The world is going to Hell in a handbasket
Bookworm on Oct 02 2008 at 9:58 am | Filed under: Uncategorized
Depressed today. Decided to do a risk assessment of possible (and impossible) and likely (and unlikely) outcomes. Feel free to chime in.
McCain & Palin win and Republicans eke out a majority in Congress: Impossible.
McCain & Palin win and Democrats retain control over Congress: Less and less likely.
Obama & Biden win and Republicans eke out a majority Congress: Not bloody likely.
Obama & Biden win and Democrats retain control over Congress: Possible and likely.
If the latter is true, then what?
Ideally, after only two years, American voters are disgusted with total Democratic rule and they throw the Democrats out of Congress, with a chastened Republican majority returning. Then, in 2012, Americans elect a Republican president, and this whole damn cycle starts again. Damage to the country during those two years: substantial (especially at the Supreme Court level), but not irreversible. (Think Carter, then Reagan.)
Less ideally, the above scenario plays out over an eight year period, not a four year period. The damage to the country would be more significant, and the ability to reverse it much more challenging. (Think Clinton, then Bush, although one hopes for someone stronger domestically than Bush.)
Worst case scenario: All Democratic all the time for the next eight years. Damage to country: profound and irreversible. Hello, Europe! Here we come. And, given time, Hello, Eurabia, here we come! And given really enough time, “Hail, Comrade Mohammed!”
Did I mention that I’m feeling depressed today? I have got to stop reading the newspapers, the polls and the blogs. I need to get out more. I need to sleep on a chair in the sun the way my dog does. I need lots of chocolate.
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Book,
Boy oh boy, do I understand the feeling.
Just had a thought: If/When the bailout bill passes, the Secretary of the Treasury will be picking winners and losers among all the investment firms and banks, as each tries to succeed (?) at ridding itself of bad securities, debt, and worthless assets.
Even if this works, which is highly doubtful, the SecTreas will be picking the winners and losers. Government control of financial firms – Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac – has worked out so well, hasn’t it? Wisdom and prudence have ruled the day!
Hank Paulson under huge-government Bush has been bad enough. Can you imagine what President Obama’s Secretary Of the Treasury will do?
It’s worth noting what Obama and Ayers did with the Annenberg Challenge? How did they handle education reform? They focused entirely on radical left indoctrination in the Chicago schools. The audit by the Annenberg Challenge showed it to be a complete failure: No educational improvement whatsoever.
Given that track record, Obama’s SecTreas will choose winners and losers based on social policy, it is clear. The government always owns the gun, and the threat is always there. Obama will not hold back. Winners and losers within our private sector in investments and banking… chosen at the point of the government gun… chosen based not on prudent fiscal policy but radical social policy.
Only post for the day. Time to call my conservative House Republican and urge a no vote on the bill. Urge that the House Republicans that voted “No!” on Monday stick together and vote “No!” again. Shout it from the rooftops. They are the nucleus of a new conservative movement that will be born soon. $700 billion wasn’t enough; $150 billion in pork has been added on top of it. This is because everyone “knows” that the taxpayers will make money on this deal, and let’s all start spending it right now! Nothing is free, and no, we won’t make money on the bailout.
That’s my message. Then I’m gonna go find fun stuff to do. Thanks for the suggestion, Book!
Then there’s a debate tonight. Go Palin! Hopefully she has been freed to speak for herself, in her own way. Hopefully there’s been no more cramming. Because cramming works for a test, but you look terrible during the test, trying to pull down specific information out of all the new info swirling chaotically in your head. Hopefully they’ve been focused on what she knows well, with her natural tremendous authenticity and core wisdom and sound Reaganesque principles shining clearly through.
Go Palin!
MIKE!
That was supposed to be encouraging…..? Oh joy! Left *me* feeling really up, you did.
I can speculate on the wonders of an Obama presidency all by myself, you know — and I resolutely refuse to think about it….too depressing.
I don’t know where you are in life, but at least the Bookworm is employed (and lawyers are NOT going to be on the unemployment lines)…..and I’m retiring next summer!
I pray a lot.
Sorry Book, but I think you are being way too optimistic.
If the Democrats grab total power this election, the next election cycle will be so corrupted that it is highly likely that they will hold onto power for decades to come, barring a cataclysm.
Obama is a front man for the Chicago/Cook County Illinois combine, which knows how to corrupt a system with illegal monies, phony voter lists and patronage so that qualified opponents will never again be able to shake their monopoly on power. Just look at the proliferation of reports about phony ACORN voter registration lists, intimidation of Republicans with phony legal accusations, and funny-money (much of it foreign) streaming into Democrat coffers. Each election cycle, these stories have become much more prevalent.
Once these fascists get hold of the Dept. of Justice, watch out!
I fear that this time, Americans will really lose their country to left-wing campus radicals, because they never learned to appreciate what it meant to be free.
Hi Bookworm, I understand the chocolate.
(sitting disheveled at the end of the bar and raising his glass of Scotch)
It’s the end of the world!
But Helen, it can’t be just any chocolate. It has to be dark chocolate. Or maybe chocolate with some oozing caramel inside. I tend to like Dove chocolate for your everyday I-need-some-chocolate cravings. But on the get-out-of-my-way-or-I’ll-hurt-you days, I go for some really nice dark chocolate from Europe.
And then, the world is all right again.
Deana
My strong preference in chocolate is Guittard — which is a local product that is just wonderfully strong and creamy. America’s Test Kitchen gave its chips their highest rating.
As Eric Idle said in “The Life of Brian”:
“Always look on the bright side of life.”
I think things will work out for the good in the end. Have faith.
Spiff
Well, as long as everybody is going to contemplate the pending end of the world and the collapse of America, how ’bout some real sad Roy Orbison to eat that chocolate with:
I know exactly how you feel. Wish I could be of help.
Bookie,
I have had the funk for awhile – but I have know for the last year when the teen approval rating of the Dem owned Congress never impacted the Dems that the US public has forgotten what it is like to be ruled by full Democrat power. Heck, WJC was a center-right Dem – Obama is the most Left Senator – therefor the American public will learn what it is like in spades in the event that Obama wins.
If McCain wins, there is a whole other set of problems. …. but it is all relative.
In the end, the Republic will survive.
Deana, You go girl!!!
Hey, get a grip! If I remeber correctly, the last two elections had Bush following in the polls all the way up to and during the election. And yet he still won both elections. I wouldnt put too much stock, if any, in what the press and the polls are saying.
Spiff
“. . . the last two elections had Bush following in the polls all the way up to and during the election. And yet he still won both elections.” — spiff
Yeah, and the exit polls were wrong, too.. but only in select locations.
Dont worrry. Millions of elligible voters are being scrubbed from the voter roolls and a GOP cyber security expert/whistle blower assures that there wil be monkey business in at least 8 states.
If McCan/Palin don’t “win,” I’ll be surprised.
Hell, even Homer Simpson has figured it out.
Run time: 01:21
In the end, the Republic will survive- CDR
But then again, maybe it won’t.
http://newsproject.org/node/134
Ozzie –
if you can explain to me how felons and folks who have been 6 feet under for the past 13 years are eligible voters, I swear I will take your concerns about the Dominionists taking over the U.S. more seriously.
Deana
Ozzie –
if you can explain to me how felons and folks who have been 6 feet under for the past 13 years are eligible voters, I swear I will take your concerns about the Dominionists taking over the U.S. more seriously.
Deana
If you’re talking about what occured in Florida in 2000, people whose names matched or were sorta/kinda like the names of the felons were eliminated as well.
A company called Datapoint Technologies was hired to ferret out names that sounded liked the felons..
But this year, millions of people are being removed from the voter rolls for not having a perfect match between their I.D. and voter registration….For example, if my driver’s license reads Ozzie T. Poster, but my voter registration reads Ozzie Poster, I’d be ineligible to vote in some states.
But , since you broght up the religious angle, oddly enough, the cyber security expert/ whistleblower who recently testified in Ohio has pointed out that the people programming the voting machines all apear to be politically-active Evangelicals.
Of COURSE they are!!!!! I KNEW there was going to be an Evangelical angle SOMEWHERE here.
Ozzie, for the love of God, NO ONE would be denied the right to vote given the circumstances you just cited. If I show up and my driver’s license says “Deana T. Voter” but my voter registration says “Deana Voter,” they are simply going to give me a conditional ballot, which is counted on the very next day once they verify who I am.
In what state do you believe that a person in those circumstances would not be able to vote?
Deana
I, too, have been feeling the depression creep the last few days. Consuming chocolate helps. Love your favorite, btw. Tonight as I prepare to watch the VP debate, I’ll consume a couple of St. Arnold’s more than usual – which for me means I’ll drink 3 or 4 instead of 1 or 2 – and try to get through it all. Maybe my homemade chili and beer bread will help.
I feel ya, sister.
Ozzie, for the love of God, NO ONE would be denied the right to vote given the circumstances you just cited. – Deanna
Not, true, Deanna.
The “Help America Vote Act” does anything but.
In New Jersey, 300,000 voters were sent letters notifyng people that, due to discrepencies they’re ineligible to vote, but the majority of states wont be notifying anyone.
The purge in Colorado have been especailly extensive.
The Brennan Center has found that voter rolls have been purged in 12 states in all.
Here’s a recent CBS Report:
http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/voter_purges_cbs_evening_news/
Earl #2,
Sorry, Earl.
That thought of mine was depressing, so I got it out, and then felt free to ignore the news for the rest of the day. Not nice of me to share it!
Twas a beautiful day in the neighborhood, though still a little to hot down here.
Danny,
The best hope in an Obama victory is that he will end up being a total pragmatist, take a look at the situation, and throw all the leftists under the bus, and govern from the center. He’s been ruthlessly devoted to self at times, and perhaps he might govern so, in a Clintonian manner. I doubt this, but if he wins, I will have that as a remaining hope.
Check out his narcissism in “the pose” here! (Caught on a plane on hand-held) The female CNN reporters (their voices) are bad enough, but his posing is sophomoric. No, worse than sophomoric, it’s high school freshman stuff.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=550_1210277599
Earl,
I’m between jobs right now, finished up one as a software consultant and wanted a break for a few months. Not the best of times for a break, as it turned out! But I planned ahead for one.
Hopefully everyone is a bit cheered up following the debate, I know I am. (No more comments on deformed frogs, I promise
Ozzie –
Purges of the voter rolls are legal. They are designed to prevent fraud. Purges serve the purpose of cleaning up the rolls by getting rid of names of people who have died, moved away, or else become inelligible to vote.
The right to vote is sacred. Obviously, anytime you are managing millions of records, there are going to be mistakes. I would support any effort to ensure that those who are LEGALLY eligible to vote do have the right to vote but the bigger problem by far is voter fraud. There simply is no denying that people who have no right to vote in certain locations, or even people who have no right to vote at all, ARE voting. And that is not right, Ozzie. It denigrates people’s faith in voting.
The video you linked to is interesting but he is simply stating his opinion. There is nothing wrong with that but neither he nor CBS provided proof of what he was claiming in any of the video that I saw (unfortunately, it seemed to cut off before it was done). There was no independent verification of voters being purged from rolls – voters who are legally entitled to vote.
Deana
Well, I still think that Obama is going to win. But (and I know this will drive Ozzie CRAZY) but I prayed for Sarah Palin. That woman walked in with the tremendous weight on her shoulders and I simply wanted her to be at peace in her heart, no matter what happened.
I’m thrilled that she did well. I love the way she speaks. She makes me think of people I grew up around back in Illinois. But then, that is always why I loved President Bush. People like Bush and Palin don’t try to impress others. They are just straight forward – and it’s refreshing.
Deana
P.S. I must say this, though. I don’t like Biden’s politics but unlike Obama, I can’t help but like him. I think that at his core, he is a good person. He may be full of senator-speak and sound impressive but I don’t think he is an elitist. He may be awkward at times but I think he is a good guy. I pray that his son is safe while serving on duty.
I have got to stop reading the newspapers, the polls and the blogs. I need to get out more. I need to sleep on a chair in the sun the way my dog does. I need lots of chocolate.
Reading the newspapers will take a toil on your psychology. They are designed to produce propaganda and spread it, so when someone like you, Book, who have internal mental defenses against all side’s propaganda reads the newspapers, your brain and heart are operating under more stress than usual as your defenses are getting tested again and again.
Purges of the voter rolls are legal. They are designed to prevent fraud. Purges serve the purpose of cleaning up the rolls by getting rid of names of people who have died, moved away, or else become inelligible to vote. – Deanna
And those rules now include little picky inconsistencies, as I indicated, disenfrachizing millions, including as many as 1 in 5 Colorado voters.
At first you seemed shocked, and now you seem to be saying if it’s legal it’s ok.
“The video you linked to is interesting but he is simply stating his opinion” – Deanna
No. What occured in Florida in 2000 is more than a matter of opinion. But you also read the report on the Brennan center’s findings regarding the massive voter purging that goes well beyond dead people and those who’ve moved.
“(and I know this will drive Ozzie CRAZY) but I prayed for Sarah Palin. ” -Deanna
Why would that drive me crazy?
I think it is time for all of us to go into our back yards, if we have them, or to some near by formal public garden, and sit on a bench, and watch the butterflies. Yeah. It sounds cutsie and delusional. But the sky is not falling. And we will prevail. Just vote your preference on the 4th, and we’ll talk, or type, afterwards.
Al
No, Ozzie, I wasn’t shocked. There is nothing shocking about purges because, again, they are LEGAL. If there were no purges, we’d have voter registration rolls that have people on them who died 75 years ago. They have to happen or we would have an absolute mess.
Ozzie, where is independent proof that MILLIONS have been disenfranchised? Where? You portray this as if there is Republicans are out there purposely wiping millions of people who are legally eligible to vote in the correct precincts from the rolls. Even in the report you cite, it says admits that voters are purged from the rolls due to:
- typos
- the fact that people may live in “non-traditional homes” (i.e, they are homeless. Ozzie, I want homeless people to be able to vote but their lack of address makes it hard to send voter registration cards.)
- voters refusing to accept official mail (hmmm, now why would they do that?)
- duplicate records
- voter inactivity, despite attempts by attempts by the state to correct their registration record
and other reasons.
Ozzie, the report you cite acknowledges that errors in purging are due primarily to the difficulty of data management. It is difficult to ensure 100% perfection when you have millions of people moving every year, names that are similar to each other, and voters who do not hold up their end of the deal by doing what is necessary to ensure their ability to vote.
I credit the report in advocating reasonable ways to improve the accuracy of voter rolls. Things that could help are standardizing the systems on which voter registration rolls are stored and establishing consistent criteria that govern how purges are conducted. I am all for requiring states to publicize when they are conducting purges.
But it is ludicrous for you to intimate that millions of people who are legally eligible to vote are being purged by religious conservatives. You simply have no proof.
Deana
No, Ozzie, I wasn’t shocked. There is nothing shocking about purges because, again, they are LEGAL- Deanna
I said that if my driver’s license says “Ozzie T. Poster” and my voter registration says “Ozzie Poster,” I’d be removed from the voter rolls in some states. You said that’s not so.
Due to new “perfect match” criteria, it is.
There will be an investigative piece in Rolling Stone in the near future, with the actual figures, but, in New Jersey alone, the number reportedly came to 875,000 voters.
And in Colorado, it reportedly came to 1 in 5 voters.
I’ll post the piece when it’s published, if you like.
And yes, thanks to the “Help America Vote” act, this type of massive purging is now legal. That doesnt make it right, however.
“But it is ludicrous for you to intimate that millions of people who are legally eligible to vote are being purged by religious conservatives.” – Deanna
Religious conservatives have nothing to do the “perfect match” criteria. This was included as part of the “Help America Vote Act.”
The GOP cyber security expert who recently testified in a court case in Ohio said that that politically active Evangelicals have been involved in voter machine manipulation, which is a separate issue.
“,But it is ludicrous for you to intimate that millions of people who are legally eligible to vote are being purged, ” – Deanna
From an e-mail from the Brennan Center:
We studied the way officials keep voter lists in 12 states. Here’s what we found: election officials across the country are routinely striking millions of voters from the rolls through a process that is shrouded in secrecy, prone to error, and vulnerable to manipulation.
There really are no effective national standards to govern voter purges, and the result is an often chaotic, whimsical approach to the maintenance of voter rolls. Americans across the country lack basic protections against erroneous purges, and may show up to the polls only to find that they cannot vote.
We need to do more to pry the lid of secrecy off these voter purges. Tomorrow, the Brennan Center, along with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, will file public record requests in 12 states, demanding that officials tell the public how they conduct purges — and who has been removed from the rolls.
This is just one way the Brennan Center is working to ensure that this election is fair and accurate. Our work in 2008 has ranged from lawsuits to protect nonpartisan voter registration drives, to a state-of-the-art Legal Guide to Student Voting, to a pathbreaking study on ballot design that has been used by hundreds of counties across the country. We are determined that in this critical election year, every American who wants to register can register, can vote, and can be assured their vote will be properly counted.. . . “
I can only come up with two hopeful things about an Obama presidency:
1. As President, since it’s his last political job, he will be like a Supreme Court appointment who no longer needs to kowtow to scrape up every vote, and will defy his historical record by both talking moderate and actually ACTING moderate.
2. We will get some progress in reducing the racism card in this country, due first simply to having a black person as President, and second to the fact that he is not beholden to the Jesse Jackson/Al Sharpton crowd — didn’t come from them, doesn’t owe them anything, near as I can tell those specific people hate him for that.
As a hiring manager, I’ve been trained that “Past behavior is the best predictor of future performance” — and given just how absolutely consistent Obama has been in talking moderate to get into office, then taking the furthest left solution he can on almost everything, I think #1 is on the unlikely side (but I sincerely hope I’m proven wrong).
So we get #2, which is something.
(I must stop before I think too much about Obama’s willingness to repeatedly play the race card against the Republicans, in spite of them being, in everything I’ve seen at least, totally above board on this issue…hopefully, if he wins, when he has some inevitable failures in office we won’t start hearing about the racism of Congress as the reason…)
Funny how Ozzie can go on and on about “massive voter fraud” involving “millions being struck from the voter roles” with no evidence other than peoples’ (Democrat/Lefties’) opinions and nary a mention of ACORN’s role in this: http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110009189.
But then, Ozzie is reading from the talking points. It’s all a big Republican/Conservative plot to subvert the system by going after an organization that does good work community organizing, an organization joined at the hip with Obama: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003806904_webvotefraud26m.html
Reminds me of the selective half-truths and distortions that I heard Biden use in his debate last night (“we” kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon and Bush let them back in?). Like Biden, Ozzie throws them up like radar clutter, knowing there is far to much for us to sort through and therefore some is likely to stick. Biden, however, can rely upon a compliant MSM to give him cover.
Ozzie –
For the last time, according to the laws in my state, if I show up on election day and there is a question as to whether or not I am legally able to vote in that location, I can cast a conditional ballot, which will be counted once the discrepancy is cleared. I would guess that most, if not all, states have some sort of contingency for those sorts of problems.
You state that purging may be legal but it doesn’t make it right. I guess in your world, we would never purge any of the rolls, JUST IN CASE those folks who died 50 years ago decide to show up and vote this Nov. 4th. We certainly wouldn’t want those good people to be disfranchised!!
Listen, Ozzie, let me make this clear: voting is sacred. I don’t want anyone out there who did their duty, is registered, and is legally able to vote, to not be able to vote. But you are attempting to paint all purging of voter registration rolls as this dirty, secretive, and (of course) partisan effort and that simply is not true.
Few conservatives would have problems with standardizing how purges are done and requiring states to publicize when purges are conducted.
Ozzie, I notice that you do not seem to be worried about voter fraud, a real problem that has been documented by multiple, independent sources for years. You do not seem to be concerned about people not following established registration rules. You do not appear to worry about felons or non-American citizens voting. These are real problems but you don’t mention them at all.
You have a tendency to be very selection about your concerns.
Deana
These are real problems but you don’t mention them at all.
To a certain extent, they aren’t problems to Oz. Anything that tears down the status quo via revolutionary or destructive means becomes a good thing once you have in your mind some kind of utopia or state of perfection that justifies such methods and “solutions”.
To a nihilist, the problems that people attempting to create a better world encounter (whether that person be Harvy Dent in the Dark Knight, President Bush, Petraeus, or anti-vote fraud efforts) are simply irrelevant. These are only “problems”, if you will, to people who want to resist entropy, chaos, and corrosion. To those that wish to accelerate the process, as is true for nihilists of one stripe or another, these aren’t problems so much as universal truths and truisms that reflect a greater understanding of events. This perceived greater understanding puts a wedge between any common ground shared by classical liberals and nihilists.
People’s reactions to politics and policies are almost useless if you want an answer to what they truly believe. For example, it doesn’t matter worth a dime the differences on policy you, Book, orI have between us three. What matters is whether our philosophies on life, ethics, and the Good are compatible or equal. In light of that, I would have to say that I found Oz’s bubbly joy and entertainment response to the fall of Harvey Dent and her perception that the Dark Knight is used by conservatives to say it reflects conservative values and used by fake liberals to reflect fake liberal values, to be worth more than every political position of substance or illusion that Oz has brought up here.
You have a tendency to be very selection about your concerns.
You have to ask why Oz is worried about Palin more than McCain and Obama put together. As Oz claimed, Palin is going to make her vote Obama. So what does Sarah have that McCain lacks? The answer is simple. Sarah is a classical liberal that fights against the status quo of misery, corruption, and evil in the world, starting not from a position of power but from the basic foundations of human hierarchy. McCain is an old school Senator and been across and back again of the political aisle, so Oz sees no danger in him turning up a whole paradigm.
The second question of import you should consider, Deana, is why would Obama be a solution to Sarah unless Obama is the antithesis of fighting evil, corruption, abuse of power, and totalitarian leanings?
Oz paints Sarah as Bush to the 5th power. A religious totalitarian extremist that will bring, what, theocratic government if elected to the VP? And Obama will solve this because… Obama has “pastor problems” just like Sarah does, as claimed by Oz?
To a certain extent, what you see here are mutually exclusive brands and point of references. What makes this all make sense is what I worked out a few months ago. Here comes the thermodynamics lesson, now.
Entropy is the natural instinct of the universe to take “action” and “events” into a state of equilibrium. When you light a candle, you have conducted an act that led to an event. This event is now creating energy by shifting the chemical mass of the wax/wick into heat and other products. This leads to another event, which is a presence of heat. Heat reacts to colder surroundings by diffusing across a temperature difference. Heat goes to cold, cold goes to heat, and after awhile, everything reaches a uniform temperature, more or less, in an enclosed system (space).
Nihilism posits that the utopia and the state of perfection will only occur when equilibrium has been reached across all the possible actions that human beings can do and all the possible events that have occurred, are occurring, and will occur.
For example, take multiculturalism. By bringing down the grace and beauty of American culture, they are able to say that the diversity and recognition of every individual culture for their own benefits and detriments is the highest calling of the land. It is the “ideal”, you could say of multiculturalism. But that ideal requires the demolition and destruction of American culture, for American culture proves manifestly that all cultures cannot and should not be considered solely for their own individual “benefits” and “detriments”. Some cultures subsume whole others and their benefits thus out weigh parochial cultures and their detriments would also outweigh other less influential cultures. To prove their beliefs correct, everybody must conform to the same standard. Given American exception and how Americans constantly exceed the standards of their day, America must be cut down a few notches, don’t you think, Deana.
Another example is wealth redistribution. Redistributing people’s wealth to make things more “fair” and “even” is the same thing the universe does whenever something explodes. Heat and energy are concentrated in one spot, but all the rest of the surrounding spaces lack that heat and energy so the heat and energy gets naturally sucked into the void one way or another. THis is redistribution, Deana, except the nihilists have forwarded an ideological utopia that says perfection will come if this natural physical process is speeded up. And wealth redistribution is one way to “speed up” that process.
Work requires a concentration of energy in how it gets used up. The internal combustion engine concentrates fuel like gasoline, burns it, and then uses the expanding gases to drive pistols, which drives wheels, which drives the car, which transports you faster than you can run.
If you speed up entropy for its own sake, what you end up doing is diluting the energy available for work. This is the same as wealth redistribution. By distributing the wealth simply because distribution is a Good Thing ™ in your view, you are reducing the ability of individual Americans and the entirety of America in getting things done.
Once final entropy arrives in this universe, sometime after all the stars have burned themselves up and there is no spot in the universe that has a temperature difference of more than 1 degree above 0 Kelvin, then the ability of the universe to do work (whether that work is creating stars to create light to shine on planets which then produce sapient species) will be about as close to absolute zero as the ambient temperature.
Now it is time to get back to Oz and nihilism. I’ll address Danny’s comments now since it makes for a good re-introduction.
********
Reminds me of the selective half-truths and distortions that I heard Biden use in his debate last night (”we” kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon and Bush let them back in?). Like Biden, Ozzie throws them up like radar clutter, knowing there is far to much for us to sort through and therefore some is likely to stick. Biden, however, can rely upon a compliant MSM to give him cover.
Given the subject of whether Oz believes what Oz has pointed out to us, I am pretty certain Oz actually does believe most, if not all, of the things Oz has linked and quoted to. Oz has tried to claim that Oz has independent judgment on such things and don’t just repeat what Oz’s sources tell him to repeat, but I have yet to find evidence to back up such a claim in Oz’s numerous recent arguments.
What that means is that I don’t think Oz “throws them up like radar clutter”; what I think is that Oz is a nihilist, in whole or simply in part, on various subjects relating to American politics.
Oz plays out the argument the way Oz does because there’s no way to argue against 500 different people all speaking at the same time, even if those 500 people are saying mostly the same thing or have similar positions. Similar positions, however, don’t mean the same positions on all things. This means that if you want to out argue them, you have to research and prod and learn and so forth in order to get together a good counter-propaganda strategy that utilizes the enemy’s weakness and your strengths. In this respect, Oz is putting up a smoke screen. If Oz had posted Oz’s personal views on this subject in Oz’s own words, somebody like me could easily disassemble and de-construct it using any number of things Oz has said. It’s one reason why Oz’s reaction to Batman: The Dark Knight is so much more indicative of Oz’s real outlook than what Oz chooses to link to or not.
If you look at Harvey Dent, the angelic prosecutor out to fight crime, corruption, and disorder, as Sarah Palin, would you feel empathy for the Joker or would you feel that Harvey was more like your kind of ally and person?
Oz’s response, to give you the short version, is this:
“You may like tragedy, seeing evil triumph while the good are ineffective and being dumb about it. I don’t – Ymar
I like it when things are complex. Even Star Wars acknowledged man’s duality, which is one of the reasons it remains popular to this day.
Remember that scene where Harvey Dent was going to kill the Scarecrow and Batman stopped him? And said that the public would turn on him if they saw him killing a paranoid schitzophrenic?
Batman knew that Gotham needed a hero and tried everything he could to make sure that Harvey Dent stayed one.
In many ways, Dent’s observation that people either die heroes or live long enough to see themselves become villians is apt to all sorts of perspectives and situations. . . and it also paves the way for the next installment, which Aaron Eckhart has agreed to star in. ”
(Google Reader’s search feature is very effective, all in all)
I feel better about my fellow Americans reading the majority of responses — even if many thought the op-ed was from the Onion, and not the WSJ.
Oz also approved of the disbelief people had towards an article from the WSJ claiming that the Dark Knight provides a foundation for realistic and positive growth in American culture and policies by communicating to the audience certain values of intrinsic benefit.
Oz approved of how people rejected that article. Not because it had a bad argument or a weak one, but because it was just another nail in the coffin of progress. Progress towards something other than disorder and entropy, that is. The “dual nature of humanity” you may say. You either live long enough and become a Sarah Palin or Harvey Dent, where you become the enemy you ostensibly are claiming to fight, or you die, like those that have died in Iraq. Regardless of how Oz sees the point of this duality, it is quite obvious by now that Oz sees nothing that would ever come from such a duality other than misery and, surprisingly, entertainment for folks like Oz.
So what does Oz believe in, Danny? Does Oz believe that Sarah Palin has religious problems, thus making Oz vote for Obama, who Oz said also had “pastor problems”? Does Oz believe that McCain is a worst candidate for Oz’s interests than Obama? If Oz believed that, why did Oz say that Sarah has decided Oz for Obama when before Oz was saying Oz didn’t really care one way or another, since Oz was sitting on a fence, concerning Obama or McCain winning?
Either way you cut it, Danny, it doesn’t make sense. If Oz is an Obama supporter, certain things can be expected to be true and consistent. If Oz is a McCain supporter, certain things can be expected to be true and consistent. If Oz didn’t like McCain, it would have been apparent by now. If Oz didn’t like Obama, it would have been apparent by now. If Oz didn’t like Sarah Palin, it would have been obvious by now. And it is obvious by now. But the belief on Oz’s part that A Vice President Sarah Palin can change things to a such a degree that it overwhelms Oz’s antipathy towards both Obama and McCain is not a minor mark of inconsistency, Danny. It’s a major hole in reality.
As Deana noticed by now, Oz doesn’t really care about making the voting process more efficient and more ethical so that human beings can live better lives in the future and produce things of great beauty and technological sophistication for the next generation. Oz cares about one thing and that thing comes from Sarah Palin.
Such is the power of the woman that it polarizes all things into light and dark, order and disorder, law and chaos. It becomes a choice. Not a duality. A choice. ONe road or the other. Same as Frost’s poem. There is a fork in the road and you must choose. There is no such thing as duality there: only the single aspect of existence you will carry with you along the path you have chosen and sown.
You are either committed to the reconstruction of American politics, military security, civil rights, and economic prosperity or you are committed against it. Disorder and entropy has been slowed down. Rather, it would be slowed down with Sarah Palin in power, and not even in power as the President. Sarah Palin would concentrate people’s energies and use people’s differences to produce a whole greater than the sum of its parts. Compare this with an Obama who would exploit people’s differences, divide them up further, and create total chaos to disorder America’s sense of cultural and political unity.
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When I say Oz is a nihilist in whole or in part, while at the same time mentioning Obama’s efforts to increase the disorder and chaos in the lives of individual Americans defenseless against such an abuse of power and ideology, I in no way associate Obama’s political position/party with Oz. Nihilism is not a one size fits all ideology. Final entropy is simply the manufactured end result of nihilism. Some folks take one road to reach that destination and another person chooses another road. If they meet at the same place, what matters what they chose to do?
Nihilism as a personal philosophy, independent of the philosophy others have worked out on it like Nietzche, is a simple recognition that human beings would be better off divided against each other in anarchy, distrust, and “diverse” factions/cabals than they would be united under a political philosophy designed to make things better.
Obama has a political philosophy designed to make things better just like McCain and Sarah has. Obama’s philosophy just makes things better for himself and his wife by exploiting anybody weaker and less influential than he is.
Assume for a moment that you believe Sarah Palin would create this unity more than Obama would. Assume you believe in nihilism and are a servant of entropy. Wouldn’t you be against her and try to convince your fellow Americans that she is a religious nut, incompetent, and not very intelligent to boot? THis is totally independent of whether you are fronting for Obama. Obama polarizes just as Sarah does, but if Obama’s charisma and polarization are less than Sarah’s, then the primary threat is to ensure that Sarah is not put into power. And you do by that electing Obama.
You have a tendency to be very selection about your concerns.
Everybody has their priorities, Deana, even nihilists.
t’s all a big Republican/Conservative plot to subvert the system by going after an organization that does good work community organizing, an organization joined at the hip with Obama:
Oz wasn’t worried about Obama too much in the middle of this year. Why would she worry about Obama and his connections now?
A lot of Americans operate on the premise that people want what is good and positive for their nation. Nihilists don’t want what is “positive” at all: they just want complexity. Chaos provides a lot of complexity.
Against people that want what is good for America, then yes, Danny, something like ACORN’s connections with Obama might slow them down or even stop them in their tracks if they are supporting Obama.
However, if a certain individual didn’t care about the damage Obama or even McCain could do to the nation, based upon some philosophical half-rationalization derived from the principles of nihilism, then what matters is ensuring that Sarah Palin does not become a hero who either dies tragically and uselessly (like the Left thinks of Iraqi patriots and American patriots who die in the line of duty) or a hero that becomes corrupt.
But wait, why would Oz care about preventing Sarah’s corruption or even McCain and Obama’s corruption in office? That line would ostensibly be favorable to Obama supporters and Oz wasn’t an Obama supporter until recently.
So what is the fix? The fix, in my view, is that Oz may view, in theory at least, Sarah Palin as incorruptible. If somebody that is incorruptible goes into office and proves that heroes can accomplish Good and Lasting things, regardless of Democrat or Republican politics, then what does that say about Oz’s belief in complexity and the nihilism of at least 20% of the American population?
It would demonstrate that their “utopa” is a fiction, wouldn’t it. It would show their efforts to bring about diversity, diffusion, multiculturalism, and “complexity” as the self-destructive and fatalistic ideological extremism such efforts truly are.
Link
Here’s the link to the thread where Oz commented on The Dark Knight.
For reference, of course.