[Dedicated to dd: King of the Roundish Café Table, He who posed the Question, and to seashell, She of the Miraculous Computer and the Answer to Life]
Act III - The Meaning Explained
Last night seashell provided the Key, the answer that has now explained my life:
(Well, that was it! The Answer I'd been looking for. Even though our bed has drawers under it and no room for shoes there....)
Act I - As I now understand it
Act III - The Meaning Explained
Last night seashell provided the Key, the answer that has now explained my life:
No, TheraP. You are a Democrat and don't use closets. Try looking under the bed for whatever it is you are looking for.
(Well, that was it! The Answer I'd been looking for. Even though our bed has drawers under it and no room for shoes there....)
Act II - The Existential Crisis
The Question that has haunted my life for over half a century:
Where are my shoes?
A life of searching, of questioning....
Act I - As I now understand it
Setting: A house in New Jersey, during the McCarthy Era
Mine was a Republican Childhood:
Downstairs, two finished bedrooms (with closets)
• One for my Republican parents
• Another for my little sister (now a repub)Upstairs - in the Unfinished Attic
My brother and I were slowly turning into Dems
There were no closets!
Ha!
This explains a LOT!
This explains a LOT!
Seriousness Alert!
If you really want things explained, check this out:
Comment #152 on this emptywheel thread:
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/05/05/more-on-the-field-trip-to-gitmo/#Respond
Especially these quotes:
Now back to dd's regularly scheduled humor
If you really want things explained, check this out:
Comment #152 on this emptywheel thread:
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/05/05/more-on-the-field-trip-to-gitmo/#Respond
Especially these quotes:
What Bush and Gonzales did to DoJ - Politicized it in the name of an Authority Above the Law; Rumsfeld and Haynes attempted to do at DoD. As more and more of the story gets put together, imvho, the picture that is emerging is one where We can actually *see* a clearly defined Good Guy - the Uniformed Military - resisting Bush’s Most Powerful Efforts to Politicize the Geneva Conventions - using the Lawyers of the President, Vice-President, DoD, CIA, OLC and others to put maximum pressure on the Uniformed Military Chain of Command to Adopt the Harsh Interrogations fig-leaf for Torture, as Policy.Thanks go to Mary, radiofreewill, Aeon, and others, whose analysis there resulted in an emerging theory, which I find very persuasive.
......
On a deeper level, imvho, Consciously conspiring to circumvent the Geneva Conventions, one of Our Congressionally Ratified Treaty Obligations, is nothing less than Treason Against the Constitution.
When the dust finally settles, I think We’ll find that the Republic was Saved because the Uniformed Military stood their ground and defended the Geneva Conventions against Bush’s Ideology-Over-the-Rule-of-Law assault - and that, ultimately, when Bush lost the support of the Military, he was left the Omnipotent UE in name only - no longer able to back up any threats to suspend the Congress and place the Country under Martial Law in his Phony War on Terror.
Now back to dd's regularly scheduled humor
There is a portion of the military that favored Bush. Good to know they believe their loyalties are with the Constitution and "we the people" when they had to make a choice. Condi should have been so bold.
Can I get in on this? I wanna call bwak a human also!
Ack!
I only lived in that house for about 4 years. But it was long enough. The stark difference between the siblings had been set in motion. My sister grew up, knowing where my shoes were. I grew up, looking for them!
Another seriousness alert!
emptywheel is on a roll. She's located where Doug Feith described part of his role as: "Helping to formulate requirements for the debriefings of al-Qaida fighters detained at Guantanamo and Bagram."
Another smoking gun for torture?
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/05/05/dougie-feiths-little-shop-of-tortures/
She references this key quote from Feith's testimony:
emptywheel is on a roll. She's located where Doug Feith described part of his role as: "Helping to formulate requirements for the debriefings of al-Qaida fighters detained at Guantanamo and Bagram."
Another smoking gun for torture?
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/05/05/dougie-feiths-little-shop-of-tortures/
She references this key quote from Feith's testimony:
[T]his is my opinion, even though they were giving information and some of it was useful, while we were there a large part ofthe time we were focused on trying to establish a link between AI Qaeda and Iraq and we were not being successful in establishing a link between AI Qaeda and Iraq. The more frustrated people got in not being able to establish this link, there was more and more pressure to resort to measures that might produce more immediate results.Seems I'm having trouble staying the comedy role...
Maybe you ought to get a "seriousness" blog going.
;)
But in all seriousness, it sometimes boggles the mind how far wrong the Bush White House got. We always blame Cheney, but the ripples began with Bush.
The city I live is the shopping area for almost the entire state. The result is endless strip malls on most of the major streets. When we first moved here, I couldn't believe how ugly some parts of town were. And then, as time passed, I got used to it. But sometimes when I'm driving down the road, it just hits me: "Damn this part of town is ugly."
We have to do our best not to get used to this ugliness.
;)
But in all seriousness, it sometimes boggles the mind how far wrong the Bush White House got. We always blame Cheney, but the ripples began with Bush.
The city I live is the shopping area for almost the entire state. The result is endless strip malls on most of the major streets. When we first moved here, I couldn't believe how ugly some parts of town were. And then, as time passed, I got used to it. But sometimes when I'm driving down the road, it just hits me: "Damn this part of town is ugly."
We have to do our best not to get used to this ugliness.
How very true that is! How very true. We musn't habituate to ugliness or wrongdoing.
Actually, I did put up a seriousness blog just now:
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/therap/2009/05/opr-the-media-have-the-story-w.php
I think the media is mistaken to expect the OPR Report to refer for prosecution - when that is not their role! I've checked the document related to OPR's Policies and Procedures, versus the Office of the Inspector General's "Investigations Division" - and the latter is the internal dept which investigates and then can prosecute.
Actually, I did put up a seriousness blog just now:
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/therap/2009/05/opr-the-media-have-the-story-w.php
I think the media is mistaken to expect the OPR Report to refer for prosecution - when that is not their role! I've checked the document related to OPR's Policies and Procedures, versus the Office of the Inspector General's "Investigations Division" - and the latter is the internal dept which investigates and then can prosecute.
So, to put it bluntly, the OPR is basically the Etiquette Police on the watch for bad manners while the real police is the Inspector General?
Makes sense.
Makes sense.
Well.... please see the other blog, where it turns out the repubs "screwed the pooch" (so to speak) when legislation to strengthen the IG's came up last year. Due to the actions of one Senator, the tiny part of the IG legislation that applied to DoJ (and therefore OLC) was stricken from the bill that passed.
Here's the link. Look for Update III and a link to the info:
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/therap/2009/05/opr-the-media-have-the-story-w.php
Here's the link. Look for Update III and a link to the info:
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/therap/2009/05/opr-the-media-have-the-story-w.php
"formulate requirements for the debriefings of al-Qaida fighters " -- attr. to Feith
'debrief' is a curious term to use there. Is it a euphemism? The dictionary says it doesn't apply, unless the AQ fighters were working for the US.
'debrief' is a curious term to use there. Is it a euphemism? The dictionary says it doesn't apply, unless the AQ fighters were working for the US.
I must correct something. I erred in attributing that quote to Feith. The quote was from a psychiatrist at Guantanmo - but is in line with what Feith described as part of his intell "duties".
However, the quote that eds takes note of is indeed one from Feith (via emptywheel), as noted above.
Meditation on Act III: Republicans fear what is under the bed. Sometimes they think it is Communists, sometimes it may be unregistered aliens, then again it may be believers of some religion other than Christianism. For them it is an unclean place of unspeakable evil. Democrats, as Seashell so perceptively observes, seem to thrive in the chaos that is the world “under the bed.” There among the dust bunnies lay all the little elements of the Democrats’ life waiting to be discovered, rediscovered or just forgotten. A Democrat is always searching for something under the bed, free of the constraints of order that is the Republican closet. It would seem almost as if Democrats choose chaos but it is for them as Milton had it for Lucifer “It is better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven.”
(Historical note: Dostoyevski’s title for the draft version of his “Notes From Underground” was in fact “Notes From Under The Bed.’)
Meditation on Act II: The Existentialist poet Gucchi in his famous work “Shoes” says this:
If I had my shoes I could go
But then I would no longer be here
I would be there
With my shoes
What does it matter?
Only the journey matters
Meditation on Act I: As any good Calvinist knows, god predestines everything in life. There are no choices and there is no free will. It is even predestined whether you will be saved or damned. By putting you and your brother in the attic your parents gave you the great gift of the illusion that your actions matter. Without closets you were surrounded by all the details of life so that you would learn to choose even in the face of immutable destiny. (See Meditation on Act II)
(Historical note: Dostoyevski’s title for the draft version of his “Notes From Underground” was in fact “Notes From Under The Bed.’)
Meditation on Act II: The Existentialist poet Gucchi in his famous work “Shoes” says this:
If I had my shoes I could go
But then I would no longer be here
I would be there
With my shoes
What does it matter?
Only the journey matters
Meditation on Act I: As any good Calvinist knows, god predestines everything in life. There are no choices and there is no free will. It is even predestined whether you will be saved or damned. By putting you and your brother in the attic your parents gave you the great gift of the illusion that your actions matter. Without closets you were surrounded by all the details of life so that you would learn to choose even in the face of immutable destiny. (See Meditation on Act II)
Larry, the meaning of life is becoming clearer and clearer.
Here is the ultimate proof! Under his mattress, my brother hid the forbidden comic books! The comics about superheroes, not the approved Disney comics. I suspect we learned to right wrongs from those forbidden "under the bed" comics. We told tales at night. We dreamed dreams - unknown to those downstairs.
Yes, it was all foreordained. And to think that you and seashell have now clarified that for me. To think that here, at the Cafe, my question is being answered, my search is given meaning.
Oh, Larry, I am truly indebted to your deep meditations. Which set me free - to ponder further.
Here is the ultimate proof! Under his mattress, my brother hid the forbidden comic books! The comics about superheroes, not the approved Disney comics. I suspect we learned to right wrongs from those forbidden "under the bed" comics. We told tales at night. We dreamed dreams - unknown to those downstairs.
Yes, it was all foreordained. And to think that you and seashell have now clarified that for me. To think that here, at the Cafe, my question is being answered, my search is given meaning.
Oh, Larry, I am truly indebted to your deep meditations. Which set me free - to ponder further.
I’m old enough to remember the inception of the Comic Codes. I also remember at the ripe age of 10 once being upbraided by my 10 year old cousin in the most moralistic of tones when she found me with an unapproved comic book. She grew up and became a lawyer. I didn’t do either.
My brother became an artist. We know what became of me: It was always my intention to become an eccentric old lady.
You allude to "not growing up" as the key here.
Let this be a lesson to us all.
You allude to "not growing up" as the key here.
Let this be a lesson to us all.
Democrats, as Seashell so perceptively observes, seem to thrive in the chaos that is the world “under the bed.”
Thank you, Mr. Broom. As long as I'm being so perceptive, may I point out that the ability to thrive in chaos is what makes Democrats so much better able to handle and harness the Internet, where Republicans remain so clueless?
Thank you, Mr. Broom. As long as I'm being so perceptive, may I point out that the ability to thrive in chaos is what makes Democrats so much better able to handle and harness the Internet, where Republicans remain so clueless?
Ok enough with the perspective stuff. A seashell should just be beautiful, laying on the sand, a few drops of briny water on her back glistening in the sunlight.
Which eggzactly describes how I got the nickname!
My bedroom was the basement. The whole basement. I didn't have a closet, either. My mother was a Republican, my dad was a Dem. All us kids grew up confused. :o)
Maybe confusion - or the wondering that you do when faced with it - is very beneficial in the long run. I spent a lot of my childhood wondering about things that seemed puzzling to me.
Growing up I had a closet, but it was always a scary place since my brother had a habit of hiding there to scare my pants off. He must have spent too much time in there - he's a blood red republican now, poor guy...
Just goes to show that trying to scare people is part of the repub strategery.
True, but the real question that I'd like to know is: Do Republicans have trouble finding shoes? Or, an aside, are their shoes too tight? Maybe shoes are the answer....
Condi is sure focused on shoes! And something about her is "tight" - I think you're onto something here!
My parents were alcoholic dems. Grew up under FDR who was god.
My bedroom after the 3rd grade was the basement. I was so happy to have my own room.
Everybody but my older sister grew up confused.
I still am confused, it just does not bother me anymore.
My bedroom after the 3rd grade was the basement. I was so happy to have my own room.
Everybody but my older sister grew up confused.
I still am confused, it just does not bother me anymore.
What would we do without our dd, just as you are?
As the twig is bent so is the twig bent.
I was raised as a sandwich. My parents tied me between two pieces of bread. They hoped that I'd grow up to be a Ham & Swiss. The other children used to look at me and drool. Worst was when my Dad would get mad and threaten me with the jar of mayonnaise. It took many years of therapy to reach the point where I can stand and say:
I am sandwich. And I am proud.
I am sandwich. And I am proud.
I bow to the sandwich! Namaste.
But are you a Democratic sandwich, Quinn? Have your innards perhaps gone a day past their expiration date? If so, then you are a real Democrat.
He's a Canadian, seashell. They don't have Dems up there. But you have to be pretty liberal to be a ham and cheese sandwich. Macaroni and cheese is something else altogether and very conservative.
He's a Canadian, seashell. They don't have Dems up there. But you have to be pretty liberal to be a ham and cheese sandwich. Macaroni and cheese is something else altogether and very conservative.
Oh, you're right FDR. My puppy memory tends to be scattered sometimes. Still, if he was in the US, I think he would qualify, don't you?
But he's a Dem at heart. I just know it's so! :)
Let’s see – crusty, signs of mold, pungent, thick slices of Spam. Yep it’s a Quinn sandwich alright.
Yeah, but it's good for my gout.
My parents fought all the time. Spent most of my kidhood in a closet reading comics with a flashlight...
It's clear that reading comics will undo the effects of a closet! ;)
It's so funny...right now I'm sitting in the garden, reading your blog barefoot because I gave up looking for shoes. *sigh* Please tell me it gets better.
What could be better than sitting in a garden, barefoot, having given up looking for shoes?
I also suggest you pose this question to barefoot, when she makes an appearance. Or perhaps she will see your need and answer it here. :)
I also suggest you pose this question to barefoot, when she makes an appearance. Or perhaps she will see your need and answer it here. :)
I just came in from digging dandelions out of my yard. Barefoot. It's a bit chilly still but I was walking on the beach and didn't bother to put my shoes back on.
I wish more days were this good :-)
I wish more days were this good :-)
Sometimes life throws you a curveball and you get some good days out of it! ;)
In general, shoes are an unnecessary evil. In polite society we are required to wear something under our soles, to prove our aquiescence to the common regulation. That's why I keep a pair of flip-flops in my car. Public consumption.
Our feet, like our lives, should be unencumbered whenever possible by the constraints of insanity. Let them breathe. Let them do their job ... carry you wherever you go even when they're tired and in need of relief. They are our wings.
In a garden they rule.
Our feet, like our lives, should be unencumbered whenever possible by the constraints of insanity. Let them breathe. Let them do their job ... carry you wherever you go even when they're tired and in need of relief. They are our wings.
In a garden they rule.
What a balm to the soul is your presence here...
That's why I keep a pair of flip-flops in my car.
So do I! (Well, actually two pairs - 4 paws you know.)
You are my kind of Democrat!
So do I! (Well, actually two pairs - 4 paws you know.)
You are my kind of Democrat!
I can't help but wonder whether losing shoes and going barefoot has something to do with George W Bush having to dodge a pair of shoes....
Shoes?!? We don't need no stinkin' shoes!
That is sooooo good! ;)
I've got the answer, LisB! To your question. It's this. Those with enough humility to admit they don't know where their shoes are or that they've made mistakes, don't get shoes thrown at them!
How's that?
How's that?
You've hit the former president right in the head!
LOL! :-)
I grew up in a scary household due to mother's dysfunction. Lots of closets in my room but barely could fit clothes in them much less shoes due to my mother's "junk". My whole family was Republican and due to fear of reprisal, I voted mostly Republican.
Now, through some wise words from my daughter, LisB, I am slowly rethinking my political thinking. I am still on the fence on some subjects but leaning to the "right" side which is Democrat!! Also want to thank my friends in the chat room for their patience and guidance.
Now, through some wise words from my daughter, LisB, I am slowly rethinking my political thinking. I am still on the fence on some subjects but leaning to the "right" side which is Democrat!! Also want to thank my friends in the chat room for their patience and guidance.
Just remember, Mum, it's only right that you're leaning to the left.
Amen! It's so great when people allow themselves to change...
I am still on the fence on some subjects...
MM, I think you are falling faster towards the left side than you think. When your shoes go missing, you'll know you've gone completely over. :-)
MM, I think you are falling faster towards the left side than you think. When your shoes go missing, you'll know you've gone completely over. :-)
LOL! :)
What's the matter with you kids? Barefoot?!
"What, do you want to step on a rusty nail and get tetanus and lockjaw?" Sorry, that was my mother's voice fading into the distance ... And yet ... I saw someone walking barefoot the other day on the sidewalks of the East Village in NYC, and had the same reaction. Obviously, I need more comic books.
My sister, (4 years older), did have a window in her closet when we lived in West Hartford in the late Fifties. She was a teenager and used the window to secretly smoke cigarettes. (She also showed me where my parents had hidden all the Xmas presents one year, and for that, had her brand new princess phone taken away when I, feeling guilty, spilled the beans on her ... but that's another story), She's now a paralegal. I had comic books and baseball cards and sang songs in my room and still dream of ridiculous and ludicrous things, and not only when I'm asleep.
"What, do you want to step on a rusty nail and get tetanus and lockjaw?" Sorry, that was my mother's voice fading into the distance ... And yet ... I saw someone walking barefoot the other day on the sidewalks of the East Village in NYC, and had the same reaction. Obviously, I need more comic books.
My sister, (4 years older), did have a window in her closet when we lived in West Hartford in the late Fifties. She was a teenager and used the window to secretly smoke cigarettes. (She also showed me where my parents had hidden all the Xmas presents one year, and for that, had her brand new princess phone taken away when I, feeling guilty, spilled the beans on her ... but that's another story), She's now a paralegal. I had comic books and baseball cards and sang songs in my room and still dream of ridiculous and ludicrous things, and not only when I'm asleep.
What wonderful memories! Thanks so much. :-)
I wish the Left was faultless and pristine. I wish something was. In this country, I think, conservative failures, gross and destructive, are more clearly defined, since conservatives have been in power most of the years of this republic. If we look internationally, though, the picture is starkly different, and governments that would gladly describe themselves as Leftist have proven capable executing the darkest of depravities, the most blood-soaked of policies.
During my adulthood, I've learned my leanings need flexibility when the harsh storms of reality roll in. Everyone's bed has an "underneath". Sometimes we're afraid to look there; sometimes it's politically expedient to avoid looking - those phantom hobgoblins are just too darn convenient as scapegoats or boogeymen in panic campaigns. Sometimes our deeply held beliefs tell us there's something there, and if we can't see it, we're just not looking hard enough. I don't think it's about politics; I think it's about the human condition, and its inescapable limits.
We ignore or deny these common defects at our peril.
During my adulthood, I've learned my leanings need flexibility when the harsh storms of reality roll in. Everyone's bed has an "underneath". Sometimes we're afraid to look there; sometimes it's politically expedient to avoid looking - those phantom hobgoblins are just too darn convenient as scapegoats or boogeymen in panic campaigns. Sometimes our deeply held beliefs tell us there's something there, and if we can't see it, we're just not looking hard enough. I don't think it's about politics; I think it's about the human condition, and its inescapable limits.
We ignore or deny these common defects at our peril.
Curt, there is so much wisdom in your comment. I too know that we are all flawed, all human. For that reason I think I am more forgiving and patient with Obama and even with this belief that there need to be investigations into war crimes. I think with age comes a sense of perspective.
Your words are so wise and helpful.
Your words are so wise and helpful.
Lest anyone misunderstand: Of course I am strongly in favor of investigations and prosecutions, where indicated, of the Principals, the lawyers, the psychologists - all those who designed, and "legalized" and authorized war crimes. But I'm patient. I think this will take time. Many doubt we will see justice, but I do not.
LOL. I bought this little house last year, and while it has two closets, they are both very small. I considered building a new closet or two, but my girlfriend talked me out of it. Some things are beyond contrivance, and should be accepted as is. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and looks like a duck, it must be a duck, (or a democrat).
Little House of Two Closets.... sounds like a novel to me!
Raised by Democrats with a very conservative religion, I read the comics of the military fighting Nazis. {oh, sh*t, is that where that originates? OMG!!! ... nah!}
Closets? There are too many closets in my formative years to remember, but the latest one was carefully crafted by me for 12 pairs of shoes with 12 of their very own shelves, a half dozen shelves for shirts and pants, as well as two poles, one above the other, for clothes that prefer not to be folded. It's a closet for two.
Who owns a dozen pairs of shoes?
Closets? There are too many closets in my formative years to remember, but the latest one was carefully crafted by me for 12 pairs of shoes with 12 of their very own shelves, a half dozen shelves for shirts and pants, as well as two poles, one above the other, for clothes that prefer not to be folded. It's a closet for two.
Who owns a dozen pairs of shoes?
Sounds like a very neat closet. :)
But without closets, where can we put the skeletons?
Where they belong - in repub closets.... ;)
I am very pleased to have contributed to TheraP's "meaning of life explained", even though it was entirely accidental and I had no cluez of what I was talking about!
Can I haz cheezburger now?
Can I haz cheezburger now?
Can I haz 3 cheezburgers? One for each act?
Yes, of course. How wize yu iz!
After each act, the main actress (Me) will personally present you wiz a cheezburger.
One tiny concern: Can you take all the cholesterol so quickly? Please check with your Vet!
After each act, the main actress (Me) will personally present you wiz a cheezburger.
One tiny concern: Can you take all the cholesterol so quickly? Please check with your Vet!
If my Vet says I haz to quit cheezburgers, then I would just rather quit my Vet.
Thank you for azking, though!
Thank you for azking, though!
Then, it's ON for the cheezburgers!
It's ethical, so long as there's full disclosure, and we've done that now.
Cheezburgers it iz!
It's ethical, so long as there's full disclosure, and we've done that now.
Cheezburgers it iz!
You win a cheezburger! You iz some wize puppy! ;)
My closet has no doors! Everything is just hanging out there in the room. Oh well. I heard people with ADD like it that way. I do. What was I saying?
I was raised with a proper closet. My parents were Dems and my dad was a shipbuilder in WWII.”Hell for Hitler” ships. I came along later but the stories followed. They really loved Adlai Stevenson and hated McCarthy but the political talk ended when Kennedy was assassinated. My dad died the next year. My mom introduced me early to Kierkegaard and Kahlil Gibran so I was almost prepared but not really. My brother went to Vietnam and luckily came back. My sister and I protested the war and the others that followed and still do. We are both Dems but my brother is an enraged Libertarian. My mom is 94 and an amazing Democrat – she loves Obama.
I still can’t find my glasses but I know they’re not under the bed. They could be behind the bed, or beside the bed. I wear fluffy slippers most of the time - gave up on wearing shoes unless I have to. I’m hungry now with all this cheesy talk…
I was raised with a proper closet. My parents were Dems and my dad was a shipbuilder in WWII.”Hell for Hitler” ships. I came along later but the stories followed. They really loved Adlai Stevenson and hated McCarthy but the political talk ended when Kennedy was assassinated. My dad died the next year. My mom introduced me early to Kierkegaard and Kahlil Gibran so I was almost prepared but not really. My brother went to Vietnam and luckily came back. My sister and I protested the war and the others that followed and still do. We are both Dems but my brother is an enraged Libertarian. My mom is 94 and an amazing Democrat – she loves Obama.
I still can’t find my glasses but I know they’re not under the bed. They could be behind the bed, or beside the bed. I wear fluffy slippers most of the time - gave up on wearing shoes unless I have to. I’m hungry now with all this cheesy talk…
Thanks for such a lovely comment. I felt I could see it all...
For all your searching, I'm right here in plain sight!
If I'd only known.....
Blessings upon you, my dear OtherShoe!
in reply to a comment from TheOtherShoe Blessings upon you, my dear OtherShoe!
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