Note: My apologies if you think you are having deja vu and could swear that you read this one before......actually, 4 of you have.
Funny thing seems to have happened. I posted this on 2/4 and then received the funny joke which I posted same day or on 2/5. I did not realize this......thought this was the last post and for days have been checking this blog for reads and/or comments because.......well, because I always do. I knows this wasn't the best stuff I ever wrote, but when only 3 people show up to read my words I am upset, confounded and demoralized......also pissed off. Finally, I could stand it no longer and asked my blessed follower, Bobbie Howder of "Cottlestone Pie", to take a look and see if the damned thing had disappeared or was visible only to my eyes.
When she reported that she had trouble finding it among previous posts, I suddenly realized what had happened. Everyone reads the latest entry.....hardly anyone goes back to see if they missed the previous one. I had neatly stepped on my own punch line....or something.
Sooooo......being a skinflint who wastes nothing, particularly not a batch of good words, I am presenting this post again, as if I had just hatched it. You may or may not like it, but, dammit, I intend to make you choose.
Love,
herself
**********************
2/4/13
So here I sat slurping my breakfast Mocha Cappucchino the other day, snickering at a news item revealing the downfall of yet another politician who could not keep his mind out of his pants (or
out of some female's pants). It seems that the Lt. Governor of the
great state of Nebraska was forced to resign in shame when it was
discovered that he was using his state-govt. issued cell phone for
non-state purposes like phoning some 4000 women during just the last month.
Well.......I dunno.....at first glance, misusing your state
issued cell phone for personal reasons does not seem to be an act
warranting severe punishment.......maybe take away his parking space for
a few months.....but, coupled with the use to which he put the instrument, it becomes a heinous crime indeed. Hmmmmm......4000 phone calls to women.....it leads one to wonder when did he have time to do any work for the State of Nebraska?
When I told my beloved caregiver, Ann, about this newest evidence (that suggests if we want political servants to keep their minds on their jobs we should probably have a law that demands that they be castrated before they are allowed to take office) she shook her head in exasperation.
"Oh, how could he be so stupid?", she said. And then a flash of brilliance struck me. "No, no", I replied, "stupidity has nothing to do with it. He just lost the battle within."
The poor fool may or may not be a bit short on intelligence, but that
is neither here nor there......he certainly was a total wimp and
abysmal failure when it came to his ability to fight lust with any kind
of thought or better judgment. He simply became the victim of his own internal war.......the war between the Intellect and the Emotions. Now, the Intellect is a noble and fantastic instrument but it has no feelings of its own and hence no real weapons to fight the flames of burning desire.....or whatever. How often does common sense and logic ever win the big ones?
You must understand, we are talking about intelligence not the gross organ known as the brain....I have heard several interesting things about the brain here and there but I am not completely sure that intelligence lives there. (There may be a whole other blog about that one of these days.) I seem to remember reading that brain tissue itself does not feel pain, but if you stimulate or poke the brain in certain places you get a reaction like, for instance, your left leg will inadvertently fly up due to activating a particular nerve.....those are a totally different kind of feelings than we are talking about. But of course, you all know that. Ah, but, I seem to be wandering a bit, aren't I?.......
To get back to the point the feelings responsible for all of the joy and all of the misery and everything in between are located elsewhere. Somewhere vaguely in the middle of us, perhaps next to the liver, is that unconfined, huge, tangled, all powerful mass of conflicting emotions which writhes and wrestles with itself almost constantly, and which has no intellect at all. None. And no respect for it either. And the saddest part of all is that therein resides not only Lust and the Seven Deadlies but Fear and Shame and of course Guilt, all of which are often much stronger than our finer emotions such as Love.
Incidentally, speaking of love, there is a post script to the article mentioning that the Lt. Gov's wife, of I don't remember how many years, upon learning the lurid, horrid facts, had just filed for Divorce. Some stand by their man and some run.......feelings again.
So here is a man.....an ordinary man, probably no better or not much worse than most, who threw away his marriage, his job and possibly his career (though in politics you never know) because he let the cravings to talk dirty to 4000 women triumph not only over his intellect, but over everything. Tsk.
And isn't this the story of us all? Not that we all fall victim to lust, but often to fear, shame, guilt or, worse yet, the treacherous, insatiable need for instant gratification from chocolate.......we are all so pitifully vulnerable to the forces of Emotion and so incredibly adept at resisting the interference of the Intellect, our own good sense and our nobler selves.......What chance has the human race got at all when sometimes we just gotta be bad, bad, BAD?
And, no, I do not have the answer.......just the question. Sorry about that. Some days, I'm bad too.
The New Yorker covers: January 8, 2018
14 hours ago
lol... I don't know how I missed this! I have you on my blog roll and it's supposed to update when the blogs I follow have posted ... an update.
ReplyDeleteLove this... I was going to copy your last paragraph but it's just above... yep falling victim to lust ... instant gratification ~ brang on the chocolate...
In my ever so humble judgmental call... He is a Republican who touts family values ~ a staunch church goer ~ makes moral decisions for everyone else... typical
Ah, yes. A couple of times, in my younger years, I made foolish decisions. Fortunately, I wasn't a lieutenant governor at the time.
ReplyDeleteOh to control the emotions, but then what would we be without them?
ReplyDeleteGreat post Lo
Briony
x
I think this is a lot of what religion is all about. It's another layer, if you will, of some sort of restriction on the human being's need to just do whatever it is that our basest instincts tell us to do. And of course it doesn't work.
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking a lot recently about how absurd we all are in our twenties and even thirties, driven by hormones as we are.
And obviously, common sense doesn't necessarily settle in as we age, does it? I can attest to that.
I'd wager he made more than those 4,000 poor choices to lose his marriage. There's hope for the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteMuch of the latest research shows that we only have just so much self control to go around, but we have to exercise it to strengthen it. Sounds like this guy didn't care much for that kind of exercise.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reposting - I was one that had missed this in its original place. I am bad bad bad and I am glad you gave that phenomenon a name :) I don't call 4000 women (or men) in a month. But I do like chocolate. And onion rings. And ice cream. No pun intended but this post is awesome food for thought for me.
ReplyDeleteSome people seem to feel privileged, entitled to live outside the "rules." Either they didn't develop a sense of right and wrong, or they think something about their status confers this privilege. But when they hold elective office, one would think they'd at least know such behavior can get them in trouble. Again, they just think nothing bad will happen to them. Have to admit I take a certain satisfaction when they get caught and pay the price.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of our ID Sen. Crapo (a supposedly 'good' mormon), who was recently stopped and ticketed for a DUI.
ReplyDeleteAt least he had the balls to readily admit he farkled up big time. Twill be interesting to see if he retains his seat come next election...
Some days I too might be bad. But 4,000! That is just plain silly. Over here we have also had a "downfall of a politician" story dominating the news with the former Environment Minister having to resign from Parliament and facing jail. His crime was limited to just one other woman, but in a fit of revenge his wife (ex-wife) told the newspapers of how he "forced her" to claim that she was driving when he got caught in a speed camera for speeding. The maximum sentence he faces is Life Imprisonment but six months inside is more likely. But it is the end of his political career.
ReplyDeleteHi Lo! I am a new reader. Very busy too, and don't often get to read blogs very often. This one was worth my time :) Reposting on facebook too.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI just deleted a comment written in a foreign languag4.,..,.French, I think......for all I know it could have contained obscen9ties or something aqnd that would never do (especially if I couldn't read them).....actually I suspect it was an ad for precious metals or something.
ReplyDeleteI could swear I just saw a similar comment in
German on Mary Moon's blog. What s the blog 3world coming to?
All I can say is, if I can't read and understand it, it doesn't get space on my blog.
Sorry.
Today I saw a German one on your current post all about how to get golden points in wow war games. Creepy that this is how they spread around their craftiness to get points and help others!
ReplyDeleteActually that the corruption globally has come to light is not surprising. Almost 25 years ago I was well aware that unwanted behaviour was becoming more and more accepted. Our legal system is helping feed a ton of lawyers who now have more and more work! Don't think jails will have enough space for all but then there are lawyers who take pride in technicalities to get a bad guy a break, Blade Runner??
I do go back and catch the ones I've missed and so here I am. I'm ashamed to say that life has taken over my blogging and I've been remiss in catching up. BUT, to get to this posting, it's like the Guru said when the fella climbed to the top of the mountain for his answer, "Some problems, they got no solution!"
ReplyDeleteI know this web site gives quality dependent posts and extra material, is there any other
ReplyDeleteweb site which gives such data in quality?
Feel free to visit my web-site http://crotchlesspanties.thumblogger.com/