Excellence Rewarded, Assailed
By Mitch Berg
On the one hand, I always love stories like this – about a couple of rural Wisconsin brothers who restore and replicate Civil War artillery for a living – for their own sake.
Civil War buffs say the Paulsons, 66, are among the nation’s pre-eminent restorers of antique cannons…”We’ve been building cannons longer than anybody in America,” Bernie says.
“We’ve seen them come, and we’ve seen them go,” Bruce says.
“Everybody wants to come in and make money, and then all of a sudden they don’t last,” Bernie says…In the 1960s, they started making historically accurate artillery pieces. Eventually, they sold their farm-machinery business to focus on Civil War cannons.
I also like to ponder obvious offshoots of the stories – like “if the Hanson Brothers set foot on the campus of Hamline University, would they be arrested and held in a psych ward”?
One must ponder.
November 6th, 2007 at 6:33 am
The Hanson brothers? http://snipurl.com/1t7tr
I should hope so.
November 6th, 2007 at 10:34 am
After that, one (btw Mitch, as an English major, I thought you knew it’s considered pretty poor writing to use ‘one’ when referring to yourself).. anyway, not that I have any room to complain..
But, ONE must wonder (but only ONE) if these brothers were adjunct professors, and were seeking tenure, one must wonder whether the Conservative movement, including conservative student organizations would be protesting to prevent tenure for these folks if they didn’t embrace ID, or voice support for Global Climate change being a myth. You know Mitch,!, those same students you recently claimed don’t, in general, protest to get people removed from speaking engagements, don’t engage in free speech suppression.. THOSE students.
Or, they do, and your carp and whine about Hamline, or Macalister, points DIRECTLY back at you. Both sides of the political chasm, both extremists elements, the moonbats and you neo-kook hate mongers, BOTH of you are equally to blame for the ugly state of affairs. At some point you may take responsibility for it, but I’m not holding my breath. Til then…
‘Do as I say, not as I do” – words to live by, eh Mitch?
November 6th, 2007 at 10:53 am
I thought you knew it’s considered pretty poor writing to use ‘one’ when referring to yourself
Not “poor” as much as “anachronistic”. Or in this case “purposefully and ironically anachronistic”.
one must wonder whether the Conservative movement, including conservative student organizations would be protesting to prevent tenure for these folks if they didn’t embrace ID, or voice support for Global Climate change being a myth.
While using “one” as a subjunctive for “I” is admittedly and ironically anachronistic, writing in complete non-sequitur still just makes no sense.
Or, they do, and your carp and whine about Hamline, or Macalister, points DIRECTLY back at you.
Of course, Peev. EVERYTHING points directly back at me. Even things I don’t say! Point point pointy point!
You need to get another quick’n-cheap rhetorical crutch.
November 8th, 2007 at 11:27 am
one must wonder whether the Conservative movement, including conservative student organizations would be protesting to prevent tenure for these folks if they didn’t embrace ID, or voice support for Global Climate change being a myth.
Given the general political makeup of the majority of faculty members at almost every college campus in the entire nation (with the exception of places like Hillsdale, Christian colleges and military academies), I’d say worrying about moonbats getting denied tenure because of conservative protest is about as frivolous as worrying about the plan for global conquest by the Amish.
To further drag this post off topic and continue peev’s tangent, the recently squelched program at University of Delaware to enforce thought compliance for all student residents is particularly disgusting and just reeks of tyrannical fascism. Where’s George Orwell when you need him?