This is what a political statement looks like when you take out the content, and you only see the stagecraft.
I don't quite get the bleep at the end, but what really stands out is something that looks suspiciously like a teleprompter reflected in her glasses.
Jan 14, 2011
Tunisia
It occurs to me that we could file this one under The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword.
With all the sound and fury here in the US over "2nd Amendment Remedies", and "If ballots don't work, bullets will" - with all the potential for bellicose rhetoric to turn into real bloodshed, it's strangely reassuring to look at events in Iran and now Tunisia, and draw the conclusion: The revolution will not only be televised, but will actually be fought with cell phones and video cameras.
Disarming your citizens can have the unintended consequence of effectively neutering your government's authority to use force. If you shoot an unarmed protestor, you aren't defending some lofty sounding governing principle. You're just an asshole.
I don't know a lot about what's going on in Tunisia. I only know that Ben Ali's government has been tagged as repressive for years, but now there's video on the web that shows unarmed citizens being gunned down in the streets.
And here's a write-up from Foreign Policy.
With all the sound and fury here in the US over "2nd Amendment Remedies", and "If ballots don't work, bullets will" - with all the potential for bellicose rhetoric to turn into real bloodshed, it's strangely reassuring to look at events in Iran and now Tunisia, and draw the conclusion: The revolution will not only be televised, but will actually be fought with cell phones and video cameras.
Disarming your citizens can have the unintended consequence of effectively neutering your government's authority to use force. If you shoot an unarmed protestor, you aren't defending some lofty sounding governing principle. You're just an asshole.
I don't know a lot about what's going on in Tunisia. I only know that Ben Ali's government has been tagged as repressive for years, but now there's video on the web that shows unarmed citizens being gunned down in the streets.
And here's a write-up from Foreign Policy.
Jan 13, 2011
Stochastic Terrorism
This is an excellent day because I've learned a couple of things.
First, I learned a little something about Stochastic Terrorism. This is the tech term for the process that gives rise to the kind of Lone Wolf action that we saw on Saturday in Tucson.
And second, I finally did a little reading on Henry II and his problems with Thomas Beckett.
So, when I put these things together, it's a little clearer than before. Not a lot, but some.
Read this from The Agonist.
First, I learned a little something about Stochastic Terrorism. This is the tech term for the process that gives rise to the kind of Lone Wolf action that we saw on Saturday in Tucson.
And second, I finally did a little reading on Henry II and his problems with Thomas Beckett.
So, when I put these things together, it's a little clearer than before. Not a lot, but some.
Read this from The Agonist.
The core of the theory claims a causal connection between the highly evocative political rhetoric of figures like "Beck, Hannity, and O'Reilly" and acts that have a probabilistic inevitability when you factor in the total number of "people who are emotionally unstable" and the nonstop exposure of these three (and more) by Rupert Murdoch's Fox News and broadcast operations.There's still no direct-line cause-and-effect at work, but that's pretty much exactly what Plausible Deniability is all about, isn't it?
Jan 11, 2011
Stephen Budiansky's Liberal Curmudgeon Blog: Not us (cont.)
Stephen Budiansky's Liberal Curmudgeon Blog: Not us (cont.)
#4 is exactly what we need to be talking about:
For as long as I can remember, I have heard conservatives blaming everything that is wrong in the universe, from violent crime to declining test scores to teen pregnancy to rude children to declining patriotism to probably athlete's foot . . . upon Dr. Spock, Hollywood liberals, the abolition of prayer in school, Bill Clinton, the "liberal 1960s," the teaching of evolution — in other words, upon symbols, rhetoric, cultural norms, and the values expressed by political and media leaders. Yet from the moment when someone gets a gun in their hands, apparently, society ceases to have any influence whatsoever on the outcome and individual responsibility takes hold 100%. Something is driving the tripling of death threats against congressmen (and the concomitant rise in threats against Federal judges and other villains of the right, from Forest Service rangers to climate scientists) and it isn't the sunspot cycle.
Jan 10, 2011
Ms Giffords Of Arizona
An assassination attempt just misses - nine dead, more wounded, the main target barely clinging to life - and somehow, we can't just come out and say we have a problem in this country with the way we talk about politics.
Howie Kurtz does the usual hand-wringing, and I've heard some others soaking up large quantities of valuable airtime angsting about whether or not this kind of act can be attributed to the rhetorical recklessness of politicians and pundits. And in the end, they say nothing. They all "have to leave it there" after deciding nothing; all we come away with is that it was yet another senseless tragedy of our times, and that "gosh, I hope it wasn't something we said."
Look guys, words have meaning. Politicians and commentators say the things they say for a reason. They put words together in ways that are intended to prompt people to take some action. Your actual intention may be simply to get people up off their asses to go out and vote. But when you use the imagery of violence to get them to go out and do something, you don't get to sit back being surprised when somebody decides to take your words at face value. In an obviously important way, this Loughner asshole did exactly what he heard Palin or Angle or any number of others say they wanted him to do.
For the most part, this lies squarely at the feet of the Repubs. They own it; and I think they know it.
Howie Kurtz does the usual hand-wringing, and I've heard some others soaking up large quantities of valuable airtime angsting about whether or not this kind of act can be attributed to the rhetorical recklessness of politicians and pundits. And in the end, they say nothing. They all "have to leave it there" after deciding nothing; all we come away with is that it was yet another senseless tragedy of our times, and that "gosh, I hope it wasn't something we said."
Look guys, words have meaning. Politicians and commentators say the things they say for a reason. They put words together in ways that are intended to prompt people to take some action. Your actual intention may be simply to get people up off their asses to go out and vote. But when you use the imagery of violence to get them to go out and do something, you don't get to sit back being surprised when somebody decides to take your words at face value. In an obviously important way, this Loughner asshole did exactly what he heard Palin or Angle or any number of others say they wanted him to do.
For the most part, this lies squarely at the feet of the Repubs. They own it; and I think they know it.
Jan 8, 2011
Sir John Of Orange
Matt Taibbi strikes again via Rolling Stone.
The Democrats have plenty of creatures like Boehner. But in the new Speaker of the House, the Republicans own the perfect archetype — the quintessential example of the kind of glad-handing, double-talking, K Street toady who has dominated the politics of both parties for decades. In sports, we talk about athletes who are the "total package," and that term comes close to describing Boehner's talent for perpetuating our corrupt and debt-addled status quo: He's a five-tool insider who can lie, cheat, steal, play golf, change his mind on command and do anything else his lobbyist buddies and campaign contributors require of him to get the job done.
Post Racial(?)
If the US is entering a period of real understanding and acceptance of "color differences", then why are so many of us so uptight about the real probability of a non-white majority that some believe is inevitable and will be here a lot sooner than we think?
What are we afraid of? If we've treated people of color with the respect they deserve, then what do we have to fear from them when the time comes for them to take charge of things?
Who are the people who spend the most time and energy trying to warn us about the troubles we'll see when this change comes? Are they the ones talking about social justice and equal economic opportunity? Or are they the ones who want us to build fences, and tell us we should round up all the brown people and deport them?
The way we treat people now is how we can expect to be treated in turn.
What are we afraid of? If we've treated people of color with the respect they deserve, then what do we have to fear from them when the time comes for them to take charge of things?
Who are the people who spend the most time and energy trying to warn us about the troubles we'll see when this change comes? Are they the ones talking about social justice and equal economic opportunity? Or are they the ones who want us to build fences, and tell us we should round up all the brown people and deport them?
The way we treat people now is how we can expect to be treated in turn.
Reconstituting
In a perfect example of political theater as farce, the 112th Congress opened in the House with a reading of the "full" text of the US Constitution - except they didn't read the parts they didn't think were applicable, like the three-fifths clause and a few others.
David Cole has come up with what he thinks these "real Americans" really mean. I've pasted the whole thing in here. (here's the Washington Post article)
We, the Real Americans, in order to form a more God-Fearing Union, establish Justice as we see it, Defeat Health-Care Reform, and Preserve and Protect our Property, our Guns and our Right Not to Pay Taxes, do ordain and establish this Conservative Constitution for the United States of Real America.
Article I. Congress shall have only the powers literally, specifically and expressly granted herein, and no others. That means definitely, without question, absolutely, no regulation of the Health Insurance or Financial Services industries.
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected not directly by the People, but by other people whom the People have elected to better represent the People.
Any law enacted by Congress and signed by the President may be overturned by the vote of three or more States if they find it burdensome, offensive, annoying or in any way touching on Health Insurance, Property Rights or Guns.
Congress shall have no power to raise Taxes except on February 29, and then only if all the People of the United States approve such a measure unanimously, in writing and in English.
Congress shall balance the Federal Budget, preferably by eliminating the Departments of Labor, Energy, Education and State.
The preceding provision shall not apply to spending for the Department of Defense, appropriations for which shall increase three times as quickly as the growth in gross domestic product and upon the approval of House leadership in conference with Boeing, Halliburton, the Ashcroft Group and Kissinger Associates.
Arizona shall have the power to regulate Immigration.
Article II. No person except a natural-born Citizen who can produce video, photographic or eyewitness evidence of birth in a non-island American State shall be eligible to the Office of President.
The President shall faithfully execute the laws, except when, as Commander in Chief, he decides he'd really rather not.
The President shall not negotiate any Treaty without first receiving a signed and notarized note granting him permission, personally executed by every member of the Senate and the House, all 50 Governors and the editorial board of the Weekly Standard.
Article III. Judges shall strictly construe this Constitution, and we mean strictly, and shall under no circumstances cite, refer to, read or mention at cocktail parties or cookouts any principle or provision of International Law.
Suspected Terrorists shall be taken to Guantanamo and drawn and quartered in a public ceremony. Trials are optional, but if they occur, must be conducted in a Military Tribunal in which coerced statements are admissible so long as they support a Guilty verdict.
AMENDMENTS
1. Congress shall make no law abridging the Freedom of Speech, except where citizens desecrate the Flag of the United States; respecting an establishment of Religion, except to support Christian schools, religious apparitions in food products and the display of crosses and creches in public places; or abridging the free exercise of Religion, except to block the construction of mosques in sensitive areas as determined by Florida Pastors or the Fox News Channel.
2. The right to bear Semi-Automatic Weapons, AK-47s or Bazookas shall not be infringed by background checks, safety locks, age limits or common sense.
3. The right of Corporations, Hedge Funds, Business Leaders and Lobbyists to spend endless cash on campaigns and influence-purchasing shall not be infringed. The so-called right of Unions to associate shall be denied as fundamentally un-American and contrary to the agenda of the Chamber of Commerce.
4. Marriage and the benefits thereof shall be restricted to the Union of a Man and a Woman, consecrated in a Christian house of worship, with vows to expose any and all progeny to daily viewings of Bill O'Reilly.
5. All persons born or naturalized in the United States are Citizens of the United States of Real America only if their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents were Citizens, and only if they pledge opposition to Health Insurance Reform or New Taxation. Any Citizen convicted of providing material support to Terrorist organizations, wearing clothing bearing images created by Shepard Fairey, or displaying Nancy Pelosi bumper stickers shall be stripped of Citizenship.
6. Aliens, of this world or another, shall have none of the rights guaranteed herein to Citizens.
7. Corporations shall have all of the rights guaranteed herein to Citizens, and then some.
8. No White Male shall be denied equal protection of the law through Affirmative Action or otherwise. In keeping with the intent of the Framers, as discerned by the Honorable Justice Antonin Scalia, distinctions on the basis of sex shall not be deemed to deny equal protection.
9. The right to be uninsured and make other people pay the costs of one's Health Care shall not be infringed under any circumstances.
10. Congress shall make no law limiting Americans' right to warm the Planet by using all the energy they darn well please.
11. The Unborn shall have the rights to life, to vote, to bear arms, to practice Religion except in a mosque in Lower Manhattan (see First Amendment) and to make campaign contributions, but once the child is born, it shall have no rights if it is an Alien (see Sixth Amendment).
12. No one may be required to do anything He or She does not want to do. Ever.
Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the Members present the Sixth Day of January in the Year of our Lord Two Thousand and Eleven. In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our names, [REDACTED]
We, the Real Americans, in order to form a more God-Fearing Union, establish Justice as we see it, Defeat Health-Care Reform, and Preserve and Protect our Property, our Guns and our Right Not to Pay Taxes, do ordain and establish this Conservative Constitution for the United States of Real America.
Article I. Congress shall have only the powers literally, specifically and expressly granted herein, and no others. That means definitely, without question, absolutely, no regulation of the Health Insurance or Financial Services industries.
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected not directly by the People, but by other people whom the People have elected to better represent the People.
Any law enacted by Congress and signed by the President may be overturned by the vote of three or more States if they find it burdensome, offensive, annoying or in any way touching on Health Insurance, Property Rights or Guns.
Congress shall have no power to raise Taxes except on February 29, and then only if all the People of the United States approve such a measure unanimously, in writing and in English.
Congress shall balance the Federal Budget, preferably by eliminating the Departments of Labor, Energy, Education and State.
The preceding provision shall not apply to spending for the Department of Defense, appropriations for which shall increase three times as quickly as the growth in gross domestic product and upon the approval of House leadership in conference with Boeing, Halliburton, the Ashcroft Group and Kissinger Associates.
Arizona shall have the power to regulate Immigration.
Article II. No person except a natural-born Citizen who can produce video, photographic or eyewitness evidence of birth in a non-island American State shall be eligible to the Office of President.
The President shall faithfully execute the laws, except when, as Commander in Chief, he decides he'd really rather not.
The President shall not negotiate any Treaty without first receiving a signed and notarized note granting him permission, personally executed by every member of the Senate and the House, all 50 Governors and the editorial board of the Weekly Standard.
Article III. Judges shall strictly construe this Constitution, and we mean strictly, and shall under no circumstances cite, refer to, read or mention at cocktail parties or cookouts any principle or provision of International Law.
Suspected Terrorists shall be taken to Guantanamo and drawn and quartered in a public ceremony. Trials are optional, but if they occur, must be conducted in a Military Tribunal in which coerced statements are admissible so long as they support a Guilty verdict.
AMENDMENTS
1. Congress shall make no law abridging the Freedom of Speech, except where citizens desecrate the Flag of the United States; respecting an establishment of Religion, except to support Christian schools, religious apparitions in food products and the display of crosses and creches in public places; or abridging the free exercise of Religion, except to block the construction of mosques in sensitive areas as determined by Florida Pastors or the Fox News Channel.
2. The right to bear Semi-Automatic Weapons, AK-47s or Bazookas shall not be infringed by background checks, safety locks, age limits or common sense.
3. The right of Corporations, Hedge Funds, Business Leaders and Lobbyists to spend endless cash on campaigns and influence-purchasing shall not be infringed. The so-called right of Unions to associate shall be denied as fundamentally un-American and contrary to the agenda of the Chamber of Commerce.
4. Marriage and the benefits thereof shall be restricted to the Union of a Man and a Woman, consecrated in a Christian house of worship, with vows to expose any and all progeny to daily viewings of Bill O'Reilly.
5. All persons born or naturalized in the United States are Citizens of the United States of Real America only if their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents were Citizens, and only if they pledge opposition to Health Insurance Reform or New Taxation. Any Citizen convicted of providing material support to Terrorist organizations, wearing clothing bearing images created by Shepard Fairey, or displaying Nancy Pelosi bumper stickers shall be stripped of Citizenship.
6. Aliens, of this world or another, shall have none of the rights guaranteed herein to Citizens.
7. Corporations shall have all of the rights guaranteed herein to Citizens, and then some.
8. No White Male shall be denied equal protection of the law through Affirmative Action or otherwise. In keeping with the intent of the Framers, as discerned by the Honorable Justice Antonin Scalia, distinctions on the basis of sex shall not be deemed to deny equal protection.
9. The right to be uninsured and make other people pay the costs of one's Health Care shall not be infringed under any circumstances.
10. Congress shall make no law limiting Americans' right to warm the Planet by using all the energy they darn well please.
11. The Unborn shall have the rights to life, to vote, to bear arms, to practice Religion except in a mosque in Lower Manhattan (see First Amendment) and to make campaign contributions, but once the child is born, it shall have no rights if it is an Alien (see Sixth Amendment).
12. No one may be required to do anything He or She does not want to do. Ever.
Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the Members present the Sixth Day of January in the Year of our Lord Two Thousand and Eleven. In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our names, [REDACTED]
Jan 1, 2011
Closing It Out
John Noah Roberts: Dec 16, 1927 - Dec 31, 2010
I could tell you all that he was a bull-headed, stiff-necked son of a snow ball, but anybody who knew my dad at all knew that much.
I could tell you that this ham-fisted hard ass was a complete pushover for strawberry ice cream, but if I dwell on that, I'll fall apart.
So I can just say that he lived and loved on his own terms. I'm not sure I can expect much more than that from anybody.
God bless the man with a living thinking brain. God bless the mind that forms the thoughts that direct the hands that can make anything; fix anything; any time; for anybody. And God bless the hands that held me as a child, and molded my future as a man.
God bless you, Pop. God speed you on your way, and know always that you were loved.
I could tell you all that he was a bull-headed, stiff-necked son of a snow ball, but anybody who knew my dad at all knew that much.
I could tell you that this ham-fisted hard ass was a complete pushover for strawberry ice cream, but if I dwell on that, I'll fall apart.
So I can just say that he lived and loved on his own terms. I'm not sure I can expect much more than that from anybody.
God bless the man with a living thinking brain. God bless the mind that forms the thoughts that direct the hands that can make anything; fix anything; any time; for anybody. And God bless the hands that held me as a child, and molded my future as a man.
God bless you, Pop. God speed you on your way, and know always that you were loved.
Dec 25, 2010
Fallout From The Meltdown
From Matt Taibbi at Rolling Stone:
The unwillingness of Obama to tackle these really difficult problems is the main failing of his presidency. Maybe I'm being too harsh; maybe he has to deal with the immediate troubles of as many Americans as possible to keep us from going completely over the cliff; maybe. But unless we stop fuckin' around and start dealing with the structural problems, we're likely to find that we're just setting ourselves up for more shit down the road - and 'down the road' could easily come a lot sooner than anybody's willing to admit.
New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is about to file civil fraud charges against E&Y for the work it did helping Lehman cook its books during 2007 and 2008. The short version of what happened goes something like this. Lehman Brothers, like all the other big banks on Wall Street in those years, was nearing insolvency and desperate for cash. In advance of its quarterly reports in 2007, the firm executed a series of something called Repo 105 transactions in an attempt to make their balance sheet look healthier than it was.This is not good news for the short term. And if it gets any real play in the news, it could be really bad. It may be though, that it cleans up some of the shit that nobody even wants to look at much less handle.
The unwillingness of Obama to tackle these really difficult problems is the main failing of his presidency. Maybe I'm being too harsh; maybe he has to deal with the immediate troubles of as many Americans as possible to keep us from going completely over the cliff; maybe. But unless we stop fuckin' around and start dealing with the structural problems, we're likely to find that we're just setting ourselves up for more shit down the road - and 'down the road' could easily come a lot sooner than anybody's willing to admit.
Dec 23, 2010
Security Theater
By way of Andrew Sullivan's blog, Conor Friedersdorf referenced a piece from KTRK-TV in Houston.
Experts say every year since the September 11 attacks, federal agencies have conducted random, covert tests of airport security. A person briefed on the latest tests tells ABC News the failure rate approaches 70 percent at some major airports. Two weeks ago, TSA's new director said every test gun, bomb part or knife got past screeners at some airports.TSA is a monument to the idea of throwing good money after bad. Somebody please make them stop.
Dec 22, 2010
Haley Barbour
...is a dick. The guy is making a play for the Southern Dumb Ass bloc of Repubs - probably trying to get them away from Palin.
So he blows the dog whistle. He makes overtly racist remarks, and then waits for the lefties to attack him, and then he comes out to issue the wink-and-a-nod "apology/backtrack", so he can then go back later and claim to be the victim of those darned "librul media elitists". The rubes eat it up, and the Press Poodles miss the real story, cuz Americans love a big pile of steaming racial tension - that's exciting. All that other stuff; that's just politics. That's all about who runs the country and who gives your tax dollars to whose brother-in-law. It's boring. Move along now - nuthin' to see here.
Works every time.
So he blows the dog whistle. He makes overtly racist remarks, and then waits for the lefties to attack him, and then he comes out to issue the wink-and-a-nod "apology/backtrack", so he can then go back later and claim to be the victim of those darned "librul media elitists". The rubes eat it up, and the Press Poodles miss the real story, cuz Americans love a big pile of steaming racial tension - that's exciting. All that other stuff; that's just politics. That's all about who runs the country and who gives your tax dollars to whose brother-in-law. It's boring. Move along now - nuthin' to see here.
Works every time.
Yeesh
Why don't these guys ever see how closely they resemble the Taliban? I think it probably has something to do with their perverted understanding of American Exceptionalism.
I especially love the little homily that starts at about 3:30, and the disclaimer is classic contradiction. "We're against violence, so we used this violent demonstration to prove how abhorrent violence is to us."
Also, notice the Eliminationist subtext of their sweatshirts.
I especially love the little homily that starts at about 3:30, and the disclaimer is classic contradiction. "We're against violence, so we used this violent demonstration to prove how abhorrent violence is to us."
Also, notice the Eliminationist subtext of their sweatshirts.
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