Comments on: Loughner, Language, and The Big Lie

By: eric

eric — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 23:10:37 +0000

Here’s my take on the shooter, boring. A loser who wished to be famous, no more important than Bremmer, Chapman, Hinckley etc…An idiot that we’ve all wasted way too much time on, How about the people he destroyed, They’re much more important.
STOP wasting time on criminals !!!!

By: Robert Glisson

Robert Glisson — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 15:32:38 +0000

The big lie continues.”http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110116/ap_on_re_us/us_congresswoman_shot” a person who apparently received minor wounds (not hospitalized) at the event that killed six people, went to a town hall meeting, took a picture of a member of the TEA party that asked for calm and said “Your dead” He has been taken to get the same evaluation the killer needed. I wonder what kind of people attend Democrat functions in Arizona.

By: Myron Pauli

Myron Pauli — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 10:05:28 +0000

Orwell’s two classics, Animal Farm and 1984, are extremely apropos to America 2011. Not only can we say that FREEDOM IS SLAVERY and WAR IS PEACE and TRUTH IS FICTION but also that RATIONALITY IS INSANITY. No doubt these peculiar pathogens like Loughner and Malik Hasan deviated off the “normal” path – but how “normal” is an America that believes:

1.4 Trillion dollar deficits can be maintained without bankruptcy

Bombing Neanderthal Pushtuns for more than 9 years is securing our liberties

We need to fondle genitals of 3 year olds and grope people on subways to make us safer

Americans should be able to retire at age 60 and be supported for the next 30 years in a lifestyle comparable to that of a dozen Chinese

Everyone is ENTITLED to a home, college education, medical care, cell phones, internet access, cars, etc. as fundamental rights

Public displays of sexuality are to be encouraged while political speech is to be discouraged.

The sheep (general population) and the pigs (politicians) are content to turn what was once a Republic into the Orwellian Empire of Animal Farm. Is anyone sane? I recommend this essay which encapsulates America’s current disconnection from reality:

http://www.fredoneverything.net/MonkeyTrap.shtml

By: Bob Schaefer

Bob Schaefer — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 23:02:54 +0000

I happened across an article which I think all here might find interesting reading…and appalling reading. The theme of this young man’s essay relates directly to Ilana’s wonderful article. It demonstrates that “The Big Lie” is, as we know, even more pervasive among youth in Europe.

Some excerpts from this young man’s poignant essay:

“(History lessons in Norwegian schools are mostly about racism or genocide, and consist mostly of film-watching; other movies in the curriculum include Hotel Rwanda and Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story.)”

“The members of Norway’s Generation Y are not the first to embrace the views of the postmodern, politically correct Left – that dubious honor belongs to their parents and grandparents –, but they are the first to absorb it by osmosis.”

The full article is here:
http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/4638

By: irongalt

irongalt — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 18:44:13 +0000

Ilana – resplendent article and excellent analysis.

By: Frank Brady

Frank Brady — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 16:55:52 +0000

You’ve outdone yourself. What a brilliant piece!

By: Michael DeLoatch

Michael DeLoatch — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 07:52:06 +0000

Yikes! I just corrupted the language some more there. Of course I meant to write “this guy’s”. This cultural and linguistic decline of our civilization thing is catching isn’t it.

By: Michael DeLoatch

Michael DeLoatch — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 07:50:07 +0000

Ilana this is the bravest, most beautiful column you have ever penned (or at least among the many I have read over the years).
How can one state these truths without sounding an apologist for this guys’ heinous actions? You found the right balance here.

By: Linda Sunkle-Pierucki

Linda Sunkle-Pierucki — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 04:08:03 +0000

This essay describes so well the problem with the loss of a common language in the United States: Although we are for the most part speaking the same form of English, the use of semantics to change the meanings of words has made most of us unable to comprehend many youth or to communicate with them. This perversion of the language is perhaps the most insidious action in the war to destroy our culture and the Republic. If one subscribes to the theory that early language development in turn determines brain development, our public schools and other institutions have succeeded in lowering the IQ of two entire generations of Americans. The disconnect between what is said and what is seen leaves these youth to flounder in a schizophrenic world. Only the strongest will survive. For those who suffer from true medical schizophrenia, the disconnect is clearly too overwhelming and too jarring for a weakened sense of self to survive. It is a wonder we dont have far more incidents such as Tucson.

PLEASE follow this thread in future essays: it is vital that the general public begin to understand the dire effects of this deliberate disconnect of reality from language.

By: Sidney

Sidney — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 21:35:02 +0000

Indeed, a ‘return to reason.’

Simply beautiful.