On 1/14/2015 3:55 AM, Bob Whitmire wrote:
Here you go. From the Guardian. The artist is one of my son’s favorite graphic
novelists.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2015/jan/09/joe-sacco-on-satire-a-response-to-the-attacks
I've been following this thread with some bemusement, and not all the info at first, esp. images, as the WiFi internet
connection in Cabo was whimsical.
This cartoon is the first thing I've run across that I think takes a thoughtful and useful view of the event. Because of
the difficulty some here are having viewing it, I've temporarily posted a copy, hoping that a name change and brief
exposure will keep me safe from IP issues. <http://www.moosemystic.net/Gallery/Others/Misc/HAlt.jpg>
Before any thoughts about religion, politics, etc., I couldn't understand all the outrage. A couple of years ago, we
were in Yosemite and hiked to Wapama Falls at Hetch Hetchy. There are a couple of bridges that cross the several parts
of the falls. It was spectacular - and very wet.
A couple of weeks later, the spring melt had increased, and the falls were going over the bridges. Two couples returning
from the back country came across this. The guys decided to see if it was possible to avoid at least another day and
many extra miles by crossing. They lost their footing and were swept away to their deaths.
That same year, a father ignored the dire warning signs, and the exhortations of other hikers screaming at them to get
back, and took his 6 and 10 year old sons out into the Merced River just above Vernal Falls. They too died.
Remember the guy who liked to hang out with Grizzlys? The one that got him only
ate part of him.
Ever read the Darwin awards?
How is making fun of extremists and terrorists different? How is it useful? In what universe might one imagine it will
make things better?
I feel for the wives of the fools who tried to cross the falls, and for the wife and mother who saw her family going
over other falls, and now for the families and loved ones of the cartoonists. But no one blamed the falls, or the bear,
or the other causes of deaths of the endless stupid and foolhardy folks who die unnecessarily each year.
Perhaps someone will wish to explain to me how Hebdo and its cartoonists were not bear baiters who didn't notice the
chain was not secure.
Saddened by Both Sides Moose
PS: We recently watched a play about Molly Ivins. She spent her life on a journalistic career based on making fun of
conservatives, and was the one to coin "Shrub" for Bush the Younger. Smart? Damn clever and quick witted? Oh yes. But I
couldn't help but wonder how endlessly attacking by making fun of others from an assumed position of intellectual and
moral superiority was supposed to help her liberal causes.
Of course, all the believers loved her - and she really was funny and good at what she did. But I found myself wondering
how many converts she may have generated - vs. the number of people in the middle she may have driven away.
Condescension and intellectual snobbery aren't really all that attractive.
--
What if the Hokey Pokey *IS* what it's all about?
--
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