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Steven Weber

Steven Weber

Posted: August 11, 2010 04:39 PM

Americide

What's Your Reaction:

Despite the litany of legitimate and lasting accomplishments, things look pretty grim for the once hopeful Obama presidency.

And by extrapolation, they look pretty crappy for the nation as well.

Because day and night, through hurricane or drought, through disappointment or disaster, the right wing wages a relentless assault on the very idea of an Obama America, a concept that needed -- sadly -- to be couched as "audacious"; a war waged against America itself, to kill any attempt at progress in a world where progress impedes profit.

It's a clever, casual sabotage: scoring the foundations with destructive charges, once dependable structures are brought down; villains are conveniently named; the cunning spectacle of distraction and sleight of hand keeps eyes from lighting on the scam and, of course, a tidy profit is skimmed. Their strategy for keeping the country sick, broke and scared is devilishly effective.

And with the 24 hour corporate media working in perfect synchronicity, the stage is set for the public's unquestioning acceptance of moronic memes and misnomers about socialism and death panels and illegal aliens, further reducing the already preemptively softened populace to little more than an obese claque.

But it's not just the big, glittery bits the right dangles in front of pharmaceutically dilated pupils. It's the seeds of disdain planted at the grass roots by a tirelessly subversive quasi-conservative infantry, who adore finally being given something for which they are suited, after suffering in a world where truth and decency have a liberal bias; who use talents honed by playing video games and watching Fox to genetically modify Sense to become Nonsense.

From the brazen brainlessness of re-writing history textbooks to decrying energy conservation to championing the packing of guns in churches and schools, the real agenda of the right is not in crafting legislation but in fomenting distrust and cultivating a lizard-brained, wisdom-free landscape. They supply a product for a consumer base they have created and continually exploit. They are berserkers in crew-cuts.

It may actually be too late. The division feels entrenched, the governmental gridlock is status quo. The perpetual war is not abroad, it's here. Individuals, however well meaning, can't seriously rely on government because, thanks to the successful deployment of the right's rank and file kulture killers, it's not government at all.  

So, when the "elections" roll around and the machines crank and whirr, know this: there are Americidal maniacs loose. Just look to your right.

 

Follow Steven Weber on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@TheStevenWeber

 
 
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05:27 AM on 08/18/2010
I haven't given up on Obama yet, however the Republican right and the Teabaggers seem to have taken over the airwaves, and Obama doesn't seem to fight back. He makes too many compromises with the right.

I can't see the crazy Teabaggers making much headway though. They do get a lot of press. I blame the media for that.

I wish Obama and his people would explain to people how ridiculous the right really is. Sensible people might be persuaded not to vote for the nut jobs if Obama's people knew how to handle the media.

The extreme right and the gullible will vote for some of these nuts, but I think they are really a small minority. I don't think that the Republican right wing has anyone that has a chance of being elected President. I think that the next 2 years will probably drag on kind of like the last two.

Other factors, such as the war in Afghanistan might be what drives the next presidential campaign.

If Obama doesn't wrap up the war over there, then he might be in big trouble come 2012.

We shall see.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
gemstone1000
A Cut Above
09:25 AM on 08/14/2010
Steven, what horrible thing have you done to deserve having someone like kams stalking you? I hope some day to be able to read the comments section of your posts and not see anything from her. In the meantime, keep up the good work.
05:44 PM on 08/15/2010
" I hope some day to be able to read the comments section of your posts and not see anything from her."

Yeah, those opposing views can be a real pain huh? What I hope is that people like you would learn to myob.. that's what I hope. And incase you weren't aware, it's extremely disrespectful and narcissistic to attempt to manipulate people.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
GreshamGuy
Always ask, WWCAD?
10:16 PM on 08/13/2010
The best hope I can offer is an observation from an old friend:

Those who live in worlds of fantasy, who ignore real issues and pretend that down is up, all for personal or political gain, eventually meet reality.

And reality ALWAYS collects.
08:54 PM on 08/12/2010
Mr. Weber:
If you ever roll down to Jamaica - - -you are welcome to come to the Culture Yard and catch a Reggie Concert on me - - -thank you for all your intelligent articles.
Tim
05:19 PM on 08/12/2010
Mr. Weber - long time fan - since wings.
Dig the wise a$$ tag you give yourself - -
Excellent post -
The Culture Yard is now a twitter fan - - check it out - - you may like it.
Interesting concept - socially responsible business that uses alternative energy to power it's concerts.
Enviromentally friendly - composting bathrooms and desalinate own H2O.
Feed the neighbors - 3rd world country - give them free desalinated, filtered H2O - and take neighbors down for medical checkups.
Keep up the good work Sir.
Tim
01:17 PM on 08/12/2010
HEY!! "wordsmithie" it's your old pal, Alowe here, back again! How have you been, buddy? Any new gigs to speak of??? It's good to see that you are keeping busy out there in "HOLLYWOOD" pontificating to the rest of us mere mortals. THANK GOD for people like yourself, Sean Penn, Alec Baldwin and Tim Robbins. Who else but entertainers like yourselves can keep most of America in stitches so consistenly?
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
Atchka
Fierce, Freethinking Fatties
12:59 PM on 08/12/2010
Gee, Steven, thanks for lumping obese people in with Republicans. What is this, a new meme you're creating: no such thing as a fat liberal?

Peace,
Shannon
FierceFatties.com
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Miss Mamselle Hepzibah
11:21 AM on 08/12/2010
1. so glad so many people are lamenting the loss of STUDIO 60. wish there was a way to bring it back.

2. so glad k hasnt turned this post/thread into her usual pile of dungaloola.

3. and, as always, so glad to read the sentiments i am unable to articulate. hope you dont mind me swiping some of your pithiness.

mmh
11:04 AM on 08/12/2010
Steven:
I like the way your professional smart a$$ brain functions. Have been a fan of you work since I watched you on Wings. I know you read some of the comments - if possible could you twitter the Culture Yard. Have something you may be interested in. 1st Alt energy powered, enviromentally friendly, concert venue in the world. The Culture Yard also funds a food bank, offers medical assistance to the neighborhood and gives away fresh, desalinated, filtered H2O to the community. The Culture Yard does business the way business is suppose to be done.
Keep up the thought provoking articles - you reach alot of people with your well constructed view.
HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
MsMassachusetts
Things do not go better with Koch!
10:17 AM on 08/12/2010
Abraham Lincoln said that a house divided cannot stand. I still believe strongly in those words. People from both parties occasionally indulge in the idea of separate regions or countries. However, it would be the death knell for our country. There is a reason it is called The UNITED States Of America. We need to stop the dumbing down of the populace and find a way to keep the corporate overlords from indocrinating everyone with fear and loathing.
09:59 AM on 08/12/2010
Am I crazy to think there might yet be hope? Elizabeth Warren's "mission statement", calling for the re-establishment of America's middle class, struck me as the rallying cry that might yet galvanize both this administration and this country.
09:12 AM on 08/12/2010
Great article! One of the biggest mistakes liberals make is underestimating the ignorance and stupidity of the American people and failing to adjust their tactics accordingly. The right wing intellectuals are smart enough to let the born again cultists and vulgar white trash people express their rage in populist terms and sound bites but the liberals still believe they can convince people by reasonable presentation of the facts which has proven to be very ineffective. This is what people mean when they say that deomocratic party leaders are disconnected from the population.
09:27 AM on 08/12/2010
And many who search endlessly for truth and facts are often puzzled by many varied "communities" in our country. From ethnic and racial make-up to topography and density of population, the challenges facing each region of the country are great. The economy, the educational opportunities, the jobs which exist and which could be created, Crafting legislation to solve multiple problems seemingly related becomes a nearly impossible task. If we can determine needs and solutions on a broad scale, we may have the opportunity to build coalitions and to solve the divergent problems we face as a nation.
Example from health care: my suburban Chicago paramedics ask which hospital I want to be transported to; my brother in central MN (fair sized rural center) must first access local "retail" who send him to "clinic" 30 mi W who send him BACK 80 miles to hospital - all w/o ambulance or paramedics! Then on to coastal Alaska where a stopped heart is zapped back and air lifted to the nearest hospital - - - 120 miles away. How do we make available "quality" care to these diverse areas?
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aacme
My micro-bio is on a strict need-to-know basis.
08:54 AM on 08/12/2010
This piece says it all, except how to do battle with the berserkers.. It is an ideological battle in a brain dead environment, because a brain dead populace has become the means to obscene profits. As for the rest of us, the corporations don't need us anymore. The question is what are we going to do about it.
08:29 AM on 08/12/2010
As many have already posted - this perfectly summarizes my day to day despair about the hopelessness of our situation. I simply see no way out, and it's horrifying.

I do realize this thought will be ripped to shreds - but at what point does this country accept the impossibility of coexisting "sides" and civilly divide into two countries? (I know, I know.....just a fun little daydream I occasionally indulge in.)
08:40 AM on 08/12/2010
I used to be an optimist, but now I feel hard-pressed to be optimistic about the future of this country. There just seems to be far too much divisiveness for Americans to ever come together again.
08:47 AM on 08/12/2010
Exactly how I feel, njreb.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
samanthemofthesun
08:50 AM on 08/12/2010
I won't rip it to shreds...I applaud you, and this blog, in its truth and knife searing accuracy. I am a dark ray of sunshine; prepared for the worst, hoping for the best...yet I can't see quite how the best is yet to come. Sad sad time.
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itproinct
the fighting democrat
08:01 AM on 08/12/2010
Great piece as always - I really like your hard hitting, honest, and candid writings Mr. Weber!