Monday, January 02, 2012

A Nutcracker of a Different Sort


In yesterday's New York Times Magazine there was this question in "The Ethicist" column from Edith Palmer of Brooklyn (where else):
I was excited to take my granddaughter, Rachel, to see a local production of "The Nutcracker."  But this season, the production was being underwritten in large part by David Koch, a billionaire who supports numerous political causes that I think harm our nation ... I'm sure my granddaughter would liked to see the show, but rather than validate this patron's actions and beliefs, I boycotted it.  Should those who feel as I do have joined me?
Ariel Kaminer's response, in short was "[You go girl], it's not [Rachel's] fault that Tchaikovsky makes strange bedfellows."  Read the entire misguided inanity here.  This seems a perfect example of "cutting off your nose to spite your face" (a tip o' the hat to Sissy for this analogy.)

Now the Koch (pronounced "Coke") brothers are a prime target of the left for their donations to right-wing causes.  These attacks are for the most part unfounded (see: Powerline Comments and follow the links therein.)  And the NY Times has been in the forefront in many of these scurrilous attacks (probably why this silly letter made it into this even sillier column.)  Should Edith Palmer (from Brooklyn) deny her granddaughter any loving affections because of her own soft-headed political bent?  Come on  ... does anyone think that the views of any political faction (even if thought-of as loony) could creep into a ballet dedicated to childhood fantasy?  Ooops, I forgot about Michael Moore ... but then he wouldn't part with a nickel of his own millions unless it was spent on his own indulgences.

1 comment:

DEN said...

I agree. The only one who is getting hurt by the "boycott" is the unfortunate grandkid.
This is typical of the nutty, crackpot kabuki played by partisans on both sides. It's enough to make your nuts hurt.