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I love this writer! I love Salon for hanging with Paglia despite some very grumpy readers who, from my perspective, either take her too seriously, don't see what she's about, or are so triggered by her (lately somewhat subdued) narcissitic vibrancy that they can't see her smarts.
Paglia has raised the question before about how appropriate it is for teenagers to be trapped in buildings where they strive to sit quietly and passively for most of the hours of the day. Having been myself a very good student, I had not previously bothered to think about how some of my well-loved but trouble-making classmates would have fared had they been in vocational programs instead. I'm a big fan of liberal arts education for all, but perhaps for some students that kind of education would be best delivered another way or at another time. It's hard to imagine how it would work, but I like very much that Paglia asks big cultural questions such as that.
Karl Rove makes me cringe--everytime I've heard him he comes across as the meanest person alive--but Paglia's comments about Cheney seem right on. He's the Darth Vader of them all.
And who are we liberals to be so confident that the Republican candidates didn't fare better with the American public than the Democratic candidates in the most recent debates? We were CERTAIN that Kerry and Edwards won their debates in the last election cycle. How could ANYONE watching those debates have thought otherwise? Liberals run the risk of being too arrogant to think that the American public wouldn't admire qualities that they don't. It's not smart NOT to pay attention to how the public (others) might be viewing the candidates...
I'd take Rosie any day over Donald. But oh well. Maybe they kind of deserve each other.
Thanks for a fun, thoughtful read. I was delighted to see Camille Paglia on the menu today!
