Forget the conventional media analyses of the current Right Wing/Corporate political machine's behavior, analyses which presume the presence of a conventional system of moral and ethical beliefs.
Forget it.
Because the current Right Wing/Corporate political machine's behavior defies presumptions of a conventional system of beliefs by which democratically inclined institutions and those entrusted with the administration of such are presumed to behave.
Why, for instance, would the Right Wing/Corporate political machine actually consider preemptive military action in Iran after the spectacle/debacle of Iraq? Why would the Right Wing/Corporate political machine have any desire to reinstate economic policies that were solely responsible for the current economic cataclysm? Why would the Right Wing/Corporate political machine seek to dismantle the safety nets which protect the nation's elderly and infirm? Do away with public education? Perpetuate a military industry at the expense of its peacetime one?
Why would the Right Wing/Corporate political machine pursue a pattern of legislative action which would curtail the effectiveness of -- if not eliminate outright -- access to health care, human and civil rights, care for returning veterans, repair the nation's crumbling infrastructure, responsible regulation of industries which pollute, proactive approaches to the world's shifting climate and otherwise honor our American system of government in a way that uplifts, inspires and encourages every citizen's participation in the electoral process?
Because it's like this: they're not operating under a conventional belief system, a belief system that analysts and average Joes and Josephines assume they're operating by.
They're just not.
The proof? Why, the Right Wing/Corporate political machine's actions, of course!
After a while, it becomes clear to even the densest of hope-filled dunces that the onslaught of misleads, misdeeds and misbegotten miscarriages performed by the Right Wing/Republican/Corporate political machine has little to do with the nation's interests or those who live and die under the delusion that they do.
Each gesture, however couched in Orwellian doublespeak assertions about their policy initiatives -- Clear Skies, No Child Left Behind, Shock and Awe -- only apply to their own lives. Only the Right Wing/Corporate political machine and their acolytes strive to have a clear sky over their own heads while allowing the skies to darken over everyone else's, leave none of their children behind while allowing the rest of the nation's children to crowd into public school classrooms to be taught an underfunded and compromised curricula, and express shock and awe at all the wealth they've managed to accumulate at the expense of an almost totally wrung-out middle and lower class.
But to hear it said on the Right Wing/Corporate political machine's television/radio propaganda delivery systems, systems using an already in-place and trusted infrastructure, it's not their fault. Hell, they don't even exist as far as they're concerned. Why, it's your fault! It's that Black Guy's fault! It's the gays' fault! It's protesters' fault! It's regulations' fault! It's Franklin Roosevelt's fault!
And on and on and on and blah blah blah.
Forget any presumption that they give a shit about any of the presumed moral and ethical rules at all that seemed to bind generations past and bring us closer to a more faithful rendering of American potential.
Remember, rather, the last time they had the White House.
And finally... when did this all happen? When did men decide to discard decency and instead wage war against the better angels who dared raise them from the certain doom of tribal thuggishness? When did they embrace the very things that would prove so leaden upon the nation's soul and all but guarantee its descent into ignominy?
I'll tell you when: when they got lazy. It's much easier to destroy than to build. We're lobsters in a pot and they're slowing turning up the boil.
And somehow, they've managed to build an industry predicated on lazy, destructive, divisiveness. The very opposite of what defines America.
Forget it. And remember.
Follow Steven Weber on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TheStevenWeber
Happy holidays to everyone. Let's engage 2012 with the boldness it requires of us.
- Tom
And especially to you, Steven, for all your astute, intelligent, witty and inspiring blogs. You take political commentary to a creative level that is beautifully and uniquely your own. Happy Holidays, my friend. I believe we've got 'em on the run now, especially in places like Wisconsin and Ohio, and the Repub prez lineup is perhaps the most embarrassing for any Party in history.
I believe Lincoln's brilliant words concerning "f*oling people," are about to be shown as having reached the final sentence in his famous observation.
2012!!!
Best wishes to you and yours for a Happy Holiday Season and a peaceful and prosperous New Year!
X2 for you Steven! It's been great reading your posts and sharing ideas with you. I look forward to more of the same in the coming year!
At my age I expect a little memory loss, but some people can't even remember last week apparently.
I just had to correct a poster who stated that Obama "voted to go to war with Iraq."
Another poster believes Obama stood in the way of bi-partisanship, slapping the outstretched hands of those (my sarcastic quotations) "kindly loving Republicans who so wanted Obama's Presidency to be a success."
Good lord! Is there some memory-affecting drug being placed in our water supplies these days???
Many of these commenters appear to "see an entirely different set of events" occurring before them.
It might just be where they look for "what is happening" in our world. I often hear reference of some "News outlets" that seem to consistently present a bizarre perspective of the world, where all of the facts are deemed "irrelevant" and "beliefs" are considered a suitable replacement.
Hope the Holiday Season finds you and yours, happy and well, my friend.
Best wishes for a "reality based" New Year!
Your VERY reality based and astute perspective is always a joy to read, and gives me hope that the coming New Year will indeed be one where reality wins out over ignorance and deceit.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, my friend!
After the massive income inequality that prevailed in the 1920's, the Republicans simultaneously held a majority in both chambers of Congress AND the White House ONLY ONCE for the next 70 YEARS!
From 1931 to 2001, the ONLY TIME that the Republicans occupied the White House while also holding a majority in Congress was during Dwight D. Eisenhower's first two years as President.
2001 through 2006 represents the FIRST TIME in over 70 years that Republicans held ALL THE REIGNS OF GOVERNMENT for an extended period of time.
Look what happened!
Reading assignment (voluntary, of course):
Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress--and a Plan to Stop It
Lawrence Lessig
$16.67 at Amazon
*disclaimer: I haven't read it yet, but I will as soon as my copy gets here!
I remember a young Republican coworker coming to needle me a decade ago, about the Republican takeover of the House and Senate along with Bush occupying the WH.
He had just heard that it had been 50 years since the Republicans had accomplished that feat.
"Just wait," I warned him. "In a couple of years you'll see WHY it's been 50 years since the Republicans have been given that opportunity by the voters."
But not even in my wildest imagination, could I have predicted how bad it would soon get.
Actually, SNL predicted the future pretty well, in a skit a week or so before the November 2000 election. The skit involved predicting what the future would likely be like, depending on which candidate won.
A very professorial future President Al Gore, was shown addressing the American people every night, giving them reading assignments and tests.
The Bush skit was slightly different. Bush was shown in the Oval Office, with all sorts of calamity occurring both inside the WH, and outside the window in DC. The befuddled Bush was in a panic, and pointed to a US map that showed various parts of the country ablaze!
"Look!" the Bush character exclaimed nervously. "The Great Lakes are on fire! Even I know that's bad!"
I think it's time we voters got into the fight against corporate monied influence, and work to end corporate funding of our elections. It won't be easy, but it sounds like some pols are willing to join the fight if we raise enough h*ll. And they write the laws.
How funny that you used this quote.
Just read another article on Huff, specifically dedicated to the "debunking" of that exact quote.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/20/insanity-definition_n_1159927.html
I'm not knocking the quote (though, being a Psychology geek, I have to agree with CSM), but it simply struck me as "funny" to see it used almost immediately after reading her piece.
HOWEVER: she is a self-described "nerd." And: I've been around that quote for a while and never came across anyone (psychologists included) who ever took it literally. But it's all good.
Always right on.
23000Days
Life: Tragedy for feelers, Comedy for thinkers.
03:02 PM on 12/19/2011
Hungary is a chilling example of right wing power gone awry.
http://kruÂgman.blogsÂ.nytimes.cÂom/2011/12Â/19/hungarÂys-constitÂutional-reÂvolution/#Âmore-27489
Any added comment would only detract from this great piece.
"Remember, rather, the last time they had the White House."
Sad, that even some progressives have to be reminded of that "long ago faraway point in the deep mists of time." Gosh, a whole three years ago!
Here's a little memory jog, provided by the misguided voters and those who didn't vote in 2010:
Imagine a President Scott Walker. A President John Kasich. A President Rick Scott.
A President anyone of the Republicans voted into the House last year. Yeah, I know last year was a long, long time ago, but if you can't remember that distant past, try looking at what those Republicans are doing to this nation NOW! In the present.
Americans, young and old, try to remember a time when Social Security and Medicare were sacrosanct. It wasn't that long ago, when even a casual mention of cutting or ending those programs, was political suicide. And rightly so.
Christians, try to remember what your Savior told his disciples and therefore YOU: "How you treat the least among you, is how you treat ME." If you can't comprehend that simple message, you cannot claim to be a true Christian.
Remember, and refuse to allow the selfish and cruel amongst us (and I really have to believe they are a minority) to cloud and distort their near-past actions and present day intentions. Don't let them win. Again.
Steven, perfect. Yet again.
And I like the way you think, "TheSmartestMonkees."
a magnificent article. Don't ever run for political office. You're too pure...not naive.
It's truly amazing that you're able to consistently write insightful,mindful, educational, and informative
works.
I'm always waiting for the next one.......and this one is so on the money that it makes one take a real look at the real truth of the relationship between ourselves and the "other persons" ( corporations), i.e.,... its reality vs. ours.