Posts filed under 'Rap on the Knuckles'
Could be more than you think.
One of the perks of this job is that people are always sending me links to intelligent authors conveying big ideas. Here’s one from last week I didn’t quite get up… The New York Times’ David Brooks comparing the Tea Party movement to the counterculture movement of the 1960’s:
…both the New Left and the Tea Party movement are radically anticonservative. Conservatism is built on the idea of original sin — on the assumption of human fallibility and uncertainty. To remedy our fallen condition, conservatives believe in civilization — in social structures, permanent institutions and just authorities, which embody the accumulated wisdom of the ages and structure individual longings.
That idea was rejected in the 1960s by people who put their faith in unrestrained passion and zealotry. The New Left then, like the Tea Partiers now, had a legitimate point about the failure of the ruling class. But they ruined it through their own imprudence, self-righteousness and naïve radicalism…
Brooks cites a piece by Michael Lind in Salon comparing Glenn Beck to Abbie Hoffman. Lind contrasts a counter-establishment with a counter-culture:
A counter-establishment publishes policy papers and holds conferences and its members endure their exile in think tanks and universities. In contrast, a counterculture refuses to acknowledge the legitimacy of the rules of the game that it has lost. Instead of moving toward the center, the counterculture heads for the fringes. Like a cult, it creates its own parallel reality, seceding from a corrupt and wicked society into morally and politically pure enclaves.
It’s the building up of parallel realities – maybe more than anything – that is devastating our civic dialog and our ability to make good decisions. Take David Brooks. If you lean right and you immediately think RINO when you hear me cite Brooks, you should know that people I know on the left, would roll their eyes and say “puleeze” if I suggested he ever wrote anything left of “Heil Hitler.”
If a conservative centrist columnist looks like a brown shirt to half of us and a commie pinko to the rest, we may just have a bit of trouble brewing…
(Photo credit.)
March 10th, 2010
A perfect expression of the stupidity in our politics:
“When times are tough, you tighten your belts. You don’t go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage. You don’t go blow a bunch of money on Vegas when you’re trying to save for college. You prioritize.” —Obama at a town hall meeting
After Obama’s first Vegas jab, about a year ago, Mayor Oscar Goodman (D) demanded an apology, and Reid reassured everyone in a Senate floor speech that he had spoken with Rahm Emanuel about it, and that the comments were more about executives than Vegas…then Reid proceeded to trumpet low Vegas hotel rates in the Senate chamber.
Now, Goodman (who has since left the Democratic Party to become an independent) is all over Obama again, saying that “an apology won’t be acceptable this time…
“I want to assure you when he comes I will do everything I can to give him the boot back to Washington and to visit his failures back there,” Goodman said. Obama will reportedly campaign for Reid in Nevada this month.
Reid, meanwhile, stuck up for his home state, issuing a statement that he had asked the president to “lay off” Vegas.
(Photo credit.)
February 3rd, 2010
Putting aside for a moment the debate about whether those charged with terrorism should be tried in a civil or military court, whether they should kept at Guantanamo or in an American prison, Gail Collins makes a strong case in today’s New York Times that the “cult of me” took the steering wheel in the decision making:
Last November, the Justice Department announced that the terror trial of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed would be held in Manhattan. Almost everyone in New York rallied around. This was seen as standing up to terrorism. “It is fitting that 9/11 suspects face justice near the World Trade Center, where so many New Yorkers were murdered,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Now everything’s flipped. The politicians are running for the hills, and the issue has been repackaged as standing up to traffic jams. “There are places that would be less expensive for the taxpayers and less disruptive,” said Bloomberg.
And the Justice Department is backing down. The trial will happen somewhere else. People in Lower Manhattan will breathe a sigh of relief.
But this feels very wrong.
The Bloomberg rebellion fits right into the sour, us-first mood that’s settled over the country. It’s part of the same impulse that caused Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska to decree that a historic overhaul of the country’s messed-up health care system was not going to happen unless his home state got a special exemption from sharing the costs.
Or the Not-in-My-Backyard uprising that followed President Obama’s attempt to move the Guantánamo prisoners into American maximum-security lockups. No matter how remote the prison, local politicians said that the danger was too great to bear. Both of Montana’s Democratic senators immediately decreed that their entire state was a no-go zone. Rudy Giuliani, who watched “in awe of our system” when terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui was convicted in a civilian court in Virginia, instantly attacked the plans for the Manhattan trial…
It’s all part of a cult of selfishness that decrees it’s fine to throw your body in front of any initiative, no matter how important, if resistance looks more profitable.
Isn’t the America we value one where we are willing to work hard and sacrifice something for a higher purpose than ourselves?
Are we still that country?
January 30th, 2010
“On the heels of our victory over a year ago, there were some who suggested that somehow we had entered into a post-racial America. All those problems would be solved. There were those who argued that because I had spoke of a need for unity in this country that our nation was somehow entering into a period of post-partisanship. That didn’t work out… so well… “ --President Barack Obama
January 18th, 2010
I’m watching Countdown, Lawrence O’Donnell subbing for Olbermann, and I’ve decided I’m giving two Village Square raps on the knuckles:
Rap #1. Rudy Guilianni who managed to utterly defy – uh – reality in suggesting that no terrorist attacks akin to the underwear bomber and Ft. Hood occurred on American soil during the Bush administration (they did). It would be an entirely different thing if Rudy argued the differences in philosophy, but it is hoohah that we can draw wide conclusions on success of policy based on comparing incidences of terrorism in each administration at this juncture (especially if we can’t actually count).
Rap #2. Host Lawrence O’Donnell, in covering this story, for saying that Guilianni “now makes a living on the blood of 9/11 victims by pretending to be an expert.” These are escalating words that, once out of the ole mouth, can’t be undone. Shame on you.
Get ready for the other shoe. Sure as night follows day, it will drop. That’s how it goes with children on the playground. And then another shoe (and so on).
January 8th, 2010
A new NBC News and Wall Street Journal poll asked if 2009 was a period of unity or division. The only surprise in the result is that 12% of respondents actually said unity. (Perhaps the percentage of Americans without a TV set?) Even more disturbing is that at the beginning of the year, a full half of us thought it was a time of unity. What a year.
Plus “division” is a vanilla description of 2009.
Croquet balls turned hedgehogs and hookah-smoking caterpillars have nothing on the year we’ve just spent in the good ole US of A. Speaking as someone who was adequately alarmed about the sump-pump depths of our civic dialog waaay back in the spring of 2006 to go to all the trouble to form The Village Square, where we stand now is nearly unfathomable.
We kicked off the year with a run on ammo given the impending presidency of Barack Obama, despite the utter and complete absence of any indication that Obama had any intention of taking anyone’s guns.
We moved directly from there into the full-force swing of the birther movement, with duly elected and previously apparently sane representatives giving winks and nods to the idea that our president was actually some sort of Muslim Manchurian candidate, verified birth certificate and fact-be-damned.
Somewhere along the way we passed the White Rabbit late to the Mad Hatter’s tea party to find that we actually have an elected president looking to take down America, capitalism, our whole way of life and probably apple pie to boot.
It’s no wonder that with all this hoo-hah about, when it was time to debate the daunting national issue of health care, we just couldn’t manage. When it was time to bring our A-game, instead we flunked out.
Civil discourse is a muscle and 2009 found it atrophied from lack of use.
Is it possible to revive a conservative party ready to make a cogent argument that has a possibility of reaching people who don’t already agree with them? Because while it appears that President Obama isn’t trying to take your guns, isn’t secretly foreign-born, isn’t trying to bring America to its knees, it is entirely possible that he is one thing that needs serious discussion: Wrong. But the opposition party, too busy poisoning the well with arguments that make them look like 60’s hippies on an acid trip haven’t really cohesively made that argument in a way that the rest of us can hear.
And while we’re at it, before liberals build a hermetically sealed media environment to rival the Fox News and talk radio empires they might want to pause to rethink. Picture Keith Olbermann’s special comments with about 15 years to percolate, and then decide if that’s ultimately good or bad for America. If the amen chorus of conservatism hasn’t really advanced a good conservative argument you’re apt to listen to, why in the world do you think that a conservative will ever listen to a liberal one wrapped in a different flavor of the same indignant fury?
In our current Adventure through Wonderland, we’ve reached the part in the story where the feuding self-righteous and uninformed are playing the role of the Queen of Hearts with her hair trigger “off with their heads” impulse. Its hard not to wonder how far real violence is behind.
It’s well past time we wake from our yearlong dream and put away childish behavior and fantasy.
Because in 2010, we’ve got a country to run.
December 18th, 2009
Sing a song of seasons! Something bright in all!
Flowers in the summer, Fires in the fall! – Robert Louis Stevenson
“It’s time to water the tree of Liberty” read the sign carried by a protester at one of President Obama’s recent town-hall events. The quote, taken from Thomas Jefferson, reads:
“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with blood of patriots and tyrants,” the same quote worn on the shirt of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh the day of the bombing. Not to mention the gentleman holding the sign had also brought a gun with him to the event. Apparently that’s what we’ve come to nowadays.
Which reminds me of the woman who had the audacity to accuse Jewish member of the House of Representatives Barney Frank of supporting Obama’s Hitler policies. “What planet do you spend most of your time” was Frank’s response, but that is probably the PG version of what he really wanted to say. That pales in comparison to the people carrying signs depicting Obama as Hitler. Trivializing such evil is an insult to the millions who suffered and died by his order.
On MSNBC’s “Meet The Press” David Gregory asked Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn about the Tree of Liberty quote. “I’m troubled any time when we stop having confidence in our government,” the senator said, “but we’ve earned it.”
I believe there is something very serious going on here.
There is a fire burning. In April the Department of Homeland Security issued a report, originally commissioned by the Bush administration, on the rising threat of violent right-wing extremism. It was ridiculed by conservatives, including the Republican National Commitee chairman Michael Steele, who called it “the height of insult.” Since the report, a neo-Nazi and Obama “birther” murdered a guard at the Holocaust museum in Washington and an anti-abortion radicalist gunned down a doctor on the steps of his church in Wichita, Kansas.
There has been a simmering undertone of violence in American politics since last October when then Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin did nothing to condemn the calls of “terrorist” and “off with his head” at her rallies. Frank Rich of the New York Times describes the uptick of violence as a panic about a new era of cultural and demographic change. “As the sociologist Daniel Bell put it, ‘What the right as a whole fears is the erosion of its own social position, the collapse of its power, the increasing incomprehensibility of a world — now overwhelmingly technical and complex — that has changed so drastically within a lifetime.’”
There is a war going on and its target is not just Democratic ideas or liberal ideology, but the ideals and values our nation was founded on. Republicans deserve partial blame for not offering a voice of peace and reason. Conservative columnist Kathleen Parker suggests that when the Hitler comparisons come on, the cameras should go off.
Let’s hope that cooler minds prevail.
Luke Inhen is a graduate student at Florida State University in political science. If you’re interested in submitting a column from anther perspective (must be civil) you may make a submission to thecrier@tothevillagesquare.org).
(Photo credit.)
August 25th, 2009
Following up on yesterday’s post touching on the dangers of excessive rhetoric…
Here’s the story of conservative radio host Hal Turner. Turner was arrested last week for advocating violence.
Here’s a sampling from his website:
Tonight at 9:00 PM, “The Hal Turner Show” will talk about the recent killing of an abortionist and what the shooter did wrong. No, not the shooting itself; but rather what he did wrong that got him caught! We’ll talk at length about how to carry out such an act and significantly reduce the chances of getting caught. Lets face it; America is in big trouble and only force and violence are going to clean it up. Tonight, we’ll talk about how to use force and violence and not get caught.
Reacting to U.S. Court of Appeals decision that upheld a Chicago firearm ban, Turner posted pictures, office addresses, a map and a picture of the building with arrows pointing to the offices of the three judge panel, saying that home addresses were soon to follow.
Then there was this (the “straw” on the arrest warrent) just a few posts down (link added):
TRN advocates Catholics in Connecticut take up arms and put down this tyranny by force. To that end, THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT ON “THE HAL TURNER SHOW” we will be releasing the home addresses of the Senator and Assemblyman who introduced Bill 1098 as well as the home address of Thomas K. Jones from the OSE. After all, if they are so proud of what they’re doing, they shouldn;t mind if everyone knows where they live. It is our intent to foment direct action against these individuals personally. These beastly government officials should be made an example of as a warning to others in government: Obey the Constitution or die. If any state attorney, police department or court thinks they’re going to get uppity with us about this; I suspect we have enough bullets to put them down too.
Apparently this is nothing new for Mr. Turner. From 2006 during the debate on immigration reform and amnesty, posted on Mr. Turner’s website:
ANY MEMBER OF CONGRESS WHO INTRODUCES, CO-SPONSORS OR VOTES IN FAVOR OF ANY SUCH AMNESTY WILL BE DECLARED A DOMESTIC ENEMY AND WILL BE CONSIDERED A LEGITIMATE TARGET FOR ASSASSINATION.
June 9th, 2009
Purple State of Mind’s John Marks calls polarization “the most inscrutable American growth industry of them all.”
“…the industry that depends for its survival on your constant sense of outraged alienation from fellow citizens, neighbors and family members. It’s the industry that pits you in competition every waking hour of your day and in every walk of your life against complete strangers as a means to generate profits.
Never heard of the polarization business? That’s because the polarizers don’t want to be seen as a business. To continue to thrive, their domain has to be seen as a marketplace of ideas, a savvy, street-wise entertainment, a spirited debate. In fact, at its heart, it’s none of those things. To paraphrase Tony Soprano, and every other pop culture gangster who ever lived, when Newt Gingrich calls Judge Sonya Sotomayor a racist, it’s not personal. It’s not even politics. It’s business, plain and simple, and it has been for years.
But here’s the catch. It’s a business that depends for its success upon journalists, bloggers, and the general public buying and selling the product under the guise of politics. The price of entry is believing the lie. That’s the part that Tony Soprano would most appreciate, I think, the beauty of a perfect deception.
Once we’ve shifted our focus a bit, it’s easy enough to see how the polarization business works. Like anything large and complex in nature, it functions as an ecosystem.
Provocative, offensive, incendiary statements are best seen as rain. They must fall for the crops to grow. Without offending statements, the bloggers have no opinions, and the twenty-four-hour cable networks have no stories, unless a child is savagely murdered, a good-looking woman vanishes or a storm kicks the groin of a coast line…
Here’s the deal. We are being stimulated by a colossal, nerveless, anger machine that doesn’t care whether we whip ourselves into a frenzy or blow ourselves apart. It lives only to gorge itself on the proceeds of our rage, and yet we have begun to think of this machine as if it were somehow synonymous with our democracy.
One last time: It’s not. It’s mostly just big-ass business. Wake up, America, and smell the coffee–or is that the smell of your own manufactured fury making someone else rich?”
May 30th, 2009
Friends of mine, sadly, were robbed last week in what was an amazingly brazen daylight robbery. The stolen TV was a 40th birthday gift for one of the more dear husbands I know. I hope these criminals get caught and go to jail.
Luckily, my friends are very smart friends and they have the robbers on videotape. The Tallahassee Democrat wrote about the robbery and posted the video.
As if this story didn’t already say too much about what’s wrong with human beings, a look through the comments on The Democrat’s story will put you over the edge. Here’s just a wee sample:
1. Suspect # 2 is “Bubba” from “Forrest Gump!!! I’m sure they’re all fine, upstanding FSU football players. With the economic downturn, Uncle Bobby can’t afford those dorm perks anymore.
2. it looks like that perp on holirottenwoods vidio, kinda looks like holirottenwood, sh*t ,just throw them all in jail, so they can hang out with their buddies and stop 90% of the crime.
3. the problem is that you can find, for each one of these “fine, upstanding young men of their community,” at least 50 or so copies (in terms of looks) in Frenchtown.
4. TDO is not going to stop Frank987 [from posting white supremacist videos] because they AGREE with him. Watch how quickly TDO removes this [a video of Mike Wallace confronting Louis Farrakhan].
I called my poor robbed friend about this horrible online dialog; turns out she was similarly sickened. She had something to say about it…
the problem i have with these individuals is that they STOLE something from my home, it is not about their skin color. it is the choices they made and NOT their ethnic heritage that makes them criminals. i think the people who are making disparaging comments about AN ENTIRE RACIAL community are STEALING something of infinite worth from that community in the same way that these three individuals stole something of much less value from us…
i wish i had a camera on the computer of the folks who type in those hateful comments so that we could show their photos as well. and we might catch some of them with the pants down also…
Maybe the worst part of this story is that this sort of dialog is really the standard disturbing filth than seems to be the coin of the realm in online “community” (and I use that word only because I have to). If it isn’t people hating because of color (same ick whichever direction), it’s people hating because of ethnicity or people hating because of political affiliation.
We have this amazing technological tool we could use to make this world a better place (uh, we could start by trying to catch these guys) and instead we spew hate.
Way to go.
May 18th, 2009
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