Nonsense

 NONSENSE

Americans have the right, long established and revered, in believing in nonsense.  In fact, it's constitutionally mandated that nonsense be held inviolate.  One is ostracized most vigorously when suggesting this.  The fact that a particular street needs resurfacing because of the increasing number of pot holes is not nonsense; to believe that the failure to do so will result in an economic debacle is nonsense however so many people may believe it.

I have suggested in the past that one follow our elected representatives on twitter for the full flavor of nonsensical pronouncements.  It would appear, although I have no proof, that our elected representatives have either a person specially hired to write nonsense  continually, all day long, or that someone has created an algorithm to do it for them for  the tweets purporting to come from them are regular and continuous.

These pronouncements haven't come to the point of suggesting the moon is made of cheese, but we are getting close.  Randy Feenstra and Joni Ernst both have twitterdomitis and continually have nonsense published under their names.  Now, this can be the result of only two things:  one, they are truly ignorant; or two, they have no shame.  Whichever the case, it reflects really poorly on the electorate - - those of us who vote.  It would seem to me, that if in fact we are "the greatest nation the earth has ever seen", as stated by Randy Feenstra, having people in power who spout nonsense, and not just once in a while but continuously, might lead to dubious results.

One of the quickest ways to determine if something that someone is saying is nonsense, is to ask them how they came to this particular opinion.   They will either not have an answer to the question or if so, it will be an unrelated matter (more nonsense) that is so illogical that it doesn't even bear a response.  As a most famous conservative once said about the pronouncements of  a locally notorious divine, "It's neither true nor false, it is nonsense".

So when someone makes a statement to you in a casual conversation which is clearly nonsense, the response must be that "What you are saying is neither true nor false, it's nonsense!"

Richard E H Phelps II

Mingo

Can't Say

  CAN'T SAY

We want a lot less talk here in this country.  Scrolling through the  channels on satellite TV, you can see the outrage and obviously so.  It's these Americans of Arabic descent that feel they have the right to their own opinion of the situation in Israel and Gaza and, of all things, say as much.

Now, from what little I know of the situation, and it isn't much, the attack by Hamas has succeeded in achieving the only thing that it could possibly have accomplished - - an immediate and terrible response by Israel which is resulting in thousands of deaths of Hamas but mostly noncombatants.  Their own deaths and those of other Palestinians cannot possibly be the end goal.  

We must assume, and I know this may be difficult for some, that the people making the decisions for Hamas have the same level of intelligence as the rest of us.  They simply didn't just one day decide to commit societal suicide.  There has to be a bigger plan.  Even Hamas doesn't decide one day to slaughter a bunch of people just for grins.

What this leads to is our belief that we really need to be careful what we say: that here in the US of A,  we will punish all those who voice support for the Palastinians.  Anyone with any sense of history at all should see just how tenuous is our belief in free speech.  We have the right to voice our opinion as long as it is the officially approved opinion.  I am not advocating for Hamas nor the Palastinians; but more importantly I am not advocating for either.  What I observe is the always present undercurrent of intolerance which this country has always had and periodically surfaces when given the opportunity.

The situation in the Near East is extremely complicated; we, among others, have tried to solve it now for several generations without success.  Wiping out Hamas will not solve it and all those who have given it some thought realize this.  The people in Washington, in our government, understand this even if our public does not.  Simply razing Gaza will only make things worse.  Why do you suppose Hamas decided to do this now?  Could it be that it was because Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and others were prepared to finally accept Israel as a permanent fixture?  

The only thing apparent in all this is that thousands of people are dead and more thousands will be dead and for us sitting in our homes at night watching it, it is horrible and should never have happened; and these viewers are correct about one thing - - it should not have happened, but dismissing people from jobs or school or otherwise punishing people for their opinion is not a solution.  No one is advocating mass murder, but simply to react one way or the other is not productive; it doesn't make it go away.

Richard E H Phelps II

Mingo