You Can’t Handle The Truth

I had a post ready to go this morning. It was a post highlighting changes in the way we adapt to weather and events in our lives that are unexpected. Aspects of it dealt with something some call “learned helplessness.” There was an element of collapse involved. I guess I’ll leave that topic to others more qualified to write about it. This recent post referenced the idea that there was a time when “you could still talk about such things in public without being shouted down by true believers in perpetual progress and instant apocalypse, the Tweedledoom and Tweedledee of our collective non-conversation about the future.” That time is no more.

Partly due to our collective inability to come to terms with reality, I decided against posting my post this morning. I am convinced that it would be taken in the wrong light. People prefer whining and hand-wringing to action plans; shiny, happy thoughts to stark reality. I’m sure I’ll post something similar at a later date. It was a good writing exercise, however.

I was reminded of this clip from A Few Good Men.

5 thoughts on “You Can’t Handle The Truth

    • In our house, we are both up and rolling this morning. Miss Mary has to be at her sales meeting by 8:30–some businesses don’t close for weather-related events, at least snowfalls less than 10 inches. Most everything else will be closed, including the schools, which may not be a bad thing. Learned helplessness, indeed!

      I have the framework of a post that I’ll probably rework and post later. Something just seemed amiss with it this morning–sometimes it’s that way with those “hard” topics that you know others will misunderstand, which is actually a pretty wide swath. When you can no longer write honestly about weather and people’s inability to cope with it, then something is definitely not right in the universe.

  1. Now right there’s some serious irony.

    Where was the colonel stationed and what wall was he protecting? Guantanamo Bay.

    And what other 4-star general have you heard using the same excuses for gathering every single bit of information he can about all of us for the sake of protecting us? The logic is the same, which should surely make one wonder what might be done for the sake of preserving that power in the name of “liberty.”

    The reason we know this is art, though, is that the colonel is convicted of what everyone automatically knows is a crime and goes to jail.

  2. If I whine and wring my hands enough will you post your thoughts? I’m interested in what you have to say. If I’m offended I’ll get over it one day, probably without needing electroshock therapy (sometimes a swift kick to the backside is helpful) or gallons of whiskey.

  3. @LP You know, it’s Hollywood; I just liked the quote and that many times, I feel like pulling a Nicholson and launching to a room full of people, “you can’t handle the truth!”

    @Robin I’ll come back to this topic, which seems to be central in my thoughts of late. I’m glad for people like you and the others who comment here who may disagree, but generally do it agreeably, or if disagreeable, it’s because they’re as passionate at I am.

    Oh, for a few more of those.

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