over the cliff, onto the rocks.: I've been looking for an excuse to post this one

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

I've been looking for an excuse to post this one

for whig

19 comments:

Unknown said...: It rather seems that whig’s comment asked for it.; Wednesday, October 31, 2007 5:39:00 AM
hipparchia said...: whig is one of my favorite blogopeople, and not just because he provides me with material to post about. but yeah, his comment was the perfect lead-in for this one.; Wednesday, October 31, 2007 3:40:00 PM
Anonymous said...: perfect! brb.; Wednesday, October 31, 2007 7:00:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Couldn't quite figure out how to tie it in to this thing but feel free to use it yourself if it's helpful for anything.; Wednesday, October 31, 2007 7:09:00 PM
hipparchia said...: i admit to being stumped on that one too. does this help?; Wednesday, October 31, 2007 10:00:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Not sure about that one, to be honest.; Thursday, November 01, 2007 12:43:00 AM
hipparchia said...: well, i couldn't think of a good use for it either.; Thursday, November 01, 2007 2:34:00 PM
Anonymous said...: If we can get George Bush to do a little naked dance for us on TV, then the invisible suit would be nice.; Thursday, November 01, 2007 6:06:00 PM
hipparchia said...: that's a picture i could have done without. i'm glad i got rid of the tv.; Thursday, November 01, 2007 7:39:00 PM
Anonymous said...: well he'll find a way to humiliate himself properly, one way or another. something to make even the wingnuttiest wingnuts go wtf is what i'm hoping for, but maybe that's impossible.; Thursday, November 01, 2007 11:46:00 PM
Anonymous said...: you must understand, he has been insane for a long time, but now that it is becoming obvious, he won't be able to help acting out somehow. at least that's what i expect.; Thursday, November 01, 2007 11:49:00 PM
hipparchia said...: the problem, as i see it, is that these people are not insane, they're completely and coldly rational, with values far different from the rest of us, and they can afford to be this way because they have all the money and we don't.

i don't think we're adequately prepared to fight off the dangers the robber barons are inflicting on us until we stop seeing them as stupid and/or crazy. they're very smart and very powerful and very ruthless.; Friday, November 02, 2007 4:53:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Hard to express this in a comment, but I agree and disagree. They are coldly rational in their way, but lacking in normal human emotion, hence insane. There is a myth that insanity means irrationality.; Friday, November 02, 2007 9:50:00 PM
hipparchia said...: no, i think you said it well.

i'm actually reluctant to try to define insanity, since not a few members of my extended family have, shall we say, alternative outlooks on life.

as for ascribing insanity to those who haved grabbed the reins of power, i'm not sure if it helps or hurts the rest of us in our actions against them.

if thinking of them as insane heightens the urgency to get rid of them, then i might be willing to go along with the classification. otherwise, i think that people might not realize how dangerous the situation is if they think of our putative leaders as just being out of touch and off in la-la land.; Friday, November 02, 2007 11:17:00 PM
Anonymous said...: how does "psychopathological" sound, then?; Friday, November 02, 2007 11:22:00 PM
Anonymous said...: the precise distinction meaning the lack of emotional function. people may have alternative outlooks as you and i may have sometimes, but we lack harmful intention.

i wouldn't use insane as a pejorative except where someone is clearly a danger, i.e. an insane killer.; Friday, November 02, 2007 11:26:00 PM
Anonymous said...: anyhow, linguistics aside, the point is if we want to deal with these people we have to understand who and what we are dealing with. and psychopaths are controllable creatures, if they are recognized.; Friday, November 02, 2007 11:30:00 PM
Anonymous said...: it's not like he won't automatically do the wrong thing every time. so work off of that predictability.; Friday, November 02, 2007 11:38:00 PM
hipparchia said...: ...if we want to deal with these people we have to understand who and what we are dealing with. and psychopaths are controllable creatures, if they are recognized.

amen to all that, bro.; Friday, November 02, 2007 11:49:00 PM