Curtis Dahlgren
From the ridiculous (Monday) to the sublime (Tues) to the ridiculous (Wed.)
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By Curtis Dahlgren
May 13, 2012

"Du sublime au Ridicule il n'y a qu'un pas." ["There is only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous."] — Napoleon (upon retreat from Moscow in 1812)

"WE HANG PETTY THIEVES AND APPOINT THE GREAT ONES TO PUBLIC OFFICE." — Aesop (550 BC)

"There is a demand for men today who can make wrong appear right." — Publius Terentius Aferl (190-159 BC)

WATCHING THE "WATCH DOGS"

Someone said that Hitler always knew he could buy the press, but "he didn't know he could get them so cheap." So when the' fourth branch of government' becomes a fifth column, watch out! NBC and the rest of the news media are almost in a bidding war for the chance to "interview" the President for the entertainment of an ill-informed public.

Only 12 percent of public school seniors are proficient in American history. Few of them know — or care — that Hitler was originally elected! The other day 60 percent of the Greeks voted for either the Nazis or the Communists, and France elected a Socialist. And the New York Times says that his views may be closer to our own President than Sarkozy was. What an "interesting" week to be alive!

On Monday, the media focus was on Joe Biden, not the next day's primary elections in North Carolina, West Virginia, Indiana, and Wisconsin. Biden even beat out another story I saw Monday on YahooNews. Some "scientists" now believe that the dinosaurs were killed off by global warming, and that caused by their burping and "gas emissions." The History Channel still blames their extinction on a meteor, but maybe (haha) there's a third theory: There was global warming — caused by sunspots — causing vegetation to grow so well that the dinosaurs gorged themselves and died of obesity!

[BTW, DINO stands for Democrats In Name Only (see "This Ain't Your Daddy's Democrat Party Anymore; www.RenewAmerica.com/columns/Dahlgren/110731 ]

Getting back to the Week that Was, Tuesday was the day that was sublime. In Wisconsin, Governor Walker got more votes than the top two Democrats combined. In the West Virginia presidential primary, a convict got 41 percent of the votes on the Democrat side (much better than Ross Perot ever did). North Carolina's pro-marriage referendum won in a landslide, and Hoosiers chose a Tea party Republican over a 35-year Senator.

Normally, it would have all been big news on Wednesday, but it was virtually all forgotten in about 12 hours because the President went on TV for an "interview" with a chosen member of the press. And he came out of his evolutionary closet as a "supporter" of homosexual marriage. He says he didn't want to but I think it was all a Plan (he was desperate for a distraction so he can kick the economic can down the road ). ANY distraction.

The Prez threw four whole states under the bus. Walker, Murdock, North Carolina, and the convict were virtually "deleted" from the mainstream press. In NC it's a war by Chapel Hill on the hills of Buncombe County and Asheville, etc. And a war on the hills of West Virginia, too. Just take a pain pill, okay? There never was a "war on women" or The Pill. What the Administration means by free birth control is pulling out of Charlotte. [Do I always have to tell you when I'm joking?]

The primaries proved that the death of the Tea party had been greatly exaggerated, ala Tom Sawyer and Huck. But why waste your time reading the words of a voice in the wilderness? I'm so far out I live beyond Flyover Country, and I don't have a college degree! I have sort of a red state/blue state education.

All I have is a B.S. from HKU (the University of Hard Knocks) and a PhD from BLU (Blarney U.). Actually I was the first member of my family to attend college (before government loans too), and I once applied to a small college in California (true). They said I was over-qualified, and besides, they had to make room for a foreign student from Hawaii (kidding). If I f were to ever write an autobiography, it would be entitled "Born to Raise Hay; Jobs from My Father." It would include a questionaire for career politicians:
  • Do you, personally, know anyone who is a farmer or rancher, a miner or a wild-catter? You can't snow 'em if you don't know 'em.

  • Why don't you write your own speeches? Who writes your stuff, poly-sci sophomores or your wife?

  • Did you really go to college, and how can we tell for sure?

  • Which version of the Bible are you reading? That's hard to tell, too.
"Both read the Bible day and night, but thou read'st black where I read white." — Wm Blake (1757-1827)

"Thousands kiss the Book's outside who ne'er look within." — Wm. Cowper (1731-1800)

P.S. Right after Black Tuesday, the Celebrity-in-Chief flew off to a $40,000 per plate dinner, and we had to pay for the jet fuel? And his dog had to fly on top of the plane.

But I really feel sorry for Jay Carney, left behind to answer questions. I pity him, because how can a guy who looks like Opie carry water effectively for Saul Alynsky and the Chicago Way?

PPS:

North Carolina spent big bucks to define marriage. Rush Limbaugh says just look in the dictionary. Webster says "marriage = matrimoney = motherhood = man-wife combination = reproduction" (I paraphrase).

Andy Griffith and Aunt Bea must be rolling over in their graves. North Carolinians aren't all Ivy League grads, but one thing that they can say for sure is, "We weren't just born to make hay, y'know."

PPPS:

The feature story on page one of the current USA TODAY is on "the car of the future" (smaller and smarter). The headline alone is inspiring another column: "Smart Cars for Dummies," or maybe, "Driving Miss Daisy Over the River and Off the Bridge" (never try driving a Smart Car over the Machinac Bridge on a windy day).

Just for the record, though, I'm still hoping for one more chance for America to get on track and avoid going over the cliff. It was a good news/bad news week, but as Tom Paine once said:

"One step above the sublime [Tuesday] makes the ridiculous [Wednesday], [but] one step above the ridiculous makes the sublime again."


© Curtis Dahlgren

 

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Curtis Dahlgren

Curtis Dahlgren is semi-retired in southern Wisconsin, and is the author of "Massey-Harris 101." His career has had some rough similarities to one of his favorite writers, Ferrar Fenton... (more)

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