Monday, April 23, 2007
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Kurt Vonnegut has died
Vonnegut, who wrote Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse-Five, graduated Cornell (in 1942, I think) and was an editor for the Cornell Daily Sun. Read his obituary in Newsweek: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18081655/site/newsweek/
Helen Thomas at Cornell
I was unfortunately (or fortunately) unable to attend the lecture earlier this week by White House press maven Helen Thomas, but a line from the online Cornell Chronicle article caught my attention:
Really, Ms. Thomas? Granted, the Iraq adventure might not be going so well, but to be able to say that the country is in its worst shape right now shows either a willful ignorance of American history, or a demogogical dishonesty. Are we in worse shape now than, say, between the years 1861-1865, when 600,000 men died in battle on U.S. soil? Or how about the 1930s during the depths of the Great Depression with its staggering unemployment and hunger? The idea that Helen Thomas could say something like that with a straight face, and probably get plenty of students and faculty to applaud her, is baffling to say the least.
One could argue from a conservative perspective that the cultural climate of modern America has plunged to new lows with the continuing abortion holocaust and efforts to legitimize homosexual "marriage," among other things. But somehow I don't think that's what Helen Thomas and her ilk have in mind.
"We've never been in worse shape as a country."
Really, Ms. Thomas? Granted, the Iraq adventure might not be going so well, but to be able to say that the country is in its worst shape right now shows either a willful ignorance of American history, or a demogogical dishonesty. Are we in worse shape now than, say, between the years 1861-1865, when 600,000 men died in battle on U.S. soil? Or how about the 1930s during the depths of the Great Depression with its staggering unemployment and hunger? The idea that Helen Thomas could say something like that with a straight face, and probably get plenty of students and faculty to applaud her, is baffling to say the least.
One could argue from a conservative perspective that the cultural climate of modern America has plunged to new lows with the continuing abortion holocaust and efforts to legitimize homosexual "marriage," among other things. But somehow I don't think that's what Helen Thomas and her ilk have in mind.
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