Friday, October 31, 2008
Wake up from your nightmare, Sarah!
Scott Horton of Harper's Bizarre on Gov. Palin's nightmare "that an Obama presidency would present the specter of a socialist state in which fundamental American freedoms are undermined." She's been asleep for the last 8 years of a state
* That snatches its victims off the street, denies them all form of legal process and whisks them away to secret “blacksites” where they can be tortured using all the techniques described in Arthur Koestler’s Darkness at Noon?Of course, this blog would make us all enemies of that state.
* That believes it can detain and hold its enemies forever without any charges or any evidence against them, denying them access to courts to prove their innocence?
* That constantly manipulates the population’s fear whenever its public popularity slips and elections begin to approach?
* That systematically spies on millions of its citizens in direct violation of a criminal statute which forbids such surveillance?
* That lies to its people about threats from abroad in an effort to build popular support for a series of wars and then cites the existence of those wars as a reason to suppress dissent?
* That nationalizes the debt of predatory capitalists so they suffer no punishment for their misconduct and then nationalizes major financial institutions, converting the nation’s free market system into a socialism in which crony capitalists are a privileged elite?
Palinspeak
Xeni Jardin posted on Boing Boing a great piece by Anil Dash, who blogs "about how culture is made" and is interested specifically about the use of language in culture. Dash looks at Gov. Palin's dangerous assertions about Sen. Obama's 'terrorist ties'.
Sarah Palin has been unsurprising in her criticisms of Barack Obama's credentials and policies, fulfilling the traditional role of the vice presidential candidate being the most aggressive and pointed rhetorical attacker in a campaign. But a closer look at her deliberate use of vernacular and language reveals that she has gone far beyond any other candidate in vice presidential history in the dangerous and irresponsible implications of her attacks. She has phrased her attacks on Obama in a way that avoids accountability to the press while specifically addressing the subset of her audience who are most likely to advocate extreme actions against Obama.It really is shameful that the media doesn't do more to question her abuse of the language. Of course, we've all seen what happens when the media even hints at questioning her: 'sexism', 'elitism', 'unfair'. Isn't it just a bit moronic that the media can't even question a Vice Presidential candidate's statements or hold them accountable - no matter what sex, race, or creed - without having it turned back into a dog and pony show about how the media attacked her because they're sexist? How can her base defend her as a leader when she apparently can't be held up to the same scrutiny as her opponents or even her running mate? It's as hypocritical as the McCain Campaign now complaining that she's gone rogue! WTF?! But didn't they want 'a maverick'?
I don't usually write about politics here; I leave the ugliness to those who seem to revel in it. But I think a lot about language, usually in a more lighthearted context like talking about yo mama jokes or lolcats. What's striking to me this election season, though, is that Sarah Palin has chosen to abuse her command of language so obviously without suffering any serious criticism for it thus far.
The crux of the issue is simple:
(1) Sarah Palin has unequivocally associated Barack Obama with the idea of terrorism and specifically with "terrorists".
(2) Republican President George Bush has defined in our National Security Strategy, and the Republican Party's platform affirms, that we may identify and strike at terrorists before they have committed any defined acts of aggression against American citizens.
(3) George Bush has made clear, by stating before a joint session of Congress that "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."
(4) Palin has used deliberate choice of language to avoid these connections being highlighted by the media, while increasing the likelihood that the target audience for her message will be incited by her statements.
Through these arguments, it becomes clear that Sarah Palin's assertions are designed not to prove that Obama is unqualified for the office of the Presidency of the United States. Rather, she appears to be attempting to convince a substantial portion of her supporters that Obama supports terrorism against the United States and thus should be, at the very least, incarcerated as an enemy combatant (which we are doing to American citizens already) or at worst, assassinated for supporting terror. She has done this knowing full well that she can retain plausible deniability thanks to the ambiguity of her statements as they'll be interpreted by the media, by her detractors, and by her more reasonable supporters.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Obamanos Socialistas! Or: don't throw stones at glass white houses
After recently watching our Comrade Finn's movie, La Trinchera Luminosa del Presidente Gonzalo, I asked people if they felt Sen. Obama was even remotely socialist compared to the preachings of the Maoist prisoners quoting Marx. The answer was pretty apparent. He's about as socialist as W. is conservative. Now comes this little tidbit about Gov. Palin, from Hendrik Hertzberg's New Yorker commentary about McCain and Palin's failed attempt to convince people that Obama is a socialist (via Mark F. of Boing Boing):
The state that she governs has no income or sales tax. Instead, it imposes huge levies on the oil companies that lease its oil fields. The proceeds finance the government’s activities and enable it to issue a four-figure annual check to every man, woman, and child in the state. One of the reasons Palin has been a popular governor is that she added an extra twelve hundred dollars to this year’s check, bringing the per-person total to $3,269. A few weeks before she was nominated for Vice-President, she told a visiting journalist—Philip Gourevitch, of this magazine—that “we’re set up, unlike other states in the union, where it’s collectively Alaskans own the resources. So we share in the wealth when the development of these resources occurs.” Perhaps there is some meaningful distinction between spreading the wealth and sharing it (“collectively,” no less), but finding it would require the analytic skills of Karl the Marxist.What's next up: "Joe the Arseclown Plumber turns out to trade plumbing skills for goods?
mcnasty is at it again
Rashid Khalidi is cool. I used to listen to him on WBEZ when he was a guest on Jerome McDonald's WorldView show.
CNN: Palin Talks 2012, McCain Aide "Speechless"
Update: Here is Michael Tomasky from the Guardian on this point. It has been suggested after this video aired that the quote was taken out of context.
Dancing with our Politics
This is the best You Tube video I've seen, well no wonder it was made by some energy activists.
A must watch You Tube video.
found by Zulma Aguiar on You Tube
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Only Bob Barr Can Stop Obama
From Bob Barr's website:
http://www.bobbarr.com/2008/10/22/only-bob-barr-can-stop-obama/
Now that it’s guaranteed that John McCain can’t win the elections, Libertarian candidate Bob Barr has emerged as America’s last hope to prevent Barack Obama from becoming the next President of the United States of America.
If you love freedom and care about the future of our great nation, don’t waste your vote on a lost cause like John McCain! Help Bob Barr defeat Barack Obama and send a powerful message to the establishment that socialism stops here.
http://www.bobbarr.com/2008/10/22/only-bob-barr-can-stop-obama/
creepy mccain rally in the sunshine state
Five Thirty Eight reports on another kooky McCain rally:The event maybe lasted a minute, two at the most, before police competently managed to hustle the two away from the scene and out of the danger zone. Only FiveThirtyEight tracked the two men down for comment, a quarter mile down the street.
"People were screaming 'Terrorist!' 'Communist!' 'Socialist!'" Sorando said when we caught up with him. "I had a guy tell me he was gonna kill me."
Asked what had precipitated the event, "We were just chanting 'Obama!' and holding our signs. That was it. And the crowd suddenly got crazy..."
quoting fascists and whatnot
Todd Palmer sent me this about Palin's habit of quoting weird and sometimes fictitious stuff:
...It works both ways, though—be careful of context, and of who you accidentally let slip that you’ve been reading. When Palin, referring to the value of “small towns” in her nomination speech, quoted Westbrook Pegler, the nearly forgotten American nativist and pseudo-fascist, some of his “glory” rubbed off on her as well.
Palin also made up a quote to help along her bungled answer to Katie Couric about the separation of church and state: “Thomas Jefferson also said ‘never underestimate the wisdom of the people.’” Super. Except as far as anyone can tell, Jefferson never said that. And even very wise people had trouble understanding what that piece of invented Jeffersonian wisdom has to do with the First Amendment...
...It works both ways, though—be careful of context, and of who you accidentally let slip that you’ve been reading. When Palin, referring to the value of “small towns” in her nomination speech, quoted Westbrook Pegler, the nearly forgotten American nativist and pseudo-fascist, some of his “glory” rubbed off on her as well.
Palin also made up a quote to help along her bungled answer to Katie Couric about the separation of church and state: “Thomas Jefferson also said ‘never underestimate the wisdom of the people.’” Super. Except as far as anyone can tell, Jefferson never said that. And even very wise people had trouble understanding what that piece of invented Jeffersonian wisdom has to do with the First Amendment...
Real People Spots
Errol Morris, director of the Thin Blue Line, the Fog of War, and other excellent movies, as well as a prolific creator of advertisements for Miller High Life, Levis, and recent Democratic politicians has an article on the New York Times web site with analysis of "real people" advertisements for Presidential candidates going back to 1952.
The post includes links to each ad featured on the Museum of the Moving Image web site. This is phenomenally interesting. Read: People in the Middle
conservative panic response meeting week after election
From Politico's Jonathan Martin:
Two days after next week's election, top conservatives will gather at the Virginia weekend home of one of the movement's most prominent members to begin a conversation about their role in the GOP and how best to revive a party that may be out of power at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue next year.
The meeting will include a "who's who of conservative leaders -- economic, national security and social," said one attendee, who shared initial word of the secret session only on the basis of anonymity and with some details about the host and location redacted.
The decision to waste no time in plotting their moves in the post-Bush era reflects the widely-held view among many on the right, and elsewhere, that the GOP is heading toward major losses next week.
One of the topics of discussion will be how to fashion a "national grassroots political and policy coalition similar to the out Reagan years," said the attendee, a reference to the development of the so-called New Right apparatus following Jimmy Carter's 1976 victory and Reagan's election four years later...
Two days after next week's election, top conservatives will gather at the Virginia weekend home of one of the movement's most prominent members to begin a conversation about their role in the GOP and how best to revive a party that may be out of power at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue next year.
The meeting will include a "who's who of conservative leaders -- economic, national security and social," said one attendee, who shared initial word of the secret session only on the basis of anonymity and with some details about the host and location redacted.
The decision to waste no time in plotting their moves in the post-Bush era reflects the widely-held view among many on the right, and elsewhere, that the GOP is heading toward major losses next week.
One of the topics of discussion will be how to fashion a "national grassroots political and policy coalition similar to the out Reagan years," said the attendee, a reference to the development of the so-called New Right apparatus following Jimmy Carter's 1976 victory and Reagan's election four years later...
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
sheppard smith on fox: "man... it just gets frightening sometimes"
Joe the social-security-outlawing plumber's helper agrees that Obama will be the "death of Israel." Watch Sheppard Smith on Fox call this guy out. The end is amazing:
palin-lovers eating their babies
From Ana Marie Cox's interview with the McCain aide:There's obviously an organized campaign to lay blame for things at my feet and I’m not going to engage before the campaign ends. I have a very long relationship with Fox News and the notion that someone would call me a coward on the air and accuse me of putting $150,000 on my credit card without a single person calling and checking with me suggests that something is going on.
I think the networks have re-emerged as the arbiters of what story gets through. Of late, we’ve paid so much attention to the impact of blogs and the democratization of media—everyone can be a blogger and you can sit in your home.
It’s almost as the cycle got to such a proliferation of information that I think people returned to the morning paper, the evening news as the arbiter of what is the important story. So while I think there’s more information out there, I think that it’s almost overwhelming for, you know like my mom and dad. They know what’s on the news at the end of the day. Newscasts and the compilation of a front page, has re-emerged as a place for information to be organized and consumed...
mccain is home alone
The GOP forgot to mention old sparky on their website ONE WEEK BEFORE THE ELECTION. They must be mad that they are getting the blame for the $150,000 clothes. Let the dangerous threesome begin between the RNC, McCain and Palin.
"Real Virginia"
Catching up with Virginia-related gaffes. From FiveThirtyEight: "Suppose that instead of a relatively decisive win by Barack Obama on Election Day, we instead have a very close election. Which state might the McCain campaign really, really wish that they hadn't insulted? I'll give you a hint. It's not technically a state, but rather, a commonwealth."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
