Those making the comments like the one from TNR, etc. quoted in Glenn's article about the upcoming Maddow show, can't have listened to her much or at all. If ever there was a person NOT locked into an ideology, it is Rachel. She speaks her OWN mind and it's a superior one.

Great column by Greenwald.

"Maturity", you were NEVER a Democrat.

It's like watching a lobotomy being performed on an entire society one cut at a time, with those whose purpose (at least in theory) is to help safeguard against such a thing serving as all too willing assistants.

And it looks like Glenn attracted a lot of the post-ops today.

The MCM has been selling the line that Denver is preparing for a 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention replay. The problem with this idea is that in 1968 it was Americans who protested against the government who were attacked by the police in what later was referred to as a "police riot". Mayor Daly and his thugs were hyper-vigilant against supposed violent protestors, except that the anti-war movement at that time was not comprised of violent types, they were pacifists, moralists, rebels, intellectuals, political activists, and working class Americans who believed that the Vietnam War for most and all wars for some were not it the best interest of the U.S. and that American lives were wasted needlessly. Only an insignificant number of extremists were anti-military or anti-American. After the injustice of the police riot more middle-class Americans agreed with the peace demonstrators. When members of the middle-class joined the cause for peace, it irritated the leaders in our nation, because it showed the world that they did not have complete control over citizens of a free country, as it should be.

What we are witnessing in business, politics, intelligence, and the propaganda media are nearly the same leaders still trying to prove that they are bad asses, so that when they tell us "ours is not to reason why; ours is but to do or die, we jump to it. The argument for complete control is so tempting that the leaders forget that the level of control they desire is a weakness. It is the spirit of a free people that makes them willing to make the ultimate sacrifice, not because some jerks want to believe that they should be the only ones in command.

The book that they so often quote does not say, Greater strength hath no man than he who is willing to take the life of another. The book states, "Greater love hath no man than to lay down his life for another," and it is supposedly an one stop service elevator to a fantasy place where life is acceptable most of the time. It is not a coincidence that the major religions offer a grand prize for martyrdom. All of them need people who are brainwashed enough to die for whatever hair-brained mess their leaders get them into.

What we are about to witness in Denver is a concocted series of protests created by those aligned with the so-called conservative movement in order to discredit the Democratic Convention and to turn the news coverage away from the communal joy of nominating the next president of the U.S. It is the pleasure of our company they seek to destroy and bury with BS. The MCM wants to tell a story of no bump from the convention. It is obvious what they are after. Liberals would be wise not to feed into this frame, because it will put more attention on what will be happening outside of the convention than the importance of what will transpire within. I went to the entire '96 convention in Chicago and it was one of the best times I have had. Progressives should not let those who would game the convention for their own purposes take away one of the best political events, in which they can participate, that reveals the strength of a diverse, independent, and principled group that will not cave to those who are filled with hate. Let them wallow in their own sty when their convention comes.

My compliments to Rachel Maddow and MSNBC. I hope her show goes well. (A bit of advice: Slam the Chickenhawk-in-Chief and the neocon scum whenever you can.)

Piss on The New Republic. (Say, when the hell are their chickenhawks going to enlist?)

But everyone else considers you an idiot and a troll.

I realize that it's an Overton Window thing. It's just that I never cease to be amazed when it's unthinkingly accepted if not knowingly and eagerly advanced by the SCLM. It's like watching a lobotomy being performed on an entire society one cut at a time, with those whose purpose (at least in theory) is to help safeguard against such a thing serving as all too willing assistants.

The underlying impetus for this process has always come from the far right (the Powell memo, Phyllis Schlaffly, Buchanan & Safire), which realized long ago that moving the goalposts is easier than moving the ball. But the establishment media has been a vital and willing participant in it for decades, and it's infuriating to see it happening on a daily if not hourly basis by allegedly "legitimate" reporters. It's gotten to the point where "everybody knows" that what they say is true, regardless of whether or not it is. The disconnect between actual and presented reality is beyond surreal. It's like waking up as a character in 1984.

I'm sure that a lot of these propaganda disseminators who call themselves reporters realize that what they're saying is bullshit. I mean, they can't all be this stupid. But I'm guessing that most of them realize early on in their careers that the easiest, safest and surest path to success is to play along with the establishment, not go up against it--something that the power centers in this establishment fully realize and exploit--and decide to do so.

In fact, they don't even need to decide, seeing as we live in a society that has become steadily more cynical and narcissistic since the various 60's movements petered out in the 70's (which was yet another consequence of decades of conservative dominance--conservatism is about selfishness at its core, and always has been). And they're just a part of and manifestation of this cynicism. Why do one's actual job when a crafty and cynical simulation pays the bills, advances one's career and assures no unpleasant confrontations with the powers that be?

Why, indeed.