Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
“Let’s call the whole thing off”
Things have come to a pretty pass
Our romance is growing flat
For you like this and the other
While I go for this and that
Goodness knows what the end will be;
Oh, I don’t know where I’m at…
It looks as if we two will never be one
Something must be doneYou say either and I say eyether
You say neither and I say nyther;
Either, eyether, neither, nyther
Let’s call the whole thing off!You like potato and I like potatoe
You like tomato and I like tomatoe;
Potato, potatoe, tomato, tomatoe!
Let’s call the whole thing off!But oh! If we call the whole thing off
Then we must part
And oh! If we ever part
Then that might break my heart!So, if you like pyjamas and I like pyjahmas
I’ll wear pyjamas and give up pyjahmas
For we know we need each other
So we better call the calling off offLet’s call the whole thing off!
You say laughter and I say lawfter
You say after and I say awfter;
Laughter, lawfter, after, awfterLet’s call the whole thing off!
You like vanilla and I like vanella
You, say s’parilla and I say s’parella;
Vanilla, vanella, chocolate, strawberry!Let’s call the whole thing off!
But oh! If we call the whole thing off
Then we must part
And oh! If we ever partThen that might break my heart!
So, if you go for oysters and I go for ersters
I’ll order oysters and cancel the ersters
For we know we need each otherSo we better call the calling off off!
Let’s call the whole thing off!— Ira Gershwin lyrics to Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off!
Originally, I was going to call this post Dug In. But then I thought of the George Gershwin song. It seems illustrative of a lot of the discussion these days on Trump, impeachment, et al. It’s so bad that when I see certain member names or avatars I simply skip the post or comment. No doubt others are having the same reaction when they see my avatar.
We are forming tribes and seeking out allies for our points of view rather than using a variety of thought to better inform ourselves. It doesn’t have to change our minds, but we have to use the information that is available in a productive way. I have to check my attitude. Yes, I do worry that if there is enough “wrong thinking” a nation will be created in which I do not want to live. And I suspect that is where a lot of energy comes from in the disagreement that our current national dialogue is experiencing.
As an agnostic, I do not have the comfort that “God is in charge”. I think we are in charge, and I am worried about “we.” And even if God is in charge it appears that sometimes He lets us run amok to demonstrate how foolish we are. The period of foolishness may be short in God’s time, but long in mine. So I worry, selfishly, about what kind of country I will be spending my remaining years living in.
Am I alone in these concerns?
Published in General
Nope.
You appear to understand this concept better than most Christians.
I think a case for optimism can be made, as Michael Malice frequently does.
I’ve been doing that since before Trump, so congratulations on holding out for longer than I did.
I am worried. I wouldn’t be if I thought there was a chance that Leftists are going to come to their senses. But I don’t see that happening. When Trump is acquitted, the leaks, false evidence and accusations against Trump will probably reach a new high. You can’t work things out with a person who screams at you.
Rodin,
Maybe when we weren’t woke we were a little insensitive. Of course, being a little insensitive is nothing compared to be being completely stupid. I think we used to dance with a little more grace. We could really use some grace right now.
Regards,
Jim
I’m seeing division here, too. It bothers me. I do enjoy reading non-political posts. I think you have a good point.
Then you probably won’t need a hat to cover it.
The music was by George. The lyrics were by brother Ira.
Thank you, @ejhill. Corrected.
I met @GaryMcVey for dinner once, in a seafood restaurant on the pacific coast. I ordered the ersters, and nobody had any idea what I was talking about.
Rather disillusioning that.
I mistook which dialect you were using. I thought you were referring in German to a mysterious group called “The First Ones”, Die Ersterin.
I imagine if you had a little more context you would have caught on just fine. I apologize for my rudeness in not looking like Ginger Rodgers.
Please, don’t trouble yourself.
As you should be! We are broken, fallen, lazy and constantly looking for an easy way out. This is human nature and why government must be constructed to recognize the sovereignty of the people and must be moderated by the separation of powers, or it will become tyrannical. Probably fewer than half of us get this, which is why we’re in so much trouble.
Good post.
One minute ago, I posted a comment to a fine, as usual, piece by Susan on the intractability of the Democrats in refusing to even acknowledge the very strong arguments made by the Defense Team, even to the extent of refusing to relent even slightly when faced with their own words from the Clinton impeachment. While I made it a point to note that I admired the way so many members respond to some of the truly loony discussions posted by our NT “tribe”, to use the word you so aptly suggested, I also noted that I had seriously thought about asking if we could be provided with a “DO NOT like” button to express our displeasure without having to spend the time and intellectual resources to post a long and considered rebuttal (which I have done several times) only to be totally ignored.
Sadly, no, although I am more than a little pleased to know that I’m not the curmudgeon I was beginning to think I was in being so turned off by some names that I just “let [those] cup[s] pass me by”.
Sincerely, Jim.
If everyone had to watch Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers at least once every day, we’d be a whole lot better off.
Add me to the “just skip posts” by some members crowd. I have always thought that the best way to discourage them would be to totally ignore and not comment on their posts at all. But most of us don’t have that kind of willpower.
Afternoon Rodin,
Being a grumpy geezer, this maybe left-handed optimism. In the past decade, I have found that there are folks who I had thought were my allies, but when an ally would be so helpful they were quiet, or they allied themselves with my opponents, or they claimed a higher morality in contrast with my moral choices (it must be that I have lower morals?). It is true that I now see that I have fewer allies, but it is better not to be fooled, Also, it is good to learn that those folks who have been thought to be conservative theorists and writers are shallow folks, whose understanding of history and culture is as shallow as they are, who live in a bubble without any self awareness of the bubble in which they live, and who pretend to use reason as their guide but who are more controlled by appearances and emotions than the average folks.
You might enjoy Jim Gegaghty’s latest Morning Jolt at Nation review.
I spend time at a very liberal discussion site. I know that I will not make any converts but I like the challenge to my own views. And frankly, I get some enjoyment out of being calm, and polite, and watching all of the vitriol, usually with obscenities, that is pointed at me.
So I make it a point to look for things I disagree with, and to engage in conversation. And not surprisingly, the level of unpleasant responses here has increased in the last couple of years.
I prefer to use them in the colonization of other planets and make them think it’s their idea in the first place.
The Golgafrinchan Ark Fleet, Ship B.
Exactly.
Why not just go all the way and ask for a ‘Dislike’ button? Technically, anytime you don’t elect to click on like, it is the same (to me anyway) as not liking the comment. Or were you wanting to be explicit with your emphasis in desiring such a button be written all-caps? You know that would be against the Ricochet Code of Conduct. Writing in all caps is perceived like shouting. At least with a Dislike button, we would all know where you stand, plus it would or at least might be legal for the site.
[resume ignoring]
@raykujawa, thanks for calling my transgression of the Code of Conduct to my attention; I should note, not as an excuse but maybe a mild explanation, that as I was typing those offending letters, something way in the back recesses of what is left of my mind told me, apparently in too faint a voice to be heard, that maybe I should not type them and send them out. I also note that I agree with you wholeheartedly that the Code of Conduct is almost assuredly what attracts many of us to Ricochet and what keeps us renewing our memberships and I have only been “called to the Principal’s office”, so to speak, one time since I became a member, and that was for quoting, verbatim, from one of the briefs in USA v. Flynn, a really offensive word. A reading of your bio indicates that we have quite a bit in common, such as, for one example which jumped out at me, our admiration for Larry Arnn and his writings and views.
Your last line reminded me of something long ago in the mists of time, when I was hard at work in our law practice. In order to represent our clients, I was required to deal with some lawyers who, from time to time, could be rude, discourteous, uncivil, irascible and, at times, downright profane in their written correspondence (this being in a time before the digitization of everything and the end of paper letters). I had a little collection of rubber stamps — do those still even exist?– which I used in dealing with some of these Rambo-types, one of which seemed to get their attention more than any other message I could have used. I would simply stamp the message on the offending letter and mail it back to them. It read simply:
Sincerely, Jim.