Where is the Outrage?

This week, we were treated to the spectacle of a debate supposedly designed to help pick the next leader of our country, which involved discussing the size of the leading candidate's penis, and an endless round of cheap, childish insults, but did not include a second of meaningful discussion on a single issue of substance.

And going almost unnoticed in all of this, was the blatantly partisan nature of the whole thing.  If any of you are old enough to remember the many, many years when Presidential debates were run by the League of Women Voters, you know that the audience was instructed at the beginning of the debate to show no reaction to what the candidates had to say.  In this "debate," we had an audience, hand picked by Fox News, cheering wildly at every attack on Trump, in a manner as spontaneous as a sitcom laugh track.  Furthermore, we were treated to a number of slides, prepared in advance by Fox, highlighting lies that Trump told; not once was such a thing shown for any other candidate, despite the obvious fact of their being just as big a pack of liars as Trump is.

This is not an exercise in democracy; it is right wing propaganda paid for by sociopaths.  This fact is far more important than a single thing that was said at this event.  Yet, virtually no one in the absurdly titled "liberal media" is willing to say this openly.  Instead, relatively serious discussions between the candidates on the left are eclipsed in the mainstream press by this sort of meaningless and disgusting spectacle.

And let us all remember that this phenomenon did not arise on its own.  It is the result of decades of massively funded Republican efforts to convince the American public of the following, among other things:

Facts mean nothing, and as a corollary, scientists are nothing but corrupt, self-serving liars who are engaged in trying to feather their own pockets by getting government money.  No, it is anger and hatred that will actually lead Americans to the right solution to their problems.

Greed and self interest are good, and are proven to be the right values by the large number of people who have become obscenely rich by concentrating on nothing else.  And if enough Americans just agree to give Republicans what they want, they will all soon be rich too.

We are in imminent danger of all being slaughtered in our beds by religious fanatics if we do not elect Republicans, who can be trusted to defend the country (as George W. Bush did in Iraq) if we only give their backers more tax money to spend on armaments, taking the money from all domestic spending, from road building to clean air and water, to Medicaid and Social Security, which are, of course, just corrupt expenditures that Democrats use to buy votes of ignorant and stupid minorities.

And the big lie:  Make the rich richer, and they will altruistically share their wealth with everyone else; a grotesque specimen of right wing economic cant otherwise known as "supply-side" economics; and one which has been proven disastrously wrong every single time it has been tried anywhere in the world, but which is still pushed by Republicans, because they get paid to do it.

I could go on here, but you get the idea.  Trump, and the sorry spectacle of this debate, did not arise in a vacuum; they were carefully created by a political party that wanted a base which was impervious to any notion of truth or even common decency, and which could be manipulated through their Pavlovian training to respond to violence and hatred.  Well, they now have the party they wanted; the only question is whether we are going to give them the rest of the country too.  And in the meantime, just keep concentrating on the size of Donald Trump's penis, wherein you will find the answers to all of our nation's problems.

Comments

Unknown said…
I've often been embarrassed by many of the things the US does, abroad and at home. But this sham is very likely to be a four-year nightmare of embarrassment as Trump alienates virtually every nation with his moronic, childish behavior.

The staggering realization that anyone has taken the buffoon serious is beyond any description the English language (or any other language for that matter) can present.

I fear we're in for some very strange garbage coming from the WH.

I read a comment by some reporter stating that; "if Trump ordered the military to conduct torture, and kill innocent civilians, they would defy the order." Really?? I read that statement and wondered where in hell that guy's been the past 11-12 years with GTMO and other handy little hideouts, and all the horrendous collateral damage in the Middle East????

And, yet we wonder how people like Trump find a seat in the WH.
Anonymous said…
Where is the outrage that a Jew hating, butt fucking faggot like you gets to spew your Jew hate?
Cirze said…
Impervious to facts.

Of which, they have no idea.

As most of them don't have the education to be able to read knowledgeably or have any idea that they should question authority and not accept the ridiculous "news" coverage they are offered by those who benefit from the lack of intelligent coverage.

From your lips to their ears.

As a former member of LWV, I pointed out your arguments when they were first promoted.

Nothing has changed since then.

Except for the worse.
Grung_e_Gene said…
Donald Trump is jewish?
Marc said…
The main Republican voting bloc is older white Americans - the same people who think the Republican Party is the party their parents were part of and believed in, and these folks still think that the news media is still the one pioneered by Mr. Edward R. Morrow. These folks have been cultivated by the party and the Fox machine to not believe anything from outside their 'trusted' sources.

Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and all the rest have been keeping them agitated against the conspiracy that has been "dragging the country down". Now comes Trump, telling folks what they want to hear, and saying out loud what the dogwhistles have been communicating over decades. The TV and radio stations are giving him coverage he doesn't have to pay for. No wonder he is the frontrunner for President on the Republican slate - nobody else is savvy enough to surf that wave against the establishment in a reality TV fashion.

The party can clutch their pearls and call for the fainting couch all they want - they created the conditions, and are shocked that someone other than their chosen one was able to take advantage of them. We, on the other hand, can only hope and pray the voters keep him away from the WH.
Green Eagle said…
I think I will leave Anonymous' comment up, and I hope everyone reads it. Against the background of the other comments here, it perfectly illustrates what, exactly, lies behind Conservatism in the United States.

And I don't really get the Jew hate thing at all. Maybe you could explain that to us, Anonymous, in your inimitable fashion.
Sam240 said…
I am a Jew.

Once, Green Eagle insisted Israel is the homeland of the Jews.

I said that I was born in and live in the United States, am loyal to the United States, have never been to Israel, and have never wanted to live in Israel.

I asked him what my homeland was.

He suggested it was Mars.

Apparently the United States can't be the homeland of a Jew. It's either Israel (if you agree with him) or Mars (if you don't).

Perhaps Anonymous is thinking of that.
Magpie said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Green Eagle said…
Sam, I don't remember saying that, but I will take your word for it.

Listen, your comments here have been so irrational and detached from reality that I suspect you may be from Mars.

And by the way, anyone can claim to be a Jew. I see people claiming to be Jews commenting on web posts every day, who are clearly not Jews. I have lived in Israel, and support its right to exist. Practically all Jews feel the same way. And as for loyalty to the United States, I feel no loyalty to the people who killed millions in Vietnam and Iraq, who have invaded and imposed dictators on countries around the world, who are still viciously racist in their behavior to other Americans, who have sold our government to rich sociopaths, and who have given us the most regressive industrialized country in the world.

Israel is the homeland of Jews in the same sense that France is the homeland of French people, or Ireland is the home of Irish people. That means they should have a right to go there in peace, and not be subjected to the constant threat of obliteration at the hands of genocidal religious lunatics. If you cannot see that, you are blind indeed.
Hans "Grüne" Adler said…
Green Eagle,

"Israel is the homeland of Jews in the same sense that France is the homeland of French people, or Ireland is the home of Irish people. "

I agree with you 100%. Just like Israel is the homeland of the Jews, Germania is the homeland of the German people. They should be able to live there without the threat of obliteration at the hands of genocidal religious lunatics. I refer, of course, to Slavs.

Note that the Sudetenland is part of Germania. Just like Gaza, East Jerusalem, the Golan, and the West Bank are part of Israel, the Jewish homeland, we see from the map that Sudetenland, Silesia, Prussia, and Eastern Pomerania are all part of Germania, the German homeland.

If you are in favor of having East Jerusalem as part of Israel, you must also be in favor of having the Sudetenland as part of Germany. Opposing the Munich agreement was wrong, since the Germans of the Sudetenland had every right to vote on whether they wanted to be part of Germany or the anti-German Slavic state of Czechoslovakia. We both believe the same things about Israel, so I can't be an anti-Semite.

We need to stick together.
Zog said…
"And by the way, anyone can claim to be a Jew. I see people claiming to be Jews commenting on web posts every day, who are clearly not Jews." - Green Eagle.

Repeat after me. Lev, our young Kahanist, says that Sam is both a Jew and his "stupid cousin."

I'll say it again. Lev, our young Kahanist, says that Sam is both a Jew and his "stupid cousin."

How many times must it be repeated for it to sink in? If Lev's claiming that Sam is a Jew, then Sam's a Jew.

-----
"Israel is the homeland of Jews in the same sense that France is the homeland of French people, or Ireland is the home of Irish people. That means they should have a right to go there in peace"

Meanwhile, Sam has claimed earlier that England is the homeland of English Jews, just like Lord Montagu did in 1917, in response to the Balfour Declaration. She claims that the United States is the homeland of American Jews like her.


I want to know if I've got things straight, so I'll use the following example to try to illustrate things:

Luigi is an ethnic Italian from Rome. Paul is ethnically Italian, but he was born and raised in New York. João is also ethnically Italian, but he was born and lives in São Paulo. According to you, Luigi, Paul, and João would all have Italy as their homeland. Sam, of course, would probably disagree.

Brazil and Italy both have great men's soccer teams, and they have met in both the World Cup and, in 2013, the Confederations Cup. Let's say they meet again in a big competition. If I'm right, Sam's thinking would go something like this:

*Luigi is glued to the match, and wants the Italian team to win. This means his homeland is Italy.

*João is glued to the match, and wants the Brazilian team to win. This means his homeland is Brazil.

*Paul doesn't care about soccer one bit, and he has no idea that Italy and Brazil are playing a match. This means his homeland is the United States.

Green Eagle, am I right in saying that, since their ancestors are all from Italy, you would call Italy the homeland of all three of these people?
Sam240 said…
Zog - That's a fair approximation.

"Israel is the homeland of Jews in the same sense that France is the homeland of French people, or Ireland is the home of Irish people." - Green Eagle

How are you defining French people? If it's French by ancestry, I would disagree that France is their homeland. We have plenty of people of French ancestry in the United States who don't speak French, and plenty of people of French ancestry in Canada who see Canada as their home.

If it's citizens of France, regardless of ancestry, then France is their homeland, and "France is the homeland of French people" is a tautology. However, this means that Israel being the homeland of Jews is something utterly different than France being the homeland of French people. Not all Jews are Israeli citizens, and not all Israeli citizens are Jews, so we no longer have a tautology.

Countries ought to belong to their citizens, not to ethnic groups. If you think this is "irrational" and "detached from reality," there might be something wrong with you.

Another thing:

" And as for loyalty to the United States, I feel no loyalty to the people who killed millions in Vietnam and Iraq, who have invaded and imposed dictators on countries around the world, who are still viciously racist in their behavior to other Americans, who have sold our government to rich sociopaths, and who have given us the most regressive industrialized country in the world. " - Green Eagle.

I thought Green Eagle was aware that there is a difference between the United States and the leadership of the Republican Party. Here he's treating them as practically the same thing.

Green Eagle is mentioning a lot of things that need fixed in the United States, and I agree that we need to fix them. My interpretation of loyalty demands it. Is it better to repair the country, or just give up on it and let it fall apart? I choose the former.
Green Eagle said…
Zog, sorry, I couldn't be bothered to read that.
Zog said…
Try reading the last part - I tried to sneak a joke in there.
Adam Alabaster, A-1 American said…
Hey Green Eagle,

Someone says they're loyal to and love the United States, and you reply by complaining about everything about the US.

If you hate this country so much, why do you live here?
Green Eagle said…
I was born here, and by the way, I'd much rather live in a nice villa in Tuscany.
Adam Alabaster, A-1 American said…
You said you lived in Israel. If you hate the United States so much, why didn't you stay there?
Green Eagle said…
Mr. Alabaster, I just happened to come across the following article by Charlie Pierce (via Atrios) this morning. Why not give it a read?

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a42903/democratic-debate-miami/

And this only deals with the United States' behavior toward Latin America. A list of equally abominable behaviors could be written about what we have done in the middle east, Africa or Souteast Asia, let alone the way minorities (you know who I mean) have been treated inside the country.

What is there to love in this record? It is a story of abominable misuse of power, continuing throughout almost our entire existence, which is maintained by the intense propaganda that convinces people like you that we are somehow better than everyone else.

If this is what you love, then you are an abominable person.
Adam Alabaster, A-1 American said…
Green Eagle,

You didn't answer my question. Instead you told me to hate my country because the government is evil. There are people in dictatorships who try to topple their governments because they love their country.

You said you lived in Israel. If you hate the United States so much, why didn't you stay in Israel? Why did you come back here?

Can you come up with an answer?
Sam240 said…
Yes, Green Eagle, tell us.

You correctly say that racism and the way minorities have been treated inside the United States is a problem.

When I say that racism exists within Israel and the way minorities have been treated inside Israel is morally wrong, you criticize me for lying.

From how you keep insulting me for saying those things, you must believe that Israel behaves much better than the United States does.

So let me repeat Adam's question.

You said you lived in Israel. If you hate the United States so much, why didn't you stay in Israel? Why did you come back here?

---

One more thing.

"A list of equally abominable behaviors could be written about what we have done" - Green Eagle.

It reminds me of the punchline given by Tonto: What do you mean by "we," paleface?

Does that mean that the United States is really your homeland?
Green Eagle said…
Sam, you really need to grow up. I suspect you are about 14, so I guess we can't expect any more of you, but still, maybe you should go sit at the kids' table for a while.

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