and Other Nonsense
After the dust of September 11, 2001 had settled and the Nation went to war I recall the unease I felt at being among the dissenters. I have never cared for the man who unlawfully occupies the Oval Office, and it is highly possible that I never will. It became all but illegal to criticize GWB and his policies. The mood of the country left me reminiscent of the fear I felt as a child growing up in a home that was not always suitable for small children. This was the first time I had felt that way in many years.
While watching the convention on C-Span, a woman from Tennessee was being interviewed. She was covered in buttons both anti-Bush and pro-Kerry. She apparently spends a great deal of her time working crowds in Memphis trying to alter hearts and minds. It suddenly struck me how many people live in this environment and mood for most of their lives. To those people I want to say thank you for being you and please find comfort knowing there are many who carry your water!
That's all. Read the rest if you are really bored.
Touts:
I have a friend who spends a lot of time at the horse track. He told me about these phony track prophets known as touts. These are basically con artists who will tell different people to bet on every horse in a race. Since one of the horses will eventually win, the tout will look like an insider to one of the people at the end of the race. He will then go up to the person(s) he discussed that horse with and remind them of what a brilliant prognosticator he was. When the person wants more inside info the tout of course wants money.
Pundits, pollsters, and Homeland Security brass have become nothing more than "touts". If they cover every possible scenario and angle each and every day they will appear as if they were correct to many in the end. But in examining their records it is clear that they have been wrong the majority of the time. I am pretty sure Jesus himself said you only have to be incorrect once to be a false prophet. Hear that Mr. president?
Lawrence O'Donnell and other Phony Liberal Commentators:
My Father is American Indian and my Mother is Irish American. I pass within the dominant culture without being noticed. Spending time in the American Indian community I never could understand the fear, pain, or humiliation my relations have felt from bearing the simple mark of skin pigmentation. So many peoples of color have suffered this and I apologize for the many times in my life I have been offered and have taken white privilege. Oddly other than my skin color and my gender, I am not a person of privilege. I could tell you my life story about being the son of a mill worker who had to herd goats on the side to pay the bills and all, but it would seem cliché at this point.
As I listened to Al Sharpton speak at the convention, I was moved. I didn't feel he was insulting to anyone. In fact, I felt he was speaking to issues that most certainly needed to be addressed at that convention in a very passionate manner. He probably felt like he would never have an audience that large again, so why not take an extra fourteen minutes.
He spoke for many communities of color as well as progressives who have been screwed by this administration. I got clean and sober on a bed in an Indian treatment program in the first Clinton administration. I later worked for that program. This type of funding is diminishing and changing greatly under bushco.
Listening to Lawrence O'Donnell, Howard Fineman, and others of their ilk rip Sharpton to shreds after his speech was sickening. While they were tearing him down they were praising Obama (who I felt gave a brilliant speech) as if to say, "Some of my best friends are black." It is this kind of racism that irks me the most. They were trying to signal to moderate voters that Sharpton does not represent our Party. He is not the kind of Negro who speaks for us. He is much to uppity and dangerous. Obama on the other hand is safe, gentle and soothing. He says things on which we can all agree.
O'Donnell needs to go back to his gated community in his SUV and reevaluate whether or not his values really are the values of the people and what message really sits in his heart.
Ratings System:
I would like to propose a new and more personal ratings system. Perhaps if people thought in these terms they would not be so quick to pound the top tiers of their QWERTY keypad in protest of a differing viewpoint.
- - French! That's right, they're back! Tongue baby and lots of it. Boy on girl, girl on boy, girl on girl, boy on boy...whatever! For our more moderate "John Kerry is a War Hero and a "strong leader" types we will consider this a short hug with those quick pats on the shoulder blades.
- - Regular Kiss. "Oh you took out the garbage, that's sweet," kind of a thing. You know the type.
- - Marginal? What does this mean? This is the worst of all possible worlds. Pretend you are with a lover and after an act of passion you turn to him/her and say, "How was it?" His/her response is, "Marginal." Nooooooooooooo thank you! 2 ratings must be explained. Why was I marginal? What could I have done better? Too fast? Too slow? Was it the pushing your head out of the way to see the TV?
- - To me a 1 is worse than a 0! It is the ultimate insult. I know when I am trolling and I want to be rated as such. It is like a child screaming for attention. Super Troll rate me or give me death!
- - When you are Super Troll rated consider this a full assault on your moral compass and character. You need to immediately search out all of this person's past posts and super troll rate every one! This is the only reasonable course of action! If you do not you run the risk of being labeled weak on terrorism.
Moving along, a Headline in the New York Times reads:
Al Qaeda Seeks to Disrupt U.S. Economy, Experts Warn
First of all, No Shit. In addition, how are they planning to do this? Has anyone considered that Al Qaeda operatives might be volunteering for the Bush Campaign in battleground states. What better way to disrupt the economy than to ensure the reelection of W? Furthermore, does Al Qaeda need to even attack to disrupt the economy or are these warnings enough of a disruption?