Remember when anyone like the Dixie Chicks, for instance, or you and I
expressed any sense of shame for any actions our country may have taken
or not taken: any shame for having elected Caligula Jr. the
Warpresident? Well certainly the great weight of Limbaugh and the
fire-farting far right came down on such unfortunates back in the day
when expressing pessimism about the Stock Market was evidence of being
an "America Hater." Even peripheral actions like perhaps wanting to
publish the names of soldiers killed in the early days of our Shokinaw
war in Iraq was disgraceful and shameful because there was the chance
someone might use it to express regret for or disapproval of any action
of a Republican president, illegal or otherwise.
So shocked I was to hear than ol' rant 'n rage Rush declare yesterday that
he was ashamed -- that's right,
ashamed
of the United States of America. It's hard to reconcile that with all
the loud Limbaughian flatulation when Michelle Obama said that for the
first time in her life she was
really proud of our country, which
allowed speculation that she might ever have thought less of it than
she thought of God Almighty or perhaps Allah to some dittoheads.
There's usually no worse offense, nothing closer to treason than not to
gibber in epiphanic ecstasy at any description of our New Jerusalem,
our greatest of all Christian Nations under God and all it ever has
done.
But not this time.
“To
be watching all of this, to have my intelligence – all of us – to
have our common sense and intelligence insulted the way it is….it just
makes me ashamed,” the fat man sang on his afternoon radio program.
“Seriously man, here we get worked up over 44 billion dollars — that’s
the total amount of money that will not be spent that was scheduled to
be spent this year.”
Only $44 billion he said
as though we would hardly have a problem if we hadn't and still didn't
have the most expensive and protracted war in our history and one which
not only didn't pay for itself as promised, but didn't solve any of the
problems it was supposed to do. How many trillions did George spend
and refuse to pay for? Isn't nearly all of that "spending" he wants to
cut
service on the Commander Guy's extravagance? Well of course
it is, but all that sound and fury could never be as offensive to Rush
as making sure that other people don't have to die of things like
infected anal cysts or that some kid doesn't have to go to bed as hungry
as Rush gets after 10 minutes of not stuffing his fat face. It's
shameful that the less than wealthy should presume to do more than ditto
him.
“We just keep spending more money. We create more
dependency, we get more and more irresponsible one crisis to the next,
all of them manufactured. Except for the real crisis that nobody ever addresses — and that is we can't afford it.”
Nobody
Rush? Perhaps not so you could hear over your own sound and fury, but
your party hasn't shut up long enough for anyone to pause and ask who
decided we could afford the most expensive war we ever had because the
magic Tax Fairy would pay for it. Wasn't that a manufactured
crisis that created a real crisis -- the WMD that weren't, the
yellowcake hoax? We couldn't afford it and you told us we could because
tax cuts for you would create magic money instead of the predictable
debt and crisis that in fact created all that dependence.
So,
I'm sorry to insult your intelligence with the truth and sorry to
mention that your followers tend to be on the two digit side of the bell
curve, but your self serving, self contradictory logorrheic slurry
of never-ending shit is an embarrassment to God and country -- and to me.
“I've said the same things over and over for 25 years”
said
Rush, but of course he said it during the most prosperous period in our
history as well and while the debt shrank and the surplus grew. "I just
hate slick Willie" he said. "I mean he just makes me sick." While
employment and wages grew and debt shrank and Lord Rushbaugh and
millions of us got rich: while the economy bloomed and peace prevailed;
while he screamed about the greatest tax increases in world history.
"Both parties are spreading fear and panic," said Rush who may be afraid
that he'll not get this year's Oscar for fear and panic mongering. What else has he ever done?
But
hey, I wouldn't want to live in a country Limbaugh approved of so I
can't say that I'm sorry for his simpering claim to shame. He's not
ashamed of backing Joseph Koney while claiming that Obama was not a
Christian, he's not ashamed that none of his prophecies, his apocalyptic
warnings have shown merit. He's not really ashamed at all. It's just
another gambit, another lachrymose plea for attention, another
distraction, another smokescreen to hide his irrelevance, his dependency, his shameful life.
Limbaugh doesn't have the moral authority to shame anyone. Governor Christie did a nice job with the house republicans over hurricane Sandy. He's a decent family man who cares about his constituents.
ReplyDeleteLimbaugh claims to be a Christian, but clearly worships only the almighty dollar. How can a man like that even understand the concept of shame or honor? He should have given a sincere apology or a tearful confession or a humble and agonizing repentance dozens of times in his personal and public life. Never once. To an outside observer, he would appear to have no regrets and has always been smugly satisfied with himself.
An absolutely disgusting and pathetic excuse for a human being. But I guess his listeners never get tired of hearing about free stuff for poor people.
" But I guess his listeners never get tired of hearing about free stuff for poor people."
DeleteYes and that's been one of the most consistent memes in the Republican rhetoric. They make a strong appeal to people who think their own careers have been thwarted by taxation that serves to bleed them while fattening the lazy leeches they see everywhere. Of course it's easy to take an example or two, or like Reagan, to invent one and use it as "typical" of the "takers." It's appealing to the strugglers to be able to think of themselves as victims and appealing to the exploiters to let them think so. And it works.
We're a society that worships 'success' and affluence and the property and lifestyles thereof and don't we all wish we had more money? Too many of us are suckers for that "we'd all be rich if it weren't for taxes" and the "I didn't work hard all my life to feed the lazy (minority) bums."
You know I've spend a lot of decades reading early Christian history and writings and it can be confusing to produce a clear definition of what a Christian is or was at any time in history, but being against helping the poor and sick and unfortunate is hard to reconcile with being a Christian. Arguing that government is illegitimate in nature and should be opposed is as well, if important sources are taken into account. Of course arguing that Rush is a decent human being according to any major religion is farcical and even if you're an Ayn Rand follower, you have to ask yourself, what the hell he has ever produced or contributed.
His only reason for doing what he does is to get ever richer and live ever more opulently and Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and Islam all have something unpleasant to say about such people. You know they don't make a needle big enough for his diseased posterior to pass through.
This country is over-run with crazy people, like this one:
ReplyDelete"There's nothing in the Constitution that allows the federal government to get into state right issues like riding the manatee," Coffman told the Daily Show's Al Madrigal, adding that unless the government repeals its ban on endangered sea cow rodeo fun -- like we used to have, he claims -- the next stop is a near-total loss of freedoms.
"Today we can't ride a manatee, tomorrow we won't be able to open a business," he insisted ..."
The only sanctuary from crazy stuff like this is to leave the human species altogether.
Lord knows I've tried, but there's still an old man staring from my mirror every morning.
ReplyDeleteBut yes if we do one thing we'll inevitably progress toward an absurd goal. Perhaps if we learn to recognize one idiotic fallacy, we'll learn to recognize them all, but the evidence argues otherwise. Perhaps the 'slippery slope' is the mother of all fallacy, but the only slippery thing about most of them is the proposer thereof.
I recall one letter to the editor a few years ago -- an objection to the seasonal manatee speed zones on the Intracoastal waterway: "Manatees don't pay taxes" the man said. Looking at the Constitution I don't find anything saying Churches have to pay taxes either, so perhaps this guy -- next thing you know -- will be driving his truck through one and riding Deacons like Broncos.
Logic is a wonderful thing.
But really, if we can't hold a manatee rodeo, next thing you know, and sure as hell we can't hold a Rush Rodeo where we ride on his back and see how long he can hold his breath.
I remember the first time I saw a little seal family at Birdrock the summer of 1976. Papa had his chest out looking very formidable, mama was taking a nap in the sun while baby was playfully climbing a natural ladder in the sea rock and taking dive after dive into the cool water from about a seven foot platform. It was kind of a big deal. Ran home to get the camera and produced a beautiful photo essay that afternoon.
ReplyDeleteToday it's quite a bit easier to find them any day of the year at the Casa Pool. (A concrete breakwater and catwalk built on the shore as a gift to La Jolla in 1931, a place for toddlers to learn to swim.) Right now is the pupping season. The city has decided to keep up the rope and signs prohibiting approaching the seals not just during the winter, but year-round. While I think it might be nice to keep Miss E.B. Scripps gift of a special beach for the kiddies a little bit cleaner and I have openly advocated for opening up the old concrete plugs in the wall to flush in some fresh seawater, I tend to agree with most people that it's kind of nice and a great attraction for visitors.
A conservancy has recently funded a 24-hour sealcam to be enjoyed by the public and also discourage harassment of seals. Opposing groups of divers, marine life advocates and outside agitators have also got into verbal and physical altercations strictly between human beings. Still nobody expected this outrage to be captured in the first two weeks of the camera being on-line. These young women obviously had done this before and had no idea they were on camera. The one girl sits on or straddles several birthing mothers and is seen kicking them cruelly into the water. Every seal eventually is seen swimming away to escape.
You know, I really do want to believe that people are kind and good, but then I keep seeing what people will do when they think nobody sees and there is no accountability. The way people treat animals is more revealing than any Rorschach test.
ReplyDeletethe beach where I am is a very major sea turtle nesting ground and there are strict laws about interfering with the turtles and their nests. As far as I know, people here respect it, but then there are many empty miles of sand with no humans. I sometimes think our numbers interfere with our decency.
The inconsiderate idiots in the video about the seals were photographing themselves with their cellphones. Eventually one of the photos will make its way to Facebook and then, if there is someone who loves nature and hates assholes, they will find out what sort of penalties are available for fuckin' wit teh pinnipeds.
ReplyDeleteRush Limbaugh, Glen Beck, Michelle Malkin et al? sociopaths and NPD types.