Anti-Democratic Solutions

On January 8th, 2011, a United States Congresswoman from Arizona was shot in the head at a grocery store.  12 other people were injured in the shooting, including a federal judge.

It is too early to jump to conclusions at this point in time.  Still, the factors surrounding this situation make it look rather grim.

Sarah Palin Target Map

The Representative from Arizona was listed on Sarah Palin’s  target map.  This has all the earmarks of political terrorism.  I have spoken on the instances in the past of acts of aggression on political figures.

This is not how democracy works.  It is anti-democratic.  A public official is elected into a position into government.  When people disagree with them, threats and violence are not a democratic solution.

Is this what we are to expect from the current state of political affairs?  Many of these politicians on the New Right are stoking the flames of social discontent with phrases such as “Second Amendment Solutions” and “Don’t Retreat – Reload!”  When this is the result, what are we to assume?  That it was just a random act of violence?

In efforts of honesty, as I stated earlier, there have been no releases of evidence that this was anything.  All we know currently is that the suspect was apprehended and his name was Jared Loughner.

All I know is that we need to watch as this situation develops.  We also need to hold public figures accountable for their actions, especially when they incite violence.  The only response by Sarah Palin so far has been a tweet to a link, and the following comment:

My sincere condolences are offered to the family of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the other victims of today’s tragic shooting in Arizona.

On behalf of Todd and my family, we all pray for the victims and their families, and for peace and justice.

- Sarah Palin

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Tags: democracy, Gabrielle Giffords, guns, PAC, Rep. Giffords, sarah palin, shooting, targets, terrorism
Category Neo-Fascism |

Thank you for using my life as a bargaining tool.

Ok.  I am angry now.  I seem angry a lot.  I’m usually not.  I get angry over petty things.  I know I should not.  But I was reading an article from the Associate Press, Tax Cuts Raise Expectations For Economy In 2011 , and I decided to need to expound.

So, what is really going on? Well, there is a huge debate about the top marginal tax rate.  President Obama was going to extend the Bush tax cuts for the bottom 98% of the country, as well as extend the Unemployment Insurance benefits for those still seeking employment.  The Conservatives (Republican, Independent, and Democrat) complained that the Bush tax cuts should remain in place for the top 2%.

With the recent mid-term election, there were enough Republicans in office (with the Blue Dog Democrats) to stop Unemployment Insurance being extended.  The President folded like cheap lawn furniture and finally stated he would extend the Bush tax cuts for the top 2% if Unemployment Insurance was extended.

In this debate, we had wonderful people like Trent Lott stating that the Unemployed were the ones keeping the United States from recovering.  Other Tea Party and Republican politicians made tons of unfounded statements that condemned the Unemployed, rather then the employers.

What we also saw was a huge economic boom for the top industries.  The wealthy got wealthier in 2010.  Not just a little wealthier, either.  They got much wealthier.  Record breaking income surges.  Meanwhile, unemployment is still not declining and many people are going homeless, or accepting low paying jobs.

I have mentioned it before, but I’m going to say it again:  The wealthy in America economically held the United States hostage until they could get what they wanted.

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Tags: Barrack Obama, Blackmail, economic, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, sarah palin, taxes, Tea Party, Top US Marginal Tax Rates, unemployment insurance
Category Economics |

“Junk Science”

I have a few entries I have been working on for a few days.  But I had a journey of web links that led me back to Alex Jones’ websites.  I actually feel a bit foolish for trying to dissect The Obama Deception... knowing already that it was an Alex Jones Production.

Anyone that knows me personally, knows that I am a not a conspiracy theorist . . . I believe many of these deceptions of government control and exercises in power are not theories, but merely facts.  I frequently cite Operation Ajax in reference to the situations in the Middle East.  I talk about the Opium Wars, Commodore Perry in Japan, Oliver North, elite manipulation, false consciousness, government assassinations and the list really goes on.  These are not “theories.”  We know about Operation Ajax, it has been declassified.

I do have suspicions of other events, and vocalize them when appropriate.  Like in the assassination of Patrice Lumumba.  Not long ago, documents were declassified that showed the CIA was, in fact, involved in the displacement of the elected President of the Democratic Republic of Congo in favor of the murderous bastard Mobutu Sese Seko.

When I read the works of Alex Jones, I am initially left with little reaction.  I have tried to watch several of his dozens of films.  Some of his conclusions are about as sound as the Flying Spaghetti Monster or New Age wizards that talk about the healing properties of crystals the aliens left on Earth.  He has made so many films, I cannot believe that there has been any laborious research involved in any of them. These movies come out faster than Steven King cranks out a new book.

Not long ago, I attempted to watch Terrorstorm.  It is billed as “A History of Government-Sponsored Terrorism” – which sounds well enough.  Upon watching this film, it became clear that, although it was not exactly false, there were a lot of broad leaps and gaps of missing information.

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Tags: Alex Jones, Ayatollah, conservative, conspiracy theory, Infowars, Iran, Junk Science, national security, Obama Deception, Operation Ajax, Prison Planet, sarah palin, Shah, Terrorstorm, WikiLeaks
Category Main category |

Conservads

In about a 2 week period, I compiled a few ads that I have seen on Facebook.  Here is a sampling:

What I find amazing is the sheer volume of these advertisements.  As far as I know, they are not free.  Although, one can pay for clicks rather than page impressions.  The cost is relatively low.  The other thing I find amazing is the vitriol of many of these advertisements.

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Tags: Ann Coulter, Conservads, conservative, education, facebook, gap, internet advertising, sarah palin, taxes, Tea Party, voltaire, wealthy
Category trends |

Intellectual Integrity

I was recently accused in a comment of having a “short supply” of “intellectual integrity.”  Although this was in reference to my inability to understand the reason for such outrage toward President Obama.  More specifically, how I do not see how anything this president has done is particularly worse than any other president.  The comment claimed several things that I actually pondered.  One was that President Obama and I will both say anything necessary to “perpetuate [our] fantasy.”  Also, that “Intellectual Integrity” is in short supply today and, also, necessary to attract visitors to a blog.

Of all the things I wondered about, the most interesting was what defines “intellectual integrity.”  After really thinking about it, it is a vague term.  What is intellectual integrity?

Integrity is a philosophical concept that takes on many different connotations but all of them regard consistency of actions and such.  In ethics, integrity is supposed to be of value of truthfulness and honesty.  But what is “intellectual integrity”?

I think intellectual integrity in the sense of ethics is mostly applied by academic institutions regarding academic standards.  Universities take a specifically strong stance against plagiarism.  Standards of intellectual integrity are usually explained at most academic institutions, even in primary school.  Michigan State University has a University Intellectual Integrity Officer .  This officer is charged with maintaining all research is not fraudulent.  According to their website:

All members of MSU share responsibility to assure that misconduct or fraud in research and creative activity is dealt with effectively and that MSU’s high standards for scholarly integrity are preserved.

http://rio.msu.edu/

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Tags: fallacy, Glenn Beck, Intellectual Integrity, Left, plagiarism, right, sarah palin, Tea Party
Category Definitions |