Gravity Collapse » politics

The trouble with partisans

gravitycollapse — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 14:54:33 +0000

Michael Kazin penned a piece on The New Republic attacking “independents” in the U.S. (i.e., people who are neither Democrat or Republican, which as we all know are the only two schools of thought that can possibly exist).

I single him out because his column reeks of the kind of narrow-minded thinking that stifles true political debate in the United States, and perpetuates the kind of endless tit-for-tat idiocy that fails to spark progress, designed to trick average Americans into an “us vs. them” game so that corrupt individuals in the background can profit.

I have provided this little translation, and side commentary, because it shows how political pundits like Kazin would prefer that no one actually thought for themselves, thereby allowing people like him to keep profiting off the same tired, broken system.

(...)
Read the rest of The trouble with partisans (3,425 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

On Obama

gravitycollapse — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:52:22 +0000

OK, not literally. But I thought I’d write a few words about Obama after the election, and then I ended up so busy that it sort of never happened. I could wait until the inauguration to write about this, in that most apropos of moments, but now is just as well, while the President-elect goes about the business of choosing cabinet members and managing “the transition”, as the robotic American news anchors keep regurgitating from the teleprompter.

It’s funny, I am extremely politically active, in that I engage in political debate and discourse with my friends almost constantly, although I would never work on someone’s campaign. I’m sitting in half a world away from my home country, but thanks to VoIP, talking to my friends back home costs very little, and we were burning through minutes and hours talking about McCain’s head-scratching tactics, about the Barbie doll vice presidential candidate, about the brawl between Hillary and Barack in the primary, etc. and so on.

Though those close friends who sat through my endless wind-baggery know full well my seemingly contradictory political beliefs (which are really only contradictory when viewed through the idiotic prism of American political theater), more casual acquaintances or business associates really don’t have a feel for my politics, because I usually play those cards close to my vest, so to speak. Therefore, it may surprise some that I am not a progressive.

(...)
Read the rest of On Obama (1,011 words)

© gravitycollapse for Gravity Collapse, 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: politics, united states

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Fascists of the left

gravitycollapse — Sun, 12 Jun 2005 22:03:01 +0000

According to the LA Times, the Supreme Court has ruled that Federal agents may in fact arrest and bring charges against people who violate Federal drug laws, even if they are complying with the medical marijuana laws which have been passed in nine states.

People who know me won’t be surprised to learn that I am (duh) in favor of legalizing marijuana, for medical use or otherwise. So, given our government’s ridiculous stance on drugs, I’m not particularly surprised when I see our government attempt to maintain control over people who want to get high.

But, even given my personal interest in drug legalization, that’s not the interesting part of this story. What makes this case interesting to me is that it’s really a test of state’s rights; namely, the right of the state to make a law which goes against the laws of the nation. And what makes it even more interesting is that it’s the LEFTIST (together with extreme rightist) fascists on the Supreme Court that ruled in favor of the Federal government.

(...)
Read the rest of Fascists of the left (147 words)

© gravitycollapse for Gravity Collapse, 2005. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: drugs, law, politics

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Vote for things, not against them

gravitycollapse — Thu, 04 Nov 2004 09:53:45 +0000

I am secretly glad Bush won the U.S. election.

Certainly not because Bush is a good president; he’s a dolt, and an international laughingstock. And certainly not because he is surrounded by a bunch of extremely intelligent – and evil – individuals who are bent on retaining U.S. global hegemony.

No, I’m glad, because American progressives are weak and hypocritical, and I’m hoping that this will maybe wake them up, though I think this is doubtful.

(...)
Read the rest of Vote for things, not against them (379 words)

© gravitycollapse for Gravity Collapse, 2004. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: elections, politics

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Don’t forget about domestic issues

gravitycollapse — Fri, 28 Mar 2003 08:35:12 +0000

While our troops are fighting in Iraq — and getting all the press — you might want to start reading pages 5-20 of your newspaper, lest you will miss what the Bush administration is up to while they have you captivated with their sanitized war. Their bullshit budget is one example, but it at least got some press.

In my last post, I argued (quite poorly; I was angry) that America is on the express train to totalitarianism in the wake of 9/11 and so on. This is the beginning of the evidence.

Bush has signed an executive order that reverses a Clinton administration executive order concerning classification of information. Bush’s order says the government can classify documents that were previously declassified, and, interestingly, extends ‘classifiability’ (excuse the malapropism) to cover “infrastructure” items, and any items about weapons of mass destruction (remember, we have more of those than anyone), as well as anything pertaining to our “war on terror”.

(...)
Read the rest of Don’t forget about domestic issues (263 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

They said it could never happen here…

gravitycollapse — Mon, 24 Mar 2003 09:39:28 +0000

You know, I grew up in the United States, and, I guess because it was the latest major killing spree, they drilled Nazi and World War II stuff into our heads incessantly when I was in school. At times, we joked that they should have just renamed history class “Hitler Class”.

These studies would inevitably devolve into debates about whether such things could happen here. The answer was always assuredly “no”. “No”, because this is a “free” country, and we are a “democracy”, and so on and so forth.

Well, it has to be said that Hitler rose out of the worst economic times in Germany’s history; he was the savior who presided over the fixing of that, and so for it the Germans gave him way too much leeway to conduct his twisted Jew-hating world conquest campaign.

So, a theory develops: in times of crisis, people seem to lose their logic, and allow governments carte blanche, to do basically whatever they want.

(...)
Read the rest of They said it could never happen here… (191 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

I hate hypocrisy…

gravitycollapse — Fri, 12 Oct 2001 09:14:32 +0000

…and unfortunately we live in a country full of it. The ‘coming together’ because we were all attacked is fading, and reality is beginning to sink in.

And the reality is, New York City still has a fascist mayor and the country still has an idiotic/evil executive branch of the government.

To support this:

(1) Saudi prince Alwaleed Bin Talal offers New York City ten million dollars after touring the devastation downtown. Our (not so) beloved mayor Rudy “Adolf” Giuliani (who a couple of weeks ago entertained ideas of attempting to overturn the term limits and become “dictator of New York”) turned down the prince’s offer, simply because the prince later suggested that the USA should “reconsider its policy in the Middle East”.

Rudy Giulani, you have re-proven that you are…well…an asshole. I’d like to try to be more subtle, but there’s really no other word to describe you. I won’t be sorry to see your ass “get tha fuck outta dodge”, as it were.

(...)
Read the rest of I hate hypocrisy… (265 words)

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

At least dead people like them

gravitycollapse — Thu, 23 Aug 2001 21:51:13 +0000

It seems Microsoft has resorted to pathetic tactics to try to win favor with the Attorneys General in the states where they are contesting their monopoly status, as this Newsfactor story details.

It’s amazing to me that a company whose products have touched so many people could be as universally reviled as they are. About the only organizations people hate more are the phone companies.

But, this story sheds some light on the practice of lobbying in this country. Personally, I have always thought of lobbying as a truly loathsome profession; down there with pimps and thugs and Hollywood agents. Lobbying as a concept doesn’t sound so bad: Not everyone can make it to Washington, after all, so why not send representatives there for you?

The problem is, as soon as there’s an extra person involved, it costs more money, which means in effect that these people end up just functioning as whores who bend over for the highest bidder.

(...)
Read the rest of At least dead people like them (130 words)

© gravitycollapse for Gravity Collapse, 2001. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: business, politics, technology

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh