The Dictator observations thread.

Politics and other such topical creams.
eumaas
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Re: The Dictator observations thread.

Post by eumaas »

http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-tr ... er-2624490
these sorts of sentiments are common
I feel that there is a fascistic element, for example, in the Rolling Stones . . .
— Morton Feldman

I've studied the phenomenon of neo-provincialism in self-isolating online communities but this place takes the fucking cake.
— Clashy

eumaas
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Re: The Dictator observations thread.

Post by eumaas »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 11:50am
eumaas wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 11:22am
been seeing an awful lot of jingoism from my liberal friends over North Korea and it's really depressing me.
One thing that drives me batty is the common discourse where liberal = left. This lazy binary thinking where not being conservative must mean being left. There's some overlap in cultural areas, where centrists have accepted a lot of leftist cultural liberation arguments, but when it comes to most every other area—trade, taxes, foreign policy—there's a fuck of a lot more daylight between liberal and left than liberal and conservative.
Often paired with an invincible ignorance of how much continuity there is between Trump and American history.
I feel that there is a fascistic element, for example, in the Rolling Stones . . .
— Morton Feldman

I've studied the phenomenon of neo-provincialism in self-isolating online communities but this place takes the fucking cake.
— Clashy

BostonBeaneater
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Re: The Dictator observations thread.

Post by BostonBeaneater »

eumaas wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 11:49am
BostonBeaneater wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 11:45am
eumaas wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 11:22am
been seeing an awful lot of jingoism from my liberal friends over North Korea and it's really depressing me.
What variety of jingoism are you hearing? Our government has been cozy with cruel strongmen since the country was founded. I think a lot of this is just a nice little distraction and an opportunity for Trump to pat himself on the beck yet again.
Well, for one thing a lot of people upset that the US flag was displayed as equal to the DPRK's. Also a lot of upset over Trump saying he'd pull out American troops and end wargames. And precisely none of them have said anything about Korean self-determination or how South Koreans overwhelmingly support the peace process.
Point them out to me and I will squirt poison in their face at the Khartoum International Airport.
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eumaas
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Re: The Dictator observations thread.

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BostonBeaneater wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 11:54am
Point them out to me and I will squirt poison in their face at the Khartoum International Airport.
What was it like working with Spielberg
Image
I feel that there is a fascistic element, for example, in the Rolling Stones . . .
— Morton Feldman

I've studied the phenomenon of neo-provincialism in self-isolating online communities but this place takes the fucking cake.
— Clashy

BostonBeaneater
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Re: The Dictator observations thread.

Post by BostonBeaneater »

eumaas wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 11:56am
BostonBeaneater wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 11:54am
Point them out to me and I will squirt poison in their face at the Khartoum International Airport.
What was it like working with Spielberg
Fine until he put his hand on my knee.
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Dr. Medulla
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Re: The Dictator observations thread.

Post by Dr. Medulla »

eumaas wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 11:53am
Dr. Medulla wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 11:50am
eumaas wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 11:22am
been seeing an awful lot of jingoism from my liberal friends over North Korea and it's really depressing me.
One thing that drives me batty is the common discourse where liberal = left. This lazy binary thinking where not being conservative must mean being left. There's some overlap in cultural areas, where centrists have accepted a lot of leftist cultural liberation arguments, but when it comes to most every other area—trade, taxes, foreign policy—there's a fuck of a lot more daylight between liberal and left than liberal and conservative.
Often paired with an invincible ignorance of how much continuity there is between Trump and American history.
The idea that Trump is the logical, if extreme, result of neoliberalism and erosion of the public sphere and not some aberration (rooted in personality, of course) is a numbing (read: frustrating) conversation I've had with various family members over the past eighteen months. It's like once the cancerous lung is removed, they can go back to smoking and everything will be fine.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

eumaas
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Re: The Dictator observations thread.

Post by eumaas »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 12:17pm
eumaas wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 11:53am
Dr. Medulla wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 11:50am
eumaas wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 11:22am
been seeing an awful lot of jingoism from my liberal friends over North Korea and it's really depressing me.
One thing that drives me batty is the common discourse where liberal = left. This lazy binary thinking where not being conservative must mean being left. There's some overlap in cultural areas, where centrists have accepted a lot of leftist cultural liberation arguments, but when it comes to most every other area—trade, taxes, foreign policy—there's a fuck of a lot more daylight between liberal and left than liberal and conservative.
Often paired with an invincible ignorance of how much continuity there is between Trump and American history.
The idea that Trump is the logical, if extreme, result of neoliberalism and erosion of the public sphere and not some aberration (rooted in personality, of course) is a numbing (read: frustrating) conversation I've had with various family members over the past eighteen months. It's like once the cancerous lung is removed, they can go back to smoking and everything will be fine.
I think the reason leftists downplay the Russia stuff is that Russia provides a handy excuse for people who prefer to see Trump as a foreign infection rather than a cancer (to use your metaphor).
I feel that there is a fascistic element, for example, in the Rolling Stones . . .
— Morton Feldman

I've studied the phenomenon of neo-provincialism in self-isolating online communities but this place takes the fucking cake.
— Clashy

Dr. Medulla
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Re: The Dictator observations thread.

Post by Dr. Medulla »

eumaas wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 12:27pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 12:17pm
eumaas wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 11:53am
Dr. Medulla wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 11:50am
eumaas wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 11:22am
been seeing an awful lot of jingoism from my liberal friends over North Korea and it's really depressing me.
One thing that drives me batty is the common discourse where liberal = left. This lazy binary thinking where not being conservative must mean being left. There's some overlap in cultural areas, where centrists have accepted a lot of leftist cultural liberation arguments, but when it comes to most every other area—trade, taxes, foreign policy—there's a fuck of a lot more daylight between liberal and left than liberal and conservative.
Often paired with an invincible ignorance of how much continuity there is between Trump and American history.
The idea that Trump is the logical, if extreme, result of neoliberalism and erosion of the public sphere and not some aberration (rooted in personality, of course) is a numbing (read: frustrating) conversation I've had with various family members over the past eighteen months. It's like once the cancerous lung is removed, they can go back to smoking and everything will be fine.
I think the reason leftists downplay the Russia stuff is that Russia provides a handy excuse for people who prefer to see Trump as a foreign infection rather than a cancer (to use your metaphor).
And yet one can embrace a systemic or ideological larger explanation while seeing that the Russia component is part of the more unique historical circumstance. You don't need Russia to understand this, but it doesn't make Russia irrelevant to explain some of the more particular or personal aspects. There are lots of things going on and depending on where you train your vision, something analyses are more valuable than others.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

eumaas
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Re: The Dictator observations thread.

Post by eumaas »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 12:43pm
eumaas wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 12:27pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 12:17pm
eumaas wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 11:53am
Dr. Medulla wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 11:50am


One thing that drives me batty is the common discourse where liberal = left. This lazy binary thinking where not being conservative must mean being left. There's some overlap in cultural areas, where centrists have accepted a lot of leftist cultural liberation arguments, but when it comes to most every other area—trade, taxes, foreign policy—there's a fuck of a lot more daylight between liberal and left than liberal and conservative.
Often paired with an invincible ignorance of how much continuity there is between Trump and American history.
The idea that Trump is the logical, if extreme, result of neoliberalism and erosion of the public sphere and not some aberration (rooted in personality, of course) is a numbing (read: frustrating) conversation I've had with various family members over the past eighteen months. It's like once the cancerous lung is removed, they can go back to smoking and everything will be fine.
I think the reason leftists downplay the Russia stuff is that Russia provides a handy excuse for people who prefer to see Trump as a foreign infection rather than a cancer (to use your metaphor).
And yet one can embrace a systemic or ideological larger explanation while seeing that the Russia component is part of the more unique historical circumstance. You don't need Russia to understand this, but it doesn't make Russia irrelevant to explain some of the more particular or personal aspects. There are lots of things going on and depending on where you train your vision, something analyses are more valuable than others.
To me the Russia stuff is just symptomatic of a worldwide trend towards fascism. I mean just look at Europe right now.
I feel that there is a fascistic element, for example, in the Rolling Stones . . .
— Morton Feldman

I've studied the phenomenon of neo-provincialism in self-isolating online communities but this place takes the fucking cake.
— Clashy

Dr. Medulla
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Re: The Dictator observations thread.

Post by Dr. Medulla »

eumaas wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 12:45pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 12:43pm
eumaas wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 12:27pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 12:17pm
eumaas wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 11:53am

Often paired with an invincible ignorance of how much continuity there is between Trump and American history.
The idea that Trump is the logical, if extreme, result of neoliberalism and erosion of the public sphere and not some aberration (rooted in personality, of course) is a numbing (read: frustrating) conversation I've had with various family members over the past eighteen months. It's like once the cancerous lung is removed, they can go back to smoking and everything will be fine.
I think the reason leftists downplay the Russia stuff is that Russia provides a handy excuse for people who prefer to see Trump as a foreign infection rather than a cancer (to use your metaphor).
And yet one can embrace a systemic or ideological larger explanation while seeing that the Russia component is part of the more unique historical circumstance. You don't need Russia to understand this, but it doesn't make Russia irrelevant to explain some of the more particular or personal aspects. There are lots of things going on and depending on where you train your vision, something analyses are more valuable than others.
To me the Russia stuff is just symptomatic of a worldwide trend towards fascism. I mean just look at Europe right now.
Very much symptomatic. Would the Facebook propaganda stuff have been more successful if American political culture hadn't been growing more coarse, more stupid over the past several decades? Would the Republican Party be resistant to investigations if both political parties' attitude towards public institutions hasn't become so contemptuous? Or the corporate media's preference for spectacle and outrage over reasoned discourse? The conservative fascination with fascist strongmen goes hand in hand with neoliberalism's contempt for democratic principles. It's very much mutually supportive.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Silent Majority
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Re: The Dictator observations thread.

Post by Silent Majority »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 12:52pm
eumaas wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 12:45pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 12:43pm
eumaas wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 12:27pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 12:17pm


The idea that Trump is the logical, if extreme, result of neoliberalism and erosion of the public sphere and not some aberration (rooted in personality, of course) is a numbing (read: frustrating) conversation I've had with various family members over the past eighteen months. It's like once the cancerous lung is removed, they can go back to smoking and everything will be fine.
I think the reason leftists downplay the Russia stuff is that Russia provides a handy excuse for people who prefer to see Trump as a foreign infection rather than a cancer (to use your metaphor).
And yet one can embrace a systemic or ideological larger explanation while seeing that the Russia component is part of the more unique historical circumstance. You don't need Russia to understand this, but it doesn't make Russia irrelevant to explain some of the more particular or personal aspects. There are lots of things going on and depending on where you train your vision, something analyses are more valuable than others.
To me the Russia stuff is just symptomatic of a worldwide trend towards fascism. I mean just look at Europe right now.
Very much symptomatic. Would the Facebook propaganda stuff have been more successful if American political culture hadn't been growing more coarse, more stupid over the past several decades? Would the Republican Party be resistant to investigations if both political parties' attitude towards public institutions hasn't become so contemptuous? Or the corporate media's preference for spectacle and outrage over reasoned discourse? The conservative fascination with fascist strongmen goes hand in hand with neoliberalism's contempt for democratic principles. It's very much mutually supportive.
Bill Clinton rants about how shitty the politicians are with their divisive style over governing substance and the media in this terrible James Patterson book. It's like a man complaining about the smell in a lift as he continues to shit himself.
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Is ten times worse than prison


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Dr. Medulla
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Re: The Dictator observations thread.

Post by Dr. Medulla »

Silent Majority wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 12:57pm
Bill Clinton rants about how shitty the politicians are with their divisive style over governing substance and the media in this terrible James Patterson book. It's like a man complaining about the smell in a lift as he continues to shit himself.
I wonder if one of the key distinctions between conservatives and liberals is that conservatives can actually admit to themselves that they're corrupt and despise the masses.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Silent Majority
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Re: The Dictator observations thread.

Post by Silent Majority »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 12:59pm
Silent Majority wrote:
14 Jun 2018, 12:57pm
Bill Clinton rants about how shitty the politicians are with their divisive style over governing substance and the media in this terrible James Patterson book. It's like a man complaining about the smell in a lift as he continues to shit himself.
I wonder if one of the key distinctions between conservatives and liberals is that conservatives can actually admit to themselves that they're corrupt and despise the masses.
Yeah, my dividing line amongst conservatives is: evil conman or misguided idiot?
a lifetime serving one machine
Is ten times worse than prison


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Inder
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Re: The Dictator observations thread.

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eumaas
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Re: The Dictator observations thread.

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Macron is a loathsome prick and admired by American liberals for some reason.
I feel that there is a fascistic element, for example, in the Rolling Stones . . .
— Morton Feldman

I've studied the phenomenon of neo-provincialism in self-isolating online communities but this place takes the fucking cake.
— Clashy

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