Letters to the Editor
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re: matt sanchez
and so now we know what all that spit was for!
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Various Matters -- Coulter
I love Bill Maher, but frequently cringe at how far he's willing to stoop for a laugh. I wouldn't blame any one specific target of his humor for reacting/responding, but I think we, as a group, leave ourselves open to charges of a double standard if we chuckle at Maher and react in horror to Coulter. We have our pit bulls, they have theirs.
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Drudgery
I wouldn't visit his website on principle alone. I couldn't believe when the Foley scandal broke he called the House pages "beasts". He basically argued that the pages were the real predators.
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The scales falled, the puzzle resolved (Part 1)
It is schoolyard bullying. Just like the name-calling, these are the tactics of children. That's what we see going on - these are children pretending to be adults. And it is not a joke, its only a joke until Coulter thinks she can get away with it, then she'll do it.
Its like Lord of the Flies. When the adults disappear, the children turn into monsters. When the adults return, the children go back to normal.
That's what is happening to this country. The adults are not explaining to Coulter why her behavior is wrong. She needs help understanding.
Her moral development has been arrested, this is what leads to her ethical failings.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Koh...ral_development
Kohlberg's six stages were grouped into three levels: pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional.[7][8][9] Following Piaget's constructivist requirements for a stage model (see his theory of cognitive development), it is extremely rare to regress backward in stages.[10][11] Even so, no one functions at their highest stage at all times.[citation needed] It is also not possible to 'jump' stages; each stage provides a new yet necessary perspective, and is more comprehensive, differentiated, and integrated than its predecessors.[10][11]
Level 1 (Pre-Conventional)
1. Obedience and punishment orientation
2. Self-interest orientation
( What's in it for me?)
Level 2 (Conventional)
3. Interpersonal accord and conformity
( The good boy/good girl attitude)
4. Authority and social-order maintaining orientation
( Law and order morality)
Level 3 (Post-Conventional)
5. Social contract orientation
6. Universal ethical principles
( Principled conscience)
Coulter has not made it past step 4. She needs help to get there, she needs it explained to her. She needs to learn how to use her words so that she can communicate to people who do not think like her; otherwise the frustration at "others" will drive her to eliminate "them."
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OT - small technical matter
Glenn, is there any way to make the links in your articles a bit more visible? I have a large screen, but find myself mousing around to find the blue underline I know must be there somewhere. A bit more contrast?
If not, no worries. So glad you're here, a bit of extra mousing is a small price to pay.
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Keep On Pushing
William Timberman:
Paul, the perverse use of law to defend tyranny is ancient, as I'm sure you know.
Absolutely. Which is what makes the Bush/Cheney/Rove accomplishment so remarkable. They seem to have come up with a whole new riff that no one in that long tradition has thought of before.
My point is a simple one, and not new, but it's as relevant today as it ever was. When the law disappoints, when the courts fail consistently to deliver justice, politics is the only thing which can restore the situation.
Absolutely, once again.
I further agree that the Democratic Party leadership structure is, for the most part, opposed to what must be done. They must be fought tooth and nail. Or better yet, involuntarily retired. Their obvious affection for Joe Lieberman over the wishes of Connecticut Democrats tells us everything we need to know about them.
Fortunately, there are so many GOP messes which afford us an opportunity to push the Dems to do the right thing. The more we do this, the more we gradually change the tone, decreasing the power and influence of those who stand against us.
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@sysprog
The difference between the NYTimes and the WaPo is that New York is a metropolitan city while Washington is a company town -- and that company changes management every four or eight years. If the Post stuck to a more liberal editorial policy, it would lose tens of thousands of subscribers to the Washington Times. Everyone who needed to know what was going on would still read the Post, of course, but it wouldn't take all that many defections to hurt the bottom line, especially these days. So they pander.
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The scales falled, the puzzle resolved (Part 2)
They do not see other minds. That is why everyone who disagrees has "Derangment Syndrome. In orthodox Islam, the only acceptable explanation for not Believing in Allah is insanity. Same dynamic; no conception of other minds. Sollipsim: for them, Hell is other people.
Many children with autism experience social alienation during their school-age years. As a response to this, or perhaps because their social surroundings simply do not "fit" them, many report inventing imaginary friends, worlds, or scenarios.[34] Making friends in real life and maintaining those friendships often proves to be difficult for those with autism.
Although not universal, behavioralability may be common, resultingin crying, verbaloutbursts, or self-injurious behaviors that seem inappropriate or without cause. Those who have autism may benefit from consistentroutines and environments, and they may react negatively to changes in their surroundings. It is not uncommon for these individuals to exhibit poorly modulated behaviors, increased levels of self-stimulatory behavior, self-injury, or extensive withdrawalin overwhelming situations.[citation needed] However, as an affected individual matures and receives specific socialization education and training, skill may be attained in the recognition of behavioral triggers and more appropriate means of coping will be available for difficult social circumstances.
Altemeyer has provided us with the frame we need to understand. Once I read it, the scales fell from my eyes - like Kant - and I saw the world a new. Paine saw the world a new - and he explained his vision in Common Sense - and then the colonists saw it too, and they began the world a new, as a democracy. Darwin did it, Huxley had the scales fall from his eyes; the zeitgeist can be moved.
Hitler saw the world a new. He believed all was possible, and no one explained to him that such is not the case. He was a child pretending at being an adult, he could not see other people as people, and was unable to realize his dream would be a nightmare for other people. There were no other people, only "them."
The ideologues in the movement, they are dreaming the world a new. It was not coincedence that Reagan started by quoting Paine:
"We Have it in our Power to begin the world a new"
That was code for the elite: "all is possible."
Now we understand Coulter and her ideological compatriots. We can explain to them, we can offer them the scaffolding, the tools, to make it past Step 4.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Ins...nal_scaffolding
Instructional scaffolding is the provision of sufficient supports to promote learning when concepts and skills are being first introduced to students. These supports may include:
Resources
A compelling task
Templates and guides
Guidance on the development of cognitive and social skills
These supports are gradually removed as students develop autonomous learning strategies, thus promoting their own cognitive, affective and psychomotor learning skills and knowledge. Teachers help the students master a task or a concept by providing support. The support can take many forms such as outlines, recommended documents, storyboards, or key questions
Someone put me in touch with Altemeyer. The key to uncode this behavior has been found; I can explain it, in volumes.
Through out the course of history, what we do not understand, we hate. Behavior we do not understand, we call a disease.
Autism is not a disease. It is a character trait of our species. To become human, we must learn to cope with our autism. That's the final piece of the puzzle Altemeyer missed. Read the Authoritarians, then read the character traits of autism.