If large numbers of people believe in freedom of speech, there will be freedom of speech, even if the law forbids it. But if public opinion is sluggish, inconvenient minorities will be persecuted, even if laws exist to protect them. -- George Orwell, Freedom of the Park
Brief notes and errata from the blunderground:
This country clearly deserves a leader like Drumpf -- a petulant liar who thinks his prevarications and authoritarian impulses are holy writ. And hell, after a few years of AG Jefferson, I say Jefferson Beauregard Sessions the Thuuhhhd, perhaps they will be. Maybe Jared Kushner and Uday and Qusay, armed with information obtained with illegal surveillance and nepotistic security clearances, will sic the corrupt FBI cells on the DFHs protesting in the streets, heckling Pence at Hamilton, refusing to dress the new queen or appear for the Kennedy Center Honors.
Recall that one of Drumpf's early stump lines was, "When I'm president, we'll all say 'Merry Christmas'." To which a reasonable free citizen can only reply, Or what, motherfucker?
On the other hand, President Obama deserved a better country to lead, rather than a gaggle of hypocritical, illiterate rubes who seriously think they're "draining the swamp" [mimes jerkoff motion] by selecting a reality-teevee clown who just settled the case against his scam "university" for $25 million. That's like Michael Jackson victim payout money, folks. And good luck getting dime one of it.
Only a complete fucking moron seriously thinks this gang will "drain the swamp," or that they're "outsiders." The swamp remains, only the alligators change. And they are "outsiders" only in the sense that common decency had pushed these moral cretins to the margins. Gingrich is a scumbag and a pig who was in Congress for twenty years, beginning in 1979. Rudy Giuliani shamelessly spent a decade or so profiteering from the worst tragedy on US soil in our lifetimes. Pence is a radio host who managed to parlay his schtick into a political career, which seems to revolve around an obsession with "curing" homosexuals and holding funerals for miscarried fetuses. These really are some of the very worst people American politics has to offer.
So we probably need to hear more about Hitlery's emails, since the media are too fucking lazy (aside from isolated examples) to check into Mike Pence's emails.
Again, the MSM herd are in for a very rude awakening. Some of them will be happy to be fawning courtiers, trudging to his tower and giving him sloppy blowjobs in his garish abode. It will only help them hang onto an increasingly worthless, meaningless vocation.
Some media monkeys will attempt to follow the iron path of integrity set by folks like David Fahrenthold and Kurt Eichenwald. This second group will meet a much worse fate -- rather than the polonium-laced tea dispensed by Drumpf's Russki role model, the true journamalists will find out the hard way that in a post-truth world where fake news is rapidly becoming the norm, the only thing worse than an ignorant population is an indifferent one. And clearly enough of us are proudly both.
All that said, I disagree with Barry O that we all need to get behind our new prez and put on smiley faces and give him a chance. It is Obama's greatest character flaw, that he strives to be gracious and conciliatory toward people who don't deserve a drop of either. Drumpf campaigned in bad faith on transparent lies, conspiracy theories, obnoxious bluster, and toxic rhetoric. He has activated the worst segments of this society, and has no regrets about any of it. He is certain to govern in exactly the same fashion or worse, and the people he has chosen to surround himself with and populate his incoming government confirm that obvious assumption.
So Drumpf "deserves" at best the exact same "chance" that Obama got with his landslide victory in 2008, which was what, maybe six weeks? Not that it matters either way -- he is going to plunder and lie, and barely bother to conceal it. And there's not a goddamned thing you can do about it.
I have a grudging respect for the folks out there who talk about fighting and resisting and mobilizing. Good luck with all that. The underlying premise is that there is something still worth fighting for, that the profound ideal of "'murka" is sacrosanct and inviolable.
Well, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but clearly neither of those things are the case. That a conniving pussy-grabber even had a shot at the brass ring demonstrates that it's soiled, violated, no longer remotely sacrosanct. People are worshiping an institution that no longer respects itself.
As for something worth fighting for, the short answer is yes, but the real answer is what exactly are you fighting for, and what weapons and strategy are you utilizing in that ongoing conflict? Because near as I can tell, vague warblings about social justice, inequality, health-care reform and such like, have no clear messaging, no logical consistency.
The problem with insisting that everything is an asteroid headed for earth is not only that eventually people stop taking you seriously, but that it becomes clear that you don't believe it enough yourself to communicate it effectively. I mean, seriously -- who proposes to fight impending disaster with gutless incrementalism? Such tactical moves already belie the premise of looming catastrophe, before the battle is even undertaken.
And to realize that even a mild sop in the rust belt states would have made enough of a difference, that maybe visiting Wisconsin just once during the general election, is to understand that prevent defenses never work, and you sure as fuck don't use them in the Super Bowl.
I'm not saying don't do anything at all, or to leave for Canada or whatever. You do you, bae. But understand what you're up against -- not just the politicians but the people. People who have nothing to offer but hateful nonsense. People who can't even figure out how to stop voting against themselves every time. And even when you win decisively, come in with a landslide like Obama did in 2008, with a clear popular and electoral mandate, you still get fucked by the bastards.
Perspective is everything: in the Driftglass link above, he feels sorry for these people who voted for thieving scumbags like Drumpf and Matt Bevin, while I say they knew what they wanted and are now getting it good and hard. Kansas is another example, re-electing Sam Brownback after he gutted the state's budget, economy, and services.
I don't know how many times it needs to be pointed out that there are simply some people who don't get what you're trying to tell them until life sticks them up the ass and breaks it off, but there are such people, and all your attempts to sway them with logic and reason are just droplets of piss in a hurricane. Life's too fucking short, folks, and irrational people cannot be convinced by rational arguments.
Inevitably these people will fail, because failure is their nature. Drumpf is a lousy businessman and a worse human being, and those characteristics infuse everything he does, everything he says, every tweet and jabber and brain fart he inflicts on others. He prizes loyalty over competence -- waaayyyy over competence -- and that, along with inevitable overstepping and malfeasance, will be their undoing.
Unfortunately, it will probably take a natural disaster or terrorist attack to drive that point home for the rubes in the cheap seats, but when he fucks the dog on one of those things, sends an inept crony out to monetize the cleanup, takes to Twitter to rant about it, eventually even some of the diehard idjits will get the picture.
This guy is going to run this country exactly like a caudillo runs a banana republic, and so we need to decide whether ideals still have value when they are clearly not shared or even recognized, or if sticking to individual rational self-interest should be the order of the day. In the meantime, these stupid "make nice" pieces emanating from certain corners of the media should come in two-ply.
It's funny how the focus is on how we need to learn to empathize with them, but they are somehow exempt from the demanding rigors of normal behavior. In a just world, there would be thinkpieces on how at least some of these diseased mutants need to do the right thing and end themselves.
Brief notes and errata from the blunderground:
This country clearly deserves a leader like Drumpf -- a petulant liar who thinks his prevarications and authoritarian impulses are holy writ. And hell, after a few years of AG Jefferson, I say Jefferson Beauregard Sessions the Thuuhhhd, perhaps they will be. Maybe Jared Kushner and Uday and Qusay, armed with information obtained with illegal surveillance and nepotistic security clearances, will sic the corrupt FBI cells on the DFHs protesting in the streets, heckling Pence at Hamilton, refusing to dress the new queen or appear for the Kennedy Center Honors.
Recall that one of Drumpf's early stump lines was, "When I'm president, we'll all say 'Merry Christmas'." To which a reasonable free citizen can only reply, Or what, motherfucker?
On the other hand, President Obama deserved a better country to lead, rather than a gaggle of hypocritical, illiterate rubes who seriously think they're "draining the swamp" [mimes jerkoff motion] by selecting a reality-teevee clown who just settled the case against his scam "university" for $25 million. That's like Michael Jackson victim payout money, folks. And good luck getting dime one of it.
Only a complete fucking moron seriously thinks this gang will "drain the swamp," or that they're "outsiders." The swamp remains, only the alligators change. And they are "outsiders" only in the sense that common decency had pushed these moral cretins to the margins. Gingrich is a scumbag and a pig who was in Congress for twenty years, beginning in 1979. Rudy Giuliani shamelessly spent a decade or so profiteering from the worst tragedy on US soil in our lifetimes. Pence is a radio host who managed to parlay his schtick into a political career, which seems to revolve around an obsession with "curing" homosexuals and holding funerals for miscarried fetuses. These really are some of the very worst people American politics has to offer.
So we probably need to hear more about Hitlery's emails, since the media are too fucking lazy (aside from isolated examples) to check into Mike Pence's emails.
Again, the MSM herd are in for a very rude awakening. Some of them will be happy to be fawning courtiers, trudging to his tower and giving him sloppy blowjobs in his garish abode. It will only help them hang onto an increasingly worthless, meaningless vocation.
Some media monkeys will attempt to follow the iron path of integrity set by folks like David Fahrenthold and Kurt Eichenwald. This second group will meet a much worse fate -- rather than the polonium-laced tea dispensed by Drumpf's Russki role model, the true journamalists will find out the hard way that in a post-truth world where fake news is rapidly becoming the norm, the only thing worse than an ignorant population is an indifferent one. And clearly enough of us are proudly both.
All that said, I disagree with Barry O that we all need to get behind our new prez and put on smiley faces and give him a chance. It is Obama's greatest character flaw, that he strives to be gracious and conciliatory toward people who don't deserve a drop of either. Drumpf campaigned in bad faith on transparent lies, conspiracy theories, obnoxious bluster, and toxic rhetoric. He has activated the worst segments of this society, and has no regrets about any of it. He is certain to govern in exactly the same fashion or worse, and the people he has chosen to surround himself with and populate his incoming government confirm that obvious assumption.
So Drumpf "deserves" at best the exact same "chance" that Obama got with his landslide victory in 2008, which was what, maybe six weeks? Not that it matters either way -- he is going to plunder and lie, and barely bother to conceal it. And there's not a goddamned thing you can do about it.
I have a grudging respect for the folks out there who talk about fighting and resisting and mobilizing. Good luck with all that. The underlying premise is that there is something still worth fighting for, that the profound ideal of "'murka" is sacrosanct and inviolable.
Well, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but clearly neither of those things are the case. That a conniving pussy-grabber even had a shot at the brass ring demonstrates that it's soiled, violated, no longer remotely sacrosanct. People are worshiping an institution that no longer respects itself.
As for something worth fighting for, the short answer is yes, but the real answer is what exactly are you fighting for, and what weapons and strategy are you utilizing in that ongoing conflict? Because near as I can tell, vague warblings about social justice, inequality, health-care reform and such like, have no clear messaging, no logical consistency.
The problem with insisting that everything is an asteroid headed for earth is not only that eventually people stop taking you seriously, but that it becomes clear that you don't believe it enough yourself to communicate it effectively. I mean, seriously -- who proposes to fight impending disaster with gutless incrementalism? Such tactical moves already belie the premise of looming catastrophe, before the battle is even undertaken.
And to realize that even a mild sop in the rust belt states would have made enough of a difference, that maybe visiting Wisconsin just once during the general election, is to understand that prevent defenses never work, and you sure as fuck don't use them in the Super Bowl.
I'm not saying don't do anything at all, or to leave for Canada or whatever. You do you, bae. But understand what you're up against -- not just the politicians but the people. People who have nothing to offer but hateful nonsense. People who can't even figure out how to stop voting against themselves every time. And even when you win decisively, come in with a landslide like Obama did in 2008, with a clear popular and electoral mandate, you still get fucked by the bastards.
Perspective is everything: in the Driftglass link above, he feels sorry for these people who voted for thieving scumbags like Drumpf and Matt Bevin, while I say they knew what they wanted and are now getting it good and hard. Kansas is another example, re-electing Sam Brownback after he gutted the state's budget, economy, and services.
I don't know how many times it needs to be pointed out that there are simply some people who don't get what you're trying to tell them until life sticks them up the ass and breaks it off, but there are such people, and all your attempts to sway them with logic and reason are just droplets of piss in a hurricane. Life's too fucking short, folks, and irrational people cannot be convinced by rational arguments.
Inevitably these people will fail, because failure is their nature. Drumpf is a lousy businessman and a worse human being, and those characteristics infuse everything he does, everything he says, every tweet and jabber and brain fart he inflicts on others. He prizes loyalty over competence -- waaayyyy over competence -- and that, along with inevitable overstepping and malfeasance, will be their undoing.
Unfortunately, it will probably take a natural disaster or terrorist attack to drive that point home for the rubes in the cheap seats, but when he fucks the dog on one of those things, sends an inept crony out to monetize the cleanup, takes to Twitter to rant about it, eventually even some of the diehard idjits will get the picture.
This guy is going to run this country exactly like a caudillo runs a banana republic, and so we need to decide whether ideals still have value when they are clearly not shared or even recognized, or if sticking to individual rational self-interest should be the order of the day. In the meantime, these stupid "make nice" pieces emanating from certain corners of the media should come in two-ply.
It's funny how the focus is on how we need to learn to empathize with them, but they are somehow exempt from the demanding rigors of normal behavior. In a just world, there would be thinkpieces on how at least some of these diseased mutants need to do the right thing and end themselves.
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