On Wicked Problems
I intend to post poems at regular intervals. As my readers become familiar with my politics, the poems I choose to post might seem incongruous to some. How can I, a hawkish pro-capitalist Christian, admire most often in poets people who are gays, socialists, cult figures, and so forth. Don't I know who these people are? Don't I know the things that they stood for. Couldn't I choose someone whose beliefs are more like my own?
I could. I probably won't. Not often at least. You see, I think that it is a good thing to be challenged. I think it is also important to be able to sift the wheat from the chaff. I am pro-capitalist for what I think are good and for me sufficient reasons. But that doesn't mean that I can't feel empathy for those who are trod under the uncaring boot of profit, nor that I don't admire someone like say Carl Sandburg for what he saw and tried to stand for.
I consider myself a Hawk, but I could not and would not want to live a life untroubled by the concept of war. I consider myself a capitalist, but I could not and would not want to abandon socialism entirely. These are wicked problems, and they have no easy answers. Yes, of course I'm troubled - grieved even - by every single lost life. But these are wicked problems, and for every course of action their is a high price to pay.
I think that the easy and obvious thing is to be troubled by war. It is easy, especially in our Christian and post-Christian society, to take a principled stand against violence. I'm a Hawk because as troubled as I am by war, there are times when I'm even more troubled by peace. I wonder how often the Dove is troubled by an unjust peace. It's easy for the Hawk to be troubled by war. It is hard to deal with the dead of war. But I wonder whether the Dove gives as much thought to freedom he gives to evil doers by refraining from bearing the sword. The dead of peace go unmourned and unremembered more often than the dead of war. Who will grieve for them; nay, who will do more than grieve? Tears are easy. Do the Doves question whether they refrain out of love or out of simple apathy and fear?
Very well, you will have your grief, and I will have mine.
posted by Andrew Graff @ 11:08 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
The family of MLK openly acknowledges that James Earl Ray was framed for that assassination. Do a bit more research.
I wish to engage in a civil debate and Socratic dialogue with you without resorting to name calling or references to controlled substances. I choose to do so because you have proven to be the most intelligent and opened minded reader that I encountered on rightwingnews.com. You can, of course, choose to ignore me. But my intuition tells me that it would be to your benefit if you did not.
I guess you don't want to engage in a meaningful discussion, eh ?
It's not health to live in a 'Baghdad Green Zone' of the mind.
Simply Brilliant. I too am a hawkish, capitalist, christian, but I love to read Sinclair Lewis, HG Wells, etc.
I do not think that it is difficult to appreciate the works of a person who believes different things, nor is it going to hurt me to consider their viewpoint. In fact, it usually helps me grow.
thank you for this post.
John Hawkins is just another phony blogger. He is associated with townhall.com which has CENSORED and LOCKED ME OUT, also. He bans anyone from his site who disagrees with him - But I make more sense than him.
Like the Queen of Peppermint's Palace (peppermintsplace.townhall.com), with a wave of his magic wand, Queen Hawkins can make all unpleasantly true posts just disappear! Fairy, can't put up a good fight.
He prolifically churns out endless streams of the typical, "same old same old," political extremist crap, his followers are vile, nasty, filthy creeps of the cliched "angry white male" crowd who do not care how they win, dirty tricks, cheap shots, anything goes. That's why they elected Bush.
For Example:
"This makes you a shrewish bitch who deserves the confusion that you will get when your kid asks who his father is, you skull dragging road whore."
"Sperm belching, gutter slut. There. Do we have the name calling done?"
I'm not done here, I'm just getting started. Your Psuedo-Christian-American/Angry-White-Male hate trip has just been exposed. I am an expert on nasty little freaks like you - POOR losers - and I have a huge audience and they are going to know that you ARE A FRAUD.
You clowns just think you can gang up like common thugs on somebody and they'll go away. My ideas about the Bible and Holy War, America's not altogether pleasant history, Bush Lied 2007, Bush Lied 2007 Again, facts about the war that you delusional clowns think you can explain away by saying the MSM is corrupt!
And you believe it, and so does Bush, that is what is scary.
Here is my post that has been blocked:
You have not come up with any valid criticisms, just howing like hyenas and screaming like banshees, but you will leave here thinking you really "kicked me around?" Right. (That is pathetic - see my comment about cliches below.)
****I was denied posting and so I changed my ID, Hypo Hippo is probably as dishonest as townhall, he'll probably censor me and lock me out - that's why I have three IDs over there. Losers.)*******
Concerning my paper "PUT UP OR SHUT UP," that is how I spent the first several years of this war, writing letters telling the administration to get it right. It has taken all this time for you smug and odious clods to even admit that something, anything needs to be done.
Usually, you bring up that there will be a "bloodbath" if we pull out, but nobody ever asks for any actual sacrifice from the general populace.
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My local paper insists on printing these "Blog Bits" and I just think it's a little too ironic that these are the same people who say the MSM, especially the KC Star, are so biased as to be unreliable. So, I occasionally try to make an example out of them, like Hypo Hippo Hawkins, thanks for the quotes, heh heh.
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Here is the holier-than-thou hypo Hawkins shamelessly shouting his piety from the rooftops:
He quotes Ann Coulter of all people, quite the church lady Ann. Heh heh! - "Liberals hate religion because politics is a religion substitute for liberals and they can't stand the competition." -- Ann Coulter (That's rich.)
"Now usually, when you accurately explain to people what many liberals believe and use their own quotes to prove it, liberals come out of the woodwork to call it a "smear campaign" or claim that you're "cherry picking" their comments.
Liberal Contempt For Christians -
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/JohnHawkins/2007/03/02/liberal_contempt_for_christians?page=full&comments=true
Here is the hippo Hawkins shamelessly waving his hick banner around:
"When our ancestors started dealing with Indians who massacred and tortured settlers, they either bought their land, took their land at the point of a gun, or just killed them all and took their land. Although genocide is no longer a morally acceptable choice..."
"There's a simple reason why the Israelis and Palestinians have never been able to reach a peace agreement: it's because the Palestinians are part of a sick, twisted, death cult."
(This is where he also says certain people shouldn't be allowed to vote. Heh heh.)
Five Things You Can't Say In America -
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/JohnHawkins/2007/05/11/five_things_you_cant_say_in_america?page=full&comments=true
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That chick has some very serious hate issues with John Hawkins. Not sure what that's about.
Posted by sabiticus
July 28, 2007 11:35 PM |
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"Not sure what that's about." Yeah, that's what I'm talking about, you get on here like Hippo Hawkins is just another good ol' boy. No, he is what you intellectuals would call a "Bible-thumper" or "Jesus Freak." I would really be interested to know what he thinks about your "enlightening" posts here tonight.
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For those of you who do claim to have been in the military, did you volunteer? Or were you drafted? I get the distinct impression from the blowhard veterans on these sites that they were drafted and more than anything they want to make sure everyone else has to go through the hell they did.
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If you rejects had been bothering to read the newspapers instead of getting all of your "news" from hippo hypo-types you would know that this is business as usual for Bush. At least once a week there has been some kind of report like the following - the facts are not what you would like and so you just change the way they collect and report the facts - the guy is a complete Bozo.
http://www.latimes.com/la-na-iraqpower27jul27,0,3267669,print.story?coll=la-home-center
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Once he even did his budget projections using a cash accounting system - what you would use for a lemonade stand - and all it got was one line in the business section. Yeah, they love Bushy over there in the business section. Souless ghouls.
You all love Bush because you are the cliched "angry white males" who have "taken back their country." You don't care how ignorant you sound and you don't care if Bush is not just a political hack, he's a political butcher, because you clods are just going to run this country the way it should be run and you know you are right about all things, facts and history notwithstanding.
I had to give up on keeping track of Bushy's incompetence, though, the war is more than enough. This administration is the biggest fake, fraud and phony ever perpetrated on the people of this country.
I'm out of here.
What is evil about communism?
http://www.rightwingnews.com/mt331/2007/07/qa_friday_70_whats_so_evil_abo.php?comments=show
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karennkc
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