1. The tragedies of William Shakespeare and of the Ancient Greeks have been foremost on my mind, along with the unfolding of the standoff at Ruby Ridge. In dramatic tragedy, the audience experiences a growing sense of foreboding that, inevitably, what is transpiring on stage will end in death. It's why tragedy is said to rouse in audiences feelings of fear and trembling. Death's inevitability doesn't occur because the writers are faithful to a formula dictating what "should" happen in a tragedy. Inevitable death often grows out of actions taken as a result of terrible misperceptions, often out of heightened passion -- say, anger or revenge.
All of these factors contributed to the deaths on Ruby Ridge. The Weavers and the agents of U.S. Government tragically exaggerated the dangers they posed to each other. Armed and acting on these exaggerated perceptions, it was inevitable, given the Weavers' suspiciousness and dedication to armed self-protection and given the rules of engagement the agents of the US government acted upon as they confronted what turned out to be a dark fantasy regarding the threat Randy Weaver posed, that each side would fire shots and people would be killed.
Running throughout the tragedies of William Shakespeare and the Ancient Greeks is the idea that nothing protects human beings from their own fallibility: not badges, not fervent commitment to religious doctrine or political ideology, not the holding of an office of power, not passionate love for another, not intelligence, not anything.
Often our fallibility is pretty harmless. We can't find our keys. We get to the grocery store and discover we left our shopping list at home. We misinterpret a spouse's words or gesture.
But, in other situations, human fallibility can be deadly, tragic.
That's how I see the unfolding of the standoff at Ruby Ridge.
My question now, as I continue reading Jess Walter's book, is how are fallible people held to account for deeds they committed, acting on what they believed to be true, when, in fact, they were acting, in part, on make believe, largely inspired by pride, fear, vengefulness, saving face, and stubbornness?
2. I had to take a few breaks today from reading about Ruby Ridge!
Christy provided one such break, a generous and delicious one.
She ordered a rack of ribs from Garrenteed BBQ along with mac and cheese and brought this bag of superb food over to our house.
The three of us dug in.
We were wowed by our meal! The meat was moist and flavorful. The sauces were delicious. And, as is always true, the mac and cheese was terrific.
We finished our meal and moved into the cool of our air conditioned living room and had fun yakkin' until Christy excused herself to head home and get some ambitious watering done in her yards and gardens.
3. I've also taken breaks to play cribbage online. I compete with a robot. It's relaxing. It exposes my fallibility. I win some and lose all the rest!
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