Forget populist social issues which hog headlines and provide cud for every pundit (or "pundint," the term poised to overtake "nuc-u-ler" as the go-to malapropism) to chew, as those things are just peripheral, personal and damned to incessant, never ending Möbius strip debates.
What's really the preeminent issue of modern American politics is the war against the democratic process being waged by the corporate right wing.
But you can't call it "war," without inciting outrage at the accusation.
You dare not call it "treason" as that is as incendiary to political entities as The N Word is to any sentient being.
And woe to you that simply call it "crime," as that will get you a passel of trolling trouble, angry ad hominem attacks leveled with the intellectual capacity and volume of a Gatling gun's output, just as manic and cranky as it is manically cranked.*
(*That last sentence bordered on the unforgivably indulgent. But I will entertain complaints only if and when I cross that border. There. I did it again!)
In actively pursuing Obama's overthrow, no opportunity to thwart this sitting president is missed, even if the particular issue being thwarted is one which theoretically favors the opponent. Characterizing Obama's approach to gun legislation as being a clever ruse covering his fascist intent to impound every gun in the country in advance of his totalitarian intentions is but one example, especially since he has been decidedly (and bewilderingly) hands off.
Fitting his health care initiative with the blood-boiling epithet "socialist" and decrying it as yet another way he will drag the country to ruin, is another example, given that it was originally a construct of right wing think tanks and the bouncing baby of proud Republican presidents.
Need I list them all? Nah. The catalog of specific acts is less important than the organization(s) issuing the malevolent edicts. All-out attacks on Obama's every word and gesture, the blatant hypocrisy and sleight-of-word employed to perpetually fill the air with flack, and the direct and naked appeal to that portion of White America's innate fears of a Black Man In Charge is all in a day's work for a machine bent solely on domination.
Hyperbolic? No more than 2 + 2 = 4. One only has to look at the record of unhinged antagonism to see that it all adds up.
But what if the opposition was loyal? What if the bat-guano crazy leadership on the right chose the democratic route instead of the demagogic one, chose not to infect their followers (who, in their hearts, must know better) with their own broken, bitter frustrations and greedy dead-end ambitions? What if the emphasis was on the civil rather than the seditious? What if the right took its legendary focus and applied it towards constructive, inclusive solutions instead of concentrating on the demoralization of America's diverse peoples and her institutions?
But the nation's welfare is not their aim, regardless of their statements to the contrary (statements? Shrieks, rather). They have unfairly piggybacked the system, using it worse than any welfare queen ever could. They've wrested control away from the ethical stewards of democracy more violently than any zealous hijacker could. They've corrupted the media more efficiently than any hacker could dream of doing.
One reason why the right has gone so ninnynannynoony bananas is because there is no way their fringe agenda would ever thrive on a level playing field, that the conventional democratic process would invariably breed out the corrosive crapola they peddle in order to even remain in the conversation at all. Hence, the endless doublespeak, the big budget distraction, the low-brow button-pushing, the cartoon vilification.
There's a name for that kind of destructive madness. Call it GOP.
Follow Steven Weber on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TheStevenWeber
All-out attacks on Obama's every word and gesture, the blatant hypocrisy and sleight-of-word employed to perpetually fill the air with flack, and the direct and naked appeal to that portion of White America's innate fears of a Black Man In Charge is all in a day's work for a machine bent solely on domination.
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You said it Steven, very well. Watch this piece by Rachel Maddow, who unravels a wholly and carefully conjured fiction to scare and rile the right against the president:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/05/16/maddow-blasts-fox-news-for-accusing-obama-of-political-terrorism/
Absolutely disgusting. In a way, I feel sorry for those people falling for it, lacking the self-awareness to understand what's being done to them. They are clearly outmatched.
- Tom
satan should be so clever.
I always wondered where the "fallen angels" landed. Looks like they've got their own TV show, and one that has millions of fallen Christians as their devoted followers. ;-)
Hopefully, my response to your heckler, Lance, will survive the monitoring process.
Well done, as always, my friend!
i told you so.
I'm still very intrigued concerning your encounter. You must tell me about it some day.
Pardon me, Maestro, if I don't hold my breath waiting. At some point their delusional realities become a 'psychosis', and poor little Hansel has forgotten to leave bread crumbs.
I am always a big fan of the evil corporation rant. It is akin to some nut how they were probed at Uncle Ed's farm one summer.
One must wonder if Hollywood folks do not understand business or corporation since they are so far remove from the real world. This would appear to be the case here. For the most part, they are not intelligent.
This is more of a stereotypical liberal canned rant then anything else.
If you want to sound half intelligent, don't try so hard next time with the jokes and put your own thoughts in.
I would submit that you are being lazy and out of touch since you stole that "out of touch" idea from me.
Perhaps you know your own "word doctors" (whatever the hell that means) which I am sure that the Republican party is in full force in CA (or NYC for that matter). Even if they did, why would I possibly care what they think. Both sides for the most part are dullards.
I would doubt that you tight with the Republican politicos since shallow people such as yourself tend to gravitate towards to similar thinking people so independent thinking is not a concern in your little dream world.
It would seem that you and your profession have a very high opinion of yourself. After all, everyone know that actors/actresses are of the highest caliber and are upright citizens. Not to mention the most creative.
In summary, your opinion is meaningless since you are simply just re-stating the same things that HP prints daily. You happen to be famous (?? or so I am told) therefore HP decided to add nothing new to this continuing discussion. It is amusing to see how people with strong left convictions get so defensive when questioned about their beliefs.
Your newest pal.
They mastered the difficult art of amusing their base while staying on task: money to the top. A third of the electorate now votes against themselves, tossing electoral politics to the muddled middle whose whims decide elections. God forbid that we make the world a better place. It's a zero sum game. Crash the economy and blame the black guy, while electing the most obstructionist Congress since Reconstruction. We approach endgame. Unless voters develop an appetite for logical thinking, real facts and social justice we shall cede permanent rule to the Romneybots, the ultra-rich predators that churn money while destroying ordinary people's lives. They blame government for all that is wrong and prove themselves right by incompetent governance. Orwell would be proud.
I will say that I do call the GOP's behavior these past several years, treasonous. Incendiary though it may be, it is the truth. And you are generous saying that the followers of these monstrous, malevolent, GOP leaders must know better deep in their hearts. A few may, but I doubt very many have a clue they are being pulled around by the ring in their nose. The ignorant GOP supporters are actively contributing to the decay of the republic and the demise of democracy. There is plenty of info to be found everywhere you look that can easily dispel most of the tripe that GOP leaders spew. But for whatever reasons, the GOP sheep choose to ignore, or deny such info.
That's no longer the case; allegations of the most outrageous kind are made daily with no connection to reality, no connection to facts and no attempt to even make it appear legit. (The birther issue is but one example). There is simply no downside to saying the most outrageous things and making completely unhinged allegations - in fact the opposite is true; the more outrageous, the more unhinged the more the faithful lap it up.
I see this going no where but down as the right pulls the entire country down the drain with their ever increasing race to the bottom.