Whatever happened to class and honor?

DannyinJapan

DannyinJapan

Joined
Oct 9, 2003
Messages
5,594
This Spitzer thing has got me thinking. Whatever happened to resigning?
What is this "new way" where the guy just shows up on TV and gives a half-a$$ed apology and then slinks back into his office??

And it aint just this poor schmuck.

The President of A&M, I remember, said he'd resign if it turned out that he was responsible for the safety of the students. He never did. (remember when that bonfire collapsed and killed a dozen kids?)

Clinton didn't resign and leave after his impeachment, even Nixon had more class than that.

We need to dust off the guillotines and put some fear of God into our leaders.
Im really tired of low-class men in high-class places and the terrible examples they set.
 
Unfortunately, it crosses all classes. CEOs, teachers, cops, leaders, etc.

Beg for forgiveness but save our ass.

Honor is a thing now laughed at. Sorry Danny.
 
It is the same in Britain.... even when some top person/politician has been so exceedingly bad they've had to be shifted from whatever job they were in, they tend to either get a big golden handshake, or pop back up in an even better role - and sometimes both!
It's effectively an overclass of cronies, all feather-bedding each others backs.
 
Mike L. said:
Disgraced "leaders" should commit Seppukku.

--Mike L.
Click to expand...

Thanks -never did know how to spell that. ;)

If I am correctly informed (Danny, help me out) both seppuku and harakiri are suicide by ritual self-disembowelment, and the difference between the two is; In seppuku, you get to have an assistant lop your head off after you "spill your guts" so you don't have to go through the discomfort of bleeding out. In harakiri, you're pretty much on your own. :eek:

Somehow, I think I favor the latter for the really BIG disappointments in public service. :grumpy:
 
I dont know if there is a difference.
Harakiri 腹切 just means cutting the belly.
Seppuku 切腹 is a synonym, but may refer to the whole idea of atonement through suicide. If you look closely, you may notice that the kanji are the same, just reversed.
 
The way I had it explained to me was that Harakiri (Belly slitting) was GENERALLY used to refer to doing it solo without a Kaishaku (assistant who cuts your head off after you`ve made the 3rd slice) and Seppuku reffers to the full ritual suicide with a kaishaku.

The reason I said GENERALLY is because men and women perfomed the ritual differently. Men disembowell themselves while women were expected to cut thier own throats. So, reversing the kanji in seppuku to get harakiri could also just refer to the male version instead of the female version.

Either way I wish it was still fashionable here. Nowadays everybody just throws themselves in front of trains and makes a big inconvenience for 1000`s of people. Freakin` losers.
 
Even in the dojo, it wasn't really a common topic of discussion!
I have read some accounts by early western visitors and it was pretty sick.
You know, they still kind of do this in Japan. Over there, a lot of men will name the company they work for as their life insurance beneficiary and since Japanese life insurance pays for suicide (which it does not in America) the money goes to the company to make up for their mistake.

In any event, I would appreciate it if somebody in Washington would just say, "Yes, I did it. I'll get my crap out the office in the morning. See ya."
 
Detroit's Mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, has gotten himself into a fine mess like this too. He had an affair, lied about it in court, and got called on it when evidence to the contrary was brought to light. Now, despite obvious perjury and what looks like dwindling faith from the public and other elected officials, he's refusing to step down. I don't care who politicians screw around with. I really don't. What bugs the hell out of me is when they lie about it under oath out of vanity or to protect their jobs. If one is in a position of public trust, elected or not, getting caught in a stupid lie, let alone committing perjury over it, destroys one's authority to lead. Without moral authority, consent of the governed becomes increasingly unlikely, and democracy becomes just another tyrannical dictatorship.

Then there was his State of the City speech a few days ago...
 
It is news Like the Spitzer case that makes me wish we could bring back dueling. Public Officials would

behave a lot better if they knew they could be challenged for their misconduct,and had to face an angry

voter on the field at dawn.
 
I'm going to take the contrarian view here. Apologies in advance to the moderators, if this bothers too many people.

Let's see, Spitzer's resigned, even though he hasn't be prosecuted, and it isn't clear that he will be prosecuted. Yes, he's a massive hypocrite, but he just committed political harakiri, in public. Took him a few days to organize his end, is all.

</begin rant> Clinton--oh yes, the womanizing. Worth getting impeached over? Personally, I wish Bush would get it on with an aide so that we could impeach him. Apparently, blowing a few trillion trashing a middle eastern country and trampling on the bill of rights are not impeachable offenses right now. Sigh. </end rant>

I agree that we could use more class and honor, and I've got to admit, organizing a raffle to keep a kami's son in medical school is a class act. Perhaps we can keep on doing the good work? Set an example, and all that?

F
 
Spitzer bringing his wife on stage was abuse as far as I'm concerned.
This clown must be a tyrant at home to expect his wife to stand by his side while he takes his medicine for being a corrupt hypocrite.
 
fearn said:
I'm going to take the contrarian view here. Apologies in advance to the moderators, if this bothers too many people.

Let's see, Spitzer's resigned, even though he hasn't be prosecuted, and it isn't clear that he will be prosecuted. Yes, he's a massive hypocrite, but he just committed political harakiri, in public. Took him a few days to organize his end, is all.

</begin rant> Clinton--oh yes, the womanizing. Worth getting impeached over? Personally, I wish Bush would get it on with an aide so that we could impeach him. Apparently, blowing a few trillion trashing a middle eastern country and trampling on the bill of rights are not impeachable offenses right now. Sigh. </end rant>

I agree that we could use more class and honor, and I've got to admit, organizing a raffle to keep a kami's son in medical school is a class act. Perhaps we can keep on doing the good work? Set an example, and all that?

F
Click to expand...

Clinton was impeached for lying under oath.
He should have been convicted for treason with China and rape.
He got off easy.
 
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