Friday, September 29, 2006
The Truth Revealed (and other myths)
So the recently declassified documents state that the war in Iraq has created a breeding ground for terrorists, given impetus to the al-Qaeda cause, and hurt our cause internationally. Okay. I can’t argue with that. But I would like to point out that, not very long ago at all, anyone suggesting that was simply branded a chicken s*** Liberal and dismissed out of hand by the established “conservative” movement wherever it is found, in “red” states or “blue.” So, for the record, just this once (I hope) I want to go on the record as saying, “I told you so, you stupid sheepish idiots who have so far elected an idiot not once but twice to be President of the United States!” Dammitall, just because somebody knows big words doesn’t mean that they’re wrong. Maybe it means they see more of what’s going on than you do, you ever consider that? Sheesh!
And the thing is, old W., nice guy idiot that he is, still doesn’t get it. I imagine that the situation could still be saved, although it will take much more subtlety and intelligence than anyone in the current administration had evidenced to date. Unfortunately, that would involve getting further involved in Iraq, not pulling out, so even if the (cough cough) good guys with the donkey win this fall, we’re likely to keep on doing stupid things, even if they may be different stupid things. As I’ve said, long term I’m hugely optimistic, but short term I’d say we’re screwed. Not to put to fine a point on it, as they say. But, before I continue, here is a guide to tell if someone running as a Republican is having us on:
If they say they’re for smaller government and ceding power to the States, that’s a sure sign that they’re trying to delude us, and maybe even deluding themselves. There’s no way in Hell that the party of Lincoln is for small government and States rights, just no way at all.
If they say they’re for the little guy at the expense of big business and big government, they’re just flat-out lying. No matter how good it is to hear, that ain’t the Republican way, and it never has been. Republicans have been, since 1854, in favor of big business and a strong central government; they took over from the Whigs, after all, and the Whigs were all about strong government, what with advocating central banking and other radical (often now painted as evil “liberal”) ideas. Well, the Whig’s spiritual descendants won the Civil War, so we’re a country of big business and strong central government. Personally I don’t think that’s all bad, but it’s hard to have a meaningful discussion when the chief advocates of those things are lying about what they’re about. Eisenhower didn’t lie about it; Lincoln didn’t lie about it; heck, even Nixon was up front about that sort of thing. Reagan lied about it, and so has every Republican trying to become the president ever since. Then people wonder why they act just like you’d expect a pro business and big government guy to act, and I wonder what the heck is wrong with people that they lose track of what’s been happening in this country since, let’s see, 1774 or so. This ain’t rocket science, but you’d think it was the way people’s memories shorten so wonderfully.
The whole situation is exacerbated when so few people bother to even vote. Heck, you can get 25 percent of eligible people voting for you and call it a landslide. It’s not, it’s more of a pathetic joke, but it can look like a landslide even if you don’t, like Bush, call 51 percent a mandate, when only 15 percent of eligible voters opt for your opponent.
I suppose my generation is largely to blame. Like I’ve said many times, beware the idealist at all costs. The idealist dictum: If you can’t completely agree with one of the candidates, just don’t vote. Even if, as in Nevada, you add “none of the above” to the ballot, people still stay away because none of the candidates represents “the people.” In my experience “the people” is both largely mythical and further a complete idiot (so maybe Bush does represent that constituency after all) but mostly mythical. That is, there’s no such thing as “the people” because “the people” is an idealist word trick designed to convince everyone that, as it were, “my version of reality is the only one that counts.” Yeh. Sure. My generation also likes to complain about the “political establishment” but then when a non-establishment guy like Clinton gets himself elected, we all love to hate him because, uh, because he’s a cracker from Arkansas who pulled himself by his own bootstraps and rose from trailer park to the White House, which is supposed to be a good thing, but never mind because we hate him for being trailer trash. Sheesh again.
The idealist attitude cuts every which way. Liberals seem to think that all Christians are right-wink wackos out to overthrow our separation of church and state. That hasn’t been my experience with Christians, but it’s a common perception. That’s easier to understand when you factor in the “nobody votes” factor, due to which some actual wackos have been able to exert undue influence on national politics for the last couple of decades. For my non wacko religious friends, I’d appreciate it if you started watching carefully who’s behind various movements, considering the effects of the government getting tangled up in religion, and thinking hard about who you vote for, and do this while you’re not tuned to cable news. And, for that matter, get out and vote. It won’t kill you. And if you’re not terribly religious, consider how you’d like it if the wacko party actually enacted the program they’ve been advocating. All that dull praying all the time, and you’re getting the hairy eyeball from some freak because you don’t shout “praise Jesus” at just the right time. Swell, huh?
(Jesus said to lock yourself in your room and pray, but you wouldn’t know it by what the really visible wacko crowd says and does.)
Mostly, I’d like to appeal to the great American middle, and I know you’re out there, even though a lot of you are from a generation that feels a bit disenfranchised (and you are if you don’t at least vote, so you’re right about that unless you change yourself), to get out and register to vote and then, if you have to, choose the best of the awful. It’s a start, after all, and next time the candidates will get a bit better, because you know those turkeys respond to what voters want, whether it’s popular to admit it or not. Come on, for the sake of a More Perfect Union, or whatever you want, don’t let the wacko fringe elect another doofus idiot. Please!
And the thing is, old W., nice guy idiot that he is, still doesn’t get it. I imagine that the situation could still be saved, although it will take much more subtlety and intelligence than anyone in the current administration had evidenced to date. Unfortunately, that would involve getting further involved in Iraq, not pulling out, so even if the (cough cough) good guys with the donkey win this fall, we’re likely to keep on doing stupid things, even if they may be different stupid things. As I’ve said, long term I’m hugely optimistic, but short term I’d say we’re screwed. Not to put to fine a point on it, as they say. But, before I continue, here is a guide to tell if someone running as a Republican is having us on:
If they say they’re for smaller government and ceding power to the States, that’s a sure sign that they’re trying to delude us, and maybe even deluding themselves. There’s no way in Hell that the party of Lincoln is for small government and States rights, just no way at all.
If they say they’re for the little guy at the expense of big business and big government, they’re just flat-out lying. No matter how good it is to hear, that ain’t the Republican way, and it never has been. Republicans have been, since 1854, in favor of big business and a strong central government; they took over from the Whigs, after all, and the Whigs were all about strong government, what with advocating central banking and other radical (often now painted as evil “liberal”) ideas. Well, the Whig’s spiritual descendants won the Civil War, so we’re a country of big business and strong central government. Personally I don’t think that’s all bad, but it’s hard to have a meaningful discussion when the chief advocates of those things are lying about what they’re about. Eisenhower didn’t lie about it; Lincoln didn’t lie about it; heck, even Nixon was up front about that sort of thing. Reagan lied about it, and so has every Republican trying to become the president ever since. Then people wonder why they act just like you’d expect a pro business and big government guy to act, and I wonder what the heck is wrong with people that they lose track of what’s been happening in this country since, let’s see, 1774 or so. This ain’t rocket science, but you’d think it was the way people’s memories shorten so wonderfully.
The whole situation is exacerbated when so few people bother to even vote. Heck, you can get 25 percent of eligible people voting for you and call it a landslide. It’s not, it’s more of a pathetic joke, but it can look like a landslide even if you don’t, like Bush, call 51 percent a mandate, when only 15 percent of eligible voters opt for your opponent.
I suppose my generation is largely to blame. Like I’ve said many times, beware the idealist at all costs. The idealist dictum: If you can’t completely agree with one of the candidates, just don’t vote. Even if, as in Nevada, you add “none of the above” to the ballot, people still stay away because none of the candidates represents “the people.” In my experience “the people” is both largely mythical and further a complete idiot (so maybe Bush does represent that constituency after all) but mostly mythical. That is, there’s no such thing as “the people” because “the people” is an idealist word trick designed to convince everyone that, as it were, “my version of reality is the only one that counts.” Yeh. Sure. My generation also likes to complain about the “political establishment” but then when a non-establishment guy like Clinton gets himself elected, we all love to hate him because, uh, because he’s a cracker from Arkansas who pulled himself by his own bootstraps and rose from trailer park to the White House, which is supposed to be a good thing, but never mind because we hate him for being trailer trash. Sheesh again.
The idealist attitude cuts every which way. Liberals seem to think that all Christians are right-wink wackos out to overthrow our separation of church and state. That hasn’t been my experience with Christians, but it’s a common perception. That’s easier to understand when you factor in the “nobody votes” factor, due to which some actual wackos have been able to exert undue influence on national politics for the last couple of decades. For my non wacko religious friends, I’d appreciate it if you started watching carefully who’s behind various movements, considering the effects of the government getting tangled up in religion, and thinking hard about who you vote for, and do this while you’re not tuned to cable news. And, for that matter, get out and vote. It won’t kill you. And if you’re not terribly religious, consider how you’d like it if the wacko party actually enacted the program they’ve been advocating. All that dull praying all the time, and you’re getting the hairy eyeball from some freak because you don’t shout “praise Jesus” at just the right time. Swell, huh?
(Jesus said to lock yourself in your room and pray, but you wouldn’t know it by what the really visible wacko crowd says and does.)
Mostly, I’d like to appeal to the great American middle, and I know you’re out there, even though a lot of you are from a generation that feels a bit disenfranchised (and you are if you don’t at least vote, so you’re right about that unless you change yourself), to get out and register to vote and then, if you have to, choose the best of the awful. It’s a start, after all, and next time the candidates will get a bit better, because you know those turkeys respond to what voters want, whether it’s popular to admit it or not. Come on, for the sake of a More Perfect Union, or whatever you want, don’t let the wacko fringe elect another doofus idiot. Please!
Labels: Politics
