Dougy T on Morality
"
I'm sorry dear, but there are no colors. It's either guilt by association, or non-guilt by disassociation.
Remember to always accuse others of being Relativists or Postmoderns and you'll be just fine."
Mr. Doug is on his usual Jihad.
While I certainly cannot support the relativization of evil, he, as usual, shoots his own feet off.
We cast judgment on Saddam and the university professor knee jerks by referencing Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam in the 80s. Slaughtered Native Americans, black slaves, our late entry into WW2, Viet Nam, no WMDs, these are all used by the liberal mind to support a world view of moral equivalence. Deny good an evil above all else. It's an easy trick, for every good thing you can think of, just slather it in bad things associated with it. Does western capitalism develop technology that saves lives? Bring up the way our capitalism destroys the planet's eco-system and you've just made the black and white into a comfortable haze of gray.
It is possible that some refer to the things above as a "moral equivalence", but Doug would ruin his own moral stand by dismissing those acts of evil because he does not see them as morally equivalent to larger acts of evil.
They do not have to be morally equal to be wrong.
Thus Doug would turn a blind eye to the sins of America simply because he can find an example of something worse.
He finds something vastly superior about the American Way even though he would allow us to use all the same means in an immoral war. Thus kidnapping and torture are fine venues in a good and righteous cause. And it's okay to hate, because God hates...and we all know who is God's little special boy.
It's a Black and White
Pleasantville world for Doug. But what he fails to see is that it's a world full of color, not a grey haze. Thus, one can look upon the benefits of Capitalism without immediately dismissing responsible stewardship of God's Creation. One can hold Saddam Hussein accountible for atrovcities and still hold Donald Rumselfd accountible for his bad decisions in dictators.
They are not mutually exclusive.
Awhile ago Doug sent me two papers by a man who is clearly brilliant: J. Budziszewski. The first was a biblical critique and dismantling of classic Liberalism. It's a stunningly good critique and I suggest you read it (though have some time to do so).
The second by Budziszewski is his critique of Conservatism, which is no lessing damning.
One of the reason Budziszewski can do this is he understands, and employs what Bonhoeffer called the difference bewteen the "penultimate" and the "ultimate". (You will find that in
Ethics).
Thus Budziszewski understands God as not nationalistic in the way that Doug and his minions (and they are not all minions) do. Speaking of the confusion of viewing America as the Covenant favorite, he writes:
It may well be that all nations have callings of sorts-specific purposes which God in His providence assigns them. But no nation can presume to take God under its wing. However we may love her, dote upon her, and regret her, the Lord our God can do without the United States.
The "Ultimate" in Bonhoeffer's way of thinking (and I suspect Budziszewski's) is the Kingdom of God, not the self-righteousness self-determination of any one nation.
Doug continues to give America, and this Administration, not only a "Get Out of Jail Free" card, but also a free pass to the best properties on the board. And that is because the "Penultimate" has overcome the "Ultimate" in his whole paradigm.
I remarked once something about Peter Berger and Doug immediately dismissed him..as..probably, a Relativist. Not so in his 1961 book
The Precarious Vision.
What Berger writes there undercuts Doug's entire fallacy of hyper-nationalism and his own forms of Relativism (of yes, he has them and employs them all the time) for America does, like all nations, have to answer for its own actions and sins. And we as men and woman are not absolved from our own culpability simply because millions vote alongside us.
No, when God "judges the Nations" we are often one of those nations. I am not speaking of any natural disaster (for that is what they are) but rather accountability.
Berger in Part 2 tomorrow. 
In a Stunning Display of Madness...
...well it's arrogance and abuse of power actually and it shall be Bush's undoing. By refusing to release the six photos of himself and Abramoff Bush has once again given the finger to simple honesty and disclosure.
The President's few remaining rabid supporters love and adore this finger and his rugged defiance for the rule of law, the Constitution, and the separation of powers which the Supreme Court will soon have to re-enact lest we be plunged into a Monarchy.
"Freedom Fries" no more... it is not just the French who think we are insane (which is important because they think Jerry Lewis is funny, and they like really heavy sauces). Even the hardened Scots think and report daily on how nuts and lawless we have become. You can read about it
HERE.
Also read the report from Forbes on how the investigation is being
derailed. Forbes...that bastion of Liberal journalism!
The Coincidental President
An adviser to President Bush said Monday that Bush's photographs in the company of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff amount to a coincidence and shouldn't be interpreted any more seriously than that.
Bush himself has said that he doesn't recall meeting Abramoff.
Time magazine reported on its Web site Sunday that its staff members have seen at least six photos featuring Bush and Abramoff. They appeared to have been taken at White House functions, according to the reports.
Well it is coincidence. Time magazine failed to report that many people have coincidental photographs with President Bush.
Ira Slpitnik, of Portland Maine, has a growing collection of 19 coincidental pictures of herself and the President. In some pictures he is blurred and in the background, like the one at the Happy Suds Laundromat, and the one at Loch Ness. But most of them have been authenticated.
"We always keep a camera around," said Ms. Slipnik, " well especially after we coincidentally met the President at an Arby's. After we saw him in a Jiffy Lube we just figured we'd start collecting the coincidental pictures."
This reporter only has four coincidental pictures with President Bush. One is in a dental office in Citrus Heights California, and the last one six weeks later from a coincidental meeting at a Record shop in Austin where Bush exclaimed "oh, it's you...Funny how we keep bumping into each other."
Coincidentally, Abramoff raised $100,000 for Bush's coincidental re-election. Since then, we have coincidentally found ourselves in some kind of war, which is taking place, coincidentally, not far from where Bush's father had his.
The White House has not released any of the coincidental photos featuring the President and Abramoff, who was declared a Bush "pioneer" for raising at least $100,000 for the Bush-Cheney '04 re-election campaign. Instead of releasing the coincedental photos, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan simply released Abramoff's dental records instead saying "We cannot comments on Mr. Abramoff's dental records until a full investigation has been started which will never be completed."
"Pioneering is a basic value of the American people," Bush said from the Bush Rose Garden (which coincidentally is filled with rose bushes) "Liberty...Freedom...Pioneering. These are good things for your children who, coincidentally, carry many of your own last names."
"Nothing is as simple as black and white" ~ Pleasantville_____________________________
Doug posted a response here that got erased when I thought I was erasing my own response. Unlike Doug, I do not believe in censorship and he is free to make as big an ass of himself as he wants anytime.
Here was his letter:
I called you a faggot mac? Where? I guess you're what they call a brother in the
Lord in your Liberal Christian circles. ...and that's some typical Frisco-style
elitism to insuate the lack of museums in Glendale denote anything of
importance. No wonder why you worship France.
I live just a few miles from wonderful museums, my favorite I can zip to during lunch...the Gene Autry Museum (showing the movies of Sergio Leone right now) and I've been to the curator's house right here in sleepy Glendale. But this museum probably doesn't count because there aren't enough Piss-Christs.
Mac and Martha got banned simply because they are ungenerous guests, pull their shoes off and put their stinky feet on the furniture, take a crap in the kitchen etc. No class elitists...the worst of both worlds.
Well, Doug, with all his class, has called me a fag, gay, elitist, stupid, ignorant, dumb, a fuckwit, gosh...the list is almost endless...pinko, commie, Marxist, bastard...it goes on.
I have no idea what he means by a "brother in the Lord" but I can assure you he probably doesn't mean me well with it.
The thing about Frisco is we have real museums and great restaurants and a rich culture and really, just one of America's most beautiful cities. And instead of appreciating that, Doug chooses to take the words of an insane man (Nagen) and make mockery while he lives in a strip mall and has to travel a city or two over to view Spaghetti Westerns.
For every Target in Glendale we have a De Young Musuem. It's not elitist..it's called planning and vision for the future, as well as appreciation for the past.
The museums of SF don't boast piss-Christs.
They display Ruebens, Van Gogh, Monet...Edvard Munch. The sculptures of Rodin. Up on the cliffs of Baker Beach (my fav) is Ansel Adam's house. Wayne Thiebaud has done his most amazing work here. It's a glorious city named after the great Saint Francis. It is a city where the Homeless are actually considered. It is a city where free health care has begun to grow.
Doug would make San Francisco about one thing..and one thing only...homosexuality.
That's just plain dumb for anyone who lives here.
Where will you go today Doug? To the mall?
We will go to the beach and watch the massive trade ships come under the Golden Gate and look out on a city whose beauty is utterly lost on you.
That's all.
"Bob's Your Uncle"
Doug tells his clan that I "stabbed him in the back" on his own blog. Is this true? Did I abuse my invitation to write alongside others in Doug's absence?
Well, not from where I am standing, and that is the keyword here. The only time I have ever seen Doug TenNapel's backside is when he has been running away.
Doug writes that someone told him about "bullies" and that you choose the biggest one and ...oh I don't remember exactly because I suddenly felt like I was listening to Ward Cleaver...but you basically whup his ass and then that's it...no one messes with you again.
Of course the bully goes on terrorizing others...just not you.
Well that sounds like it comes from someone bullied and still afraid of it. I have empathy. As a guy whose family moved every two years I was the regular target as the new kid. Life viewed from the asphalt is not so very fun. But becoming the bully is no solution because the bully's life is based in fear and pain.
So in the early 90s I started studying non-violence under the tutlage of the Rev Darrell Johnson, who had been in Manila during the non-violent revolution that overthrew Marcos and was deeply fortified by spiritual connection with God. I studied what had happened there and asked Darrell to share stories. I studied Martin Luther King and decided there was a better way based on the Sermon on the Mount...in most circumstances.
So God is a merry Prankster and one Spring day I was in the park at an open poetry event and my friend B.L. was reading a particularly offensive poem meant to gain attention and attention it did in the form of a very drunken Marine.
The man had muscles on his muscles, and although I towered over him I knew as I headed him off that he could kill me in a minute, or make me languish in pain for many weeks if he so wished.
"I am going to kick your ass if you do not get out of my way" he said.
My hands were purposefully at my side.
"Yes. I ..."
He interrupted. "I am a Marine goddman it and I will put you in the ground!"
I told him I believed him on all counts. I agreed that he could bury me if he so chose and that there would probably not be much I could do about it. Still I held my ground between him and the languishing poet who was off on some thing about penises.
Bad poetry from behind, drunken Marine in front...not my favorite scenario.
Of course the man, a bully, wanted me to throw a punch. I towered over him and he didn't like me in the least. But he kept looking at my hands. They were calmly at my side and flat.
"I'll just go around you and beat his ass!: he laughed.
"I can't let you do that."
"Well then I'll beat your ass and move on to him!" he said as the poet went on some drivel about cum on the wall.
"Well I agree that you can beat my ass...no doubt about it," I said. "But let's do this before you do..let's go over to that tree and you talk and I'll just listen...I probably agree with you more than you know. If, when done, you still want to beat my ass, then you still can."
He looked at me strange.
Then we walked a good 30 feet quietly over to a tree and sat down and he talked my head off for a good 20 minutes. And he was not so drunk that he did not have focus. No...he had some good points which I had to acknowledge.
Well there was no violence done that day in that park that I am aware of. The poetry still sucked and the Marine still woke with a hangover...but no one was beaten.
*******
Although Doug never agrees with me I sometimes agree with him. Figure that one out.
I do think with bullies you have to stand your ground. I do not agree that it is either right or practical to beat them first as this only adds to their cycle of violence and they will find new victims who are just smaller than you.
In Doug's world, which is a Black and White
Unpleasantville, there is always one answer and it is usually violent in one way or another. It is a strange view for a Christian to hold and most of what he writes is an apologetic of his position.
Non-violence worked in India, in Manila and in the USA during the Civil Rights movement. It did not work in Tienemann Square. It would be silly in the face of roaring Huns and probably ridiculous in the former Soviet Union.
Even with the Marine, I was prepared to simply be a very large obstruction. I may have even employed humor at the right moment (I can be a clever bastard). And it didn't hurt that I was twice his size. I was actually working on his behalf as much as the poet as he did another set of bad poetry, and a case could be made that I failed to guard the public interest.
But back to BOB! I mean Doug.
See Doug twists things to his suiting. I never stabbed Doug in the back, I challeneged him to his face often and well. Not only did I do this, I also yielded to the good points and considered others. When he criticized me for running long I tried not to take it personal when one of his friends did a post four times the size that seemed to have no point. I accepted I was "Odd Man Out" (the opposition and enemy) and that his small litter of rabid dogs would view every post like hot steamy kibble.
(They are like Dobermans..well a few of them...Not S, A or SP).
Well this gets back to the bully thing.
The bully does not understand when you look them in the eye and do not stand down. They hollar insults, call you names and threaten all manner of harm. But you just stand your ground.
It's very simple.
And after they see you will not be moved they run away because you have left them no option.
So with Doug, who is a bully himself...the mirror image of his own fear...I simply called him on his shit. No one in Glendale would be offended by my review (except the head of the local Chamber).They already know they live around a strip mall with no culture. They simply go to neighboring cities like Pasadena to see my favorite Van Gogh in the Norton Simon, or head off to Long Beach...or catch the latest film that we will wait another month to view. It's not a problem.
What Doug hates (and he has so much of it) is that I called him out on his bigotry and hypocrisy. I received a few letters all, in some way, trying to make an excuse for Doug's blatant censorship. The refrain is always.."it's Doug's sandbox and he can go dukee where and when he wants."
They also say "he is actually a decent guy".
Of this I have no doubt. Doug...divested of the sfaety of his little kingdom...is probably a decent guy. I'd probably enjoy him as a neighbor even though he would secretly despise me.
Doug's bully bark is far worse than his actual bite ("banning" is just passive aggresive...to engage is another thing).
But you still have to look that snarling dog in the face and say "down Bob, er...Boy."
Banned from PleasantVille
In late December I was asked to be one of six writers who would fill the shoes of Doug TenNapel on his infamously Right Wing Fundamentalist Blog (www.dougtennapel.com). I was to be, in TenNapel's words, the Liberal Christian" perspective from the "other side". He also hoped I would be as funny and entertaining for his audience as "Howard Stern".Well, as it turned out, I presented a lot more substance and reasoned argument than Doug could withstand. On January the 17th, just 17 days in, I was suddenly banned from both the Forum and as writer on the blog based (supposedly) upon the post you are about to read.Now, some parts of the post may seem harsh, but this is a very rough crowd. For my part, I was just trying to be funny and all the points of the ironic little post are true and verifiable.That is all I will say for now. If you have questions, please leave them here on the blog and I will gladly answer them._________________________________
Chocolate City NightsDoug TenNapel is an expert on my favorite city (San Francisco). He comments often. Even though I have spent a life-time here off and on, he seems to know more than I.
Today he wrote that San Francisco was a “Chocolate City”. I asked him what he meant (I did not get the joke though I know it referenced to Nagen in New Orleans talking about blacks…that was the context and I thought Nagen out of line). There was smugness in his referring to San Francisco so I thought, despite his protestations, (and my personal view that Doug is not racist) that he might be making direct racist and homophobic remarks.
But I waited for him to answer.
I had already posted that when he called me a faggot and gay (repeatedly) that I did not think he meant it as a compliment. It seemed incongruous with his supposedly non-homophobic stance. Why label a heterosexual a fag unless you mean him harm by the label?
Ergo…
So I asked him outright and, this non-homophobic, non-racist "Christian" man informed me that somehow my mind was in the gutter and referred me to a chocolate site for Ghirardelli…which I could have taken serious except it was followed by this gem:
“It's carefully packed, usually in bath-houses, public rest areas and gym showers.”
By this Doug meant “chocolate”. So who’s head space is in who’s gutter?
Well Doug knows all and sees all about San Francisco. I knew nothing of his hometown of Glendale, California until today and it really rocked my world.
Culture
I looked for the core of their sense of art, literature and history, searching for museums first on the Internet.
I found one in Glendale…Arizona.
I found one in Glendale…Scotland.
But, not a single museum in Glendale, California.
The Name
The name “Glendale” means “Jewel City” and the only historic jewel I could find was this one…the Glendale Sanatorium (
http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=10208) listed on the community page.
That really speaks for itself.Major Cuisine
The home of
Bob’s Big Boy restaurants.
That really speaks for itself.
Major movies that have been filmed there: only the sardonic
Pleasantville.
That really speaks for itself.(I am not making any of this up. Do a Google search)
The fact is, Glendale is a gigantic sprawling suburban strip mall filled with only fast food, junk stores, SUVs and endless traffic and smog (being pinned in by three freeways). It has no major parks, no beauty, no great restaurants, bridges, culture or the arts (except a cartoonist who is mean-spirited). It is a holding place for people who work other places and are trapped in its cement center.
Today, thinking about Doug, I drove past the
Exploratorium by Crissy Field. I smelled the fresh air off the Bay and looked at the Golden Gate. It would surprise you how many beautiful women there were flirting with their boyfriends and how many children playing down in the sand.
I know my city Doug, and you are stuck in yours.
Happy cement.
"I'm sorry dear, but there are no colors. It's either guilt by association, or non-guilt by disassociation.
