tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post5336288922619050654..comments2024-03-28T13:47:08.047-04:00Comments on Daniel Greenfield / Sultan Knish Articles at DanielGreenfield.org : The Romance of the FallDaniel Greenfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13575285186581875356noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-50419839904530590342014-08-14T04:49:43.251-04:002014-08-14T04:49:43.251-04:00In the second half of your essay, I was reading &#...In the second half of your essay, I was reading 'Hamas' instead of 'Williams', Part of the West's attraction to Muslim terrorists must be this nihilism, as well as the anti-Semitism and the inability to take responsibility for anything, that they share in common.Olah in Nahariyanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-70892924633955669652014-08-14T01:09:57.719-04:002014-08-14T01:09:57.719-04:00Stirring, true, emotional, and convincing, this is...Stirring, true, emotional, and convincing, this is perhaps the very best piece that I've ever read on your site! Our society is only interested in it's life of leisure, as the world "burns."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-61231789112441767442014-08-13T17:08:16.734-04:002014-08-13T17:08:16.734-04:00Good essay, as always, Daniel. But I would add one...Good essay, as always, Daniel. But I would add one thing: character-building is always and only an individual choice (see Kipling's poem "If"). <br /><br />As far as Robin is concerned, it is terribly sad when someone kills himself. I have to say that, of the 20 people who survived a jump from San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge (tiny fraction), ALL of them said that the instant their feet left the span, they thought "Oh, s**** ". . ., and all of them were Very glad they had survived. Something to ponder.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-21667308417968674712014-08-13T17:01:47.176-04:002014-08-13T17:01:47.176-04:00I was never a Robin Williams fan. I could never ta...I was never a Robin Williams fan. I could never take the ever-present simper. But I do understand the terrible toll depression can take. I am very envious of people who don't understand depression.<br /><br />I am sure it was exacerbated by his financial struggles based largely on huge alimony payments. He faced starting all over at 63 with depression, drinking, financial problems, etc, and probably decided he just couldn't hack it.Robert What?https://www.blogger.com/profile/03863449539859132763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-41702504207925480822014-08-13T16:00:56.914-04:002014-08-13T16:00:56.914-04:00Sultan Knish has laid out an unspoken question:
I...Sultan Knish has laid out an unspoken question:<br /><br />Is West the genius culture seeking its own demise because it now feels unloved and is haunted by past glory now out of reach?Pascalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00303025432356543062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-84434499977338532692014-08-13T14:46:21.737-04:002014-08-13T14:46:21.737-04:00I rarely ever add more than my first two cents but...I rarely ever add more than my first two cents but I really feel the urge to add a couple more thoughts on this. First, the issue, for me, is not about the tragedy of someone so well known killing himself for whatever reason. The issue, as I interpreted it, is the absurdity of the clamor and fuss over one man, albeit a talented man, almost to the point of making him into some kind of demi-god, a ‘national treasure’ as has been offered. I’m thinking a posthumous Pulitzer in the works?<br /><br />The problem isn’t the tragedy of Robin William’s emotional problems or his perceived talent, the problem is our society’s shallowness and rapturous rush to accolades just because this man was a celebrity and the MSM needed something new to get our minds off the world exploding.<br /><br />What about the man no one knew except his family and friends? The man who went to war, served his country and paid his dues, came home and settled into a decent life, raised a family, paid his taxes and ultimately died because of a corrupted VA more interested in fat bonuses than meting out health care to deserving vets? Where is the social media explosion on his death? His story isn’t glamorous enough, of course. What are our definers for greatness now? <br /><br />Our perceptions are skewed and warped, in this fake life society, this matrix, that cannot discern the difference between what defines a good and righteous man who deserves tributes and a man whose face and name is known so his reality can be ignored, because of technology and an ever creeping population of glazed over, dumbed down, narcissistic selfies who crave the sugar highs of fame even if it is vicarious. meemahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09104303592278897991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-32076786470500137732014-08-13T13:46:12.603-04:002014-08-13T13:46:12.603-04:00Sorry Edward, but you are way off base accusing hi...Sorry Edward, but you are way off base accusing him of being "anti-American". AGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-26655754334631443542014-08-13T13:14:02.443-04:002014-08-13T13:14:02.443-04:00Notice how the MSM fawns over Robin Williams and s...Notice how the MSM fawns over Robin Williams and sends him tons of electronic flowers. He was their kind of hero: an anti-American, sneering, second-rate comedian. He simply wasn't funny, but say he was often enough, and everyone will think he was. He was another Alan Alda, who could always parley his antics into a lefty political message or give everyone the royal finger. Edward Clinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12160209827969614964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-88111586779427937792014-08-13T12:17:39.211-04:002014-08-13T12:17:39.211-04:00Meh. So the crazy alcoholic killed himself becaus...Meh. So the crazy alcoholic killed himself because he was getting older and "broke." And he did it in his house. Way to ruin your family's living quarters. Rather selfish if you ask me. He joins his unfunny buddy andy kaufman in the I won't miss him at all category. However, he did entertain the troops, so he gets bonus points for that and ridiculing jihad. Did anyone write a song about him with a line "just like Bogey and Bacall?" ppffttPeevednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-59452947714434866732014-08-13T10:57:41.066-04:002014-08-13T10:57:41.066-04:00For what it's worth, I have understood him as ...For what it's worth, I have understood him as another person happiest when out of his skin. He loved to play wacky roles, and quickly gravitated to them as an escape from a troubled, hormonally unbalanced mind. I have checked-in to many hotels when exhausted and irritable, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt on the general lout image. There are louts, and there are occasional louts.<br />Suicide, public or private, is a real attention-grabber, as most everyone, at least once, thought it an option when things looked bleakest, so seeing it happen to someone we know that "has everything" has genuine shock value.<br />Depression is insidious; it was explained to me by a Psychiatrist, as simply an improper hormonal flow that confuses the brain. It distracts and deceives, causing fear that often induces an adrenalin rush, as our survival--driven lower brain tries to save us. Once it is understood to be a hormonal thing, it becomes less confusing, and understandably less incapacitating then Parkinson's disease, caused by a similar hormonal imbalance. It starts to look like a cast on a broken leg, tough, but not that bad. <br />Drugs and alcohol are famous self-medicating cures that have their own worse consequences, but are the black default choice that always tempt deeper depression episodes and more disabling confusion. Some of the best entertainers can escape their mental confusion by jumping into a new character, easily; their drug and alcohol problems understood symptoms of depression. Stress is the usual trigger, another reason it is considered a "killer".<br />Regards, denisOnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-3964317331166744562014-08-13T09:53:29.271-04:002014-08-13T09:53:29.271-04:00'Our society is dying because we traded the vi...<br />'Our society is dying because we traded the virtues of character for fake inspiration. And fake inspiration is ridiculously cheap and ridiculously worthless. It asks nothing of people and it gives them nothing.' <br /><br />This is what Dietrich Bonhoffer talks about in that first chapter of The Cost of Discipleship, the difference between cheap grace and costly grace. <br /><br />Kate PowellAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-37717025144340845362014-08-13T09:27:26.095-04:002014-08-13T09:27:26.095-04:00Well said and well done. Great work on comparing ...Well said and well done. Great work on comparing Lauren Bacall and Robin Williams. You are spot on with your observations and you rendered them in a direct yet tactful way. Thanks.......JimAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-31798495637987314812014-08-13T08:11:57.064-04:002014-08-13T08:11:57.064-04:00Robin Williams was a recognizable star from the 19...Robin Williams was a recognizable star from the 1970's to the present cutting across several generations whether his latest endeavors were instant classics or not. Lauren Bacall was a star from the 1940's- until maybe the 1960's. Most people under 40 saw the story of her passing and said "Who?" I doubt anyone had to question who Robin Williams was. If anything, Bacall did do a recent movie, so some might have said, "Oh, she was that old lady from that movie, what was it called?"<br /><br />This is why there is more attention given to Robin Williams. Sure, he wasn't at the peak of his career at the moment, but he was still consistently working through out the last several decades. Lauren Bacall will be remembered for that one and only famous line from that movie shot before the invention of color or CGI. Robin Williams has 5 movies set to be released this year, Lauren Bacall hasn't been the star of a film or television show in decades. <br /><br />Robin Williams was also beloved by the troops which adds quite a bit to this. He was a regular on USO tours, and unlike some celebrities that fly in, do a quick photo op and leaves, Williams constantly proved his commitment by performing, doing hours and hours of meet and greets and displaying a passion to be there among us that was very rare for USO regulars. <br /><br />He will be missed, Bacall has been missed already for many decades. AGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-23042615279361143452014-08-13T07:49:14.224-04:002014-08-13T07:49:14.224-04:00". . . Rolling Stone, Axel Foley; That's ...". . . Rolling Stone, Axel Foley; That's what it is."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-1768133207418689432014-08-13T05:40:51.556-04:002014-08-13T05:40:51.556-04:00Plain old truth, by contrast, to a society that pr...Plain old truth, by contrast, to a society that prefers illusion, seems exceptionally harsh and way too real for fake life. Daniel, when you say the plain old truth that I was thinking but dare not speak because it seems too harsh, I am stunned at my own cowardice. Thank you for your bravery. I’m encouraged to know there is a glimmer of it left in this dying age.meemahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09104303592278897991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-28101371572142139502014-08-13T02:07:07.825-04:002014-08-13T02:07:07.825-04:00There's still room for compassion in this stor...There's still room for compassion in this story. He suffered from bipolar disorder and alcoholism, which most likely played a significant role in his death.<br /><br />KeliataAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-71197322961516603262014-08-13T00:50:07.436-04:002014-08-13T00:50:07.436-04:00"I thought you were dead," was the repea..."I thought you were dead," was the repeated line to Snake Pliskin in "Escape from New York." I thought Robin Williams was dead, too. I'd heard nothing about him for years, and was glad of it. It was a reasonable assumption. So, Mork has Orked, and MIndy must be in mourning. If she isn't already dead, too. I could not stand the man. I remember, years ago, when I worked for a swank New York hotel as a "room manager." Williams came to the front desk to check in. The girl handling him made some sort of error, and he chewed her out in the loudest, most profane and abusive way and left the girl in tears. The hotel manager gave him a free room, and the only mistake the girl made was booked him on the wrong floor, a ritzy floor one floor down from the penthouse suite. He was your typical moralizer on screen but a lout in private and in public. Edward Clinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12160209827969614964noreply@blogger.com