Since were on civics and such.

On Dec 24, 5:16 pm, Lazarus Cooke
wrote:

See 'Bad Men do what good men dream' by Robert Simon
http://tinyurl.com/8kgsj5

( the tinyurl thread a while ago, I don't click on what I can't
see, so all I'm going by is the title)

As far as the title goes, sure, I agree completely. We all have
unreasonable, wrong, evil thoughts, and it's good that we do not act
on (most of) them. That's the human condition, the whole reason for
Christmas. I didn't say that such desires are not understandable, just
that they are not reasonable.

But anyways, I'll second this:

Happy Christmas all Roffians!!

Merry Christmas, all.

Jon.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

Christmas Bells

I HEARD the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."

Lazarus Cooke wrote:
In article
,
wrote:

One of the better things I had sent to me this week.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0rQzUVQjd8

Chills the soul, the way those propaganda films from Germany in the 30s
do.

Those films, on the other hand, were often very beautiful, and Germany
had the advantage then of being arguably the most civilized country on
earth. The best music, much of the best writing, much of the best
philosophy.

One of the reasons I live in Europe is that I've never seen a
Frenchman, Italian, Irishman or Spaniard praise his/her flag, or argue
that his/her country was the best on earth (even though they probably
are).

This video displays floridly the overweening, priggish, ignorant
complacency that inspired those evil *******s to do what they did on
9/11. What they did was utterly wrong, but this video explains why it
was reasonable to want to do it.

L

you are not alone in your distaste for cinematic "mantras" and
ditto-speak, even in the guise and guile of a so-called u.s. cowboy poet.

still, though i do not have your experience with other nations, i don't
think such displays are unique to my country, nor is the ethnocentric
pride some folks feel compelled to express. one needs only watch the
olympics to be reminded of that fact.

my experience indicates folks in general have an attachment to their
home...even those living in an inhospitable desert or a frozen tundra.
however, for all its faults...and you might be surprised by the number
of us complacent, ignorant american prigs who know there are more than a
few...this is a remarkably decent country with a bounty of intelligent,
caring, hard-working people. our recent election offers some
proof...and, i think the next four years will show more of those
qualities. i think we often overlook the huge mountains of human value
abundant in america because we are consumed with focusing on the trash
in the ditch.

this past year, i've attended too many funerals of people i've known in
my community. at each sad occasion, i discovered i really knew little
about them. they each had amazing life stories they did not flaunt or
brag about or even make known to others outside their family. at their
funerals, their children and grandchildren talked about those stories.
i was bewildered by the fact that i had never seen that part of these
folks...but i know it was my own failure, not theirs.

jeff (who prefers lewis black's "poetry" over baxter's)

Jeff wrote - i think we often overlook the huge mountains of human
value
abundant in america because we are consumed with focusing on the
trash
in the ditch.

Joe the elder suggests-trash is bright and flashy-we don"t have to
slow down and think -it is thrown in our face every day !