Nifty Shapes of Grains

[H2O Man]

“Any time two people think just alike, it means only one of them is thinking.”
-- Malcolm X


One of the curious dynamics on DU:GD is how members view various public figures. Quite often, forum members recognize that political figures are human beings, hence a combination of good and bad. Yet, surprisingly often, this is not the case. In some instances, because a person disagrees with a politician on one issue, they present that figure as all bad. In other instances, people present a political figure as all good.

This leads to another unattractive DU:GD dynamic, in which if a member expresses an opinion on a public figure -- be it approving or disapproving -- a cluster of forum members will accuse that person of being an apologist/cheerleader, or a troll seeking to destroy unity. In my opinion, while this may be true in a few cases, it is so few as to be insignificant. (Indeed, I view anything that an apologist/cheerleader and/or troll has to say as totally insignificant.)

Now, these dynamics are distinct from the very real inability that a number of forum members have that prevents them from rationally discussing specific “hot issues,” such as racism and sexism. Yet, there can be overlap -- for example, when discussing Barack Obama, who is the first brown-skinned American president.

A realistic view of President Obama has to take into account several factors. These include the nature of the presidency ….what a president can and cannot do, no matter who is in office. In my opinion, in our current circumstances (for, say, the past 40 years), a president can do more “bad” than “good.” For example, while Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama are better men than Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush, the system has handcuffed their ability to make positive contributions, in a manner far more extreme than it limited Reagan or Bush to do severe damage to the national fabric.

This obviously involves things such as the make-up of both houses of Congress, as well as the Supreme Court. This is not limited to simply the number of democrats versus republicans in the House or Senate, for many democrats in Washington are corporate puppets. One need look no further than George W. Bush’s post-9/11 behavior to find examples of democrats betraying the nation.

An unfortunate reality is that corporations enjoy far too much influence at all levels of our government. They do in your town or city, just as in your state, just as in Washington. Hence, politicians must deal with that reality. Political leaders of our era have, however, shown a distinct unwillingness to take a balanced approach between corporate greed and human need. The lack of ethical standards in this area is always a valid measure of any politician.

That a public figure makes an error, no matter if it is in their personal or professional life, is a different matter. Yet, to a number of people here -- perhaps conditioned by the corporate media -- such an error not only outweighs all of that person’s positive contributions, but it permanently disqualifies them from being considered worthy of any respect.

If being perfect is the only acceptable status for being a leader in society, that standard would rule out virtually every human being. FDR, JFK, RFK, MLK, and Malcolm all made mistakes. So did others, such as Gandhi and John Lennon.

Perhaps I’m unrealistic in thinking that DU would be more interesting, even more valuable, if there were fewer splattering of concrete thinking taking place.