House of Eratosthenes

Thanks to myself and his resident left-wing hobgoblin gadfly, among other things, this post on Rick’s blog has snowballed into a 58-comment behemoth. This is a tribute to the captivating nature of the subject under discussion, my own lack of dignity in wrestling-with-pigs, and the gadfly’s boneheadedness.

Gadfly salvage, I’ve said on more than one occasion, is statistically important. He represents many, across America and around the world. So long as he offers the impression that he’s hiding something, and is derelict in the intellectual acumen that would be required to completely conceal it, he’s going to be far too tempting for me to leave alone.

And as far as his side goes, so long as he sees the last word doesn’t belong to him, he’s going to keep chirping away with more of his nonsense.

But throughout this marathon-length Wimbeldon match one thing remains remarkably consistent. It has to do with a concern common to both of us, or at least common to what we each say we think is important. And that is the value of human life. This is the basis of my argument, as well as his, even though outwardly it seems we agree on absolutely nothing.

I know why that is, now.

It is the lives of humans who are dedicated to, or inclined toward, or show enthusiasm for, the destruction of other human life. Call ’em what you will. Terrorists…detainees…suspects…insurgents. In fact let’s spiral outward into other issues, and cover — public defenders working overtime to spring murderers they know damn good and well are guilty; the murderers themselves; Saddam Hussein.

Those the the human lives salvage can be counted-on to defend. And by itself, I find that to be quite reasonable. But throughout the 58-post thread, as well as everywhere else on Rick’s blog to the best I can discern…he, and presumably the millions of thinking people he represents, will defend no other brand of human life. Not with anything more passionate than base-level lip service. Just the human lives that destroy other human lives. The homicidal. That is what truly justifies left-wing blood, sweat and tears. That’s the kind of human scum that makes it worth while to hit “Submit”…and refresh-refresh-refresh, making sure the last word belongs to him. No other class of human life is really, truly, worthy of such a passionate defense.

And I, and people like me, will condemn no other class of human life. Just the predatory kind. The kind that lives on at the expense of others.

Viewed from that perspective, this split makes a lot of sense. Suddenly, each side is perfectly, or near-perfectly, consistent. Across a broad array of high-profile issues.

Update: A (moving) picture is worth a thousand words. In 1964, people on “The Left” didn’t have any problem, whatsoever, defending innocent human life, or at least presenting themselves that way…

Of course, the central issue in this 44-year-old ad was an attack on our nation’s ability to defend itself, something that would still capture liberal passions now. But you can spend a damn sight less time arguing with the lib-ruhls on the innernets than what I’ve spent, and still gather the distinct impression that, faced with the task of re-creating this ad today, our modern leftists might very well forget to come rushing to the defense of a girl picking flowers in a meadow, or any other purely innocent person. They’re here to defend the indefensible. The existence of “ordinary” people just isn’t exciting enough to catch their fancy.

In fact, what was on “The Left” back in 1964, seems to have switched sides. Now it’s my side that is conjuring up images of cute little girls in sundresses picking flowers — and great big kabooms. Now it’s my side, that is arguing maybe, just maybe, the lives of innocents might be worth a little bit more than the lives of those who would snuff those innocents out.

But the big, whalloping difference between 1964 and now? You probably can’t tell me what LBJ would have done to keep the bombs from going off. I damn sure can’t tell you. It wasn’t clear in 1964, and of course with the tragic events since then, it’s a good deal less clear, and harder to explain.

But it’s a relatvely simple thing to argue that when some “detainee” knows something about an operation in progress, and our leftist pussies have made it impossible to find anything out about it — other than by serving him up his three hots and a cot, and hoping someday he feels like telling you something — maybe, just maybe, something bad might end up goin’ down. Something that’s happened before. Something that could have been prevented.

And wasn’t, because of our inherent wimpiness, laziness, moral preening, and desire to feel good.

Can’t tell you what LBJ would have done? He’d have shot those bastards in the face, if possible. I have to say, that with such emotion in your writing, you come off as crazed as those you attack. From what I’ve read, you’d torch the entire middle east to the ground, regardless of the varying degrees of innocence of the occupants. Even your Lord God spared Sodom and Gomorra for having even one righteous man among them. It seems to me that the only significant difference between Christian extremists and Muslim extremists is the percentage of the population which they occupy, and the legal structures under which they labor. We have a charmed existence in this country, where the bulk of the religious population doesn’t really follow anything in their respective holy books save the Golden Rule. The whackos out there regularly commit all manner of atrocity, and the rest of the moderates in their faith give them a pass, even though they’re absolutely correct with regard to the teachings of dogma. Yes, I forget, your Christian faith is so put-upon, so oppressed. You have no idea what oppression looks like. Move to Burma and find out. Move to Tibet and find out. I dare you. I say dare, because it’s frankly dangerous to be in either of those places.

Of course, I expect you to wildly misinterpret the bulk of my position on this subject by reading your own thoughts into it.
- dcshiderly | 02/15/2008 @ 02:21
Ah, now that’s just funny because this movie was on just the other night. Tiiiiiiiiiiime…is on your side…yes it is…

Folks, choose good passwords. If you think the password’s been compromised, change it.

And if you steal someone’s password, there’s a good chance you aren’t fooling anyone.
- mkfreeberg | 02/15/2008 @ 06:33
“It seems to me that the only significant difference between Christian extremists and Muslim extremists is the percentage of the population which they occupy, and the legal structures under which they labor.”

Not to “wildly misinterpret” your point but, really? Haven’t heard/seen any Christians doing things like this:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9089532722810348478

Watch it ALL if you have the stomach for it.
- tim | 02/15/2008 @ 09:53
They don’t get away with that here, because the rest of the population (which outnumbers them something on the order of fifty to one or greater) will hunt them down and imprison/execute them. The guys who thought it’d be for the glory of God to grease abortion clinic employees/doctors? They got caught, sentenced, and imprisoned for decades.
- dcshiderly | 02/16/2008 @ 18:39

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Memo For File LVThursday, February 14th, 2008

Memo For File LV
Thursday, February 14th, 2008