People want to run other people’s lives? Let ‘em play for keeps. I’ve got a similar idea for judges and lawyers. It involves an arena.

As for Obama, I was so pissed off on Friday that I wrote several long and overwrought posts on the topic. To be honest, I still feel numb. This not only impacted my opinion of him, but of the Democratic Party in general. I was shocked at how quickly the rationalizations and excuses started: how a FISA bill that was evidence of Bush’s evil was suddenly not so bad after Obama came out in support of it. I think part of it was a grieving process on the part of passionate Obama supporters; they were still in the denial phase, whereas I went pretty much straight to vein-popping anger.

I have decided that, however I vote in November, it will be based entirely on pragmatics. There is no way that the laughably inept John McCain would ever get my vote, and I won’t be voting for a third-party. Maybe I can write in “Big Brother” and satisfy my inner 14-year-old.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Obama-Supports-FISA_W0QQitemZ140266734404QQihZ004QQcategoryZ102543QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

LESSER EVIL 2008

Kinda funny how Skull and Bones keep slithering thier way into Presidential races… Austan Goolsbee is Obama’s appointed economic advisor. Sheesh, you’d almost think you’d have to have the help of the Skull & Bones or be a bonesman yourself to be President nowadays…

Yay, more cronyism… :\

source:
http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/21789

I don’t expect to garner a ton of freedom from any election the way the system is rigged. If McCain wasn’t so batshit crazy, I’d say give a protest vote to Nader…

Hillary Clinton could still be selected as the Democratic Nominee.

Except that she doesn’t satisfy the defined criteria by which the Democratic Party elects their presidential nominee.

Is it still possible to have her be selected by the Democratic Party?

So, no, she can’t. She lost. Really.

How is she voting on this bill?

Excellent question! However, I wouldn’t expect much as her political history places her a stone’s throw away from Joe Lieberman (who now campaigns for McCain). Do you see her doing anything like what Senator Dodd has done to resist this mass-surveillance?

(Feel free to send a copy of Enemy of the State to Obama, Hillary, and your elected representatives!)

Democrats are cowards for worrying about looking “soft on terror”. Anti-terror legislation is the problem. “Terrorism” is a canard. ( Get over it already, morons!) Compared to the statistical death toll caused by traffic accidents, heart disease, cancer, AIDS, oh and the military occupation of Iraq, the casualties of 9/11 warrant a low priority. (c.f. triage; simply put, we have far more important problems to worry about!)

Why don’t the Democrats take the position of debunking this culture of fear?

Why don’t the Democrats support civil liberties and right to privacy?

Why don’t the Democrats support repealing the U.S.A.P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act, and the Military Commissions Act, and the CALEA, and the REAL ID Act, etc. etc.???

Why don’t the Democrats help roll the United States back to a pre-9/11 state?

“A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction…

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence — economic, political, even spiritual — is felt in every city, every statehouse, every office of the federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society. In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial-[congressional] complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals so that security and liberty may prosper together.”

That is conspiracy theory. Vague references to some parallel universe that operates in the background, unobserved, undetectable, all powerful, and that this world, the world we see, the things actually before our eyes, are smoke and mirrors that mean nothing, to the point that the law itself means nothing.

This is the argument used by people to claim how Gore and Bush are indistinguishable from one another, tweedle dee and tweedle dum, and that there’s no point in voting.

That Bush and Kerry are indistinguishable from one another, and that there is no point in voting.

This is the sort of argument that is used by people to claim that there is no point in doing anything at all within the process of government, except bitch. Because God knows, they have to bitch about how there isn’t anything they can do about it.

There is a bill before us, the options are to approve, refuse, filibuster, and renegotiate. That’s about it. You, Takuan, didn’t select any of those options. Instead, you spout off from your tin-foil lined bedroom about how all is for naught, we’re all doomed, and it doesn’t matter what happens.

If you truly believe that it doesn’t matter, then it really won’t matter if you shut up. Those shadowy figures will still be in power, and you will still have done nothign about them.

If you truly believe it doesn’t matter, then going through a fruitless exercise trying to fix the law is just as pointless as sitting on your ass and bitching.

Oh, and are you an American citizen? Or do you refuse to answer because shadowy agents might use that information to track you down?

“wn’t sy thr rn’t thngs t dslk bt FS bcs thr r f crs… bt th vry fct tht y wrt tht Cry, tr pnly, nd hv yr mg nd s yr nm shws tht Bsh s n fct NT dcttr. Gd grf… srly mn f yr trvls dsn’t hv hs hd s fr p hs kstr t nt th dffrnc. Shw m whr ny nt-wr prtstr hs bn rrstd fr nythng thr thn crm lk dsrdrly cndct — ftr vltng th prmt thy prmsd t bd by. Shw m whr dssnt s bng crshd. Y cn’t bcs t n’t tr. Dslk th mn ll y lk, bt chck th wssy vprs….”

Back on topic: a torrent of email and phone calls have started. I’m ready to be annoying!

Greg, two steps back and a deep breath. Takuan’s off balance and needs some recovery space.

You’re both punching each other’s buttons. Please stop it.

Enochrewt, with George Bush’s approval ratings still in the mid-twenties, why are we even talking about other politicians having blind followers? Besides, every major politician has some of ‘em. It’s not a particular characteristic of Obama supporters. They’re small potatoes compared to the Ronpaulistas at the height of their enthusiasm.

Xopher, please don’t pout. If it weren’t for you and Avram and people like you, by now this place would look like the comment thread on Mrvgtrvfg: Gur Zbivr.

Antinous, please tell me to stop thinking about running this entire thread through a Swedish Chef filter.

A general comment to the thread: Want to talk about conspiracies of entrenched power? I’ll give you one: decades of work, and the money to pay for it, have been spent on pounding the idea into your fuzzy little heads that all politicians are sleazeballs, political action is hopeless, no one goes into a public service career for idealistic reasons, democracy isn’t a thing to be proud of, and your vote doesn’t matter.

Are you aware that most elections in the United States are decided by fairly narrow margins? I am amazed that an online population that’s watched Flickr, Digg, YouTube, FaceBook, and Twitter grow up out of nothing can doubt its own potential political clout.

The powerlessness-and-despair trope is one of the two or three nastiest headtrips the bad guys run on you. And why do they do it? Precisely because it isn’t true. Your votes do matter. Political action can change the world. Faith and hope aren’t private vices. They’re forces to be reckoned with.

To the main point: There is no “conspiracy”, just business as usual. Why this should upset some I do not understand. Especially since their workplace or school or whatever operates under the same principles of primate social politics. Ask any person who has spent time in any military if I am right. As to “not mattering”, of course it matters – it is just not being sensible to imagine that process of “choice” is really a choice. Obama could only get as far as he has by making deals. Every single step of the way. The political process has become so elaborate, so complex and so utterly corrupt that it begs any credibility to imagine he is not behooven to someone, somewhere. I suppose you could stick to ultra-rich candidates …oh wait, that didn’t work either. It does not help to pretend otherwise;

Oh, and if you persist in your tone, I shall have to call you a saucy fellow.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disemvoweling

From wiki:

“Regarding the use of disemvoweling to police internet blog comment sections, Xeni Jardin, co-editor of Boing Boing, says of the practice, “the dialogue stays, but the misanthrope looks ridiculous, and the emotional sting is neutralized.”[2] Also, Boing Boing producers claim that disemvoweling sends a clear message to internet forums as to what behavior is unacceptable.[3][original research?]“

conspiracy theory. unactionable.

g: Oh look, fisa bill in congress. What exactly does it do? Does it return the law to due process?

t: Who cares! The Freemasons and Illuminata and SkullAndBones rule the world anyway!

g: Any evidence of that? Anything specific I can do?

t: Absolutely not! That’s the point! Don’t do anything!

Nontheless, I shall depout and dewhine from this moment.

“how can someone who has killed counsel others not to kill without being a hypocrite?”

“The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.”