Reagan May Have Died, Cannot Recall At This Time

crashfrog asks:

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If it's not your purpose to defend the custom, then why are you doing it? Why did you even bring it up if not to condemn us for not following it?

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I was explaining to Dan Carroll that I was more upset with his presentation and timing than I was with his message. I suppose in a way I wanted to be sure that my observance of custom was not mistaken for endorsement of Ronald Reagan.Again, it's not about breaking arms (to use your analogy), it's simply about what one says in public vs. what one says in private. Of course no member of the Reagan family is going to drop in on us. But Reagan sympathizers will. I'm willing to let them have a few days of peace to mourn one of their leaders. I'm not so dedicated to this man's memory that I will try to stop you if you wish to ignore the custom.I think I see what you're driving at, crash, and I'll concede the point on logic. However, customs like this are emotional, not logical. You do it because you yourself might want the same courtesy when a death occurs in your family.You've given me an opportunity to make (or, to be correct, reiterate) one more point: the person in all of this whom I admire most, if I haven't already made clear, is Nancy. She is the one person who can do the most for stem cell studies. She has the sympathy and respect of millions of people who otherwise would be highly unlikely to ever support this controversial research. She has the potential to become a great lady. If she rises to that potential, she herself will be the Reagan with the greatest legacy.

Maybe they don't believe in hypocracy in the South? Because that's what many of us "Yankees" think it is when you say one thing and believe another.Maybe they don't believe in being honest in the South? Because a bunch of us "Yankees" think it's dishonest to feign respect or reverence for a man we don't feel those things for.I know you folks in the South have a reputation for being plain-spoken, and I can appreciate that. But up here we try to maintain a reputation of being true-spoken, you know?

You keep quoting the word "Yankee". Where did I use it?ADDED IN EDIT: How is restraint equal to hypocrisy? I'm not saying one thing and believing another. I'm simply saying very little in public although I might say a lot in private. You call that hypocrisy?This message has been edited by berberry, 06-09-2004 03:40 AM

Feigned respect for a man I don't believe deserves it? Yeah, I'd call that hypocrisy.I don't care if I was called a Yankee, or a fire-breathing asshole, or a motherfucker. What I guess I mind is the insinuation that folks like me are somehow less possessed of class or civility because we don't see the self-evidency of a fairly arbitrary cultural tradition.You see it as restraint? I see it as an attempt to gloss over the truth. I don't think funerals are a time for polite fictions, I think they're a time for the truth to come to light, both positive and negative. To do less, I think, is an injustice to the humanity of the deceased. Who are we actually burying, here? A godhead, a characture, a cartoon; or the actual man named Ronald Reagan?

I'm still sick of the constant news coverage. It's beginning to remind me of the death of those two popes back in the 70s. There were only three TV networks back then, and all of them provided constant coverage of a chimney at the Vatican. The whole world waited, and waited, and waited, and waited some more for a wisp of smoke to come out of that chimney. I had a Catholic friend at the time, and I remember being stunned one of those days when he said he wanted to get home and watch that chimney. He was just sure it was going to smoke soon.For anyone who doesn't know, according to Catholic ritual, when the cardinals have completed the process of electing a new pope they send out smoke signals.Does anyone else remember this? Do you think the news networks will provide round-the-clock live coverage of that chimney when the current pope dies?

I've already objected to the idolatry, crash. Are you honestly trying to make the case that I cannot avoid the label of hypocrisy unless I openly rant about Reagan during his period of mourning? I didn't rant about Watergate or Vietnam during Nixon's mourning period, but I'm perfectly willing to do so now if you want. Does that mean I'm a hypocrit when it comes to Nixon?I'm not implying that you are any less a gentlemen because you don't honor this custom. I'm not trying to be superior. Please point out any language I've used that causes you to believe otherwise.

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Do you think the news networks will provide round-the-clock live coverage of that chimney when the current pope dies?

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It depends..if Janet Jackson's other nipple (one down one to go) makes an appearence at the same time, they will interupt chimney coverage to show an edited version of said offending body part (unless Eminem shows his ass again..and no Mr.Hambre, I don't mean Kid Rock!)...and of course, there will always be the mandatory commercial interuptions by Budweiser and Depends incontinence protection which are usually broadcast in a logical order.

No, but if you self-censor or otherwise obfuscate your real views, you're putting forth pleasant fictions instead of truth.You're free to consider that less important than civility, and I'm free to disagree. But if your point wasn't to condemn our position, then what is your point? Why didn't you just let it go in the first place?

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You really expect Yankees to act according to a code of honor or to show courtesy or compassion?

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Not any more that I expect southern rednecks to act according to a code of honor or show courtesy or compassion.

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Since I did not even personally know the guy, about the only feeling I get is that it reminds me that I was in high school during his first term and college during his second...and that fills me with dread because Poison was a popular band at the time..which is dreadful.

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The main effect Reagan had directly upon my life is that my college aid was cut.Also, he began the policy of taxing college stipends, so my husband and I are taxed on the money the University provides him to live on while he studies.

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He was a sweets and icecream addict and developed it in his sixties. I believe he clogged up his arteries with all the ice cream and other junk in his veggie deficient diet.

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Clogged arteries is not a proposed cause of Altzheimer's deisease, but it is a known cause of dementia in elderly people.It is really difficult to tell dementia and Altzheimer's apart while the person is alive; the only way to diagnose Altzheimer's for sure is through autopsy after death.Just FYI

Only Schraff and Buz would argue over ice cream.

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The very least you could do is allow a time of mourning.

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Oh, Im sorry. You must have missed that.

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No, I saw it. It's just that you didn't mention the fact that the newspapers and television didn't observe any period of mourning before they began to offer a completely fabricated history of his administration.

Damn liberal media.

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"He supposed that the intent of the Gospels was to teach people, among other things, to be merciful, even to the lowest of the low. But the Gospels actually taught this: Before you kill somebody, make absolutely sure he isn't well connected."
-Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Sorry, you are correct, berberry. I guess I am arguing against Absholom's pig-ignorant unfortunate comments about how terrible "Yankees" are and the wonderful Southern customs of "courtesy" and "compassion".