sufferer can help until it is ruthlessly, uh, extirpated. [BTW, anyone remember <EM>30 Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary</EM>? Can't git that thang outta ma hed!]<BR/><BR/>So yes, envy is buried deep in much of the political to-and-fro Bob's talking about. And envy is like smoke in a dry meadow. Envy, for those who care, is just the clue, to dig and water and weed and plant good seeds in ourselves, and not buy the dreck the envious are selling, "the voice of a stranger leads to despair."<BR/><BR/>I grant our visitors that there is a certain rhetorical delight in laying out the positions -- reading as we do Our Daily Bobbolalia -- But the enterprise, in Mind-Virus Epidemiology terms, could not be more important. And not just for Lefties. They are good enough to be painting with big ugly brushes, right now in hideous graffiti, the Human Condition. Maybe the 10th Commandment caps the list because, if envy is truly understood, dealt with, and turned away from, none of the others would arise.<BR/><BR/>Which opens up 'waaaaay too much backdraft toward <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0745629482/102-5456518-5180969?v=glance&n=283155" REL="nofollow">Rene Girard</A>, and the two sides of how we learn (imitation > mimesis [> envy&violence]). REcognizing and neutralizing envy (not by forced "equality") may be the key for awareness of the Dark Vertical. <BR/><BR/>Also related to the blessedness of prioritizing authentic giving -- at least as a focus -- rather than capitulating to ad-speak consuming, all-taking all the time. <EM>There, that's the Progressive tidbit I'm willing to embrace today.</EM>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1146327750784009022006-04-29T09:22:00.000-07:002006-04-29T09:22:00.000-07:00Yes--like all of the Commandments, it has an exote...Yes--like all of the Commandments, it has an exoteric and esoteric meaning. Strictly speaking, being free of envy is a reward, not an injunction.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1146316652920869282006-04-29T06:17:00.000-07:002006-04-29T06:17:00.000-07:00I've always thought the 10th commandment was the m...I've always thought the 10th commandment was the most underrated.<BR/><BR/>Cheers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1146293633774755302006-04-28T23:53:00.000-07:002006-04-28T23:53:00.000-07:00Anonymous 11:44-You can select "Other", and then i...Anonymous 11:44-<BR/>You can select "Other", and then insert your username, then insert the "word verification" letters you see below.<BR/>That should work for you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1146293249222399722006-04-28T23:47:00.000-07:002006-04-28T23:47:00.000-07:00Excellent post, Bob.Envy is insidious and divisive...Excellent post, Bob.<BR/>Envy is insidious and divisive. <BR/>When I was younger I envied wealthy people, until I discovered the cure:<BR/>Gratitude, like Bob said.<BR/>Humbleness also helps. <BR/>I'm not materially wealthy today, but I'm wealthy spiritually, and I'm thankful and content with what I have.<BR/>I have and will defend a persons right to pursue<BR/>happiness and prosperity, and I'm happy for those who achieve "obscene profits", as lefty politicians are ranting about.<BR/>Class warfare destroys society, because envy, lust, and greed are about hate and power.<BR/>When we succumb to envy we destroy the good within us. <BR/>Virtue is what we should cling to, the cup of sacrifice filled with salvation is what we should drink<BR/>from, and the bread of life is what we should eat, filled with gratitude, overflowing with love, by grace and mercy, not by our own power.<BR/>This leads to humility, which makes contemplation clear, meditation peaceful, and prayer, a two-way communication, thus we connect with the Most High.<BR/>Envy destroys all that, horizontal and vertical.<BR/>Envy is an evil child of pride (rebellion).<BR/>We must wash away envy, every time it rears its ugly head.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1146293069575306722006-04-28T23:44:00.000-07:002006-04-28T23:44:00.000-07:00Bob-- Thank you for the discussion of envy. I can ...Bob-- Thank you for the discussion of envy. I can testify to the destructiveness of it in families as well as nations; I'm still trying to sort out the wreckage left behind by an envious and vindictive aunt. Apropos of books on the subject-- have you ever read <I>Cinderella and Her Sisters</I> by Ann Belford Ulanov? It's a discussion of envy from a Jungian perspective. I can do without the Jungian baggage, but I would still recommend the book to anyone interested in envy as a spiritual issue. Dr. Ulanov is still on the faculty of Union Theological Seminary in New York and teaches courses in pastoral counseling. I think the revised and expanded edition of the book came out in 1998.<BR/><BR/>PS. I'm a bit confused about the "Choose an identity" function on Blogger. Is it necessary to start one's own blog in order to leave comments as anyone other than Anonymous? Thanks in advance for any advice.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1146293008705605132006-04-28T23:43:00.000-07:002006-04-28T23:43:00.000-07:00Well this is very interesting to me. Just the othe...Well this is very interesting to me. Just the other day I was thinking about the left-right divide and trying to reduce them to their absolute core principals, and I concluded that the right's (classical liberalism) core principal is responsibility, and the left's (volk Marxism)is...that's right, envy.<BR/><BR/>Envy is of course one of greed's children, and I think it telling that the left is constantly harping on the imagined greed of Republicans in general and this administration in particular.<BR/><BR/>Anecdotally I've noticed that my lefty aquaintances show the most covetousness whenever we're in the environs of the very wealthy.<BR/><BR/>I also believe they derive more satisfaction from seeing the rich punished or suffering misfortune than they do from seeing the poor become more prosperous. <BR/><BR/>Obviously there is a deep pathology here and the burning question is how did we get to this place? This post provides the answer.<BR/><BR/>http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=260Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1146280351579053012006-04-28T20:12:00.000-07:002006-04-28T20:12:00.000-07:00Perhaps, all the left really wants to do is wreck ...Perhaps, all the left really wants to do is wreck havoc and usher in anarchy...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1146280043979269622006-04-28T20:07:00.000-07:002006-04-28T20:07:00.000-07:00digdug,First, thank you for your contribution here...digdug,<BR/><BR/>First, thank you for your contribution here. It's refreshing to have someone around to keep us so called bobble-heads on our toes.<BR/><BR/>I see your perspective, and I sympathize with it. I'll sometimes check myself and explore whether my attitudes towards the left are self indulgent. <BR/><BR/>Here's the difference. First, in a post like today Bob is merely offering his perspective on a segment of our population who have been, quite frankly, exhibiting some very strange behavior. Not only that, some of them are or have influence over our government and public opinion. For someone, like myself, who believes these to be very dangerous times, I find it interesting to examine this phenomenon. <BR/><BR/>Also, Bob was discussing a very specific group of people. I find it frustrating that many respectable people I know who hold left of center views feel compelled to defend even the most extreme fringes of their spectrum. There is no reason why the liberalism of civil rights, a social safety net, freedom of speech, social security, public education, etc. should be incompatible with recognition of and a serious attitude towards Islamic terror. There is no more reason for a Truman/Kennedy type liberal to align himself with DailyKos-type nutjobs than for a conservative to defend David Duke or Timothy McVeigh. <BR/><BR/>Anyway, back to self-indulgence. The answer I give myself is that, as with most things, proportion and context is key. Yes, gain a level of self satisfaction from observing, talking about and even mocking moonbats. Yes, in a way I am projecting my own shadow onto moonbats, and also Islamists. Its just as we laugh at a comedian falling down the stairs. I see an element of my personality exaggerated when I see a raving leftist. But here's the difference: I'm aware of this, I can control it, I'm capable of restraint. I can laugh at the comments on little green footballs and then go off and do something productive. Much like drinking in moderation; it's not a problem, so long as it doesn't take over your life. Now, to be fair, this would also apply to a conservative who wakes up consumed with a seething hatred for Nancy Pelosi; like Mama Moonbat in the famous Wash. Post article, that person has a serious problem. The only difference is that he would be the exception among active, visible members of his party.<BR/><BR/>Also, by directing anger towards Islamists and those who, unknowingly, enable them, I'm not projecting onto a fantasy, it's something real. I don't have to bend reality and twist my psyche in knots to conform with the object in question. I can direct anger towards evil madmen who want me dead, rather than create a fantasy of George Bush as an evil madman to avoid confronting real evil. We all have the same emotional needs, its a matter of finding productive outlets grounded in reality. Its the difference between feeling genuine love for your wife and feeling imagined love for a celebrity you don't even know.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1146279469287923652006-04-28T19:57:00.000-07:002006-04-28T19:57:00.000-07:00The idea of Left vs. Right really isn't an imagina...The idea of Left vs. Right really isn't an imaginary illusion. It is, in fact, a very real problem in America today. I am calling it a problem, while others might site the idea that "dissent is patriotic", because those on the left seem to have a pathological hatred for the United States. Maybe this is a residual effect of the sanguine 1950's when it became hip for young people to actively campaign for Adlai Stevenson, maybe it is left over from the tumultuluous 1960's when American youth were instructed not to "trust anyone over thirty" , or perhaps it is the effect of the dissappointments of the 1970's and the loss of faith precipitated by the disgraced presidency of Richard Nixon and the failed presidency of Jimmy Carter. Whatever the cause, there is an active and present leftist movement seemingly motivated by hatred of all things American and hell- bent on destroying what remains of our culture.I believe this hatred is pathological because it is self-destructive, those who use thier freedom of speech, as an example, to continually speak out against our government would usher in regimes that would abolish freedom and crush dissenters. A good example is the feminists who are ardent critics of the war on terror, these very same individuals who burned thier bras in the past are aiding and abetting regimes who force thier women to wear burkas to cover thier bodies from head to toe.The only expalnation I can imagine is that they some how believe( wrongly) that thier politics will exempt them from the wrath of our enemies.Leftism seems bereft of logic, there is nothing in its philosophy that even resembles freedom; although the left exhausts the freedoms America provides in order to stiffle the freedoms we all enjoy. Leftism is not about freedom, it is all about control.<BR/><BR/>Regarding today's blog I am a bit confused about the idea of the left being motivated by envy since, it seems to me , many of America's most prominent leftist are among our wealthiest citizens.<BR/>What is it that these individuals, who have such great wealth, envy?<BR/><BR/>Regarding the movie, I have heard that it is a powerful and life changing experience. On the way to work the other day I heard Glenn Beck, a syndicated talk show host, sobbing as he discussed the movie with another commentator- it is amazing how soon the American pysche pushes emotion into the subconcious, how can so many of our citizens have forgotten the emotion of 9-11?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1146268100971767292006-04-28T16:48:00.000-07:002006-04-28T16:48:00.000-07:00Excellent clarity, Bob.Envy was one of the Seven D...Excellent clarity, Bob.<BR/><BR/>Envy was one of the Seven Deadly Sins, and you might find some of the medieval writings on that specific sin to be remarkably consonant with your thoughts today.<BR/><BR/>Also, the commandment about not coveting is also applicable here. From earliest times, God has tried to point out to us how damaging this attitude of mind is to us personally and to the society we inhabit.Assistant Village Idiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1146266328817799522006-04-28T16:18:00.000-07:002006-04-28T16:18:00.000-07:00--it's something deep within the human heart that ...<I>--it's something deep within the human heart that is currently manifesting as leftism, that's all.</I> <BR/><BR/>I'll start with the obvious. We here in America represent a tiny percentage of the people who have lived on this planet since the dawn of Mankind. <BR/><BR/>We are Atlantis. We are Camelot. We are the Promised Land. We are blessed with a level of prosperity, technology, ease, comfort and safety that would be utterly beyond the comprehension of the vast majority of people who have walked the earth. The correct response to this is gratitude. As in fall on your knees and thank God you are here gratitude.<BR/><BR/>Yet so many among us seem oblivious to the blessings that surround them. They see this country as a bastion of greed, bigotry, and ignorance. They are blind to the good that surrounds them and find evil where none exists. They are blind to the evil that threatens us and would make common cause with those who wish to destroy them. They think nothing of starting up their PC's in the morning, and posting screeds about the evils of the corporations that make those PC's and the internet available to them. They throw common sense out the window, and adhere to crapthink ideas that would have passed for heavy handed satire not long ago. <BR/>This isn't the classic liberal/conservative tug of war that should make up American politics. It's a battle against a mindset that seems hell bent on undoing civilization.<BR/><BR/>I'm no shrink, but I know crazy when I see it.<BR/><BR/>HMMM- there goes the stuff about envy I was thinking about. Short version- those who see greed everywhere are looking at the world through a green-eyed lens of envy.<BR/><BR/>JWMAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1146261786476145762006-04-28T15:03:00.000-07:002006-04-28T15:03:00.000-07:00Exactly, Deputy. It has nothing to do with this or...Exactly, Deputy. It has nothing to do with this or that issue or person. I consider the philosophical basis of leftism to be a genuine pneumapathology. <BR/><BR/>And it's not even leftism per se that I object to--it's something deep within the human heart that is currently manifesting as leftism, that's all.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1146260733873586632006-04-28T14:45:00.000-07:002006-04-28T14:45:00.000-07:00Just a belated weigh-in on the Bob/digdug dialogue...Just a belated weigh-in on the Bob/digdug dialogues before returning to chores first procrastinated around when linear time began:<BR/><BR/>Bob sees Leftism as I and other B'heads do, that is, as the primary manifestation of perverse metaphysic. Politics is the veneer; at root it's a meta issue. So, that's where the front lines are. If anyone reads it merely as a political issue, then, I suppose, there would be a tendency to see Bob's postings as a daily piling on, the continued beating of a dead horse. (or donkey, I guess)<BR/><BR/>However, as Leftism reflects the myriad ways in which meta-perversity can play out in the human spirit, then naturally Bob would attend to and underscore them in his postings. In a perverse way, Leftism is the gift that keeps on giving.<BR/><BR/>It all depends on what mode of consciousness one approaches the issue.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1146249234340567242006-04-28T11:33:00.000-07:002006-04-28T11:33:00.000-07:00digdug--I can only reemphasize that one of my cent...digdug--<BR/><BR/>I can only reemphasize that one of my central beliefs is that the spiritual evolution of the world hinges on the outcome of the battle between Islamism, contemporary liberalism (which is actually leftism, not liberalism), and American conservatism (or classical liberalism).Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1146248939761714472006-04-28T11:28:00.000-07:002006-04-28T11:28:00.000-07:00Bob/heads - I've had a head full of bees all week ...Bob/heads - <BR/><BR/>I've had a head full of bees all week so I have no choice but to keep this simple: the root of envy is, I think, *fear*. So I'm not sure sure that envy is not a mind parasite of the first demonic rank, an elemental mind parasite, so to speak.<BR/><BR/>And by *fear* I mean of the variety that constitutes 99% of most of the fear we experience, fear of what others will think of us, fear of looking bad, of lowered social status, etc.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1146247473583473732006-04-28T11:04:00.000-07:002006-04-28T11:04:00.000-07:00Bob~"Do you really see any comparison between me a...Bob~<BR/><BR/><I>"Do you really see any comparison between me and them?"</I><BR/><BR/>None. Nor between you and Rush, or any other of the left/right references alluded to by the B'heads. I read you for your ability to tunnel inward, and for your ability to narrate as you dig. Like Steve Irwin talking about the rattlesnake's fang length as he's dodging the bite. Very present tense. Vivid examples.<BR/><I><BR/>"I find it a little backward to say that it is I who am going after the left with hammer and tong."</I><BR/><BR/>But here's my main point: they don't, in the next paragraph, cleanse the air with a tendril'd scent of lotus blossom. And if I found a site that mixed spiritual pursuit with leftist venom, I'd read that also to see what I could discern. I don't exempt you from my perceptions just because your blog might not reach as many as some other site. That's not your fault. Blog surfing is a proactive medium, hence its power. I personally have never logged onto that site. It's you who are wielding the power just now in my own cosmos, not them, and I accord your words as much power as I feel they warrant. No matter if a million people read "them" and it's only me reading you.<BR/><BR/>I wrote the following, after reading your post on the dailykos papparazzi finding you on their radar (but decided not to post it then) :<BR/><BR/><I>I am hoping that you, and at least some of the Bobbleheads, will know immediately that aligning yourself in opposition to that dreck is akin to fishing out of your bulldozer: you're just getting your work clothes wet. Stay dry, stick to the heavy work, and realize that the "right" you often align with is no more representative of the "right" that those folks are opposed to than is the left as represented by "br'er stinkycrack" and his ilk...</I><BR/><BR/>And finally, <BR/><I>"But, at the same time, do you not expect me to draw certain conclusions about them? "</I><BR/><BR/>Yes. In chewing on it, I do understand your reasons for posting about "them". I retract a good portion of my dis-understanding. But call it "residual lotus inhalation disorientation", or something more grokable: I am always able to breath easier once the criticism stops and the praise begins. <BR/><BR/>Carry on. I've indulged plenty of smokers in my time. I know how to hold my breath.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1146246123463142512006-04-28T10:42:00.000-07:002006-04-28T10:42:00.000-07:00Dilys - thanks for the link. HEWGE Byron Katie fan...Dilys - thanks for the link. HEWGE Byron Katie fan. Sure has saved me enormous expeditures of energy and angst...<BR/><BR/>Bob - does this have anything to do with the disdain of, say, serious drug users for straights?<BR/><BR/>More later - going to lunch with the spouse. Not Disneyland, but hey!<BR/>Have fun, Lisa!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com