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<DIV>Visionaries:</DIV>
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<DIV>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.</DIV>
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<DIV>(In response to my quotation from Doug "It's fun to be lied to" another Visionary says):</DIV>
<DIV>"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." </DIV>
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<DIV>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. </DIV>
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<DIV>However, the intellectual leap that I am not willing to make are the ones in which Doug assumes:</DIV>
<DIV>1. The Democratic convention (and by extension, I suppose, the party platform) was/is based on lies</DIV>
<DIV>2. That he is psychically able to determine why John Kerry filmed parts of his VietNam experience </DIV>
<DIV>3. That the Democratic delegates, speakers, and candidates are bloviating hypocrites</DIV>
<DIV>4. That falling balloons and popular singers are sufficient entertainment to persuade people to support the Democratic ticket</DIV>
<DIV>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.</DIV>
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<DIV>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 <U>should be.</U> 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. : )</DIV>
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<DIV>Rose</DIV>
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<DIV>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.</DIV>
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<DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Verdana size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10">"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<BR></FONT><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10"><BR></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>