tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post8058926386377441239..comments2024-03-28T10:49:14.510-05:00Comments on Horizons: Reckoning With the Republicans Who Stood Up to TrumpNancy LeTourneauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614317154146836694noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-34048426891735028882021-08-01T15:00:17.058-05:002021-08-01T15:00:17.058-05:00Fair enough. And one can only be thankful for the ...Fair enough. And one can only be thankful for the films and stories that still manage to muddy the waters, like le Carre with spies, a surprising number of Westerns (including John Ford Westerns with the venerable John Wayne, such as one, I forget if it's Rio Grande or Fort Apache, in which the Indian leader gets to deliver a poignant speech before the "good guys" tear in, and The Searchers, in which the hero becomes so obsessed that he could be said to have lost his moral compass), and for WWII the likes of Catch-22. WWII may even be a special case, in that, since pretty much the entire country served, it was generally ok to indulge in humor and irony without there being a culture war. (Of course, the greatest and most morally complex war film ever, Grand Illusion, was set in WWI, where justification had grown harder to come by.) <br /><br />Maybe I was just reacting to a mind set I saw the post as attacking, in which good and evil divide humankind ever so neatly. Of course, "evil" (although often with theological overtones that good vs bad lack) can have many meanings, and I like King B's as well. Different usages can helpfullly call attention to different pressing issues. JohnHhttps://www.haberarts.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-49169654254174918342021-08-01T10:56:57.055-05:002021-08-01T10:56:57.055-05:00I have a different take on this, so it's an op...I have a different take on this, so it's an opinion and I do not hold that it is the "right" opinion. But I find that a practical definition of evil is a willingness to cause needless harm without feeling any obligation to make amends or correct for that harm. And, by that standard, a lot of people qualify as evil at least in part. Everyone has reasons for what they do, but that doesn't mean that those reasons are necessarily acceptable, particularly when they lead to harm to others.<br /><br />Of course, all it takes to not meet my definition of evil is to not be needlessly harmful. (Or that second clause, about making amends: if for example your agenda required someone to suffer damages, the non-evil thing would be to make restitution.)<br /><br />It may be that superhero movies are in vogue, but good vs evil has long been a staple of entertainment. Prior to superhero films it was cops vs terrorists, and prior to that it was spy films, and prior to that it was Westerns and WWII.King Beauregardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04043228078537079759noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-50066836558187544692021-08-01T10:41:55.408-05:002021-08-01T10:41:55.408-05:00"While it is very uncomfortable, the tension ..."While it is very uncomfortable, the tension I feel about people like Kristol, Rosen, Barr and Cheney is probably a good thing. There are lessons to be learned. Part of what we see from the MAGA crowd these days is a willingness to demonize anyone they disagree with as evil. I don't want to go there. My disagreement with them doesn't require dehumanization. I can stand my ground firmly against their views and recognize that there might be places where we can ultimately find common ground."<br /><br />Well said.King Beauregardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04043228078537079759noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-18297796389683112842021-07-31T16:25:48.422-05:002021-07-31T16:25:48.422-05:00Yes, terrific. So hard to get it right in giving c...Yes, terrific. So hard to get it right in giving credit where credit is due, welcoming any help we can get from anyone however awful, and not glorifying them one bit. <br /><br />Also nice to be reminded that the whole battle of good and evil thing is unhelpful. I've always felt that I outgrew comic books in grade school, although they're back now for adults and as dominating filmdom. There the bad guy is always doing evil just for the sake of doing evil. Not even McConnell has motives that abstracted from the real world of ideology and blatant self-interest. JohnHhttps://www.haberarts.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-80684597080215197192021-07-31T12:00:33.826-05:002021-07-31T12:00:33.826-05:00Terrific post, thank-you. Yet another reminder tha...Terrific post, thank-you. Yet another reminder that in politics there are "no permanent enemies, no permanent allies, just permanent interests" as Saul Alinsky (among others) used to say.massappealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17883213166005005577noreply@blogger.com