Protect Them From Themselves

Posted on August 6, 2012 at 8:00 pm by JM Ashby


Artist – Tim Eagan

In other news, White House spokesman Jay Carney reiterated today that President Obama supports a renewal of the assault weapons ban.

That’s not something he can unilaterally impose, however. It’s up to congress to act.

Don’t hold your breath.

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  • mrbrink

    The corporate media’s trying to take out David Plouffe.

    Meanwhile, Iran Contra Republicans are running for president again.

    • Brutlyhonest

      No shit, right? I was cleaning out some very old files last night and ran across an old cartoon that had Pres Clinton riding past a sign for raygun national airport and saying, “I should have gratified myself with an illegal war.”

      • mrbrink

        There’s a picture of Reagan wingnuts like to pass around that says: Reagan didn’t spend his entire first term blaming Jimmy Carter!

        Reagan 1983 State of the Union:

        “The problems we inherited were far worse than most inside and out of government had expected; the recession was deeper than most inside and out of government had predicted. Curing those problems has taken more time and a higher toll than any of us wanted.”

        That was three years into his presidency.

        They still treat that little recession Reagan faced like he conquered the universe Pecos fucking Bill style. Like Mitt Romney, Reagan had no clue what the fuck he was doing. He raised taxes, cut taxes, raised and cut, cut and raised. Blew up the debt and deficit to give the illusion of a big ol’ roaring economy, while Bush 41′ used the CIA to run drugs and guns out the backdoor of the Oval office in the middle of a nuclear arms race. They let them get away with killing a hundred thousand Iranians during their proxy war and barely said a word about killing thousands in Central America.

        The media allowed them all to get away with their criminal enterprise. They let Bush 41′ pardon himself by pardoning his criminal accomplices. Then they let Dick Cheney get away with selling centrifuges to Iran for nuclear development going all the way back to the 90′s and as recently as 2005. And after a stolen election in 2000, they let him go on to become the 43 and 1/2 President of the United States.

        Then they let them all get away with bombing and invading Iraq, outing a CIA operative, torture, indefinite detention, finally blowing up the global economy, looting the treasury, and skating off– not into quiet obscurity, but back into mainstream politics where they continue to put the weight of their fucked up world on the head of Barack Obama.

        So I’ve been half-expecting Mitt Romney declare that he will bring the American hostages home from Iran on Day 1. The Romney campaign’s foreign policy team is like one XXXL “Fuck Iran” vintage t-shirt from 1979.

        And, of course, as it turns out, Bain Capital and Mitt Romney are no stranger to doing business with Iran.

        Republicans have not won a presidential election in modern history without resorting to treason, theft, and fraud, but the corporate media, acting as an accomplice to yet another fascist coup, has decided to even Mitt Romney’s odds by going after little David Plouffe.

        See, Brutly’. You say, “Reagan,” and I go off. You always do that! =)

        • Victor_the_Crab

          But, but, but, butt, butt… GOP good! Dems bad! Freedom! Liberty! Jesus! Gipper!… AAARGH!!!

        • Brutlyhonest

          Sorry to set you off (again), but I too remember all the shit that really happened. Hell, I was a gung-ho Naval Aviator just itching to get some ruskie butt whipping action. The problem started when I began to pay attention to what elected officials did, and not what they said. And, just like when I started asking questions at church as a teenager, I became a bit of a pariah. Iran/Contra was the final straw that drove me away from the herd.

          You may (or may not) be surprised at how many people called me a liar when I told them the “modern” US history in the Persian Gulf region (I kept calling it the Persian Gulf even when we were supposed to call it the Arabian Gulf after we got mad at the Persians). They insisted that because our (now) enemies were using Soviet/Russian weapons, the US couldn’t possibly have supplied/bought them. Yes kids, we armed Uncle Saddam AND the warlords in Somalia as we tried to retain a foothold in the region when the Iranians kicked their dictator, and US, out. Then toss in creating the Taliban and we’re full of win!

          I think when they essentially got away with Iran/Contra, they knew they had free rein to do whatever they wanted in the future.

          I’m not naive and I really get that foreign policy is complicated, but we have absolutely no long view.

          Add in the facts that the party that calls itself conservative always borrows to fund their spending AND grows government and I have to wonder how people can be so dense and keep voting against their own best interests.

          OK, I don’t really wonder. The answer is a very well executed perception management campaign. It’s probably the only long-term planning and execution the right has ever done. The US has historically sucked at PSYOP because we can’t generally wrap our heads around how other people/cultures think about things. The right not only understands what really motivates ‘Merkins (that’s presently greed and selfishness if you’re keeping score), but they were/are also willing to manipulate as much of the populace as they can for political gain. They don’t care how shitty they make things for the masses, because they will always have theirs. If they weren’t dragging the rest of us down with them, I’d say let them drive off the cliff.

          The most successful part of the campaign has been the neutering of the news organizations in this country. The quest to not be called liberal is never-ending and quixotic.

          Crap, now I’ve ranted a wall of text, too.

          Last thing then I’m off to bed: Outing Plame was absolutely treasonous; everyone involved in leaking that information should have done hard time. As part of the briefing for a HUMINT program I was read in to years ago, we saw a film that had Bush 41 telling us that the absolute worst damage you could ever do to your country was reveal a covert human asset.

          • mrbrink

            That was all kinds of cool, Brutly’. Good stuff. I knew I was going to enjoy that after the first few lines. I’m glad you took the time. If it was book length I would have read it cover to cover.

          • Brutlyhonest

            You are too kind, sir. I always look forward to reading your posts, regardless of topic.

          • http://phydeauxpseaks.blogspot.com Bob Rutledge

            You guys might be interested in this bit of Iran Contra “memorabilia” that lives not far from where I sit.

            And, as you might imagine, folk around here (meaning pretty much all of Central America) have very little good to say about the Reagan era.

          • http://twitter.com/AlanFors Alan Fors

            That’s pretty cool Bob. Good use of an historic artifact.

          • Brutlyhonest

            Thanks for that! It made me, no shit, chuckle aloud.

          • http://drangedinaz.wordpress.com/ IrishGrrrl

            One tiny point I disagree with…Conservatives Americans are great at PSYOPS against our own citizens. Otherwise, we suck at it.

          • Brutlyhonest

            I agree, and thought I said that. In my limited defense, it was 2am and I should have been asleep :P

          • http://drangedinaz.wordpress.com/ IrishGrrrl

            LOL, you’re right. My only defense is that I didn’t read very carefully. But I was more succint /snark An excellent comment, BTW

    • http://www.politicalruminations.com/ nicole

      Yes they are. Fucking pricks.