Because of the lively conversation this morning. I made a list...
List of observations:
1. The conversation, even when it gets ugly, is important. So far at least, I'd rather have a smaller audience than an echo chamber.
2. Dissent matters. Even when it confronts things I (or readers here) hold to be true.
3. Resentment is sometimes a place to start. It is not a place to stay. Processes here vary. I, for one, felt the movement called "Puma" - born of deep anger and resentment - should have evolved quickly into a third party concerned with many issues. In my thinking, an opportunity was lost because that resentment did not morph into a third way. The difficulties of a third party in the U.S. became an excuse to not try. I hold fast to the belief that we need a third way as badly as we ever have in this country. Both the corruption of the Democrats and the GOP impulse toward viciousness and stupidity prove this point. The clock is very much ticking on our "way of life" - we need another way.
(I sometimes process my resentments with outright mockery and humor. Sometimes with nostalgia, sometimes fury.)
4. Learning from the past is important -as long as one stays in the present while learning.
5. Forcing those who got lost in the Obama muck last year to see and hear how wrong they were is part of the process of owning and growing into the next place. This task needs to last as long as it needs to last. When a banner across the Huffington Post and the DailyKos announces WE WERE WRONG ABOUT OBAMA, then it might be time to move on. It would be dishonest for me to say that I did not take some joy in just how wrong the Pod people were. I do. My claims to sainthood are a few incarnations away.
Cannonfire put it succinctly yesterday: I wish to hell that these people would just be honest about what they did. I wish that they would 'fess up to the role they played in foisting this nightmarish presidency on the world. I wish to hell that they would apologize.
Given the level of lies, delusion and deceit around Obama I feel it is nearly an obligation to confront those responsible for foisting this nightmarish presidency on the world.
HOWEVER: If resentment regresses into a sniping victimhood then it is mostly useless.
There is some movement among the worst of the "Obots". A realization with some that they have been had. This is progress. Pressing this point is important for a number of reasons:
-Saving liberals from themselves is a decent, if not exactly noble, cause.
-Obama was and remains a symptom of a larger disease that grew out of the Bush era. The trickery is palpable and needs to be pointed out to the tricked. To ignore this is to assume that the democratic systems are working. One side loses, one wins - that's it. But they are not working. We shall get fooled, yet again, if we do not remember the machinations of the dysfunction.
Though we've seen it all before, there was a quantum leap in the body politic in the level of denial around Obama. It took the full force of the media, an economic collapse, a generalized revulsion toward the incumbent, and many of the biggest loudest blogs to get the man to 52%. As with 2000 - what we have here is evidence that the system itself is broken. The media's capitulation to Obama - and to the pro Iraq invasion meme in '03 - are important and similar indicators. We do not live in the country we are told we live in. Standing against the "manufacturing of consent" is one thing a blog can do and do well.
6. I stated that this was a "grievance" blog. This was:
A. claiming ownership of a word used by a blogger who called all Hillary blogs "grievance blogs".(I should have been clear about that.)
B. An admission that nearly all political blogs are grievance blogs. From Kos to Texas Darlin. Americablog took off because of grievances against Bush era policies. Posts at Cannonfire, Noquarter, and anywhere else one cares to alight are almost always in response to grievances of one sort or another. "Beefs" if you like. RCP is a compendium of writers with grievances. Blogs in the realm of political opinion and political writing are all grievance blogs. Having a grievance in and of itself is not a problem. Making the grievance one's identity is.
7. For the most part the best a political blog can do it point in a direction, give an opinion, make us chuckle, or uncover some facts that may have been missed or underreported. I think this is important: Blogs are blogs. Nothing more, nothing less. The obligation to "report" is a fallacy about blogs that is best avoided. I avoid it by writing opinion almost all the time.
Among those in regular attendance are David Brooks and Maureen Dowd of the New York Times, Gene Robinson and Ruth Marcus of The Washington Post, NBC's David Gregory, ABC's George Stephanopoulos, PBS's Gwen Ifill, the New Yorker's Jane Mayer, Vanity Fair's Todd Purdum, former Time managing editor Walter Isaacson and staffers from Bradley's Atlantic and National Journal, including Ron Brownstein, Andrew Sullivan and Jonathan Rauch.
Who is missing from this list? If you guessed any representative from conservative leaning outlets you are correct. By and large I do not care for most conservative views. However, it is intriguing that none would be invited to what is intended to be a dinner party open to a frank discussion of ideas. Further if you think the MSM is an echo chamber that is, in essence, worthless except as an echo chamber you are correct. Or if you think the media is, in essence, Chicago Slim's lap dog - you are correct: The networks have given President Obama more coverage than George W. Bush and Bill Clinton combined in their first months - and more positive assessments to boot.
The first 2 winners of the 2008 Rappy awards (which I made up over coffee one morning) can now be announced!!! The committee of 2 (me and my laptop) gathered at a Koreatown bistro called "Denny's" recently and tabulated the votes.
The Nominees for Most Grotesque Cable News Personality:
Nancy Grace Chris Matthews Dick Morris Keith Olbermann Bill O'Reilly
And the winner is Keith Olbermann!!!!
Olbermann wins his first Rappy after a year long display of Hillary inspired mommy issue meltdowns, murder jokes about the former First Lady, and bug eyed buffoonery he likes to call "Special Comments". The manic Olbermann, who is rumoured to be the love child of Phyllis Diller and Donald Trump, enjoyed a year of unconsciously making an ass of himself at every turn while cheer leading for Obama. Congrats Keith! You are the most grotesque news anchor in the woooooooooorrrrrrrrrrllllllllllllld!!!!
Nominees for 2008 Sexist of the year:
Chris Matthews Barack Obama Keith Olbermann Randi Rhodes Andrew Sullivan
With such juicy nominees one almost hates to announce a winner. Each of these people brought sublimated sexism and/or self hatred a special zing this year. However, the winner is: Barack Obama
Barry started the year by playing a song that included the lyrics: 99 problems and the bitch ain't one at his victory party after defeating Clinton in the Iowa. This set the tone for his delicious mix of arrogance, Gangsta/Ho homages, throw the middle finger to Clinton podium stunts, unequal pay for his female staff, and charmless derision to female reporters. All the while he refused to reign in his night of the living dead, women hating cult of idiot children on the Left -lead by Ms. Arianna Huffington - great patron of resentful, disempowered women everywhere, John Avarosis, king - and queen - of barely evolved self hating homosexuals, and that Daily Kos guy who happily played host to a cavalcade of homicidal, sadistic commenters all year.Congrats Barry. Your consistent, duplicitous misogyny all year has been a marvel.
* the empty suit photo signifies the Rapture has occurred - an expression of the heavenly effect winning a coveted Rappy has on people.
Also, it's an empty suit and an empty suit, as we all now know, is the new black.
First off - Congrats to the Trojans! The need for a playoff in college football is once again achingly clear. The system now encourages scheduling weak opponents, running up scores, and flattens the season - removing the crescendo of end of season rivalries.
BCS proponents call this "Making every game matter!" Well, every game shouldn't "matter". Real fans know that Ohio State- Michigan matters more than Ohio State - Youngstown....regardless of the year. Winning the conference should matter more than some off game in late august a talented team choked in. The BCS is slowly flattening college football, all for the sake of gaylord hotel papa mama mia pizza motor credit union emerald nut bowl system.
The BCS punishes team improvement.
USC deserves a real shot at the title.
16 teams. 4 weeks in December. Holiday football madness!
My predictions for 2009. I hope fervently I am wrong on numbers 2 and 5.
1. Obama will remain popular through June. Meaning he will stay above 50% in polls. By the Fall he will be wearing thin. Perceptions of him will change from "refreshing" to "arrogant" for the general population as it becomes clear his power to fix the economy is limited.
2. The economy will limp and fade, limp some more and fade further. Official unemployment numbers will go into double digits this year.
3. The war in Afghanistan will be expanded by Obama, causing heads to explode on the Obama Left.
4. Obama blogs will continue cheer leading - but their audiences will drop off as it becomes inescapable to avoid that the most delusional were duped.
5. There will be a terror attack on American soil.
6. The inflation/deflation argument is beyond my pay grade. I have no idea which will present itself with force. But one will. I am leaning toward inflation now.
7. The media's infatuation with Obama will fade sharply over the course of the next 3 months. The snide cabal of columnists at the NYTs will kick things off. His admin. won't be open in any real sense. Just more open than W's - which isn't saying much. Though the media has been mindlessly in love with Obama, he has never returned the sentiment. This is already dawning on the MSM. As BHO's defensiveness and annoyance becomes more evident - they'll turn. Proviso: If the GOP continues to produce a series of fools and clowns as it did in 07 and some of 08 it will buy Obama more media cuddle time.
8. Hillary Clinton will find the world left by W and Rice nearly impossible to deal with. But she'll perform her duties well. The media will do its damnedest to pick her apart.
9. The Gay Rights movement will finally grow up and move into its nonviolent civil disobedience phase.
It's hard to fathom the depths of "journalism's" amoral ass licking in 2008 but try we must. They forced fed us Obama and there was a reason. Not at all sure what the reason was. ...3 cheers for Joe Scarborough - who leaves 2 other obamapod commentators mumbling excuses and, in essence, confirming their pathological proObama bias. Plus he mocks them gleefully in the end...it is important to remember that "journalists" like these should no longer be treated with anything but wary suspicion. We cannot and should not trust them. This is beyond doubt after 2008. They are selling something at all times - but rarely have the courage to tell us what they are selling...a war...a candidate...a bailout...
Check this out: Boycott the NYT. This is a right wing site. Don't agree with the people but I am glad to highlight an example action being taken against the MSM.
The media is the myth maker.
Here's the truth - I think we should boycott all of them. Further I think we should be marching outside CNN in Atlanta and 30 Rock (NBC) and the NYT building.... at least until they gobble up the "event" of the protest and make it a meaningless story.
For now: Turn OFF the news. Stop reading the major myth making newspapers. If you tune in for coverage of a major event - like the attack in India this week - learn to perceive at what point it stops being event coverage and starts being about manipulating you. The switchover happens. Every time. After 9/11 is took about 24 hours. Every thing every one of us needs or wants to know can be obtained in less than 10 minutes of - mostly local - news.
Be selective about "news" outlets. Very selective. As selective as you are about food...even if you "eat anything" you don't choose arsenic for supper. Far lefty Hans Enzenburger calls the media the "consciousness industry" - as true a name as I can think of. The goal is to turn us all into "manipulators" as well- or as a recent rather large example implies - turn as many of us as possible into "co-myth makers".
I don't want to live in a Marxist or "Christian" nation. (the "Christian" nation the Right fantasizes about is every bit as repressive as the William Ayres's Left wing anti-utopia.)
I do not like beliefs being shoved down my throat. (Or is an I.V. drip a better metaphor?) Didn't like it during the run up to Bush's invasion of Iraq. Didn't like it this year as I watched Obama being forced on us. (Thanks George Soros and Move On and all your pals in the MSM! Whoo Hoo!! Good job!!!)
So be conscious of what you are being told to accept. There IS an agenda. Harmful or Helpful? - doesn't matter. Just be aware that you are being sold something. Buy or pass on it - but remember it is a sales job.
Some music - A modern classic (is that possible?) - try this "a pop classic" (sounds like coke)
Elvis Costello's "What's so funny about peace, love and understanding?"
Since we knew the media's pro Obama bias was overwhelming and since we knew the media would admit they went to far AFTER the fact... (This is their pattern and their plan. Admitting that they went to far after the election is over, or the invasion has begun, or the impeachment has occurred, is the last part of the game - in this way they attempt to absolve themselves, and restore some credibility, while hoping we forget the pattern in time for the next propaganda push.) ...I am not sure why stuff like what is linked below makes me so furious. It's not like I did not see this round of media confession coming. Usually, I love being proven right. But I'm sick of being one of the damn confessors for these jackasses. We are forced to watch them behave like frothy tin foil hat nuts for a season and THEN we are forced to hear their round of confession.
I, for one, DO NOT FORGIVE the media's sins.
Halperin even goes so far as to compare the Obama asskissing in 2008, to the pro Iraq invasion propaganda the media overwhelmed us with in 02 and 03.
It is not that Obama's B.S. did not matter to people - IT IS THAT PEOPLE DID NOT KNOW WTF or WHO THE "F" THEY WERE VOTING FOR. The propaganda machine that goes by these names: CNN CBS MSNBC NBC ABC New York Times Washingtonpost Americablog Dailykos Huffingtonpost sold us a fable called Barrack Obama just as surely as many of them sold us the invasion of Iraq.
From a post election Zogby poll: Obama voters did not fare nearly as well overall when asked to answer questions about statements or stories associated with Obama or Biden - 83% failed to correctly answer that Obama had won his first election by getting all of his opponents removed from the ballot,and 88% did not correctly associate Obama with his statement that his energy policies would likely bankrupt the coal industry. Most (56%) were also not able to correctly answer that Obama started his political career at the home of two former members of the Weather Underground. The American Media created this hologram called Obama by lying to us by commission and omission.
PUMAs were right, are right, and will continue to be right.
Despite the election result - I wonder if Obama will even be considered legitimate in 6 months. We've never been lied to with as much impunity as we were in 2008.
I am posting the ad below not because I endorse Palin as a candidate. I don't. I am almost certainly going to vote Green. However, the shafting of Palin by a biased propaganda machine usually referred to as the "media" has been severe and harsh. The way both Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin have been treated should be of concern to real liberals. The attempt to diminish Palin has been overt. This is classic sexism. Women are not taken as seriously as men. Hence the continuing difference in pay rates. Any way to exploit this lingering stereotype is amplified.
Palin did not help her cause by bumbling at least 3 interviews. But this is a matter of style not substance. Handling a confrontational interview is a learned skill. Given her new appearance on the national scene it should have been expected that she would not be good at it. The fact is Biden is a routinely a disaster in this context. His idiocies are ignored by the media. (When asked about ACORN yesterday Biden lied at least 3 times within a minute.)
The mocking of Palin is analogous to Amos and Andy in the 1930' and 40's. A riff on a stereotype meant to play off the degradation an entire group of second class citizens.
Palin is a relatively new Governor, but she is accomplished and daring. She is more accomplished than BHO by a large margin. I may not agree with some of what she has promoted but she is an effective Executive.
I will not vote for her ticket for policy reasons. Still, it is clear her treatment by the media has been bigoted and nasty.
I keep asking why the media is so intent on covering for Obama. Obviously it is not for lack of information. Negative information about BHO is everywhere. Footage of BHO campaigning for Odinga played as much as the Clinton Bosnia footage makes sense. It brings to the fore real questions of judgement. Much more so than Clinton's Bosnia comment. A realistic investigation and timeline of the Obama/Ayres relationships would also seem in order. Neither of these examples need be unfair. Just truthful. It would not take much for the main stream press to look into these items. And yet, only individuals and to a degree Fox has done any homework on Obama.
The evidence that the MSM has now completely lurched into a propaganda machine is proven by 3 cases. John Edwards known affair was kept quiet until the primaries were over. This bizarre omission is telling. What was the purpose? The media loves an affair. (One could argue that the Clinton/Monica "crisis" was overblown to keep him in check.) Secondly, Obama has lied repeatedly on the stump...Selma, and Ayres comes to mind. Yet, Clinton's "Bosnia" moment was beaten into the ground. Obama's lies? Not covered. Scores of reporters where sent to Alaska after Palin was chosen - almost none have been sent to Chicago. Why?
The media is molding our perceptions of Obama - but to what end? Is it simply a blind spot? I doubt it.
Is it true adulation of the man? Some clearly is.
The best answer I can come up with is that the media wants a President it can control and then destroy. Crazy conspiracy theory? Maybe. But the bias is overwhelming. Anyone not a Obamabot can see this. If someone has a better idea I'd like to hear it.
The installation of Obama is moving along. The media malfeasance is making this process much easier for him. I don't fear creeping socialism much. It's been creeping along in the U.S. for a long while. Nor do I fear Obama being a corrupt Wall Street stooge. If this is the case we'll just have more of the same. What I do fear is a man with so many secrets having to serve many masters. Who will be in charge? Soros? Ayres? MSNBC? The Prime Minster of Kenya?
CONTROL is the only logical reason that I can see for the MSM to be continuing its glowing coverage of Obama. Even if just the ACORN story breaks wide after Obama's election - he is delegitimized. A pardon of Rezko has the same effect. It appears Seymour Hersh was a confirmation source for the "Whitey tape" at the very least being known to exist. Hersh is not exactly a right wing kook. yet - no MSM outlet has looked into it. That tape - shown on 1/21/09 would enrage the electorate and hobble a President Obama.
So why is the media salivating for an Obama Administration?
That's all, Folks! Many, many, things have ended this year...I believe one more event is over today: the election. I see no way the Democratic nominee loses. On his side: he's got the anxiety of the people, the media, Wall Street, and the Chicago machine. Not bad. tuff to beat that in any year. Much less a "Democratic" year.
Tell me why I'm wrong. I'd sure like to know.
Is there an "October" surprise that had an effect on an outcome? I can't think of any.
Is there a 527 (where are the 527's????) ad run in October that has effected an outcome? I don't know of any. They all run in the summer.
Rezko is now talking to prosecutors. Will this matter in the next 5 weeks? Doubtful.
Is there a "whitey tape?" Doubtful.
I sat and waited for Clinton to take Obama out. It would have been easy enough. She never did.
Now we sit and wait for McCain to take Obama out. I could create the ad. You could create the ad. It is easy pick 'ens with this guy. Yet, McCain only releases of series of glancing blows about "ready to lead" - (this line is already worn out. The line is: "DO YOU REALLY KNOW WHO THIS GUY IS?")
The whole thing is fishy. Obama is easy to take down it - yet no one is doing it. Why?
The Obama Left's and the media's lynching of Sarah Palin is obscene. That is pretty much all I really want to say here. But I'll keep going. I am not referring to arguments about policy - that is always fair, and it would be nice to hear Obama yappers stick to policy arguments. Their candidate either says nothing of note or flip flops so this is admittedly difficult for them.
A series of out right lies have been spread about Palin by Obama Pods. These lies have been repeated in the MSM so widely that they now pass as fact.
Palin did not cut funding for special needs education in Alaska by 62 percent. She did't cut it at all. In fact, she tripled per-pupil funding over just three years.
She did not demand that books be banned from the Wasilla library. Some of the books on a widely circulated list were not even in print at the time. The librarian has said Palin asked a "What if?" question, but the librarian continued in her job through most of Palin's first term.
She was never a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, a group that wants Alaskans to vote on whether they wish to secede from the United States. She's been registered as a Republican since May 1982.
Palin never endorsed or supported Pat Buchanan for president. She once wore a Buchanan button as a "courtesy" when he visited Wasilla, but shortly afterward she was appointed to co-chair of the campaign of Steve Forbes in the state.
Palin has not pushed for teaching creationism in Alaska's schools. She has said that students should be allowed to "debate both sides" of the evolution question, but she also said creationism "doesn't have to be part of the curriculum."
Palin never required victims to pay for their own rape kits.
Palin has also been attacked by the Obama Left in the same way they attacked Clinton in the spring. This bullshit has also been widely reported on by the MSM - having the effect of giving propaganda the weight of fact.
Her pregnant 17 year old daughter was vivisected by the Obama Left.
Andrew Sullivan called for a paternity test on her youngest son.
Hypocritical statements about her presumed inability to work and maintain a family came from LIBERALS. Or rather alleged liberals.
In one month her entire life has been dug up, examined, and trashed. Yet, almost anything that questions Obama's narrative is off limits. Even connecting Obama to Fannie Mae's former President is called "racist".
Echoing Randie Rhodes last Spring (who called Clinton a "fucking whore") Sandra Bernhart gleefully called for the gang rape of Palin.
If the MSM had ripped into Biden's numorous idiocies and corrupt familial and credit card company ties I might call this a case of ugly politics as usual.
If the MSM had ever questioned Obama the way Gibson did Palin, I might call this part of the game that must be played.
If the MSM had forcefully reported on the failings of Trinity or Biden's Catholic church I might call this nasty, but fair.
None of this has occurred. The Obama Left and the media have set out to destroy Palin.
BHO's trip to Afghanistan is a joke. Why? He has done nothing in the U.S. Senate regarding Afghanistan - check it out.
This is were your donations are going, Pods - gigantic photo ops.
Jetsam:
Do the clowns at the network news organizations, Newsweek and Time metaphorically masturbate while thinking about how they will fluff Obama next- or do they - in reality - pleasure themselves?
Covering all bases the new force composed of lunatic college kids and unemployable Berkeley hippies will wear brown shirts and carry a little red book.
It is all true. Obama has controlled the media in a way that would make Papa Stalin proud. Or, at the very least, Joe McCarthy. Roy Cohn is probably so impressed he'd is no doubt screaming "Yes, We Can!" in the deepest basement of hell.
Newsvine lays it out brutally here. Read it. But do so with the lights on as it is an American horror story. Everything from the absorption of the left wing blogs to the seizure of CNN is touched on. Not to mention the planned attacks on any one who voiced opposition - or even concern - about Obama. And, yes, the race card was played by Obama early, often and with abandon. I stated here months ago that Obama was running the most vicious Presidential campaign since Adams/Jefferson in 1800. It is clear now, I was wrong. Obama's primary campaign of 2008 is the most negative and mean spirited campaign in our history.
Thoughtful people who watch or read "news" in this country must come to terms with a simple fact sooner or later: There is no "news" media in the United States. There is a 24 hour show that feeds on the blogs - then itself - in cycles that last 36-74 hours. Like Phil Spectors Wall of Sound the media creates a Wall of Chatter. The only exceptions here are local stories and natural disasters but even in those cases the story is quickly molded into an event that avoids solid information. The financial model for reality TV is applicable here. Reality TV is, of course, not reality at all. If the perfunctory patterns of our day to day lives were put on television - no one would watch. Solid information costs money to gather. Journalists have to be journalists, go places, ask discerning questions, demand answers. 100 monkeys typing could have reported with more depth on Obama during the past 6 months. Sound bites and people chatting about the sound bites is much cheaper. This environment is just as conducive to P.R. agents and fads as Entertainment Tonight. Obama has proven both George Orwell and Paddy Chayefsky right.
For all that - the latest Gallup 3 day tracking poll has McCain and Obama tied. Who knows what will happen? I do know reality is often immune to P.R. Katrina taught us that. Reality may strike Obama from an odd angle no one sees coming. (Example: Israel is signalling there will be an attack on Iran - will security moms vote Hope/Change with the Middle East in flames?) Since BHO's campaign is based on FORCE not POWER it has inherent weaknesses and could collapse in an instant.
Regardless, most people can still discern the difference between an ad campaign for Love Guru and a Presidential campaign. The protection and promotion of Obama by the media may last past the election. But CNN is not in the business of news - it is in the business of weaving a narrative that keeps you and I tuned in. There will come a point with Obama, just like it did with Bush, when the media sees that the story has changed - the new narrative being "Who is this guy and can we trust him with the job?" It may happen after he has the job - but I pray it does not.
Big thanks to ESQMANAGEMENT for sending me this gem:
Senator Clinton was taking Dalai Lama to see the Statue of Liberty. During the boat ride the Tibetan leader's shawl is caught by a breeze and blows away. The security detail goes into panic mode - scrambling about in disarray since the shawl has great religious significance.
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton calmly bows to the Dalai Lama, climbs down the ferry's side, walks on water and retrieves the shawl.
Every one cheers, including the Dalai Lama .
The headlines the next day across the country scream:
To hear the adoring Obamedia tell it, an Obama supporter is an affluent, highly educated, even influential person.
But then... you talk to one.
If you pay attention, though -- here's what seems to be a bit more accurate.
If you're an Obama supporter,
YOU:
1) Do not think too deeply about how general elections work. 2) Do not consider experience to be mandatory for the most important job in our country. 3) Believe in people based on how they 'look', not what they do. 4) Are extremely pessimistic about our country's ability to get through this hard time, so you're resorting to 'magic'. 5) Are either Black and feel resentment is a birthright, or feel like you have to apologize because you're White. 6) Have issues with a woman telling you what to do. 7) Would rather 'feel good' than DO good. 8) Frankly, don't think too deeply about much at all.
And that, folks, is the truth, backed up by the unheralded headlines shoved under the carpet of this man's rancid campaign. I'm voting for Hillary no matter what.
