Fox is the most trusted news source, because Liberals don't trust any of them and 75% of Republicans pick Fox. Funny how statistics can slide by you.
How can you blame the business leaders for their success in framing the minds of their captive audience? The greatest success is selling the belief that they are "fair and balanced", the mantra of "democracy", "freedom", many are not against these ideas, except, as we are told, the terrorists, the "socialists", the progressives, the "fundamentalist Islamists", Al Gore and the "environmentalist wackos". If one can't see through the propaganda of Fox News there is no going further, one is floating in the miasmal ether of almost-thought, like a ghost never grasping reality, tormented by disconnect and illogical conclusions, one can only ultimately throw one's arms up in surrender to the inconclusiveness.
See if you can stand this debate/lecture with Zizek and Cornell West:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opJWDtI-PYs&feature=PlayList&p=DF1BD249FC4968CD&index=18&playnext=4&playnext_from=PL
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Saturday, March 6, 2010
"Terrorism" In America
The anti-government suicide attacks on the Pentagon and IRS must be nearly impossible to predict, perhaps even to comprehend, except that they are coming from that strange place where the right and left extremes meet at the place of violence.
Timothy McVey and Ted Kazinsky- how does one make the connection between these individuals politically? Certain labels come to mind: lunatic fringe, anti-NWO, anti-establishment. Is the government dealing with an attack from the right or the left? It seems to be coming from the nebulous world of "Libertarianism", gun rights, "freedom", 9/11 "truth", Alex Jones, Ron Paul supporters, and Libertarian supporters of Sarah Palin. But labels don't suffice when trying to actually sort out the reasons and effects.
In the end, it seems these people all had a personal trip they were on, and it made them all feel more convinced of the rightness of their own motivations thinking there were mobs of people who felt the same way or might be inspired by their actions. There must be a different word for this than the abused word "Terrorist". Terrorists are the friend of any government, because rather than inspiring the masses to rise up, they usually just justify a self-empowerment of the government, which may crack down, but to the terrorists a crack-down is more evidence of the government's corruption. Violence makes the blob of hatred stronger. Non-violence wins in the end for everyone.
Timothy McVey and Ted Kazinsky- how does one make the connection between these individuals politically? Certain labels come to mind: lunatic fringe, anti-NWO, anti-establishment. Is the government dealing with an attack from the right or the left? It seems to be coming from the nebulous world of "Libertarianism", gun rights, "freedom", 9/11 "truth", Alex Jones, Ron Paul supporters, and Libertarian supporters of Sarah Palin. But labels don't suffice when trying to actually sort out the reasons and effects.
In the end, it seems these people all had a personal trip they were on, and it made them all feel more convinced of the rightness of their own motivations thinking there were mobs of people who felt the same way or might be inspired by their actions. There must be a different word for this than the abused word "Terrorist". Terrorists are the friend of any government, because rather than inspiring the masses to rise up, they usually just justify a self-empowerment of the government, which may crack down, but to the terrorists a crack-down is more evidence of the government's corruption. Violence makes the blob of hatred stronger. Non-violence wins in the end for everyone.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Support the troops AND the civilians
Everyday people are enjoying and abusing the rights, privileges and freedoms which were gained through the struggle of activists and everyday people.
Support the troops, and end the wars of occupation which are causing so much misery, injury and death all over the world. You cannot maintain a democracy within a military based society for long, the descent starts with fear of the outside world. Now our military is just another industry with a huge influence on public policy, yet people complain about the notion of free healthcare? Insanity.
I don't hate people who are who they are because of mistaken beliefs. But, tell me why should I not feel angst towards the mercenary who kills a civilian at point blank? Who should I feel sorry for at that point, the people or the soldier? Flags don't kill, people do. It's unfortunate when a person is ordered to kill, more unfortunate that they pull the trigger when brainwashed by false ideology.
Support the troops, and end the wars of occupation which are causing so much misery, injury and death all over the world. You cannot maintain a democracy within a military based society for long, the descent starts with fear of the outside world. Now our military is just another industry with a huge influence on public policy, yet people complain about the notion of free healthcare? Insanity.
I don't hate people who are who they are because of mistaken beliefs. But, tell me why should I not feel angst towards the mercenary who kills a civilian at point blank? Who should I feel sorry for at that point, the people or the soldier? Flags don't kill, people do. It's unfortunate when a person is ordered to kill, more unfortunate that they pull the trigger when brainwashed by false ideology.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Anti-tax teabag protesters
From the pictures posted on yahoo.com, you'll see the same wing-nuts stirring up a sea of white faces similar to the Palin rallies of 2008. The anti-"socialism" rhetoric used to gain political momentum among the right wing grass roots base could so easily be taken one logical step further by another Timothey McVey, just as Homeland Security has warned us. In the bizarro world of fundamentalist redneck culture, being patriotic has mutated into anti-government bigotry. The concerns of these people are legitimate, but they are being manipulated by Newt Gingrich, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, etc. for political gain, hastening us towards a scenario much like the one which preceded the Nazi era of Germany. This has been done by Fox news and talk radio, which is overwhelmingly right-wing. Nothing much to do but keep one's eyes and ears open for the next terrorist attack, which in my opinion is just as likely to come from the ranks of Sarah Palin's grunts as it is from Al Quaeda...
Friday, March 6, 2009
Rush Limbaugh is the Supreme Leader of the GOP
This is just a rough draft so I'm just going to rant and see what comes out.
I've often thought how similar the neocons and their right-wing radio hate-mongers are to their supposed enemies, the "Islamofascists." For instance, they both think they are keepers of the one true way. This must empower one with moral certitude, but taken to an extreme self-confidence can become hubris or megalomania. Perhaps this is why Rush Limbaugh found himself on his first televised speech at CPAC declaring to a group of mostly Christian conservatives about how God thinks he is RusH LiMbaUgh. With Republican power so low, where can they go for help? The fiscal conservatives need the Christian Coalition because they need a voting base who are used to believing in a narrow-minded pathological creed, but don't want their religious mania running the show. So they find themselves agreeing on one thing. Ronald Reagan what America's greatest president because he lowered taxes. Ultimately, Rush is a selfish greedy man, which is why he doesn't want HIS taxes raised. But how can there be a coalition of Christians and the radio talk show host who's final words at the end of his CPAC speech amounted to telling the "moral majority" to stay out of his bedroom. I don't want to speculate on what he is hiding in there, but I'm just as liberal as Rush Limbaugh when it comes to privacy. But then again what is he hiding personally? I doubt his fans have noticed the rumors going around about him in the tabloids, and he will most likely not come out of the closet until he is caught with a page or pizzaboy. Shame on me! Don't get me wrong here! I really don't care if he is gay or whatever. The fact that he advertises veal hotdogs is far more disturbing and incendiary, in my opinion, than the number of wives he has had, his drug addiction, his stuttering problem, etc. I have to admit I have allowed myself to be dragged into the unfolding drama of the impotence and power vacuum within the GOP. But ultimately it is a sad story of evil and stupidity these opportunistic warmongers have wrecked upon our planet. As far as foreign policy is concerned, the Democrats have done little differently than their so-called political "opponents." Now that Obama is in charge, who will we hate when the bombs fall on the peasants in far away lands?
To paraphrase Chomsky in my own words, I will quote myself, "it is the nature of centralized power to seek to maintain power by exploiting the masses." It seems to me the only sustainable resistance has been from coalitions of regular people under the banner of basic human values. Now that the Republicans are so weak politically I find myself laughing out loud as this anti-intellectual bunch continues to ignore its own failure. Perhaps they will diminish into historical obscurity, like the Whig party.
I've often thought how similar the neocons and their right-wing radio hate-mongers are to their supposed enemies, the "Islamofascists." For instance, they both think they are keepers of the one true way. This must empower one with moral certitude, but taken to an extreme self-confidence can become hubris or megalomania. Perhaps this is why Rush Limbaugh found himself on his first televised speech at CPAC declaring to a group of mostly Christian conservatives about how God thinks he is RusH LiMbaUgh. With Republican power so low, where can they go for help? The fiscal conservatives need the Christian Coalition because they need a voting base who are used to believing in a narrow-minded pathological creed, but don't want their religious mania running the show. So they find themselves agreeing on one thing. Ronald Reagan what America's greatest president because he lowered taxes. Ultimately, Rush is a selfish greedy man, which is why he doesn't want HIS taxes raised. But how can there be a coalition of Christians and the radio talk show host who's final words at the end of his CPAC speech amounted to telling the "moral majority" to stay out of his bedroom. I don't want to speculate on what he is hiding in there, but I'm just as liberal as Rush Limbaugh when it comes to privacy. But then again what is he hiding personally? I doubt his fans have noticed the rumors going around about him in the tabloids, and he will most likely not come out of the closet until he is caught with a page or pizzaboy. Shame on me! Don't get me wrong here! I really don't care if he is gay or whatever. The fact that he advertises veal hotdogs is far more disturbing and incendiary, in my opinion, than the number of wives he has had, his drug addiction, his stuttering problem, etc. I have to admit I have allowed myself to be dragged into the unfolding drama of the impotence and power vacuum within the GOP. But ultimately it is a sad story of evil and stupidity these opportunistic warmongers have wrecked upon our planet. As far as foreign policy is concerned, the Democrats have done little differently than their so-called political "opponents." Now that Obama is in charge, who will we hate when the bombs fall on the peasants in far away lands?
To paraphrase Chomsky in my own words, I will quote myself, "it is the nature of centralized power to seek to maintain power by exploiting the masses." It seems to me the only sustainable resistance has been from coalitions of regular people under the banner of basic human values. Now that the Republicans are so weak politically I find myself laughing out loud as this anti-intellectual bunch continues to ignore its own failure. Perhaps they will diminish into historical obscurity, like the Whig party.
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