[Dialogue] Palin's Lies / Boulding's Image

Sun Sep 7 13:29:44 EDT 2008

Last week, in Phoenix, we launched our 2008-2009 Mastering the Technology of Participation year long course.  In the first (of 4) intensives, we work on the focused conversation method (ORID, the artform conversation) and as a part of that do a session on Imaginal Education.  I found a copy of Boulding's The Image that I bought on Amazon about 3 years ago.  The introduction is quite familiar -- we taught it often in the old Imaginal Education course -- but I had never read the book beyond it.

It is amazing to realize how far we have come in our electoral process in realizing it is our IMAGES of the candidates and options that will govern our BEHAVIOR (who we vote for, how active we get) and that our IMAGES  are shaped by MESSAGES (There is a part in me that deeply longs for a more rational time, when it was all about informing and providing data and facts . . .)

Paying attention, from time to time, to what we are learning about brain function and the small role that language and written language plays in the context of all the sensory and multimedia input we receive leaves me even more amazed.

Driving across country last week, someone on the radio asked a caller for his three good reasons for who he was supporting and the person was stumped.  At a gas station in western Nebraska, the woman behind the counter was watching commentary on the Republican convention and we got talking about the first conventions on TV (1952, I think) when it was just TV cameras rolling while the convention did its business I was 7 at the time and we had just got a TV and it went SOOO SLOWLY and it went on and on . . .  Anyway, the woman said she thought McCain was a wimp and had been supporting Obama til she heard that he had redecorated his campaign plane and painted over the flag on the tail section, so she was now undecided.

Jim Wiegel
401 North Beverly Way   
Tolleson, Arizona 85353-2401
+1  623-936-8671
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   jfwiegel at yahoo.com
   www.partnersinparticipation.com

One great, strong, unselfish soul in every community could actually redeem the world.  Elbert Hubbard

--- On Sun, 9/7/08, sunwalker at comcast.net <sunwalker at comcast.net> wrote:

> From: sunwalker at comcast.net <sunwalker at comcast.net>
> Subject: Re: [Dialogue] Palin's Lies
> To: "Colleague Dialogue" <dialogue at wedgeblade.net>
> Date: Sunday, September 7, 2008, 12:08 AM
> Hi "gang" of mine,
> 
> I just sent the following to my "wasband", Rick
> Jones, whom many of you know. He'd sent me an email with
> the subject line "Joe Biden - dynamite" saying
> "I don't know if this is true or not, but I thought
> it was interesting." It was supposedly a true story,
> but nonetheless a rather vicious smear. 
> 
> My message:
> There are a few Republicans I know well & respect, like
> Don Elliott, Susan Fertig Dykes, David Lester, Sharon
> Snow-Combs. I do not believe any of them would appreciate
> this type of email, true or not. I believe that spreading
> them only entrenches people in party positions &
> rhetoric. CNN reported something that was false about Sarah
> Palin. There are things that to the best of my knowledge are
> true and unpleasant (to me) about her politics-McCain's
> as well-but smear campaigns on either side hurt both sides. 
> 
> Do what you you choose, but don't bother including me
> in any more "interesting" reports like this one.
> I'd appreciate it. 
> End of my message to Rick. 
> 
> Now re this dialogue - I have been a "Yellow Dog
> Democrat" since I could vote. - with staunch Republican
> parents who taught me to think for myself. And now I think
> following the mode of the rather sleazy ads & emails
> we'll all be subjected to in the next 60 days with more
> of the same manipulative messages to change (or stregthen)
> our decisions about various candidates only cheapens us
> & cheapens the campaign, whatever candidate we support. 
> 
> I was thrilled to be among the throngs at Invesco Field
> &, on the other hand, dismayed with things the
> Minneapolis crowd cheered. Yet, I would remind us all that
> our G-O-B, the Mystery of all Life, loves each of us &
> all of creation equally, regardless of what we do with our
> free will. The Source of life does not follow us into our
> unloving judgements (including me on this rant. . .) Would
> that we could, on this dialogue, strive for the love end of
> the love/hate stick. 
> 
> With respect,
> Sunny - in Colorado where we've had a hint of Fall for
> a few glorious days. 
> 
> Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Adelbert Batica <abatica at hotmail.com>
> 
> Date: Sat, 6 Sep 2008 00:50:08 
> To: Colleague Dialogue<dialogue at wedgeblade.net>;
> <oe at wedgeblade.net>
> Subject: Re: [Dialogue] Palin's Lies
> 
> 
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