A Pathological Liar

A man I have a hard time forgiving for the grief his personality inflicted on my family for about a decade also receives credit for introducing the PC into my life. He had a great LP collection from the 60s, too, and thus indirectly introduced me to Bob Dylan as well. We used to watch NBA together in the late 90s.

He also is the one who opened the sliding porch door and allowed my white budgie to escape. His humorous slant on the event, which may have been an accident but for which I did not receive an apology was, "Your slave is free!"

(Annie flew to the top of a huge tulip tree and was never seen again; an afternoon thunderstorm may have contributed; granted, the bird was not fond of me or captivity, but I loved her all the same. You can tell because I named her Annie, for "animosity.")

Anyway, this pathological liar and interesting case study also was the one who brought my attention to the fact that the Beatles received the royal Member of the British Empire award in 1965. Subsequently, some have turned down the MBE, he said, because their snobbery could not stand the thought that "great" can mean merely widely popular. The honour had been debased.

I can find no evidence that this is true in particular, although apparently, a lot of people have declined such honors for various other reasons.

There is no risk that I shall ever be nominated for something with the word "Nobel" in it, but in theory, I might decline the prize for peace if Rush Limbaugh were to receive it.

The man who let my budgie out was also an avid listener of the Rush Limbaugh Show.

(The two men share traits such as: they both sucked at college and neither of them went into service during the Vietnam War.)

I agree that promoting the reduction of pollution-causing behavior through a film is not peace-oriented, which is one of the arguments Limbaugh makes against Al Gore's receiving the prize earlier. I can see some connection, though, since my country blatantly ignored the Kyoto Accord.

That was not very peaceful, Greatest Nation that consumes the most energy.

That brazenness embarrasses me, along with funny assertions like this one from the Hoover Institution:

Global Warming, "if it were to take place" would be "generally beneficial" because:

"One of the most feared consequences of global warming is a rise in sea level that could flood low-lying areas and damage the economy of coastal nations. But actual evidence suggests just the opposite: a modest warming will reduce somewhat the steady rise of sea level, which has been ongoing since the end of the last Ice Age—and will continue no matter what we do as long as the millennia-old melting of Antarctic ice continues."

(I mean, tee hee, right? Hotter temps would slow down sea level increases - because of… evaporation and increased humidity?)

Even if Gore's crusade is not deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize, why should a hypocritical, megalomaniac with drug issues get a prize for peace-promotion?

It is beyond my current comprehension. Is it because he has the most popular show?

Here is a clip from the transcript, likely as copyrighted as everything else we quote and link to as bloggers, that talks about the nomination:

"The Landmark Legal Foundation tapped the talker, calling him the foremost advocate for freedom and democracy in the world. Landmark, by the way, is the leading conservative public interest law firm in the US, and Limbaugh serves on it’s [sic] board of advisors."

(Limbaugh says the connection is irrelevant, since he is not paid. A-hem, I'm on a board - most are volunteer-based, you know - and it definitely colors my views. The world of adults seems to operate on the principle that one's own indeed will promote, nominate and support you.)

I think that this man, Thich Quang Do, is more deserving, since he actually did something to promote peace.

Limbaugh just promotes divisiveness. Not very peaceful, Mister Millionaire.

Yup, information is power and powerful, and all sides are valid and deserve expression. Democracy/the Bill of Rights protects that, but opinions that are as predictably Rightwing and pro-Republican as mine are predictably Leftist and tepidly pro-Democrat, are not worthy of any kind of medal having to do with peace.

Vote NO Nobel for Rush!

Vote NO Nobel for C. Girl!

We'll have to wait until mid-December to find out if the Nobel team listens.

(It's funny that they say the nominees are not revealed for 50 years. This, of course, means that anyone may say they were nominated, especially if they could fairly count on dying in the next five decades. How old is Rush, anyway?)