JV PhiloBlog

In "Self-Reliance," Emerson derides the abolitionist who treats the people around him badly. What good is charity toward strangers miles away when one is nasty at home, he asks.

Life has a way of reflecting whatever I am teaching. I came across a remark by Bill Maher, a comedian who identifies with the political left. As such, he is supposedly the friend of the little person, the one who cares about the unlucky, the truly compassionate one as opposed to those mean, nasty conservatives.

His remark was to the effect that he had learned that Sarah Palin had taken a job as a commentator on Fox News, which was just like her day job of talking to her child with Downs Syndrome.

You be the judge...