I VOTE YES ON CALEXIT!

[TeacherinExile]

(03-09-2017, 06:02 PM)SomeGuy Wrote:

(03-09-2017, 02:28 PM)TeacherinExile Wrote:

(03-09-2017, 01:25 PM)SomeGuy Wrote: Was it really satire?  Beyond the tag "a modest proposal", echoes of Mr. Swift were not much in evidence.

Picky, picky.  It would be hard to match a true master of the genre, such as Jonathan Swift.  The piece at least has satirical aspiration.  This reminds me of all the back-and-forth about whether Alanis Morrisette's song was truly "Ironic," although that tune may be a stale cultural reference for Millennials posting here.

Alanis Morissette - Ironic (OFFICIAL VIDEO) - YouTube

I'm a Millennial, and I remember that reference just fine.

Honestly, it just sounded petulant.  Does this sort of "US GOOD/THEM BAD!" stuff really pass as 'wit' for you?

Look at the two positive responses you got above, does it sound like they're treating it as satire?

I take it, you read my reply, the part about aspiration?  Alanis Morissette thought she was being ironic.  Not really.  You realize, too, that I taught literature for many years, and quite possibly know what constitutes satire?  Just as I would show you some deference on military strategy and tactics by virtue of your experience.

You have perhaps mistaken me for someone who feels trapped in a binary choice, as in "You must vote for either Hillary or Trump."  I've been a true independent (not to be confused with a "swing voter") since 1992.  So there is no "Us vs. Them" with me: conservative vs. liberal, Republican vs. Democrat, ad nauseum.  I subscribe to no creed--political, religious, or otherwise.  I am a radical democrat (with a small-d), and detest extremism in any form.   And in my adopted state of Arizona there is unfortunately evidence aplenty of that coming from the Right.  (It is just as likely some day that such extremism may come from the Left--just as it did in the Sixties--and I will oppose that extremism just as vociferously, should it rear its ugly head.)

In the last election there were choices other than Clinton and Trump.  Personally, I thought both candidates were "deplorable," although not equally so.  I voted Green because I don't see how either candidate is a vote against the predations of Wall Street, our penchant for military adventurism, or subsidies for industries that gouge their customers (Big Pharma being among the worst).  I have stated before that, if you voted for Trump, you owe me nor anyone else on this forum an explanation as to your rationale.  The folks who "pulled the lever" for him did so for various and sundry reasons, including some members of my nuclear family.  I get that. 

If you live to be my ripe age, you will surely evolve politically over time if you have not already done so.  I have, and may do so again.  Out of thirteen elections, I can humbly admit that there is definitely one vote I wish I could take back.  (Not that my single vote swung that election.)  And if my preferred candidate is not on the ballot, I will write him or her in.  I wrote in Ralph Nader in 1996 because he wasn't on the ballot in my home state.  (Even at his advanced age, Nader can still run circles around any "competition.") 

I actually agree with James Howard Kunstler's characterization of the "winner" of this past presidential election as the designated "bag-holder."  There is another crisis headed our way, and I hope that Trump has the wherewithal to "meet the moment."  There's simply to much at stake for him to fail.  (See Kunstler's blog post today if you care to.)

As for what passes for "wit," would you not concede that wit, like beauty, is in "the eye of the beholder"?  I thought Mae West was witty.  Lenny Bruce and George Carlin, too.  Even Frank Zappa.  For those of us who appreciate nuance, you have to love a musician who, when asked by a presumptuous interviewer, "Are you a hippie?" simply replies with a wry smirk, "Hippie? No, but always a freak." 

If you feel that I have nitpicked you before, I apologize, as I usually attempt to make my replies more substantive, and definitely hope to avoid making ad hominen attacks.  Too much of that already here.  It's the only reason I withdraw from this forum at times.  At my age, I have some "fight" left in me, but I'm reserving what little energy I have left for the bigger battles that I suspect are yet to come.