Word: compassion
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...novel that stops on page 36 for a brief treatise on tea is obviously not in a hurry. Neither are the protagonists of Bronze Mirror (Henry Holt; 337 pages; $19.95). The Yellow Emperor, who "discovered the wheel and the compass and such," the Silkweb Empress, responsible for "the delicate art of silkworm rearing," and their courtiers all flourish during the Song dynasty, circa 1135. Another invention is announced: the Emperor's minister has developed a set of symbols called writing. Now every royal tale can be recorded. The aristocrats begin a leisurely contest for the title of best storyteller...
Despite this, one is irresistably led to admire Dershowitz because he has a sturdy and true moral compass. As a public figure, he sticks up for ideals of human rights and civil liberties where others would let pragmatism prevail; as an attorney, he is famous for defending pariah clients such as Claus Von Bulow and Leona Helmsley and insisting on procedural regularity and the rights of the accused. But just like a compass needle starts to go awry in the neighborhood of a magnet, Dershowitz's moral compass often veers from course when the topic at hand is Israel...
Contrast that with what he told Rolling Stone in 1989: "I do have an ethical compass that I follow very strictly. For one reason or another, I seem to get under the other side's skin, but that doesn't bother...
Apparently, the compass couldn't help him find peace of mind. He apologized to many of his former enemies. He wrote to Turnipseed, seeking the Democrat's forgiveness. In a Life article, he apologized for his nasty jibes at Dukakis: "I am sorry for both statements, the first for its naked cruelty, the second because it makes me sound racist, which...
...This brutality has reverberated throughout the entire world. If we do not follow the dictates of our inner moral compass and stand up for human life, then his lawlessness will threaten the peace and democracy of the emerging New World Order we now see: this long dreamed-of vision we've all worked toward for so long," he wrote...