Too Much To Dream

How does one fight the hydra, who sprouts two new heads with every one snipped off?

My vorpal blade goes snicker-snack, yet the fight seems so fruitless!

LOL!! You get your political theory and tactics from Joe Piscopo.

I'll get mine from Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Let's see who comes out on top.

TO: Andrea Harris
RE: Rampant Unreasoning Emotionalism

I can understand how it happens, that someone goes off the deep end like this. Especially when they won't listen, or even allow comment, from people that disagree with them in a cogent fashion.

One can develop an incredible ego, going about running an operation by the idea of 'killing' the opposition. You wind up with an echo-chamber of reverberating narcisism. Nothing more. Nothing to act as a 'governor' on the racing gears in your own mind. It happened in Nazi Germany. I'm certain it's happening in Saddam's Iraq. Why not in the little nation-states of blogdom?

Anyone who disagrees with Fearless Leader is so much 'dog-food'. And Fearless leader is 'never wrong'...

...until the Russians are banging on der Fuerhrer Bunker door. Or the M1s, M2s and M3s cross the border.

The madness of it all manifests itself in so many interesting ways. Usually very emotional too. Hitler got married in the final hours.

Is there anyone to hold Ollie's hand?

TO: Dean Esmay
RE: So Many 'Heads'...

"How does one fight the hydra, who sprouts two new heads with every one snipped off?" -- Dean Esmay

...so little time.

Ain't the Greeks great?

Look upon it as 'job security'.

All you can do, is all you can do. Just deal with them one at a time. In the long run, with patience and determination, you will persevere. And, occassionally, you get to point out where someone blundered.

Keep fighting the good fight.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[Good can abide with the existance of Evil. But Evil cannot abide with the existance of Good, because Good will continually point out Evil's faults. Therefore, Evil must destroy Good in order to maintain it's image of itself.]

TO: Hesiod
RE: Political Theory

"I'll get mine from Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr." -- Hesiod

Neither Gandhi nor the good and honorable doctor would have succeeded in Nazi Germany nor Stalinist Russia nor Saddam's Iraq. They would have been shot. Outright. And would not even be remembered.

Count your blessings, compadre.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[Know your enemy and know yourself and you will never be defeated. -- Sun Tzu]

P.S. And if you don't know what I meant by 'your blessings'...

[A free society is one where it is safe to be 'unpopular'.]

"Neither Gandhi nor the good and honorable doctor would have succeeded in Nazi Germany nor Stalinist Russia nor Saddam's Iraq. They would have been shot. Outright. And would not even be remembered.

Count your blessings, compadre."

LOL!!

So...you're comparing the United States under George W. Bush to Stalinist Russia or NAZI Germany?

Fortunately, things aren't that bad yet. But I'm sure, with help from SDB, Andrea and yourself, that will soon change.

Hesiod,
I love the way you make a sharp left turn rather then admit someone else has a good point.
The only one who compared GWB to Stalin was you. GWB will defend this country and your freedom to remain a fellow traveler in spite of yourself.

TO: Hesiod
RE: It's Too Funny

"LOL!!" -- Hesiod

You on gas? All that laughter. Do you have a smile like Jack Nicholson's Joker?

RE: Compare and Contrast

"...you're comparing the United States under George W. Bush to Stalinist Russia or NAZI Germany?" -- Hesiod

Sure. Why not? You can even compare Clinton to such. That's what compare and contrast are all about. Neh?

RE: "We're Getting Bettah"!

"Fortunately, things aren't that bad yet. But I'm sure, with help from SDB, Andrea and yourself, that will soon change." -- Hesiod

I would suggest that you are projecting, compadre.

If I come to your blog and start commenting will you 'kill' me when I start makeing telling points?

In the last week I've been killed on two blogs and I was neither abusive nor threatening. All I was, was accurate in pointing out flaws in arguments, positions or procedures; asking questions like Socrates did of the Athenians.

And this occured on blogs operated by people professing themselves to be 'liberal'. But I guess there's no room in their universe for my 'diversity'.

So, if the so-called 'liberals' are out there 'killing' people who disagree with them. I get the distinct impression that you are projecting when you suggest that the conservatives are the threat to our free society.

After all, the conservative's political theory is that the status quo, a free, representative-republic is the way to be.

It's the 'liberals' who want to 'change things', neh?

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[Social terrorism is the bane of a free society.]

TO: Hesiod
RE: Was I Right? Or Was I?

"I love the way you make a sharp left turn rather then admit someone else has a good point." -- Hesiod

Like I said...

...you 'project'.

Regards,

Chuck(le)

Hesiod, what color is the sky on your planet? Here on planet Earth, our's is blue...

Are all rightwingers idiots?

Andrea was being snarky about one of my readers' ideas to protest the war by simply not coming to work one day.

She brought up the utterly ludicrous example of a soviet invasion in a Saturday Night Live skit.

I responded, essentially, that it worked pretty well for Gandhi and MLK Jr.

Some other rightwing idiot chimed in that Gandhi and MLK would have failed under Hitler and Stalin.

Hence my half-joking retort about America under Bush being as bad as Germany under Hitle and the Soviet Union under Stalin.

See the flow of the argument, you rightwing pinheads?

Good.

To bring this back around to the beginning, Or, rather, to make it understanible even for rightwing morons such as yourselves, this means that a peaceful, non-violent "strike" [ask Lech Walesa if that works, incidenatlly] would be VERY effective HERE IN THE UNITED STATES!

I was not talking about NAZI Germany, or Stalinist Russia.

I was talking about the good ole U.S. of A. Today. In 2003.

The ONLY reason such a protest would be ineffectual is because, sadly, not enough people will join in.

In fact, the reaction it's generating among right-wing-freaks like you all is proof that it would work. Why else would you feel so threatened by the idea?

Not only that, I think the underlying criticism implies a gun rights paranoia on your part as well.

If we can change the world without using guns, that puts your whole worldview in a world of hurt.

In any event, I'm not going to waste any more time with you idiots.

Go be Bush's useful idiots on someone else's time.

An apt name for this site: "Confederacy of Dunces." Just about says it all, I think.

Hesiod's a troll. And you know what to do with trolls. 95% of his postings amount to so much monkeyshit. Sling away, Hesiod[sic].

Still waiting for some kind of the retraction of the accusation of the kicking incident in Austin, but liars like Hesiod rarely retract statements that are effective even when they're completely unfounded.

TO: David Perron
RE: Trolling for Trouble

"Hesiod's a troll." -- David

Yeah. I was getting that distinct impression. I had never encountered the fellow before, so I was giving him the benefit of the doubt. But his latest post, "Confederacy of Dunces" put the final nail in the proverbial coffin.

RE: What To Do? Ooooh, What To Do??!?!

"...you know what to do with trolls." -- David

Actually, I'm going to run a little experiment. I'm 'in position' over at his blog....

Regards,

Chuck(le)

TO: Hesiod
RE: Apologies

Sorry about that second comment regarding projection. I thought that was you posting. I see now that it was Starhawk.

Not familiar with the notation system here just yet, and not enough caffine in my blood system.

Sorry,

Chuck(le)

"The ONLY reason such a protest would be ineffectual is because, sadly, not enough people will join in."

That is because, sadly for you apparently, not enough people think going on strike in defense of Saddam Hussein isn't just about the most breathtakingly stupid and morally backward idea since Chamberlain equated a piece of paper with "peace in our time."

Hesiod –

Everyone has their own interpretation of Gandhi. Some of the approx. 2000 black bloc anarchists who smashed windows and spray-painted walls in San Francisco thought they were following Gandhi’s suggestions. Strangely enough, these anarchists may have been the first to have suggested a General Strike.

The suggestion to have a strike was posted on that Indymedia site, on Sunday, posted by “Womit and Grollace” (doesn’t sound very Gandhiesque, does it?). Womit said:

Sunday January 19, 2003 at 10:26 PM

“So, we all had a big picnic in San Francisco. What did it achieve? Did the war stop? Oh. How big do the marches have to get before the war stops? When have marches ever stopped war before? When have marches that don't have the threat of violence and revolution behind them ever achieved anything (hint to people thinking Gandhi: read what the Brits were worried about at the time. It was the imminent threat of violent revolution that made them leave and the withdrawal of goods and services).”

“Now, I can see that smashing the INS offices etc is symbolic as well (and I like it), but let's face it, neither symbolic action does anything on its own besides maybe showing people that there's a significant number of others that feel like them."

“Here's a more concrete suggestion: General Strike.”

I wouldn’t presume to guess what Gandhi would have done in this situation. I mean, I’m not trying to pretend that I think the same way he does, that his theories support my every word and action. Most people don’t have that kind of ego – not even Joe Piscopo.

But the idea of a general strike isn't bad. If it's not successful, that will show how just little support there is among the general public for the anti-war movement.

Just a side note: the SNL sketch I refer to is from the pre-Joe Piscopo era, when that show was still funny. Dan Aykroyd was in it. (Wow, Saturday Night Live was on before Joe Piscopo was in it? Yes, dear, and Paul McCartney was in a band before he was in Wings too.) But at least I have confirmed that He's Odd is a lot younger than I am. A lot younger.

I never saw the Russian invasion sketch - but I always liked the Coneheads routine ("We are from France")

That wasn't so long ago.. was it?

The hard part for Hesiod is going to be stirring up any interest among people who actually have jobs. The likeliest result is that Prof. Sneedle's 10:00 Marxist Hermeneutics lecture empties out but nothing else happens.

Paging Dr. Godwin! Come in Dr. Godwin!

Bleh.

maybe its just me, but i find it surprising that nobody's pointed out that martin luther king and gandhi were, in fact, shot. as for stephen den beste's essay i found it made a lot of sense, and i suspect the founding fathers would have approved of what he had to say about bush. this is the way a republic is supposed to work; the public is not served when the leadership is compelled to react to every twitch in the body politic. i also think this is one reason that the media doesnt like bush very much. its hard to report on a man who refuses to commit news everyday. if the press had its way every year would be an election year and they could report on the horse race 24-7; this would leave no time for actually governing, of course.

My comment to Hesiod the other day:

So you see it as a legitimate function of the federal government to take tax money from taxPAYERS (such as me) and use it to pay for someone's heat? Why stop at heat? why not A/C in summer, too? After all, people die from the heat, too.

His reply:
"Or better yet, why not cut out the middle man and put a bullet in their brians [sic]?
How much are you willing to pay for the cost of bullets out of your tax dollars?
It would be a lot cheaper"

How's that for avoiding the question? Can you say, "non sequitir"?

Addressing 'Hesiod', Chuck Pelto wrote:

"Neither Gandhi nor the good and honorable doctor [King] would have succeeded in Nazi Germany nor Stalinist Russia nor Saddam's Iraq. They would have been shot. Outright. And would not even be remembered.

Count your blessings, compadre."

In his usual dishonest way, 'Hesiod' replied:

"LOL!!

So...you're comparing the United States under George W. Bush to Stalinist Russia or NAZI Germany?"

It's perfectly obvious that Chuck was comparing Iraq, not the U.S., to Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia. Which leaves us with three questions:

1. Does 'Hesiod' think that Iraqis deserve to be free? It's obvious to must of us that no native-born Gandhi or King can help them free themselves from such a brutal thug as Saddam, nor could foreigners do so without using methods very different from those of Gandhi and King. Or does 'Hesiod' think that Iraqis can all go to Hell (or rather stay there)?

2. If 'Hesiod' thinks freedom is only for Americans, not Iraqis, how can he escape the obvious imputation of racism or at least ethnocentrism?

3. If 'Hesiod' honestly thinks that the methods of Gandhi and King can free Iraq from Saddam, why isn't he over there now leading anti-Saddam demonstrations?

My only objection to Chuck's comment is that it is too mild. As in Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia, dissidents in Saddam's Iraq can count themselves lucky if they are shot outright, instead of being slowly tortured to death, seeing their female relatives raped before their eyes, and so on.

Bracing myself for a string of stupid insults and blatant irrelevancies . . . .

Why does anyone pay any attention to Hesiod? He's never been more than a fountain of bile, invective, and loony left fantasy.

TO: Dr. Weevil
RE: Too Mild

"...dissidents in Saddam's Iraq can count themselves lucky if they are shot outright, instead of being slowly tortured to death, seeing their female relatives raped before their eyes, and so on." -- Dr. Weevil

Too bad we can't follow what's happening to those two guys, who apparently were seeking asylum, the UN 'inspectors' turned over to Iraqi 'authorities'.

I'm afraid you're right. I was too mild with respect to Iraqi solutions to people like Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.

RE: Those UN Inspectors

It is blatantly obvious, to even the most casual observer they are overworked and cannot handle the strain of playing 3-WMD Monty with Saddam Hussein. Heck they can't handle a couple of guys begging in the streets (for asylum).

I think its about time they got some help.

I know of a collection of 150+ thousand guys and gals, with all kinds of hi-tech equipment that are just itching to 'help'.

They can take on security and inspections and even helping to poor local populace.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[Bring your gun. Bring another gun. Bring all your friends with their guns. -- Marine Corps Rules for Gunfighting]

As I've made clear, I am opposed to THIS war on the terms of occupation/invasion put forward so far by this administration. The 1984 graphic was more aligned with the right wing lockstep on these quite unAmerican positions.

TO: Oliver (W)
RE: As If We Didn't Know

"...I am opposed to THIS war on the terms of occupation/invasion put forward so far by this administration." -- Oliver

So what's new with this?

Or are you merely stuck, 'lock-step' repeating yourself?

RE: Lock-Step?

"...right wing lockstep on these quite unAmerican positions." -- Oliver

Yeah...right. Lock-step.

Who's REALLY 'lock-step'? I can point out myriad instances of the so-called Democrats VOTING, mind you, as tallied in the Congressional Record, voting 'lock-step', including the impeachment.

But let's move on to that other business...unAmerican Positions.

RE: Unamerican Positions

So tell me, compadre...

...do you believe in 'freedom of expression'?

Do you practice it up on your blog?

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[A free society is one where they don't 'kill' you for speaking the facts.]

TO: All
RE: Acts of God

Now THAT is an interesting juxtaposition....

Chuck(le)

If you truely want to take a lesson from Martin Luther King, then you should listen to what he has to say about how to oppose a psychopathic, murderous tyrant.

"If your opponent has a conscience, then follow Gandhi and non-violence. But if your enemy has no conscience like Hitler, then follow Bonhoeffer"

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German theologian, who concluded that the only moral action under Nazi Germany was resistance. He was killed for his part in an attempt to assassinate Hitler.

Non-violence only works against those with a conscience. Sadam Hussein has children tortured in front of their parents and employes a state rapist.

I hear Saddam kicks puppies too. The bastard!

TO: Oliver
RE: Unamerican Activities

Please answer my last question, Ollie.

Thanks,

Chuck(le)

P.S. If you want to get a good 'picture' of her. Watch Life Force. She's the spitting image of the female lead. Then READ the last part of Proverbs 31. That's her personality.

TO: SYSOP
RE: Something's Missing

Can you correct the rest?

Thanks,

Chuck(le)

Oliver, is that supposed to be a response? (Your "I hear he kicks puppies too.") The phrase intellectual bankruptcy springs to mind. Essentially you made fun of the argument instead of addressing it. And I can say for certain, people like me aren't going to be impressed or swayed by vacuous mocking.

It's your loss.

Andrea - It's weird, but leftwingers are always so polite when they post comments on my blog. I never seem to attract these shitstorms, but then, I'd be disappointed if I did. Careful your comments don't turn into another Warbloggerwatch-style faeces-flinging fiesta, with cat-fucking and jokes about Scott Ganz's girlfriend. This is the thin end of a slippery slope, the straw that passed a camel through the eye of a haystack full of needles, and so on.

That's why I use Movable Type, where I can ban trolls and delete contents to my heart's content. It has been my experience that after a while they get tired of bothering me and go away, no doubt to grouse on democraticunderground.org's forums about what a bitch I am.

No Hesiod, is an Uruk-hai orc, not a troll, the
next level of pest. He's the kind who would have
been pointing out FDR's family's China trading
connections as an argument against intervention
in WW2. 'No War for Silk (or Opium) Harriman &
Forrestal, Donovan's & N. Rockefeller's past dealings with German business interests. There is
no shallow Iraqi or other Middle Eastern propaganda tidbit he will not trade in

That's why I use Movable Type, where I can ban trolls and delete contents to my heart's content. It has been my experience that after a while they get tired of bothering me and go away, no doubt to grouse on democraticunderground.org's forums about what a bitch I am.--

I use Greymatter. My conservative trolls never seem to go away - they just e-mail me and get new IPs and talk about how much I'm "censoring" them. If we're to get into a troll pissing contest, I have to say mine are much worse than yours, especially since the mindset on display with them seems to be replicated among some of your commenters (Chuck, namely).

Guess what, folks? Liberals are people too, and many of them won't treat like you're a jackass if you don't act like one.

Jesse: could you do a favor and use quotation marks or something to differentiate your text from a block of text you are quoting? Square brackets, even single quote marks; I won't make you use the shift key.

I thought of using Greymatter, but the creator stopped maintaining and updating it, so I decided to go to Movable Type instead. As for the type of trolls you and I are attracting, I don't know what your criteria for troll behavior is; I don't mind an argument if people can keep to some kind of reasoned discourse. When useless flaming starts, or silly amateurish attempts at sarcasm are left right off the bat (see the Pinter post below with all 92 -- so far -- comments), that is my criteria for "troll," aka "teenager who has been grounded by his parents for sneaking out of the house to join the 'anti-war protest' and reeling home reeking of pot fumes."

TO: jesse
RE: Liberals Are People Too

"Guess what, folks? Liberals are people too, and many of them won't treat like you're a jackass if you don't act like one." -- jesse

Yeah. I'm sure there are some people that actually live by the credo of 'diversity' in the liberal camp. But currently they are few and far between. At least from what I've observed over the last week. And it's not getting bettah.

Take a look at the activity on Hesiod's blog. Pay particular attention to the topic titled

"TEMPORARILY CLOSED FOR FUMIGATION:

Too many dishonest, rightwing propganda spewers have infested my comments." -- Hesiod's blog

The pic of the bug screaming "EXTERMINATOR!" is a 'gas' {nudge-nudge, wink-wink}. But what I find inside is really fascinating....

"...Jesse got burned out by these shits. (I don't know how Atrios takes it.) The mistake these guys both made is thinking of Freepers as human beings..." -- zizka

Is that you, jesse, that zizka is commenting on?

I'm particularly taken with zizka's dehumanizing of people that disagree with him. I find it most 'informative'.

Would you say that dehumanizing people is a 'liberal' trait? Is it 'celebrating people's divserity'?

Or is it that zizka has 'fallen'?

Is 'crushing dissent' another trait? Ollie does it on his blog. Hesiod seems to praise the concept over on his, based on that picture a couple of topics down from Exterminator!. [Note: Is that a self-portrait?]

Inquiring minds want to know....

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[First they came for the 'freepers'....]
P.S. What is a 'freepers'? Is it some code for the new N-word amongst zizkas pals?

TO: Andrea Harris
RE: Trolls & Such

"That's why I use Movable Type, where I can ban trolls and delete contents to my heart's content." -- Andrea Harris

My personal opinion, for whatever that may be worth, is that 'trolls' are people too. And being such, they deserve to (1) be heard and (2) be informed.

Whether or not they learn from the information is their 'problem'. I like Johnson's approach over on LGF, "Don't feed the trolls." If things look like they are getting too weird, he just reminds people to not feed/encourage them.

But to the best of my knowledge, which admittedly is limited, he does not advocate or outright 'kill' them.

I suspect that REAL trolls have a very short attention span. They get bored easily. The masochists are with you always. They're the people who need reaffirmation, even if it's of a definitely negative nature. Best spotted by making vile statements. The totally clueless seem to make one or two posts and then drop off the face of the planet, probably because they might have learned something, the hard way; wounds can do that.

RE: B - I - T - C - H!

"It has been my experience that after a while they get tired of bothering me and go away, no doubt to grouse on democraticunderground.org's forums about what a bitch I am." -- Andrea Harris

BITCH - Acronym for Boys I'm Taking Charge Here.

Its your 'house'.

Keep up the good work...

Regards,

Chuck(le)

TO: Andrea Harris
RE: Posting Protocols

A question about MoveableType's approach to posting comments...

Is it supposed to put a gray line between posts?

Most of the time there is a gray line between posts. But, sometimes I see siuations where there is no such line between what looks like two posts.

Is the latter case where someone takes a citation from another post here, including the by line?

Thanks,

Chuck(le)

There was a day, relatively recently, when virtually everyone in America made a strong statement against war by simply going about their daily business without calling for attacking this or that country or organization. That day was September 10, 2001. Based on the results, I don't think that staying home to protest our coming invasion of Iraq would have an beneficial impact, even if a large number of people were to do it.

Chuck: the gray line between posts is a function set up in the stylesheet. Every post should have one separating it from the next; I'm not sure why you can't see one sometimes. It could be your screen resolution, color settings, browser settings and so forth. Another way to tell the end of a post is the "Posted by" line at the bottom.

TO: Andrea Harris
RE: The Thin Gray Line

I'm not seeing one between these two posts:

Posted by: narciso on January 25, 2003 11:52 PM
Posted by: jesse on January 26, 2003 12:32 AM

If you're seeing one then I guess it's a problem on my end. {whack! BAD COMPUTER! BAD!!!!}

Chuck(le)

It's there on mine. Bad computer!

Man bytes computer!

I really don't think hesiod understands Den Beste no matter how detailed Den Beste is. Visual learner I expect.

Evidently this thread has hesiod in a full monkey feces flinging fit. After his exterminator hiatus of several hours, he's come back with a couple of new memes. He claims he has always supported the Afganistan operation, but always thought it should have been done with several tens of thousand US troops. The second is that everyone who disagrees with his hatred of democracy is a urine-stained coward, or something to that effect. Hard to say exactly, since he really doesn't ever address or defend any post. Can't really, since he redefines himself weekly, and reconstructs his history monthly. Just a lot of 'LOL' responses to comments at this point.

Christ, what a piece of work.

I think Pseudo-Hesiod's constant use of "urine-stained" to describe his enemies is wish-fulfillment fantasy, implying a deep-seated urge to pee on them himself. Since he hasn't got the guts to try that in person, he resorts to the verbal equivalent. (Just kidding, sort of.)

If 'Hesiod' replies to this, I hope he will also reply to my three specific questions above.

Dunno Doc, he doesn't give focused replies on his own blog. I wouldn't expect then here.

TO: Dr. Weevil
RE: RSVP

"If 'Hesiod' replies to this, I hope he will also reply to my three specific questions above." -- Dr. Weevil

Don't hold your breath, compadre....

Regards,

Chuck(le)