Shit from Shinola

[QueenOfCalifornia]

This OP is for those here who insist that unless we all hold hands & sing Kumbaya we are being unproductive, that we are disrupting the usual calmness and sanity which prevails on this discussion board. :eyes: First of all, if you think that Democratic Underground has EVER been collectively of one, singular mind, you have not been reading the threads in GDP but instead have been exchanging recipes in the cooking forum. This place is where people come to throw ideas around. Some seem to come here just to argue. But never has this place been Magic Pony Land with a cherry on top. I have seen people get pissed off at the most innocuous statements of fact (not conjecture but fact) that I just can not understand how they make it through a normal day on the same planet that I am experiencing without going totally mental. Hopefully, we can agree that there is FACT and then there is FICTION and a lot of the time there is a hybrid of the two, I call it FACTION. This place is loaded with FACTION.

Most of us see the grey part of issues when they exist. Sometimes there is no grey area,for example; when you hear the Attorney General of the United States say that he doesn't know if waterboarding is torture what exactly do you see in the middle?

There you are, sitting in your leather chair, trying to see that middle part of a giant pile of shit. - You immediately know that this is what your uncle told you about when he explained the shit and Shinola principal. Lots of the time you have (a) Shit or (B) Shinola There is no choice C so quit looking for it.

Sometimes there just isn't a gray area at all and all you have left is integrity and clarity of thought.

Do you want to try to make everyone happy by sitting squarely in the middle of a fence or do you look objectively at a situation and make a principled stand and just say or do the right thing? (by the way, sitting on a fence hardly ever makes everybody happy and your ass gets really sore so stop it already.)

Personally I like the exchange of ideas here. I have learned a lot from some very smart people here. I have gotten pissed off and have left for up to 6 months just to gain some perspective - But I learn quite a bit from you guys.

Question all and determine where the Shit and Shinola principal comes in handy. :)

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. Carlin's question: Where is Shinola? Why does shit come from there?

[lame54]

2. an easy way to tell the difference...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsyS0oHLNFA

[Tuesday Afternoon]

3. 5th rec and a kick

:kick:

[Mist]

4. Very cogent! If you don't mind, Gilligan, I may use some of your expressions

from time to time. Such as "Lots of the time you have (a) Shit or (B) Shinola There is no choice C so quit looking for it."

Thanks for posting this.

On edit: this one hits me too: "sitting on a fence hardly ever makes everybody happy and your ass gets really sore so stop it already." What I really mind is having people try to drag me, and everybody else, up onto that damned fence, so we can ALL have sore butts! As you point out, sometimes there ISN'T a "third way."

[QueenOfCalifornia]

7. No way!

All my contributions to DU are copyrighted... :D

[lib_wit_it]

5. WTF!? I was looking this up and found an explanation which includes this sentence: "This phrase is

typical of the barrack room vulgarity of WWII, which is where it originated."

Huh? The barrack room? Guess I'd better look that up now, in case I missed something.

Edit: Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh! Never mind! (I'm not used to hearing of one barrack. I thought they were referring to Barack in some weird way. I am paranoid?)

[Land Shark]

6. Not knowing shit from shinola is like not knowing pragmatism from Principle (see quote)

“Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice”. --Thomas Paine

That's why there is no choice C on torture. It's a principle that has no exception, not even in time of war.

"Temper" is a habit of mind, especially as regards to irritability.

[Subdivisions]

8. Whatever...

you do, don't say that Democratic Underground isn't "Magic Pony Land with a cherry on top". Because it is. It's MY Magic Pony Land. With a cherry on top.

Great post, Lil' Buddy. =)

[Cults4Bush]

9. I thought they just enjoyed a rectal massage?

Who knew??:shrug:

I essentially agree with you but are there really that many here at DU who disagree that waterboarding is torture?