You Are All Insane

post from Once Upon a Time... on 16 September 2008 01:30:00 PM. © Once Upon a Time...

The "you" in my title refers to those of you seriously invested in the political system as it exists in the United States, and who strongly root for one "side" over the other. Those of you who so desperately wish to "save" or "reform" the current system -- and who continue to believe that such is possible with regard to fundamentals -- have so alarmingly perfected derangement that it causes me to wonder if you are alien beings sent here to destroy all vestiges of life as we know it. As I've explained in numerous essays, the drive to an authoritarian-corporatist state at home and endless criminal wars of aggression abroad is fully bipartisan. The ruling class has rigged the game completely in its favor. All of this began over a century ago, and it will not be fundamentally altered or ended until one or a series of major cataclysms threatens the existing system of governance on a foundational level, and/or internal corruption rots the present structure so deeply that it cannot continue. You may consult your history books for many examples of the trajectory I describe.

Forgive me. I forgot that "history" began when you were 12 or 13, perhaps when you first noticed a political ad on television. It is for such reasons that I would consider voting for the person who proposes the total and permanent eradication of political ads and television. Throw in radio, and we've got a deal. But for those so consumed with politics, as if meaningless, insultingly stupid charades in a dead republic carried any significance whatsoever, it is as if nothing worth noticing or thinking about could possibly have happened before the glorious moment when they arrived on this speck of dirt.

So my consideration of the election which now enters its second decade -- I know it seems longer, but it's actually only year eleven -- is that of a dispassionate observer, dispassionate not in the sense that I do not care deeply about the significant issues that underlie more superficial events, but in the sense that the particular outcome is of very little concern to me. Whoever wins, whichever party ascends to or preserves temporary dominance, doesn't matter a damn. Certain policies in very delimited, narrowly circumscribed areas may change, but nothing fundamental will. I watch people tear themselves to pieces, rant and rave about who's a bigger liar, who's more corrupt, who's too old, who's too scary (for whichever of 10,000 reasons, race and sex being only two), who represents true "change" (neither, you moronic dolts), imagine doomsday scenarios if "their" candidate doesn't win and The Evil Overlords of Hell, Damnation and Everything Bad That Ever Was (also known as "the other party") take the reins of powers, and I think...

YOU'RE ALL INSANE.

And then I read comments like the following. This is from an "email blast" concocted by a droid employing the name, "Laura Ingraham." Reading the entire missive (have that bottle of single malt in your hand, forget a glass) will provide the broader perspective of full-bore insanity. Ingraham is disagreeing with David Brooks and his appeals for a ruling conservative elite. Ingraham is in favor of "populism." If Ingraham herself is included in that particular populace, drink that whole bottle of single malt in the next ten minutes, firmly grip the gun, and shoot yourself now. Not that the fuller context makes any of this more coherent, or coherent at all. And these two sentences have destroyed my will to live:

The truth is that it is no longer possible to govern this country through a conservative elite. We have a radical elite, an elite that believes in climate change, gay marriage, unrestricted abortions, and the United Nations.

Some of those who travel in the polluted political waters professionally or as commentators or bloggers of "importance" are smarter than others. Some very occasionally offer an argument that is not completely unrecognizable as human speech. But, in brief...

YOU ARE ALL INSANE.

I rest my case.

Read The Full Article:
http://powerofnarrative.blogspot.com/2008/09/you-are-all-insane.html

Digg this

ACORN Members call on McCain to Back
Fannie/Freddie Foreclosure Freeze

post from Keystone Progress Blog on 16 September 2008 01:30:00 PM. © Keystone Progress Blog

Philadelphia ACORN members confront McCain Campaign in Philadelphia on September 16, 2008.

video details and more

ACORN Members call on McCain to Back Fannie/Freddie Foreclosure Freeze

Philadelphia ?About 2 dozen ACORN members gathered to call on Presidential candidate Senator John McCain to join his colleagues in calling for a freeze on foreclosures of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac portfolios which were recently placed into conservatorship by the federal government. Recently, Senators Charles Schumer, Sherrod Brown, Bob Menendez, and Bob Casey called on the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the two Government Sponsored Enterprises to institute a 90 day moratorium on foreclosures of loans owned by the mortgage giants. ?We think it?s long overdue that the McCain campaign actually get serious about what they?re going to do to help hard working American families.? Said ACORN member Christina Jones, who is struggling with an adjustable rate mortgage.
ACORN is also demanding that all delinquent loans owned by Fannie and Freddie be pulled from their securities and modified to a fixed rate interest and a monthly payment that is affordable to the homeowner, and will call upon Senators McCain and Obama to join in this demand to ensure that American homeowners will share in the benefits of the recently announced federal takeover. ACORN leader Junette Marcano said, ?It?s tough for me to understand how John McCain can own 7 luxury homes, but doesn?t think it?s important to help working families save their homes.?
The rally was part of ACORN?s statewide ?Stop Foreclosure? campaign; most recently, ACORN members won a new program, the Philadelphia Sheriff Sale Diversion Program, that has saved 100s of homes in the past three months. In addition to this event, activists from across the state will travel to Harrisburg for a statewide ?Stop Foreclosure Day of Action? on Thursday September 18th. During the day of action, activists will attend a hearing in support of McGeehan?s bill to replicate the Philadelphia diversion program statewide and protest the Republicans planned use of the foreclosure filings to suppress the November vote.

ACORN is the nation's largest community organization of low- and moderate-income families with over 400,000 member-families organized into 1200 neighborhood chapters in 103 cities nationwide. Since 1970, ACORN has taken action and won victories on issues of concern to our members, including better housing for first-time homebuyers and tenants; living wages for low-wage workers; more investment in our communities from banks and governments, and better public schools.

Read The Full Article:
http://keystoneprogress.blogspot.com/2008/09/acorn-members-call-on-mccain-to-back
.html

Digg this

REMEMBERING DAVID FOSTER WALLACE.

post from Ezra Klein on 16 September 2008 01:29:00 PM. © Ezra Klein

David Gates' appreciation is well-put:I suspect that Wallace was a genius who happened to be a writer, rather than a writer who happened to be a genius?Hemingway, for instance. You can't imagine Hemingway writing, as Wallace did, a treatise called[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/ezraklein_archive?month=09&year=2008&base_name
=remembering_david_foster_walla

Digg this

N.O.W Endorsed Obama Today

post from Across the Pond: A Feminist Blog on 16 September 2008 01:26:19 PM. © Across the Pond: A Feminist Blog

Citing their efforts in support of women’s rights, N.O.W endorsed the Obama/Biden ticket today.NOW supported Sen. Hillary Clinton in the primary, and now we join with her in saying “NO” — No Way, No How, No McCain! And we proudly stand arm-in-arm with her in putting our hopes and our dreams, our hard work and [...]

Read The Full Article:
http://femsacrossthepond.wordpress.com/2008/09/16/now-endorsed-obama-today/

Digg this

That's Not Transparency We Can Believe In

post from Talking Points Memo on 16 September 2008 01:25:00 PM. © Talking Points Memo

Jake Tapper observes that Sarah Palin has Karl Rove-like email habits.[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Talking-Points-Memo/~3/PoaFURABC7Q/217281.php

Digg this

Memo to ABC News

post from Open Left - Front Page on 16 September 2008 01:21:56 PM. © Open Left - Front Page

Here's a screen shot of ABC News' front page today. Memo to producers over there: You may want to[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OpenLeft-FrontPage/~3/394399679/showDiary.do

Digg this

Double Standard

post from Talking Points Memo on 16 September 2008 01:21:00 PM. © Talking Points Memo

Carly Fiorina: Sarah Palin is qualified to be VP, but not a Fortune 500 CEO.[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Talking-Points-Memo/~3/uZWmZOBT0kA/217279.php

Digg this

The Detroit News uncritically reported Republican
claims that Obama would "raise taxes"

post from Media Matters for America on 16 September 2008 01:20:45 PM. © Media Matters for America

In a September 15 article, The Detroit News reported that BenPorritt, a spokesman for Sen. John McCain, "criticized what he said were[Sen. Barack] Obama's plans to raise taxes and increasespending." The article also quoted Republican National Committeespokesman Chris Taylor's assertion that "[t]oday's economicnews should serve as a wake-up call to Senators [Joe] Biden and Obama: When the economy is in a downturn, higher taxes are not theanswer." But the News didnot note that Obama has proposed[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.mediamatters.org/~r/mediamatters/latest/~3/394343045/200809160008

Digg this

What else did John McCain invent

post from AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth on 16 September 2008 01:15:00 PM. © AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth

Now that we know that John McCain created the Blackberry, cell phones and wi-fi, I was wondering what else he created. A few readers have already weighed in in the comments ("fire" and "the wheel" were particularly popular). Any thoughts on what else McCain created? Post them in the comments. (There's now a Here's Twitter feed too (#invented)).

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Americablog/~3/394564519/what-else-did-john-mccain
-invent.html

Digg this

Fiorina: Palin is not qualified to run a major
business.

Huffington Post reports that McCain spokeswoman and former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, appearing on a St. Louis radio show today, said that Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) was not qualified to run a major business — but that it didn’t matter:

QUESTION: Do you think [Sarah Palin] has the experience to run a major company, like Hewlett Packard?
FIORINA: No, I don’t. But you know what? That’s not what she’s running for. Running a corporation is a different set of things.

Listen here:
video details and more

Yesterday, Fiorina declared that a Saturday Night Life spoof of Palin was “very dismissive of the substance” of Palin and thus “disrespectful in the extreme,” and “sexist.” “She has a lot of substance,” Fiorina said of Palin.

Read The Full Article:
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/16/fiorina-palin-business/

Digg this