perspective

this is lifted wholesale from a Netscape News page about Bush's opposition to legalizing gay marriage:

``After more than two centuries of American jurisprudence and millennia of human experience, a few judges and local authorities are presuming to change the most fundamental institution of civilization,'' the president said... ``Their action has created confusion on an issue that requires clarity.''

now dig this:

``After nearly a century of American jurisprudence, and millennia of human experience, a few judges and local authorities are presuming to change the most fundamental institution of civilization,'' the president said... ``Their action has created confusion on an issue that requires clarity.'' -- that was my version of Bush's advice [if he were able to time-travel] to Millard Fillmore in response to some hypothetical, similar attempts to abolish slavery.

how is this gay marriage kafuffle going to appear to Americans 100+ years from now?

for all you curious Zen dilettantes...

a Sha-Gi-Dhog story:

A monk, taking a dish of ice cream, said to the people, "If you call this ice cream, you fall into the trap of words, but if you do not call it ice cream, you contradict facts. So what do you call it?"

At that time a monk in the assembly came forth. He snatched up the dish and dumped the ice cream on the first monk's head.



(that was, of course, a prime example of an ice cream koan...) [rimshot!]