dagblog - Comments for "Willard Scissormitts"

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Richard Day — Sun, 13 May 2012 21:27:37 +0000

Your observation about the

moat — Sun, 13 May 2012 02:15:16 +0000

In reply to I remember the Romneys that

Your observation about the different social classes who resisted the change at that time is a window to how the conservative elites were able to find common cause with many blue collar workers when the alliance didn't make a lick of sense in pragmatic terms.

We did win a lot of the cultural wars. In regards to the look of construction workers, it should be noted that the blue collar world changed a lot when an increasing number of liberally educated people didn't go into "professional" careers but became trades persons instead. As we say in the trade, "construction is where philosophers go to die."

P.S. The Ed Harris character

artappraiser — Sat, 12 May 2012 10:45:10 +0000

In reply to I remember the Romneys that

P.S. The Ed Harris character in Apollo 13 struck me as an excellent example of what the anti-long-hairs (and not-raised-by-Dr Spock) majority thought of as the ideal edjumacated male; if you had to be a highly edjumacted male, he was what you should be:

I remember the Romneys that

artappraiser — Sat, 12 May 2012 04:23:31 +0000

In reply to I have been checking out the

I remember the Romneys that surrounded me not caring about sexual orientation so much as seeing my "effeminate" appearance as a threat to their sense of privilege. People like me were screwing up the special status males should have

You call it like it was in my experience

In Wisconsin "long hairs" were only safe in Madison and the East Side of Milwaukee (and if you were a "freak" in high school anywhere else in the state, you better not try to venture out of the protection of your tiny little tribe.)

We didn't have that many Romney types seeking to attack, though, just construction workers and other blue collar defenders of the male crew cut ethos. (Also too any cheese state types with higher education--or of a social class of Romney type--were likely to have long sideburns or other facial hair, which made them suspect as possible liberals sympathetic to some long hair causes!)

To this day, I am still gleeful when I see male construction workers with long hair and wearing an earring; when that started happening, it said to me: "we won!"

I have been checking out the

moat — Sat, 12 May 2012 02:58:20 +0000

In reply to Well he lost my vote.

I have been checking out the "conservative" reactions to the report during the day and they have been climbing over themselves like fevered gerbils to either discredit, diminish, or divert the reporting of the event. Maybe their efforts will make the whole thing go away. But all that energy is an admission that they cannot defend the action as such. It is too cowardly to spin into a virtue. So many of the narratives in our books and films revolve around guys like that meeting their comeuppance in a spasm of rude justice.

The part where Romney says it never occurred to him that the victim was gay is plausible to me. Having been a young man with long hair in that time period, I remember the Romneys that surrounded me not caring about sexual orientation so much as seeing my "effeminate" appearance as a threat to their sense of privilege. People like me were screwing up the special status males should have.

Very cool story, like

PeraclesPlease — Fri, 11 May 2012 21:08:28 +0000

In reply to I remember, while reading it,

Very cool story, like Buddhist koan or Sufi tale. Or story of Job - why me?

In war often the weakest link is the most dangerous - people do die, and take others with them - anything you can do to pull up the last of the pack pays off. If the last becomes the first?

I imagine this technique was used often - eye opener & shock for the naturally endowed, inspiration for the laggards.

That's a powerful story and

Michael Maiello — Fri, 11 May 2012 19:10:35 +0000

In reply to I remember, while reading it,

That's a powerful story and well told. I imagine, in that situation, with war breathing down your neck that you were in your own thoughts and that the others were too, and maybe even a little happy that Dinkins was there to take some of the heat off. It's hard enough in life to stop and try to consider what others are going through. When you've been conscripted to fight somebody else's war, the task must be Herculean.

I remember, while reading it,

A Guy Called LULU — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:32:45 +0000

In reply to I wasn't the most open-minded

I remember, while reading it, realizing that the few out kids at our school were incredibly brave.

This comment brings back a memory that I recount to myself occasionally. It has been a beneficial influence in my life like that book was for you. I can't say it has made me a better person but it has helped me notice some of the better people I might have otherwise overlooked.It isn't about a gay person, it is actually a war story, sorta, but I hope you will bear with me while I go off on a tangent about a person standing bravely alone in very trying circumstances. Like most gay people must have to do too many times in their life.
I took basic training at Ft. Polk Louisiana in early 1967. That was the time of the biggest buildup for what was soon to become the biggest deployment in what was that period's war that was necessary to save our country from something. I forget what, but never mind that. All our Drill Sergeants had already served a deployment. Of the main five, two were complete assholes, lifers of the worst kind, and although the other three also seemed to be the same most of the time, in retrospect I think they were actually just working hard at doing the job they had been given and probably felt a real obligation to do a good job in preparing us for what they knew we could expect. Their job didn't include any coddling.
There were quite a collection of trainees and the one featured in this reminiscence was a guy who was two inches taller than whatever the limit was [I forget those details] to fit within the physical parameters for draftees, but he had been drafted anyway. He stood with a big bow in his back though and his spine looked like it would pop through his luminescent skin. Maybe he hadn't thought to strain to stand straight at his induction physical. Maybe he had felt some obligation to answer the call. Who knows? He was extremely skinny and he was, if not actually an albino, very close to one. He was milky white except for his pink lips and pink eyes. Every joint stood out larger than every limb. And, as luck would have it, his name was Dinkins. He was also extremely shy. Dinkins seemed fated to get a world of shit and he certainly did.
Dinkins could not initially do a correct push-up or even a sit-up and he seemed to have a very hard time screaming,"Yes Drill Seargeant", as loud as they demanded. "I can't hear you, Dinky. Sound off you weak-ass pussy". "Yes Drill Seargeant". "Drop and give me ten you miserable momma's boy and count them off so that I can hear you".
Everyone got quite a bit of that, but Dinkins got a lifetimes worth, it seemed, every day. The jerk Drill Sergeants made everything as humiliating as possible and the others were never easy on him. As it went on for weeks I don't remember that many trainees gave him a hard time, just a few and just a bit that I saw, but I didn't ever feel any inclination to defend him, either. If I had I probably would have stifled the urge. I have never been brave and usually didn't even notice when the time for a bit of courage was called for in social situations until the moment has long passed.
I could go on with more examples of the physical and mental ordeal that Dinkins went through but I'll jump to the end. Somehow Dinkins passed all the physical tests required to go on rather than to another round of basic designed for those who failed first go-round. And, though I didn't recognize it at the time, he went through the entire ordeal with a quiet dignity.
The last day we spent in that unit before going on to our next training assignment, AIT for most, and at our last mess hall meal there, one of the Drill Sergeants called us to sitting attention and gave a short speech which I will try to describe in essence if not in exact quotes. He interrupted us about halfway though our meal and told us that he had been observing, for eight weeks, one of the strongest men he had known in his time in the army. If any of you demonstrate half the courage and character that this man has shown, he said, you will have a decent chance of being decent soldiers and coming home in one piece. The soldiers name is Dinkins [Maybe the first time one of them hadn't called him "Dinky"] and I am proud to have had him in my Platoon. Dinkins was glowing red in about a second. "The rest of you pussies sit at attention, look straight ahead, and shut the fuck up while Private Dinkins finishes his meal". The Drill Sergeant stood at parade rest until Dinkins, in a very short time, was finished. The Drill Sergeant then asked him if he wanted seconds. "NO, DRILL SERGEANT". "You are dismissed, good luck, soldier' He waited until Dinkins was out the door and then he said, "The rest of you pussies finish up on the double and get out of my sight".
If I hadn't heard that short speech at the end of basic I might never have noticed the significance of the way had Dinkins handled his situation. I was pretty wrapped up in my own feelings, I guess. At least that is the only excuse I can come up with.
I hope Dinkins made it and I hope life gave Mr. Dinkins some good breaks to balance the extra load it had given him to carry. And, I thank him for the example he gave us and the Drill Sergeant who made sure we noticed.

Well he lost my vote.

Donal — Fri, 11 May 2012 13:08:31 +0000

In reply to This is a very disturbing

Well he lost my vote. Seriously, though, right-wingers will like that he harassed gays, left-wingers will hate it, and I hope that enough independents will find it troubling to put him in a deep hole.

I wasn't the most open-minded

Michael Maiello — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:50:17 +0000

In reply to Although I agree with most of

I wasn't the most open-minded either until my girlfriend gave me this book. It turned me into a hardcore social libertarian. I remember, while reading it, realizing that the few out kids at our school were incredibly brave. I graduated high school in 1993, so we were tail-end Gen-X -- the generation that stopped finding "that's so gay," and acceptable substitute for "that's stupid."

I realize this is navel-gazing, but my point is that I do remember the evolution of my thoughts on the issue. And of course I have regrets over things I did, thought and said in high school. I'm sure we all do. I contend that Romney has failed to outgrow his youthful indiscretions, though. I bet he's still a bully. I don't think he minds "picking on the weak," or thinks that it's anything but a fact of life. I think that when Mitt gets into a physical altercation, at 15 or 50, he wants it to be 3 on 1 in his favor. Or, he's armed and his opponent isn't.

It's not just that there's no sincere regret or apology here, it's that this is his character. To quote my favorite Coen Brothers movie, "He's a balls to the wall businessman, he'll beat you any way he can."

The New York Times Magazine recently profiled a former Romney associate (Bain colleague) and current financial supporter who is writing a book about why income disparity is a good thing (the thesis is that the slight chance at excess financial reward promotes risk taking). This guy actually sneered at "art history majors," who he defined as people who have chosen a less competitive, less business-focused life. The guy actually looks down on artists, writers, poets, teachers and even doctors, lawyers and accountants. To these people, if you're not dressing the Bain way, and pursuing profit in the Bain manner, you don't have a life.

I'm now actually convinced that Romney is dangerous.