Blogmocracy in Action!
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On this blog, bringing up the issue of fascists and socialists and where they are in the political spectrum is borderline overkill, if not plain and simple overkill already. I myself have already written about the subject on this blog. However, this is something I believe needs to be said. Fascists (a.k.a. Nazis) have usually been labeled as right-wing and socialists (a.k.a. Marxists, Stalinists, Communists, Trotskyists, Leninists, you get the idea) have been regarded as left-wing. Rodan, among others elsewhere in the Internet, has presented the arguments that fascists and socialists share very few differences. Looking at the stances the fascists and the socialists hold on the issues we contemplate over today, at the methods employed by both sides when they were (in some cases, are) in power, and at the goals both sides have sought, I agree with Rodan on his contention. The one real difference between the fascists and the socialists is how they describe their ideology. The fascists describe their “struggle” along the lines of nationalism and racism, while the socialists describe theirs along the lines of societal classes. The ideological difference is there, but is so minor compared to everything else about both sides, it’s a cosmetic difference. It is also a difference which doesn’t differentiate where the two sides are on the American political spectrum. The best way to prove both sides are left-wing in nature is to ask yourself this question: Where do they stand on the roles of the individual and the state in society? Based solely on the writings and spoken words of Hitler, Marx and Lenin, they contended the state is greater than the individual; the individual serves the state, and the state is paramount in all things. My own opinion of what constitutes a left-winger or a right-winger is this: if you believe the individual serves the state, you are a left-winger; if you believe the state serves the individual, you are a right-winger. Those who call themselves “democratic socialists” will doubtless say the state serves the individual and vice versa, but their idea of the size of the roles of the state and the individual should play in society still makes them left-wingers in my opinion. Our Founding Fathers had some choice words to say about the role of the state and the individual in American society, and what the democratic socialists envision for American society lies in the middle between what our Founders envisioned and what Marx envisioned; it lies between the midpoint and the far left point of the spectrum. Those who claim the fascists are right-wing cite racism as the reason, as if being racist is one of the symptoms of being far-right. I don’t buy that crap. Racism is a part of bigotry, bigotry is an evil, and evil (in whatever form) transcends groups. Race, ethnicity, age, sex, nationality, religion; there’s always at least one bigot in every group. To use any form of bigotry as a factor in deciding one’s political location is misleading. Calling Pat Buchanan, Ron Paul, Alex Jones, Jesse Ventura, VDARE, the BNP, Vlaams Belang, Stormfront and others racists or bigots or just crazy is one thing (whether you’re wrong or not depends on the individual or group in question), but if you want to know whether they are right-wing or left-wing, ask them what they think is the role of the individual and the role of the state in society. If their answer isn’t crystal clear, look at where they stand on the issues and discern how it affects the individual. There’s no other way, in my opinion, to decide one’s place in the political spectrum. |
| (cross-posted @ Morgan’s 2 cents) |
Left or Right: Where One Truly Is In The Political Spectrum
by m ( 138 Comments › )Filed under Politics, Racism at November 19th, 2009 - 6:36 am
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We're not easily offended and don't want people to think they have to walk on eggshells around here (like at another place that shall remain nameless) but of course, there is a limit to everything.
Play nice!
First?
the far left and far right meet
mawskrat wrote:
In hell?
OT
Dow’s down about 140 points.
I wonder what’s going on?
Aladin Sane wrote:
Obonomics
Aladin Sane wrote:
//does anyone know how the market truly works
mawskrat wrote:
Well, I suppose I do. In general, the stocks I buy are the ones that go down.
Great post. Sometimes simple questions can shake up the left. When one of my libs was cheerfully discussing her ‘hope’ to get ’stimulus’ money to take computer classes, I pressed her on where is the money coming from. Her ridiculous answer was, “The gov’t..” I asked, ‘Well where does the gov’t get the money,’ That stumped her for a moment. Then she said, ‘Taxes.’ I reminded her that since she had only paid paltry sums in taxes to the gov’t, surely she could see that her computer classes were being paid for by hard working people from all over the country who might want top keep their money and use it for their own classes. I asked. “How can you honestly expect them to pay for YOUR classes. . . they don’t even know you.”
Holder said yesterday that if the NYC 5 who are going to be tried in Federal Court get off, they will be considered “enemy combatants” and held not released? So why the fuck are you even trying them as American Courts? What kind of Fucked up logic is that?
@ chickadee:
I had that discussion with a lefty friend of mine~ I do his taxes, so when he started railing about paying taxes (and in return they should pay for his insurance) I had to remind him that he gets back more every year than he pays in… so no- he doesn’t pay taxes.
Someone else will be paying for his insurance.
@ Nevergiveup:
Obamalogic.
@ m:
Those who don’t pay taxes should not be allowed to vote IMO.
I’m not really too concerned about Swine Flu, but one has to wonder about this point:
Three years ago, Chinese calendar year of the cow… Mad Cow Disease.
Two years ago, Chinese calendar year of the bird… Avian Flu.
This year, Chinese calendar year of the pig… Swine Flu.
Next year is the year of the cock… Any of you other men worried?
@ Rightside:
Agreed. That and a basic current events test. If they don’t know the players, they shouldn’t even be in the game. (only half joking)
Well, I suppose I do. In general, the stocks I buy are the ones that go down….aladin sane
I have some really neat stock certificates from the 30’s…suitable for framing.lol
@ Rightside:
Does anyone know what happened to Pingjockey from 1.0? Is he over at CC?
@ chickadee:
Thanks, chickadee. You made a great point with you friend. If she doesn’t pay enough in taxes to equal the costs of her computer classes, there is no other logical alternative than somebody else is paying for those classes.
I made this argument to one of my high school government (civics) teachers way back in 1978. He was using that book “isms” with its pendulum swing in an arc diagram with authoritarian/marxist on the left and totalitatarian/facist on the right. I told Mr. Wallace that the diagram was wrong and that it should really be a circle as they are nearly one and the same, and that there is no middle ground at the bottom of the arc where the state and the individual exist in harmony. This was as much as I could get out from all of the contradictions and resolutions that were swirling around in my head at the time. He cut me off before I could elaborate, you see Mr. Wallace was actually Dr. Wallace an outspoken leftist, and at the time, one of the longest tenured highest earning teachers in Fairfax County Virginia.
The same cowardice and ideological certitude was exhibted by an english teacher when I question the theme, “The Demise of the American Dream” and that her definition of alienation did not apply to my experience as an American youth so I had nothing to contribute beyond criticism of the assumptions she outlined as a fondation for the assigned task. She actually wasn’t as lazy as Dr. Wallace, she took the time to call me too immature to understand the ‘meaning’ of the theme.
I thought not, and have kept my eyes out for these deconstructing socialist bastards ever since.
Rightside wrote:
Only about how that vaccination might have to be applied?
@ m:
The dreaded exclamation point warning?
Rightside wrote:
Was he banned?
Morgan,
Awesome post. I agree Its about economic policy. Example although Fascists and Nazis are Nationalists as opposed to Tansnationalist Socialists. They are all progressive Ideologies based on an elite dictating their agenda to the masses. They all agree on Government control of the economy. Hence Nazis, Communists, Maoists and Fascists are all Progressives. Hitler called himself a progressive as also stalin did.
One can argue Hugo Chavez and his Bolivarian Movement is National Socialism and his goal of taking over latin AMerica is the modern version of Anshluss.
@ Nevergiveup:
Ahh, you’ve not had a vasectomy then.
@ Nevergiveup:
I downloaded a PDF file of a paper titled “A Comparative Historical Analysis of War Time Procedural Protections and Presidential Powers: From the Civil War to the The War on Terror” By Kyndra Rotunda. (She is one of my FB friends, look for her and friend request her). I have just gotten through the first of forty pages. Very interesting and I must say I am afraid to finish it. I believe it was someone here who said they heard her on Dennis Miller.
@ Rightside:
No, that was the “oh dear” exclamation point! That flu would be devastating to more than the mens!
@ bellamags:
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1492351
@ bellamags:
She was the one who is in the Army Jag core right?
@ Rightside:
I am not worried about mine, got my PSA’s checked last week, but Uncle Stan’s is another matter all together.
@ Scott Madsen:
Exactly the difference between Nazism and Marxism is very slight. What they disagree on is Race. The Nazis were Race based Progressives, the Marxists were Post Race Progressives. Ironically the American progressive Movement is eerily similar to the Nazis in this regard. Progressive believe Whites are superior, therefore they must take care of Non Whites. The Nazis believed in the extermination of Non Aryan race. That is where they diverge. But both Nazism and American progressives have come to the same conclusion on the superiority of Races.
Gaddafi caught him one.
Italian hostess accepts Colonel Gaddafi’s Islam plea
As a woman, may I just say… she’s a dumbass!
@ Nevergiveup:
I don’t think so, he just stopped posting I think before I left…
Not sure, Doc, but he’s a shipmate, and a good guy too.
Nevergiveup wrote:
It’s political theater. I watched Holder on CSPAN yesterday. He was looked like a fool despite Leahys attempts to coddle him.
The level of incompetence being displayed by this administration on a daily basis is a joke. Everything from BO care to recovery.gov to the NYC 5. They are bumbling their way through governence.
As to Morgans post, It’s very well written and I agree with most of it. However,I don’t think that there is any doubt that today, the individual is serving the state. I think a case can be made that left wingers think the state should serve the individual. (collectively) ie; Things that a lefty considers the state should provide for them. Free education, free healthcare, and other so called free benefits.
Those of us that believe in limited government intrusion in our lives and low taxation are labled right wingers because we believe that most of what we earn should be ours to keep. I don’t want the state serving me anything beyond the basics of strong national defense, infastructure, and public safety.
@ Nevergiveup:
YES
Nevergiveup wrote:
Zero, like a moron, blurted out, “KSM will be convicted and the death penalty will be applied to him.”
Mistrial and it hasn’t even begun. There are so many maneuvers available for these monsters, anything is possible. This is a disaster in the making.
Rightside wrote:
I remember. Yup he is
@ m:
She’s a polyglot. Shows you a difference between intelligence and common sense.
Illinois Rep. Apologizes for Calling Islam a “Savage Religion” even though it is.
Yeah, cause the rest are such sweetie pies.
@ bellamags:
I have it saved…thanks
@ m:
I see a self-reinforcing feedback loop there.
Someone at that level of income cannot do their own taxes? Darewin in action!
Though I suppose, they could be just keeping it all DoMo for the sake of fairness and the betterment humanity.
OT:
The topic about Israeli home building and the double-standard of the World regarding them was exhaustedly discussed yesterday, but this morning I saw the following report that really just puts a finer point on it.
Jerusalem Planning Over 5,000 New Muslim/Arab Housing Units
The United States and the World are up-in-arms over the building of a few Jewish homes, but completely silent and/or approving of the building of 5,000 Non-Jewish homes.
@ Rodan:
Thanks, Rodan. The disregard Nazis, Communists and like-minded ilk have towards the individual is despicable, especially when they refer to the people as “the masses”, as if there is no unique value with each and every individual; they’re just rabble, just a mob to keep in line. Absolutely despicable.
As for Chavez, it could be argued his efforts are national socialism. His references to Bolivar certainly make it sound nationalistic.
WrathofG-d wrote:
But the Jews treat the Arabs so bad, they are all trying to leave Israel to go to other Arab Countries….ah..you mean they’re not…they’re trying to get it? Oh then never mind.
m wrote:
At the least, they should be able to show familiarity with Articles #1 and #2 of the Constitution, know the first 10 Amendments (The Bill of Rights), be able to distinguish the 3 branches of government and their constitutionally described roles, and name the 9 Supreme Court Justices.
Such a test would have eliminated 3/4 of all Obama voters. Truly, it would have eliminated 99 44/100% of those giggly airheaded kids who flocked to the Obama rallies by the thousands, and who, when asked why they were voting for Obama, replied, “because he’s so cooool.”
Actually, up to the sixties in many states, you had to be able to answer these sorts of questions before you could register to vote for the first time. However, because some states in the Deep South abused this process with a view to suppressing the black vote, this was made illegal. Thanks to the ACLU and and other heroes of the Left, you now have a constitutional right now to be bone ignorant and be lead around by your nose by socialist demogogues.
At Princeton U., Islam antagonist “unduly silenced”
Free Speech for every… ok, not you…
Rightside wrote:
Wonder if that is why there have been a number of stories in the press lately dealing with female Viagra like chemistry??
Morgan wrote:
What annoyed me so much was her absolute delight at the prospect of “being taken care of,” by the gov’t, when she didn’t even have a clue that it wasn’t the gov’t at all but hard working Americans whose money she was taking.
And I don’t care if any friendships with the ‘libs’ in my life get kicked to the curb, they have a lot more to lose than I do. Game over for their bullshit.
m….any big plans for the B-Day?
@ GrandJunctionite:
Good points about Morgan’s excellent post. A really key thing is, do you believe, as the Founders did, that rights (and everything else) come from our Creator and are inalienable (permanent & non-negotiable), or do you believe all rights and power are vested in the State, which will lend you a few of them (and take them away) it sees fit?
Needless to say, Facists, Communists, Socialists, Modern Liberals — Statists of all stripes — fervently believe the latter, and are obdurately opposed to the former.
GrandJunctionite wrote:
Thanks, and I agree that the individual is serving the state more than the state is serving the individual today (which is why we have the Tea Parties, the 9/12 Project and like-minded groups; we recognize it and want it to change now). Left-wingers can say they believe the state should serve the individual, but the differences in our definitions of the phrase is obvious. Left-wingers think the individual is like a child who doesn’t know better (and only the state can serve the “child”), and right-wingers believe the individual like an intelligent adult, best left to his (or her) own devices, with the state being there to protect the individual from outside forces.
@ mawskrat:
Not today, just dinner with the family~ but imma get drunk this weekend! (big deal for me, i do that very rarely)
@ m:
Happy birthday, m! Enjoy your day.
@ Morgan:
What about the idea of who is controlling the state? I think most conservatives don’t care as long as the state stays out of their business. Liberals on the other hand want to be the ones doing the controlling, and making the decisions for others who aren’t “capable” of deciding for themselves.
@ Gypsy:
Exactly. Thanks for bringing that up that excellent point.
Thanks Gypsy!
m wrote:
//I only drink on other peoples birthdays
@ Aladin Sane:
Spot on, Aladin. It goes back to the response I posted at comment #50. The Left doesn’t believe the individual can take care himself (or herself), and the Right believes the individual is more than capable of taking care of himself (or herself). As long as the leaders don’t infringe on my God-given rights, I don’t care who they are.
@ Morgan:
Yup, his Bolivarian Socialism seems is definitely bordering on National Socialism.
@ mawskrat:
I’m drinking with mawskrat!
HAPPY B’DAY M ♥ ♥ ♥
YOU ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://11.media.tumblr.com/MzkOZ65W27kx5juaR9VYd5Ut_500.jpg
@ Gypsy:
Facists, Communists, Socialists, Modern Liberals — Statists of all stripes all believe that they should be the ones in charge and making the rules. If you are not in their group, then you obviously aren’t smart enough to take care of yourself and need their help and guidance.
Jesse Jackson: ‘You can’t vote against healthcare and call yourself a black man’
By Mike Soraghan – 11/18/09 05:42 PM ET
The Rev. Jesse Jackson on Wednesday night criticized Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.) for voting against the Democrats’ signature healthcare bill
Class act all the way ha?
@ Nevergiveup:
Um, so race doesn’t depend on what color your skin is, it depends on your politics?
@ SciFiGuy:
It’s an evil plot, I tell you!
@ vagabond trader:
aw shucks…
~:D Thanks {{VT}}!
Happy Birthday m!
(this time I got the cake)
@ SciFiGuy:
pfft earthlings.
Happy Birthday, M!
(assuming it is your birthday!)
And I really like this post by Morgan, it hits the nail on the head!
Nevergiveup wrote:
But you can vote against the civil rights act, and be a friend of the black man.
@ Rightside:
woohooo~ sugar rush! ~:D
Thanks Rightside!!
time for lunch, bbl.
@ Delectable:
It has to be. I woke up to my mom singing to me on the phone. That only happens once a year. Thank goodness!
Rodan wrote:
Will his next move be Anschluss against Colombia? If so, Colombia will kick his ass, since they have had considerable military aid and training from the U.S. for a number of years prior to Obama, whereas Venezuela is crumbling from within, and has never been a military power.
Saudi convicted, beheaded
But it was just his sister. Mebbe they found out she didn’t really show an ankle as he thought.
Imam misunderstands Islam, asks, “What is wrong with Sharia law? If someone steals…why is it wrong to cut off his hand?”
Nevergiveup wrote:
yes I’m sure the race baiter is all for abortion also…because we know Margaret Sanget love blacks.
On blacks, immigrants and indigents:
“…human weeds,’ ‘reckless breeders,’ ’spawning… human beings who never should have been born.” Margaret Sanger, Pivot of Civilization, referring to immigrants and poor people
On the extermination of blacks:
“We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population,” she said, “if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members.” Woman’s Body, Woman’s Right: A Social History of Birth Control in America, by Linda Gordon
“We should hire three or four colored ministers, preferably with social-service backgrounds, and with engaging personalities. The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal. We don’t want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population. and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members.”
Margaret Sanger’s December 19, 1939 letter to Dr. Clarence Gamble, 255 Adams Street, Milton, Massachusetts. Original source: Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, North Hampton, Massachusetts. Also described in Linda Gordon’s Woman’s Body, Woman’s Right: A Social History of Birth Control in America. New York: Grossman Publishers, 1976.
@ Delectable:
Hello there, how are you today!
@ Gypsy:
Yeah it would be more like Hitler attacking Russia. Colombia would destroy Venezuela and Chavez would be hiding in a bunker. It’s coincidence it was the Colombian Army that drove Spain out of South America.
Hey… remember how the director of 2012 took out the destruction of any one of the 3,548,665,482 holiest sites in islam so they wouldn’t go jihadi on him?
Well, it wasn’t enough.
sorry- linky added
@ Nevergiveup:
More evidence that I am right, and these five defendants don’t matter. Holder is wanting a court to rule that waterboarding is torture so he can go after the CIA and military (and Bush Administration officials) who so mistreated poor khalid, and put them in prison for a long time. All the BS about our standing in the world, etc. is just so much piss and wind. They are going after the real enemy: America.
“Pat Buchanan, Ron Paul, Alex Jones, Jesse Ventura, VDARE, ” – all suck!
17:49 Hillary Clinton: Death sentences imposed by Iran over elections unrest `distressing` (AP)
But Jewish Carpenters on the West Bank is killing the peace process right hillary? Assholes.
Better yet – check what their position on Jews are – they are all anti Semites – the extreme Right and Left.
m wrote:
Yikes, m! This imam and his “sermonette” on Sharia Law are enough to scare the living whatzis out of anybody. The piece de resistance was the quote at the end from the Catholic priest, saying how shocked he was to hear these opinions coming from a moderate Muslim clergyman!
Happy Birthday “m”!
Police Chief Apologizes to Muslims over Fugitive Arrests – by Lloyd Bilinsgley
@ Gypsy:
Crazy.
@ Speranza:
Thankyew~!
@ Rightside:
That isn’t limited to black “civil rights” leaders. The NRA supported Jack Brooks after he voted for the “Assault Weapon” ban. That wasn’t enough to save him, and it lost the NRA a lot of respect.
@ m:
Happy birthday!
The Unknown Citizen
by W. H. Auden
(To JS/07 M 378
This Marble Monument
Is Erected by the State)
He was found by the Bureau of Statistics to be
One against whom there was no official complaint,
And all the reports on his conduct agree
That, in the modern sense of an old-fashioned word, he was a
saint,
For in everything he did he served the Greater Community.
Except for the War till the day he retired
He worked in a factory and never got fired,
But satisfied his employers, Fudge Motors Inc.
Yet he wasn’t a scab or odd in his views,
For his Union reports that he paid his dues,
(Our report on his Union shows it was sound)
And our Social Psychology workers found
That he was popular with his mates and liked a drink.
The Press are convinced that he bought a paper every day
And that his reactions to advertisements were normal in every way.
Policies taken out in his name prove that he was fully insured,
And his Health-card shows he was once in hospital but left it cured.
Both Producers Research and High-Grade Living declare
He was fully sensible to the advantages of the Instalment Plan
And had everything necessary to the Modern Man,
A phonograph, a radio, a car and a frigidaire.
Our researchers into Public Opinion are content
That he held the proper opinions for the time of year;
When there was peace, he was for peace: when there was war, he went.
He was married and added five children to the population,
Which our Eugenist says was the right number for a parent of his
generation.
And our teachers report that he never interfered with their
education.
Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd:
Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard.
@ Speranza:
Hugo Chavez is an anti-Semite.
Rodan wrote:
99% of Leftists (including Leftist Jews) are so that is no surprise.
@ m:
Check your email
m
In honor of your birthday
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBwGmOexmNo
A most excellent analysis, Morgan!
@ buzzsawmonkey:
Thank you, Buzzsawmonkey! Enjoyed it! Fits right in with this morning’s post. The thing is, the Left would find this poem affirming and heartening.
Then there are people like this one who are just plain loony.
http://www.weaselzippers.net/blog/2009/11/maddows-guest-calls-us-all-religious-maniacs-who-want-the-president-dead.html
@ snork:
Thanks Snork! I proposed a national holiday (and a day off work) but it was a no-go.
:-/
@ Speranza:
Thank you! (all my life that song has haunted me! lol)
@ m:
Hey you are now drinking age!
m wrote:
Did you get a card from Sharm today?
Now back on topic, “left” and “right” haven’t meant what they originally meant in over a century. In truth, the terms referred to the French Assembly at the time leading up to the revolution. The “right wing” was the loyalists, and the “left wing” was Napoleon’s revolutionaries. Marxism and Fascism weren’t even conceived yet, and the division was less over utopianism than it was over the conduct of the royalty.
The same thing was playing out in the American colonies. The revolutionaries weren’t ideological, they were just fed up with King George. The American Revolution could have been avoided if George had met the colonist’s demands.
By the time the Bolshevik revolution rolled around, it was a completely different dynamic: Lenin was not interested in negotiating with the Romanovs, he was on a mission to install utopia. Napoleon was a little bit more utopian than the American revolutionaries, but he had no fully formed ideology like Lenin did.
Similarly, Hitler ran for the Bundestag not because he believed in democracy, but because he understood that the way to destroy it was from the inside.
Somehow, universalist socialism morphed into the “left” in the language, and nationalist socialism morphed into the “right”, but neither one has anything to do with the original left or right wings of the French Assembly, and they’re both just variants on collectivist utopian ideology. There are other ideas out there, including the notion that some things are best left to evolve naturally, rather than attempting to ram society into an ideological die.
Oddly, the side that claims to be scientific, and understands the concept of hands off and let it be in the context of biology, refuses to accept that as being the way to allow society to self-organize.
@ Speranza:
Ha!
I hear she’s busy ~
146 years ago today 11/19/1863 – The Gettysburg Address
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBwGmOexmNo
m wrote:
She is engaged in total war (alongside albusteve and others) with iceweasel and her paramour Jimmah.
@ Gypsy:
Glad you liked it. I screwed the formatting up a little, though; there shouldn’t be those extra line breaks.
As for Fsacist- Communist – let us not forget the warm relations between Stalin and Hitler from August 1939 – June 1941.
Speranza wrote:
Sharm made one attempt to defuse the Ludzooka this morning, and then went away. I think she’s down in the bomb shelter in her back yard.
That Luddite dood is a real piece of work, no?
@ m:
Yeah my name also has one of those 60s songs attached to it and people still hassle me.
@ snork:
Hitler never expected to take power peacefully. Btw the Nazis never seized power – they were handed power after the last free election when they lost 3 million votes.
@ snork:
They really have some obnoxious people over there.
Giving a koran for Christmas? That’s just not right.
Israel to Obama: Go F yourself.
@ Speranza:
Of course, he never expected things to work out the way they did. That’s why he had his paramilitary units at the same time. The point was that he wasn’t interesting in compromise, he was just slicing the bologna. It wasn’t about settling grievances, it was about utopia.
Interesting interview on Israeli TV of soldier who was at Fort Hood shooting……
This is worth watching. Very insightful to see how the rest of the world views us now, under President Obama:
Click here to watch interview of American Soldier on Israeli TV
~Norsk Troll
@ m:
Whoever he is glad I’m not on his shopping list.
@ snork:
Absolutely no advocation of violence intended here, but I’ve wondered how Lud’s superior intelligence would respond to a threat of physical harm. i.e. a carjack or battery? Clever retort followed by esteem crushing lectures on the evils of such endeavors?
Or just a piddly leg?
Lumps of coal will be the gifts of choice for Christmas this year, for everyone who wants to figuratively thumb their noses at the whole “carbon footprint” madness.
Buy them at The Anthra-site dot com.
mawskrat wrote:
It’s just a tracking poll////
Israeli humor piece on the Army response to the Hasan shootings.
Watch this.
snork wrote:
What I find amusing is that we can get up-to-the-minute, blow-by-blow bulletins (complete with substantiating quotes) on what is going on over there, but they are unable to do the same with (to?) us, thanks largely to Charles’s prohibiting the lizards from even thinking about this blog. Too bad. The back-and-forth could provide belly-laughs for weeks. (This is not to make light of the suffering that some here underwent at the other site, but still … I find the whole epic soap opera over there tremendously entertaining.)
@ Gypsy:
He occasionally gives safe conduct passes to special recon loozards activated in order to keep tabs on our “hater” blog. They like to watch.
@ Gypsy:
Blogmocracy, fine commentary, analysis and online discourse, with the added bonus of the occasional floor show– stage left.
Gypsy wrote:
I think you have nailed the crucial point.
Gypsy wrote:
And educational. In meatspace, someone like that probably would have had his lights punched out in about 10 minutes, but online, especially with the acquiescence of the blog owner, a witless wonder like that is able to bully a roomful of people, and get away with it.
This internet is such a boon to pipsqueaks.
@ snork:
TFK has him pegged perfectly: Ludwig van Quacksalot. He’s as much a professional scientist as I am a professional basketball player.
@ vagabond trader:
Hiya {{VT!!}}
@ vapig:
How goes it Miz {Vapig}? Party @ Speranzas!
@ Carolina Girl:
Thanks, Carolina Girl, and sorry it took me so long to respond.
@ Iron Fist:
Really, Iron? You’re a professional basketball player?
You’ve been holding out on us all these years?
I bet with that Iron Fist of yours, you have a killer slam dunk!
Heh.
~Norsk Troll
@ snork:
This. Some, like Sal and Charles at LGF, make the arguement that because right once meant national and left once meant egalitarian, those called right today are by definition racist and those called left today are by definition egalitarion.
They’ve come to mean something completely different, and to refuse to accept that, to assume that conservatism today has grown out of a tribalist ideology is to be willfully obtuse to the level of wondering why homosexuals are said to be so happy and carefree(‘gay’).
The soviets were international totalitarian collectivists and the Nazis were national totalitarian collectivists. “Left” and “Right” were used by them to differentiate themselves, but insisting that those terms still have the same meaning obscures the important difference between either of them and American politics today, which also, perhaps unfortunately, have the same labels applied.
It’s the totalitarian collectivism that is the more critical feature, that both Communists and Nazis shared, and the American “Left” or progressives today wish to move us towards. Extreme nationalism is bad too, but A) isn’t embraced by much if any of the American “right” or conservatives, and B) hasn’t done nearly the damage of collectivist totalitarianism that our “right” opposes and our “left” embraces.
Excellent post.
This article is a MUST READ on this issue:
It sets out the distinction between egalitarian and non-egalitarian collectivism, which is illuminating and useful.
@ Nikis Knight:
Do read the article linked at my 131.
The idea of racism being the worst sin, and egalitareanism being its ideological opposite and therefor good, has distorted political thinking in America. Killing, depriving of liberty, on the basis of skin-color or being Jewish (not a race, but thought to be one by the Nazis), is for people like Mr. Johnson, worse than killing or enslaving on the basis of class, or any arbitrary excuse.
Why? The only answer I have received is that blacks cannot “help” being black. (With the implication that Jews can “help” being Jewish, and political dissidents, kulaks, intellectuals, etc. can be “reeducated”.)
@ Overlook:
errant “e-s”, missing i,. In a rush. Sorry.
Well, I was late again. Another time…
@ Nikis Knight:
But part of my point is that right didn’t originally mean nationalist. It mean royal loyalist. Strictly speaking, the American revolutionaries were “left wing”, because they were in opposition to the royalty.
But as I said, they weren’t ideologues. They had specific grievances. They weren’t utopians.
@ snork:
Yes, and you’re probably right about that (Not saying I doubt you, I just don’t know).
I just know that when it was discussed at LGF, it was said that Right = tribal, Left = egalitarian. (Basically, right is definitionally racist, and left is definitionally compassionate). If that was true once, it ain’t what todays consertvatives, called right in America, derive* from.
*Or so it looks to me. Certainly that isn’t the distinction we base oursevles around today, even if a tenuoous link can be shown.
Great post, and this can never be brought up enough. Many people do not realize that collectivism in all its forms is poison. I said it before, injecting even a little bit of socialism into a capitalist system in hopes of “improving” it, is akin to putting a spoonful of manure into a keg of good beer with the same hopes. It won’t work, and it will ruin the beer.
@ Overlook:
@ PrincessNatasha:
Thanks a lot, and by the way, Overlook, thanks for the link to the article; very good.