Insert a Trite Metaphor for a Corral

Posted on April 3, 2005 in Roundup

This roundup covers the week of 27 March to 2 April 2005.

Odd: in the week following Easter, the ancient pagan celebration of the Dawn and the Christian feast of the Resurrection of Christ, two stories about death occupied the attention of many bloggers: Terri Schiavo and John Paul II. If you have visited this blog, you have read my takes on these two stories. What follows is a short list of commentators and what they said about each event:

Terri Schiavo

• Kimber gritted her teeth:

Clint Eastwood was rewarded for telling us that if you’re physically disabled your life is worthless. Terri Schiavo’s husband is being castigated for trying to fullfill what he felt his wife’s wishes would be, to discard the physical shell once the soul/mentality inside was gone.

• chari posted a picture of Terri when she still had a mind.
• Jeremy asked his readers to resist feeding in the media frenzy.
• Mileah chewed out Mr. Bush and the media circus encamped around the hospice.
• Jeanne felt the plight of the Schiavo family was none of her business.
• Steven found himself wondering why God did not intervene to help Terri Schiavo.
• Andrea the Serial Deviant hoped the Schiavos and the Schindlers would let Terri rest in peace. Amen.
• Andrea the Shameless Agitator thought that Terri Schiavo was robbed of her right to die with dignity.
• Rachel neither wanted to live nor die like Terri Schiavo did.
• Rae wondered why it was that

Scott Peterson sentenced to death by lethal injection for killing his wife and unborn son, but Terry Schiavo, who committed no crime, is starved to death? At least Peterson will get a last meal of his own request. Terry just gets a tube removed and let her linger for ten days or so. Who’d want to be the nurse that checked up on THAT?!?!? Why not give Terry the same consideration we give murderers and if her life is to be ended, to truly do it mercifully?

John Paul II

• Joe described himself as ambivalent about the passing of John Paul II.
• Francis said “Requiescat in pace, Karol Wojtyla. Which is more than you ever wished for me.”
• Billmon resisted the temptation to label the papacy of John Paul II as a failure.
• Julia rejected the political alliances that the late Pope made, but believed in his respect for life.
• LQ shared her favorite quote.
• Steven felt that a great saint had entered heaven.
• Hell’s Kitchen dismissed John Paul II as a homophobe.

Politics

• Billy listed the American dead in Iraq and Afghanistan for March. “Compassionate conservatism my ass!” he concluded.
• Jeremy felt that the impending collapse of civilization may not be a bad thing.

Culture

• Randy evaluated the reasons for the rise of obesity in Brazil.
• Deb was moved by the story of Ashley Smith.
• H. Lad thought a local reporter gave entirely too much attention to a blogger who was having an affair with a married man. In despair, he wrote:

I have come to the point where I realize that I can’t do it alone. The public doesn’t want Hamburger Lad. To them, I’m just a slimy mollusc to be trod upon. If I’m going to win their ear, I must hide myself. I must wrap myself in sensation, something to draw in a people daily bombarded by words and images. So, if I can’t beat them, I will join them. I can use the Bellevue Reporter as a guide. They want adultery? Very well, adultery is what I shall give them.

Um, that is, if I can find a mistress.

• Teresa extolled a new fusion of television and the Internet.

Religion

• Tracy evinced her fear of the Christian takeover of the American media:

I am deathly afraid of the Evangelicals. I refuse to call them Christians and I refuse to call them Right. Refusing to acknowledge their existence at all has not worked, so, my being the type that can do something only all the way or not at all, have to take the side of action. I cannot be silent. I cannot look the other way. I cannot pretend to not notice.

• etherealfire sifted through the different kinds of “uni” churches.

Personal

• maria has been trying to write a screenplay:

I am stuck because I have no story to tell. Telling stories requires a profound faith in the power of narrative. As it turns out, when it comes to narrative, I am an atheist.

• Pam has been feeling “doomed”:

I love teaching, but it just seems like it’s going to continue to be too much of a stuggle to make a living at it here. I don’t get paid enough to live on with what I make now and no one on the administrative side of things seems to think that what I do is worthy of a living wage.

• shelli is dealing with the consequences of posting pictures of herself:

Over the years I have received through comments different names: slut, whore, bitch and even my favorite classic your the biggest idiot on the net. One just one, I was unable to come up with a response too and it was some guy saying he wanted to lick my picture. Flattering as it might seam what do you say to that? Over the years I can say one thing I have been true to who I am.

• Lauren deals with a different sort of unpleasant fame:

I’ve had a bit of paranoia lately about the blog and about people recognizing me on the street, especially since my full name is more visible now than ever and because I’ve gotten email from several people on campus inquiring about me. I’ve only been approached about this blog by one person and it was an uncomfortable experience.

• doug has had a change of scene

So somehow my house has become an installation. (I can see so from where I am.) But still livable, and that’s cool. Very cool; an achievement of a sort. Even if off the Better Homes and Gardens radar (fine!) and too big for the dread Walker.

• Francis clued his readers on how to be serene:

I’ve come to the conclusion that the key to my having a satisfying life is to be happy at whatever geographic coordinates I find myself at during each and every moment, as opposed to wishing that I were somewhere else out of regret or anticipation.

• Kathryn forgot her wedding anniversary.
• Stu talked about Airplane Noise Reduction.
• Brian mourned moving his daughter out of a daycare program.
• M Luminous began to write about her trip to Seattle.
• John experienced a weird web problem.
• Kris returned from a three week hiatus and celebrated the accomplishment of her housemates.

Visual Art

• Natalie: April Tango Mood
• Coup de Vent: Spring
• Victoria: Theme Thursday

Poetry and Fine Prose

• Theodore: Acting a Fool
• Michael: Trains
• Nancy: Hot Season

Web Links

• Net Disaster
• Longmire does Romance Novels