Letters to the Editor
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Only an airline merger...
Gosh! There was a time when that would have seemed like a really big deal. These days... not so much.
Another thought about this so-called "BDS" ...
One of the reasons that I like to frequent GG's comment threads over so many others is that no one here (well, very few, anyway) does very much to minimize the harm done by Bush, et al. Hardly anyone here wears blinders.
However, in my non-cyber life there are people who think that politics is too important to me. And that I care too passionately about the actions of this maladministration. I don't know Berkowitz, but if I did, he would be the worst of them. Because he is an admitted mischief-maker... just trying to get a little of his own back... but at the expense of those with fewer privileges than he has, not more, and who (presumably) have a lot more skin in the game than he does.
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hating usually requires effort from me
In Bush's case I'll make an exception. I didn't like him much when he was placed in office, but I didn't expect him to be that bad. In fact, when I first read The Onion's now famous "national nightmare of peace and prosperity" article, I thought it was unfair. I thought it was funny, sure, but mean considering he had only just been inaugurated. Now I stand in awe of its accuracy. Nobody else had him pegged so perfectly.
If I hate Bush, it's because he's worked awfully hard to earn my hatred. Kudos to him. It may be about the only thing he's ever truly earned in his life.
By contrast, I want to say that as a California resident, I don't hate our Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. I was prepared to hate the guy. I still won't vote for him--I might though if he switched parties. I'm not a big fan, but I feel that using a baseline of Pete Wilson and Gray Davis for comparison, it would be hard to say he's done a terrible job. He also seems to genuinely want California to do well and can admit to mistakes.
So here's a contrast. I started out willing to let Bush do his job and he has failed on every count. I started out set against Arnold Schwarzenegger and the sleazy way he got into office, but I will concede that his performance is no worse than his predecessor. I'm pretty adaptable and I don't like to hate people. The fact that I hate Bush convinces me that there's a lot there to hate.
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"Bush hatred is different."
It's deserved.
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The press handed Bush his war on a silver platter. What are you talking about?
Bush was strong enough to do what he thought was right no matter what the howling, prancing, filthy, press had to say.
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WRT declaring the war over.
I'm all for it. So long as the second part in "declare victory and go home" comes into things. So good! Mission accomplished! Let's leave now.
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Reagan-era FCC changes, etc.
Television, radio and newspapers will continue pretending that Bush is popular; that "centrism" means Bush capitulation; that "Bush hatred" is a fringe, psychological phenomenon (and not a growing, national and global majority position); that we are "fighting for democracy;" that they "hate our freedoms"; that Al Gore, Ron Paul and Howard Dean are "crazy"; that Edwards is "soft" and Giuliani is "tough"; etc. etc. etc. until reality disappears over the horizon. It's only going to get worse, until we begin regulating the airwaves again. -- Jordan Orlando [bolded emphasis mine]
Yep. That's it. And then the OJ saga showed cable that there was another way to increase both ratings and revenue... and then Fox was ready to strike once the VRWC really went after (Bill) Clinton. And then we had those miserable horse races in 2000 and 2004. And now, here we are! Hooray!!! Three cheers for "free" enterprise! Rah! Rah! Rah!
[I'm pretty sure that's how the other team feels about it. That it's a good thing.]
A couple of bones to pick... It's bad enough that the "public" air waves are not freely available to candidates for public office. That alone would revolutionize the big money factor that demeans us all. But that one cannot even watch the candidates debate without accessing cable TV is positively undemocratic.
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Bush still admits no errors in his presidency
http://alternet.org/blogs/peek/67856/
He's a class act all the way, huh!
See, he actually PLANNED to not find any WMDs in Iraq! Or something!
The entire neocon narrative is tumbling into total incoherency. You will all have noticed that shooter242 makes less sense all the time as he struggles to justify his irrational fetish for authoritarian, militaristic power.
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My "feelings" for Bush aren't near as strong
as my contempt for his supporters. They're the ones I blame for this mess we're in. They CHOSE to be duped.
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"Lowly Filth-Peddling Gossip like Matt Drudge"
Yikes! Remind me NEVER to get on Mr. Greenwald's bad side.
I can't stop laughing at that line. Brilliant!
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howling, prancing, filthy, press had to say
You have to remember that shooter lives in freeperland most of the time and only shows up here long enough to drop turds and leave again. In his world, the NYT is in direct league with Al Qaeda to weaken American resolve and impose sharia upon New Jersey.
I understand there is a cure for his malady but it would involve a brain transplant.
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@orbitboy
I don't agree. I think that (if you will allow a horrible simile just for a moment), 9/11 was equivalent to raging hunger, and Bush & Co. presented a $7 million Burger King ad. Everyone's mouth waters and they think "I could really go for a burger right now; where are the car keys?" without even realizing what was just done to them by a team of extremely skillful persuaders.
This goes back to Hitler and Leni Riefenstahl (and Godwin can go fuck himself). The techniques used by advertisers and hucksters have been shrewdly and skillfully adopted by the government and the mainstream press (as I discussed in my last post). We began to see this in earnest under Reagan (FCC point again). Hitler-era Germans had their poverty, their rage and their fear; Reagan-era Americans had their economic insecurities and their guilt-fatigue after Vietnam and Watergate; and, today, we have 9/11. These are very primal human emotions, and candidates and pundits are almost terrifyingly skilled at manipulating those feelings into support for whichever actions they condone. The aircraft carrier was a very effective Burger King ad. Really, Bush's entire existence on the national stage is an exercise in cynical showmanship: the man was clearly chosen for his "brand recognition" (last name) and his Pepperige Farm-style "folksiness" (and backstage compliance) that made him a perfect spokesman for what the plutocracy felt had to happen (tax cuts, militarism, deregulation, decreased civil liberties, etc.)