12 Responses to “Gut-Check Chertoff and the Mississippi Dem”

1. Xman says:

   Friday, July 13, 2007 at 7:43 am

   Nice post, Joe.

   This “gut check” thing could be a lot more sinister than it looks.

   This administration is the one where the president talks to god and god talks to him in biblical verse “God told me to smite Saddam, so I smote him”.

   They have decided to replace science with religious dogma at every opportunity.

   Rather than basing a staff members value on facts, Bush gets a feeling that “he’s a good man”. “Browie’s a good man”.

   Now Chertoff decides to reduce our entire security apparatus to a pile of wires and warm bodies and instead decides to abandon all deductive reasoning and listen to the paranoid voice in his head…or his “gut”.

   All this rejection of critical thinking, and reliance on feeling could be an attempt to train us all to abandon all rational thought and behavior and make it easier to be led like the mob we largely have become.

   Perhaps there is nothing sinister in it at all. Maybe that’s just the kind of in bred, brother marries his sister, heads are for hanging your hat kind of people they are.
   It sure is easier just listening to the rumble in your gut, or the little green man in your head, than all those liberals talkin’ about “that god damned piece of paper” (constitution) all the time.

   Is it just me or are odd ducks like chertoff, cheney, bush, gonzo, goodling, kyle, mcconnell, etc. starting to look like the same kind of tragi-comic characters we now associate with the Third Reich? Chicken farmers, paper hangers, strutting little corporal, spittal blowing death heads (Chertoff).
   Xman

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2. Xman says:

   Friday, July 13, 2007 at 8:01 am

   Great Artwork, btw.

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3. Pete says:

   Friday, July 13, 2007 at 9:24 am

   What amazes me is that they always say these things with a straight face.

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4. Suzie-Q says:

   Friday, July 13, 2007 at 10:46 am

   They continue to lie and try to rule with FEAR!

   Btw.. Thanks for the great post! ;)

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5. JoeC says:

   Friday, July 13, 2007 at 3:29 pm

   “Is it just me or are odd ducks like chertoff, cheney, bush, gonzo, goodling, kyle, mcconnell, etc. starting to look like the same kind of tragi-comic characters we now associate with the Third Reich?”

   No, Xman, it’s not just you. I must be wearing the same glasses you’ve got on. I call them “see overwhelming bull excrement for what it really is” glasses.” :-)

   Can’t take credit for the artwork, but I like it, too. Came up in a google image search…when I get sued for copyright infringement, then I’ll know who to credit it to.

   “What amazes me is that they always say these things with a straight face.”

   Me, too, Pete. And then I remember: They’ve had a lot of practice keeping a straight face. I’ve heard the best way is to believe your own lies…sort of brainwash yourself. Like, just keep repeating, “They hate us because of our freedom. They hate us because of our freedom. They hate us because of our freedom.”

   “They continue to lie and try to rule with FEAR!”
   Suzie-Q…speaking the truth…and we have to continue repeating the truth more than they rehash their lies, or the wrong version will “stick” when current events morph into history. Not to mention, when they lie, it’s just a lot of fun calling them out on it. :-)

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6. La Sirena says:

   Saturday, July 14, 2007 at 10:58 am

   Excellent post. Thanks!

   The problem is most people don’t want to think about what’s going on. It hurts their heads, and knowledge comes with a certain amount of responsibility, which some might view as a liability. Act or be guilty by default, perhaps. It’s much simpler to do what one is told, let the patriarchs make the decisions and cloak oneself in warm, fuzzy ignorance.

   The “BushCo” (great moniker, btw) likes to style itself as kind of a latter day caudillo. Like Trujillo of the Dominican Republic, Diaz or Santa Ana of Mexico, etc., etc. they portray themselves as men’s men who follow their instincts, won’t allow their egos to be insulted by things like negotiations or reason — that’s for panty-waists. Shoot now and ask questions later because they’ve been ordained by god to lead us.

   (Interestingly since at least the Wilson administration, U.S. foreign policy has used the caudillo system to install dictators that serve the interests of the U.S. government and corporations. I guess it worked so well everywhere else, they’ve decided to do it here, too.)

   This “gut-check” nonsense is a classic example of the sterotypical language of caudillismo. Sure, we all have gut instincts. We can understand that. No need to explain, Your Excellency. Anything you say, sir. You know what’s best.

   The thing is, it’s a well-acted portrayal, but most of these guys come from generations of privelege. The disguise is wearing thin — if I have to look at Bush’s cued forehead-rumple of feigned concern once more, I’m going to hurl — but too may people are afraid to upset the status quo, so…

   Someone once said that in a democracy the people get the government they deserve. To use your abused spouse metaphor, it looks like the American people believe they no longer deserve a democracy.

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7. JoeC says:

   Saturday, July 14, 2007 at 10:24 pm

   La Sirena: The disguise IS wearing thin, isn’t it? The big question right now for me is: Is Bush playing a role to win his family and friends as much money and power as he can? Or does he really believe he is saving the world and must become an American dictator to do it?

   I think it was Seymour Hersh who said from his inside sources that Bush really does actually believe he is doing a necessary thing to save America. Either way, he needs to get impeached and out of there quick, but still…I wonder what drives the chimp in chief…is he really as stupid as he looks? Intelligence masquerading as the village idiot? A bad actor stumping for the neocon Big Oil companies? I really dunno…

   But it does annoy me that so many Americans not only believe they no longer deserve a democracy, but are openly going along with handing over rights thinking it will make us all safer. And then, there are other Americans who are blissfully ignorant of what a precious tiny island of light a democracy is in the world’s ocean of history.

   They say, “Oh, lighten up. It’ll all work out.” Well, statistically, you look at history, and no…statistically, it probably won’t work out. Statistically, freedom rarely comes for long, and more than not, it’s snuffed out by people like…you know, people like Bush who say, “Trust me, just a little longer” as they suck the blood out of your neck. Yes, it’s true…BUSH IS A VAMPIRE MONKEY! :-) (Hey, I’m depressing myself…really did have to lighten up a little…)

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8. Pete says:

   Sunday, July 15, 2007 at 1:12 pm

   I could understand if people in New York, Chicago. Los Angeles and all the other big municipalities were so worried about terror that they were willing to give up their freedoms. But it’s rural America where the biggest danger is stepping in a fresh cow pie, they worry about the terrorists the most.

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9. Mary Bryant says:

   Sunday, July 15, 2007 at 3:11 pm

   You are all a bunch of idiots . . . there will be another attack . . .
   Clinton didnt do anything to stop all the attacks in
   the 90s . . . .and they will continue . . .
   there is not one poltician I can stand . . .all have money
   and most are arrogant and obnoxious especially Hillary
   Clinton . . . .just wish they woud give us poor folks some
   of their money . . . .

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10. JoeC says:

    Sunday, July 15, 2007 at 4:10 pm

    “Clinton didnt do anything to stop all the attacks in the 90s.”

    I disagree, Mary…Clinton tried to make love (just not with his own wife…) not war, and then he bombed an aspirin factory in Sudan. These two events alone drastically prevented many terrorist attacks ;-)

    “…there is not one poltician I can stand…”

    I can think of a few that are trying to do a good job, trying to compromise enough to get as much as they can accomplished without tossing too many of their principles (Rep. Bud Cramer, for one…), however I do agree that most by the very nature of the nation we’ve grown into, are forced to bow down to the military industrial complex. Others, like Lieberman, have totally sold out to war interests. And still others, like the Bush regime, are totally raping the country and taking any remaining voice from the non-elites in this country AND around the world.

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11. La Sirena says:

    Monday, July 16, 2007 at 3:00 pm

    Bush IS a vampire monkey! ;~)

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12. JoeC says:

    Monday, July 16, 2007 at 4:04 pm

    

    Yep, that’s definitely Bush on the left; gotta be Cheney to the right?

    (This may be the only time you will ever encounter the phrase “Bush on the left.”)

    Reply

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