Tao Te Wednesday

11/30/2011

For governing a country well
There is nothing better than moderation.

The mark of a moderate man
is freedom from his own ideas.
Tolerant like the sky,
all-pervading like sunlight,
firm like a mountain,
supple like a tree in the wind,
he has no destination in view
and makes use of anything
life happens to bring his way.

Nothing is impossible for him.
Because he has let go,
he can care for the people’s welfare
as a mother cares for her child.

Tao # 59 New English Version by Stephen Mitchell

Laura Novak

11/30/2011 01:53:34 am

I would like to start the discussion with this piece I heard on NPR this morning:

http://www.npr.org/2011/11/30/142892400/hearing-may-lead-to-more-freedom-for-hinckley

I found it odd that absolutely NO mention was made of 1) Hinkley's obsession with Jody Foster - especially in light of the concerns about his possibly inappropriate relationship with women in his institution. And 2) James Brady as the real victim of his crime.

Are editors SO young these days that they can't relate the back story to listeners? To me those were critical elements to his obsession or the sequelae to it and the ongoing 2nd Amendment gun wars.

What do you think?

mistah charley, ph.d.

11/30/2011 11:41:45 am

I just saw a tv news report about the hearing. Hinckley often goes to visit his mother in Williamsburg, Va. One one recent visit he was observed surreptitiously by the Secret Service, who saw him pretend to buy a movie ticket, but actually go into a bookstore and spend time looking at books about Reagan and presidential assassins, and then later, when he returned to the mental hospital, describe the plot of the movie as if he had seen it.

Sherryn

11/30/2011 01:27:11 pm

I saw the same news clip as Misttah Charley. Sounds like he's still a manipulative narcissist and thinks he's above the law.
There's another link on the same npr page that shows he's still a danger to whomever is the president when and if he gets his wish. Disturbing beyond words.

http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=142892400&m=142929269

What happens, if he gets his way, when his mother passes on? She seems to be the key to his defense, yet he decieved her once, what's to stop him from reverting back?

I love today's Tao Te! It reminds me of President Obama and it's the perfect foil for the hinkley issue.

Laura Novak

12/1/2011 12:58:30 am

I wondered about his mother too. How much denial she is in yet how supportive (or enabling) she must have been all these years.

I don't know the details: was his obsession really with Reagan or with simply impressing Foster?

I heard the prosecutor at the time say that it wasn't acceptable for someone to try to "throw the election." I thought that a very odd comment to make. Politicizing what I saw as sheer mental illness.

I'm glad the SS is keeping an eye on him and reporting back. Apparently the shrinks can't agree on their evaluations of Hinkley.

And yes, I thought it a good verse this week for a variety of political reasons!

Viola-Alex

12/1/2011 01:04:51 am

Because I'm anonymous here, I'll say what I believe about John Hinckley, a former Texan. I believe that he was one of the children who were part of the MKUltra work by the CIA in the 50/60's. Think Manchurian Candidate. I know more about this than is healthy and I rarely speak of it. But when you look at the rash of assassinations we saw in the late 20th c that seemed almost random and constant, it is a puzzle. John Lennon, the Kennedys, MLK, Reagan. . . the children in MKUltra were raised to be killing machines with no memory of what they'd done. Has there ever been such a time, before or since?

Hinckley absolutely should not be released.

Viola-Alex

12/1/2011 01:08:15 am

I used to be a big fan of Taoism. Perhaps I'm too old and cranky to hear the truth of it any more. I think a moderate leader is a failed leader. I believe it takes courage to be wrong, to dare to implement what is good for all. Steve Jobs was a leader (I am NOT an Apple fan, but even I see that.) LBJ was a leader.

Nothing about me would be moderate if danger came to my child.

Ottoline

12/1/2011 01:44:24 am

V-A: I wish you could tell us what you know about esp the JFK assassination, the only one I ever read a lot about. (But I can understand why you might not.) The recent RFK book claimed he thought it was from within the government, which fits with my few pathetic data points I believe in. BTW, I recently looked at the "improved" Zapruder tape, which answered one longstanding question for me: why did Jackie jump onto the trunk of the car? I never thought she was trying to escape or was reaching for a wayward piece of skull. And I saw that before she had even turned to look backwards (being fully occupied with looking at JFK), Clint Hill had his foot on the back bumper and was trying to get up (which was hard as the car accelerated). When you look esp at the improved version, frame by frame, it seems obvious that Jackie saw him and then climbed over to give him a hand. Wanted him onboard. Such a tiny detail.

My view on Hinkley: there isn't enough difference to me between Sirhan killing RFK (and getting no parole possibilities) and Hinkley wrecking Brady's life (and allowing the possibility of parole). This is leaving out everything else: Reagan, mental illness, cost to society. Also, would you want him living in YOUR neighborhood? Then why think someone else should feel safe? It also sounds like there is no agreement on whether he is "cured" enough to be safe. How about handcuffing Hinkley and Manson to the same pole and letting them deal with it. Oh, okay: I guess we must forgive (but we also get to keep regular people safe).

Laura Novak

12/1/2011 01:57:12 am

V-A I would like to hear more about this as well. Can it be argued that the SS is now better equiped to keep a POTUS safe?

The Tao, I understand. Though I don't think it would argue that in the case of child abuse.

Speaking of...I caught the tail end of a piece on NPR. Are the suits starting in PA?

Ottoline, that is a very funny line. I too wonder about the Sirhan Sirhan difference - perhaps death versus life. But your final thought is amusing.

Tom

12/1/2011 02:40:55 am

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/1st-penn-state-abuse-suit-accuser-15062206#.Tteen3M4Oxx

Ottoline

12/1/2011 02:54:47 am

Thx for link, Tom. The video outlines the 8th victim: I wonder if
(1) the victim has proof, like a contemporaneous diary or confidant, or will it be "he said/he said";
(2) how did Sandusky threaten the family, and what proof;
(3) did "going to games" mean crossing state lines?

Re the $1.5M donation, it's a step in the right direction, but laughably little money. I bet someone can give us a ballpark cost of therapy over the years? For 8 victims? For 100 victims?

And what about punitive damages? And legal fees? Geez. Get real, Penn State.

Tom

12/1/2011 03:15:07 am

'Get real' applies to all large and huge entities that try to somehow right a wrong. Wars, disasters, collateral damage (innocent victims but it's okay because we're the USA and we're exce3ptional forgetting that nothing's real until it's personal--see our 'shock and awe' response to 9/11, FEMA/New Orleans etc.

I'm not defending PSU. They covered something up and but we don't know the details. I continue to be angry at the vilification and crucifiction of Joe Paterno, especially by the ESPN hypocrites. It's times like this that I wish I was a very powerful and wealthy man.

Ottoline

12/1/2011 03:24:33 am

Sandusky's lawyer sure is persuasive (see the 2nd or 3rd video in Tom's link). I can see how Sandusky might be innocent! This reminds me of my conflict re the Palin hoax BEFORE I realized what the Mar 14 (and other) photos meant. At some point, we will get a touchstone piece of truth that will tell all (like the Palin photos do).

The naked bear hugs puzzle me, though: I have never in my life showered with a teacher/coach, nor been hugged naked (except explicitly sexually), not even by my parents, post infancy. Are boys' shower rooms different?

Tom

12/1/2011 03:53:19 am

@Ottoline--My Catholic grade sachool in NJ was run by a heavy-handed Monsignor. All the other parishes in our bery populated area had basketball teams that competed in their own league--except our school. The Monsignor insisted that we have teams within our school (the smell of Sandusky), six teams comprised of 6th to 8th grade boys.

In the basement of our school there's a boiler room that also had (still has I'm told) a shower area in it). After games we had to shower there. The Monsignor would place a chair near the shower and take the towels from certain boys (not me) and dry them off. It seemed weird but it was all we knew. He was the Monsignor (I was in 6th to 8th grade from 1962-64 as a frame of reference). So he had us all to himself (see The Second Mile).

The monsignor came from a wealthy NJ family that owned a couple of amusement piers in Seaside Heights, NJ (yeah the same place where they video the incredibly stupid Jersey Shore show that is about as unrepresentative of my Jersey shore as I can imagine (I mean, I don't even know who those people are outside of South Philly and the cast of 'Saturday Night fever'). From time to time the Monsignor would choose three boys (not me) to take to Seaside with him, free rides, day off from school, privilege, the whole bit.

Long to short, the Monsignor was most certain;y a pedophile (are there degrees to pedophilia or is it like the word 'unique' as in unique is unique is unique, no more, less or greater). Neralt fifty years have passe and of course we all know that the MOnsignor was a bad person but at the time he was revered and feared. He was in charge and there was no question of his authority (family money didn't hurt). So there's an instance of how the pedophile's mind works and how they manipulate to sate their sickness.

Aside, I was a really good basketball player and would have been better had we competed against the other Catholic grade schools. You know how that works, better competition and all. Not part of the Monsignor's plan though. Had to keep his sick behavior in-house. That's what they do.

Ottoline

12/1/2011 06:28:10 am

Tom -- I'm so saddened by what you, too, had to go through as a child.

I wish some of you would watch and comment on the video of Sandusky's lawyer defending him. I'm really puzzled by it. It's the last of the videos on the link Tom gave us above (and copied here):

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/1st-penn-state-abuse-suit-accuser-15062206#.Tteen3M4Oxx

If one believes Sandusky's lawyer's defense of him, that's the best explanation yet IMO of Paterno saying "witch hunt" not once but twice in an early tv interview (which I can't find).

Tom

12/1/2011 08:53:07 am

@Ottoline--I really didn't go through anything, Ottoline, but I'm sure some boys did. Grade school was so long ago, done in '64, and the Monsignor's behavior wasn't a subject I would have brought up in high school. Besides, the teen years are very distracting. We knew his behavior was a bit unusual and odd but he was the Monsignor and we weren't aware that was he was doing was sick. It's just waht he did. Most of us were jealous that we weren't selected to go to the shore with him. We weren't a favorite.

His behavior is common knowledge thesedays and has been fopr a long time now, though after his death. He was probably a fifty year old or so man back then. When all the lawsuits arose awhile back I don't think he was mentioned but may have been. Some strange men hide in the priesthood. Try Umberto Eco's novel, 'The Name of the Rose', set at a 13th Century +/- Benedictine monastery in Italy. There's a few Franciscan brothers thrown in for good measure. You want sad, try 'Songs in Ordinary Time' by Mary McGarry Morris. That family's Catholic experience resonated with me for sure.

About the video, you disagreed with me before but McQueary's memory of exactly what he witnessed is crucial. And what MM told JOe and subsequently Curley, the AD, and Schultz whose office was in charge of the large and armed and state mandated real police (campus) force. Wish I could find a study on our memories and how recollections of important things change over the years. It was revealing.

And one more thing for the Joe haters at this blog, the hit and run finger pointers/lynch mob (how many of you accusers have read my suggestion 'The Oxbow Incident' by Walter Van Tilburgh Clark about what today is called 'groupthink' and the danger of it--yeah, what I thought--lynchem then learn the truth, ignorant f'ers), Joe said "In hindsight, I wish I'd done more." 'Wish' not 'should have' or 'could have' done more.

Laura Novak

12/1/2011 09:35:00 am

I agree Tom, that it's sad to think that you were subjected to that Monsignor, but were not one of the "lucky ones." How lucky you truly were.

I've read of parents who felt suspicious about that sort of thing and would not let their sons go on the special trips with the priests. Having grown up in the Protestant church, it's difficult for me to fully appreciate the hierarchy or the admiration for a minister. We just weren't raised to hold them up on a pedestal. But I can see how it happened in the Catholic Church.

Your story reminds me of my own in a public school in Mass. in 7th grade. The very butch gym teacher, a woman with a mustache, would make us come out of the shower and open our towels to her and show her that we were wet. The idea, I suppose was to show that we hadn't skirted the water and had actually rinsed off - as if that really did anyone any good after sweaty activities.

I only told my parents as an adult and they laughed and couldn't believe it. Was I suspicious then? Well, I thought it creepy. But she was such an angry nasty woman, we lived in fear of her. And it simply never occurred to me to say to anyone "I don't want to do this." Nor would my parents have ruffled any feathers. So I can truly understand how in a situation that allotted MUCH more adherence and worship to a particular person (priest) there would be much less fighting against their wishes.

Very very sad indeed. And you are of course right: the Penn State story is far from over. Thanks for sharing these links.

Sherryn

12/1/2011 12:48:42 pm

@Tom, My husband was in a Catholic High School in Philadelphia from 1973 to 1976, and there were several victims of Clergy Sexual Abuse from this one school during those years. He escaped the physical part, but witnessed, as I did, the psychological manipulation these criminals used. They'd close the two doors to the room and say "What goes on in this room, stays in this room".
My husband was "invited" to weekend canoe trips one of the perps often sponsored, he'd need to get permission slips from the parents, who thought nothing of signing them. Long to Short, six years ago, one of my husband's friends joined the suit, we saw his name on a website the Archdioceses maintaines, without mention of the cases particulars.

http://archphila.org/protection/Updates/update_main.htm and this man eventually bared his soul to my husband.

He had repressed so many memories, and his parents (devout Irish Catholic), trusted and befriended the Priest all those years, until their son finally sued, and was awarded, a "settlement". They're now in their late seventies, and feel overwhealming guilt even though their son understood and forgave them years ago.

Despite all he went through, he's happily married and a father of three, but it's taken a lot of counselling and courage to face the repressed memories. Unfortunately, the Priest was shuffled from state to state, eventually retired and died a natural death.

Who knows how many didn't come forward, who knows what demons they were left to face? Who knows how many self medicated, or met worse fates.

I'm so glad you escaped that fate, and you're right, the teen years back then, we're all busy, self absorbed, focused on our studies and we're somewhat oblivious to what seems innocent, but isn't that's happening around us.

Ottoline

12/1/2011 11:39:52 pm

In an interview with a blogger here

http://chrisgworld.blogspot.com/2011/12/my-interview-with-shailey-tripp.html

Shailey Tripp speaks to the issue of a media blackout on the Palin Hoax: " . . . 3 reporters have wanted to cover this story. But later came to me and told me outright that the people who owned the paper refuses to go with the story and will not let it go to print. I have emails to back up what I am saying."

Tom

12/2/2011 01:07:34 am

@Sherryn--I'd had forgotten about a particular priest in high school. This is almost comical. This priest, a biology teacher, was also the Athletic Director (which made no sense until you understand his motive). The AD office was right next to the gym. I only recall one instance but he'd have certain students with musculature (once again, not me) come to his office for a closed door meeting. He liked to feel these muscled male students muscles (not that muscle). Guess he felt that his biology teacher/AD position made this instructive somehow (anatomy). We used to chuckle. We knew.

sunny link

12/2/2011 09:22:39 am

Just wanted to say how much I appreciated your quote from the Tao.
I loved it....love the entire concept it lays out so poetically.
Thank you for posting it here. It filled me with admiration.

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