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The Greek comedian Aristophanes had it right. The world
has been turned topsy-turvy and is off the charts when it comes to irrationality.
In the world of Aristophanes an illiterate sausage seller becomes the leader
of Athens, and a crusty down-and-outer rises to become king of the world,
albeit the world of birds. Neo-logic that is no logic prevails, and
scalawagism is the moral philosophy du jour.
As anyone who has seen the
movie “Crash” knows, Aristophanic disconnection from the world at large is
contagious. What it takes to knock some sense into our heads is a grand
collision, or crash, since only then do we realize that everyone is not like
us racially, ethically, politically or economically. Absent that, logic eludes
us and, as a result, we fly off to Cloudcuckooland, where, with bird-brained
bravado, we do very stupid stuff. I’m the first to admit that
I’ve never been invited to a Pimp ‘n’ Ho party, though I wouldn’t mind going,
if only to see what transpires at these events. On a very basic level, I have
no quarrel with prostitution. The profession has been around forever, and
some of the most endearing and altruistic characters in Greek and Roman
comedy are prostitutes. As their managers,
pimps, I suppose, do about as well as anyone, though their leechy
reputations are far from admirable. Nor am I opposed to bacchanals
or parties where people let loose and leave their Apollonian reason behind
for some Dionysiac revelry. Dionysus was, after all, the god of wine, and if
his worshipers want to go out and get looped, so what? And so what if kids want to go
to a party masquerading as pimps and whores, though it’s beyond me why they
would want to grant thematic relevance to the questionable parlance of black
rap. No, where logic fails and
Aristophanic fantasy takes over is when parents weigh in with the Last Word,
claiming that they’re outraged at the consequences of sending their daughter
off to a Pimp ‘n’ Ho party looking like a streetwalker. Hello? Do we really wonder why the
schools want to get involved in drug testing, or why sex education has to be
taught in a public school classroom? Have parental guidance, parental logic
and parental involvement in the lives of their offspring wafted up to the
world of ethereal bird droppings to the extent that it takes a colossal crash
with reality to understand what Pimp ‘n’ Ho means? Are there really parents
out there who are totally ignorant of the fact that the primary essence of
the pimp and whore business is sexuality, with drugs and booze running a
close second? If so, I have a bird
world that’s just waiting to be their kingdom. But those aren’t the only
brainwaves around here whose electricity has gone haywire. Donning their own Aristophanic
garb, the Democrats have entered stage right and are actually going to run
candidates against their formidable Republican foes in the November
elections. Sen. George Allen, who, according to a New York Times story, is
“bored” with his job in the Senate, will be a prime target. Using logic that only the
Democrats can muster, they are seriously considering running a Republican
against Allen. That’s right. Overcome by the loopy logic of Limboland, they
figure that the best way to beat Allen is to put a burka over the head of
James Webb and hope no one will notice that they’re running a Reaganitic
relic who endorsed Allen in his last election. If the Democrats indeed do
choose Webb to oppose Allen, expect the Swift Boaters to make mincemeat of
him in their flip-flop grinder and send him into Kerryesque oblivion. Crash! Closer to home, the Rural Lands
Committee has finally issued its report. Allegedly set up as a committee to
find ways to protect rural lands, the members evidently underwent their own
crash with landowners and developers and came up with the astounding
pronouncement that the best way to preserve what few rural lands remain is to
have the county run water and sewer lines to now undeveloped lands and thus
make them more palatable to the greens gobblers of the future. All this makes about as much
sense as the vibrations coming from the land solons over in Poquoson who,
despite Isabel’s pillage and flooding, want to open up waterfront property to
condo and business development.
Crunch! Finally, but no less obtuse, is
the apparently solidified stand taken by Williamsburg’s registrar relative to
allowing students at the College of William & Mary to register and vote.
Casting off his friendly-Al-the-students’-pal persona, David Andrews has now
upped the bar and will require DMV registration cards from students who want
to vote. And this, he says, to avoid “voter fraud.” Thus, while a college
junior can legally run for City Council, his prime constituency, and
presumably anyone renting space at Ruxton without a DMV registration card,
will be denied the right to vote for him.
Bam! And so it goes in the polarized
world of Aristophanes, where reason takes a hike and where the realities of a
unified society are unknown until some fender bender jolts our senses and
brings us back from the world of hoopoes and nattering crows. |
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lewleadbeater.com Copyright 2002 All Rights Reserved
email: LWL@lewleadbeater.com |
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