Some consider the Nation’s Capital as “Fantasyland on the Potomac”. Other outsiders are “Fed Up” with the Federal City. It's better to consider D.C. as “the District of Calamity” (sic).
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Drew Carey on Work
Friday, August 30, 2013
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Martin Luther King on Freedom
Commemorating Martin Luther King's magnificent address at the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington, August 28, 1963.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
An Artistic Antidote to Miley Cyrus Twerking Travesty
As the world is on the brink of war pending action on Obama's Bloody Red Line in Syria, the American public is tittering about Miley Cyrus's titillating twerking performance at the M-TV Video Music Awards.
While the performance allowed 20 year old former star of Hannah Montana to certainly devolve from her Disney roots, the edgey "dance" was universally panned and made many viewers wish that they could wash their eyeballs.
Considering the surrealistic choreography which seem to resemble Build-a-Bear Workshops in Hell, the antidote to this aesthetic atrocity may be found in an artistic reductio ad absurdum. Let's see how Miley Cyrus's twerking contrast with other modern masterpieces.
It's a pity that Two and a Half Men already cast the role of Charlie's long-lost lesbian daughter to Amber Tamlyn for this season. Miley Cyrus' prior guest shots on the delightfully bawdy show were cute. Now with her hedonistic reputation, Miley Cyrus could follow in the footsteps of Charlie Sheen and star in a show which charmingly celebrates cultural depravity which nods to their trouble pasts while undergoing a personal public meltdown.
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| [F] Miley Cyrus [B] Robin Thicke at 2013 M-TV Video Music Awards |
While the performance allowed 20 year old former star of Hannah Montana to certainly devolve from her Disney roots, the edgey "dance" was universally panned and made many viewers wish that they could wash their eyeballs.
Considering the surrealistic choreography which seem to resemble Build-a-Bear Workshops in Hell, the antidote to this aesthetic atrocity may be found in an artistic reductio ad absurdum. Let's see how Miley Cyrus's twerking contrast with other modern masterpieces.
Edvard Munch's Expressionist work Der Schrei der Natur , a.k.a. "The Scream" (1893), has been compared to an individual suffering from depersonalization disorder, feelings of distortion of the environment and one's self. Some have speculated that Munch was inspired by the proximity of a slaughterhouse and an insane asylum near his studio. Or perhaps he had premonitions of Miley Cyrus' dad's achey breaky heart of watching his daughter deliberate debase herself in public.
Pablo Picasso painted "Guernica" (1937) in response to the Nazi German and Italian Fascist bombing of the Basque village during the Spanish Civil War. Picasso wanted to depict the suffering of people, animals and buildings due to the bombing of Guernica. As Picasso worked on his painting in Paris, the artist opined:
The Spanish struggle is the fight of reaction against the people, against freedom. My whole life as an artist has been nothing more than a continuous struggle against reaction and the death of art. How could anybody think for a moment that I could be in agreement with reaction and death?
It is only fitting that Miley Cyrus' twerking fits in with the death of art. Or maybe just grandly bombing.
Salvador Dali's famous "The Persistence of Memory" (1931) has several symbolic hooks which tie into Cyrus' M-TV obscenity dance. The melted watches depict Dali's insight that one can not hold onto time (or music). Deeper Dalian hermeneutics understand the appearance of ants to be a symbol of decay. So the ants devouring a pocket watch means there is no permanence. Then there is the strange "monster" at the bottom center of the painting. It looks vaguely human, perhaps an abstract self-portrait of the artist. Docents from the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida recognize the figure as being "The Great Masturbator". There's a certain symmetry with Cyrus' desperate gyrations. Personally, the "Great M" reminds me of a dead fish, which also has parallels to Cyrus' post VMA artistic career. But in the parody piece, Cyrus seems to be barking up the wrong tree.
After ascending to artistic heights to put Cyrus' dirty dancing into context, it is worth considering the publicity hungrey celebutard's potential synergy in today's entertainment industry.
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| [L] Miley Cyrus [R] Ashton Kutcher in Two and a Half Men |
h/t: Buzzfeed
Stevie Ray Vaughan on Life
Twenty three years ago today, Stevie Ray Vaughan died in a tragic helicopter crash at Alpine Valley Music Theater in East Troy, Wisconsin (about 40 miles from Milwaukee, Wisconsin). Vaughan was touring as a warm-up act for Eric Clapton.
During a finale to the Clapton set, an ensemble that included Stevie Ray Vaughan, Robert Cray, Buddy Gray and Jimmie Vaughan were introduced as "the best guitar players in the entire world" and invited them onstage to jam with Clapton to play "Sweet Home Chicago."
The thoughts which Stevie Ray Vaughan shared after dealing with his substance abuse problem paired with his tragic death is a reminder about the preciousness of life.
Monday, August 26, 2013
Paul Laurence Dunbar on Dreams
As school has begun in the District of Calamity, and the new $122 million building for the Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School officially opens, it seems apropos to recite the dreamy lyric's of the school's namesake.
What dreams we have and how they flyLike rosy clouds across the sky;Of wealth, of fame, of sure success,Of love that comes to cheer and bless;And how they wither, how they fade,The waning wealth, the jilting jade--The fame that for a moment gleams,Then flies forever,--dream, ah ---dreams!
{from Dreams by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1913)}
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Obama's Bloody Red Line in Syria
Last August, President Barack Obama made a surprise appearance for a regular White House press briefing to warn Syrian President Bashar al-Assad not to cross a "Red Line" and use chemical weapons in their civil war.
Nearly a week has passed since there was a chemical attack in Syria that left at least 1000 dead. While the US has moved warships into the region and the President warned that reports of a Syrian chemical attack was "a big event of grave concern", nothing affirmative has been done.
Our choice in Syria seem to be lose/lose/lose. If the US does nothing and Assad wins, we enhance Russia's domain as they have heavily backed Bashar al-Assad. In addition, American inaction diminishes whatever remains of Obama's foreign policy credibility concerning crossing "Red Lines".
Supporting the rebels not only engages US in an international conflict, it also means backing rebels who are Al Qaeda, who are in reality our enemy in the War on Terrorism, which we have conveniently cancelled but jihadist Islamist still consider US the Great Satan. Even though Senators John McCain ( R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have embraced our newest best buddies in the Syrian Rebels as videotaped surfaced of their leadership being literal cannibals on the battlefield.
If the US were able to conduct a surgical strike to take out or secure chemical weapons storage sites, it brings up the inconvenient truth about from where these chemical weapons stockpiles came. During the 2008 Presidential campaign, candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) reveled in criticizing President George W. Bush for getting engaged in a dumb war with Iraq which did not threaten us or involve terrorists which attacked us. As Democrats harped on the "Bush lied (about WMD) and people died" mantra, candidate Obama opined that Iraq was not giving chemical weapons to terrorists. Oh, just storing it in the Bakkah Valley and allowing state terrorists to gas their own people.
Between Benghazi, Wikileaks and the NSA spying, the penchant for perfidy for the Obama foreign policy has eroded credibility at Foggy Bottom thereby leaving it open to sensational charges. RT reports the Russian Foreign Ministry line that the "alleged chemical attack near Damascus might have been a planned provocation in advance. The theory is that the rebels might have used the weapons themselves and made it look like Assad forces committed the atrocity so that western forces would be prompted to help the rebels. Aaron Klein noted that there were reports of the lasted alleged Syrian chemical attack the day before it happened. The same sort of stunt was alleged to have been planned for last year .
It is tempting to dismiss the report because of the news source RT. But a false flag operation is not unprecedented. Former LBJ Defense Secretary Robert McNamera admitted later in life that the "attacks" which prompted the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution never happened, but which escalated the US military involvement in Vietnam. And the way that this Obama Administration conducted itself with the Benghazi bungle lends more credence to a conspiratorial tact.
American engagement in the Middle East is usually messy but it need not have been lose/lose/lose. Had the Obama Administration shown leadership a couple of years ago in Syria, the rebels might not have been as badly infected with Al Qaeda influence. But Obama was proud of the Duty to Protect and leading from behind in Libya and another foreign engagement might have looked bad going into his re-election campaign. It was great to talk tough during the campaign against Chemical Weapons, but it was risky business to do something provocative before the election or right after. Thus, Obama's words were but wind and Assad assessed that Obama was a paper tiger.
So it seems whether or not the Obama Administration acts in Syria, it will be a bloody decision.
h/t: Michael Ramirez
Nearly a week has passed since there was a chemical attack in Syria that left at least 1000 dead. While the US has moved warships into the region and the President warned that reports of a Syrian chemical attack was "a big event of grave concern", nothing affirmative has been done.
In fact, a White House spokesman had the temerity to joke about Red Lines in Egypt. Alas, it is not the first time that Assad government forces have used chemical weapons. There was an attack in December 2012, which the White House did not confirm until June, 2013 that chemical weapons were being used.
Our choice in Syria seem to be lose/lose/lose. If the US does nothing and Assad wins, we enhance Russia's domain as they have heavily backed Bashar al-Assad. In addition, American inaction diminishes whatever remains of Obama's foreign policy credibility concerning crossing "Red Lines".
Supporting the rebels not only engages US in an international conflict, it also means backing rebels who are Al Qaeda, who are in reality our enemy in the War on Terrorism, which we have conveniently cancelled but jihadist Islamist still consider US the Great Satan. Even though Senators John McCain ( R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have embraced our newest best buddies in the Syrian Rebels as videotaped surfaced of their leadership being literal cannibals on the battlefield.
If the US were able to conduct a surgical strike to take out or secure chemical weapons storage sites, it brings up the inconvenient truth about from where these chemical weapons stockpiles came. During the 2008 Presidential campaign, candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) reveled in criticizing President George W. Bush for getting engaged in a dumb war with Iraq which did not threaten us or involve terrorists which attacked us. As Democrats harped on the "Bush lied (about WMD) and people died" mantra, candidate Obama opined that Iraq was not giving chemical weapons to terrorists. Oh, just storing it in the Bakkah Valley and allowing state terrorists to gas their own people.
Between Benghazi, Wikileaks and the NSA spying, the penchant for perfidy for the Obama foreign policy has eroded credibility at Foggy Bottom thereby leaving it open to sensational charges. RT reports the Russian Foreign Ministry line that the "alleged chemical attack near Damascus might have been a planned provocation in advance. The theory is that the rebels might have used the weapons themselves and made it look like Assad forces committed the atrocity so that western forces would be prompted to help the rebels. Aaron Klein noted that there were reports of the lasted alleged Syrian chemical attack the day before it happened. The same sort of stunt was alleged to have been planned for last year .
 |
| LBJ Sec. of Defense Robert McNamara explaining Gulf of Tonkin incidents, August 4, 1964 |
American engagement in the Middle East is usually messy but it need not have been lose/lose/lose. Had the Obama Administration shown leadership a couple of years ago in Syria, the rebels might not have been as badly infected with Al Qaeda influence. But Obama was proud of the Duty to Protect and leading from behind in Libya and another foreign engagement might have looked bad going into his re-election campaign. It was great to talk tough during the campaign against Chemical Weapons, but it was risky business to do something provocative before the election or right after. Thus, Obama's words were but wind and Assad assessed that Obama was a paper tiger.
So it seems whether or not the Obama Administration acts in Syria, it will be a bloody decision.
h/t: Michael Ramirez
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Friday, August 23, 2013
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Supporting the Beleaguered Copts
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| Burnt Coptic Church in Minyan, Upper Egypt (Photo: David Degner) |
Since ex-Egyptian President Mohamad Morsi was deposed from power in July, 2013, there has been increasing violence targeted against Egypt's eight million Coptic minority. In the past fortnight, 58 Christian Churches (14 of them Catholic) throughout Egypt.
Aside from torching these churches, agitated Islamists also paraded three Franciscan nuns through the streets like prisoners of war before a Muslim woman gave them refuge. Alas, two other women working at the school were sexually harassed as they fought to get through the mob.
When an Obama Administration spokesman was asked about whether the violence in Egypt crossed a red line on the Obama Doctrine's "Duty to Protect", the White House flack chose to make a snarky comeback.
Fortunately, not everyone took the Muslim Brotherhood inspired attacks against the Copts and other Egyptian Christians as a laughing matter. The Catholic Bishops in Egypt released a statement: "This is not a civil war between Christians and Muslims. It is not a civil war but a war against terrorism. And the majority of the population is against terrorism and religious extremism."
Due to the threats of violence, the Coptic Virgin Mary and Priest Ibram Monasteryi in Degla, Upper Egypt, did not celebrate Divine Liturgy for the first time in 1600 years. But Fr. James Martin, S.J. posted an inspiring photo on his Facebook account which showed the faithful celebrating Mass in a burnt out church.
While people may hold different religious tenants and express their faithfulness in different ways, this site celebrates religious freedom and the freedom of conscience. These attacks seem to be targeted against Christian faithful in Egypt, which predates the introduction of Islam. The Muslim Brotherhood may be using the unrest as a means to impose shariah upon Egypt, which is contrary to Egypt's history.
Although it is not my creed, count me as a Copt to standing up for their faith and supporting the freedom in conscience throughout the world. There is a campaign to show support for beleaguered Christian believers in Egypt with the #iamcoptic campaign. This is not like the trend in the Nineties to show how much you care by wearing ribbons. This is to recognize that the Islamist persecutions of Copts in Egypt may represent a Christian Krystallnact in 1938 when Nazi Germany ramped up persecution of their Jewish scapegoat minority before embarking on their diabolic final solution of the Holocaust.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
So. Cal. School Kids Forced To Take a Knee
As school starts, students need become accustomed to new routines. But some things should never be countenanced.
Some parents from the Calimesa Elementary School in Yucaipa, California (around 80 miles east of Los Angeles) were outraged when they learned of a new policy which required grammar school students to kneel down before a school administrator until they are excused.
Calimesa Elementary School Principal Dana Carter reportedly instituted the policy as a "positive way to enforce safety". In this safety schema, students were required to kneel down on one knee after lunch or recess and wait for the principal or another school administrator to dismiss them.
After some adroit parental pressure and inquiries from KCAL-TV, Yucaipa Calimesa Unified School District Superintendent Cali Binks announced that this take a knee "positive behavior intervention" would no longer be enforced at Calimesa Elementary. The Inland Empire based school district will hold a future meeting to plan with parents on different safety options to tame the Wildcats (the elementary school's mascot).
Reacting to the one knee policy, one parent exclaimed: “I feel that the principal wants to be like a king, and we don’t have kings in America.” This policy was outrageous as it inculcated vassalage into elementary education. In addition, the powers that be leaned on the canard "for safety reasons".
It would be curious to learn what has changed in dealing with energetic adolescents that convinced these school administrators that their their wards must periodically kneel before them. Would such a practice merit an investigation by child protective services if an individual parent were to require it?
While this kneeling practice was deplorable, it is prudent to reserve judgment on the "safety concerns" for the government to make compelling case for the need for alternate "safety" procedures. While census statistics indicate that the areas demographics are between 70% to 85% white, it is worth noting Calimesa Elementary School's academic goals are couched in whether students are English proficient. Moreover, the Calimesa Elemetary School's website offers translations for Spanish (with a Mexican flag), Portuguese (with a Portuguese flag), Russian, Japanese, Korean, French and German. Perhaps school administrators have difficulty communicating with their students.
But school administrators should not have to worry about pesky things like worrying about order. They have more important things to instruct, bow to power and being servile to government authority. Then there are the innovations which California Governor Jerry Brown (D-CA) has signed into law, like teaching homosexual history and LGBTQ? contributions starting at an early age. Or implementing the transgender students' bill, which allows public school students to choose which restroom they identify with at any given moment.
h/t: KCAL
The Blaze
Some parents from the Calimesa Elementary School in Yucaipa, California (around 80 miles east of Los Angeles) were outraged when they learned of a new policy which required grammar school students to kneel down before a school administrator until they are excused.
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| Flyer on Calimesa Elementary kneeling policy (via Tom Wait/ KCAL) |
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| Calimesa Principal Dana Carter |
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| Superintendent Cali Binks |
Reacting to the one knee policy, one parent exclaimed: “I feel that the principal wants to be like a king, and we don’t have kings in America.” This policy was outrageous as it inculcated vassalage into elementary education. In addition, the powers that be leaned on the canard "for safety reasons".
It would be curious to learn what has changed in dealing with energetic adolescents that convinced these school administrators that their their wards must periodically kneel before them. Would such a practice merit an investigation by child protective services if an individual parent were to require it?
While this kneeling practice was deplorable, it is prudent to reserve judgment on the "safety concerns" for the government to make compelling case for the need for alternate "safety" procedures. While census statistics indicate that the areas demographics are between 70% to 85% white, it is worth noting Calimesa Elementary School's academic goals are couched in whether students are English proficient. Moreover, the Calimesa Elemetary School's website offers translations for Spanish (with a Mexican flag), Portuguese (with a Portuguese flag), Russian, Japanese, Korean, French and German. Perhaps school administrators have difficulty communicating with their students.
But school administrators should not have to worry about pesky things like worrying about order. They have more important things to instruct, bow to power and being servile to government authority. Then there are the innovations which California Governor Jerry Brown (D-CA) has signed into law, like teaching homosexual history and LGBTQ? contributions starting at an early age. Or implementing the transgender students' bill, which allows public school students to choose which restroom they identify with at any given moment.
h/t: KCAL
The Blaze
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
"Crankenstein" on Government
During the election season, Jeff Dunham's side kick Walter (a.k.a. Crankenstein) was on a roll.
It seems that Jeff Dunham: Minding the Monsters was more than just cutesy Halloween inspired costumes.
A Bit on Al Jazeera America's Broadcast Debut
Al Jazeera America (AJAM), a division of the Doha based global media empire owned by the royal family of Qatar began broadcasting in 48 million American cable and satellite households. In January 2013, Al Jazeera acquired the assets of Current TV for a reported $400 million (of which Al Gore is thought to have pocketed $100 million). Current TV's most important asset was carriage on most cable and satellite services. Time Warner Cable, which has franchises in New York City and Los Angeles, immediately pulled the plug on Current TV upon the announcement of the sale to Al Jazeera.
Al Jazeera America hopes to distinguish itself by unbiased news, compelling story telling, long-form journalism, American focused but leveraging Al Jazeera's world-wide resources. Al Jazeera America will have twelve American news bureaus, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington DC, Detroit (surprising that it's not Dearborn), Miami and Nashville. And Al Jazeera will have fewer commercials, showing only six minutes per hour compared with 15 minutes with other cable channels.
Some of Al Jazeera America's promotional propaganda requires parsing. Al Jazeera America may cite the hunger of American audiences for unbiased news, but it is worth remembering that Al Jazeera was Usama bin Laden's favorite channel for releasing unfiltered messages. Language used when referring to news events may jaundice the aspiration to be unbiased. For example, are Islamist suicide bombers referred to as martyrs? What about news that does not jibe with the Qatari Al Thami royal family's international interests? Per Bloomberg, the Qatari emiate "lent" Egypt $8 billion after the Arab Spring overthrow of ex-Egyptian President Hosni Murbarak, but a score of Al Jazeera employees quit over what they characterized as the biased coverage of the Muslim Brotherhood.
New Al Jazeera anchor Ali Veshi insisted in a Maclean's interview that the new network will aspire to give unbiased news:
I think we have created a world in which extreme views push out moderate views... We are going to put the resources behind commercializing real news. We are going to track those people who are NPR listeners, who watch BBC America. They exist. And we're going after them with real resources. The reason that dumbed-down news has prevailed is because there's a lot of money in producing it. And it's ubiquitous.
Former journalists from Al Jazeera have expressed concerns that the Qatari government is exerting undue pressure upon Al Jazeera journalists to further its political interests.
***
So it is incumbent for news consumers to account for being educated by an Emirate which has been hands on in tweaking the reportage.
Long-story reporting is a rarity among American news networks but if so called journalists serve as stenographers for their favored sources, it is simply propaganda.
***
As Al Jazeera America began broadcasting, their headlines were: Turmoil in Egypt; School Shooting Outside Atlanta; Wildfires in the West; and the New Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bridge. But their website had other interesting deviations. For example, the lead story was an accusation of widespread overuse of mind altering anti-malarial drugs at Guantanimo Bay a feature about U.S. soldier Staff Sgt. Bates who was convicted of a massacre in Afghanistan who is seeking a reduction of his life sentence and a headline that the CIA admitted involvement with the overthrow of the Iranian government in 1953. Is that dogged reportage or catering to an Islamist audience?
It is amusing to dissect Al Jazeera America's brag that they are only broadcasting six minutes of commercials an hour. Might this be because the fledgling network can't sell commercial time?
***
Al Jazeera America is seeking to have a distinctive visual aesthetic during their 14 hours a day of live programming. In the Al Jazeera America's New York Studios, the camera shots offer a full body shot of the anchors standing before large 10 foot video screen when not sitting behind the brushed metal desk. Alas, the picture does not look as stunning through DirectTV as it is only a standard definition picture which looks somewhat fuzzy on a large screen television. Another quirk of Al Jazeera America's news ticker is the time shown. The network premiered at 4 PM ET, but the Al Jazeera ticker indicated 23.00 ET, which might be right for Doha but not GMT which is often an international standard.
Al Jazeera America has tried to buy credibility by attracting some well known names in broadcast journalism.
***
To a conservative news junkie's ears in the District of Calamity (sic), these names sound like C List reporters, some of whom give a nodding name recognition but seemingly not remarkable reporters. It's too bad that ESPN re-hired Keith Olbermann, as Al Jazeera America sounds like a refuge for misfit reporters. But Olbermann's sports reincarnation has just begun. But could the former King of Countdown take having his opinion influenced by the Qatari powers that be lest Olbermann himself become "The Worst Person in the World."?
Al Jazeera America also gained some prime studio space in the nation's capital at the Newseum. When ABC's This Week moved back to the ABC DC Bureau for its once a month show with Martha Radditz, Al Jazeera America moved into the Newseum. It is unknown how much Al Jazeera America pays for the privilege of being at the Newseum, but when a network is backed by an oil rich emirate, ordinary economics of news gathering are inapplicable.
***
As for Al Jazeera America, their aspiration to be unbiased journalists will be tested with their coverage of the so called Million American March (a.k.a. the Million Muslim March) on Washington set for September 11th, 2013 as well as how Al Jazeera America treats coverage with the turmoil in Egypt and the Syrian Civil War. In the early going, Al Jazeera America seemed like a somnolent Sunni version of CNN. Such an impression might not boost ratings, but ratings (or advertising dollars) may not be the ultimate goal of Al Jazeera America.
Contrasting Two Tales of Mistaken Celebrities
Recently, there have been two instances of mistaken celebrities. The way both handled not being recognized for their celebrity status tells about their temperament and character.
When Oprah was impeached on the details by shop owner Trudie Goetz on a BBC interview , Oprah then gave what TMZ labeled as a passive aggressive "b.s." apology for having the matter blown up. The Hollywood gossip news site reasoned that going to the national media and crying racism was bound to blow up the incident, whether or not the Swiss shop was named.
Jase's wife tried to straighten things out with Trump Tower and he was allowed back into the establishment. Jase jocularly shrugged the incident off as "facial profiling".
Jase's case of mistaken identity at Trump Tower occurred AFTER the season premiere of Duck Dynasty, which drew 11.8 million viewers for a cable reality series broadcast at 10 PM Eastern time. The Butler was number one at the box office last weekend drawing an audience of $25 million, but it opened in wide release of nearly 3,000 screens for what is thought to be a very good drama. Alas, the same can not be said for the eponymous OWN- The Oprah Winfrey Network. Discovery lent Oprah $509 million for her fledgling network but it was not drawing the viewers and Oprah admits to being at the edge of a nervous breakdown with the financial pressures and the lack of success.
Personally, I may not enjoy watching bearded rednecks who live relatively unpretentious lives do their antics, but it seems authentic. And where else is the Bible directly quoted on the boob tube? However, Jase Robison's self-deprecating response to an instance of mistaken celebrity shows good character and a temperament that should be emulated amongst celebutards.
Monday, August 19, 2013
Perceiving Punchline Pols
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| Senator Ted Cruz's (R-TX) ceremonial swearing in by Vice President Joe Biden, Jan. 203 |
Some cynics might wonder which politician was the punchline. The public might have determined who was the joke had the Vice President taken up the freshman Texas Senator's challenge to debate gun laws.
Evil Air Quotes
James Clapper, the current director of National Intelligence, has been tapped by President Barack Obama to appoint a panel to review the United State's global collection of signals intelligence. This responsibility was given to a man who a government official who lied before Congress by a direct question from Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on NSA electronic surveillance on Americans on U.S. soil.
Later, Clapper sought to clarify his statement by saying: “What I said was, ‘the NSA does not voyeuristically pore through U.S. citizens’ e-mails.’ I stand by that.”
Now it has become clear that the NSA routinely violates American law on spying on Americans and then lies to the Legislative Branch about it. But surely Clapper's study group will defend these practices for "National Security" reasons while using air quotes. Right. Or as Dr. Evil would say: "Throw me a frickin' bone." We've been there and done that already.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Friday, August 16, 2013
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Motown Metanoia
Why didn't we see this before the bankruptcy and the fat lady figurative sang the Motown Owe-Town Fugue?
Bo Knows Vacations
It's surprising that the First Dog had to rely upon Ospreys. Sure it would have been better if the airlift used Airedales (sic).
Misguided Prayers to POTUS?
A YouTube video has gone viral which features a child praying to Barack Obama.
Some of the verbiage used did not seem like it would naturally come from the mouth of babes. In addition, at one point the boy pauses and he is softly prompted off camera. Thus it is shocking that such sacrilege is being inculcated by adults.
Protestants often protest at the Catholic practice of praying to saints. But Catholics are quick to distinguish their veneration (regarding with great respect) and worshiping. Since Catholics believe that Saints are already eternally alive and in paradise, it is asking a spiritual big brother for help when petitioning the divine.
While the blasphemous blurb from the boy does mention that "God has given you special gifts", when one listens closely to the viral video, he thanks Barack Obama for all the gifts he has received. That certainly sounds like worship to me, said on one's knees no less.
Such misguided prayers should not be surprising considering the near cult of personality which the Lamestream Media has portrayed the President. Prior to his election in 2008, Mark Motford perpetuated the myth of Obama as a Light Worker or enlightened being. In 2009, Newsweek journalist Evan Thomas opined that Obama was standing over the world, a sort of God. In 2010, Newsweek continued this meme portraying Obama in the style of an Indian God with many arms.
Moreover, there were a spate of photos framed so that Obama looked like he had a halo. And Mr. Obama seemed to have trouble mentioning God when reciting portions of the Declaration of Independence.
Aside from obvious illusions which put Obama on a divine plain, the elite liberal media has made it taboo to give President Obama a hard question much less satirize him. Last week, Drew Johnson, who was the managing editorial editor of the Chattanooga Times Free Press was fired after he pushed an unsigned editorial piece entitled: "Take Your Jobs Plan and Shove It." In April 2012, Larry Conners was fired from St. Louis TV station KMOV after asking President Obama hard questions in what the White House intended as a softball local media interview.
And consider the rodeo clown at the Missouri State Fair i who dared to wear a mask of the President while doing his entertainment job. Missouri's Governor Jay Nixon (D-MO), Lieutenant Governor Pete Kinder (R-MO) and Senator Claire McCaskell (D-MO) all offered apologies. In addition, the Missouri State Fair issued a lifetime ban on the masked rodeo clown.
American culture is being led to a point where the President is being put on a pedestal and made beyond reproach. This harkens back to sensibilities of divine rulers when is was a crime and blasphemy to question the monarch. It is dubious if other Presidents are part of this pantheon of unquestionable leaders. And shouldn't progressives be supporting the separation of Church and State?
Perhaps another self described rodeo clown was prescient. In October 2008, Glenn Beck produced "The Obama Anthem" set to the Soviet State Anthem as a piece of election agiprop as well as promoting his premiere on Fox News Channel in 2009.
The messianic allusions as well as the hallmarks of the imagined reign ring poignantly today.
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