A is for Arthur, B is for Bear

Only nobody bailed Arthur Andersen out.(weren't they ALSO "too big to fail?") Jim Rogers(above) says that if Bear Stearns had declared bankruptcy, some of the top level people would have had to give back their bonuses, which were apparently paid out fairly recently, by the way...)

Meanwhile we have polls on every little thing, but I haven't seen anything on whether people think the Bear Stearns bailout represents a corrupt government. Of course asking the question that way is probably verboten, so it should be something like "do you think the Bear Stearns bailout was fair?", so it would pass muster with a kindergarden teacher polling her charges. But not even that-- instead we get this:

"Americans confident in 2009 turnaround":

A national CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll found that 60% of respondents think economic conditions in the United States will be "good" next year, as opposed to the 75% who think the economic situation is "poor" now.

"Most people realize that the economy has cycles of ups and downs," said Wachovia economist Sam Bullard. "Fortunately, the last two recessions were some of the shortest on record, so in 2009 we should be pulling up out of this."

What does this mean? Does it mean that 60 percent of Americans(or 60 percent of CNN/Orc poll respondents, at any rate) are:

a.plucky optimists,

b.rugged individualists who don't need the government to help them out, or

c. just buttf**kingly stupid?

A note: I wrote this post some time back, so perhaps it is not so timely, but I just saved it meaning to flesh it out. But I have nothing else to post for a few days so I'm putting this up. Regard it, if you must, like day old bread, or revel in its timelessness, if you can detect any.

I'll be back

photo: Daily Mail

but I won't be any taller, as I'm unwilling to undergo a scalp implant like the one Dr De la Cruz, above, recommends. Probably around the 12th or so.

Life in a Vacuum 2 and 3/5: Corraboration

As I mentioned in my previous post it is important to discern what is important and about the delusional state of the American world view and I have found the most absolute perfect example of what I am talking about. Below is an excerpt from a very popular liberal blog, it’s not important who wrote it but that it is such a good example.

Via Discourse, I found these neat Obama bumper stickers. This is a homegrown operation and lots of fun. Just like this one, which may be the best series of campaign posters ever. They are everywhere in my neighborhood.

But aside from all the great creativity bursting forth from supporters, one of the best things about the Obama campaign is its exceptional branding and graphics. So far, it's been more modern, more well thought out, more interesting than any I ever seen. I wrote about it a couple of months ago.

His campaign events have been extremely well produced as well, although you'll have to go a long way to beat Bush hovering over filled stadiums on Marine One at sunset to the strains of "Danger Zone" from Top Gun. (I thought the crowd was going to start speaking in tongues en masse --- led by the press.)

There is talk that Obama is going to give his nomination acceptance speech at Viagra Field at Mile High Stadium. (Oh, it's Invesco field, I'm sorry. I get those corporate names all confused.) Anyway, this could be very exciting television if done well.

There is nothing wrong with stagecraft, even if the Bush administration treated it as if it was the only thing that mattered. They had a very talented crew who kept the country and the media gaga for years:

Astonishingly after all the lurches to the right Obama has taken promising more of the same economy, more of the same war, possibility of widening the war, approval of state surveillance, regaling us with his affinity to Reagan, Nixon, Bush I, and the Clinton cronies joining the dream team all that matters to the owner of the above quote is that a Democrat wins.

It sounds to have been written by a child. See the pwetty pwetty bumper stickers? Gee aren’t they keen? The emphasis is on of all things tactics not issues, no never issues. The comment about Bush is actually very funny and to the point yet when it comes to Obama the blinders go on. Exceptional branding and graphics, more modern etc. etc. with no actual mention of where Obama stands or what his presidency might be like. This from a person who actually does read the news and is probably quite well informed on many political issues yet the analytical processes fall apart and it is so far removed from anything of actual importance that it boggles the mind and this is typical of what American political discourse is like. What seems quite clear is that the problems come not from stupidity but from a blind spot that is so adamantine, so well armored against reality that nothing can break through it.

Life in a Vacuum

Life in Western culture is much like living in a vacuum. Who won the ball game, what’s for dinner, the latest story of some lost soul who went berserk and shot up a school, what atrocity did some pop singer commit?

Granted on the surface that it would seem crazy to be concerned with everything that is going on in the world, on the other side of the planet, or what politicians are up to. Unfortunately it does matter because things that are going on in the world and what our politicians are up to are being done in our name with our money and the results are murder and mayhem all the more devastating due to the enhancement of a technology that makes weapons and their delivery more efficient than ever before.

True human history is a panorama of endless bloodshed and slaughter so why bother, why pay attention after all isn’t it human nature to be violent, isn’t that the natural state of humanity to compete and kill for self gain, to perpetuate ones DNA? Are we nothing more than bags of water, living aquariums whose purpose is to propagate and preserve DNA? That is a pretty grim and narrow view of life and of humanity. I don’t think it is a valid view even if in some sense it is true. It is like saying a masterpiece painting is nothing but a stretched canvas with some colors applied to its surface. Though that is accurate as far as it goes it doesn’t go very far and misses much in its view and the same can be said for describing humanity and life through some quantifiable mechanical aspect.

Recently I read an essay about how stupid Americans are when it comes to politics. The article pointed out how little many Americans know about history, current events, and politics. The frustration of the author was palpable. He questioned whether or not we actually want these people to vote certainly a valid question but then again most of them don’t vote something I advocate, not voting that is, since to participate in what has become such a farce is to support the evil of the state. Perhaps the problem isn’t so much that people don’t pay attention perhaps it is the whole structure of our society. Can you name the 23rd president? How many states are there in the United States? Does the moon orbit the earth or does the earth orbit the moon? Does anyone in their right mind care? We have evolved cultures that are extraordinarily complex and ritualized from much simpler cultures with information, much of it erroneous, mundane, and useless delivered in a multitude of media that threatens to overload our senses. However amidst this sea of rumor and misinformation, there are facts that do matter and it is up to us to decipher what is important and what is not. Unfortunately many seem incapable of doing so or perhaps a closer approximation may be that many don’t have the desire to do so. Rather we write the whole thing off as impossible or worse yet many just place their trust in the government to do the right thing. And this is the conundrum – most people just want to understandably get on with their lives and want life to be predictable with a modicum of surprises yet it is because people don’t pay attention much less think that bad things happen and life becomes more unpredictable filled with some very unpleasant surprises. Worse still many just prefer to believe in fairy tales ignoring the monumental human suffering that is reality for many people around the world with the United States being the chief fountainhead of this misery.

Question everything, stop making assumptions, look for the important facts and corroborate them, ask why people in authority should have any authority, don’t believe anything authority would have you believe without extraordinary proofs. Keep in mind that most of the powers that authority lays claim to comes from you. For authority appearances are more important than facts. Authority emphasizes its power through symbols of power which take the form of state buildings, badges on policeman, monuments, etc. the purpose of which is to relegate the individual to unimportance while uplifting and maintaining the power of the state.

We live in a very complex culture, insanely so, but it is because of this that we need to cultivate the skill to seek out what is important and what is chaff. In the end the important things tend to be much simpler than the propaganda we are deluged with. For example, it is wrong to murder people, it is wrong to steal from them, it is wrong to destroy their homes and infrastructure, let people live their lives the way they wish to, none of us are better than anyone else. One tool used by the state is to reinforce that we are better than anyone else and it is the tool by which they convince the masses to approve of the insane and brutal policies that we victimize weaker states with by adhering to the belief that America is the best nation ever, that Americans know how to live better than anyone else therefore we need to bring the rest of the world up to our own Olympian standards. These are the foundations of insanity and delusion for authority has but one goal the garnering and preservation of power to enrich their own coffers at the cost of everyone else.

A preoccupation with symbols and empty gestures

Neither Spel-ChekR® nor I know how to spel tryptich, which is why I didn't include a similarly themed pic of McCain demonstrating hubris. I imagine lots will become available at the GOP convention.

Micah Holmquist:

Tim Russert was the only hope we had in this Road Warrioresque landscape. Without him, we are doomed.

Arvin Hill:

Saying "bring it on," kind of tough talk, you know, that sent the wrong signal to people. I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner -- you know, "wanted dead or alive," that kind of talk. I think in certain parts of the world it was misinterpreted, and so I learned from that.
~George W. Bush to The Times of London

Arvin: The Boy King regrets not being a more accomplished liar.

No one could have foreseen such vanity.

Michael Cortese(aka Mykeru):

the recession seems to have turned the decades long game of “let’s make a buck with China” into, and I couldn’t believe it even as I watched, Lou Dobbs on TV the other night warning people about the growing threat of cheap coat hangers from China.

Thanks Lou. See that big building over there? That’s a Wal-Mart. Apparently there’s a whole lot of that going on in there. You’ll go in there fighting, and you’ll come out with golf clubs.

Alison Kilkenny: Jesus Arm-Wrestled Dinosaurs

Who is IOZ? Why, the king of the one-liners, that's who-

IOZ, "The Food bad, the portions small": Jesus Lord A-Mighty, buy some fucking bicycles, you whiny little bitches.

and, "McLame": John McCain is so old that creationists are actually forced to deny he exists.

an interesting new(well, new to me) site: Troubling Information http://www.troubling.info/

The Changeling

Just when I think this presidential campaign couldn’t become more asinine I read something in the news that proves I have underestimated Obama again.

Sun Times

Obama praised McCain's service, and the Democratic candidate's spokesman rejected Sunday's remarks from a prominent supporter, retired Gen. Wesley Clark, who said McCain's years as a Vietnam War fighter pilot and prisoner of war did not necessarily qualify him to be commander in chief.

''I will never question the patriotism of others in this campaign, and I will not stand idly by when I hear others question mine,''

Well goodness me I’m certainly glad that is settled and in no uncertain terms to boot. I was beginning to be worried about that very topic. But of course Obama praised McCain’s service as a hit man for the state. It doesn’t matter that the Vietnam War was a criminal war killing millions of Vietnamese all that matters is that it was an American, McCain, hepping to do the killing. Then there was Obama’s explanation for praising Ronnie Reagan where he told us that he felt Reagan moved the country away from the “excesses’ of the 60’s and 70’s though I don’t expect he was talking about the in excess of 3 million dead Vietnamese, just collateral damage you know.

Well now that Obama honors McCain how does he honor Americans or more specifically how does he honor black Americans?

CNN

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- Barack Obama celebrated Father's Day by calling on black fathers, who he said are "missing from too many lives and too many homes," to become active in raising their children.

"They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it," the Democratic presidential candidate said Sunday at a largely black church in his hometown.

Isn’t it just like those black fathers to be that way? But what happened to there is no black America, no latin America, etc. just the Untied States of America sentiment? Oh that’s right this is just more of the old time pragmatic stereotyping. Thank goodness Obama hasn’t abandoned his responsibilities he is obviously of a much different sort than those bad old black fathers even if he does sound like a kindlier and gentler Richard Nixon.

From the Nixon tapes--

"We're going to (place) more of these little Negro bastards on the welfare rolls at $2,400 a family . . . let people like Pat Moynihan and Leonard Garment and others believe in all that crap. But I don't believe in it. Total emphasis of everybody must be that this is much better than we had last year. . . . work, work, throw 'em off the rolls. That's the key."

"The Mexicans are a different cup of tea," says Nixon. "They have a heritage. At the present time they steal, they're dishonest. They do have some concept of family life, they don't live like a bunch of dogs, which the Negroes do live like."

"Let's look at the strong societies," says Nixon. "The Russians. Goddamn, they root 'em out. They don't let 'em around at all. I don't know what they do with them. Look at this country. You think the Russians allow dope? Homosexuality, dope, immorality are the enemies of strong societies. That's why the communists and left-wingers are clinging to one another. They're trying to destroy us. I know Moynihan will disagree with this, (Atty. Gen. John) Mitchell will, and Garment will. But, goddamn, we have to stand up to this."

--Richard Nixon

Then there was this rather strange remark from Obama. "We can't simply write these problems off to past injustices," Obama said Sunday. "Those injustices are real. There's a reason our families are in disrepair ... but we can't keep using that as an excuse."

Past injustices? Past? Does Obama mean to say all injustices are in the past? I guess Katrina never happened. I suppose also there really isn’t a legal system that penalizes black Americans, that there aren’t really an inordinate number of blacks in prison, and the ghettos are gone just not the stereotyping. Oh silly me! Those are just excuses! Heavens to Betsy.

Considering Obama’s vacuous speeches and his recent swivels to the right I think we can say that there is little or no change coming if Obama is elected. We can say that, oh yes we can. If Obama keeps turning to the right at this pace he is going to meet himself. I wonder if they will shake hands.

Israeli-Hezbollah prisoner swap

Wherein hardliner Ehud Olmert, in trouble politically just like junior, nevertheless proves to be somewhat less pigheaded. Of course if they had just done this in June of 2006 over a thousand Lebanese and Israelis would still be alive.

Aberration

All the little household gods
Have started crying, but say
Good-bye now, and put to sea.

-- W.H. Auden


It was the heyday of the Haight Ashbury in San Francisco with bands like Quicksilver Messenger Service, the Youngbloods, the Moody Blues, A Beautiful Day, Country Joe and the Fish, Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, just to name a few making a great impression on me, actually much more than the Beatles or the Rolling Stones. I still recall a first visit to a head shop in an old Victorian house in Palo Alto and seeing the long haired and bearded proprietors the air filled with burning incense, phsycodellic posters on the walls along with tie dyed shirts, hookahs, and all the other accoutrements of a burgeoning counter culture on display. Times were getting even more interesting. Politics and the Vietnam War had not yet impinged on my world though later they would. It was an Alice in Wonderland world, it was a world without cynicism, and it seemed that humanity was moving toward something much better than the 50’s. Revolution was in the air. People were interested in the arts -- music, plays, books, all things creative rather than the same old acceptance of convention that marked the 50’s. Then there was the rising tide of anger against the Vietnam War. People were actually coming out against the war in many parts of the nation and it seemed humanity at last wanted to move beyond our violent bloody past. There was the excitement of unexplored worlds and territories, intellectual thought over the violent and the bestial, there was real hope for better days and a better humanity none of which has come to pass. The 60’s were just an aberration it would seem. Americans have gone back to sleep lulled into a dream of complacency. Even the Iraq War seems to have faded into a grey background as America indulges in another election farce where hopes wane and wax like an errant morning breeze. When this repugnant election between two reptilian candidates crawling out of a primordial swamp with forked tongues flicking in and out in search of power is over reality will return with a vengeance as the war on terror accelerates the long silent fall of what could have been but never really was.

America has become a boring entirely predictable fucked up piece of crap, something I never would have believed in the 60’s even with the Vietnam War. As far as I am concerned anyone who wants it can have it, probably deserves it, and can keep it for all I care. Today anyone who questions authority or the status quo are considered to be fringe lunatics, anyone with an original thought is crazy in this brave new world of zombie-like mediocre conformists.

Below a couple cuts from Quicksilver Messenger Service, Fresh Air and Who do you Love:

The Analytical Mind

How well do any of us think? Now that’s something to think about. It’s quite possible that most of us are wrong about most everything, me included, because of one factor.

Our culture.

No I am not talking about just American culture but any culture. When immersed in any culture, as all of us are, we accept many assumptions consciously and unconsciously as being beyond a shadow of a doubt. Culture dictates how we dress, what we eat, how we should interact with other people, our attitudes, even how we perceive reality. We call this rational thinking. Yet how rational is the unconscious acceptance of all the assumptions that we are trained from birth to make and how analytical can we actually be if this is true? If cultures are not exactly static and change with time doesn’t it follow that what we perceive to be reality our world view changes with time as well? So how sure can we really be that any of us has a firm grip on what we call reality?

In the 19th century anthropologists were studying Indian mounds in the south eastern part of North America. During that time it was widely accepted among whites that the Native Americans were mentally inferior to whites likely based in part on the idea that whites had superior technology which had allowed us to push the Native Americans from their lands hence whites were superior. In fact the anthropologists who were studying the mounds completely dismissed the idea that the mounds had been built by the Native Americans because since they were inferior they couldn’t possibly have built them. This was the analytical thinking of that time period. Also at that time it was believed that brain size had a direct bearing on intelligence. This led the mound investigators to take skulls of Native Americans and Caucasians and measure the brain cavities of the skulls. This was done by filling them with sand and measuring the amount of sand the skulls could contain. Today we of course know that the mounds were built by Native Americans and it seems laughable that the assumptions of the analytical anthropologists would keep them from coming to such a logical conclusion. But before you laugh you had better be damned sure that you are much more immune to the edicts of your own culture than the people of the 19th century were. You are of course … aren’t you?

I'll miss this guy

George Carlin, May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008.

"There are no bad words. Bad thoughts. Bad intentions," he said. Yet, out of 400,000 words in the English language, there are seven: "That will infect your soul, curve your spine and keep the country from winning the war...."

Mighty Mouse is on the Way

Looking back in the recent past there have been a parade of heroes all who have eventually fallen from grace. Collin Powell was hero for a day. Fawn eyed Americans looked to Powell and wondered ooh, if only he was president. Then it was rumored that Powell would be the steady hand on the wheel keeping baby Bush on the straight and narrow. But the honeymoon was soon over when the vial of bullshit came out before the UN and Powell was revealed for what he was, just another ass kisser to power which should not have been a surprise since Powell had made a career for himself covering up for mass killings beginning in the Vietnam War era.

Wikipedia

Colin Powell, then a 31-year-old Army Major, was charged with investigating the letter, which did not specifically reference My Lai (Glen had limited knowledge of the events there). In his report Powell wrote: "In direct refutation of this portrayal is the fact that relations between Americal soldiers and the Vietnamese people are excellent." Powell's handling of the assignment was later characterized by some observers as "whitewashing" the atrocities of My Lai.[24] In May 2004, Powell, then United States Secretary of State, told CNN's Larry King, "I mean, I was in a unit that was responsible for My Lai. I got there after My Lai happened. So, in war, these sorts of horrible things happen every now and again, but they are still to be deplored."

But none of this mattered to many, liberals and conservatives alike adored Powell though that love affair was doomed and Powell was eventually de-caped, until then though Powell was the hero of the day, the steady hand, the hope for tomorrow.

Another hero was McCain who gained favor with the faithful through his work with Feingold on campaign finance reform. Today of course McCain is another fallen hero at least in the eyes of the liberals who once heaped laurels on his shoulders, this despite the fact that as a pilot in Vietnam he was bombing civilians but hey, you know, the man was a warrior and liberals love their warrior heroes.

Then of course we have another hero today in the form of Barack Obama of the miles of smiles. Though liberals are still in the throes of hero worship Obama is a bit tarnished with the prospect of Albright and other Clintonian cronies becoming members of the Obama dream team. There are other problems with Obama but who cares, the packaging has been professionally handled and after all that’s what counts in the end. True there is some acknowledgement of Obama flaws but these are filed under the heading of “we must be pragmatic.” We may all be fucked but as long as we are pragmatic well then…

No wonder the movie theaters are deluged with super hero movies. Batman, Spiderman, Superman, The Hulk, Iron man all bulging with masculine muscles charging in to save the day. If there really aren’t any real life heroes we can always go to the movies.

They were shining there for you and me

or perhaps, "The Name of the Game" would have been more appropriate. I dunno, I like this one better.

BBC: Sweden approves wiretapping law

Sweden's parliament has approved controversial new laws allowing authorities to spy on cross-border e-mail and telephone traffic.

Glenn Greenwald:
Time Magazine uncritically prints Nancy Pelosi's "justifications" for the FISA "compromise":

The Congressional Democratic leadership explains that sacrificing the Fourth Amendment and the rule of law is necessary to win some more swing seats...

Nicole Belle, at Crooks n' Liars(via IOZ):

"Good God, is this why we elected a Democratic majority in 2006? So they can continue to enable the Bush administration as more and more independent sources have verified the criminality that we’ve claimed correctly all along? "

IOZ-

Yes.

In the above referenced post,Belle also writes:

John[Amato] mentioned our new coalition, Strange Bedfellows, earlier and I can’t reiterate more strongly the need to fight Blue Dogs like Steny Hoyer, so if you can donate, please do so. Think of the message it sends to Congress that we are willing to fight our own if they don’t represent us and our Democratic values the way they should.

I don't know about the details, but I wonder if that's true, because "Act Blue" sounds like an organization whose approach, starting with its very name, may antagonize voters in so-called "Blue-dog" districts, when outreach is needed. (I also think the views of those voters are often stereotyped, and therefore misunderstood, by people in the lefty blogosphere. Not everybody in the hinterlands is unreachable, any more than are all San Fransicans and Bostonians disappointed that Nader isn't running.) Then again that begs the question of whether abandonment of the democratic party altogether makes more sense that yet another attempt to fix it.