Comments on: Civics on Saturday – The Articles of Confederation

By: saintseester

saintseester — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 02:08:49 +0000

Personally, I think congress is the worst thing that has happened to the constitution and the country. The government and government programs started bloating well, well before I was even old enough to vote.

By: Kizz

Kizz — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 16:20:53 +0000

I often think that when we work on things like election reform, universal health care and education reform we’re at an enormous disadvantage by virtue of having a vast country to all get on a similar page. It’s interesting to think what we might have been if we were more like Africa or the former USSR than we are now.

As to Tom Clancy, well, yeah tedious and undramatically meticulous but he did teach me how to build my own silencer so he warms my cockles.

By: saintseester

saintseester — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 13:32:40 +0000

My husband and I were trying to be nice and read things the other one loved. I gave him Orson Scott Card; he gave me Clancy. Sigh, I tried.

By: nhfalcon

nhfalcon — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 12:15:28 +0000

I, too, had difficulties with reading the HfRO book, saintseester. My difficulty with it came from, I think, having seen the movie so many times before I got aroundto reading the book. I kept waiting for things from the movie to happen in the book, and they almost never did.

By: nhfalcon

nhfalcon — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 12:13:53 +0000

I’ll have to loan you some books I have by an author named J. C. Pollock, Mrs. C. His novels were in the same general genre as Clancy’s, but stayed more on the individual level like Without Remorse, as opposed to dealing with global ramifications like HfRO or Cardial of the Kremlin or Sum of All Fears or the like.

By: mrschili

mrschili — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 11:19:24 +0000

Seester, I agree with you on two out of three counts: the federal government as it stands now has FAR surpassed its legitimate areas of governance, and I think that Bush is perhaps the worst thing that could ever have happened to the Constitution and the country. Why we haven’t had a full-on rebellion against our presidential administration is something I can only wonder.

I think that The Hunt for Red October is a top notch movie – I’ve owned it in VHS format AND I have it on DVD (it was, in fact, the first DVD I bought when we purchased our very first DVD player). Where I differ in opinion with you is about the book – I loved the book, too, and have read it multiple times. It’s one that I go back to when I want to have something fun on my side table. A lot of Clancy’s novels are good for that, but HfRO is definitely number 1 (followed in a photo finish by Without Remorse).

By: saintseester

saintseester — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 03:10:05 +0000

I think the federal government has far surpassed its legitimate areas of governance.

I love the HFRO, too. And that is the perfect example of a great movie, but a book that I could not get through at all.

By: mrschili

mrschili — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 00:05:14 +0000

Falcon, I’ve said before that I think it’s possible to pull up an appropriate HfRO quote for pretty much any situation, and I stand by that. I’ve been replaying the “PAVAROTTI!” scene in my head ever since I heard that the man had died…

By: nhfalcon

nhfalcon — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 23:12:15 +0000

What DOESN’T remind you of a line from “Hunt for Red October”?

If Mr. Chili asks, “Would you like to take a long, hot bath together?” do you say “Somebody messes this up and we’ll be in the middle of the biggest naval battle since Jutland?”

By: twoblueday

twoblueday — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 13:00:36 +0000

You are probably right that the Articles of Confederation would not have been adequate.
I have watched that movie a number of times and am always inspired by the part you quoted. The freedoms we take for granted here are still just a dream to many. I try not to forget that.