Orwellian Word Torture

Cheney unchained | Power Line:

Watching things like this Meet The Press segment I'm reminded of how our technically and socially cocooned western "Disney existence" makes us extremely vulnerable to thinking that problems like "long lines at Space Mountain" might constitute something with some relation to "discomfort" in the real world.

In 1984 and in Animal Farm, Orwell gave us a solid background in the relative ease with which a generalized media environment can totally change the perceived meaning of words for people living in the bubble of the influence.

So we see words like "racism" once about slavery, lynching, bull whips and Jim Crow (back when it was Democrats that ran "Animal Farm") now becomes "not supporting BOcare", or not running around saying "Hands up, don't shoot" after a convenience store robbing thug that attacked a police officer ends up shot dead during his assault of the officer.

So too "torture". What was once known and recognized as being treatment that went on for months and years and often brought death or permanent injuries carried for life, is now reduced largely to "waterboarding".

So we get insanity like Todd asking Cheney "if Iranians waterboarded a US soldier in the future, might we not want to see them tried for war crimes"? Indeed ... as Cheney responds (with less detail), such methods being used by folks that have no trouble twisting joints out of sockets, cutting off various appendages, gouging out eyes, blowing up intestines with air, etc, etc are not all that likely to go with waterboarding as a method.

In the insane "hypothetical world" that we live in however, I find it very easy to believe that if as far as Todd knew, the US had never used waterboarding on a prisoner and the hypothetical Iranian incident happened, he and all sorts of US (as well as international) media and government folks would be standing up and defending Iran saying "The US waterboards it's own soldiers as part of SERE training! How can it POSSIBLY seek to call Iranians "war criminals" for using a technique it uses on it's own soldiers!!!". Of course, it could not ... they would actually be right!

Then we have the case of hundreds of Vietnam era veterans covered in the linked article that actually WERE tortured at the hands of the North Vietnamese. Outrage from American press or elites? Nada ... in fact, they typically side with the North Vietnamese as being the aggrieved party.

One of the veterans actually tortured is quoted in this paragraph that I find to be useful:

Our world is not completely good or evil. To proclaim we will never use any form of enhanced interrogations causes our friends to think we are naive and eases our enemies’ recruitment of radical terrorists to plot attacks on innocent kids, men and women – or any infidel. If I were to catch a “mad bomber” running away from an explosive I would not hesitate a second to use “enhanced interrogation,” including waterboarding, if it would save lives of innocent people.

The rub is that it seems obvious that not only are good and evil both in presence, the positioning of which is which is often not what one might expect. It doesn't take very long to realize that in the eyes of Senator Feinstein or Chuck Todd, Cheney, W, etc are the "evil". The various terrorists (another word that BO and the media is really loathe to use) that might call themselves "Islamic", but our president assures us are not, are sometimes "misguided", or "over zealous" in the eyes of Feinstein, BO, or media elites, but they are clearly not "evil" in the sense of W, Cheney, or even old Dick Nixon.

Nixon and the US military were formerly juxtaposed with the zealous and at least mostly justified N Vietnamese. They may not have treated their US captives "perfectly", but one would need to understand "their culture" and centuries of slights or perceived slights by the west before having anything at all to say about their methods -- and even then, anything smacking of "judgement" would be presumptuous coming from a nation that once had slaves and mistreated Indians!

So too the long suffering Arab culture. If they seem to be "violent" to the less well educated, well, there were the Crusades,  the colonial era, the creation of Israel, and of course the corruption of western corporations and money in the grubby oil business. All the potentially problematic behavior of "the group that describes itself as the Islamic State" is to be viewed from some value free perspective of high minded consideration for all of the ills imparted by Western civilization, with no potential thought that 1400 years of Islam may have been less than perfect all on it's own.

We know that Cheney and W are evil. We don't even know what to call ISIL -- or ISIS. Our media elites have not fully succeeded in alchemy of turning ISIL into "good" as they did with the PLO, the Nicaraguan rebels, N Vietnam and the USSR, but they are well on their way -- we don't even clearly know what they are called, but it would certainly be unsophisticated to call them "evil" -- or (horror) "Islamic"!

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Conscience of a Conservative (Goldwater)

http://www.amazon.com/Conscience-Conservative-Barry-Goldwater/dp/1481978292/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418238472&sr=8-1&keywords=conscience+of+a+conservative

For a good long time I have been guilty of failing to read this work which many conservatives consider to be a cornerstone of conservative thought. I plead that some of the later utterances of Goldwater in his waning years led me to question his veracity as a conservative, but relative to this work, the proponents were right, it is first class.

It concisely covers the basics of conservative thought including how conservatism considers man as more than flesh and blood, having an eternal soul. "The root difference between Conservatives and the Liberals of today is that Conservatives take account of the whole man, while the Liberals tend to look at only the material side of man's nature".

Various pleas for limited government and clear delineation of the powers of the federal government and what are reserved for the states are included. "Throughout history, government has proved to be the chief instrument for thwarting man's liberty."

His two chapter discussion of States Rights is an excellent defense of against the idea that they are obsolete since the fight against Jim Crow in the South. "States Rights mean that the States have a right to act or not to act, as they see fit in the areas reserved to them." Worth a read in the age of BOcare.

He covers the attack of "progressive" taxation on Equal Protection and Property Rights under the Constitution as well as giving us an accurate preview of the what the unfettered expansion of the Federal Government has come to mean from the perspective of 1960.

My biggest surprise in reading the book was how accurately he predicted and largely provided the architecture for Reagan's victory over the USSR.

"Our enemies have understood the nature of the conflict and we have not. They are determined to win the conflict, we are not".

The closing paragraph of the book makes one glad yet again that we were privileged to have Ronald Reagan as President"

The future as I see it, will unfold along one of two paths. Either the Communists will retain the offensive, will lay down one challenge after another will invite us local crisis after local crises to choose between all out war and limited retreat; and will force us ultimately to surrender or accept war under the most disadvantageous of circumstances. Or we will summon the will and the means for taking the initiative, and wage a war of attrition against them---and hope, thereby to bring about the internal disintegration of the communist empire. One course runs the risk of war, and leads in any case, to probably defeat. The other runs the risk of war, and holds forth the promise of victory. For Americans who cherish their lives, but their freedom more, the choice cannot be difficult. 

Goldwater had the right architecture, Reagan implemented it, and the wall came tumbling down.

A quite short and well written summary of the basics of conservative thought. I ought to have read it sooner.

Forgiveness for $40M

The Torture Report Reminds Us of What America Was - NYTimes.com:



http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2014/12/feinsteins-war-on-the-cia-what-purpose-does-it-serve.php



The top link is to a writing by a former Abu Ghraib interrogator now a college professor that proudly proclaims that "he can't be forgiven". His level of hubris is palpable, the need for Christ is rarely screamed as loudly.



"What America WAS"? What a sad joke -- the propensity of government agencies to abuse their powers is eternal. To not see the constant reality and threat of all forms of abuse by all forms of government is to show willful disregard for known and oft proven reality.



The second link is to some coverage of "the torture report" with what I consider to be the main reason for the report -- Feinstein and other Democrats in congress signed off on "enhanced interrogation", and they now want to do the Pontius Pilate symbolic washing of the hands.

For Feinstein, $40 million, long-term damage to the CIA, and the potential for deadly attacks on Americans overseas apparently are a small price to pay for this satisfaction.

 The insanity of our elites navel gazing about what was or wasn't done by one government agency or another in the months and years after 9-11, while we continue to do battle with a ruthless enemy that has no qualms about public beheading nor any forms of real torture (that leave lasting physical marks) is comedy. Which often gives way to tragedy.



Government agencies have always been and always will be capable to ANY form of abuse or torture imaginable. If the 20th century made anything at all clear, it ought to have been that. Ultimately, THAT is the reason that GOVERNMENT MUST BE LIMITED! Leave it un-limited and it is as predictable as aging that the eventual recipients of the most egregious possible tortures will be the thoroughly  demonized and scapegoated "opposition".  (See German gas chambers and Soviet Gulag)



Man has known from the time of his first consciousness of mortality that he is in dire need of forgiveness. All manner of sacrifice, penance, and sundry contrition has been attempted, but only God taking on the form of man and dying for the sins of all as made forgiveness a reality for billions.



What makes us "better" than our enemies? Nothing at all intrinsically -- we are all sinful humans.



To the extent we are "better" is to the extent we recognize the authority of Christ and retain increasingly small vestiges of being  a "Christian Nation". Much as surgery will always be painful, war will likewise always be painful. Attempting to put controls on the carnage is reasonable, but having illusions as to just how effective such controls can be given the doubly de-humanizing aspects of government bureaucracy (CIA, military, etc) and war itself,  is always going to be a recipe for disappointment.



We need controls, but we also need to be FAR more forgiving of the men and women in the front lines of the messy business of war than of the preening pretenders to royalty like Feinstein. Let's face it, they signed off on enhanced interrogation because they were afraid for themselves and their political careers, and now they want to "un-sign" for their own political skins and personal sanctimony no matter the cost.



We are rarely treated to such a clear example of total fecklessness.



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American Royalty, Hillary

Plans for UCLA visit give rare glimpse into Hillary Clinton’s paid speaking career - The Washington Post:

She is the wife of a womanizing ex-president. She led a failed effort to nationalize healthcare. She is a failed presidential candidate, a failed Secretary of State, and an exceedingly lackluster one and a third term Senator. She is American Royalty.

Her "reduced speaking rate" for universities is $300K. Between her and her husband since leaving office, they have amassed wealth of $100 million dollars. In 2012, Bill alone rolled in $17M in speaking fees.

The nice thing for the Clintons is that articles like the WaPo above are rare. Reagan did a couple high price speeches after leaving office and media was all over it as "inappropriate". Slick and Hilly pull in over $100 million and it is really no big deal.

The standard is clear ... if you are in The Party, Democrat, you are part of the "royal line" ... as long as you follow that line you can amass fortunes, avoid taxation (see Sharpton $4.7 Million in tax debt), womanize (contrast Bill Clinton and Bill Cosby), and who knows what else ... it is the TRUE "noblesse obilige" because TP is royalty.

Tea Party: Angriest, Most Hateful People On Earth

Anne Lamott: “Look at the Tea Party: Some of the angriest, most hateful people on earth, and they’re backed by what they think is Scripture” - Salon.com:

I know, it is Salon -- but sadly, Salon is a real entity. There are a significant number of people that read this and I think more than we actually know think it is quite true.

It is hard to read through something like this because it exposes so well the shallows of so much of modern life -- concern over how good the next woman looks, concern over wealth status, concern over how smart your kid is, etc ... and then the summary line:

I really believe that earth is forgiveness school – I really believe that’s why they brought us here, and then left us without any owner’s manual. I think we’re here to learn forgiveness.

This of course we juxtapose with the title line -- a summary judgement of a group of people along with a reference to "scripture" ... and then she gets up on her throne of wisdom and gives us this:

All wisdom traditions have at their root three basic ideas: To take care of the poor, to cultivate a sense of presence or union with a power much greater than ourselves, and to soften the heart.

Christianity is the acceptance of healing Grace through Christ's blood by Grace alone through Faith alone, followed by a life of attempting to follow Christ through the Holy Sacraments, Holy Preaching and Holy Scripture. There is "wisdom" in that, but the Old Testament / Judaism is more the "wisdom tradition". It boggles the mind to conceive of what Anne Lamont conceives of as "wisdom".

First she judges a group of people with VERY little of a specific agenda beyond "smaller government" as "hateful", then she claims "scripture" is 180 degrees opposed. Actually, Scripture is silent beyond "render unto Caesar" on government -- it is up to us. Christ never specifically inveighed against Rome, the death penalty, or even slavery. He was pretty clear where his kingdom was at and that earthy concerns were extremely minor when compared against the eternal.

I point this rather sorry example out for two reasons. First, because for a very large number of people that primarily get their news from mainline outlets, would tell you a statement like the title statement is a correct summary of the Tea Party. Those of us that have sympathy with something other than continued growth of government need to be aware of that ... the calculus is as simple as "government is great and benevolent, to seek to slow or Gasp!, reduce it is hateful, evil, etc".

The second point is that the BEGINNING of wisdom is the fear of God -- the actual recognition of our mortality, insignificance in time and space, but significance to God, of our very limited selves. In actual "wisdom traditions", humility is the start of wisdom. We as a people have lost so much that most have never read any "scripture" beyond some fluffy gauzy shards that convince many that whatever anyone thinks that isn't somehow conservative, traditional or actually religious in nature (as in they believe it and follow it) is all the same ... and my (Anne's) view is as good (and really better) than anyone's! ... past, present or future, so let me just tell you what is trump -- today we are all angry!

A short reading of actual wisdom tradition would quickly point out that such a position is the position of the fool claiming to be wise -- but today it gets published as wisdom, showing that much of our culture is about glorification of the fool. Wisdom is clear on the outcome of that.

Matt 7:26, 27

Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell-- and great was its fall.

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Return From The Plague, Thanksgiving

What a great way to spend a holiday -- 102 degree fever T-day, 101 Friday, finally broke Sat ... now just hacky chest cough, back to like "90% capability" and working out again since yesterday. I do believe that I notice that I don't bounce back quite as quickly at 58 as I once did -- nah, must be my imagination!

When I worked, I might have said "at least it happened while I was off so I'm not behind at work". The vast majority of my IBM career was like that -- 100ish e-mails a day, documents to review by dates, plans, schedules, status, architecture, presentations, approvals, issues .... Yes, in the early years there was actual code and testing, ah for the good old days.

I'd say I look forward to holidays more now -- chance to get together with people. I don't exactly lack  for human contact, but not so much the overload that one experienced when leading teams of 20+ and at times as many as 60 people ... and of course interacting with lots of others in various capacities. People invigorate me, there are days now that I can miss that a little.

Not a lot one can do about scheduling flu. I've gotten the flu shot for over decade, didn't get it before that. Think the only previous time I had flu this severe and long lasting was just after finals in one of my college years when I was down for close to a week. I'm sure it is an odds game -- supposedly they pick the "most likely" viruses, so statistics say that it "improves your odds" ... lots like various other things, when the sample is YOU, statistics don't really mean a lot!

It is a good chance to reflect on how bad it can feel to be human, and how little we actually control, though some of us love to fancy it otherwise. Good time for a little prayer that I avoid having a longer term illness as debilitating or worse, and the chance to appreciate how hard life can be for those who do.

Naturally, the little I felt like it during a lot of it, but more as I perked up, I read. Somewhere -- my brain wasn't on it's full correlation / recall mode, I hit "the 3 things needed for happiness". According to whatever I was reading it was 1) Meaning 2) Purpose 3) Hope.

Not a bad trio ... I can tell you that with a 102 fever, all three were pretty much a "don't care", but Hope! Reading that reminded me of a favorite passage though, I Corinthians 13: 12-13

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face;
Now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.
But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Even when we are feeling superb by our earthly standards, we are extremely sick by heavenly standards. Even when we think we have locked some piece of knowledge, technology or skill down cold, we are but barely dimly aware from a Godlike view. For me, the promise that I will FINALLY "know fully" is especially precious.

For today, I'm very thankful for the small measure of health and mental clarity allowed in this vale of tears! 

Happy belated Thanksgiving. 

Earth's Most Abundant Mineral Finally Sampled

Scientists Have Finally Sampled the Most Abundant Material on Earth | Motherboard:



Huh, how can it be most abundant and yet not sampled yet. Well, the answer is DEEP man, REALLY DEEP ... as in like 660mi deep.



The article is not all that interesting, "bridgemanite" is the new stuff.  The ringwoodite found in the Brazilian diamond and the speculation about an ocean larger than all of those on the surface "down there somewhere" is more interesting to me.



Perspective and humility -- there is A LOT that we don't know and have a heck of a time trying to even begin to figure out how we can know. ( have any ideas on how to drill a 660 mile deep well? )



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TP Runs an Exercise, Riots at 8

More than 40 arrested in Oakland as protesters block freeway, set fires after Ferguson cop not indicted - San Jose Mercury News:

It is very hard to imagine that the announcement last night being SCHEDULED for 8PM and then still delayed was not intended to cause rioting. The old rule is "never assume malfeasance when stupidity can explain it", but Federal, State and Local, AFTER they had taken previous actions to try to clear the streets after dark? It goes beyond credulity.

Those of us that have thoughts of riding out the final takeover by "The Party" (TP - Democrat) need to watch incidents like Ferguson closely. They are the model that TP intends to use as they take final control, and while one hopes it is early, this could even be it. This was a test run, a dress rehearsal -- the time of the announcement lets us know that.

Al Sharpton is a TP lieutenant now focused entirely on coordinating and fomenting racial violence. His $4.5 million in unpaid back taxes  is a badge showing the privilege of TP -- he had to make something like $8 M to owe that much, and we KNOW he is a TP member in very good standing to be walking around on the street when he owes that much. Those of us that are non-TP would be in the slammer if we were "behind' a couple K!

Al is just one of the lieutenants, playing a role to create the final "need for order" -- one or more of those may actually be martyrs to the cause as "order is re-established", but they won't know it going in.

When totalitarianism makes it's final move, it needs some "shock troops" to create the firestorm that the uses  "dear leader" finally uses as the excuse to take official dictatorial power "for the good of all".

BO's immigration decree is a superb preliminary. It gets people used to the idea that the other two branches are toothless and the executive is the position of ACTION! "Crisis" demands action! The choreography is impeccable:

First, the election -- seemingly a "big loss" for TP, BUT, his highness BO declares that all the people that didn't vote were the true "mandate"!

Then, BO seizes the "mandate". Takes ACTION to increase the size of TPs assumed vast majority.

Now coordinated unrest across the nation -- the kind of situation in which people look for leadership to step in and create order.

Again, I don't think this is "it", but it is a very transparent dress rehearsal. French Revolution, Russian Revolution, Nazi Revolution, etc, etc ... this is the script. We are watching the actors here in the US hitting their marks and gaining experience for the big event.

If there is unrest near where you are, then you are in the wrong area. Look to move ASAP.



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Rodgers Grape Crush

Aaron Rodgers 'crushes' Minnesota Vikings with post-game drink - JSOnline:



First of all, the Pack did not "crush" the Vikes -- damned lucky to get out of there with a W.



This gives just a TINY indication of how hard it is to be a public figure. Apparently, Rodgers always drinks Grape Crush -- but that doesn't mean that it couldn't cause a tempest. In some other context --- something completely innocent like "watermelon", or "Chop Suey" ... or really anything, can be pulled out of context and be "insensitive", "a slight", etc.



OTOH, we have all been treated to some dreadlocked, tattooed,  pierced specimen with a profanity filled rant and been told "it's just cultural, you gotta be a racist to even comment".



It's the world we live in.



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Franken's Courageous Support for Net Neutrality

Time Warner Donates to Net Neutrality Advocate Al Franken:



I understand capitalism. It really isn't hard to understand Franken's motivations ... just his morality.



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Law, Morality, Flat Tax

BO's unilateral action creates a precedent. In the SCOTUS, conservative judges have tended to be very reticent to undo precedent -- seeing it as only slightly more egregious that that original usurpation of the Constitution that created the precedent. Roe V Wade being the standard example.

The expected conservative opinion on BO's action would be that a conservative president ought not do the same thing -- wrong is wrong, and two wrongs don't make a right. However, I think we can all agree that BO has created a template here that WILL be re-used by left leaning presidents. After a midterm election, with a lame duck congress, decree some major action and have two years for it to become the de-facto law of the land before anyone really has a shot at changing it.

I'd argue, as I think many conservative / libertarians would, that our existing "progressive" tax system is one of the greatest abuses of freedom to date in the US. Private property is the cornerstone of freedom, and while to the founders, that primarily meant land, in the modern world it is investment and income. ANY suspension of equal protection is noxious to freedom, the equal protection attack on private property, has been and continues to be devastating.

So conservatives have a dilemma. The evil genie of monarchical decree, once released, is certain to be used again and again by the freedom destroying forces of collectivism and "progressivism"  as a powerful nuclear tool doing maximum damage to the fabric of the nation. Do we unilaterally disarm, or make use of this force to attempt good?

Imagine a Flat Tax, of say "25%" that replaced all other taxes including FICA. Income tax forms would be on a post card. ALL people would pay the same rate on ALL income.  If put in place in the same way that BO has just done, there would be a FULL THREE YEARS (providing the president made it retroactive when he decreed it), since even after the next election, the new president / congress would not take office until it was too late to enact anything for the subsequent election year taxes. By that time, the unholy alliance between accountants / lawyers / tax preparers and the IRS would have been broken -- those folks would have been forced to find new work. Their legions of tax code svengalis adding and modifying loopholes like demons in Dante's Hell would have moved on.

Yes, such change is likely to cause havoc in the economy, but make no mistake, since the genie is now released, we all have to expect changes as egregious and worse after every midterm election. In fact, taking the bull by the horns and going big fairly early may allow conservatives a chance to tilt the table in the favor of the nation.

We owe it to the future of America to give this serious thought. It is one of the few remaining ways I can see that we can turn the tide before the last wisps of inadequate restraint on Leviathan are fully released.

Anticipation, Black and White

Ferguson: A city on edge and waiting - CNN.com:

I believe everyone is pretty much in agreement on what is being anticipated:

1. No indictment or "insufficient indictment" -- Massive riots, destruction of property, violence against police and potentially others. 
2. Indictment -- Some columns written by "right wingers", maybe a couple of strongly worded letters to the editor. 

From the boarded up buildings in Ferguson and the National Guard at the ready, this basic dichotomy seems impossible to argue with.

Is it "prejudice"? Certainly it is -- we have a lot of prejudice. If we see a giant explosion, we expect a "boom", if we drop a glass on a tile floor we expect it to break and if the Packers play the Vikings, we expect the Vikings to lose -- well, those of us that are sane at least.

Prejudice is a deeply wired expectation of events, scenarios, people, etc. It is "what we expect" -- and while it CAN  be wrong, it is very often right -- that is why we develop it in general, it is adaptive.  Humans are wired to have prejudice -- it allows us to react quickly with limited time for thought and is passed down from an adaptive history of reacting to the lion without taking the time to admire it's natural beauty. Those that lacked prejudice proved to be lunch.

So we are all sitting around with pretty much the same prejudice relative to Ferguson, and for some reason -- apparently because it is so widely shared by both blacks and whites, and because there is near universal belief in it being accurate, it is completely OK and even CNN can be open about it.

Day to day however, we are expected to act as if the dichotomy between actions one and two does not exist. In fact, if a black man like Cosby comments on the fact of it, he needs to be destroyed.

Those that don't believe we live in a crazy world are really not paying attention.

*** NOTE!!! Neither I or Cosby claimed that the current situation relative to 1 and 2 is immutable/innate -only that it is a reality TODAY. In fact, Cosby's "sin" is the declaration that it is NOT immutable, so it could therefore and in fact should be CHANGED ... however, if it WERE changed, then blacks might no longer be largely wards of TP, which is NOT allowed!

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Pulling the Curtain, The Great and Powerful BO

E-mails show White House tried to muzzle Sharyl Attkisson « Hot Air:

Slightly long but worth the read. Normally we only see the RESULT of the MSM being pro-TP  (The Party-D) and can only make some basic guesses at how the relationship works (cozy). Here we get a glimpse behind the curtain of what happens when some reporter for an MSM outlet leaves the fold and needs to be reined in. "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!"  Oh for the innocence of Toto to arrive and expose the "Great and powerful BO"!

TP has well demonized Fox, and has been largely successful in isolating them -- for TP folks in good standing, they NEVER listen to Fox, and anyone that does is an idiot, "brainwashed", etc. We all know that "brainwashing" is synonymous with having any thoughts not in direct line with TP! Being smart means only listening to one side on any issue!

The "common wisdom" on things like Fox, Fast and Furious, Benghazi, IRS scandal, etc has been drummed in by TP and while everyone certainly has heard it, the KEY is that you MUST BELIEVE it! If you so much as give a hint of knowing anything of the "other side" of these issues the sheep devoted to the MSM react with some combination of fear, confusion, shock, disdain or anger. (I tend to love the angry reactions -- but they tend not to last through the first calm response before they turn into some mixture of shock, fear and confusion).

The masses are well taught by TP. On all the scandal stories "old news, unimportant, already covered, nothing there, just trumped up ...". Then, out of the the blue on any given day, anyone that listens to NPR will get a "retrospective" on Watergate, Iran Contra, or some other "important lesson giving scandal of the past that we need to remember".

Indeed.

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Cosby Toast, Clinton Toast of Town

Bill Cosby Gets Warm Welcome At Florida Show:

We don't know if Cosby is guilty of any of the 40+ year old charges.

We DO know that Slick Willie was guilty of at least Paula Jones (he admitted it as part of plea deal) and Lewinsky . Defenders will say "Lewinsky was consensual". Anyone that has been in any supervisory position in a US business knows that there is NO SUCH THING between any sort of supervisor and a lower status female. Such relationships are banned by US sexual harassment law.

We don't "know" about the other relationships ... Kathleen Wiley and Juanita Broderick come to mind, with Broderick being an actual rape charge. Horse apiece with Cosby.

We  do have a completely clear example of how the ideal of freedom of speech and thought actually operates in a society that has abandoned transcendence.

It seems highly likely to me that a society is ALWAYS somewhat in this state.  We can observe the treatment of things like gay sexual relations, interracial marriage, support of communism, support of blacks (especially in the Democrat Jim Crow south), anti-Christian beliefs (now somewhat similarly, Christian beliefs or anti-Muslim belief), women smoking (pretty similarly now, anyone smoking), etc, over time. It is a long list.

So social strictures are part of society -- nobody really enjoys a stinky fart in public.

The DIFFERENCE is what is the level and how specifically proscribed or protected are various opinions and actions.

It is likely true that at one time a white male, married, "one of the boys" was probably protected from squeezing breasts and butt "at some level" relative to lower status females -- waitresses, secretaries, etc. The protection was without regard to political or religious beliefs beyond "not being some weird religion", but was probably for white males only.

Today we see that we have "evolved", so that for at least very high ranking member of TP ( Slick Willie, Teddy Kennedy,  John Edwards (for a good while), Al Gore ("massage gate" barely reported) ...) females may be similarly treated up to and likely including rape and quite possibly murder (chappaquiddick)  with impunity.

OTOH, if you are a black male that does not 100% maintain the TOTAL TP party line and  is so much as accused of ANY level of "impropriety" ... in the case of Clarence Thomas, the "charges" being allegedly mentioning an X-rated movie in one case and making reference to a possible pubic hair on a can of coke in another ...  TP and it's media arm will make every possible attempt to destroy you both personally and professionally without statute of limitations.

Given human nature, any expectation of the absence of social strictures is misplaced and very likely not even mildly to be desired. There WILL be social norms and strictures, and they will have sanction. For those with some level of memory, the rather curious phenomenon of a fickle social pendulum becomes obvious.

"Gay" goes from there being fairly mild sanctions against, to being celebrated in the public square, and those that fail to join the party, bowing down to the new gay order -- actual Christians being the most prominent example with Muslims strangely exempted,  now receive more stringent sanction that the Gays originally received ... eg. boycotts, loss of employment (if you say your are not in support of "gay marriage" at IBM you will lose your job), fines (as in wedding chapel operators, cake makers, etc),  and public admonishment / shunning.

Apparently the human wiring for sanctity/degradation  ("The Righteous Mind" covers all this) is immutable. We are stuck with it, so we will always have rewards and sanctions, and for most of the general public, the specifics of these will be invisible. The vast majority of people will simply "know" that Bill Clinton and Bill Cosby are different cases and find the iconoclast view (mine) to be very uncomfortable to deal with.

"Why can't you know enough to follow what is RIGHT? Do you WANT to be treated like Bill Cosby or something? !!"

To which I respond that the only way to transcend human nature is to believe in the transcendent, which I believe to be ultimately Christ Alone. Human attempts at same will only move the pendulum between which groups are rewarded and sanctioned and can never approach the still far shot of Heaven, earthy potential for universal love and redemption for all.


'via Blog this'

The Reagan Did It First Lie

http://thefederalist.com/2014/11/20/no-reagan-did-not-offer-an-amnesty-by-lawless-executive-order/

The media arm of TP decided they ought to make up a cover lie for Emperor of Stench,  BO -- so it somewhat standard TP nursery school moral reasoning we have "Reagan did it first!".

The moral argument that "X did it first" has severe shortcomings. Hitler did a number of things first. Even otherwise "good" men have done disastrous  things -- FDRs internment of Japanese, Churchill's Gallipoli debacle ... one hesitates to even begin. The list is long and horrid and the infantile moral reasoning of "X did it first" is nothing but an embarrassment as to the depths of TP fatuity.

Given TP media normal treatment of Reagan, you REALLY know they are up to something if they are trying to use him as a GOOD example!

Then we have the stupid factor. If "Reagan had done the same thing", those of us that were alive at the time know we would have witnessed a media firestorm on par with Watergate and likely beyond -- "Constitutional Crisis", IMPEACHMENT! would have been being shouted from every paper day after day! Dan Rostenkowski, in his pre "orange is the new suit of House Ways and Means chairs from IL" guise would have shut down all funding and WON!

It gets to be embarrassing to even think how stupid TP media thinks we are!

But of course, as the linked article explains not nearly as simply as they could, it had NOTHING to do with ANYTHING even REMOTELY like what BO has just done!

In the '80s, CONGRESS passed an amnesty law that failed to take the children of those being granted amnesty into consideration.  So  the executive branch contacted congress and AGREED that the children of those granted amnesty should not be deported! That is that! HW Bush granted more time in an extension of the same AGREEMENT -- which congress still agreed with.

How can it be that we have slipped so very far that