"Strange enough how creatures of the human-kind shut their eyes to plainest facts; and by the mere inertia of Oblivion and Stupidity, live at ease in the midst of Wonders and Terrors. But indeed man is, and was always, a blockhead and dullard; much readier to feel and digest, than to think and consider. Prejudice, which he pretends to hate, is his absolute lawgiver..."-- Thomas Carlyle, "Sartor Resartus", 1833
When you have spent two generations and billions of dollars building a Base of reprogrammable bigots, imbeciles and Christopaths, the full, focused power of pure, relentless, omnidirectional, bald-faced lying is truly breathtaking.
19 comments:
I'm feeling a bit depressed over this election. At least Obama was able to get some things done even if it isn't appreciated and even if I am disappointed by his centrist right policies and willingness to keep Bush's wars and warrantless wiretapping. Still, I think, this is better than Bush or any other regressive corporate shill the republicans choose to support. It's going to be a slug fest in the mud from here til 2012 and I doubt much of anything is going to happen now except more extreme right rhetoric and more gullibility from the American public who will probably start saying Rush Limbaugh is too liberal soon enough.
I rarely cry over elections -- or politicians -- but tonight I am in tears. I can't understand the stupidity of my fellow Americans or how we got to this point. I want this election to make sense and it doesn't. I am afraid of what is going to happen to us. How do we fight such ignorance?
Corporations took over the Senate, House, the Media, and finally the Supreme Court. Once they had SCOTUS on their Payroll to openly declare that BRIBERY was actually FREE SPEECH ... well, it was Game Over.
But who will they go on to rob after the USA is stripped of all wealth?
Normally this wouldn't be a big deal. Congress does nothing for two years and nobody cares.
But we have that little pansy squirrel Obama, who will sign into law the trash that comes out of this congress. A real president can almost entirely control the budget since a government shutdown can't work, but Obama is too stupid to know this.
@Kay, normally I'd say we blind them with our kindness, goodhearted natural and willingness to give them a hand. But the PigPeople know neither shame nor gratitude. So, I say its time to take care of our own bonafide members of the reality-based community, shun the zombies and wait for them to implode upon themselves. 'Cause the denouement is not long in coming at the rate this train wreck of cognitive dissonance is racing.
I'm taking the day off to drink heavily.
I have been thinking about finding a hill some where, digging part of it out, building a domed concrete house in it..and covering it with about 3 feet of dirt. The metaphors of this course of action write themselves.
It's either that, Belize or "I'm openin' a boutique!".
I have not cried in years, but I cannot look at my young daughters today without crying. They assume they will be growing up and entering a reasonably humane world, where they will be able to make a go, and experience ordinary joys and the richness of life. They don't have a clue about what will await them, and I don't have a clue about how I can protect them.
Cheer up! He still has that "veto" stamp in his drawer, and if anything, the distinctions between his policies and those of the newly elected crop of orcs will be more clearly drawn. They ran to cut the deficits, but none of them will publicly state anything they plan on cutting. As obstructionists, they could spout fictional budget math without having to actually propose any fixes. As the party in power they will be forced to put up, and anything their corporate overlords try to jam through, will surely not look very populist.
Will they actually put forth legislation to privatize social security? (Sending their elderly base screaming in to the streets on their hoverounds). I doubt it.
Are they ready to fight for the repeal of the health care bill on the floor of the house? Where it takes real numbers to win debates, where they will have to pick up at least some dem votes for passage? I don't think so. Will they try to shut down the government again? Didn't work out to well for them last time.
Now they will have to try to paint the dems as the party of no...and look at where that got us....
(from anonymous 9:31) Thanks for trying to cheer me up. But what this election shows most fundamentally is that the Right and the corporate media, with their heavenward pile of lucre, can create a reality 100% out of whole cloth and the existentially terrified half of the population will buy it. Not even a figment of linkage to actual reality is needed. So it doesn't matter at all what sort of wreckage ensues, these folks aren't finally going to realize how they've been duped. There is an assumption of cycles and pendulae. But there are also linear phenomena and I don't see anything that can displace the present dominant one (concentration of wealth and power leading to control of the social reality in a mutually reinforcing relation) short of a violent collapse of civilization and a starting over in the distant future. Why believe that a terrified American is any less impressionable than the Hutus or the good, orderly Germans?
Because I refuse to believe the Kenyan is a moron, or incapable of learning and making adjustments, the politics over the next two years should be pretty interesting to watch from the sidelines.
I hope.
I'll take it as sport and try not to get too invested in it emotionally.
As for me, I'm gonna try to ride this one out by taking care of myself.
I'm starting up a new business, mostly since my current profession is fundamentally based upon suckling the govt teat and I can't see much out there other than the urgent need to develop a new revenue stream.
I was in this line of work and survived the govt shutdown of the Clinton era, but he was not only friendly but committed to my cause and you could see clear sky past the dark Gingrichean shadow.
This is different. A lot different. Today, I find it hard to see how anything (other than bombs) tied into the govt won't be pure, unadulterated anarchy. Irrespective of its inherent value.
It isn't just that the horizon is dark and stormy.
I.Can't.see.the.horizon!
It will be unkind to the wimpy, useless forward looking shit I do, which involves pursuing knowledge and discovering cures for cancer and other diseases and training the next generation of scientists to build upon the vast discoveries we've notched up over the last two or three decades to, you know, bring the ball over the goal line.
If things go well (for my business), I'll probably be looking at real estate opportunities in north central Florida. The planet will melt, it is now assured. And just as inevitable are new Florida coastlines and maybe I can create a legacy doing that?
Because even if I can't see the horizons, I just can't help but be forward looking. It is in my DNA
I will certainly grant you this day of grief. It is a bad day, but regarding cycles and pendulae, a few thoughts.
The youth of this country, for some reason eluding both I and much more skilled political scientists, do not turn out for midterms. That pendulum will swing again in 2012, and after 2 years of the sheer dirt we are about to see heaped upon this administration by the reputhuglicans, it will more likely swing in our direction than not. Drunk with new power, the repubs can not help themselves in this regard, it is their nature. (As Clinton was being impeached (unsuccessfully, at least in its full intent), his popularity remained high, despite the non-stop deluge of negativity from all of the MSM.
We have lived through this nightmare before. Many good dems fell upon their swords in the early nineties, after passing meaningful legislation that in no small way led to the subsequent booming economy and budget surplus.
In the next two years, as unemployment drops and growth returns, largely as a result in the adjustment of the hyper-inflated housing market, the more marginally reactionary orcs, will return to some level of sanity. It happened before, it will happen again. A rising tide raises all boats, weather they like it or not.
I will concede that the media conglomerate, and it's political arm, the republican party look like unstoppable juggernauts right now, and they have done much damage and will do more: but most of that damage was done when they held all the reins of power and were free to rubber stamp their most onerous policies. Policies that ultimatly got us two elections cycles of reality checks. This will happen again.
The repubs "permanent majority" has fallen under the weight of it's own stupidity in the past. I am fairly confident they will find a way to destroy the gains of today in the future.
The rain falls on the just and the unjust alike. We will have to pull out the umbrellas for a while.
+1 Anon @ 11:34am
Pretty much what I'd have said.
C'mon peeps, did you think there was a ceasefire? Back to the trenches, back to the front lines, Back At 'Em!
Cuz.. (you know the drill)
"We Fight Back!"
-S.Gilliard
and we fight on.
....." and there was a great wailing and gnashing of teeth"
and then everybody shut up and went to the dentist.
a la Stewart Rally: change the flag caption from 'Don't Tread On Me' to 'OMG, Snakes!'
Welcome to interesting times.
DON'T MOURN - ORGANIZE. Despair is a great way to earn extra Drama Points, but it's still a chump's game.
Naturally the Republicans will strut & boast about their victory on Tuesday - but their party is no less of a dysfunctional clusterfuck than it was on Monday.
Steele, Boehner & Cantor still have nothing worthwhile to offer Americans, & if (as usual) they get caught out plowing their snouts into the hog-trough a little too eagerly, the mighty War Scooters of the REAL PATRIOTS may still turn on them at the drop of a tricorner hat.
Worth noting that the Teabaggers just cost the GOP a Senate majority - Nevada should've been a cakewalk for them, & Mike Castle should've put them over the top in Delaware.
Also note that they're openly admitting that their biggest threat in 2012 is Sarah "40 Bucks, Same As In Town" Palin - somehow I don't think her fan-club is going to take such naked contempt lightly.
2012- The End of the Mayan Long Count, and the beginning of a new cycle. The changes a'coming will not be choreographed by our political parties, things always happen that are out of the control of people, even though their actions often create the ground for change.
The financial crises of 2008 was not created by the powers that be, although they were able to turn it somewhat to their advantage. Yet it revealed a gaping hole in the narrative. Future events will rend the curtain, and like the Wizard of Oz, things will come plainly to sight.
Our current politicians do not have the breadth of vision or the balls to see or implement the necessities which will eventually come our way.
"The Harder They Come, The Harder They Fall, One and All..."
- Jimmy Cliff
A few other good notes to remember:
No bagger won anything that most likely would not have gone rethug anyway.
In fact as has been pointed out, several baggers may have provided the boost needed to keep seats.
Many blue dogs bit the dust, thus providing a good cleansing enema to the bowels of the party.
Lets not get mad, lets get even.
Thanks to all the watb QUITTERS!!!
Post a Comment