Hal ? by “tragic view” I was referring to the Calvinist doctrine of the total depravity of man, which is in contrast with the more positivist view of leftist academics who believe that men can be perfected through education and “awareness” of the social ills. (“Positivist” might not be the proper term for it ? I note for the record that Thomas Sowell deemed it sardonically the “vision of the anointed,” the anointed being those same academics and others of like mind.)
Again, I was not connecting Calvinism with fatalism. I was connecting fatalism, not Calvinism, with the Hee-Haw lyrics. I trust this tedious exercise has sucked all the fun out of them by now. I just made an offhand comment that they had a “tragic view” of the “beauty of averaging” (as opposed to “men”). It was the kind of flippant comment that isn’t geared for serious examination but made to elicit a knowing, ironic chuckle. It wasn’t a “main course” comment, but rather a bon-bon mot. As was the preceding.
In the other matter, by referencing Daedalus, I was obliquely casting the GOP in the role of Icarus, who ignored his father’s advice. Nevertheless, your presumption is accurate.
