Upside-Down World
One of my favorite movies is the original Planet of the Apes. I suspect a lot of people these days feel like Taylor wandering the Forbidden Zone, searching for answers about how the world seemingly has turned upside down.
Over at the revealingly-named Powerline, General Aldo and the gorillas posted the following dispatch from one of their scouts:
Consider yourself in good company if you feel the urgent need to fling open your window and shout this speakers-on, uniquely Ape City version of "we're not in Kansas anymore."
Over at the revealingly-named Powerline, General Aldo and the gorillas posted the following dispatch from one of their scouts:
I just returned from Crawford where I met some people from Israel yesterday as they fueled their motor home. They were there to drive out to the ranch as a tribute to President Bush and as an expression of gratitude for his support of Israel. I’ll be back down there Tuesday-Thursday and when I return I can e-mail some photos if you wish. This town of 800 is crawling with visitors who can be divided into four general categories—two good, two bad.Everyone got that? The "good guys"---presumably solid, upstanding patriots---are now Israelis (perfect, eh?) and those on a pilgrimage (again, perfect) to pay tribute. The good guys are also the police. And the "bad guys"? Actual American citizens with the nerve to make a time-wasting nuisance of themselves by exercising their Constitutionally-guaranteed rights. The good guys "fill with gas and diesel" and dutifully stuff themselves with cheeseburgers while sitting in comfort under oversized photographs of the approving visage of our leader (remind you of anything?) while the bad guys endure the sun and the heat and the insects and the portable toilets to demand accountability from our elected officials. God forbid that holding our leaders to account might interfere with the patriotic duty to scarf cheeseburgers and top off the gas tank. And of course any description of the "bad guys" wouldn't be complete without including that other pillar of any democracy: the free press.
THE GOOD:
1) People on a pilgrimage to see President Bush’s ranch and “downtown” Crawford;
2) Police, more specifically, Secret Service, U.S. Marshals, Texas Rangers and County Sheriff’s Deputies;
THE BAD:
3) Protestors; and
4) Press covering the protestors only.
The good guys fill with gas and diesel and dine on cheeseburgers at the Coffee Station where the walls are adorned with enlarged snapshots of President Bush working the crowd and dining on a Coffee Station burger. That won’t happen this year, and perhaps never again because of the bad guys.
The bad guys hang at the Crawford Peace House, a dump of a house that looks like Hippie Central with dozens of cars, vans, SUVs and campers parked on the grass. Add portable toilets for ambience and you get the picture. This is the staging center for protests at the ranch nine miles up Prairie Chapel Road.
Consider yourself in good company if you feel the urgent need to fling open your window and shout this speakers-on, uniquely Ape City version of "we're not in Kansas anymore."
posted by The Cunning Realist at Sunday, August 14, 2005
33 Comments:
Porta-potties are bad because the bushites on pilgrimage don't need them because they're too busy shitting on the Constitution!
It does feel like Planet of the Apes in many ways.
1. To call a visit to the ranch a pilgrimage??????(scary)
2. Hearing all of these maniacal rants by democrats claiming dissent is becoming criminal in this country when every other word out of there mouth is War Crime.
3. Pretending that a grieving mother is some sort of political genius whose opinion we cannot disagree with under threat of smearing her.
4. Pretending that this grieving mothers views are somehow more legitimate than any other Americans.
5. The implication that agreeing with the president equals an inablility to reason.
I am so sick of hearing I am being brainwashed by the president because I believe that a more connected Iraq makes the world safer or that people who agree with him are in some sick power grab conspiracy.
Reading the comments today answers my questions as to whether conservatives read CR. Two of note - Mark Jones, good to see you have not lost your ability to reason and think things through. And then there is Roy, surprised to see you here reading the Realist.
CR, again, a thoughtful post. That is why I keep coming here.
the powerline account seems antithetical to the christian values many of their readers would profess. what does that make them, then?
Very intelligent; very honest. Wow! Refreshing. A bright light in this Fog of War.
I feel the terrorists already have won in one way, when Bush and his administration took us to war in Iraq on a lie, dropped the ball on Bin Laden and the guys that actually did 9/11, manipulated intelligence, hampered the investigation of 9/11, attacked/smeared dissent, and they continue to lie, spread gossip and innuendos. They are feeding off of an artificial divide they have created in our country, enhanced by a radical right, lazy, or profits-only media.
America is great, but those that lead today or in the position to lead are less so.
I once asked a director about a particular person giving a very poor presentation; he was suppose to be a model of what the organization stood for. The director's response was, "cream doesn't always rise to the top." I often think of that when I see Bush.
IS Bush a Conservative?
I think not; the Republican party must have been very weak and thus was a prime candidate for the takeover by a radical group of organizations. If Bush is a Conservative, than Britney Spears is a MIT graduate genius.
My movie pick is: "Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb"
The Nation put it well - It is nurturing an ethos of fear as a civic virtue. (they actually were talking about the alert system and how many times they could scare the *hit out of us as a means of control)
Maybe we should add Republicans are nurturing smear campaigns and personal attacks as a civic virtue.
It is one thing to protest yourself, but when you smear from a distance it is really pathetic. And, when the news media takes sides, it is really a sad day for our Democracy.
Shouldn't we be setting a positive example for the rest of the world on how Democracy can work?
Or would that be too much work, and it is easier to use other people's kids as bomb fodder. It is so much more fun and there is so much more money involved; not for the bomb fodder families but for war corporations. Did you read they are outsourcing private war contractors now. A US company recruited mercenaries from Ecuador, Columbia for fighting in Iraq. They cost less. They are alreay use to years of guerilla combat.
What I want is Peace for the world, but why doesn't this President ever talk about Peace? Those that support terrorism should be brought to justice, no doubt. But I want the President to work on methods to achieve Peace in non-violent ways. This requires great intelligence and strength.
I heard a rumour that those people out there demanding accountability hate freedom... good for those Patriots at Powerline for revealing the communists amongst us... bring back Joe McCarthy... there was a fine American
be fearfull and consume!
trust no-one who speaks against or questions DEAR LEADER.
yours is not to question why, yours is but to do and die...
Once again, the posters here have been duped. They think this has something to do with Bush, etc. Bush and America are merely pawns in the struggle between Israel and Islam. Have fun wasting your time worrying about the wrong thing.
Recommend you read this in the upcoming Time magazine.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,1093747,00.html
Looks like Iran did better Iraq post-invasion planning than we did.
"The highest form of generalship is to attack an enemy's plans"
I would be happy if someone could offer me proof that the Powerline post is a "gag" to bait those of us who feel no sorrow at the prospect that W might never again be seen working the crowd or dining on a cheese burger at the Coffee Station. I may not agree with all that Cindy Sheehan has to say, but she has the right to express her views. It baffles me how someone on one hand can attack Mrs. Shehan for traveling to Crawford to make a point to the president, while on the other implying admiration for Israelis who traveled to Crawford to give the president a message of their own. This cannot be taken seriously. A "pilgrimage" to the ranch of Dubya Bush? I mean really...
Roy- Agreeing with the president does not make you brainwashed. Accepting, and not questioning any of the following does: Saddam was involved with 9/11, we found WMD in Iraq, "Mission Accomplished", "We turned that corner", I could go on, but I don't feel I need to. Cindy Shehan does not have any more moral authority than you or I, But then again, neither did Terri Schaivo. No-one at Fox or in the GOP seemed to mind when the right went ballistic over her, so why be all up in arms when the left goes ballistic over Cindy Shehan? You feel threatened? You are allowed to disagree with Cindy Shehan, nobody has a problem with that, but if you go all Bill O'rielly/Michelle Malkin on her, then you are smearing her. That is the issue. No-one said her views are more important that yours or mine, but why assume that her views LESS important than yours or mine?
Unfortunately, the post from Powerline is authentic - the boys at Powerline don't do parody. They are serious.
Wait a second... President Bush won't be able to make a photo-op visit to the diner this summer? Maybe never again?
The touchy-queery leftists can complain about how bad it is to lose your son in a war fought for lies, but not going to the diner ... well, that's the real tragedy.
It was reported Cindy has said, (paraphrasing) the blogosphere is keeping America from becoming a fascist state, which is already controlled by one party, it was also reported she claimed if America were out of Iraq and Israel out of Palestine terrorism would stop. And lastly she claimed that she should not have to pay taxes for 04 because her son died. These are maniacal rants that if spouted by an actor or artist would be discounted immediatly. But Cindy says this and she is a patriot. I say that is crap and I am smearing her? That is not intellectually honest. Her round the clock grieving conviently covered by the MSM hints of a personal view not the views of her son. It was sickening to see the religous right go ballestic over Terri and it is just as sick to see the left do this over Cindy.
Roy wrote: It was reported Cindy has said, (paraphrasing) the blogosphere is keeping America from becoming a fascist state, which is already controlled by one party,
Which of the above statements do you disagree with?
it was also reported she claimed if America were out of Iraq and Israel out of Palestine terrorism would stop.
Admittedly a tad hyperbolic, but are you saying that those are not substantial drivers of Arab anger, garnering many recruits for terror tactics?
And lastly she claimed that she should not have to pay taxes for 04 because her son died. These are maniacal rants that if spouted by an actor or artist would be discounted immediatly.
Ok, this is probably an incorrect interpretation of the tax code, but not a "maniacal rant".
But Cindy says this and she is a patriot. I say that is crap and I am smearing her?
How many sons have you lost in Iraq?
Sorry, but even as a 31-year member of the GOP, I gotta stand with Cindy on this one.
-George
Roy Bettencourt is just fishing for his barely read blog....
Roy Bettencourt--
I read your first post and thought, "I don't agree with his perspective, but this is the first comment I've read in quite some time that supported the war without including a smear of Cindy Sheehan. Bravo."
Then I read your second comment, in which you call her maniacal and dismiss the very idea that she might be a patriot as "crap."
If you want to believe that 1,800 of our bravest had to be sacrificed for "a more connected Iraq", that's fine. We can debate that. I just don't understand why you have to smear a woman who's mourning her son in order to make your point.
Well, Mrs. Sheehan is indeed very blunt & provocative, but - then again - so are her 'opponents' like Bill O'Reilly or M. Malkin.
@ Roy
How do you to answer more moderate grievances like this one:
"I need to know why
Mother of soldier killed in Iraq explains her vigil outside President Bush's ranch
By CELESTE ZAPPALA
A week after my son, Sgt. Sherwood Baker, arrived in Baghdad last year, President Bush held court for journalists at the 60th annual Radio and Television Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington. Part of the show that night was to pretend to look for WMD under the lectern. There were staged pictures of Mr. Bush looking for them under the rug in the Oval Office. Everyone present got a great laugh.
With a crucial election looming last year, the President thought it politically prudent to simultaneously indulge in self-deprecating humor about not finding WMD while he kept American soldiers in the dangerous search for those weapons.
I talked to Sherwood shortly after the President's circus show. He wasn't finding anything funny about his mission in Iraq. Sherwood was knee deep in the real search for WMD. He was providing security for the Iraq Survey Group, which was still looking for those weapons well beyond the admission by David Kay that they didn't exist.
(...) Sher's death brings me on an unlikely journey to Crawford, Tex. I join Cindy Sheehan, who has established a camp here.
My family is gathering with me as we hold our own vigil. We believe that we finally deserve a meeting with the President, one that has been denied us for the last 16 months. (...)
We'd like to know what he finds noble about instigating and maintaining a war with a country that posed no threat to our country.
We'd like to know if he still finds humor in the fabrications that justified the war that killed my son. (...) I want to believe he has the capacity to talk to us like human beings without injecting his party-line rhetoric. [I] believe our vacationing President has the time to hear that truth."
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ideas_opinions/story/337010p-287873c.html
Re "cream doesn't always rise to the top."
From the movie "Harper" with Paul Newman: "Only cream and bastards rise."
Ladies and gentelemen, the President of the United States.
Hey I have tried to stay out of the fray because she had a son who died, just the same way I tried to ignore the Terri Schiavo story. Grieving families are allowed a certain amount of crazy ramblings. If I was trying to get someone to read my never read blog, then they would see I have done no stories on her out of respect. But a person can only take so much Schiavo or Sheehan before I lose it. If you think the blogosphere is keeping America from fascism then you either do not understand fascism or you are extremely paranoid. If you think the only reason that there is terrorism is because of Jews then you do not understand the problem the world faces. Islamic radicals love to attack India (assuming unrelated to Jews). If we pulled all the way out of the middle east and forced the jews to do the same it would not transform into some peaceful paradise to assume it would is to be maniacal. I am not a Bush apologist, he has made many mistakes with Iraq and I vote for him only because I am forced to choose between two chumps who do not represent the best our country has to offer.
@ roy:
"Grieving families are allowed a certain amount of crazy ramblings."
Well, Mrs. Zappales declaration quoted above doesn't sound like 'crazy ramblings' to me.
As for Cindy Sheehan, she might be a bit over the top or naive, but for people like Bill O'Reilly, who would never think of putting his behind on the line, to smear her, or basically tell that she and her 'ilk' are 'one of the problems America faces', or the such, that's even more paranoid.
"But a person can only take so much Schiavo or Sheehan before I lose it."
Say it right: "YOU can only take so much..."
Cindy Sheehan was the first to publicly protest in Crawford, in the meantime other parents of fallen soldiers joined in.
And they won't go away any time soon.
So better address the issues, instead of further denying them.
" I am not a Bush apologist, he has made many mistakes with Iraq and I vote for him only because I am forced to (...)"
Nobody forced you. But don't you sometimes think you voted for the wrong 'chump'?
Mrs. Zappales seems rational as did Sheehan in the beggining. If the only statements coming out were angry but rational I would have kept my big mouth shut. Alas it did not play out that way. Sheehan is the face of this protest not Zappales. And correct I misspoke errrr mistyped. I could only take so much of Schiavo and Sheehan. As for O'Reilly I will not take up his defense and since I do not watch him I cannot respond to anything he has said.
@ roy:
"If the only statements coming out were angry but rational I would have kept my big mouth shut. Alas it did not play out that way."
Well, I've heard statements out of the mouth of the person responsible for this war, Mr. Bush:
"Bring 'em on!"
Angry but rational?
'Osama doesn't bother him that much...'
Angry? Rational?
@ thirdeye:
"Everywhere Jews go, they cause trouble. Rome, Spanish Inquisition, Germany, Palestine."
Yeah, right, Jews causing trouble - as usual - in Germany, for example.
Boy, you certainly have a distorted view of history & reality.
@ roy:
So can you agree with the assumption that a 2-party system in not sufficient for 300,000,000 people / currently 120,000,000 voters?!
@ thirdeye:
"It's the PERCEPTION they cause trouble (...)"
This is generally called anti-semitism.
I found an interesting study on possible reasons for anti-semitism here:
http://aishbaltimore.com/zz/seminars/whythejews/index.htm
(btw. I'm a german non-believer & tax-paying, non-voting US resident)
Can I agree the 2-party system is not sufficient for 300,000,0000 people? Uh YES! I am a non believing, pot smoking, pro-gay marriage, Neo-Con. I only voted for Bush because of Iraq. I would like to see 4 parties a liberal party, conservative party then the Dems and Reps could really occupy the middle. Sadly, I do not see this happening for quite some time.
@ thirdeye:
Actually, it DOES matter. You seem to advocate this stance.
You should rather rally against anti-semitism than fall back in that scapegoat-scheme again.
Listen, I don't believe that 99% of regular, more or less secular, dayworking Muslims all over the globe couldn't care less about Israel.
But you are right in that even that would still leave 10mm more or less radical Muslims.
So, would you support 'annihilating' Israel to appease fundamentalist Islamists?
@ roy:
You don't seem to make sense.
You voted for Bush as the 'lesser of two evils', yet admit that the f*cked up things big time (not exactly your words).
Any changes of heart / reconsiderations, since you DO sound apologetic?!
where's the other idiot?
i only see bush sending our military into illegal and trumped up wars.
i only see bush lying to get his way so he can be our "war president" and dismantle our constitution in the name of corporate interest and fascism all nicely wrapped in a flag and sanctified by the bible.
in my book, that makes the only idiot to worry about, the one that duped people like roy to vote for him.
welcome to bush's 'murika. have a nice stay.
Do I regret my vote, not a chance, As for me being duped, are so close minded that you think that anyone who does not agree with you politically must be brainwashed? I believe Kerry would pull out and that would be disastorous.
As for a third party winning it is because they do not have the money to reach the average voter. A vote for a third party is only a protest vote, not an actual chance of winning vote.
@ roy:
I see why you belong to the Republicans:
'No, je ne regret rien' (pardon my french, E. Piaf)
- 'No, I regret nothing'
Mistakes? What mistakes?
And, no, *roy, YOU think that we think you're brainwashed. I never wrote that.
Maybe it's a self-fulfilling prophecy ;)
As for elections: Yes, it's all about money. Sad thing, but not god-given.
Wouldn't it be possible for a new, small party to form a coalition with on of the 2 big players to make a change, for starters?
the one that duped people like roy to vote for him.
Maybe you never wrote that but some anonymous person did
There is nothing like a home renovation project to improve the way you live your life. There are so many great local resources now for Kitchen Cabinet Colors . It is easier than ever to pick up the phone or go online and find Kitchen Cabinet Colors.
Another great site with a lot of updating information is http://www.floridakitchendesigns.com. Thanks by the way for such a great blog!
If You are looking for more info on books and am glad to be on your site. If you want to find out more about......books then go visit http://fbooks4u.com......You wont be disapointed..Thanks For Visiting
Post a Comment
<< Home