Weekly musings on the arts and current events.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Falling From Grace




If ever a week had a theme, it was this one. Tiger Woods lost his dignified image as a focused and gentlemanly athlete. Serena Williams was fined and placed on probation for her outbursts at the U.S. Open. The emirate of Dubai was revealed to be a kingdom built on sand. The Secret Service was tarnished by two gatecrashers who bluffed their way into the president's first state dinner. Mike Huckabee became the target of formerly adoring conservative bloggers because he was responsible for the release of the man who murdered four Tacoma police officers. And most important of all, Barack Obama gave a tepid speech in support of his escalation of our efforts in Afghanistan, drawing only qualified approval from those who support the war, and alienating him from a large part of his base.

I, for one, take no pleasure in any of these developments, and can only hope that the reputations of all will eventually be restored...well, maybe not Huckabee's.



Satan by Gustave Dore; an engraving for a 19th Century edition of Paradise Lost. Click on the picture for a closer look.

5 comments:

BioniKat said...

Everybody has feet of clay and a lot of those who are placed on pedestals. Into whose hands are we placing the power to make decisions which will affect the lives of others. On what do they base the decisions they make. Why do all (or most or a lot) of those in high or envied positions reveal themselves to have a dark and seedy side to the lives they are living. Are we looking up to the wrong people. Frankly it doesn't surprise me that these things come out eventually, human nature being what it is.

DUTA said...

The biblical source of both the expression "Falling from Grace"(the title of this post),and of the dramatic illustration of Satan - has indeed relevance to Dubai.

This oil producing rich emirate has built on its Sands and desert climate an Ice stadium and fancy Skyscrapers - and that is, I think, violation of Nature's (or God's) rules and order of things in the universe.

So, nothing good could ever come out of that. What is built on sand, including economy, will not bring stability and happiness.

Janie B said...

It has been an interesting week. Everybody messes up at some time or another.

Paula Slade said...

Terrific summation of the week that was - couldn't help but chuckle out loud regarding the picture you posted - it's a perfect fit!

Nelson guirado said...

Another theme can be justice, as all of them paid for their actions in some way. Well, I don't know about the secret service guys.