Overheard on the Web, and other Web links From The Herald's Research Editor
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Fighting
First the NBA, then South Carolina college football, then President Bush in Chile....all this fighting. What's going on? Knoxville News blogger Michael Silence has pictures, first place I've seen them mentioned all together. But there seems to be a pattern. With the combativeness of the last election, has a new cultural phenomenon entered the American scene? Fighting is OK?
And what about this book, Born Fighting, How the Scots-Irish Shaped America, by former Secretary of the Navy James Webb?From a review on Amazon.com:
Webb maintains that Scots-Irish attitudes form the bedrock of American society, especially among the working class. Scots-Irish culture has produced American presidents from Andrew Jackson to Bill Clinton, soldiers from Ulysses S. Grant to George Patton, pioneers, preachers, and others whose most common characteristics may be described as fierce individualism, persistent egalitarianism, and a strong sense of personal honor. Perhaps the most visible examples of broad and ongoing Scots-Irish legacy are the fundamentalist Christianity (a potent combination of Scottish Calvinism and headstrong populism) of America's Bible Belt and country music.
The readers' reviews are revealing, too. Here's part of one:
"Born Fighting is going to terrify many people in academia, journalism, and book publishing: those Leftist 'elites' who also hated and feared Mel Gibson's films Braveheart, The Patriot, and The Passion of the Christ. Many of them will become hysterical in their attempts to smear this book and its author."
The book certainly seems relevant to current events. But, what about the 'fighting' part? Is this our future?
Oh, yes, and then we have 6 people killed in Minnesota...over a tree stand.
Elisabeth (Liz) Donovan was a Herald librarian for 10 years, and Research Editor for 13 years. She came to The Herald in 1981, following several years at the
Washington Post. She started blogging in 2000, with a news research blog, followed by the blog at Herald.com in 2003. A frequent speaker and writer on news research, she was honored in 2004 by the
News Division of the Special Libraries Association for her contributions to
the field.
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