Shows that have you by the balls, or vag...

[CHONGS]

are they sure he wasn't an unhinged lunatic? That's definitely been my impression of him without seeing either the movie or the show.

The portayal of John Brown throughout history is very interesting.

[Institutional Control]

It's weird that John Brown is considered a Kansan since he only lived there for 4 years.

[michigancat]

It's weird that John Brown is considered a Kansan since he only lived there for 4 years.

I don't think anyone outside of Kansas considers him a Kansan. He played a big part in Kansas history though.

[michigancat]

are they sure he wasn't an unhinged lunatic? That's definitely been my impression of him without seeing either the movie or the show.

The portayal of John Brown throughout history is very interesting.

do you think he's been made to look like a maniac to appease southerners?

[CHONGS]

are they sure he wasn't an unhinged lunatic? That's definitely been my impression of him without seeing either the movie or the show.

The portayal of John Brown throughout history is very interesting.

do you think he's been made to look like a maniac to appease southerners?

Even his contemporaries saw the importance of how he would be portrayed (both positive and negative), so I am not claiming this is some modern or southern thing.

For example, Frederick Douglass greatly emphasized that he disagreed with the lunatic label.

One of the most painful incidents connected with the name of this old hero is the attempt to prove him insane. Many journals have contributed to this effort from a friendly desire to shield the prisoner from Virginia’s cowardly vengeance. This is a mistaken friendship, which seeks to rob him of his true character and dim the glory of his deeds, in order to save his life. Was there the faintest hope of securing his release by this means, we would choke down our indignation and be silent. But a Virginia court would hang a crazy man without a moment’s hesitation, if his insanity took the form of hatred of oppression; and this plea only blasts the reputation of this glorious martyr of liberty, without the faintest hope of improving his chance of escape.

It is an appalling fact in the history of the American people, that they have so far forgotten their own heroic age, as readily to accept the charge of insanity against a man who has imitated the heroes of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill.

It is an effeminate and cowardly age, which calls a man a lunatic because he rises to such self-forgetful heroism, as to count his own life worth nothing in comparison with the freedom of millions of his fellows. Such an age would have sent Gideon to a mad-house and put Leonidas in a strait-jacket. Such a people would have treated the defenders of Thermopylae as demented, and shut up Caius Marcus in bedlam. Such a marrowless population as ours has become under the debaucheries of Slavery, would have struck the patriot’s crown from the brow of Wallace, and recommended blisters and bleeding to the heroic Tell. Wallace was often and again as desperately forgetful of his own life in defense of Scotland’s freedom, as was Brown in striking for the American slave; and Tell’s defiance of the Austrian tyrant was as far above the appreciation of cowardly selfishness, as was Brown’s defiance of the Virginia pirates. . . . Posterity will owe everlasting thanks to John Brown for lifting up once more to the gaze of a nation grown fat and flabby on the garbage of lust and oppression, a true standard of heroic philanthropy, and each coming generation will pay its installment of the debt. No wonder that the aiders and abettors of the huge, overshadowing and many-armed tyranny, which he grappled with in its own infernal den, should call him a mad man; but for those who profess a regard for him, and for human freedom, to join in the cruel slander “is the unkindest cut of all.”

Nor is it necessary to attribute Brown’s deeds to the spirit of vengeance invoked by the murder of his brave boys. That the barbarous cruelty from which he has suffered had its effect in intensifying his hatred of slavery, is doubtless true. But his own statement, that he had been contemplating a bold strike for the freedom of the slaves for ten years, proves that he had resolved upon his present course long before he, or his sons, ever set foot in Kansas. His entire procedure in this matter disproves the charge that he was prompted by an impulse of mad revenge, and shows that he was moved by the highest principles of philanthropy. His carefulness of the lives of unarmed persons – his humane and courteous treatment of his prisoners – his cool self-possession all through his trial – and especially his calm, dignified speech on receiving his sentence, all conspire to show that he was neither insane or actuated by vengeful passion; and we hope that the country has heard the last of John Brown’s madness.

The explanation of his conduct is perfectly natural and simple on its face. He believes the Declaration of Independence to be true, and the Bible to be a guide to human conduct, and acting upon the doctrines of both, he threw himself against the serried ranks of American oppression, and translated into heroic deeds the love of liberty and hatred of tyrants, with which he was inspired from both these forces acting upon his philanthropic and heroic soul. This age is too gross and sensual to appreciate his deeds, and so calls him mad; but the future will write his epitaph upon the hearts of a people freed from slavery, because he struck the first effectual blow.

Not only is it true that Brown’s whole movement proves him perfectly sane and free from merely revengeful passion, but he has struck the bottom line of the philosophy which underlies the abolition movement. He has attacked slavery with the weapons precisely adapted to bring it to the death. Moral considerations have long since been exhausted upon slaveholders. It is in vain to reason with them. One might as well hunt bears with ethics and political economy for weapons as to seek to “pluck the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor” by the mere force of moral law. Slavery is a system of brute force. It shields itself behind might, rather than right. It must be met with its own weapons. Capt. Brown has initiated a new mode of carrying on the crusade of freedom, and his blow has sent dread and terror throughout the entire ranks of the piratical army of slavery. His daring deeds may cost him his life, but priceless as is the value of that life, the blow he has struck will, in the end, prove to be worthy its mighty cost. Like Samson, he has laid his hands upon the pillars of this great national temple of cruelty and blood, and when he falls, that temple will speedily crumple to its final doom, burying its denizens in its ruins.

[ChiComCat]

I'd always thought him a little bit nuts but hadn't delved deeply into it.  Thanks for sharing Chings!

[steve dave]

lil sd and I watched the first episode of mandalorian S2 yesterday and, folks, it's got us by the private parts

[Pete]

lil sd and I watched the first episode of mandalorian S2 yesterday and, folks, it's got us by the private parts

Yeah, same for us. 

[Cire]

John Brown was an extremist in his own time.  That's not Southern Propaganda.  Abolitionists were "The Radical Left/Right" of their day and he was an extremist among extremists.  Fredrick Douglass even distanced himself.

I love the show.

[mocat]

am enjoying the girl from the VVitch chopping it up with a bunch of chess nerds in the queen's gambit

[Pete]

am enjoying the girl from the VVitch chopping it up with a bunch of chess nerds in the queen's gambit

I will probably binge this over the weekend or next week.

[star seed 7]

Lovecraft Country - not far in yet. I like the characters and sci-fi story but god damn I hate monster crap. Debating if I should continue.

[ChiComCat]

Lovecraft Country - not far in yet. I like the characters and sci-fi story but god damn I hate monster crap. Debating if I should continue.

It is certainly more sci-fi than monster down the stretch, IMO.  I enjoyed it a lot.  It felt almost like an anthology at times with episodes going down wildly different paths.

[BIG APPLE CAT]

Lovecraft Country - not far in yet. I like the characters and sci-fi story but god damn I hate monster crap. Debating if I should continue.

i enjoyed it quite a bit. Will say this though...(and i don't think its a spoiler or anything like that) but um, the girls that dance/stalk Diana...way creepier than any monster

[bucket]

Lovecraft Country - not far in yet. I like the characters and sci-fi story but god damn I hate monster crap. Debating if I should continue.

i enjoyed it quite a bit. Will say this though...(and i don't think its a spoiler or anything like that) but um, the girls that dance/stalk Diana...way creepier than any monster

Agree about said girls. Lovecraft Country was a good not great HBO production. I was disappointed I didn't get more sucked in as it went along.

[Kat Kid]

that is sad to hear, I started saving it up as I got busy and could not commit to weekly viewings.

[wiley]

Watched The Vow on HBO and Seduced: inside the NXIVM cult on Starz.  All about that Keith Reniere cult leader who just got 120 year sentence.

Pretty crazy stuff.  If you decide to check either out, do the Starz one.  Its only 4 episodes, and fills you in on what happened to the victims first hand.

The HBO documentary is 9 episodes and talks about the top people who leave the organization.

Sent from my LG-LS998 using Tapatalk

[bucket]

Watched The Vow on HBO and Seduced: inside the NXIVM cult on Starz.  All about that Keith Reniere cult leader who just got 120 year sentence.

Pretty crazy stuff.  If you decide to check either out, do the Starz one.  Its only 4 episodes, and fills you in on what happened to the victims first hand.

The HBO documentary is 9 episodes and talks about the top people who leave the organization.

Sent from my LG-LS998 using Tapatalk

Binged The Vow. It was good.

[Gooch]

The Vow has a second season coming that covers the time after Reneire's arrest and trial.

[MakeItRain]

The Cow was about 4-5 episodes too long. I didn't even watch the last episode because I was fed up. The burn on it was just way too slow. I think it works better if you didn't know anything about NXIVM. I listened to an 8 part podcast about it earlier this year, that also centered around Sarah, so the story wasn't revelatory. The footage was nice though, including the stuff with the Dali Lama, total scammer, btw.

[Gooch]

Yeah, had no idea that the Dali Lama was kind of a piece of crap.

[MakeItRain]

The first episode of Industry was very good, and a moment. I had a visceral reaction when I saw who the director of the episode was.

[kstate4life]

am enjoying the girl from the VVitch chopping it up with a bunch of chess nerds in the queen's gambit

I will probably binge this over the weekend or next week.

This was surprisingly very entertaining!  Watched it in 2 days.

[yoga-like_abana]

started watching Punisher last night.. I like it

[Institutional Control]

Finally finished Kingdom. It was really really good.  It’s only 3 seasons but season 2 is 20 episodes.  Nick Jonas is adorable in it.


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