David Horowitz - "My Daughter Sarah and the Lack of Civil Dialogue in our Culture"

My Daughter Sarah and the Lack of Civil Dialogue in our Culture  by David Horowitz

From David's piece:

Tikkun olam means “repair of the world,” and in the arguments of Jewish progressives it is generally associated with a global transformation and “social justice.” My quarrel with progressives is that they believe human beings can be fundamentally changed by revolutionary upheavals, and a more perfect world can be created by political actors. From this view, terrible consequences have followed — mass genocides and human catastrophes on an unprecedented scale. But this was not the way my daughter approached tikkun olam and the task of achieving social justice (a term I still find problematic). Sarah was not a sentimentalist and she cast a properly skeptical eye on human actors, their motives and behaviors. Her view was that if the world is to be redeemed it would have to be one individual at a time, and should not be based on the expectation of miraculous changes in human character. This was a view I could live with.

The Collected Writings of Sarah Rose Horowitz

A remarkable woman and gifted writer, Sarah Horowitz was afflicted with a birth condition that, while complicating and ultimately shortening her life, never affected her dreams or her commitment to her art. Throughout her life she displayed inspiring courage in facing her own difficulties and boundless compassion for others less fortunate. This book of her Collected Writings, contains the only novel she was able to finish in her short life, a brilliant set of short stories, her complete poems, and commentaries on the Old Testament. It also features her account of the Abayudayah, an African tribe that converted to Judaism, whose underserved children she volunteered to teach. Sarah Horowitz’s writings are rich in observations of the people she encountered and resonate with the themes of compassion and social justice to which she dedicated her life. Collected Writings includes an interview she gave shortly before her death and a eulogy by her father, the writer David Horowitz, which provides a biographical portrait of her life.

I haven't read the book yet, but I plan to and will give my personal view of her works later.

When I was young I looked up to David and others in the "New Left" such as Abbie Hoffman, as I was looking for a way to deal with the chaos of my youth. Funny I have never meet David but did meet Abbie Hoffman the year just prior to his suicide. No it is sad.

David had the courage to look at the New Left and socialism with an eye on truth and reality, realizing that believing human beings can be fundamentally change by revolutionary upheavals, and create a more perfect world has terrible consequences,  for to do so is to ignore, as he points out, that so far such revolutions tend to create mass genocides and human catastrophes on an unprecedented scale. Only revolutionary means that can change human beings come from an extra-human source and that revolution is spititual converison and comes from God, not human will.

Abbie Hoffman committed suicide, if you take what others have said, because he was disappointed with America's youth and lack of vision when in fact he should have been disappointed with the failure of revolution and change his course as David did. But Abbie did not have the courage nor the humility to do so.

I have also come to reject progressive ideologies such as socialism and liberalism. Now for myself there is no longer chaos within my heart and mind, even though chaos seems to be tearing the world apart. I have hope, belief in something, no someone greater then myself that is in control. My battle is to only to look and dig for truth and expound it the best way I can with my limited God given abilities.

Part of that truth, as I understand it, comes from those like David, and when I order a copy of his daughter's Collected Writings, I am going to order his book Cracking of the Heart. 

And what about civil dialogue? ummm

Veterans dissed again: Arizona Shootings: when speculation is acceptable

Arizona Shootings: when speculation is acceptable… « BurnPit

Meanwhile, a federal source said a suspect was in custody and identified him as Jared L. Loughner, 22, a U.S. military veteran who served in Afghanistan. The gunman reportedly fired a pistol with an “extended magazine,” the source said.

The burn pit link above touches me deep... he was not a veteran, he was not a veteran... don't dis my brothers in arms, though some have failed or fallen ... this murderer was not a veteran.

Being a Vietnam Era non-combat veteran stationed at Fort Hood in the early 70s, I remember  how it was important for us (we as soldiers) to get out of our uniforms before going beyond the local military towns of Killeen and Copperas Cove. Unlike the soldiers of today which are proud of their identifying GI hair cuts, we would stretch  the growth of our hair trying to hide the fact we were GIs, white guys parting their hair down the middle and the black guys packing their hair down tight so when they hit town in the evenings they were able to pick and puff their dos into the very common and popular Afro of the times.

Why did we we do this? Besides coming of age at the end of the 60s with the hippie culture our defining subculture as kids, we had spent at least half our lives under the dark cloud of Vietnam, and though many of us like myself, never ever left the shore of the US or been in Vietnam as many of our brave brothers in arms had been, the public looked at all of us being, combat vet or not, as being drug crazed killers ready to go on a murderous rampage and treated us as such.

Many despised us for being. I remember hitch hiking in uniform to my grandmother's funeral and people giving me the peace sign, turning it into flipping the bird while throwing beer cans from their cars at me. I had many of a combat vet tell me of even more degrading stories back then and over the years.

It was a tag given to soldiers and veterans wrongfully by the left-wing extremist, hippies and yippies protesting Vietnam then and being renewed now by those currently in control (left-wing extremist, "ex" hippies and "ex" yippies) in an attempt to solidified that control are wrongfully tagging today's veteran in the same way.

Just as they were wrong to do that back then, was not the most infamous mass murderer of the 60s that hippie NON-veteran Charles Mason and his "family"? they are wrong to do it today.

Desperados - looking forward to the 2012 Election Campaign

It is getting every more obvious that the those that lean toward the far left is getting more desperate as we rush toward the start of 2012 election season. Independents have rejected the plunge into the abyss of socialism even though the left's Manchurian Candidate scrambles to keep his base in tack, while shuffling his staff and trying to re-connect with the middle.

And we see the Democrat Party is exposing it's weaknesses in very scary ways by proposing legislation to curb one of America’s most sacred right, the right to free speech. They have found that people have rejected their message, so instead of understanding that their message is flawed they try to make their message the only message available.

From Front Page:

A Tawdry Start to the 2012 Election Campaign

Part of that focus is already playing itself out. Using the Arizona tragedy as a springboard, Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) is calling for the re-instatement of the Fairness Doctrine; Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) is calling for a change in the nation’s dialogue “by will or by law;” the National Hispanic Media Coalition is asking the FCC to “update its definitions of hate speech in the media;”  Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee has ordered government employees in that state not to go on “talk radio” stations during their work hours, singling out that particular part of the media and no other; and Rep. Bob Brady (D-PA) has drafted legislation to ban symbols or language which could be perceived as “threatening” or “inciting violence.



Overheated political rhetoric: did someone say 'demonizing'?

By Phil Lawler | January 10, 2011 3:03 PM

Shamelessly exploiting a genuine tragedy, liberal political commentators are blaming their conservative counterparts for creating a "climate of hate" that allegedly contributed to the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. They say that American political rhetoric should be toned down-- while at the same time they accuse their rivals of encouraging murder. In other words they want the other guys to cool down their rhetoric, while they heat up their own. The inconsistency of that argument is spectacular. But then inconsistency is the hallmark of liberal ideology.

The argument would have at least a tincture of credibility if there was some evidence that the accused shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, was motivated by conservative rhetoric. There is none. His political beliefs seem to be a complete hodgepodge, suggesting a disturbed mind rather than any consistent zealotry. 

So now, rather than looking for scapegoats-- and finding them, conveniently, among ideological foes-- why not take a deeper look into the possible causes of Loughner's mental disturbance? On this front, the major media outlets have been remarkably uninquisitive. After the Fort Hood massacre, few media outlets mentioned that the shooter was a militant Muslim. Similarly, after this tragedy in Arizona, precious few media outlets have bothered to report that the accused killer had a pagan shrine at his home!

Most secular reporters wouldn't take the backyard shrine seriously, because most reporters think of paganism as an odd sort of hobby, with no serious consequences. Christians and Jews should know better. From time immemorial, false gods have always wanted blood. 

But USA Today has found a professed pagan who says that what looks like a pagan shrine is actually not a pagan shrine: that Loughner's violence should not be regarded as representative of paganism. We heard similar disclaimers from "moderate Muslim leaders" after the Fort Hood rampage. Although we are told time and again that religious beliefs have often led believers to violence, in these cases we are assured the opposite. Inconsistency again.

As the season goes forward we see the insanity and unfettered hatred of  the likes of Sarah Palin. But what is that fear based on? When I ask the average person that oppose her they seem to just parrot extreme views which from the point of reality I stand, is based on demonizing rhetoric which I fail to see any basis in truth.

The Ruse of the Professional Left

Don’t Let the Progressive “Rhetoric” Talk Distract You. It’s a Ruse.

From the blog The Sundries Shack  Jimmie writes;

Do you really think that the professional left-wing bloggers like Kos and John Aravosis and Jane Hamsher, who just happen to be singing the same tired hymn about conservatives, came up with that all by themselves just off the tops of their pointed little heads? On a Saturday? The first weekend after the GOP took power in the House?

I feel he sums it up pretty well, the left takes no prisoners believing the ends justify the means. They appear to be bleeding hearts, while in reality they are cannibals, having no problem slaughtering their young for political power and fanning the flames as they toss their dead into the bon fire of the vanities, Falò delle vanità.

What are we left with in the way of main stream media coverage of this tragedy? Full frontal attack by the hypocrite left demonizing and calling for the silence of their opposition while throwing political Molotov cocktails into the fire.

The evidence, weak as it is, paints the suspect in Saturday's shooting to be an unstable pot smoking loner that listens mainly to the committee of chaos within his own head.

Adding Insult to Tragedy more on the subject ...

Let us turn away from the flames and take time to mourn the dead and pray for the wounded.

Arizona, Schizophrenia, and politics in America, is it all a delusion?

The Internet and political blogger sphere is trying to label yesterday's shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and others at the feet of each other's enemy. Yelling, tearing at their cloaks and beating their breast that it is the other's ideology at fault for the actions of a disturbed individual. Even though I believe liberalism to be a mental illness as well as a sin, I can not see liberlism nor anti-liberlism at fault. So far yesterday's shooting seems to be the actions of a truly disturbed individual, that is if the accused in custody is the person we are hearing about all over the Internet. The unconfirmed evidence shows we have a young man that appears, to the this very untrained individual, to be suffering from Schizophrenia, or unstable at the lest. I warn you to take this diagnosis and conclusion with a grain of salt, I am not a shrink, I don't play one on TV, nor visit one on a regular basis.

And what is Schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe, and disabling brain disorder that has affected people throughout history. About 1 percent of Americans have this illness. People with the disorder may hear voices other people don't hear. They may believe other people are reading their minds, controlling their thoughts, or plotting to harm them. This can terrify people with the illness and make them withdrawn or extremely agitated. People with schizophrenia may not make sense when they talk. They may sit for hours without moving or talking. Sometimes people with schizophrenia seem perfectly fine until they talk about what they are really thinking.

Supposedly responsible individuals, including a sheriff, are trying to blame their ideological opposites of triggering the event which is BS to the max.

People have died, families and friends are hurting. Take a breath America. Let us take time to say a prayer, and allow more evidence to be revealed before we fall trap to a world seemingly more under control of reactionary responses that make us all more kin to the actions of  a schizophrenic's delusions then the delusions of the shooter himself.

My heart aches for Congresswoman Giffords, Judge Roll, the 9-year-old angel and all the others and their families touched by yesterday's senseless act of cowardliness.

Lord have mercy on our nation, give us wisdom, and give us comfort.

Schizophrenia is a treatable and managable disorder and this blog post is not intended to be derorgatory toward people suffering with schizophrenia or other mental disorders.

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Time Reporter Betrays Constitutional Ignorance in Bemoaning GOP 'Cult of the Constitution'

Time Reporter Betrays Constitutional Ignorance in Bemoaning GOP 'Cult of the Constitution'

Reading the constitution, such a strange and weird thing to do?

This News Buster piece really sums up the ignorance or is it the reality of the left? They either don't, didn't, never did understand the grand experiment started with our split from England or they are trying hard to follow suit deep into socialism like our former mother country Great Britain and her common-wealth bastard children.
Personally, being a reborn papist, I do see flaws in the founding of our Nation, despite that I accept that with a grain of salt along with an understanding that all of human kind has been corrupted with original sin, but even despite that fact of faith in Church teachings, this is, (the United States) the best we as humans can come up with and that is only by the Grace of God. (How is that Jack for run on sentences?)

Oh, that word, the fellow known as God and words like faith, this is the real problem the left has, for they can not accept the fact that without God, faith and other such old fashion ideas, we are left only with human effort, which is the real enemy of mankind, that is man himself, thinking he can become perfect on his own right. Please note : That includes woman also, we can't be a sexist and leave out the idea that women are not flawed also.

Now which old dead men's documents do you want to be govern by?

Well I'm back on the road, tell next time, Happy Trials, Barry

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Mark Zuckerberg

It is really strange how some freckled face kid would bring half of the USA together plus millions of others from around the world. This is scary or it could be... the plot of a great sci-fi film that has been written a thousand times before and still no one gets it.

Here is to you Mark, remember freedom made you rich, don't allow any mega-mania thoughts let you think you can make a better world by controlling the other guy, or if you can help make government bigger, then no one would want or go hungry. That is not how it works.

Freedom to say I got an idea, and the freedom to use what God given talent was bestowed upon you to play out that idea is what allowed you to become wealthy enough to do as you please.

If it is your pleasure to help others, that's fine, May God Bless you. For it was His gift that gave you the ability to think and act in the first place. Don't ever think you, or we collectively can replace God with money, politics or raw power. That is the mistake of Fools... many very intellectual and highly educated fools...

Happy New Year Mark and thank you for Face Book...

Just you remember this person was Time's Man (Person) of the Year also.

Mark Zuckerberg