View Full Version : Rock bottom
Just received one of these in my mailbox:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/09/28/with-dreams-from-my-real-father-have-obama-haters-hit-rock-bottom.html
Really?
I cannot believe this. Actually, I CAN believe this. Ours is the state in which Republicans have also made death threats against owners of a beloved local restaurant that dared turn down the "opportunity" to be a Romney campaign stop, in which the windows were shot out of Democratic headquarters, and countless small community offenses committed against those who dare to stand up for their right to participate in our democracy - if they're not conservative. As hard as I try to stay in a place where I can appreciate both parties for the strengths they bring to the table, I'm having trouble at this moment thinking of the right as anything but the party of fear-mongering, judgement, threats, elitism and hatred.
Going to go be quietly sick now.
My community is overwhelmingly Democrat. The same sort of hatred, shunning, destruction of property, and outright threats of violence occur here too, only directed towards Republicans/conservatives by the Democrats.
I just got back replacing 25 campaign signs for a vaguely-conservative cause (some modifications to our county charter requiring open meetings...) that had all been removed/destroyed, while the signs for the other position were still proudly standing there.
I was at a meeting several weeks ago where a local libertarian-type was yelled at by a local leader of the lefties, and told to watch his mouth, or he might catch a stray bullet. The Sheriff got called in about that one.
People in large numbers that think they have the majority position, whichever side they are on, seem to descend to this sort of behaviour.
It's sickening.
As to attacking Obama's mother - how silly! Even if true, so what? He is not his mother, and heck, I'd probably be much more inclined to vote for him if I thought he was a sex-positive kinkster.
Disgusting. But I am put off by the Daily Beast saying this is put out simply by "the right". Things like this are put out by small groups of people who have no moral courage and no inkling of class. It is by no means a majority of us on "the right" that support, encourage or otherwise approve of things like this. It is unfortunately the same old story of a few bad apples ruining the barrel which happens, as bae said, on both sides. Throw it in the trash where it belongs.
Even if true, so what? He is not his mother, and heck, I'd probably be much more inclined to vote for him if I thought he was a sex-positive kinkster.
Bae, I didn't think anything could break my black mood around this, but I laughed so hard at this that both dogs came in to see if I was alright. You know that cocked-head look they give you: You okay? You sound funny.
And you're both right. I am just so furious with how low we've sunk. But of course someone will point out (rightly) that we have always been this way, for a century if not centuries. I'm angry that because of Citizens United someone can pour gazillions of dollars into something like this (and probably get a tax writeoff for it). I'm angry that I'm feeling like smacking someone with a spade (D-handled, preferably) and I'm a person who can't even swat a fly half the time. I'm angry about all the people in my state who won't get to vote because of the Secretary of State's conniving actions this fall. I'm angry that none of the candidates are addressing the issues honestly, because the public would never elect them if they did.
My chi is totally shot, in other words.
I'm just sick about this and all the cr@p that's going on, and I can't even get away from it by leaving the TV off any more!!! It comes into my own mailbox!!! Sigh.
ApatheticNoMore
10-18-12, 8:22pm
I'd be more inclined to vote for Obama if he was a Reverand Wright sympathizing, community organizing, radical leftist, anti-colonialist, socialist infiltrator (the Obama of their imagination). Unfortunately he's just a right-wing corporatist, with little respect for civil liberties. Reality is so much more banaly evil, so much more malevolent and boring at the same time. Creeping rot.
And you're both right. I am just so furious with how low we've sunk. But of course someone will point out (rightly) that we have always been this way, for a century if not centuries.
Honestly I suspect that's not true. We've always had this level of political animosity, yea I'll buy that, but not on the level of utter ignorance. Really sometimes I suspect all the people who buy this stuff need is better education. The world view of D’Souza is ridiculous: Obama is an anti-colonialist, and a supporter of Muslim "freedom fighting" terrorists. Ok then why does the U.S. keep bombing and killing Muslims? Now one could make an argument for the wars (though I don't agree). But saying Obama is motivated by anti-colonialism is not a serious world view. And the mom whore thing is of course more ridiculous, but less serious, because yea it's not relevant. Why should I care if Obamas mom was loose? Really, why should I care? Objection: irrelevant your honor.
I'm angry that because of Citizens United someone can pour gazillions of dollars into something like this (and probably get a tax writeoff for it). I'm angry that I'm feeling like smacking someone with a spade (D-handled, preferably) and I'm a person who can't even swat a fly half the time. I'm angry about all the people in my state who won't get to vote because of the Secretary of State's conniving actions this fall. I'm angry that none of the candidates are addressing the issues honestly, because the public would never elect them if they did.
Yea I'm pretty angry as well. I'm angry at the money and the garbage it's put into here as well (anti-GMO labeling mostly).
And I get stuff in my mailbox: make it so California counts in the Presidential election, I suspect it's some kind of bid to do away with the electorial college, now I'm fine with that, though of course your likely talking constitutional ammendment HOWEVER I don't WANT California to count in the presidential election. Not in the world that exists now. Not because I just love throwing my vote away (and I will :)), but because I don't want them to put restrictions on our access to the polls like they are in swing states. There are no restrictions here. I don't want that kind of policing. Our initatives, and other local policies are just too important for that. I don't even want the additional barrage of mind-destroying propaganda and people around me going even more bat*@#$ crazy about the election than they already are. It's a large part of why I'm so angry, I see nothing but apologists for these horrible candidates everywhere, I think these candidates are aweful. And if that makes me a lesser citizen of empire, 3/5ths of a person, or some such to the powers that be, because I'm not in a swing state, oh well. Probably already a lesser citizen for not being 1% anyway.
The Storyteller
10-18-12, 10:48pm
As a matter of fact, our politics are not at the worst they have ever been. There was that Certain Unpleasantness in the middle of the 19th century, for example.
Things could always be worse.
I'm sure this sort of thing has gone on historically and isn't one sided. Sadly, my opinion is that some of this relates to Obama's race and a deep seated prejudice, which compounds the issue. I was on a road trip last month and listened to a little Rush on the radio. The subject was Obama's family tree and the possibility of a slave in his ancestory. It wasn't nearly as blatant or severe as the article, but the tone had strong hints of racial bias.
I have to say, we went through elections here, and as far as I could tell, none of this was going on. Things were definitely heated (and still are!), but no one is going around threatening people or harming their property over it.
puglogic
10-19-12, 10:10am
The cost of creating and shipping millions upon millions of this "fascinating 95-minute feature film on DVD" to voters in swing states really boggles my mind (much calmer this morning after cutting the thing up into tiny pieces with lopping shears last night and letting the dogs pee on it) I can only imagine the good that could have been done with all that money. How many human beings could it have educated, retrained, enlightened, uplifted? Instead they chose to spend it on this hateful piece of sh**. Their choice to spend it that way; this is Amurrrca, after all. But it does make me secretly wish for an afterlife where they will have to answer for their choices.
Honestly I suspect that's not true. We've always had this level of political animosity, yea I'll buy that, but not on the level of utter ignorance. Really sometimes I suspect all the people who buy this stuff need is better education.
Actually I think the aggregate level of education is as high as or higher than its ever been. Not to say we are where we could/should be, but I don't think a lack of education is the real culprit. Enough people are dissatisfied with their situation to make something like this at least appear to be a viable method of swinging votes. Eliminate that dissatisfaction and things like this will go away on their own.
ApatheticNoMore
10-19-12, 11:42am
Actually I think the aggregate level of education is as high as or higher than its ever been.
I think the quality of the education is down, so that even if we have more people with x diplomas or degrees, what we have is education inflation.
Not to say we are where we could/should be, but I don't think a lack of education is the real culprit.
But the quality of what is being argued makes no sense, obama's foreign policy as being driven in any measurable part by an anti-colonialist agenda, just makes no sense at all, differences of opinion are one thing, but there are some arguments so detached from reality that it's just like WTF is that .... that's why I say maybe if they were a little better read on foreign policy ....
Enough people are dissatisfied with their situation to make something like this at least appear to be a viable method of swinging votes. Eliminate that dissatisfaction and things like this will go away on their own.
Doing so entirely is so outside the realm of anything political feasible that ...
I can only imagine the good that could have been done with all that money. How many human beings could it have educated, retrained, enlightened, uplifted?
I basically feel that way about the entire campaign process. Billion dollar candidates, couldn't that money be used better than just running most of our clown candidates for office. However, it's the world as it is now, if one candidate, lets say a major party candidate refused to spend any money campaigning, would they win, lets say this candidate even made a point of donating all the money that would go to their campaign to charity, even then would they win when the other person just puts out campaigns on the tv all hours of the day, fills the airwaves, etc.. They would probably lose. And that's just the money spend on the campaign proper not the PAC stuff.
Things were definitely heated (and still are!), but no one is going around threatening people or harming their property over it.
I honestly don't see a lot of that either. People here have yard signs, they are mostly for Obama, some are for Romney. Noone is tearing out each others yard signs. Swing state madness also known as swing state derangement, I think it needs to be a DSMV V category, with diagnosisable symptoms, tearing out your neighbors signs, foaming at the mouth etc..
puglogic
10-19-12, 11:58am
Enough people are dissatisfied with their situation to make something like this at least appear to be a viable method of swinging votes. Eliminate that dissatisfaction and things like this will go away on their own.
With all due respect, Gregg, I find this statement a little ridiculous. There will always be, and has always been, a substantial body of humanity who are either dissatisfied or have been CONVINCED they're dissatisfied by large amounts of money thrown at the media. People with more money than integrity have been pulling stunts like this forever. And they make me just as sick now as they have for the last 50 years of my life....no matter which side of the aisle they come from.
There is no "eliminating the dissatisfaction" and there probably never was, and certainly never will be from this point out, with vanishing resources, bursting population, and a politically powerful media interested only in profits, no matter the cost.
ApatheticNoMore
10-19-12, 12:07pm
Even if the job situation improved, there's still fundementally other problems one could be dissatisfied with, healthcare in the U.S. isn't going to remotely become affordable anytime soon for instance. As far as economic wellbeing people would probably be happiest with a welfare state with jobs (like NZ maybe), do you see a feasible plan to get there? But that's assuming it's really all about just feeling you have enough economically. If we are destroying the planet to get there some will be sad about this (with good reason IMO). And some will be unhappy with a middling status quo because they have grander more utopian visions. And some will be unhappy because they want something else ideologically. And etc..
Seems like no matter who wins, no matter what happens, the course we are on is doomed.
Have a nice day......
The "eliminate the dissatisfaction" comment was tongue in cheek, but not entirely without basis. People that try to track such things, in as much as that is possible, say the level of dissatisfaction is higher than at any time in the last 100 years. That obviously includes two world wars, several other wars, a great depression, multiple recessions, the civil rights movement, etc. Breaking it down to the lowest common denominator I think we are dissatisfied as a result of allocating our assets in entirely the wrong way. For example, in the 1930's the solution to sky high unemployment wasn't to extend benefits (entitlements) ad infinitum, it was to put people to work building infrastructure. That infrastructure is a significant part of the reason we were riding high for 70 years, btw.
As far as dissatisfaction goes putting people to work was empowering. People could hold their head up and be proud of what they were accomplishing. I'm not necessarily advocating bringing the CCC back, but I do think there are merits to a program like that that could benefit us today. If the unemployment rate was 1/2 of what it is now and the country was being rebuilt and our budget was balanced I think Mr. Obama would win in a landslide that would make Reagan's victory look like a close race. Obviously the President can't do it alone and he ran into a wall in Congress so I'm not trying to dump everything negative on his shoulders, but I do firmly believe we need to get back to the point where we empower people rather than just take care of them and to where we invest our money for the future rather than borrow the future's money to pay for our insatiable lifestyle today. I agree that it can't be eliminated, but after a few years of living like that I bet the level of dissatisfaction would start to drop pretty quickly.
Greg, I agree with some of what you are saying, but it is worth looking at where the stimulus money actually went. Of course some went for entitlements and tax relief, but a lot did go for infrastructure. As opposed to a gov't controlled program like the CCC, much of went to the private sector.
katieb12
10-19-12, 11:35pm
Seems like no matter who wins, no matter what happens, the course we are on is doomed.
Have a nice day......
+1
Yep, got that same thing too, Pug. I think I barely glanced at it and sort of laughed because it was so ridiculous, then was annoyed because it won't go in the shredder with the DVD in it. I'm sure my MIL watched the whole thing and then thought her constant viewing of Fox news was left-wing. Whatever. I do try to take these things with amusement rather than rancor, though yeah it's sometimes difficult. Today we got something that said "get rid of the EPA! It's why your electricity bill is so high!". Yup. For probably less than what my Netflix subscription goes for, and certainly less than my cell phone bill, I can enjoy fresh water and air. I think I'd like to keep that, thanks. One can actually live without electricity. One cannot live without water or air. And cancer treatments cost far more than a few extra dollars on my electricty bill, and that's if you live. If you think companies will police themselves, ask Bhopal India, or the folks who live near the Cuyahoga River.
gimmethesimplelife
10-20-12, 12:57am
Seems like no matter who wins, no matter what happens, the course we are on is doomed.
Have a nice day......Your post here really made me think for awhile. What comes up for me is I think this is one of the reasons I like Mexico so much.....It is sort of like a fairly large segment of the population there realizes the course is doomed in general. But the national attitude is to shrug and say something like Asi es la vida - so is life, and then perservere anyhow. I wish I had more of that in me, and I wish Americans in general did, too. It seems to me - and I am very guilty of this too - that Americans expect answers, solutions, resolutions, thing to make some kind of sense. All well and good but what if there are no answers, resolutions, solutions, no sense to make? What if it is now Asi es la vida? Do we perservere as a nation? Food for thought.....Rob
ApatheticNoMore
10-20-12, 1:09am
"get rid of the EPA! It's why your electricity bill is so high!".
No, it's high because I buy green power! :)
(actually it's not high AT ALL, but the fact that some voluntarily pay more electricity bill for even the tiniest sliver of environmental hope must boggle their minds, they must go catatonic at the thought)
No, it's high because I buy green power! :)
(actually it's not high AT ALL, but the fact that some voluntarily pay more electricity bill for even the tiniest sliver of environmental hope must boggle their minds, they must go catatonic at the thought)
My county runs on ~95% green power I think at this point. I suspect that irritates the mainlanders.
My county runs on ~95% green power I think at this point. I suspect that irritates the mainlanders.
And makes the rest of us jealous!;)
As a matter of fact, our politics are not at the worst they have ever been. There was that Certain Unpleasantness in the middle of the 19th century, for example.
Things could always be worse.
Yeah, at least senators aren't getting badly beaten for their views right in the Senate chamber by a senator of the opposite party.
THIS is rock bottom, IMHO...
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/09/28/with-dreams-from-my-real-father-have-obama-haters-hit-rock-bottom.html
or this... The dude who dumped the voter reg forms. Seems he worked for the national GOP as well.
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-voter-registration-gop-arrest-20121018,0,5352175.story
THIS is rock bottom, IMHO...
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/09/28/with-dreams-from-my-real-father-have-obama-haters-hit-rock-bottom.html
[/URL]
I think that's the same link as the one in the OP.
http://dailyunion.com/Main.asp?SectionID=36&SubSectionID=110&ArticleID=12917
WHITEWATER - The 22-year-old son of a state senator reportedly was assaulted early Friday morning outside of his residence in Whitewater while attempting to stop two men from stealing a political yard sign.
Sen. Neal Kedzie, R-Elkhorn, said his son Sean still is recovering from injuries he received as result of the alleged beating.
"We are confident he will make a full recovery," Kedzie said.
The Whitewater Police Department is investigating the incident.
Senator Kedzie initially had chosen not to remark publicly about the incident as a family matter and allow Whitewater police to conduct an investigation.
"We understand these types of incidents will eventually become public and questions will arise, particularly in my position as a state legislator," Kedzie said.
On Monday, WISN-AM radio talk show host Mark Belling spoke to the senator's son on the radio, prompting the senator to issue a statement on the attack.
According to the statement issued by Senator Kedzie, early Friday, Oct. 19, Sean Kedzie was awakened by noises outside his residence, located a few blocks from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater campus.
As he went to see what the commotion was about, Kedzie noticed an individual removing a Romney/Ryan yard sign from his property. The senator reported that his son yelled to the person that they were taking something that was not theirs and to return it immediately.
The individual returned the sign, however a second person confronted and attacked Sean without warning.
Continuing, the statement indicates that Sean Kedzie was wrestled to the ground by both persons, held down by a constricting chokehold, and struck repeatedly about the face and head. He reportedly nearly passed out from the chokehold, and suffered contusions to his face and eyes.
A neighbor allegedly heard the commotion, scared the individuals away and called the police.
Senator Kedzie said he and his wife were awakened by a call from Sean's roommate that Sean was taken by ambulance to Fort Memorial Hospital where he was treated and released the same day.
"Obviously, as parents, we are shaken by this event and very troubled it was apparently initiated and motivated for political reasons," the senator stated.
No reports of any arrests have been made by the Whitewater Police Department at this time. It also is not clear if the incident was directly politically motivated or a result of intoxication.
http://dailyunion.com/SiteImages/Article/12917a.jpg
early morning
10-22-12, 10:06pm
Threatening people or beating them up for expressing their legitimate political beliefs is despicable, no matter WHICH side one is on.
Threatening people or beating them up for expressing their legitimate political beliefs is despicable, no matter WHICH side one is on.
+1
Originally posted by Bae.
I was at a meeting several weeks ago where a local libertarian-type was yelled at by a local leader of the lefties, and told to watch his mouth, or he might catch a stray bullet. The Sheriff got called in about that one.Hope you all responded with a good brow-beating.
LOL......I read ".......where a local librarian-type was yelled at......"
Bill Maher hits rock bottom, and keeps digging...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h4SWiIR750
Antidote to rock bottom:
http://vimeo.com/51920265?action=share
Antidote to rock bottom:
http://vimeo.com/51920265?action=share
Thank you for that!
Thank you for that!
You're welcome! I sang along... Did you... ? :)
You're welcome! I sang along... Did you... ? :)
Hard not to, that was very well done, on-point, and effectively conveyed some *real* issues.
Antidote to rock bottom:
http://vimeo.com/51920265?action=share
Brilliant!
flowerseverywhere
11-4-12, 4:00pm
Antidote to rock bottom:
http://vimeo.com/51920265?action=share
"get your rosaries off my ovaries" loved that
Currently I am in Florida, the commercials on the radio and TV are brutal, disseminating much doubtful information, and like others have posted there is much bullying and rudeness on both sides.
Antidote to rock bottom:
http://vimeo.com/51920265?action=share
Nicely done. Makes you wonder why more political media messages can't take a similar approach...
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