Beware the puritans...

[fajrdrako]

If I fear anything, I fear the atmosphere of the war, the power which it gives to all the things I hate - the newspapers, the politicians, the puritans, the scoutmasters, the middle-aged merciless spinsters. - Christopher Isherwood

This is nicely applicable today, if you call it "the atmosphere of anti-terrorism", our new hot-cold war.

Funny how I like Christopher Isherwood more than I used to, now I can think of him as one of Captain Jack's boyfriends.

Comments

[monsieureden.livejournal.com]

I fear Puritans too, if only for Eden's sake *g*.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Of course!

Years ago I plotted a Professionals slash AU set in the time of the English Civil War, and I still think from time to time that I'd like to write it. (Puritan teacher seduced by Royalist student.) Plotwise, puritanism doesn't triumph - !

[monsieureden.livejournal.com]

How fun! Royalists tend to triumph in my fictional world, at least in their style and charm.

I got back in touch w/ a high school friend. She and I used to walk to school together and I'd make her read the novel I was writing at the time (time period was Hundred Year War). She told me she remembered it being good, which made me feel great since I HATE that writing from my current perspective. :)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Royalists tend to triumph in my fictional world, at least in their style and charm.

And so they should!

She told me she remembered it being good

Aww - that's wonderful!

I HATE that writing from my current perspective. :)

I feel the same about my writing when young, but that's just a sign that we change and progress, not that we didn't have talent to start with. (Or so I tell myself!)

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

Your quote summarizes how I feel about my country these days. I have a sick feeling all the time, and hope it will soon be gone. I have hope now that Joe Biden has teamed up with Obama -- he's solid, he's smart, he is a known quantity, and he was born in Pennsylvania... yay.

I sound shallow. I'm merely worn out by it all. Please, may common sense return? Sigh.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Shallow? How so? Because that sounds un-idealistic? Sign of the times....

The US is not the only country that has messed up, but because of its sheer gravitational weight it seems to lead the way.

Common sense? I'm all for it. Just over the horizon, maybe?

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

Shallow -- "hey, we're saved, he's from Pennsylvania like I am." I meant that. Rah rah, he's one of the good guys. Too many people down here actually do think that way: someone isn't fully trustable if s/he isn't of your same group.

Common sense... yeah, we may be near the tipping point for it. McCain chose an unknown as his vice presidential running mate, the female governor of the state of Alaska. She is married to an executive of British Petroleum! And most of the Republican Congressmen of that state are now under investigation by the FBI for illegalities involving taking gifts from oil companies! Ai, bad choice, McCain. But good for the overall hope that Obama will get elected. They are trying to steal Hillary Clinton's supporters by doing this, but -- gad, Gov. Sarah Palin is totally anti-choice! How many Hillary supporters hate Obama that much, to compromise their values by voting for something they loathe? Some, I guess.

I'm actually getting more into politics, now. I feel keenly how important it is for us to stop polarizing our economic situation, here. Obama has a knack for reading a situation and picking the right people to work within it.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

bad choice, McCain. But good for the overall hope that Obama will get elected.

Yes. I approve on both counts.

Why would a Clinton supporter hate Obama? She supports him now. Why wouldn't they?

I still have little faith in politics but things need to change in the US and I'm hoping they will.

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

bad choice, McCain. But good for the overall hope that Obama will get elected.

Yes. I approve on both counts.

I can't see some people voting for Obama -- because of his skin color! He's dead-center American, mom from Kansas, grew up with a single parent and his grandparents, won scholarships to do university stuff, came back to work in the poor areas of Chicago -- how much more dedicated and mainstream could someone be? But because he has a f unny name, and his dad was Muslim (he met his dad for one month when he was ten -- other than that, different worlds), and his skin is dark, then people fall back into pointless bigotry and try to make up excuses for it by saying he has no experience. His experience is that he can think on his feet and that he can pick the people who can work within his problems for him. Sigh.

Why would a Clinton supporter hate Obama? She supports him now. Why wouldn't they?

People think she is two-faced, supporting him now only because it's the party line. Which might be true. At the same time, if we don't all pull together, Bush's puppeteers will have McCain for four more years, and it'll destroy America.

I still have little faith in politics but things need to change in the US and I'm hoping they will.

Thank you! I am, too. I think the time is now: people have motivated behind Obama in a way not seen since Robert Kennedy was riding the wave of his own charismatic run for the White House. And I'm not the only one who sees that. I think we do have real hope now.

And I really hate politics. I find it shallow and artificial and simply unreal. But I'm learning about it because I need to, right now. And there are still some honest people in it: Obama is one.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

can't see some people voting for Obama -- because of his skin color

Sure, but with others, that will be a plus. There's a lot of passion behind him and that should pay off.

Unlike in Canada, where no one cares much any more. Our politicians lack fire.

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

True. I was standing at the check-out in the hotel gift shop, at the APWU convention a few weeks ago, and a "civilian" standing in line behind me exclaimed over my Obama button on my APWU convention-issue backpack. I turned to look: middle age, white, dark hair and pale skin, and middle class. Cool.

I think that Obama has a lot of valuable experience just from having been out of society's center all his life -- dark-skinned son of a white mother, he's had a lot of experience dealing wtih how people make assumptions. I don't agree with the "he has no experience" line, is what I'm saying.

Sorry no one gets riled up in Canada about elections now. You should! Maybe after Bush is gone, and you can maybe try to move Harper out and get someone really Canadian back in (ouchie).

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Some of us are riled over Canadian elections. But not necessarily in a good way.