« Previous · Home · Next »
A Suspension of Contempt
By Slab
Head on over to Villainous Company and read Cassandra's latest. It is well worth it. I am not nearly the writer that she is, so I'll just quote a passage from her post.
No, on balance, I don't think I would trade a moment of my life. Not for the world. And that is what saddens and disheartens me so about the thing I mentioned at the beginning of this post; the thing I see everywhere I look these days. There is a name for it. It used to be partially hidden, this thing. It is not hidden anymore.That thing is contempt:
And it's not just Dick Cavett. It didn't just begin with him, and as I noted the other day, this contempt for military service and everything it stands for has been coming out of the woodwork for some time now. I Googled the phrase "Veterans memorials vandalized" the other day and got quite a few entries. I stopped after just the first few. It was discouraging.
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://op-for.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/1692
Comments
I read and re-read Cavett's piece several times. I also read Cassandra's post. I'm at a loss as to how she gets to her end conclusion. Seems to me that:1) Its no secret that Cavett is opposed to the war. That hardly qualifies as contempt. There are plenty of people who agree with him. Are you saying opposition is the same as contempt?
And 2) Lingusitically he is correct. Flag officers tend to speak in non-descript terms that are not plain language. They do so because they live in fear of being misquoted just like other public figures. The public discourse suffers because of that.
The all or nothing view that one either supports the war or one is disloyal does neither side any favors. In itself it is a reverse form of contempt-for people who have just as much right to the opinions they hold as Cassandra does to hers.
Besides Cavett subtly makes the same point-with better wordsmithing than many.
Post a comment
Potential comment conditions listed here. Oh, and you may use basic HTML for formatting.
There is a portion of the population who despise military service. To get an idea of these folks are see this page:
http://www.zombietime.com/berkeley_marine_corps_2-1-2008/
These people are not a majority. In fact, I think it is fair to characterize them as "fringe".
Most Americans respect and honor military service. Most Americans admire our brave men and women serving overseas for their commitment, bravery and goodness. I do.
An appreciative reader.
Doug Santo
Pasadena, CA