What’s It Gonna Take?
Public discourse in this country has left the parameters of reasonableness far behind, crashing headlong into the realm of madness. Perhaps the most irresponsible person on the planet, Sarah Palin, thinks she’s cute when inciting rabid masses comprised of the ignorami, whipping them up into a frenzied mob.
Public discourse in this country has left the parameters of reasonableness far behind, crashing headlong into the realm of madness.
Perhaps the most irresponsible person on the planet, Sarah Palin, thinks she’s cute when inciting rabid masses comprised of the ignorami, whipping them up into a frenzied mob.
Sarah, or her handlers (Can you say, “Todd”? Sure, I knew you could), is (are) well aware of the racist sentiments that fester deep inside the hearts and minimally-functioning minds of her fans.
And, “fans” is a precise description of these angry, aging white folks. Sarah loves the attention she is afforded by her personal lemmings; they provide the bitter sustenance necessary to feed and nurture her wretched ego.
Of course, Sarah (and Todd) also love the six-figure paychecks for 30 minutes or so of speechifyin’ to blind Palinistas.
Not once has the Almighty Mrs. Palin, since her unfortunate ascension onto the national stage, offered one tangible idea; nor has she put forth so much as one word that might lead to a solution of any problem facing Americans.
Facts be damned, Sarah Barracuda gives her fans just what they want – rhetoric, assumptions, accusations, and hate, all wrapped in a blanket of smart-assed sarcasm.
Emotional pot-stirring is all anyone who looks to Sarah Palin for direction can handle.
Very few, if any, of these folks will ever be mistaken for individuals who can think for themselves.
The ratings successes of their FOX(Not Really)News and talk radio heroes — Glenn, Sean, Bill-O, Rush, et al. – bear out the low common denominator that unites them.
Lest we forget how continual insidious utterances from Karl (good ol’ Turd Blossom); the disgraced (and dishonorable) Newtie; and, the epitome of black-hearted families, that lovable Cheney clan, serve to churn up the bubbling cauldron of discordance.
And, the ersatz “grassroots” movements with catchy names, i.e. “Tea Party”, are a simple (and simple-minded) method of mobilization of the most banal among our neighbors.
These fools gladly roll around in the manure that’s continually being spread in front of them, never stopping to think for 20 seconds that they have made multi-millionaires out of the puppetmasters who manipulate and control the conservative psychobabble.
What they fail to grasp, possibly above all else, is that the provokers with microphones have, while accusing those in the majority of stealing Americans’ freedoms, usurped their own inborn freedom to choose.
Since first opening her piehole on the campaign trail in 2008, Sarah has invoked a position of hatred for anyone who might not be like the rest of her audience (dare I say, less than white?), while spewing chunks that suggest the righteousness of empowerment through firearms.
Emboldened by the near-seditious, self-serving fecundity of a number of Congressional Republicans on the far, far right — most notable among them the certifiable Michele Bachmann of Minnesota – Sarah has amplified her not-so-veiled call to arms.
Unfortunately, a portion of the adherents who feel that no one other than the right-wing attack machine speaks for them feel it’s their solemn duty to take America back from the Kenyan and his band of filthy Progressives, by any means available. (As we have all learned in recent months, progressive = socialist; socialist = commie.)
It has been 46 years and four months since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Disturbingly, a significant number of American adults regarded as good the news of the man’s murder; the majority of them have likely passed on by now.
However, most of those who, at the time, openly applauded or cheered the announcements in middle and high school classrooms are probably still with us; they are the same age as the typical “teabagger” or “birther” or what have you.
We were fortunate to have recently dodged an attack, with the possibility of a horrific outcome, from nine imbecilic domestic terrorist wannabes who plotted to take out law enforcement officers, along with their families, en masse. (One of these morons was captured in my old neighborhood outside of Chicago.)
Can we cease all this angry talk of rising up before tragedy ensues?
Does there have to be an act of violence before those in control of the “Conservative” discourse rein themselves and their listeners in?
No, Sarah Palin, the media did not create a mindset that embraces violent overreaction.
You are a demagogue who stands at the forefront of responsibility in fomenting such an aura of hostility in our Nation. And, while utilizing your lopsided personal Christian ideology as camouflage, you love being the instigator.
The very thought of Sarah Palin makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
Shalom.
(Jerry Tenuto is an erstwhile Philosopher and sometime Educator. A veteran with seven years of service in the U.S. Army, he holds a BS and MA in Communications from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Depending upon your taste in political stew, you can either blame or thank Jerry for his weekly “Out Of The Blue” feature in The Lone Star Iconoclast. Visit his blog Blue State View at illinoiscentral.blogspot.com)
Like Shooting Puppies: Guatemala’s Iran-Contra War On The Mayans
If there’s one thing that I have learned for sure down here in Central America, it is this: Mayans love brilliant colors. Everything they wear, everything they use and everything they touch just explodes with color. Back in the day, approximately 2,000 years ago, their temples and pyramids used to be painted like psychedelic dreams — and even now the direct descendants of the people who built those amazingly colorful temples are still robing themselves in rainbows.http://jpstillwater.blogspot.com
If there’s one thing that I have learned for sure down here in Central America, it is this: Mayans love brilliant colors. Everything they wear, everything they use and everything they touch just explodes with color. Back in the day, approximately 2,000 years ago, their temples and pyramids used to be painted like psychedelic dreams — and even now the direct descendants of the people who built those amazingly colorful temples are still robing themselves in rainbows.
The main difference that I can see now between the Mayans of the old days and Mayans today is that modern-day Mayans seem to be ashamed of their love of colors. Mayans of 2,000 years ago used to positively swim through a world of beautiful colors. But all too many Mayans right now seem to be actually ashamed to wear anything more colorful than a pair of faded jeans and a tee.
How did things in Guatemala come to reach this sorry pass? It’s a long story.
Back in the 1970s, the Mayans of Guatemala finally got sick and tired of surviving in the same way that sharecroppers in the segregated American south used to survive — by working their butts off but only getting paid enough to stay just barely alive. And like the Freedom Riders of Mississippi and Alabama before them, the Mayans of Guatemala began to protest their lot as third-class citizens who were being treated like dirt. But instead of staging sit-ins at lunch counters, the Mayans in Guatemala simply and quietly asked to be able to own their own land.
Well. The way that the Guatemalan government reacted to the Mayans’ humble demands, you would have thought that the Mayans had started raping white women, being uppity to rich folks or something equally worse. But no. Mayans were just simply tired of being treated like the N-word all these years. Wouldn’t you have been tired too? And, like our own Rosa Parks, their feet hurt and they were tired of sitting in the back of the bus.
And so Guatemalan government troops, using all kinds of weapons given to them by Nixon, Reagan, the Iran-Contra cartel and the rest of that blood-thirsty bunch, set about killing as many Mayans as they could. And, trust me, they could (and did) kill a lot.
But after having spent the last few weeks among Mayans in the Guatemalan highlands, I have come to the conclusion that Mayans are a gentle people. A kind people. And a spiritual people too. And killing all those Mayans must have been like killing Bambi, like shooting puppies, like raping nuns.
And another sad thing about the 36-year U.S./Guatemala war on the Mayans was that the Mayans’ creative, intense and spiritual love of brilliant colors has apparently also been killed off too — except for some isolated communities up in the highlands that still hold onto the grand tradition of dressing themselves each morning like a rainbow. And that is a very great shame too.
PS: Here’s my video report on this part of my trip, including a brief tour of Guatemala City’s main cathedral, almost getting arrested in a shopping mall near Chiquimula but escaping by hiding behind the Buzz Lightyear kiddie ride, an entire city devoted to prostitution and to repairing cars and school buses brought down from the U.S., a brick factory, my first encounter with Mayans and a Mayan cemetery at Solola, up near Lake Atitlan: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQ1x7cslDu0>
And here’s another of my fabulous home videos on the Mayans, featuring a trip through the bridal section of a Mayan textile museum. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoxchUlH4mk>
PPS: Meanwhile back in the States, I’ve just heard that Fox News is getting its knickers all in a twist over a new pseudo-snuff music video <http://new.music.yahoo.com/lady-gaga/videos/view/telephone-f-beyonce—218656764> by Lady Gaga and Beyonce. Which leads me to ask, “Why hasn’t Fox News gotten its panties all in a bunch over all the millions of men, women and children that have been actually snuffed out — by American weapons raining down on Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan? And also let’s also not forget the deaths of approximately 250,000 Mayans, thanks to Reagan and his pals.”
Now there is a REAL snuff movie for you, Fox News. Where’s your outrage about that?
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Here’s Mike Whitney’s really good article on how the U.S. is STILL promoting violence in Latin America: …Hillary Clinton’s “Merida Initiative 2” is just a remake of the same stale security-oriented bunkum. She might as well call it Bush 2. Yes, the new initiative will provide $300 million for public institutions and various poverty-fighting programs, but the real emphasis remains the same. What Clinton wants is an iron-fisted “hemispheric security policy”, and she doesn’t care how many people get killed in the process. That’s why the death toll in Juarez will to continue to rise.
<http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/mike_whitney/27598/get_a_load_of_this>
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Please check out a book by Robert Rodvik entitled, “Among the Highland Maya”. It has a whole bunch of coolness photographs of modern-day Mayans. <http://www.blurb.com/books/1130528>
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Want something good to read? Buy my book! “Bring Your Own Flak Jacket: Helpful Tips for Touring Today’s Middle East,” available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
<http://www.amazon.com/Bring-Your-Own-Flak-Jacket/dp/0978615719/ref=cm_pdp_rev_itm_title_1>
Also it looks like I’m going to be going on a book tour of the Southwest in June, heading out for Los Angeles, El Paso, Roswell and Austin so far. I will also be accompanied by my two capable literary assistants Ashley and Mena. Anyone having any suggestions for locating free or cheap lodging in those cities or bookstores that want me to give them a talk, please let me know.
