Epistemic Ingemination

My friend Kristi just forwarded a link to Andrew Sullivan’s “The Top Ten Reasons Conservatives Should Vote For Obama.” I read Sullivan regularly, but hadn’t seen this one yet.

It’s very good, and is a nice piece of welcome thoughtful conservatism at a time when our non-left political discourse has devolved into right-winger’s neanderthal grunting and feces-flinging.

This proud liberal is happy to report that there are still rational conservatives in this world, and I am happy to state my opinion that this world is a better place for it.

(And, BTW, I disagree with some of this, most notably his premise that Islamic Terrorism is the greatest threat to the West. While I agree 100% that Al Queda must be taken out, and I have supported police action in Afghanistan, I believe that the greatest threat to the world is religion-based fundamentalist thought of any kind. The “boomer culture war” is nowhere near over. But that post is for another day and time.)

Enjoy this nonetheless. It is a fine piece of work, and I hope that it might serve to illustrate some of the difference between conservatism and “right wing.”

10. A body blow to racial identity politics. An end to the era of Jesse Jackson in black America.

9. Less debt. Yes, Obama will raise taxes on those earning over a quarter of a million. And he will spend on healthcare, Iraq, Afghanistan and the environment. But so will McCain. He plans more spending on health, the environment and won’t touch defense of entitlements. And his refusal to touch taxes means an extra $4 trillion in debt over the massive increase presided over by Bush. And the CBO estimates that McCain’s plans will add more to the debt over four years than Obama’s. Fiscal conservatives have a clear choice.

8. A return to realism and prudence in foreign policy. Obama has consistently cited the foreign policy of George H. W. Bush as his inspiration. McCain’s knee-jerk reaction to the Georgian conflict, his commitment to stay in Iraq indefinitely, and his brinksmanship over Iran’s nuclear ambitions make him a far riskier choice for conservatives. The choice between Obama and McCain is like the choice between George H.W. Bush’s first term and George W.’s.

7. An ability to understand the difference between listening to generals and delegating foreign policy to them.

6. Temperament. Obama has the coolest, calmest demeanor of any president since Eisenhower. Conservatism values that kind of constancy, especially compared with the hot-headed, irrational impulsiveness of McCain.

5. Faith. Obama’s fusion of Christianity and reason, his non-fundamentalist faith, is a critical bridge between the new atheism and the new Christianism.

4. A truce in the culture war. Obama takes us past the debilitating boomer warfare that has raged since the 1960s. Nothing has distorted our politics so gravely; nothing has made a rational politics more elusive.

3. Two words: President Palin.

2. Conservative reform. Until conservatism can get a distance from the big-spending, privacy-busting, debt-ridden, crony-laden, fundamentalist, intolerant, incompetent and arrogant faux conservatism of the Bush-Cheney years, it will never regain a coherent message to actually govern this country again. The survival of conservatism requires a temporary eclipse of today’s Republicanism. Losing would be the best thing to happen to conservatism since 1964. Back then, conservatives lost in a landslide for the right reasons. Now, Republicans are losing in a landslide for the wrong reasons.

1. The War Against Islamist terror. The strategy deployed by Bush and Cheney has failed. It has failed to destroy al Qaeda, except in a country, Iraq, where their presence was minimal before the US invasion. It has failed to bring any of the terrorists to justice, instead creating the excrescence of Gitmo, torture, secret sites, and the collapse of America’s reputation abroad. It has empowered Iran, allowed al Qaeda to regroup in Pakistan, made the next vast generation of Muslims loathe America, and imperiled our alliances. We need smarter leadership of the war: balancing force with diplomacy, hard power with better p.r., deploying strategy rather than mere tactics, and self-confidence rather than a bunker mentality.

Those conservatives who remain convinced, as I do, that Islamist terror remains the greatest threat to the West cannot risk a perpetuation of the failed Manichean worldview of the past eight years, and cannot risk the possibility of McCain making rash decisions in the middle of a potentially catastrophic global conflict. If you are serious about the war on terror and believe it is a war we have to win, the only serious candidate is Barack Obama.

This is just… stupefying. An example of everything that I’ve been writing about recently. The right wing of this country is truly, completely off their rocker. Behold a local Orlando TV station:

I went over to Threadgill’s North tonight to hear Charlie Pritchard play his last October Monday thing. Charlie is an amazing guitar player. One of those guys who can make “Hot Cross Buns” interesting with the flourishes and the little finesses that only a master can do.

Earl Ball was playing keyboards with ‘em tonight. One of the all-time greats. As the clock grew later, and as they started their last set, I walked up and said “bye” to everyone — school night, blah blah, gotta be a Dad, etc. Shook Earl’s hand and said, as an insider joke, “Play me a coupla bars of ‘The Last Date’ as I walk out, okay?” (If you’re not understanding, ‘The Last Date’ is the quintessential country piano song, by Floyd Cramer. You know it for sure, even if you don’t know the title.)

Earl says “Hang on. We’ll play the song.”

And The Magic happened. One of those moments that confirm all of my odd decisions and the paths that I’ve walked. Earl playing the finest country piano that I’ve ever heard; then Charlie taking the entire 64 bars of the song, quietly doing only-Charlie soloing. Spot-on perfect.

Those guys get an all-access pass when they meet St. Peter, guaranteed, and I am a very lucky guy to get to be around such people.

No long lines, got right in at the Shriner Hall across from Sun Harvest in North Austin. A steady stream of early voters, probably one every two or three minutes. Obama bumper stickers outnumbered McCain stickers in the parking lot 14 to 3.

Since I would’ve had an Obama sticker too if I weren’t in a rental car, and based upon this obviously random statistical sample, I am prepared to make a Rigorous Unassailable Big Science Prediction that Obama wins this thing with 83.3% of the vote. You heard it here first. Heh.

(Actually, based upon early numbers, the Travis County Clerk is predicting up to an 80% voter turnout for this election. That is astounding. Good for Us!)

Comments are enabled now.

My email spell-checker regularly suggests that “Obama” should be corrected to “Alabama.”

I find this to be highly amusing.

Look at the cross until the purple dots go away.

Bonus trivia: there is no green dot.

This is a really interesting time, a time for national reassessment. Atrios linked a Village Voice link to a post last night from a fellow in New England at the Wake Up America blog. His name is Roger W. Gardner. I know nothing about him, other than that he is a talented writer and has quite different political philosophies than I do.

It’s a beautiful description of an autumn New England day. But. Then it starts to devolve into a “don’t they know we’re on the eve of destruction” motif. Then Mr. Gardner pens a moment that really strikes me as telling:

Then I see another little sign, tacked up on a telephone pole. An innocuous little sign, weather beaten and torn at the edges — it’s been up there for quite a while now. “No room in this town for hate” it reads. And I shudder to myself. This is the sign that advertises our vulnerabilities and our weaknesses. This is what makes this beautiful little town of mine so friendly and pleasant and so blind to the steady encroachment of that other less friendly reality. We have no room here for hate.

That these words could be legitimately put forth by an obviously intelligent, articulate and concerned citizen of this country speaks volumes about our political discourse. And I think that it illustrates our “here and now” quite nicely. Here we have a citizen who espouses that it is a necessity, for the preservation of our society, to be able to hate.

I think that our right-wing has now constructed a complete information ecosystem for themselves in which they can be comfortable in their fear while they nourish themselves with a positive-feedback loop of their hatred for Otherness. As I wrote below: “You sat in your Barcalounger, and watched Fox News, and cursed liberals, and voted Republican, and ignored any real-world information that conflicted with the world-view narrative that you were being fed.”

This is what we are seeing at the moment; the fruits of this mindset. From “Obama Bucks” to the McCain campaign’s talking points, to sitting US Representatives calling for an investigative panel to find out who in Congress is “Pro-America” or not. They’ve been so isolated from different points of view, and for such a long time, that it has become impossible to entertain a competing idea without this whole worldview crashing down upon itself. There can be no longer be any preaching at all if it’s not preaching to the choir.

McCain can’t construct a clear argument to ask for your vote because his campaign can’t understand that there is an entire world outside of Fox News and the Free Republic hall of mirrors. They frantically argue ‘otherness,’ and ’socialism,’ and ‘consorting with domestic terrrists,’ and ‘redistribution of wealth,’ and ‘cultural decay,’ and ‘Obama might be a Muslim,’ and being in ‘Real America.’ On and on and on — and it drives the right-wingers bat-shit rabid with political red-meat glee, internally reinforcing the idea that they are on some kind of valid message.

(My absolute favorite tagline of the moment is the whole “redistribution of wealth” meme. It is a fine illustration of how out of touch these folks really are. I’d wager that three quarters of the country thinks that some “redistribution of the wealth” is a pretty darned good idea right about now. Keep punching that one hard, guys.)

None of this stuff gains traction out here in the real world, because all of it is divisive nonsense. The overwhelming theme of America is (and has always been) diversity. E Pluribus Unum. “Out of many, One.” It is very telling (and quite beautiful) that the two most measured and sane voices of the moment, Barack Obama and Colin Powell, are each a genetically diverse, multicultural son of immigrants.

People out here in the Real America value religious diversity. They value cultural diversity. They eat Japanese cuisine and listen to Jamaican music and wear Indian clothing and study epic Middle-Eastern poetry in high school. Real Americans have their Kosher morning bagel with lox, drinking their coffee made through Turkish brewing techniques, while wearing their Mexican vaquero “cowboy” boots as they listen to “country” clawhammer banjo music that echos directly from the African banza. The Real Americans see the peaceful call of Christianity, and of the Jewish faith, and of Islam and Hinduism and Sufism, and of the Buddha and the Tao, and of the other “isms of Faith” — and they notice that each the other all counsel against hate, above all else.

The Real Americans value a marketplace in ideas. They believe that education is how you improve this world, and that the free flow of factual information is critical to the process of good and informed citizenship.

Our right-wingers are so far gone into their mirror ball of jingoistic tribalism that they’ve lost their bearings in the Real America. Hate? It clouds judgment. It wastes energy. It closes your mind to useful information. It is a strategic dead-end and a tactical catastrophe. It exposes your vulnerabilities and teaches your adversary about your motivations. And, incidentally, it reveals your fears and makes you controllable.

It’s how Bin Laden has been making you dance like a puppet. He has accomplished his goals beyond his fondest dreams.

That’s how we got here, to this state of our nation. The propaganda apparatus of the Republican party stoking the fires of fear and hatred, and innuendo and guilt-by-association, and all of the other teapot tempests, solely in service of gaining political power.

Here is a bit of news for the Roger W. Gardners of the world: If you reject fear, it is impossible to hate. As a result, you may have a chance to make rational decisions based upon facts. Your rallying cause is called “terrorism” for a reason, and you’ve bought into it hook, line, and sinker. It can’t exist without your participation. Terrorism without the “terror” becomes criminal behavior, and is approached much more successfully as a law enforcement issue.

The most impressive thing about Barack Obama is that all of these attacks are water off a duck’s back. No effect at all upon his eye-on-the-prize steadiness. The Real Americans see his calm response and his intelligent, measured ability to make sense of what really matters. It is clearly illustrated to them that the right-wing mindset is both false and divisive, and that it is detrimental to our nation.

That is true leadership. Obama is reminding our country that we love diversity, and moreover, he is teaching us, as a nation, how to deal with the right-wing mindset. It is a wonderful thing to behold.

Let McCain continue. Let the attack dogs have one good last run. Let them be so consumed by their fear and their hatred that they end up shattering their twisted worldview against a wall of reality. Let the right-wingers teach “Real Americans” more about themselves. It is their moment in the spotlight, and I hope that they feel the impetus to show us their whole toolkit.

I think that sports metaphors are pretty stupid — so let’s use one. My right-wing friends, you’re up to bat. Try to hit one out of the park against this pitcher.

Real Americans will be watching, and we’ll study, taking notes from Barack Obama, Ph.D., professor of constitutional law, as he illustrates to the World Classroom how to dismantle your insanity and evaporate your power.

And a beaut it is:

I’m not much of a fan of Colin Powell; I once was, but he obliterated all of his political capital with me on February 6th, 2003 at the United Nations. He gambled his credibility on lies, and he lost it with me on major foreign policy issues of the future. As I said at the time, I had better intelligence sources than he did — a newspaper. You don’t give people a do-over when their lapse in judgment is such that it costs trillions of dollars and results in millions of lives lost, with families destroyed for generations.

I can’t let bygones be bygones on that one.

This said, I think that the above video documents one of the more remarkable moments in our political history. Powell’s extraordinary endorsement isn’t going to change anyone’s mind on the far right of the political spectrum in this climate. But is it a powerful, centrist call for some sanity and some common sense in a sea of slime and lunacy from the far right and John McCain, a man that Powell has worked with for a quarter century.

If anyone has standing to make that argument here and now, Colin Powell does, and it is one of the most significant endorsements in the history of this country. I suspect that it will move many a voter to Obama’s column.

The sheer sane eloquence and power of his words do much to rehabilitate Colin Powell, former loyal Secretary of State to the most corrupt and malevolent administration in our history.

[Addendum]: Powell interviewed, a few minutes later outside the studio:

Not wholly unexpected, but it is amazing that these misanthropes think that they can hide in this day and age.

[In] the October newsletter by the Chaffey Community Republican Women, Federated says if Obama is elected his image will appear on food stamps — instead of dollar bills like other presidents. The statement is followed by an illustration of “Obama Bucks” — a phony $10 bill featuring Obama’s face on a donkey’s body, labeled “United States Food Stamps.”

It’s got everything you could ask for — Donkey ears, watermelon, ribs, fried chicken, Kool-Aid, food stamps.

This came from Ronald Reagan Territory — Chaffee, Ca., about 60 miles up the road from the Great Communicator’s home in Bel Air.

I wonder if our right-wingers are proud of the improvements that they’ve made to this country in their quarter century of culture war and pillage?

Okay gang. If you get all of your information from the Faux News Network, you no doubt think that there is massive voter fraud taking place in this election. There may be. But not the kind they’re telling you, and not by ACORN. Here is some factual information for you.

• ACORN is a community organizer that primary does advocacy for poor and middle-income families. Some of that is voter registration work.
• ACORN sometimes pays people to register voters by the registration, and many organizations of this type do, across the political spectrum.
• Some of those hired people are dishonest and make up false registrations to get paid more.
• ACORN is required by law to turn in ALL of the registrations that it receives, even the ones that have “Bullwinkle J. Moose” as the registrant. If they didn’t, they would be guilty of election manipulation. They flag registrations that they think are suspect, but they still must turn in every one of them.

There is no “voter fraud” happening here. There may be an occasional fictional registration that manages to pass inspection by both ACORN and the county clerk’s office. But Bullwinkle J. Moose isn’t going to be showing up to vote on election day. No vote fraud exists. Registration fraud exists.

Seen?

Now, why is this bogus nonsense such a big deal? Because it allows Republican operatives a talking point as they attempt to purge real voters from the rolls, like they did in Florida in 2000, and in Ohio in 2004. This was the whole issue behind the firings of US attorneys that took Alberto Gonzales down. The White House wanted the ACORNs of the world prosecuted for “Voter Fraud.” No such crime existed, and the ACORNs of the world were not even guilty of the registration fraud; they were required by law to turn in every one that they received.

Even now, though, it continues. Purging legitimate voters in close battleground states has won the Republicans two national elections now. It is a proven tool in their toolkit — they’re not about to stop.

Make sure that your registration is valid before election day. If you’ve been purged, get it fixed before election day.

CNN is replaying the debate in about 25 minutes. Since I haven’t seen it yet, I’m going to do an experiment and blog as I watch it. If I turn out to be really lame at it, I can always delete it, and we’ll pretend you never saw this, okay? Oh – and I am going to do it in chronological order, not reverse order like everyone else who does this. Harrumph.

I will say one thing up front. I saw a few moments of the debate last night on a Hi-Def television at Threadgill’s. McCain’s makeup was not only visible, it was obvious that his eyebrows had been slightly darkened and his eyes were pretty well pancaked. I’ve read that Hi-Def is killing the retail pornography industry, which I think is hilarious. I understand why now.

9:00 – Heh. McCain really doesn’t like Obama. The handshake was as stiff as a board and the smile as false as a snake’s.

9:03: McCain: Fanny & “Freddy Mae?” McCain wants to buy bad mortgages and renegotiate ‘em. Yeh! That’s it! Let’s use the money to eliminate bad decisions. Great.

9:05: Obama’s natural cadence is kind of start-and-stop. You’re going to hear eight years of impersonators taking this to the bank…

9:07: Nice zing by Obama. “We both want to cut taxes. The difference is who we want to cut taxes for.” McCain’s answer? Obama wants to “spread the wealth around.” Socialism!

9:11: McCain: 35% business tax rates! He neglects to mention that the number of deductions brings it down to right around the average world tax rate.

9:15: At least we have two candidates who can pronounce “nuclear.” (Of course, Palin says “nukular.”)

9:17: McCain wants a line-item veto. Obama doesn’t jump on it, and should.
Obama addresses the “earmarks” bugaboo. 1/2 of one percent of the budget. Good perspective.

9:19: Oooo. John-boy gets Snippy. “I am not president Bush. If you wanted to run against Bush, you should’ve run four years ago.” This oughta be good. Obama: If I mistake your policies for George Bush, it’s because you’ve supported them.

Man. McCain is getting mad. He’s blinking two or three times a second and has a pasted on grimace that’s supposed to be a smile…

9:24: McCain still won’t tell Obama anything to his face, even when invited to do so. “We will run a truthful campaign.” Yeah, right.
Obama: (looking McCain in the eye) “100% of your ads have been negative. 100%.” Nice jujitsu. McCain has steam coming out of his ears.

9:29: What is it with Joe the plumber again? If Joe the plumber wants to buy a business, of course he’s going to be exposed to more taxes. He also gets a wheelbarrow full of deductions. Every business owner does. He also gets a chance to make a buttload of money. Let it go, for cripes sake.

9:30: Obama looks at McCain and says “People are saying ‘terrorist’ and ‘kill him’ about me at your running-mates rallies.” Very, very good. McCain completely goes off the tracks, spewing about patriotic veterans at his rallies and how they are being impugned. Obama wisely lets it lay there like the merde that it is and takes it back to issues.

9:35: Obama laughs out loud at McCain’s characterization of ACORN as “voter fraud.” Good. Points out that it is voter registration fraud perpetrated upon ACORN. McCain still pushes it. Bad move. Obama wins this one hands down. McCain: “My campaign is about getting this economy back on track.” Obama laughs again. Seems to work, even if it’s a but disrespectful.

9:42: “Why would your running mate make a better president than your opponents?” This oughta be good. Obama lists Biden’s CV quite nicely.
McCain: “Americans have gotten to know Sarah Palin: she’s a model for the women of America. A reformer through and through.” And she has a kid who has Special Needs. Puhl-eeze.

Heh. Sweet and subtle moment. Schieffer calls time on McCain, but Obama indicates that McCain should be allowed to keep talking. Let him keep on digging deeper, please Bob.

9:50: McCain: 45 New Nuclear Plants will save the country! Drill baby drill! Obama: we have 4% of the reserves and we use 25% of the oil. Gut check. McCain: Drill drill drill. Free trade with Columbia! Obama: labor leaders are being assassinated in Columbia. Let’s stop that first.

9:57: Obama: retool auto plants for fuel efficient vehicles, and help auto makers do that. McCain: Obama doesn’t want free trade with Columbia and wants to kiss Hugo Chavez and North Korea and Iran and everybody bad everywhere….

Man. Every time CNN does a split screen, looking at McCain is like looking at Ilie Năstase play tennis in the old days. You wonder when he’s going to blow. McCain is, quite simply, a schoolyard bully. I feel that I know exactly what this guy is about; that’s the only thing that I see here.

10:02: McCain: Joe the plumber again. Obama: Joe the Plumber — here’s what it costs you: Zero. Nada. Nit. McNăstase blinks at a rate of four times a second. Obama: McCain taxes your health care for the first time, ever. “This is your plan, John.”

BlinkBlinkBlinkBlinkBlinkBlink. McCain says “spread the wealth” again. Right-wing code talking for socialism, I presume. John: a hint — you’re not talking just to the wingnuts here, and ’spreading the wealth’ around looks pretty damned good to the rest of the country right about now.

10:11: Roe v Wade. Obama: personal decision, and the constitution has a right to privacy, not subject to state legislation. Ballsy, and very good. McCain: we have to change the culture of America. Another hint for ya, John-boy: No, you need to join the culture of America.

10:15: McCain: Obama voted “present” on abortion in Illinois. Not a bad little hit. Obama: There was already a law on the books, and many republicans and democrats voted against or “present” on that one. I support a ban on late term abortions, except where the mother’s life is endangered and that was the sticking point. That’s why I voted “present.” McCain: I adopted kids.

10:19: Education. Obama: invest in early education. A pennies on the dollar investment. We need an army of new math and science teachers. McCain: BlinkBlinkBlinkBlinkBlinkBlinkBlinkBlinkBlinkBlinkBlinkBlink. McCain: education is the “civil rights issue of the 21st century.” Wow. I agree 100%. Good for him. McCain: vouchers vouchers vouchers. Let ex military people teach in our schools without having to be certified. (What?!?)

10:23: Obama: “No child left behind is a start, but unfortunately they left the money behind.” Nice little zinger there. If teachers can’t hack it, get rid of ‘em. “Youth are not an interest group. They are our future.” Nice. McCain: D.C. parents want vouchers! Reform Head Start! My running mate will fund autism! Obama: McCain wants to increase vouchers in D.C. by 2000. There are fifty other states.

10:29: Closing statements. McCain: America needs a new direction. (Doesn’t he realize that this is an absurd thing to come out of his mouth?) Can you trust Obama? I’ve spent my entire life in public service.

Obama: We have to invest in the people of this country. We all have to come together to tackle this. I ask for your vote. I’ll work on your behalf.

McCain: BlinkBlinkBlinkBlinkBlinkBlinkBlinkBlinkBlinkBlinkBlinkBlinkBlinkBlink
BlinkBlinkBlinkBlinkBlinkBlinkBlinkBlinkBlinkBlinkBlinkBlinkBlinkBlink

…

This was fun; I doubt that I’ll ever do it again. I think Obama not only won; Obama mopped the floor with McCain. I think McCain proved beyond a doubt to more people than me that he does not have the temperament to be President. He is a very angry man.

…

Final thought: Anyone who is an “undecided voter” at this point is an unserious person who should be ignored as unworthy; they certainly don’t deserve any attention whatsoever from the engaged citizens of this nation.

I wanted all things to make sense
So we’d be happy, instead of this.

Vonnegut/Ambrosia — “Nice, Nice, Very Nice”

It’s 9:56 local; I haven’t watched the debate. I recorded it. But I tuned into Fox to see the Other Side Spin. Fully half of their unaffiliated focus group changed their vote to Obama tonight. On Fox.

…

[Update] 10:10: Hillary is being interviewed by Chris Wallace on Fox. And she is eating his lunch. Dancing a Fandango around him.

My Lord. I have relatives who are streaming blood from their tear ducts right now.

…

10:18: (Fox) Mitt Romney debases himself as the most Jive-ass Fool in a seriously jive-fool campaign. Excellent comedy.

I love drinking my morning coffee and waking up outside with this neighborhood. There are characters everywhere, and they all say hello in one way or another.

We have Slow Jogging Dude. There’s Pale Dog Walking Frail Woman. There’s Electric Scooter Lady, and Hippie Running Guy. There’s Blind Guy With Little Yapping White Dog, and Grumpy Old Bicycle Codger. And, of course, Loud Scooter Hipster Apple Logo Laptop Backpack Guy. There’s Sexy Coed Greyhound Girl, who likes to jog in her bikini, and Bodybuilder Running Guy, who goes out without a shirt. New Family With Triplets walks at dusk on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, with their carriage that looks like a small train. Even the squirrels get into the act; there’s the brave young one who jumps in the compost pile to dig for morsels, and there’s the old cantankerous one who sits in the tree and barks at the cat.

The cars have it, too. Junker Grand Torino Loud Hip Hop Music Kid, and Mercedes Magnetic Welder Sign Dude. Rusted Out Farm Truck Guy always has a friendly wave. Very Careful Old Buick Woman always has at least two frustrated cars behind her as she drives to the Minimax at 15 MPH. And here’s to Parking Lot Sweeper Truck Dude, who goes to work at 4:00 AM and returns at 3:00 PM. And, of course, Smiling Remodeling Guy, who is always dragging around a trailer full of sheetrock or busted porcelain or wall studs or plumbing stuff, and always has a tip o’ the hat ready. And let’s not forget Woman Who Drives The Econoline That’s Been For Sale For Over A Year.

Crestview, I love ya.

We had a nice rain overnight, and I discovered that a toad lives over in the side yard somewhere; he made an appearance too, after a surely uncomfortable drought. He no doubt must have much unfinished Toad Business this season…

Enjoy your day. We all say hello.

I’ve received a rather level-headed and somewhat contrite note from a long-time friend who is, politically, about as far to the right as I am to the left. He gave me permission to mention this, although he does not like the characterization. In his note, he allowed as to how I may well have a point in the “Reckoning” post below, but that I was being awfully shrill.

Yep. You betcha. Smoke alarms are shrill. Collision alarms on ships are shrill. Fire engines coming to save your house are shrill. For a purpose. Shrillness is warranted at times.

Look. The last eight years haven’t been about “free market” capitalism. They haven’t been about fighting “terrrism.” They haven’t been about “personal responsibility.” They haven’t been about patriotism or unity, and they haven’t been about keeping you “safe.” Those are slogans, misdirection.

This has been about an unholy alliance between the Republican party, big business, big oil, Eisenhower’s Military-Industrial Complex, and large finance. The strategy was to distract you. The tactic was to fire up your nationalistic tendencies. The overall goal was to transfer the contents of your public treasury into private hands, and to gut your right to any legal recourse to do anything about it. If you have studied any human political history at all, it’s not unusual, or even remarkable in an academic sense. Not even in an anthropological sense. In fact, it’s the oldest trick in the book.

I don’t think that there’s any massive conspiracy here, nor do I attribute this to any Evil Cabal that plans our Destruction. Some people are simply raised in a way that gives them a sense of entitlement, and when they occasionally gain control of things, they screw everything up for everyone. The current Republican party, especially its leadership, is notably infested with these ethically-challenged people. But in the end, you’re simply looking at a moment in human history. It’s a grade-school mythology study brought to life.

The usurper deposes the duly-chosen tribal chief through trickery, utilizing the political connections of his father. He unifies the tribe by creating a false incident with an old enemy, and subsequently confiscates the common wealth of the tribe as tribute for himself and his political allies. The Son is ultimately found out to be a fool, is chased away, and Dad’s Friends get to keep the booty.

It’s an Epic, before your eyes.

This has not been capitalism; it is not free enterprise, and it is not democracy. It is certainly not conservatism, nor is it republicanism.

It is, however, very close to the classic definition of a political philosophy by the name of fascism, and I do not subscribe to that political philosophy.

(By the way, are you aware that, as of October 1st, one month before the 2008 Presidential election, Federal Troops are stationed and on-duty on US soil, for the first time since the Civil War, as “an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks?” I’ll just note that this is factual information, without further comment.)

Again: five trillion dollars gone in eight years; tens of thousands of Americans maimed or killed; 1.2 million dead Iraqis, and a worldwide financial market meltdown coincident with a more-than-likely looming catastrophic economic depression. None Of Which Would Have Happened if the democratic party had rightfully been in power.

Shrill? Yeppers. When vulgar people of this type gain great power and overstep, as they invariably do, you lawfully take them out of the game, permanently. When they are drowning, you don’t throw them a rope, you throw them an anvil.

I want to see the beneficiaries of this scheme defeated. I want to publicly ridicule them. I want to march them (metaphorically) naked in front of their children, in chains, so that their mindset and their lust for power and their greed are sterilized. I want them lawfully convicted of their crimes, and I want see them spend the rest of their lives in a 5×8 prison cell, pondering the magnitude of the evil that they’ve done. And I want their assets confiscated and returned to our treasury.

That “Reckoning” post below is directed to plain, regular folks trying to live a life; the misguided ones who wouldn’t see, and wouldn’t listen, and bought into these lies. They effectively put all of us here via their profound lack of judgment. But they are not evil. They are our fellow citizens, and they do need to know of their complicity in all of this — to be wiser on another day. Let’s remember, though, that they had their treasury stolen, too. We’re all in the same boat, together, and we’ll get through this, together.

Maybe, sometime, if I feel the fire in my belly, I might direct a public post to the criminals who did this to all of us.

That one should rightfully be “shrill” enough for you to think that I’ve gone totally off my rocker. I haven’t.

Now. It’s time for us to to go out and do some unexpected kindness for someone, and have a nice Columbus Day.

This is an open letter to my right-wing friends.

We are now in, perhaps, the strangest and scariest time that I’ve ever seen. Like watching a train wreck in slow motion. And we haven’t even started the wreck yet. The Dow is down 39% in the last year (23% in the last month), and the really bad numbers are not even rolling in as yet. The start of the Big Panic comes when people get their 401k statements, as they are doing right now. In a few days, it’ll be time to start nationalizing banks. Literally. We’ve arrived at that point.

I’m sorry, but it’s time to point out the elephant in the room. And let’s start with a foundational observation: being affiliated with the current political right-wing ideology in this country has virtually nothing to do with conservatism. I am not addressing this to thoughtful, informed political conservatives, a group for whom I have an enormous amount of respect.

All of this — every bit of it — was predictable, was predicted, and could (and would) have been avoided. The “Decider”, your President, who has been hiding behind the flag, and patriotism, and “terrrism” for seven years — this poor excuse for a man has been revealed to be the same AWOL incompetent that he’s proven to be so many times previously over the course of his privileged lifetime. Where’s that “Strong Leadership” now? All you have left over is an impotent deer-in-the-headlights shell of a marketing image. The ultimate Peter Principle poster boy.

A couple of you have said to me that the “values” of the Republican party have been abandoned. I say to you, no. The Republican marketing plan has been abandoned, its work now done. That’s all.

You were owned (and, yes, you were sold out) the second that you decided to vote Republican, and folks much smarter and better than me have been patiently pointing this out to you for 15 years — while you listened to Newt Gingrich, and Tom Delay, and Karl Rove and Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly, and frothed at the mouth over “Liberals” just like a good little automaton. You sat in your Barcalounger, and watched Fox News, and cursed liberals, and voted Republican, and ignored any real-world information that conflicted with the world-view narrative that you were being fed. And because of this, they got what they needed from you. They got the keys to the safe.

Several multiples of the existing contents of your public treasury have been transferred to them, five trillion dollars in eight years. That money — our money, generations into the future — is gone now, and you’ve been discarded now. You don’t even get a receipt out of the deal.

And, yes: I Tried To Tell You Too, all the way through it. You sneered and called me names, said I was anti-business and a coward, a peacenik and a socialist and a person who hates America. You’re still calling me these things.

The guy that you have running for President now? In my opinion, he is a dangerously unstable septuagenarian with no discernible ethics, possessing serious clinical anger management issues — whose campaign is being run by the leftover “B” and “C” team of attack dogs. They’ve just proposed his ’solution’ to this crisis: Allow investment mortgages to be restructured during bankruptcy proceedings. So if you own 13 houses, yeah, you get help. If you own only one, you’re S.O.L. [Update: this "plan" was pulled and disavowed one day later. Did I mention "unstable?"]

And the attacks have begun in earnest now. As Digby notes:

[...]what we are really seeing is the beginning of a right wing story line about the next president of the United States — he is a drug user, a foreigner, a terrorist and a traitor. And the importance of that is that it gives permission to the right wing machine to do anything and everything to destroy him.

These guys are about a fingernail’s width away from calling Barack Obama a Nigger — and they aren’t going to help you to keep your house or protect your retirement, either. But I bet that you’ll vote for them again. Or perhaps you’ll convert into the True Blue, Red-Blooded Libertarian that you now fancy yourself to Have Always Been, come election day. Either way, you’re in the penalty box. Probably for a generation or more, and rightfully so.

I know that, as a good right-winger, you have no interest in the opinions of a guy like me, who has been speaking out against your actions and your mindset for most of my adult life. But I am going to point out two things that can help you through the coming tough times.

First, the obvious: If the Republicans hadn’t been in power, this would not have happened. Let me say this another way: if the Democrats had been in power, this would not have happened. To any of us, including you.

Second: I submit to you that you don’t have a monopoly on what is “Right” and “True.” There are as many ways to live a “Good” life as there are human souls, and you have been demonizing every one of them that is Not Like You for a quarter century now, ever since “Morning In America.” I would respectfully suggest that you find within yourself a measure of tolerance and humility, and that you find it now. Because nobody likes your attitude, and neither you nor anyone else is going to get through these coming hard times alone.

I’ve always found it interesting that you can have this hateful attitude on the one hand, while on the other hand, you worship the most influential liberal philosopher that this planet has ever seen. Jesus of Nazareth had some really good ideas. Peace. Tolerance. Charity towards all. Looking out for the greater good instead of monomaniacal self-interest. You might try taking a look with freshened eyes next Sunday; perhaps you’ll find some interesting insights to ponder. Remember: What you do to the least of us, you do to Him.

I’ve never questioned your motives or your patriotism — even while you have questioned mine repeatedly. I’ve just tried to point out to you the obvious contradictions and consequences of your ideology, and I’ve asked that you stop demonizing those who don’t share it.

I am not asking anymore. I’m now telling you, as are several hundred million other folks. This is a serious time that demands serious people, capable of making level-headed, well informed and intelligent policy decisions. Your judgment has proven to be profoundly flawed. We need people who live in the real world to fix this.

You are welcome to join us.

That, my friends, is change we can believe in.

While suturing a cut on the hand of a 75 year old Texas rancher whose hand was caught in a gate while working cattle, the doctor struck up a conversation with the old man. Eventually the topic got around to Sarah Palin and her bid to be a heartbeat away from being President.

The old rancher said ‘Well, you know, Palin is a post turtle.’ Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a post turtle is. The old rancher said, ‘When you’re driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that’s a post turtle.’

The old rancher saw a puzzled look on the doctor’s face, so he continued to explain… ‘You know she didn’t get up there by herself, you know she doesn’t belong up there, she doesn’t know what to do while she is up there, and you just wonder what kind of dumb ass put her up there to begin with.’

Monday is the last day to register for the presidential election in Texas. Take the time to make sure that you are registered – you may not be.

Check the validity of your registration anywhere in Texas here.

If you’ve moved within your county in Texas and just need to update your new address, this is the place.

Hugh Hewett, conservative radio wingnut, interviews Palin. (I guess that they didn’t have such a great track record with genuine journalists. Or even Katie Couric.)

You don’t even have to read the answers. The questions suffice:

HH: Governor Sarah Palin, welcome to the Hugh Hewitt Show. Great to have you.

…

HH: Governor, your candidacy has ignited extreme hostility, even some hatred on the left and in some parts of the media. Are you surprised? And what do you attribute this reaction to?

…

HH: Now Governor, the Gibson and the Couric interview struck many as sort of pop quizzes designed to embarrass you as opposed to interviews. Do you share that opinion?

…

HH: Have you followed the attacks on you, say, via Drudge or the blogs? Some of them are just made up and out of left field, others are just mocking. Do you follow those?

…

HH: Governor, you mentioned the people who are struggling right now. Have you and your husband, Todd, ever faced tough economic times where you had to sit around a kitchen table and make tough choices?

…

HH: Governor, when you say things are tight right now, is that simply because of Todd being off not working? Or is it because of extraordinary demands on the fiscal resources of the Palin family? What’s the situation there?

…

HH: Governor, let’s turn to a couple of issues that the MSM’s not going to pick up. You’re pro-life, and how much of the virulent opposition to you on the left do you attribute to your pro-life position, and maybe even to the birth of, your decision, your and Todd’s decision to have Trig?

…

HH: Do you think the mainstream media and the left understands your religious faith, Governor Palin?

…

HH: Governor, let’s close with some foreign affairs. It is reported that you had an Israeli flag in your governor’s office. You wore an Israeli flag pin occasionally. One, is that true? And two, why your support for Israel?

…

HH: Last question, Governor. Have you and Todd heard from your son? And how is it on your nerves having your son deployed?

…

HH: Governor Sarah Palin, look forward to talking to you again, good luck on Thursday night.