Bitting Alligator Allegations In The Tale

by: Paul Rosenberg

Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 09:30


Is this just more "Making Irrelevant Conservatives More Relevant"?

Or is a good laugh its own self-justification?  And is this symptomatic of something deeper?

Isn't possible that--much like the grieving process--what we're seeing here is the acting out of deep psychological need?  On both sides, actually.  The more they lose power, the more desperate is the conservative need to re-assert that lost power in the form of ever more wild-eyed claims.  And the more they insist on reminding us of the deeply insane mindset that has controlled our politics, the more we need to ritually purge ourselves of the hold they have had on us.  Maybe it's simply a fact of human nature that most folks need to go through this process for a good long time before they can really refocus on the everyday joys of rational governance again.

Isn't possible that wonks are just wired differently, with a much greater capacity to quickly move on from decades of trauma over tragically inept conservative governance?  In which case, we ought to be thinking more about ways to connect the two projects--that of advancing new progressive policies and that of exorcising the demons of conservative dominance.

I believe this is very much a part of Obama's political success so far.  He has branded himself as the anti-Bush.  Even the fact that he doesn't do this overtly, that he went out of his way to be nice to Bush, is part of that branding.  Of course the refusal to "go after" Bush Administration officials for running the country like the Corleones would have is just more of the same.

This is, of course, only one possible anti-Bush.  There are more certainly other, more progressive versions.  Ones who, say, re-institute the rule of law.  Ones who don't extend his horrendous "state secrets" claims.  Ones who clean house, rather than reappointing Bushies and the Dems who love them to run all the most crucial parts of the government.  Ones who actually get that global warming really could wreck human civilization as we know it, and that now's one of those odd times when being prudent means being "extreme."

And maybe integrating a healthy dose of continued conservative bashing into the mix is just a natural way to make a different anti-Bush posture more well-rounded and psychologically appealing.
Paul Rosenberg :: Bitting Alligator Allegations In The Tale

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Bitting Alligator Allegations In The Tale | 21 comments
Lockheed Martin loves Obama (4.00 / 1)
I don't think that the real power structure composed of Lockheed Martin, the neo cons, AIPAC and the financial "industry" are anything but overjoyed with Obama.

Posey is just some guy. A lone gunman. A little out of touch.

He's probably not aware that Obama is better at representing Republican interests than John McCain could ever be.

But Posey ISN'T A Lone Gunman (4.00 / 3)
There's a whole damn army of guys like him. (Where have you been the last 20 years or so?)

And Obama is far too cozy or cordial with those guys, but he's not one with them.  For example, AIPAC knows damn well that he's a real threat, because he supports a two-state solution--as does a vast majority of the Israeli public, whose interests and viewpoint AIPAC pretends to represent.

In short, the world is far more dense and complicated than you allow.

"Senate passes expanded GI bill despite Bush, McCain opposition"

[ Parent ]
Choices.... (4.00 / 1)
The freak show or Versailles? One babbles incoherently, the other doesn't deign to speak to us at all. As Mrs. Niggerbaiter was wont to say, Me brain hurts.

And that's my new one, too -- the one with the little Obama logo embossed on the crankshaft.

[ Parent ]
The threat from kooks is nothing compared (0.00 / 0)
to the threat from the Military Industrial Complex. Even if a thousand kooks killed 100 people each, it would pale compared to a 21st Century Despotism or a major-powers war: scenarios that aren't just possible, but likely. In those scenarios, deaths are measured in 10 million increments.

Obama decided during the Georgia-Russia conflict that he didn't want to be JFKed. I don't blame him. His backpedaling from the truth* to mainstream lies in a John Kerry nanosecond told me all I ever needed to know re: Obama, truth, and war.

His decisions re: Afghani-Pak and Iraq to date have confirmed that hypothesis. Obama = Bush with more melanin.

* To recap what actually happened; neocon slave Saakashvili attempted to do in S. Ossetia what he already did successfully in the Kodori Gorge. The only problem was the Russians were ready this time and hammered Georgia-Israeli-American forces. Rather than call out Saakashvili for what he was, a neo-con slave, Obama-Biden said they would stand with Good Georgia against Evil Russia.

One of our my problems with Bush et al. was that they lied the country into war. Obama showed that when the chips were down he would do the same thing.

[ Parent ]
Oh holy shit (0.00 / 0)
[ Parent ]
I disagree Paul (0.00 / 0)
I don't think the world is complicated.

I don't think the world is grey.

I don't think we live in a "dangerous' world (I think only world leaders are dangerous....but that's the only place the world's big dangers come from)

I think the idea that the world is grey, complex, dense and difficult to understand comes from those same world leaders who want YOU to think they only THEY know how to handle the "danger", "complexity" of our "modern" world.

The world is grey to people who refuse to divorce themselves from so called authority. Presentation is everything. Content is nothing in todays' "complex" world.

The world is quite simple. People are simple. The situations are simple and they are historically rooted and repeated over and over and over, ad nauseum, again and again.

What makes people think the world is complex is the sorting through all the lies they are being told by the "authoritative ones" ...the great Gods of Wisdom who lead our world. I am convinced the dumbest people available have historically ruled the world. They aren't too smart and their goal is to keep everyone else away from whatever they know or pretend to know. They want to keep your conciousness down. Mostly what they want is to keep you from being aware, aware that they really aren't as smart as advertised. There is no other explanation. That's human history. Domination for the purpose of making you pliable, submissive and used for the benefit of those who "lead".

Humans are dumb. They can choose between cooperation on a planet where there is plenty of sustenance to go around or they can chose war.

They choose war. And they choose war because they are being kept from making the simple, most obvious and beneficial choices by groups of people who emerge as "leaders".

You say OBama is for a Two state solution?

Haven't I heard that before? That's what he SAYS.....what he does is all that matters....Look at what he does and the world is much more simplified and predictable.

I can predict domestic events because I simply speak English have some familiarity with the culture and look at what people do, not what they say.

It becomes very simple. And complex "explanations" are unnecessary.

Obama is extremely conservative, not progressive and he's not any more honest than any of the other Politiicans in Washington. They are all being supported by the same people who supported Bush.

Where have you been?


[ Parent ]
Speak For Yourself! (0.00 / 0)
[ Parent ]
I don't like being called Dude (0.00 / 0)
It should be clear to anyone who is familiar in anyway with human history, that Humans are Dumb.

I include myself in that category. I am immersed in the world. I cannot escape it's dumbnity. I am affected by it. When you are immersed in it, there is no escape, all you can do is head of shallower waters.

This is very simple.

Why would a being that is capable of memory, capable of anticipation on an intellectual and emotional level, choose to build weapons that are intended for the purpose of it's own self destruction....

That's dumb. Case closed.

You don't have to look at human history....all the unnecessary wars, all the soldiers used for nothing...for no purpose, all the lies and deceipt to know....just from looking at the present mixed up, distorted, convoluted, disastrous, delusional current situation...that Humans are Dumb.

And what is Dumb?

Doing that's that impair the functioning of an organism intentionally rather than doing things intentionally that promote it's well being.

Humans do both.

But the emphasis is on the "dumb" side.  And that's where the momentum is.

So as one dumb human to another....think about it.

My brother dude.

[ Parent ]
personality (4.00 / 1)
We know that "conservatives" are wired differently, just look at the psychological studies of Altemeyer and colleagues.

It's interesting that there really aren't any funny conservatives, do they lack a sense of humor?

Limbaugh says things meant to be funny, but they come across as mean spirited, the same with Coulter. Maher is supposed to be funny (at least he keeps getting work), but is more of a libertarian.

This is why Colbert works, his overt conservative persona is a parody of what the audience expects from such a person.

What's also of interest is how those on the left who have been motivated by injustice for decades still can't let go, even when things are starting to go in their direction. (I put myself in this class...)

Rather than focus on accomplishments, or an actual plan of action, we focus on the faults in the current administration. There is a difference between criticizing where actions fall short of promises and become hysterical about it. I find DailyKos almost unreadable these days because they can't adapt to being in a leadership position.


Policies not Politics

I don't think most kossacks won the election (0.00 / 0)
I think Obama is a new democrat like he says, and most kossacks, particularly the old ones aren't.  The exception being dhinmico.
[ Parent ]
Daily Kos is unreadable (4.00 / 1)
because they cannot face the reality that Obama is a Clintonite neo-con; so they channel their frustrations into attacking straw men of the marginal right.

I can face the reality, so I call out Obama for eliminating mark-to-market and handing trillions to the Overclass, while doing nothing to reinstate Glass-Steagall.

Did I mention Iraq and Afghanistan?

[ Parent ]
The Whole "Light-Left" Is Doing That (0.00 / 0)
they cannot face the reality that Obama is a Clintonite neo-con; so they channel their frustrations into attacking straw men of the marginal right.

And they dare not risk the cognitive dissonance that recognizing the truth about Obama would force upon them...

[ Parent ]
pffft (0.00 / 0)
[ Parent ]
Justice Endures (4.00 / 2)
Those of us motivated by justice and injustice can't let go and shouldn't.  We are the long-term conscience of humanity. But translating that into practical terms is a very long and thankless struggle indeed.

Personally, I don't find any contradiction between insisting on investigating and punishing all Bush-era crimes and focusing on a sweeping restructuring of the financial sector (ala A New Way Forward) and the industrial sector in order to combat global warming.

Justice is at the root of both the backward- and forward-looking aspects.  Justice requires looking in all directions.

"Senate passes expanded GI bill despite Bush, McCain opposition"

[ Parent ]
Why didn't the other anti-bush win? (0.00 / 0)
This is, of course, only one possible anti-Bush.  There are more certainly other, more progressive versions.  Ones who, say, re-institute the rule of law.  Ones who don't extend his horrendous "state secrets" claims.  Ones who clean house, rather than reappointing Bushies and the Dems who love them to run all the most crucial parts of the government.  Ones who actually get that global warming really could wreck human civilization as we know it, and that now's one of those odd times when being prudent means being "extreme."

A good question would be.  Why didn't this other anti-Bush win the presidency?

My opinion is that the other anti-Bush didn't win the presidency because there were a lot of people who voted for Bush and regretted that action.  Obama had a style of saying "Come over to my camp, I respect you and would be glad to have you vote for me".  

The other anti-Bush didn't win because it is a purely wonkish anti Bush.  Its all about policy and nothing about the human element of building a better society and not just a better government.

Obama's style engages the American population as it is and encourages it to be better.  And most of all it has humility and caution.  

People want change.  They want single payer and they want a better society.  But they want it done incrementally because doing things incrementally is the better way of doing them.  

The radical method is pushed not because its proponents think it is better from a structural perspective.  It is pushed because the proponents worry about people losing their nerve.  And that's why it almost always ends in failure whenever it is tried.


http://transgendermom.blogspot....

"The People" (4.00 / 1)
want a change from their declining standard of living to their post-WWII good times. In other words they aren't really calling for something new, they want a return to what cannot be returned to.

Indulging this desire is dangerous.

[ Parent ]
Bingo! (0.00 / 0)
For exactly the same reason that the "fairness doctrine" can never be resuscitated...
[ Parent ]
Your Smug Idiocy Never Disappoints (4.00 / 1)
You should be on MTP.  You're really that bad.

"Senate passes expanded GI bill despite Bush, McCain opposition"
[ Parent ]
The smug sowers of discord have no other purpose. (4.00 / 1)
[ Parent ]
You Are SO Ahistorical It's Not Funny (4.00 / 2)
People want change.  They want single payer and they want a better society.  But they want it done incrementally because doing things incrementally is the better way of doing them.  

The radical method is pushed not because its proponents think it is better from a structural perspective.  It is pushed because the proponents worry about people losing their nerve.  And that's why it almost always ends in failure whenever it is tried.

You need to read Mike's book.

Seriously, dude.

"Senate passes expanded GI bill despite Bush, McCain opposition"

[ Parent ]
It's "Biting" (4.00 / 1)
Unless you mean:

-verb (used with object)
7. to put a bit in the mouth of (a horse).
8. to curb or restrain with, or as with, a bit.
9. to grind a bit on (a key).

http://dictionary.reference.co...

Come to think of it...putting a saddle on an alligator would be freaking awesome!

Bitting Alligator Allegations In The Tale | 21 comments
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