Letters to the Editor
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DR Strikes Once More
Kitt - Why not include the part where Odom admits to Hewitt that he doesn't know how many people were killed under Saddam, but would be interested in finding out. As I said, Odom's got tunnel vision. All he wants is for us to pull out. Why not pull quotes honestly Kitt. I wasn't lying. You can admit it. It won't kill you.
DR, just see Bullsmith's post from a few of minutes ago. That way I can save my fingers the trouble of telling you how deep in the doodoo you are...all day everyday. Over and over again.
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John Wayne
I long ago decided that the Neocons like HH and his ilk worship at the alter of John Wayne at his B Grade movie worst. There is a detachment to their arguments that evidences a need to reduce every problem to a quick sound bite, film clip answer; i.e. rhetoric as problem solver. The right line, the right sound bite, and voila, see nothing complex here, move on.
This phenomenon is illustrated over and over by the idiotic comments of folks like Gaffney of course but best by Mark Steyn (spelling). If Steyn were no longer allowed to use the words "basically", "essentially", or "the bottom line" he would be struck mute.
HH has no idea how to debate someone like Odom. One gets the impression that if Odom said "Boo", Odom would scamble under the covers. And one more point or question, I should say:
Why do the HH, Joe, DR folks give unqualified credence to the mutterings of Bin Laden and Ama-whatsisname?
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V is for ...
Vendetta -
The original work, the graphic novel, was written by a British guy named Alan Moore, who thought that Margaret Thatcher and the 80's Reagan conservatives were odious and oppressive. Anyone care to guess what he thinks of the current American regime? To try and place his viewpoint as somehow being in synch with the mindset of the invading and occupying army in the quagmire in Iraq is laughable, at best.
clownsense - please stop don't.
I heard a little of this interview on my way home the other day, and was stunned by how quickly the callers turned to the whole "he would have voted with Chamberlin" meme. It was like the man had just gotten on and spouted gibberish - I don't think the listeners, or Hewitt, listened to a word he said.
Come to think of it, it was kind of like engaging Shooter, or daley, on these comments.
I especially like Odom's comment about how Kim Jong Il and others "...knows how to cause us to jump up in the air and get all excited, and cause people of your frame of mind, and particularly the neocons' frame of mind, to start doing things that are not in the U.S. interests. And then as you hit the ground, we'd pay him off and bribe him."
I was reminded of a concert review in the Albany Metroland a few years back - a band had played what was apparently not a particularly inspiring set at a local club. but the lead singer was one of those guys who jump all over the stage, and there happened to be a low hanging ceiling fan right over where his spot on the stage was, and this kept the reviewer riveted - far past any contribution, musically, the band was making to his attention or concentration.
If it works for the lead singer of an anonymous rock band, why not for radio pundits, or talking heads, or heads of state? See guys? I'm jumping all over the place, so it has to be interesting! See how high I am jumping! Watch ... I almost hit the fan that time! Don't pay attention to what I am saying, just listen to how fervently I believe it!
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Woid responding to Glenn's response to Woid
Actually, my name's Glenn too, so I could have said "Glenn responding to Glenn's response to Glenn," but that's a little too recursive.
I'm a bit surprised that you (and this post's commenters) aren't more familiar with the World War II "V for Victory" meme. I was born somewhat later, but here's what I know.
I don't know the origin of "V for Victory" in that war -- or whether it's even older -- but it was ubiquitous. The two-finger "V" sign was a trademark of Churchill's, and became common among the public, decades before it became the "peace" sign of the sixties. (THAT, I remember.)
By amazing coincidence, it happens that the morse code symbol for the letter V, ...- (dot-dot-dot-dash), is also easy shorthand for the opening four note theme of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, the famous dah-dah-dah-dummmm that everybody knows. Symphony 5 = Symphony V. So as a result, the Beethoven theme also became a symbol for "V" and for Victory, heard often in that association in many movies.
As for the visuals you asked for... I found a bunch of them doing a Google image search. But the best place to look is here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1575100894/ref=sib_dp_pt/105-2833579-2458868
That's the Amazon "Search inside" page for the book of "V for Victory" collectibles that I linked to in my first comment. Click on the "Surprise me" link a couple of times, and you'll be taken to random pages in that book with images that closely resemble the logo of that new right-wing web site.
Again, none of this is in defense of Hewitt and his fellow fascisti. They are, as you so eloquently describe day after day, despicable. It's also entirely possible that the resemblence to the WWII image is a coincidence, unknown to the people running the site, and to whichever graphic artist made their logo for them. And without a doubt, their politics are way closer to the totalitarians of "V for Vendetta" and "1984" than they are to their beloved Churchill, who must be turning in his grave (as is Lincoln this week).
Keep up the great work!
[flashes "V" sign]
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Chicken(hawk)s Come Home to Roost
I think what we are seeing is the conservative generation brought up in the Reagan years coming into fill bloom, for the worse. These folks bought the fake soundstage pageantry and movie staged platitudes as reality, or just couldn’t tell the difference between façade and fact … easier to “rah-rah-USA” than think or know history. Carbon-copy it a few times over the past two decades, and you have third-rate, poor quality reproductions such as the current administration and the AEI cheerleaders who confuse sound bites for policy, wishful thinking for reality. And I see this uncritical thinking amongst way too many young people today … whether it’s from living in TV/video game reality or the lack of civics being taught in schools, who knows (as for the older right-wingers, I’ll blame ignorance and unresolved mommy/daddy issues). Like all derelict and corrupt strains of thought without foundation, this “philosophy” will soon crumble and disappear … the problem is the damage they are causing my cause us all to crumble first in a war-first world.