[lit-ideas] Re: U.S. superlatives (was Victor Hanson in Iraq)
- From: "Mike Geary" <atlas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2006 07:59:15 -0600
DMcE:
Please explain. What ought to be (or is) the "brightest light in the
harbor"
(sic?)
What are you siccing? 'Harbor'? You want me to waste a vowel as you
profligate Brits do? I have my principles. And as a American in the proud
tradition of Benjamin Franklin my principal principle is thriftiness. A
penny saved. Waste not. Etc. Albeit, Benjy was himself waistful, he
verbally lean.
"What ought to be (or is) the brightest light in the harbor," you ask. The
brightest light is, ipso facto, the brightest light. Which part of that
sentence don't you understand? Had you ever seen a harbor at night, you
would have seen many lights, (like the thousand points of light which
watch-my-lipsy Daddy Bush used to call for -- charitably, of course, trying
to help the downtrodden rich lest they should be required to fork over some
of their hardly earned money) and you would have noticed that some of the
lights are brighter than others. Why? More voltage perhaps. Less
electrical resistance through the filament due to the physical
characteristics of the filament. Illumination by arcing as opposed to
resistance. Cleaner lens. Etc. It doesn't matter why, they're brighter
just because they're brighter. As Popper would no doubt say, we're not
asking why some are brighter, only whether some are brighter -- or appear to
be brighter. The answer is yes and the rest belongs to metaphor.
Please make your explanation free of bullshit. Just for Christmas' sake.
As you can see, I have acceded to your wish. Merry Christmas,
Mike Geary
Memphis
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