Step Back a Moment

Tags

conservativism, Election 2012, Islamophobia, Military, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, science, War

Hold on there dude, this is not a diatribe against men.

Just making a subtle point in a loud way. (Can you do that?)

We are wont, as people of the moment, to define all events given the world as it is, and as it seems to us reasonable, given our own knowledge and experiences. Which is nothing more than saying, we judge events from the facts which are most immediately at hand.

We don’t take the long view. Unless we are well versed in say, HISTORY, we often think that what we are experiencing is brand new and of first impression. And if we are versed in pseudo-history, we get even more confused.

However, after this many eons of human existence, there is really little that is new. Most is simply recycled problems from times past, cast in new garments.

So when we look about us and think that conservatives are the most idiotic of creatures ever to naturally occur by the arbitrary meeting of egg and sperm, well we are probably really really wrong.

There is a really excellent article at The Chronicle about this whole phenomenon. What is conservatism? What it seeks to protect on the surface is far from what drives it underneath. It is driven by fear that the “natural order” will be forever upturned. And this touches in the end, the most basic and personal of relationships.

It is an article well worth your time.

To be conservative, then, is to prefer the familiar to the unknown, to prefer the tried to the untried, fact to mystery, the actual to the possible, the limited to the unbounded, the near to the distant, the sufficient to the superabundant, the convenient to the perfect, present laughter to utopian bliss.

What this suggests, is that the conservative cannot enjoy the familiar and seek the unknown. Rather the unknown is a threat to the familiar, and must be opposed. Oddly enough, the opposition might well entail a type of radicalism that would be quite familiar to the left. If, the article argues, the OWS movement has real staying power, it might just force the conservatives of the day to that radicalism which does in the end, lead to real creative energy.

¶

Oh goodie! *bounce* *bounce* The LeHaye’s (Tim writes all those Left Behind books that tell who will and will not be going to hell very soon) have decided to endorse the Newtster. And I can just hear God heaving a great sigh of relief. Or was he passing wind?

¶

Obama wishes to consolidate a some government agencies. But our dearly beloved little guy Ricky P, well he wants to just shut ’em all down. Remember when he forgot which three he would abolish? Those being Commerce, Education and Energy? Well now he changed them to Commerce, Energy and Interior. Or he got confused again. Does anyone care? As Juanita would say, bless his heart.

¶

Mittens handlers are crying foul about Ricky’s and Newt’s lambasting their plastic doll over his Bain exploits. “Doin’ the Democrats work for ’em” they squawk. Hey guys, you been doing my work for me for months. What’s new? I can write these posts in well under two hours, and that’s just trying the find the MOST outrageous crap you guys spew.

¶

Walking it back just a bit.

About the video of Marines and the Afghan dead.

The Contrarian reminded me of one salient fact I had not considered.

How do you train a human being to degrade another human being enough to kill them, and still be enough human to honor the dead?

This is not an excuse, nor do I find what was done any less reprehensible. But we ask humans to do inhuman things. There are unintended consequences to that you may be sure. Just look at our suicide and homeless rates among veterans if you have any doubt.

¶

I confess to remaining mostly dumbfounded by why regular old working types who for whatever reason think that tying their lunch pail to the GOP wagon will bring them the good life, are stonehead deaf when it comes to things that really shouldn’t impact their wallets.

I speak of science, and why the average TeaNutz®ian rusted iron anvil for a brain, Bud-guzzling, balogna-shoveling, NASCAR cheering, ass-crack showin’, gut-protruding, trailer-trash parkin’, person also disses climate change, basic economic theory, real history, and virtually anything else that smacks of empirical rationality. Evolution excepted. Evolutionary pushback seems utterly tied to one’s religious theories, the more literal one responds to the written sacred texts, the more adamant one is that evolution is a satanically offered hoax.

Well, those who study these things suggest that the response is largely visceral, and has little to do with logic, but rather is something that is the result of psychological forces that we are not particularly aware of. In other words, we are just wired that way.

That’s not particularly comforting is it?

¶

Well, it’s off to leftovers and of course listening to my beloved talk non-stop about THE game, to be played sometime this weekend.

Sigh. I carry a heavy burden.

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I’m Mrs. Johnny Depp!

Tags

conservativism, cosmology, Election 2012, Entertainment, evolution, Humor, intellectuals, Johnny Depp, Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, morality, NAACP, racism, Recipes, Rick Perry, wacko right wing

Oh, yes I am!

And I can prove it. More or less.

It seems that a respectable number of experimental and theoretical physicists believe that there are multiple universes. Not only that, but that there may be an infinite number of them, all of which means, that any thing that can happen, has.

Well, one thing that can happen (I know it might be a stretch but we are talking about statistical probabilities here) is that Mr. Sexy pants could fall in love with me.

Therefore, some where he has. Proved!

That also means that there is an infinite number of me’s. One of me lives in Hawaii in a gorgeous beach house. One of me is President of the US of A, or the United Planetary Association of Andromeda. The options are as they say infinite.

The Contrarian was a bit off-put by this revelation, until I reminded him that somewhere he was married to Halle Berry. That brought a grin.

The Contrarian has some “issues” with the theoretical physicists in the end though. He’s not much in favor of a time “before” time. I myself have no difficult with that concept. However we both noticed that these guys and gals do have a pretty cushy job. I mean they sit in a comfortable office, with a chalk or white board and doodle with numbers and squiggles, and then travel to nice places and sit and “think”. Often at beaches, mountain ranges, and other pleasant places.

It’s not like they ever have to prove anything. As the Rethuglians always say about anything they don’t want to help pay for: “it’s only a theory.”

Best of all, I can theorize about Johnny Depp all I want, cuz who’s to say that he doesn’t figure into some time warpy travel theory? I mean, being a theoretical physicist is so highfalutin’ that nobody can reasonably challenge my claims right? Only others of my kind. And after all, we have a mutual desire not to upset any of our apple carts.

So, I’m applying for my grant money, and hope to set up shop any day now.

♦

Hope you all had a nice labor day. Out of work laborers most assuredly did not I guess. We had a T-Bone, potato salad and some jalapeño poppers. The latter two recipes can be found at What’s on the Stove, which has it’s only little link on the side bar now.

♦

Ricky “Gosh darn this is fun” Perry is what they call “surging” in the polls. Somebody finally tapped the shyster on the shoulder and told him to act “gubernatorial” and high tail it back to TEXAS where people are losing their homes at an astounding rate due to unchecked wildfires. He’s properly “concerned” now.

Meanwhile Mitt “it’s slipping away” Romney is starting to show the wear and tear of being rejected but once again. Mr. Perpetual Runner whom nobody really likes, stares ever wide-eyed at the audience he addresses, and for all it’s worth you can hear under his breath: “can you morons understand these simple sentences?”

Yeah, actually they can Mitt, and well, they really don’t like you. Can you understand that?

♦

Noam Chomsky writes a very interesting and provocative piece in the Boston Review about the role of the intellectual in today’s murky moral world. He is prompted by the questionable action of murdering Osama Bin Laden and dumping his body at sea without trial.

It’s a most serious read, but one that will benefit you. We seldom spend the time we should thinking of the hard issues.

♦

Michele “damn you Ricky” Bachmann is shakin’ up the team. Ed Rollins is out due to “health” reasons as well as the deputy David Polyansky.

This kinda crap is usual in a campaign going down the crapper. But Michele, it ain’t gonna help. You are simply TeaNutz® lite compared to Ricky “I’m more nutz” Perry.

♦

DCMartin gives us a good old slappin’ story about racism reaction gone amuck. And she has designated herself as the “official spokesperson” for Black America, which sure makes it easy on me. 😛

Go give it a read. She’s very funny and actually makes a fine point as well. Don’t ever Pass the Doucheys. . .”

♦

I was prompted to visit a site I’ve only briefly looked at. Conservapedia. It’s the “trustworthy” encyclopedia. Isn’t that just wrong on its face? How can something that purports to be “conservative” by “trustworthy”? It’s clearly not giving truth, but a point of view.

My favorite quote from the front page is from Isaiah Berlin:

“Good government in a free society keeps positive and negative liberty in balance. These two forms of liberty are out-of-balance today.”

Now that is interesting isn’t it? I betcha some wacko TeaNutz® would have some interesting ideas of what “negative liberty” are. 

♦

From “Constant Comment”

 ♦

Hey, have you ever seen Wilfred? You should. It’s hysterical at times, frightening occasionally. It’s an import from Australia. It is not for the faint of heart. It is not for mortifiable-prone evangelicals. It’s about a dog named Wilfred, who appears as a human in a dog suit to a neighbor. Wilfred teaches lessons, and humps stuffed animals, and smokes pot by the pail full.

I thought it would be stupid. But it’s shocking, and funny at the same time. Try to find it on your TV dial. Oh crap, that dated me. TV’s don’t have dials any more.

Laters gators!

 

 

Sly Fox or Crazy Boy

Tags

conservativism, conspiracy theories, Faux Noise, Glenn Beck, Jesus, political pundits, religious right, social issues, truth

Well, what can be said of Glenn Lee Beck that has not already been said by muses more wordalicious than me.

I can summarize his life in a few paragraphs, and truly there is nothing much of interest to be found. He was raised a Catholic, his mother may have committed suicide, and he became addicted to both alcohol and drugs.

He found a home in radio, and exhibited early signs of ethnic racism in the way that radio personalities often offend one group for the guffaws of other groups.

He married, divorced and remarried and somewhere in that mix he converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. His main mentor was a guy by the name of W. Cleon Skousen, who was some self-styled anti-communist, John Bircher, Mormon, conspiracy theorist. Beck apparently thinks he is essential reading to “understand” Merika, or at least his version of it.

Many have claimed that Beck is more showman, entertainer than political analyst. Anyone who has tried to follow his convoluted conspiracy theories would be forced to agree. His command of general history is weak, he pulls together disparate “facts” from all over the map, and forces them into unnatural alliance with others and creates bizarre scenarios of evil intent. One can point to his expose` on the reliefs at Rockefeller Center as an example.

It is therefore unclear whether Beck is really crazy and believes all this nonsense, or whether he in fact knows exactly what is going on, and has discovered the cash cow of financial success for himself. One can hardly vilify the man if he is certifiable of course. One can only pity him and vilify Faux Noise for deliberately presenting him as a sane voice of the right.

If he is that sly fox who is milking this cow for all she’s worth. . . .well then, another question comes to mind. And that is simply this:

How does  a person who nominally or otherwise declares them self “Christian” justify the blatant misleading of Americans for personal gain?

There is much in the workings of Beck that suggest that that is indeed what he is doing. There have been reports that he uses Vicks Vaporub to cause his eyes to tear for those dear moments in his monologues when he breaks down, so deeply felt is his angst for America’s woes. He often refers to himself as more showman that political pundit.

There are others besides Beck of course that we might ask a similar question. How about the insurance worker whose job is to sift through claims to find loopholes that can be used to deny coverage and remove perhaps the last hope of patients and their families for life itself? How do these folks, many of whom no doubt, claim Christian beliefs, justify their work?

Not limiting ourselves to Christians, how does the soldier in al Qaeda justify his job of hanging out at mosques and universities, always on the lookout for hapless, lonely, rejected individuals who might be propagandized into giving up their lives as suicide bombers?

How sleep those who organize and disseminate drugs to the addicted–the depressed and mentally challenged, the under educated, and under employed? Whether they be “soldiers in the streets” or their rich counterparts in upscale neighborhoods, how exactly do you live with what you do to other humans?

How rest the scam artists who target the old and mentally soft, securing often entire life savings on bogus schemes to get rich. What do they think as they turn back the bed at the Waldorf, having made another hit, leaving some elderly woman with nothing but shame at her mistaken trust?

It has been said by somebody, that conservatives are just those people who think up reasons to justify their selfishness. I’m not sure that that is a fair statement, but it comes close I think from a liberal stand. Time and time again, we are told all the reasons why we can’t eliminate poverty and homelessness, why we can’t educate everyone well, why we can’t give health care to all. It is always couched in economics, but what it always comes down to is, don’t expect me to pay for it.

The fortunate among us declare that they worked hard for what they have. But in truth, a number of other factors contributed to their success. Their position in the world, their actual place, their family, their ethnic background, and sometimes just grand old luck. Those who have not had the privilege of place and family background has as much right to these things as they.

One can smell behind all the excuses, the really selfish bottom line. I don’t want to give up any of mine, even if it means you will live in deep poverty and misery. Your kids won’t have a chance, and I’ll work very hard to find even more reasons why I shouldn’t be asked to relinquish any of mine. The Beck’s and the O’Reilly’s and the Hannity’s and the Colter’s and the Limbaugh’s and the Bachmann’s, they all are there to tell you that you are right.

The sorry thing is, most of them don’t mean it or care really. They are so wildly rich by comparison, that it doesn’t matter one whit to them. They are happy to feed your selfish desires by telling you you are morally right, because to them its raw greenbacks in return. That’s all it means to them, period.

They have the perfect storm. You don’t watch real news. You watch them, since they feed your fears and your excuses. You in truth don’t know it’s all lies, and they know you don’t know. So of course, they lie with impunity. And all the Jon Stewart’s, all the Keith Olbermann’s and all the Stephen Colbert’s  and Bill Moyer’s, multiplied a hundred fold won’t make a difference, because you will never watch them anyway.

Jesus spent his ministry turning the social system on its ear. He challenged the powers that be that their responsibilities in the end were to the least among us. Jesus spent his time calling out the liars and making people listen to truth. But you have opted out, taking your bible lessons from the Faux Noise crowd. It’s a new kind of Christianity, and one that I suspect Jesus would not be happy with.

How sleep you this nigh?