My point is not to criticize those who plan to picket this asshole's funeral, turnabout is fair play. My point is exactly what it seems to be: to say that nobody will remember this asshole because that is what his life has earned him, and the indifference to his funeral of the overabundant majority of people on earth provides a fitting premonition. I happen to think there are better places to dance than on his grave, but as one of the queers he made the world a more hateful place for I don't begrudge anybody who thinks differently on the matter.
> [N]obody will remember this asshole because that is what his > life has earned him. . .
It may well be what his life has "earned" him (though I also believe that "justice" -- poetic, divine, or legal -- is a social construct and imperfectly realized at best, and I certainly don't believe in Karma or in rewards/punishments after death.
But he'll be remembered all right, as an extreme specimen of a certain kind of angry religious fundamentalist. And there will be (are) more where he came from.
I don't doubt that there will be more where he came from, that's for sure, but I honestly don't think he will be remembered by many or for long. He didn't accomplish anything lasting, and his hate is just not that interesting.
> I don't doubt that there will be more where he came from, that's for sure. . .
From the crystal ball of the sci-fi canon (I just happen to be reading this stuff):
------------------ Jason jabbed a forefinger on North America, ran it around the Great Lakes and partway down the Eastern seaboard. 'OK, here's my country, was yours. The United States, as we still call ourselves. Not exactly "sea to shining sea" anymore. "From St. Lawrence to the Keys" never quite caught on, and even that's hard to hold. . .'
He opened his fingers like dividers and straddled the continent. 'West Coast. . .' He sighed. 'La-la Land. They got a rival claim in to be the successor state, so diplomatically we don't get on, but. . . we're the best of friends. . .' He brought the heel of his palm down on the middle of America, masking off a large area between the Appalachians and the Rockies. '[. . . c]ompared with how we get on with the rest. The Mormons, the militias, the fundies, the White Right, the Indians -- name it, we lost to it.'
'Yeah, well,' Myra said. 'I had heard.'
'Lucky for us,' he went on, 'they're a bit down on scientists. They got oil and minerals, all right, but with Flood Geology they won't find much of it. . . Speaking of which, we and our La-la friends got all the aerospace and comp-sci and nuke tech experts. At least, we got the ones who didn't die trying to convince some hick inquisitor with a mains supply and a jump-lead that they really, really didn't know where the alien bodies were buried. Or where the crashed saucers were stashed.'
'You're kidding.'
'I wish. Turned out more people believed in the UFO cover-up than ever believed in the Jewish bankers. When they got their hands on some of yer actual **eevill guvmint scientists** . . . you can imagine the fun they had. . . Some of the scientists confessed. In astonishing detail. Names, dates, places, A-to-Z files.' . . .
Myra smiled. . . waved a cigarette. . . 'Any of it true?' She laughed uneasily. 'I've sometimes wondered. . .'
Jason blinked, shook his head. 'Oh, no. Total corroborative hallucination. Like alien abductions, or witches' sabbats. **They'd** heard the stories too, see? Hell, maybe some even believed it themselves, who's to say? . . .'
My point is not to criticize those who plan to picket this asshole's funeral, turnabout is fair play. My point is exactly what it seems to be: to say that nobody will remember this asshole because that is what his life has earned him, and the indifference to his funeral of the overabundant majority of people on earth provides a fitting premonition. I happen to think there are better places to dance than on his grave, but as one of the queers he made the world a more hateful place for I don't begrudge anybody who thinks differently on the matter.
ReplyDelete> [N]obody will remember this asshole because that is what his
ReplyDelete> life has earned him. . .
It may well be what his life has "earned" him (though I also
believe that "justice" -- poetic, divine, or legal -- is a social
construct and imperfectly realized at best, and I certainly
don't believe in Karma or in rewards/punishments after death.
But he'll be remembered all right, as an extreme specimen of a
certain kind of angry religious fundamentalist. And there will
be (are) more where he came from.
I don't doubt that there will be more where he came from, that's for sure, but I honestly don't think he will be remembered by many or for long. He didn't accomplish anything lasting, and his hate is just not that interesting.
ReplyDelete> I don't doubt that there will be more where he came from, that's for sure. . .
ReplyDeleteFrom the crystal ball of the sci-fi canon (I just happen to
be reading this stuff):
------------------
Jason jabbed a forefinger on North America, ran it around the
Great Lakes and partway down the Eastern seaboard. 'OK, here's
my country, was yours. The United States, as we still call
ourselves. Not exactly "sea to shining sea" anymore.
"From St. Lawrence to the Keys" never quite caught on, and
even that's hard to hold. . .'
He opened his fingers like dividers and straddled the
continent. 'West Coast. . .' He sighed. 'La-la Land.
They got a rival claim in to be the successor state, so
diplomatically we don't get on, but. . . we're the best
of friends. . .' He brought the heel of his palm down on the
middle of America, masking off a large area between the
Appalachians and the Rockies. '[. . . c]ompared with how
we get on with the rest. The Mormons, the militias, the
fundies, the White Right, the Indians -- name it, we lost
to it.'
'Yeah, well,' Myra said. 'I had heard.'
'Lucky for us,' he went on, 'they're a bit down on scientists.
They got oil and minerals, all right, but with Flood Geology
they won't find much of it. . . Speaking of which, we and
our La-la friends got all the aerospace and comp-sci and
nuke tech experts. At least, we got the ones who didn't die
trying to convince some hick inquisitor with a mains supply
and a jump-lead that they really, really didn't know where
the alien bodies were buried. Or where the crashed saucers
were stashed.'
'You're kidding.'
'I wish. Turned out more people believed in the UFO cover-up
than ever believed in the Jewish bankers. When they got their
hands on some of yer actual **eevill guvmint scientists** . . .
you can imagine the fun they had. . . Some of the scientists
confessed. In astonishing detail. Names, dates, places,
A-to-Z files.' . . .
Myra smiled. . . waved a cigarette. . . 'Any of it true?'
She laughed uneasily. 'I've sometimes wondered. . .'
Jason blinked, shook his head. 'Oh, no. Total corroborative
hallucination. Like alien abductions, or witches' sabbats.
**They'd** heard the stories too, see? Hell, maybe some
even believed it themselves, who's to say? . . .'
-- Ken MacLeod, _The Sky Road_
Chapter 10, "Forget Babylon"
====
;->