Changed My Mind, Instead I Will Just Say Today . . .

Even if it is the time of year I usually feel at my best, the couple two three weeks leading up to my birthday, I feel sorta like I am up to my neck in shit.

But I sorta know why. It has been at least four years since I had a happy birthday That is what folk say don't they? Have A Happy! Well for me it has been that long since I had a happy one.

I guess I am resigned to the fact that this birthday is going to suck just as totally as the last three have.

Well that is one way to minimize the disappointment; expect the worst of all possible outcomes. Dreary as the prospect is, I think I am better off being prepared for the worst!

Oh. I am reminded of this cynical poster/cartoon/whatever it was, from the 1980's. It was a picture of the ubiquitous smiley face, but instead of a smile it had a straight line for it's mouth, an the following message:


HAVE AN ORDINARY DAY.


Ya. That is what I am both afraid of, and preparing for.

What I say there in in profile, about the Angels of my Better Nature? They are winning the fight, barely!

Ok. Now I have confessed to still being a rubbernecker on the Sean Hannity Message board, as I do get a dose of schadenfreude from watching the morons in their natural habitat. Better to only watch the Freak Show, than be part of it, all that? Anyway, this allegedly-a-vet member is whoring this "video" he made and has up on YouTube. And for at least the third time, I almost flamed his "work." But the Angels of My Better Nature won the contest for my soul, and I retreated. But here is what I would have said, today.

I would have pointed out that his so-called video was not a video at all. but was, only, a slide show set to music. (Now trust me kids; assuming soldier boy is not lying about being a vet and all that, if you want someone to blow shit up and kick doors down, he is the expert. However if you want anything to do with technical side of sho biz, I am the expert -- sheeit -- I was in the union for 10 years, and did professional work on stage and in TV studios.)

But that was only the factual part. Here was the snark:


"Beyond that, in the words of the fictional character, Wednesday Addams:

Your work is puerile and under-dramatized. You lack any sense of structure, character, or the Aristotelian unities. "

Honestly, that is one of my all time favorite movie quotes (however, not easily used in real life.) Since I do have my undergraduate degree in Theatre, and took a slew of Communication classes, this snarky, arty put-down just tickles my ex- sho bizzer's funny bone in a deeply satisfying way.

Granted, I usually am not that surgical myself, when faced with puerile (failed) art. I am usually, and rarely, as a general matter, succinct, and just dismiss schlock as being "derivative."

OK, but the point is, I did hold off on the cheap shot comment there on the YouTube page. Right?

Yes. Your Momma Was Right!

First the part that is not true. You can not catch 'crazy.' But your momma was right when she got on your sassy ass about hanging out with trash. You hang around with trash and it rubs off, just like you would catch fleas by rolling around the floor with flea-bitten mongrels.

Speaking of such, and the unfortunate effects of contact with contagious vermin, I sorta like the idea from that movie, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." Granted, what I would like is not as large a wipe of my mind, but there are more than a few synapses I would gladly part with. That would be to wipe out the effects of getting too near some trash (not by choice, this is trash I met at the workplace.) Now if I could wipe the synapes in question and only have left some picture-image related to a warning: Stay Away from this Douchebag," oh ya that would be heaven.

But that is me. I do not associate with the sort of douchebags that are that contagious . . . not willingly or by choice.

I got to be oppressed and compressed into it. I have a very low threshold for that shit, truth be told.

And if you have been following this blog, you know I can't stand douchebags or idiots.

No sirreee bob, no like them!

I Hope There is a Prosecutor in Iraq With Balls Enough to Indict "Prince," and Serve the Warrant on Secy. State Rice.

"A defiant Blackwater Chairman Erik Prince said
yesterday he will not allow Iraqi authorities to
arrest his contractors and try them in Iraq's faulty
justice system. "We will not let our people be taken
by the Iraqis," Mr. Prince told editors and reporters
at The Washington Times."

Blackwater CEO to Iraq Govrnment,"Eff You Guys!"


Hmmm, now I know that the douchey-er of the Republicans projectile vomit their bullshit bile about how Dems want Iraq to fail but hey, quote me on this:

"I freaking hope Iraq has enough of a functioning government to serve arrest warrants not only for the mercenaries under question, but the CEO and anyone else at Blackwater that law designates as indictable to Secy. Rice, and further says, if the US Government does not honor the warrants, that they must Get The Fawk Out of Iraq.

Now would not that be the ultimate irony? I would love it if the People and Government of Iraq could use this excuse less act of murder, followed by this most contemptible of neo-colonialist arrogant disrespect towards the government of Iraq by the CEO of an American corporation which has been not only basically but beyond a doubt generating profit on account of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq, to get their shit together enough to realize the following:

as long as they do not get their shit together enough they will have to swallow the shit of shitbags like Prince.

I hope they choose to take control of their own collective destiny and as well, their collective sense of pride, and say, Fawk you Prince. You kill our innocent civilians on our streets and you gotta face the law in our courts. Otherwise, get the fawk outta our country. All ya'll, even your American Government friends.

Beating up and gang raping a 12 year old was not enough. Now the Republican Douchebags are doing it to a toddler.

How fawkin' evilly and mindlessly sinisterly evilly partisan need one be to participate in a figurative gang rape of a toddler . . . when keeping your damn gutter-nasty-vulgar opinions to your gutter-nasty-vulgar self is the least costly alternative?

Yes I am talking about the disgusting treatment against Baby Bethany. Again, how gutter-nasty-vulgar need one be to not know one should oppose the SCHIP law without attacking children and toddlers who have received medical care under that program?

Never the FAWK mind that. How stupid does one need to be to MISS the fact that they are basically being set up? And I say plainly YA FAIR PLAY here. If Republican partisans can not talk the issues but instead must attack the messenger, no matter how small and needy and weak, so do you think I am feeling sorry that they are being set up? Truth is winning the day here, in American Politics. That is a rarity. The Dems are saying :

Go ahead Repubs. Prove to Us All that you all really are that petty, cruel, vapid and valueless.

And (too damn many of) the damn Republicans Whoop-Up that prospect, with all the bully-bravery of Arm Chair, keyboard, internet message board, Chick Hawk Warriors show for watching so-called "War Porn," and figuratively charge the (metaphorically-speaking) glistening pikestaffs of the Dems well-planned redoubts.

Shit.

Let me say that again.


Shit.

Ya know what would be great? If we Dems could get Lord Jesus to endorse one of our initiatives. I swear that a great number of Republicans, even if they were 100% certain it was The Lord Jesus, and The Lord Jesus was in fact backing the Democrats? I am sure a bunch would not only have to think long about opposing The Lord Jesus, if he was endorsing the Dem position, but shit, I am sure some, them who did not arrive at the correct Christian answer to the question who to follow, would convert to Islam. Honestly, many of them so-called Christians really are nothing but posers anyway. Last thing any of them in particular want to face is The Lord Jesus judging them on the basis of actual New Testament values.

Phonies and fakes. I personally don't believe in the Lake of Fire. That is way too a Republican Idea to be real. However I would submit to The Lord's Judgment if that should come to pass, not because I have lead that good a life, but even considering my failings, I am betting on being deemed more good than bad; go to Purgatory and purify your imperfect soul.

Hey, I might be a rotten excuse for a Catholic, but I honestly do have some respect for the particulars of our dogma. Not all of it, but I get the general drift and feel of it.

Which is to say I am NOT a Bible-Thumping Hypocrite, but I am a imperfect soul who tries (well not hard enough maybe, but I do try. Really, I do!)

But enough about me, the real point is that I am sure that if The Lord Jesus did as I said, came down here and supported expansion of SCHIP, that some of them Republican Douchebags would treat Him as ugly as they have the 12 year old and the toddler.

Hypocrites and evil shitbags, they are who have treated the children that way. I mean really?

Does Jesus have to show up on your doorstep and tell ya'll to behave before ya'll take Him seriously?

What is the Flip Side of Faux Outrage? Attacking a 12 Year Old, of Course.

Sometimes I actually wonder if I should feel sorry for them douchy Republicans? I do not mean all Republicans are douchy, but I am talking about them who engage in these despicable acts?

Attacking a 12 year old; that kid in the middle of that SCHIP story?

I mean, there is ordinary douchyness, attacking adult messengers instead of the message, but to attack a 12 year old? What kinda heinous, sick poor excuse for a human attacks a 12 year old?

Answer: Republican.

But like I said, I wonder if I should feel sorry for folk like that. And ya know what? I may be far far from being as spiritually clean as the Amish, but I can sorta feel sorry for people that lost in bile, and hate, and that witless a follower of some stupid partisan movement. At least I can think . . . I am damn glad I am not that messed up.

But in the end, I do not forgive them; I still judge them harshly. Beyond the hatefulness is a behavior not a mere state, and as well, the staggering hypocrisy some of these Republicans display is just too, for lack of a better word, douchy to escape aggressive condemnation. Let's review, and I will pull-in the 'faux outrage' concept to make my point.

People who go all 'foam at the mouth and convulse in outrage' mode when other people criticize the POTUS, the "Most Powerful Man In The World," and/or

go 'foam at the mouth and convulse in outrage' mode when someone uses the word betray at a Major General of the US Military, definitely one of the most powerful men not only in the USA but right now, the man commanding the largest military force currently in a war zone, and/or even

go 'foam at the mouth and convulse in outrage' mode when some multimillionaire radio talking head, someone who basically made his millions from being nasty and hateful on the radio, himself gets criticized

not only SHOULD NOT condone the attack on a 12 year old child, but if they do not criticize anyone who does that, they really are the worst of hypocrites, condone blind hate, and hold partisanship as a higher value than any of the Christian Values and Virtues.

Ya, I can feel a little sorry for anyone that efffed up in the head.

Douche of the Week

As always, there are many to choose from, who by effort or malfeasance, deserve the dishonor. This week, I am not giving the dishonor to a single person, but to a kind of people.

Faux Outragers. I could leave it at that, but I want to get a little more specific.

There is one incident (not unexpectedly the latest idiocy to come out of the Republicans) involving the staged and feigned outrage over the lack of reporting of the award of a CMA to a deceased Navy Seal? Now this is a great example of what I am talking about.

How much of a brain-dead, mindless minion of some stupid-assed political kiddie club must one be to get all cranked up because some story you hear about from one or some media outlets is not being reported by another one or a specific one? I will jump to the chase here and just say that the lack of the story being reported by the specific media outlet is not the point; the point is taking a whack at that media outlet in question, no matter how slim the cause. I mean, it is one thing to say something like XYZ Cable News Network covers the ongoing war in Iraq far less than the other two cable networks (and just for the sake of not going partisan I am not going to say which cable news network consistently under reports about the ongoing war in Iraq). But to get all foamy in the mouth (after taking a good swig of mouthwash to generate the faux foam) because one human interest story, or one essentially local crime story, or one basically ordinary law suit story is not being reported by a particular media outlet?

Ok; if you follow this blog you should know what is coming next. I will call that being totally bullshit. And for the record, I think it is equally dumb-assed when people on my side of the fence do it.

I have given only one example of what I am talking about, here. But I just recently saw a clip of the Bill Maher show, where Mr. Maher says something to the effect about Sean Hannity, who apparently went all faux foam at the mouth over the idiotic Flag Lapel Pin thing with Obama:

"Sean Hannity, who reported on "no pin" gate and then had to call a doctor because his fake outrage hard-on lasted longer than 72 hours. "

So if you wanted to make this douche of the week award about a specific person, we name Hannity. But it really is sorta redundant to name him Douche of the Week, as he already has been inducted into the Lifetime Achievement in Douchyness Club.

Speaking of his Lifetime Achievement, WTF kinda insane and imaginary point was Hannity trying to make in asking the man whether Al Gore sounded like a man of peace, in the vids he showed in this show clip?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuicm5tesH0

And what about that Republican Congressman? Vito Fossella? WTF, him, suggesting that the Peace Prize should have instead gone to the dead Navy Seal I mentioned above, or the US Marines or Air force? I mean really, how moronically partisan can some one be? (Dunnh . . . me think Nobel Prize Committee should do what I say . . . cuz I like it when things are done my way.)

Seriously, and yes before adding this addendum I researched the criterion for the Peace Prize. In Alfred Nobel's will, he specifically mentions reduction of standing armies and peace conferences as some of the possible grounds for the Peace Prize, but apparently it is not really specifically restricted to those two things. Over the years it has been awarded for a wide range of Humanitarian Activity.

So that whole save the planet by reducing harmful global warming, thing, definitely is within the real of Humanitarianism. Not to belittle the USAF, the Corps, or any specific US Service Personnel, but honestly their main jobs are not necessarily anywhere close to Humanitarian Activity, leave alone, reducing standing armies, unless you warp the meaning to include killing the other army?

Again, I am not judging our military here, but the main mission of the US Armed Forces is not only the exact opposite of what the Peace Prize is supposed to be, but it is actually what the Peace Prize is against, philosophically.

Some Republicans have no shame. More to the point, they are so full of shit that they are, well? They are totally bullshit!

So in addition to the actual winners of Douche of the Week, Vito Fossella gets honorable mention as an up and coming Douchebag. Keep your eyes and ears open for this one, kids. I am expecting more high grade douchebaggery and high purity bullshit from this boy.

What is the Definition of So Willfully Ignorant One Should Be Considered as Totally Bullshit?

My answer to that is:

knowing that the actual facts (not opinions, hopes, dreams, desired state of reality) overwhelmingly say the situation or thing is in one state of being, and persisting in expressing the belief that it is the near or exactly opposite state that the facts do prove it is in being.

In other words, if you deny reality, you are full of bullshit.

(And you likely know where I am going next) and that brings up the subject of Plastic Turkey Man's abomination of an occupation of Iraq.

"BAGHDAD, Sept. 26 -- A strong majority of Iraqis want U.S.-led military forces to immediately withdraw from the country, saying their swift departure would make Iraq more secure and decrease sectarian violence, according to new polls by the State Department and independent researchers."

Yankee Go Home!


The percentage of Iraqis who want the Yankees to Go Home is nearly the same as the percentage of Americans who what the troops to come home. And yet, there are some tools still slinging this bullshit about staying the course, or winning the war (I have yet to encounter anything resembling a rational definition for winning in Iraq, save what I and them that think like I do define it as; getting the Eff outta there, ASAP!)

But beyond the general ignoring the will of the people there, who clearly mostly want us as in the US gone? That crap about 'hearts and minds?'

I am getting more specific here, yes. That phrase about winning 'hearts and minds' s being kicked around a lot again, but again my point here is facts not wishful thinking.

Do you really care about the minds (and hearts) of Iraqis? DO YOU? Then prove it or shut the Eff up about that sort of thing. And if you want to prove that you actually really do care about the hearts and minds of Iraqis (as opposed to you being either totally full of bullshit, or as despicable a person as a common vulgar liar), you really need to pay attention to what they say.

I say again:

You really need to pay attention to what they say!


This is what they say.

And I repeat exactly what I have already posted here.


"BAGHDAD, Sept. 26 -- A strong majority of Iraqis want U.S.-led military forces to immediately withdraw from the country, saying their swift departure would make Iraq more secure and decrease sectarian violence, according to new polls by the State Department and independent researchers."

Do you get it yet? I will go further. Their minds are already made up, and you are not going to change their damn minds; they want us to go.

How can anyone miss the obvious? Is that some Republican thing? I have often compared the dysfunctional way Republicans behave as that of Abusive Spouses/Mates. But in this case, the Pro Iraq War Republicans, lead by Plastic Turkey Man, are acting like scumbag rapists.


The people of Iraq are saying:

"NO! Hands off my body!"


And George Bush and the rest of the Pro War party are saying:

"Naaa! You really Want it. Stop resiting. I will hurt you. Is that what you want you dirty bitch? I'll hurt you good."


Disagree with me if you must, but if invading by force and continuing to occupy a country that did not either invite the occupying force, or did not engage in some acts of aggression so serious to warrant invasion and occupation, is NOT directly analogous to forcible rape, than there is no such a thing as rape. As long as the more physically powerful party says it is ok, that is all that counts.

Well?

What say you?

A Genocide By Any Other Name . . . .

(Apologies to The Bard of Stratford, but that is as witty as I am likely to get tonight; jacking his good stuff.)

Let me say this plainly. If you were to say that the Dems in Congress pushed this resolution calling the death by Turkey of one and a half million Armenians, nearly a century ago, "genocide," was some ploy to embarass Plastic Turkey Man (no pun intended; I have been calling him that for weeks now), I would not protest.

However, consider my following reply:

If embarassing someone for being 'soft on genocide' is not a fair play, 24/7/365 then what is?


That is my take on this issue. For some comic relief, check out Jon Stewart's:


Jon Stewart - Armenian Genocide

Well I Could Go For Part Trey, of My Latest on the Iraq War Tin Hat Brigade. But Instead, Let's Have Some Quotes.

Various themes; if you see a pattern here let me know what it is, please. I am sorta going-on in some mostly-semi-random way, far as I know, as I do this.



“Fame is proof that people are gullible.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson



“If we ever pass out as a great nation we ought to put on our tombstone 'America died from a delusion that she had moral leadership'.”
-Will Rogers


"It is part of the general pattern of misguided policy that our country is now geared to an arms economy which was bred in an artificially induced psychosis of war hysteria and nurtured upon an incessant propaganda of fear."
-Douglas MacArthur


"I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration."
-Bene Gesserit (from Dune, by Frank Herbert.)



“There is, in world affairs, a steady course to be followed between an assertion of strength that is truculent and a confession of helplessness that is cowardly.”
-Dwight David Eisenhower



“A red rose is not selfish because it wants to be a red rose. It would be horribly selfish if it wanted all the other flowers in the garden to be both red and roses.”
-Oscar Wilde


"You don't get harmony when everybody sings the same note."
-Doug Floyd


"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
-Dr. Seuss


"A man must consider what a rich realm he abdicates when he becomes a conformist."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

They Lied About Iraq. Or They Were Slinging the Bullshit . . . Part Deux.

Specifically, this is a shout out to all the members of the "We Support the Iraq War," Tin Foil Hat Brigade who claim to have half an understanding of Geopolitical Theory, specifically the theories first articulated by Mackinder.

My first shot (as you are likely to take it that way) is did you ever hear the line . . . if you had half a brain you would be dangerous? That is what having (not specifically half but ) an incomplete, partial, fragmentary, poor, inadequate understanding of the wider concepts that can fall under the category of Geopolitics, and planning and acting in the International Sphere based on such an incomplete understanding can lead to; danger, death, disaster. Case in point? Iraq as it is here in the Year of Our Lord 2007. But I am getting ahead of myself here.

Here is my quick and dirty recap of the core (and even if as seminal it is, it is woefully inadequate all by itself) theory as expounded by Mackinder. First, I will give you a quote:

Sir Halford John Mackinder was a British geographer who wrote a paper in 1904 called "The Geographical Pivot of History." Mackinder's paper suggested that the control of Eastern Europe was vital to control of the world. He formulated his hypothesis as: Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland, Who rules the Heartland commands the World-Island, Who rules the World-Island commands the world.

Mackinder's Heartland (also known as the Pivot Area) is the core area of Eurasia, and the World-Island is all of Eurasia (both Europe and Asia).

Mackinder's Heartland Theory

My quick and dirty recap is Mackinder is considered the father of Geopolitics as he is reportedly the first (modern) person to lay out a theory about how geography is central to the the idea of expansion of countries/nations (read also and particularly, Empires) and the inevitable clashes countries/nations will get into as they try to expand. And by 1904, the only place any country could expand into was some body else's territory.


Now here is the quick and dirty reason why even if it is good to know Mackinder's theory, that putting too much faith in it is the mark of someone even more ignorant the the person who knows nothing about it at all, either by name or by concept:

(a) Mackinder was basically a 19th Century man, who (b) came up with a 19th Century idea that (c) was based on the goals of a 19th Century empire, in other words, colonial expansion of that empire, and (d) the natural conflicts an expansionist colonial empire will have with other states.

This is not to say that there is no value on Mackinder's theory. In fact, I stand by the word I used to describe it already; seminal. But as all seminal works, that is only where the discussion begins, not ends.

I could go longer with the analysis, but I am going to begin my exit strategy here, instead, by posting the conclusions of a rather decent essay written by someone affiliated with the U.S. Army's War College:

"Eternal" geopolitical realities and national interests are mirages. The idea that a Heartland power has any advantages due to its position on the map cannot be historically or theoretically justified; the notion that an imbalance of power in Eurasia (even if it were conceivable) would somehow threaten the interests of the United States is not tenable; and the idea that geographic "realities" of power can operate outside of the context of ideology, nationalism, and culture is pure fantasy. Worse than mirages, these ideas can cripple the way we run our foreign policy in the new century.

Debunking the fundamental assumptions of geopolitics is an important task when one considers how policy is made. Policymakers operate with a set of assumptions and frameworks through which they interpret international events. As Richard Neustadt and Ernest May have persuasively argued, historical (and often wildly inappropriate) analogies, banal slogans, and outdated theories often become the driving forces in policymaking.[29] One of these outdated theories that persists in our intellectual memory is Sir Halford Mackinder's geopolitics.

Mackinder, Geopolitics,and Policymaking in the 21st Century


Two last points, before I "cut and run."

Firstly, I was inspired to post this part deux based on the fact I saw some silly (allegedly a veteran) twit on a message board post about how Iraq is the "Pivot Point." Now I did not need the author of the fine essay I posted here to inform me of the basic flaws in Mackinder's theories; I learned about the flaws when I first learned about the theory, more than 20 years ago. But instead of leaving his words as the only opposition to the "Iraq as Mackinder-esqe Geopolitical Pivot Point," theory, presented by that nit wit, I will add my own cheeky reply:

"You really think that we should be employing the theory based on the world view, ambitions, and related concerns of an expansionist, colonial 19th Century empire, here in the post colonial, anti expansionist, post World War, post Cold War, asymmetrical warfare with non states oriented 21st Century?

Good God! If you had half a brain . . ."

I will end there. Point two can keep, for now.

They Lied About Iraq. Or They Were Slinging the Bullshit Fast and Hard. Both Really.

Ok. This will not be the last time I go off on Plastic Turkey Man's Abomination of a shitty war, but this is the main critique of their case, and ultimately, why even if they were honest about it, their bullshit plan was not likely to succeed.

Now let us recap the original sales pitch. Saddam has WMD, and can't be allowed to have WMD, so we need to get rid of him and destroy his WMDs. After that, we can have regime change in Iraq, and then miraculously, there will be this reverse domino theory effect, but instead of free country after free country falling into despotic states, the despotic states in the ME will fall into freeer more democratic societies.

In other words, lies wrapped in bullshit, wrapped in more lies.

Here is the truth that the Bush Admin knew. They knew the WMD threat was minimal if even that, and therefore the given reason for taking Saddam out and seeking regime change was a lie. (And need I mention that as soon as the WMD issue became a dead dog, they started cranking up the link to the War on Terror?)

The real reason had more to do with the oil there. No, it was not to steal the oil, but it was (as I posted a number of weeks ago) based on the idea that (a) the world oil market is a true global market, and (b) the oil market affects all other markets, and (c) instability in that region can cause major hell to the oil market and as a result, the rest of the world's economy.

Based on that, some folk thought that (never mind the fact that most people in that part of the world HATE HATE the idea of American Bases being there) there should be American Bases there to help "stabilize" the region, and thereby protect the oil market and therefore, the global economy.

Now even if I think (and have thought for at least six, and even many more years than that), that only ignorant, as in, don't know enough to dare speak about the subject of Geopolitics, generally, or regional ME Geopolitics, specifically, people could think that the idea of permanent American Bases in the ME would, could serve as a stabilizing force, I will give those that do this much credit (which really is not really any at all.)

On paper, and with a very shallow understanding of what was at stake and what the real probabilities were, a mostly uninformed mind could believe that they have reason to believe there is a chance that a large American Military Presence in the ME could help stabilize the ME, and thereby protect both the Oil Market and the Global Economy.

But here is an example of the difference between knowing your subject matter well enough, and not. Anyone who understands the diverse factors in play, and is able to construct a rational and factually based understanding of the dynamics of the situation, MUST reach the following conclusion:

Permanent (or call it indefinite) Presence of American Military in the Middle East?

Yea, that is going to go over as well as putting someone with leprosy and whooping cough, in a room full of hypochondriacs. In other words, they might not like us to start, but the closer we are to them, the more they hate us.

Hey . . . I got through that faster than I thought. Good for me.

I Was Going to Drop a Few Lines about dia de Cristóbal Colón

(that is Christopher Columbus, to you Anglos), but hey it wasn't that bright an observation I had, and I did not think that I would likely edit-it-up all that much better. So I casted about for another topic. And then I chose to run with the matters of bigotry, and demagogues. But I will not blabber on with some technically original things; I will post quotes.

Here goes:


“Bigotry is the disease of ignorance, of morbid minds; enthusiasm of the free and buoyant, education and free discussion are the antidotes of both.”
-Thomas Jefferson


"Bigotry may be roughly defined as the anger of men who have no opinions."
- Author: G. K. Chesterton


"Bigotry's birthplace is the sinister back room of the mind where plots and schemes are hatched for the persecution and oppression of other human beings."
-Bayard Ruskin


"Bigotry dwarfs the soul by shutting out the truth."
-Edwin Hubbel Chapin


"Wisdom has never made a bigot, but learning has."
-Josh Billings


“In every age the vilest specimens of human nature are to be found among demagogues.”
-Thomas Babington Macaulay


"Demagogues and agitators are very unpleasant, they are incidental to a free and constitutional country, and you must put up with these inconveniences or do without many important advantages."
-Benjamin Disraeli


"[Democracy is] demagogue-prone. That's a disease to which electoral systems are vulnerable. Yet demagogues are easy to identify. They gesture a lot and speak with pulpit rhythms, using words that ring of religious fervor and god-fearing sincerity."
- Reverend Mother Lucillain,
Chapterhouse: Dune
by Frank Herbert

No Douche of the Week

The competition was too broad. Too many contestants, too much wholesale doucheyness. (Ya think I can get that word as popular as Truthiness? Damn, I think I need to get a successful cable TV show, first.)

But hey. I am watching something on TV about those weird evangelicals who are the christian pro Israel lobby. Naaa . . . I will not take a cheap shot there.

Let me just move on to the quotes. Today's theme? Hypocrisy.



"Hypocrite: the man who murdered both his parents... pleaded for mercy on the grounds that he was an orphan."
- Abraham Lincoln


"Pay attention to minute particulars. Take care of the little ones. Generalization and abstraction are The plea of the hypocrite, scoundrel, and knave.
-William Blake


"The essence of immorality is the tendency to make an exception of myself."
-Jane Addams


"The injury we do and the one we suffer are not weighed in the same scales."
-Aesop, Fables


"Many of us believe that wrongs aren't wrong if it's done by nice people like ourselves."
-Author Unknown

I know I am NOT Going to Get This Out Right . .

but the quote was so . . . maybe not deep, but hmmm . . . whimsically-potentially brilliant, I have to try. First, the set-up.

Now there is a new TV show on NBC called "Life." It is a drama featuring a LA Detective who was wrongfully convicted of murder and did 12 years before he was cleared, got his freedom, several millions in a settlement, and his job back. Turns out I watched Ep. 2 before the first one, which I only started watching on line, tonight. Anyway there are a couple points more I need to give up. One (and this is the more obvious one), he is very smart and very perceptive, as in, deep thinker. Oh, and two, he read up on Zen while in the joint ( to keep from going crazy, seems.)

Anyway, during the course of the investigation during Ep. 1, he and his new partner have to interview someone in prison. Now the guards know the cop's status and story and still try to jerk his chain, get him all angry. He replies back with some of his Zen, particularly when he responds to the more obnoxious prison guard's macho challenge:

"Are you making fun of me?"

The Zen Adept cop replies:

"The Universe makes fun of us all."

After they leave the prison, his partner ask him,"Why would the Universe make fun of us?"

"Maybe it is insecure," is his reply.

If that does not tickle your inner Zen funny bone, I guess you don't have an inner Zen funny bone. So sad, that.

Oh, one other great quote from the Ep. While at the crime scene, where the dead boy and his live dog are found, Zen Detective finds out that the through-and-through fatal bullet is inside the living dog, and as well, that the dog got a finger off the killer. Zen Detective says to his partner:

"The dog took a bullet for the boy and bit a finger off the assailant. Anyone ever love you that much?"

Priceless!

Back To Basics. What Ya'll Really Need to Pay Attention to.

BULLSHIT
Main Entry: bullshit
Date: circa 1942

Intransitive senses - 1 usually vulgar: to talk foolishly, boastfully, or idly. 2 usually vulgar: to engage in a discursive discussion. Transitive senses - usually vulgar : to talk nonsense to especially with the intention of deceiving or misleading.

I am just reminding ya'll why I use this word so much; because there is so much bullshit. And Bullshit is hurting the country. If you were not half as convinced of that before recently as I am, the crap in the public sphere and particularly in Washington D.C. over the past two weeks should have brought you around. Just in case not, I am going short on my original content here and will post some of an article that came out after Professor Frankfurt's seminal work,"On Bullshit," was released.

I keep going back to this subject because I really think it is that important. Well, I could instead talk more about Petreaus/The Surge Is Working (which explains why Iraqis who can, are still leaving Iraq in droves, and millions are staying out, for the time being/violence is down in Baghdad because of the surge (not because of ethnic cleansing )/Limbaugh really doesn't criticize people who disagree with him/He does! Shocking! I had no idea he was a fat-mouthed, fat-assed douchebag, color me surprised! And Outraged!/Well, the DOJ, under direction of Gonzo the Dominatrix General, did not really mean they were secretly approving torture when they drafted that secret memo that authorized secretly using the harshest interrogation techniques/Rudy Is a Hero -- he takes calls from his wife during speeches as an excuse to mention 9/11 -- opps sorry -- BECAUSE of 9/11/Obama is not wearing a flag pin anymore because of the war. Horray! Obama is not wearing a flag pin anymore because of the war. Hippie Commie Pinko Socialist Traitor.

(Get the Point? Ya should, as I was excessive about it.) Anyway here is the refresher course on the evils of bullshit.



Why should bullshit be so prevalent now? The obvious answer is the communications revolution. Cable television and the Internet have created an unending demand for information, and there simply isn't enough truth to go around. So, we get bullshit instead. Indeed, there are some troubling signs that the consumer has come to prefer bullshit. In choosing guests to appear on cable news, bookers will almost always choose a glib ignoramus over an expert who can't talk in clipped sentences. In his book Public Intellectuals: A Study of Decline, Richard Posner found a negative correlation between media mentions and scholarly citations for the 100 public intellectuals most mentioned in the media—and these 100 accounted for 67.5 percent of all media mentions!

The Bush administration is clearly more bullshit-heavy than its predecessors. Slate's founding editor, Michael Kinsley,put his finger on the Bush administration's particular style of lying three years ago:
If the truth was too precious to waste on politics for Bush I and a challenge to overcome for Clinton, for our current George Bush it is simply boring and uncool. Bush II administration lies are often so laughably obvious that you wonder why they bother. Until you realize: They haven't bothered.

But by Frankfurt's lights, what Bush does isn't lying at all. It's bullshitting. Whatever you choose to call it, Bush's indifference to the truth is indeed more troubling, in many ways, than what Frankfurt calls "lying" would be. Richard Nixon knew he was bombing Cambodia. Does George W. Bush have a clue that his Social Security arithmetic fails to add up? How can he know if he doesn't care?

http://slate.com/id/2114268/


Yes, bullshit is bad for the country. I know a lot of people seem to be not only too comfortable with it nowadays, but even seem to like it better than truth/reality.

Again, need I say? All this bullshit is a bad thing?

More Reasons To Be Embarassed To Be An American

(and no apologies to the guys who wrote/sung that song, "Proud to be an American." I think it is rather lame, in a corn-ball, lemon-sucking, forced anthem-istic, jingoistic way.)

Anyway, here is the latest on the "Rush Limbaugh is Big Fat Idiot, but Congress Should Have Better Things to do Than Waste Time While on the Clock for the American People, on Limbaugh's Fat Ass or Fat Mouth (ok, same thing)," front. Remember my post about the bullshit move by Dem. Congresscritter Udall to introduce a resolution condemning Fat Mouth? Well, that has been countered by another bullshit move, this time, by Repub. Jack Kingston, to introduce a resolution praising Fat Mouth.

Well at least Denny Hoyer is not endorsing the Dem. sponsored resolution:


Mr. Hoyer, despite his goose and gander view, was not so sure that House members should get into the business of unleashing a resolution of disapproval each time they encounter something of which they disapprove.

“I think, frankly, I would like to see us restrain ourselves in condemning through resolutions all of that with which we disagree,” Mr. Hoyer said. “I have a zillion resolutions that I could think of pursuing that objective.”

More Congressional Bullshit Over Fat Mouth Rush


But will a senior GOPer in the House express a similar point of view? Now if no one meeting that description does step up and be the adult for that team, that will not prove, conclusively, that the GOP really loves being the party of immature, whiny, bullshit douchebaggery. But the incident shall serve as further evidence of my earlier assertion; GOPers love that bullshit shit. They love it more than actually trying to govern the country, seems to me (more often sometimes than all the time, necessarily.)

Anyway . . . did ya'll hear about how Limbaugh, displaying the expected amount of respect for and to all those who defended him, Pulled a Britney -- "Opps I Did It Again?"

Radio’s Rush Limbaugh, at war with Democrats over his remark about “phony soldiers,’’ today offered a bold new description for the wounded Iraq veteran whom anti-war veterans have placed in cable TV and radio ads criticizing Limbaugh for his controversial commentary.

Suicide bomber.

“This is such a blatant use of a valiant combat veteran, lying to him about what I said and then strapping those lies to his belt, sending him out via the media and a TV ad to walk into as many people as he can walk into,’’ Limbaugh said today.


Rush Crams Other Foot in His Fat Mouth


Could this get any more bullshit? Could it get any worse?

(Most likely, I say, and I did not even pull out the Tarot cards or read tea leaves to get that answer.)

"There's nothing to be done with you," she said, in her most patrician voice. "You actually do think in cheap talking points."

(Apologies to the author of that quote. I read/heard it some where some time over the past couple years, wrote it down {likely posted it here once before} and failed to write down the source. Sorry. Anyway . . . )

Other than the fact that the quote is brilliant, I am using that because I wanted to avoid making one more snarky and or insulting, like announcing Neil Cavuto as front runner for douche of the week, despite aggressive competition, or something like saying:

I guess these Right Winger Pundits, Lackeys, and Minions (if not some of the rank and file) really can't/won't/don't have the necessary minimum number of functioning synapses in their brains to Grasp the Freaking Obvious.

Case in point? Cavuto's dumbassed weak slam against the dreaded awful libs/dems for . . . now hold on to your hats . . . this is going to shock shock you like a gentle breeze on a Spring Afternoon.

Ok, here goes. Those evil liberal bastards wheeled out, right in front of the White House, right in front of TV cameras, actual live children, to make a point about Plastic Turkey Man's threat to veto a bill . . . . that provides for more health care for actual live children.

Kids as props . . . for kid health care? Shocking!


What will those evil dems/libs do next? Use testimony of actual wounded vets as a sick and twisted attempt to get more money for the VA System? Use actual retirees in a dastardly attempt to tighten up laws protecting retirement benefits? Use actual scientists in a Frankensteinish monsterish push for more Research and Development funding?

Ok. Enough with the sarcasm. I will just say it plainly. Cavuto, you are not only sickening, but brain less, to boot.

Will the Vogons Hurry Up and "Make" that Hyperspace Bypass Already?

And for those of you who don't get the joke/ reference, it is to Douglas Adam's "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy."

In order to "make" their hyperspace bypass, the Vogons need to obliterate Planet E.

Now why am I making jokes about that? (And since I say here now in the same digital text breath it is a joke, that means it really is a joke.) Seems like the world is just getting more and more bullshit. Wassa matter with people? Guess they haven't been reading my pearls of wisdom here, for the past three years, warning about the dangers of bullshit.

Anyway, let's recap.

First, we have the White House Pimp-Out the general in charge of Iraq Ops to be their shill. I mean, what is more bullshit than that? I mean, was the guy gonna go out there and say, "We Suck. I suck. I was given this job to do and I did a shitty job of it."

Just before the dog and pony show, Moveon.org borrows a play from the Karl Rove Book of Douchebaggy Partisan Politics, and goes for the cheap shot as it attacked the messenger (instead of the message.) As any twit could guess, the Cons/Repubs in Gvt. and their hack pundits and lackeys did what they always do: they went into 'attack the messenger,' mode, like the knee-jerk jerks they are and love to be (I mean, they do not own the politics of personal destruction, but I think they are more expert in it, disagree with me if you must.) Then the Cons/Repubs used our government for the Überdouchebaggy move: A Congressional Resolution attacking Moveon.org.

After that, came the Limbaugh slip up. Now if you actually buy the shitty argument he and his defenders were making, sorry, you are both swallowing and regurgitating the bullshit. Remember kids; I taught you a while back on the distinction between likely and possible and not impossible. The argument that Rush really only meant impostors who either never served, or never were in combat is ludicrous; if that is what he meant, that is what the douche could and should have said, not what he did, and that was the phrase 'phony soldiers.'

Anyway assuming (as I do) that he meant soldiers who do not agree with the war are phony soldiers, my reply to the accusation is, so what the fawk do you expect? Again, kids, I talked about how all this, "Support the troops," shit was bullshit, meaning most folk tend to support the troops . . . . . who support their points of view more. That is reality. Thinking otherwise is swallowing the bullshit (and I do not mean everyone is that much of a partisan douchebag; but expect it and look for it, as many are that awful, partisan douchebags.)

Oh, and here we are today. Harry Reid, Dem. Senate Majority Leader is now going bat shit on Limbaugh. That is both douchebaggy and bullshit.

The correct thing to do was not even bring up Rush's statement, and if asked about it, reply as follows:

"Mr. Limbaugh is increasing irrelevant and immaterial."


But noooo . . . . Reid chose to go into Rovian Bullshit Mode. Shame on him.

Oh, and just to round things out, here is the latest from Plastic Turkey Man:


"Bush attacks 'Hollywood values'" Whatta Douche


Oh, and what about the Defense Department official saying she hates all Iranians?

Such bullshit. Non stop bullshit. So much bullshit I am embarrassed to be an American.

Well maybe the level of bullshit being generated by American Politicians and pundits and assorted lackeys is not a reason for obliterating Planet E. But wait? Here in the USA we nearly but not literally drown each other in bullshit, instead of resorting to murder, usually, while in the rest of the world, seems, they just cut to the chase and just kill anyone who disagrees with them.

Calling all Vogons. What is your 20? Do you need coordinates? I got your coordinates right here. Third rock from the yellow sun. Hurry before the pestilence spreads (Just kidding! Sheesh!!)

The George W. Bush Loyalty Quiz. My Score?

"Your score is 0 on a scale of 1 to 10. You hate Bush with
a writhing passion. You think he is an idiot, a liar, and a
warmonger who has been an utterly incompetent, miserable
failure of a president. Nothing would give you greater pleasure
than seeing him impeached and run out of the White House,
except maybe seeing him dragged away in handcuffs."

http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/blbushquiz.htm


Well I really can't disagree, but for maybe I do not actually hate him with a writhing passion. I try not to hate people (even if I have been known to use the word loosely, time to time.)

I do, however, think Bush is "an idiot, a liar, and a warmonger who has been an utterly incompetent, miserable failure of a president."

Ya. You can quote me on that part.