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Welcome to The Mud Room, a joint commentary series from Rumble Strip Vermont and The Dooryard.
This is A Man of Wealth and Taste, a commentary in response to Dick Cheney’s editorial in the Wall Street Journal on June 17, 2014. It is written by Robby Porter. Robby is a woodworker and hydro plant operator and lives in Adamant, Vermont.
Please post and sling your comments at the bottom of this page. We love to hear from you.
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Well… he doesn’t have a pulse. Really.
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-07/dick-cheney-gains-new-lease-life-loses-pulse
I don’t believe in the supernatural. But I’m starting to be persuaded.
Mr. Porter nailed it rather eloquently.
The joke is that Cheney has also accused Obama of shooting one of Cheney’s friends in the face with a shotgun.
Evil is a tough question. When we consider materialistic determinism, genetics, childhood indoctrination and psychiatric disorders, what do we have left? It is a combination of things: Reasonable (not clairvoyant) foreknowledge of consequences, an understanding of basic, common moral standards, mental competence, lack of ambiguity, the possibility of alternative actions, and persistence. We tend to forgive the mentally ill, the developmentally disabled, the culturally ignorant, people trapped in dangerous situations, and children. We tend to judge singular crimes of impulse less harshly.
To sum, does the person in question have the capability of moral action? Does the person persistently act otherwise? Are the acts in question definitively and extremely outside the bounds of moral behavior? Cheney and Murdoch win the trifecta.
Good call, Robby, and well said.
I dont what dick Cheney is, but I can tell you for sure that he is not the devil. Evil does exist and has existed on this earth since it’s creation. I listened to your commentary and I have to wonder are you really that blind. For a man that has been educated, you sound like a whiner! Grow up and realize what’s really going on.
Thanks Robby for telling us the scary truth in a thoughtful, honest, personal, and unique way.
When shown us the worst of humanity, we’re required to show our best. If not, it only makes room for more of the worsts. Living is an act of conscious action rather than passive acceptance.
No room for cowards today. Robby is no coward, and he knows what’s going on. Speak up – loudly, widely!
I wonder what the contributor thinks of Donald Trump’s current devisiveness?