[Vision2020] Doug and the Democratic convention - part 2

[DonaldH675 at aol.com]

Visionaries:

I received a private response to my recent email "Doug and the Democratic 
Convention."  Because it is from a person who deserves a thoughtful answer, and 
because he offered me a challenge that I am loath to ignore which also co-ops 
Vision2020 readers I have extracted a paragraph from his note to me.

(In response to my quotation from Doug "It's fun to be lied to" another 
Visionary says):
"I'd suggest rereading it and contrasting a wooden literal reading with 
rhetorical technique to determine which interpretation of Doug's words is more of a 
stretch.  I think you are quite wrong.  If I'm right and you like to expose 
inaccuracies as much as lies, you might consider reposting to the list." 

Even a humorless, grim-jawed liberal like me can, on a good day, discern the 
difference between a "wooden literal reading" and the more sophisticated and 
nuanced reading required to understand and appreciate irony or skylarking 
satire.  I do understand that Doug might have been alluding to the fact that for 
some folks a lie, wrapped in glitzy, feel-good wrappings is easier to swallow 
than a lump of cold, hard, truth.  I would even go so far as to suggest that the 
current Republican leadership is keenly aware of this tactic along with every 
parent who has tried to convince their child that going to the city park is 
really just as much fun as Disneyland.  

However, the intellectual leap that I am not willing to make are the ones in 
which Doug assumes:
1.    The Democratic convention (and by extension, I suppose, the party 
platform) was/is based on lies
2.    That he is psychically able to determine why John Kerry filmed parts of 
his VietNam experience 
3.    That the Democratic delegates, speakers, and candidates are bloviating 
hypocrites
4.    That falling balloons and popular singers are sufficient entertainment 
to persuade people to support the Democratic ticket
5.    That the majority of American adults believe that the image is more 
important than the substance and that imbibing lies is a routine response to 
troubling questions and complex issues.

I do like to expose inaccuracies, particularly if I have made them. Leaving a 
false impression, or lying by omission is no different in my mind than lying 
by commission.  So let me be perfectly clear, I wish I had taped the principle 
Democratic speakers to remind myself of what I believe American can and 
should be.  And I wish Doug Wilson, (and any other members of his congregation or 
political fellow travelers) had to sit in my living room, drinking a glass of 
ice water and listen to me cheer, applaud, and entreat them to join with me to 
support the Kerry - Edwards ticket in November.  (Who says there is no ice 
water in hell? - and I can't think of a more hell-like scenario than the one I 
just described.  : )

Rose

PS.  And think of the preaching tips Doug could pick up from Al Sharpton.  
Even I might be persuaded to attend Christ Church if I could count on hearing a 
big fat dose of speaking truth to power with such a dead pan delivery.



"One cannot level one's moral lance at every evil in the universe. There are 
just too many of them. But you can do something, and the difference between 
doing something and doing nothing is everything." Daniel Berrigan
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