BS-a Palooza
Not much new to report. People have been criticizing my few postings. Well, mocking is a more accurate term. The truth is, I guess, I'm just plain boring. I have nothing to post.
Today was a grueling day at work. Not as grueling as yesterday, but still quite exhausting. I won't bore you with all the details, and believe me, it would be pretty boring, but let me just say this - there's a lot of BS that gets flung all around Capitol Hill. I mean, come on - I'm just running an internship program. Where's the politics in that?? Right. So, yesterday I declared myself the Duke of BS. I'm definitely not the King, but I had to fling some around, both yesterday and today, in order to get things done.
Yep, can't wait till I get a full-time job there! (Sarcasm? You decide.)
posted by Seth at 5/04/2005 09:20:00 PM
6 Comments:
Mr. Seth, you are not boring. To prove it, I'm going to give you a challenge, and you're going to write what you think about it, which I'm sure is interesting. Ready?
Remember that Muslim US soldier who was court-martialed and convicted a couple of weeks ago for murdering as many of his own unit as he could? (I'd look up the name and put links, but this is a comment, not my own post, and I'm too lazy.) I remember hearing a report of his conviction that paraphrased the prosecution as painting him as, among other things, "more Muslim than American."
Well, I thought to myself, I consider myself more Jewish than American. Not that I'd shoot at American soldiers, Ch"V. Unless they were, say, attacking Israel, right? But would I join the US military in the first place?
So, here's the question to you, O Duke of Capitol Hill BS: Do you have, as some anti-semites might claim, "divided loyalties"? I assume your loyalty would be in the same place mine would be in if the US went to war with Israel, but what about the gray areas short of that? They, I assume, do come up in politics, right?
Suggestion: If you answer this one here, leave your last name off of this blog, so that people won't find this blog by Google and then not give you security clearance, or whatever.
10:59 PM
hi seth! i just saw your comment on my blog, returning the favor. i've actually checked out your blog a few times, but, to cannibalize a comment i left on david zacks' blog when he was hibernating, your blog reminds me a bit of pompeii. frozen in time. good to see you're back and blogging again, even if you have nothing to talk about (i have the same problem, and trust me, it doesnt stop me).
to address issac's issue, whoever he is, and however unrelated this issue is to your actual post, regarding dual loyalties alan derschowitz said it best. he's loyal to both the united states and israel, because both, in his mind, stand for justice. the minute he's forced to choose between the two it means that one of them has compromised it's values, and he'll just side with whichever one is on the right (in correctness, not political leanings)
6:00 AM
Menachem: This is the Blogosphere, man. It doesn't matter who I am.
Dershowitz's answer is a good one for a public figure like him, or maybe Seth when he becomes a Senator to use, but I think it's insufficient. First of all, are you in Israel because at the moment, it offers the kind of respect for justice with which you agree? No, I suspect there's more to it than that, probably for Dershowitz, too.
Secondly, I made the mistake of using attacks on the State of Israel too much in framing the question; what about the Jewish People (or some subset thereof) and the Torah? Is our loyalty to these entities dependent on how well they adhere to our concept of justice?
Seth, if you want to post something interesting, but don't want to post on this question, you could always post about why you don't want to post on this question.
8:15 AM
who said anything about dual loyalties? i'm loyal to israel "my country right or wrong." i keep my american passport only to breeze my way through customs.
yes, this is the blogosphere, but i still feel bad highjacking somebody elses blog to press an issue he didn't even address. why don't you start a blog, mister whoever you are, and discuss whatever issues you feel like?
10:07 AM
Menachem:
First, I apologize if my previous response, particularly the beginning, came off as testy or trivial. I meant it lightheartedly. I don't have any particular reason to conceal my identity; I just thought your "whoever he is" was funny, given the large number of annonymous commenters on other blogs. If you must know, you may glean from my previous comments on this blog that I am a current chavrutah of Seth's.
I never accused you of "dual loyalties." I only brought you up to indicate that many people are likely to have reasons other than "justice" to be loyal to Israel, particularly in the Torah and/or Zionist world. I sincerely congratulate you on making it so that the only country you really have to be loyal to is the Jewish one.
I really wasn't planning to press this issue. I only wanted to give Seth a suggestion for something I (and maybe some greater subset of his multitudes of readers) would be interested to hear him hold forth on, particularly because he'd already incorrectly disparaged his own "boring"ness. The only reason I sent a second (and now a third) comment about it is because you responded. Seriously, if Seth objects to this unauthorized, off-topic conversation going on on his blog, I'll cease and desist immediately.
2:08 PM
I think if we continue any more, he'll have to address it!
i didn't take offence, i wrote it proudly. i have monoloyalties!
8:30 PM
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