Booing is the gravest threat our nation has ever faced. Heckling, a scourge upon our republic.
Fellow Democrats, and citizens,
Our union has endured for 240 years. It endured through attacks on a rag-tag band of revolutionaries by imperialist Redcoats. It was temporarily sundered, and reconstructed by a dispute over whether some of us could own others in a quaint, peculiar institution. It has risen to reign supreme over the cultures and peoples who lived across this land before Columbus landed and began enslaving Indians. It survived wars with Canada (they burned Washington!) and Mexico (we got El Norte!). We triumphed in two great wars with the European powers plus Japan (with a little help from the Ruskies).
But today, this grand federation that has endured twelve score years, faces a threat more dire than any we have confronted before.
Yes, I am talking about the isolated, sparse booing and heckling at the Democratic convention.
If this rude, uncouth behavior is allowed to continue, our country as we know it shall be no more. Our society, nay the very fabric of our nation shall be rent into tiny pieces. Patchouli could become the fragrance of choice for the young and impressionable. Such horrors are imminent, if the booing does not cease. At once and forevermore.
Yes, I know we cheer on and defend those who heckle and protest at Trump rallies and at the Republican convention. Yes, I know this site’s founder/namesake pilloried Bernie for asking that the moderators regain control at Netroots Nation.
But this is completely differentTM.
This is the Democratic convention. It should go without saying that no reasonable, responsible person could ever have a disagreement with the Democratic party’s platform, its presidential nominee, or indeed any speaker at the podium. But sadly, I have to spell this out for the unruly, unwashed neophytes who have not yet had party discipline beaten, I mean drilled, into them. Without such a beating, I mean drilling, I mean lesson, our cherished national values of conformity and submission shall wither into so much dust blowing about in the howling winds of a desolate, barren landscape.
What is happening here is unprecedented and alarming. It is far, far worse than Mayor Richard Daley yelling “Fuck You, You Jew Son Of A Bitch. Go Home You Lousy Motherfucker, Go Home” on the convention floor at Senator Abraham Ribicoff as he spoke in support of the reckless dove, George McGovern.
It’s much, much worse precisely because these disruptive chants emanate from a tiny number of little known delegates. These “lone wolf” style cells are a much greater threat than Daley’s violent suppression of anti-war protesters in 1968 ever was. Never forget; Daley was a loyal Democrat, so reliable you might call him a machine! These protestors are unreliable Democrats at best. They might not be centrist. They may even be, I dread to say the word, independents!
Gods above! Shall the horrors of 2016 never cease? First we all got papercuts from DNC mailers during the primary season and now this?
Thankfully, our crackerjack media is on the case, covering with breathless abandon the tens, perhaps even dozens of barbarians booing authority figures from a distance. Without their dedication, how would we know John from Michigan said “Fuck Unity". Or that Jane from California chanted “Bernie, Bernie”, naming the one that shall not be named?
We must thank our fearless journalists for subjecting their tender ears to such profanity. Their courage in the face of relentless dissension shall not be forgotten. Nor shall we forget the magnanimity of Kossacks who went so far as to delete their diaries when Bernie came out to vigorously support Hillary. It was so unexpected, he has only been saying it for months. And can we ever say enough about the Front Pagers who have been alert at their posts, bringing us hourly takedowns of the hecklers. They have more than exceeded their quota of one takedown per heckler.
With such dedication our republic shall endure for generations to come.
But this threat remains dire, and imminent. We are at threat level orange.
So I implore you, fellow Democrats, if you have a shred of human decency left, take up your pens and keyboards and markers and placards and let us rid ourselves of this scourge of booing and heckling that threatens our very existence in a way that pervasive inequality, discrimination, nuclear armageddon, perpetual war and climate change never, ever can.
/s
For the record, not very well received at DKos.
Comments
I honestly find the Jingoism scarier...
than I find the disrespect. (Yes, I know it was snark, but you'd never know it from the media)
One is honest disagreement, presented forcefully. The other is what you use to rile a crowd into "Dealing" with your problems.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7APmRkatEU]
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Last week after the RNC
and the front page of NYT showing the Rump's nomination, I had a bit of a freakout over just that - the Nazism of the thing is what it felt like. So I was on the fear Rump for a bit, but let that go by the next day. I didn't look at the DNC at all but saw a few pix. Not much difference to me, at all. Scary to me too.
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
Sssssssssssssssssssssssssss!
Is ssssssssssing okay?
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
Can be filtered out by good sound engineers.
Just sayin'.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
Dang, riverlover!
I hoped I was on to the next greatest thing!
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
Maybe we can shout
something like "rabble rabble" over and over again.
I like it! eom
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
Pretty sure I got that
from some comedy film. I have no idea which one, if I did.
Wonder what they would have shouted to try covering that one up. Maybe just more "USA! USA!" shouts.
In Europe they *whistle* their disapproval
It's a particular sort of derisive whistle, and they are experts at it - the Italians especially.
And it's not a new thing - they've been doing so since at least some time in the mid-19th century.
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
Count me in.
I'm willing to learn.
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
Some lessons from 10 experts:
http://medicine-opera.com/2014/03/son-lo-spirito-che-nega/
The derisive whistle is an intrinsic part of the title role in Mefistofele - the link includes 11 sound clips of the major aria in which it should be exhibited (for some reason Giulio Neri did no whistling at all, but the other 10 either did, or had the sound provided for them from offstage).
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
When Italians don't like a performance in an opera
they will let you know.
Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.
$$$$????
$$$$????
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
How funny....
"Patchouli could become the fragrance of choice for the young and impressionable."
Come home Sabir. We will protect you from the harpies, bojos, and shiny objects. We aren't as big as top, but we're smarter. I wish I had half your writing talent.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
Subir, I agree
with dk.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
you agree with DK ? Well let
you agree with DK ? Well let me tell you as soem one who does not usually comment. They jumped on me and were pretty nasty. Then threw me off the web site. I didn't know who Kos was. Then reading his bio. Why is he considered anything but a computer hack. His political history is atrocious
Yeah, she agrees with dk...
dk happens to be dkmich, who she was replying to in the comment right above hers.
Oopsie!
I assumed that everyone knew I was referring to dkmich above me. Sorry to cause a problem.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
dk
no I m sorry. I just dont care for kos at all
See the comment above that one
She was agreeing with DKMich not Daily Kos (no one calls it that here, anyway - there are three or four acronyms used here to name it).
'What we are left with is an agency mandated to ensure transparency and disclosure that is actually working to keep the public in the dark' - Ann M. Ravel, former FEC member
I concur .
Good to see Subir posting here. I refuse to give TOP any clicks. So it's nice to get to read his posts again. We don't always share the same opinions, but I always find his writing to be spot on. Hopefully, he will choose to engage in the comments with us too.
Thanks
I had taken a hiatus from writing on blogs, was rather busy with work/life. Still am.
@subirgrewal
Second that
One of the reasons I came over here was I saw Subir on the membership list.
Love your economic writing especially, but please feel free to defend your less popular opinions. Your arguments are much better than the TOP trolls and we need to be challenged from time to time. I have a few unpopular opinions myself (pro nuke, Episcopalian, Brexit is complex) but we all get along pretty well.
We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg
Yeah... folks at top
don't tend to respond well to satire and sarcasm. It's what makes me think they're all authoritarians and conservatives. (I suspect "the site owner" figured they'd be a bigger demographic) I haven't clicked there for months. I don't have to go there to know what's going on - everything I found repulsive about it magnified by 5000%.
Conservative humour tend to
Conservative humour tend to be not only not funny but mean. I've seen (years back) a video of a fat girl falling off a bicycle at speed and injuring herself in what was listed as a humour site when I was looking for something to cheer myself up with. Needless to say, that wasn't doing it. But I was just looking for a giggle, went down a series of totally lame 'comedy' sites through the 1st page Google gave me and came across something put together by young conservatives evidently honing their pathology. It seems to be typical, a brain thing. What's now termed conservative ideology (it's not really) has been developed by psychopaths who like the idea of other, lesser beings, suffering. But of course, we've all noticed that. Just hated to see a once respected and informative political discussion site turned into a cesspit, no doubt because the pathogens infesting it thought they'd keep the rep and influence they've destroyed.
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
Dennis Miller. Need I say more?
I think Fox had some lame attempt a few years ago at conservative sketch comedy but found it's an impossible dynamic, because it invariably lapses more into meanness than humor. Trump's impression of the disabled journalist is a prime example.
" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "
I like some of Trumps Impressions...
I find his impression of a Human Being to pretty damn funny.
It's very Colbert like
"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me
Trump sees himself as an entertainer IMO
The strangest thing I have ever seen was the time Trump riffed on Ben Carson's story of trying to stab a classmate in his youth and his subsequent redemption all due to a lucky belt buckle. Did you see that? If not find it on You Tube. It is, literally, crazy. The re-enacting, the rising and falling cadences of his voice, the pantomiming of the stabbing, it was like he was channeling a young Marlon Brando in some Actors Studio exercise. My husband and I sat slack-jawed and mesmerized.
" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "
I saw that, My first thought was , "Did I doze off...
and wake up in the middle of a SNL sketch?"
It was so bizarre I felt like this kid.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txqiwrbYGrs]
"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me
Parliament in the UK is famous for booing and derisive
jeering. But at least they have the National Health, for now anyway. There's civilization and then again there's civilization.
"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"
I am on my phone and cannot do this justice.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/07/29/my-fellow-americans-we-are-fools/
Scathing article on the Dem convention and America.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
Righteous Rant.
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
I wish I were half-Canadian, or half something else!
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
Finnish. Not Canadian. Or Possibly Dutch, would be my pick. :)
I have good friends from both countries that visit me down here in SWFL frequently.
They love and mostly trust their government and system and are quite happy with it despite the fact that they pay "Higher Taxes" (A point my Finnish friend disputes quite effectively, we had a Moscow Mule fueled discussion and when he broke down what they pay, and more importantly what they don't pay, it kind of blows the "Overtaxed European" argument out of the water. )
Hell, I have a friend in Peru and another in Brazil that are both encouraging me to come give their countries a try for a month or two visit when they found out I was considering becoming an expat. (You gotta love having friends all over the planet that say, "Hell ya man, come stay with me for a couple months, just bring pocket money.)
Now if only I had pocket money, let alone airfare, lol!
"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me
Nail on head.
Yup, the old "Europeans pay more in taxes" is just propaganda. They do pay high taxes but they see it as an investment in their country and fellow man.
They don't have to pay for many things we do. But the bigger argument is that they also don't "pay" for having shitty schools, they don't 'pay' for not having social safety nets.
Cheap has a price. And we are seeing what our cheapness has done to ruin our fellow citizens.
The poor and working class pay MORE in taxes... than those in government and than those in their elite wrote off yachts.
"Love One Another" ~ George Harrison
Made me think of this video,
Made me think of this video, somehow.
Brutality is a horror and a sickness passed along by instruction/lack of restraint.
But the cycle can be broken and a civilization made.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ejga4kJUts
The Cranberries - Zombie
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
Good ol' Lois always brings
Good ol' Lois always brings fire.
Kos
kos is an idiot and a republican. How he got to be a name is beyond me. only that he knows computers. Why would this not go over with any body. I thought the same thing. look at 1968. Bad year all around
Kos is a jerk
I don't know why you are there. You are too smart and kind hearted for that crowd, They are as mean as the DNX and as ready to silence any voice that threatens them. The posts are just ragging at each other. Dump that group and come on over here. all of you They treated me like sh*t for on reason
Loved your stuff at TOP
Glad to see you writing here.
Welcome!
Great article and great to see you writing here! Always enjoyed your writing at top.
Love is my religion.
This article makes me realize that I may have misjudged your
other articles.
After months of seeing similar type stuff posted on TOP or the occasion drive by here, it is I guess only to be expected that when we see one here our first response is, "Oh no, not this shit again."
Now, I am leaning more towards giving you the benefit of a doubt after today's submission. (actually that kinda started with yesterdays when I noticed the responses you left to comments in your essay that conflicted with the general gist of it.)
My impression now, (Which granted, could possibly be just as wrong as my first impression) is that you are just another progressive voter stuck between two shitty choices and trying to work out which one is the best for you to make and trying to encourage others to make it too.
I sincerely hope it was the latter, because I too enjoy your writing.
That's not to say you are not free to post the other type too if that is indeed your goal.
One of the things I love about this place is how tolerant it has been traditionally to dissenting opinions, and I still support that even if the opinion comes in the form of, "You must SUPPORT CLINTON or SCARY!".
While that is an opinion I personally find laughable, I wouldn't want to stop you from expressing it. Just be prepared to defend it to some righteously pissed off Progressives.
Those that do post such writings should expect some push-back, and us that do that pushing should strive to implement that push-back in a constructive, civil and fact based manner (Which has largely occurred although with passions inflamed to the level they are I expect that some of us, me included, will occasionally fail to live up to that standard) and not in the Kos-style ad-hominems and hate that is so readily dispensed at TOP.
I am incredibly proud of this site, and hope that we can continue on the path that JTC, Joe, Etc. have laid out for us, avoid group think and maintain open and honest discourse.
Thank you for being a part of it and have an excellent day!
"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me
I agree Alphalop that anger and frustration is high now.
But this site aims for fair discussion with the caveat that none of us will resist on bogeyman threats. I just awoke from a stress dream of the near-naked, lost-my-IDs, money, etc someplace wrong with threatening people. It will take me at least an hour to erase that memory. Time for my morning beta-blocker (heart irregularities, nothing bad).
Advertising our site to possible new members earlier on FB, I ran into Rusty. Small world.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
Ok, I have to add this. I went over to TOP for the first time in
months because of the link Subir left in the Essay about it not being well received.
I figured, "How bad can it be? It is obviously tongue in cheek snark." and being a believer that humor is always one of the greatest tools to re-opening a dialog I guess I naively assumed others were similar in nature.
I got about a third of the way through the comments, and whew! The Vitrol and hysteria is truly something to behold.
All I can say is fucking wow...
The hypocrisy and groupthink at that place is astounding!
They rail on about our immaturity, need to "get over it", "Unity" etc. etc. and come off as so goddamn smugly superior while dropping condescending gems like these.
Then there is this amazing unity approach as well, first time I have ever seen such high caliber Rovian projection in a while:
(This one I had to include Sub's response, cause it was epic.)
But hey, at least we got a mention! It's good to know we are held in such high regard by some.
And of course, it's good to know they are upholding their status as The Adults in the Room®
I decided to share this sampler for those that didn't want to go to the Giant Ol' Shitstain but may be curious.
I went and took a peek at the Dreck list while I was there and the level of discourse is just flabbergasting. It is literally like I walked into a blend of an anonymous you-tube comment section and Red State with the amount of hate and intolerance to any that oppose the sanctioned group-think. (At the risk of coming off like a "Fan-Boy" I have more appreciation and love for the crew here than ever for putting this place together for us, if I had to still go there daily my monitor would probably be full of fist sized holes by now, lol!)
I had suspended my Masochism Tour™ due to time constraints with following the election and RL issues, but I plan on re-instituting it as a regularly occurring series where I will journey to blogs and media outlets that most of us wouldn't normally subject ourselves to in order to highlight the idiocy and madness that we face.
It should be good for some chuckles.
"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me
The idiots don't
even know how to clambake a car properly. And it ain't by farting! Good post(I guess?), thanks for going there so I don't have to. But even this sample is too much for me.
The world will burn and they will laugh. Sad.s
Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .
Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .
If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march
He who laughs last
As I said on the K4S site, they can yell, scream, insult, and pound their fists into sand as much as they want. What they fail to realize is that they need us in November, like it or not. They can't get it through their corporate skulls that WE WILL DECIDE THIS ELECTION and there's not a damn thing they can do about it. Their salty tears of panic taste so good. As we march slowly towards doomsday / election day. They'll finally realize that without us, say hello to President Grand Orange.
Your statement made me thing of this Meme I use on Eve at times.
"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me
Subir, the great advantage to writing here
is that you don't have to self-edit as one must do at TOP in order to ward off predictable attacks from the zombie hoards; that's the problem with trying to use a place built on Party support as the platform for genuinely thoughtful pieces, political or otherwise.
I look at the comments over there and they are all mostly personal attacks directed at a diarists shortcomings in meeting the conformity requirements. Who needs it?
Publish the pieces here that are too much for them to handle. I don't agree with your advocacy of working from within the Democratic Party for change, and it's a hard sell here, since so many are here because of specific disagreement and disgust with the Party, but reasonable people have differing opinions all the time.
" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "
Subir, I value your opinions, though I may disagree...
as others have said, please continue writing here. You make us think. We are not afraid of that. We welcome that, in fact. Just don't feed us bullsnot and call it "reality."
"All Life is Problem Solving" - Karl Popper