[MD] Hippies in Sodom and Gomorrah

[Arlo J. Bensinger]

[Platt]
I don't know who is lowering what to whom, but perhaps part of the  problem of
our seeing eye to eye on many issues is a matter of word  meanings. Ideology as
defined by Merriam-Webster is "a systematic body of concepts especially about
human life or culture."

[Arlo]
OK. Then I will say it this way. Everyone has an "ideology". How you come to
hold that "ideology", such as blind obedience to an external authority, is the
root of the problem. Whether that external authority is Rush or Al, republican
party or democratic party, is besides the point.

[Platt]
You baffle me. Who or what is the ONE external representant (is that a 
word?) for all I believe? Who or what is the "conservative authority" 
that I check with in order to to know what to say? If you say "Rush 
Limbaugh" I will say yours is "Al Franken" and we'll get nowhere.

[Arlo]
*You* will get nowhere because I think Al Franken is wrong on many accounts, and
I think Rush has been right about some as well (I have not listened to his show
in over a year, it has been replaced in the State College market with Sean
Hannity). Its the idiot reliance on ALL or NOTHING, the blind reliance on
external patterns of party ideology to define "what is right" and "what is
good" that leads to many of the problems we see today. I have yet to hear one
thing from you since I've belonged to this forum that deviates from Limbaugh's
words or the words of the right-wing apologists. You can try and try and try to
deny this, but it is quite evident.

[Platt]
But for a great many people, many just as  intelligent as you consider yourself
to be, the conservative view has  much to offer, particularly the view that the
values of free speech,  freedom of religion, trial by jury and other
intellectual "rights" guaranteed by our Constitution are worth defending from
exterior threats by fighting for them.

[Arlo]
Here is where you just fall back to your typical distorition. First, these
values you mention are as dear to "liberals" as "conservatives". I understand
the attempts at villification and denying history your party has undertaken to
paint the "liberal" as the "commie evil bastard" and the "conservative" as the
"heroic freedom loving ne'er-do-wrong", but that's just nonsense.

In defending these values from "exterior threats" we must be willing to
recognize that our actions are part of the dance, and to work towards
prevention and not simply extermination. I've said this countless times, and
yet you continue to paint me as somehow "unconcerned" about these values. If
you'd put aside for one moment, just one, those deceptive dichotomous glasses
you wear, you'd see this. 

You'll get your war, don't think for a moment you won't. And they can paint
Pirsig's picture on the Moral Bombs that detonate on millions of people, and
you can wave your flag high and shout to everyone who is left how righteous you
are. Next time, though, let's put a little thought into preventing this, eh?

[Platt]
Or as one we both admire said, ". . . limit and destroy biological patterns with
complete moral ruthlessness before those biological patterns destroy
civilization itself."

[Arlo]
One would only hope the good doctor is more concerned with the health of his
patient, through preventative medicine, than getting his righteous jollies
killing germs.

Given the amount of poor surgeons in the world today, here and there, looks like
proving righteousness by killin' germs is all that really matters.

Arlo