Arizona Dreamin'

My sincerest condolences to Congressmember Giffords, all of the victims of this "tragedy," and their families. I have to put that word in quotes because even if everybody else refers to this predictable and despicable act of terrorism as a tragedy, I have to call it as it is. I find it funny that the same "conservative" wankers who get all blubbery about 9/11 and used it as a pretext to wage aggressive, unprovoked war on any muslim country they felt like somehow refuses to admit that this rash of rightwing political violence is anything more than a series of disconnected crimes that have no larger significance or connection to their hate speech. As if by some stroke of Orwellian logic, liberals really are the fascists and the Tucson shooter can can be dismissed as a liberal by one thing he said/wrote when every other thing he said/wrote points the other way.

I do not dismiss the horror of an assasination by not calling it a tragedy, nor do I seek to advance an "agenda" by analyzing the pattern of violence. What can I gain by writing about this event? Nothing. And neither does any other sincere leftist by thinking about what the hell is happening to this once-great country. The path back to civility doesn't run through finger-wagging, but someone has to put the blame where it belongs. When I see some real violence perpetrated against beck, hannity, o'reilly, savage, palin or some other right-winger I'll be willing to call it a civil war, until then it is an unmitigated campaign of terror against liberals and anyone who might be sympathetic to a non-ultra-rightist worldview.

You do not have to be a leftist conspiracy theorist to see a pattern in these recent acts of violence since 2008, the victims all share a common identity as being outside the "conservative movement," and all of the perpetrators being inside that movement. Thing is, I spent all last semester studying conservative intellectuals and there was nary a hint of the legitimacy of violence in political action. A few months ago I wrote about "eliminationism" and the adherents that David Neiwart termed "parafascists," I'd like to think there is a better term (like the real thing perhaps?) but that will do. At least the nazis owned what they did, and made no bones about why they used violence to attain power, here the parafascists do the same thing, but it if far less acceptable so they are happy to employ violent rhetoric to incite acts of terrorism without ever owning the fact that this is what they are doing. Liberalism grants a free hand to its assassins by extending rights to free speech to those sociopaths who will use their giant microphones to incite violence against responsible leaders. Such as the democratically elected congressmembers who dare to go against the vast rightwing conspiracy by voting for measures to that could actually help people instead of turing over more power and money to the machine.

Less well known about the nazi seizure of power was that they were not the only paramilitary force in Germany, most political parties had paramilitary arms. The communists basically were a paramilitary force in and of themselves; there was also the Stahlhelm or steel helmets, conservative but not officially aligned with a party; and there was the Reichsbanner, or paramilitary arm of the Social Democratic Party. The leaders of the last organization sat and waited during the crucial time after hitler was named chancellor when the nazis quietly arrested members of the opposition, for a signal from politicians to act. It never came and the rest is pretty much history. This is not the case in America, there is no force capable of meeting this slippery, right wing threat to the Republic. The victims of right wing violence in America impotently call on the very people orchestrating this bullshit to denounce violence, circulate meaningless petitions and so forth (yes, I signed two of them myself but with no pretension that it means a Goddamn thing). Cries to denounce hate and violence could only work if they weren't handy tools to gain and hold power, intimidating anyone who might challenge the fascist right. I'm sure some unconnected right-winger out there is upset and pouting that I'd make this impolite assertion. That there is a connection between the venom spewed and sputtered forth on the airwaves and the unbalanced freaks and psychos actually putting the rhetoric into action. I'd love to hear the defense/apology from the gun fetishists who in other days make no effort to hide the fact that they hoard weapons in case the government or criminals (no distinction between the two are neccessary) break into their homes.

The leaders orchestrating the hate and now even openly calling for killing their opponents in some cases (Julian Assuage anyone?) are fox news as individual hosts and as an institution, all kinds of cowardly pussy AM radio hosts (lots of crossover there as well) and various bloggers, websites, etc. They share a personality trait with the deranged psychopaths actually pulling triggers: they are bullies. How well, in your experience, does "please stop hurting me" work with a bully? No, I guess I'm shedding my credentials as a lib' but in my experience only a more powerful force can stop a bully. Bullies will always use indulgences, like free speech and due process, to get what they want. Now, someone smarter and more insightful than I already coined the term "Becking" as a verb "To use violent metaphors or make thinly-veiled suggestions of violence against opponents, while maintaining plausible deniability against charges of incitement" and made a handy catalogue of the campaign against America here:  http://veniceforchange.blogspot.com/2011/01/becking-of-america-how-right-wing-media.html

I have little to add, to that posting or any of the other denunciations and analyses. All good, and basically as far as liberalism allows people to do. I guess I keep thinking of what would happen in school if the bully(s) even beat up the teacher or the teacher cannot be bothered to actually confront him(them). That is our current situation, the president sure doesn't care and the republican dicks are responsible for it. Remember John Goodman in "Revenge of the Nerds?" Only this time the Nerds are just crying and taking it from the jocks, while the rest of the campus is indifferent.

Tactically, what is the point of attacking at close range and in broad daylight? Are these clowns really so delusional that they think their guns will help their getaway? Or are they simply suicidal? On some Rambo, hollywood or song of Roland fantasy of going down in a blaze of glory to protect "their liberty, way of life, etc?" I don't know, but the practical effect is simple intimidation. If you want power and want to silence opposition, what better way than to "inspire" nutjobs to shoot at your enemies in public, thereby making others afraid to come out or peacably assemble. What bully wouldn't rather have you frightened enough to just hand over your lunch money without a fight?


These shooters must be insane, the sane ones stay anonymous. Sending a fax of a noose or emailed death threat is easier and less dangerous than showing up in person. At least some of the teabaggers who showed up at townhalls with guns were hoping to get the lunchmoney without expending real effort, the rest really were cowards hiding behind them. There has to be a strong majority in this country that does not feel violence is an appropriate political tool, and not all of them are glued to "real housewives of wherever" or "jersey shore." What they can do to stop this is beyond me though.

The Wal-Mart/Netflix Conspiracy: Bad Movie

All the people I know who use netflix love it. I used to subscribe to bb online but their service started okay but declined quickly. The fact that this deal between the evil empire and netflix even happened shows what has happened to the effectiven­ess of government­, can anyone say "antitrust­"? There is a dirty little secret that a quick perusal of comments seems to be pretty solid, maybe it only exists in my neck of the woods. Ever hear of a library? They will let you check out DVDs for free.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

"Christians" and intolerance

This is something I've been trying to understand for a while, it seems to be a relatively new phenomenon and primarily among the younger crowd. This certain species of "Christian" that desires, nay, needs to differentiate themselves from other Christians and exclude others who don't belong. I was trying to figure out why lately my fb friend count has been dropping, since I couldn't nail down who was deleting me they obviously couldn't have been too important. Then my wife went to see a friend last night, who told her that she and her husband both deleted me. I barely knew them so, no biggie. But apparently it is because I sometimes post critical news articles to my page and comment on things and this offended them.

Is this where we are in this country? Electronic communication has become so pervasive that we filter out anything that disagrees with us? I admit having done it in the past, but only when the individual becomes personally belligerent. But I am a liberal and have many conservative friends, some "Christian" some simply angry. I first noticed the "Christian" phenomenon in high school, when I chummed with a guy who liked to hang out at lunch with the prayer group and I couldn't figure out why they didn't seem to like me very much. One day, one of them told my friend, "he just doesn't 'get it,'" and it finally dawned on me that I wasn't part of their gang. Now, I am a Christian, I was baptized, confirmed and believed JC was my savior. At the time I even taught Sunday school at my Church, but all of that was meaningless because I wasn't part of "their" gang. This was pretty insignificant, that guy and I drifted out of being friends and once the others' shallowness and intolerence was laid bare for me, I didn't miss them in the slightest. I wonder if anyone reading this will say, "he's just bitter because he's not cool" and no I'm not cool, never was, never will be. And yes, most of my worldview has developed because of this sort of thing. But it makes you realize what a lousy life it is to be intolerant, you get to feel superior to others who mostly couldn't care less but other than that, it is a self-imposed isolation.

My wife seems to have gone through something similar, and I can't help getting angry when she tells me about how the group she tried to be part of in college routinely excluded her. They "allowed" her to be part of the group on the fringe, so they could feel superior and have someone to keep down. Exclusion, isolation, division, ostracism, these are not things I would attribute to the Prince of Peace. I guess the sin that both of us were guilty of was an insufficient level of hate for those "outside" therefore we could never be "inside," it doesn't really even matter what those outside were guilty of (homosexuals, promiscuous, or just heavy) what matters is that this arbitrary barrier was thrown up to allow the insiders an opportunity to feel superior to others. Damning them to hell, or just unpopularity, simply to make themselves feel important. The other sin was, of course, insufficient fervor to impose their beliefs on others.

Now that I see the same in politics, culture, or whathaveyou it is obvious that religion was just a convenient excuse to practice a All-American pastime.

Oh and the reason for the quotation marks is that this brand of Christian has a need to declare themselves as such at every opportunity, while it lets them feel superior, what it really does is let us know because by their actions, this sort of person really doesn't act very Christianlike, at least in any way I understand it.

Happy Veterans Day

The rest of the world calls November 11th Armistice Day, celebrating the end of one of the truly most senseless conflicts of all time. But we in America celebrate those who participated or are prepared to participate in those conflicts that serve to gratify someones whim and love of seeing the little people killed in large numbers. I just need to make a point that wars are almost always started because someone wanted to start it, and then claim that someone else did or they were victims of circumstance. George w bush was only the latest in a long line of villains attacking others for fun and profit, certainly not a feature of American exceptionalism.

But, I'm supposed to be thanking people today right? So here goes. First, I am thankful for ft knox and its ability to turn even the greatest patriot into a complete cynic in less than three years. Second, I am thankful for the American school system, capable of creating a large enough pool of temporarily insane people to sign their names on the dotted line year after year so that I didn't have to go back, as I am sure that someone is thankful that I signed my name too in a fevered and temporary loss of common sense. I am thankful for facebook, which made it possible to reconnect with lots of great guys I didn't think I would ever talk to again, there are a few presently unaccounted for but eventually I hope to shoot the breeze with them again. I am thankful for the American propaganda system which simultaneously inspires enough cannon fodder to show up and prevents a critical mass of them from ever realizing what a scam it is. That system also ensures that few ever complain too loudly about promises broken, lies told, or benefits that magically disappear at the pleasure of politicians. Finally, I am thankful for Rambo, who taught me the meaning of "expendable".

I am certainly thankful for the freedom to express my thoughts, which has less to do with the sacrifices made by myself and other soldiers than is popularly thought (I would love someone to explain that knee-jerk reaction meant to silence the freedom of others, not argue any rational point). I am thankful as well for the opportunity to go to college and get a degree (or three) provided by the GI Bill, though there were other ways. And I am happy that a few people thanked me for service, even if I feel that somehow my service didn't count. That's the end all of course, my service made me cynical about these popular myths and therefore erased the fact that I served for those who would rather bully anyone who disagrees with them and show that it really is contingent on you believing the right things. Just another way unthinking right wing morons can separate you from that honorable club of chicken hawks who shout the right slogans but really stayed home to steal your girl while you slogged for Uncle Sam. It is my right as a veteran as much as any other veteran to be angry. That is what our service bought us, and if some cretins want to use that right to cover for cowards and chicken hawks, so be it. This is my opinion and I hope it doesn't bring down the guys I know who are still serving, my hat's off to you guys because I know for a fact how hard that life is.

What is modern conservatism?

This question has been going through my mind all semester as each week I read some new conservative intellectual tract form my class on the subject. First, they are very broad and diverse in their ideas. Second, there is none of the business worship and hate for anything non-business that characterizes the idiots panting for power in next week's election. Third, there are many threads of what a dictionary definition of conservatism entails, such as respect for tradition, the land, religion, individual freedom, and the freedom of groups and institutions between the individual and the state. Maybe that is more of an encyclopedia definition, but the idea of maintaining connection with the past and caution about the future definitely holds, as do the idea of conserving the good of our society and being on guard against rapid change.

Many ideas sound ugly to our ears, being good Americans holding the ideas of democracy, equality and the inherent goodness of people, and in favor of aristocracy in many forms. But, when the frame is pierced aristocracy as they define it actually seems something good for society for the most part. Here is the example that inspired this post, from Conservatism Revisited: The Revolt Against Ideology by Peter Viereck writing in 1949:

"In one sense, the concept of civil liberties is aristocratic and against democratic rule. If you insist on civil liberties, and there are few things more worthy of insistence, then you must be prepared to say: 'Even if a fairly elected, democratic majority of 99% wants to lynch all Negroes, Jews, Catholics, labor leaders, or bankers, it is our moral and legal duty to resist the majority, though we die in the attempt.' Guarding the Bill of Rights even against majorities and even against the people's will, the American Constitution performs an aristocratic and conservative function." (p. 77)

So... are the conservatives today, trampling on the civil liberties of Muslims, GLBTs, educators, unions, and so forth, actually conservative? Aristocracy, in many guises seems more the guardian of civilization than the arbiter of privilege so often invoked by right-wing populists. Viereck in this book argues that conservatism defends against both radical and reactionary swings. Now, in the US of 2010, what is tradition? I would argue that our traditions of the day depend on an aristocracy to faithfully execute the promises made by the populace between generations. Not any crass foundering to "save the babies" or trust to the "magic of the marketplace" but to use the public sphere to give all Americans a decent education, safety both from foreign invasion and other ills of modern life (bridges that don't collapse, food and water that don't make you sick, etc.), the promise that if you work hard you can succeed and at least not have to eat cat food in your sunset years because wall st. ate your nest egg and the drug companies extort everything from you. Does this sound "conservative"? No, it sounds like the New Deal and its legacy.

Conservatives today, or the freaks using that label, are hell-bent on shredding these traditions and taking us in an entirely new direction. This utopia of free markets is free of those traditions that make America great, is this what all of you who call yourselves conservative want? Do you really believe that jobs are disappearing left and right, your home value is plummetting and your 401k is a shadow of it's former self because we haven't cut taxes enough for companies and the rich? Where were you when the great conservative george w bush ran up enormous deficits for war and doubled the national debt during his time in office? Is there some magic threshold we have to cross before companies will start building things here again in your minds?

So, just as Liberals abandoned that name for the new but equally trashed name of Progressives, all of you who liked America before wall street went wild with your money and mine have a choice to make, what do you really stand for? Or you can just knuckle under and do whatever the right-wing demogauges tell you and hope they don't hit you again or ship your job overseas.

Crossroads

Having just finished Third World America: How Our Politicians Are Abandoning the Middle Class and Betraying the American Dream by Arianna Huffington, I have really been thinking about where we are going in the country. I'll need to brush up on my Chomsky before really delving into it but taking courses on both revolutions and conservative intellectual history this semester I feel like my head is about to burst. Somehow, I need to remember where I stand.

Third World America is kind of a wake-up call, even though I've been reading Kevin Phillips for years now and he has implied more or less forcefully that that is where we are headed. Extreme inequality has rendered democracy or even marginally representative republican government almost moot because the obscenely wealthy individuals can just buy politicians and incredible propaganda to hammer their interests home. Huffington sprinkles the stories of many regular Americans into her polemic to convey just how often people are being ruined through almost no fault of their own. Responsibility really is a reflection of how much power you actually have, our society is too-interconnected for anyone to be truly self-reliant unless they want to live in a cave and eat roots and bugs.

She makes a great observation I think that really helps me understand the contradictory attitudes of so many teabaggers and their sympathizers, I'll have to paraphrase but she argues that America today is like a middle-aged man who looks in the mirror and still sees himself at 25. Like the baldspot and beer belly, bad knees and high cholesterol, our country's infrastructure is decaying and falling apart in so many ways but instead of actually trying to fix things we combover and suck in our guts and try to ignore the latest bridge collapsing.

I am pretty sure we really are locked in now, the only thing that could revitalize society and our democracy is mass organizing that really gets at them, but despite having unprecedented access to information and in many cases due to outrageous unemployment, time to utilize it and reach out, we don't. The atomization is complete, look how much effort and money by the kochs it took to organize the cranky cretins to do things they want to do so badly. Civilization is hard work, so is raising a family and paying the bills, and there is just no energy or spark left in the broad mass to even think or imagine better.

I'll go out on a limb and say something really unpopular, "it's gone and it's not coming back" the American Dream of progress that is. Every dollar you spend chasing it only tightens the screws further, the nice house, car, retirement, convenience foods, clothing, job security, good schools for the kids. The fix is in. I wish the obscene amounts of money spent on the political campaigns didn't have the effects they do, but after fleecing us all these years the elite has practically unlimited clout to bash us over the head with how great life will be if we just extend the bush tax cuts or whatever. We need to reformulate society where we don't work so hard for some boss just to get paid enough to finance our credit cards and mortgages for things that we don't really need but have been programmed to want. Let go, life is about more than possessions and as they fleece us coming and going it just gives them more money to rewrite the rules and destroy anything good left in our society.

What I've discovered so far in studying revolutions is that they inevitably are beaten by money, it may mutate from feudal and aristocratic privilege to capitalistic, but exploitation is just a fact of life. Unless people are willing to fight to build or maintain a decent society, tyrants and demogauges will always wait in the wings to snatch it away.

A few things you can do...

Everyone knows that Washington is broken, government is primarily in the hands of special interests and their lobbyists over the needs of Americans or even the country as a whole. The FIRE (financial, insurance, real estate) sector and fossil fuel industries are probably the worst offenders, capturing agencies and departments to formulate policy which serves their needs over ours. While supporting Democratic candidates for office can sometimes deliver some incremental reform and progress, there are things that we can do as individuals to start curbing the power of the giant multinational corporations that harm us.

The first thing is to remember that there is no silver bullet, no magical formula that will change things overnight, nor is there a great leader out there on a white horse who will ride in and hold them accountable. It is far easier, as dubya proved, to wreck society than to make it better. And, these things aren't always easy, but doing something is better than doing nothing. Power and privilege is naturally organized and focused on their goals, while regular people are concerned with securing some measure of security in financial matters which usually precludes working and organizing for abstract goals like justice and fairness or equality.

The biggest thing is, don't give them your money. As much as possible, avoid big box stores and chain restaurants. Recognize need from want, cultivate your bullshit detector to see through all forms of advertising because it is just propaganda. Then you can begin to understand not just nightly news (go shopping, the economy is collapsing!) but the capitalist-reinforcing themes of TV and movies. If you must, and admittedly there are many human needs, shop at a store like Shopko over walmart because they have less political power and are at least Wisconsin-based.

The flipside of not shopping for wants is, not falling victim to debt. I know it is hard to make ends meet but every time you use credit cards it gives that much money to the issuer that can be used to lobby and arm-twist for undermining regulation that protects you. And in that frame, take your money out of the big bank and put it in a credit union, where you are a member and not a sheep to be sheared and the profits come back to you in the form of higher interest rates on your deposits instead of financing the lobbyist that corrupts the system. We need to scale back our expectations, marketing and advertising have unduly influenced our values and priorities, that shiny new product will probably not bring you happiness and is certainly not worth going into debt for. On the investment side of the coin, there are quite a few newer mutual funds that emphasize social responsibility and environmental consciousness, they return a reasonable rate but are not striving to eek out that extra fraction of a percent by doing rotten things.

In the longer term, getting back at the corporate elite will involve organizing and patronizing institutions that one usually associates with dirty hippies. Even in the conservative county I live in we have community gardens, farmers' markets, and are beginning to have things like time banks where you can trade an hour of your time for an hour of someone else's time. Everyone has certain skills and pooling them together can really make a difference and take a bite out of corporate profits if employed effectively.

If the last few years have taught us anything, it is that no matter what we do or how hard we try to follow the establishment's prescription for restoring prosperity and the economy, they are still going to screw us. So it is time to reject the whole thing, the other guy is still going to get laid off even if you buy the new car or whatever the case may be. They just don't care about anything but the bottom line and any part of the American dream can and will be sacrificed to further the third-worlding of America. So don't buy it.

Fixing things will be a long road, but during the Great Depression we overcame the same rabid business uber alles mentality and had almost forty years of the good life before apathetically letting the elite take over again. It will be hard but we can do it again.