Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Reality: Pay Me Now or Pay Me Later

"The challenge to Christians in any age," writes Moore, "is to reinterpret the common mind in new circumstances, and to apply the model of an integrated vision... in times that always seem 'unpropitious.'"

His use of the term "common mind" follows Chesterton, who says that it refers to the "integrating tendency in human tradition." It is that upon which the minds -- the minds of the great -- converge:

"Commonness and the common mind are now generally spoken of as meaning inferiority and the inferior mind, the mind of the mere mob. But the common mind means the mind of all the artists and heroes; or else it would not be common" (Chesterton). Thus, he is referring to "a principle of integration, and integrity, in the nature of the human person, and in the nature of human society."

Come to think of it, Obama must be our first president who is completely outside the common mind. Due in part to an elite provincial education that seems to have successfully sheltered him from reality -- including the reality of his own mediocrity -- he either has no familiarity with our traditions or has undisguised contempt for them.

Obama's heroes are not our heroes, as seen most recently in his treatment of Israel. He obviously doesn't revere the founders, much less the unalienable rights they enshrined. He peevishly sent Churchill's bust packing. He has named two idiots to the Supreme Court whose minds who could hardly have less in common with ours, to put it charitably. His spiritual mentor is a man from whom a morally serious person would shield his children. And his son -- his image and likeness -- is any pot-smoking adolescent sociopath who resembles Trayvon Martin.

The common mind goes to a common reality. But multiculturalism boldly assaults our common reality head on, without apologies. And "when a society departs from sane norms, a heavy reckoning will have to be made before it is returned to them" (Moore). So, put on your seatbelts. We've got a ways to go before the Big Correction.

As to the left's thuggish assault on reality, Chesterton famously observed that every modern philosophy begins with the sacrifice of "a sane point of view," or the acceptance of "something that no normal man would believe."

These sacrificial insanities and inanities are everywhere, and you might say that political correctness is their liturgy. Here is a seemingly minor and yet thoroughly typical example of an otherwise decent reporter cluelessly passing along Hamas propaganda. Ho hum. The beauty of the left is that it permits people to embrace and support objective evil without even trying. The devil could accomplish little without enlisting good intentions.

Disintegration of the common mind is both "the cause and consequence of a fragmented society." How could it be otherwise? The question again is how to recover that common mind -- to reinterpret and reapply it in these novel human circumstances, to the "spirit of the age."

A more subtle point is that integration and self-rule are really two sides of the same reality, whether individually or collectively. One reason "communism" works in the family is that the family is the quintessence of integrated unity: I and my wife and my child are truly one.

But I am not one with Al Sharpton or Eric Holder or Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid or Rachel Maddow or Lois Lerner. Rather, they simply want to impose an impoverished oneness from on high, which is not unity but tyranny. You can't be one with people who have completely different values, let alone people who make you want to vomit.

Note also the critical point that the integrated oneness of the common mind extends into time, thus leading to the corollary that we live in a "democracy of the dead." Yes, we are disenfranchised in this world, but more importantly, so too are our illustrious ancestors who fought for and transmitted the common mind for us to pass along to future generations. High crimes and misdemeanors? Those are trivial things compared to Obama's treatment of certain dead white -- or black or Jewish or whatever -- males who surpass him in every way.

Thus we have infinitely more in common with the saints, heroes, martyrs, and geniuses of the past than we do with these idiots of the present. My heroes are not Obama's heroes because my first principles are not his first principles. Nor do I want to be One with him. Rather, I just want him to leave me alone. Is that too much to ask?

Yes, for a leftist it is too much to ask, because their first political principle is the state, not the individual. "The process of secularization in modernity," writes Moore, "involves the growth of state responsibility for, or control of, those areas of life which once belonged to individuals, or religions, or educational institutions or voluntary associations, or other bodies that are separate from the Government."

But all of this follows ineluctably from first principles, or from the initial insanity, if you will: truth is relative = there is no truth = man cannot know truth = there is no reality = there is only power. Obama is our first truly Machiavellian president -- I mean to his empty core -- for as Leo Strauss observed, the United States is the only country "founded in explicit opposition to Machiavellian principles."

Which are whatnow? A lot of things, but this will do for now: "Machiavellians are not motivated or even responsive to aspirations that posit universal justice, a social, political, and individual good." These latter but serve "to obfuscate the real issues about power and collective self-interest" (McAllister). Thus, you could say the Machiavellian runs in precisely the opposite direction of the common mind.

And it is a direction, not a static thing. McAllister writes that it runs counter to "partnership with what is common to all men, that is, with the divine nous or reason that transcends them all. Through participation in what is common, men become a community" (emphasis mine).

Thus, the first crime of the left -- and the one that makes all the others possible -- is the rejection of what transcends and therefore unifies us. That is why they hate God, because God blocks the way down.

Or, to quote an aphorism of Don Colacho, "All truths converge upon the one truth, but the routes have been barred."

But you can't bar every path, any more than the Berlin wall could stand forever, for "anything which sets itself up" in opposition to "God and created nature cannot endure long, since it separates itself from the universal source of life. So in the end, the state that relies more on power, the ability to coerce, will become an evacuated thing..." (Moore).

Let us hope and pray that this end is near and that we survive the Great Adjustment.

85 comments:

Van Harvey said...

"But I am not one with Al Sharpton or Eric Holder or Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid or Rachel Maddow or Lois Lerner. Rather, they simply want to impose an impoverished oneness from on high, which is not unity but tyranny. You can't be one with people who have completely different values, let alone people who make you want to vomit."

As self evident a truth as I've ever seen.

Tony said...

opposition to "God and created nature cannot endure long, since it separates itself from the universal source of life.

This is what interests me so much about young farmers. Even the ones motivated by "Gaia, Inc." are clearly expressing a deep need to orient themselves toward the transcendent and sublime. They want to root themselves to face it.

I have a lot of sympathy with this. Working in my garden in the Saturday morning sun with my wife and kids is like working in Eden with the whole world alive around us. This is as bedrock "common" an experience as you can get -- or it used to be.

The tomatoes are late because of the cold. Heavy intermittent rains produced some blossom end rot. I have to keep picking moth larvae off the kale. The zucchini leaves are mildewing again; time for the kids to spray milk. The neighbors' spruce trees have grown to the point that they're sucking away all the water from the raspberries. We adapt and adjust, gain a little, lose a little. It's been a pretty good year so far.

But I don't want to be a serf. None of us, for the very reason we like the common, the rooted, and the transcendent, just aren't built for the flatland fantasies of the political left.

julie said...

And his son -- his image and likeness -- is any pot-smoking adolescent sociopath who resembles Trayvon Martin.

Notably, his wife seems to consider Beyonce to be a perfectly fantastic role model for their - and all - young girls, as well. No wonder he supports abortion; they certainly aren't teaching their daughters that there's anything wrong with simulating sex in public.

julie said...

My heroes are not Obama's heroes because my first principles are not his first principles. Nor do I want to be One with him. Rather, I just want him to leave me alone. Is that too much to ask?

Indeed, and this attitude is rife among his supporters, as well. Hence the troll who claimed that he's here, pestering people who neither have power over him nor interest in gaining any, because we and our ilk... I don't even know what he thinks we want. But we think differently than he does, and believe strongly in being left alone. That's enough to make him want to punch back twice as hard when his Dear Leader is mocked.

Still waiting for any actual fight out of him, though. Not to mention a bit of enlightenment about the inspiring genius of Susan Sontag.

Van Harvey said...

Julie said "Still waiting for any actual fight out of him, though."

He has a Right not to, not that he could explain that either....

julie said...

Ha - yep.

Van Harvey said...

"Thus, the first crime of the left -- and the one that makes all the others possible -- is the rejection of what transcends and therefore unifies us. That is why they hate God, because God blocks the way down.

Or, to quote an aphorism of Don Colacho, "All truths converge upon the one truth, but the routes have been barred."

Brings to mind a bit of de Tocqueville, from Vol 1, Chapter VI of 'Democracy in America', "WHAT SORT OF DESPOTISM DEMOCRATIC NATIONS HAVE TO FEAR":

"... I think, then, that the species of oppression by which democratic nations are menaced is unlike anything that ever before existed in the world; our contemporaries will find no prototype of it in their memories. I seek in vain for an expression that will accurately convey the whole of the idea I have formed of it; the old words despotism and tyranny are inappropriate: the thing itself is new, and since I cannot name, I must attempt to define it.

I seek to trace the novel features under which despotism may appear in the world. The first thing that strikes the observation is an innumerable multitude of men, all equal and alike, incessantly endeavoring to procure the petty and paltry pleasures with which they glut their lives. Each of them, living apart, is as a stranger to the fate of all the rest; his children and his private friends constitute to him the whole of mankind. As for the rest of his fellow citizens, he is close to them, but he does not see them; he touches them, but he does not feel them; he exists only in himself and for himself alone; and if his kindred still remain to him, he may be said at any rate to have lost his country.

Above this race of men stands an immense and tutelary power, which takes upon itself alone to secure their gratifications and to watch over their fate. That power is absolute, minute, regular, provident, and mild. It would be like the authority of a parent if, like that authority, its object was to prepare men for manhood; but it seeks, on the contrary, to keep them in perpetual childhood: it is well content that the people should rejoice, provided they think of nothing but rejoicing. For their happiness such a government willingly labors, but it chooses to be the sole agent and the only arbiter of that happiness; it provides for their security, foresees and supplies their necessities, facilitates their pleasures, manages their principal concerns, directs their industry, regulates the descent of property, and subdivides their inheritances: what remains, but to spare them all the care of thinking and all the trouble of living?

Thus it every day renders the exercise of the free agency of man less useful and less frequent; it circumscribes the will within a narrower range and gradually robs a man of all the uses of himself. The principle of equality has prepared men for these things;it has predisposed men to endure them and often to look on them as benefits....
"

Imagine a world without imagination... now imagine the ends of the direction our nation is pursuing... and the difference is...?

mushroom said...

... an impoverished oneness from on high ...

There can be only one.

That's the demonic oneness that destroys the other and consumes it -- see Screwtape and The Highlander.

The more I think about the Highlander and the god-likeness of the immortals, the more that seems like the perfect foundational myth for the left.

mushroom said...

And, of course, the Borg, but I never actually saw that movie -- it's one of the Star Treks, isn't it?

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

"My heroes are not Obama's heroes because my first principles are not his first principles. Nor do I want to be One with him. Rather, I just want him to leave me alone. Is that too much to ask?"

Evidently, Obama's first principles are himself.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Mushroom, actually, the borg appeared in Star Trek the Next Generation, and also in a movie after the series.

Ironically, the Next Generation had a lot of leftism in it, and, as a result, a lot of contradictions because the writers realized they couldn't write many interesting stories based around a leftist utopia.

The original Star Trek was actually quite conservative or classical liberal and had far better writers, IMO.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Take a look at these two photos:

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2014/07/the-evil-empire-is-back.php

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Reagan doesn't budge an inch but Obama takes everything off the table.
Obama looks like a frightened idiot in that photo.

The juxtaposition of those photos really do tell a story we know all to well.

julie said...

Re. the pictures, wow - the body language says it all.

Tony said...

Ben that photo is amazing, thanks for sharing it. Imagine Reagan and Putin -- they'd drink vodka, ride horses together, tell off-color jokes, admire past monuments in their respective countries, and then Reagan would say, as they lean back into their scotch glasses after a laugh, "Well, Vladimir, you're going to have go easier on the Ukrainians." And Vladimir would nod and say, "if you get goddamn Barroso off my back." And then they'd both laugh at Barroso's hairpiece and Europe's manifold stupidities, and we'd have some sort of deal. This doesn't sound too far afield of reality to me. Reagan could form relationships because he knew who he was and he was real about it. Obama can't form those relationships because he's all in his head and has nothing really in common with Putin on the human level. Reagan and Tip O'Neill were adversaries, but they were both Irish gabbers and drinkers. Obama? Does he think Putin wants to pass the bong? Praise Islam together? What?

Tony said...

Oh, and when your rival isn't wearing a tie, you wear the tie.

It's like nursery school with these Obama people.

mushroom said...

The photo of Obama and Putin looks almost 'shopped. Obama is used to being "in" by default because he has the right pigmentation and the right opinions and the "right" answers.

If some person or group opposes him, he withholds his approval, affection, and attention -- like his mother did for him, probably. He can get away with that when the opposition is Boehner, who also craves acceptance. It's different when it's a nationalist strongman who has nuclear weapons and really doesn't give a rat's rear about Obama's approval.

mushroom said...

Thanks, Ben. I never watched any Star Trek except TOS. I'm so old I saw all of the episodes when they aired originally.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

I concur, Magister.
Plus, besides his humor, Reagan dealt from a position of strength, confidence, and intelligent leadership.

Obama simply throws all his cards on the table face up and hopes Putin calls his bluff after he has taken every strength he has available off the table.

Russians respect or at least fear strength. But they mock weakness.
I highly doubt Putin will cave after Obama tries to take his netflix away.

Gagdad Bob said...

Back when Reagan was president, I hoped for someone like Obama. Too bad that Bob isn't here to enjoy it.

julie said...

Heh. I remember when Reagan won the '84 elections by a landslide. We were overseas, and as far as I could tell everyone on base was excited.

It would be nice to think that there could be an election even half so encouraging in the future. But I won't be holding my breath.

Anonymous said...

But I am not one with Al Sharpton or Eric Holder or Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid or Rachel Maddow or Lois Lerner. Rather, they simply want to impose an impoverished oneness from on high, which is not unity but tyranny.

All this talk of Oneness suggests an infantile approach to politics, which is precisely the art of living in a society with people who are different from you.

Thank god the adults are in charge for a change, when the right-wing idiots get to run the ship disaster is never very far off.

Anonymous said...

What I mean is that without a huge and intrusive state I cannot live with people who are different from me.

Anonymous said...

Which makes me adept at the art of politics.

Anonymous said...

No, wait, what I really mean is that I want the huge and intrusive state to force everybody who is different from me to live the way I think they should.

Josh Earnest said...

Anonymous is right! The level of peace and tranquility in the world is unprecedented thanks to Obama.
With a name like mine who wouldn't trust me?

Anonymous said...

Obama is the blight-bringer.

Anonymous said...

Doh! I mean light-giver. Environmentally safe, mercury-filled light-banger.

nightfly said...

"All this talk of Oneness suggests an infantile approach to politics, which is precisely the art of living in a society with people who are different from you."

Quite so. Why then the constant litany from Our Leftist Betters that people different than them are wicked? Via entertainment, media, education, and government, we have it drummed at us all day long. This hostility has grown to the point that it is increasingly a matter of law: people can't speak their mind, can't keep more of their own salary, can't spend as they wish whatever they do retain... I, like Samwise, have heard "not allowed" quite a bit more than I care to from people who seem motivated only by the jollies they get from the power to move other people around like tokens on a gameboard.

"Thank god the adults are in charge for a change, when the right-wing idiots get to run the ship disaster is never very far off."

I don't believe this for a minute. A real adult would recognize that other people are also adults. They wouldn't respond to legitimate criticism with schoolyard taunts like "I won" or "So sue me." In fact, they would not act as if being "in charge" means the freedom to do as one jolly well pleases, at whim, without any regard to those around you. They would not dare to be so arrogant among their peers, because they would be ostracized for such stoogery.

All these behaviors are the hallmarks of childhood, not adulthood. Kids pretending to be their parents say stuff like this, not actual grown-ups with responsibilities.

Gagdad Bob said...

This isn't exactly a symmetrical argument, since while we are indeed very much different from anonymous, he wishes his kind to rule over us, whereas we have no reciprocal desire. In short, his hatred is unrequited.

Anonymous said...

Every photo of President Obama screams mature adult. You morons are blind!

julie said...

Hey there, Short Stuff - I see you have your dukes up. Gosh, I almost feel guilty responding when it's this easy.

Almost.

Anyway, regarding being able to live with people different from oneself, I believe most of us here were at one time different than we are now. And most of us are still surrounded by people who don't think like we do. We're generally just fine with that, if they'd be as happy to mind their own business as we are to mind ours.

It's true that when "right wingers" run the ship, disaster is never far away. And then when leftists take control, they steer that sucker straight into the rocks.

Anonymous said...

I have had it with you childish doodyheads!

Gagdad Bob said...

If Obama is so grown up, I wonder why he believes the same things I did when I was so immature? At this rate, he won't get a clue until he's 300 years old.

julie said...

Optimist.

julie said...

Speaking of Reagan vs. Obama, Vanderleun has an economics lesson.

Baghdad Bob said...

There are NO ILLEGALS at the border. Putin is on the run. Al Qaeda is not resurgent. Iraq is not becoming a terror state. The national debt is unimportant. ObamaCare is a smashing success. There is not a smidgen of corruption in the IRS. Any questions?

Anonymous said...

Hey, yeah: I accidentally deleted some important documents from my email last year that had absolutely nothing to do with taxes or tea parties or anything the government could possibly disapprove of. Could I get backup copies from the NSA?

Anonymous said...

Also, I did some video calls with family that have some nice shots of the kids playing. Facetime doesn't record on my device; which agency should I contact to ask for copies?

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Nice video Julie, thanks!

Anonymous said...

No wonder Obama's approval rating is so high among Israelis. He must be getting close to double figures.

Captain Obvious said...

This guy "argues" just like his hero: makes a ridiculous claim, then when it's debunked he pivots to a completely different topic as though the old one never happened. That way, he never has to admit he's wrong.

I expect that after he's been here a while, he'll actually begin to contradict his earlier statements while claiming that he either never made them, or meant the opposite.

Barack said...

The straw man argument is the strongest of all. This is proved by the fact my cruel and greedy opponents never use it.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Obama supports Israel by giving billions to Hamas, the terrorist organization that keeps attacking Israel.
Then his lackey, Kerry, tries to get a ceasefire by using Turkey and Qatar as mediators.
Turkey and Qatar also hate Israel and support Hamas.

Looks like your lefty, anti-semitic source forgot those pesky facts, along with the fact that Hamas deliberately uses human shields.

Any civilized person would see no problem in eradicating Hamas since they target civilians, Israeli civilians and their own, including children.

Anonymous said...

There is nobody stupider, and more vile, than wingnut American Christian "supporters of Israel", in quotes because a real supporter of Israel would work for a 2-state solution, the only possible moral resolution of the conflict.

Anonymous said...

Give genocidal Jew-hating terrorists a state! It's the moral thing to do.

Barack said...

Pivot!

Gagdad Bob said...

How comprehensively depraved does a people have to be before they don't deserve a state?

Gagdad Bob said...

Even so, the Palestinians can have a state tomorrow if they want one.

Gagdad Bob said...

Palestinians: proof that you can hate homosexuals and still be lovely people.

Van Harvey said...

aninnymouse squeaked "...a real supporter of Israel would work for a 2-state solution, the only possible moral resolution of the conflict..."

I think aninny has a point here. And so, after the little consideration it deserves, and as a real supporter of Israel, I'm going to come out and endorse further consideration of a 2-state solution to Israel's current tribulations. After all, the United States of America started with 13 states, why shouldn't Israel take advantage of a similar federal approach to their problem?

Perhaps Israel should formally divide itself into two united states, defined roughly along the current 'borders', resulting in Israel-East and Israel-West. That way they can take over formal governance and policing of all the territory in question. They might even follow some earlier American policies, if deemed appropriate, and create a 'Palestinian Reservation' - I wouldn't really recommend it, but they might find it useful - and if the hamasheads should break their treaties, then they'll be in a much better position to penalize/destroy/drive out the barbarians, as needed.

There is at least one obvious issue here that would admittedly be difficult to deal with, that being that the American Indians were a far more civilized, intelligent and upright people, than are the 'palestinians'. On the other hand, the tendency to dole out command positions to long haired goldilock'd glory hogs has gone out of fashion, so they stand a good chance of avoiding any unfortunate massacre's of their IDF.

So yeah, set up well defined borders, federate into two solid states, and then govern and enforce the peace, dealing with the savages and the savages themselves dictate they must.

Savagely.


(tongue only very slightly in cheek)

Gagdad Bob said...

The problem with Palestinians is similar to the problem with leftists: they are a people defined entirely by hate. The original purpose of the PLO was not to liberate "Palestinians" -- who do not exist -- but to liberate Palestine from Jews. Nothing has changed.

The Hamas Charter of 1988 said...

Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it.
Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious. It needs all sincere efforts. It is a step that inevitably should be followed by other steps. The Movement is but one squadron that should be supported by more and more squadrons from this vast Arab and Islamic world, until the enemy is vanquished and Allah's victory is realized.
The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said:
"The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (evidently a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews." (related by al-Bukhari and Moslem).

Anonymous said...

Like I said, give them a state!

Anonymous said...

At least Hamas shares our values in hating that right-winger Netanyahu, and that's the important part.

Anonymous said...

There are not many choices available to Israel vis a vis the occupied territories: eternally being an occupying and colonizing power, annexation with apartheid, a 2-state solution, a 1-state solution where Jews are a minority, or expulsion/genocide of the Palestinians. Of these, the 2-state solution is really the only viable one. So what's your choice?

All the Nazi-like rhetoric about the subhuman Palestinians won't change the reality of having to do something about them. What's it going to be, if you were in charge (Hashem forbid)?

Gagdad Bob said...

I start by saying that for every rocket and/or terrorist attack, we build another settlement.

What is it with Muslims about not understanding that there are consequences to repeatedly starting and losing wars? A three year-old knows that.

Van Harvey said...

Total and unrestrained exercise of overwhelming deadly force until the last savage declaring his desire to wipe out Israel is himself wiped out.

Would it be awful? Undoubtedly. Regrettable? No more so than Dresden, Hiroshima, etc. W.A.R.

Gagdad Bob said...

But anyone who thinks the so-called Palestinians want a state is delusional. If that's what they wanted, they could have had it long ago. Nor do other Muslim countries want them to have a state. Rather, they want a permanent mob of terrorists surrounding Israel.

Van Harvey said...

aninnymouse confessed "...All the Nazi-like rhetoric about the subhuman..."

What is it about the national socialist left that they can't stop behaving so sub-humanly? It doesn't seem to matter what decade or culture they live under... they just want to eradicate Jews and/or Christians. Why so willing to overlook and even to support the desire to destroy an entire people because of their religion? Do their beliefs and behavior really pain you that much? Or is it the envy that burns your soul so?

No need to answer, you can't even answer a simple question about Rights, it'd be silly to expect you to answer a question like that. Just shaking my head out loud.



Gagdad Bob said...

Few things more vividly demonstrate the illiberality of the left than their weird alliance with Muslim savagery.

Gagdad Bob said...

Right now Muslims are decapitating Christians. As if atheists aren't on the hit list.

Gagdad Bob said...

Back in the 1980s there is no doubt that I had more animus for Reagan than for communism. Which helps me understand how leftists hate us -- conservatives, Israel, tea-partiers, "corporations" -- more than they hate Islamic terrorists.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

President Calvin Coolidge had the best White House pet of all:
http://revision3.com/anyhoo/8-wackiest-white-house-pets/

Anonymous said...

Not until racial inbreeding is globally outlawed will the madness end. If coffee colour don't suit, wear makeup.

Anonymous said...

Let's start now and walk away from races and multi cultures and confine them to the realm of Myths and Legends for futuristic generations.

Skully said...

Previous message brought to you by:
Incoherent, Inc..

Anonymous said...

Where's suares?

Anonymous said...

Sorry, misspelt suarez.

Anonymous said...

Matthew 13:14

Anonymous said...

It's an ill wind

Anonymous said...

If we are to believe Obama was fairly elected, then many others don't own a common mainstream mind....or they elected a really good con artist.

julie said...

Of course he wasn't. Moot point. As was frequently noted at the time, if it's not close, he can't cheat. The Republicans failed: they ignored their base and wasted so much effort on infighting and defense from ridiculous attacks that they pretty much forgot to take the fight to the Democrats.

Republicans fight dirty, but only against each other. And so, here we are, at the mercy of TFG.

julie said...

As to the common mainstream mind, oh it's there alright - just ask what they know about the latest celebrity gossip.

Obama is a con artist, sure - but not a good one. He lets his mask slip at the drop of a hat. Trouble is, the ugliness underneath appeals to enough of his base that it doesn't matter to them, or even excites them. He flips the bird at his opponents onstage, then claims he was just scratching his nose: the credulous don't want to believe their lying eyes, and so pretend he was really scratching; the crass just think it's awesome that he had the audacity to be such a juvenile prick.

julie said...

Oh - and another good one from Williamson:

"One wonders, though, what kind of analysis holds that the Israelis are uniquely responsible for the fate of those whom Hamas is using as human shields, while Hamas cannot be held to the same standard. The answer is: an analysis predicated on the unspoken belief that the Jewish people in the Jewish state are under a unique obligation to lay down and die.

But they do not appear ready to lay down and die. And so one thing is certain: The question of how many Palestinian women and children are going to die in Gaza is not going to be decided by the Israelis — it is going to be decided by Hamas."

And for the record, Anony - Israel has made many strides in the past to give in to the demands of the Palestinians, including giving up settlements and handing over infrastructure that would have helped boost any sane group of people into a comfortable prosperity, had they put it to good use. But to a Palestinian, the best use for a school, a hospital, a mosque, or a home is storing and launching rockets.

They could knock it off tomorrow, stop the attacks, decide to actually build their lives, and they'd receive nothing but support and assistance from Israel and the West. But they'd rather just blow shit up.

So no, they'll get no sympathy here.

Gagdad Bob said...

When I say the Palestinians are the most comprehensively depraved people on earth, I mean that they have no identity whatsoever except this psychotic Jew hatred. They have no distinct art, language, music, or any other attribute of culture. They're like a gang of Crips wholly defined by their desire to kill Bloods. It would make more sense to give a state to the mafia, because at least they have a strong Sicilian identity.

Gagdad Bob said...

And this whole episode is prompting me to revisit the whole reality of Jew hatred. It truly is metaphysical, way beyond any rational or naturalistic explanation. PowerLine suggests it is because "Israel is a U.S. ally with strong Western values and a willingness to use military force when necessary to protect itself," and that's true as far as it goes. But it doesn't get to psychosis of it all, which must come down to a violent hatred of God.

mushroom said...

...and create a 'Palestinian Reservation' - I wouldn't really recommend it, but they might find it useful ...

That's a great idea -- Palestinian Casinos! -- like an Islamic Oklahoma.

Gagdad Bob said...

The Palestinian terrortories are already a giant casino. Go there and you are definitely gambling your life.

Van Harvey said...

And if one of your rockets go awry and blow up your own orphanage or hospital? "Jackpot!!!"

Gagdad Bob said...

Found at Happy Acres:

"I will not sympathize with the Palestinians simply because they're worse at killing people than they want to be."

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

IRT the Happy Acres wise crack, that is good!

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

"" and that's true as far as it goes. But it doesn't get to psychosis of it all, which must come down to a violent hatred of God."

Aye, and the intense envy and bitterness they harbor towards the successful Jews feeds their murderous rage.
The Jihadists are Losers and they can't abide Winners who work hard to become successful, because it reminds them of how pathetic and worthless they are.

EbonyRaptor said...

How many "anonymous" posters are there? It seems like there must be more than one. In any case, there seems to be more leg pulling than provocation from Messrs Anonymous.

julie said...

I think there is only one actual troll. Most of the rest are masked pandits yanking his chain.

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