Comments on: Jack Abramoff’s Brandeis Roommate Remembers…

By: anonymous

anonymous — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 02:25:32 +0000

David…
This message board presented itself by chance or by the lucky click of a mouse button. I am Jack’s first cousin. At the risk of being repetitive…I haven’t seen nor communicated with him in over 20 years….by choice. I am living in this cloud of disbelief. He was always a person who operated with a strong will to succeed and ultimately win. I never engaged with him enough to learn about every facet of his personality or habits. Jack and I were…are worlds apart because of our religious belief system as well as interests and philosophical perspectives on life.
I have a difficult time admitting that he and I share the same last name…although my last name was swapped for my married name….thank goodness. I know that I am only connected to him biologically and I am not responsible for his transgressions, but I can’t help but shiver every time I hear someone adhere a vile word to what used to be a close cousin. He is deserving of the negative terms that fly his way. I guess this site offers me a chance to vent and I enjoy reading agreeable and diverse opinions from individuals rather than the repetitious reports from the other generic websites.
Thanks Richard for allowing me to pop in and visit. For reasons I can’t explain…it feels comfortable here. With the exception of close friends and family members…this is the only place that I have painfully admitted my familial tie to Jack.

By: David Hyman

David Hyman — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 01:56:18 +0000

Dear anonymous,

Although I might disagree by saying that somebody’s choice of words can be exceptionally important, in this instance, I accept your point. VERY well said.

-David

By: anonymous

anonymous — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 23:43:11 +0000

Maybe this will shed some light on the word, “monstrous.”……cited from Mr. Webster himself!

monstrous
2 entries found for monstrous.
To select an entry, click on it.
monstrous[1,adjective]monstrous[2,adverb]

Main Entry: 1mon·strous
Pronunciation: ‘män(t)-str&s
Function: adjective
1 obsolete : STRANGE, UNNATURAL
2 : having extraordinary often overwhelming size : GIGANTIC
3 a : having the qualities or appearance of a monster b obsolete : teeming with monsters
4 a : extraordinarily ugly or vicious : HORRIBLE b : shockingly wrong or ridiculous
5 : deviating greatly from the natural form or character : ABNORMAL
6 : very great — used as an intensive
- mon·strous·ly adverb
- mon·strous·ness noun
synonyms MONSTROUS, PRODIGIOUS, TREMENDOUS, STUPENDOUS mean extremely impressive. MONSTROUS implies a departure from the normal (as in size, form, or character) and often carries suggestions of deformity, ugliness, or fabulousness . PRODIGIOUS suggests a marvelousness exceeding belief, usually in something felt as going far beyond a previous maximum (as of goodness, greatness, intensity, or size) . TREMENDOUS may imply a power to terrify or inspire awe . STUPENDOUS implies a power to stun or astound, usually because of size, numbers, complexity, or greatness beyond description .

I think that it would be acceptable to select a few of the descriptives above and apply it to the myriad of crimes committed and to the man himself. Jack’s misdeeds are in fact monstrous in proportion and severity. No, I don’t believe he is a monster. I believe that the crimes committed are immoral, vile, horrific and sickening. I feel more comfortable defining Jack as greedy, selfish, dishonest, base, contemptible, and cold.
Let’s give people permission to use words to define their inner most feelings. If “monstrous” is the word of choice for someone….then so be it. I really don’t think that Richard’s disputed adjective was too far off….it’s just not my choice. Let’s focus on the issues not a phonetic member of the Oxford English Dictionary.

By: David Hyman

David Hyman — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 23:02:40 +0000

My, my, aren’t we a tad defensive? Who said anything about conservative vs. liberal? My only point was that your choice of the word “mostrous” was a gross overstatement.

By: Bruce Ehrlich

Bruce Ehrlich — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 16:13:31 +0000

Richard,
Why have you retained my comment about Vic and Bob Ney, especially since I sent in a comment clarifying that there is in fact no connection? So please delete the earlier comment or at least post the correction as well. Thanks,

Bruce

By: Richard Silverstein

Richard Silverstein — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 06:09:52 +0000

Utterly ridiculous. Abbie Hoffman’s dealing cocaine “may have led to countless deaths?” Do you have any proof? And which riots did he “incite” which caused injuries? And the Kopechne reference isn’t even worth responding to it’s so puerile. And how does any of this have anything at all to do with Jack Abramoff? Are you trying to say that because progressives commit crimes that they’re just as bad as conservatives? Hey, news flash–you’re right…when progressives commit crimes they deserve as much opprobrium as conservatives. And if you think something’s wrong in the way Americans view Jack Abramoff you’re welcome to use whatever venue you can find except this one. You’ve had your say, now move on.

If you want to continue to post you may but we’re not doing any more mud wrestling about whose crimes are worse, liberals or conservatives. If you want to slash progressives I’m afraid you’re gonna have to find a different venue to do it.

By: David Hyman

David Hyman — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 03:35:17 +0000

So dealing cocaine, which may have led to counless deaths and inciting riots causing how many injuries (Hoffman) and killing Mary Joe (Teddy) don’t rise to that level?

By: Richard Silverstein

Richard Silverstein — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 23:31:27 +0000

It’s a question of degree. If Abbie Hoffman or Ted Kennedy had stolen $80-million from Native American tribes, called them morons & ignoramuses, abused the IRS 501c3 statute to launder corporate contributions, & persisted in calling themselves upstanding religious souls–then hell yeh I’d call them monstrous. I’d be willing to call a liberal or progressive monstrous if their crimes rose to that level.

By: David Hyman

David Hyman — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 22:49:13 +0000

You used the phrase, “anyone this seemingly monstrous deserves to be known as a human being too”. Monstrous? Would you use such words to describe Abbey Hoffman (a Brandeis Graduate), or say Ted Kennedy? From what I read in this story, he sounds like an opinionated ass, hardly “monstrous”. He’s a crook, plain and simple.

By: anonymous

anonymous — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 04:00:20 +0000

One final note….my heart goes out to all who have been financially and emotionally devastated by my relative’s actions. You can’t begin to understand the creepy feeling one experiences when the name of his/her relative along with his crimes reverberates across the airwaves. I never knew the older version of Jack. I only engaged with him a few times as an adult. It’s so odd to learn about this aspect of his personality from the media and from his peers.
I am in shock and overwhelmed with sadness for his children. I am disappointed in the Jack I thought I once knew. So sad.