COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Tuesday, September 04, 2012

The view of Obama from an unexpected quarter

49 comments:

  1. Incredible shrinking convention -

    Democrats set to move Obama's big speech from 74,000-seater outdoor stadium to 20,000-seater indoor arena

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2198206/Democrats-set-Obamas-big-speech-74-000-seater-outdoor-stadium-20-000-seater-indoor-arena.html#ixzz25WjM3AVc


    Cornel West may not be as bonkers as some but bonkers nonetheless.

    Dinesh d'Souza has a better take: we are actually one of the least racist societies on earth.

    Cornel hung out with 'Rabbi' Michael Lerner, scumbag, for a while. The 'Rabbi' was SDS before he got nailed and 'got religion'. A 'philosophy professor' at U of W, he used to spout Marxism, class warfare, and revolution in the open air there. When the pressure was on after arrest he ratted on his pals. Don't take seriously the wiki article on the 'Rabbi'. He was always preaching blowing stuff up and violence.

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  2. CA Dem chair compares Ryan to Goebbels — then exits Dem convention for a “pre-scheduled root canal”

    Well, the Democratic National Convention has gotten off to the kind of start one might expect after four years of Barack Obama. First, Democratic campaign surrogates kept fumbling the hardly-unexpected “are you better off” question every incumbent since Jimmy Carter has had to answer. Now the leader of the largest state party has suddenly departed from Charlotte after comparing Paul Ryan to Josef Goebbels and then attempting to deny he’d made a Nazi comparison at all.

    http://hotair.com/archives/2012/09/04/ca-dem-chair-compares-ryan-to-goebbels-then-exits-dem-convention-for-a-pre-scheduled-root-canal/

    There is some kind of strange mental frenzy that seems contagious among these people that grips them frequently. They keep pushing each other a little further along, and end up saying the most preposterous things. Rufus seems to me to be at the beginning stages of this group phenomenon. All of a sudden Bush, who was at least a decent guy, becomes a kind of devil incarnate, responsible for all the ills of the world, including the collapse of the housing market, of which he had nothing to do, never being in Congress, and warning about Freddie and Fannie 8 times, in every State of the Union Speech he gave.
    No matter, he's a nazi scumbug s.o.b. and everything is his fault and still is so to this very day.

    Strange, and scary too. You get the feeling they are always right on the edge of totally losing it.

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    Replies
    1. I think it's a little like drugs, searching for transcendence in all the wrong places. Drugs, politics taken too far, promiscuity - substitutes for a failed search for transcendence.

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    2. Put those three things all together and you can really ruin the fishing trip.

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    3. .

      The Story of B: Searching for transcendence in all the wrong places.


      .

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  3. These are some good-paying jobs that the republicans keep voting against:

    Cowboys

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    Replies
    1. I wish someone would pay me 35K to stick some windmills on the place, I'd even settle out for a cell tower.

      Some guys have all the luck.

      Sounds like the kind of job we both might like, Ruf.

      Direct deposit.

      Monthly OK.

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    2. You can bet the utilities hate it. And the Republicans.

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  4. Even the academics on the "Left" are unhappy that Mr Obama and his Congressional minions moved forward with Mitt Romney's Health Care solution. By adopting the Heritage Foundation mandated health insurance program, as Mitt did in Massachusetts, the Obama Administration proved how little "moving to the center" would be appreciated.

    By either the "Left" or the "Right".

    The fact that he has been unable to exploit the loose lip flip flops of the "Right", well ...

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  5. DETROIT (September 4, 2012)--The big U.S. car companies are all reporting sales gains for August.

    Ford says its sales rose 13 percent on strong demand for pickups and new SUVs.

    Sales of the F-Series pickup were up more than 19 percent as buyers replaced older trucks.

    The Escape small SUV and Explorer large SUV both saw increases of more than 30 percent.

    The company rebounded from a poor July to sell more than 197,000 cars and trucks in August.

    General Motors said its U.S. sales rose 10 percent last month as advertising on the Olympics and a Chevrolet money-back guarantee program drew more customers.

    GM rebounded from a bad July to sell almost 241,000 cars and trucks in August.

    Chrysler said its U.S. sales rose 14 percent last month as the Ram pickup truck had its best August in five years.

    The results are a sign that car and truck sales will remain strong despite consumers' worries about the economy.

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    Replies
    1. I'll bet if you'll drill down you'll find that almost half of Fords Pickup sales were of the 6 cyl. Eco-Boost variety.

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  6. That was a pretty short-lived "bounce." Rasmussen shows Romney jumping to +4, yesterday, and back down to +2, today.

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  7. Bounce ...

    There was no bounce
    Rasmussen reports there has been no change in the electors that count.

    Electoral College
    Obama: 247 - Romney: 196 - Toss-up: 95


    The "magic" number is 270.

    Obama is 23 away, Mr Romney 74.

    That's a tougher row to hoe, for Mr Romney.

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  8. Rasmussen reports ...

    For the month of August, the president's Total Job Approval Rating moved up a point to 48% from 47% in July. Since the beginning of 2012, that finding has remained in the narrow range of 47% to 49%. This time last year, the president had an approval rating of 44%. However, his ratings have been remarkably steady and generally stayed around the 47% mark since late 2009.

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    Replies
    1. I noticed something interesting in his numbers, though. Obama seems to consistently get three or four points higher approval among Likely Voters than from Registered Voters.

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  9. Total August Auto Sales were pretty good. On a trend of about 14.5 Million units.

    Auto Sales

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  10. I really fear for Rufus. He's only got about 2 months to come to his senses. He isn't going to make it. Sad.

    Democrats Proudly Declare We All Belong to the Government. Ditch God From Their Platform.

    In a statement right out of a communist state, the Democrats started their convention with a bit of propaganda declaring we all belong to the government. Seriously. They started their convention with this video:


    http://www.redstate.com/2012/09/04/democrats-proudly-declare-we-all-belong-to-the-government/

    Even though the democrats have taken God out of existence, I'm going to start praying for Ruf.

    Join me.

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  11. http://hotair.com/archives/2012/09/04/love-obama-bases-his-success-on-how-much-money-hes-divvying-out/

    Mia Love is very good.

    video

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  12. Lord, it is said that to Thee all things are possible. It is a tough case, but give Rufus wisdom, O God. Wisdom to understand he is about to vote for the beginnings of totalitarianism in the United States.

    If wisdom is not possible for Rufus, Lord, surely still have mercy on Rufus, now and at the hour of his political death, O God.

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  13. ABCNEWSWASHPOST POLL: Obama personal popularity fading...

    Women Turning...

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  14. I doubt very seriously that the Deity is overly concerned with a contest between American politicians, but if you're going to be prayin'

    I propose you direct your prayers to the enlightenment of those folks in Fla, and Ohio - bein's how they're the ones that really, and truly matter in this deal.

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  15. Good idea!

    The Lord cares about all things, Rufus, all things great and small.

    Have you not heard?

    Behold the birds of the sky, that they neither sow nor reap, neither do they gather into barns, and your Father who is in Heaven sustains them; behold, are you not better than they?

    Matt:6-26

    And, I may just vote back there too!

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    Replies
    1. To see the world in this sacred manner is called Vision by Blake.

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    2. What did he say about all those babies dying of starvation all around the world? And, about the young Americans dying for lack of healthcare?

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    3. One hell of a lot, actually, though he was before the time of 'the young Americans dying for lack of healthcare'.

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    4. Here you illiterate moron -

      Title: Holy Thursday
      Author: William Blake

      Is this a holy thing to see
      In a rich and fruitful land, --
      Babes reduced to misery,
      Fed with cold and usurous hand?

      Is that trembling cry a song?
      Can it be a song of joy?
      And so many children poor?
      It is a land of poverty!

      And their son does never shine,
      And their fields are bleak and bare,
      And their ways are filled with thorns:
      It is eternal winter there.

      For where'er the sun does shine,
      And where'er the rain does fall,
      Babes should never hunger there,
      Nor poverty the mind appall.


      from Songs of Experience




      Of all the poverties in his day, in times o so much worse than ours, he thought poverty of the mind, like yours, the very worst of all.

      He died poor himself.

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  16. William Blake can suck my religious cock.

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    Replies
    1. You are an idiot, and an extremely crude one.

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    2. Plate 12

      The Fly

      Little Fly
      Thy summers play,
      My thoughtless hand
      Has brush'd away.

      Am not I
      A fly like thee?
      Or art not thou
      A man like me?

      For I dance
      And drink & sing:
      Till some blind hand
      Shall brush my wing.

      (((If thought is life
      And strength & breath
      And the want
      Of thought is death;)))

      Then am I
      A happy fly,
      If I live,
      Or if I die.




      Paintings of William Blake:
      http://www.gailgastfield.com/blake3.html


      The stages of life are set eternally, and a man passes through.

      The compassion of the Lord is infinite, and His patience endless.

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    3. Sorry, Bob, I just don't like stupid religious bullshit.

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    4. I don't like stupid religious bullshit either.

      Blake is not that.

      Those not ready for meat, take a little warm milk, at first.

      Which is what I offered up.

      A great book about Blake is Fearful Symmetry by Northrup Frye, a Canadian, deceased perhaps.

      Also The Great Code

      Well, all his books.

      He was/is a literary critic by trade.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Frye

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  17. Facebook Inc. took steps Tuesday to reassure investors and employees worried about its plummeting stock price, as the social network's shares hit new lows.

    ...

    Facebook also detailed how it will essentially buy back 101 million shares when it issues previously restricted stock units to its staff in October.

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  18. On the day that al-Bab was getting bombed and the regime carried out other attacks across the country, the French Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, threatened a "massive and lightning-fast" response from the West if the Assad regime used chemical weapons. Similar noises have been made Barack Obama and David Cameron.

    To the people of al-Bab such posturing just draws hollow laughter. Omar Abdullah al-Hani, whose 73-year-old father Abdullah was injured in the attack, said: "So they will let Bashar kill children, old people, as long as he does not use chemical weapons.

    What are they afraid of, chemical gasses getting to Europe and America? We know we are not going to get any help from West; we are alone, we don't need their empty words."

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  19. Israeli officials said Tuesday they are in close discussions with the United States over how to deal with the Iranian nuclear program, seeking to ease tensions that have emerged between the two allies over a possible Israeli military strike against Iran.

    The dialogue, in which Israel is looking for President Barack Obama to take a tough public position against Iran, suggests the odds of an Israeli attack in the near term have been reduced.

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  20. Back in 2008, Barack Obama boasted the support of more than 40 prominent Republicans and conservatives, including Colin Powell, Bush press secretary Scott McClellan, and Reagan solicitor general Charles Fried. These “ObamaCons” were offered as a barometer of Obama’s crossover appeal, evidence of his ability to unite the nation.

    ...

    Their mindset reflects Obama’s overall edge with centrist swing voters, even if he is benefiting primarily from comparison to Romney and the rightward lurch of Republicans in Congress. But unquestionably enthusiasm has dimmed; uninspired indecision has replaced hope of change.

    The resilience of the ObamaCons and Romney’s failure to win them over in a revived center-right Republican coalition indicates how much, for the centrist swing voters who ultimately will decide the next president, this race is still in play. Even in this hyperpartisan polarized era, the desire for a chief executive who can be a uniter, not a divider, continues, unfulfilled.

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  21. Obama lowers his own grade
    September 4, 2012
    From B+ to incomplete. (You can't move on to the next term with an incomplete hanging over your head.)


    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/09/obama_lowers_his_own_grade.html

    And Obama grades on the curve.

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  22. lineholder • 3 hours ago

    Good. I'm glad to see them dropping all pretense and revealing the true nature of what the Democrat party has become. Granted, the incredible arrogance and hubris of it is irritating to say the least. But at least they are no longer hiding what we have all known to be truth behind lies and deceitfulness any more. This will paint a starker contrast between the direction of the Republican party versus the Democrat party, defining beyond any shadow of doubt the terms in which the choice we will be making in November should be considered.

    On the economic front, there are reports coming out showing a very real trending pattern of contraction in our economy. The policies being set forth by the Dems will only make that contraction worse, quite possibly leading us directly into a demand-side crisis equivalent to the great depression. We should be pointing that out every chance we get.

    It will be interesting to see how women end up responding to the rather melodramatic celebration of victimhood that will be displayed by members of the modern-day feminist movement at the DNC this week.

    Most of the women I've talked to absolutely despise being reduced to the status of an object to serve the purpose where sex is concerned. As a female, I hate it, too. I genuinely and sincerely do. And it's just starting to dawn on women in America that the modern-day feminist movement isn't helping us...they're hurting us...because they've now reached a point where power matters so much to them that they are willing to portray females as nothing more than objects to serve a purpose where sex is concerned...just body parts...nothing of intelligence or abilities that has worth and value in any other terms.

    If the comments I've been hearing from women on the ground are any indication, it is possible that many women across our country will find themselves so repulsed by the display that the Dems have planned this week that they will not condone it or support it any further.


    from the Comments section of an article about: The Democrats Proudly Declare We All Belong to the Government. Ditch God From Their Platform.



    Thank God, Missoula sounds so good, and we are starting tomorrow!

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  23. That boy from San Antonio (I can call him that; I've got 35 years on him) is going to be one hell of a serious player.

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  24. Anybody want any ammo? Missoula, no sales tax.

    Speaking of guns, my lawyer told me today her husband shot a bear over the weekend. Were out camping, and their two little girls had just gone pee behind some bushes, and came back, with a bear following along. Big mistake for the bear, .357 got him. Perfectly legal, had the tag, and bear season is open. Besides, you can shoot a bear here in self defense. So they have their first bear skin rug.

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  25. Michele is nice looking. Beautiful skin. Which matches the color of that podium wood almost exactly.

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  26. Where abouts were they, Bob?

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    Replies
    1. Between Moscow and Troy. Just sent him congratulations:

      Good shooting, bwana. Your memsahib was singing your praises today :)

      Boy, bring Sean whiskey/soda.

      Wilson, the great white hunter in 'The Short Happy Life of Francis MaComber", could have done no better!


      .....

      http://www.fineart-china.com/htmlimg/image-52711.html

      The Circle of Life of Man

      Painting, Blake

      http://books.google.com/books?id=HOxpOMQ_Pa8C&pg=PA86&lpg=PA86&dq=Blake+-+The+Cycle+of+Life+-+Painting&source=bl&ots=UHBJBwAPcC&sig=1des2eEC_nrYRuRa-uy8lCEgpYs&hl=en#v=onepage&q=Blake%20-%20The%20Cycle%20of%20Life%20-%20Painting&f=false

      page 86

      We are on this wheel, and like fish in the chaos of the sea, if we had any sense we'd get off, and swim to shore as fast as our little fins could take us.

      We live in a fallen world, and the way out is through the use of the imagination, and the doing of all creative, loving and helpful acts, however small; our sins, being negative, vanishing at death, we eventually go live eternally in what we have created.

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  27. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  28. There were a group of men, in chains, in a cave, standing before a fire, watching their flickering shadows, which were cast by the fire on a wall.

    One escaped, out of the chains, out of the cave, to the upper air, to the daylight. He came back, and told them what he had seen.

    They killed him.

    You are crazy, they said, before they killed him.
    ....

    I'm outta here.

    If I find reliable news of the elk and the wolves in Yellowstone, I will try to report my findings.

    Is there anything more boring than a democratic convention?

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  29. China Development Bank, known for making big loans to Chinese state-owned companies, is going commercial.

    ...

    The bank, which was established in 1994 and has total assets of more than $980 billion, swooped in to take business away from some of its biggest global rivals, adding to the competition in Asia...

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  30. I drink wine because I don't like to keep things bottled up.

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  31. Going back to 1901, S&P 500 does an average of +7 better under Democratic administrations.:

    Chart

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  32. The Dems get the money movin' around. The Pubs, typically, by the end of their terms get it all locked up, and the economy crashes.

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