Friends Report on August 14, 2009

SOME FEEDBACK:

SPARTY - I asked his opinion on whether, at some point, the problem with the lying and vicious political behavior of those who have sold out to private interests, simply rises to the level of sin.

His thought provoking answer:

"In a nation founded, in part, on the separation of church and state it's difficult to impose judgments such as "sinfulness" on those we disagree with. The behavior of the wackos at these public "forums: does violate my personal code of morality. I suppose my sense of morality is based in large part on the religious environment that I've lived in for most of my life, but I'd like to think that even without religious teaching I would understand my obligation to help others, to sacrifice for the common good. But I see people who have no religious affiliation and those who go to church 8 days a week taking positions that I consider "immoral" so maybe religious concepts such as "sin" and "damnation" and "salvation" have no relevance in the public discourse.

It occurs to me that the18th century concept of public virtue is something we'd do well to revisit."

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MARSHA - at the University of South Carolina:

"Renovating a building on the Horseshoe - (that is, the old original campus) - last week construction workers found human bones and bone fragments. Possibly these are the result of amputations performed when the Union used our campus buildings as a hospital during the Civil War. I love this stuff!"

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DASHMANN - Writes about what's wrong with Congress.

"I believe the town hall meetings are exposing a basic distrust of our Congresspeople and Senators by the general populace. These people vote where the money is and where their party stands instead of [where]their consciences take them. Why should every vote by one party be 95% for and the other party be 95% against? The two party system does more damage to voter trust than any other thing. A good example is sending our young people to their deaths in Iraq. The Republicans voted 95% for it and the Democrats voted 95% against it. This was a conscience decision as are many others. 60- 40, 40 - 60 in each party should have been the maximum split if these people were doing their jobs properly. This is why the general public has NO trust in Congress."

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SCOT : on the airlines:

"The airlines are, collectively, the worst customer-oriented businesses in the United States. There are good people working at some, but excellent service, timely arrivals, and hassle-free flights are the exception rather than the rule. And this nonsense about paying for your checked bag is absolutely unbelievable. The first checked bag should be included in the ticket price, and the law should require that."