March 27, 2010 archive

Open Thread

I’ve been saying this so much for so long, I decided to just create a picture this time. There is not lesser of two evils. It’s all a carefully orchestrated charade. Or, as depicted, a puppet show.

There will be no electoral solution. There is no “better Democrat” strategy. There will be no revolution, televised or not. The game is rigged. Checkmate.

The only way to win is to play a different game.

Here’s a clue though: almost all leftwing societies, socialists or whatever you want to call them, did not arise from building over time a strong leftwing political party. In every case they arose as a reaction to rightwing governments.

Where leftist organization plays in is being ready to seize the moment when rightwing policies bring disaster upon the people. But as we have seen with the election of Obama, they may have got us beat in that regard too. But most likely, it’s just because the disaster wasn’t disastrous enough this time.

But by far, the biggest aid to a return to “progressivism” or “social democracy”, or whatever you want to call it, was the disastrousness of George W. Bush’s presidency. And the biggest impediment is fake lefties like the Democrats. That’s the little song and dance they do. All that useful anger from the Bush years was dissipated with the “change” to Barack Obama. But the change was an illusion. This is how the puppet show works.

So you want to move the whole country left in a big way sooner? Elect Sarah Palin. Or stick with the Democrats. The puppet show won’t work forever. It’s already failing in Europe as socialists sweep elections and the people call for neoliberal heads.

In sum, the real fight is here. Not the government. Prepare the people so when the crash comes, they won’t choose a militant fascist instead of a peaceful socialist.

YOU MUST BE HIGH

A research group led by a professor of neurophysiology at the University of Tokyo claims to have identified a chemical in the brain that “creates effects similar to those of marijuana.” The scientists say their findings could eventually help people lose weight, which makes us wonder what they’ve been smoking.

A new book called The Great Tokyo Air Raid: Records of Korean Victims, Part III is being described as the “first comprehensive study of the damage done to Korean residents in wartime Tokyo.” We suppose parts I and II were about the fun that the Koreans had during the war.

The newly established Consumer Affairs Agency is mulling whether to cancel an information hotline that was intended to combat a rise in food mislabeling scandals. The agency said that most of the calls “were general consultations or complaints, such as being tricked into buying an expensive item.”

It was revealed that the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties allowed a museum in Niigata to display 14 Buddhist statues designated as national treasures even though an earlier exhibit was riddled with “spiders and other bugs.”

Glenn Greenwald has a great article up about the next opening on the Supreme Court.  With the next Presidential election two years away, it is likely that President Obama will be able to pick a second Supreme Court Justice, and, Greenwald opines on this NYT article.

If Justice Stevens retires, Democrats close to the White House said, the leading contenders will be three runners-up from last year: Elena Kagan, the solicitor general; Diane P. Wood, an appeals court judge in Chicago; and Merrick B. Garland, an appeals court judge in Washington.

If you think that President Obama will nominate a person with “liberal” leanings, you are sadly mistaken.