Reply #126: Exactly the point I have been trying to make all through this thread ...

[puebloknot]

... although I was ill-advised to make reference to the contribution of our canine friends in the war because a translator,or perhaps a deity, was needed to explain the subtleties of that reference.

Before even getting into the matter of whether or not Hispanics were sufficiently honored in the Burns film, the assertion was made that the documentary was a "glorification of war." That's another PC trick these days in which those who are *for peace* like to look back over their shoulders and second-guess what the whole damned country, as well as the whole world, was doing to try to avoid succumbing to fascism during WWII -- all this while some of today's critics were still in diapers, or perhaps going through an adolescence which has lasted far, far too long.

Burns created a documentary which came from his own sensibilities, his own artistic vision. Every time we see a film or read a book, we have to know it's colored by the worldview and experiences of the creator of the piece. Even *documentaries* are much more than "just the facts." The facts are colored by human interpretation, and "the facts" with regard to almost any subject are too numerous to include in a given piece. I remember an old physicist boyfriend once telling me, about the scientific method: "There are some questions you do not ask." I didn't agree with that, but I see the practicality of it -- the necessity of limiting an experment to a given parameter.

There are many Native Americans here in the Santa Fe area who disagree, at Fiesta each year, with the artistic portrayal of the Spanish reconquest of this area, after the temporarily successful Pueblo Revolt. That "morality play" here is strictly from the point of view of the Hispanic population.

By golly, that's just not right. That whole week of historical celebrations should be retailored to include all of the players. The Hispanics totally dominate this local celebration. Maybe your mathematician friends could do a historical survey of the ethnic proportionality of the time, and be sure that there are exactly the right numbers of members of all the pueblos here, as well as the descendents of the reconquering Spaniards. But then we get into the problems with all the mixed-blood people who are a little of this and a little of that. If there were any justice in this world, the Pueblo peoples here would stop their weaving and their flute-making and take to the streets to demand their rights for equal representation!

Well...they did that, during the Pueblo Revolt back in 1600 something or other. They used knotted ropes, each knot to stand for a day, and runners took them to all the pueblos. When they reached the seventh knot, it was time for action. They rose up and threw the Spaniards OUT!!!!

It's clear that if we are ever going to get to impeachment, we're going to need to stop arguing and intentionally misunderstanding each other at DU, and start making some of them knotted ropes! :patriot: