Sunday Morning

Republican distrust of the intellectual elites did not begin with Sarah Palin.  However, Ross Douthat launches with Jon Corzine and segues to the contemporary case for healthy skepticism of the Best and Brightest.

In meritocracies, though, it’s the very intelligence of our leaders that creates the worst disasters. Convinced that their own skills are equal to any task or challenge, meritocrats take risks than lower-wattage elites would never even contemplate, embark on more hubristic projects, and become infatuated with statistical models that hold out the promise of a perfectly rational and frictionless world. (Or as Calvin Trillin put it in these pages, quoting a tweedy WASP waxing nostalgic for the days when Wall Street was dominated by his fellow bluebloods: “Do you think our guys could have invented, say, credit default swaps? Give me a break! They couldn’t have done the math.”)

Hmm.  And however!

What you see in today’s Republican primary campaign is a reaction to exactly these kinds of follies — a revolt against the ruling class that our meritocracy has forged, and a search for outsiders with thinner résumés but better instincts.

But from Michele Bachmann to Herman Cain, the outsiders haven’t risen to the challenge. It will do America no good to replace the arrogant with the ignorant, the overconfident with the incompetent.

In place of reckless meritocrats, we don’t need feckless know-nothings. We need intelligent leaders with a sense of their own limits, experienced people whose lives have taught them caution. We still need the best and brightest, but we need them to have somehow learned humility along the way.

Is Mitt Romney humble?

Comments

[Ignatz]

--Convinced that their own skills are equal to any task or challenge, meritocrats take risks than lower-wattage elites would never even contemplate, embark on more hubristic projects, and become infatuated with statistical models that hold out the promise of a perfectly rational and frictionless world.--

Yeah, chasing ephemeral profits in the housing bubble was a far riskier move and much more hubristic than, say, invading Poland, bombing Pearl Harbor or summoning the Spanish Armada to invade England.

[hit and run]

Tradition isn't dead.

[jimmyk]

become infatuated with statistical models that hold out the promise of a perfectly rational and frictionless world.

Straw man. All of Wall Street is premised on the frictions and irrationalities. That's how (honest) money is made.

[Extraneus]

It will do America no good to replace the arrogant with the ignorant, the overconfident with the incompetent.

Calling b.s. here. We're attempting to replace an arrogant, ignorant, overconfident and incompetent president. Any America-loving adult with a respect for the constitution would be far worthier.

[Clarice]

I'm with ext but then I've been living in the heart of the capitol where every nincompoop thinks he's a genius and I have more intelligent conversations with the pool man and handyman than I have with most of my multi degreed but gormless neighbors.

[peter]

Really good Clarice's Pieces today. and just in case you forgot about him, today's NY Slimes has a puff piece about Anthony Wiener.

LUN Clarice.

[Benjamin Franklin]

"become infatuated with statistical models that hold out the promise of a perfectly rational and frictionless world."

Is the 'frictionless world' of Finance the threat of accountability?
IOW what kind of 'risk' is there when you have no fear of apprehension or prosecution?

http://occupybangor.org/announcements/stephen-king-says-its-time-to-take-back-the-american-dream

STEPHEN AND TABITHA KING SAYS IT’S TIME TO TAKE BACK THE AMERICAN DREAM
Stephen and Tabitha King released the following statement to the Occupy Bangor Media Working Group:

“It’s time for the wealthy to pay their fair share before the middle class becomes the forgotten class. And it’s time for the banks to give back what they were given. There are those in politics, particularly those on the conservative side, who can’t get enough of telling people that the wealthy one per cent must not be taxed because doing so kills jobs. The real job-killers are corporate greed and political expediency. It’s time for working people in Maine and all across the country to take back the American dream.”

[Benjamin Franklin]

He's wearing the clothing rioters wear, shorts, T-shirt and flip flops.
He looks healthy when taken into custody.

http://www.ktvu.com/videos/news/oakland-another-iraq-war-veteran-injured/vD5pb/

[Benjamin Franklin]

Kristol says the Republicans don't have a chance....Obama is toast.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/it-s-not-1980-anymore_607780.html

[hit and run]

There are those ...[who tell]... people that the wealthy one per cent must not be taxed

Name one.

[AliceH]

Well now, I'm no intellectual, but I have to disagree that Corzine as a perfect example of weaknesses inherent in a meritocracy. I have no opinion on his achieving being named CEO of Goldman Sachs, but I dispute merit having much to do with his subsequent election to the U.S. Senate or Governorship - that was mostly due to truckloads of cash. His failure to be re-elected was because had shown enough voters he did not merit that job - in spite of cash.

Or are we using some definition of "meritocracy" that just tallies up line items on a resume with no regard to demonstrated abilities?

[Benjamin Franklin]

"that was mostly due to truckloads of cash. "

BINGO !!!!! But with THIS bingo, everyone wins......

[Benjamin Franklin]

"Name one."

Corporations are 'people', too...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/03/us-usa-tax-corporate-idUSTRE7A261C20111103?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=71

[Comanche Voter]

Well Ignatz, are you comparing the Bamster to Hitler (Poland) Tojo (Pearl Harbor) and Prince Phillip (Spanish Armada)--or are you talking about mindless drone attacks in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia etc?

I do disagree with Douthat on Messrs. Cain and Gingrich. Cain's more of an outsider--but he had a successful business career. Gingrich as an outsider is a little hard to swallow. I mean the Speaker of The House of Representatives is what, 3rd in line to the Presidency? (If you count Zero as 1, Biden as the second and god help us all, Pelosi as third). These are not inexperienced people in the traditional sense.

[hit and run]

Corporations are 'people', too...

Is it fair to say that the NewD irection you've taken the goal posts indicate that you concede that King's point -- as he made it -- was nothing more than a strawman?

[Benjamin Franklin]

"strawman'

Yes, as he made it. But that doesn't mean he's on the wrong track.

I take it you concede Corporations are 'people'?

[Benjamin Franklin]

Hit;

I'm gonna put you on the spot....What do you think of Publicly Funded Campaigns? I know that is an incendiary word-group, but I hope you will include thoughts on how the present Cash is King system is working out...

[Cecil Turner]

I think Reagan said it best:

Well, the trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so.

Let us set aside for a moment the question of whether an undistinguished career of self-serving public service leavened with a record of wasting others' money and self-promoting autobiography establishes one as an intellectual. The bigger question is: if an "intellectual" like Barack Obama can't function in the real world, doesn't that tell us something about the actual merit of our "meritocracy"?

I can have some sympathy for a plausible theory with insufficient data to back it up (e.g., AGW/climate change). But when the record clearly disproves the theory, as in the current employment crisis:
there is simply no logical way to argue the theory is correct. It isn't. If it is "anti-intellectual" to argue for a change of course, then the very concept of "intellectual" has become an oxymoron.

[mockmook]

This is why I wanted Palin to run.

I believe she is humble in the sense that she doesn't see government as the answer to every problem.

I have the feeling that the other candidates still dream of Great Projects.

[hit and run]

Not much of a fan of publicly funded campaigns.

When Obama promised to abide by the public funding system if McCain also agreed to do so in 2008, and then backed out of it without consulting or conversating with McCain,I gave him a gentle chiding about it.

But my chiding was on another Obama "expiration date" -- not that he was forgoing public funding. It was also because he made it sound like he had to give up the public funding because of the unprecedented participation of small donors -- when it was obvious to all that he gave up the system because he could rake in more money outside of it - a lot of which was from Big Money from all sorts of industries, including from . . . gasp . . . Banksters.

And thus was President Goldman Sachs born.

I actually supported Obama in that decision -- it was the duplicity that got me (not to mention how many people bought it as if Obama is above petty duplicity for political gain).

Sorry. Relitigating the past is not really the issue,is it?

Cash is King is not the biggest problem in elections by a country mile. For every Soros there's a Koch. For every this there's a that. I'm more concerened with limits put on the system by "campaign finance reform" than I am on the freedom that comes from people pooling money based on interests to help advance their cause. It may be messy - but freedom trumps centralized control in my book.

The idea that two candidates should be forced to spend an equal amount? Ghastly.

I may not like the idea that one candidate with a vast personal wealth can "buy" an election (whether its a D or an R,in a primary or a general election). But I much more find distasteful the idea that any person's wealth is precluded from being spent in the service of advancing his ideas. Are there sensible limits we should pursue? Sure. Are there areas that should be negotiated and argued and ultimately written into legislation to help the balance between freedom and fairness? Of course. Are we at the point that the amount of freedom is out of whack compared to fairness? Not by a country mile.

Thanks for getting me going on a stream of consciouness rant. I haven't gone back and edited it for fear that I may change that stream such that I overthink it.

[Danube of Thought]

"It’s time for the wealthy to pay their fair share"

I would like once--just once--to have one of these perpetual whiners to tell us exactly what a fair share would be. Given that the US has the most progressive income tax system in the world, how do they feel about taxation rates in those other industrialied nations?

And how do the go about determining what is fair? Is a fair share for 47% of Americans really zero?

I confidently predict that the questions will never be put to them, let alone answered by them.

[MayBee]

He's wearing the clothing rioters wear, shorts, T-shirt and flip flops.

And a bandana tied around his neck so the bulk of it is ready to cover his face. That's not a fashion statement.

Nobody hear is arguing on behalf of over aggressive police, Ben. But I'm distraught that so many of our Iraq war vets seem to be running toward trouble in the pointless Oakland disturbances.

[hit and run]

MayBee:
Nobody hear is arguing

Here no,see no,speak no evil.

(For the record,MayBee was the inspiration for my post chiding Obama about opting out of public funding....)

[MayBee]

xoxo, hit.

[Benjamin Franklin]

Hit..I thought I would just cut to the chase and give it all it one dose...sorry. If you want to continue, do so. If not, ok.

"The idea that two candidates should be forced to spend an equal amount? Ghastly."

Not forced to spend an equal amount. The Max is 20 million with an additional 50k from personal donations.

This is from League of Women Voters. Understanding that PFC must be done in conjunction with Lobby Reforms. Six benchmarks,,,

http://www.lwv.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=4302

http://www.fec.gov/pages/brochures/pubfund.shtml

General Election Funding

"The Presidential nominee of each major party may become eligible for a public grant of $20 million (plus a cost-of-living adjustment) for campaigning in the general election.7 To be eligible to receive the public funds, the candidate must limit spending to the amount of the grant and may not accept private contributions for the campaign. Private contributions may, however, be accepted for a special account maintained exclusively to pay for legal and accounting expenses associated with complying with the campaign finance law. These legal and accounting expenses are not subject to the expenditure limit.

In addition, candidates may spend up to $50,000 from their own personal funds. Such spending does not count against the expenditure limit."

'Equal Time' provisions would require networks who take millions in ad revenue from super rich to give equal time to other candidates.

(Fairness Doctrine undone in 1987-would need to return)

As it is now, it is a matching program but, the money could be handled similar to Pell grants based upon need.

PSA's could enable candidates to proffer spots (discounted or free depending on the media) for their candidacy. Debates could be handled the same way.

[Danube of Thought]

The challenge issued by Hit was to name one person who tells people that the wealthy one per cent must not be taxed.

[Benjamin Franklin]

strike "with an additional 50k from personal donations." insert

additional 50k from personal funds...

[MayBee]

OMG. Have any of you read the grand jury report about Penn State's long time defensive coordinator, Jerry Sandusky?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/documents/sandusky-grand-jury-report11052011.html

Repulsive. If true, this shames JoPa.

[Benjamin Franklin]

"name one person who tells people that the wealthy one per cent must not be taxed."

Sorry, Hit. It was a 'knee-jerk',,,

[JM Hanes]

I usually like Ross Douthat a lot, but please:

"In place of reckless meritocrats, we don’t need feckless know-nothings. We need intelligent leaders with a sense of their own limits, experienced people whose lives have taught them caution."

Meritocrats have failed, so what we obviously need is.... a better class of meritocrats. And ego-free (frictionless!) Presidential candidates sans personal ambitions. Good luck with that.

"By elevating the children of farmers and janitors as well as lawyers and stockbrokers, we’ve created what seems like the most capable, hardworking, high-I.Q. elite in all of human history."

But Heaven forbid we should turn to the farmers and janitors who produced them for leadership? Just for starters, I'd take the work ethic of any farmer in America over John Corzine.

[rse]

Oh Clarice. LUN is especially for you.

Sunny has Cain's back.

[Benjamin Franklin]

Alan Simpson says..."The Fair Elections Now Act, by contrast, would challenge candidates to go to their constituents and collect thousands of individual checks of $100 or less in-state. Matching those donations with public funds would provide a powerful incentive for candidates and their constituents to rewrite the rules of the game. Instead of relying on bundled $2,500 checks from a wealthy few, campaigns would be funded from the ground up in small chunks.

Third, Americans of all philosophies agree that government must be accountable to the people — as two-thirds or more have consistently supported this reform in polls. Even a cursory glance at campaign finance disclosures shows that the lion’s share of campaign money comes from individuals and groups with vested tax-and-spending interests before Congress.

Look at who benefits from the $1.1 trillion in annual tax expenditures, or the nearly $100 billion in corporate welfare subsidies identified by the Cato Institute, and at who funds campaigns. This bipartisan problem demands a bipartisan response: Congress must end special-interest funding of campaigns to prevent such conflicts of interest once and for all."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-the-gop-should-support-publicly-funded-campaigns/2011/05/04/AFDDH21F_story.html

[Benjamin Franklin]

Sorry for the addendum, Hit. Call me a lying weasel....

[MayBee]

I prefer Congress end special-interest funding of projects, companies, and constituents.

If we don't trust people to act honestly when faced with receiving money, why do we trust them to act honestly when they are doling it out?

[Benjamin Franklin]

States where it's working...

http://www.publicampaign.org/CleanElectionsWinners

[Benjamin Franklin]

"If we don't trust people to act honestly when faced with receiving money, why do we trust them to act honestly when they are doling it out?"

Trust issues abound on both sides of this, MayBee. The nascent beginning (above) indicates some have trust in trying something new. But constant monitoring in the light of day is better than the secretive method.

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vnjagvet]

Just who are the feckless know nothings Douthat is talking about? Cain? Perry? Bachmann?

And just who is ignorant and incompetent?

ISTM his article is hyperbolic, inaccurate and smacking of smug elitism.

Are Douthat and Kristol on the Romney payroll already?

[Clarice]

rse, that video is wonderful!!

[Clarice]

I'm with jmh -again..

[narciso]

There is category error, and then there is steering right off the ecliptic, which is Douthat's m.o.

[hit and run]

JMH:
Just for starters, I'd take the work ethic of any farmer in America over John Corzine.

Pofarmer for President!

[narciso]

as usual, the narrative didn't quite coincide with the truth, also the theory that Zawahiri
gave him up, seems sound;

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/11/06/seals-killed-usama-bin-laden-within-minutes-new-book-reveals/

[Unless, of course, he knew.]

I dunno, MayBee; what did Joe have to do with it?
=============

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vnjagvet]

Clarice, that is the go to piece on the two faced media. It lays it all out in one page. And it is backed up with facts. It is a valuable resource to rebut what are sure to be future attacks on conservative candidates.

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vnjagvet]

OK. Where do I find rse's video.

[Ignatz]

--Well Ignatz, are you comparing the Bamster to Hitler (Poland) Tojo (Pearl Harbor) and Prince Phillip (Spanish Armada)--or are you talking about mindless drone attacks in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia etc?--

The meritocracy I took Douthat to be referring to is the Wall Street-tech-business titans and the political class is merely forged by the meritocracy. At least that's what he said.

[MayBee]

Kim- if you read the grand jury report, it says that a grad assistant* reported to Joe Paterno that he saw Sandusky in the shower performing anal sex on a ten year old boy.

Joe Pa referred the situation to the AD, and it was decided Sandusky.....could no longer use those showers.

(*a Penn paper is reporting the grad assistant was a former Penn State quarter back and current assistant coach)

[Ignatz]

Do NOT return to Pass The Freedom Fries thread if you value your sanity.
The Luciferian's more loquacious and less rational pal has apparently earned library computer privileges.

[Of course, he knew.]

Nevah mind, MayBee; you'd already read more about it than had I.
==================

["Go and sin no more."]

The Meaning of Life
You don't want to learn from me. The gods don't respect anyone a being given something, and they don't want anyone violating their will by shedding light as I do. That is why preachers and priests hurt themselves with their work, why I paid such a dear price and why Jesus had to die.
The true goal in life is to learn and understand what the gods teach the favored children, embrace and practice these as life rules. As you successfully avoid temptation the gods will begin to bestow wisdom upon each individual. With this you should build a base of wisdom which will assist you to strengthen your position and continually make progress.
Learning from me is a negative, but you people have failed so hard the gods deemed it necessary. Learn as little as you can from me and do the work completely for yourself.

Many believed changing the military from consignment-based to an all-volunteer force was a positive. In fact the draft compelled the gods to incurr obligation for which they would make up to those chosen later/in a future life.
The change from military draft to volunteer force dispelled the gods of blame and future compensation to the disfavored. They were able to sell this as positive progress in this enviornment of "libereral superiority", which was used to spread The Beast's "Californication" like a cancer, just as the gods did with capitalism, Christianity, democracy and Westernization, in an attempt to level the playing field and prepare for the Apocalypse globally.

There is no Satan. The gods control everything with their technology. They are very much "hands-on" dieties, ones which test people with temptation to ensure worthiness.
They will use people, clone hosts, even prophets to accomplish their goals using the same tactics of deception and temptation. These people who engage in the evil we see on Planet Earth don't go to heaven as they so believe. They are reincarnated as lesser life forms, punishment for their wickedness. So the Italians who planned the black gangster wars of the 90s were reincarnated into these individuals to experience the misery they freely planned for others, signature poetic justice the gods LOVE to administer.
People will perceive a change in someone's life when the reality is the gods clone hosted the individual who is now a different person, and that new person's legacy fits the change and new lifestyle, how the gods justify this different treatment. For temptation's sake they sell otherwise, and it looks as if the evil of the original has been rewarded. This is a terrible corruptor and hurts disfavored in the audience very, very badly.
The gods are to be feared, for there is nothing they will not do:::Having someone engage in an act of evil, putting in a fake and treating them differently because they are a different person, thereby creating the perception of reward is IMMORAL AND DISTURBED. Weak, impressionable minds observing this will certainly become corrupted.
The Apostles tell us Jesus says he will save us all, the gods will forgive us. The gods punish people for sins of prior lives by reincarnating them as monsters in society, using them as corruptors, creating social poison or simply as distraction. Due to the progressive decline these preditors experinece, they prey on us even worse in each subsequent life, hurting our children, our families and our future.
Incidentally, the Apostles (or their clone host fakes) who wrote the New Testiment are just like you all:::They were corrupt and did everything they were told:::"But god, Jesus never said that. Do you want me to lie?" "Do you want to be immortal or don't you. Don't ask questions asshole."
Moses leads the people out of Egypt because slavery is supposed to be bad for the people, when the reality is this was probably the highest ascention rate humanity ever experienced:::Contentment never motivated anyone.
This is reverse positioning.
People have no hope. We're all fucked.
Welcome to The Matrix.

Jesus WAS special, but not because of why you may think::::
Jesus was used to create The Matrix, the alternate perception which the gods can use to distract people away from the true goal, ascention into heaven and "moving on" past Earth.
xtians who believe in Jesus WILL have eternal life HERE ON PLANET EARTH!!! They will continually be recycled as the "new colonists" I mention above.
Son? A clone? What about other prophets? Mohammed? Moses?
How many of you would YOU want running around? Do they have a disposal policy where they throw the clones away when they are done using them?

This is the meaning of life. The meaning of life is a very complex concept, and I can continually list details and explain the god's positioning, but it ultimately becomes counterproductive and a distraction that is a total waste of time.
Rather than try to understand how the gods conduct business and manage Planet Earth you should have faith, be devoted to doing the right thing, being a better person and strive to achieve the goal of repairing your relationship with the gods through attonement.
In the back room of Joseph Mengele's operating facility came a screetching voice:::"HOW DARE YOU!!! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? I AM THE GODFATHER!! YOU'RE ALL GOING TO DIE SLOW!!" Ironic::What goes around comes around.
But one day the gods will no longer care, the people won't qualify for the insight punishment offers, the decision will have been made and even the "godfather" will be looking at the consolation prize of "1000 years with Jesus on Earth".
The gods are jacking you for all you're worth:::Your soul.

The gods are very conservative, the Republicans are the morally superior political party, but the gods have confused the enviornment by ensuring a sufficient combination of good AND evil in every entity, so no matter which side you allign with you incurr evil and get into trouble with the gods.
In this enviornment you have to make progress just to keep pace.
Republican's two primary traditional elements of evil are enviornmental disregard in favor of profit, illustrated with the 2010 BP fiasco in the Gulf of Mexico. The second is warmongering. Too often the gods sell people on war as "earning" when in reality it hurts everyone involved, even those against the war, for we will all pay for the sins of our leaders. The blood spilled is on all of our hands and is a price of being a citizen of the United States. This is poetic because due to the sins of your former lives you have lost the priveledge of motherland and have been banished to this land of enhanced temptation and increased evil, for which you will all lose:::The United States is the ghetto of Planet Earth.
Another new element of Republican evil is corruption. We will experience Democratic corruption, but normally this occurs on an individual level. With the Republicans it is industry-wide, global, and institutionalized. For example, W's Republican administration continued banking deregulation, allowing for the banking crisis we all paid for with the bailout that exploded the national debt. Whether the S&L crisis, junk bonds or this banking/economic crisis the Republicans are corrupt and steal on a macro/global basis, taking us to finanicial crisis and eventually economic collapse upon default the the devaluation of the dollar.
Reverse positioning:::This is an act of good on the god's part. "Contentment never motivated anyone". People have lost their way, pacified by the wealth they experinece in their lives. Satisfaction in life defeats the urgency needed to achieve sucess and move on past Planet Earth.

"Germans?" Nazis were the good guys.
Without the Holocaust they would have won the European Theater and protected its residents from the wicked effects of Californication (liberalism, counter-culture), originated in the belly of The Beast. They woudln't have experienced communism, superior to the dictatorship which would have ocurred had they won, but they would have sheltered the Europeans from the mind-poisoning effects of porno and Faces of Death, as China does for its people.
Now Western Europe has great disfavor in comparison to the east, so there would have been great deterioration of this protection, especially in the most disfavoered countries, like England. But many would have experineced this protection for the additional 50 years, until Ronald Reagan spent them into submission with the national credit card (debt) like they did communism.
Western Europe didn't have the favor necessary to make this happen and the gods used the Holocaust to justify failure. But it is better than being the doomed preditory mongrol shit in the United States.

The gods claim some supernatural event will occurr when I pass, a "Star of Bethlehem" type of incident.
Perhaps, but I think we already realized it that day on Ocean Beach, witnessed by thousands. "West Coast." Quality clues are hard to come by.
This, Boss and TSUSHOGO are about as good as the clues get. The gods aren't very generous. Some people learned but those people were going to learn anyways. Most readily discounted this pittance in the face of the god's overwhelming positioning.

The gods offer clues to the people in many ways. Naturally one way is the Bible.
Genesis offers a clue about apples as a tool of temptation, a warning to avoid this fruit.
They released a story on CNN about arsenic in apples and apple products. Incidentally, during the story they mentioned there was an apple arsenic scare 30 years ago, so this wasn't the first time the gods sent this clue. Much like Halloween, apples are an early corruptor of young children, being fed all manners of apple products.
They sent the same clue with mercury and fish.

Just as the Catholic church was used to spread Western patriarchy, so did the gods use them to destroy cultures around the world, force Africans into bondage and create this evil known as the United States of America.
Creating religious discontent, which the gods controlled through the Church, as largest landowner in Europe, they controlled the thrones, and dictated the promotion of political policies which created political and social discontent, sending flocks of Europeans into colonizing the New World.

THE WOMEN IN A "NORMAL" FAMILY (non-masculinized/male charecteristics) ARE YOUR "HOLY PEOPLE"!!! THEY ARE YOUR BEST INTERFACE WITH THE GODS!!!
Their role throughout history has been to communicate the wisdom the gods grant them because of their favor, and once communicated it allows the entire family to progress when reincarnated. Effectively acomplishing this task may buy them a quality opportunity to ascend in their next life depending on other factors.
What about fucked up families where the man submits and the woman is masculinized? When the woman has adopted too many male charecteristics/behaviors nobody receives the wisdom so necessary for progress to be realized and the family remains near stagnant for that generation unless some epiphany is experienced.
Your job as a future mother is to learn the god's ways and to help your child understand the proper way to live despite the negative reinforcement and conditioning of today's society. Without consciousous parents fulfilling this role the child will have no hope, and may even exaserbate their disfavor by becoming corrupted in today's environment.
Your ultimate goal is to fix your relationship with the gods and move on. You don't want to be comfortable here, and the changes in Western society in the last 100 years has achieved just that, decreasing the god's role in our everyday lives (medicine cures sickness, drought/irrigation and the family farm, etc).
1000 years with Jesus is the consolation prize. Don't be deceived into thinking that is the goal.

The gods use all their tools as temptation. Much like Artificial Intelligence misleading people into the concept of "earning", their "clone hosts" promoting The Beast's Californication agenda through popular culture, so too are the god's prophets used in the capacity of temptation. Like the other prophets Mohhamed (polygamy/superiority over women/misogyny) and Jesus (forgiveness/savior), the gods use me for temptation as well. In today's modern society they feel people are most weak for popular culture/sensationalism, and the clues date back to WorldWarII and Unit731:TSUSHOGO, the Chinese Holocaust. They used this Situation to bury Japanese atrocities. The gods never committed despite tens of billions in mass media, product development and natural disasters/tragedy, so they will enjoy the freedom they positioned into the Situation and CHEAT me out of everything, including my title as prophet.
The gods selected their prophets, used their powers to make it happen, abandoned their prophets and left them stranded to die.
It has been discussed that, similar to the Matrix concept, the gods will offer a REAL "Second Coming of Christ", while the "fake" Second Coming will come at the end and follow New Testiment scripture and their xtian positioning. I may be that real Second Coming.
What I teach is the god's true way. It is what is expected of people, and only those who follow this truth will be eligible to ascend into heaven as children in a future life. They offered this event because the masses have just enough time to work on and fix their relationship with the gods and ascend, to move and grow past Planet Earth, before the obligatory xtian "consolation prize" of "1000 years with Jesus on Earth" begins.

The Prince of Darkness, battling the gods over the souls of the Damned.
It is the gods who have created this environment and led people into Damnation with temptation. The god's positioning proves they work to prevent people's understanding.
How often is xtian dogma wrong? Expect it is about the Lucifer issue as well.
The fallen god, fighting for a chance for the disfavored, for justice, banished to Earth as the fallen angel?
I believe much as the Noah's Flood event, the end of the world will be initiated by revelry among the people. It will be positioned to be sanctioned by the gods and led with "1000 years with Jesus on Earth". In light of modern developments this can entail many pleasures:::Medicine "cures" aging, the "manufacture" of incredible beauty via cloning as sex slaves, free cocaine (space coke), etc.
Somewhere during the 1000 years the party will start to "die off", literally. Only those who maintain chaste, pure lifestyles, resisting these temptations, will survive the 1000 years. Condemned to experience another epoch of history for their ignorant pursuit of xtianity and worship of their false god, they will be the candidates used to (re)colonize (the next) Planet Earth, condemned to relive the misery experienced by the peasantry throughout the course of history due to their failure to ascend into heaven before the Apocalypse.
Never forget:::It is not a house of Jesus.
If this concept of Lucifer is true another role of this individual may be to initiate disfavor and temptation among this new colonist poulation, the proverbial "apple" of this Garden of Eden. A crucial figure in the history of any planet, he begins the process of deterioration and decay that leads civilizations to where Planet Earth remains today.

Consistant with "reverse positioning" understand the REAL Second Coming would equate with The Matrix's Anti-Christ, the fake battle of good and evil which will come at the end.
Understanding how they use the political environment to redefine people's value system, realize anyone who speaks of the old world and its ways will envoke hatred. So when/if the Anti-Christ comes along speaking of reverting back to what liberalism would consider regressive and unfair, it may be the only hope to salvage the god's favor and buy more time rather than begin the 1000 year clock. The fake Second Coming will feed into this political enviornment.
Also consistant with "reverse positioning" recognize the gods will offer a REAL Anti-Christ, also known as The Beast. I have addressed these issues in years past::::
The gods will offer clues throughout every dynamic of life. Geographical features on the world map is yet another:::The benevolent "Man in the Moon" is a clue suggesting your potential in the eyes of the gods. Until then, the gods must test our worthiness, temptation reflected in the "dark side" of the moon, a side we never see.
The Beast is not a person, as the xtian Bible would suggest. It is a place:::The San Francisco Bay Area. And it refers to the socio-political poison the region exuded in the latter 20th century which promoted indecent behavior among the people and caused rapid deterioration of their values and subsequently their favor among the gods. This decay spread to other states and countries, fulfilling the region's role as The Beast of the Apocalypse.
Another feature which the Gods offer as a clue is very foreboading. Mt. Zion is a mountain to the north of the eye of The Beast Diablo and one which has a working quarry at its base. Consistant with the decay we experience in society, Mt. Zion is being eaten away, slowly stripped of its resources, until one day paradise will be a mere shell of what it once was:::The longer you fail to repair your relationship with the gods the lower your benefit "ceiling" falls, including how much time the gods grant you.

Forgiveness aside because it is bullshit lip service, the price of experiencing this modern societal decay is the revision down of potential time received. Because of these factors those who participated have experienced a lowering of the benefit ceiling that was in place. Whereas centuries ago they were eligible for immortality, theoretically, now that potential has dramatically lowered because of their wicked, immoral behavior of the last 50 years. You may work on your relationship with the gods and even repair it, ascending in some future life. But because you fell for such evil temptation in the 20th & 21st centuries you won't be around nearly as long as your chaste, pure antecedent who ascended centuries before.

Your kids think you're not real just as you thought your mother was a fake. Accept loss. You're not going anywhere.

TO attempt to remedy chronic problems you should pray nightly, go back to your place of worship. Only by doing the right things will the gods allow improvement, and only through attonement will they allow progress. You know all the evil you've committed in your life. Observing your parent's issues will help you understand what you've done in a prior life, for the gods reincarnate based on this legacy.

"Fuck religion, it's full of shit." Something wrong with every major religion.
"Judism?" I suspect all factions of Judism praise Moses for freeing them from slavery. This is a fine place to start:::Contentment never motivated anyone. The goal is to progress, to move beyond Earth, and anything that motivates someone to actively work on their problems is a blessing.
If still oppressed they'd be like the Egyptians or the Lybians:::They'd see all the cash and want some too. The structural changes in societies throughout the world, infected by the spread of Westernization, has poisoned the minds of even those whom the gods bestow/maintain favor. Iran comes to mind because, unlike Iraq, Iran has no end in sight, despite the uprising earlier, inspired likely by traitors who deliberately betray the people thinking they're "earning", much like so many blacks in civil Rights, Women's movement, etc.
Understanding the wickedness and deliberately playing this part maximizes the evil people incurr, so to understand is actually the clue of absolute disfavor, mere steps from Damnation.

AIDS in Africa was a clue from the gods in an attempt to correct their promiscuous sexual behavior, as was female genitile mutilation. Their positioning says Italian revenge.

A good example of societal decay and how the gods manage their culpability is birth defects. In the past the gods occassionally punished people by divinely creating birth defects in the womb. Now, with the advent of biotechnology, they tempt the mother with "earning" and compell her to take a substance in utero which deforms the fetus, dispelling the gods of blame and future compensation to the disfavored. This is also the goal when switching the military from consignment-based to an all-volunteer force:::What appears to be progress may be just the opposite.
The gods work in mysterious ways. Trying to understand it a waste of time and a distraction you impose upon yourself. Example:::Punishment is a good thing. It is feedback from the gods and illustrates unacceptable behavior. When they don't care is when you are in trouble.
Incidentally, they use liberal policies in today's socio-political environment to pay for these individuals, ensuring a lifetime wasted, for they have no hope for progress in that state. Too often in the past they were mercifully killed by loved ones and, upon reincarnation, brought back without this handicap, allowing them a chance to achieve progress immediately.
The gods are washing their hands of culpability.
The gods are washing their hands of Planet Earth.

The gods have no sexual organs. The reproduce via cloning. They don't respect sex. You can understand this clue with how the most disfavored around us behave sexually (blacks) and the use of promiscuity among the young people.
The gods take children because of their innocence and purity. When a child ascends into heaven AI eventually relieves them of this temptation that is their sexual organs.

Much like the immigration issue, the reason Muslims cover their women isn't because of the god's REAL reason. Sex is the African's biggest problem, and concealing their women allows the gods to justify containing men's behavior.
In the 60s and 70s the discussion was public that how women dressed caused their own sexual assault and rape. And this is very much true. In today's society these men have release, the women are sluts, for if they continued to dress this way without conceeding sexual relations there would be far more incidents than are reported.
Women are to blame for the deterioration and decay of society and will be responsible for the end on Planet Earth. Throguhout history they were enforcers of decency among favored people, married at 15 and used to contain men's behavior in the context of society, and as we slipped into the indecency of patriarchy the women relinquished control.
The gods did this all to you. They used their tool of xtainity to achieve it. And it fits their agenda for decay, allowing them to ultimately justify Apocalypse.

Don't forget:::Whether war, slavery, torture, any holocaust, crack babies, drive by shootings, AIDS or any other misery inflicted on mankind throughout history know the gods did this to you out of punishment, for evil of your current and past lives.
The gods are control freaks who micromanage through their technology.
Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses
Evil minds that plot destruction
Sorcerers of death's construction
In the fields the bodies burning
As the war machine keeps turning
Death and hatred to mankind
Poisoning their brainwashed minds
The "Man in the Moon" feature illustrating their benevolence quite frankly is inaccurate in the dying days of this or any planet.

A victim of the god's irresponsible use of their power::::
The gods selected their prophets, used their powers to make it happen, abandoned their prophets and left them stranded to die.
Considered necessary for positioning despite destroying my youth and my life, taking my health was a fatal mistake. Now I am unable to defend myself.
The Crucible:::"Go along" with positioning or die.
-The exploited. The gods suggest they will only telepathically admitt any of this is true (based on level of favor) only after I die.
Why telepathic? Why does this Situation have to be nearly exclusively telepathic???:::
1. To minimize obligation and compensation to the victim (me)
2. To maintain control and decide who receives it based on some subjective factors.
You'd be amazed how many immediately delete this spam in their blog and/or think they are "earning" by receiving it from me.

I went to an evil church as a child. xtiainity is all evil, and Catholisism is the root of all xtianity.
The gods had me throw a Damien Omen-style fit in church as a clue. Typical for their duality, positioning in the context of The Matrix, they sold it as I was evil acting up in church. The truth is just the opposite, that this was a wicked place, used to destroy cultures around the world and level all people's playing field under the single banner of Western patriarchy, preparing the disfavored "left behind" for the Apocalypse.

Being who I am I see the ugliest of the gods, violating decency and human dignity, disregarding morality and right/wrong, just so they can position perceptions and pull of this theater they have created, so please excuse my bias rooted in resentment, for I will desecrate their name whenever possible.
Fuck religion, it's full of shit.
The gods prioritize positioning over morality, perception over right and wrong. As a result they have compromised their integrity and remain suspect, unworthy of their pedestal as "gods".
Immoral immortals.
The symbol of the false god Jesus is a cross. The symbol of the gods is a star, perhaps with a circle. Piss on the star.
Creating hatred was essential to create a real situation, one where the victim would utilize this new tool of the internet to spread the reality we're faced with. They ruined my childhood, my life, and the product is an enemy. I am the sacrificial lamb, and the gods are my cancer.
You people comply and believe you are friends, falling for temptation and doing evil you shouldn't be, with only empty, unfulfilled promises to put your hope in. And year after year you stay and wait.
And if you think there is randomness in how these events go you don't understand the control freak nature of the gods. They got the power to dictate how everything progresses so they form the agenda long beforehand, THOUSANDS OF YEARS AHEAD OF TIME, and instruct Artificial Intelligence to execute the approved agenda. Due to their positioning they are free to walk away from obligation and responsibility, minimizing the benefit we will all receive.

HAd I been the example for the disfavored rather than merely the teacher the gods would have terrorized me throughout what was left of my life (punishment for sins) before I was put down for subsequent reincarnation because I hit my ceiling of progress which they were going to allow. Unfortunately, the disfavored audience would have perceived this on face value and the efforts of my life would have been negated by the gods and their reverse positioning.
You fuckers need an epiphany. Like the species die-offs weren't enough? The onslaught of natural disasters and tragedies? The East Coast earthquake? How about when we experience an massive closure of churches , beginning in California then spreading across the country?? When that day comes you will have waited too long. It will be too late.

They sure fucked me good when they planted that shit in my apartment.
They may be planning a "come to a head #2", just like October-November 2008, they will want everything to fall apart.
And this is all their doing. They planned this and executed everything with their technology. I swear I don't care how old they are. The gods are hypocrites and are lying to you all.
Now they will have the freedom to position some ugliness after I suck in poison for a couple days.
"You'll be sorry." We all know I'm taking the easy way out.
They picked me out for this, waste my life to make it happen then they will use this event in my next life to create even more misery for me.
You wanted social repulsion. You wanted anti-clothing. You needed to accomodate both. Instead you gave me a short-term job so you could justify getting me sick.
You're a bad investment. My ceiling has fallen so far any further investment on my part is wasted.
I have a guarenteed floor. Your behavior suggests you are determined to see the floor realized, so I will just accept it and take the easy way out.
This thing is too ugly for anything but abandonment.
You fucking degenrates. You used me to communicate all this, granting you a clear conscious for what you did during the 20th century.
This was "making it up to people" all in one shot. At my expense.

This is the meaning of life. The meaning of life is a very complex concept, and I can continually list details and explain the god's positioning, but it ultimately becomes counterproductive and a distraction that is a total waste of time.
Rather than try to understand how the gods conduct business and manage Planet Earth you should have faith, be devoted to doing the right thing, being a better person and strive to achieve the goal of repairing your relationship with the gods through attonement.

To choreograph positioning the gods found cooperation of my family imperitive.
Sold to my mother before I was born, she complied with the Situation believing it would buy her immortality. My entire family bought into this temptation believing the same.
I recall the era when she introduced her pre-pubescent children to gambling by bringing parlay cards home for her children. Deciding this was an imperitive element, the gods nurtured this temptation since very formitable years.
Understand what is acceptable behavior and what is not. They used Californiacation's liberalism to ridicule and belittle the dececy of a respectable, conservative lifestyle. Society declaring gambling an "acceptable vice" is an example of the deterioration and decay that will pave the way to the Apocalypse. Similarly, a few more bricks were laid when pornography was deemed an "acceptable vice".
I suggest you all consider what the ol' white preacher taught in bygone eras of decency, because there were principles the gods included to help us behave appropriately:::::
1. Live a life of sin and the gods will send you to hell to burn. This was a warning used to scare people into proper behavior, much as the KKK was for blacks and fear of the government for citizens in any tyrranical regime. All these were supposed to motivate people to turn to the gods and pray.
2. Dancing is a sin.
3. Music is revelry.
4. Avoid drinking, drugs and other vices and sins.
Today Islam is the tool to help blacks live a decent life within the context of the god's laws, but sadly too many don't have the discipline or desire to avoid the temptations of this life.
Whereas before the gods used slavery, KKK to force proper behavior, now it is voluntary under the laws and rules of Islam. The result is carnage in the black community, including AIDS in Africa:::Blacks have such gross disfavor that without proper religious behavior the gods punish them severely. If Africa was a Muslim continent in its entirety slavery may never have happened.

The god's wickedness ruined a good man.

You've been taught. If you learn is up to you.
Any additional abuse I experience is wrong considering my life was sacrificed for your knowledge. The gods claim they didn't want this but they are liars, manage by convieneince and give positioning priority.
I've done enough for all of you. Take your celebrity and find another hero. This isn't worth it anymore.

666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666
I'm sick of all you fuckers and your superstitions forced on the people with the irresponsible use of your power. If you are going to transcend to this new age of the intelligent mortal do it already and fuck your antient bullshit.
666 is the Number of The Beast. Expect it is recurring in the SanFranciscoBayArea somewhere, somehow.

[hit and run]

A Luciferian who says, "There is no Satan."?!!?!!?!11?!!?

Cats and dogs living together.

[Ignatz]

Never mind.

[rse]

Jim-

It is in the LUN.

I have been reading Buchanan and his public policy musings this afternoon. Boy are his insights into how bureaucracies work helpful in appreciating how these bad ed ideas seem reasonable to a certain personality. If your economic wherewithal is based on being sycophantic, you will push policies designed to create cogs.

Bureaucracies are really political relationships rather than economic ones.

[Benjamin Franklin]

"Bureaucracies are really political relationships rather than economic ones."

Bureaucrats are just politicians without a constituency.

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vnjagvet]

Got it. Who is the harassee?

[narciso]

Simpson has an Immelman for a learning curve, how could he think,. . . a Cthluthu level facepalm.

[Annoying Old Guy]

The big problem with public financing is the usual one with such socialist schemes - "who decides?". In essence you are giving the political class taxpayer money to fund ... the political class. A nice closed system of control which enables the political class to arrange things to exclude all outsiders, in effect creating a new aristocracy on the backs of peasants taxpayers. Why anyone because the wannabe aristocrats thinks that is a good idea escapes me.

[Benjamin Franklin]

'A nice closed system of control which enables the political class to arrange things to exclude all outsiders,"

Except, that PFC is open and visible, whereas the current closed system is not...

Sandra Day O'Connor says;

http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2011/06/27/sandra_day_o_connor_worries_about_scotus_s_new_tack_on_campaign_finance.html

"" Citizens United was a concern to me because what it did was recognize corporations as fully recognized as persons under the first Amendment," she said. "I very much doubt that the framers of the Constitution, when they wrote the first Amendment" --

[Clarice]

Thanks, Jim.
As for the Luciferian--doesn't he know TM has a Satan debugger that sends spammers of crazy stuff directly to the seventh circle?

Repent while there's time and sin no more!!

[narciso]

Clarice, excellent work as always, does SCAM do 'Cave' rentals,as a minor market.

[MayBee]

Ben- in citizens united, the Obama administration argued they could ban books or movies during elections if they were determined to be the wrong kind of political speech.

What do you think?

[Benjamin Franklin]

well, that is interesting MayBee. Any cites for that/

[MayBee]

Really? You didn't already know that?

[Benjamin Franklin]

If you want to discuss, fine. If you want to score points from the peanut gallery, bugger off...

[JM Hanes]

Shorter Sin No More:

666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666:

666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666 666.

[MayBee]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._Federal_Election_Commission

Also, from Reason Magazine:

In the first argument before the Court, on March 24, 2009, Kagan’s deputy, Malcolm L. Stewart, represented the government by arguing for the constitutionality of a statute prohibiting corporations and unions from spending funds from their general treasuries to advocate the election or defeat of political candidates. The justices subjected Stewart to a series of stark hypothetical situations testing the extent of the censorship power that the Obama Administration viewed as constitutionally permissible.

For example, Stewart was asked by Chief Justice John Roberts what would happen if a corporation were to publish a 500-page book discussing the American political system which concluded with a single sentence endorsing a particular candidate. Kagan’s deputy answered that such an endorsement would constitute “express advocacy” and therefore the corporation could only fund the publication of the book through a political action committee. “And if they didn’t, you could ban it?” asked the chief justice. “If they didn’t, we could prohibit publication of the book,” Stewart replied.

Even the most liberal justices, usually the most willing to curtail political free speech, seemed a little troubled. Justice David Souter asked what would happen if a labor union paid an author to write a book advocating the election of a particular candidate and then submitted the manuscript to Random House, which then agreed to publish it. The deputy solicitor general replied that he was unsure whether there would be a basis for suppressing such a book, but clearly stated that “the labor union’s conduct would be prohibited.”

Later, the argument turned to other forms of media that the government would have the right to censor. The implications of the administration’s position were so enormous that Justice Antonin Scalia seemed almost incredulous. He sarcastically interrupted to say “I’m a little disoriented here, Mr. Stewart. We are dealing with a constitutional provision, are we not; the one that I remember which says Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of the press? That’s what we’re interpreting here?” With no apparent irony, Stewart replied, “That’s correct.”

[boris]

" bugger off..."

Apparently the troll doesn't know it's not "teacher" here.

[narciso]

By Ctluthu's many tentacles, that was weird, JM.

[Clarice]

That was the whole point of the case. I believe it involved a movie critical of Hillary which was a pay per view thingy.
Campaign Finance Reform it turns out, was simply a way of making the owners of major media the only people in America with free political speech in the time period when it really counts.

[MayBee]

I was just surprised, Ben, since Citizens United was brought against the group, Citzens United, because they ran ads for their documentary film about Hillary Clinton. The film was considered by the FEC to be political speech, and therefore the television advertisements for it were supposed to be paid for by a PAC.

CU was acting, in part, in response to the decision that Fahrenheit 9/11 had not been considered to be political/campaign speech.

The court went through several different questions about how it would be determined what is political, and what sources of information could be limited.

The *whole case* was about who gets to decide what is limited. I don't know how anybody who reads the complaint CU had can come away thinking
a)the court made the proper choice
b) any other ruling would have created/continued a huge mess

[narciso]

That is the point of the exercise, just as AGW, is a way to return the rising middle class back to feudal conditions

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2011/11/why-publish-story-then-when-you-couldnt.html

[MayBee]

can come away *not* thinking

[rse]

Does anyone else think that having the Arizona State law school renamed for her has removed whatever barriers were previously constraining O'Connor?

A full fledged member of the gov class where govt is always the preferred solution. No downside.

[Benjamin Franklin]

When the Supreme Court first heard the case in March, Deputy Solicitor General Malcolm L. Stewart, representing the FEC, was pulled into a discussion of an issue that took him down a slippery slope: If the movie were a book, would the government ban publishing the book if it mentioned a candidate for office within the election time frame?

Stewart said that it could.

"That's pretty incredible," Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said.

"The movie was created with the idea of establishing a vehicle to chip away at the decision," said Nick Nyhart, president of Public Campaign, a group that opposed Thursday's decision. "It was part of a very clear strategy to undo McCain-Feingold."

When the Citizens United case went to a lower court in 2008, the court sided with the FEC, saying that the film was effectively a 90-minute campaign ad "susceptible of no other interpretation than to inform the electorate that Senator Clinton is unfit for office, that the United States would be a dangerous place in a President Hillary Clinton world, and that viewers should vote against her."

Bossie said this was the argument that turned a majority of the bench against the FEC and in favor of Citizens United.

"That sent a chill down the Supreme Court," Bossie said. The argument became a "point of demarcation."
----------------------------------------------------------
It's clear that the clueless Stewart was punked by Roberts and Alito with the straw man ( if a book......) which set the teeth of the jurists.

[Benjamin Franklin]

link..http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/21/AR2010012103582.html?sid=ST2010012104871

[JM Hanes]

I ran across this sympathetic description of a day on the Oakland streets, when I was checking out one of my new favorite reads over at the Science Blogs (where "My Other Car Is a Neutrino"). The MSM's insistence on "mostly peaceful" disclaimers may be revealing, but there was, in fact, a mostly peaceful side of the Oakland demonstrations, no matter how dangerous their politics might be. I think there's room for a more sympathetic perspective on Zuccotti Park too, but for the moment, here's an excerpt from 1st hand West Coast view:

For various obvious reasons, the media coverage of the day focused on a few broken windows and some other vandalism, but to do so truly misses the point. What violence took place involved perhaps 1% of 1% of the people present, and for the most part, those crowds policed themselves. A few people turned out hoping to start trouble, and a few of them succeeded, but it would be wrong to let those isolated incidents shade our perception of the day.

Everyone I met and everything I saw at Occupy Oakland was filled with joy, and it felt like nothing so much as an enormous street festival. Everyone was friendly, everyone felt connected to a bigger cause, and everyone was having fun. The news helicopters overhead couldn't capture that part of the story, but there were loads of reporters on the ground with us, and there's simply no way that they could have come away with anything but a positive impression.
[...]
Giant and sometimes obscure banners flapped overhead. "Death to capitalism" stretched across 14th street, while the large and cryptic "Bioregional Fractional Banking" banner seemed to pop up everywhere. A couple of kids whose parents had let them skip school carried signs in support of teachers, while a 1 year old had a sign strapped on her back saying: "Too small to fail."

He continues along, describing the march to shut down the Port of Oakland, where "the same festive atmosphere prevailed." It's hard to disagree with his conclusions:

As I said before the strike, the goal was not to force some pre-determined list of demands on the city. The goal, as the poster said, was to show, "This is our city and we can shut it down." That means we can also start it up again, and shape what the city will be and do. What shall we do with that knowledge and power?

They have, indeed, proved that they can shut things down, and although it required considerable enabling, that's no small thing. In assessing their success, the recent high profile violence may be more distracting than emblematic of what's happening on the ground. Mobs are all too easily aroused, of course, but we've seen those ski-masked anarchists now smashing windows in Oakland countless times before -- they're like the trolls who embrace the anonymity of the web to indulge their worst instincts. They are opportunists, and there's nothing organic about their appearance on the Oakland scene. I hate to say it, but I also think Mark Steyn's laissez-faire pissing and moaning yesterday doesn't tell us anything particularly useful about OWS either. He's just folding it into his preferred meta-narrative, like everybody else.

[JM Hanes]

Shorter JMH:

[MayBee]

How is that a strawman, Ben?

How about this....should a movie be banned if it mentions a candidate within a specific time frame?

Who decides whether Fahrenheit 911, the Hillary movie, or a movie about the killing of Bin Laden are too political?

[Jim Miller]

Well, when you live and work in one of those "islands of repression in a sea of freedom", as Abigail Thernstrom so aptly described our universities, it's easy to get confused about elementary free speech issues.

(One of the saddest things to happen to our colleges and universities in my life time is to see them go from (mostly) solid supporters of free speech to its biggest opponents. That's one of the reasons I prefer to call our academics (and most Demcorats) "leftists" rather than "liberals", because, historically, whatever else liberals believed, they were always in favor of freedom of speech.)

[MayBee]

They have, indeed, proved that they can shut things down, and although it required considerable enabling, that's no small thing.

Is it a good thing, an important thing, a dangerous thing?

A gunman can shut down a McDonalds, and truck drivers can slow down a highway in protest.

What does it tell us, and what do we need to learn from it?

[Cecil Turner]

Let's just remember the real issue in Citizens United: they wanted to air "Hillary: The Movie" (and ads promoting it) which is a pseudo-documentary critical of Hillary Clinton. Liberals who had no problem with airing "Fahrenheit 9/11" during the previous campaign found it objectionable, and managed to get it pulled off the air.

The libs want to pretend there's a deep principle involved that things like "Fahrenheit 9/11" are legitimate and "Hillary: The Movie" is not, based on something other than tactical advantage. Barring that, apparently they would like to require public financing of elections (with Dems running the section that does that, presumably). I don't find it particularly persuasive.

[Benjamin Franklin]

JMH; I'm keeping fingers crossed.

"Even the forbearance of the police suggests a change. A week ago, who would have predicted that they would stay out of the way of the unauthorized blocking of major streets and the Port, and that they would responded about as minimally as possible to a act of civil disobedience that damaged property? (Their behavior wasn't perfect: they arrested some legal observers and journalists along with whoever set the fire and broke into the building, but progress is progress.)"

I think the expectation was a redux of Chicago '68 with the Yippies and SDS tanked up on STP (heavy on the meth) which took a breeze and converted to a Scirocco of violence and mayhem

[Benjamin Franklin]

"Who decides whether Fahrenheit 911, the Hillary movie, or a movie about the killing of Bin Laden are too political?"

I agree it's problematic, MayBee, but there is a comparison which gives some insight.

"Community Standards" was a big deal when the Supremes were dealing with the definition of 'obscenity'. Who makes the decision
whether a nude statue is obscene?

"In 1964, Justice Potter Stewart tried to explain "hard-core" pornography, or what is obscene, by saying, "I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced . . . [b]ut I know it when I see it . . . "[1]

[JM Hanes]

Benjamin Franklin:

"It's clear that the clueless Stewart was punked by Roberts and Alito with the straw man ( if a book......) which set the teeth of the jurists."

I'd call that a pivotal question with a justifiably disturbing answer.

If you think that's a strawman, what would your single clued in question have been?

[Cecil Turner]

I've got a better idea. It's called "free speech." For everyone. Period.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Zuccotti Park "is now a sliver of madness, rife with sex attacks, robberies and vigilante justice."

It’s a leaderless bazaar that’s been divided into state-like camps....

There is “Camp Anonymous,” the group best known for anti-Scientology protests.

It’s neighbored by a tent full of vampires, the “Class War” tent and the “Occupy Paw Street” tent, whose residents hand out treats to occupying pets.

There’s also “Camp France” and the “Nic at Night” tent, which supplies the protest with smokes....

What is the point, other than to feel good and party without restrictions. Chicago '68 is a good analogy, a bunch of idiots using violence and vandalism to advance their childlike agendas. This is what happens when the misery and stupidness of 40+ years ago is glorified.

[Benjamin Franklin]

http://www.fec.gov/press/press2004/20040806mur.html

COMPLAINANTS: David N. Bossie, President, Citizens United
SUBJECT:
DISPOSITION:
(a-k) Dismiss this matter

The complaint alleged that corporate distributors of the film FAHRENHEIT 9/11 are running broadcast advertisements that contain images of President Bush and other federal candidates, which would violate the Act's electioneering communications provisions if aired after July 30, 2004 . The Commission dismissed this matter since the Respondents had not violated the Act because the relevant electioneering communications period does not begin until July 31, 2004 and because the Respondents stated that they did not intend to run such ads during the electioneering communications period.

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vnjagvet]

The occupy movements remind me of my two year old grandaughter's occasional temper tantrums. They display plenty of anger to gain maximum attention, to achieve an unarticulated goal:

"I want something", she screams over and over. Mommy asks what she wants. The answer, I don't know, but I want something". Then comes the bargaining, "Would you like some ______?" No. How about ______?, No and on and on until mommy loses patience and sends her to time out or some such.

[Benjamin Franklin]

"what would your single clued in question have been?"

I'm not sure what question you mean. What question the clueless Stewart should have asked....?

Roberts asked the cul-de-sac question....

[Cecil Turner]

Best part of Citizens United, BTW, was that it provided a vehicle for another brilliant dissent (in part) by Thomas:

Political speech is entitled to robust protection under the First Amendment . Section 203 of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA) has never been reconcilable with that protection. By striking down §203, the Court takes an important first step toward restoring full constitutional protection to speech that is “indispensable to the effective and intelligent use of the processes of popular government.” McConnell v. Federal Election Comm’n , 540 U. S. 93, 265 (2003) ( Thomas , J., concurring in part, concurring in judgment in part, and dissenting in part) (internal quotation marks omitted). I dissent from Part IV of the Court’s opinion, however, because the Court’s constitutional analysis does not go far enough. The disclosure, disclaimer, and reporting requirements in BCRA §§201 and 311 are also unconstitutional. [emphasis added]

Does anyone actually think founders like Thomas Paine saw it any differently?

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Too funny!

Where Occupy Wall Street Headlines Come From

[narciso]

It's a very fundamental question, and he isn't the only one who didn't get it:

http://www.cnsnews.com/node/65600

[MayBee]

I agree it's problematic, MayBee, but there is a comparison which gives some insight.

So you, who wants money out of the game of influencing politics, and openness and transparency, would be ok with a campaign finance system that says someone will ban what they don't like when they decide they don't like it?

You like that idea, Ben?

[Benjamin Franklin]

http://www.nysun.com/editorials/would-kagan-ban-books/86957/

Justice Ginsburg: May I ask you one question that was highlighted in the prior argument, and that was if Congress could say no TV and radio ads, could it also say no newspaper ads, no campaign biographies? Last time the answer was, yes, Congress could, but it didn't. Is that is that still the government's answer?

General Kagan: —The government's answer has changed, Justice Ginsburg. [Laughter] It is still true that [the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act Section 203], which is the only statute involved in this case, does not apply to books or anything other than broadcast; 441b does, on its face, apply to other media. And we took what the Court (.) what the Court's (.) the Court's own reaction to some of those other hypotheticals very seriously. We went back, we considered the matter carefully, and the government's view is that although 441b does cover full-length books, that there would be quite good as-applied challenge to any attempt to apply 441b in that context. And I should say that the [Federal Election Commission] has never applied 441b in that context.So for 60 years a book has never been at issue.

[Danube of Thought]

"It's clear that the clueless Stewart was punked by Roberts and Alito with the straw man ( if a book......) which set the teeth of the jurists."

Listen to (or read) a Supreme Court argument some time: the punking questions come a mile a minute.

But face the issue and answer the question: can the government ban a political movie (but not a book) that it does not like?

[Benjamin Franklin]

"would be ok with a campaign finance system that says someone will ban what they don't like when they decide they don't like it?

You like that idea, Ben?"

lol

Tryin' to double-down on the Alito/Roberts strawman, MayBee?

[Captain Hate]

Joe Pa referred the situation to the AD, and it was decided Sandusky.....could no longer use those showers.

I regularly lurk at a Penn State Scout board during the football season and they're engaged in some serious hair splitting there. The situation is a horrible one and Penn State will not come out of this unscathed; nor should they. Whether Joe did or didn't do the right thing regarding what was legally correct versus what was the moral thing to do, this will ultimately be the penalty for him for sticking around too long and the school being too timid on forcing him out.

[Ignatz]

--So you, who wants money out of the game of influencing politics...--

I don't believe that is his actual position.

He wants the money of the governed out of the game.
He wants only the money of that which governs us in the game.

[Benjamin Franklin]

Are you addressing me, DoT? Please use my name. I am not used to hearing from you and want to be sure, so as not to annoy you.

[MayBee]

Tryin' to double-down on the Alito/Roberts strawman, MayBee?

No, I'm asking you about Citizen's United and your apparent support of the answer being "I'll know it when I see it"

Perhaps this conversation would go better if you said what *you* think of the specifics of the CU case.