An Ohio member of a men's list distributed this.  I dallied with the
idea of presenting it here and concluded "what the hell!" I thought it
appropriate to comply with "Truth in Advertising." So this disclaimer:

More!  More!  I am going to present this to the Moderated Classical Music
List.  If it gets by the moderator--and there's the rub--it will produce
a devilishly delicious explosion among the list members.  I can see the
thread going on for years as the fugue builds among the lines of that great
Laurel and Hardy theme of one kicking the other only coming to an end with
a chaotic mob scene in which everyone gets in the act of destroying the
entire set.  In fact, I might even let the members in on my intent.  That
will make it all the more diabolic!

And here it is just as it was sent to me.

   Friends---With your indulgence, some summer lightness

   You are no doubt familiar with the case of Radical Feminist
   Professor Mary Daly of Boston College, who was "retired" by the
   college administration for her long-standing refusal to admit male
   students to her classes, and who is currently suing the college
   over her forced retirement.  That case was brought to mind during a
   delightful week at the Ohio Light Opera, where my wife and I viewed
   8 operettas in repetory, including Gilbert & Sullivan's Princess Ida.
   Ida has retreated from the world of men and runs a seminary for young
   ladies; men are strictly excluded.  Sound like Mary Daly? Perhaps
   you will find some of the dialogue in this 1883 operetta (based on
   an 1837 poem by Tennyson) topical, amusing, and of interest.

   The key theme is:

      "Man will swear and Man will storm
      Man is not at all good form
      Man is of no kind of use-
      Man's a donkey-Man's a goose-
      Man is coarse and Man is plain-
      Man is more or less insane-
      Man's a ribald-Man's a rake,
      Man is Nature's sole mistake."

   And women, of couse, are superior to men:

      "The elephant is mightier than Man.
      Yet Man subdues him. Why? The elephant
      is elephantine everywhere but here (tapping head)
      and Man, whose brain is to the elephant's
      As Woman's brain to man--(that's rule of three)--
      Conquers the foolish giant of the woods,
      As Woman, in her turn shall conquer Man."

   Coincidentally, during this time I was reading David Horowitz's
   penetrating book, "The Politics of Bad Faith", especially his discussion
   of radical feminism as a plan to subvert and overthrow the natural
   order, which reminded me of Ida's passionate charge to her students
   to reject men and not be mindful of their own feminine appearance---

   "In other words-let Chaos come again!"

   Later, Ida says:

      "Oh, I had hoped to band all women
      With my maiden throng
      And make them all abjure tyrannic Man.
      If I carried out this glorious scheme,
      At my exalted name, Posterity
      Would bow in gratitude!"

   When asked how Posterity would be achieved if all women abjure men,
   she replies:

      "I never thought of that!"

   [Of course, science has evolved to the point where Ida's scheme or
   dream might just be achievable in the test tube.]

   The writer finishes quoting the opera on a theme which should
   effectively bring down this house.

   There was also this gem of a Clintonian nature which brought to mind
   "what the meaning of is is":

      "Three points--The Is, the Might Be, and
      The Must:
      Whether the Is, from being actual fact,
      Is more important than the vague Might Be,
      Or the Might Be, from taking wider scope,
      Is for that reason greater than the Is:
      And lastly, how the Is and Might Be stand
      Compared with the inevitable Must!"

   The writer concludes.  "If you don't like Gilbert & Sullivan, please
   forgive the intrusion."

Yes, I second that.

Andrew E. Carlan <[log in to unmask]>
Standing Up For Nielsen