A cult of personality arises when an individual uses mass media to create an idealized and heroic public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. Cults of personality are often found in dictatorships. The sociologist Max Weber developed a tripartite classification of authority; the cult of personality holds parallels with what Weber defined as 'charismatic authority'.
A cult of personality is similar to hero worship, except that it is propagated by mass media. However, the term may be applied by analogy to refer to adulation of religious or non-political leaders.
Throughout history, monarchs were almost always held in enormous reverence. Through the principle of the divine right of kings, rulers were said to hold office by the will of God. Imperial China (see Mandate of Heaven), ancient Egypt, Japan, the Inca, the Aztecs, Tibet, Thailand, and the Roman Empire (see imperial cult) are especially noted for redefining monarchs as god-kings.
The spread of democratic ideas in Europe and North America in the 18th and 19th centuries made it increasingly difficult for monarchs to preserve this aura. However, the subsequent development of photography, sound recording, film and mass production, as well as public education and techniques used in commercial advertising, enabled political leaders to project a positive image like never before. It was from these circumstances in the 20th century that the best-known personality cults arose. Often these cults are a form of Political religion.
Personality cults were first described in relation to totalitarian regimes that sought to radically alter or transform society according to radical ideas. Often, a single leader became associated with this revolutionary transformation, and came to be treated as a benevolent "guide" for the nation without whom the transformation to a better future couldn't occur. This has been generally the justification for personality cults that arose in totalitarian societies of the 20th century, such as those of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin.
Not all dictatorships foster personality cults, and some leaders may actively seek to minimize their own public adulation. For example, in the regime of Pol Pot in Cambodia, Pol Pot's image was rarely seen. On the other hand, in North Korea there exists a very successful cult of personality, which includes actual semi-worship of both the father (Kim Il-sung) and son (Kim Jong-il).
MyBatanga
ReplyDeleteBlack Planet
MiGente
ReplyDeleteThere has never been a US President like this one.
ReplyDeletetrish said...
ReplyDelete"Did you notice, bob, that the Gulf oil leak is not the daily news obsession it was?
We seem to have adjusted and moved on."
You can bet your bottom dollar if W was POTUS, it would be in our face 24/7, and everytime W was speaking, there'd always be a video in the corner of the screen showing the gushing oil or decimated wildlife.
Instead, BHO's criminal neglect and obstruction is covered up by his co-conspirators in the "news"
"You can bet your bottom dollar if W was POTUS..."
ReplyDeleteThe mitigation operations would be a cakewalk and the whole thing would pay for itself.
Gene Healy referred to and wrote about The Cult of the Presidency.
ReplyDeleteThis is not new.
Jonah Goldberg once had to remind NRO readers that "the sun does not shine out of George W. Bush's shirtsleeves."
ReplyDeleteI think "Obama-Worship" is probably going to be the least of our worries.
ReplyDeleteAndrew Sullivan:
ReplyDeleteThe Green Shoots Of A Positive Conservatism
02 Jul 2010 07:26 pm
Erik Kain looks for signs of hope:
One reason I enjoy the writing of center-right thinkers such as Reihan Salam or Ross Douthat (among others) is that rather than constantly taking a position against liberals or other conservatives, they are constantly on the prowl for good ideas.
I think this is especially true of Reihan, whose wonkish blog over at NRO can only be described as a sort of positive conservatism. Instead of focusing on simply being in opposition to the liberal agenda – which is, really, a fairly easy task – this brand of conservatism is always perusing the market of good ideas. This doesn’t mean you can’t also be against bad ideas, but only that every oppositional stance should be paired with a positive solution. The bank tax is wrong – here’s why, and here’s a better idea. The healthcare bill is going to be a disaster – here’s why, and here’s a better idea. Positive conservatism, for it to be effective at all, also must avoid Utopianism if it is to avoid the progressive pitfall.
"On the prowl for good ideas."
I like that.
GM sells more cars in China than the U.S.
ReplyDeleteJonah Goldberg and Andrew Sullivan are dicks.
ReplyDelete.
"On the prowl for good ideas."
ReplyDeleteHere's one.
The Native Americans are supposed to be 'sovereign' on their reservations.
Well then they should go ahead and build on their lands those things that 'real' Americans seem to not want anything to do with, like:
Nuclear Power Plants
Oil Refineries
Coal Fired Plants
Rosicrucian Compounds
I bet they could clean up.
Quirkster,
ReplyDeleteAstrologer
Possessor of "Secret Knowledge"
Authority on "Dicks"
Is there Anything our boy can't do?
trish said...
ReplyDelete"You can bet your bottom dollar if W was POTUS..."
The mitigation operations would be a cakewalk and the whole thing would pay for itself.
-exercise for your smile wrinkles
Bob, we're "Closing" oil refineries due to lack of demand.
ReplyDeleteCoal is cheap, Now, but it won't always be (plus, who wants to breathe coal dust;) In other words, they can build it, but who's going to "buy" it?
And, Nukes are getting expensive to build.
The Indians need to build windmills, solar, and plant energy crops. The 20th century is over, folks.
As much as I don't like ol' bumblefuck, he's right, and the Republicans are wrong about most of the major things. Especially, Energy, and the "Smart Grid."
ReplyDeleteHis main problem is he just doesn't know how to "get'er done." Neither, He, nor anyone in his administration, has ever run a business, much less a County, or State. They understand, on a gut level, where we have to go, but they're flailing around in trying to figure out how to "get there."
Looking back, not ahead.
ReplyDeleteGrasping onto the past, while the future beckons.
A million barrels a day, to replace Wahhabi oil.
whit says that we should drill for it, here at home.
So I went looking for some numbers, rather than to tell you all about my "feelings".
In that search, I happened across this:
- US offshore oil production is forecast at 31.4% (1.58 mbpd) of US crude production for 2010 by the EIA
- Deepwater Gulf of Mexico is about 25% of US crude production.
US production is running at 6 million barrels per day.
To increase that by 20%, in the face of current and growing environmental concerns, and the current media, educational and political climate, here in the US, right there with impossible.
So the story continues ...
Loss of these volumes, assuming no offsets from increased production by Saudi Arabia, would result in a price increase of probably $10-20 / barrel, and would increase US imports by $150-300 mn per day, or approximately $50-100 bn per year.
So the payback on allowing drilling at an environmental cost of $20 bn as opposed to higher imports on an annual basis of, say, $60 bn per year, is about four months.
No one wants an oil spill, but on a coldly calculated cost-benefit basis, the math appears a no-brainer.
Let's add to this dependence on OPEC. French oil major Total sees dependence on OPEC rising from 43% in 2008 to 54% in 2020.
(See slide 3;
http://www.total.com/MEDIAS/MEDIAS_INFOS/2969/FR/Total-2009-mid-year-outlook-full-presentation.pdf).
I asked Total CEO de Margerie what he felt about this forecast, and he described it as "optimistic". Reducing US production would simply hasten and exacerbate this situation.
And I need hardly mention the externalities of dependence on Middle East oil; costofwar.com estimates the cost of the Iraq war at $700+ billion to date.
Now, there are legitimate questions about whether we want to use our oil resources today or save them for the future. "The Optimal Timing of the Extraction of Non-Renewable Resources" would make an interesting econ doctoral thesis. Someone's probably written it already.
It seems clear, at least to me, that the US will not be pursuing a "Drill, Baby, Drill, policy and that even if we did ...
Realistically speaking Drill, Baby, Drill is neither viable, short term politically, nor is it a long term solution to our oil addiction. No, Drill, Baby, Drill is just an avoidance of an unpleasant reality, the 20th century is over and done.
Oil is not, never will be, renewable.
There is no expanding, exploitable ready reserve and oil in the United States, and it does not grow on trees.
While ethanol does.
Authority on "Dicks"
ReplyDeleteWell maybe I overshot the mark on Jonah Goldberg.
He just trends toward 'dickness' on occasion.
.
Well said.
ReplyDeleteThe talking head lady, at MSNBC, is saying that hotel occupancy, along the Emerald Coast, on this 4th of July weekend ...
ReplyDeleteIt's running at 75%.
On what is normally a "sell out" weekend.
There'll be a slew of Chapter 13 filings, by November.
All along that stretch of beach.
Ameros to doughnuts.
$2 Billion for Solar
ReplyDeleteBy the way, if you know a young guy, or gal, that likes to work outside, and is half-way bright tell them to look into getting certified as a Solar "Installer."
ReplyDeleteThose guys are getting paid a fortune for installation.
They can manufacture solar for about $1.00/watt, now; but installation is running $5.00, or more. That is some sweet "juice." Really Sweet.
ReplyDeleteThe talking head lady, at MSNBC, is saying that hotel occupancy, along the Emerald Coast, on this 4th of July weekend ...
ReplyDeleteIt's running at 75%.
On what is normally a "sell out" weekend.
There'll be a slew of Chapter 13 filings, by November.
All along that stretch of beach.
Ameros to doughnuts.
"Did you notice, bob, that the Gulf oil leak is not the daily news obsession it was?
ReplyDeleteWe seem to have adjusted and moved on."
---
Jokes and giggles about W notwithstanding, my focus was on the fact that massive AVOIDABLE damage continues, but hey, the MSM have adjusted and moved on, so perhaps like good little sheep we should too.
Certainly wouldn't want to call a spade a spade.
...move right along.
Factory Jobs Return, but Employers Find Skills Shortage
ReplyDeleteAll candidates at Ben Venue must pass a basic skills test showing they can read and understand math at a ninth-grade level.
A significant portion of recent applicants failed, and the company has been disappointed by the quality of graduates from local training programs. It is now struggling to fill 100 positions.
They're "adjusting"
ReplyDelete...but not moving on.
It's the Chicago Way.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAssimilation and the Founding Fathers
ReplyDeleteThey would scarcely understand the language of the immigration lobby.
Must every response to even the most modest of immigration enforcement measures be “RAAAAACIST”?
The survival of the American republic, Hamilton maintained, depends upon “the preservation of a national spirit and a national character.”
“To admit foreigners indiscriminately to the rights of citizens the moment they put foot in our country would be nothing less than to admit the Grecian horse into the citadel of our liberty and sovereignty.”
Doug,
ReplyDeleteI did look at your pictures last night. So there.
I, who try to avoid such images...Not because they're Obama's dying birds. But because they're dying birds.
(You're talking to the woman who established the very busy Breakfast Club For Our Winged Friends on her Colombian rooftop, turning her penthouse terrace each morning into a scene straight out of Hitchcock. Much to the amazement of her neighbors. Do you know how much bird crap that was for Eliadora to hose down every couple of days?)
Would W have a harder time of this on the media front than Obama? Yes.
Life isn't fair.
Susana Martinez Had a Pretty Darn Good June
ReplyDeleteThe bad news for Susana Martinez, the Republican candidate for governor of New Mexico, is that she’s way behind her Democratic opponent, Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, in campaign cash — about $300,0000 to $2.2 million as of June 25.
The good news for her is that the trend is her friend:
Martinez accelerated her fundraising after becoming the nominee and collected three times more money than Denish during the monthlong financial reporting period, which covers May 26 through June 25. Martinez received $611,247 in contributions, with all but about $15,000 of that received after the June 1 primary. Denish raised $187,629.
I see we're on full dick patrol, Quirk.
ReplyDelete"What are we made of? Our fathers came across the prairie, fought Indians, fought drought, fought locusts, fought Dix - remember when Richard Dix came in here and tried to take over this town? Well, we didn't give up then, and by gum, we're not gonna give up now."
Keep up the good fight.
Would W have a harder time of this on the media front than Obama? Yes.
ReplyDeleteLife isn't fair.
---
Jeeze,
The only reason I mentioned W was to point out MSM's BURYING
Obama's criminal negligence and obstructionism.
Rendering them complicit in the ongoing victimization of man and beast.
I would like to see a Dan Blather like response by the blogging community, and am writing folks about doing it.
Why the Hell was Blather not just the first but the ONLY "Blogswarm?"
They also constructed Fort Dix.
ReplyDeleteMartinez, Jindal, and that Carolina beauty...
ReplyDeleteNot a bad crop of GOP Guvs.
AND
The Fat Man.
"I would like to see a Dan Blather like response by the blogging community, and am writing folks about doing it."
ReplyDeleteGood luck.
You think that's because egos, turf and money have become the guides to the "influential" bloggers?
ReplyDeleteGreat quote by Hamilton, Doug.
ReplyDelete(or was it a great quote by Doug Hamilton?)
I find it telling that some eliminated the "hat tip" some time ago even as Limbaugh continues to give attribution to sources.
ReplyDeleteBasic rules of professionalism.
Alexander was reading the notes I wrote.
ReplyDeleteOne More Jarring Statistic
ReplyDeleteJim Geraghty
In June 2009, the unemployment rate was 9.5 percent, just as it was in June 2010.
However, a year ago, the civilian labor force was 154,759,000, and now it is 153,741,000.
In other words, 1.018 million people have dropped out of the labor force.
The good news is that the country will be back to a relatively normal jobless rate of 6 percent once another 5.39 million of the unemployed stop looking for work.
Naturally, President Obama cites the report as another sign “we’re headed in the right direction.”
21 Die in Mexican Gun Battle, 12 Miles From U.S. Border...
ReplyDeleteJust another lazy afternoon in old Mejico.
Let me just say, somewhat in the spirit of the day: Limbaugh is a giant sack of pus.
ReplyDeleteAnd Mark Levin is a syphilitic sore on the body of humanity.
ReplyDeleteAnd we were getting along so well...
ReplyDeleteAnd Michael Savage is?
ReplyDeleteA cancer metastasizing...
ReplyDelete25. twobyfour
ReplyDeleteSometimes I wonder if we here aren’t just an echo chamber of old geezers. The average age of BC posters would be prolly well above fifty.
But then I see this and I know that there is hope.
He caught syphlis when your hero Sullivan Butt Raped him.
ReplyDelete...or was it Wolcott?
Age takes it's toll on my memory.
"And Michael Savage is?"
ReplyDeleteThe very rotting, larvae infested corpse of a once vibrant political movement.
We are certainly into diseases of the flesh.
ReplyDeleteNews Item a couple of days ago:
Passengers had to switch planes when MAGGOTS were found in the overhead bins.
T party still extremely vibrant, btw.
ReplyDeleteBut I have a social obligation later today. Must maintain the blithe spirit.
ReplyDeleteLet's change the subject to raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, shall we?
Angle in Nevada is portrayed as a Wing Nut Wacko, but she sounds quite down to earth in interviews.
ReplyDeleteCurrently leads Dingy Harry by 9 in the polls.
Thanks to Tea Party Express.
(whatever that is, ...anybody know?)
How about kittens with worms?
ReplyDelete...or dogs with dementia?
Canine Cognitive Dysfunction
ReplyDeleteSymptoms:
ReplyDeleteAimless Wandering
Disorientation
Confusion about a previously familiar place (ie: gets lost in the house, can't find her way out of a corner, seems lost in her yard)
Years of housetraining seem undone, as dog forgets to go outside or she forgets to let you know she has to go
Forgetting to eat, even forgetting to drink in some cases
Fails to recognize previously favorite people, or who she met recently, be it dog or human
Sleeping pattern changes drastically
Pacing
No longer seeks attention, or wanders away
---
Crap!
I thot that was normal at my age.
It's a family affair, it's a family affair
ReplyDeleteIt's a family affair, it's a family affair
One child grows up to be
Somebody that just loves to learn
And another child grows up to be
Somebody you'd just love to burn
Mom loves the both of them
You see it's in the blood
Both kids are good to Mom
'Blood's thicker than mud'
It's a family affair, it's a family affair
Newlywed a year ago
But you're still checking each other out
Nobody wants to blow
Nobody wants to be left out
You can't leave, 'cause your heart is there
But you can't stay, 'cause you been somewhere else!
You can't cry, 'cause you'll look broke down
But you're cryin' anyway 'cause you're all broke down!
It's a family affair
It's a family affair
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du6wiLRgm8o
ReplyDeleteJulie Andrews. Just the ticket when facing an evening of shmoozing. That and a little pre-gaming.
The very rotting, larvae infested corpse of a once vibrant political movement.
ReplyDeleteQuite good, quite good indeed.
I saw some news item the other day where they found a load of human heads in the cargo bay. No one knew where they came from.
ReplyDeleteFrom human bodies, I suppose, but that's just a guess.
"Quite good, quite good indeed."
ReplyDeleteThank you, bob. I do try.
"I see we're on full dick patrol, Quirk."
ReplyDeleteIt just feels good now and then.
I see you have been indulging in a little cathartic release yourself.
.
That I have. And I DO feel better for it.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the inspiration.
Abreaction is its own reward.
ReplyDelete.
: )
ReplyDeleteAbreaction.
At first sounds like a late night infomercial.
No end of those seeking to lose unwanted belly fat by whatever promising devise.
Abreaction
ReplyDeleteSome words have simultaneous meanings that really could apply, well, simultaneously.
That's why I am selective about the 'dick list'.
It's completely subjective.
For instance, Glenn Beck is not on it. Not because half of what he says isn't kind of silly, it's just that on occasion I like listening to the guy and find him entertaining.
More to the point, George Will is not on the list. Sure he is pompous and pretensious (not that that is necessarily a bad thing) but he also has a comprehensive yet facile mastery of the English language.
I am impressed by words and the people who can use them. That may be why I find Orwell's concept of Newsspeak compelling.
I also went to a Catholic grade school. In the third or fourth grade, we were forced to buy a dictionary and taught how to use it. One of the best pieces of advice I received from the nuns was when you look up a word, always look at the word before it and the word after it so as to build up your vocabulary.
Vocabulary.com is very convenient but unfortunately, there is no word before or after.
I probably have a half dozen dictionaries lying around the house. When I don't use Dictionary.com, I still look up the word before and after.
.
.
Words are magical things.
ReplyDeleteI have one hardback English language dictionary. The AHD from 1992, I think it is.
Much loved, much worn.
And I have probably spent more time at dictionary.com in the past month alone than in the two years previous.
A wise person once said to me, "Define your terms." (And we regularly resort to the dictionary as referee.)
Maria Montessori said, "Fix the idea with a word."
I observed early on, however, that true facility is as much about cadence as about the words themselves.
ReplyDeleteWords are just words without the music.
ReplyDelete.
(I can just hear it now:
ReplyDeleteBUT WHAT DOES SHE MEAN?)
The Delphic musings of of a new age Sibyl.
ReplyDelete:)
.
Words can be magical, indeed.
ReplyDeleteExcept when they are misused and abused as in some of Bob's poetry.
Joyce Rules.
Music is just music without the words.
ReplyDeleteThe Alien in the White House
ReplyDeleteThe deepening notes of disenchantment with Barack Obama now issuing from commentators across the political spectrum were predictable. So, too, were the charges from some of the president's earliest enthusiasts about his failure to reflect a powerful sense of urgency about the oil spill.
There should have been nothing puzzling about his response to anyone who has paid even modest critical attention to Mr. Obama's pronouncements. For it was clear from the first that this president—single-minded, ever-visible, confident in his program for a reformed America saved from darkness by his arrival—was wanting in certain qualities citizens have until now taken for granted in their presidents. Namely, a tone and presence that said: This is the Americans' leader, a man of them, for them, the nation's voice and champion. Mr. Obama wasn't lacking in concern about the oil spill. What he lacked was that voice—and for good reason.
Those qualities to be expected in a president were never about rhetoric; Mr. Obama had proved himself a dab hand at that on the campaign trail. They were a matter of identification with the nation and to all that binds its people together in pride and allegiance. These are feelings held deep in American hearts, unvoiced mostly, but unmistakably there and not only on the Fourth of July.
A great part of America now understands that this president's sense of identification lies elsewhere, and is in profound ways unlike theirs. He is hard put to sound convincingly like the leader of the nation, because he is, at heart and by instinct, the voice mainly of his ideological class. He is the alien in the White House, a matter having nothing to do with delusions about his birthplace cherished by the demented fringe.
...that would be you, Bob.
A Shrink Asks: What's Wrong with Obama?
ReplyDeleteBy Robin of Berkeley
If my assessment is accurate, what does this mean?
It means that liberals need to wake up and spit out the Kool-Aid...and that conservatives should put aside differences, band together, and elect as many Republicans as possible.
Because Obama will not change. He will not learn from his mistakes. He will not grow and mature from on-the-job experience. In fact, over time, Obama will likely become a more ferocious version of who he is today.
Why? Because this is a damaged person. Obama's fate was sealed years ago growing up in his strange and poisonous family. Later on, his empty vessel was filled with the hateful bile of men like Rev. Wright and Bill Ayers.
Obama will not evolve; he will not rise to the occasion; he will not become the man he was meant to be. This is for one reason and one reason alone:
He is not capable of it.
A frequent AT contributor, Robin is a psychotherapist in Berkeley and a recovering liberal. You can e-mail Robin at robinofberkeley@hotmail.com. She regrets that she may not be able to acknowledge your e-mail.
Short Answer:
ReplyDeleteThe Perv Commie Buttfucked him as a kid.
Obama is everywhere and less and less people care. Can anyone identify one foreign leader, that matters, that takes him seriously or would risk political capital for him?
ReplyDeleteStanley and Madelyn raised Obama from around age l0 through high school. Stanley, an impulsive and hard drinking man, made one of the most twisted of parental decisions -- to have Barry mentored by the elderly Frank Marshall Davis, purportedly a Communist who worked on behalf of the Soviet Union; a pedophile who wrote a book entitled "Sex Rebel: Black," an alcoholic, a racist, and a misogynist.
ReplyDeleteWell regarded bloggers have raised the provocative question about whether Davis violated Obama, perhaps by molesting him. (Read Obama's college era poem Pop, especially the lines, "Pop. . . points out the same amber stain on his shorts that I've got on mine, and makes me smell his smell, coming from me," and see what you think.)
Obama himself has said, in his autobiography, that "Frank" made him feel uncomfortable. Grandpa Stanley and Davis would sit around getting loaded, talking trash about women, and making up smutty limericks.
No Problemo, Deuce:
ReplyDeleteJoe will pick up the slack -
Biden Visits Iraq, Offering Diplomacy Amid Impasse
BAGHDAD — A visit to Iraq by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. signals a desire by the United States to step deeper into a four-month political stalemate that has become a backdrop to the drawdown of forces.
I think Trish or Q posted a statistic that 96% of blacks support Obama. Obviously their agenda is all about race. Nothing else matters to them. Anyone with such an agenda cannot be taken seriously, but they are.
ReplyDeleteObama has a hardcore of support that will never be shaken. He has gamed the system and will to the same to the so-called Hispanics with a presidential directive and amnesty. He will do it at the end of this term and especially so if he is a one termer.
Obama will not go away. He will be a black maoist Carter and continue to push his agenda for as long as he lives.
Janet gets felt up by her dancers as part of her raunchy stage show.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the singer's outfit was skimpy, she appeared to be well strapped in as she performed rigorous dance routines for a hot, high-energy two-hour set featuring all her hits including Nasty and Control.
Sporting her new, chic short-cropped hairstyle, Janet sent temperatures soaring even higher towards the end of the show when she acted out an S&M scene with a male volunteer from the audience.
He had his hands and arms strapped into a straight jacket as Jackson pretended to punish him, whip in hand.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1291680/Janet-Jackson-performs-S-M-scene-live-onstage-eye-popping-basque.html#ixzz0sem78oog
I think Trish or Q posted a statistic that 96% of blacks support Obama. Obviously their agenda is all about race. Nothing else matters to them. Anyone with such an agenda cannot be taken seriously, but they are.
ReplyDeleteObama has a hardcore of support that will never be shaken. He has gamed the system and will do the same with the so-called Hispanics by a presidential directive and amnesty. He will do it at the end of this term and especially so if he is a one termer.
Obama will not go away. He will be a black maoist Carter and continue to push his agenda for as long as he lives.
Once a Maoist, always a Maoist,
ReplyDeleteI always say.
Back in the 70's we knew a Black Professor at Cal Poly SLO.
ReplyDeleteOne of his wife's friends asked her why she was always talking about race.
"What else is there?"
She asked.
Almost kicked me out of the house when I mentioned John Wayne's last film.
ReplyDeleteLet me get this straight. The EPA will not allow vessels to skim, vacuum, or otherwise collect and clean oily water from the gulf if they can only remove 99% of the oil before discharging the water back to the gulf...
ReplyDeleteCan that really be true?
A Whale is being tested close to the wellhead because officials believe it will be most effective where the oil is thickest rather than closer to shore.
ReplyDeleteThe ship arrived in the Gulf on Wednesday, but officials have wanted to test its capability as well as have the federal Environmental Protection Agency sign off on the water it will pump back into the gulf. Although the ship cleans most of the oil from seawater, trace amounts of crude remain.
That piece of Federal reality has finally sunk in, whit?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete"A frequent AT contributor, Robin is a psychotherapist in Berkeley and a recovering liberal."
ReplyDeleteTrust me I'm a professional?
My god.
.
Robin of Berkley is a dick.
ReplyDelete.
It was 91%
ReplyDeleteSame as January
Gallup said it.
In the bedroom with Quirk
Who, also, is a Dick.
Fer calling all them other peoples, Dicks.
ReplyDeleteObama is everywhere and less and less people care. Can anyone identify one foreign leader, that matters, that takes him seriously or would risk political capital for him?
ReplyDeleteMark Steyn has an article about this at Real Clear Politics but for some reason I can't get back to it, some computer glitch here. Anyway even Karzai is giving us the finger, and why wouldn't he, we've said we're leaving.
"Fer calling all them other peoples, Dicks."
ReplyDeleteThanks Rufus for helping me see the light.
You dick.
And I didn't call them Dicks. I called them dicks.
.
Little Nixons, that's what you're calling those folk, Q.
ReplyDeleteLittle Nixons.
For heavens sake!
I observed early on, however, that true facility is as much about cadence as about the words themselves.
ReplyDeleteTrish.
There ya go. I offer up the first short chapter of a " A Farewell To Arms" as evidence, perfect in its own way.
You can find the same thing in "Huck Finn" in some of the floating on the river passages.
No big words necessary, on the other hand there are wonderful folk like Sir Thomas Browne--example--
"Festination may prove Precipitation; Deliberating delay may be wise cunctation."
Topic: Haste
Source: Christian Morals (pt. I, sec. XXIII), (paraphrasing Caesar)
no cadence at all, but
or
"Continuing a short series on topics of Christian apologetics: I desire to exercise my faith in the most difficult point, for to credit ordinary and visible objects is not faith, but persuasion. Some believe the better for seeing Christ's Sepulchre, and when they have seen the Red Sea, doubt not the miracle. Now contrarily I bless myself, and am thankful that I lived not in the days of miracles, that I never saw Christ nor His Disciples; I would not have been one of those Israelites that passed the Red Sea, nor one of Christ's patients, on whom He wrought His wonders; then had my faith been thrust upon me, nor should I enjoy that greater blessing pronounced to all that believe and saw not."
there's some here
: )
ReplyDeleteWe had a late furniture delivery, bob.
ReplyDeleteI got a reprieve.
Miracle of miracles.
I've just been hanging out.
John Buford - The Gettysburg Campaign
ReplyDeleteHe denied Lee the "High Ground." And, The Victory.
Reading through a deep discussion of the Algorecapade, I came upon this exchange---
ReplyDeleteReply to this
Matt morehouse| 7.2.10 @ 10:15AM
What puzzles me about this is why didn't he just order up a high priced hooker? Or, maybe he did and the hotel screwed up and sent him a legit LMT.
I think that is what happened.
Reply to this
ncatty| 7.2.10 @ 10:48AM
Yes Matt, you have to give Eliot Spitzer his due. He wanted a whore and was willing to pay for it. None of this shilly-shallying about a "massage."
Reply to this
Ken (Old Texican)| 7.2.10 @ 10:23AM
Matt..
Ooooooh...interesting thought.
It does seem a little odd when you think about it. I'll ask mee'mi next I see her.
On a totally other topic, reading the comments after an article about Israel and Iran, someone expressed the view that the world might be a better place if the Germans had won World War One. This is not a view one often hears, in fact I'd never thought of it before. But, France would be conquered, and have made an accommodation, England would still be a going concern, and have her Empire still, perhaps a good thing even for the colonials, Russia would have been spared the worst of Bolshevism perhaps, there would have been no hyper inflation, no Hitler, no holocaust, and, no WWII. Just a mind game.
ReplyDeleteSHOCKING: Kagan's Princeton Thesis Cited German Socialist Who Endorsed Nazis
ReplyDeleteKagan lied to Supreme Court in 9/11 case, should be disbarred
Elena Kagan criticized for getting Supreme Court to block 9/11 suit targeting Saudi Arabia
Why she must be blocked
Atlas Shrugs
"But why fly in the face of facts? Few people love the writings of Sir Thomas Browne, but those who do are of the salt of the Earth." —Virginia Woolf
ReplyDeleteIn vain do individuals hope for Immortality, or any patent from oblivion, in preservations below the Moon: Men have been deceived even in their flatteries above the Sun, and studied conceits to perpetuate their names in heaven. The various Cosmography of that part hath already varied the names of contrived constellations; Nimrod is lost in Orion, and Osyris in the Dogge-starre. While we look for incorruption in the heavens, we finde they are but like the Earth; Durable in their main bodies, alterable in their parts: whereof beside Comets and new Stars, perspectives begin to tell tales. And the spots that wander about the Sun, with Phaetons favour, would make clear conviction.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing strictly immortall, but immortality; whatever hath no beginning may be confident of no end. All others have a dependent being, and within the reach of destruction, which is the peculiar of that necessary essence that cannot destroy it self; And the highest strain of omnipotency to be so powerfully constituted, as not to suffer even from the power of it self. But the sufficiency of Christian Immortality frustrates all earthly glory, and the quality of either state after death, makes a folly of posthumous memory. God who can only destroy our souls, and hath assured our resurrection, either of our bodies or names hath directly promised no duration. Wherein there is so much chance that the boldest Expectants have found unhappy frustration; and to hold long subsistence, seems but a scape in oblivion. But man is a Noble Animal, splendid in ashes, and pompous in the grave, solemnizing Nativities and Deaths with equall lustre, nor omitting Ceremonies of bravery, in the infamy[25] of his nature.
Life is a pure flame, and we live by an invisible Sun within us. A small fire sufficeth for life, great flames seemed too little after death, while men vainly affected precious pyres, and to burn like Sardanapalus, but the wisedom of funerall Laws found the folly of prodigall blazes, and reduced undoing fires, unto the rule of sober obsequies, wherein few could be so mean as not to provide wood, pitch, a mourner, and an Urne.{26}
Five Languages secured not the Epitaph of Gordianus;27 The man of God lives longer without a Tomb then any by one, invisibly interred by Angels, and adjudged to obscurity, though not without some marks directing humane discovery. Enoch and Elias without either tomb or buriall, in an anomalous state of being, are the great Examples of perpetuity, in their long and living memory, in strict account being still on this side death, and having a late part yet to act upon this stage of earth. If in the decretory term of the world we shall not all dye but be changed, according to received translation; the last day will make but few graves; at least quick Resurrections will anticipate lasting Sepultures; Some Graves will be opened before they are quite closed, and Lazarus will be no wonder. When many that feared to dye shall groane that they can dye but once, the dismall state is the second and living death, when life puts despair on the damned; when men shall wish the coverings of Mountaines, not of Monuments, and annihilation shall be courted.
While some have studied Monuments, others have studiously declined them: and some have been so vainly boisterous, that they durst not acknowledge their Graves; wherein28 Alaricus seems most subtle, who had a River turned to hide his bones at the bottome. Even Sylla that thought himself safe in his Urne, could not prevent revenging tongues, and stones thrown at his Monument. Happy are they whom privacy makes innocent, who deal so with men in this world, that they are not afraid to meet them in the next, who when they dye, make no commotion among the dead, and are not toucht with that poeticall taunt of Isaiah.29
Margarita, anyone?
ReplyDeleteI'll say it: Mark Steyn and Pamela Geller are dicks.
Mee'mi, of course, is just one strange floozy.
Pyramids, Arches, Obelisks, were but the irregularities of vain-glory, and wilde enormities of ancient magnanimity. But the most magnanimous resolution rests in the Christan Religion, which trampleth upon pride, and sets on the neck of ambition, humbly pursuing that infallible perpetuity, unto which all others must diminish their diameters, and be poorly seen in Angles of contingency.30
ReplyDeletePious spirits who passed their dayes in raptures of futurity, made little more of this world, then the world that was before it, while they lay obscure in the Chaos of pre-ordination, and night of their fore-beings. And if any have been so happy as truly to understand Christian annihilation, extasis, exolution, liquefaction, transformation, the kisse of the Spouse, gustation of God, and ingression into the divine shadow, they have already had an handsome anticipation of heaven; the glory of the world is surely over, and the earth in ashes unto them.
To subsist in lasting Monuments, to live in their productions, to exist in their names, and prædicament of Chymera's, was large satisfaction unto old expectations, and made one part of their Elyziums. But all this is nothing in the Metaphysics of true belief. To live indeed is to be again our selves, which being not only an hope but an evidence in noble beleevers; 'Tis all one to lye in St Innocents Church-yard,31 as in the Sands of Ægypt: Ready to be any thing, in the extasie of being ever, and as content with six foot as the Moles of Adrianus.32
Lucan
Tabesne cadavera solvat
An rogus haud refert.[33]
Now then, who can beat this, these days?--
ReplyDeleteAnd if any have been so happy as truly to understand Christian annihilation, extasis, exolution, liquefaction, transformation, the kisse of the Spouse, gustation of God, and ingression into the divine shadow, they have already had an handsome anticipation of heaven; the glory of the world is surely over, and the earth in ashes unto them
That's the good old style of Sir Thomas Browne.
She's a doozy of a floozy.
ReplyDelete"...black maoist Carter..."
ReplyDeleteThe fun never ends.
We are drinking beergaritas
ReplyDeleteOh, and soco and lime
ReplyDeleteSo, bob.
ReplyDeleteI've got time.
Why'd you invent her?
The word of the day for yesterday during my 10m hour trip was fuck. I said it 46 times.
ReplyDeleteMost use phrases were; What the fuck....Get out of my fucking way...are you fucking kidding me...
Me? I'm dying for a cigarette, this is the fifth day.
ReplyDelete"beergaritas"
ReplyDelete: )
Soco and lime?
I shudder.
Fuck is a good word.
ReplyDeleteTrish, aren't they awesome?
ReplyDeleteAlways was and always will be
ReplyDeleteLonely, and I wanted to help somebody.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna put her through college.
She's gonna register after the Fourth, and adopt a grown up name, too, and change her ways, mostly.
Svetlana, I think.
Which means that divine light the world is bathed in, rare, untellable (Whitman, Bucke) that people don't see.
No kidding, the
Russians have some other word for regular light, I believe.
I'm sorry, bob. I feel for you.
ReplyDeleteBut I meant, why mee'mi?
What purpose does she serve?
A word of potentially infinite utility.
ReplyDeleteI got to get some of that nicorette gum, or I don't think I'm gonna make it.
ReplyDelete"Lonely, and I wanted to help somebody."
ReplyDeleteWell. Okay then.
Probably the only one.
ReplyDeleteI'll bet I spend two hundred fifty dollars on my daughter tomorrow, what with the dinner, the gambling, the groceries, the gas....
ReplyDeleteHow was the road trip?
ReplyDeleteWho knows, maybe we'll win, we never do, but there's always a first time, heh. And the fact she's taking a buddhism class can't hurt our chances. Can it?
ReplyDeleteMoney well spent, I am certain.
ReplyDeleteHow was the road trip?
ReplyDeleteWith 46 fucks it must have been stressful.
Except for the gambling maybe. I don't know. I don't gamble.
ReplyDeleteI cringe when I see people buy lottery tickets.
You're smart, we go to the Coeur d Alene Casino, contribute to the betterment of the tribe.
ReplyDeleteWe have won once in a while, but it's a fools game here. One is better off in Vegas, but we didn't get down there yet, though I still hope to do so this summer. There are some pictures I want to take of the countryside, it's a pretty drive, no traffic, at all.
"With 46 fucks it must have been stressful."
ReplyDeleteWell, other than that, I mean. : )
People just don't know how to drive. The first five were with in 30 minutes of being on the road and three of those were from NJ.
ReplyDeleteI just don't understand how it's so hard for people to grasp the concept of "Keep right, pass left. It's the law."
It's really not that hard to understand.
"People just don't know how to drive."
ReplyDeleteWait. Don't tell me.
You were doing I95.
Well that's not surprising they say most accidents happen within 30 minutes from home, or something.
ReplyDeleteIf she went from there to Tucson or where ever in two days she must have been doing 195.
ReplyDeleteThing that bugs me?
ReplyDeleteCell phone drivers.
Had I my way, they'd all be shot.
I 95. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteNo, I went through Harrisburg and took, 81. It's really a nice drive when people stay out of my way. There was a lot of traffic because of the holiday weekend but I still averaged a speed of 70 mph. I would have liked to have gone 80
ReplyDeleteI had a cousin that drove from a teachers meeting in Maine back to Moscow, Idaho--left on a Friday afternoon and pulled in here on late Sunday, shit we couldn't believe it, he said never stopped once except for gas, beer and pissing, and just flew through the Dakotas and Montana, which had no speed limit at the time, 1967 Firebird I think it was.
ReplyDeleteI gotta go to bed, gnite.
ReplyDeleteI'm not in Tuscon, I'm in Tennessee.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's not the cell phone users, although, they are a problem, it's the fact that people want to pass but think they can't speed up to do so, so they end up riding along side the car on the right for miles, holding up everyone behind them.
"It's really a nice drive when people stay out of my way."
ReplyDeleteThose ARE the best drives.
Yes they are and those are the ones that don't get cursed at.
ReplyDeleteSmart fuckers, aren't they?
Nite, bob.
ReplyDeleteCell phone drivers...Slow their speed by 5 or 10 MPH. Lane swerve.
If people must, get a hands-free, I say.
"Smart fuckers..."
ReplyDelete: )
And all I wanted to do was set my cruise control so I could stretch my right leg and I couldn't even do that.
ReplyDeleteCheck out STANLEY Anne Dunham Pics and lovers and offspring at the bottom of this thread.
ReplyDeleteI never use cruise control.
ReplyDeleteMy husband used to.
I used to get a huge kick out of driving.
During two years of not driving, I discovered that I could actually happily live somewhere that pretty much everything, for me at least, can be done on foot.
And I did. Pretty much everything.
I miss walking everywhere.
ReplyDeleteI do not miss being chauffered.
ReplyDeletedesert rat said...
ReplyDeleteThat piece of Federal reality has finally sunk in, whit?
Sat Jul 03, 05:54:00 PM EDT
---
Don't feel bad, Whit:
It took Our Rodent two months to realize there were extensive oil slicks on the Gulf.
...and that the Admin was lying about keeping out superior foreign skimming vessels.
I'm not Tuscan,
ReplyDeleteI'm Okie/Scotch/Irish,
and I'm A-OK.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete"it's the fact that people want to pass but think they can't speed up to do so, so they end up riding along side the car on the right for miles,"
ReplyDeleteUntrue:
They don't want to pass, and they are not hung up about speeding up.
They just want to block any and everyone behind.
...at least that's the way it works on Maui.
I think it's a cultural tradiion.
President Clarabelle
ReplyDeleteMonty Pelerin
The country faces grave danger immediately ahead. Increasingly, people agree with Pamela Geller's sentiments:
I have come a long way from when I would listen with trepidation and fear for our nation, so under his spell was America. He [Obama] has long since been exposed as a clown. And folks, if they listen, can't help but see that. Watch him, and sit back and laugh.
This nation has indeed come a very long way in a very short time with respect to its perception of its President. It took less than a year for the exultation that accompanied Obama's election to disappear. I cannot recall the perception of any other public figure changing so much in such a short period of time. The country and the world knows that the American electorate made a terrible mistake.
While it is clear to most that he was not The One We Have Been Waiting For, the situation is much worse than that. Despite the protection of the press, increasingly the public realizes that the country is in a critical situation and that much of the responsibility for that results from the Clown in the Oval Office. Unfortunately this clown does not try to make you laugh. Worse, this clown does not realize he is a clown. It has gotten so that many of us long for the formerly "great days" of the Carter Presidency. Despite all his faults and bumbling, President Carter looked like Jack Welch in comparison to our current Bozo.
While Ms. Geller sees humor in this situation (and there clearly is), there is also great danger. The world has become a much more dangerous place as a result of President Obama and his idiotic foreign and economic policies. Threats from abroad and the economic crisis are not going away. They will get worse, much worse, before they get better.
Combine these real dangers with what appears to be a delusional personality and an Administration devoid of grownups and the situation becomes highly volatile. Self-proclaimed and self-imagined Saviors do not take kindly to being laughed at and ridiculed. It is only a matter of time until much of the country recognizes what much of the world already has -- we are being led by an incompetent. The laughter and disgust will continue to build. While real clowns strive for that reaction, narcissists do not.
We are nearing the point where the survival instincts of the media and the Democrat party take over. Neither wants this President to fail. However neither wants his failure to destroy them. The rats will either begin to abandon this sinking ship or they will throw the Clown-in-Chief overboard. The situation is highly unstable.
Our real-time version of a Greek tragedy probably metastasizes after the November elections. That could be a very critical time for the country and the President. Survival trumps loyalty. It is unlikely, if the people strongly express their dissatisfaction, that the President can hold either the media or his fellow Democrats. If the elections go badly, the laughter will no longer be hidden or limited to political adversaries. The Prince will be openly mocked and disrespected by his previous supporters -- his own party and the media.
How the Narcissist-in-Chief reacts when it becomes apparent, even to him, that he has become a danger to the country and a laughingstock is moot. That only adds to the real dangers already existent.
Will Clarabelle toot his horn more loudly or will some desperate action be taken in an attempt to regain respect?
President Clarabelle
ReplyDeleteMonty Pelerin
The country faces grave danger immediately ahead. Increasingly, people agree with Pamela Geller's sentiments:
I have come a long way from when I would listen with trepidation and fear for our nation, so under his spell was America. He [Obama] has long since been exposed as a clown. And folks, if they listen, can't help but see that. Watch him, and sit back and laugh.
This nation has indeed come a very long way in a very short time with respect to its perception of its President. It took less than a year for the exultation that accompanied Obama's election to disappear. I cannot recall the perception of any other public figure changing so much in such a short period of time. The country and the world knows that the American electorate made a terrible mistake.
While it is clear to most that he was not The One We Have Been Waiting For, the situation is much worse than that. Despite the protection of the press, increasingly the public realizes that the country is in a critical situation and that much of the responsibility for that results from the Clown in the Oval Office. Unfortunately this clown does not try to make you laugh. Worse, this clown does not realize he is a clown. It has gotten so that many of us long for the formerly "great days" of the Carter Presidency. Despite all his faults and bumbling, President Carter looked like Jack Welch in comparison to our current Bozo.
{...}
{...}While Ms. Geller sees humor in this situation (and there clearly is), there is also great danger. The world has become a much more dangerous place as a result of President Obama and his idiotic foreign and economic policies. Threats from abroad and the economic crisis are not going away. They will get worse, much worse, before they get better.
ReplyDeleteCombine these real dangers with what appears to be a delusional personality and an Administration devoid of grownups and the situation becomes highly volatile. Self-proclaimed and self-imagined Saviors do not take kindly to being laughed at and ridiculed. It is only a matter of time until much of the country recognizes what much of the world already has -- we are being led by an incompetent. The laughter and disgust will continue to build. While real clowns strive for that reaction, narcissists do not.
We are nearing the point where the survival instincts of the media and the Democrat party take over. Neither wants this President to fail. However neither wants his failure to destroy them. The rats will either begin to abandon this sinking ship or they will throw the Clown-in-Chief overboard. The situation is highly unstable.
Our real-time version of a Greek tragedy probably metastasizes after the November elections. That could be a very critical time for the country and the President. Survival trumps loyalty. It is unlikely, if the people strongly express their dissatisfaction, that the President can hold either the media or his fellow Democrats. If the elections go badly, the laughter will no longer be hidden or limited to political adversaries. The Prince will be openly mocked and disrespected by his previous supporters -- his own party and the media.
How the Narcissist-in-Chief reacts when it becomes apparent, even to him, that he has become a danger to the country and a laughingstock is moot. That only adds to the real dangers already existent.
Will Clarabelle toot his horn more loudly or will some desperate action be taken in an attempt to regain respect?
{...}While Ms. Geller sees humor in this situation (and there clearly is), there is also great danger. The world has become a much more dangerous place as a result of President Obama and his idiotic foreign and economic policies. Threats from abroad and the economic crisis are not going away. They will get worse, much worse, before they get better.
ReplyDeleteCombine these real dangers with what appears to be a delusional personality and an Administration devoid of grownups and the situation becomes highly volatile. Self-proclaimed and self-imagined Saviors do not take kindly to being laughed at and ridiculed. It is only a matter of time until much of the country recognizes what much of the world already has -- we are being led by an incompetent. The laughter and disgust will continue to build. While real clowns strive for that reaction, narcissists do not.
We are nearing the point where the survival instincts of the media and the Democrat party take over. Neither wants this President to fail. However neither wants his failure to destroy them. The rats will either begin to abandon this sinking ship or they will throw the Clown-in-Chief overboard. The situation is highly unstable.
{...}
{...}Our real-time version of a Greek tragedy probably metastasizes after the November elections. That could be a very critical time for the country and the President. Survival trumps loyalty. It is unlikely, if the people strongly express their dissatisfaction, that the President can hold either the media or his fellow Democrats. If the elections go badly, the laughter will no longer be hidden or limited to political adversaries. The Prince will be openly mocked and disrespected by his previous supporters -- his own party and the media.
ReplyDeleteHow the Narcissist-in-Chief reacts when it becomes apparent, even to him, that he has become a danger to the country and a laughingstock is moot. That only adds to the real dangers already existent.
Will Clarabelle toot his horn more loudly or will some desperate action be taken in an attempt to regain respect?
"Increasingly, people agree with Pamela Geller's sentiments..."
ReplyDeleteYou deliberately intend to spoil my morning.
I wake, eyes to ceiling, thinking of nothing else.
ReplyDeleteShe's a crackpot, Blue.
ReplyDeleteJust...you know...saying.
ReplyDeleteIs that like a "Wolcott" perchance?
ReplyDelete: )
ReplyDeleteI still maintain there is nothing about his "work habits" that shows anywhere near the focus necessary to write the book that William Ayers wrote.
ReplyDeleteThere just could be a reason we have not seen page one of ANY of his records.
Party on Dude:
Don't let that 38 million dollar staff go to waste.
Now, doug, I was just channeling J Wahhabi and whit, their calls for patience and time, to learn the truth.
ReplyDeleteTime for that giant Maytag machine that is the Gulf of Mexico to clean up after BP.
Just as J Wahhabi knew that the spew was of little consequence, but that the mismanagement of this minor industrial accident was proof of the Presidents' major incompetence.
It cannot be both ways.
J Wahhabi told US that the NOAA folks were incompetent, that their estimates could not be taken seriously. That to believe the NOAA estimates was to admit that CO2 may be negative to our whirled.
And we cannot be having that.
That the US has a 100% percent perfection or do nothing standard, for Federal approval and action, well, that's just how we roll.
The only story that is important, about Obama's books, doug, is who pre-paid for them.
ReplyDeleteWho bought Obama?
Other than that, those books are just another "Profile in Courage".
Anus Steakburger
ReplyDeleteWhit, time to take some of them books off the shelf baby!
ReplyDeleteWeird that they would try to sell the 5,000 barrels a day, or whatever they claimed, when NOAA had a pretty close estimate of the monsterous quantities on day 2 or 3.
ReplyDeletePutting the A Whale near the blowout sounds like a pretty good idea.
ReplyDeleteNothing like waking up on a Sunday morning to find egg all over the front door.
ReplyDeleteCube Them Eggs, Whit.
ReplyDeleteThink Melody threw the eggs?
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting about the egg cuber...It was made in China.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the same guy persevered with the idea until he got someone to cube watermelons?
As Oil Industry Fights a Tax, It Reaps Billions From Subsidies
ReplyDelete"According to the most recent study by the Congressional Budget Office, released in 2005, capital investments like oil field leases and drilling equipment are taxed at an effective rate of 9 percent, significantly lower than the overall rate of 25 percent for businesses in general and lower than virtually any other industry.
"And for many small and midsize oil companies, the tax on capital investments is so low that it is more than eliminated by var-ious credits. These companies’ returns on those investments are often higher after taxes than before.
BUT
"The American Petroleum Institute, an industry advocacy group, argues that even with subsidies, oil producers paid or incurred $280 billion in American income taxes from 2006 to 2008, and pay a higher percentage of their earnings in taxes than most other American corporations...
More Giveaways
Our tax system is so convoluted it's possible that both of the statements above are true. Heck, because of subsidies, we pay twice as much as we should be for sugar and only one company in Florida benefits.
Subsidies (of all kind) are a racket. Once instituted they are there forever. And one wonders why the country is so sour on D.C.
The last paragraphs in the article kind of points out the problem.
Removal of some of these subsidies would pay for a lot of the unemployment benefits caused by the petro industries' actions.
.