sick of it all
now playing: little river band, "middle man"
i'm tempted to take a page from one of my favorite sportswriters, peter king, and title this piece ten things i think i think...
i'm finding myself a little overwhelmed today by the sound bites, the scribs on CNN, and the blatant favoritism amongst the talking heads...
for instance, does anyone else find it somewhat interesting that howard dean is an asshole for pointing out that these fearmongering "terror alerts" just might have a political motivation?
(and on that note, is anyone else sick of ol' "toothless joe" lieberman yet? he's becoming the alan colmes "token democrat" of congress, fer chrissake).
now, when it comes to light that the information that ridges' brownshirts used to declare the terror alert was over three years old, and that ridge's statement was already politicized in the first place --
("But we must understand that the kind of information available to us today is the result of the President’s leadership in the war against terror. The reports that have led to this alert are the result of offensive intelligence and military operations overseas, as well as strong partnerships with our allies around the world, such as Pakistan.")
who, then, is left to bring up that there's more than a passing chance that ol' screamin' dean might have been correct in his assertation that there are motivations behind these alerts that have nothing to do with public safety or awareness?
probably not these guys...
oh, don't worry, though...i'm sure you'll hear about it.
from the same folks who brought you the breaking news that sandy berger had been cleared of all wrongdoing in the document-withholding case? (subscription-required WSJ article here.)
and, of course, all this month you'll get to sit in front of your television and be subjected to the GOP's smear machine doing what they do best - ridiculing and deriding their opponent. you'll have idiots telling you that a vote for bush is a vote for change...WTF? none of this impending onslaught will have anything to do with issues, mind you - and this underscores yet again that they don't have a record of their own to run on. in fact, they all but tell you that just the opposite is true - that kerry doesn't have any "signature achievements" to run on after 20 years in congress...without running down whatever inevitably fictitious list of accomplishments that the mountain bikin' crawford cowboy has racked up.
thankfully, there are people like josh marshall and matt deatherage and atrios to debunk the sunconscious myth that dubya & co. has forwarded the cause of humanity while john kerry stood at the congressional watercooler.
even things that come down the pike that look like good news turn out to have an ominous downside. for instance, when tom delay finally fell under the scrutiny of the house ethics committee, it came to light that delay has the ethics committee in his pocket to begin with.
it just literally boggles my mind. seriously.
people not only buy this shit, they eat it up.
it's enough to make you think that perhaps hitler was just a neurosis or two shy of freud....
"All this was inspired by the principle -- which is quite true in itself -- that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily, and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying. These people know only too well how to use falsehood for the basest purposes."
adolf hitler
"Why of course the people don't want war. Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally the common people don't want war: neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."
Hermann Goering, Hitler's #2 Man
don't look now....but we're falling for it again. here.
by the way - if you're interested, here's a more detailed transcript of dean's comments (the terror alert comments i mentioned earlier) to wolf blitzer - a man who, it might warrant mentioning, came upon his notoriety as a result of a gulf war...just a thought.
i'm tempted to take a page from one of my favorite sportswriters, peter king, and title this piece ten things i think i think...
i'm finding myself a little overwhelmed today by the sound bites, the scribs on CNN, and the blatant favoritism amongst the talking heads...
for instance, does anyone else find it somewhat interesting that howard dean is an asshole for pointing out that these fearmongering "terror alerts" just might have a political motivation?
(and on that note, is anyone else sick of ol' "toothless joe" lieberman yet? he's becoming the alan colmes "token democrat" of congress, fer chrissake).
now, when it comes to light that the information that ridges' brownshirts used to declare the terror alert was over three years old, and that ridge's statement was already politicized in the first place --
("But we must understand that the kind of information available to us today is the result of the President’s leadership in the war against terror. The reports that have led to this alert are the result of offensive intelligence and military operations overseas, as well as strong partnerships with our allies around the world, such as Pakistan.")
who, then, is left to bring up that there's more than a passing chance that ol' screamin' dean might have been correct in his assertation that there are motivations behind these alerts that have nothing to do with public safety or awareness?
probably not these guys...
oh, don't worry, though...i'm sure you'll hear about it.
from the same folks who brought you the breaking news that sandy berger had been cleared of all wrongdoing in the document-withholding case? (subscription-required WSJ article here.)
and, of course, all this month you'll get to sit in front of your television and be subjected to the GOP's smear machine doing what they do best - ridiculing and deriding their opponent. you'll have idiots telling you that a vote for bush is a vote for change...WTF? none of this impending onslaught will have anything to do with issues, mind you - and this underscores yet again that they don't have a record of their own to run on. in fact, they all but tell you that just the opposite is true - that kerry doesn't have any "signature achievements" to run on after 20 years in congress...without running down whatever inevitably fictitious list of accomplishments that the mountain bikin' crawford cowboy has racked up.
thankfully, there are people like josh marshall and matt deatherage and atrios to debunk the sunconscious myth that dubya & co. has forwarded the cause of humanity while john kerry stood at the congressional watercooler.
even things that come down the pike that look like good news turn out to have an ominous downside. for instance, when tom delay finally fell under the scrutiny of the house ethics committee, it came to light that delay has the ethics committee in his pocket to begin with.
it just literally boggles my mind. seriously.
people not only buy this shit, they eat it up.
it's enough to make you think that perhaps hitler was just a neurosis or two shy of freud....
"All this was inspired by the principle -- which is quite true in itself -- that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily, and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying. These people know only too well how to use falsehood for the basest purposes."
adolf hitler
"Why of course the people don't want war. Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally the common people don't want war: neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."
Hermann Goering, Hitler's #2 Man
don't look now....but we're falling for it again. here.
by the way - if you're interested, here's a more detailed transcript of dean's comments (the terror alert comments i mentioned earlier) to wolf blitzer - a man who, it might warrant mentioning, came upon his notoriety as a result of a gulf war...just a thought.
posted by tom at 18:33
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