Strange comment - one might say a tad disturbed/disturbing.
This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by L0oniX (a host of the Bernie Sanders group).
I haven't received any of the recently discussed threatening or ugly private messages, but I was amazed to read this response on a GD-Primary thread:
I decided not to provide a link or the name of the poster - have no intent to specifically call her or him out - I'm writing about this as others have written about the PMs they received, without identifying the person sending it.
"You post rudely.I read and watch it and make note of it."
Anyone else seen anything like it? It's funny, in a sad and pathetic way. Anyone else reminded of Dickens' character, Madame Defarge and her knitting in A Tale of Two Cities?
Even on a literal level, Madame Defarge’s knitting constitutes a whole network of symbols. Into her needlework she stitches a registry (one might say, makes a note of), or list of names, of all those condemned to die in the name of a new republic.
Although the comment was directed at another Sanders supporter, not me, I did respond to it:
Divernan (12,827 posts)
xxx. Shades of the Lord High Executioner/The Mikado
What fun! We're getting into Gilbert and Sullivan territory here.
In the Mikado, the character of Ko-Ko, aka The Lord High Executioner, has a lovely song and it goes a little something like this:
I've got a little list — I've got a little list
Of society offenders who might well be underground,
And who never would be missed — who never would be missed!
There's the pestilential nuisances who write for autographs —
All people who have flabby hands and irritating laughs —
All children who are up in dates, and floor you with 'em flat —
All persons who in shaking hands, shake hands with you like that —
And all third persons who on spoiling tête-á-têtes insist —
They'd none of 'em be missed — they'd none of 'em be missed!
Chorus.
He's got 'em on the list — he's got 'em on the list;
And they'll none of 'em be missed — they'll none of 'em be missed.
http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/mikado/webopera/mk105a.html
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you very much! Tip your servers!
I'll be playing here all primary season!
And of course in the proud tradition of making up lists, we have a real life historical character known for his "lists" - Red-baiting, black-listing, anti-homosexual witch-hunting Senator Joseph McCarthy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_McCarthy
Wheeling speech
McCarthy experienced a meteoric rise in national profile on February 9, 1950, when he gave a Lincoln Day speech to the Republican Women's Club of Wheeling, West Virginia. His words in the speech are a matter of some debate, as no audio recording was saved. However, it is generally agreed that he produced a piece of paper that he claimed contained a list of known Communists working for the State Department. McCarthy is usually quoted to have said: "The State Department is infested with communists. I have here in my hand a list of 205—a list of names that were made known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping policy in the State Department."
There is some dispute about whether or not McCarthy actually gave the number of people on the list as being "205" or "57". In a later telegram to President Truman, and when entering the speech into the Congressional Record, he used the number 57. The origin of the number 205 can be traced: In later debates on the Senate floor, McCarthy referred to a 1946 letter that then–Secretary of State James Byrnes sent to Congressman Adolph J. Sabath. In that letter, Byrnes said State Department security investigations had resulted in "recommendation against permanent employment" for 284 persons, and that 79 of these had been removed from their jobs; this left 205 still on the State Department's payroll. In fact, by the time of McCarthy's speech only about 65 of the employees mentioned in the Byrnes letter were still with the State Department, and all of these had undergone further security checks.
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