Random Pattern Weekly 9/14/2008

Taboo Plaza



The Daily Show's brilliant reporting (yes, I said reporting) on hypocrisy in government is laughed at but sets an example for the kinds of questions the press should be asking.  Regardless of party affiliation, hypocrisy is unacceptable.  

Hypocrisy reveals a lack of core beliefs.  



In an authentic democracy, the press reports what they see.  A free press does not try to gain objectivity so judgments cannot be formed.  Judgments are unavoidable.  

A free press should present educated judgments for the benefit of the citizens.


It is the primary concern of a citizen to know the value of judgments presented to them by the press.  This idea of presenting judgment is not disputed when a candidate for president speaks to concerned citizens therefore it should not be a concern with regard to the press.  The speaker is encouraged to present their audience with their judgments of the world.  Regardless of reality, because maybe their is no such thing as Reality.



It is the press' responsibility to comment on what they see.  

Comment and pass judgment.  

The fact of the matter is; how we deal with the present does not matter for us.  We are barely significant in the scope of time.  Our children are only slightly more significant than we.  We live because of those before us.  We have what we have because of those before us.  We know anything because of the ones who were here before us.

We have in front of us more people who will rely on us to know what they will know because of us.  We have a responsibility that will become a citation in a history book if we're lucky.  Our intention toward those who follow us must be educated by our feelings for those before us.  

What we carry on remains fact.

What we reconsider becomes disclosed.

What we change should be open to informed discussion.  The change we enact today may be the legal struggle for the future.  We create the yoke those after us must wear.

The World is not about you or me.  

It's never been that personal!







Current Affairs




Dick Cheney used his little remaining time in office to represent the United States of America in the former Soviet Republic states.  September 3rd, Vice President Cheney honored the Georgians with his presence.  President Bush sent Dick with a hope of throwing a billion dollars at the Georgians.

Russian response be damned, apparently Dick and Bush didn't really care what the Russians thought.  We've been committed to entangling ourselves with Georgians that don't live in the lower forty-eight states.  President W hasn't committed anything militarily, but it's not a stretch to think that is his desire.

It seems President Bush would like war with Russia.  

Russians have said they believe the United States is secretly supplying Georgia with military equipment and training.  Russia believes that to be the case, whether it is true or not.  A sensible person might back up and be cautious if the Russian belief is false.

Vice President Cheney visited Georgia after his administration publically condemned the Russians for their response in South Ossetia when the Georgians attacked.  September 9th, Russia reported they will keep 3,800 troops in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.  Before Georgia attacked South Ossetia (with Russian troops traditionally already stationed there as peacekeepers,) Russia had 1,000 troops in South Ossetia and 2,500 troops in Abkhazia.

It might be helpful to visualize the area again on a map.



One might think we want reasonable relations with Russia.   Reasonable relations might imply having reasonable conversations.  The Russians say South Ossetia and Abkhazia have better cases for independence than Serbian provinces recognized by Russia but not by Europe or the United States.  

In a reasonable relationship, the partner has a right to an opinion.  In a reasonable relationship, partner disagreements are assumed to be well-intentioned.  America is apparently trying to figure the relationship out and attempting to fix the problem with Russia.  In an ABC interview, potential Vice President Sarah Palin gave her stark assessment of what is required to fix our relations with Russia.



The Russians seem to be showing restraint and good judgment though.  South Ossetian representative Eduard Kokoity comes out last week and says he doesn't want South Ossetia to be an independent state.  Russia is one of very few states that do recognize South Ossetia as independent.  South Ossetia says it wants to be part of Russia.  Russia immediately said no.  They're not attempting to annex land.

That seems like a human response.  They could've escalated the situation but they didn't.  The Russians immediately put the situation back where it needed to be internationally.  Now we come to the crux of our recent past decade.  Russian President Dmitry Medvedev declares Georgia's invasion of South Ossetia is their 9/11.  

"The world has changed and it occurred to me that Aug. 8, 2008, has become for Russia what Sept. 11, 2001, was for the United States. This is an accurate comparison corresponding to Russian realities," he said. "Humankind has drawn lessons from the Sept. 11 tragedy and other tragic events. I would like the world to draw lessons also from these events."

And there it is.  

Can they have a 9/11?  

Can everyone?

Who gets to decide?  With a 'September the 11th' type of thing, you can invade other countries at will.  Do we want everyone else to have one of these things?  We're stretched thin in Iraq and Afghanistan.  We can't take on anymore militarily without seriously over-extending ourselves and leaving ourselves open to attack.  

Now Russia is claiming 8/8/08 as their 9/11/2001.



On top of this, it seems the world might like a chance to vote in the United States November Presidential election.  The BBC World Service conducted a poll in 22 countries consisting of 22,531 adults.  Barack Obama wins by a large margin in most of those countries.  Only 12 percent of those polled wanted to see John McCain as President of the United States of America.  McCain, to his credit, nominated his Vice President to much fanfare at the Republican National Convention.  At said convention, McCain accomplished the unthinkable by attracting more attention than Obama and dominating the headlines.  

September 3rd, Republican women took to the American airwaves accusing the liberal media and the Democrats of being sexist toward Sarah Palin.  Women like Carly Fiorina and Jane Swift were credited with accusing the media of trying to report anything on Sarah Palin, because (at that point) Palin had been sequestered by the McCain camp away from the media.  She wasn't speaking and the media was left to wonder: 'Who is this woman who might one day become president?'  There was a time when we had 60 days to find that out.  

Now we've got less.

Men like Ron Dreher are speaking of war with Democrats over Sarah Palin's treatment.  He opened his September 7th article by saying, "Does the Angry Left really want to launch a culture war over Sarah Palin? Fine. Lock and load."  He's trying to perpetuate a catchphrase in hopes that it catches on. Dreher wants the 'Angry Left' to become cliche.  Dreher uses examples of Sarah Palin's life to illustrate his points.  This is the same treatment the 'Angry Left' uses to sexist means.  

Barack Obama apparently took things to another level when he used a country saying.



Georgian (U.S.) Republican Representative Lynn Westmoreland referred to Barack Obama as uppity for moments Barack's had in the past.  Sarah Palin and John McCain may now apparently own the rights to the word lipstick.  You see because she said lipstick once in her speech and it got a laugh, she trademarked it.  

Maybe. 

We may now need to start going back through her old speechs and seeing what triggered laughter in those as well.  She might need to claim ownership of more words in the next fifty days.

During this time, some in the press have started to count the number of things they know about Sarah Palin.  On September the 10th, the BBC had their count at ten.  They can now add a few more bullet points to their list after ABC's interview with Sarah Palin was trickled into public domain.  Now the true scrutiny begins and the responsible press are scrutinizing Sarah Palin.  The Associated Press has questioned Palin's consistency with regard to the environment.  Former Republican Senator Lincoln Chafee went on record as calling Sarah Palin a "cocky wacko."

In the midst of this, some suggest the lack of Hillary Clinton's voice in the political landscape may really highlight her true intentions this whole time.  Lisa Gans suggests that if Hillary Clinton does not do something to help Barack Obama get elected (or not allow Sarah Palin to become Vice President of the United States of America) then Hillary Clinton never really had any principles with regard to serving the people of the United States of America.

Lisa Gans wrote, "Hillary was much praised for her speech at the democratic convention, but her relative silence now can only lead Democratic voters to wonder whether she is in this for the Democrats or for herself."  One thing has become clear in this political race.  

The race is now: Barack Obama for president or Sarah Palin for vice president.








Educated, but Uninformed Analysis: You're Allowed to Do It!




This week's motif seems to be the slippery slope.  A United States Treasury spokeswoman was reported to be in talks with Morgan Stanley, advisors, "Fannie and Freddie's regulator" and the United States Federal Reserve.  Friday September 5th the spokeswoman said, "As we've said for weeks, we're not going to comment on market speculation."

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are two publicly-traded, private companies.  Supposedly, if you've got some extra money you don't need; you give it to the gals and guys at these two companies and they'll eventually give you back more than you gave them.

September 7th, President Bush's administration comes out and says Freddie and Fannie can't do it anymore.  That sounds kind of quaint doesn't it?  Freddie and Fannie aren't doing so well.  Like your aunt or uncle.  They can't do it anymore and we're taking them into conservatorship.  

Conservatorship.  

What the hell does that mean to you and me?  Essentially nothing.  The New York Times reports that it's a type of bankruptcy.  Investorwords.com says, "A situation where a person (called the conservator) is appointed to manage the affairs of another person, who a court ruled is unable to make decisions themselves."

These guys and gals making up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are essentially incompetent by court order.  But Fannie and Freddie aren't doing so well.  New York Times describes the action as "aggressive federal intervention."  

The real word for it is socialism though.

Republicans argue against socialized medicine.  They push charter "private" schools as opposed to the socialized, public schools we currently have.  Republicans despise Social welfare, because they don't want to see their dollar go to someone who doesn't deserve it.  Someone that's just going to spend it!  To hell with that guy getting my buck because- you understand- the government doesn't just produce money.  

(Although some argue it should.)

The Bush Administration (an administration of Republicans characterized as conservative:) took over the operation of two of the largest banks in the United States of America.  We've joined the ranks of country's all over the world through government control of private sector business.

Socialism.

So now the argument in this country must emerge that socialism is only okay if you give the government's money to those who deserve it most.  Faceless people hiding behind corporate names doing things without consequence.  The corporation hides activity.  Hidden socialism in public view is really quite despicable.  Your buck as well as mine will be given to some faceless scumbag who went into business and reaped tremendous profit.  The guy with a BMW will get a hand out from me and you.

Private decisions were made and those decisions weren't successful.  When it happens to me I should be ashamed to be on the public dole.  That guys still has money and his money apparently makes the economy move.  Mine doesn't.  

Trickle down economics.

Now to the slippery slope.  

The Bush Administration takes over two banks.  More banks like Lehman Brothers start suggesting they might like to be socialized as well.  The market's suppose to do the correcting according to conservative principles though.  There should be no government intervention even though Armageddon might be near.   Conservative capitalists do not engage government to intervene in private business.  

Mix in Cold War attitudes of domination and intellectual superiority, capitalist conservatives argued not only were their communist counterparts wrong, but they're ideology was intellectually inferior and doomed to fail.  The battles in Korea and Vietnam were all essentially for winning hearts and minds for capitalism, but after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union, Communism wins out in the United States of America apparently.

Mark your calendar, September 7th 2008, capitalism bowed to communism.








Our Nation's Dumber...Thanks for Participating!


September 2nd, 2008, the Republican National Convention fired up and Republicans came out both guns blazing.  Fred Thompson riled up crowds dropping new campaign catch-phrases like  "angry liberal"  and speaking in hyperbole.  Thompson said, "We also know we live in the freest, strongest, most generous and most prosperous nation in the history of the world and we're proud of that."



I'm sure Senator Thompson is aware hyperbole might be considered rhetoric.  Thompson apparently likes rhetoric.  He positioned the Republican vice presidential nominee in an interesting fashion when he said, "She's from a small town with small town values...[she's] governed, rather than just talked a good game on the Sunday talk shows and hit the Washington cocktail circuit."

Is he positioning her against Obama or Biden?  Thompson really threw his weight behind Palin in his speech.  He gave her credit for being able to field-wrestle moose for Christ's sake.  Fred Thompson made a point, after generously bestowing his praises on Sarah Palin, to mention John McCain's sons.  Thompson used McCain's son for political purpose by noting McCain's two sons were involved in the military (one in Iraq and one in the Naval Academy.)

Much has been made of speaking of politician's families during these campaigns.  Sarah Palin's daughter was argued to be off limits to political opponents.  Senator Fred Thompson wanted to paint a different picture for the audience.  He gave John McCain quaint attributes like being "the leader of the trouble makers" and being "principled during rebellion."

What the hell does that mean?

Fred Thompson assumes a lot when he states, "if you want to know who John McCain is...look at the men and women that wear the uniform today."  Again Senator Thompson speaks in hyperbole.  Fred Thompson painted a picture of horror as he described John McCain's time as prisoner of war and comparing this story of misery to a vision of hope.  The viewer is expected to accept hope is best understood from the standpoint of misery?

John McCain was beaten.  According to Senator Fred Thompson, John McCain essentially spit in the face of his captors for five years.  His spirit was never broken and being a POW reveals character.  "The kind of character that civilizations from the beginning of our history have sought in their leaders."  

Once again, I call hyperbole.

Senator Thompson tells us, "there are two questions we'll never have to ask ourselves.  Who is this man and can we trust this man with the presidency?"  Apparently because he was a POW, although I might suggest that being beaten and kept in a cage for eight years might have adverse effects on your psyche.

But we're winning in Iraq!  

Ronald Reagan was John McCain's hero and John McCain stood up to him.  John McCain never sought an earmark and Senator Thompson then settles in to discuss John McCain's experience in Congress (a deliberative body that in no way qualifies Obama to serve in the Executive office.)

Senator Thompson again uses rhetorical positioning tactics in his speech when he says John McCain does not gain respect because "of a teleprompter speech designed to appeal to America's critics abroad."  Apparently, John McCain's respect is gained by character and statesmanship.  

Hyperbole alert.

Thompson said, "there's never been a time in our nation's history since we first pledged allegiance to the American flag when the character, judgment and leadership of our president was more important."  To prove his point, Fred apparently decided to free associate for a time.   

Terrorist.  
Rogue nations.  
Belligerent Russia.  
China.  
Bankrupt.  

Just a couple thoughts to hold you over until his next bit of rhetorical hyperbole.  Barack Obama's candicacy is history-making because he is "the most liberal, most inexperienced nominee to ever run for president."  Nevermind he's the first black American nominated for president in a country of racist past.  I'm sure no racism could be abstracted from Fred Thompson's trivializing of why Barack Obama's candidacy is truly history-making.  

Regardless of whether he wins, Barack Obama stood up in a historically racist country- for the first time- and offered himself as a historically "inferior" man to lead a partial country of racists.

Nobody of color has ever led this country.  Nobody.  60 years ago black men could be lynched and their attackers are just now being punished.  There are still many people from that time living today.  People like McCain's mother.

I'm not saying she's racist, but she lived in an America that tolerated 'white only' restrooms.  

John McCain grew up during that time and John McCain has never seen a serious black contender to the top office in the United States of America.  Neither has Fred Thompson for that matter, but Fred has the audacity to trivialize the situation in such a fashion as to take dignity from the part that Barack Obama serves in America's history right now.

Senator Fred Thompson wrapped up by ridiculing the ideas of Barack Obama and Joseph Biden.  He made sure to throw the pro-life division out as red meat for the crowd (and they went nuts.)  Fred Thompson in the end did what was needed and he was quite the cheerleader for John McCain.

In my assessment, Fred Thompson is a racist piece of garbage.  

No offense, of course!





Down On Rage Street




Kid Rock's name is back out there.  Sounds like he's got a hit on his hands.



It's clear that "All Summer Long" is catchy and well-produced.  Kid Rock will make a lot of money with this song.  A lot of radio stations will put "All Summer Long" into power rotation.  And why not?  The core melody of the song is great.  That melody was great when Warren Zevon used it in "Werewolves of London."



Kid Rock is on another level.  He's a rock star.  He reveals his musical influences clearly.


As a performer, Kid Rock is apparently brilliant.  As an artist, Kid Rock is questionable.  In rap, the 1980's argument about sampling led some people to try to define what was an acceptable amount of sampling.  Sampling a melody was always unoriginal, see the demise of Vanilla Ice.  Sampling a melody is theft and mediocre.

I explain all of this merely to say, "I think Kid Rock sucks as an artist and I refuse to listen to his music anymore."  Put him on the list with Puffy for sampling Led Zepplin's "Kashmir."









Tip of the week




Take an hour and watch this video- "Fiat Economy: Why the Federal Reserve Violates the U.S. Constitution."



I don't necessarily agree with everything said; however, there is some good information in this 58 minute video that more Americans should know.  It views like a high school documentary, but ask yourself: how much do you really understand about the Federal Reserve in the United States of America?

Everytime Americans lose jobs in mass, the Federal Reserve is reacting.  

More citizens should be able to debate that topic.






Belly Laugh 




Cheech and Chong have reunited after 25 years.  They're touring the country performing.  This seems like an apt time to go back and listen to some of their early material.  These guys are hilarious.


Dave's not here.

Let's Make A Dope Deal.  If you've never heard this bit before, listen for the kids watching TV and what takes place on the TV.  This is brilliant scripting.


Blind Melon Chitlin



Posted by Wyll D Sarge at 9/14/2008 5:02 PM
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: 911 in Russia Senator Fred Thompson rhetoric Cheney and Russia Daily Show Brilliant Reporting Kid Rock sucks Palin itch Olberman analysis
 

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