The Brevity Precedent

Professor J,


Beck does put out a lot quickly, but this book was a bit different than his others which seem to be full of information that can be accessed quickly in bite size portions combined with plenty of pictures and remind me of dumbed down textbooks. The title, Broke makes sense but how does it further dialogue and understanding to entitle a book, Arguing With Idiots? His new book with Dr. Keith Ablow seems a bit of a deviation (and not the kind some of Beck's critics are having a field day with over the cover) but I can't comment on it since I haven't read it.

One more detail my daughter added to that sociology exercise was that there wasn't a smattering of people all along the way from where they started. There were, quite clearly, only the "haves" and the "have nots".

"Superior ages." While I don't like it, I can't argue. So yes, good term. :)

As you've thrown in a bit of Paine, I'll add this quote. He's outlining "all those who espouse the doctrine of reconciliation" but I thought I recognized some of these folks:

Interested men, who are not to be trusted; weak men, who cannot see; prejudiced men, who will not see; and a certain set of moderate men, who think better of the European world than it deserves; and this last class, by an ill-judged deliberation, will be the cause of more calamities to this continent, than all the other three. 

How little PEOPLE change over time, no matter what else may. Taking out the distinction "European" we could use his complete quote, as is, for much of what we see today. There is truly "nothing new under the sun" it seems.



Please forgive my actual brevity (though no one pleaded for it...that I know of). I have no doubt that you stand ready to launch full tilt into the Obama discussion and while my attention is diverted at the moment by brushing up on my Italian and thoughts of gods and heroes, I'm going to let you wax professorial on it to your heart's content.


Thank goodness you are the windbag and I'm the --what was it -- mercifully appropriate word-length scrivener? ;)