paralepsis

Cross-posed at Daily Kos . This is the second in a series of posts on how concepts from rhetoric can be used to help transform the current political climate. For a broader context, see the first entry (on stasis theory). Today's entry is on kairos . Kairos is usually defined as something like opportunity. James Kinneavy, who has done more than anyone in modern times to revive the concept, defines it succinctly in an interview as "the right time and due measure." But kairos was also a minor god. So take a moment, would you, to look at this bas-relief of the figure of kairos . Take your time; I'll wait. Back? Great. Look at him closely: he's got wings, and winged feet. He's coming fast; if he's headed your way, you have a moment to grab his extended forelock. But watch out! Once he's past you you can't grab on, because the back of his head is shaved. Strangely, he's balancing a scales on a razor blade, weighting one pan of the s...

Cross-posted at Daily Kos and European Tribune . This is the first in a series about how concepts from rhetoric can help progressives understand -- and change -- the current political climate. It is based on the premise that the noble and ancient discipline of rhetoric is not trickery or deception, but rather that rhetorical literacy is a vital element of a healthy political community. To quote the Greek rhetorician Isocrates, "the power to speak well and think right will reward the person who approaches the art of discourse with love of wisdom and love of honor." (from the Antidosis ). I hold that rhetoric anticipates and surpasses the best aspects of the current vogue for "framing," and that the rhetorical tradition offers a more humane and generous way of comprehending the social world. This series has two aims. First, I want to rehabilitate the discipline of rhetoric for politics. Rhetoric is enormously productive in academic life, but in politics it rema...

Haven't posted in a while -- busy busy busy. But I did notice some funny bits related to the folks out in never-never-lan -- excuse me, Intelligent Design Theory TM . But first, Inkling magazine had a contest to design a new species of Darwin fish. The total set of contributions is pretty great, as is the winner . Check it out. Meanwhile, the ID folks at the DI have been having themselves a conference . The folks at Red State Rabble point out that the IDDI people only pretend to be interested in a free exchange of ideas. What a surprise.

In the Washington Post , Liz Cheney makes the following argument for escalation (or against withdrawal, or against Hillary, or whatever): If we quit in Iraq now, we must get ready for a harder, longer, more deadly struggle later. It's worth noting that the policies of this administration brought us to whatever Hobson's Choice we now face. Are we really faced either with this unwinnable quagmire or something even worse later? Well, maybe worse than it is now. But if so, that's the fault of Bush, Nanny Dick, and the neocon cheerleading squad (Bush always had a soft spot for his fellow cheerleaders). Doubtful, however, that it will be worse than what we face if we stay and stay and stay. Hey, and Liz (can I call you Liz?): a big shout out to the old man for pimping this war and for covering up the smearing of critics.

A few thoughts about the new report that Iraqi insurgents are planning to attack in the States. The most obvious thought is, why should they come here when they're already killing us over there? Given the number of Americans who died this last weekend (n.b. -- total subject to increase), why mess with a winning formula? Second thought: obviously we should be wary, and I'm all for following leads and tracking them down. But how many leads turn out to be real? The ABC story gets quite breathless about precedent. U.S. officials now require universities to closely track foreign nationals who use student visas to study in the United States. University officials must report international students who fail to arrive on campus or miss class regularly. In August, the FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement alerted intelligence agencies and state and local law enforcement about 11 Egyptian students who had failed to report to their classes at Montana State University. ...

. . . what Morrissey's Eurovision song contest entry might look like . Money lyric: Our former colonies rise as we fall India booms, Britain's profits appall So let's end it all with tall bottles of poison We deserve it We deserve it We deserve it, we deserve it, we deserve it Brilliant -- in its American meaning ( audio link ).

As Atrios points out , Judge Robert H. Dierker uses the term "femifascist" to disguise where his thinking comes from . I'm of course reminded of Alan Dershowitz, who did just the opposite : he thought he was quoting Orwell but was really quoting his real source, the discredited Joan Peters. (Strikingly, both authors choose words -- femifascist and turnspeak -- which are clearly uglier than the original feminazi and newspeak . Not to defend the term feminazi , but at least it's memorable. )

When 1000 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq, we remembered . When 2000 died, we remembered . Now, on Christmas Day 2006, another milestone has been reached: the number of U.S. military casualties has passed 2973, the number of deaths caused by the combined attacks of September 11, 2001. By two. This is the real connection between 9/11 and Iraq: Death. Of course, President Bush saw other connections: the lesson of September 11 , he said, prompted him to attack Iraq. And many Americans were convinced: especially, it was found , those who watched Fox News. Too many Americans either thought Iraq operated with al-Qaeda, or thought Iraq itself was behind the attacks -- all evidence to the contrary. Perhaps a lot of people felt, like the Washington Post 's Richard Cohen , that violence could be "therapeutic." In many respects, of course, this milestone was reached long ago. In terms of total destruction and loss of human life, Iraq surpassed the 9/11 attacks almost from the b...

Well who would have thought that Santa could appear in a cardiac echo ? If you can't see it, a helpful reader points out the obvious .

The number of U.S. soldiers lost in Iraq, as of today . In just a few more days eighteen more will have died, at which point the number of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq will match the total who died as a result of the September 11 attacks. I blogged about this in October, and it's playing out on its own grim schedule.

Reading among the far-right blogosophere, you're always in danger of getting burned by the stupid. Example: Pam Atlas is deeply concerned about Barack Obama's middle name (WARNING: ugliest blog in the known universe). Right. She links to a crazy column by by Judi McCleod, which she calls a "must read." It is, of course, if "must read" means Hey, look how far off the rails the wingnuts can go and still write something that looks like English! Among the baseless accusations (did he go to a madrassa? will he embrace Islam in the White House?), she doesn't quite say (as others have suggested ) that Barack is the anti-Christ. But she does make the following ominous observation: Obama went to Occidental college, whose motto is "West is nearest to the East". Occidental College has a historic connection to the Summer Institute of Linguistics (now known as SIL International.) Associated with the Rockefellers, SIL has something going on i...

As though seeking the worst possible setting to make the stupidest possible comments, President Bush decided to turn a menorah-lighting ceremony into an impromptu seminar about Iran . (Thanks to Josh Marshall for the link.) President Bush and his Cabinet have seized upon the Maccabean message of refusing to give in to tyranny to reinforce Bush’s refusal to deal with Iran as a means of resolving Iraq’s burgeoning crisis. In at least one closed meeting, Bush made the connection explicitly. Clash of civilizations, anyone? You'll need to sign in to JTA (free) in order to read the whole article, entitled "Bush appropriates Chanukah moral in depicting current threat from Iran." Because what could be better in dealing with Iran than to compare Iranians with ancient enemies of the Jews? “After Jerusalem was conquered by an oppressive king and the Jews lost their right to worship in freedom, Judah Maccabee and his followers courageously set out to reclaim Jerusalem from fore...

The National Book Critics Circle blog has a post about the best poetry books of 2006. And there are some great books there: Frederick Seidel's Ooga-Booga (certainly the best title, and a superb and disturbing poet for sure -- check out the readings on his web site ), Deborah Bernhardt's Echolalia , Name Withheld by Lisa Sewell . I'm definitely going to get some of the books I haven't read yet. But Thomas Kinsella's Collected Poems (Wake Forest University Press) -- the definitive collection of Ireland's greatest poet since Yeats -- gets no notice. As usual. Perhaps the problem is that this was published across the pond by Carcanet a few years ago. But the Wake Forest edition is not only better designed, it corrects errors in the Carcanet and it's published here. By the only American publisher dedicated to contemporary Irish poetry. Seriously, what is the matter with these people? Paul Muldoon's great, fine, ya ya ya (actually I think that's a ...

What EconAthiest said .

Oh, you've got to love this: Jimmy Carter refuses to debate with Alan Dershowitz. I don't blame him -- the whole thing seems like a setup, and even though Norman Finkelstein and Noam Chomsky have crushed Dershowitz in the past, the man is a professional lia lawyer. But it's Carter's reasoning that really makes me happy. From the Boston Globe : "I don't want to have a conversation even indirectly with Dershowitz," Carter said. "There is no need to for me to debate somebody who, in my opinion, knows nothing about the situation in Palestine." Get that? Dershowitz knows nothing about the situation in Palestine . This is obvious if one reads either Dershowitz's The Case for Israel or his later The Case for Peace , both of which use blanket statements condemning Palestinian behavior but show no evidence of subtlety, much less of an attempt to understand the people or a concern with the actual victims of Israeli policies. Dershowitz, of cour...

So today I Google-newsed my favorite possible '08 candidate (run, Wes, run!) and stumbled across an interesting article from the New York Observer . "The Life and Death of an Iraq Plan" is about the rise and fall of explicitly endorsing partition, federal autonomy, or what is sometimes called "kinder, gentler ethnic cleansing" in Iraq. Too much attention is paid to Joe Biden, as usual, and then Wes Clark is interviewed about why he doesn't support the idea: Wesley Clark, the retired general who is also mulling a presidential bid also told me that while partitioning may eventually occur, or already be happening, in Iraq, it could never be official United States policy. The problem, he said, is that Iraqis forced to move out from their homes or from the more mixed urban areas like Baghdad or Kirkuk to the strongholds of their respective ethnic or religious group will associate their displacement with the United States. Clark said that feeling will breed eve...

Derrick Shareef of Illinois was arrested Wednesday and charged with "one count of attempting to damage or destroy a building by fire or explosion and one count of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction." He made made a court appearance today in Chicago. The prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald (no, not that one !) said that the public was never in any danger because Shareef has been under surveillance for some time, after confessing to an acquaintance that he wanted to take up jihading. Here's what I don't understand: Shareef was arrested Wednesday by the Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Force after he met an undercover agent in the mall parking lot and traded a set of stereo speakers for four hand grenades and a hand gun, according to charges. Two questions: What the hell kind of stereo system does that guy have? Since when are grenades weapons of mass destruction?

To commemorate my last week, a poem by Theodore Roethke : Dolor I have known the inexorable sadness of pencils, Neat in their boxes, dolor of pad and paper-weight, All the misery of manila folders and mucilage, Desolation in immaculate public places, Lonely reception room, lavatory, switchboard, The unalterable pathos of basin and pitcher, Ritual of multigraph, paper-clip, comma, Endless duplication of lives and objects. And I have seen dust from the walls of institutions, Finer than flour, alive, more dangerous than silica, Sift, almost invisible, through long afternoons of tedium, Dropping a fine film on nails and delicate eyebrows, Glazing the pale hair, the duplicate grey standard faces. Not one of Roethke's very best poems, but good enough. And there's someone else I'm thinking of. You know who you are.

What do you do when you find out you've been identified by name in a pretty good sestina about John Ashbery? Thanks to Jeremy, by the way, for posting this on a couple of his blogs from some class or other he's teaching in Nanjing. (Nanjing!) Everybody should get a Google Alert for their own name.

Atrios links with a snarky comment to a terrible Nickelback video , and like a fool, I took the bait. Obviously, since it's Nickelback, it (a) sucks, and (b) is the same as every other Nickelback song. But in the video it manages to climb the Parnassus of suck. I thought it topped out when the chick in the bed turns on the remote and sees her FWB firefighter on the TV -- because what's better than a music video about someone watching TV? But then it reaches further sucky heights when the firefighter dude gets hit by a tree and the camera cuts back, not to weepygirl with the remote, but to the band playing their sucky song complete with atrocious stadium light-sweeps. I swear to god, there hasn't been a growly man-pop band this pretentious since Creed. Atrios is reminded of Beavis and Butthead, but I get possessed by the spirit of my grandfather: These young people today. They never cut their hair. And their music --- just noise. Seriously, I'm going to play s...