Meritocracy to Mediocrity
Lately it occurs to me,
What a long, strange trip it's been
--Truckin', Grateful Dead
Over men and horses hoops and garters
Lastly through a hogshead of real fire!
In this way Mr. K. will challenge the world!
--Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite,
The Beatles
Instead of trying to build newer and bigger
weapons of destruction,
we should be thinking about getting more use
out of the ones we already have
--Deep Thoughts, Jack Handey
____________________
What a long, strange trip it's been
--Truckin', Grateful Dead
Over men and horses hoops and garters
Lastly through a hogshead of real fire!
In this way Mr. K. will challenge the world!
--Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite,
The Beatles
Instead of trying to build newer and bigger
weapons of destruction,
we should be thinking about getting more use
out of the ones we already have
--Deep Thoughts, Jack Handey
____________________
Sarah Palin, poster child for a new America, was recently given a forum in which to express her scatter-gun anti-Iran thoughts in that paean to journalistic mediocrity, USA Today ("Palin: It's Time to Get Tough on Iran.")
Her lede falls flat precisely because of its hypocrisy:
"Iran continues to defy the international community in its drive to acquire nuclear weapons. Arab leaders in the region rightly fear a nuclear-armed Iran. We suspected this before, but now we know for sure because of leaked diplomatic cables."
So, La Palin brands Wikileaks founder Julian Assange a traitor and a terrorist for his document leakage, but has no qualms about using data acquired by the same dirty deed. Apparently, irony is a lost art among those who hail from the Great White North. Or maybe it is just that expediency trumps consistency.
How do you say, "hypocrite"?
Labels: new america, sarah palin
posted by rangeragainstwar at 10:21 PM
12 Comments:
Hi Ranger
Jack from Toronto. Only because we fear guilt by association, could you please be very specific as to which part of the Great White North you are referring to? The huge majority of us from the Yukon and East of actually graduated from grade school, high school and didn't have to go to 4 community colleges to get a degree in underwater basket weaving.
Thanks Dude :-)
hahahahaha...ho ho ha hah...
oh god, help me...that's too much...
you sure have an eye for a diamond in the rough.
Thanks
avedis
i think sarah palin might be stupid.
Hello to Jack,
Being a bona fide 1/2 Canuck, I feel qualified to comment on lands North of the 48 :) I think Canadiennes are great folk; we are speaking of rogue Alaskans here who can see Russia from their back porch. Maybe Krushchev, too.
G.D.,
Ya think?
avedis,
Thanks, but Ranger does think this is more than a mere diamond in the rough -- this is principle to the hypocrisy and showmanship which we are being fed.
Are there no rigorous thinkers among them? Why does the media give her a soapbox in a national paper, and no one point out the inconsistency of her position within one week.
It's a mystery, Lisa.
I am really bad at figuring out these things because i don't understand how my fellow citizens think. I mean I really cannot relate. When I come here I feel like I can relate, even if we disagree sometimes, I still feel a connection.
I have a couple of friends in the non-cyber world - and a brother and a wife - that give me the same vibe. Other than that, I get along with folks mostly by being polite and joking around and doing a good job, but I have no idea where they are coming from as far as these things go. I feel closer to some of the musicians I listen to, but that have never met, than my fellow countrymen (and women), neighbors, etc.
I guess you'd better ask somone else.
avedis
avedis,
I understand what you say. We do relate -- there is no need of an echo chamber here; we are straight.
Like you, I smile and get along, but am baffled by the motivators of most others. I am sometimes confronted by behavior from some in my inner circle that disappoints me deeply, in that I did not judge their capacity for (duplicity, unkindness, whatever) adequately.
I like to be direct, and cannot deal with dissimulation, yet it is all 'round. I like musicians (and Westerns) for the same reason: They can be honest and raw.
I just accept the inconsistency swirling about, with a touch of sorrow.
Hi Jim and Lisa,
Even when Sarah says something right, it is for utterly wrong reasons. Wouldn't it be funny to feed her some made-up Wikileaks "memos" and watch her flail about like a kite without a tail?
Dave
Avedis,
Do we really believe that our Lisa just smiles and gets along with people? I think we're being hornswaggled, or brainwashed.
We don't have to always agree, and it'd be boring IF we did. We don't have to sing to the choir since they have the hymnals.
I don't understand the criminal nature of our wars , or of our continued criminal response to Terrorism.
I generally try to stay away from people, and am so blessed only b/c i am bountifully retired. This is the difference b/w us , since you must continue to play the game.
I am proud to have you commenting to our essays. We are representatives of a country that no longer exists.
jim
verghoodwinked and bamboozled....I would have let that slide right by.
Thanks for the kind words.
You know what's keeping me up at night these days is that I let my kids sign up for that crap. I don't know what I was thinking. I knew what they were in for and I didn't emphasize the negatives (aka the truth); in fact, quite the opposite.
Not that they aren't doing ok, they are, but then again, they haven't seen the elephant yet.
Maybe if I had done this or that I could have deflected them.
oh hell.
avedis
...BTW I noticed RAW has elected to not comment on the repeal of DADT.
I was talking - or, really, trying to talk - to some people about this. They were all for it; celebrating the recent repeal. I explained that I have nothing against homosexuals and that I suppose they should be able to serve their country as much as anyone without fear of being drummed out for only reason of that orientation, but that I was concerned about how it would all work out in the implementation.
I was trying to explain Marine Corps culture and how I just couldn't imagine the accpetance of openly gay recruits. I mean I can't imagine how they would even get through boot. Not because the individuals might not have what it takes, but because the DIs would pulverize them, figuratively if not literally. And, if they made it through boot and ended up in an infantry company...well, unless someone sprinkles magic pixie dust in the water buf. their peers will lay waste to them. It's a concern at least. Those grunts are mutant beasts.
So, all I was saying is that it is not an unqualified victory for equality. But I get called all sorts of names with homophobic being the central theme. I get told that the Marines will follow orders and simply accept this change.
And I'm thinking, "yeah, right. You jackasses who have never even served in any service branch are goin to be pushing orders on the Corps with its 200 years + of tradition".
People don't want to listen. They're so over protected, so over propagandized by whatever source they listen to, that they have no clue. Worse, they don't want to get a clue. They don't want their world rocked. Fucking snot nosed babies.
And what really pisses me off is that they can make me feel that way about them. 'cause I'm really a nice lovin' guy at heart.
avedis
avedis,
Thank you for indicating that there are larger concerns than my conversational style ...
We have addressed DADT in the past, and we are on the same page. Of course, a civilized society should accord equal status to all citizens, but we are not fully civilized. We suffer many psychosis and neurosis. Our bigotry runs deep, and may be an indwelling feature of man.
We spoke with a young soldier who seconded your thoughts: He was not against serving with a gay troop, but he worried about how others might brutalize him.
In a broader sociological sense, we seem to be quite superficial and content with gestures, while passing on the hard work of actually digging deep to perceive the actuality and the truth. And then you have those arrivistes who would claim for no Truth.
So nothing truly changes, or if it does, the process is excruciatingly painful and slow.
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