tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post942220740981097733..comments2024-03-06T03:15:58.539-05:00Comments on <b>THE NEW REFORM CLUB</b>: Can a Liberal Kill? or: Dukakis got hosedHunter Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14961831404331998743noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-63279237055621103022016-01-04T00:11:47.724-05:002016-01-04T00:11:47.724-05:00Now, now. We know both sides to this question are ...Now, now. We know both sides to this question are morally defensible, unlike the one in Lincoln and Douglas's contest. And we know that taking a question of the table because it tugs at the heartstrings, in the case of abortion as in the death penalty, is bias masquerading as neutrality. I think Dukakis had a coldness problem and found himself off guard on a hot issue where he should have been ready given his minority view.Tim Kowalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02196125161888520769noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-369237176020865992016-01-03T07:17:06.128-05:002016-01-03T07:17:06.128-05:00"What if some criminal raped and murdered Duk...<i>"What if some criminal raped and murdered Dukakis’ wife, Kitty. Would Dukakis still oppose capital punishment? There. He had it."</i><br /><br /><br />I think it's a garbage question, and certainly one that cannot be answered in soundbite format. For one thing, to give anything but the facile and emotionally-gratifying answer makes one look less than human, or in Dukakis's case, less than "manly." <br /><br /><i>I think it was fair to insist that he come at it on the same terms his countrymen do rather than giving a lecture on moral philosophy</i><br /><br />But "lectures on moral philosophy" are the only way for "our collective head" to master the baser emotions of our "collective heart." Nor is a political debate exactly the place to go about it, for as we know, although Lincoln won the debates, Douglas won the election.Tom Van Dykehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-81552519128518853842015-12-30T01:25:39.282-05:002015-12-30T01:25:39.282-05:00"it was a preposterous question he could not ..."it was a preposterous question he could not have been prepared for."<br /><br />I don't think I agree on the first point and definitely not the second. Solid majorities support the death penalty, so it was fair to expect him to make his case against it. And I think it was fair to insist that he come at it on the same terms his countrymen do rather than giving a lecture on moral philosophy -- surely there were finer professors than Dukakis; but elections are our search for statesmen, who can connect our collective heart with our collective head. Dukakis couldn't lead us from the attic to the basement.Tim Kowalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02196125161888520769noreply@blogger.com