I believe that the RTL-ers are capable of many dispicable and illogical acts. But even this set of news shocked me. Bounties? What is this, the Wild Wild West with posses riding around and shooting each other? It’s shocking.

I can easily understand why it would be shocking, but by now I am beyond being shocked by these people. They’re the same people who bomb clinics and shoot doctors in their homes. They are, in short, terrorists. Now, I hate to use that word because I see it overused by just about everyone who wants to vilify an opponent, but in this case, the use of the term is justified. They are trying to win their battles by terrifying people into submission. If the shoe fits….

Schaivo is just the preliminaries to battles involving the selection of judges. We are heading for a constitutional crisis. Brace yourselves.

This is the Politics of Resentment in Action it is very dangerous. The play bill was created by the Nazi’s – but anyone could tap into it.

Step 1: SHEDDING ACCOUNTABILITY AT THE PERSONAL LEVEL
Pick a belief system that sheds accountable by suposedly transcending accountability. Or holds the “highest” value to which all others must subordinate.

As I said in a previous post, the Nazi’s did this using Nationalism. Hitler reportedly said “for myself I’d never tell a lie, but for Germany 10,000 lies”. I saw “Downfall” last night, the story of Hitler in his bunker. For me, this theme ran through out the movie as one after the other nutcase statement justified outrageous actions – for the sake of Germany, the Volk, the race, the nation blah blah blah.

The Fundies do this using religion. There is no higher authority than God, even the law and the constitution are below him, so in pursuit of God one sheds accountability for ones actions. Its a small step from this to putting a bounty on some persons head who flagrently violates the transcendent principles. They have no problems putting a bounty on someones head. Its no different than putting a Fatwa on someone’s head.

Step 2: STOKE RESENTMENT.
Create the myth of a persecuted majority – create a myth that the transcendent values created the polity/nation etc…

Create the myth of a stab in the back
Put out a wall of propaganda expressing such.
Hire a bunch of people like Rush Limbaugh and his ilk and put out endless streams of this sort of thing.

This is going to get ugly. It is only begining.

These “poor” “persecuted” people will use this to “stab back” all those who have “Stabbed them/and or the transcendent value in the back”

They will stop at nothing and feel accountability to no one or nothing. Watch wait and see. And I will be quite blunt: right now I wish I was in a different dimension or Japan or some other country.

On the shedding of accountability at the personal level: heck, that’s already ingrained into American culture. It’s deeply part of the corporate structure, for example: shareholders absolve themselves of responsibility for what a corporation does by saying that it was the executives who done it–we didn’t know anything about it. The executives would say that they don’t want to do such things, but they have a responsibility to the shareholders, and so they have no choice. So corporations do ruthless, even monstrous stuff and no one feels accountable–and the government plays along by allowing the corporation to have the rights of a person without any real person being accountable, except in highly unusual circumstances. Similar relationships occur at different levels, such as client/lawyer, or mob/rabble-rouser.

Then there’s the American “It’s anyone’s fault but mine” syndrome, represented so well in the parent never being responsible for the child. A parent beams with pride at a child’s accomplishments, but if there’s something wrong, it couldn’t be them–it was the music they listen to, the TV and movies they watch, the teacher they learn from or the school itself, or it was the food they eat, the colas they drink, the clothes they wear; it was their peers, their age group, the pressure of advertising, the evils of society, the government–someone, anyone, but never, apparently, the parents. So we get a myriad of phony laws passed aimed at curing children of these ills… but none of it works because usually it’s the parents. This is mirrored in the legal system–while many people who are truly wronged deserve to sue and be compensated, all too often people who did stupid stuff and want to blame others sue at the drop of a hat–and the legislation that is supposed to stop these suits usually gets aimed at the legitimate plaintiffs who are suing corporations or insurance companies, further allowing them to evade responsibility themselves.

As for resentment, this has long been building, especially within the white male demographic. We tend to see what we have as being at the very least just and deserved, even if we have so much more than others. White males have always had a better average standing than any other demographic in the country, and much of that is due to unfairness, primarily racism and sexism, both historical and present. So when equal opportunity and strikes against racism are presented, and minorities and women start rising even a small amount towards a more equal standing, that comes at the cost of white males. And though their standing drops only a small amount and is still far higher than that of minorities and women, the only thing that many white males see is that they lost position (justly deserved!) and it was given (unfairly!) to minorities and women (who don’t deserve it but are just getting it because they’re minorities and women! Special privileges!! Special treatment!!). And so the persecution of the privileged majority is perceived, and the vilification of the people who are truly oppressed is established.

—

It’s not just because of this, but mostly because of the conservative political tidal wave in the United States that justifies these flaws and creates so many more–economic irresponsibility, environmental irresponsibility, the erosion of rights, the coming marriage of church and state, the ongoing divide between haves and have nots, the destruction of the independent and reasoned media, the new age of propaganda and the willingness of the American people to suck it up, the Orwellian endless state of war, the use of patriotism to strike fear and timidity into the hearts of the people, the bludgeoning of fake morality by church and state led by people who have no morality…

I am, on some days, I will confess, glad I am in Japan. I mourn what is becoming of America, but on some days, it seems that no matter how much we rail, it doesn’t change much. As if Americans know at some level what is happening and are resigned to it.

I dont know if its so much the conservitives have more control of the media. I bet you during primetime* Combined Lib vs Cons liberal by far has more of a base. Its the conservitives have a BETTER control of the media. Look at what happens when you lie about a BJ. They line you up. Lie about worse, hey if its not under oath its ok. If it was reversed (Clinton-Iraq, Bush-nvrmnd), half of America wouldnt have heard the ” I ” word until last year. Plus it makes it easier when the network knows what their side stands for.

The Dems need a counterpart for Karl Rove before they will ever get back to where they were.

*including Big Networks.

I would agree with you on the “better control” idea, but not that liberal bias has sway. The numbers that say that most reporters are liberal (based on whom they voted for in elections, not on overall issues or on how strong they felt about politics) are misleading in two ways: first, reporters do not decide content nor do they often have final say on what tilt the report will have; that power lay in the hands of editors and publishers, who are predominantly conservative; and second, those reporters who do have liberal leanings usually do not editorialize using these leanings in their reporting–if anything, only the slightest nuance or shade gets through. When it comes to editorializing, however, conservatives relatively bombard the airwaves with their baldly stated points of view.

Wait its ok to kill the husband but not the wife? I love how some people think. I believe “Its amazing how often Religion is used to be really crappy to one another”.

Terrorism is Terrorism.

There is a proper forum for this. At least until the majority changes it.

Although the mans crazy. Read Sen Byrd essay on the Nazis’. Whats scary. Nothing Hitler did was illegal (technically by German Law). He schmoozed the opposition to the point where they got the “Enabling Law” (simple) passed giving him all the power he needed.

Now Im pretty sure we are no where near the Nazis’. But theres a reason we have these LAWS. So no 1 group becomes absolute. Althought either side in the end might love it, America thrives on dissent. To hear an unpopular idea, as long as its properly delivered, is essential. Its what makes Democracy great. To always have a 2nd opinion. Unfortunately it seems the Dems are incapable of standing up for anything.