the breakfast table
columns
- The Supreme Court Breakfast Table
Should there be a shooting range next to the Supreme Court gift shop?
Walter Dellinger
posted June 27, 2008 - The Supreme Court Breakfast Table
Was it ever Miller time?
Dahlia Lithwick
posted June 26, 2008 - What's the Big Secret?
Continuing the conversation.
Patrick Radden Keefe
posted Aug. 30, 2007 - A Supreme Court Conversation
Everything convservatives should abhor.
Walter Dellinger
posted June 29, 2007 - The Midterm Elections
The blame game, George Allen, and more.
Mark Halperin
posted Nov. 3, 2006 - Search for more the breakfast table articles
- Subscribe to the the breakfast table RSS feed
- View our complete the breakfast table archive
Elaine Showalter and Christopher Benfey
Murder, Bioethics, and the Bolshoi
Posted Wednesday, July 7, 1999, at 1:55 PM ETDear Chris,
I'm tempted by your optimistic view that white-supremacist killers like Benjamin Smith are reacting to a deep-seated conviction of the profound inseparability of blacks and whites in the United States. There were similar arguments, I recall, about abortion-clinic killers a few years back--that these awful crimes were last-ditch violent reactions to a lost battle, signs that in some way we had turned the corner on abortion rights. But I can't really accept such a rational explanation of psychotic behavior, and I'd rather put my faith in gun control than philosophy. In London this year there have been 47 murders, which the Brits regard as an alarming and unacceptable figure. An average day for the United States, I'd guess.
The organ-transplant issue seems different to me. In the newspapers here tonight, a columnist says that the decision to accept the kidney was outrageous, and next people will be restricting their donor organs to non-Catholics. But an NHS doctor says that it's an impossible dilemma--to accept the kidney is to be a bigot, but to refuse it, when there is a good tissue match, is to sacrifice a life. I think we will be grappling with many more of these bioethical problems in the future, and words and reason will have to be our weapons.
On a lighter note--the Bolshoi made its debut here last night in La Bayadère. A news story in the Evening Standard on Page 17 is headlined "Applause as Bolshoi Regains Lithe Spirit." The star ballerina Nadezhda Gracheva said after the performace, "The challenge was taken up and the challenge was met. I am very happy." But on Page 52, in a story headlined "Glory Days Are Over," the Standard's dance critic, Anne Sacks, writes that La Bayadère is "so politically incorrect as to be offensive," "the dancing is perfunctory," "many of the soloists are stilted and stylistically awkward," and that despite Gracheva's "strong, pliant legs and flexible back," even she can't get the thing off the ground. The Bolshoi, Sacks concludes, is a former instrument of "Soviet cultural imperialism" that has lost its identity.
I suspect there won't be any defections on this trip.
Best,
Elaine
Murder, Bioethics, and the Bolshoi
Posted Wednesday, July 7, 1999, at 1:55 PM ETfeedback | about us | help | advertise | newsletters | mobile
User Agreement and Privacy Policy | All rights reserved
- Today's Headlines
- Historical Archives: A Jest For You
Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:00:00 -0400 - Historical Archives: Hay Thieves Strike Again
Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:00:00 -0400 - Historical Archives: John Jacob Astor Out Looking For Beaver
Fri, 10 Oct 2008 09:00:00 -0400 - » More from the Onion
PostPartisan: The DebateRobinson | Punch, Counterpunch
Gerson: Two McCain SuccessesKing: Straight Out of a SitcomMeyerson: Old John
- Dionne: Who Is John McCain, Really?
- Ignatius: In Praise of Complete Sentences
- Parker: Wake Me When the Debate Starts
- Editorial: Their Pre-Meltdown Mind-Set
- Today's Headlines
- Economic Crisis: Europe's Response
Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:43:06 GMT - What America's Smartest Women Say About Sarah Palin
Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:46:41 GMT - Personal Finance: Conservative Investing
Thu, 09 Oct 2008 19:53:19 GMT - » More from Newsweek
- Today's Headlines
- An Obama-Palin Ticket
Thu, 9 October 2008 18:16:56 GMT - Love the Player, Hate the GM
Thu, 9 October 2008 21:10:07 GMT - Schooling McCain on the Man Code
Thu, 9 October 2008 20:03:04 GMT - » More from The Root

the breakfast table













