Tao Te Wednesday

3/14/2012

When the greats Tao is forgotten,goodness and piety appear.

When the body's intelligence declines,
cleverness and knowledge step forth.

When there is no peace in the family,
filial piety begins.

When the country falls into chaos, patriotism is born.

Verse 18

Laura Novak

3/14/2012 02:06:22 am

I chose this because I did watch GC at a friend's house. Her "piety" and the chaos that ensued because of Palin's decline in intelligence and cleverness made me choose this passage.

I thought JM did a fabulous job. I think the NW character was too mild mannered. They cut her a lot of slack and only lightly touched on how chilling it must have been to discover how nuts she was.

The sociopath/narcissist's rage and fear were evident in JM's eyes. and that was probably the most profound quality to this film. That and the transition from innocent "sure I'll be in the show" quality, to exhausted and "discovered" that we see later.

I hate to ruin my Zen by even talking about her. But I do want to say what I felt about the film. And I see the last line of this verse in two ways. How about you?

Ottoline

3/14/2012 03:08:12 am

Re Lines 2 and 3:
When the body's intelligence declines,
cleverness and knowledge step forth.

Not sure what the word "knowledge" means here, but I see this in three ways:

1. Re our physical body/mind: in senile dementia or hospital-induced dementia, MDs explained to me that (figuratively? literally?) holes develop in our brain, like in a sponge, and the holes get bigger as dementia increases. And what's left of our mind tries to compensate, connecting the dots as best it can. That's why when a loved one you are watching over in the hospital starts exhibiting this dementia, other people can't tell as soon as you (the relative) can, because the cleverness of the remaining mind (and the inattention and lack of familiarity of the hosp staff with the patient's subtleties) can serve to disguise the deficit. For a while.

2. Re Palin: In the discussion following the movie, NicolleW said SP has a photographic memory. That explains a lot to me: the way she is able to spout forth endless 50%-okay-sounding word salad; and why her words reveal that she doesn't understand the concepts she is discussing. I'm amazed I never thought about that before. So the photo memory without comprehension of 90% of it is what I think "cleverness" is here, in its pejorative sense. i guess the worst of it might be that she doesn't know she is spouting nonsense.

3. In the national-dialogue sense: There used to be a shared sense of knowing what we know and don't know, and deferring to the experts on the latter. Not a perfect mode, but now we have the opposite, a pervasive sense of not knowing what we don't know and being v sure we know stuff that is in face erroneous, as in people offering firm opinions about cutting gov't spending without any idea of the differences between a family budget and national fiscal theory and strategy. I don't mean just info-poor disadvantaged folks; I mean folks in big-time positions in gov't. Paul Krugman discusses this all the time.

mistah charley, ph.d. link

3/14/2012 05:18:29 am

John Heider's interpretation:

Do not lose sight of the single principle: how everything works.

When this principle is lost and the method of meditating on process fails, the group becomes mired in intellectual discussion of what could have happened, what should have happened, what this technique or that might do. Soon the group will become quarrelsome and depressed.

Once you leave the path of simple consciousness, you enter the labyrinth of cleverness, competition, and imitation.

When a lesser person forgets that all creation is a unity, allegiance goes to lesser wholes such as the family, the home team, or the company.

Nationalism, racism, classism, sexism: all arise as consciousness of unity is lost. People take sides and favour this versus that.

[end of Heider's interpretation]

Nicolle Wallace and my mother-in-law --- mistah charley, ph.d. link

3/14/2012 05:37:05 am

One at a time, not together.

1. Charles P. Pierce notes that "The punditosphere is aflame with praise for Nicolle Wallace", but cautions us to keep in mind that "she was one of the primary Republican prevaricators during the extended unpleasantness in Florida in the fall of 2000, or that she was one of the first fanged critters to leap at Tom Ridge's throat when the latter admitted that terror warnings had been coordinated to benefit the Bush campaign in 2004, or that it was her wedding — in Greece — that a lot of Bush administration officials used as an alibi for being off the clock while New Orleans was drowning." His piece is titled "Nicolle Wallace, Hack."

Read more: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/nicolle-wallace-game-change-7297273

2. Thanks again to all who sent kind regards, positive energy, and prayers while missus charley was at her aged mother's hospital bedside. La mama is home again, and doing better after her tube feeding regime was adjusted some. Missus charley is back here, keeping in close touch with the family of origin by phone, but also going to the office again. A couple nights ago we watched on our local PBS station the film of Kaiulana Lee's portrayal of Rachel Carson, "A Sense of Wonder." It was wondrous.

Ottoline

3/14/2012 07:53:08 am

Hi MC -- So glad La Mama is better. Did the cat survive your care? Did cat admit to being glad to see your wife return?

If you look in the Comments of the Wallace/hack article you cite, you will see that I posted a comment: forget the messenger, focus on the message.

But, yes, I too wondered how I could like (like so much!) the Nicolle that was in the year-ago interview and in the recent Maddow interview. Ditto Schmidt. How can they be devoted to the Repub cause?? How can they be INSTRUMENTAL in helping it prevail? I guess we are so used to seeing/hearing the klown kar kandidates, incl SP, that anyone with an IQ above room temp is a thrill.

I hardly think Nicolle is to blame for the folks who lingered inappropriately at her Greek wedding. Given her past loyalties, I think it's amazing that she/Schmidt would tell the truth (or part of it) after the election and now. Unless this is a controlled release of toxic material. In cahoots with some GOP damage-control plan. And I bet they have agreed to keep the hoax covered up when asked, as they surely eventually will be.

That's why I hope y'all would go over to my comment on the Esquire link: if you "like" it and reply to it (if enough people do), maybe Esquire will do a piece on the hoax.

mistah charley, ph.d.

3/14/2012 10:44:47 am

Yes, the cat was fine, but was glad that my spouse was back.

I apparently am unable to like your comment at the Esquire blog, or add my own comment, without using Facebook. These days, I don't. Maybe later (though I hope not).

I saw Rachel Maddow interviewing NW, and she seemed to be saying she was willing to do a limited hangout because she's no longer playing the political operative game. But I'm sure that there are limits to her candor. She doesn't dish the dirt on McCain himself, e.g.

Laura Novak

3/14/2012 08:44:48 am

Thank you Ottoline and MC for these further interpretations. Both add weight to my feeling that they reflect the sentiment of the movie and the nut job about whom it was written.

Thanks for that Esquire piece. I "liked" you Ottoline, as well as LitBrit and many others there whose names I do not know but who sure do seem to know the story inside and out!!

It is nice to hear the contrition, but it sure is a little too late. They should have all pulled her out early on: "The baby is sick and we all need to return to Alaska. Keep us in your prayers." They had such an easy out (a baby no less, and one with possibly heart defects.) How dramatic! How sympathetic! But no, the looney lady scared McPain so much, he was afraid she'd turn on him. Boo Hoo.

Actually Boo Hoo for all of us b/c we've suffered 3.5 years of her rage, insanity and dumbing down of Amerika. The "consciousness of unity" is indeed lost. That's how all these primary things break down and the nasty things take over. JM deserves every award in the book over this. Someone needs to investigate the Alaska school system to determine why this moron graduated from high school not knowing about "flippin awesome" Germany. Imagine having a role in BOTH wars!! Someone talk me down. I've forgotten my mantra.

serenity now

3/14/2012 10:45:51 am

Serenity NOW!!!

Ottoline

3/14/2012 11:29:11 am

I have zero interest in Schmidt's or Wallace's contrition (or souls), only in seeing the hoax and its cover-up exposed. Maybe that's why her flak-ness doesn't bother me. All those smarts and ability that Schmidt has: how in the world can he apply it to the bankrupt Repubs. Diane Sawyer is another one: working for Nixon. Nice hair and plastic surgery, though.

Talk you down, Laura? No, I think it goes the other way, with all the in-power officially respectable govt folks. We need the energy of our disgust. We sure see their lack of fundamental understanding. Sure among the Repubs now, but we'll see some of the Democrat goofballs more clearly soon. Krugman does a better job of identifying the confident know-nothings, here and abroad. The ones who establish bad economic policy in these bad times. The charismatic stupid ones.

And yes, McCain, the gutless wonder. Harder and harder to believe his POW story of courage, but none re SP.

V-A

3/15/2012 12:04:15 am

Blogdom bottomfeeds on new angles. How can blogs keep going unless they always find their own crack? Since when do we judge a writer on on her/his moral rectitude. Wasn't it the work that was to stand? Isn't any expose better than no expose? Doesn't it take balls to be NW, unless of course, she's part of a repub conspiracy? Nobody else has come close to what she's been willing to write about SP. God Bless Her.

We live is a sea of shifting opinion, buffeted by any and every voice looking for its right to be. Good for you Ottoline for using anything you can to play your game (exposing the hoax.) That's all any of this is worth any more. On the internet, we're all just gaming.

Laura Novak

3/15/2012 01:14:45 am

I forgot to say, MC, that I am also, too, glad that your MIL is doing better and that spouse is safely home.

I can see and feel both sides of the NW "outing." On the one hand, none of us can truly appreciate the panic they must have felt when they realized that Germany in both wars was a major revelation! Not to mention the baby not hers business and her compulsive lying. The pace of a campaign, the stakes at hand...until I've walked in their shoes, I cannot judge their actions at the time. I would like to think, as I said yesterday, that "The baby is sick and we need to return home" might have done the job. They had such an easy out. So, is it bad now that she is saying "the woman was a nut job?" I guess it's better late than never. But where would we all be w/t citizen journalists like Kos, Sullivan and then the Alaska specific bloggers? V-A thanks for your astute comments. And Ottoline, you're as smart and articulate as they come. I was pleased to see all the terrific comments on Esquire. I wonder if some of them are the anons we've seen over the years b/c they seemed to know an awful lot about the story.

V-A

3/15/2012 02:02:11 am

Sorry to sound so crusty this morning. My point which I stated badly had more to do with what a friend once said about journalism. That it only works if it starts with a question, much like the Tao. He also said that for a real journalist, the story tells itself when the work is done.

Ottoline

3/15/2012 11:36:53 am

Why be sorry? Crusty is good. In my book, anyway. "If you haven't got anything nice to say, come sit over here by me!" --ALR

V-A

3/15/2012 02:52:40 am

Few writers have asked the questions "Where did Sarah Palin come from?" / "Why did she become popular?" / "What was her agenda?" If a writer had asked those and other hard questions, he or she would have had to explore every detail, every fact of SP -- which would have included the mysterious pregnancy, how she got tapped, her records as elected officials, how Alaska made her who she was, her private life etc.

Instead, those who have written about her had axes to grind. They started with opinions and refused to investigate what they were afraid of.

So that's what we're left with now. Opinion, propaganda, and first-person narrative. None of those are journalism. None of them are complete stories.

Conscious at last!

3/15/2012 08:25:30 am

Let's say we have a teenager who is always screwing up - - badly.
Then, one day, s/he does something really helpful. S/he assisted an older woman who tripped on the sidewalk and almost went face down into the gutter. Our teenager grabbed this lady just in time and steadied her. So, do we acknowledge this act of kindness and concern? Do we praise this young person for saving the older woman from certain injury? Or do we continue to moan on endlessly about all of the things that s/he did in the past which made us angry?

I don't want to have a beer with Wallace or Schmidt. I will probably not support the candidates that they work for. But I am delighted and grateful to them both. They spoke out honestly in very public ways. They supported the production of GC which was largely about unmasking Sarah Palin. The book was about the 2008 election, the movie was more focused. Their actions constitute a genuine attempt to re-route the path of our national political discourse.
Even if neither of them does another decent thing in their lives, this would have been very significant.

I have no need to dwell endlessly in anger. When I see some light, I recognize it.

3/15/2012 11:46:55 am

ITA with this. They are attempting to prevent her from being taken seriously as a presidential dark horse candidate or a power broker. I have little doubt this is done with full support of the GOP traditionalists and possibly McCain himself. No matter how I feel about their other positions and actions, for this I am grateful.

As I am for these posts. I know nothing of Taoism and find these posts and comments both fasinating and educational.

MC, may your MIL enjoy continued improvement in her health.

Laura Novakq

3/15/2012 09:26:03 am

Nicely said, Conscious. You've taught me something here. And I see your point. It was, simply put, better than nothing. AND...all of it was well timed against her running or "jumping in" or something. They might know of crazy plans on her part. Who knows. Thank you for weighing in. I always appreciate your point of view.

Ottoline

3/15/2012 11:41:39 am

Hey! your name is growing, Laura. I like it. Sort of a Serbo-Croatian twist now. Just watch out for snipers, like Hillary had to . . . . Oh, wait, there were no snipers. You are such a great host here, complimenting us all for the very things you YOU **You** do so well.

Bristol Palin and I dialog about 'Game Change' - mistah charley, ph.d. link

3/16/2012 01:21:27 am

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/bristolpalin/2012/03/game-change/

Bristol wrote:

"I didn’t watch the HBO film Game Change, but it seems that reasonable people of all political stripes can see how terrible our family was treated by the political staffers who were supposed to be helping us. (Have you ever considered Mom could tell that the people surrounding her were exactly the type of people who would betray her?) Whatever happened to loyalty? And, by the way, Mom… I think you’re more beautiful than any of your impersonators!"

My reply, which has been posted:

"Hi Bristol. Like many people, you are asking “whatever happened to loyalty?” There is a famous saying among people in politics, I recall hearing that it goes back to the time of Harry Truman, who was President at the end of World War II and re-elected in 1948, “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.” I wonder if you will get Tripp a dog at some point.

I did not see ‘Game Change’ – wasn’t even tempted to, because I don’t have HBO. I didn’t realize Tom Hanks was one of the producers until reading it here. I just wish more people knew the truth about your mother instead of believing the lies they have been told."

Laura Novak

3/16/2012 01:40:07 am

Name spelled correctly here! Good work, Ottoline. I see on G's blog that she has a ghost writer working on her blog. The writing would make sense knowing that. Why won't those people simply go away!!!

New post up on the publishing industry. Please weigh in if you can.

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