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Conscience is a bitch.
Having to watch the 24 hour-a-day betrayal of the American public's trust is a nauseating pastime.
But watch we must, since it seems that's all that's ever on. Having to swallow lie after lie about the intentions of corporate controlled politicians; having to choke back the bilious swill the right wing fiction machine cranks out; having to sit back while DINO's suck at the heaving, swollen teat of big business while insisting they are old fashioned liberals with the interests of Average Joe and Josephine firmly entrenched in their bleeding heartsall this makes shoving a tube down a goose's gullet seem tolerable, if only because at least there lay the promise of rich, smooth paté at the end (and of course, only we Liberal elites can decry the horrors of being force-fed intolerant, obstructive ideology while extolling the delights of savory delicacies only a Frenchified fairy would buy at a chichi charcuterie in the same run-on sentence).
The media Circus Crapsimus, which controls the flow of inanity through slicker and progressively obsolete gizmos, repeatedly lowers the bar of content until the prevailing programming neither educates nor entertains but rather reduces its porcine viewership to drooling consumobots. And so, having to endure, say, the jaw-droppingly obvious Sarah Palin phenomenon after the eight years of being driven mad by George W's equally obvious idiocy makes perfect sense in a world dominated by lazy lusters for lucre, the peeps who need their audience/consumers to be as ill informed and under-educated as possible in order for them to buy such fatuous tripe.
And it makes one wonder: is there a conscience anymore?
Has the way business is conducted in this country specifically done away with that natural ombudsman, the one which self regulates and prepares for and takes great care to avoid possible missteps and misfortune?
Because to watch, to hear, to taste what is churned out like so much vile head cheese (lips and assholes, darling) and which passes for modern American culture these days is truly a reversal of all humankind's greatest thinkers, philosophers and citizens have expressed. The cynical embrace of all that is antithetical to healthy growth as a nation and as a species is akin to a plague in its advanced stages of wiping out vast swaths of innocents, with no remedy in sight. And without said remedy -- in this case, a conscience -- the disease will have to run its course and the lesson will have to be learned the hard way.
So sad to die smothered in honey scented mediocrity, yoked into subliminal servitude by a cadre of greedy bastards who worship no god but the god of greed, who embrace no brotherhood save their own craven selves, who feed off the misery and disenfranchisement of the Great Been Had, those coerced into despair by cynical, brutish profiteers in three piece suits, ready with a wink and a colored warning.
If ever we needed conscience to be our guide, it's now.
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Fear not dear Steven, for there are still men of conscience and substance who walk among us. My fervent hope is that Mr. Obama will prove yet to be one of them. But for now, I would put forth another for your consideration. A man who like Obama was ridiculed as an ineffective, pussified lameass. Someone with ideas, new ideas, better ideas. A man with moral guideposts whom the rethuglies bawled and brayed would destroy America. I refer to President James Earl Carter. Much like Obama, being torn down at every turn, opposed and vilified, obstructed and undermined and by the very same special interests who commit themselves to profit at any cost to humanity to this day. We can see now that Mr. Carter was right about energy being integral to national security and prosperity. Right about building mid-east peace through tolerance and understanding. Right about the necessity of co-operation for the benefit of all mankind. We can clearly see that, if conscience allows.
Palin is FDR from hell: attitude 100; intellect zero. She has spectacular instincts for catering to the angry know-nothings of the far right. Despite her tinny voice, and her manifest lack of knowledge about anything she resonates with the tea-bag crowd in much the same way as FDR standing up to the rich and powerful. It is a typical error on the left to subject her to the kind of critical analysis that would be applied to a serious thinker. She has a case of stratospheric narcissism in search of self-glorification and needs no logic, no rhetorical thread other than scathing sarcasm (at which she excels). Make no mistake, the Republicans will run her if they think she can win. Who else? Mitt Romney?
And then there is the NY Times, refusing to really investigating O'Keefe's coup in bringing down ACORN with edited videos. No doubt the little creep was up to the same thing in LA. This is the "senior editor" who accepts Fox's and O'Keefe's version. Greg Brock
Senior Editor, The New York Times
Greg Brock was appointed a Senior Editor of The New York Times in May 2006 after spending four years as the news editor in the Washington bureau of The Times. As news editor, he oversaw the day-to-day news coverage of the White House, Congress and all government agencies.
Since joining The Times in 1995, Brock has worked as the deputy political editor for the 1996 presidential campaign and was the news editor on the Foreign Desk during the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the first Iraq war.
Brock is a native of Crystal Springs, Mississippi, and a 1975 graduate of Ole Miss, where he was managing editor of The Daily Mississippian, editor of Mississippi Magazine and a member of Omicron Delta Kappa. He received the Sigma Delta Chi award as the Outstanding Graduate in Journalism in 1975 .
After graduating from Ole Miss, Brock worked for several newspapers including The Washington Post.
In his role as Senior Editor of The Times, Brock helps oversee the standards and ethics of the newspaper and works with editors and reporters throughout the newsroom to address readers’ concerns about bias, fairness and accuracy.
Isn't it incredible that we can watch zillions of sports programs, that have RULES & REGULATIONS that make the games operate efficiently and fairly...a
Let's show up at all the sports functions and call for an end to ALL the regulations!
We should hold some games without any rules and let them see the horror and stupidity of removing regulations. Hey Comedy Central, this ones for you.
Wall Streeters could belly up to the Super Bowl screen and understand every ruling and ACCEPT it, but can't accept the simplest rules to regulate their handling of our money?
Of course they CAN understand, they just don't want to play by the rules, so far they are skating free.
If the basketball, football and baseball games were held without rules, we would see exactly what we have in Washington right now.
We have teams bonding over nefarious aims, using dirty tricks to shoot 6 free throws without a penalty, knocking over the spectators and slugging mothers and children, winning by ravaging the scoreboard and celebrating by stealing the proceeds from the concession stand...to buy them some "hos".
Consciences, pfffft, silly boy.
Rules and regulations being enforced could turn this country around and we know it.
I really think the dummying down of america is almost complete. After the Superbowl on Sunday I had to endure a half hour conversation with several people on the subject matter of "Jersey Shore" and Snookie. When I brought up the recent supreme court ruling concerning corporations and political influence, cricket sounds appeared. That really tells you more than you need to know about what makes people tick. May I also add in to Mr "GOPfreed slaves" (assumption that he is an middle age white male) who is espousing his right wing view points, as can you answer me one question: Why can't the right pundits of media and political persuasion never fairly debate someone of liberal progressive backgrounds. When does Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Dr Laura and others alike ever debate anyone except on their own shows or Fox News where they have control over mute switches and other devices to control the conversation. I liken it to the few times in recent memory where someone went off script like Bill O'Reilly when he was taken to the woodshed by both David Letterman on "The Late Show" and also Al Franken during that book convention a few years back. Just a short time ago didn't Obama debate the congressional republicans and the beat down was so bad that Fox News had to cut away. Liberals will win most debates based on facts, as that is why the right will never debate the left in a fair manner.
Didn't understand a thing you said, darling, but love ya anyway!
The Democratic Party likes to think of itself as the big tent party. It's clear the GOP has decided to include in it's tent, as personified by GWB and 1/2 term Sarah, in-your-face, proud-as-punch, uninformed and ignorant. Their votes count the same as some hoity-toity person who reads and pays attention. They have no knowledge of history and are proud of it. And if reality, such as the near destruction of the American economy by following GOP financial policies, interferes with their opinions, they'll just rewrite history, right in front of your face, right in front of people who saw it happen, they'll tell you you didn't see it. Of course the Democratic Party has it's blue dogs, but they at least pretend they put actual thought into their actions.
Another well written, poignant post, Mr. Weber. I just had a similar conversation with a good friend. We're suburban moms, just focused on doing the nest we can for our families, and we realized that every positive value-- even the biblical ones so loudly trumpeted by the Right-- have been replaced by one single, overarching principle:
Greed is Good.
From the poorest to the wealthiest, we have all bought in to the idea that if it's profitable, it must be good, and vice-versa.
When profit is the only measure of value, a conscience is an inconvenient burden.
It is funny how one moment we hear how Palin is insignificant. That she will never win any race.
She is not a threat to the Dems.
Then the next moment, the left tries SO hard to tear her down on every little thing that comes out of her mouth.
If the left really believes that she would not be a threat to Obama in 2012, then why the anger.
You would think the left wants the Reps to promote her to run.
1. the left isn't scared of palin.
2. the left knows palin is a joke.
3. the left is disgusted and saddened that even a percentage of the population is so taken by obvious hucksters. dems & repubs are always going to disagree, but i, at least, want to respect my rival. those days are long gone.
BS ,,, When Ari has to plaster 15 - 20 articles over the last 24 hours, along with her high end bloggers , Like Stephen Weber and Baldwin, you know the extremist left us panic stricken,,,, She won't run , but is playing a huge part in the November elections
Old Hindu proverb Sahib- You might have dysentery and Cholera, and you might have just been bitten by the Tsetse fly. Your wife might be having regular congress with your best friend. Doesn't stop your house from burning down.
How do Mitch McConnell and his ilk deliver delivery their corporate b.s. with straight faces? How does the press gobble it up? I spend way too much time yelling at the t.v. screen.
Mr. Weber, you must be between gigs because we have so many good posts lately after such a dearth.
Oh yes Steven, because it's only the blue dogs or the Republicans who live in "servitude by a cadre of greedy bastards who worship no god but the god of greed"...h
you got served steven
you must have some secret decoder ring that deciphers mindless, off-point rants, then.
I did? Did I eat all my vegetables?
Steven, from your pen to God's ear.
Your article reminds me of one of the greatest questions asked of all time:
Dorothy asks The Scarecrow, "what would you do with a brain if you had one?"
The same could be asked of a conscience I suppose.
For ordinary folks like myself, all a conscience has gotten us is a grieved spirit and heart.
For me, the process began when JFK was assassinated. Add to that, 50 years of one ridiculous, scandalous, enterprise after another. Couple that with the ever increasing knowledge we are seemingly stuck with the current cast of players, who themselves, apparently check their tarnished, moral compass in the rear view mirror; infrequently.
It is written, "men's hearts will grow cold, due to the violence done unto sons of men."
Please excuse me, while I check my temperature.
I came across some powerful thoughts of Thomas Paine from "Agrarian Justice" that seem to resonate with your thoughts. " The present state of civilization is as odius as it is unjust....
Somehow the affluent have become callous to the misery of the masses in this day and age.
so basically this crying has been happening for a few hundred years.
You'd think that people with all the freedom granted to them in our Constitution would have made some progress in rectifying such perversion.
as opposed to cutting edge citizens in three-corner hats who want to throw tea bags at everyone?
Hey, hey, hey. If the person known as "GOPfreedSlaves" says it's so, then it's so. After all, the GOP freed slaves!
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