Reply #42: you make a legitimate point. [View All]

[pop goes the weasel]

DK does come off as flaky sometimes. But I have to wonder if that may simply be that we, as a society, need to re-evaluate how we interact with the world around us. The media image pushes "sophisticated" and "rational" and "clear-thinking." But who had the sophistication, the clarity, the reason to see in 2002 that there was no evidence for the existence of WMD in Iraq? Look, I'm an atheist, and sometimes DK just leaves me shaking my head, but I appreciate a person who is actually able to employ rules of logic in dealing with evidence, especially when lives are on the line. If DK is flaky, then we need a lot more of that sort of flakiness.

Yes, the Department of Peace sounds like a flaky idea, too, on the face of it. When I first heard of it, it was on a bumpersticker, and I just thought it was a bumpersticker idea to get people to think about peace. But damned if DK didn't actually have a policy to back it up, and good logical reasons for it too. Why shouldn't the federal government be putting resources into non-violent conflict resolution? Why not address issues before they become violent problems? If that is flaky, call me flaky too.

So DK says he wants to put his hands on the nation and heal it. Well, good for him. He's a warm-hearted human being who speaks out of his particular spiritual tradition. It is possible to play up that tendency as a positive rather than a negative. Look, here's a vegan who wants to help small livestock operations, not close them down. Talk about a uniter, not a divider! You love Dennis? It's obvious that he loves you back! Now really, what's so flaky about love?