Using the simplest of labels to distinguish political beliefs is another important element to influence and inspire citizens, and autocrat vs. democrat sounds like a perfect choice. I believe that we also need to get as precise with the definitions of the two concepts so allow me to offer some descriptions using a scale of representative government types, with autocratic republics on the right and democratic republics on the on the left. Specifically, the farthest right is a “role model autocratic republic” (if you can call one guy representing everyone’s interests to be a republic). It’s the kind of republic that autocrats would like to have if they have the choice. i.e., one person rules. Best example I can think of is Ming the Merciless-Emperor of the Universe, but there are real live autocrats who are in charge of their countries today. At the other end of the scale is a role model democratic republic (the kind that other democracies would choose to have if they had the choice). It’s the kind of democracy that uses best practice-based solutions to meet its purpose. Between the two endpoints lies America’s republic, maybe not as close to autocracy as democracy right now, but certainly in the range of a plutocracy or at the very least, a kleptocracy.
Excellent! Your definitions seem pretty dang precise. At least we "graduated" from a kakistocracy catastrophe under Putin's orange oligarch. Now, Merrick Garland needs to "lock him up" and blow a big hole in the Trumplican game plan for 2024. "The wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine." - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The theme in this Report is "why". Perhaps the media has concluded, why ask why. If the questioner is thinking we need that answer in the context of "know thy enemy", we can see Trump and Putin are psychopaths. Their agendas are simple; it's I want what I want, and I want it regardless of what it does to others. Their world is populated by one, and all the rest of us are objects.
The old know thy enemy and you will know thyself does not apply; what they want changes on a whim or perceived grievance and is unknowable. The people that have chosen to follow Trump and Putin are caught-up in the games they play with no real understanding of their leader. They think the policies they have seen so far and that has served them well will always be. In the history of the world's psychopaths, the followers pay the price eventually.
Many politically savvy and media people knew Trump was bat-shit crazy but thought Putin was different. I think they found out he was just a less overt kind of crook and crazy.
I disagree, you are citing a red herring, one that is indeed evidence of how the two party system is failing under the oligarchy that runs it and Democrats are completely unable to protect us. You are currently promoting war in Ukraine, not peace, and you have censored valid criticism and the discussion of certain topics which are unfavorable to Democrats. You have picked an idol in Joe Biden while distracting with the obvious misdeeds of the Republican Party and Trump. You have revived the Cold War and McCarthyism without an honest analysis of why Putin invaded Ukraine. You have the wrong diagnosis and thus the wrong prescribed treatment. Chris Hedges sums it up with "A society that prohibits the capacity to speak in truth extinguishes the capacity to live in justice." You Thom Hartmann are part and parcel of our country's lurch to the right, ignorant of the reality of how Democrats have failed us completely, picking scapegoats instead of using your megaphone to pressure Democratic leadership to do what is right.
Perhaps you should read some Naom Chomsky or Chris Hedges, intellectuals who do not have shows for their own benefit and who do not do the dirty work of the Democratic Party. If you haven't noticed, the Biden administration is having Ukraine fight a proxy war with Russia, fully supported by Thom Hartmann and "progressives" like you. When we're hanging off a sliver of the earth that is left after nuclear devastation, Thom Hartmann will still be telling us about Trump, Putin and the Republicans. And you'll be putting down people like me who have been calling for peace negotiations for the past 4 months, of which the Biden administration has made zero attempts.
Again, you assume too much, “Doc,” which might help explain the chronic misdiagnosis and malpractice maladies presenting themselves during these stream-of-thought therapy sessions.
I’ve been reading Noam Chomsky and listening to his interviews most of my life. (The sophomoric misspelling of his name, though, calls into question your own familiarity.) And I respect his substantial body of work, most of his learned analyses, and a lot of his prognostications, not all.
I’ve read less of Chris Hedges, but enough also to respect his insights and in-depth descriptions of the dire situation(s) facing humankind, caused by humankind. Unfortunately, his (lack of) practical application of stated principles — meaning, what the hell do we do now? — has gained little traction out in the wilderness on his own, especially after being de-platformed by YouTube. To have better than a snowball’s chance in hell, to make a real difference in this ugly world and effect real change, you need a bigger voice. You know, like a political party?
Which party would that be? Nature and politics abhor a vacuum. In the good ol’ USA, without a Democratic Party counterweight, as flawed as it is, the party that would gain ascendancy is the one toward which the committed fascists are flocking: R E P U B L I C A N ❗
Is that who you’re trolling for, unwittingly? Is that really who you want running the show, doing your “dirty work”? As long as we are prognosticating, that is virtually guaranteed when you follow the logic to the predictable conclusion. If that democracy-ending scenario plays out as expected this fall, you can bet your traitorous ass that people like me will “be putting down people like [you].”
Adopting the intellectualism of others shows a paucity of one’s own understanding, which translates into complete misreadings, false assumptions, and despicable ad hominem attacks: “… the Biden administration is having Ukraine fight a proxy war with Russia, fully supported by Thom Hartmann and ‘progressives’ like [me].” Biden “is having” a war that progressives support?! Yeah, well, FU too!
Notice that propagandists, i.e., trolls, never dissect the Republican Party with the same fervor as they do the “dirty” Democrats. Some leftists have gone so far off the scale they’ve circled around to the right of Genghis Khan, willing to let a full-blown fascist party further the chaos. Of course, radical nihilists and tear-it-all down anarchists barely utter a peep about Putin, their darling dictator, stacking up bodies like cordwood.
Remember him? He’s the mass murderer who actually started this unnecessary war, not Biden. Most sober analyses agree that his favorite orange oligarch emboldened him during his own autocratic regime by excusing his misdeeds, never pushing back, and basically giving him the green light to rampage around Eastern Europe as he pleases, leveling entire cities, slaughtering innocent civilians, women and children mostly, like sitting ducks… because they are! In his own words, Putin has larger designs than just Ukraine. How many sovereign countries should the West cede to the tender mercies of a ruthless dictator? What would stop China from taking Taiwan, North Korea from invading South Korea, and only God knows who else and where else?
Megalomaniacal authoritarians assume invincibility and will gladly take a fringe conspiracy theory to the next exponential level in the service of their diabolical schemes, which are typically to oppress entire nations with impunity. And as Putin has shown in spades, mortal enemies on opposite ends of the ideological spectrum won’t avoid antagonism and chest-bumping for long in the crowded marketplace of warmongering.
A civilized society has to cry out in unison and denounce power-hungry malignant narcissists for illegal land grabs and unprovoked attacks on sovereign neighbors and innocent civilians. Any terror-state committing blatant war crimes must face the severest repercussions, short of provoking WWIII. This mote of space dust can no longer bear armies rampaging through the lands with bodies piling up in biblical proportions.
In your personal attacks on me (for a typo) and your accusations against me, you are indeed the new liberal, the mirror image of Trumpism and the reincarnation of McCarthyism. The irony is in your last paragraph, which I am in complete agreement with, should have George W Bush, Dick Cheney, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden facing the "severest repercussions" (a typo or misspelling which will not have me casting aspersions upon you). Perhaps if Obama had not said "we must look forward not backward" granting immunity to the Bush administration's torturers we would be in a different place right now. Accountability is the key, and while Democratic Party state media holds Republicans accountable and Republican state media holds Democrats accountable, this only serves to divide our country more without any movement towards justice, truth or equality. But I disagree with you that the "Big Lie" is the cause of any of this, and that is not to diminish the sickness of Trump and his minions or the damage they have done. The problem is that only the minions face any type of (minimal) accountability, while members of Congress who have threatened violence against other members, pose for holiday and campaign photos fetishizing weapons of war, and likely aided the insurrection directly remain in office with no repercussions. A system such as this is not democracy, and the Democrats are indeed culpable in their errors in judgment (eg appointing Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden as their nominees) and political expediency (where is the outrage over Yemen or Israel or Saudi Arabia or Biden's theft of Afghanistan's Central Bank funds etc) and complete failure in protecting us from every threat from gun violence, perpetual war, the prospect of World War III, police brutality and violence, a failing health care system, loss of women's reproductive rights, wealth and income inequality, poverty, and Trumpism to name a few I find it hard to cheer them on. That being said, I do canvass, donate to and do anything I can for Democratic candidates who do not take corporate money and have helped some to get elected. As for posting about the GOP (Gross Old Perverts) and their treason, I think Thom Hartmann, MSNBC and the other Democratic Party media outlets have that covered more than adequately.
Lol — “Got a live one on line 5. Over.” “Roger. Commence firing. Out.”
This latest scud missive with no para breaks invites the usual clichés: the rule of holes; can’t see the forest for the trees; can dish it out but can’t take it; if you can’t take the heat…; better to remain silent... (fill in the blanks). Breathlessly dishing out manure by the shovelful, and then whining about incoming turds, is the most revealing (and priceless) tell. C’mon, tell us you’ve never been in a “road apple” fight as a kid? Shit happens.
Of all the other more serious points to begin a rant and set the tone, it seems the most umbrage was taken with a tongue-in-cheek comment about a glaring typo that laughably undermined the whole shtick of being the learned intellectual professional recommending borrowed wisdom from scholars and thought leaders on the left, haughtily assuming the rubes are less informed, which smacks of elitism. Why wouldn’t someone take a swing at such an easy softball? Now I feel like Jimmy Kimmel when he’s forced to explain himself to the audience.
Okay then: Pointing out a common misspelling of the name of one of the most famous liberal scholars on the planet, whom you loudly touted as a central authority figure to lend a veneer of credence to personal, rather biased viewpoints, while assuming the reader isn’t privy to the required esoteric knowledge to be considered a true progressive activist — to match your own definition of activism, of what a proper liberal, progressive, leftist, or whatever, should say and think — well all of that is just to say that someone who makes everyone acutely aware of his credentials as a professional, bragging on his reading list, and promoting his idols, just wouldn’t make such a silly mistake that would turn his point into a joke, especially for doctors expected to be, paid to be, extremely meticulous. You’d think, anyway. So, the typo just points to the larger irony. No? Not funny? Sorry.
Then maybe this will tickle the old funny bone: Your gleeful gotcha, tit-for-tat retort about my own alleged typo kinda falls flat since it wasn’t actually a typo. Womp womp. (Though, I always welcome constructive criticism to improve putting thoughts to paper, a never-ending learning curve.) My best guess is that it’s an allusion to the superlative suffix of the word severe? But that’s okay. Adding the word “most” is more common, although, with certain words, both forms are totally fine, depending on how it sounds to one’s ear, such as clearer, rarer, etc. Can that be any more clear? (Didn’t mean to offend your ears.)
But let’s be intellectually honest. You started this petty fight with the most horrendous ad hominem attacks imaginable, all repulsively untrue, basically accusing Biden of starting a proxy war of aggression against poor old Putin, the right’s new hero. Attacking the owner of this blog, Democratic liberals and progressives in general, me personally, and the entire Democratic Party (according to the doc’s highly questionable judgments anyway) as the wicked accomplices in escalating to “Cocked Pistol,” Defcon 1 nuclear annihilation, is most insulting. Democrats will, OF COOOURSE!, be responsible for us all “hanging off a sliver of the earth.” Well, that’s about as ad-hominem-y as it gets, buddy. Pardon me for slapping back.
(While imagining people somehow surviving on a fractured remnant of Earth is certainly colorful, albeit unoriginal imagery, perhaps lifted from the fifth season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Alas, humans aren’t likely to survive a nuclear holocaust, given the staggering stockpile of potential lethality. But the Earth will. Given enough time to erase the human stain, the seeds of life will begin anew... without us.)
And not to be outdone by yourself, the rest of this harangue has conflated the ad hominem logical fallacies to include a dizzying array of other angry accusations, in effect blaming the Democratic Party for just about everything under the sun that you could squeeze into a dense screed, but mainly, for not solving all of society’s problems caused mostly by Republican policies and attitudes. We’ll try to accomplish all that to your satisfaction in the next seven months. So please vote Democratic.
This brings us full circle back to the very simple, salient point that I and so many others are trying desperately to make in a rapidly closing window of time and opportunity before the midterms, which you and so many others refuse to honor or address: That unfairly bashing Democrats this late in the election season for failing to resolve intractable problems centuries in the making, despite Herculean efforts to solve them, and then blaming Democrats for the mountain of Republican sins while going light on them, is not only hypocritical but serves the cause of fascists by driving voters away from the only party that can fight back effectively, which they have done on many fronts throughout history.
Think about that as you make the perfect the enemy of the good while enjoying all that hard-won (by Democrats) “evil” socialism people enjoy every day, yet take for granted. Another cliche comes to mind: cutting off the nose to spite the face.
I won’t bother to address all the other misconstrued misreadings above — dripping snot normally discharged by Trump apologists — except to clarify what I meant generically about the “Big Lie” in the context of the central point: Warmongers predicate all their wars on colossal lies. Trump’s big lies about Ukraine, Zelensky, and NATO begot Putin’s big lies about Ukraine, Zelensky, and NATO, which he is now using “bigly” to justify unjustifiable genocide.
Or was it the other way around? And does it even matter who the bigger liar is at this point? In the end, it’s all straightforward corruption to the nth degree! But regardless of who was feeding whom deadly, bat-shit conspiracies, even the most dumbed-down Fox News dummies should have enough brain cells left to connect those big fat dots in rare moments of unguarded honesty. (Then again, probably not.)
Okay, one last counterpoint to the doc’s last point, I promise (should’ve taken Daphne’s advice):
The Doc’s parting shot says it all: “As for posting about the GOP (Gross Old Perverts) and their treason, I think Thom Hartmann, MSNBC and the other Democratic Party media outlets have that covered more than adequately.” Ouch, my neck — whiplash on steroids! After very pointed, targeted, fiery criticism hurled almost exclusively at Democrats and their liberal base. Now, suddenly, (Say it quietly and quickly on the down-low.) let’s do a 180 and argue that Democrats are actually doing the right thing by going after perverted Republicans.
Okay, yeah, great — thanks, sunshine soldier, for letting others do all the heavy lifting with no help from the peanut gallery. And don’t get any mud on that crispy uniform. It’s like the final sprint to the finish line and some indolent bystander drinking a beer sticks his foot out. What fun, eh?
In the interest of facilitating the debate, let me offer another way to look at the problems and issues you mentioned. I suggest that we agree on the answer to the following three questions before we go on if only because without such an agreement, there will be no understanding. First, what is our government’s purpose? Second, how do we meet that purpose using best practice-based solutions and systems? And third, why isn’t our government meeting its purpose? Most of us focus on the third question and not so much on the first two, which seems silly if you think about it.
Good one. The purpose of government is to protect the Constitution and the People by leveling the playing field and helping to make citizens' lives easier to navigate so that they can prosper. Life's hard enough as it is; our government was originally intended to help everyone, not just the rich bastards who think they're above the law and personal responsibility. Meet that purpose by engaging citizens to fully participate in their democracy. The failure to meet that purpose is the failure of citizen participation, which creates the vacuum filling up with the forces of fascism.
I would submit that your definition of our government’s purpose is another way of describing the Preamble PLUS you bring up two of the root causes for our democracy’s decay. You note that our government is supposed “… to protect the Constitution and the People by leveling the playing field and helping to make citizens' lives easier to navigate so that they can prosper.” That is certainly pithier than the Preamble, though I’ve always thought that Hamilton’s synopsis of it to be great as well because it also includes a reference to protecting our citizens from the morbidly rich like you did. Hamilton said, “We are attempting, by this Constitution, to abolish factions, and to unite all parties for the general welfare.” Whether it’s factions or rich bastards, they are the assholes who do things adverse to our rights and our communities’ interests. Regardless of what people decide is the purpose of our government (and I think the Preamble pretty much puts that question to rest), we first need to agree on what it is or we’ll continue to have millions get flimflammed by the master grifters. There is nothing more fundamental for any enterprise that wants to be a going concern than a mission statement that defines the purpose. Once we agree that uniting for the general welfare and protecting us from rich bastards is the purpose, then I believe the best way to achieve that purpose is, first, to sever the control that the factions/rich bastards have over our government’s decision-makers (the hard part), and then collaborate with our citizens to design and implement role model education, role model healthcare, and role model security for everyone. As you noted, we have millions of citizens who never learned that they should participate in our democracy, much less how, making them eager marks for the bullshit. Maybe they will never learn that they are being played, but that doesn't mean their kids can’t learn the truth. Since this has been a multi-generational propaganda campaign that has promoted bad decision-making skills it’s going to take some time to fix things, but I’m confident that if we ever got to the point where we could build a role model education system (like the one that Finland learned to build from American educators), we would have enough citizens who knew what to do.
It's so frustrating that generations of young people aren't learning or taking to heart the rock-hard principles undergirding the Constitution and "the American way" -- what used to be a source of pride and inspiration for people the world over suffering and yearning for self-rule under authoritarian forms of government. Not so much anymore.
Americans also suffered for centuries, gradually winning rights for women, minorities, the poor, the young, the elderly, blue-collar workers, and their families. Now, it seems we're slipping backward thanks to mass delusions and outright lies encouraged by those seeking more perfect power for themselves rather than a "more perfect union" for the People.
I think you are unduly gracious to DO. I mean, take the second phrase: "red herring." What is it supposed to be? Thom promotes war in Ukraine? "censored...certain topics?" What topics: some kind of wink, wink to somebody? Joe Biden an idol? Singlehandedly reviving McCarthyism? Whoever Mr. Hedges is, as far as whatever DO's context is, maybe it was plagiarized from Khalil Gibran. "...lurch to the right" and "ignorant"? That's why I just (dis)honored it with the (un)seriousness it deserved. Jeesh.
Oh, lord: Rod McKuen? No, I'll top you: "The reason for the unreason with which you treat my reason so weakens my reason that with reason I complain of your beauty." Don Quixote
Using the simplest of labels to distinguish political beliefs is another important element to influence and inspire citizens, and autocrat vs. democrat sounds like a perfect choice. I believe that we also need to get as precise with the definitions of the two concepts so allow me to offer some descriptions using a scale of representative government types, with autocratic republics on the right and democratic republics on the on the left. Specifically, the farthest right is a “role model autocratic republic” (if you can call one guy representing everyone’s interests to be a republic). It’s the kind of republic that autocrats would like to have if they have the choice. i.e., one person rules. Best example I can think of is Ming the Merciless-Emperor of the Universe, but there are real live autocrats who are in charge of their countries today. At the other end of the scale is a role model democratic republic (the kind that other democracies would choose to have if they had the choice). It’s the kind of democracy that uses best practice-based solutions to meet its purpose. Between the two endpoints lies America’s republic, maybe not as close to autocracy as democracy right now, but certainly in the range of a plutocracy or at the very least, a kleptocracy.
Excellent! Your definitions seem pretty dang precise. At least we "graduated" from a kakistocracy catastrophe under Putin's orange oligarch. Now, Merrick Garland needs to "lock him up" and blow a big hole in the Trumplican game plan for 2024. "The wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine." - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Title of Thom's next book: "America: from plutocracy to kakistocracy."
🤣
The theme in this Report is "why". Perhaps the media has concluded, why ask why. If the questioner is thinking we need that answer in the context of "know thy enemy", we can see Trump and Putin are psychopaths. Their agendas are simple; it's I want what I want, and I want it regardless of what it does to others. Their world is populated by one, and all the rest of us are objects.
The old know thy enemy and you will know thyself does not apply; what they want changes on a whim or perceived grievance and is unknowable. The people that have chosen to follow Trump and Putin are caught-up in the games they play with no real understanding of their leader. They think the policies they have seen so far and that has served them well will always be. In the history of the world's psychopaths, the followers pay the price eventually.
Many politically savvy and media people knew Trump was bat-shit crazy but thought Putin was different. I think they found out he was just a less overt kind of crook and crazy.
I disagree, you are citing a red herring, one that is indeed evidence of how the two party system is failing under the oligarchy that runs it and Democrats are completely unable to protect us. You are currently promoting war in Ukraine, not peace, and you have censored valid criticism and the discussion of certain topics which are unfavorable to Democrats. You have picked an idol in Joe Biden while distracting with the obvious misdeeds of the Republican Party and Trump. You have revived the Cold War and McCarthyism without an honest analysis of why Putin invaded Ukraine. You have the wrong diagnosis and thus the wrong prescribed treatment. Chris Hedges sums it up with "A society that prohibits the capacity to speak in truth extinguishes the capacity to live in justice." You Thom Hartmann are part and parcel of our country's lurch to the right, ignorant of the reality of how Democrats have failed us completely, picking scapegoats instead of using your megaphone to pressure Democratic leadership to do what is right.
"... the obvious misdeeds of the Republican Party and Trump."
Only nine words reflect truth in this latest wandering, confused, haughty misdiagnosis -- wrong disease, wrong treatment, wrong doctor.
Perhaps you should read some Naom Chomsky or Chris Hedges, intellectuals who do not have shows for their own benefit and who do not do the dirty work of the Democratic Party. If you haven't noticed, the Biden administration is having Ukraine fight a proxy war with Russia, fully supported by Thom Hartmann and "progressives" like you. When we're hanging off a sliver of the earth that is left after nuclear devastation, Thom Hartmann will still be telling us about Trump, Putin and the Republicans. And you'll be putting down people like me who have been calling for peace negotiations for the past 4 months, of which the Biden administration has made zero attempts.
Again, you assume too much, “Doc,” which might help explain the chronic misdiagnosis and malpractice maladies presenting themselves during these stream-of-thought therapy sessions.
I’ve been reading Noam Chomsky and listening to his interviews most of my life. (The sophomoric misspelling of his name, though, calls into question your own familiarity.) And I respect his substantial body of work, most of his learned analyses, and a lot of his prognostications, not all.
I’ve read less of Chris Hedges, but enough also to respect his insights and in-depth descriptions of the dire situation(s) facing humankind, caused by humankind. Unfortunately, his (lack of) practical application of stated principles — meaning, what the hell do we do now? — has gained little traction out in the wilderness on his own, especially after being de-platformed by YouTube. To have better than a snowball’s chance in hell, to make a real difference in this ugly world and effect real change, you need a bigger voice. You know, like a political party?
Which party would that be? Nature and politics abhor a vacuum. In the good ol’ USA, without a Democratic Party counterweight, as flawed as it is, the party that would gain ascendancy is the one toward which the committed fascists are flocking: R E P U B L I C A N ❗
Is that who you’re trolling for, unwittingly? Is that really who you want running the show, doing your “dirty work”? As long as we are prognosticating, that is virtually guaranteed when you follow the logic to the predictable conclusion. If that democracy-ending scenario plays out as expected this fall, you can bet your traitorous ass that people like me will “be putting down people like [you].”
Adopting the intellectualism of others shows a paucity of one’s own understanding, which translates into complete misreadings, false assumptions, and despicable ad hominem attacks: “… the Biden administration is having Ukraine fight a proxy war with Russia, fully supported by Thom Hartmann and ‘progressives’ like [me].” Biden “is having” a war that progressives support?! Yeah, well, FU too!
Notice that propagandists, i.e., trolls, never dissect the Republican Party with the same fervor as they do the “dirty” Democrats. Some leftists have gone so far off the scale they’ve circled around to the right of Genghis Khan, willing to let a full-blown fascist party further the chaos. Of course, radical nihilists and tear-it-all down anarchists barely utter a peep about Putin, their darling dictator, stacking up bodies like cordwood.
Remember him? He’s the mass murderer who actually started this unnecessary war, not Biden. Most sober analyses agree that his favorite orange oligarch emboldened him during his own autocratic regime by excusing his misdeeds, never pushing back, and basically giving him the green light to rampage around Eastern Europe as he pleases, leveling entire cities, slaughtering innocent civilians, women and children mostly, like sitting ducks… because they are! In his own words, Putin has larger designs than just Ukraine. How many sovereign countries should the West cede to the tender mercies of a ruthless dictator? What would stop China from taking Taiwan, North Korea from invading South Korea, and only God knows who else and where else?
Megalomaniacal authoritarians assume invincibility and will gladly take a fringe conspiracy theory to the next exponential level in the service of their diabolical schemes, which are typically to oppress entire nations with impunity. And as Putin has shown in spades, mortal enemies on opposite ends of the ideological spectrum won’t avoid antagonism and chest-bumping for long in the crowded marketplace of warmongering.
A civilized society has to cry out in unison and denounce power-hungry malignant narcissists for illegal land grabs and unprovoked attacks on sovereign neighbors and innocent civilians. Any terror-state committing blatant war crimes must face the severest repercussions, short of provoking WWIII. This mote of space dust can no longer bear armies rampaging through the lands with bodies piling up in biblical proportions.
Such is the cost of the “Big Lie” gone viral.
In your personal attacks on me (for a typo) and your accusations against me, you are indeed the new liberal, the mirror image of Trumpism and the reincarnation of McCarthyism. The irony is in your last paragraph, which I am in complete agreement with, should have George W Bush, Dick Cheney, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden facing the "severest repercussions" (a typo or misspelling which will not have me casting aspersions upon you). Perhaps if Obama had not said "we must look forward not backward" granting immunity to the Bush administration's torturers we would be in a different place right now. Accountability is the key, and while Democratic Party state media holds Republicans accountable and Republican state media holds Democrats accountable, this only serves to divide our country more without any movement towards justice, truth or equality. But I disagree with you that the "Big Lie" is the cause of any of this, and that is not to diminish the sickness of Trump and his minions or the damage they have done. The problem is that only the minions face any type of (minimal) accountability, while members of Congress who have threatened violence against other members, pose for holiday and campaign photos fetishizing weapons of war, and likely aided the insurrection directly remain in office with no repercussions. A system such as this is not democracy, and the Democrats are indeed culpable in their errors in judgment (eg appointing Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden as their nominees) and political expediency (where is the outrage over Yemen or Israel or Saudi Arabia or Biden's theft of Afghanistan's Central Bank funds etc) and complete failure in protecting us from every threat from gun violence, perpetual war, the prospect of World War III, police brutality and violence, a failing health care system, loss of women's reproductive rights, wealth and income inequality, poverty, and Trumpism to name a few I find it hard to cheer them on. That being said, I do canvass, donate to and do anything I can for Democratic candidates who do not take corporate money and have helped some to get elected. As for posting about the GOP (Gross Old Perverts) and their treason, I think Thom Hartmann, MSNBC and the other Democratic Party media outlets have that covered more than adequately.
Lol — “Got a live one on line 5. Over.” “Roger. Commence firing. Out.”
This latest scud missive with no para breaks invites the usual clichés: the rule of holes; can’t see the forest for the trees; can dish it out but can’t take it; if you can’t take the heat…; better to remain silent... (fill in the blanks). Breathlessly dishing out manure by the shovelful, and then whining about incoming turds, is the most revealing (and priceless) tell. C’mon, tell us you’ve never been in a “road apple” fight as a kid? Shit happens.
Of all the other more serious points to begin a rant and set the tone, it seems the most umbrage was taken with a tongue-in-cheek comment about a glaring typo that laughably undermined the whole shtick of being the learned intellectual professional recommending borrowed wisdom from scholars and thought leaders on the left, haughtily assuming the rubes are less informed, which smacks of elitism. Why wouldn’t someone take a swing at such an easy softball? Now I feel like Jimmy Kimmel when he’s forced to explain himself to the audience.
Okay then: Pointing out a common misspelling of the name of one of the most famous liberal scholars on the planet, whom you loudly touted as a central authority figure to lend a veneer of credence to personal, rather biased viewpoints, while assuming the reader isn’t privy to the required esoteric knowledge to be considered a true progressive activist — to match your own definition of activism, of what a proper liberal, progressive, leftist, or whatever, should say and think — well all of that is just to say that someone who makes everyone acutely aware of his credentials as a professional, bragging on his reading list, and promoting his idols, just wouldn’t make such a silly mistake that would turn his point into a joke, especially for doctors expected to be, paid to be, extremely meticulous. You’d think, anyway. So, the typo just points to the larger irony. No? Not funny? Sorry.
Then maybe this will tickle the old funny bone: Your gleeful gotcha, tit-for-tat retort about my own alleged typo kinda falls flat since it wasn’t actually a typo. Womp womp. (Though, I always welcome constructive criticism to improve putting thoughts to paper, a never-ending learning curve.) My best guess is that it’s an allusion to the superlative suffix of the word severe? But that’s okay. Adding the word “most” is more common, although, with certain words, both forms are totally fine, depending on how it sounds to one’s ear, such as clearer, rarer, etc. Can that be any more clear? (Didn’t mean to offend your ears.)
But let’s be intellectually honest. You started this petty fight with the most horrendous ad hominem attacks imaginable, all repulsively untrue, basically accusing Biden of starting a proxy war of aggression against poor old Putin, the right’s new hero. Attacking the owner of this blog, Democratic liberals and progressives in general, me personally, and the entire Democratic Party (according to the doc’s highly questionable judgments anyway) as the wicked accomplices in escalating to “Cocked Pistol,” Defcon 1 nuclear annihilation, is most insulting. Democrats will, OF COOOURSE!, be responsible for us all “hanging off a sliver of the earth.” Well, that’s about as ad-hominem-y as it gets, buddy. Pardon me for slapping back.
(While imagining people somehow surviving on a fractured remnant of Earth is certainly colorful, albeit unoriginal imagery, perhaps lifted from the fifth season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Alas, humans aren’t likely to survive a nuclear holocaust, given the staggering stockpile of potential lethality. But the Earth will. Given enough time to erase the human stain, the seeds of life will begin anew... without us.)
And not to be outdone by yourself, the rest of this harangue has conflated the ad hominem logical fallacies to include a dizzying array of other angry accusations, in effect blaming the Democratic Party for just about everything under the sun that you could squeeze into a dense screed, but mainly, for not solving all of society’s problems caused mostly by Republican policies and attitudes. We’ll try to accomplish all that to your satisfaction in the next seven months. So please vote Democratic.
This brings us full circle back to the very simple, salient point that I and so many others are trying desperately to make in a rapidly closing window of time and opportunity before the midterms, which you and so many others refuse to honor or address: That unfairly bashing Democrats this late in the election season for failing to resolve intractable problems centuries in the making, despite Herculean efforts to solve them, and then blaming Democrats for the mountain of Republican sins while going light on them, is not only hypocritical but serves the cause of fascists by driving voters away from the only party that can fight back effectively, which they have done on many fronts throughout history.
Think about that as you make the perfect the enemy of the good while enjoying all that hard-won (by Democrats) “evil” socialism people enjoy every day, yet take for granted. Another cliche comes to mind: cutting off the nose to spite the face.
I won’t bother to address all the other misconstrued misreadings above — dripping snot normally discharged by Trump apologists — except to clarify what I meant generically about the “Big Lie” in the context of the central point: Warmongers predicate all their wars on colossal lies. Trump’s big lies about Ukraine, Zelensky, and NATO begot Putin’s big lies about Ukraine, Zelensky, and NATO, which he is now using “bigly” to justify unjustifiable genocide.
Or was it the other way around? And does it even matter who the bigger liar is at this point? In the end, it’s all straightforward corruption to the nth degree! But regardless of who was feeding whom deadly, bat-shit conspiracies, even the most dumbed-down Fox News dummies should have enough brain cells left to connect those big fat dots in rare moments of unguarded honesty. (Then again, probably not.)
Okay, one last counterpoint to the doc’s last point, I promise (should’ve taken Daphne’s advice):
The Doc’s parting shot says it all: “As for posting about the GOP (Gross Old Perverts) and their treason, I think Thom Hartmann, MSNBC and the other Democratic Party media outlets have that covered more than adequately.” Ouch, my neck — whiplash on steroids! After very pointed, targeted, fiery criticism hurled almost exclusively at Democrats and their liberal base. Now, suddenly, (Say it quietly and quickly on the down-low.) let’s do a 180 and argue that Democrats are actually doing the right thing by going after perverted Republicans.
Okay, yeah, great — thanks, sunshine soldier, for letting others do all the heavy lifting with no help from the peanut gallery. And don’t get any mud on that crispy uniform. It’s like the final sprint to the finish line and some indolent bystander drinking a beer sticks his foot out. What fun, eh?
In the interest of facilitating the debate, let me offer another way to look at the problems and issues you mentioned. I suggest that we agree on the answer to the following three questions before we go on if only because without such an agreement, there will be no understanding. First, what is our government’s purpose? Second, how do we meet that purpose using best practice-based solutions and systems? And third, why isn’t our government meeting its purpose? Most of us focus on the third question and not so much on the first two, which seems silly if you think about it.
Good one. The purpose of government is to protect the Constitution and the People by leveling the playing field and helping to make citizens' lives easier to navigate so that they can prosper. Life's hard enough as it is; our government was originally intended to help everyone, not just the rich bastards who think they're above the law and personal responsibility. Meet that purpose by engaging citizens to fully participate in their democracy. The failure to meet that purpose is the failure of citizen participation, which creates the vacuum filling up with the forces of fascism.
I would submit that your definition of our government’s purpose is another way of describing the Preamble PLUS you bring up two of the root causes for our democracy’s decay. You note that our government is supposed “… to protect the Constitution and the People by leveling the playing field and helping to make citizens' lives easier to navigate so that they can prosper.” That is certainly pithier than the Preamble, though I’ve always thought that Hamilton’s synopsis of it to be great as well because it also includes a reference to protecting our citizens from the morbidly rich like you did. Hamilton said, “We are attempting, by this Constitution, to abolish factions, and to unite all parties for the general welfare.” Whether it’s factions or rich bastards, they are the assholes who do things adverse to our rights and our communities’ interests. Regardless of what people decide is the purpose of our government (and I think the Preamble pretty much puts that question to rest), we first need to agree on what it is or we’ll continue to have millions get flimflammed by the master grifters. There is nothing more fundamental for any enterprise that wants to be a going concern than a mission statement that defines the purpose. Once we agree that uniting for the general welfare and protecting us from rich bastards is the purpose, then I believe the best way to achieve that purpose is, first, to sever the control that the factions/rich bastards have over our government’s decision-makers (the hard part), and then collaborate with our citizens to design and implement role model education, role model healthcare, and role model security for everyone. As you noted, we have millions of citizens who never learned that they should participate in our democracy, much less how, making them eager marks for the bullshit. Maybe they will never learn that they are being played, but that doesn't mean their kids can’t learn the truth. Since this has been a multi-generational propaganda campaign that has promoted bad decision-making skills it’s going to take some time to fix things, but I’m confident that if we ever got to the point where we could build a role model education system (like the one that Finland learned to build from American educators), we would have enough citizens who knew what to do.
It's so frustrating that generations of young people aren't learning or taking to heart the rock-hard principles undergirding the Constitution and "the American way" -- what used to be a source of pride and inspiration for people the world over suffering and yearning for self-rule under authoritarian forms of government. Not so much anymore.
Americans also suffered for centuries, gradually winning rights for women, minorities, the poor, the young, the elderly, blue-collar workers, and their families. Now, it seems we're slipping backward thanks to mass delusions and outright lies encouraged by those seeking more perfect power for themselves rather than a "more perfect union" for the People.
Great read, Dave! Thanks.
To quote Mr. T: "You just a foo!"
...making perfect the enemy of the good.
I think you are unduly gracious to DO. I mean, take the second phrase: "red herring." What is it supposed to be? Thom promotes war in Ukraine? "censored...certain topics?" What topics: some kind of wink, wink to somebody? Joe Biden an idol? Singlehandedly reviving McCarthyism? Whoever Mr. Hedges is, as far as whatever DO's context is, maybe it was plagiarized from Khalil Gibran. "...lurch to the right" and "ignorant"? That's why I just (dis)honored it with the (un)seriousness it deserved. Jeesh.
Yup. The vagaries between the lines and deafening silence left unspoken speak louder than words.
Oh, lord: Rod McKuen? No, I'll top you: "The reason for the unreason with which you treat my reason so weakens my reason that with reason I complain of your beauty." Don Quixote