As if the conduct of our daily affairs weren’t bewildering enough, the issue of abortion is thrust into the health-care debate, Sarah Palin appears on Oprah and Michele Bachmann conducts an interview on C-Span’s “After Words.” Are there no cooler heads left to prevail in this country or have we accepted the odd notion that our social construct demands a willingness to suffer fools gladly in the name of free speech, that every opinion deserves respectful scrutiny no matter how narrow or illogical the vision.
How did the Conference of Catholic Bishops come to exert influence over matters of state? I can’t think of an event that held less interest for me, but then I am not Catholic and that’s the point. Health-care legislation should be judged on its merits not religious belief; the Stupak amendment is an affront to people who are serious about health-care reform. Congressman Stupak, a Roman Catholic, who rents a room at the religious enclave on C-Street, seemed to feel it was appropriate to reference the Bishops’ conference in his attempt to launch a back-door assault on abortion rights. Can’t public figures and the press speak out against the intrusion of religion into the political process instead of caving in to religious fanaticism as if it were a sacred right?
Somehow arcane beliefs have intermingled with the entertainment value of political figures who exude more bluster than intellect. Why else would right-wing Republicans embrace Sarah Palin who so obviously lacks the skills, dedication and intelligence to seek high office? As Palin begins a whirlwind tour to publicize her book and maintain her standing as a Republican hopeful, her appearance on Oprah helps to grow her celebrity; an attribute the McCain campaign mistakenly thought would be enough to grow his electoral viability. In any case, the fact that she is discussed on almost every political talk show lends her an air of credibility that is hard to justify in real terms. Hardly anyone questions the fact that she left the Governor’s office before her term ended or seems to wonder if she has developed any greater sense of commitment since then.
Rather more improbable is the prospect of bizarro Michele Bachmann conducting an interview with Peter Schweizer on C-Span’s “After Words” a forum for extended discussions of recently published books. Of course Schweizer is an author after her own heart, having written Architects of Ruin, subtitled “how big government liberals wrecked the global economy --- and how they will do it again if no one stops them.” Without exploring possible valid talking points in his treatise, it should be noted that it wasn’t liberals who relaxed regulatory oversight of financial markets. Nor was it a liberal idea to merge banking and investment-house operations, a major cause of the economic meltdown here and abroad. In a note Amazon.com cites books “frequently bought together”- - Sarah Palin’s Going Rogue , Glenn Beck’s Arguing with Idiots, and Architects of Ruin.
To provide some perspective with regard to the free-wheeling right though, it took “The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart. On Thursday night he showed a clip in which Sean Hannity admitted Stewart was right when he pointed out that Fox used scenes of the summer’s tea-baggers to suggest this fall’s re-run demonstration was larger than it really was. When fall foliage disappeared and leafy green trees emerged in its place the ruse or ‘mistake’ became evident. In a Stewart skit, having pretended to watch an entire hour of Hannity before the admission was made, he collapsed saying “it wasn’t worth it.” After all, he already knew Fox was guilty of countless misrepresentations. This was the first time, however, that one of their crude distortions was captured in high relief for all to see, pictures being worth a thousand words as it is said.
Sad though some of our recent political developments are, there’s a comedic aspect to the hyperbolic right who seem only too willing to paint themselves into hysterical corners. Laughter can be a cleansing balm that should be used more often. But great care should also be taken to resist indulging in politically correct discussions that fail to confront the undue influence of religious zealotry in our political life. There are some political pundits and members of Congress who give religious freedom a bad name.
Architects of ruin?
I would say that liberals are indeed architects of ruin: their own. To find this article on Buzzflash I had to wade through seven pages of Google listings for websites, talk shows and other outlets promoting Schweitzer's compendium of right wing bullcrap with not a single link to an alternative point of view. I watched, mentally retching, as nutcake Michelle Bachmann "interviewed" this guy on C-Span. His book is a major salvo in the libertarian/ laissez faire pushback on the economic meltdown. Having brought the disaster about, their next goal is to pin it on liberals and "big government", the facts (as usual) be damned. A conservative stooge from the Hoover Institute, Schweitzer gives a distorted analysis of the sub-prime mortgage crisis, leaving out virtually all of the factors that really made it all happen. His arguments are full of gaping holes, BUT, none of these are being actively identified by the liberal mainstream. Liberals have to push back against this stuff and I just don't see that happening. It's the way we allow the right wing to walk over us every time.
Must We Suffer Fools Gladly? Yes -- The First Amendment Says So
Suffering fools is the price all of us Americans must pay in exchange for the preservation of our freedom of expression guaranteed by the First Amendment of our Constitution.
Like it or not, the First Amendment guarnatees the free expression of ideas -- even the most crackpot, most offensive and even the most dangerous. In other words, everyone has the freedom to speak their minds -- and even to make total fools of themselves.
But with that freedom, comes responsibility. That is why we have laws to redress libel, slander and defamation of character. It's too bad, though, that they don't allow class-action lawsuits. Otherwise, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh would have been sued for their deliberate race-baiting a long time ago.
Nope
The First Amendment only requires that our government suffer the utterances of fools, not ourselves.
No one is required to provide anyone a forum, nor even take any notice of what they say or write ......... i.e. "Suffer Fools".
WRONG!
Freedom of speech does not give anyone the right to lie!
Nor does it give anyone the right to attempt to over throw, through violent means, a legitimately elected government, even if it is full of Blue Dog DINO-Fascists!
These traitors can indeed be sued as well as arrested for breaking the law.
But how can we expect justice when our new Blue Dog DINO-Fascist pResident won't even arrest the former misadministration for their war crimes?
Must We Suffer Fools Gladly?
Not 'gladly', but always keep in mind that well over half of Americans are less intelligent than these 'fools' ........ and most are probably a whole lot less so.
That has always been our Noble Experiment's basic problem, and it now appears to have fatally crippled it. I have no solution other than to offer fools no respect, and mock them into being themselves even more so.
Palin is auditioning for the role of puppet president
The powers behind the throne (i.e., the oligarchs of the MIC, Wall Street, pharmaceutical and health insurance industries, and the health industry) who finance the GOP (and increasingly finance the Dims) prefer puppets to real leaders in important government offices. They have gone from supporting Reagan (90 percent puppet) to G. W. Bush (95 percent puppet) and might be willing to support Palin (who would be a 99 percent puppet) if she auditions well over the next two years. The woman is not too bright, but I suspect she at least understands that. She would not want to do the hard work of developing policy anyway (all that reading and thinking!). She just wants to be in the spotlight as she reads what others wrote for her and to be the topic of conversation. She wants to be the most "popular" girl in the universe.
"Conservative" Women...
... are intended to look good and not to be good. They are yet another distraction intended to keep the logical brain from engaging and actually thinking about what is being said. This tactic works well enough that it will continue to be used. I know this because I actually heard men say that they were voting for McCain because they thought Palin was hot. The blank stare on their faces when asked how that qualified her for office was priceless - and very informative.
Vaudeville acts in a Banana Republic
In Palin's case, fools of the left and right suffer gladly because she makes good fodder for one and a kind of a role model to defend for the other. Happily, the laughter and defense she elicits seem to be subsiding. In general, we have to suffer fools because their backers grease many a palm. Sometimes I think our pay offs and financial transctions resemble a developing Banana Republic, not an "advanced" western nation.
I Wanna Strangle The Last CorpoRat CEO
with the entrails of the last 'minister,' after the last brick in the last chuch falls on his fuukin head... also: Then you write: "it should be noted that it wasn’t liberals who relaxed regulatory oversight of financial markets. Nor was it a liberal idea to merge banking and investment-house operations, a major cause of the economic meltdown here and abroad."
While I'll agree he was no liberal, it was Dim Clenis who not only signed but celebrated the repeal of Glass-Steagal, and the monstrous Gramm/Bliley crapola that set the stage for all this, and about which the greedy parvenu Clenis was warned...
Who? What? Talk sense, man!
Who? What? Talk sense, man!
"Clenis" = "Clinton + Penis
Use your imagination, man. Be brave! Think!!!
Are you Bevis or Butthead?
I think both!
konopelli is the perfect example of why FAUX Gnus has so many followers.
There really are that many idiots in America!
By the way, Clinton, a DINO-Fascist, signed a bill that was written by a Neocon-Fascist REPUBLICAN CONGRESS!!!
Inane + trivial + crude = konopelli
Thinking rationally is something I wish you could do. Your obsession with Clinton's sex life makes me wonder whether you're really Ann Coulter!
On the subject of stupid women, Sarah Palin introduced herself to the world as a "hockey mom" and a "pitbull with lipstick". Turns out the pitbull couldn't handle even one term as Governor of Alaska. Her delusion that she is the frontrunner for 2012 continues. Wink-wink!
Well, she's making money on her book, and she'll have her male conservative groupies trailing her around the country and savoring their Palin fantasies.