The Straight Dope 09/27/2002

____________________________________________
The Straight Dope -- By Cecil Adams
http://www.straightdope.com

You are subscribed as: [[email protected]]

To unsubscribe CLICK on the URL below this line:
mailto:[email protected]
If you can't "click" above, then send a blank email to:
[email protected]
____________________________________________
THE STRAIGHT DOPE 09/27/2002

Dear Cecil:

If the philosopher Martin Heidegger was a Nazi and an
anti-Semite up until his death in 1976, why do we continue
to revere the ground he walked on? The guy was a louse (he
seduced Hannah Arendt of all people) and yet he is
considered the major voice of postmodern thought! Why was
this morally corrupt jerk elevated to 20th-century
philosophical prominence? Wasn't he downright despicable?
And why do so many care little for that? --Rommel John
Miller, Ocean City, Maryland

~~~~~~
Looking for the perfect gift for that wedding, birthday, or
bar mitzvah? Straight Dope books are the very thing! See
http://www.straightdope.com/store.html
~~~~~~

Cecil replies:

Oh, come on. It's not like being a morally corrupt jerk has
ever been a major career impediment. Intellectuals also tend
to have a gift for after-the-fact rationalization that would
make a U.S. president blush. To be fair, Heidegger's
eminence also has something to do with the fact that, in the
eyes of his admirers anyway, he was a genius. So we face the
age-old question: If the work is brilliant, does it matter
if the author is a jerk?

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/020927.html


STAFF REPORT

Dear Straight Dope:

Why is a boobie trap called a boobie trap? Help me out.
What're we supposed to be trapping here? --Tim A.

SDSTAFF Dex replies:

Not booby as in mammary glands, you boob, but booby as in
idiot or stupid. 

The word "boob" traces from the Spanish bobo meaning stupid,
which in turn comes from the Latin balbus meaning
stammering. The ancient Romans considered stammering to be a
sign of stupidity. This type of word is called "echoic,"
kind of onomatopeic, reflecting the repetitive stammer.
"Bal-bal-bal-bus" says Clau-clau-claudius.

For more, see: 
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mbooby.html


STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 02/13/1981

Dear Cecil: 

In 1858 Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas traipsed back
and forth across the state of Illinois conducting the famous
"Lincoln-Douglas debates," supposedly in a campaign for
election to the U.S. Senate. However, the constitutional
provision in effect at the time provided that U.S. senators
were to be elected by state legislatures. Not until passage
of the 17th amendment in 1913 were senators elected by
popular vote. So why were Lincoln and Douglas wasting their
time and money traveling around speaking to voters when they
could have more profitably occupied themselves offering
bribes to members of the Illinois legislature? --Charles T.,
Chicago  

Dear Charles:  

Too bad you weren't around in 1858.
I can just see Abe and Steve slapping their heads and
saying, "I KNEW we were doing this the hard way."

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_105.html

____________________________________________
Here's how you can get your OWN FREE Subscription:
Send a blank mailto:[email protected]
____________________________________________
Copyright 1995 - 2002 Chicago Reader, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
You may forward this document by email ONLY if you
include the entire document INCLUDING the information
at the bottom of this publication
____________________________________________
Visit our good friends at Joke A Day http://www.jokeaday.com
They're kind enough to mail THE STRAIGHT DOPE for us.
Join the World's Largest Daily Humor List and receive daily
laughs in your email by sending mailto:[email protected]