First of all, the obligatory fantasy analysis of Obama's otherwise vapid inauguration speech. This is the technique invented by psychohistorian Lloyd deMause to supposedly reveal "hidden emotional messages embedded within seemingly bland and boring speeches and press conferences of leaders." Its purpose is to attempt to "capture how it feels to be part of a nation's emotional life" by focusing only upon emotionally charged "fantasy words" that resonate with the unconscious mind. It operates under the assumption that any leader is also a fantasy leader who necessarily mirrors and shapes the group's unconscious emotions, needs and impulses.
As we just witnessed with President Bush, a leader who fails to resonate in this unconscious manner simply will not be perceived as effective, no matter how competent he is. From even before day one of his presidency, Bush was unable to use language in such a way as to bind up the anxiety and hatred of liberals. First, just as it is difficult for the non-evil to understand the evil, it's also difficult (at least without training) for the non-crazy to truly understand the crazy. On top of that, Bush never appreciated the level of liberal bitterness and resentment over Al Gore's unsuccessful attempt to exploit the judicial system to steal the presidency to which liberals were entitled.
Frankly, there is probably nothing he could have done about that short of deinstitutionalization of the tenured and media elite, which would have caused a huge new problem with homeless mentally ill.
In order to perform a fantasy analysis on a text, one records all strong feeling words (including anything related to the family, e.g., mother, father, baby) regardless of context, plus any unusual metaphors or gratuitously repeated words. One also eliminates negatives, because of the symmetrical logic of the unconscious, which converts a negation to an affirmation (for example, the more liberals complain about people questioning their patriotism, the more it emphasizes their lack thereof).
As deMause writes, "most political meetings are usually held not to make decisions but to deepen the social trance, to switch into political alters, and to entrain the group's unconscious emotional strategies for handling the inner emotional problems of its hidden world." Because liberals are by nature such emotional creatures who project so much unmetabolized emotion into politics, they are much more transparent in their fantasies (indeed, as is true of any more primitive group).
I have no idea whether or not fantasy analysis works. But I do know that it's fun, and that it can suggest surprisingly primitive emotional themes beneath what is an otherwise tedious formality. Anyway, here goes:
sacrifices... gathering clouds... raging storms... crisis... war... violence and hatred... badly weakened... greed... failure... adversaries... threaten... crisis... sapping of confidence... nagging fear... fear... conflict... discord... petty grievances... false promises... recriminations... worn-out... young... childish... strangled... lash of the whip... fought and died... struggled... sacrificed... raw... birth... crisis...
ground has shifted... consumed us... too big... too small... ill... ill... crisis... out of control... perils we can scarcely imagine... blood of generations... child... threats... threat...
terror... slaughtering innocents... broken... weakness... bitter swill... dark... old hatreds... conflict... ills... destroy... starved bodies... hungry minds... suffering... levees break... cut... darkest hours... child...
children... father... birth... coldest... dying... icy river... abandoned... enemy advancing... snow stained with blood... father... alarmed... danger... dangers... hardship... icy currents... storms... children's children...
Hmm. Lots about abused, threatened, and neglected children, capped off with cold, icy, and abandoning father. I wonder what that means?
More generally, it seems to me that Obama is attempting to induct us into a social trance in order to condition us to the extraordinary and unprecedented measures he will have to take in order to deliver us from the apocalyptic evils he lays out in the speech, i.e, the ground has shifted, things are spinning out of control, and we're about to be eaten by this threatening Moloch.
It would be one thing if he were using this overheated rhetoric to describe nazis or Islamists, and to mobilize us to recognize the danger. But let's face it: he's declaring war on the American way of life. Economically, he wishes to destroy America in order to save it. It all seems so appealing! I mean, he just promised to help all Americans get well paid jobs, free healthcare, and a dignified retirement. Government. What can't it do? (besides govern itself). Father has been ousted. Mother government to the rescue.
As the farcical Marx taught us, history repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce. But what comes after that? We're still dealing with the tragedy of the New Deal and the farce of the Great Society. No doubt Obama is a farce to be reckoned with, but I see two possibilities. If we divide history into Petey's descending stages of Gods, Kings, Men, Weasels, Beasts, and Chaos, I think FDR would be the king, LBJ the man. Clinton was the weasel. This would suggest that we are about to enter a beastly chaos, from which the only solution would be the return to a new age of gods, or, more properly, God. God or chaos. Vertical Man or horizontal beast. Sounds about right.
Just remember: in the Age of Obama, dissent is no longer the highest form of patriotism but the last refuge of a scoundrel. But don't worry. Even if you're a white devil, you can still embrace what is right.
****
I hate touching pitch. That's enough of that. Let's move on. And in. And up. I'm hesitant to dive into the Balthasar business, because this may be the last post of the week. If I do go in that direction, it is very likely that it will take me the rest of the year to complete the project. So, do I really want to commit mysoph to that, especially since I don't know whether I can do it to begin with? Imagine Meditations on the Tarot, only x 15. Also, Balthasar makes Unknown Friend's rambling look like a monument to brevity.
Why Balthasar, anyway? Hell, I don't know. Just because that's where the Spirit has lead me, I guess. But if I do do this, I'm really going to have to hand things over to Bob's Unconscious for an extended period of time, because there's no way in the world that the conscious mind could ever wrap itself around this mammoth tusk. I'm afraid I'll end up driving the rest of the readers into extinction.
Then again, whenever I reach this impasse, I always return to my first principle. Which is what? I guess that this blog is primarily a personal spiritual exercise that you folks are allowed to peek in on. As soon as I deviate from O, I lose the interior thread. It reminds me of that film about Picasso, in which the camera is placed behind a glass canvas, so you can see him at work. This computer screen is like my canvas, and you folks are sitting behind it. Maybe I should even get one of those cameras, so you could see it happen in real time.
How to begin.... That is actually the first question which thought must ask of itself, and if you avoid that question, then it is likely that you'll never recover the Way. Appropriately, this is precisely where Balthasar begins: "Beginning is a problem not only for... the philosopher," but "a primal decision which includes all later ones for the person whose life is based on response and decisions."
This very first decision is one that remains with us and conditions, if not determines, all of our subsequent steps. Indeed, the first word we choose must be one which we "will not have to take back, one which [we] will not afterwards have to correct with violence, but one which is broad enough to foster and include all words to follow, and clear enough to penetrate all the others with its light."
Okay. So what is this first word? For Balthasar, the whole purpose of the first seven volumes of his theological trinity is to focus on the transcendental category of beauty in order to reveal the truth of God. Thus, "Beauty is the word that shall be our first." That beauty exists, no one could deny. "Glory" is the name we give to divine beauty, another property that no proper human could deny (although improper ones may well insist that this beauty is only in the beholder, and that the experience of it does not correspond to any real object or inhere in the world).
Thus, the first seven volumes of Balthasar's trilogy deal with beauty; the second five with the good (the theo-drama); and the last three with truth (the theo-logic). Of the three, Balthasar clearly feels that beauty is first among equals, in that it radiates the other two transcendentals in a particularly holistic manner (each of the transcendentals participates in the other two; I would go so far as to say that they share the same substance in three modes, so to speak). As Balthasar puts it, beauty "dances as an unconstrained splendour around the double constellation of the true and the good and their inseparable relation to one another."
It is one thing to "speak truth to power," which has nearly become a cliche due to liberal abuse. But how about speaking beauty to power? To speak beauty to the ugliness and barbarism that surrounds us? Who shall speak beauty to a degraded art, to a sterile and technocratic knowledge, and to a human being rendered ugly through the degradations of materialism, leftism, and metaphysical Darwinism?
A world that isn't penetrated at every moment by the divine beauty is surely not worth living in. Such a world would be a living hell, minus the living. "Naked matter remains as an indigestible symbol of fear and anguish." The human soul, who is meant to be the "bride of God," is instead forced into an arranged marriage, an impossible union with the "object of his impotence," "which finally spoil's man's taste for love."
Furthermore, in a world without beauty, "the good also loses its attractiveness, the self-evidence of why it must be carried out." Once we have descended to this plane, it is but a step to the other side, "for this too is a possibility, and even the more exciting one: Why not investigate Satan's depths?" Lies, ugliness, transgression. Vanquish beauty and you have vanquished the mystery of Being, so the mystagogic and mystifying non-being of various alternative universes becomes the default position. You can no longer even speak to people with the language of divine beauty, for they have forgotten how to perceive it, let alone appreciate its connection to total truth.
Yes, "the Witness borne by Being becomes untrustworthy for the person who can no longer read the language of beauty," for such a person cannot know the interior language of God. The Word and its world have become illegible. He is of the world, but no longer in it.
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109 comments:
Hmm. Lots about abused, threatened, and neglected children, capped off with cold, icy, and abandoning father. I wonder what that means?
Apparently, it has something to do with government-funded child sacrifice in foreign nations.
Your tax dollars at work.
Throwing a bone to the advocates of third world infanticide. Lovely. In the Middle East, abortion of girls is permitted up to the 78th trimester.
Nice work there, oh he who's actively engaged with his own personal demons...
Remember it will only last eight years. By then most of your coons will be holed up in lairs firing off rounds at anyone singing, laughing, or generally carrying on like neo-cons used to, or else they'll be broke, since hoodwinking your fellow man has become so...Karl Rove. Look around. All's not lost. You can always stop complaining about the stalled ride & get out and push. There's plenty of opportunity to change. e.g., Starbucks is offering a free drink to anyone willing to offer 5 hours of community service. The line forms in the middle.
Still bitching about it eh Bob?
And Remember: feed a seeker, starve a troll.
Besides, I lunched large at the community feast yesterday. I really wish you'd have been there.
Yah, and he says liberals are emotional.
Makes you wonder why it is he mocks liberals for their dissent, but gets all pissy that he gets treated like they do in return when a liberal president takes office.
Hell though, at least Bush actually managed to do something to piss liberals off. Obama has only been in office one day and Bob thinks he has every right to dissent, even without reason. If the liberals are that bad I guess it justifies why conservatives should be worse. lol
Bob hits new levels of high-minded ignorance.
I wonder whether it may turn out that the time we've invested in following your daily investigations and generous explanations has not been preparation for the "Great Scope" of Balthazar's ideas? If so . . . then perfect!
When approaching such grand subjects, Charles Fort wrote, "Char me the trunk of a redwood tree ... give me white chalk cliffs to write upon." In this case, your computer screen and ours will do nicely!
Beauty first: you have my attention!
Good for Jon Stewart. Ridicule is the key to deflating this pompous cipher.
"It is one thing to "speak truth to power," which has nearly become a cliche due to liberal abuse. But how about speaking beauty to power? To speak beauty to the ugliness and barbarism that surrounds us? Who shall speak beauty to a degraded art, to a cold and technocratic knowledge, and to a human being rendered ugly through the degradations of materialism, leftism, and metaphysical Darwinism? "
Play a byte, of if you're really brave, recite, a phrase or two of Shakespeare, to someone accustomed to speak of' "bitches & ho's", and you will be attacked with their severest arsenal of caustic laughter. That hides and reveals the darkness of the sickness we face.
Where Shakespeare described a King unable to sleep (King Henry IV, Part 2 ACT III. SCENE I) as
"How many thousands of my poorest subjects
Are at this hour asleep! O sleep, O gentle sleep,
Nature's soft nurse, how have I frightened thee,
That thou no more will weigh my eyelids down,
And steep my senses in forgetfulness?
Why rather, sleep, liest thou in smoky cribs,
Upon uneasy pallets stretching thee,
And hush'd with buzzing night-flies to thy slumber,
Than in the perfum'd chambers of the great,
Under the canopies of costly state,
And lull'd with sound of sweetest melody?
O thou dull god, why liest thou with the vile
In loathsome beds, and leav'st the kingly couch
A watch-case or a common 'larum-bell?
Wilt thou upon the high and giddy mast
Seal up the ship-boy's eyes, and rock his brains
In cradle of the rude imperious surge,
And in the visitation of the winds,
Who take the ruffian billows by the top,
Curling their monstrous heads, and hanging them
With deafing clamour in the slippery clouds,
That with the hurly death itself awakes?
Canst thou, O partial sleep, give thy repose
To the wet sea-boy in an hour so rude;
And in the calmest and most stillest night,
With all appliances and means to boot,
Deny it to a king? Then, happy low, lie down!
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown."
the enemy would spew as "Yo! You people be F*ing up ma head! Get me some pills be-atch! Now! before I break yo face!"
Piercings, tattoos, clothing and hair styles which uglify rather than beautify, ideas which make no sense of reality... that is where the battle lies.
Jon Stewart takes advantage of any mock-able characters in politics. He even got a lot of flack for mocking Obama in the primaries.
I know Stewart has liberal tendencies, but he definitely is the best commentator at pointing out the bullshit from both sides. It isn't always 'balanced,' but then again life isn't balanced so how can news be?
I see the hee-haws are busy proving yesterday's post.
Still laughing.
Bob, if ridicule is the key to deflating a pompous cipher, why are you still extant? Jon Stewart is doing what he does best: making us think. But see how he does it without all the mind parasites? Seems he's exorcised all his leftist demons.
Discomfort is a key element of change. You're onto a rewarding path here, coons.
Just wait until all of the Catholic hospitals make good on their promise, too.
Health Care Crisis will be the next rung on the ladder or the next loop in the noose, depending on your point of reference.
Hey Van, can't you read the signs?
Yeah, it's amazing how you've sleuthed out the pristine core of Obama's support:
Piercings, tattoos, clothing and hair styles which uglify rather than beautify, ideas which make no sense of reality...
That's sure the world I live in, homey. Thank my pimp I was able to jack a laptop so's I could get my bitch-ho to type this up. Gobama! Mah Mama!
Re the Balthasarian journey, this little intro feels rather like coming to the top of the first enormous hill in the front seat of the world's biggest and most awesome rollercoaster.
I love rollercoasters :)
Bob, I have to say this post sounds like whining. Jeez, the Prez hasn't even done anything and you've convicted him.
Get him later, when there's evidence you might be right. Otherwise you've lost the moral high ground and there's nothing true or beautiful about a cynical dude.
That being said, I look forward to reading your thoughts re Balthasar and then formulating the usual ineffective attacks.
You've got troll, Mr. Bob. Enjoy.
" Because liberals are by nature such emotional creatures who project so much unmetabolized emotion into politics, they are much more transparent in their fantasies"
Bob, have you ever used this approach in in pointing out this glaring reality while discussing any topic "(re)progressive" with a spittle slinging lib and if so, how did it work out?
Or would you recommend going the beauty route by just walking up and giving the one armed hug while gripping your shiv in the other pocket to guard against any unwarranted physical attack?
BTW, just had a lengthy discussion yesterday with a couple Greenpeace canvassers. The level of ignorance and critical thought process was astounding. At least I tied up about 20 minutes of time they could have spent guilt tripping someone else. Of course they were young and white, the most deluded sort.
Nah, I don't even try to talk to most liberals. It's just not worth the time and effort. I really think it's a soul-illness, which is why they are so impervious to the light. That is also why liberalism is so incoherent and contradictory, since the soul is the unity of the being.
Yikes! I would have thought that after the coronation yesterday, that all the libtrogs would be drunk on an orgy of self congratultion, and running off to heal Gaia, or something. Apparently not. This is like one of those horror movie cliches. Just when you think the zombies have gone away, you look behind you and find there are zillions more clammoring for live brains.
JWM
But surely the trolls and Syndromites will drop away as you steer us into Beauty?
I can't imagine them putting up with that kind of abuse for very long.
Beauty is the word that shall be our first.
That's enough flashlight for me to sign on for the Journey to the Center of Mount Balthazar.
Speaking of entering the "beastly" stage...anyone else notice that they kept referring to his new vehicle as The Beast?
wv: raunm - Emmanuel??
I agree with Julie -- not so much about the rollercoasters -- I was thinking of it more as riding hilly backroads on a motorcycle.
The Beast? No, that's Michelle's secret service code name.
!!
wv just said beuti. So apparently, computers can learn.
Mushroom,
on second thought, a more apt description would be climbing into a mine cart and waiting for that first plunge into the dark and glittery depths.
But anyway, here's one reader that must now practice the fine art of patience until next week.
"I see the hee-haws are busy proving yesterday's post.
Still laughing"
People like you Van are proof that liberals are not the only ones prone to it. To put it in a terms that hopefully are simple enough for you, Bob couldn't be more like the liberals he is so dismissive of than when he complaints about not being allowed dissent. Well, he complains about how the liberals dissent so much, and yet he complains when he's treated the same. I almost want to take pity on him. If we criticize Bush for what he did, his political party is victimized. If we point out that he can't dissent to actions not taken yet, he complains that we're taking away his right to dissent. --Which isn't the case, it's just absurd.
What makes me laugh Van is that Bob is basically justifying all his beliefs without any reason, which is far worse than any liberal who can actually say that Bush did something that pissed them off.
Proving yesterday's post right? Yes, but it applies to both sides, you obviously missed that point.
And speaking of liberals going crazy, now we've got conservatives saying Obama isn't president because the oath was flubbed.
That's stupid. I'm sure not all conservatives are like that though, but going by Bob's standards we should just group them together because honestly, all conservatives are the same.
I love applying Bob's standards to my arguments, gives me so much room to be a dick without actually needing to back up my arguments
I knew it wouldn't be enough!
But be certain, the unity of Obama has come at the cost of a greater disunity among all Americans. To gather some together is to pull them further from the rest.
At least George can finally have some peace.
wv: giness - and a beer, too.
"But be certain, the unity of Obama has come at the cost of a greater disunity among all Americans. To gather some together is to pull them further from the rest."
Well you don't have to hate Obama. You could give him a chance. Do you expect people to kiss up to you to get your support? Why don't you just judge Obama on what he does. At least the left can say they hated George for the things he did, and not what they thought he'd do.
Hate? Dear man, who said anything about hate?
Sir, I see you have several projects you are working on. Please tend to them.
wv: mentif - sounds french.
And by the way, who's the one talking down the left for supporting Obama, as if they're sheeple?
And you think it's Obama's fault this nation won't get any better. Well you're attitude isn't going to fix it, mine won't either, but I'm just a troll.
I was making an assumption. I assumed you hated Obama, just like you assumed Obama would divide this nation even more. Foolish no? Making assumptions. I apologize.
Talking down the left for supporting Obama? Nonsense - the Left will be talked down no matter who they support. If a blind man finds the door do we say it is because he has recovered his sight?
Our nation suffers because we're tools (and nothing Obama - or even McCain for that matter - has offered in response will actually solve the problem.) We overcredited ourselves because we could, until something went foul - then the money wasn't there (surprise!) We're always in financial straits - they only get crippling when we forget and decide to be careless with our money.
Go and be well, I have given what medicine I can.
Hey, Riv - I like the new pic. Kinda steampunkish, but maybe that's just the coat...
'Zat you?
I do not assume here, but observe. It goes without saying that if you among the gathered you will see more unity, but if you are not, you will witness the widening gap.
That is to say, listening to people on the left and right (and elsewhere) I have seen further alienation these past 8 years - which has quickened with the election.
I will now take my own best advice and dwell in quiet. The comment box suggests that I give you the other cheek - but it's both daytime and I would make trouble if I took pictures of my naked ass.
You'll have to excuse me.
wv: unity - the prince of the air is back.
It is! The very me. I invented a very neat process of developing photos to make them look iconic.
It's cold here. That's my favorite coat.
I agree that the Bush Toxic Syndrome has its counterpart in the Obama Toxic Syndrome.
If Bob would just inch up his perspective by about 3 meters he could see the lay of the land and stop emulating the ones he despises.
aninnymouse said "Yeah, it's amazing how you've sleuthed out the pristine core of Obama's support"
I'm sorry, did I mention Obama anywhere? No? Oh... maybe you found that from somewhere within you? s'alright, I understand your confusion, probably a dark place.
"...What makes me laugh Van is that Bob is basically justifying all his beliefs without any reason..."
Know what makes me laugh? That you can read the words here, and not grasp a one of them, let alone a sentence, paragraph or post of them.
(Yep. Still doing it...tee-hee hee)
What? That was my other cheek.
River does look sharp. I don't think I ever looked that good even when I was less than half my age.
wv: ballog -- What Kurt Warner thought hit him a couple of times in the third quarter Sunday.
Van is obviously out of bubble wrap.
Although slightly distracted by the troll stank here in the den today, I did find something on which to meditate in preparation for the Beauty (and the Balthasar) to come:
Give
unto the LORD
the glory due to His name;
Worship
the LORD
in the beauty of holiness.
Psalm 29:2 NKJV
Back to the idea of the diamond mine, looks like it's gonna be a mighty big venture.
I'm guessing there'll be some fairly large facets to explore, too :)
River,
Surely the comment box really has this in mind.
Listen up Bobbsey Trolls:
your buddies at Pravda are not getting with the program either. whoops
wv: berpa
Apropos yesterday's comments, Pravda: Providing the truly important news.
Also, providing a graphic demonstration:
Furthermore, in a world without beauty, "the good also loses its attractiveness, the self-evidence of why it must be carried out."
Anon 12:53: And speaking of liberals going crazy, now we've got conservatives saying Obama isn't president because the oath was flubbed.
Um, so why was Obama re-sworn in today?
Cheeky, I know.
Inspired by RC, I have spruced up my photo as well. This is my good side.
Riv, I heart the new pic.
You too, Mushroom. Heart whachoo done with your hair. What's your secret?
Robin,
Why?
Maybe this has something to do with it… just came across the wire… see if you can make it out:
… programmers working through the night …Obama OS v2.0 successfully debugged (fingers crossed) and uploaded…tell Mr. Moore…no more deer in the headlights next time…prepared… bad, Mr. Justice! Bad! We hates you filthy Justices…
wv: galsa (people jus like to say galsa)
Hey, Obamabots, remember this blast from the past?
"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism!"
I must have seen this profundity proclaimed on dozens of your cute little Euro-vehicles over the past few years. Silly me, I thought you guys really meant it or something.
"Well you don't have to hate Obama. You could give him a chance."
We've already given him way more of a chance than you ever gave Bush. So screw it - tuck in, neo-coons (we're omnivorous, y'know)!
WV: mathy and I'm trying to figure out how to type mathy in the new open office. Go figures!
Come for the fantasy analysis and stay for the reader's digest version of intro to beauty. Keep on keeping on. Count me among the nine. And yes I'll get around to buying the book one day. Maybe.
Back to trying to figure how to get a bold underline, and other add/odd arcania.
Could anyone list anything that George Bush did or promoted in eight years that had anything whatsoever to do with anything BEAUTIFUL?
Dick Cheney or Donald Rumsfield as agents or inspiration for anything BEAUTIFUL?
I remember watching that guy run up to the statue and hit its base over and over with a sledge hammer. Over and over. An older guy wearing a grayish, loose fitting tank top, I think. In the interview he said, “I am 49 years old and this is the first time I feel like a free man.” It was the statue of Saddam, of course.
I mean, that was beautiful.
Oh and the other 24,999,999 other Iraqis with purple thumbs. Or was it blue?
Ok. That’s at least two in my book.
Not that’s their job of course…promote beautiful…I don’t think.
aninnymouse @12:53 squealed "And speaking of liberals going crazy, now we've got conservatives saying Obama isn't president because the oath was flubbed."
Hey Doofus, I'll type slowly so you can follow this. The oath of office is in the constitution, it must be said verbatim, in order to be President. Justice Roberts flubbed it, Obama caught it the goof, but wasn't able to correct it. It has to be administered and repeated verbatim. As even PMSNBC notes, Presidents Coolidge and Cleveland had to repeat the oath of office as well.
Obama and Roberts repeated the oath again, and now he is without technicality or dispute, President Obama.
aninnymouse @07:47:00 PM, please refer back to the last part of my comment @03:05:00 PM.
(what? That's my other cheek)
Why would liberals care that President Bush is the greatest liberator of Muslim slaves the world has ever known? They only like Muslims who hate the US and Israel.
I thought that waterboarding KSM was particularly beautiful.
Hah! Nice take down Cuz!
And to the beautiful deficient Lefties: the extermination of all those terrorists are beautiful! Every time I read of dead al qaeda or taliban or hamas scumbags it brings joy to my heart. Ha ha!
Great analysis Bob!
You gno, that entire speech about all of those apocalyptic fears was a projection, because Obama and his cronies will attempt to bring about the very apocalypse type scenarios they claim they'll fix.
We are lookin' at the anti-Solomon in Obama.
Give him a chance? In a pigs eye!
Then of course there was this, or all the African AIDS victims whose lives are being saved.
I traveled a number of times to NYC the past seven or eight. Beautiful days. Saw “The Starry Night” at the Modern Art. That was a beautiful day. We had supper outside in Little Italy. Then there was the time we brought our son to buy his first pro trumpet at Sam Ash near the Carnegie Deli. We shared a huge corned beef sandwich. Had lunch at “Monk’s’ on a different trip. Took the subway with my beautiful wife and son on one of them down to ground zero. Went a couple other times too, by myself after some business things. You can’t not, you know?
Hey, Ben.
That’s right, Skully. I’m waiting for a list of al qaeda’s beautiful accomplishments.
Great ones, Julie.
"I thought that waterboarding KSM was particularly beautiful."
I'm hopin' that'll come out on DVD!
Hi Rick!
Those are more good examples of beauty. It's not hard to see when you got coonvision. :^)
Hi Julie!
Aye! The Lefties must be blind if they can't see that. I reckon they can't admit to themselves that President Bush has helped and liberated more people than any Democrat President in the last century.
No longer at it's address on whitehouse.gov, but still in cache, I think on a day of supreme ugliness, this was quite beautiful:
"A great people has been moved to defend a great nation. Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.
America was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from shining.
Today, our nation saw evil, the very worst of human nature. And we responded with the best of America -- with the daring of our rescue workers, with the caring for strangers and neighbors who came to give blood and help in any way they could.
... We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them.
...America and our friends and allies join with all those who want peace and security in the world, and we stand together to win the war against terrorism. Tonight, I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened. And I pray they will be comforted by a power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages in Psalm 23: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me."
This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace. America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time. None of us will ever forget this day. Yet, we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world.
Thank you. Good night, and God bless America."
Thanks for sharing that moving message, Van!
I don't hafta wonder why the Obama administration took it down.
It says a lot about who they are and it ain't good, that's for sure.
They may damage Americam but they won't bring us down.
We remember...
Your cheeks have a remarkable resemblance to mine, Bob.
'Cept mine are purty hairy, which is why I rarely freeze my ass off. Just sayin'. Could be the grog talkin'.
I'm looking forward to the Balthaser journey.
Seems the trolls got energized or perhaps it is a reaction to the horrifying war mongering, dark speech The One gave. Not much hope and change, sounded like lots more all is broke, much sacrifice required and more of the same on the war against those who would destroy civilization to me.
Look at all this beauty… splendid.
Men?
Good. At ease.
I was informed this morning by Colonel Pecking Rooster that we may have been set up. As any one can see, reports are still coming in from all points.
You there. In the back.
I would like a list from you; of all the beauty that Bush and the others stopped you from making. Even here. Did the second oath not take?
Anon, whoever you are, thank you.
Alright, back to work…
Remember, no post today, possibly not until Monday, unless an unforeseen window of Holy S'laq should open in the most unlikely of places.
And so we dangle over the precipice, just at the point where the tracks disappear over the curve of a hill, awaiting the first descent into Balthasar's Wild Ride. Will it be a gentle drop or a rollicking plummet? No way to tell, but we have to wait until Monday.
Doh!
Oh well, if we have to wait we may as well get up and dance. (via Insty)
"Talking down the left for supporting Obama? Nonsense - the Left will be talked down no matter who they support. If a blind man finds the door do we say it is because he has recovered his sight?"
Which is exactly why it didn't matter who got elected, this nation would be even more divided. You proved my point River. I didn't say Obama would fix our problems, who said anything about him fixing them? It'll take far longer than one president. But of the two, Obama definitely was more sensible, not in that he had the better policies, but because he's less stubborn. If McCain was failing and he knew it, he would push forward with his plan anyway. At least Obama second guesses himself, perhaps motivated by winning the populous, but it can be a good thing if we use it.
I almost positive I saw the ocean level drop a few tenths yesterday.
This guy MUST be all that he has been saying he is, although I'm still waiting on the free healthcare and a little more earth-healing.
wv, hiker, as in take one.
Anony: You have yet to reason with me, so I stand, waiting, in quietness.
And you don't need to concede points to me to try to get me to come over to your side. That's my trick.
The mimicry is superb, though, I must admit.
Go in peace.
River, that's starting to sound very much like Namaste...
wv is apparently learning from Bob; I don't know if momaries is one of his words, but it sounds like it should be :)
Yeah, that was a Namaste, I'll admit it. I meant it differently when I wrote it. but when I read it after I was I like, "Damn!"
The problem with having fingers and words is they more than often condemn you.
I really wanted him to go in peace. Emphasis on GO....
But the rest of my comment is golden, if not utterly snarktastic.
Maybe next time I'll write
Go in pieces
...
(That would be more honest ;)
Looking at your fantasy analysis and the full text of Obama's speech, it is clear that you first came to the conclusion, and then looked for "evidence" to back it up.
As for having given Bush a chance, around the time of 9/11 his approval rating was about 90%, and didn't drop below 50% until 2004. Surely a fair number of those who approved were "leftists", in your jargon? Surely a fair number of those who approved at that time now voted for Obama?
Do I smell limburger?
I don’t see limburger…
False alarm.
It was limburger.
...vapid...bland and boring... only... emotionally charged...fails ... unable... bind...anxiety and hatred... evil... difficult ... crazy...bitterness and resentment ...unsuccessful ...exploit... steal
... nothing...new problem ... homeless... mentally ill.... eliminates...complain ... lack ...trance... entrain ... problems ...unmetabolized emotion ... primitive ... primitive ...tedious...abused...threatened... neglected children... cold...icy... abandoning... father
...trance... apocalyptic evils... spinning out of control...eaten by... threatening Moloch.... overheated... nazis... Islamists... danger... war ... destroy America... Father... ousted... Mother ...rescue.... farcical... tragedy... farce... tragedy... farce... doubt...farce...divide...descending...Beasts... Chaos... weasel... beastly chaos...chaos.... beast... dissent...scoundrel... devil ... hate ...hesitant...last ...rambling ..afraid...end...extinction. ...impasse... deviate...lose... behind... avoid...never recover... problem ... correct with violence... penetrate... deny... deny... abuse. ...ugliness and barbarism ... degraded art... sterile ... ugly . degradations ...penetrated... not worth living... hell ...minus...indigestible...fear...anguish...forced ... impossible... impotence...spoil... loses...descended... other... Satan...Lies... ugliness... transgression... non-being ... no longer ... forgotten... untrustworthy... illegible
Crypticlife,
Exactly. Pure "evidence" minus the hunch. Bravo!
Don’t tell me you left your beauty list in the car again.
No shirt, no shoes, no dice.
I never cease to be amazed at how much time and effort people will spend at a place they claim to loathe. Just speaking for myself, of all the things I could be doing at any given time, wading through commentary that I find annoying, stupid, irritating, vapid, or otherwise generally unpleasant, along with the accompanying comments (and likely to be much more rough-hewn and annoying, given the nature of comment sections) for the sole purpose of demanding the attention of people whose opinions I find loathsome is quite near the bottom of my list, somewhere near "stand outside naked in Alaska in June, see how long it takes the mosquitoes to drain all blood. Try not to scratch."
Guess it takes all types to make a world.
How would I have ever thought of my limburger joke?
Good question, Ricky; I guess it does serve a purpose. I still find it amazing, though :)
On second thought, the "standing outside and getting eaten by mosquitoes" option would probably be slightly higher on my list, due to the "interestingness" factor:
"Hey, what'd you do this afternoon?"
*scratch scratch scratch*
"Decided to test my endurance to see how long it would take for mosquitos to suck me dry."
"Really? Wow. Why would you do that?"
conversation continues, with possible call to 911/ local psych hospital. Unwise, but certainly interesting.
vs.
"Hey, what did you do this afternoon?"
"Hung out on teh webz and totally pwned some Bush-loving theists. It was awesome."
"So, nothing out-of-the-ordinary, then?"
Cryp's tic is a Willie Dixon kinda thang
We-ell, I can't quit you bobby
"Anony: You have yet to reason with me, so I stand, waiting, in quietness."
You have yet to reason with me. I wasn't trying to get you to come to my "side"<-is it typical for you to treat politics(which could have adverse effects on our livelihoods) like sports(which don't)? Do I need to reason with somebody who holds unreasonable stances? You think I'm tricking you?
"The mimicry is superb, though, I must admit."
Not hard to mimic simple creatures.
I concur, Julie. The only time I’ve been to Kos is by mistake.
The Idiossey
by Iowahawk
The Not-Really-That-Epic Poem of Obamacles
Revised and Updated
http://www.northfulton.com/Articles-i-2009-01-22-176487.114126_Victim_Jan_fire_in_Forsyth_due_to_support_of_Obama.html
Yah, conservatives haven't gone crazy yet over Obama like liberals did over Bush. They just burn down homes and such.
Sheesh, you think I loathe this place? Or even that I self-deceive myself that I do?
Hardly! I greatly enjoy some of the posts and comments here. I enjoyed this post, actually.
And c'mon, it's not like I comment that frequently. Once or twice a month, maybe? Not really like I'm grasping for attention, is it?
Maybe this is my point. I know I left it around here somewhere..
I think I enjoy this song more now than I did when I was a default lib. Especially singing it.
Maybe it’s just a raccoon thing but notice how the lifeless “statistics” (not the lyrics) flashing every so often take away from the beauty of the rest of it. This isn’t because I don’t want to believe them, if they are in fact facts, but because they compete with something of way more value in this song. I mean, you can get facts anywhere. They are a dime a dozen. Unless you don’t like the song, the singing or the music, which is personal taste. In which case it may help to close your eyes and just sing it.
Or not.
Nice try anon, but that article contains no conclusive information. You're assuming things to draw the conclusion you like. I could just as well posit that the homeowner set the whole enchalada up to get attention for herself, or staged the arson so she could collect insurance money to buy a new house.
Quit being lazy & learn to check your links in 'preview' before hitting 'publish' for heaven's sake.
Julie, this troll does not "loathe this place" but loves it.
You have to care about something to troll it. That's a fact.
To have trolls is an honor. It means you are worth the attention. In this world attention is everything.
Do you have trolls at your blog? Does Van? Does Walt? Probably few to none.
Does Bob? Yes, scads. Why? Because Bob is goooood, baby, gooood, at what he does.
So by all means stand in the mosquitos if you will; the great task of trolling worthy sites will continue.
Without trolls, the whole process grinds to a halt amidst mutual pack patting and soothing noises. Nothing would get tested for sturdiness.
There are any number of reasons to be adversarial; that's just one.
Cryptic,
"Hardly! I greatly enjoy some of the posts and comments here. I enjoyed this post, actually."
Ah. My apologies; the only thing I have to go by is your comments. Since you usually seem to comment when something doesn't sit right, I naturally assumed it's out of dislike.
Nice try anon. D/D-. You go to great lenghts to rationalize being an annoying asshole, but the truth is that you are nothing but an annoying asshole a cowardly annoying asshole to boot. (Did I make my point?) You are nothing more than a tagger with a keyboard. Saying it's an honor to have trolls on a blog is like saying it's an honor to have graffitti vandals spray paint your block wall. Or thinking it's artistic to have tattoos on your neck. Your rope, unpissed up awaits.
JWM
I'm going to ammend my comment a little, anon. If you were to show up with a consistent nic, a profile, and/or a link to a blog of your own; if you were here to question, disagree, or discuss it would be a different matter. Ray Ingles at least had the courage of his convictions to do so. As mendacious and muddle headed as the departed Nagarjuna was, he for a while anyway, also had the temerity to step into the ring and go a few rounds. (although I suspect he still slinks back as one of the several anons.) Same with Crypticlife. You aren't stupid. You can hold your own in a disagreement, I'm sure. I may disagree, I may find you tedious, or irritating, but I am willing to extend my repect to those with whom I disagree, and even those whom I do not like. Just for the record, I actually have friends who are lefties, and atheists. We don't agree on religion or politics, but we can still sit and enjoy a cup and a BS session without going at each others' throats. The drive by sniping, however, is just chickenshit. Can you do better than chickenshit? I bet you can.
JWM
Anon 8:42 -
That my humble abode hath yet to attract troll-types pleaseth me, el mucho.
walt,
It's easy to not have trolls. Just moderate comments, and delete those with which you disagree.
jwm,
Thank you. I suspect we'd find more to agree on in politics than you'd imagine. Religion, probably not so much.
julie,
Yes, typically it's when something doesn't seem quite right. If I disagree with something, I want to see why those who hold the other opinion hold it, and give them a chance to clarify, or explicate, or refute. I try to go for the ideas rather than the emotions, and certain tenets I simply won't approach because they've been stated as starting assumptions here.
I also enjoy the creativity of some of the insults thrown at trolls here.
"Nice try anon, but that article contains no conclusive information."
Yes, but Palin's rallies were more than enough for me to say that that example wouldn't have made a difference. There is no conclusive evidence that Obama will divide this country any more than it already has been either, but somehow River managed to get to that.
And you think somebody burned their home down while away to collect insurance money?
I mean carving a backwards 'B' is enough to question the person playing victim, but burning down your own house? You have no conclusive evidence yourself, and yet you make the most extreme accusation out of the two of us, as if you're argument is sensible enough to be substantial.
Hmm, yes, lets go burn down our OWN house to make conservatives look bad. In Georgia. Yup. Totally.
Usually people don't do crazy things to make people look bad. She might have busted her window, or hung a sign, but burning down your house of
Haha. You go right ahead and believe that Ximeze. Especially when they also tell you the town was pretty upset by her support of Obama... read the article. Goodness it doesn't take a genius, hell any idiot could figure it out.
"It told her to "watch her back" and contained racial epithets.
Her parents thought some costly vandalism might result. Certainly nothing like what has happened. Her parents warned her she'd have problems, so did her friends. It's pretty easy to guess that these people already knew some in the community were hostile. And that is definitely NOT uncommon. Did you watch FOX today? Yah, even FOX can't let go of any details, but watching clips from 8 years ago, totally different tune. "He's the president and he deserves to be given a chance." Not so with Obama.
Trolls, refer to first comment.
He's using money coerced from us to fund abortion, a practice many of us find morally repugnant. That's enough to put him on my short list of Worst Presidents Ever. Truth, beauty *and* goodness in one shot, fresh from repeating the oath.
Hi, y'all! :)
I am the troll that believes trolling a good thing.
The point you made about it being vandalism, etc. depends on the quaity of the comment.
I always give quality product.
"quality product"
Whether it is 'quality' or even 'product', depends upon whether your perspective is from that of a building owner and/or patron, or of a punk who seeks to build his name and reputation at the expense of defacing what others value.
Perhaps in the eyes of other punks such as yourself, your crafted tags may build you a rep.
In the eyes of those who love the neighborhood, your standing is lower than that of a pothole.
Lloyd deMause, using the same method, concluded that Ronald Reagan thought it imperative to "kill our weak children."
Exactly. You don't read carefully: I have no idea whether or not fantasy analysis works. But I do know that it's fun....
Frankly, there is probably nothing he could have done about that short of deinstitutionalization of the tenured and media elite, which would have caused a huge new problem with homeless mentally ill.
Actually, I think the media elite should have been institutionalized, not deinstitutionalized.
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