Friday, January 16, 2004
I've got a couple of emails I will respond to in the next few days (I'm still slogging through an academic article one guy sent me - as soon as I make up my mind on whether I like it or not, I'll post it and given the emailer a tip of the hat).
but first, a few emails expressed concern that I have a "Make a donation" button . Whatever. I put it up for the he[ck] of it. I don't expect any donations - but I won't turn down windfall. Anyone who is thinking of donating - I'm sure there are more deserving people out there.
Of course, I do have an education to finance and a family to take care of, so money is never a bad thing. But if I get nothing in donations, I don't really care. The button was put up as a lark, mainly because I could.
There - hopefully no one still thinks I'm evil.
but first, a few emails expressed concern that I have a "Make a donation" button . Whatever. I put it up for the he[ck] of it. I don't expect any donations - but I won't turn down windfall. Anyone who is thinking of donating - I'm sure there are more deserving people out there.
Of course, I do have an education to finance and a family to take care of, so money is never a bad thing. But if I get nothing in donations, I don't really care. The button was put up as a lark, mainly because I could.
There - hopefully no one still thinks I'm evil.
Thursday, January 15, 2004
AH HA!! Over at Winston's Diary Winston has a "dialogue" of sorts going with a man named Adam. One part concerns me:
Winston: Finally, Adam goes on to attack Conservative English Major, presumably because I have linked to him:
Adam: Meanwhile, not everyone has arrived at their conclusions through the scientific method: the Conservative English Major, a blog-friend of Winston's, has up a number of posts (his/her permalinks seem to be broken at the moment) about "how the strident left-wingism [sic] of the academy can force moderate students to the right." To give some more detail:
The fact that my fellow grad students and my instructors constantly make comparisons between Bush as Hitler, loudly wish he would die, and refuse to see anything he can do in a positive light - this attitude pushes me even further in my support of Bush. Instead of being a slightly disaffected supporter who would critique some of his policies, I find myself reacting to my fellows [sic] extremism and becoming a fairly staunch supporter.
Amazing! Now the liberals are to blame ... for the fact that this person's a conservative! It appears that if the liberals keep it up, there will be no more liberals left, because Lord knows that no one hates anger more than a conservative. The Fox News-viewing American people, accustomed as they are to cool-headed, moderate commentary, will be instinctively turned off by anger -- I mean, I guess that could be true, if we set aside the fact that the contemporary conservative movement is built entirely on anger.
Well, I noticed the constant use of [sic] - but readers of this blog know well that I can't type, so that doesn't bother me very much. But at the same time Adam missed my point entirely.
I am already conservative. What the extreme anger of the left has done to me is to push me farther to the right in my support of Bush! I have some serious problems with many of Bush's policies, but when people go on and on about Bush = Hitler and Republicans are evil racist warmongers, it makes it harder for me to act the moderate.
My political beliefs are not built on anger - but when I am constantly confronted with anger from the left, I tend to find myself acting more conservative than usual. It's a personal quirk, perhaps. Maybe I even need counseling for it. But it seems to me that the anger is coming from the left, not from me.
And his comment about FOX NEWS reminded me of an event about two weeks ago. A professor made the comment that those who watch the Fox News Channel are hopelessly myopic and are unable to see the truth about anything. I then asked him if he had ever actually watched Fox news ever, even if just for five minutes. He responded - "No, I don't need to."
Even I listen to NPR regularly, so I think my opinion that NPR is liberal leaning is a bit more informed than his idea that Fox is right leaning.
Winston: Finally, Adam goes on to attack Conservative English Major, presumably because I have linked to him:
Adam: Meanwhile, not everyone has arrived at their conclusions through the scientific method: the Conservative English Major, a blog-friend of Winston's, has up a number of posts (his/her permalinks seem to be broken at the moment) about "how the strident left-wingism [sic] of the academy can force moderate students to the right." To give some more detail:
The fact that my fellow grad students and my instructors constantly make comparisons between Bush as Hitler, loudly wish he would die, and refuse to see anything he can do in a positive light - this attitude pushes me even further in my support of Bush. Instead of being a slightly disaffected supporter who would critique some of his policies, I find myself reacting to my fellows [sic] extremism and becoming a fairly staunch supporter.
Amazing! Now the liberals are to blame ... for the fact that this person's a conservative! It appears that if the liberals keep it up, there will be no more liberals left, because Lord knows that no one hates anger more than a conservative. The Fox News-viewing American people, accustomed as they are to cool-headed, moderate commentary, will be instinctively turned off by anger -- I mean, I guess that could be true, if we set aside the fact that the contemporary conservative movement is built entirely on anger.
Well, I noticed the constant use of [sic] - but readers of this blog know well that I can't type, so that doesn't bother me very much. But at the same time Adam missed my point entirely.
I am already conservative. What the extreme anger of the left has done to me is to push me farther to the right in my support of Bush! I have some serious problems with many of Bush's policies, but when people go on and on about Bush = Hitler and Republicans are evil racist warmongers, it makes it harder for me to act the moderate.
My political beliefs are not built on anger - but when I am constantly confronted with anger from the left, I tend to find myself acting more conservative than usual. It's a personal quirk, perhaps. Maybe I even need counseling for it. But it seems to me that the anger is coming from the left, not from me.
And his comment about FOX NEWS reminded me of an event about two weeks ago. A professor made the comment that those who watch the Fox News Channel are hopelessly myopic and are unable to see the truth about anything. I then asked him if he had ever actually watched Fox news ever, even if just for five minutes. He responded - "No, I don't need to."
Even I listen to NPR regularly, so I think my opinion that NPR is liberal leaning is a bit more informed than his idea that Fox is right leaning.
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
Semester hasn't really started yet, so I have nothing new to report in the way of liberal antics, but I did want to clarify a question that I have gotten a few emails about.
Yes - my fellow Grad students and my instructors for the large part really do think Bush is Hitler. One professor actually has a picture of Bush with the Hitler style mustache photoshopped in.
And they think the parallels will just keep going. One student actually said (this was in the student lounge, and several other students agreed verbally) that if Bush was re-elected, Liberals and Minorities were going to be forced into the gas furnaces just like Hitler did to the Jews. I questioned it this was not just a bit too much and the student looked at me and said "You must watch Fox News. How naive of you. If you don't see what's happening in this country, I will have no pity for you when they do put you in the oven." Everyone else laughed and that was about it.
I think English majors, especially graduate students are basically being raised by an isolated society of zealots known as the Graduate faculty. Very little contact is actually made with the outside world and all common sense is lost by a subtle brainwashing known as cultural studies and post modern literary theory.
Or not. Who knows? But the widespread belief that we are about to have a Nazi America boggles my mind. This is not just a bunch of left leaning students and teachers, this is a group so far left they can't even see reality.
Of course, with Post-modern theory no one can perceive reality at all, so why bother? My reaction is to use Zeno's paradox - we can't truly see reality, but we can get infinitely close.
And I still can't type.
Yes - my fellow Grad students and my instructors for the large part really do think Bush is Hitler. One professor actually has a picture of Bush with the Hitler style mustache photoshopped in.
And they think the parallels will just keep going. One student actually said (this was in the student lounge, and several other students agreed verbally) that if Bush was re-elected, Liberals and Minorities were going to be forced into the gas furnaces just like Hitler did to the Jews. I questioned it this was not just a bit too much and the student looked at me and said "You must watch Fox News. How naive of you. If you don't see what's happening in this country, I will have no pity for you when they do put you in the oven." Everyone else laughed and that was about it.
I think English majors, especially graduate students are basically being raised by an isolated society of zealots known as the Graduate faculty. Very little contact is actually made with the outside world and all common sense is lost by a subtle brainwashing known as cultural studies and post modern literary theory.
Or not. Who knows? But the widespread belief that we are about to have a Nazi America boggles my mind. This is not just a bunch of left leaning students and teachers, this is a group so far left they can't even see reality.
Of course, with Post-modern theory no one can perceive reality at all, so why bother? My reaction is to use Zeno's paradox - we can't truly see reality, but we can get infinitely close.
And I still can't type.
