Come for the Politics, Stay for the Pathologies



Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Detroit Mayoral Election: What difference, at this point, does it make?

Detroit held an election yesterday and as I advised MOTUS at the time, what difference, at this point, does it make?  

zombieland detroitZombieland Detroit: have at it

Both candidates appeared to be qualified and either one of them would have been more qualified to run for president than Barack Obama was in 2008 - aside from the perfectly creased pant legs that is.

benny and mike dugganCandidates Benny, left; Mike, right, the winner .

Since the Detroit Mayoral election is non-partisan, candidates are not listed by political party; there’s no need - there simply aren’t any Republicans here. This year the election came down to a choice between Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon (D) and former Wayne County Deputy Executive, Mike Duggan (D).

Like the 2008 presidential election, this race was historic. Mike Duggan, the white guy, won by a 10 point margin in a city that is currently 82% black. The last time a white man was elected Mayor of Detroit was 1969. Indeed, I think the last time a white man even ran for mayor was sometime in the 70’s.  So why, after electing black liberal Democrats to run their city for the last 40 years, did the citizens of Detroit elect a white man this time? Maybe they had grown weary over the course of  4 decades of seeing no results other than a perpetual death spiral of rot, decay and unemployment, combined with continually escalating taxes (property, sales/utility, income). Or maybe people have finally grown tired of  the Boss Hog mentality of City Hall. And perhaps even the black citizens are getting sick of hearing that every problem in Detroit is the fault of the racist suburbs.

I’d like to believe that’s at least partially it. The reality is more likely that Mike Duggan, despite being accused of being a carpetbagger, and a sloppy one at that, was simply better than his opponent at co-opting the problems of Detroit’s citizens as his own and demonstrating the appropriate empathy. He parlayed his public/semi-private experience into a resume of a “turnaround specialist” and promised to fix all of Detroit’s problems (with somebody else’s money, which is always compelling).

He’s an experienced, some would say quintessential, politician who knows every liberal Democratic trick in the playbook and brings the added benefit of knowing how to run the table on crony capitalism. And thanks to a series of plum political appointments to quasi-private positions following his tenure as Ed McNamara’s henchman, he can play that table from both sides. Unlike Obama he’s not the smartest guy in every room, but he’s smart enough. And ambitious. And tenacious; he earned his designation as McNamara’s bulldog. 

While Duggan is a charter member of the “say anything” school of Democratic prevaricators, I suppose Detroit could do worse. In fact, we have:

Kwame-KilpatrickKwame, our Hip-hop Mayor, gets ‘cuffed following his conviction.

So I’m  suggesting that, just like white guilt was partially credited for Barack Obama winning his historic 2008 election, black guilt (see Kwame, above) could be partially credited with Mike Duggan winning his historic election. The city’s citizens finally realized that the giant sucking sound they’ve been hearing all these years was the whoosh of the tide that was supposed to be rising and lifting all boats; only it was ebbing and swirling around the drain.  How could you not feel guilty when you find out you’ve been enabling that sort of thing?

I’ve chronicled the magnitude of the city’s problems many times in the past, but here is the Cliffs’ note version:

detroit

Both private and public infrastructure has been left to languish well beyond disrepair; much of it is now irreparable.

517x9rtAfsL__SS400_ The city owned electric system has been falling apart for years, the streets are crumbling, along with the steam pipes under the streets. Libraries, factories, theatres, schools – all have been abandoned to the rot and  crumble of entropy on display. Vacant buildings that can’t even be given away multiply by a power of 10 faster than the city’s ability to demolish them.

detroit11

And then there is the Detroit Public School system: all but consumed by its bureaucracy, debt and corruption; it’s a microcosm of Detroit itself. The DPS is so buried in its own detritus that it has lost sight of its prime objective; to provide children with the tools and education required to become independent citizens able to survive, thrive and pass their knowledge on to the next generation.

detroit-public-sector-unions-fail-pat-buchanan-620x412

So, is Duggan the savior that Detroit desperately needs? Hardly, he’s just filling time while waiting to leapfrog into the Governor’s office. He might have stayed on at his $2 million job as CEO of the Detroit Medical Center (DMC) had he not gotten eased out after his chum, Governor Jennifer Granholm, former colleague and fellow McNamara protégé, was term limited out of office. And when she left so, too, did the state subsidies to the DMC. Subsidies gone, CEO gone as well. Coincidence? Probably not, that’s how crony capitalism works. Last I looked, Granholm was still looking for a new gig too, as Al Jazeera America wasn’t working out so well.

dnc-charlotte-granholm-17sept2012-620x413Definitely room for this talent somewhere in the DNC

Will Duggan be able to improve things in City Hall? Hell, a cockroach should be able to make things work better after the bankruptcy court clears the docket. The city is currently under the control of  Emergency Financial Manager (EMF) Kevyn Orr, and will continue to be so until such time as Detroit emerges from it’s bankruptcy in a year or so. When the bankruptcy is settled Detroit will be unshackled from a ton of bloated administrative overhead, bloated union contracts, unfunded union pension plans and billions of dollars of accumulated debt. Until then, the new mayor will be little more than a figurehead.  That gives Mike 2 years to get plans laid out and ground work laid for addressing the ongoing managerial problems in city management.

But if history is any gauge, and it usually is, Duggan will spend the time lining up allies, getting rid of enemies, signing corporations up for their annual donations to the “community chest” and aligning a whole raft of cronies who will prove valuable in the care and tending of the war chest for his next election – be it Mayor 2.0 or Governor 1.0.

Despite his lack of the perfect crease in his pant legs, the media by and large has given Duggan a pass on the baggage he brings to the Manoogian Mansion. His linchpin position in the McNamara machine is simply one of those inconvenient truths that must be ignored for the greater good: the advance of liberalism.

So, while I’m not a personal or political fan of “the Duggan’s,” I do wish him well, for the sake of the city. But I feel it only wise to keep my expectations low with respect to the turnaround of Detroit until I see a good reason not to.

Politics are an ugly thing, Democrat politics are uglier and Democratic policies in Detroit are uglier still. Would Benny Napoleon, the other liberal Democrat, have been a better choice?  Like I said before, what difference, at this point, does it make.

 

41570_2231461734_5551_nIf you can think of something.

Linked By: Legal Insurrection Post of the Day, and Larwyn’s Linx on Doug Ross@Journal, and Abby L Call on facebook, and BlogsLucianneLoves, and NOBO2012 on Free Republic, Thanks!

Cross-Posted on Patriot Action Network

Previous Popular Posts about Detroit:

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

WTF Theatre: Episode 9: If You Like Your Healthcare Plan…

Welcome to Episode 9 of WTF (Win The Future) Theatre, “If You Like Your Healthcare Plan…” well, you know.

Following the Great American Shutdown of 2013, Cody and Skylar have finally ventured out of their Seattle condo to restock their *ahem* supplies, and go back to work.

Today, they’re excited as they’ve just received their annual health insurance policy renewal. We join them as they discuss the huge savings they’ve been told to expect:

So, to recap: If you like your plan, but can’t keep your plan, blame the Big Greedy Insurance Companies.

This message was brought to you in part by the Valkarie and O-BS (Operation Blame-Shifting). MOTUS has more details.

Linked By: @AllisonZulma on twitter, and Mary Deeters, Joseph Stephens on facebook, and BlogsLucianneLoves, and NOBO2012 on Free Republic, Thanks!

Cross-Posted on Patriot Action Network

Sunday, October 13, 2013

WTF Theater. Episode 8: Shelter in Place

I’m pleased to present Episode 8 of Dewey’s WTF (Win The Future) Theatre“Shelter in Place.”

The government shutdown has resulted in hardships all across the country. As day 13 dawns in Seattle we rejoin Cody and Skylar, holed up in their Seattle condo, trying to wait out the uprising of the Tea Party Anarchists waging outside.

Unbeknownst to them, their satellite TV is locked onto the History channel, which has been running a month long anniversary marathon of footage from the 2011 Occupy Wall Street uprising.

So you can understand their confusion:

 

As always, this episode wad brought to you by GE: “Imagination At Work.”

 FireShot- The original GE Theater

Linked By: Legal Insurrection, and Larwyn’s Linx on Doug Ross@Journal, and Kathleen Franklin Avant on facebook, and BlogsLucianneLoves, Thanks!

This episode has been cross-posted at Michelle’s Mirror

Cross-Posted on Patriot Action Network

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Sweet Lorraine: A Love Song from the American Heartland

In a world that is increasingly shaped and formed by Hollywood’s version of love, i.e., sex; and where celebrities have redefined “forever” to mean until something better comes along, behold Fred Stobaugh.

At 96 he’s of an era where “till death do us part” meant till death do us part. His story embodies everything good and decent in America’s heartland, where people face life with stoic determination and heartfelt emotion need not be overwrought. 

Here is Fred’s life story, summarized in one simple song that he wrote for his deceased wife commemorating their 75 years together. In a world where “relationships” barely last 75 days this is an edifying story of love, commitment, loyalty and remembrance.

If you can watch this and remain dry-eyed, you’re probably not from around these parts.

 

 

Love like Fred and Lorraine’s is like a thousand layer cake: deceptively simple when all is said and done.

mille feuLife is not like a box of chocolates, more like a mille-feuille

But in reality it has been carefully constructed over a long time, one delicate layer after another, each overlaying the last; a very labor intensive, often tedious, endeavor.  The final product is a sweet concoction that stands tall; a homage to the dedication,  commitment and work put into it. And when you’ve added the last layer, you yearn to add one or two more – so it  can stand a tad taller, to last a bit longer. Anything to forestall that inevitable moment when it is served…and it’s gone in what seems like a millisecond. Thankfully, it lingers on in your memory.

P.S.  “Sweet Lorraine” is available on iTunes

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Reflections on the Ash Heap of Detroit h/t MOTUS.

NOTE: MOTUS has allowed me to re-post An Empty Chair for the Ash Heap of History from her blog, as it’s largely about Detroit. I hope you enjoy it.

An Empty Chair for the Ash Heap of History:

Please, no more tweets about the organic garden at the Giant’s AT&T Park. It was a joke, okay?

“I’m proud to announce that next season they’re planning to turn the centerfield bleachers at AT&T Park into what’s believed to be the first ever edible garden in a major American sports facility. With rows of kale and strawberries and eggplant, the Giants are going to help encourage local youth to eat healthy – even at the ballpark.” 

It is funny though, isn’t it, how people will believe anything that comes out of Big Guy’s mouth.

LGBT's for Obama“Free healthcare? For everybody?! Oh Mr. President, you are soooo cool!”

But seriously; I don’t think this is really such a bad idea. Just because San Francisco is at the top of the “best cities in America” list today doesn’t mean they won’t end up at the bottom tomorrow. Just like Detroit, the city the Giants trounced in last year’s World Series. They started out as one of the “best cities in America” too, the “Paris of the Midwest” no less.

So it’s never too early to begin planning for your municipal bankruptcy, especially if your city is run exclusively by progressive Democrats.

I’ve been doing some research on this situation and from what I can tell, the best path out of bankruptcy for Detroit is going to be urban farming. Interestingly, we’ve been running some trial programs right here in Washington D.C..

 

White-House-Vegetable-Garden

It appears that urban farming – crops as well as fish - is the perfect solution for rehabbing an industrial city that’s gone belly up. It’s sort of a “back to the future” recovery. Progressives highly approve of this scheme: it’s very green, has a small carbon footprint and provides jobs for people educated in the local public schools:

In the 19th century in this country, farm-hand work was a traditional trade for the unlettered and semi-skilled. In a way, RecoveryPark brings this neighborhood full circle, to a time before the industrial age transformed Southeast Michigan. “The fish don’t care if you can’t read or write,” he said. “The fish don’t care if you have felonies.”

And apparently the felons don’t care if you have fish either, as Food Field’s shipping container house and upcoming fish farm was robbed last week, before they even went operational.

aquaponics_050813_6015_copy_5215The progressive promised land: mind you, they think conservatives are regressive.

So they need some new equipment to replace what was stolen but there’s no hurry, as they are still awaiting approval from the city for their farms. The city hasn’t quite figured out all the red tape they’re going to need to impose yet:

Though the systems are nearly complete, neither farm is sure when they’ll get individual approval from the city. Exactly how to become a fully permitted, legal aquaponics business is still fishy.

“The city is in the process of coming up with a process,” for approving fish farms, says Kathryn Underwood of the City Planning Commission. “We don't even have all of the forms quite in place yet for all of things that need to happen. We're riding a bike and building it at the same time.”

As I said, I’ve been studying this and I think that there could be a real future for failed cities in farming: getting “back to their roots” so to speak. In fact, I discovered that other countries have been doing urban farming for decades. Here for example, is an established farm in Havana (Cuba, not Florida):

havana cuba urban farmHavana Acres: Forward! comrades.

And let’s face it, growing a few onions in Detroit sure wouldn’t hurt anything.

detroit urban-farm-3.jonions pg

Just like Roosevelt’s New Deal morphed into Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society, all our new urban renewal project needs (aside from cash) is a great, historic name: How about “Obama’s Field of Dreams”?

0908columns

Yes, I like that. And I think we can all appreciate the symbolism of the dreams; 70 years of fighting to end poverty and racial injustice, 70 years of progress. 70 years of “we can’t wait,” 70 years of fundamentally transforming America. And now, finally, we have something  to show for it: corn fields in Detroit where once great industries stood and people lived. That, my friends, is Progress with a capital P.

cornfield in downtown detroitGolden ears of corn growing in the shadows of the Golden Towers of the Fisher Building and the former GM World Headquarters

So I guess Detroit is going to be okay, they shouldn’t be needing another federal handout, maybe just a little gardening advice from our master gardener and a hand at getting the spring plantings in.

165538749

And later BO can come drop in for the royal harvest:

Screenshot Studio capture #1262“I told you boys, if I build it they will come.” He didn’t say they’d be rats though.

So I think Detroit’s positioned to make the shift from industry to our new urban renewal farming program. Heaven knows, they’ve certainly made enough compost to last another 40 years. And if the onions and corn thing doesn’t work out, I hear there’s always a big demand for medical marijuana in the city.

What is it about Progressive stewardship that always leads us to the ash heap of history?

Screenshot Studio capture #1263 What idiot left this classic Eames chair out in the field to rot!??

Do you see, now, the danger in leaving the chair empty?

empty chairHope fades, the empty chair continues to rot.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

I Don’t Often Tweet Pictures of my Weiner…

Submitted for  your consideration without further comment:

weiner tweet copy

In Commemoration of National Weiner Day, July 23, 2013

Linked By: Julie Ann, Robert Watkins, Monika Gainor, Mary Devore, Mark C Easterly, Kathleen Franklin Avant,  on facebook, and BlogsLucianneLoves, and Free Republic, Thanks!

Cross-Posted on Patriot Action Network

Friday, July 19, 2013

The Motor City: Broken and Out of Warranty

mind if i play through

Detroit: officially a man-made disaster

It’s official; Detroit is now legally as well as morally bankrupt.

“The city of Detroit filed the largest municipal bankruptcy case in U.S. history Thursday afternoon, culminating a decades-long slide that transformed the nation’s iconic industrial town into a model of urban decline crippled by population loss, a dwindling tax base and financial problems.”

In short order there will be allegations of racist-fueled white flight and business abandonment of the city. Charges of unfair treatment will be leveled against “the system” that  led to the Motor City’s devolution. This will be followed immediately by demands of restitution payable in the form of a massive federal bail out.

What sort of malignant, greedy, hateful racists would not only allow this once magnificent city to self-immolate but actively participate in its demise through racist acts of willful negligence and outright theft?

The usual  kind, our leaders: Coleman A. Young, Kwame Kilpatrick

 

Screenshot Studio capture #1241

Two of the racists who raped and pillaged their own city

Here is the entire Detroit mayoral lineage from 1974 to the present:

 

Screenshot Studio capture #1240

Coleman A. Young 1974-94, Dennis Archer 1994 –2002, Kwame Kilpatrick 2002 – 2008, Kevin Cockerel 2008 – 2009 (interim, following the Hip Hop mayor’s felony conviction), David Bing 2009 – present.

Five black men have run Detroit for nearly 40 years. Although Archer, Cockerel and Bing are all decent enough men, none of them - for no doubt complicated reasons – could turn the legacy of their predecessors’ graft, corruption, cronyism, and bloated union contracts around. 

But the point remains: Detroit has been served exclusively by Democrat leadership since 1962, and exclusively black Democratic leadership since 1974. Coincident with that 50 year period the city began a steady state of entropy that culminated in the bankruptcy filing yesterday. 

Never-the-less, the race mongers will be on scene shortly to file charges against a “system” rife with racial animus for causing the collapse of Detroit. Let the record reflect that Detroit, which has been grappling with an explosive crime rate for decades, has also had a black police chief for decades; that the city where the infamous “Devil’s Night fires” were invented has a black Fire Commissioner. Note too that Detroit, led by a black mayor and black city counsel for 40 years also has one of the most abysmal public school systems in the country. In Detroit fewer than 25% of its students graduate high school, and many who do are still functionally illiterate. Of those managing to graduate from the Detroit school system with aspirations of higher education, only 2.3% of them are deemed to be “college ready” based on  their ACT scores. The school system too has been led by a black Superintendent and a black Board of Education, for decades.

So when Jesse and Al and no doubt President Obama himself show up in Detroit to protest and demand equality and “social justice” from “the system” that has held the black man down for hundreds of years, let the record reflect the following: Detroit is a city comprised of 90% black citizens. They consistently elect almost exclusively blacks to run the the city government and fill the school board seats. Blacks have run the city’s fiscal affairs for 40 years, they have staffed and provided city services for nearly as long. In Detroit – a city of blacks for blacks and by blacks - blacks have not just been part of “the system” they are the system.

So I agree with Eric Holder when he said:

“…in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards."

If we are to address the real issues that caused the implosion of a once great American city, we are going to have to discuss race because it is not just a card in somebody’s hand, it is the entire fixed deck. Let’s have an honest discussion regarding the flagrant use of racial pandering, victimization and exploitation for personal and political gain. Let’s talk about why the city’s civic jewels were bequeathed to the city’s black population; and let’s examine why they have been so devalued ever since. Let’s discuss how a city exclusively run by democrats and blacks has spent the better part of half a century circling the drain.

Let’s honestly discuss who and what is “holding the black man down” in Detroit because, brother, it most assuredly isn’t white America any more.

This is Dewey; reminding you that if Obama had a city, it would look like Detroit.

 

detroit-skyline

Moon over Detroit: waxing or waning?

 

Excerpts from Dewey’s previous posts on Detroit:

Why Detroit Still Matters:

But you probably don’t think it could happen “here” do you? Neither did the citizens of Detroit, 50 years ago.

Saving Detroit: It’s going to require more than just saying nice things:

As Young’s pack of leaches grew fat and very, very wealthy, the people and the city coffers grew poorer and poorer. Both businesses and middle class residents – black and white – fled the city to escape crime, crappy schools and high taxes. And the city grew more and more segregated as only poor blacks stayed put: racial politics tend to do that.

A Short History of Detroit

The Democratic regime that has governed Detroit for decades squelches all critics through one of two ploys: leveling the irrefutable charge of racism, or if that’s inappropriate, demanding that additional funding is needed e.g., schools: because God knows, $11,600 per student isn’t enough (private schools charge $6,600, and I doubt many would pay that if their dropout rate was 75%). The death-spiral of liberalism has annihilated Detroit.

So, Mr. President, Who Do You Think Destroyed Detroit?

Let’s use Detroit as our test case, since it has had its share of wealthy individuals, corporations and special interest groups over time. And it once had a prosperous middle-class, although that socio-economic demographic has all but disappeared from inside the city borders. So it presents the perfect Petri dish of cultures for this experiment.

Let’s see if we can ascertain who ruined Detroit, and is therefore responsible for the demise of the middle-class.

Michigan Math:

In return for relocating in Detroit – and planning to build something, somewhere, some time - they’ll get a 12 year tax credit of around $29 million granted by the MEDC. They’ll also get an $18 million tax credit granted by the Michigan Economic Growth Authority to help them complete their current relocation project. In addition the City of Detroit will throw in parking concessions and additional tax abatements.

So is Quicken moving from Toronto? New York? Ohio, maybe? No, they’re moving from…Livonia. Michigan. Let’s see: net new jobs for Michigan?

Live and Die in Detroit:

When Marabel moved into the house on Robinwood Avenue in 1964 it was a beautiful neighborhood of 1920’s era brick bungalows, stately trees and neat gardens. The northwest Detroit neighborhood was adjacent to the exclusive Palmer Park Golf Course and Country Club. A serene, safe and attractive community. Forty five years later, it had turned into a dump.

Feral in Detroit:

Possibly there’s an element of schadenfreud attached to Detroit’s decline that both enthralls and repulses people. In the course of less than 50 years  –a blink in the history of a city - it plunged from the pinnacle of urban industrial prosperity to the depths of urban industrial decay: completely, indisputably, very likely irreversibly.

Detroit, Back to its Roots:

There is something innate in human nature that draws our gaze to an impending train wreck, and maintains our slack-jawed attention as we gape at its aftermath. It’s like that with Detroit, which has been voted the worst train wreck in the “major American city” category. Journalists, artists and bloggers from across the world come to look at, photograph, write about and paint us. Then they go home to wring their hands and weep over our detritus.

You Can’t Handle the Solution!

To avoid charges of racism there were only a few proscribed approaches for discussing the city’s problems:  you were allowed to wring your hands helplessly, you were allowed to mourn the demise of the city as long as you acknowledged that its fate was the result of white flight and governmental neglect, or you could pull a Pollyanna and proclaim that Detroit was simply in hibernation waiting to rise from the ashes. But under no circumstances were you allowed to speak the unspeakable truth: that for over 30 years Detroit has been governed by Black leadership - with the complete complicity of the Democratic Party – and that each year the city had grown worse.

Detroit Schools: Where We Eat Our Young:

If you can read this, thank your parents for not sending you to a Detroit public school.

Detroit: A Ghost Story:

It feels like a nerve unsheathed, it looks like a malignant menace. It is the face of a city waiting for salvation, it’s worthiness unclear.

Burn Baby, Burn:

Detroiters escalated the time honored traditions of trick-or-treat vandalism - home egging and mailbox assaults – to arson in the ‘70s. Over the next decade, financially troubled business’ and others with good insurance policies joined in the Devil’s Night fun for profit.

Linked By: American Digest, and  Larwyn’s Linx on Doug Ross@Journal, and Adrienne’s Corner, and Daily Timewaster, and Don Rodrigo on PJ Media, and Rumbear Chronicles, and Nancy Bailey Mironov Ziegler, Richard Emery, Jon Wesley Turner, Kathleen Franklin Avant, Melissa Kunstadter on facebook, and BlogsLucianneLoves, and Free Republic, Thanks!

Cross-Posted on Patriot Action Network and RedState

Monday, July 8, 2013

Obama in Africa: Where Multiculturalism Hits the Wall

 

swu-treatmentgay-image

Don’t you hate it when multiculturalism bites you in the ass? 

African leaders last week rejected President Obama’s self-righteous proclamation of American moral superiority with respect to recognizing the rights of homosexuals. He criticized his host nations’ refusal to accept homosexuality and gay unions as normal.

Cardinal John Njue, Archbishop of Nairobi and president of the Kenyan Episcopal Conference, effectively schooled him on both good manners and good faith:

“Those people who have already ruined their society…let them not become our teachers to tell us where to go,” said Njue in response to Obama’s statements promoting same-sex marriage. “I think we need to act according to our own traditions and our faiths.”

And from Kenya, homeland of Obama’s father, lest we ever forget, Deputy President William Ruto said:

“Those who believe in other things, that is their business…We believe in God.”

That must have served as a particularly bracing rebuke: our el Presidente is  accustomed to being idolized by the masses and underlings. His proclamations are never, ever seriously challenged by the little people. Bad enough he’s had to be annoyed by that little ex-KGB gnat from Russia, but who, exactly, do these tin pot African leaders think they are?

So listen up progressives, here’s the take-away: you can’t have it both ways. If you cram multiculturalism down our throats, you can’t then turn around and tell other cultures to modify their societal norms to comport with your concept of superior moral codes. That just seems to be so, so…colonial!  But since Progressives like our President suffer from either an inability to recognize contradiction or a high tolerance for incongruity, this internal conflict eludes them. 

Let me see if I can make this perfectly clear; don’t tell me that I have to accept everyone else’s values, morals, standards and mores, if you intend to impose your values, standards, morals and mores on those cultures you find lacking in the moral superiority department.

Yet the people who trip over themselves in their rush to accept the Muslim sense and sensibilities seem oblivious to the intolerance endemic in that cult. How is it they give Muslims a pass for their rather low tolerance for homosexuals very existence, i.e., they kill them, yet stand at the ready to condemn Christians who are “intolerant” of homosexual marriage?

This is my “evolved” position on the Islam faith: as long as they refuse to bifurcate their faith such that we can readily identify the “moderate” Muslims from the insane clown posse of blood thirsty throwbacks to the 7th century, don’t expect me to – bifurcate the cult, that is. Unless and until I see “moderate” Muslims actively condemning those of their faith who still believe in, support, tolerate and participate in acts that are abhorrent by all modern civilization standards I will continue to condemn Islam as a radical political ideology.

If Muslims cannot stand up and specifically denounce those in their midst who still condone female genital mutilation, wife beatings, honor killings, stoning of adulterers, torture and death of homosexuals and the beheading of apostates and infidels, I cannot accept their dogma as a “religion.”

Adherents of this malevolent form of Islam, which advocates for sharia law and has called for a return of the caliphate are members of a political party not a religion. Let me repeat that; a movement that ideologically supports and acts to establish an Islamic theocracy is not a religion. It is a totalitarian political party seeking, like all totalitarian regimes, to exert complete power over its subjects. What else would you expect from a political party whose name, Islam, means “submit?”

How many Instagrams do these people need to send before we on the receiving end get it? They hate us; they hate liberty, they hate our way of life.

State_Department_Images_WTC_9-11_The_Twin_Towers_(Right)_thumb[2]Instagram to America

They’ve been sending these little messages for years. Here’s one  from Turkey for example, another from Palestine, as well as from Iran, Egypt, Tunisia, and Syria. They wish to end our way of life. Get it?

Don’t take my word for it, here it is directly from the goat’s mouth:  Imran Waheed, a UK based doctor and Representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain, as interviewed by World Security Network in 2008:

WSN: What kind of Islamic ideology does Hizb ut-Tahrir promote?

IW: We view Islam as a comprehensive system of life that addresses both individual and societal problems. In Islam we have a judicial system, a social system, an economic system, an educational policy, a foreign policy, a punishment system and a ruling system. Therefore, unlike the Western model of secular liberalism - where religion and state are separated - Islam accepts no such dichotomy. We are an Islamic political party and not a sect or a school of thought.

And that’s just what they’re willing to say on the record.

If Islam is a religion it ought not be in the business of governing; and if it is a political party, it has no business being a religion.

I would think that the President of the United States would place the eradication of our sworn enemies higher on his to-do list. In the grand scheme of future generations it would seem that it would warrant more attention than such things as ensuring college coeds have federally funded birth control, gay NBA players are free to marry, or even implementing universal health care. I suppose the only priority that even come close might be passing an amnesty bill which will grant citizenship to millions of illegal citizens in order to ensure that the control of the country remains in the hands of progressive morons for another half a century.

Linked By: Sam Argull on facebook, and BlogsLucianneLoves, and Free Republic, Thanks!

Cross-Posted on Patriot Action Network

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Beat Thy Enemy III: Celebrity Culture

Barack Obama did not bring us to this first circle of hell on his own. He was aided and abetted by 1) an education system with a relentless propaganda agenda, 2) a media oligopoly that has completely abrogated its First Amendment responsibility and 3) a celebrity dominated culture that is largely a product of the first two. --Prologue, Know Thy Enemy

Thus far we’ve seen how the Education System has been turned into an enemy of the people and discussed how ordinary citizens can take it back. We’ve also scrutinized the Hollywood-Big Media cartel and considered how conservatives can break the syndicate’s stranglehold from both outside the tent and inside the tent.

We’ve examined how the emergence of the celebrity culture, a by-product of  50 years of education and media indoctrination, has created a largely vacuous society.

In this, the final installment of the Know Thy Enemy/Beat Thy Enemy series, we look at the process required to neutralize the effects of this false idol cult. It won’t be easy; the number of inane people in search of ever more inane celebrities to follow and emulate has reached the epidemic stage.  When it looks like we’re starting to run low on current cult-figures of questionable character and achievement, we just create more out of thin air.

Pregnant Kim Kardashian, wearing a nude baby doll dress with matching nude high heels, arrives at the Trump Soho Hotel in New York City
<P>
Pictured: Kim Kardashian
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Picture by: Christopher Peterson/Splash News<BR/>
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<B>Splash News and Pictures</B><BR/>
Los Angeles:	310-821-2666<BR/>
New York:	212-619-2666<BR/>
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photodesk@splashnews.com<BR/>
</P>Or, in the case of the Kardashians, fat air.

It doesn’t seem to matter that most celebrities, including those of the new ruling class, are so inconsequential intellectually and artistically they could technically be classified as a hoax. The true believers, groupies, and devotees comprise a new class of social x-rays, in ways that Tom Wolfe never intended.

joey homerI mean that in the best way possible

There was a time when celebrities represented all the best superficialities that life had to offer: fashion, style, manners, carriage, and glamour. 

Screenshot Studio capture #1030

Today’s Tinsel Town ornaments are more likely to be grungy, ill-mannered, uncouth boors (not be be confused with the new celebs of the ruling class who are likely to be well-groomed, well-dressed, ill-mannered boors). Yet children, of all ages, still want to be just like them.

madonna gaga beyonce

Until we’re successful at dismantling the alarmingly off-course education system and dangerously biased media complex, the brainwashing of citizens young and old will continue unabated. I’m doubtful we can stop this insidious cult of the superficial dead in it’s tracks, but we can beat it back. If everyone grabs a stick and starts beating; hard, about the head.

If we prevail in our efforts, critical thought will once again be an integral part of education and engrained in the collective intellect. When that transpires, people will no longer take their cues on how to think and vote from clueless celebrities and agenda driven infotainers. They will once again be able to differentiate truth from the specious argument. And the once-again educated citizens will be able to spot and reject pandering, agenda driven appeals aimed at their emotions rather than their brain.

If people begin to think for themselves again they’ll stop accepting “received knowledge” from the media.  That means that the media will stop giving liberal artistes – of both the Hollywood and Washington D.C. persuasion - so much air time and stop treating them with such deference. That’s  a Win-Win: the power of the entertainment/ruling class celebrities is diminished and we won’t have to listen to them.

If we prevail, people will never again accept schlock “consensus” science as proof of anything. Instead, they will require more from what passes as “scientific” research. They will  demand answers to the three M’s behind the “research:” motive, methodology and money.

Screenshot Studio capture #1029Yeah babe, it’s not the money; it’s the amount

Should our side prevail, no one will ever again say “I wonder what Cheryl Crow thinks I should be doing to save the planet?”

If we prevail, people will cease paying attention to the antics of Sean Penn as he employs all the diplomatic skills he learned in acting class to curry favor with socialist tyrants on our behalf. In fact, if we prevail, people might even consider his behavior treasonous.

Should we prevail, no American will abide Canadian Jim Carrey’s inane tweets and tunes about our right to bear arms. And by the way, I see he recently discovered that “thought is responsible for if not all, most, of the suffering we experience.” Really, Jimbo?  Then I assume I can put you down as agreeing in principle that guns don’t kill people? Apparently thoughts do; would you like to outlaw them too? That would fall under our First Amendment right to free speech, which they don’t have in Canada either.

If we prevail,  people will once again be able to analyze data, not just accept it as fact. When that happens, they won’t have to rely on Ben Affleck and Matt Damon to educate them on the scientific principals of hydraulic fracking.  Maybe their newfound critical thinking skills will even cause people to wonder why the Saudi Arabians funded their movie in the first place.

And should we prevail at beating the beasts back, the newly educated citizenry will not be knee-jerked into boycotting companies that frack for natural gas just because Susan Sarandon and Yoko Ono combine their choral skills to plead “Don’t Frack My Mother.” Because by then people will understand that Susan and Yoko know precisely as much about fracking as they do other economic, environmental and social justice issues.

I can’t promise that reforming the education system will necessarily improve the overall quality of entertainment offered by Hollywood, but I’m certain there will be a greater variety on offer. I realize that replacing school indoctrination with critical thinking skills doesn’t guarantee that young people won’t still choose to go to crappy movies, attend crappy concerts and download crappy songs. But I have to think they will be a bit more discerning about the selection of their President than they are about a simple weekend diversion.

If we successfully fix the mess of the education system and effectively address the disequilibrium of the media, the culture of celebrity will begin to diminish. Stopping the constant onslaught of false ideas, fallacious premises and debauched values will weaken the influence of celebrities who deal in the business of false ideas, fallacious premises and debauched values. People who rediscover the joy of thinking for themselves are likely to be a bit more discriminating in their idol worship: both the celluloid variety and the political sort.

We may eventually come around to the point where idols again represent something worth idolizing, even if that something is only superficial. I’m okay with  pop-culture celebrities being admired for their style; as long as we expect our political class to be more substantive and hold them to a higher standard of intelligence, character and behavior.

And occasionally, perhaps, we will be fortuitous enough to get both style and substance rolled into one; and the media will no longer have the power to persuade you otherwise.

ronald reagan sarah palinI have a dream

So I have a dream. I dream that we fight until we prevail; that the country remains a bastion of intellectual and economic freedom, that people continue to be independent in spirit and action, our economy once again begins to grow, people prosper and we all grow stronger. In short, I dream that America survives and remains, as it has for over 200 years, to be the world’s last, best hope.

 

Ronald_Reagan

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free. – Ronald Reagan

NOTE: This is part of the “Know Thy Enemy/ Beat Thy Enemy” series --

Prologue

KTE I: Education

KTE II: Media

KTE III: Celebrity Culture

BTE I: The Education System

BTE II-A: The Media (attacking from outside the tent)

BTE II-B: the Media (conclusion; operating within the tent)

BTE III: Celebrity Culture

Linked By: Larwyn’s Linx on Doug Ross@Journal, and  iOwnTheWorld’s Cardigan, and BlogsLucianneLoves, and Free Republic, Thanks!

Cross-Posted on Patriot Action Network

Friday, March 29, 2013

Beat Thy Enemy II: the Media (conclusion; operating within the tent)

“Politics is downstream from culture. I want to change the cultural narrative.”

Long before most of us begrudgingly acknowledged it, Breitbart knew that in order to change the cultural milieu, conservatives must – to borrow a phrase - be in the world, if not of the world.

He knew that to beat the enemy, we had to infiltrate the enemy’s bunker and operate from inside the tent. That hasn’t happened.

Why is it there are no significant conservative voices in Hollywood? There are two theories. The first is the Hollywood version and it goes like this: “conservatives are simply not suited to the creative arts. They’re too left-brained to be as creative as their far more imaginative right-brained liberal contemporaries.” The implication is that storytelling is the exclusive purview of open-minded, non-judgmental liberals who empathize with the human condition. And by inference that means that story telling falls well outside the scope of close-minded, conservative bigots and oppressors of the poor. Hence, Hollywood’s official verdict: conservative writers and artists either self-select out of the creative industry, or they wash out because they just aren’t good enough.

The conservative take on the situation is understandably quite different: “Hollywood, because of its unremitting leftist tilt is uncomfortable with conservative values and creates an exclusionary and hostile environment for writers and artists who make their non-liberal leanings known. In turn, that makes it impossible for conservatives to get referrals and make the kind of connections required to survive in the industry.”

Knowing how significantly the odds are stacked against them, conservatives may indeed decide to let reason dictate their priorities and simply opt out - choosing to pursue a  profession more likely to provide financial security for themselves and their family rather than  “following their bliss.” Being left-brained they may conclude that is a more rational choice than waiting tables in LA while waiting for their big break.

Refuting the Hollywood version is a bit complicated because of the fact that many conservatives and liberals actually do think differently. Conservatives do tend, counter intuitively, to be left-brain dominant which means their fallback thinking process relies on logic and facts. Liberals (especially the Hollywood breed of  “creative” liberals) tend to be right-brain dominant with a fallback thinking process that relies heavily on feelings (intuition) and imagination.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Beat Thy Enemy II, The Media (attacking from outside the tent)

Breitbart knew instinctively, as people in Washington, D.C., and most other places did not, that movies, television programs and popular music send out deeply political messages every hour of every day. They shape the culture, and then the culture shapes politics. Influence those films and TV shows and songs, and you'll eventually influence politics. -- Byron York

As I documented in Know Thy Enemy II, The Media, one of Conservatives’ most formidable enemies is the Hollywood-Big Media Cartel. It is an irrefutable fact of life: this infotainment complex defines pop culture and permeates every aspect of modern life. Nothing short of the state sponsored educational indoctrination system even comes close to the impact it has on how America thinks and lives. Today we look at what can be done to loosen that grip.

The Big Media Cartel is run by leftist ideologues who believe their province extends far beyond simply informing and entertaining. With ideological messages embedded in everything from songs to sitcoms, citizens receive continuous reinforcement of leftist precepts. If you’re skeptical, Ben Shapiro’s book, Prime Time Propaganda: The True Hollywood Story, will disabuse you of any doubt.

Primetime is a well-researched tome on the media’s closed loop system of liberal messaging. Shapiro calls it the “Celluloid Triangle,” comprised of special interest groups, government and Hollywood. He documents how this ménage à trois has operated since the early days of television to infuse entertainment programming with liberal causes and messaging; a ruse otherwise known as propaganda. Tracking the journey of the media/entertainment industry from its original news/entertainment platform to its current role as America’s zeitgeist maker is instructive, although not particularly surprising if you’ve been paying attention.

Big Media is a tough nut to crack. Tougher even then the education system since at least in theory we the people own our schools. Here we’re dealing with a huge, private sector entertainment oligopoly which exists with the tacit approval and support of government administrators, legislators and regulators. It enjoys significant tax breaks, subsidies and multiple regulatory protections, yet is not answerable to the taxpayer. Their only responsibility is to their shareholders, consumers and, marginally, the FCC. The shareholders are happy as long as they are making money; consumers seem inured to the liberal messaging as long as Desperate Housewives airs in it’s expected timeslot and the FCC concerns itself primarily with wardrobe malfunctions and hate-speech; so there’s no pushback.

We have reached a place where one ideology (liberal) controls virtually all pop culture output; and so many people have already been indoctrinated by leftist precepts that they don't even see a problem. That is why, prior to his untimely death, Andrew Brietbart warned people over and over that “the Media is the enemy.”

There are two ways to attack the mediacracy1 - from outside the tent, and from inside the tent. We need to operate in both theatres of operation but we begin from the outside since that’s where most of us reside. From this front, all of us can do something to advance the cause.

If you are a stockholder, divest. If you are a consumer, don’t go to that movie or buy the DVD, don’t watch the Sunday “news” shows – or any MSM news shows for that matter. If you find a show (or an entire Network) to contain offensive messaging, switch the channel, turn off the TV, write to the sponsors to complain about the content they’re supporting and let them know you won’t buy their products.

Because network/cable television is still ad-revenue driven, enough people complaining to sponsors and boycotting their products will have an effect. But for maximum impact remember to take your clues from the left: organized protests and boycotts by special interest groups get greater and faster results than do individual complaints. While the left invented professional grievance squads, the right has a surprising number of special interest groups (SIG) of their own that can be culled and employed for this purpose. (Note: it was the Veterans of Foreign Wars who finally wrestled an apology from CBS for its disgraceful Amazing Race incident.)

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Beat thy Enemy: I, The Education System

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle”
Sun Tzu, The Art of War

In the preceding “Know Thy Enemy” series - Prologue, I Education, II Media and III Celebrity Culture  - I’ve identified three sources which have exposed America to a very dangerous disease. The systemic cause is a virus that manifests itself as a malignant form of socialism characterized by increasing central government control and progressively insistent demands for “social justice.” It’s accompanied by irrational thinking and a loss of will to exert either individual  liberty or personal responsibility. As noted, exposure to the education system, media and the celebrity culture makes one vulnerable, especially the young.

Since we now know what ails us, and we know how it’s contracted, it’s time to clean up each contamination site and start the healing.

Today we’ll deal with the education system. A brief recap of the situation: we have a hardcore leftist agenda that has been incorporated and deeply embedded into the national education canon, curricula, texts and teachers training programs. The degree to which this indoctrination program is slanted in favor of the postmodern values of relativism, socialism and social justice and against the traditional Western Enlightenment values of  individualism, objective truth, reason, logic and capitalism is stunning. With teachers unions entrenched like a bad nail fungus and completely onboard with the social justice (nee anti-America) agenda, how do we unwind this Gordian knot?

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Know Thy Enemy III: Celebrity Culture

Barack Obama did not bring us to this first circle of hell on his own. He was aided and abetted by 1) an education system with a relentless propaganda agenda, 2) a media oligopoly that has completely abrogated its First Amendment responsibility and 3) a celebrity dominated culture that is largely a product of the first two. (KTE Prologue)

III. The Culture of Celebrity

“ All media exist to invest our lives with artificial perceptions and arbitrary values.” -- Marshall McLuhan, patron saint of politicians

In today’s segment of Know Thy Enemy we look at the culture of celebrity and its contribution to pop culture.

Pop culture is defined more by what it is not – neither high culture or folk culture – than what it is. But an operative definition is “a commercial culture based on popular taste.”  Think Andy Warhol’s soup can art:

andy-warhol-campbells-soup

Clearly the man who predicted that “in the future everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes” knew a thing or two about the endurance of celebrity culture.

In 1968 when Andy made his famous prediction, “celebrity” was still a subset, rather than the defining aspect, of pop culture. And although it was considered  “low” culture at the time, to designate it as such today would elevate it to an unfounded level. Even in an era where everything from poverty to death has been assigned its own “culture” it still  seems oxymoronic to talk about “celebrity culture.” 

Whatever it is or isn’t, the celebrity element of pop culture dominates the landscape. To many, especially the young, its appeal is so compelling they would do anything to be famous. Anything, that is, aside from actually working for it. The Celebrity Dream has largely replaced the American Dream for this generation; and unlike the original, which contains a significant “work hard” component, the Celebrity Dream requires only that you be discovered for your own fabulosity.

This new version of the American Dream reads like a narcissist’s Craig’s List ad:  “Deserving swan, trapped in pond with ducks, ISO fame, fortune, and a really good agent.” It’s like the American Dream, only delusional.

GingerCat Looking in the Mirror_thumb[2]In which I behold my own fabulosity

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Know Thy Enemy II: the Media

Barack Obama did not bring us to this first circle of hell on his own. He was aided and abetted by 1) an education system with a relentless propaganda agenda, 2) a media oligopoly that has completely abrogated its First Amendment responsibility and 3) a celebrity dominated culture that is largely a product of the first two.  Know Thy Enemy: Prologue

Today we examine the role of the “free press,” hereafter known as the Media,  in America’s demise:

II. The Media

Somebody — was it Burke? — called journalism the fourth estate. That was true at the time no doubt. But at the present moment it is the only estate. It has eaten up the other three. The Lords Temporal say nothing, the Lords Spiritual have nothing to say, and the House of Commons has nothing to say and says it. We are dominated by Journalism. Oscar Wilde

Mr. Wilde was prescient. He could be speaking of 21st century America and it’s “4 branches”  of government - the Judicial (say nothing) branch, the Legislative (nothing to say) branch, the Administrative (nothing to say and says it) branch, and the Journalist (say anything, ad nauseum) branch.

There was a time in my memory when the media was respected for their knowledge of the facts and the neutrality they exhibited in the reporting of them. I even remember when sports announcers attempted to be even-handed in the calling of ball games; now that all seems so 20th century.

The throng known as the “main stream media” has lost far more than its neutrality; it’s also lost its institutional memory. While there isn’t a journalist on or off payroll who can’t recite his First Amendment rights verbatim, they seem to have collectively forgotten the responsibilities that accompany those rights; i.e. reporting the truth without regard to their personal political, religious or secular beliefs and inclinations.