cmm@pixadv.UUCP (cmm) (08/23/84)
Re: the following net posting: || Jackson's remark insulted a segment of our population and offended || the sensibilities of most everyone else. He was hounded about this || remark for the rest of his campaign; some made it the major issue || with Jackson. | And rightly so. What Jackson said was said in a deprecating way and | gave evidence of a degree of intollerance not acceptable in a public | official. As a Jew, I too was offended by Jackson's offhand, personal remark. I found in it evidence of intolerance, and of a frustrated character wishing in private to reduce the status of Jews. I find in Reagan's comment an equal or perhaps stronger intolerance, and a great personal frustration and desire to destroy the enemy (and thus the world). || By making a "joking" offhand remark || about starting a war which could mean destruction of the world, || especially given the fact that HE REALLY HAS THE POWER TO DO SO... || Reagan insults and offends everybody on this planet. He offended me, as a human being, by joking about my death. | Bullroar. It is a common practice among broadcasting people to warm up | a bit before a microphone before going on the air by saying things that | are outragous to get a reaction from the others involved in the | broadcast (such as the technicians setting things up). This serves two | real purposes -- it gives the technicians a sound level to tune to, and | it breaks up some of the tension and butterflys that any speaker feels | before giving a talk. Normally such remarks and horsing around are | recognized by the press as such and are not reported (imagine the furor | if the President told an off-color joke during a warm-up!!), but this | time someone (looking for a way to embarass Reagan?) made these very | private statements public. Hey, people, the President is a human being | and will stumble occasionally over things that were quite all right in | his previous roles as sportscaster, actor, or governor. Unfortunately, | he has political enemies who will contort these molehills into | mountains. Reagan is a human being, complete with hatred, spite, and murder instinct. His comments were in public, not even in private, and were made to the press. Clearly, other topics could have been chosen to discuss to establish a sound level, and he could easily have joked about other things to relieve the tension. The fact that he joked about nuclear war and continental (if not world) obliteration, shows that his internal sense of rightness is very seriously skewed. I would say he is paranoid to the point of being dangerous to himself. Unfortunately, if he committs suicide, we all go. The fact that he assumes that most people share his dillusion just furthur confirms his sickness. || I see it foremost as dumb and as a grossly || insensitive act. Reagan is dumb enough to believe that most Americans || would think that such a statement was funny ... | Double bullroar. Reagan is so dumb that he suceeded in getting elected | to the highest executive office in this country. In this country now, the candidate is *not* personally responsible for getting elected. What matters is the brains and MONEY of the people supporting him. It does not follow that smart people support a smart candidate. Reagan does not deserve personal credit for being elected. This commentary can rightly be accused of being low-level character assination, rather than informed discussion and debate. At the most basic level, I don't think most Reagan supporters, or detractors, are willing to have serious discussion about the issues. In the Reagan case, they are functionally, and in many cases in fact, religious issues, about which humans are particularly blind. In the detractor's case, the issues are reaction to religious issues (religious issues in rationality's clothing), and are equally undebatable. I am happy, and would look forward to, reading and participating in serious discussion on the network. Unfortunately, it seems that it primarily is used to provide people (like me) with an unconstrained appurtunity to throw mud. -- ____________________________________________________________________________ cmm (carl m mikkelsen) | (617)657-8720x2310 Pixel Computer Incorporated | 260 Fordham Road | {allegra|ihnp4|cbosgd|ima|genrad|amd|harvard}\ Wilmington, Ma. 01887 | !wjh12!pixel!pixadv!cmm