Compassion Is a Virtue, But I Don’t Have the Time
National Review’s Jay Nordlinger, poor thing, got his first impressions of liberals right here in Tree Town. “I believe I know these people who talk constantly about compassion,” he says of the Kerry campaign. “I grew up with them in Ann Arbor. Frankly, they tend to be bastards.” No, this isn’t the first time Nordlinger’s salvos against his hometown have come up here - “I grew up in Ann Arbor” is pretty much the conservative equivalent of “son of a mill worker.” Or maybe he was just always picked last for the Commie High Multicultural Festival.
I thought the person talking the most about compassion these days was our “compassionate conversative” President, George W. Bush. Frankly, he does tend to be a bastard, so at least Nordlinger got that part right.
posted by Alex(andra) on July 29th, 2004 at 7:14 am eHaving worked in Romulus, Jackson, Dundee and now Ann Arbor, I would have to agree with the guy. Would it kill for someone to make a pot of coffee when they empty it?
posted by Kozzie on July 29th, 2004 at 12:51 pm eI love those commercials on TV where people stand around being outraged about something (like a piece of litter, or a running sink), but they can’t quite manage to connect their outrage to action. Those spots totally remind me of Ann Arbor.
posted by Elizabeth on July 29th, 2004 at 12:56 pm e…or just about any other place in the u.s. of a.
i think that its more a reflection of the “me first” attitde americans have increasingly adopted. in any event, its hardly something a-squared has cornered the market on.
posted by craig on July 29th, 2004 at 1:18 pm eRight, Elizabeth. If those commercials were set in Ann Arbor, all the people standing over the piece of litter would be engaging in sanctimonious bragging about how socially conscious they are and screaming at everyone else for being selfish and lazy for not picking the litter up.
posted by Nick on July 29th, 2004 at 1:29 pm eI very much agree with that; there are a lot of these types in Ann Arbor. Actually, I recall making a similar comment here several weeks ago. The Ann Arborites would be so proud of themselves for strategizing (no matter how simple the process) that they’d completely ignore the annoying implementation steps.
posted by Kevin on July 29th, 2004 at 4:27 pm eYes! I was going to post that Onion article too, and actually I’m surprised that I haven’t seen it on other local blogs.
I’m also surprised Nordlinger walked right into the “compassionate conservative” thing.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on July 29th, 2004 at 4:33 pm ewhich is more annoying:
A) the person who claims to be socially conscious but doesn’t really do that much about it
posted by craig on July 29th, 2004 at 4:45 pm eB) the person who makes no attempt to even understand what social consciousness is
C) the person who is willfully socially un-conscious
D) The person that is socially concious, does something about it and then has to let everyone else know how socially concious they are.
posted by Kozzie on July 29th, 2004 at 4:55 pm eAll 4 types sound kind of annoying to me. But I’m pretty sure that B and C throw better parties.
posted by Nick on July 30th, 2004 at 8:32 am eI loved that Onion article too. It sounds just like a lawyer I work with in the area… seriously.
posted by Elizabeth on July 30th, 2004 at 10:42 am eNick - anyone in particular in mind?
posted by Anonymous on July 30th, 2004 at 10:43 am e