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August 13, 2009 03:04 PM UTC

Thursday Open Thread

  • 50 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

“Anger is never without a reason, but seldom with a good one.”

–Benjamin Franklin

Comments

50 thoughts on “Thursday Open Thread

  1. I would change that to…

    Anger is never without a reason, but seldom is directed at the right source.  

    Many of these mobs today on the right are angry and justifiably so but it is misdirected anger. Instead of being angry at their parents who abused them or the religious people who abused them they become perpetrators of their abuse.  There is hope for them but only through a lot of counseling from someone who is honest with them about the source of their anger.  

      1. The Right is the face of anger and extreme individualism, disregard of reason and evidence, and an unyielding demand for the imposition of fanatical false certainties. Few things explain this pattern better than something akin to PW’s supposition: These are clearly damaged psyches.

        1. I’m basing my statement on Alice Miller’s work. She is a German psychoanalyst and studied Freud for many years and later broke from his work when she discovered that almost all abusive behavior has its roots in childhood destructive pedagogy and childhood abuse.  In For Your Own Good she illustrates quite compellingly why a million Germans participated and complied with the horrendous acts perpetrated against humanity during the Hitler regime. She analyzes a German family who wouldn’t go along with it and showed that their childhood was filled with genuine love and compassion for others.

          I happen to believe her and have read two of her books.  Most people deny abuse because they don’t want to admit that they too were abused.  I found both of her books intense but the first one, The Drama of the Gifted Child really touched me and it was all about emotional abuse and how damaging it is to a child’s psyche. It made me a believer. I read it almost 20 years ago and still I remember the intensity of her words. She is truly a remarkable writer.

          According to Miller, those who choose a career that inherently carries with it power over others needs help.  She names a few of these positions such as doctors, lawyers, teachers, social workers, psychiatrists, psychologists and police officers as having power.  She says anyone who chooses one of these professions has a basic narcissist need that was never met as a child and they need help. These fields she calls the helping fields and it is what motivates a narcissist to choose one of these fields. There is hope though as she says once they get help they are the best in their fields.  That is the ones who truly get help make the best in their field.

          I remember before I chose a major in college joking to my friends who went into Criminal Justice and Social Work, I have enough problems of my own I don’t want to listen to others problems. After reading Alice Miller’s books I thought perhaps I’m not as bad off as others.

          1. ever having casually semi-endorsed anything you posted!

            It’s not that there are not a few molecules of truth in what you just presented, but rather that they are dissolved in a huge vat of over-simplification and over-generalization, and thus lost in the resulting solution.

            What human beings are, in general and in particular, why they do certain things and become certain types, is complex enough to render the model you adhere to absolutely meaningless.

            1. for demonstrating that two people vehemently disagreeing can both be astonishingly wrong. I already pointed out what was wrong with PW’s “analysis.” Your depiction, however, of condemning an orchestrated attempt to disrupt public dialogue, and to silence our elected representatives when they come to speak to and with their constituents, as “thought police,” is at least as absurd.

    1. …and yes, it’s lame. But WTF is the President supposed to?

      If he does nothing about this Astroturf Army of Terrorists who scream and threaten Federal Officials, he’s weak, ineffective and stupid.

      If he uses his organization to counter the Industry Shills and Paid GOP Terrorists and try and steer the debate back to the issue at hand, he’s malevolent Dictator and Political-Machine Boss bent on hijacking democracy.

      If a few plants steer this debate back to the issues at hand and promote a real dialogue, I may change my mind and volunteer to be one.  

      1. that this woman acted on anyone else’s direction, and not merely on her own poor judgment? You concede the arbitrary assumption that she was an Obama “plant” far too quickly: I consider that to be extremely improbable, in fact.

              1. other than to pitch in and go to the meeting.  However, what she said is a well documented lie and shows horrible judgement.

                Kind of like the guy in St Louis in a You’re…not…helping kind of way.

              2. is not evidence of any kind that she was acting under anyone else’s direction, and I would feel exactly the same way if the roles were reversed. Those who wouldn’t feel the same way would simply be wrong-headed in the same way that you are now, which does nothing to improve your position.

              3. I would never be a cry baby who is painfully & obviously trying to be an apologist for switching support from R to D in the presidential election– all in an effort to try to demonstrate to the U votes that going D is such a horrible mistake, AND demonstrating it by presenting bogus shoestring non-evidence?

                Yeah, I can’t relate to that.

                Sorry

                1. I wanted transparency and we have had very little.

                  I wanted him to follow through on his promise to post bills before they were voted on, and then came the stimulus bill.

                  For me, it’s a money thing, and a foreign policy thing, and a lack of faith in McCain.

                  I don’t view healthcare as a right.  Do you?  That’s probably the biggest disagreement and it’s a base one.  It doesn’t mean you have to hate each other, I just have a different point of view.  And before you start casting dispersions about being racist, or unwilling to be charitable, or about haves and have-nots, please consider that there’s the possibility you might be barking up the wrong tree by trying to stick those labels to me.

                    1. Although showing someone to be all those things is harder than just throwing shit from behind an alias, isn’t it?

                    2. As if suggesting putting landmines on the border so as to deal with your “immigrant issues” is going to put you in the categories of not being racist or charitable.

                      And don’t you DARE backpeddle and say that you meant decoy landmines.

                      Have another beer, buddy.  

                    3. It was said hypothetically and you know it.  You can’t use that as your permanent bee in your bonnet.

                      Anything real to offer? Didn’t think so.

                      I’ll buy YOU a beer. You could use it.  

                    4. In complete seriousness, I’m sure you probably would really like me.

                      I think after reading some of your early posts, I kind of had it in my head that I just didn’t like you, and I was rude one time in particular, and it really bothered me.

                      You’re mercilessly sardonic, and very funny most of the time.  Always interesting and entertaining.  I mean it.

                      I’m sure you’re good folk.  We lose sight of the fact that this form of communication is all posturing, and only a couple of people actually go around and posture like we do here in their regular lives.

                      So, cheers.  You can tell me to get lost if you want, but I wanted to blather about it a little.

                    5. to take you up on your offer. The next pols meetup I’ll try to make it out to so we can all recognize each other as human beings.

                      Everyone tells me “Laughingboy is a good guy despite his ideological shortcomings” so sure, I’ll let you buy me a drink.

                      🙂

                      There, doesn’t that feel better? Aaahh

    2. It has nothing to do with the merits of various arguments regarding health care reform, however. Nor does it have anything to do with the merits of other positions on various topics of public debate. In fact, it’s meaningless and irrelevant.

      There are about 300,000,000 people in the United States, thousands of whom were Obama delegates. The actions of one individual with poor judgment means that some of the tens of millions of Democrats in this country have poor judgment, and nothing more. Some, in fact, are rapists, murderers, child molestors, and pick their nose in public. That fact reflects on the individuals engaged in said behaviors, and not on the positions they claim to hold.

      Only when loathsome behaviors are directly inspired by loathsome ideologies, or organized to advance any ideology through loathsome means, are those behaviors relevant to the debate. Good examples would be violence against a group of people based on bigotry toward that group of people, or if Organizing For America had sent out activists to town hall meetings with the instruction that they should claim to be doctors to increase their credibility. Neither of those appears to be the case here. What you’ve posted here serves only to discredit, justly, one single individual with poor judgment.

      I’m assuming that wasn’t your intended point, and so am happy to point out that your post was pointless.

      1. Fake but accurate?

        At least you’re being honest.

        You’re not a terribly polite person, are you?  Is everyone that disagrees with you guilty of being “pointless”?

        1. are guilty of being pointless, whether they agree with me or not.

          Her subterfuge has no logical connection to the substance of the argument she tried to advance. If I were to pretend to be an Arab in order to attend meetings of jihadists with the purpose of arguing against jihadism with increased credibility, my dishonest (and ill-conceived) tactic would not make my position any less correct. “Fake but accurate” is, in fact, exactly right in this case. There’s nothing particularly improbable about that combination.

          What makes your contribution pointless is the fact that it has no relevance to the discussion. It is simply the cheap exploitation of one person’s stupidity in service to a poorly reasoned argument on a hotly debated social issue.

          1. What makes your contribution pointless is the fact that it has no relevance to the discussion. It is simply the cheap exploitation of one person’s stupidity in service to a poorly reasoned argument on a hotly debated social issue.

            Whereas anyone doing something stupid on the anti-healtcare ‘reform’ bill side is different from this lady because they are a part of a well-coordinated effort?

            How about if we agree that there are jackasses like this lady and like the right wing lunatics on both sides, but they’re small in number, and there are a number of astroturfers on both sides, and that it’s a very hotly contested issue, and it almost directly pits diverging philosophies against each other in terms of universal healthcare.

            And the folks that are rational are being drowned out by a Dem supermajority going up against very pissed off people that have no recourse other than to be pissed off because there has been no negotiation with the Republicans on the issue (which is up to the Dems, and probably the same thing the R’s would have done in the same case).

            Is that ‘point-full’ enough for you?

            1. John Boehner laughed in their faces. That’s not a talking point, it’s the truth LB.

              At no point did the Republicans ever want to play ball with the Dems and Obama on this issue, because if there was a consensus plan, then the Dems would get all the credit if it was a good one.

              I can’t argue with the first two paragraphs, but your reasoning behind their anger is just wrong. The Republican Party is fanning the flames because it’s good for them politically to do so. But don’t make it sound like the Dems are acting like the GOP did most of this decade by locking them out of most legislative negotiations.

              Obama tried to get them involved, and the GOP told him to go to hell. If the protesters are mad about the perception that they don’t have a voice because ther ehave been “no negotiations with Republicans” then they should blame their Republican reps, not the Dems.

              1. IIRC, another R congressman asked him if he wanted to go to a committee meeting debating the healthcare bill, and he just laughed it off.

                What the fuck did people elect him for ?  He can’t even show up to a committee meeting on the most important piece of legislation of the year ?

                This guy has no solutions for anything.

            2. We can agree on the points made in your paragraph beginning “How about if we agree…,” except that the distribution of organized effort to random individual is different between the two, to an extent that becomes highly relevant.

              On the points made in the paragraph following that one, you attribute “rationality” to those who systematically ignore reason and established facts (such as comparative data of existing health care systems), and argue from manufactured falsehoods. That is about as bad a misattribution as possible. These people mislabeled by you as “the rational ones” also lost the election, badly, and the other side…, the one that actually has reason and facts on its side…, finally has a chance to act on behalf of all those who favor acting on the basis of reason and facts.

  2. I didn’t serve under him, but a lot of Vets I know did…and they say he rocks. His observation about the motivations of the original GI Bill has never really been spoken, and it draws an unspoken parallel with the return of Generation Kill to “The World.”

    Do we really want hundreds of thousands of pissed-off, unemployed and angry-at-civilian combat veterans with nothing to do?

    The Money Quote:

    “Near the end of World War II, a first “G.I. Bill” was enacted by Congress primarily to preclude Post-war depression. Some recall that lawmakers passed the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, less out of gratitude, than out of fear — fear that at war’s end an army of unemployed ex-servicemen would, again, march on Washington, as the “Bonus Army” did in 1932.

    To keep the peace and spur the economy, Congress offered Veterans free college tuition, help in buying homes, and a year’s worth of unemployment assistance. It turned out to be one of the best single investments the United States has ever made.”

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

    1. My granny was an army nurse in WWII and worked as a relief nurse at the VA during Vietnam.

      She said giving men who have been desensitized to killing need structure to help them resocialize: College and job preference for federal jobs kept them from flying off the rails.

      She used to compare what happened to vets after WWII v. Vietnam all the time.  A lot of our the social problems Vietnam had nothing to do with whether the war was good or bad, but rather the treatment of the vets by both the government (and broader society).

      Let’s not make that mistake again.

    1. …Members of the general public wishing to attend this event should visit the following website to register for the opportunity to attend the town hall: http://www.whitehouse.gov/advance/ColoradoTownHall8-15-09/. The site will be available to access from 9:00 a.m. local time on Wednesday August 12 until 12:00 p.m. local time on Thursday, August 13.

      Those without internet access may leave a voice message with interest to attend by calling (970) 254-6139. This phone line will be available from 9:00 a.m. local time to 6:00 p.m. local time on Wednesday, August 12th.

      Due to limited space at the event the White House will only be able to fulfill a limited number of requests for tickets. Names will be randomly chosen from submissions to the above website and voicemail. The randomly chosen individuals will be called with further details to attend. Tickets are not for sale or re-sale.

      All attendees will go through airport-like security and should bring as few personal items as possible. No bags, no sharp objects, no umbrellas, no liquids, no strollers, and no signs will be allowed into the venue. Cameras are permitted.

      h/t Ralphie

    1. As a Post-Production guy with 3 Macs, 2 PCs and 2 SGI 02’s in my studio, don’t buy into this hype that PCs are cheaper than Macs.

      Putting aside all the Spyware, Antivirus and other extra apps you have to buy to keep a PC running, I’d esp point out the frequency in which you’ll be reinstalling your OS after WindowsRot sets in, and your computer works slower than molasses in winter…

      1. Macs are great pieces of equipment.  But then, they should be, since they cost two to three times as much for a laptop.

        My friend has had just as many things go wrong with his Macs and official software as any PC user.

        Good spyware and antivirus is available free.  And if you know what you are doing and behind a router, you don’t need to run them but once in awhile for a check.  And as Mac’s are selling more and more, the malware makers have taken notice.

        Bottom line, both formats are good, both have pros and cons, if you are happy, great.

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