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."

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

“Jeb!" Hiding in the Bushes



I guess we are supposed to not notice or that we are to forget that he is a Bush. No tie, no jacket, no surname, just good old Jeb.

Good old fashion American political bullshit for the votes of the masses.

Jeb is just another mononymous person, a political rock star like Sting, Madonna or Cher, or are we to believe that he is a political power-player like Shaq, Kobe or Magic?

Sorry guys, we won’t forget. He may have been morphed by his billionaire backers into  mononymity, but he is still a Bush and not the first. After all, we still suffering from “Dubya”.

The ploy is actually filled with irony as the use of a mononym was the privilege of royalty, Napoleon, Elizabeth or dare we say George?


The decision of our time:

Hillary or Jeb

51 comments:

  1. The mononymous and, rumored, polygamous QUIRK ! is still thinking of getting his old flabby skin in the game.

    His mononym, often reduced to a simple "Q", is so sacred and so royal that only a designated few are allowed to speak or write it.

    I am no longer among the privileged.

    A spirit destroying event.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Q" ! is also often referred to in knowing inner circles as 'The Monotonous.'

      Delete
    2. 'The Monotonous' is often heard to mumble "They're all dicks" over and over and over again.

      Hence, he is sometimes slightingly referred to as "O'Mumble" by his subordinates.

      Delete
    3. .

      Actually, there was a glimmer of wit there.

      But you are still not on the list.

      .

      Delete
  2. Kurdistan: A Summary

    June 17, 2015 1:56 am By Hugh Fitzgerald

    How strange it is that the American government continues to regard as a desideratum the survival of the state of Iraq. Why? Modern Iraq, it needs to be repeated, was concocted out of the three Ottoman vilayets of Mosul, Baghdad, and Basra. Kurds and Arabs and Assyrians were in the vilayet of Mosul, the Sunni elite ruled over a heterogeneous Baghdad of fellow Sunnis, Shi’a, Christians, and even Jews (a large and prosperous Jewish class made Baghdad the second Jewish city in Asia, after Jerusalem), and the vilayet of Basra was, and remains, almost entirely Shi’a. Iraq is a state of minorities, Sunni Arab and Shi’a Arab, and Kurds, who are mainly Sunni but treated by Sunni Arabs like the Shi’a, along with (ever-diminishing) Christians, Turcomans, and others. Were it the practice of Muslims to treat minorities well, then such a state could work without a despot to hold it together. But they don’t.

    Look at what happened to the Jews of Iraq, and more recently to its Christians. The Jews of Baghdad, who once constituted one-third of the city’s population, lost their wealth and security. In 1941, the Farhud or pogrom of June 1-2 resulted in hundreds of Jewish casualties; the widespread anti-Jewish riots and attacks in 1948, when Israel was established, led by the 1950s to the end of Iraqi Jewry. The Christians had not quite the same dramatic fate, but in the 1930s, after the British left in 1932, a large-scale massacre of Assyrians in the north took place. William Saroyan wrote a book about that mass murder: 70,000 Assyrians. That is the country in which the Iraqi Kurds found themselves, as non-Arabs.

    The old Sunni Arab elite were the chief beneficiaries of the British decade (1922-32) of rule, when a Sunni monarch was put on the throne. They continued to rule until the American invasion, despite constituting less than 20% of the population of Iraq. They did so through guile and force. The Ba’athist movement offered a secularist alternative to pure Islam that was “open to all” — Christians, such as Tariq Aziz, and Kurds, and Shi’a Arabs — but the ruling majority were Sunnis. Ba’athism camouflaged Sunni rule in Iraq, just as in neighboring Syria Ba’athist rule served to disguise rule by the military caste, the Alawites.

    Which brings us to the Kurds, and their place within that history of modern Iraq. They exist, nearly 40 million of them, the largest stateless group in the world, divided among Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. In Iraq, the Arabs have a history of suppressing the Kurds; the poison-gas at Halabja was only the most notorious episode in the “Anfal” campaign conducted by Saddam Hussein’s willing Arab troops, in which 182,000 Kurds were killed.

    The air cover that the Americans provided to the Kurds before 2003, so that Saddam Hussein could not attack them, allowed them to get a head-start on constructing an autonomous region. They have built a society that is friendly to the Americans — American soldiers would take their in-country rest at Lake Dokan, a resort in Kurdistan, beginning shortly after the 2003 invasion and temporary occupation, knowing they would be safe. Kurdistan is the place Americans are still safe.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Kurdistan has its own oil reserves, and doesn’t need money. Its people are eager to have more dealings with the West, with America, and even with Israel. Some Kurds talk of Kurdistan as “another Israel” — a non-Arab entity in an Arab sea. This has not gone unnoticed among those who want Israel to have friends in the region. In the past it was the odd men out — Kemalist Turkey, and the Shah’s Iran — that allied informally with Israel. Their peoples’ identities — Turk, Persian — worked against, not with, their Islamic identity. As a minority in four majority-Muslim countries, the Kurds have endured what minorities endure in Muslim lands, even when they are Muslim themselves. Most Kurds are Sunnis, but that did not protect them from Sunni Arab fury.

      An independent Kurdistan would be a safe harbor in a turbulent sea, an outpost and ally of the West, the only one between Israel and India. It might show the Arabs how to construct a modern and decent state. An independent Kurdistan would be a natural ally of Israel.

      Why has the preservation of Iraq remained a stated goal of the Americans? The Shi’a regime is not going to share with the Sunnis the oil wealth, and the political power, that naturally devolved to it when the regime fell in 2003. Some think the Shi’a desperately want to retake Anbar and Diyala. I would argue that in Ramadi and Tikrit and Mosul, the Shi’a want revenge on the Islamic State hyper-sunnis, and don’t care about keeping them in the same state of Iraq.

      Nor would the Shia fight to keep Kurdistan. The Shi’a don’t need Kurdish oil; they have their own oil; the Kurds would fight; why bother?

      Finally, pressure on Turkey from an independent Kurdistan is likely to force the Turkish government to treat the Kurds more fairly, lest they attempt to break off large parts of Anatolia to swell the size of Kurdistan. In Iran, the rulers will be as worried about their western border, as they are now about their eastern one.

      It is not necessary to do anything to bring about an independent Kurdistan. The Kurds have done it. A visit in early May by the rulers of the Kurdistan Regional Government (see the report by Michael Knights here) to Washington was a success, though it was military aid, not independence, that was discussed. But when the move is made, the Kurds ought to be supported by the U.S. government; an independent Kurdistan would be the single most useful geopolitical result, and most moral result, too, of what otherwise has been the Iraq fiasco.

      There may be an argument against an independent Kurdistan. But what is it?

      http://www.jihadwatch.org/2015/06/kurdistan-a-summary

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    2. Hugh Fitzgerald is back.

      He was gone.

      Now he's back, a good addition.

      Delete
  3. Jeb, with his language skill, is just likely to get 50% of the Latino vote. If he does it's a coin flip.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Interestingly, the latest Quinnipiac Poll has Hillary beating Jeb! in Florida.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I see no reason why any Republican would get 50% of the Spanish speaking vote.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Remember, the Dems have had 8 years, and haven't delivered much for the Hispanics. The Dems can say "they tried," but . . . . . .

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    2. We have to remember that it's damned hard for a party to win a 3rd Term.

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    3. .

      I saw his announcement speech in which he registered the obligatory loyalty to Israel obeisance to a round of loud applause.

      One wonders why there are never statements of undying loyalty and support for the UK, France, Australia, Canada, or even Jordan in any of these speeches.

      .

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    4. Most of those countries are already members of NATO and the list is too long.

      I have put together a thought experiment for you folks, that will show you all how f'ed up you all truly are about Israel, but have to go deal with my alfalfa farmer right now.

      The word 'Quirk' is a moronomnym.

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    5. They do it because none of them has the balls to challenge the insanity and absurdity of it.

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    6. .

      Let me modify the statement.

      One wonders why there are never statements of undying loyalty and support for Australia, Georgia, Iceland, Japan, Lebanon, New Zealand, Panama, South Korea, Romania, Singapore, Somalia, Taiwan and Ukraine. These are after all allies who are part of the current coalition fighting ISIS in Iraq.

      .

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    7. Don’t forget our undying fealty for Paraguay.

      Delete
  6. (IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – US ambassador in Baghdad Stuart Jones announced on Tuesday, that his country supplied 12 Iraqi army brigades with weapons and equipment, while pointed to the existence of preparations for the rehabilitation of Balad camp in Salahuddin province and the delivery of the F16 fighter jets, stressing that Washington does not want to create new camps in Iraq.

    Jones said during a press conference held today at the Embassy with a number of media networks including IraqiNews.com, “The United States is providing 12 military brigades with arms and equipment, including three brigades belonging to the Peshmerga,” noting that, “this armament includes light and medium weapons, mortars, wheels and armors.”

    “We do not want to make new camps in Iraq, and we have some military personnel train and equip Iraqi forces to strengthen their capacity to defeat ISIS,” Jones added.

    Jones continued that “the F16 fighter jets will be delivered with its integrated systems during the current summer”.

    It is noteworthy that the US Air Force had signed contracts worth $ 838 million with one of the American companies for the rehabilitation of Balad Air Base in Iraq in order to be ready to receive the F 16 fighter jets.

    Iraqinews

    ReplyDelete
  7. NEW YORK (AP) — It appears the baby recession really is over: Preliminary figures show U.S. births were up last year for the first time in seven years.

    About 53,000 more babies were born in 2014 than the year before — a 1 percent increase. Births were up for nearly every racial and ethnic group, and there were improvements in several other key measures. Teen births hit another historic low and there were fewer cesarean sections and preterm deliveries.

    "It looks like perhaps we're seeing the turnaround that many experts have been anticipating," said Gretchen Livingston, a birth trends expert at Pew Research Center. She was not involved in the report.

    The nation has been in . . . . . . .

    Births rise

    ReplyDelete
  8. .

    Astronomers have discovered three "cosmic Methusalems" from the earliest years of the universe. These unusual stars are about 13 billion years old and experts assign them to the first generations of stars after the "dark ages." The chemical qualities of these extremely rare stellar bodies enable new insights into the events that must have led to the origins of the stars. The first stars have been assumed to be high-mass and to shine especially brightly. However, the latest observations point to hitherto unknown phenomena in the young universe, allowing for the emergence of much smaller stars.

    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/05/150528083824.htm

    .

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  9. just in passing - I love the picture of Jeb hiding in the bushes!

    ReplyDelete
  10. My pleasure, always, in dinging our rulers and masters.

    ReplyDelete
  11. "Wal-Mart has $76-billion in overseas tax havens, report says "

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/us-business/wal-mart-has-76-billion-in-overseas-tax-havens-report-says/article24996683/



    I suggest that this is a function of the USA's penchant for taxing monies earned outside the US. I believe the US is the only country that does this.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Land of the free. Home of the brave.

    ReplyDelete
  13. The national presidential election is a farce, meaningless and cynical theater.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's gonna be better this year, though; we got de Donald. :) :) :)

      Delete
    2. .

      All of these guys have something good to say. Trump, for instance, has called out all his potential rivals as nitwits. He gets down and dirty and people, including me, like the way he exposes the bullshit we have been seeing from these guys. It's like a running Don Rickles skit only funnier and more pointed. For instance, pointing out the hypocrisy, he says of Bush, 'what's with this guy walking around in shirt sleeves. Put on a tie and coat, for god's sake, your running for president of the United States.'.

      That's pretty much the limit of the good stuff though so far. Well, with the exception of his kinda statement that he wouldn't be accepting corporate funds for his campaign. Unlikely, but if true, a big selling point with the public who are sick of having to vote for candidates who are already bought and paid for.

      Then when it comes to policy, he negates any good he does with statements like how he will build a huge wall at the southern border and 'make Mexico pay for it.' Unfortunately, there are a lot of Americans who could buy into his nationalistic/jingoistic/populist (though ridiculous) spiel.

      Another example. Saw an interview with Lindsay Graham today. He actually made some sense up to a point. He stated that the current strategy against ISIS is failing. He suggested everyone responsible for creating it should be fired. He suggested that if we are going to continue along the current course, we should just pack up and leave. When asked about the suggestion that Iran is gaining influence in Iraq because of Baghdad's dependence and deference to Tehran, he suggested that, given the current situation, it only makes sense. He would do the same thing if he were them. All thoughts I could agree with.

      However, when he suggests that sending 10,000 US troops there, even as advisers, will make the difference and allow us to 'degrade and destroy ISIS in Iraq, I have to disagree with him. The first thing that would have to be overcome would be al-Abadi's objections to a major increase US troops. The second would be the attitude of the Iraqi troops. The US recently recruited 24,000 Iraqi troops for special training by the current US troops there. Of the 24,000, only 7,000 showed up for the training. It is still unknown how many of that 7,000 will simply bug out after the training. Finally, there is no way the proposed actions will everdestroy ISIS in Iraq. For instance, when asked how we can destroy ISIS in Iraq when they still hold large swaths of Syria, Graham suggested we needed to increase support for the moderate militants in Syria. Moderate Syrian militants?

      At any rate, I initially thought the GOP was nutz with all the various candidates they had running; however, now though it is still a running gag line, we can still get a bit of enlightened thought mixed with the laughs, though to date I am still waiting for some actual solutions mixed in with the unspecific generalizations and pablum we are being fed.

      .

      Delete
  14. That $76 Billion that Walmart has stashed in 78 subsidies in 15 Countries?

    How many Stores do you suppose they have in those countries?

    How about Zero?

    Because, The Waltons need the money, I suppose

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ya, subsid in those countries stores in others (like China) revenue not in U.S.

      Delete
  15. Donald Trump's big presidential announcement Tuesday was made a little bigger with help from paid actors — at $50 a pop.

    New York-based Extra Mile Casting sent an email last Friday to its client list of background actors, seeking extras to beef up attendance at Trump's event.

    "We are looking to cast people for the event to wear t-shirts and carry signs and help cheer him in support of his announcement," reads the June 12 email, obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. "We understand this is not a traditional 'background job,' but we believe acting comes in all forms and this is inclusive of that school of thought." (Read the full email at the bottom of the post.)

    ReplyDelete
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    1. The pay was listed as $50 for fewer than three hours of work. According to the email, Extra Mile was reaching out to potential extras in partnership with Gotham Government Relations and Communications, a New York-Based political consulting group that has worked with Trump in the past. Gotham GR had no comment.

      Suspicions that the event had hired extras came to light Wednesday when anti-Trump activist Angelo Carusone came across an Instagram photo, showing a man he recognized as a background actor posing at the Trump event. Carusone screengrabbed the photo of the actor, Domenico Del Giacco, and published it in a blog post. Del Giacco has since deleted the account. The photo shows him with a woman, identified in the now-deleted Instagram post as actress Courtney Klotz.

      Just a Gig and a Party

      Delete
  16. Aren't you folks proud that you're paying taxes to subsidize Walmart's low wages?

    ReplyDelete
  17. On phone so can't copy and paste article but I luv the ironies.

    American military good abroad but not at home !

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/us-military-exercise-a-lightning-rod-for-suspicion-conspiracy-theories/article25006554/?service=mobile

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      I don't see the ironies you indicate. Fear of the government has been there since the beginning in the US. Since 2001, many of the fears that the conspiracy theorists warned us of have proved real.

      In truth, any democracy (or republic if you like) fears the abuse of power by those they elect. During the Republican period in Rome the one mortal sin for a Roman General (Consul) would be to enter Rome at the head of an army.

      .

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  18. >>Then when it comes to policy, he negates any good he does with statements like how he will build a huge wall at the southern border and 'make Mexico pay for it.' Unfortunately, there are a lot of Americans who could buy into his nationalistic/jingoistic/populist (though ridiculous) spiel.<<

    This is why The Donald is sweeping the support among my friends, intimates and close associates.

    We all like a The Donald/Ben Carson ticket.

    Listing:

    OGF
    G- OGF's ex-Marine hubby
    Wife
    Bob
    Son
    Wayne
    Ken, alfalfa farmer

    In my circle we have no political disagreements at this time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Truth, the Republicans have a lot of good people running out there this time around.

      The Democrats have a felon who long ago should have been in prison.

      Delete
    2. .

      This is why The Donald is sweeping the support among my friends, intimates and close associates.


      :0)

      Why does this not surprise?

      .

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    3. Why should it surprise ?

      None of us are from the Detroit, Michigan area and still retain our senses.

      Delete
    4. If you want to live with Mexicans why don't you just move to Mexico ?

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    5. But no, you'd rather they just be allowed to walk right on in here, squat, and begin demanding welfare payments, and voting rights.

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    6. I was reading on Drudge that a number of these fine fellows with felonies on their records that were released by some Obama amnesty plan are now thought to be responsible for over a hundred new murders, with many back in the slammer.

      Delete
    7. .

      Lord, you are daffy. Admittedly, Trump's good for a laugh. For instance, if Trump did manage to build a 'very high wall' along the Mexican border, I can imagine the Mexican government laughing their asses off when he delivered them a bill for it.

      After the first post you put up on this stream I mentioned that it showed a glimmer of wit. That would indicate to me that you are not completely witless as I had assumed; however, you will have a long difficult road ahead of you if you ever hope to reach even the half-wit category. Given your age I am not optimistic. Likely , the only thing you could hope for would be the satisfaction of the struggle.

      .


      .

      Delete
  19. Yeah, good pic of the elephant in the bush.

    Heh

    :)

    Is an elephant in the hand worth two in the bush ?

    ReplyDelete
  20. The pressure is really mounting out this way, becoming almost irresistible, for Rachel to have a paternity/maternity/genetics test.

    Wayne, Ken and I were having a big yuckle about it today.

    We are all Swedes of varying degrees of purity.

    That is why we make so much good solid sense.

    There have been letters to the Editors in the local papers, Fox News is covering the idea.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rachel has been saying there were no witnesses to her birth.....

      Delete

    2. Rachel Dolezal: There’s no proof those two white people are my biological parents
      Jun 17, 2015 11:21 AM by Allahpundit
      258 Comments »

      “I haven’t had a DNA test.”

      http://hotair.com/archives/2015/06/17/rachel-dolezal-theres-no-proof-those-two-white-people-are-my-biological-parents/


      But momma has the Birth Certificate and is handing copies out to any reporter that asks.

      I kinda like Rachel, she is well spoken, even if a little 'daft'.


      Delete
    3. June 17, 2015
      Rachel Dolezal hits bottom, keeps digging
      By Rick Moran

      Rachel Dolezal, the former NAACP president of the Spokane chapter who was born white but now says she "identifies" as black, told NBC News that there was no "biological evidence" that she is the daughter of white parents.

      Politico:

      Dolezal, who resigned Monday as president of the African-American advocacy group’s chapter in Spokane, Washington, after her parents said she’d been misrepresenting her racial heritage, told NBC’s Savannah Guthrie, “I haven’t had a DNA test. There’s been no biological proof that Larry and Ruthanne are my biological parents.”

      Guthrie noted that Dolezal’s birth certificate includes both her parents’ names.

      “I’m not necessarily saying that I can prove they’re not,” Dolezal responded. “But I don’t know that I can actually prove they are. I mean, the birth certificate is issued a month and a half after I’m born. And certainly there were no medical witnesses to my birth.”

      “Have you ever lied about your race?,” Gutherie asked.

      “No, ‘cause never have I been asked, ‘Are you human or not human,” Dolezal said.

      “You know when someone asks you, ‘Are you black, are you African-American,’ you know exactly what they’re asking you. And for you to say yes, is that an honest answer?” Guthrie clarified.

      Dolezal said she had not been asked that question very much before the past few days and reiterated, “Yeah, I do — yeah, I am black.”

      By all means, let's get that DNA test done pronto. She's going to need it if she ever goes on trial for fraud............

      Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/06/rachel_dolezal_hits_bottom_keeps_digging.html#ixzz3dNhkXaGY
      Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook



      She won't be tried for fraud, but if she were, I'd like to be on that Jury.

      I like Rachel, and would find her not guilty, and I hope she gets filthy rich out of all this non sense.

      !

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    4. However if Quirk tried to pull the same stunt.............

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