"Flip-It" , out of curiosity...Who is unsung? or Good?

[Koltar]

I know this is supposed to be Pundit's forum for re-capping and updating stuff from a year ago...but I gotta question here....


Pundit , in the recent one you say that Falwell and John Paul II are evil. Thats your opinion. (its alright - thats NOT topic I'm asking...)


RPG Pundit , What public figures or celbrities of the past 5 to 10 years or so do you think are GOOD! with a capital G ?

Which public figures or famous people don't get enough credit or notice (when maybe they should) in your opinion?


Just wondering the flipside of some of your rants and blog posts.

As in WHO are the "Good Guys" in your opinion or the ones that deserve more attention and credit from the past 10 years or less.


- Ed C.

[RPGPundit]

Good in what sense?

I could name you a lot of people who are competent people who are doing a good job in the world; but good in a more moral or spiritual sense?

Well, I'm an admirer of the Dalai Lama. Jimmy Carter. Desmond Tutu.

I think Al Gore is basically a very good guy, even if I sometimes have my doubts about whether he isn't overblowing or being too loose with the "facts" about climate change (not denying climate change, its obviously a fact and one of the greatest perils our civilization faces, just that I think Al might be taking some of the most extreme estimates and presenting them as certainties).

On a less vastly heroic scale, I'm a big admirer of Bill Maher, John Stewart, and Steve Colbert.

And thus far, I'm quite impressed with Barack Obama, though I certainly don't imagine he's some kind of saint.

RPGPundit

[Koltar]

Good in what sense?

I could name you a lot of people who are competent people who are doing a good job in the world; but good in a more moral or spiritual sense?

Well, I'm an admirer of the Dalai Lama. Jimmy Carter. Desmond Tutu.

Okay those three are as equally as well known  as public figures as Pope John Paul II.

"Good" in the sense that you called some very well-known individuals evil and such - just wanted to see your measuring stick for "good" as way of comparison.

By-The-way, I'm not looking for argument just trying to see what your gauge your spectrum or scale for such things and people.

Fpr example : There are 4 or 5 "celebrities" I'm trying to remember who do a LOT of charity work and other such good things - but they don't really seek publicity for these things. In interviews I saw the interviewer or reporter would try to let these people prmote themselves - and theywouldn't. Instead they would just talk about the charity, event or organization that they had been helping.

 Thin I was impressed because it was a refreshing to see that with people in that area.

- Ed C.

[John Morrow]

Well, I'm an admirer of the Dalai Lama. Jimmy Carter. Desmond Tutu.

What's the admire about Jimmy Cater?  How he handed Iran over to religious radicals that stormed the American embassy?  How he did nothing to stop or avert Lebanon's civil war or the Iran-Iraq war?  How he provoked the Soviet Union to invade Afghanistan and then responded to the invasion by boycotting the Olympics?  Just about every disaster in the Middle East today can be traced back to things Carter did or didn't do when he could have made a difference.

Or maybe it was the double-digit inflation?  The high unemployment?  The gas lines?  Decimating the military?  Yeah, after he left office he built homes with Homes for Humanity but he also gave credibility to murderous despots and undermined American foreign policy, not only during the Bush presidency but also the Clinton presidency.  And that's not even touching on the accounts many people have of his lies and dishonestly.

Or maybe you admire him because he let the Sandinistas take Nicaragua, given the soft spot that you have left wing Latin American radicals and revolutionaries?

I think Al Gore is basically a very good guy, even if I sometimes have my doubts about whether he isn't overblowing or being too loose with the "facts" about climate change (not denying climate change, its obviously a fact and one of the greatest perils our civilization faces, just that I think Al might be taking some of the most extreme estimates and presenting them as certainties).

You might want to talk to some people who have worked under Al Gore before assume he's such a swell guy.

On a less vastly heroic scale, I'm a big admirer of Bill Maher, John Stewart, and Steve Colbert.

While I think Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death was a funny movie, it really doesn't make up for how Bill Maher purposely dumbs down political debate when he doesn't like the direction a discussion is going.  The most hilarious example on Politically Incorrect was when he couldn't get Christopher Hitchens to stop calling Bill Clinton (his hero at the time) a rapist so when they came back from a commercial break, the topic was switched to something entirely superficial and non-political to shut Hitchens up.  Yeah, he's a real brave guy.

And thus far, I'm quite impressed with Barack Obama, though I certainly don't imagine he's some kind of saint.

Name for me three specific things that Barak Obama has that have impressed you.

[Koltar]

...although it looks like John is looking for an argument.
(I suddenly feel like I'm in an old Monty Python sketch)




- ed C.

[John Morrow]

...although it looks like John is looking for an argument.
(I suddenly feel like I'm in an old Monty Python sketch)

His choice of many of those people suggests a fairly shallow understanding of who they are and what they've done and I think that can be tied back to his admiration of Bill Maher, John Stewart, and Steve Colbert who provide superficial and one-sided takes on political issues.

You can find an interesting lecture by Evan Sayet, who used to work for Bill Maher, at the conservative Heritage Foundation titled "How Modern Liberals Think" on YouTube here.

[RPGPundit]

Name for me three specific things that Barak Obama has that have impressed you.

For starters, he's won the nomination.

Second, he's done more to motivate an entire generation of people to take up an interest in political issues than anyone had done in a long time.

Third, he's done all of this relying on rhetorical qualities and statesmanship, rather than dumbing himself down to appeal to ignorance or engaging in hate-based campaigning.

RPGPundit

[John Morrow]

For starters, he's won the nomination.

He probably will be he hasn't yet.

Second, he's done more to motivate an entire generation of people to take up an interest in political issues than anyone had done in a long time.

On what grounds are they motivated and why?

Third, he's done all of this relying on rhetorical qualities and statesmanship, rather than dumbing himself down to appeal to ignorance or engaging in hate-based campaigning.

Yes, that's pretty easy when the mainstream media is star-struck and throws you nothing but softballs, something that Saturday Night Live parodied to great effect.  Notice how awful the Clintons suddenly look once the press stopped throwing them softballs and overlooking their flaws.

His whining (and the whining of supporters) over his treatment in the Philadelphia debate and his overblown response to Bush's appeasement remarks in Israel suggests someone with a glass jaw who can't take a rhetorical punch.

Of course it's telling that none of your answers include anything that he's actually done in terms of legislation or policy.  Basically, all three answers are patting him on the back for being charismatic and getting people to follow him.  It doesn't say anything about whether he's a true visionary and will be a good President or whether he's a Pied Piper.

[Werekoala]

Wow, Pundit, you really ARE a card-carrying Leftist. And here I just thought you had it out for Christianity. Colbert? Stewart? Maher?

JIMMY CARTER?

:rolleyes:

[RPGPundit]

Just to balance it out, someone on the "right" that I admire greatly right now: Nicholas Sarkozy.

RPGPundit

[Koltar]

Hey Pundit - Thank You for answering my question.

You and I agree quite often on gaming stuff, politics maybe definitely not so much.

But thats okay.

 Gaming isn't about politics.

Just wanted to see who you liked, instead of who you dislike - as a sort of contrast.


- Ed C.

[droog]

Wow, Pundit, you really ARE a card-carrying Leftist.

He's a lightweight lefty liberal.