WTF?!
This is not going to be one of my usual light-hearted posts. It won’t be peppered with sarcasm or photoshopped snark. It is meant to be a serious message, and I hope to God we can all stop the clock for a moment and really think about this.
We’ve all blown our stack over the “You didn’t build that!” remark for various reasons; we’ve been insulted and outraged and have shouted back “Yes we DID, Moron!” and then went back to our lives, satisfied by the reclamation of our identities. In spite of that, an uncomfortable rumbling persists. It makes me uneasy, and I feel as if the ground has shifted beneath my feet ever so slightly. My antennae are up searching for the source of that pervasive “Oh shit – here it comes!” feeling that I just can’t shake.
The implication that our individual accomplishments are not our own but instead, the result of a collective (composite?) society could be the early stirrings of “Transforming America” as described by Barack Obama in 2007 (see link). It is a dangerous path to tread and I fear that as this campaign season labors on, that message of a collective society will be so oft repeated that it will accepted as an inevitability.
COLLECTIVISM
According to Encyclopædia Britannica, “collectivism has found varying degrees of expression in the 20th century in such movements as socialism, communism, and fascism.
The least collectivist of these is social democracy, which seeks to reduce the perceived injustices of unrestrained capitalism by government regulation, redistribution of income, and varying degrees of planning and public ownership.
In Communist systems collectivist economics are carried to their furthest extreme, with a minimum of private ownership and a maximum of planned economy.” (emphasis mine)
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COLLECTIVISM VS INDIVIDUALISM
OK, now I know why I’m so uneasy… Ayn Rand was very vocal about the disparity between Collectivism vs Individualism. In a nutshell,
- Collectivism means the subjugation of the individual to a group—whether to a race, class or state does not matter. Collectivism holds that man must be chained to collective action and collective thought for the sake of what is called “the common good.”
- Collectivism holds that, in human affairs, the collective—society, the community, the nation, the proletariat, the race, etc.—is the unit of reality and the standard of value. On this view, the individual has reality only as part of the group, and value only insofar as he serves it.
- Collectivism holds that the individual has no rights, that his life and work belong to the group . . . and that the group may sacrifice him at its own whim to its own interests. The only way to implement a doctrine of that kind is by means of brute force—and statism has always been the political corollary of collectivism.
- The political philosophy of collectivism is based on a view of man as a congenital incompetent, a helpless, mindless creature who must be fooled and ruled by a special elite with some unspecified claim to superior wisdom and a lust for power.
I don’t take this lightly. The President’s campaign message lauding a collective society vilifies not only his opponent but by extension, those of us who don’t agree with his message. The attack is focused on citizens who have enjoyed the deserved rewards and success that hard work can bring, and the solution is to re-distribute the resources of our labor by the government to others that they deem deserving.
We are now told that individual success is not a reflection of any one person’s ‘grit’ or work ethic; rather, it is the the collective society that has made our success possible – not the individual. In short, without Collectivism, we would be nothing.The operative and subliminal message is “those who have worked hard to improve their own standard of living are being selfish, and need to pay more to the government so we can support those who cannot or will not work.” Dude – seriously??
I’m done now. I’m still uneasy, perhaps more so. I still hear that rumbling. I hope we can preserve our individual identities in an orderly and lawful fashion. The alternative would be devastating.
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Filed under: Looking Out For Yourself, New World Order, Socialism & Communism Watch
--Graphic by Freedom Fairy
"This is not culture. This is not custom. This is criminal."
I hear you but collectivism has always been here genderwise. Men still dress uniformly and bond at many levels, while church/state encourage and reward women to compete with each other so they will not bond with each other.
Law still is spoken and written in the male pronoun as are religious dieties. While true that women have advanced, it has been painful for those in the front of any movement and difficult to maintain because of the force of the collective.
Twandx, those are keen observations about sexism in our society. I appreciate your concerns and share your dissatisfaction with the status quo, which I agree is unfair. Thank you for bringing it up. Perhaps I’ll write a post about that some day.
This post, however, is about a specific remark made by the POTUS that represents an ideology that is contrary to everything our country stands for. The public conversation about it was pre-empted for the entire weekend by the media, and I wrote this post in an attempt to bring it back into the public forum. I would love to hear what readers think about that topic.
I don’t think this is the type of collectivism he’s talking about. I think he is talking about the terrible 180 on rewards for success. In fact, it’s a collectivism that conjures up “From Each According To His Ability, To Each According to His Need” and that is one frightening thought, because I am not particularly fond of the Failure known as Karl Marx. It means every time you bust your ass, you do it for everybody else, including people who never get off their asses. This would affect men and women in the very same way. No gender gets the free ride when they have all they have earned yanked from them and redistributed to the government to give to Whomever. In fact, we are fighting that very thing when we are upset that our tax money goes to richest people. This doesn’t mean that we should just switch and give it to the laziest people either. If this circle were to complete itself, the assigning of your work by the government can’t be far behind. Because there is no such thing as a free lunch and I hope all those people who are looking to take money out of others’ pockets realize that. If not, they will realize it when they re working in the potato field with their other comrades, wondering how the F we got here. It means favored people get favored jobs. So behave yourself. It means, No, We Don’t Think You Should Be A Teacher or Engineer or (fill in the blank), we need you here instead. It is the death of individualism in every way, shape and form. When you are stripped of your ability to grow financially and use your earned money for your own self and fmily first, you have been stripped of Individualism and ambition forever.
The interesting thing about this horrid mentality is that, the very people who think it is a terrific idea are the same people who don’t think it’s such a hot idea when it affects them.
I am reminded of two things. One is a 2008 post I did that was very funny at the time, but disturbingly presicient. See:
http://uppitywoman08.wordpress.com/2008/11/07/okay-students-gather-around-little-comrades-and-comradesses/
The second thing I am reminded of follows in the video below. Anthony has a real and papable fear we have never had to face because, previous to this creature we have in the white house, we had presidents who loved America and understood our Exceptionalism and our Republic and our American Dream.
Here’s the revealing video of Let’s YOu give Me Stuff but Don’t Expect Me To Give You Stuff.
OOOps we must have been typing concurrently, Anthony.
I was told by someone who works for a local news outlet that the White House was going to walk this issue back over the weekend. I guess it took them until this morning to come up with
the propagandaa perspective.The official talking points will be that anyone who criticizes the “You didn’t build that” speech is being unfair and silly.
Silly.
That’s the best they could come up with?
I too am concerned that an important momentum was interrupted. All sides will be testing what can be gotten away with now. Not only that, but the creep was desperate enough to condescend to sound American while in Aurora. However, IMO the veil lifted does have staying power if Romney will bring it back today. I can equate the clairvoyance I experienced during his Irwin PA speech with that of Sarah Palin’s address at the RNC convention. It is a substantial realization.
I peeked to see what had been written as I struggled to type what my mind really meant lol and see that it’s all silly. I think Mitt can handle a great response to that claim.
“If you are carrying an A in this class, you are making others feel intellectually inferior.” Is that not the suppress tactic that induces young girls to choose between getting good grades or letting the boys “like” them?
I agree, but will add that WE have to bring it back into the national conversation. WE have to bring it back into the conversation at the dinner table, the food store checkout lines, the lunch counters, anywhere that we have the occasion to discuss this in a way that makes an impact. Thank you for seeing this, Pamela.
It is a suppress tactic that induces anyone to not strive to excel; to not stand out from the pack, to not strive at all. It is what EST called “deconstruction”, which eradicated individual identity and induced “group think” which was directed by one person
AnnA, does your statement assume there are no boys on earth who carry A averages? Because as a former teacher, I definitely disagree.
There probably isn’t a more, as a certain asshole calls me, “Radical” or “Militant” Feminist on this blog than me. And even I can see this is NOT about gender.
LOL on caling it “Silly”. That’s just plain silly but I do hope they go with it, as it will piss people who took offense off even more, since it implies that objecting to being forced to give up everything you worked for is “Silly”.
Mika already called it “silly” on Morning Joe today. After her iPhone dinged with the daily talking points.
Just sayin’…..
Collectivism becomes “State Capitalism” where the Party elites enjoy decent life at the expense of the masses who wait in bread lines and suffer winters in unheated, crowded flats, Soviet Union style. That’s what we see today as Pelosi gets the cold shoulder. http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/capitol/pelosi_abandoned_just_like_obama_KrhYfWPVhrCI2vmC5AYLcK Why should members pay to get IT re-elected when THEY’RE all going down?
Well, as I think in retrospect about what AnnA said, the answer is YES, it IS used on girls. OFten. But it’s the the point of this post methinks. The point is the danger of losing America and everything she has stood for to the reincarnation of Karl Marx without a beard.
It has been so clear from the start, so In Your Face since he became president, that Barack Obama wants to remove the Great America Experiment and replace it with Collectivism, which by any other name is still Socialism.
Pelosi is getting the cold shoulder from Democrats (of both genders) because they are up for re-election and being aligned with Obama and Pelosi’s agenda is not going to work for them.
Pelosi, I might point out, was the most aggressive in kicking the ladder out from beneath Hillary Clinton in 2008. I have no sympathy for her. This “jumping ship” transcends gender.
Property ownership has already been attacked. See Eminent Domain. And schools are front and center teaching collectivism. See Grading On A Curve. What city was in in the mid west, where they removed legos from a classroom because it taught kids “The evil of private property ownership”? We have kids coming out the Bill Ayers System of Marxism (he is worshipped by many teachers, his books are widespread) and he is an ADMITTED marxist.
Pelosi doesn’t care because her braindead entitled district will always reelected her.
She IS the CLASSIC ladder kicker. God knows I have known enough of them to reocgnize her. The Nancys of the USA will always do damage to women.
No, UW, that was not my intent. The quote was from the 2008 article you linked … It’s not about gender, but, rather, the social pressure that calls us off our winners to preserve our friendships. I’ve worked in Study Groups where the excellent males were open to my contributions and I shared equally in the group’s results. I’ve also worked on sales staffs where my sales were given to my first-out-the-door colleagues who complained that my sales were the result of my “territory” while they needed to be paid my commissions or they’d leave. The same idiocy came from high maintenance customers who kept my entire staff off balance with their demands. I learned that with the energy I saved by letting the mediocre follow through on their threats, I could pick up three new customers who didn’t subject me to unrelenting criticism intended to destroy my self image.
Yeah Anthony, and I’ll bet Andrew Sullivan tweeted it too.
Mika, beloved Apple of a Jihadist lover. She probably would be selling shoes at Payless if her daddy wasn’t ZBig.
With ads like the one in this post, they can yell SILLY all they want.
ALL of the WH minions of any gender will be tweeting the “Unfair and Silly” meme. I’ll bet ten bucks (now worth $6.80) that Chrissy McTingle will have spit flying out of his mouth again tonight, attacking those of us in our right minds with those same talking points.
There is inequity in many areas of our culture. The Collectivism that I speak of in this post will remove any chance we have to right any of those wrongs. Once the idea is hammered home and the sheeple accept the idea that it is inescapable, we’re all screwed – men and women alike. How do we stop the momentum? By talking about it (while we still have a First Amendment).
Do I think Romney is the white knight that will right all wrongs? Hell to the no. But I do think that what we need is damage control after the past four years, which is better than what we would get if we “hold our nose and vote” for Obama. I’ve dug very deep into Romney’s record both in public service and the private sector, and see an ethical standard that I believe in and imo is trustworthy. And believe me when I say I’ve left no stone unturned.
Here’s the spirit: “the Obama Administration and the media should study what Bain did and how it did it.”
That’s Herman Cain. I’ve stayed in touch with him and he has penned the most awesome defense of Romney. It is in an email today, and also at a site which you can find if you want, and I DO recommend looking. I’ve also tweeted it.
Unfortunately Herman is an asshole. Other than that, he’s fine.
When I think of Tweetie, I question why showering before going on air is not a requirement on that network.
You didn’t built that got too much traction and mileage for them to erase it. Sorry, but no cigar. This one is sticking to him. There are now companies out there who do LOCAL news writing for papers, prompting little need for too many physcial reporters any longer.
I was struck by the sanctimonious views Mika expressed about the Penn State scandal. How does she feel no discomfort at the corollary? The same harsh (death penalty) punishment she advocates for the Nittany Lions program is coming at her and those who carried Obama over the finish line when he, himself, had collapsed. Back in the day, the Associated Press spent the money to develop the news wires and TV Journalists evolved into the sort of super models Ms Bryzynski wants to be. They “re-tweat” the stories that come over the wire. During my years selling syndicated news features, I heard plenty of managing editors admit they weren’t thrilled about ‘farming out” all their news coverage to the AP. But their dues to the wire services forced them to get their money’s worth out of the features in order to keep their access to the world news. By the way, the “in-house wires” were the predecessors of the internet. UPI and AP employees could make their side jokes on any story running in real time, to every news staff subscribing to the feed. If some of their material would have gotten out to the public, the course of history would most certainly have altered. Be sure, their humor is black, dark, scintillating, hilarious but too “true” for most.
Pamela, I think they did study what Bain did – that’s why they’re trying to define it as a negative. I think Cain’s email might inspire others to look into Bain and neutralize the
brainwashingmessage that the re-election campaign is trying to hammer homePriceless.
I don’t know how much of Bain was leveraged buyouts. But if you set those aside, what Bain was doing was taking sinking ships that owners wanted to dump before they went belly up……and either saving the ones that had profit promise or dumping the ones that didn’t. In other words, these companies were already circling the drain. The companies that were closed had assets that were liquidated for profit by the owners, old or new. Happens every day.
AnnA, unfortunately Cable News is not under the same scrutiny or expected to follow the guidelines that (real) journalists are expected to follow. They are considered “entertainment and opinion” programs, which gives them the same latitude as any other half-assed clown who has the time and money to get a slot on a network.
I would have loved to have been where you were during that time. I could only imagine what went on behind the scenes
Anthony, you hit the nail on the head with this article. Before the election many of us thought Obama was true to socialism.
You could have a company where the employees are happy as clams and if you are losing money, you are going to either close the doors or sell out and get somebody else to do the same dirty work. The assumption here that ANYONE goes into business to be employment agencies even if they are losing money is just plain silly.
Thanks, WLM. I was among you, and very outspoken about this throughout both the primary and general election campaigns. I ain’t stopping now!
Silly is Obama’s favorite word to belittle. Remember when he called Wasilla, AK, Wasilly? I don’t think Obama can walk back “you didn’t build that.” It’s out there, and I hope he gets clobbered with it every day until Nov. 6th.
AnnA, I have a story on the back burner about even more outsourcing of news writing. The press that gave outsourcing a pass because it wouldn’t affect them, are about to feel the sting.
Anthony, my job, and many others, were the product of Ted Turner putting Channel 17 on the satellite. His traditional staff didn’t really hit paydirt untill Ted launched CNN. You build the next generation of mass media by accepting how many boats you missed by hopping on a train.
lyn, remember when Obama would say It’s Silly Season to belittle Hillary.
He is such a piece of arrogant snotty shit.
“He is such a piece of arrogant snotty shit.”
That’s why I am amazed that women would vote for the bastard.
UW, it’s not just the outsourcing. It’s Network “Stars” commanding movie star compensation that drains the well for the talent who produce the local news. When half the local news is the same video they will show later on the Network News, you’re not serving your market. I believe it was Colin Powell’s son, Michael, whose well-intended loosening of license requirements removed the firewalls between television and newspapers, eliminating competition and public input that would have tempered corporate takeover of the “news.” Citizens’ input kept the news honest when the advertising departments were trying to get better rates via ratings.
Spot on the agenda Anthony. You have email.
It’s not their talent, it’s their access, for which the Obama Administration makes them pay. That’s what was so significant about the White House Press Corps defending Fox News a couple of years ago. These people know perfectly well what the ‘rules’ are, yet they are forced to “pay to play” as kharma for skirting the rules that put the thug in office. Each time they have to eat a question, a story, a “scoop,” they get that bad taste in their mouth for the complicity they never stopped. They get the best seats in the house by virtue of their press credentials but behave as though they fear their passes will evaporate if they report objectively.
Uppity, I think your concerns are valid and your article, timely.
A few years ago I took a number of graduate courses in the social science field. In every course the themes of diversity, oppression of minority cultures by the dominate culture, and social justice were the focus.
In these courses, all of the injustices in the world, throughout history were blamed on everyone of European descent. The white,European descendants in America – both of the past and present – were considered particularly heinous. The issues of the slavery and displacement and slaughter of indigenous peoples of this land were of course, addressed. I’m not making light of these injustices. Obviously, they were horrific. But, this was not even the primary concern.
The real meat of the courses was the inferior attitudes and selfishness of the white Americans, as compared to African Americans. A primary difference, according to these texts, was the fact that while the selfish whites valued individualism above all else, the African Americans valued collectivism. Of course, in the view of these texts, collectivism was about the greater good, while individualism was about selfishness and independence.
There was no discussion of the unique value that each concept brings to a culture – only that collectivism was wise and good – while the individualism of the oppressive white European Americans was selfish and bad. No thought was given to the fact that independent individualists of all cultures had conceived of ideas, products, inventions, and other break-throughs which had greatly improved the lives of everyone.
The discussion focusing on the condemnation of individualistic, oppressive, Europeans led then, to the discussion of social justice, which apparently, in current thought means – If you’re white, you owe everyone else who isn’t because, you oppressive bastards, you are to blame for every negative thing that ever happened to a person of color. So, you get busy and work your oppressive asses off so that you can pay every person of color back for all the shit you and your family have done.
As I said, these were social science courses, and it was not so surprising that these concepts would be featured in the course work to a reasonable extent – not distorted, propagandized, and used to beat every white individual over the head with. However, as I have inquired of people in other fields of study, I have found that the diversity and social justice themes are relatively prominent in the fields of art, public relations, and design – I’m sure in others, as well. I just happen to know about these particular fields.
On important thing I noticed in the text books for the social science courses – they all condemned Bill Clinton for passing Welfare Reform. I’m not talking about in one or two text books, but in many.
Sorry this post is so long, but I really feel it’s important to put together all of the pieces of the effort to create this shift in attitude – this condemnation of everything related to traditional America as selfish and oppressive. It’s disturbing. Most of us here consider ourselves to be liberals, and have supported racial equality and civil rights – fought for them. I do, and have, as well. So, please do not interpret this comment as racist. It is assuredly, not.
But, as these messages ( both subtle and obvious) of “collectivism is good and right, while individualism is wrong and oppressive” increasingly appear in television programming, in discussions by MSM , and in other popular media, it has become apparent that there is a real focus on shifting thought – preparing the way for a different value system.
Notice it in the new show “The News Room” – which I like and enjoy. But, there clearly is an agenda. How smart the writers were to make the star a Republican. It serves as a great cover for him to criticize some Dems (as the show did Bill Clinton) yet, also makes him seem human and concerned when he is touting collectivism over individuality.
I hope I’m not being paranoid, and I’ve never been one to believe in conspiracy theories, but I agree, Uppity, the winds of change – they are a-blowing. And, my sense is that the current change efforts aren’t intended to make us greater.
OT: Egypt launches full veil tv channel
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18932212
“He didn’t invent iron ore and blast furnaces, did he?”
“Who?”
“Rearden. He didn’t invent smelting and chemistry and air compression. He couldn’t have invented his Metal but for thousands and thousands of other people. His Metal! Why does he think it’s his? Why does he think it’s his invention? Everybody uses the work of everybody else. Nobody ever invents anything.”
She said, puzzled, “But the iron ore and all those other things were there all the time. Why didn’t anybody else make that Metal, but Mr. Rearden did?”
–Ayn Rand,
“Atlas Shrugged”
Anthony very good post and you are spot on; O’s statement does bring into sharp focus what this campaign is about. Unfortunately, there is already quite a large segment of our population that embraces collectivism and it’s twin social justice to some degree or entirely. I won’t get off into the weeds as to why that is, but suffice it to say we should all challenge those we know as to what their ideals and vision for this country are……make them think.
As far as keeping this statement in the forefront, I think that is going to be up to bloggers. The Romney camp has proven time and again they prefer “play it safe”, so I don’t see them pounding this unless it continues to be “out there”. This statement and subsequent news coverage was initially brought to the forefront by bloggers and if it is going to be reprised then it must start with bloggers and with each of us. Perhaps we should all make it a point to engage X number of people in a conversation about O’s statement, its meaning, the ramifications and the American way of life.
Jo Freespirit you are 100% correct about how this has permeated our educational system.
We are teaching our youth of all ages this tripe. We have an entire generation coming of age that was educated with text books rife with this social justice crap.
It is certainly a subject worthy of its own post.
JoFreespirit: you summed up what has been confounding us for ten years. It’s all out there, but it takes an extra “god particle” to connect the dots, pull all the information from varied sources into a conclusion reached in time to prevent disaster. The internet, the bloggers, the “scorned” who have recovered equilibrium and are determined to benefit from the lessons their failures taught them find the interactive momentum to get it right. But they are wiser now and take each step cautiously, with respect for the damage a rash, spurious accusation could do to their carefully constructed proposition.
Here’s an op-ed that has a similar argument to Anthony’s. h/t helenK
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/build-article-1.1116360
Somebody: the Romney camp is the quintessential demonstration of good business. They aren’t interested in the obscure, artsy ideas. They go with what has legs and don’t artificially drive the story to serve their agenda. They take their cue from the buyers who confirm their convictions. They’re not preaching to the choir…after treading water at 22% for most of the Primaries, they kept their ears open and processed the dominant sentiments. They did good, business-like research and rode out the Obats until it was just the Business Man against the Academic. Romney’s credentials are legitimate. He did the hard work of finding out what the people demand and producing it for them. The “I built this” theme is part of the delivery system.
My thoughts here are we are about to have another John McCain campaign, where they tiptoe all around this turkey. I have already heard Mittens say that Barack is a “Nice Guy”. As Johnwsmart pointed out very well in a post last week, Barack Obama is NOT a Nice Guy. Not by miles.
JoFreespirit, the curricula does not surprise me at all, it has been infesting our social studies classes by degrees for a couple of decades, brought to you by Bill Ayers, worshipped in academia. He’s one sneaky snake. You are not being paranoid, you are simply seeing what is there and feeling unable to stop it.
Unfortunately we have right wingers who are more concerned with sticking Jesus in school than they are with the rest of the curricula and so they are being duped right before their very eyes. If this circle completes itself, prayer in school will be the least of their worries. It’s what makes it doubly important to reject Barack Obama in his reelection bid, because a second term for this man will mean he doesn’t have to care at all what anybody thinks, and, as you know, he already is doing whatever the hell he wants through executive orders. 4 more years without need to worry and he WILL complete the circle by creating desperate Americans who have no choice but to worship their government.
I am glad you appreciate the post and would like you to know it was written by Anthony, not me.
Naked Centerfold just wiped out Elizabeth Warren. And more.
You see him speak on that video next to the others and it is a STARK reminder of just how arrogant, disrepectful of the USA, Snotty and Unpresidential he really is
My apologies, Anthony. I was speed-living, as usual – trying to do two things at once, and at the speed of light, moving on to the next. Result – nothing done thoroughly. Your post was excellent.
I appreciate the assurances that others have the concerns I noted. Sounds like some had a sense of the potential danger well before others of us began to pick up on it. I’ll have to admit to being encouraged when my children’s school texts supported the ideas of equality and social justice that I had taught them at home. I saw it as a positive, never foreseeing that within less than a decade, the truth about these issues would be distorted, the intent, perverted, and racial equality would come to mean retaliation against the white race, as a whole (ok – that might have been over the top).
Since Obama has become POTUS, we have seen racial relations decline, and the issue of “class’ promoted as another divisive concept. He hopes, no doubt, that by placing more and constant emphasis on divisions within society, he will be able to successfully exploit the groups therein for votes and support. And, as he does so, he continues to have the unfailing support and protection of MSM – which is the real tragedy of our time.
I’m linking to the Pumas Unleashed blog, where a book that, from what I can tell, focuses on some of the concerns expressed here. I haven’t read it, and don’t know if it’s reasonable or road-lizard crazy. I do find that blog interesting, and most of the time, agree with the articles.
http://pumasunleashed.wordpress.com/2012/07/22/fool-me-twice-a-must-read-for-obamas-blueprint-for-america-if-re-elected/
The official talking points will be that anyone who criticizes the “You didn’t build that” speech is being unfair and silly.
And Racists too
I think “A house divided cannot stand” is the goal here. Keep everyone at odds and at internal ‘war’– and crush the USA as we know it.
foxy those remarks he made will be fodder till election day no matter how many times he pretends it didn’t happen.
I also get the feeling these hopelessly open borders are designed to get rid of America’s Whiteness. That might be so, but in the process they are driving the rich to become ex pats at an alarming rate, and the top rich to simply hide more trillions offshore and put more of their business there. It’s a bleak employment picture but certainly one designed to ensure a socialist state. The problem is, it will become more like a banana republic because the rich will run away like their hair is on fire and they will most definitely run out of other people’s money.
Uppity, I totally agree about the right wingers’ narrow, counterproductive focus on prayer in school and other efforts to force the rest of us to comply with their religious views. The school prayer thing is especially absurd.
While they’re focused on those concerns and trying to control the reproductive systems of American women – Rome is burning. More accurately – it’s being incinerated.
The “You didn’t build it” I think goes beyond some expression of political philosophy. For one thing, despite the “Obama is a Commie” meme, I don’t think that Obama gives two shits about anything but himself. Apparently he took the words of E. Warren, when she was talking about GE paying no taxes, and threw them out, as “raw meat” to a sympathetic audience. On the surface, it is evidence of Obama’s obvious stupidity but I think that this “silly mistake” has more to do with Obama trying to show that he is the “smartest person in the room” and that he is tired of being forced to read other people’s words.
I’m not sure what is going on but I just get an uneasy feeling that the sociopath-in-chief is starting to slip away from what little control that his handlers have had on him. Time will tell.
SWPAnnA, since the first time I saw your name on this site I can’t help but think of the SWP. I thought your worked for the Socialist Workers Party at first and that image still pops in mind everytime I see your name. I know it stands for SW Pennsy, but it is stuck in my head.
lol. Sorry!
SHV is you are right, I am thrilled. The more he talks impromptu, the bigger a fool he becomes. I say let it rip, Barack!
I got caught up in the last thread, besides the ever adorable TL content there was the fabulous mouth watering menu from our lorac and the extended comments about FOOD from the regular foodies around here.
I am going to eat chicken parm for lunch now instead of celery and cottage cheese, damn you all.
Good to see you eating Chicken Parm, Karen, just so long as it’s not MY chicken parm.
Besides I have pork chops for tonight with a nice thyme, rosemary, sage, parsley, garlic rub, all fresh herbs, of course. And a nice vidalia onion, carrots, rosemary potatoes, all drizzled with some olive oil and a bit of white wine.
Agreed about Barky. He opens his mouth without TOTUS and the real disaster area of his off kilter brain is on display. How he came to lead this amazing country is such a nightmare scenario. It is hard to believe his tactics worked and he brainwashed so many with promises and false impressions. The real man behind the mask has half-baked bullshit thoughts based on a lack of true understanding of the land and of the world situation. The people he surrounded himself with (Hill excluded) are mostly inept in their positions as well and got their jobs based on fundraising ability not on expertise.
We cannot let this man get four more years. We must expose him for the fraud we know he is. I try to comment on news sites when I see bullshit being spread about him. Keep the fire burning and keep trying to open up obot eyes. It is like hitting my head on the desk over and over but it does work. They’ve lost the kool-aid halo glow a bit. One of the obots I know agreed obama sucked and then stopped writing to me! I guess I was removed from his list because he is a moron to support a candidate he knows is not worthy of support – TWICE.
Egads, they are a scary bunch of mindless robots.
SHV, I agree, BO is incapable of giving a damn about anything other than himself. The bad news about that is that his desire to be re-elected (not actually serve) will outweigh his concerns about the negative impact his policies and actions will have on this country, obviously. So, we may be in for much more damage before election.
Hopefully he won’t win reelection. But, if he does, the best we can hope for is that he will stick to his golfing, vacationing, and slacking. If so, his lack of concern for country and his total self-obsession will work in our favor. He will, at least, do no further damage.
However, if he decides it’s in his best interest to further ingratiate himself to his base – the progs, African Americans, MSM and the rest, we may be in for more trouble. Without concerns of winning reelection to keep him in check, he may really go nuts and make some really crazy decisions.
He’s gonna want someone to do a glowing biography on him. And, his presidential library, will, no doubt, be every bit as ostentatious as the Denver Parthenon in which his theft of the nomination was completed and confirmed. He’ll need to fill it with evidence of his restructuring of America – in his glowing image. That will stand as an immortal testament to the greatness that is Barack. He’s gonna need a little coinage for that, and he’ll need to keep the base loyal.
Karen, the most frightening part of all of this is his approval index rating is only -16. This means there are an awful lot of Americans who are Effing stupid suckers.
I dont know what I will do on election day, but one thing is for certain. I will never vote for Obama.
Well the collective loving obots hanging out at the campaign office at the other end of the shopping center have been helping themselves to the lemonade and bottled water many of the businesses and stores in the center have on hand for customers when they come in from the heat.They go in, grab what they can and leave. In my day they called this stealing.
The little obot creeps bypass a drug store, gas station with mini mart, 7/11, deli, grocery store and assorted eateries including a fast food place with drive thru. But then they would actually have to PAY.
I have actually heard them laughingly say they are redistributing the wealth.
Welcome to the new order.
My mother, one of those little old ladies O thinks should just get on with dying, was appalled by the you did not build that meme. For her generation, this type of speech is not acceptable and, like Anthony, she is unnerved that this coming from the president has not caused a much greater stir.
O meant every word of the because that useless whatever has never even built so much as a paper airplane by himself. The only thing he knows how to do is pontificate and whine. Somewhere along the line a puppet master figured that someone so shallow and incompetent was the perfect candidate. Since BO just does not give a hoot about anyone but himself, he has no problem belittling others.As long as O’s needs are met he does not care if the world around him were to come to an horrific end.
I think they go with the “silly” line because it is so lame they believe that most people will decide that it is not worth the effort to argue with stupidity.
Mittens could/should take a harder stand and I do wish someone would just call BO and unsavory piece of jerky.
I see it as being an instrument of a more nefarious modus operandi. It signals that anyone who was offended by his remarks is being “silly”, which is meant to induce shame for your lack of vision. The same brand of shame we are being instructed to feel for working our ass off and earning a better living. Classic political technique to render your opposition impotent. Screw him.
Ah, yes collectivism–the power of magical thinking.Collectivism-the mind set of third world nations. Notice that this magical redistribution policy will not extend to the executives of Fortune 500 companies or any other entities that bankroll political campaigns–pardon my cynicism.
While the president maybe right in the sense that we all had some help from others, he seems to forget that some laid down after they got help, and others took risks. It is petty and peevish to asume that people that take risks should receive the same rewards as those who don’t take risks.
My third world relatives think that my husband’s income is should be considered supplemental income and ask for things that he wouldn’t get for himself. Like three cell phones for one person, you know, one for each ear.
Have to say that our tax dollars paid for those roads, for the salaries of public school teachers that mentored us, the infrastructure to keep our water clean, electricity in our homes, and keep our streets safe.
I don’t think he’s right at all. We paid for it out of our tax dollars, so in essence, WE made it happen.
Yes every single taxpayer made our now-crumbled roads and now-unsafe bridges happen. If one person decided to take a RISK and MORTGAGE HIS OR HER HOME or take out LOANS and work 7 days a week to start a business that lost, Barack would tell that person YOU made it not happen. If the business succeeds and uses those roads, that person is just as entitled to say they made those roads happen as anybody else. And that person made that success happen.
There are plenty of people who pay no taxes who use those roads and bridges too. WOuld we remind them that somebody else made that happen? Of course not. That would be cruel. So what’s with this new philosophy of being nasty to, cruel to, and punishing people who actually did contribute to making things happen? And since when is making a bit of the American Dream come true for YOURSELF with RISK and WORK become a disgusting thing? Since Barack Obama, of course. This despicable man who had everything handed to him, even the state legislation he sponsored was written by others, every step of his career was sponsored by others, and I guess it’s okay for HIM not to say THANKS but everybody else is supposed to worship at his feet because they use a road HE DIDN”T MAKE HAPPEN.
Mt. Laurel, the walking a distance to steal water and not pay is good practice for these little shitheads who will spend plenty of time Unemployed and grubbing, thanks to their hero. And win or lose, when his campaign is over, he will spit them out like the little useful fools they were.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/general_business/july_2012/72_believe_small_business_owners_primarily_responsible_for_their_own_success
Who’s this dumbass calling silly?
I was going to post that myself McNorman. 72% of Americans say THEY MADE IT HAPPEN THEMSELVES. So Eff their Silly little Silly game.
Barack is not a nice person, nor is he a decent person. He is anything but.
I agree mcnorman. He’s not even likable enough!
Hah! MK Bill’s back on top. No wonder things are running smooth….
He’s pleased that you noticed, Pamela. He says he will reward you for this.
JoFreespirit – totally get the “Speed living” thing. Thanks for your good words.
And thanks to Somebody, mcnorman, and everyone else as well. Was at the dentist for a morning of torture, and now happily blasted on percodan. Missed a lot while I was gone, and happily off to nap for an hour or two. We need to keep this a pertinent and continuing conversation. Its a long way til November…….
OT, but not really as they fall under collectivism although Tedward would beg to differ. This clan is not into sharing.
Tedward tribe warring over estate.
http://www.newser.com/story/150594/kennedy-clan-warring-over-teds-estate.html
He’s pleased that you noticed, Pamela. He says he will reward you for this.
—————————–
Can’t wait!!!
Creepy little scheeves.
Wondering if there are legal issues surrounding retweeting. Checking on it now.
I have a legal recommendation to keep their names off the blog until further notice. sorry. Would love to broadcast it.
One of those dirtballs is a III. Like Thurston Howell. lol.
Tumbler html is gone.
Naked Centerfold just recognized an opportunity to take the whole of the sensible thing that Warren said and distill it down to the nonsense Obama said thus making Warren look as stupid as Obama. She was talking to a major corporation. He was talking at ordinary people and small business owners. What they each said was very different. Very clever of the Naked Centerfold campaign for making them one and the same and the stupid side at that.
That’s the evil of Obama. He makes the good look bad and the bad look good.
No that’s politics. You have got to know where your own sound bites can go. It’s the truth. Politics is definitely a contact sport.
And I don’t say this easily as i despise Scott Brown. But she handed it to him and he took it.
Anthony, I didn’t see anything in that Transforming America link about collectivism. Is that the right article?
Still, I wonder why the argument is collectivism vs. rugged individualism? I don’t see it as an either/or proposition. We need other people AND we need to step up and add value.
Steve Jobs didn’t invent the GUI and the mouse. He borrowed it from Xerox Parc, made it much better, and brought it to market.
Bill Gates didn’t invent Windows. He borrowed it from Steve Jobs and made it affordable.
If I have seen farther it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.
–Isaac Newton
Not surprised. That’s why I took the names down.
The Cease and Desist letters will follow. And that’s what’s wrong with our system. The criminals are protected. Everybody else, pfffffffffft.
SophieCT
Hopefully voters will recall the original context of Warren’s rant and realize naked centerfold’s pairing with what Obama said is a hatchet job.
I disagree. Her speech has been out there a while and there was nothing he could do with it. It was Obama’s bumbling that gave him the connection he needed. Notice the only line of hers he uses in that ad. Obama handed him that gift.
Charges have been dropped, probably due to Twitter and the public outrage. The lawyers are probably trolling for some civil suits as we speak. Remember, scumbags have protections victims never dreamed of having.
http://www.courier-journal.com/proart/20120723/news01/307230081/contempt-motion-withdrawn-sexual-assault-victim-savannah-dietrich-who-tweeted-attackers-names?odyssey=nav|head&pagerestricted=1
Well that link is gone too now. lol.
I am glad many men will get to see how women are forced to live in fright.
I’m exhausted, had a huge repair problem on a piece of property. It ain’t over yet. I also have no post for tomorrow. As Bill always says, Deal With It.
Uppity
Sorry about the rapists names thing. I googled first and they seemed to be all over the Internet so I figured it was okay to post.
Sophie, he didn’t exactly stand there and say “I’m going to advance Marxism in America!” He never would have gotten where he is if he did.
What he DID say in this article struck me as being very curious:
The “You didn’t build that!” speech he gave last week coupled with the shame he’s trying to impose on anyone of means is telling. His association with Ayers, etc that shaped his mentality and the vilification of the wealthy with the insistence that they should contribute more than those who don’t have the same resources is all indicative of a socialist ideology.
Collectivism vs Individualism imo is the message behind his remarks, which would bolster everything from supporting his healthcare fiasco otherwise known as ObamaTax to re-distributing our personal wealth. The 1% vs 99% meme is a good example of that ideology.
We do live in an interdependent society. Those with resources donate to charity or sponsor foundations that help the less fortunate. Those with limited resources do many other things, from offering to babysit for neighbors to contributing canned goods to local food banks to volunteering their time for charitable causes. Even going out of your way to give a dollar or a sandwich to a homeless person on the street indicates our willingness to help others. I’m not denying our interdependence, nor is anyone else. But it should occur organically, and not be forced by the government.
You’re free to agree or disagree with this post, but I do believe that the argument is and should be Collectivism vs Individualism.
THE TEAM! THAT”S WHAT COUNTS! Here’s Ausssssssstinnnnnn!
Love the fake cheer thing. He’s quite impressed with himself.
His twitter page is gone. lol. Guess he’s not so impressed with himself today.
Austin’s sport bio page said he “…. Likes pizza and waxing his stick.”
Interesting sub-title on that vid…
“attack”
Anthony, I think Obama is an idiot and does not to deserve to be president. Still, as horrible as he is, I still have my ideals and that he sometimes uses them and sometimes bumbles them is no reason for me to give up my ideals just to be different from him.
I am different from him. I did work for everything I have (but I wouldn’t have any of it if I did not get help from other people and I wouldn’t have any of it if I simply took their help and did nothing with it).
I don’t think we can expect all the help that is needed to happen organically. I do think the government needs to part of it. I believe in the New Deal. Before the New Deal, the elderly, who had worked hard all of their lives, lived their golden years in poverty. That people abuse the system doesn’t mean the idea is wrong. It means the system needs to be tuned.
History shows us over and over again that the kind of economic disparity we have now can only end in misery for the regular people. I’m not looking forward to serfdom. Want to start a small business and be a real job creator instead of the fantasy job creator? Forget about it. They aren’t lending. They took the bailout and hoarded it. That money’s only available for certain kinds of investments and real businesses aren’t the kind. I am for small business. The 1% are not small business. The 1% are against small business. The 1% own the people who make the laws that govern small business and own the money that could go to small business.
Oh, his sports bio also said he wants to be a doctor.
:::: eye roll:::
His video was totally cornball. Sign of a very self impressed A Hole. Hope he has learned some humility because it looks like he needs it. This will follow him for a lonnnnnnnnng time. It will build some character.
dwp no big deal, not to worry.
If we don’t type the names it won’t show on google. So the video is fair game.
Both those two boys are going to have to scrape for sex for years to come. Heh Heh Heh.
See they get on The Team and they think they are stars and invicible and then they make that I’m Above The Law And ENtitled move. and……..Ooops.
The other little perv is still on facebook. Also Impressed with himself. Team!
http://www.facebook.com/wfrey3
Numbers I and II must be soooooooo proud!
Contact sports get these boys all good and violent.
sophie, I am self employed and by some accounts own my own small business. I think we’re both saying the same thing, but semantics may be the problem.
I too support the New Deal. I too think corporations should pay more taxes than they do and if that can’t be the case, than the loopholes they have should be closed.
What I meant by “happen organically” is that I think we humans are inclined to participating in an interdependent structure. Sure, there will always be those who want to do nothing and those who want to give nothing, but the I believe the majority of us are quite naturally empathetic enough to offer the help we can to those we know who are in need.
You said “That people abuse the system doesn’t mean the idea is wrong. It means the system needs to be tuned.” I completely agree, but not the way Obama and the “new” Dems are trying to tune it.
So far we seem to be in agreement. Where we might part ways is the whole 1% v 99% OWS thing. I think its a machination of Soros (a 1 per center by his own definition) and the Chicago folks to incite class warfare and create social division for one reason: political gain. I just can’t for the life of me find a perspective where it doesn’t smell.
I have thunder, lightning, rain. Henry Hudson is playing Nine Pins in the sky. And my laptop is overheated. See yas.
Anthony, great post!
When one has picked themsleves up by the bootstraps from the lowest of situations in life, and has worked tooth and nail, and oftentimes without food or break, relentlessly, passionately, devotedly, and fairly for years, to rise to a reasonable lot in life, that person should be fortunate enough to enjoy the fruits of their labor.
Anything less, evokes selfishness on the part of others calling out for redistribution of those gains in life.
Shame on Barack Obama and his minions for trying to diminish and steal someone else’s hard earned achievements.
Anthony, we do agree. So let me try to push you over the edge on the last point .:-)
As far as the whole 1% v 99% OWS thing goes, separate the two. There is an historically dangerous income disparity. That the 1% owns our “representatives” is the problem. Our elections are a farce. The parties are a farce. Every thing we buy is crap. Etc…
I was a hopeful supporter of OWS. I was disappointed that they failed as a movement. They should have stuck to “get the money out of politics.” They should have done and not done a number of things. Some people here and on other kindred boards believe that Obama (or his campaign or his people or Soros) were behind them but I have not seen one link. Whether one believed in their movement or methods or not, the initial point is valid: the ultra-wealthy have complete control over our Democratic Republic and it is not a good thing.
I don’t believe the government should give you everything and I don’t believe it should give you nothing. I do believe that there ought to be some agreement about what a government should give and not give. I believe in social safety nets. During the Clinton years, when there was opportunity, a fairer tax scheme, and (dare I say) hope, people took less from the government.
I believe that most people just want the means to make a better life. Absent the means, they give up and put their hands out.
If anyone wants to know their names come to TCH:
http://crayfisher.wordpress.com/2012/07/23/go-ahead-sue-me-i-dare-you/
Brave boy.
Wow. Good for him.
Sophie, I’m pretty hard to push over the edge, but I will teeter on the edge if I believe there is a good reason. I’ve been on and off this blog as a commenter since 2008. I’ve noticed your comments here for some time, and have developed a sincere respect for your ability to be forthcoming and stand up for what you believe is right. That means I have a good reason to teeter on the edge right now because I share those sensibilities as well (see: http://thesibylspeaks.wordpress.com/about-me/ )
When I first read about the beginnings of the OWS movement, I thought it might be a legitimate and well intentioned movement. The minute I went down to Zuccotti Park to cover the story for an assignment, I noticed well dressed people walking around in a circle on their iPhones and iPads. Within a week, the crowd morphed into the complete opposite, and I found that Michael Moore (with the alleged help of Soros) was busing people in from Canada. IMO, that put OFA’s fingerprints all over it. We most likely won’t agree about the merits of OWS, but that’s alright with me. My grandmother used to say “If two people think exactly alike, then one of them is unnecessary”.
The banks got their power when Glass-Steagall was repealed. I will always support Bill Clinton, but I can never forgive him for repealing it. I will also NEVER bash him for it. I remember the Congress he was dealing with, and I also know enough about politics to understand how compromises are made. That is why I’ll never criticize him for “DADT”. It was the best he could do with the shitbags he was dealing with, and it did get the ball rolling.
The Social Security lockbox being raided every single day of the Dubbya terms (and still today) is what is responsible for Social Security’s pending bankruptcy.
Bill Clinton’s welfare reform, which I believe made that program fair and humane was recently repealed quietly while we were being distracted by Mitt Romney’s tax returns.
I too believe that government programs to help others should be instituted and managed. There should be a way for those who need help to get it, but also find a way to get out of the system when they’re ready.
I agree about people wanting the means to make a better life, but I’m not so sure I agree that “absent those means, they give up and put their hand out”.
After a very serious illness that left me bankrupt after paying more than $2M in hospital bills so someone wouldn’t inherit them (I had a few resuscitations) and then not staying dead, I was in dire straits. I took what help I needed but slowly applied myself to developing whatever opportunities I had available to create something I’m proud of and that can support me with dignity. A much smaller life than I had before, but very honorable and respectable. My hand never went out. My chin did.
Hear! Hear! Way to go, TC. You said this perfectly
Way to go, Oswald. If I don’t have enough bail money, I’ll bake you a cake with a saw in it. Bravo!
Brave boy.
Judgment proof.
I will always support Bill Clinton, but I can never forgive him for repealing it.
Hindsight is always 20/20
A lot of years passed between the repeal and the meltdown. I don’t remember anybody in either party sounding the alarm before it happened.
I don’t remember anybody in either party sounding the alarm before it happened.
No, they didn’t make a peep. But I was not alone in understanding the implications of what it meant might happen. Sadly, it happened
That always helps.
I appreciate your coming out to the edge. One of the main points I was trying to make about 1% v 99% OWS is that just because OWS failed (and even if they were evil and sent by You Know Who), the 1% DO own the world and so why bother voting or arguing politics if they only let in the guys they want from the get-go?
With my “absent those means” statement, too much compression–that hand’s out motion is from the sense of hopelessness, not just being in a bad way. If people feel like they don’t stand a chance, they will give up. I realize I didn’t explain that well earlier.
Anyway, I am also unapologetically in support of all of those bullet points on your About page. I miss NY.
I hope your serious illness is well behind you.
Ok I’m gonna lighten this up….
Because it would slow them down. I have not doubt there is a handful of people that are calling the shots. I also understand (and completely abhor) the global evolution that will eventually lead us to one “leader” and global economy. But I do believe that we have some juice here.
There would be chaos if they just blatantly pushed forward (look at the 18M plus who are still furious after the progressive Dems pulled that shit in 2008.) So I do believe our vote counts for something. Very little, compared to what it used to count for, but still something. If anything, it is at least mechanism to stall (perhaps indefinitely) the momentum. Just my opinion.
Oh shit… we’re screwed…
Puppy during Muh-Head-Is-Growing-But-Muh- Body-Isn’t stage.
The always beautiful Needlenose looking so innocent…
Oh well now she’s getting mad cause nobody is fawning all over her.
There aren’t enough kudos in this world to toss your direction, for the extremes you have passed and labored, to rise above and come full circle. Hats off to you, Anthony!
We love us our Anthony’s chin.
Hey Ant, nice comment tally. I am so J.
Whoa. Henry Hudson is playing Nine Pins in the sky again.
Now anthony, surely you know Henry.
I’m fawning! I’m fucking fawning already! Jesus – she must be hanging out with Son or his Twisted Sister. Or both.
Its a collaborative effort, UW. XO
Oh yeah, Henry’s been pulling stuff all night down here.
She does require worship.
Whoa. Wind! Rain!!!
She looks like an excellent companion. Giving you something to do othr than peck away at the keyboard, UW.
They bowl in your sky, UW?
Thunder! Blinking lights!!!
Ha ha ha.
My cat’s eyes are like quarters. Hahahahah.
Oh man. I’m gonna need a boat.
I feel sorry for anybody who put off fixing their roof around here, let me tall you.
Got my trusty GE lantern right here because the lights are gonna go. It’s a great lantern. Takes four thousand D batteries.
That always helps.
Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.
Row, row, row your boat,
Gently up the Uppity stream…
GE? Lantern? Are they gonna make you put those ugly coil bulbs in there next?
Yes, you win the Henry Hudson prize, Crier. From Rip Van Winkle. The ghost of Henry and his boys are bowling in the sky causing a sound that people foolishly think is thunder.
I’m up the stream without a paddle.
LOL!
I got shit to lose. To hell with that shit.
WHOA!
Somebody hold me.
Oh shit. Check out the Ark.
Barack says he’ll take care of ya, oswald.
Needlenose is there to serve and protect, to hold and love. Even while it’s stormin’ outside.
Crier, the dog is sleeping through this entire storm. The cats are passed out. Mr U is passed out. Just me and the goddamned lantern holding everything together.
Ant Knee, we might as well go to the dago site and pick out some more of what we can’t have.
One if by land. Two if by sea…
CRACKLE-BOOOMM!!!!!???
That was Mother Nature responding to Anthony’s great, eloquent post.
Just got in the door so haven’t had time to read the comments – but this is such an important topic, IMO.
I think about how, around the time I was born, JFK was saying, “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”. Working hard to get ahead was the American dream.
Fifty years later we have a president encouraging people to go on food stamps, tells us it’s important to spread the wealth around, and for 3.5 years ignores the number one important need of the country, creating jobs. He’s fine with more and more people either living off the taxpayers or working for the government. Yup, he’s historic alright.
Hopefully, as historic as out-the-door and on-the-curb come Nov.
Good post, Anthony. And your discomfort is valid. If one examines the
lifetime of words and views (excepting all those still hidden, I mean)
of our Fraud-In-Chief, other instances of such distant rumblings often cause cracks in even the strongest of foundations.
But, my 1.5 cents (the economy being such)…
Socialist? Individualist? Marxist? Corporatist? Communist? Anarchist?
Since the time just over 4 years ago when he first raised his head from that Chicago political cesspool, my biggest problem with Teh One has been, and yet remains…
I do not know WHAT he is. I do not know WHO he is.
To my mind’s eye, he is what others want him to be. He is what HE wants to be. He is what his teleprompter demand he be. He is a cipher. Which of course allows myriad “ists” to be applied to Barack Obama, depending on the present crises, or political issue. But, for me, there is only one “ist” that I can safely attach to him…
Narcissist.
And that “ist” when combined with power can often cause the most damage to Liberty.
Dr. Jill Stein 2012
(No, she won’t win. But, I’d rather lose and be right, than win and be
wrong. We voted for Hillary. We lost. But we were right.)
Outstanding post, Anthony! *Applause*
Hillary said it takes a village to raise a child, and I think that’s the same sentiment as people saying that we work as a team in many things. Even in small businesses, the employer couldn’t it without their employees.
But Obama is saying something else, I feel. Whether it’s some Marxist upbringing or his own lack of effort getting him to where he is, he just doesn’t seem interested in encourging people to better themselves. For heaven’s sake, look what he did to NASA, our shining American achievement – he told them their new job is to make Muslims feel a part of the modern world, increase their self-esteem or something. Ridiculous.
All over the world, people were held back by caste or class systems. In America, anyone (not everyone, of course) but anyone could make it, if you worked hard. You could be the poorest person in the country, but you could become rich. It made America a special place, and a HUGE reason why people wanted to come here. Obama (although he’s not the only one) is destroying what makes America be America.
Can’t believe this post is still up……..
Thank you lorac, Hal, Revolutionary War Vet, and Lola-at-Large.
Your sentiments and good words are greatly appreciated.
I never really understood what that means, a Village raising a child. See the thing is, I never wanted kids. I really don’t want to raise everybody else’s kid. I am and will always be of the mind that a pregnancy you can’t afford is preventable. I prevented myself from being pregnant. Now if It Takes A Village means we teach people that having children when you can’t even afford to feed yourself is really really stupid, I’m all for it. But if it means, you want me to support and raise your children, I have a problem with that. I do remember the concept of the neighborhood. When I was a kid if I did something wrong, my parents knew about it before I made it back home. If Takes a Village means that, I’m all for it. If I broke a window accidentally I went home and told my parents. I didn’t deny it or run, and my parents didn’t tell the person whose window I accidentally broke to take a shit. Schools taught, but they weren’t our parents. That wasn’t their job and shouldn’t be their job. Today, we are a FORCED village. We are FORCED to pay for endless babies and endless gimmees and endless parental substitutes for everyone else. It’s not about a Village, it’s about a captive audience. People resent this. And take a look at how the takeover of parental responsibilities by schools has worked out? People’s kids are being indoctrinated in ways parents don’t like. Parents have lost control of their own kids. If that’s Taking A Village, it sucks.
This!!!!!
Start winding up, because you’re going to want to clock me, but this is one of my “Yes your honor, I did!” moments.
I get it. I get the idea of wanting to be “right”, even I lose. But I can’t allow myself to be so indulgent when it comes to this election. Otherwise, I’d write in Hillary, Bill or Chelsea Clinton’s name. (Or better yet, one of those hot guys on ‘the dago site’. At least we know how well they can cook….)
This sham of a “two party system” we have is so shady that in many states, your write-in or third party vote will go to the winner, which is determined by the electoral college (that’s insurance against anything actually legitimate happening in an election, like winning the popular vote).
Right now, the system is giving us two choices. Would either of them be my first choice? Hell, no. But I do have to say that one of them has shown more integrity, more willingness to govern in a bi-partisan fashion (there’s a record of this), more experience both in the public and private sectors, and inspires more confidence than the other.
I could vote third party and go home feeling great that even though I lost, I am “right”. Somehow I get this feeling that the next day, I’m going to regret needing to be “right” as much as I did the day before.
Our system is corrupt. It is a shady game with shady people. I’m going to walk in the shade and “game the system” instead of indulging my need to feel noble and “right”. I’m going to make sure that my “rightness” has not contributed one fucking iota to another four years of mismanagement and redistribution of wealth.
We’re playing a dirty game with a dirty system. Play dirty.
Now bring it. Hit me as hard as you like, but I stubbornly refuse to be “right” and lose this one. Its too important.
What she meant by “It Takes a Village” is teachers, scout leaders, sports coaches, the neighbor down the street who yells at you when you’re doing something wrong and your mother didn’t see (in the old days, not now), the neighbor who you can call over in a minute to watch your two youngest while you take the older in for a tetanus shot–that village. The right twisted the title into saying Hillary wants socialism and wants the state to raise your children.
I didn’t spawn but I was a Girl Scout leader for a number of years, a youth group assistant at my church, and I spend a lot of time with my sister’s kids.I am a villager!
Ok I see, Sophie, like it was when I was a kid. Well it’s totally no longer possible ever since Urban Sprawl came to town. It’s no longer logistically possible. Also, people often stayed near their roots back then. Now, people relocate several times just to find a job or advancement. If a concept of the “Village” is like when we were kids, it’s a major pipe dream.
Another thing, nobody walks anywhere because everywhere is too far now–or you get hit by a car on a four lane road you have to cross. Many suburban areas don’t even have sidewalks. Just nice lawns. You have to travel by car to get a loaf of bread. You have to travel to get to school, no more corner grocery stores, no more neighborhood schools two blocks away.
UW, interesting thoughts about Villages. True as well, which makes it a little sad. And scary to think that Facebook might now be the new village…..
I read where two family homes and duplexes are coming back. Families lived that way all of their lives and everybody had built in double mothers and sisters and brothers even if they were first cousins instead. It was less expensive to live. you shared the water bill. you shared the roof bill. No child was ever really alone. You even ate together several times a week. It was a close unit where families took care of their own like they are SUPPOSED to. Plenty of mothers had to work back in those days too. But there was always someone home in one of those two abodes.
My mother worked every single day building their business. She had a rig set up where she had extensions to the home phone and the office phone in both places. A long ring on my home phone meant mom was calling from work. She would tell my brother and I how to start dinner. Not just ME, the Girl. BOTH of us. It didn’t kill us. She knew where we were every minute and we didn’t have cell phones. So how the hell did we get by for goodness sakes!
Before you can have a “Village,” you have to have families acting like families. And that’s a fact. No village wants to raise your kid for you. I think that’s the reason they criticized her for this. Her concept was long gone. People do not live like they lived when Hillary was a girl. It’s as simple as that. It was great. While it lasted. But it’s over and it ain’t coming back. People are way too busy being busy. For all the new inventions, people act like they have less time than ever.
Ok I’m being a pest. But let’s flash back.
Most of us here hung out in a neighborhood. We connected with the kids in that area. We met up, picked each other up on our way to school, walking. In summer we hung out. We walked to the ice cream place. We played softball in somebody’s yard. Everybody had a yard. We went over to each other’s houses. Parents gave us lunch. If we needed help, we knocked. We called people Mr. and Mrs. and God help us if we didn’t respect other people’s parents. If we acted up, they let our parents know. Everybody knew everybody and everybody knew your kid. If you got hurt, somebody called your parents or took you to the emergency room. I did that for kids myself when I was old enough. You pitched in because you weren’t goint to get FUCKING SUED for doing it. Today, kids get rides to “practice” ten miles away and then they get picked up. They go for Paintball if their parents can afford it, leaving the kids who can’t afford it behind. Nobody knows anybody anymore and nobody wants to. It doesn’t matter if you’re poor or rich, nobody knows anybody. You could live in a apartment facility and never know a single neighbor beyond nodding in the elevator.
My parents used to make a SKATING RINK in winter on their land, with flood lights. All the kids came to play hockey or skate. The boys were not allowed to take it over, though they tried. I remember being home from college when a kid got hit with a hockey stick or the puck, can’t remember. his eye was bleeding. I drove him to the emergency room. His parents THANKED me, they didn’t SUE my parents to the next planet. Those days are SOOOOOOOOOOO GONE.
Anthony, I do understand what you are saying and, normally I would go along. But I just can’t vote for a party that has its sights set on hobbling women in horrible ways. There is some REAL woman-hatred going on here, to the point that it’s tangible, complete with hissing and spitting. I just can’t do this. If I were a guy, maybe. But I take this way too personally even though, oddly, it won’t affect me, personally. I got mine. But I still think of all that was won that is being whittled at and destroyed. There was a time when I would have crossed party lines in a flash for voting. But I am sorry to say that both of these horrid hijacked parties have turned me into a one issue voter, something I never had to be. I have a visceral reaction not so much to Mitt but to the nasty people who will become snotty and arrogant and force their personal views upon everybody if he wins. I hate these people. They are downright overly aggressive and ANYTHING but Godly. In fact, this is the sum total of BOTH of these parties. I am sick and tire of extremes, they are the path to the very destruction of the USA. All they ever do is take chances apiece minding everyone’s business and ruining the country.. I despise them both to the point of rash and I just can’t give them the only thing I have left: My vote. I will not vote for a party that bullys people. And that leaves the far left and far right out. Unfortunately, they now run two parties. Fuck them. I want no part of them. I only stay registered as a Democrat for spite, to fool them into thinking their numbers are higher. I would NEVER switch to their mirror-image party either.
Oh god, are you stirring up memories with this. I went to a Catholic high school run by Irish Christian Brothers. They would smack you if you were being insolent, and parents would often ask “What did you do wrong to make them smack you?” instead of running to the nearest lawyer.
A friend told me a chilling story about a neighbor of hers who smacked her daughter on the behind, and then had to answer to Child Protective Services when the kid called CPS on her (at another neighbor’s suggestion). Can you imagine if we called the authorities on our parents? I would be a dead man walking if I ever pulled such a stunt.
IMO, the kind of villages you speak of are disappearing because more and more, we’re becoming an insular, singular society. Kids don’t play with each other – they go to on line game sites. They don’t socialize (at least not in person). Its all done on Facebook. Even dating has been relegated to sitting alone with your computer and “meeting” someone on line, and then wondering why theres no magic when you finally meet them. (I have a really funny story about that one). At least “speed dating” lets you meet them face to face and either you have chemistry or not instead of wasting weeks of your time with endless emails.
Can’t tell if its our litigious environment or a more isolationist bent to socializing, but whatever it is – the village has become a ghost town.
What I LOVE about “Uppity’s Village” is that we can respect our differences and stand up for what we believe in and still love each other. THAT’S a family.
This is today’s kid. Lucky for him the village was there. Bet there was a lawsuit.
Moron texts herself into the fountain. Her peers are the security people in the background. Today’s “Village”.
Texting, computers have created an antisocial generation that will be hunched over from texting and have carpal tunnel by the time they are 40. They don’t talk to each other even when they are in the same room. They text. They are non-communicators, have NO social skills, Losers of The Future.
Forgive me, but I lol’d at the fountain video.
lol Anthony, well so did I.
These people are the equivalent to stepping on a rake.
I love how she got up with that “I meant to do that!” attitude. I’ve done that after getting my foot caught in the cord of the mini blinds and dragging them onto my friend’s terrace.
Today’s logic. In satire, there is truth. I guess they shoulda taken the stairs. lol.
Lorac, the first thing I thought of when reading this piece was Hill’s book. And yes, it is different. She has the ideas, he just snuck a peak at her homework and got the ideas all screwed up so that it resembles her ideas but his are wobbly and won’t stand.
The first thing I saw this morning when I scanned the headlines was the story of Dianne Feinstein admitting the White House must have been involved in the security leaks that were top news stories a month ago. I checked the story on Fox/National Journal as well as on Huffington Post/NBC type sites to make sure it wasn’t just some right wing twisting of her words. She isn’t implicating obama directly but she is placing the source of the leaks directly below him, it seems.
Didn’t obama threaten to use lie detector tests on his staff?
Hook it up Barry – your goose is cooked and you are toast you fool.
tons of articles on google news search on the subject:
http://news.google.com/news/story?gl=us&pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=dianne+feinstein+security+white+house&ncl=dRTPsCin5ByOH4MKaeXgdJg3mKyJM&cf=all&scoring=d
While The Dog Eater stepped up his campaign appearances, Hillary was doing the heavy lifting. As usual.
http://news.yahoo.com/secy-clinton-lauds-headway-battle-against-aids-151840337.html
That woman sued the mall.
oh and as joe biden would say, security breach for political grandstanding is a big fucking deal.
See? What party do you think this Effing demonic Nutcase is in? This evangelical freak says only the Aurora victims who were Christians will go to heaven and the rest will go too a horrible place. These creatures need to be removed from the planet NOT put in charge of Congressional bills.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/22/jerry-newcombe-hell_n_1692859.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular
http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/bizarre&id=7906487
What’s Newcombe going to do when he finally bites the big one and finds out that Heaven is a strip mall and God is really Paris Hilton?
ozzy, hooray for the onion. That horse is too big to be in the closet. Giddy up gay horsey.
Karen for Clinton, Feinstein is finally finishing up what started in 2008. GOOD FOR HER! Its all about the timing. I hope she keeps hammering away about this.
ack – i wrote “you’re” instead of your goose is cooked. i hate when i do that.
punish me, uppity.
***Whatchu talkin’ about! Looks fine to me!***
Wasn’t feinstein tight with Hillary? Do I recall a big secret meeting with her and Bawack and Hillary toward the end of the primary season?
Anthony, I have no idea what Newcombe is gonna do because he’s never going there anyways. If these freaks are what constitutes the New Christianity, there’s gonna be a LOT of elbow room in heaven. lol.
“The problem with Baptists is we don’t hold them underwater long enough.” – Molly Ivins
It’s true that Hillary was referring to needing a village to raise a child. But I was taking her statement more generally, in that we can help each other along the way, kids or no kids. It’s not about raising someone else’s kid for them. And while the time of Hillary’s youth is no longer here, there are still neighborhoods where people help each other out. Maybe not everyone in the neighborhood (which may only comprise a block or so of space).
But – there are a number of things which much be true for it to work (and I’m sure I can’t even think of them all). First, the people have to know each other. Second, they probably need to have the same type of worldview – I don’t mean they have to be of the same culture or race, just that they have to be open to the idea of becoming friends with neighbors and helping out and asking for help – or even just jumping right in if a kid or dog is running towards the street. Third, they have to be people who are considerate – not the kind of people who just want to take, take, take.
But I’ve seen it in some neighborhoods I’ve lived in. And sometimes, as they say
, you have to be the change you want to see happen!
Feinstein is walking it back:
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_21143704/romney-focusing-military-and-foreign-policy
The brass must have told her no money for reelection.
..Which just confirms how Effed up and afraid he has what was once a proud party. They are willing to give up the Senate majority for this very temporary turkey.
What’s a good liberal like you doing reading Ayn Rand (teasing)? I seriously don’t think Obama made a “gaffe” but opened a window into his soul, such as it is.