Last night was kinda busy for me as I had a Knights of Columbus and a Madonna Della Cava meeting scheduled at the same time. (The feast is on the August 15th). We finished at the Knights just in time for me to catch the tail end of the meeting concerning the festival.
After the meeting one of the members that I was close to expressed utter shock that #1 I liked Sarah Palin and #2 I was a republican. It is something I’ve run into on occasion although less these days as more and more people are on the net and are exposed to different points of view.
This is what happens when you try to paint people who don’t have the “approved” set of beliefs a particular way. It leads to such an insulated situation that when you see the reality, it comes as a shock and a half.
It also illustrates to me how history bends over time. She remembers the democratic party of her youth, she remembers the days when democratic were not ashamed of believing Catholics, when Unions actually made a difference in the lives of workers. Those days in my opinion, are gone.
It took me 12 years for my presidential vote to go from Democratic (Mondale) to republican (Dole) and a further 6 years before I changed my registration. It took more than half a century for my mother to be weaned from a party that thinks she is a racist/bigot/homophobe hick and has taken her for granted for years. It may take my friend another 20 years to see what I’m seeing or maybe she will never agree with me on politics at all.
Either way that’s ok, but I doubt she will ever be able to keep that same world view of republicans again.
Well today is D-Day when we remember the landings at Normandy and the troops who fought and died in the greatest amphibious invasion in history.
As the generation that fought this battle and their children die we tend to forget what was done that day. We have only the history channel and movies to remind us.
In my youth it was The Longest Day. It was played on D-Day every year on some UHF network.
Notice a young Sean Connery in his pre-bond days, in fact this was the last movie he was in before Dr. No.
Today for a later generation we have Band of Brothers episode.
Remember just as the minstrels kept stories alive in olden days so are films the modern day minstrels that will remind a generation of the greatness of their fathers.
As for my own D-Day I have been told conflicting things. I was told a few months ago that this would be the last week of my unemployment. Yet the last time I was at the office a couple of weeks ago I was told I had one final extension that I had been told I didn’t qualify for before.
Which one is right? I hope the latter but I hope be ready for the former.
As a general rule I tend to show a bit of charity to people who are very old. They tend to speak their mind with less control and as age starts to overtake you one is very much susceptible to gaffes and embarrassment.
These days however It has become so chic to hate and condemn Israel (not to mention the brownie points you earn from the upset us and we behead you crowd) that people say things aloud that 20-30 years ago would have been impossible to have said in polite company.
1. She has reached the point in life that she will say something she thinks without pausing to think of the consequences for herself.
2. She has reached the point in life that she will say aloud what she thinks and doesn’t care what the consequences are.
3. She has reached the point in life where she is canny enough to know that the press will not call her out for things said so she doesn’t care what she says.
#4. Age has nothing to do with it, She thinks the worm as turned to the point where she can say the most extreme thing she actually believes without any worry.
5. She is senile and talking nonsense.
Thomas has never been a fan of Israel so we can safely assume that her antipathy is genuine. Her writings on this and other subjects is not materially different from many younger people who think the same so we must assume that #5 is not the case. If you look at the statement there seems no level of confusion so #1 is out. Thomas has been not only challenging Israel for decades but her position is consistent with many other people where she came from so #2 is out. That also suggest #3 is wrong however the person with her is clearly nervous.
My guess is #4 but she is aware of #3 and is quite willing to use that advantage to put her fellow journalists in a position where they feel they must be silent.
With the rise of open hatred and violence against Jews worldwide her time has come.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. For years the west has pushed the canard about saving the Jews as part of the reason for the war and why it was just. In my opinion the nations never gave a damn if the Jews were wiped out altogether. It was the average soldier who saw the evil that was done and was repulsed and outraged by what they found. It was their repulsion of an armed free people that caused things to happen and forced nations to acknowledge and memorialize this evil.
As their generation dies away the outrage that spurned it dies with them and the world is able to celebrate that oldest of hatreds and evils that has always kept them warm at night.
I'll wear the Fr O'Malley Badge proudly
I am a Catholic, a person with absolutely no Jewish ancestry, and only one secondary connection (one of 12 Nephews/Nieces married a Jewish girl) I in theory unlike say Yid with Lid, Pam Geller or Meryl Yourish have no dog in this fight. Yet justice demands that I stand with Fr. O’Malley.
Abdul: What is your name?
Father O’Malley: William O’Malley.
Abdul: I did not call you.
Father O’Malley: You called for all the Jews. I’m Jewish, just like Jesus Christ. You take one, you gotta take us all.
I choose to stand with Israel, because they are right! Not perfect, but right, how can I do anything else and live with myself?
Update:That was fast. I still think she was thinking #4 but switched on a dime to #1. I guess that is still a bridge too far..
Da Techguy's (no longer backup) Blog 