Battles with Integrity

Mindich discusses the ante-bellum debate over slavery in terms of Daniel Hallin's three spheres of public discourse: the Sphere of Consensus, the Sphere of Legitimate Controversy, and the Sphere of Deviance. (These are represented in the diagram in the book as three distinctly shaded concentric circles but they seem to have been blurred together in the photocopy in the reader.) Over time, he notes, issues can move from one sphere to another: "The support of women's suffrage, for example, moved over time from Deviance to Legitimate Controversy to its present position: deeply embedded in the Sphere of Consensus." (p.48) Pick a contemporary issue whose position in the three spheres is contested or uncertain: that is, an issue that some people insist belongs to one sphere and others insist belongs to another sphere. How does this issue contrast or compare with the status of slavery in the ante-bellum period?

Of the several issues of political controversy in contemporary American society, one issue whose position in public discourse has changed in recent years is the question of torture. Before 2001, torture was very much an academic issue in the US, and the idea of torture as an illegitimate investigative tool in law enforcement or the military would have fall generally in the Sphere of Consensus, with people generally agreeing that torture is a bad thing. With the hijackings of September 2001, many Americans' perceptions of the world, their safety in the world, and the measures necessary to maintain that safety changed drastically, thrusting the legitimacy of torture into the Sphere of Controversy, as debate began over 'ticking bomb scenarios', and the Administration worked to undermine previously held views of torture as something done by evildoers to heroes and victims, and inject into American discourse discussions of definitions of torture, something that would have been politically unthinkable previously. Similarly, the idea that torture is never acceptable has moved from the edge between the Spheres of Consensus and Controversy before 9/11, and now it has moved to the periphery of discourse to the Sphere of Deviance. While the national attitude regarding slavery evolved over time during the 19th century, national views of torture changed much more quickly in the wake of September 11, 2001.

[Posted on Brick's50-ver2, out in the world.]

...Dr. Nunberg mentioned that presentism also priveleged the present over the futre. He showed the picture below.

Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future Text: Dan Dare and Digby, his batman, are driving to Space Fleet HQ in answer to an urgent call from the Controller. Digby: I wonder if anything has happened to the 'Kingfisher', sir? The presence of the officer's batman shows an assumption that future society would, despite technological advancement, mirror the 1950s society that spawned the comic.

Curiously enough, when he asked the class what a batman was, only one student could answer. Subsequently, the term batman turned up on the Midterm review.

bat·man (bāt'mən)
n. A British military officer's orderly.

[Obsolete bat, packsaddle (from French bât, from Old French bast, from Late Latin bastum) + man.]

batman. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved October 03, 2007, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/batman

From the OED:

A man in charge of a bat-horse and its load; a military servant of a cavalry officer. Now generally, an officer's servant.

1755 in S. M. HAMILTON Lett. to Washington I. 96 They have taken..another man who was batman to Doct. Craik. 1809 WELLINGTON in Gurwood Disp. V. 198 The care of the Camp Kettles is not only the business of the Bâtman of the company, but of all the Bâtmen of the regiment. 1844 Regul. & Ord. Army 271 A Bât Man is allowed to the Surgeon for the care of the horse carrying the Instruments. 1855 W. SARGENT Braddock's Exp. 206 The English loss was..a waggoner, three bat-men, and a horse. 1941 Aeronautics Oct. 60/3 R.A.F. officers in the future are to have the services of members of the W.A.A.F. for duties which have been carried out hitherto by batmen. 1955 Times 18 Aug. 5/1 Men employed as outside batmen in the married quarters were expected to clean and polish the houses, clean windows, cut lawns, fetch coal, and run errands. 1966 Times 9 July 9/7 Command Orders say a batman must now be dignified as an ‘orderly’.

They have a mini outdoor produce market here on campus, just outside the Chavez cafeteria. Instead of having to stop at Whole Foods or Berkeley Bowl, I was able to purchase fresh Semifreddi's bread on Sproul plaza. This means more time at home doing dishes and all-around preparing for dinner guests. Yay! More time means less stress. *happy dance*

I got the Info response written, and did enough studying for Spanish so as not to make a fool of myself today. I'll get some studying for Spanish in tonight after guests tot off to BaGG, and in the morning before class. I can identify most of the major cities in Mexico, almost all of the major geographic features, and probably 30% of the states. I'll review and expand my understanding there, and work on vocabulary for Spanish.

Much less stressed now than I was this morning.

(Note to self: CalTV recruiting Thursday 7pm Wheeler 121.)