Month: February 2017

Depeche Mode…Damn Them

If you know me at all, you know that Depeche Mode has been been my favorite band since I discovered them at age nine. I’m not some super creepy groupie about the band members, but the music speaks to me. Dave Gahan is one of the most entertaining frontmen ever, and Martin Gore is a modern-day Mozart. Yes, I actually believe that.

I vaguely knew Gore was liberal – he’s been involved in some activist causes over the years, if I recall. Excellent. To each his own.

But in this article, I read this tidbit:

“Martin Gore, Depeche Mode’s chief songwriter and guitarist and keyboardist, said in the same interview: ‘We’re all really depressed by the outcome of the referendum [meaning Brexit]. I think it was a really stupid idea to leave something so important to the people.'”

How gauche. To leave the fate of a nation up to its people! What’s the alternative, Martin? Oh, right – a dictator. Isn’t that what you consider Trump? And the very thing you despise about him?

People are free to have their own opinions, and Trump and Brexit have been particularly polarizing. Fine. But when you state an opinion, it has to make sense. Your worldview, your moral outlook, must be coherent.

I won’t go so far as to say I won’t buy the upcoming DM album or I won’t be attending a concert. The music inspires me. But Martin Gore, your statement is completely idiotic. My respect for you just took a nosedive.

 

University of Washington – Another College to Cross Off Your List

When I was at Arizona State 20 years ago, I took an upper-level English class that spend half the semester explaining how Ebonics is a legitimate language with coherent rules and should therefore be accepted as grammatically correct. The arguments – for example, “He go,” is technically more correct than “He goes” because there’s no reason to change “go” to “goes” – didn’t move me then, and they don’t move me now.

This is just one more example of the left trying to equate standards with racism. Standards dictate a level of acceptability and correctness, an ideal. They don’t discriminate. Without them, any and all behavior is acceptable. And while language may seem like a small thing compared to other areas of life – like etiquette, or morals – the principle is important. We need standards.

It’s also interesting to note that the university writing center’s little manifesto is written in perfect, standard English. They are committing the very micro aggression they’re yammering about.