October 17, 2013
— Ace Let me begin with something light and delicious, a little bon-bon of Hate, before moving on to something chewier.
Laying down the marker—Obamacare implementation’s going to be great and people will love it: http://t.co/itm6J3BixD
— Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias) July 17, 2013
Nailed it!
Now, let's all laugh at Matt Yglesias. But below the fold, I'm going to discuss how and why this happened, and how this sort of thing is also infecting the right -- in fact, how it's infecting everything, virally, and I think the Internet is the main reason. I've mentioned before my growing weariness with what I'll dub the Viral Mentality of the Internet.
The Viral Mentality is one in which people are over-excited to push certain memes and facts (or pseudofacts) in an effort to shape the national conversation. Blogging really indulged in this mentality -- as I've said, my flaming skull is my version of Drudge's siren, an effort to advertise certain memes and stories -- but it's the ADD format of Twitter that has really supercharged the mindset.
My real problem is that if you scratch the surface of most online writers, you'll find that, without quite admitting it to themselves, they've largely defined success and failure in online writing according to the standards of success and failure in Advertising.
Ask anyone, and he will tell you that of all forms of communication, advertising is the least reputable and the least meritorious. And yet so many of us -- and I do definitely include myself here -- have, even knowing that Advertising is an inherently shoddy form of expression, nonetheless aspire to be really good at advertising.
To be really good at "Pushing Memes." To be really good at "getting stories to go viral."
To be really good at branding.
I joked a while ago that we will all know this syndrome has reached its lethal phase when your grandmother tells you, "I wanted to mention your new Son on my FaceBook page, but I was afraid it would undermine the Branding image I was going for."
We all know this is beneath us -- well, most of us know this; some idiots might actually aspire to be Kings of Online Advertising -- and yet nevertheless it has become the default model of online communication.
This has pernicious effects on human thought and communication. As you well know -- because I scream like a baby about it every time I see it happening -- I think the only test of whether a statement should or should not be said is whether or not it is True.
Not whether or not it "helps the brand," as in, the political brand, the movement brand.
To speak about ideas in terms of anything other than their truthfulness is a tremendous corruption of both expression and thought.
I hate the idea, often implied, sometimes said outright, that whether or not a statement is true or not, or whether or not the speaker truly believes the statement or not, he must not say it, due to the paramount goal of only speaking statements which are helpful to the Brand.
I find this both corrupt and debased. If a man cannot speak honestly about things that are true (or, at least, truth often being a hazy thing, things he believes to be true), but must always counterfeit his thoughts in order to align them with an external Permanent Advertising Campaign, he might as well just not speak at all.
People usually hate viewing or hearing advertising. It is far, far worse when it is insisted that each and every free man and free woman become a permanent advertising agency for whichever Brand they are allied with.
To hear nothing but advertising would be awful; to speak in nothing but advertising would be abominable.
Now, online, both the right and the left have accepted the notion that activism is the highest ideal of online communication -- if not the highest ideal to aspire to, at least one of the top two, competing successfully most of the time versus the other criterion, Speaking the Truth (or one's murky vision of the truth, at least).
This is what causes Matt Yglesias to say stupid things and lay down laughable markers. Because he has accepted the definition of himself as primarily a shill for the left.
As primarily a Junior Creative Manager at an Advertising Agency called "Slate Magazine" working primarily for the Obama Administration with a special emphasis on ridiculous economic claims that can be made on behalf of his client.
As is the rule in advertising, it's often the most outlandishly silly campaigns that cut through the clatter and get attention. Like this.
Now, every political writer is, ultimately, an activist. People do not write about politics disinterestedly. Everyone has his own take on what the Social Good looks like, and his writing will always, always be informed by this.
Every writer, every blogger, every Tweeter, every commenter writing about politics has his own conception of The Good and will write in support of this.
There is no avoiding that.
There will always be Political Advertising encoded into any political essay.
It's a question of the degree to which we permit ourselves to be captive to the lowest form of communication, Advertising.
It's a question of whether we elevate the Advertising Imperative above the Truth-Telling Imperative, and by what margin.
The problem is that as regards online writing -- or online Political Advertising, as Matt Yglesias writes -- is that laughable shills are not punished, they are rewarded.
None of Yglesias' fans will hold it against him that he got this completely wrong. In fact, they will praise him, because while he got this completely wrong, he got it completely wrong to the benefit of the right Advertising Account, Obama-Brand Health Care Solutions.
He will not be called out as a gullible jackass; he will be lauded as a "fighter" who "tried to help the cause."
And that's the problem, isn't it? Because writers are paid to write what people want to read.
And if all the public demands is perpetual advertising on behalf of the Brands the public favors, that is what writers -- never accused of being an especially honorable, moral, or courageous bunch -- will churn out.
American politics isn't getting nastier. Oh, it is nasty, but it has always been fairly nasty.
What it is getting is downright stupid, because being right -- speaking the truth -- is no longer rewarded, and being wrong, and writing fictions, is no longer punished.
What is rewarded is Branding, and Advertising, and Catchy Headlines, and Grabby Takes, and Getting Things to Go Viral, and SEOs, and Clicks, and Outrage Trolling, and Stupidity Trolling.
And Carnival Barking.
And Carnival Barking.
And Carnival Barking.
And Carnival Barking.
And on and on and on and on, until our brains are filled with nothing but slogans and jingles and catchphrases and Memes.
And we can never speak honestly without first double-checking to make sure our utterances are synergistic with the Messaging Demands of whatever collective(s) we belong to.
Now, we are in the age of the Permanent Campaign. Time was, there was a Campaign Season, say, two months before a mid-term, four months before a general. In Campaign Season, you were required, as a political writer, to Put Your Game Faces On.
The time to question the team's playbook is Monday before the Sunday game, not Saturday night, as everyone's just trying to get a good night's sleep and gin up their confidence for game-day.
And so during Campaign Season, there is a certain expectation -- and requirement -- that people not attack the team just as they're heading down the hallway to take the field. (This remains one of the grassroots' complaints about Karl Rove, vis-a-vis Christine O'Donnell, and I have to confess, they're right about the timing issue.)
And now we have Permanent Campaigns. Obama has not gone out of Campaign mode a single day of his presidency, except to play golf.
But while politicians and the paid political class -- the paid shills, the paid flacks, the actually-paid advertising experts -- are now on the 365-days-a-year of the Permanent Campaign schedule, we everyday citizens, writers, commenters, lurkers and thinkers cannot permit ourselves to go into Permanent Campaign mode.
It is one thing to not be quite so generous with the truth three months every two years before an elections.
But is is a horrible idea -- that must be resisted by every thinking man and woman who values free expression and free thought -- to say that we must counterfeit our true beliefs literally every single day of every single year, due to the sad fact that there is in fact a Permanent Campaign being led from the White House.
Some might say "If that's the situation we find ourselves in, that's the situation we find ourselves in. We must adapt to this reality, and simply lie every single day, in order to maximize our Brand's chances in the new reality of the Permanent Campaign."
And I say No. Even if it's true that this would maximize our chances -- and I strongly doubt that; I am a cynic about many things, but I do believe the Truth beats the Lie nine times out of ten -- it is not possible for a person of intellectual integrity and a basic preference for honesty to lie every single day of his life.
What Good can come of Evil?
Very little. And one should certainly not want to organize one's life around the proposition that by doing evil -- speaking falsely -- every hour of every day, one will achieve a greater good.
One would much prefer to believe that the best ends will flow from the best beginnings, rather than from the worst.
Even if that is itself untrue, even if that is just the comforting fiction of Boyscout Who Doesn't Understand What It Takes to Win, no one can or will counterfeit what he believes to be the truth.
Not unless he's being paid quite a bit of money -- partly for work, partly to send his conscience on an extended vacation -- explicitly to write false and quasi-true advertising copy all day long.
Matt Yglesias considers himself a Mighty Thinker. Don't take my word for it; ask him. He'll tell you.
So why is the Mighty Thinker reduced to acting as a cut-rate accounts executive at a shabby advertising agency?
His readers may reward him for this, but he himself is to blame for taking the deal.
Ultimately that's his choice. No one forced him into saying ridiculous things for Fun and for Profit.
And that's the choice all of us make every day, too.
So when you see me balk at the idea of permanently subordinating my belief in what the truth is for the purpose of advancing the Brand, this is why.
It's because I don't want to be Matt Yglesias.
I may be ridiculous inadvertently, but I refuse to make myself ridiculous.
No matter how much some buffoonery and dishonesty might Help the Brand.
Matt Yglesias believes:
Humans are hierarchical primates by nature and have a kind of fascination with power and dignity.
And by "dignity," he means the trappings of power-- that which "dignified" the nobleman.
That may be true -- that may be true of man at his base animal level -- but man is not limited to his base animal level. He can aspire to more.
He can aspire to more than being a monkey who begins repeating the squawks of the higher-ranking Alpha Monkey, in order to get the monkeys around him to begin squawking in the same fashion.
Posted by: Ace at
01:25 PM
| Comments (395)
Post contains 1977 words, total size 12 kb.
Posted by: Circa (Insert Year Here)--also drooling imbecile incapable of doing algebra or something at October 17, 2013 12:30 PM (659DL)
Posted by: Joethefatman™ (@joethefatman1) at October 17, 2013 12:38 PM (MnSla)
Posted by: Truck Monkey, Gruntled New Business Owner at October 17, 2013 01:27 PM (jucos)
Note that he doesn't say great for whom, or which people will love it.
Posted by: Just the punchline at October 17, 2013 01:28 PM (AskuI)
Eh, it's a living.
Posted by: Debbie Wassermouth Shithead at October 17, 2013 01:29 PM (8ZskC)
Posted by: Don Draper at October 17, 2013 01:31 PM (OZmbA)
The Viral Mentality is one in which people are over-excited to push certain memes and facts
And if we know anything about The Horde, it's that they would NEVER get over-excited about pushing memes.
Posted by: Brian Dennehy at October 17, 2013 01:31 PM (TIIx5)
By the way, Ace, you look mahvelous.
Posted by: pep at October 17, 2013 01:31 PM (6TB1Z)
Posted by: Jonathan Livingston Monkey at October 17, 2013 01:31 PM (8ZskC)
Posted by: NCKate at October 17, 2013 01:32 PM (CV9aS)
We used to have a saying in business school regarding advertising
Sales: because everything else is just advertising. The point being, that if you don't close the deal, who cares. Oh, and what movie did ace see again? I went straight to comments.
Posted by: Jollyroger at October 17, 2013 01:32 PM (t06LC)
Posted by: A Penguin at October 17, 2013 01:32 PM (8ZskC)
Not that you'll ever read this, of course.
Posted by: Jane D'oh at October 17, 2013 01:32 PM (lVPtV)
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at October 17, 2013 01:32 PM (QF8uk)
Posted by: nip at October 17, 2013 01:33 PM (jI23+)
Posted by: Jane at October 17, 2013 01:34 PM (KOp/H)
Posted by: RS at October 17, 2013 01:34 PM (YAGV/)
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at October 17, 2013 01:34 PM (QF8uk)
Case in point: Cory Booker and his man T-Bone.
Posted by: WalrusRex at October 17, 2013 01:34 PM (XUKZU)
Posted by: Matty Yglesias at October 17, 2013 01:35 PM (aTXUx)
Posted by: Yip at October 17, 2013 01:35 PM (/jHWN)
Posted by: jakeman at October 17, 2013 01:36 PM (vH4YP)
Posted by: Tarzan at October 17, 2013 01:36 PM (OZmbA)
Posted by: spongeworthy at October 17, 2013 01:36 PM (r5w1L)
Posted by: Mirror-Universe Mitt Romney at October 17, 2013 01:36 PM (sfOOx)
We appreciated your efforts, Ace!
Posted by: Sharknado at October 17, 2013 01:36 PM (aTXUx)
“To all my friends in Congress, understand that how business is done in this town has to change,” he said.
“You don’t like a particular policy or a particular president? Then argue for your position. Go out there and win an election,” The president said. “But don’t break it.”
Posted by: Teh Won at October 17, 2013 01:36 PM (/jHWN)
Posted by: sven10077 at October 17, 2013 01:37 PM (9jfyN)
Posted by: Tarzan at October 17, 2013 01:37 PM (OZmbA)
I know a seal at the National Zoo whoÂ’s looking for a good time now that the long national nightmare is over. HeÂ’s calling it VJ Day. He wonÂ’t tell me what it stands for.
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at October 17, 2013 05:34 PM (QF8uk)
*****
I think Tupperware™ is looking for a nice tight seal.
Posted by: Harry Throckmorton at October 17, 2013 01:37 PM (N/Sup)
I was going to go with Mr. Whipple, but whatever.
Posted by: pep at October 17, 2013 01:37 PM (6TB1Z)
Posted by: Lauren at October 17, 2013 01:38 PM (ELdpj)
Posted by: Jollyroger at October 17, 2013 01:38 PM (t06LC)
----Matt Yglesias
Posted by: Dr Spank at October 17, 2013 01:38 PM (9jLim)
Posted by: Mr. Whipple's corspe at October 17, 2013 01:38 PM (/jHWN)
Posted by: Mirror-Universe Mitt Romney at October 17, 2013 01:38 PM (sfOOx)
Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at October 17, 2013 01:38 PM (DmNpO)
Posted by: sven10077 at October 17, 2013 01:39 PM (9jfyN)
Tarzan call George Soros and tell him Jane repeat same comment multiple threads.
Posted by: Tarzan at October 17, 2013 05:38 PM (OZmbA)
????
Posted by: Jane D'oh at October 17, 2013 01:39 PM (lVPtV)
Posted by: WalrusRex at October 17, 2013 01:39 PM (XUKZU)
So are you volunteering to be the one up against the wall when the CFS goes linear?
Posted by: pep at October 17, 2013 01:39 PM (6TB1Z)
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at October 17, 2013 01:39 PM (QF8uk)
Posted by: joeindc44 is totally not on Soros's pay now...right? at October 17, 2013 01:41 PM (QxSug)
Posted by: JackStraw at October 17, 2013 01:41 PM (g1DWB)
I want to disagree because I think that there are blogs on the Right that are very thoughtful without worrying about the 'advertising' aspect.
Then I think about how Ronald Reagan would have been covered by blogs, both Left and Right, during his administration. Not a pretty site. (sic on purpose)
Posted by: polynikes at October 17, 2013 01:41 PM (m2CN7)
Posted by: jakeman at October 17, 2013 01:41 PM (vH4YP)
Posted by: artisanal 'ette: don't undo my yoga calm at October 17, 2013 01:41 PM (IXrOn)
@53
my point that counters ace's empirical evidence.
I don't think the right is near as guilty of this sin as the left - though I did commit it some myself in the Bush years. The patriot act comes to mind.
Posted by: Jollyroger at October 17, 2013 01:41 PM (t06LC)
In the language of Peruvia, 'meme' translates loosely as 'truth'.
Posted by: Harry Throckmorton at October 17, 2013 01:41 PM (N/Sup)
Posted by: Mirror-Universe Mitt Romney at October 17, 2013 01:42 PM (sfOOx)
Posted by: sven10077 at October 17, 2013 01:42 PM (9jfyN)
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at October 17, 2013 01:42 PM (3Znbm)
Posted by: Mattio Yglesias at October 17, 2013 01:42 PM (Dwehj)
Posted by: rickb223 at October 17, 2013 01:42 PM (t+DWU)
15 Brian Dennehey,
Shut up and pass the butt salve....
//the Chicken
Posted by: sven10077 at October 17, 2013 05:39 PM (9jfyN)
No butt salve, but I got some leftover peanut butter.
Chunky.
Posted by: Toby the Beagle at October 17, 2013 01:42 PM (TIIx5)
Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at October 17, 2013 01:43 PM (AG1mq)
Posted by: jakeman at October 17, 2013 01:43 PM (vH4YP)
Posted by: NBC/WSJ at October 17, 2013 01:43 PM (/jHWN)
We live in an intensively message-ridden time. In the old days, someone who was less mentally quick could get along just fine. He wasn't constantly bombarded with BS to do something he wouldn't otherwise do. Is it the case now that the weaker-minded are simply putty in the hands of those with control of the message, to wit the media. Yeah, yeah, Marshall Mcluhan, etc. etc.
Posted by: pep at October 17, 2013 01:44 PM (6TB1Z)
Posted by: maddogg at October 17, 2013 01:44 PM (xWW96)
Regular Ben Franklin you are.
Posted by: ThomasD at October 17, 2013 01:44 PM (FA+FN)
Posted by: Mirror-Universe Mitt Romney at October 17, 2013 01:44 PM (sfOOx)
I understand your point, especially in the context of the last five years, which has presented us with a particularly tawdry set of lies from the administration.
But all political speech is designed to convince. The great political orators of the world were very good at selling their ideas to a sometimes suspicious and even overtly hostile audience.
Washington, Lincoln, Churchill, Reagan...they sold their ideas, but in an uplifting and dignified way that raised the level of discourse.
Obama has sold his ideas well, at least by the measure of legislative and electoral victories.
That he did it in a backhanded, lying way that is an affront to the dignity of man is simply his position on the continuum.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 17, 2013 01:44 PM (oJ5Fd)
Posted by: sven10077 at October 17, 2013 01:45 PM (9jfyN)
Posted by: joeindc44 is totally not on Soros's pay now...right? at October 17, 2013 01:45 PM (QxSug)
*empty hanger dangling and angling for an AOSHQ t-shirt ;-)
Posted by: artisanal 'ette: don't undo my yoga calm at October 17, 2013 05:41 PM (IXrOn)
two weeks......
Posted by: IllTemperedCur at October 17, 2013 01:45 PM (TIIx5)
Posted by: zombie at October 17, 2013 01:45 PM (+cx5n)
Posted by: maddogg at October 17, 2013 01:45 PM (xWW96)
Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at October 17, 2013 01:45 PM (AG1mq)
Posted by: Flatbush Joe at October 17, 2013 01:45 PM (ZPrif)
Posted by: joeindc44 is totally not on Soros's pay now...right? at October 17, 2013 01:45 PM (QxSug)
If we don't, aren't we ensuring that those who are will inevitably win?
Posted by: pep at October 17, 2013 01:46 PM (6TB1Z)
Posted by: Mirror-Universe Mitt Romney at October 17, 2013 01:46 PM (sfOOx)
Nah, I see him that way too. Or a douche..in a suit
Posted by: Yip at October 17, 2013 01:46 PM (/jHWN)
Posted by: Jean at October 17, 2013 01:46 PM (CMlD4)
Posted by: ace at October 17, 2013 01:47 PM (/IWYB)
Posted by: Aviator at October 17, 2013 01:47 PM (DI+ja)
Posted by: NCKate at October 17, 2013 01:47 PM (CV9aS)
Posted by: Decaf at October 17, 2013 01:47 PM (BAPj3)
Posted by: Sgt. Fury at October 17, 2013 01:47 PM (Amk6p)
Is it getting stupider or is there more exposure of the stupidity?
Posted by: DaveA at October 17, 2013 01:48 PM (DL2i+)
Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at October 17, 2013 01:48 PM (AG1mq)
Objection. Facts not in evidence. Ideas is plural. "I won, here's my penis" is not a plural.
Posted by: pep at October 17, 2013 01:48 PM (6TB1Z)
And most important - free shit!1!
Posted by: Low Information Voter at October 17, 2013 01:48 PM (Dwehj)
Posted by: Mirror-Universe Mitt Romney at October 17, 2013 01:49 PM (sfOOx)
Posted by: art garfunkels ugly kid at October 17, 2013 01:49 PM (AKIG/)
I may be ridiculous inadvertently, but I refuse to make myself ridiculous.
That's what you say now.
Posted by: Marco's lonely trashcan at October 17, 2013 01:49 PM (DL2i+)
Posted by: Soona at October 17, 2013 01:50 PM (3Mz5/)
Now, let's all laugh at Matt Yglesias-ACE
Can we also help him with his health care? Both physically and mentally? Jus asking for a friend of mine.
Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at October 17, 2013 01:50 PM (HVff2)
Posted by: Margarita DeVille at October 17, 2013 01:50 PM (dfYL9)
And most important - free shit!1!
Posted by: Low Information Voter
I marveled at the Cargo Cultists when I learned about them in HS. I never thought I'd see a new example.
Posted by: pep at October 17, 2013 01:50 PM (6TB1Z)
Posted by: Mirror-Universe Mitt Romney at October 17, 2013 01:51 PM (sfOOx)
Posted by: JoeyBagels at October 17, 2013 01:51 PM (Tbg8n)
Posted by: The Prophet Matty Yglesiias at October 17, 2013 01:51 PM (aTXUx)
cock slapping his followers "into place,"
I believe that's called a 'Maine Handshake'.
It's the customary greeting in the North Woods.
Posted by: garrett at October 17, 2013 01:52 PM (CwNYb)
[Ace:] ..."Now, we are in the age of the Permanent Campaign."
It is the product of the Permanent Political Class, Ace.
It's what they get paid to produce.
This is why the Tea Party People seem...'impatient'.
They aren't getting paid to engage in politics.
Tea Party People have other professions, other lives to get back to.
Politics is dirty business.
They are rolling up their sleeves and doing what they feel they must in order to get the country back on the right track...so they want to see results, so they can go back to their private lives.
The Permanent Political Class *doesn't want* to solve problems.
They want to drag them out.
They want to keep making money off of "trying to solve" those problems.
Posted by: wheatie at October 17, 2013 01:52 PM (RaSFf)
Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at October 17, 2013 01:52 PM (AG1mq)
Posted by: toby928© at October 17, 2013 01:52 PM (QupBk)
Posted by: Mirror-Universe Mitt Romney at October 17, 2013 01:53 PM (sfOOx)
Posted by: polynikes at October 17, 2013 01:53 PM (m2CN7)
Posted by: Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame at October 17, 2013 01:53 PM (VPM+t)
Posted by: Flatbush Joe at October 17, 2013 01:53 PM (ZPrif)
Posted by: The Prophet Matty Yglesiias at October 17, 2013 01:54 PM (aTXUx)
Posted by: Nip Sip at October 17, 2013 01:54 PM (0FSuD)
Posted by: Reggie Love at October 17, 2013 01:54 PM (/1ATA)
Posted by: ace at October 17, 2013 01:54 PM (/IWYB)
Why it is almost as if the vast public has outsourced their rational thinking to the chattering class. No need to think critically. No need to test truthfulness. Just wait for the 'right' people to tell you what you think. Saves time and energy that could be spent on YouTube.
Posted by: Harry Throckmorton at October 17, 2013 01:54 PM (N/Sup)
Posted by: Juan at October 17, 2013 01:54 PM (1CfDi)
That is why the Christine O'Donnells and Tod Akins should say what they want to say, exept when I disagree with them.
[Sorry Ace, but you were asking for it]
Posted by: Stan at October 17, 2013 01:55 PM (lKWv9)
we everyday citizens, writers, commenters, lurkers and thinkers cannot permit ourselves to go into Permanent Campaign mode.
If we don't, aren't we ensuring that those who are will inevitably win?
Posted by: pep at October 17, 2013 05:46 PM (6TB1Z)
---------------------------------------------
It is a conundrum. Let's face it. For the LIV, the MFM has won the communications war.
Posted by: Soona at October 17, 2013 01:55 PM (3Mz5/)
Posted by: Matt Yglesias at October 17, 2013 01:55 PM (CwNYb)
Posted by: LIV at October 17, 2013 01:55 PM (1ThpN)
Posted by: Mirror-Universe Mitt Romney at October 17, 2013 01:55 PM (sfOOx)
The other casualty in the permanent campaign is our relationships with each other. Liberals hear the constant drum beat of RACIST! ANTI-SCIENCE!, TEA-BAGGER!, ETC.. (and just like the scientist Ace posted today who just marveled that tea party people scored well on science acumen) they don't even see us as human anymore.
My sister and her family won't even speak to me because,,,,, Bush!!
Posted by: Sgt. Fury at October 17, 2013 01:55 PM (Amk6p)
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at October 17, 2013 01:55 PM (QF8uk)
Ace...you've been doing outstanding work.
Eloquent and insightful.
Thank you for all that you do.
Posted by: wheatie at October 17, 2013 01:56 PM (RaSFf)
Posted by: zombie at October 17, 2013 01:56 PM (+cx5n)
William Galston, writing in the Wall Street Journal warns that the institutional Republican Party — the political equivalent of the Washington Generals — may have lost its audience after the longest losing streak in history. A large part of the GOP base is walking out — led by an “aroused, angry and above all fearful [Jacksonian America] in full revolt against a new elite”.
TheyÂ’re no longer entertained, no longer spellbound by suspense after finally being convinced that the Washington GeneralÂ’s secret job is to lose every exhibition match against the Democratic Party Hokum Globetrotters.Galston has impeccable liberal credentials.
I Love the Washington Gernerals characterization 'cause that's how it seems. http://bit.ly/17wH50U
Posted by: Yip at October 17, 2013 01:56 PM (/jHWN)
Posted by: Nip Sip at October 17, 2013 01:56 PM (0FSuD)
Posted by: Egon Spengler at October 17, 2013 01:57 PM (QupBk)
Posted by: Gristle Encased Head at October 17, 2013 01:57 PM (+lsX1)
Related: video over at The Anchoress of college students not knowing basic, 20th centrury history such as the Holocaust and Winson Churchill. The Left figured out a long time ago that if you deprive kids of history and critical thinking it's that much easier to sell the narrative.
http://preview.tinyurl.com/kq9wywc
Posted by: Joey Choo-Choo Biden at October 17, 2013 01:58 PM (JRmiD)
Posted by: JackStraw at October 17, 2013 01:58 PM (g1DWB)
The other aspect of the twittering craze is the shift in ratio of noise to signal. There is such an overwhelming amount of utter crap floating around on the internet that when an actual pearl bobs to the surface it is hard to spot.
Not coincidentally, I see this emerging in electronic health records also. There is so much data that it is hard to find the useful bits of information. Prepare yourselves accordingly.
Posted by: Harry "Seamus" Throckmorton at October 17, 2013 01:58 PM (N/Sup)
Posted by: Yip at October 17, 2013 01:58 PM (/jHWN)
Posted by: Mirror-Universe Mitt Romney at October 17, 2013 01:58 PM (sfOOx)
Makes me want to watch Stand Alone Complex again.
Anyway. I guess part of my problem is, is that I've lost respect for the cognitive capability of my fellow man, at least in general. As such, as a subjective good, being intellectually honest no longer has merit. Fortunately for my fellow man, I am a man of faith and therefore honesty remains an objective good of the absolute moral order. If I didn't have that; it would be absolutely ends-justify-means messaging, facts and truth be damned. Nothing in the past 20 years of man's existence that I have observed seems to bear out that he can handle the truth.
Anyway, even here, even while throwing my most well thought analysis of LIB philosophy out there to a crowd of the generally informed, and sympathetic to my ideology, I am met with ad-hominem attacks against my sanity and intelligence for daring to suggest the intellectual merits of LIB. This doesn't bode well for continued intellectually honest exchange; And pushes more and more to the "True but...." category of discussion that is more about shaping perception the way you object to, rather than intellectually engaging. I've noticed that your misrepresentation of your right side opposition takes the form of mischaracterization by extreme example. As if everyone to the right of you was gung-ho Akin. Having some delusional pro Akin among the more strident commentors doesn't make a fair characterization of all of your more ideological opposition as completely unrealistic and unpragmatic. So shame on you too.
Posted by: MikeTheMoose Laughing Maniacally While Throwing Matches. at October 17, 2013 01:58 PM (0q2P7)
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at October 17, 2013 05:55 PM (QF8uk)[/i[br]
Which would immediately be infiltrated by Marxists, following the truism "any outfit that isn't explicitly right-wing will eventually become left-wing" (paraphrased).
Posted by: StPatrick_TN at October 17, 2013 01:59 PM (un8zR)
Posted by: Margarita DeVille at October 17, 2013 01:59 PM (dfYL9)
Other than that, we're still royally fucked.
Posted by: Jane D'oh at October 17, 2013 01:59 PM (lVPtV)
OK, I know this is a little cornball but the intent here was to teach a life lesson in an entertaining way and to actually improve the viewer's life. There is nothing like that on TV anymore and much of what is on degrades everybody involved. Miley Cyrus anybody?
Posted by: WalrusRex at October 17, 2013 01:59 PM (XUKZU)
Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at October 17, 2013 01:59 PM (AG1mq)
Posted by: polynikes at October 17, 2013 01:59 PM (m2CN7)
Posted by: BumperStickerist at October 17, 2013 02:00 PM (G7SkO)
I'm confused (but I'm only a dunce) -- are you pro Barry ?
Posted by: Sphynx at October 17, 2013 02:00 PM (OZmbA)
Posted by: Mirror-Universe Mitt Romney at October 17, 2013 02:00 PM (sfOOx)
Posted by: Yip at October 17, 2013 05:58 PM (/jHWN)
You'll be denied your daily ration of Kaboom in the camps.
Posted by: Jane D'oh at October 17, 2013 02:00 PM (lVPtV)
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at October 17, 2013 02:00 PM (QF8uk)
Posted by: steevy at October 17, 2013 02:01 PM (zqvg6)
Posted by: Nip Sip at October 17, 2013 02:02 PM (0FSuD)
Posted by: steevy at October 17, 2013 02:02 PM (zqvg6)
Another Blue Ribbon Commission comprising retired life-long politicians!
Posted by: Barack the Magnificent at October 17, 2013 02:02 PM (JRmiD)
Posted by: rickb223 at October 17, 2013 02:03 PM (t+DWU)
Posted by: Mirror-Universe Mitt Romney at October 17, 2013 02:03 PM (sfOOx)
The very finest world class propaganda is 95% completely honest verifiable hard truths, and 5% omission.
Posted by: Purp[/i][/b][/u][/s] at October 17, 2013 02:03 PM (l5zzX)
Posted by: BackwardsBoy, who did not vote for this shit at October 17, 2013 02:03 PM (0HooB)
Posted by: WalrusRex
Obviously you haven't been watching Glee... Gosh!
Posted by: Yip at October 17, 2013 02:04 PM (/jHWN)
Posted by: zombie at October 17, 2013 02:04 PM (+cx5n)
Posted by: Schrödinger's cat [/i] at October 17, 2013 02:05 PM (U2UQk)
The very finest world class propaganda is 95% completely honest verifiable hard truths, and 5% omission.
Posted by: Purp at October 17, 2013 06:03 PM (l5zzX)
That's 6.4%
Posted by: CNN at October 17, 2013 02:05 PM (OZmbA)
Posted by: Flatbush Joe at October 17, 2013 02:05 PM (ZPrif)
147 It is the product of the Permanent Political Class, Ace. It's what they get paid to produce.
It would be easy enough to end it. Just donÂ’t require them to come back to us for re-election. We could have merit-based re-election, and set up an independent body to measure political merit.
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair
-----------
In a perfect world...that would work.
But it would be difficult to get people to agree on what constitutes 'merit'.
Posted by: wheatie at October 17, 2013 02:05 PM (RaSFf)
Posted by: Fritz at October 17, 2013 02:05 PM (TKFmG)
Posted by: Mirror-Universe Mitt Romney at October 17, 2013 02:05 PM (sfOOx)
history such as the Holocaust and Winson Churchill. The Left figured out
a long time ago that if you deprive kids of history and critical
thinking it's that much easier to sell the narrative.
---
Yeah, I was shocked and this was elite students at an Ivy League school. And there is no particular reason the Holocaust should be avoided. This was just a dip stick measuring the ignorance of our future elites generally. No doubt that they know nothing of the Civil War or the Revolutionary War or countless other topics as well. Knowledge has been replaced by spin and ability has been replaced by cool.
This kind of fits in with us knuckle-dragging Tea-hadists knowing more about science than the average bear.
Posted by: WalrusRex at October 17, 2013 02:06 PM (XUKZU)
And if we know anything about The Horde, it's that they would NEVER get over-excited about pushing memes.
I agree.
Posted by: Highball-drinking longowman at October 17, 2013 02:07 PM (xm1A1)
Posted by: BignJames at October 17, 2013 02:07 PM (ZNQKl)
Posted by: rickb223 at October 17, 2013 02:07 PM (t+DWU)
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at October 17, 2013 02:08 PM (QF8uk)
---
Yeah, I liked the emotional tribute to the drug addict who overdosed and the glamorization of homosexuality.
Posted by: WalrusRex at October 17, 2013 02:09 PM (XUKZU)
Posted by: Matt Yglesias at October 17, 2013 02:09 PM (0FSuD)
I was asked to help fundraise for an anti-fossil fuel campaign. Now at the time I was kind of for this, however, lumped in with all the dirty energy sources was nuclear power. Now I may have been a little bit of a naive idealist, but I was no idiot. When explaining to the other rank and file idiots how nuclear power was far cleaner than any other energy source, I was met with, "duuuuuuude, that's just what the corporations want you to think, man." Well that was never a really satisfying answer for me, so the group leader confessed that I was probably right about nuclear power, but the general public is too stupid to know the difference so the campaign is really to restrict energy usage across the board. Essentially I was instructed to lie, because the lie served their Greater Good. I did not return the next day, and that helped me to start to move solidly to the right. I will not profess things I know to be untrue for the Greater Good, but I learned then that many of my fellow citizens are happy lying and/or being lied to, so long as it advances their agenda.
Posted by: mugiwara at October 17, 2013 02:09 PM (hpYnL)
Posted by: polynikes at October 17, 2013 02:10 PM (m2CN7)
Posted by: Matt Yglesias at October 17, 2013 02:10 PM (0FSuD)
Posted by: Phinn at October 17, 2013 02:10 PM (4TBK2)
Posted by: Matt Yglesias at October 17, 2013 02:11 PM (0FSuD)
Another Pabst™ Blue Ribbon Commission comprising retired life-long politicians!
***
Fixed for BRANDING purposes.
Posted by: Harry at October 17, 2013 02:11 PM (N/Sup)
Posted by: Flatbush Joe at October 17, 2013 02:11 PM (ZPrif)
Hound him for getting a couple predictions wrong, and he'd likely laugh it off. What does he care? He shilled like the good shill that he is.
Mockery- that's different. Collect each and every provably wrong prediction and falsehood you can find and spread it around? That's the sort of thing more likely to piss him off.
Posted by: Hollowpoint at October 17, 2013 02:12 PM (SY2Kh)
Posted by: Rich at October 17, 2013 02:12 PM (EaFK8)
8 Another Massengill™ douche.
Posted by: NCKate at October 17, 2013 05:28 PM (CV9aS)
*****
More branding!
Posted by: Harry at October 17, 2013 02:12 PM (N/Sup)
OK, I know this is a little cornball but the intent here was to teach a life lesson in an entertaining way and to actually improve the viewer's life. There is nothing like that on TV anymore and much of what is on degrades everybody involved. Miley Cyrus anybody?
------------------
There are still life lessons. The problem is that when such lessons do turn up, they're frequently propaganda for the other side.
Posted by: junior at October 17, 2013 02:14 PM (UWFpX)
Posted by: Matt Yglesias at October 17, 2013 02:14 PM (0FSuD)
The Obama Challenge - Name one accomplishment of his that is a success.
-
Posted by: BumperStickerist at October 17, 2013 02:14 PM (G7SkO)
Posted by: panzernashorn at October 17, 2013 02:15 PM (MhA4j)
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at October 17, 2013 02:17 PM (a4Omg)
Posted by: Nip Sip at October 17, 2013 02:17 PM (0FSuD)
Posted by: jem at October 17, 2013 02:17 PM (fM4kr)
Posted by: steevy at October 17, 2013 02:17 PM (zqvg6)
That's good...I'm glad he and Joe Scardouche are brainstorming....
think Poppin' Fresh had the balls to ask Scarborough how his intern was?
Posted by: sven10077 at October 17, 2013 02:18 PM (9jfyN)
Posted by: mike at October 17, 2013 02:18 PM (9cYOY)
166 ...OK, I know this is a little Quaker™ cornball
*****
Come on people! Don't forget your branding!
Posted by: Harry "Seamus" Throckmorton at October 17, 2013 02:18 PM (N/Sup)
Posted by: Rich at October 17, 2013 06:12 PM (EaFK
Every time I read the words "Club for Growth", all I can think of is "Hair Club for Men".
And, no, evidently we're supposed to sit in our seats hands folded in our laps, while the Left and the media (redundant?) ride roughshod on the decimation of the United States. What a world.
Posted by: antisocialist at October 17, 2013 02:18 PM (eGr8Z)
You'll have to clarify what you mean by "success." He's successfully gotten away with a lot - getting Obamacare passed, ignoring laws he doesn't like, getting re-elected, etc.- which I'me sure he and his cronies see as a success.
Actually implementing something that meets the normal standards for success, as in doing what it was expected to do? Zero
Posted by: Lizzy at October 17, 2013 02:18 PM (JRmiD)
should we turn Him into fishy.gov?
Posted by: willow at October 17, 2013 02:18 PM (nqBYe)
So you're saying that our mistake will be just as painful as Obamacare.
Posted by: Hollowpoint at October 17, 2013 02:18 PM (SY2Kh)
Posted by: Rich at October 17, 2013 02:19 PM (EaFK8)
Posted by: AmishDude at October 17, 2013 02:19 PM (T0NGe)
think Pillsbury™ Poppin' Fresh had the balls to ask Scarborough how his intern was?
Posted by: sven10077 at October 17, 2013 06:18 PM (9jfyN)
*****
Everything can (and should) be branded.
Posted by: Harry "Seamus" Throckmorton at October 17, 2013 02:20 PM (N/Sup)
Posted by: Matt Yglesias at October 17, 2013 02:20 PM (0FSuD)
....if we are smart enough to stop fighting ourselves and realize the opponent is on the other side of the aisle.
posted by Jackstraw
Yeah. It would've been nice if McCain, Graham and Peter King would wake up and maybe try something new like ripping on democrats and their horrible policies instead of the tea party and Cruz, Paul and Lee constantly.... of course McCain has been doing this goddamn act now for the last 20 years so I don't really expect him to change his stripes.
Posted by: Some Guy in Wisconsin at October 17, 2013 02:20 PM (hKpTp)
Posted by: Rich at October 17, 2013 02:21 PM (EaFK8)
Posted by: JackStraw at October 17, 2013 02:21 PM (g1DWB)
It's a silly name not a silly concept...
Poppin' Fresh is basically tipping the McCain Gang's hand....
the XIth commandment is a one way street.
I have a bit to ruminate on it but if the answer to the GOP's fail boat is Ed Morrissey, MSLSD's resident Mika slippers, and McCain I am part of the problem
Posted by: sven10077 at October 17, 2013 02:21 PM (9jfyN)
Politics is dirty business.
They are rolling up their sleeves and doing what they feel they must in order to get the country back on the right track...so they want to see results, so they can go back to their privatelives.
The Permanent Political Class *doesn't want* to solve problems.
They want to drag them out.
They want to keep making money off of "trying to solve" those problems.
Posted by: wheatie at October 17, 2013 05:52 PM (RaSFf)
This bears repeating. Continuously. Well said.
Posted by: GGE of the Moron Horde, NC Chapter at October 17, 2013 02:22 PM (yh0zB)
Posted by: Comrade Arthur at October 17, 2013 02:22 PM (83xuc)
Posted by: Nip Sip at October 17, 2013 02:22 PM (0FSuD)
Plenty of good mockery material in the thread...
more of us need to get on Twitter...
the other thing is we maybe need an AoSHQ "newspaper"
They are VERY serious about trying to license "journalism"
Posted by: sven10077 at October 17, 2013 02:22 PM (9jfyN)
Posted by: Shane at October 17, 2013 02:23 PM (70CRT)
We need people, "snowballs" with no history of contrary activity, to join up and stay in place as 5th columnists.
The problem with long term deep cover assignments like that is you have to be able to live that lifestyle convincingly, and do unpleasant things while rising through the ranks to positions of influence. That's a lot to ask.
James O'Keefe style stuff, while it produces flashy 30sec YouTube results, can never get deep enough to root out the really juicy stuff.
Posted by: Purp[/i][/b][/u][/s] at October 17, 2013 02:23 PM (l5zzX)
Posted by: Nip Sip at October 17, 2013 02:23 PM (0FSuD)
I think the new rule is "get out of our clubhouse"
I'm happy to oblige.
Posted by: sven10077 at October 17, 2013 02:24 PM (9jfyN)
I remember a mural in a school in some city (Philly?) and it had a huge Obama face among MLK, etc.
Posted by: AmishDude
***
Yes, it was at a polling place in Philly. Republicans hollered loud enough for them to cover tiny parts of it with 8.5x11 stock paper.
Posted by: Liberty Lover at October 17, 2013 02:24 PM (Vhwyk)
Posted by: Rich at October 17, 2013 06:21 PM (EaFK
But, they're not written down. They're in the Brilliant Insider's heads. Easier to change them that way.
Some people just need to be primaried - if for no other reason than to remind them who it is they work for. I really think that's part of the Orientation 101 syllabus: Forget your constituents. You work for US now.
Posted by: antisocialist at October 17, 2013 02:24 PM (eGr8Z)
I don't have the God's-eye view of reality, and thus can't comment authoritatively, but I'm puzzled by what's seeming to become this "both sides do it" stuff. Tossed off as a truism, undocumented, and pretty close to highly dubious.
But the level of generalization about both what and who we are talking about makes it slippery and hard to refute.
JackStraw, you had a very limited version of this same dubious axiom in your comment, when you said "we" just had an Yglesias moment. Huh? If you are referring to the very brief interruption in the continuing lawless and disastrous and unsustainable mess that is now accepted as budget-making, then your comment is ridiculous, as there's no comparison whatever.
But overall I see no reason to get past the fundamental lack of factual accuracy in "media", and the resulting massively uninformed and disinformed electorate. Now that phenomenon IS evident in spades on "our" side. The list goes on and on forever, but some head-shaker classics include the "folly of disbanding the Iraqi army," Bush's "Katrina" and "mission accomplished" moments, and Bill Clinton balancing the budget through restraint or discipline. All of them completely manufactured "mistakes/stumbles/facts", all of them ingested and frequently repeated by so-called conservatives ever since. This is not a result of Twitter or permanent campaigns, but a collapsed media and lazy or dim "news" consumers.
Posted by: non-purist at October 17, 2013 02:25 PM (afQnV)
Posted by: Flatbush Joe at October 17, 2013 02:26 PM (ZPrif)
Posted by: Buzzion at October 17, 2013 02:26 PM (QuETX)
Posted by: Brass Bancroft at October 17, 2013 02:26 PM (niuxr)
McCain and Graham need to be primaried and if they can't be knocked off the GOP ticket they need to be donkey punched by voting D....
those two are addition by subtraction.
Posted by: sven10077 at October 17, 2013 02:27 PM (9jfyN)
Posted by: tubal at October 17, 2013 02:27 PM (2NeaA)
Poppin' Fresh is basically tipping the McCain Gang's hand....
the XIth commandment is a one way street.
I have a bit to ruminate on it but if the answer to the GOP's fail boat is Ed Morrissey, MSLSD's resident Mika slippers, and McCain I am part of the problem
Posted by: sven10077 at October 17, 2013 06:21 PM (9jfyN)
No, not a silly concept at all. Just sort of makes me giggle for a second when I hear it.
Posted by: antisocialist at October 17, 2013 02:28 PM (eGr8Z)
Posted by: AmishDude at October 17, 2013 02:28 PM (T0NGe)
Posted by: Purp at October 17, 2013 06:23 PM (l5zzX)
Agreed. I sometimes look back and think what I could have learned had I stuck around but at the time I didn't think of myself as a right-winger, and even if I did, I would never have been able to last at a job that required me to lie to random people everyday just so they'd cough up some cash. I felt so dirty for the one day, I never even cashed the paycheck.
Funny follow-up, a few years later I got one of them class-action lawsuit mailings. Turned out that NYPIRG paid out less than minimum wage despite being in favor of raising it. Just more lying assholery from a bunch of lying assholes.
Posted by: mugiwara at October 17, 2013 02:29 PM (hpYnL)
re: Obama's accomplishments - I can't think of any, nor have any of my lib friends, come up with one where Obama isn't the subject and either the direct or indirect object of the sentence.... They didn't notice that part until I pointed it out to them.
Posted by: BumperStickerist at October 17, 2013 02:29 PM (G7SkO)
Right, a Chicago community organizer who believes he saving the world...
...Ima try that out at open mic night at the Comedy Club.
Posted by: Purp[/i][/b][/u][/s] at October 17, 2013 02:30 PM (l5zzX)
The thing is Amish Dude their "1%" are good guys...
let's not even get into the fact that the Federal government is the .000001% because hey "government is just the word for things we do together....."
like Benghazi, illegal arms to Mexico, IRS as political tool, NSA overreach....
Posted by: sven10077 at October 17, 2013 02:30 PM (9jfyN)
Posted by: Brass Bancroft at October 17, 2013 02:31 PM (niuxr)
Posted by: AmishDude at October 17, 2013 02:31 PM (T0NGe)
You'll be there all night....
When Lady History shits towards Ogabe he will either be the biggest fuck up we've had or the "greatest success of the new order"
there is no door 3
Posted by: sven10077 at October 17, 2013 02:31 PM (9jfyN)
Posted by: Liberty Lover at October 17, 2013 02:32 PM (Vhwyk)
James O'Keefe style stuff, while it produces flashy 30sec YouTube results, can never get deep enough to root out the really juicy stuff.
-------------
Anyone who's seen Zombie's stuff realizes that isn't necessarily the case. Pretty much *everything* the other side is trying to do is publicly on display (most frequently in the California Bay Area, apparently) if you know where to look. The problem comes about when you try to convince people that what's being displayed isn't just the kooky outlier elements.
The problem is this - for many people, the kooky elements are successfully portrayed as mainstream Republican beliefs (which is one reason why Aikin was so damaging), while mainstream liberal thought is successfully portrayed as either the kooky outlying elements of liberal thought or misrepresentations due to Conservative paranoia.
Posted by: junior at October 17, 2013 02:32 PM (UWFpX)
Posted by: AmishDude at October 17, 2013 02:32 PM (T0NGe)
Posted by: JackStraw at October 17, 2013 02:33 PM (g1DWB)
all that evil and "our side" refuses to call evil evil....
It's why I am ruminating and I am probably leaving the GOP and maybe politics....
I used to really love this nation...as founded.
I don't love THIS at all.
Posted by: sven10077 at October 17, 2013 02:34 PM (9jfyN)
Posted by: Misanthropic humanitarian, now with 50% more sensitivity at October 17, 2013 02:34 PM (HVff2)
Nope...
He's a Magnum Cum Load out of Beantown's Best....
http://tinyurl.com/3tgql7w
Money line from his Curricula Vitae to be the Internet Monkey Cage's econ guru....
On November 21, 2011, he left ThinkProgress to work as a business and economics correspondent at Slate's Moneybox.[4][5] He does not have a formal degree in business or economics.[6]
Posted by: sven10077 at October 17, 2013 02:37 PM (9jfyN)
Posted by: Flatbush Joe at October 17, 2013 06:26 PM (ZPrif)
I would have agreed with this a few years ago. Lately though, I can't believe Obama is that selfless. He's shown himself to be the ultimate narcissist, in it for what he can get for himself, as demonstrated by his willingness to throw anyone and everyone under the bus. He only keeps people like Lois Lerner around because she knows where the bodies are buried, not because he feels any sense of loyalty to her.
Posted by: Retread at October 17, 2013 02:37 PM (IiAs3)
Posted by: KingCaliSwag at October 17, 2013 02:37 PM (jX4I5)
Posted by: tubal at October 17, 2013 02:37 PM (2NeaA)
Science just IS. Water boils at 212F. It's not a question of 'do you believe' it boils at 212F.
Climate science is quackery.
Posted by: Jones in CO at October 17, 2013 02:38 PM (8sCoq)
No, it's worse than that. he went to Harvard........seriously.
That pedigree doesn't seem to have the cachet it used to
Posted by: Albie Damned at October 17, 2013 02:38 PM (Yhu4q)
It's slid because of the Hopium Dealers on staff.....
it's one thing for an instructor to have views...quite another for the views to be the syllabus
Posted by: sven10077 at October 17, 2013 02:39 PM (9jfyN)
Posted by: Socratease at October 17, 2013 02:40 PM (3V4IJ)
Posted by: Sgt. Fury at October 17, 2013 05:55 PM (Amk6p)
On the up side, it saves you money at Christmastime...
Posted by: GGE of the Moron Horde, NC Chapter at October 17, 2013 02:40 PM (yh0zB)
Posted by: AnnaS at October 17, 2013 02:40 PM (jNNPU)
It looks like you blew a seal.
Posted by: Car Repair Guy at October 17, 2013 02:40 PM (rmSzF)
How did we come to this? The main reason is that Dodd-Frank specifically exempts the CFPB from a bipartisan law enacted in the 1970s to protect AmericansÂ’ financial privacy.
... remember, this was to be Liz Warren's gig
Posted by: John Galt at October 17, 2013 02:41 PM (e8kgV)
and Soc I was one of the fact slingers...for YEARS
YEARS I am talking since the mid 90s...the problem is NEA has dumbed the fuckers down so much and told them belief is the same thing as knowledge and scholarship
Posted by: sven10077 at October 17, 2013 02:41 PM (9jfyN)
Posted by: furious at October 17, 2013 02:41 PM (A98Xu)
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at October 17, 2013 02:42 PM (QF8uk)
Posted by: Flatbush Joe at October 17, 2013 02:42 PM (ZPrif)
Posted by: Brass Bancroft at October 17, 2013 02:43 PM (niuxr)
L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux."
In many ways words without the expression, without someone's physical presence are just that, merely words. We've lost the art of conversation. We don't look one another right in the eye anymore to get something important across. We say it on twitter or post it to their facebook page or send them an e card. We don't go up grab them look them right in the eye and say "listen to what I need to say to you, this is important to me and I want you to understand me."
If everything good and bad can be spun to make sure it is good, that it was deliberate, that the person wasn't caught by the other person then no one has to take responsibility for anything, no one has to lose, and then, "it's all good" takes on a whole new meaning cause literally, it is all good cause you can spin it to be all good.
We are losing a great deal in our interpersonal communication and it has spilled over to our interpersonal communication with the entire world. This is what make us quintessentially human, our emotions, our ability to express ourselves, it's slowly leaving.
Ace, this was spectacular. You always make me think.
Posted by: just a citizen at October 17, 2013 02:43 PM (Nx76m)
Posted by: Socratease at October 17, 2013 02:44 PM (3V4IJ)
Much of the douche-oisie left really think that saying things enough times will make them true.
And that, boys and girls, is how they ended up with that success known as the Obamacare website - "It's gonna be ready on October 1st, and people are gonna LOVE it!"
Posted by: Teresa in Fort Worth, TX at October 17, 2013 02:44 PM (PZ6/M)
Demonstrably untrue. Prime example -- the shadowy heavy weight backing that he who shall not be mentioned gets to do what he does..
Publicly, there's only shadows on cave walls of the forces behind the public manifestations.
Posted by: Purp[/i][/b][/u][/s] at October 17, 2013 02:44 PM (l5zzX)
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at October 17, 2013 02:45 PM (QF8uk)
Posted by: Nevergiveup at October 17, 2013 02:45 PM (UbDLm)
Posted by: blaster at October 17, 2013 02:45 PM (W6bkf)
Posted by: Schrödinger's cat [/i] at October 17, 2013 02:46 PM (U2UQk)
Posted by: BumperStickerist at October 17, 2013 06:14 PM (G7SkO)
----------------------------------------
It depends on which side of the tracks you have your perspective. For the marxist left, he's been a dream come true. Everything he's done is deemed as success, which is the dismantling and destruction of the US.
For the right he's a SCOAMF.
Posted by: Soona at October 17, 2013 02:46 PM (3Mz5/)
272 ...all that evil and "our side" refuses to call evil evil....
But the concept of 'evil' has been flipped, Sven.
The Left has done this.
According to the Left...Evil is cool now.
Evil is something that is 'misunderstood' and must be forgiven.
We should use this.
The Left not only forgives, but celebrates evil.
Yet they declare that conservatives are evil.
So...are they saying that it's cool to be conservative?
Can't have it both ways.
Posted by: wheatie at October 17, 2013 02:47 PM (RaSFf)
Posted by: Beto at October 17, 2013 02:47 PM (VWfCN)
Posted by: NERK at October 17, 2013 02:48 PM (8sVVc)
Posted by: JackStraw at October 17, 2013 02:48 PM (g1DWB)
@295 Demonstrably untrue. Prime example -- the shadowy heavy weight backing that he who shall not be mentioned gets to do what he does..
----------------
You're talking about org charts. I'm talking doctrine. The former might be hidden, but the latter is exposed for all the world to see if you merely look in the right places.
Posted by: junior at October 17, 2013 02:48 PM (UWFpX)
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars [/i] [/b] [/s] at October 17, 2013 02:50 PM (Sq5z0)
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at October 17, 2013 02:51 PM (Cati5)
Posted by: just a citizen at October 17, 2013 02:52 PM (Nx76m)
Posted by: phoenixgirl @phxazgrl at October 17, 2013 02:52 PM (8JJ6O)
Posted by: phoenixgirl @phxazgrl at October 17, 2013 02:53 PM (8JJ6O)
Posted by: Adriane... at October 17, 2013 02:53 PM (KoFMU)
Per the Senate Intelligence Committee, “This provision is intended to ensure … these authorized disclosures may be distinguished from unauthorized ‘leaks’.”
Pointing out parallels and equivalence between “authorized leakers” and “Authorized Journalists” hardly seems unfounded. Extrapolating the same principle, it’s easy to envision Dianne Feinstein demanding special protections for “real leakers,” and Joe Biden envisioning how “legitimate news leakers” can help the administration advance its goals.
Posted by: Jared Loughner at October 17, 2013 02:53 PM (e8kgV)
Posted by: JackStraw at October 17, 2013 06:48 PM (g1DWB)
--------------------------------------------
No. It wasn't. It was someone finally standing up and saying what we've all been wanting them to say since 2009. It's never a mistake to make a stand on principles. It may not win the battle, but it's NEVER a mistake.
Posted by: Soona at October 17, 2013 02:54 PM (3Mz5/)
Posted by: Rich at October 17, 2013 02:55 PM (EaFK8)
Posted by: grognard at October 17, 2013 02:55 PM (cePbF)
Posted by: blaster at October 17, 2013 06:45 PM (W6bkf)
OK
http://tinyurl.com/n5mhumd
Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at October 17, 2013 02:56 PM (EIzIF)
Posted by: tsrblke, PhD(c) (No Really!) at October 17, 2013 02:56 PM (GaqMa)
Posted by: Adriane... at October 17, 2013 02:58 PM (KoFMU)
Posted by: grognard at October 17, 2013 02:58 PM (cePbF)
Posted by: angel with a sword at October 17, 2013 02:58 PM (hpgw1)
Posted by: JackStraw at October 17, 2013 02:59 PM (g1DWB)
Posted by: Jean at October 17, 2013 03:00 PM (CMlD4)
Posted by: Socratease at October 17, 2013 03:00 PM (3V4IJ)
THAT'S why he's a disgraceful fuck, and he needs to go.
Posted by: grognard at October 17, 2013 06:55 PM (cePbF)
No kidding, he turned out to be such an asshole my attitude towards him went from war hero TO the VC should have killed him in his cell.
Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads at October 17, 2013 03:01 PM (FMbng)
Posted by: phoenixgirl @phxazgrl at October 17, 2013 03:01 PM (8JJ6O)
Yes, it's all optics because acquiring power is all that counts. To right all those past wrongs! It proves something!
He is the first completely meta president. He honestly doesn't see any connection between people's lives and his actions. It's all about Barack-as-president.
Posted by: PJ at October 17, 2013 03:02 PM (ZWaLo)
Ace,
This post of yours is one of my favorite. This is one of the reasons I read your blog. - Because I know that every so often you produce something truly groundbreaking and even philosophical. - Thanks.
However, as a Platonic Realist, I do take exception to your indication that speaking falsely is always evil. There are times when speaking falsely is quite wholesome.
For instance, when the Nazis were looking for Jews, the family hiding Anne Frank may well have lied to keep her safe from those monsters (though, unfortunately, the bastards did eventually find and kill her).
In that case, (and there have been and will be plenty other such cases), intentionally speaking falsely was an unqualified act of goodness.
Posted by: _Dave_ at October 17, 2013 03:02 PM (J+Q+d)
I'm pretty sure Stalin didn't advertise publicly that he was gonna put 20M people in mass graves. Might have tamped down enthusiasm a bit.
Publicly visible "agendas" rarely match actuals with the left. The public one is just a tool for rallying the useful idiots to do their bidding.
Maurice Bishop had no idea Col Austin and the Coard's were gonna put him and his administration up against a wall.
Posted by: Purp[/i][/b][/u][/s] at October 17, 2013 03:03 PM (l5zzX)
Posted by: Rich at October 17, 2013 03:03 PM (EaFK8)
I blame James Carville for this. I really do.
Very well put. What sprang immediately to mind for me is Nate Silver and his polling analysis. Nate Silver was right. It burns to type that. It doesn't make it any less true. Nate Silver was right and reweighting the polls was wrong and it's important to understand that. Why? So that future polls can be analyzed properly.
Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD, you taunty bitch. at October 17, 2013 03:03 PM (Gk3SS)
Posted by: JackStraw at October 17, 2013 03:04 PM (g1DWB)
JackStraw, your entire framework of premises is false. I am never in campaign mode (haven't been involved in a campaign since 2004), and I have far more than a basic understanding of politics, and you beg the question with a vengeance when you say a mistake was made in briefly delaying the continuing lawless disastrous unsustainable fiscal mess and drawing attention to that and the unfolding catastrophic final assault on health care finance.
We will never know if it "worked", because that definistion would encompass helping differentiate the GOP from a disastrous and unpopular program, and if the GOP succeeds electorally down the road it will be for multiple reasons (or no reasons at all - fatigue with party-in-power, or timing and personalities, etc.). In other words, angels-on-pinheads debate. BUT ..... it was a very reasonable judgement call to try a low-risk tactic to differentiate and call attention to things the GOP needs to fight.
Posted by: non-purist at October 17, 2013 03:05 PM (afQnV)
Posted by: sven10077 at October 17, 2013 03:06 PM (9jfyN)
Posted by: Schrödinger's cat [/i] at October 17, 2013 03:06 PM (U2UQk)
So, essentially you're saying, "Don't vote for conservatives."
Thanks for your concern.
Posted by: Country Singer at October 17, 2013 03:06 PM (T7XIT)
In politics the idea is to advance our cause. Still waiting for anyone to give me any factual evidence, any converts, any way our position has been advanced.
Posted by: JackStraw at October 17, 2013 06:59 PM (g1DWB)
-------------------------------------------
We won this. We forced Dear Leader and his regime to flex the iron fist and actually physically show the people of America who they hate and who they want to oppress. I think it woke a lot of people up.
I personally welcomed the shutdown for this reason and this reason only. It served a vital purpose.
Posted by: Soona at October 17, 2013 03:06 PM (3Mz5/)
Posted by: Rich at October 17, 2013 03:07 PM (EaFK8)
Posted by: DangerGirl, home sweet home at October 17, 2013 03:07 PM (GrtrJ)
I am deeply suspicious of Silver's success, and the tin-foil hat wearing part of me wants to know what data he had that others didn't...like knowledge of voting fraud plans.
But yeah....the smarmy motherfucker nailed it.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 17, 2013 03:07 PM (oJ5Fd)
Posted by: Buzzion at October 17, 2013 03:10 PM (NxF+J)
Posted by: Cachaca at October 17, 2013 03:10 PM (0cMkb)
But yeah....the smarmy motherfucker nailed it.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 17, 2013 07:07 PM (oJ5Fd)
Yup.
Burns like fire to type but he did.
Here's why that truth is important. Why was he right? How did he do it? What formula did he use?
Most importantly, how much money will it take to get him to do it for My Team?
Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD, you taunty bitch. at October 17, 2013 03:11 PM (Gk3SS)
Posted by: Thunderb at October 17, 2013 03:11 PM (zOTsN)
Posted by: Typo Dynamofo at October 17, 2013 03:14 PM (FtCW+)
Posted by: phoenixgirl @phxazgrl at October 17, 2013 03:14 PM (8JJ6O)
341 This shit exhausts me. Seriously. 24/7 politics exhausts me, which is why I have to step away on occasion.
It's by design, DangerGirl.
The Permanent Political Class *wants it to be* exhausting and complicated...so we will grow weary and go away.
Posted by: wheatie at October 17, 2013 03:15 PM (RaSFf)
I personally welcomed the shutdown for this reason and this reason only. It served a vital purpose.
Posted by: Soona at October 17, 2013 07:06 PM (3Mz5/)
1000 fucking times THIS. Assholes in my wife's family who voted for this fucking dick with ears TWICE noticed what petty little wanabee tyrant prick he his. Thats huge.
Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads at October 17, 2013 03:15 PM (FMbng)
Posted by: Paul Krugman, Amaze-o-man at October 17, 2013 03:15 PM (qf2kI)
Posted by: Schrödinger's cat [/i] at October 17, 2013 03:16 PM (U2UQk)
I think you can safely trace the phenomenon back to the Sophist movement of Ancient Greece of the 500BC era.
Wiki lines it out very well.
"In the second half of the 5th century BC, particularly at Athens, "sophist" came to denote a class of mostly itinerant intellectuals who taught courses in various subjects, speculated about the nature of language and culture and employed rhetoric to achieve their purposes, generally to persuade or convince others: "Sophists did, however, have one important thing in common: whatever else they did or did not claim to know, they characteristically had a great understanding of what words would entertain or impress or persuade an audience."
Posted by: MikeTheMoose Laughing Maniacally While Throwing Matches. at October 17, 2013 03:18 PM (0q2P7)
JackStraw, you ask silly questions. Show you new supporters? In October of 2013? How would that work - Senators publicly abandoning Ocare after they'd voted for it? As I said above, we may never know precisely the effect if any of this very brief departure from the ongoing orwellian zombie fantasy-world that is now US "politics". But it was a reasonable low-risk effort, not unlike zillions of amendment votes and other "stunts" that are done to draw attention to differences between the parties.
And I hope you can step back and appreciate how scary it is that your creepy comment about only "true believers" understanding just how part of the govt. was temporarily shut down might be accurate. "True believers" would now constitute anyone who actually understands the mechanisms and laws of the US government and Congress. Of course this is only conceivable due to the collapse of the press in the US and in effect the end of citizenship. So now a "true believer" - a term conjuring up images of unreasonable, fanatical sorts of people - is someone who actually understands how the country actually works.
Posted by: non-purist at October 17, 2013 03:19 PM (afQnV)
I don't know that I would characterize it as a win so much as a "big gain." Having said that, the trick is going to be to not squander the gain in '14 and '16. And as much as I hate to say it, our side may have to do what we called TFG out for: running against the guy that's not even in the race. We have to ensure that the stench of TFG carries over onto the '14 and '16 leftist candidates.
Posted by: Country Singer at October 17, 2013 03:19 PM (T7XIT)
A simple one -- he didn't overestimate the intelligence of the public and its willingness to swallow bullshit.
Posted by: Purp[/i][/b][/u][/s] at October 17, 2013 03:19 PM (l5zzX)
Posted by: t-bird at October 17, 2013 03:21 PM (FcR7P)
Totally O/T...
I found a fucking Kissing Bug floating in the water reservoir of my Keurig coffee maker.
I found it *after* I had just drank a cup of coffee made from that water!
Gak! *cough* ....patooey!
Now I don't know if the water was heated enough to sterilize the Chagas bacteria...or not.
In case you don't know, this is a deadly disease.
So now, I know that there are fucking Kissing Bugs getting in my house.
I've been cleaning and looking for the little bastards ever since.
Posted by: wheatie at October 17, 2013 03:23 PM (RaSFf)
Posted by: furious at October 17, 2013 03:24 PM (A98Xu)
Once people flip the asshole / liar / creep / etc switch on someone, it never gets flipped back. Ever.
Once you've peered behind the curtain and found it wasn't the great and wonderful Oz they found there, everything changes.
Posted by: Purp[/i][/b][/u][/s] at October 17, 2013 03:24 PM (l5zzX)
Posted by: furious at October 17, 2013 03:25 PM (A98Xu)
Truth. We can't afford spending this much money. We can't just cut military we have to cut entitlements.
Lie. We can afford it. That's all just a bunch of useless worrying and protecting people that have gobs of cash from paying juuust an littttle more.
Your optimism I believe is completely misplaced ace. People *want* to believe what is easier. If truth beat lies 90% of the time hell even 50% we wouldn't have a freedom's paradox.
Posted by: MikeTheMoose Laughing Maniacally While Throwing Matches. at October 17, 2013 03:28 PM (0q2P7)
I found it *after* I had just drank a cup of coffee made from that water!
Did you find the other one?
Posted by: Retread at October 17, 2013 03:28 PM (IiAs3)
I can't disagree more with a few of Ace's themes ...
1) This notion of "even-handed journalism", and our disappointment with the lack of if, ignores historical evidence. Newspapers have been mostly political rags for the balance of American History. Go back and read some the shit printed in the 1800s ... just as bad as what we see today. Frankly - we're just now getting back to the shrill toned, partisan crap that used to be the norm.
2) Messaging for the Masses isn't a new notion - it's just the Messenger that's changed. Americans used to get their marching orders on Sunday - and Wednesday if they were Baptists. Of course, as a man raised in a Baptist home, I can assure you they needed the extra class time. Public Schools filled in the gaps. If anything, Al Gore's InterNet just gave everybody a crack at the podium.
Now - on his notions regarding The Truth - couldn't agree more. But don't ever, ever think that The Masses will gravitate to the Conservatism based upon it's "Rightness". They'll run to it as a solution to their current misery, maybe .... but there's no way in Hell they'll walk to it when times are good or even just so-so. It's too hard. Personal Responsibility loses vs. Santa Claus every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
And they sure won't grasp Conservatism if it's explained on anything more than an Eight Grade Reading Level. Never have at any other point in American History that I've seen, either.
Posted by: ScoggDog at October 17, 2013 03:29 PM (6/+vz)
Posted by: Dack Thrombosis at October 17, 2013 03:31 PM (oFCZn)
From what I'm reading the b 40, which is an early machine, is calibrated to heat the water to 190degrees
Posted by: just a citizen at October 17, 2013 03:32 PM (Nx76m)
Posted by: JackStraw at October 17, 2013 03:33 PM (g1DWB)
Posted by: Harry "Seamus" Throckmorton at October 17, 2013 05:58 PM (N/Sup)
Usually, those aren't pearls.
Hint: what else floats to the surface?
Posted by: Bitter Clinger and All That (Ecclesiates 9:11) at October 17, 2013 03:34 PM (lAZep)
We got shown who they think the real enemy is and it ain't the guys they schmooze with 24/7 in DC whatever their political label.
We are counters in their game.
To be manipulated or ignored as necessary. To be carefully wooed or cast aside. To be preyed upon or heaped with reward.
All else are just the parameters of the game.
Do you think for one minute in a choice between us or their pals, who they would help out?
We're not even rated as valuable as pawns.
Posted by: Bitter Clinger and All That (Ecclesiates 9:11) at October 17, 2013 03:41 PM (lAZep)
Posted by: sven10077 at October 17, 2013 03:41 PM (9jfyN)
As for how Yglesias and the rest of the Juicebox Mafia even got their advertising gigs is beyond me. Yglesias is an "Economics Blogger" who did not major in economics. Meanwhile Ezra Klein, with a BA in poly-sci, debates Avik Roy, who has MIT biology and Yale MD degrees, on healthcare.
How did it come to this? Branding. You nailed it. Yglesias declares himself an economic guru, and Klein declares himself a healthcare wonk, and the six figure salaries flow.
And the left wonders why a recent scientific statistical study showed self-identified Tea Party members had higher science comprehension than the general public. It is because we are the ones actually working, rather than wonking (as Klein does), and wanking (as Yglesias does).
Posted by: Mark at October 17, 2013 03:44 PM (aqFpi)
Posted by: sven10077 at October 17, 2013 03:45 PM (9jfyN)
Revolutions in democracies are generally caused by the intemperance of demagogues, who either in their private capacity lay information against rich men until they compel them to combine (for a common danger unites even the bitterest enemies), or coming forward in public stir up the people against them... For sometimes the demagogues, in order to curry favor with the people, wrong the notables and so force them to combine; either they make a division of their property, or diminish their incomes by the imposition of public services, and sometimes they bring accusations against the rich that they may have their wealth to confiscate... Most of the ancient tyrants were originally demagogues... Moreover, in those days, when cities were not large, the people dwelt in the fields, busy at their work; and their chiefs, if they possessed any military talent, seized the opportunity, and winning the confidence of the masses by professing their hatred of the wealthy, they succeeded in obtaining the tyranny... Changes also take place from the ancient to the latest form of democracy; for where there is a popular election of the magistrates and no property qualification, the aspirants for office get hold of the people, and contrive at last even to set them above the laws. A more or less complete cure for this state of things is for the separate tribes, and not the whole people, to elect the magistrates.
Posted by: Aristotle at October 17, 2013 04:10 PM (TF/YA)
Posted by: Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse at October 17, 2013 04:16 PM (KuZ6A)
Posted by: eman at October 17, 2013 04:19 PM (eKhu0)
Posted by: eman at October 17, 2013 04:21 PM (eKhu0)
I have such contempt for all these liars that i've nearly unplugged entirely. Thanks for the insight.
This doesn't bode well for the future. Stuff like the deficit and debt will NEVER be dealt with because of this shit. Truth and math be damned, its the meme that matters. As a society, we can no longer deal with complex problems anymore.
I wonder how this is affecting young peoples brains who are growing up knowing nothing but this kind of crap? We are raising a nation of ADHD psychopaths where truth be damned.
Posted by: Worshipper of king obongo at October 17, 2013 04:22 PM (T2Scn)
Posted by: Corona at October 17, 2013 04:46 PM (fh2Y7)
Posted by: Brendan at October 17, 2013 05:11 PM (8YVZT)
Posted by: Emily at October 17, 2013 05:18 PM (7Rn+/)
Posted by: Mistress Overdone at October 17, 2013 05:46 PM (2/oBD)
let them mock us, it will only make us stronger, what happens this day or that day isn't important, what is important is to truly believe in grand things like the dignity of the individual, God's (or Nature's) Law, the value and basic goodness of freewill, I don't care how many blank stares or sneers I get for talking about these things, I'm going to keep on talking about them to anyone I can get to listen.
If they must brand me, let them brand me "freedom!"
Posted by: Shoey at October 17, 2013 05:51 PM (m6OUa)
Posted by: Mistress Overdone at October 17, 2013 05:57 PM (2/oBD)
Posted by: Corona at October 17, 2013 06:06 PM (fh2Y7)
Posted by: ccoffer at October 17, 2013 06:28 PM (QvNc7)
"As you well know -- because I scream like a baby about it every time I see it happening -- I think the only test of whether a statement should or should not be said is whether or not it is True. Not whether or not it "helps the brand," as in, the political brand, the movement brand. To speak about ideas in terms of anything other than their truthfulness is a tremendous corruption of both expression and thought."
And then Ace sez:
"The time to question the team's playbook is Monday before the Sunday game, not Saturday night, as everyone's just trying to get a good night's sleep and gin up their confidence for game-day...(This remains one of the grassroots' complaints about Karl Rove, vis-a-vis Christine O'Donnell, and I have to confess, they're right about the timing issue.)"
So in other words, a statement should be said if it's true, and we shouldn't worry about whether it assists the cause...unless we're gearing up for an election, in which case, shut it, Sparky.
You can't square this circle, Ace. Either the only thing that matters is whether something is true, or other things matter besides that. There is no principled way for you to say we shouldn't worry about branding when we speak, but we should worry about timing -- not and also say that truth is the only thing that matters.
Common sense says that if you want to change the way people think, it's not just what you say, but how and when you say it that matters. You even recognize this when it comes to certain situations. But you still stick to the "all we need is truth" line in spite of that...I'm guessing because, unconsciously, you recognize that abandoning that line deprives you of a most potent attack against the people you label as "RINOs" and "the Establishment." Admit that other things besides truth may matter when you open your mouth, and you might shortly be forced to admit that the people you've been attacking have a point.
Posted by: Demosthenes at October 17, 2013 07:02 PM (c5AtG)
What interests me is the deeper motivations that are found predominately on the Left, which, I believe, derive from some degree of narcissism. Whether it is Bob Costas emoting about having found the light in being able to right the wrongs of our horrible past (self-loathing) with a cosmetic change of an NFL team (buy this makeup and you'll finally attract someone!), or it is Yglesias shilling for his diehard liberal activists, the source is found in an ego that was wounded most likely in the 11-13 age range, a wound that was never resolved and is forever seeking the approval of others rather than the benefit of others. That is why appearances are all that truly matter to said individual, and why narcissists are masters at creating false fronts that are at first charming and seductive, but hide a simmering rage underneath. To dovetail with your analysis, narcissists are habitual self-promoters or "advertisers" who dwell exclusively with brand despite or in spite of the actual quality of the product. Quality product seldom needs to advertise. To counteract this malignant human attribute, well-adjusted people are highly alert and can easily discern when this form of self-promotion is in play. We call them phonies.
Posted by: John the Libertarian at October 17, 2013 08:35 PM (/rhjC)
Posted by: Garrett at October 18, 2013 06:11 AM (XCt12)
Posted by: I R A Darth Aggie © at October 18, 2013 06:29 AM (1hM1d)
Posted by: I R A Darth Aggie © at October 18, 2013 06:32 AM (1hM1d)
In any case, I truly enjoyed this post, and I thank you for writing it.
Posted by: nano at October 18, 2013 06:35 AM (5qbWc)
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Posted by: Joethefatman™ (@joethefatman1) at October 17, 2013 12:27 PM (MnSla)