Monday, December 07, 2015

Red sky at morning

I wanted to throw out a couple of things that caught my eye, in no particular order.
First, here's Krugman on the effect of economies on politics in the Thirties and today:"Europe’s underperformance is slowly eroding the legitimacy, not just of the European project, but of the open society itself." as he notes the recent success of the neofascist Fronte National in the French elections.

Second, David Niewert at Orcinus disputes my characterization of Il Douche as a mini-Mussolini, but notes that The Donald is hitting a lot of the sorts of notes that fascists like to play, and seems very likely to be setting the table for some true Great Leader to sit down and eat.

And, finally, in looking around at the general reaction to the San Bernardino shootings, the latest in public statements from the Obama Administration, and Ranger Jim's worthwhile rumination on "what can/should we do about these damn jihadis?" over at Milpub I note:

First, Ael comments with his usual perception that "Well, I think the answer lies in an educated population who make enough of a living to indulge themselves the leisure of being active participants in a representative democracy." and:

Second, the Republican reaction to Obama's speech the other night which was, pretty much, what Jim's post advocates (other than the what I agree is the fundamental mistaken assumption that "we are at WOAH!" with these jihadi groups).

It was, almost to a degree, completely unhinged. Their universal take was that Obummer was his usual faggot secret-Muslim self for insisting on a reasoned assessment of the actual "threat" and a proportionate response and for not ripping his shirt off, leaping on top of the desk, and screaming "Kreegah! Obama bundolo!" at the top of his lungs, i.e., demanding the extermination of the Muslim brutes.

My personal favorite, by the way, was the response of SEN Marco Rubio, the "thinking man's" Republican: "We are at war with a radical jihadist group, more capable than any terrorist group, more capable than any terrorist group and any armed insurgency this nation ever has confronted."
Now you'll have to excuse me.

Me and Senator Rubio and this piece of fucking dimension lumber here are going into this little room until I have beaten into his pointy little fucking head the following four words:

CONFEDERATE

STATES

OF

AMERICA


"...more capable than...any armed insurgency this nation has ever confronted."

Fuck! THIS...this is the one of the two political parties we have allowed ourselves. This is Ael's educated population taking an active part in representative democracy.

And this is what we're supposed to try and beat into intelligence?
Shit, I've chaptered out privates with more promise than this.

3 comments:

Pluto said...

Chief, I must disagree with your assessment of Rubio as an idiot. This is a classic example of Dick Cheney's statement that you should never waste a good crisis.

Rubio's poll numbers are beginning to fade (along with everybody else except Il Douche, the Trump-meister, who seems to be holding steady). At this rate, the biggest winner in the Iowa Caucasus will be "None of the above" with Trump a reasonably close second.

Rubio needs to energize the masses and to keep people from thinking about whether or not he would be a good president. This means that he needs to capture the Republican crazy vote(about half of the total Republican party membership) and do it quickly. The only way to do this is to scream insults at the heavens and defy the heavens to do their worst. In theory, when he's done with his caveman act and the heavens have not struck him down, we will all be impressed with his manliness and will listen to his boring, predictable, and not terribly rational theories on why he is such a good presidential candidate and how he would restore the country to greatness.

The fact that this country is more than half way to becoming a evil empire and such statements push us closer to the edge is just collateral damage in his thinking.

Great picture of the sunrise, by the way.

FDChief said...

Somebody - it was probably one of the gang over at Lawyers, Guns & Money - made this point; that several of the less-full-metal-bozo than the rest of the buffoons in the GOP klown kar are going this road, skating as close as possible to the trumpian bull-goose-looney without going "over" the media approved line in hopes of picking up the pieces after Il Douche implodes.

I won't disagree, and that's not why I called him out. It was the very specific rhetorical point of calling the conflict w these raggedy-assed jihadists "the most dangerous" insurgency when you've got the ACW bulking there in your face like the T. Red of insurgencies. Saying that is like saying "texting while driving is the most serious health hazard we face" while standing in front of a terminal cancer hospice...it makes you look stupid, like staring out at the Pacific and saying "Gee...I always thought the ocean would be bigger than this."

Now...is he counting one the sort of people whose votes he's wooing are just that stupid? Sure. Are they, to the point where they'll fall in behind his panic instead of mocking him viciously for his historical ignorance (or his high-grade bullshit)? Probably.

Doesn't mean that he's either a ridiculous fabulist or dumber than a bag of fucking hammers.

FDChief said...

Oh, and I think the landscape is actually a sunset - it is from somewhere in Southern California just before the latest round of winter storms. A friend of mine posted it to her FB page and I just liked it because, yes, it's lovely...