tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5668712602334003954.post8467918053198325964..comments2024-01-12T15:32:22.236-08:00Comments on The Episconixonian: Who's Inciteful Now?Fr. Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974142521713230215noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5668712602334003954.post-22556869248244207072011-02-12T12:54:37.324-08:002011-02-12T12:54:37.324-08:00Thanks for your comment. Assuming that's what ...Thanks for your comment. Assuming that's what Gov. Palin meant, I suppose I could buy it. Indeed I one could go so far as to say (perhaps she did, but I don't think so; it's been a while since I watched it) that we shouldn't recoil from angry rhetoric in our politics on the assumption that it's better than angry actions on the streets. <br /><br />Indeed our 19th century forebears would probably have been amused by the very idea that political rhetoric should be civil; when it is, they might caution us, it's not very good political rhetoric. I'm thinking, for instance, of Alan Simpson's artful (if sometimes a little cruel) put-downs. Rep. Frank has a pretty sharp tongue as well.<br /><br />Often, and naturally, the harsh rhetoric is that with which we disagree; if we agree, we call it prophetic.Fr. Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09974142521713230215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5668712602334003954.post-19919488855482409142011-02-12T02:56:13.151-08:002011-02-12T02:56:13.151-08:00Sarah Palin's comment is not that hard to unde...Sarah Palin's comment is not that hard to understand, nor it is it wrong-headed. <br /><br />Basically, her point is that while her critics condemn the so-called "hateful rhetoric" of the Right, theirs is the rhetoric that is actually hateful. Or, shorter: it's their condemnations that are the dangerous problem. <br /><br />She could have worded this more precisely, but on the other hand, the notion that rhetoric is "violent" and harmful in a linguistic-intellectual sense, rather than literally violent, is not a new one.Matthew Dallmanhttp://matthewdallman.comnoreply@blogger.com