24 September 2010

More random thoughts

Just some more of my "just thinking" after reading the "usual" web sites plus a few links to other information.
What has got the "left" all excited is the win by Ms. O'Donnell in Delaware recently. Yes, she is even nuttier than falin' Palin. Still we need to take a serious look at what drives the "tea parties" today.
They say they are angry, but it seems to me, their anger is either mis-directed or it is not directed at all. I don't see much of this anger being directed in any useful way.
Why are they so angry? Well, for one thing they see the world and particularly, America is changing. Change is frightening to them. Hell, change is sometimes scary to all of us at times. Change isn't always easy either.
A very good article on the change facing America is the article by Mr. Dilip Hiro over at the always outstanding TomDispatch web site. You can find the article here; www.tomdispatch.com/post/175299/tomgram%3A_dilip_hiro%2C_the_waning_of_america_#more
The "tea party" folks see this sort of thing, the loss of American influence in the world and it frightens them. It shakes their core belief of America as the "indispensable" nation, as a certain "Madass" Albright has said of our country.  OK, I admit, I mis-spelled her name, on purpose.  Her comment that the deaths of the Iraqi children from the god-awful sanctions imposed by her, at the time boss, Billy Bob Bubba still make me sick. Anybody who could say, on a national TV program that those deaths were "worth it" has to be a total "madass" in my book.
Back to the decline of America as the "sole superpower", the "tea party" people see this and they don't like it one bit. They bought into the lies about our great "strength" as a nation. They bought into the "idea" that America had some sort of "god given" right to rule the world. That "we" could make the world in our image as it were.
Well, that is not working out so well for us now. True, they refuse to see that it was their "hero" W. Shrub who made the current mess. They DO, for the majority, see somebody "other" occupying "their" White House now. That "other" doesn't look quite like them either. Change. Big time change. Frightening change even.
They don't even need to read sites like TomDispatch to see the changes. Even their "precious" Faux Noise has let them see that the US economy, or what passes for an economy today, is in bad shape. Again, they don't see, don't even want to see, that it all really got the start downhill fast for them began with "saint" Ron of Raygun. They refuse to admit that W. Shrub increased the national debt even more and spent the country into the poor house.
They are willfully blind to the truth. This is due mostly to Faux Noise, where the elephant gang will never be held to account. The TV channel where the donkey gang can do no good. Well, that isn't too far from true as I see it. But the "idea"(??) that the elephant gang is blameless is beyond belief. Or it should be if you have a functioning brain.
The "tea party" folks see how things are not going well for themselves or their family members. They see few decent paying, high skill jobs available here at home. They know that much of the good paying manufacturing jobs have been sent off chore. No, they don't get the truth that the big corporations did this to them, and those same corporations fund their "beloved" elephant gang more than they fund the donkey gang. That is something Faux Noise holds back.
Faux Noise being to real news what the WWF is to real sport, well, that is just those of us who are the "professional" left see things. Yeah, a friend told me that I am a part of that "professional" left. And here I had thought I was more middle of the road. Can I still be any sort of "professional" since I am permanently disabled?
The folks like Limburger, Beck, Hannity, falin' Palin, etc all prey on this fear. They feed the fear of these folks.  Yes, the Koch brothers are behind the "tea party" or so I have read more than once. With the win by Ms. O'Donnell, they just may be wondering if they can maintain control over the creature they created though. So far, her strategy(?) seems to be to follow the "advice" of falin' Palin and only speak on/to Faux Noise. Well, Ms. Angel out in Nevada has used that channel as a fund raiser. Now, I am not a lawyer, don't even play one on TV, but I don't think that is legal. It sure does not seem ethical. But, then, ethics is a foreign language to the likes of Beck, et al.  Just ask all the folks who fell for the "Gold Line" commercials that run on his TV show.
The "tea party" people are very frightened. Hell, they have a right to be so. The country is still in a very deep recession, with no real relief in sight. The influence of America in the world is in decline.  Iran still is defying our demands regards their nuclear reactors. China and Russia have deals with Iran. Even India has defied our demands for stronger sanctions against Iran. Hell, India is supposed to be on "our side".  Remember, W. Shrub made that sweetheart nuclear deal with them and got our bought and paid for Congress to approve. Pushed it through the international nuclear regulatory agencies even. Now India is making energy deals with Iran! Holy crap Batman.
Look at Pakistan. We provide them with all sorts of aid. True, the aid is mostly military, but even so, they don't exactly shoot every Taliban they come across. In fact, Pakistan has long term agreements with the Afghan Taliban.
Home foreclosures are still setting records in America. Jobs are leaving still. People are having to depend on food stamps in ever larger numbers. Homelessness is increasing. Sure, people are very frightened today. With good reason.
If only the progressives could channel this fear and anger into something for good. Oh, wait, yes, I know, stop dreaming. Well, sorry, I will continue to dream. We need to talk with the "tea party" folks and tell them the truth. It may not be easy, they have been indoctrinated by Faux Noise.  Not all these folks are out in the far fringes though. Don't get discouraged if you don't succeed the first time either.
On a more positive note. I found out that some places in America DO have an "instant runoff election" this year even. The story on that is at the following web site.www.inthesetimes.com/article/6434/instant_election_reform
See, there IS some good news out there people. You just need to look for it.
semper fi

9 comments:

gesneri said...

"They bought into the 'idea' that America had some sort of 'god given' right to rule the world. That "we" could make the world in our image as it were."
Substitute "British Empire" for "America" and you have the imperial hubris of the 19th century. We all know how that turned out. Some of my best friends are British (really, no joke), but the facts are the facts. Once you start down that road, you find only destruction at the end.

Tao Dao Man said...

If they do not understand it.
They try to control it.
If they can not control it.
They destroy it.

charlie ehlen said...

gesneri,
Yes, no matter what the country, when empire falls apart, the people of the main country get very frightened. That IS what we are going through now. Yes, I know, America claims to not have/be an empire. Well, we know that it is/has been such.
Look for things to get worse before they start to improve.
As the old saying goes; no matter how bad things are now, they can always get worse.
I just hope it doesn't deteriorate too much too fast.

charlie ehlen said...

RZ,
Yes sir. Always have had some like that, always will. It is not ignorance, that can be over come with questions and a bit of learning.
It is more like stupid. As one drag racer and many others have said; you can't fix stupid.

john francis lee said...

They are willfully blind to the truth. This is due mostly to Faux Noise...

I think it's the other way 'round...

The folks like Limburger, Beck, Hannity, falin' Palin, etc all prey on this fear. They feed the fear of these folks.

I think that is more nearly nailing it. Some one put up a link to Wilhelm Reich's take on The Mass Psychology Of Fascism. I'm not an authority on Orgone Boxes, or Orgone Energy, but the man has a lot to say about the results of oppression.

I just don't limit the oppression to be considered to sexual oppression, although as Madison Avenue has long realized, sexuality is the currency in any sort of sale. Thanks for the heads up on A Face in the Crowd, Charlie. I hadn't seen that one before. Elia Kazan nailed it and Andy Griffith and Patricia Neal are outstanding in it.

The thing is, the answer is not in chasing that guy or that woman or that movement. The answer is in ourselves, we are the seat of the power that Faux Noise or the National Socialist Party taps and manipulates.

Each of us has simply to see by his or her own light, as you do so well in each of your blogs Charlie; as I try to do myself. The first thing to do is be underwhelmed by the sense of desperate compulsion fostered by those who would rule by unreason, to settle back and to consider ourselves what needs to be done, and then to do it.

None of us are specialists, none of us will come up with The Plan, but A Plan will emerge form our separate proposals taken together, made in good faith, polished in the stream of our common consciousness.

FDR gets credit for the Freedom from Fear line, but Aung San Suu Kyi has the real goods. The phrase that rings from FDR's speech is "everywhere in the world"... and that's the mantra the got US Imperialism rolling two years before I was born and that juggernaut of jingo has been rolling ever since.

john francis lee said...

I got the "Request-URI Too Large" again. Just ignored it. Seems to have worked out OK. blogger.com is a Google site, right? Even the Google God can play Bozo like the rest of us. Spying on us all and creating its dossiers on us all the while.

john francis lee said...

Six years before I was born, counting from FDR's speech... two years from the end of WWII. I'm the same age as you are Charlie. I may have mentioned that before.

charlie ehlen said...

John,
Yes Faux Noise does prey on the fears of the masses. I think it even invents some of them at times. That channel has been called propaganda and the "Republican Media" channel also.
Me, I just stay with faux noise. I cannot stand more than about three minutes of it at any given time of day. Beck was too odd even when he was on CNN. Never did understand why CNN had that critter on. He does seem to fit Faux quite well. Though he does seem to have upstaged O'Really.
More for me to read in your comments, more articles that is. Thank you, I read as much as I can and always look for more of interest.
I was born/hatched in 1947.
Yes, this blogger is run by Google. Well, it is free and so far they have not censored me. This blog did get shut down once, a few years ago. Never did find out why. During that time I opened another one that I still can use.
The answer to much is in ourselves. At least that is how I see life. If you know yourself and are comfortable with who you are, you have the game nearly won. All the rest is relatively easy then. It still can be frustrating, but that is life.
LOL, I might(?) be able to come up with a plan. I don't think anybody has "THE" plan, never have, probably never will. Too many variables in this life.
Just my 2 cents worth.

john francis lee said...

Just in case the circumstances in Burma 20 years ago seem too unfamiliar, skipping to the chase, the last two paragraphs of Aung San Suu Kyi's essay :

' Within a system which denies the existence of basic human rights, fear tends to be the order of the day. Fear of imprisonment, fear of torture, fear of death, fear of losing friends, family, property or means of livelihood, fear of poverty, fear of isolation, fear of failure. A most insidious form of fear is that which masquerades as common sense or even wisdom, condemning as foolish, reckless, insignificant or futile the small, daily acts of courage which help to preserve man's self-respect and inherent human dignity. It is not easy for a people conditioned by fear under the iron rule of the principle that might is right to free themselves from the enervating miasma of fear. Yet even under the most crushing state machinery courage rises up again and again, for fear is not the natural state of civilized man.

' The wellspring of courage and endurance in the face of unbridled power is generally a firm belief in the sanctity of ethical principles combined with an historical sense that despite all setbacks the condition of man is set on an ultimate course for both spiritual and material advancement. It is his capacity for self-improvement and self-redemption which most distinguishes man from the mere brute. At the root of human responsibility is the concept of perfection, the urge to achieve it, the intelligence to find a path towards it, and the will to follow that path if not to the end at least the distance needed to rise above individual limitations and environmental impediments. It is man's vision of a world fit for rational, civilized humanity which leads him to dare and to suffer to build societies free from want and fear. Concepts such as truth, justice and compassion cannot be dismissed as trite when these are often the only bulwarks which stand against ruthless power. '

The whole essay is only three or four pages and is an inspiring read. We in the USA don't... yet... know what real problems are.