Consequences
A letter in the Grand Rapids Press alleges that defenders of the Holland Tulip Time pirates “did not think out the consequences of this disruption,” the most dire of these being the possibility of a pirate walking in front of a paradegoer’s camera just as “a fun picture” of the photographer’s child is being taken.
“Laws are laws! Follow them or pay the consequences.” - Kurt Wise, angry letter writer.
“Every woman adores a fascist/ the boot in her face, the brute/ brute heart of a brute like you.” Sylvia Plath, oven cleaner.
posted by js on May 27th, 2004 at 4:17 pm“What is to give light, must endure burning”-Viktor Frankl, navel gazer
posted by mucho gusto on May 27th, 2004 at 10:40 pmInteresting…..if you scrolled to the letters below, you got a pretty good snapshot of a lot of Big Deals in West Michigan…..from the student council president at Union High School going on a “rant” at commencement…..to the job woes ongoing……the battle to rename Franklin Street after Martin Luther King…..a party political broadcast on behalf of the Fountain Street Church….and also some kind words from one Michael Holcomb, representing a group that calls itself “The Alliance for Environmental Stability”, apparently headquartered in that noted hotbed of American liberalism, Byron Center.
In the spirit of continued liberal evolution, perhaps Byron Center should put up signs at its city limits saying “Welcome to Byroncentre!”
Back to the issue at hand: the Dutch in W. Michigan (contrary to popular misconceptions) are not at all without a sense of humor, but when it comes to “laws”, a certain segement of aforementioned Dutch can be very flaky. I think it stems from the fact that abiding by the laws, be it God’s or the state’s, is a very big part of Dutch Reformed Christianity (though, IIRC, it’s not necessarily one of the fundamental planks of Calvinism).
posted by 971TheDriveFan on May 28th, 2004 at 2:05 amNo, Calvinism would dictate that the boys are being punished for violating the law because God hates them and has already decided that they’re going to hell.
posted by js on May 28th, 2004 at 2:48 pmAmazing how the Dutch in Michigan seem to all come from the ones that couldn’t take the Netherlands gettin’ all liberal on ‘em.
I must agree that its not ok to disrupt someelses parade, what if the group where Nazis instead of pirates?
might as well get into a discussion of the Shopping Cart Race, and if it needs to be illegal to be fun, its coming up in augaust
posted by Just a Voice on May 28th, 2004 at 4:22 pmYeah, anyone who’s been to Amsterdam recently might agree that Michigan’s Dutch are alarmingly out of step with the fun-loving monument to nightlife and debauchery that the mother country is becoming.
posted by Nick on May 28th, 2004 at 8:04 pmIt was rural Dutch folk who left Holland in the 19th century to settle Michigan, not the “city-slickers” whose Amsterdam would eventually evolve into the haven for hemp, heroin, 13-year old Russian prostitutes smuggled into the Netherlands, and whatever else.
I suppose if you think “Girls Gone Wild” is the crowning achievement of human ingenuity, then Amsterdam is your Valhalla.
posted by 971TheDriveFan on May 30th, 2004 at 11:45 am