Democracy, Rhetoric and Performance: May 2006 Archives

Craig Barnes, in the Sept/Oct Utne Reader (1997) was quoted:

"We Americans try to find the principle of a thing, the objective reality, the long and the short term, the height and the depth; we analyze and evaluate the truth of a thing and our demoncractic origins are so far back that we have utterly forgotten that procuess - due process, fair process, all process - is at bottom only a substitute for relationship. In a traditional culture the relationship is the key: It points the way to the truth, it is the source that signals whether a thing is credible or not. When relationship is right, the truth can be known."

Originally in Timeline (May/June 1997).

One of my students is soaking up Cannes and Al Gore (!) is making waves at Sundance. Funny, as Cole just asked who might run for President on the Democratic side...Hillary of course, I read about a Senator from Virginia whose name I forgot, and I mentioned that Gore might try again. It's a new campaign style: provide serious information in a format that allows it. Will the public respond to an educational movie geared to adults?

I can pull off attending this conference on Deliberative Democracy in Cambridge next month...

They will focus on public policy disputes, primarily regarding environmental issues but I bet there are many parallels with language concerns.

The NYTimes' story today highlights disagreements among the EU, Russia, and the US regarding sanctions against Iran: Western Powers Disagree on Elements of Iran Proposal. Earlier this week, Time featured a story, Why not talk? in which they selected one particular quote from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's 18-page letter to President Bush:

"All prophets speak of peace and tranquility--based on monotheism, justice and respect for human dignity," Ahmadinejad wrote. "Do you not think that if all of us abide by these principles, we can overcome the world's problems? Will you not accept this invitation?" (emphasis added)

Bush probably can't "accept" because it would be a blow to the ego in some way to respond to Iran's overture to us - rather generous, since the US hasn't been willing to make any overtures to them. Granted, Ahmadinejad's reference to monotheism may be a mask for Islam, but, as the Republican Senator Chuck Hagel notes, "Diplomacy is about talking."

This may seem like the strangest aside, but I saw an ad for a Nissan Pathfinder at the gym last night: "The Left Turn Adventure." The dialogue is all about what would happen if we could only make left turns. All the visual imagery is happy and positive, all the questions are posed rhetorically yet invoke optimism and possibility. Now, if a major car manufacturer thinks a PR campaign playing on the aspirations of the political left is marketable, does this corroborate a change in the wind?

So said Donna, calling me a "techhead" at the end of the Deaf-Interpreter Community Forum today. As I drove the 3+ hours to get there this morning I listened to NPR's Weekend Edition. Several stories caught my attention. First, an interview with Tom Wolfe, discussing the role of speech (he means language) in human evolution. Next, an interview with the author of Challenger Park, a novel about an astronaut mom. I was already interested because of my own childhood fantasies of space travel. I also remember driving from one job (at UPS) to another (at Taco Bell) on the day the Challenger expoded. I heard it on the radio and cried. What really hooked me was the notion of being so far removed from your child that even the possibility of communication is prevented.

Then there was the story about Desi Arnez being an auteur. I can't seem to find the interview (poo) but the argument was that Arnaz himself was really the first tv auteur. This article credits the combined team Desilu (with Lucille Ball). I've been more exposed to arguments about Ball's genius; it was interesting to listen to this perspective arguing that Arnaz has been somewhat overlooked. There was a line about the genius of making fun of himself (as Ricky Ricardo) except when he was performing as a musician, then he was always taken seriously.

Finally, a graduation speech by Scott Simon: Platitudes with Attitude. My students definitely deserve this one!

Oh, and there was a brief mention of Winston Churchill? Today is the anniversary of his assumption of the role of Prime Minister at the beginning of WWII. He proclaimed, in deep stentorian tones: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat."

Glen gave a very interesting paper about the PR strategies of the Humane Society of the US and the National Forest Service regarding bear hunting/trapping in Maine and coyote hunting in Vermont. All of us got to practice recognizing our own biases and trying to learn to talk without our own propagandistic rhetoric! One of the questions I posed was whether this either/or dualism is a false dichotomy: can one be both in support of animal rights and in support of hunting?

If you're interested in coyotes, one of the storylines in Prodigal Summer, a wonderful novel by Barbara Kingsolver, concerns a forest service naturalist who has a love affair with a bounty hunter. There's an incredible section in there about the role of the predator in maintaining biological diversity and ecological balance.

I didn't write much about it when I listened to it on tape. There is one hint about wildness and another hint in this prayer for life offered up by the naturalist.

Paula hopes so, reflecting (by email) both on an impressive Day Without Immigrants demonstration in Amherst yesterday and this national media event:

Colbert rips Bush to his face (video) at the White House press correspondents dinner.

I imagine many, if not most, of the persons who made an appearance in his speech weren't too happy about it. There was laughter from the crowd at some points, as well as by some of the individuals targeted. There were also palpable silences.

Previous protests for immigrant rights on April 10 surprised politicians in Washington forging ahead with their elitist agenda. The Boston Globe reports largest local participation for yesterday's protests within Latino communities. The NYTimes headlines the Show of Strength.