Man is what he believes. –Chekhov, Notebooks Not that you lied to me, but that I no longer believe you, has shaken me. –Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil The worst sort of liar, the most tragic, is the one you know is lying to you, but you believe them anyway, because you so desperately want … Read more
Not sure where I fall on this issue of comics featuring the likeness of Muhammed, but I was gratified to see that Edina native, St. Olaf Grad, and local-kid-done-good Ward Sutton weighs in on the subject over’ta San Francisco Chronicle. I also admire the Strib’s Anders Gyllenhaal (isn’t that, um, a Danish name?) for his … Read more
“If we don’t wiretap, the Quakers will win” I’m getting more perplexed by the Democrats every day. Although Senator Leahy made logical mince meat out of Alberto (Torquemada) Gonzales yesterday, of course, nothing will come of the inquisition into Bush’s warrantless wiretapping of Americans as long as the Republicans are in power. Logically, it seems … Read more
“If you think you’re in command of a single thing in this world, little man, you are sadly mistaken, and badly mistaken as well. You are in command of nothing. Your brain is shot full of holes that reveal nothing but dark cataracts of ceaselessly roiling ignorance.” The Devil tossed his chin in the direction … Read more
People pay for what they do, and still more, for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it simply: by the lives they lead. —James Baldwin, Nobody Knows My Name These angels do not look like angels. They look like old people, stooped and weary, clothed in the rags they have … Read more
A slightly earlier, tongue-twistier version of last night’s MPR commentary: Probably many Minnesotans have been happy that, so far, it’s been a pretty mild winter. My family is on one of those stabilized payment plans where we pay the same amount for heat each month of the year, even in the summer months–not because I’m … Read more
The Minnetonka police officer who gave U of M student Nick Stremer a ticket for underage drinking, it could be argued, was just doing his job. It could be argued, I said. But, arguing with a fool is always a bad idea. Like a lot of the people quoted in today’s Strib story and on … Read more
We are contemptuous of transient well-being, as if there were any other kind. Routinely discounting the preponderance of evidence is not the behavior of reasonable people, nor is devaluing present experience because it may be overtaken by something worse…. Powerless people can hardly demand coherency of themselves, since they must always react to forces they … Read more
Klobuchar Pere: “l’etoile c’etait moi” For those of you who remember afternoon newspapers, you know that one of the best things about the Minneapolis Star was columnist Jim Klobuchar. When it came to homespun humor, he was Garrison Keillor before there was a Prairie Home Companion. Characteristic, often, of his portraits of typical Minnesotans, was … Read more