Wayyy back in the day, people used to include taglines when they posted to electronic bulletin boards, Usenet groups, and similar such forums. There was a piece of shareware known as Taglinator that did a fine job of selecting random taglines from a list. You could modify the list and add your own.
The resulting tagline might look something like this.
Regards,
Dann
Some pithy saying or one-line joke or something profound....who knows!
My Taglinator file wandered away over the years. I rather enjoy [adding a] including closing [to] an online response with a tagline. So, I ended up creating a new random tagline generator via Google's Sheets application. The list was seeded with some common taglines from years gone by and has been slowly expanding with the addition of new taglines from various sources.
So what are my criteria for adding something to the list? Mostly, the line has to be modestly funny or an interesting observation. With one (at this point) exception[1], the person/source is someone that has something to say that is worth remembering. I probably have enjoyed their work on past endeavors either as artists, academics, politicians or as a commentator on society in general. Sometimes I just run across a quote that reflects my perspective.
Sadly, modern cancel culture compels me to point out that all of the sources of quotes are human and therefore have flaws. John Wayne's opinions on race were reasonably mainstream for the '50s and early '60s. They wouldn't pass muster today. The socialist advocacy of Robert A. Heinlein and George Orwell was rooted in ignorance and inexperience with socialist theories from an earlier age. We know better today about how socialism works in reality vs. how it is presented as a theory. Whoopi Goldberg has advocated some questionable ideas from time to time; such as instances where rape might be "rape" rather than "rape-rape".
No person is free from criticism. No one is perfect. Criticisms of a person in one area do not negate useful observations that they might offer in other areas.
With one (at this point) exception[1], the people and quotes included in my list have something to do with either an appreciation for the person or an appreciation for the value of what they are saying in the quote. Sometimes it's a bit of both. I've enjoyed a lot of Whoopi's movies and generally support the perspective in the quotes. I'm not a fan of "The View". John Wayne made great movies and was a patriotic American; these are worthy of respect. I'm also glad that his ideas on race no longer define American society.
Appreciating people is not a binary choice. People are complex. It's OK to support someone where their influence is positive while acknowledging their flaws. It's called tolerance. It reflects nuance.
[1] George Bernard Shaw supported regimes that committed mass murder. People should keep that in mind before remembering him fondly. I'm OK with reminding folks of that fact.
