…”Mitch, why on earth did you write the character Avery Librelle?”
To which I respond “You mean, why did I create a ditzy, morally-flatlined person who seems to live in a world all hi…er, he…er, their own when it comes to the effects “progressive” policy have on real people?”
And my questioner responds “Yes! Exactly!”
And I answer “Because it’s not even close to fictional”.
These are the people who claim to be non-violent – but not only tacitly support “Anti”-Fa, but ponied up a million dollars to defend a former terrorist who’d become a Highland Park liberal with impeccable credentials.
These are the people who say out of one corner of their mouth they worship science (especially that dreamy Neil DeGrasse Tyson) but reject everything evolution has wrought in regard to, to pick one example, gender roles.
And they are the ones who wrap themselves in feminism, up to and including the notion of scrapping due process when a woman accuses a man of any level of sexual harassment, abuse or assault…
…but only the wrong men. Not the men that give us the legislation we like, or say the things we agree with.
On the other hand, Avery Librelle would have scoffed at the Strib’s letters to the editor about Garrison Keillor as being “too over the top”.
Selected quotelets about Keillor: “Tears came to my eyes as I awoke Thursday morning, still partly in a wonderful dream in which I was going to an “A Prairie Home Companion” show. Garrison Keillor and a Walter Cronkite-type character were in the front seat of our carriage and we were in the back….They had unique takes on the world today, and past — and wisdom, hope and jokes to offer for the present and the future. Then, in real-word time, we discussed how incredibly sad we were, and my tears continued”.
“I’m convinced that in his professional life he was pure, mostly. That is all we can ask of anyone.”
“I think the knee-jerk response in this case is really over the top. Keillor really is the shyest guy in the room. I do not believe he ever knowingly committed any impropriety. This is becoming French Revolution stuff — just a single comment and it’s “off with his head!””
“The Star Tribune should step up and recognize that all mistakes have gradation — the kid who steals a Snickers and the bank robber are neither morally nor criminally equal. ”
“There is a significant cultural context to this issue. Keillor’s artistic creations added an important element to this state’s identity. So the steps MPR has taken not only diminish Keillor’s reputation, they also undercut what we believe to be good about Minnesota.”
True, he touched a woman in a place that isn’t her soul, and doing that wasn’t appropriate. But what he did isn’t fire-worthy. He’s apologized to her. We all have our foibles.”
Minnesota liberals? I didn’t invent Avery Librelle. You did.
Ever since Pawlenty signed(5.27.07) the enabling legislation for the MN Poet Laureate position I have been dreading the day Keillor would be appointed to that post. Now, that it seems unlikely, I look forward to the great purge that expunges the name Keillor from everyday speech and reduces his name to the footnote to history status which it richly deserves.
Sauk, I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened after all. Notice that the only account of the offenses out there is Keillor’s. What this means, I’d guess, is that Keillor played MPR like a fiddle to preserve his reputation and trash MPR’s–they look like a bunch of ninnies, Keillor looks like a victim because his actual crimes are not public.
But hey, Keillor is gone, MPR looks like ninnies, donations are plunging, MPR merchandise sales must be going through the floor…..tell me again what the down side is? Except for the inevitable request for more funds to cover operating deficits, of course.
Interesting side note; in the past couple of months, I’ve gotten a couple of MPR catalogs–never donated to them so it’s completely out of the blue–and have to wonder whether this has been brewing for a lot longer than a month.
We received an MPR Signals catalog the other day as well, for the first time in at least a decade or more. I thought it wasn’t being published anymore.