The mostly friendly Australian bird of the family Artamidae (not to be confused with the Corvidae of the European magpie) who uses this branch of cyberspace to express various comments and opinions from deep inside the Pacific Rim, bids you welcome...
It's a good cartoon, but what it really is, is a smear of half the nation to discredit them and put them beyond the pale. For, if one is an evil racist, he's not even worth debating or listening to, right?
If every group were defined by its kook fringe, what a world it would be...
Every element in this cartoon is based on an actual Right-wing statement, poster or placard. I recognise all of them from repeat viewings, very often from blogs of conservatives who consider themselves mainstream.
The group being defined here would be the kook fringe if only most of the Right would disassociate themselves from these elements. They do not.
Most liberal bloggers do cartwheels of delight whenever someone in the GOP calls these sorts of statements wrong and without merit, because so few in the GOP ever do.
For years now I had been saying that the Republican party would reform itself and reconnect with their saner adherents and rationality. I was wrong. They have done no such thing. They have got on the kook truck with their fringe nuts and set out on the highway to hell.
If you, Silverfiddle, want to say that the statements expressed in this cartoon do not reflect your views as a conservative (or whatever you are) then I laud your independence of thought and willingness to call the crazies crazy.
Unfortunately, when a large population of whack jobs connect with morons, we have right-wing American politics.
Look at the population of the backhills of the deep south who consistently vote leaning towards the right becasue they've been told over and over that they are the "heart of America," that they are middle-class income earners and that voting left would make them less so. These are families who hold two jobs per person and STILL earn below the national poverty level, most times without health insurance coverage. And they do this becasue their pride has been bolstered by the right wing religious and politicians.
It embarrasses and shames those of us who value life beyond the words of neo-fascists the likes of which rarely have a clear, concise strategy for political change in the US, but rather espouse absolute obedience to the words of conflicting theological and political rhetoric promulgated by such icons as King George II, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, Jimmy Swaggart, James and Tammy Faye Bakker, Oral Roberts, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, etc....
Not ONE of these lunatics have a consistent, congealed focus for a better America, rather a loud mouth and pompouos attitude about the utter failure of everyone else. These are the right wing nuts who think bullying the world makes America better somehow, those who promote the slaughter of innocent Iraqi's, Afghans,Vietnamese and hundreds of thousands of America's best simply becasue THEY CAN.
The extreme right are not unlike the obnoxious kid in grammar school, acting out, screaming, throwing tantrums and simply disrupting the calmness of the class, jouvenile antics which are supported by the misguided responses of the "teachers."
These right-wing fascists are all about controlling their surroundings. By acting out like the children they are, they're making fools of the rest of the US and much of the world simply through association.
It's embarrasing and heartbreaking to see dumbasses such as these destroying the "republic for which they stand," with get the rich richer and grow the corporations into super oligopolies, empowering the rich even more, all while the people of the republic live on streets, scraps of food, in cardboard huts and with little or no hope of making it better.
You see. The right is winning, but much of them will be our neighbors in cardboardsville enjoying dumpster fishing with the rest of us as the elitists laugh at them too. For they're even bigger fools than the rest - they actually thought that their schemes would benefit them alongside their puppetmasters - the elitists.
I didn't hear anyone on the left repudiating bourgeoisie bolshie Tom Friedman when he lamented that our government did not have the dictatorial power of Communist China. Liberals never batted an eye when some hollywood celebutard wished Obama were a dictator.
Here's a short list of liberal hate speech: http://townhall.com/columnists/JohnHawkins/2010/03/30/violent_liberal_hate_rhetoric_fifteen_quotes/page/full
How about when Sarah Bernhard wished a good old fashioned gang-raping on Sarah Palin when she came to New York?
See? Two can play at this game. The answer, of course, is irresponsible people say irresponsible things and they are responsible for their own speech. Guilt by (very loose) association is another propaganda trick. Ed Schulz and Michael Moore alone are enough to shut down the left if guild by association really worked.
Silverfiddle - you have a very valid point with the health care bill. The fucktards in the government, be it right AND left, screwed us and screwed us while we were wide awake.
But I can't stand down when an article equates violence as a leftist trait while leaving the right blameless. http://www.publicgood.org/reports/wmdbrief.pdf http://academic.udayton.edu/race/06hrights/waronterrorism/racial03.htm http://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1687316.html http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/fbi/current.htm http://books.google.com/books?id=boadd2Ecug8C&pg=PA25&lpg=PA25&dq=right+wing+terrorism&source=bll&ots=ajgPbZtsAu&sig=aXsU-EaASAqIdLwgW3L442CU0kE&hl=en&ei=IY9bTOnaBpKmsQOFtYXpDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=11&ved=0CEEQ6AEwCg#v=onepage&q=right%20wing%20terrorism&f=false
Hell, even Fox News reports on right-wing terrorists (an oxymoron in my book) http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/14/homeland-security-warns-rise-right-wing-extremism/
Let’s face it. The very terrorism we fight in the name of freedom is the essence of right-winged fanaticism. Islam (and yes, fundamentalist Christianity) are nothing more than extreme rightists seeking to destroy personal freedom. Ask any burka-wearing victim of female-circumcision about the right wing and she'll gladly back away in fear. Ask any ignorant, uneducated, underpaid, ill-informed member of the right about how they are downtrodden and they’ll gladly tell you that they are happy to be the slaves of the right-winged elitists. Why? Because that’s what the idiots have been told their entire lives, and like all rightists they believe that bullshit walks and freedom talks.
Let's all face it - big corporate-run gubnit is out for themselves, to fill both the left and right hands.
BUT! You didn't pay attention to the warning and for this, you shall be castigated in the utmost sever manner "This column contains language some may find offensive" :-)
"How about when Sarah Bernhard wished a good old fashioned gang-raping on Sarah Palin when she came to New York?"
Bernhard, an individual, was referencing Palin's blanket opposition to abortion and the comment was not meant to be taken literally. I personally found the comedic remark offensive and counter-productive.
"Death to Obama Death to Michelle and her 2 stupid kids" was written in an organised demonstration (meaning the fellow demonstrators had to have countenanced it) and not said in reference to any point other than the desire to murder Obama and his family.
We could play the "game", as you call it, all day and all night (I should have so much free time...) but at the end of it I would still not accept the proposition that liberal groups generate hate of the anything like the toxicity and stupidity of the far right.
"irresponsible people say irresponsible things and they are responsible for their own speech. Guilt by (very loose) association is another propaganda trick"
Oh I agree. The whole Bill Ayers smear was an example of that.
Appreciate the link and went there, but given that there are ads there for Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity's books I don't think I'll be a repeat visitor.
Hadn't heard of Ed Schulz before (I AM in Australia) and I can see he's definitely of value, so thanks for that.
We're all sensitive to charges thrown at "our" side. Islam is indeed a very conservative movement, but equating it with Western Christianity is stretching it a bit. When's the last time a christian cut somebody's head off.
I am glad to hear you acknowledge, Bob, that we're on the receiving end of a bi-partisan screwing and that the government is in bed with corporations, all on our dime.
Kind of sad really. A 45 year build up of racist anger - from the passage of Civil Rights legislation until the election of a Black President.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good cartoon, but what it really is, is a smear of half the nation to discredit them and put them beyond the pale. For, if one is an evil racist, he's not even worth debating or listening to, right?
ReplyDeleteIf every group were defined by its kook fringe, what a world it would be...
Every element in this cartoon is based on an actual Right-wing statement, poster or placard. I recognise all of them from repeat viewings, very often from blogs of conservatives who consider themselves mainstream.
ReplyDeleteThe group being defined here would be the kook fringe if only most of the Right would disassociate themselves from these elements. They do not.
Most liberal bloggers do cartwheels of delight whenever someone in the GOP calls these sorts of statements wrong and without merit, because so few in the GOP ever do.
For years now I had been saying that the Republican party would reform itself and reconnect with their saner adherents and rationality. I was wrong. They have done no such thing. They have got on the kook truck with their fringe nuts and set out on the highway to hell.
If you, Silverfiddle, want to say that the statements expressed in this cartoon do not reflect your views as a conservative (or whatever you are) then I laud your independence of thought and willingness to call the crazies crazy.
Unfortunately, when a large population of whack jobs connect with morons, we have right-wing American politics.
ReplyDeleteLook at the population of the backhills of the deep south who consistently vote leaning towards the right becasue they've been told over and over that they are the "heart of America," that they are middle-class income earners and that voting left would make them less so. These are families who hold two jobs per person and STILL earn below the national poverty level, most times without health insurance coverage. And they do this becasue their pride has been bolstered by the right wing religious and politicians.
It embarrasses and shames those of us who value life beyond the words of neo-fascists the likes of which rarely have a clear, concise strategy for political change in the US, but rather espouse absolute obedience to the words of conflicting theological and political rhetoric promulgated by such icons as King George II, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, Jimmy Swaggart, James and Tammy Faye Bakker, Oral Roberts, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, etc....
Not ONE of these lunatics have a consistent, congealed focus for a better America, rather a loud mouth and pompouos attitude about the utter failure of everyone else. These are the right wing nuts who think bullying the world makes America better somehow, those who promote the slaughter of innocent Iraqi's, Afghans,Vietnamese and hundreds of thousands of America's best simply becasue THEY CAN.
The extreme right are not unlike the obnoxious kid in grammar school, acting out, screaming, throwing tantrums and simply disrupting the calmness of the class, jouvenile antics which are supported by the misguided responses of the "teachers."
These right-wing fascists are all about controlling their surroundings. By acting out like the children they are, they're making fools of the rest of the US and much of the world simply through association.
It's embarrasing and heartbreaking to see dumbasses such as these destroying the "republic for which they stand," with get the rich richer and grow the corporations into super oligopolies, empowering the rich even more, all while the people of the republic live on streets, scraps of food, in cardboard huts and with little or no hope of making it better.
You see. The right is winning, but much of them will be our neighbors in cardboardsville enjoying dumpster fishing with the rest of us as the elitists laugh at them too. For they're even bigger fools than the rest - they actually thought that their schemes would benefit them alongside their puppetmasters - the elitists.
I didn't hear anyone on the left repudiating bourgeoisie bolshie Tom Friedman when he lamented that our government did not have the dictatorial power of Communist China. Liberals never batted an eye when some hollywood celebutard wished Obama were a dictator.
ReplyDeleteHere's a short list of liberal hate speech:
http://townhall.com/columnists/JohnHawkins/2010/03/30/violent_liberal_hate_rhetoric_fifteen_quotes/page/full
How about when Sarah Bernhard wished a good old fashioned gang-raping on Sarah Palin when she came to New York?
See? Two can play at this game. The answer, of course, is irresponsible people say irresponsible things and they are responsible for their own speech. Guilt by (very loose) association is another propaganda trick. Ed Schulz and Michael Moore alone are enough to shut down the left if guild by association really worked.
Silverfiddle - you have a very valid point with the health care bill. The fucktards in the government, be it right AND left, screwed us and screwed us while we were wide awake.
ReplyDeleteBut I can't stand down when an article equates violence as a leftist trait while leaving the right blameless. http://www.publicgood.org/reports/wmdbrief.pdf
http://academic.udayton.edu/race/06hrights/waronterrorism/racial03.htm
http://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1687316.html
http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/fbi/current.htm
http://books.google.com/books?id=boadd2Ecug8C&pg=PA25&lpg=PA25&dq=right+wing+terrorism&source=bll&ots=ajgPbZtsAu&sig=aXsU-EaASAqIdLwgW3L442CU0kE&hl=en&ei=IY9bTOnaBpKmsQOFtYXpDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=11&ved=0CEEQ6AEwCg#v=onepage&q=right%20wing%20terrorism&f=false
Hell, even Fox News reports on right-wing terrorists (an oxymoron in my book) http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/14/homeland-security-warns-rise-right-wing-extremism/
Let’s face it. The very terrorism we fight in the name of freedom is the essence of right-winged fanaticism. Islam (and yes, fundamentalist Christianity) are nothing more than extreme rightists seeking to destroy personal freedom. Ask any burka-wearing victim of female-circumcision about the right wing and she'll gladly back away in fear. Ask any ignorant, uneducated, underpaid, ill-informed member of the right about how they are downtrodden and they’ll gladly tell you that they are happy to be the slaves of the right-winged elitists. Why? Because that’s what the idiots have been told their entire lives, and like all rightists they believe that bullshit walks and freedom talks.
Let's all face it - big corporate-run gubnit is out for themselves, to fill both the left and right hands.
BUT! You didn't pay attention to the warning and for this, you shall be castigated in the utmost sever manner "This column contains language some may find offensive" :-)
Hi Silverfiddle,
ReplyDelete"How about when Sarah Bernhard wished a good old fashioned gang-raping on Sarah Palin when she came to New York?"
Bernhard, an individual, was referencing Palin's blanket opposition to abortion and the comment was not meant to be taken literally. I personally found the comedic remark offensive and counter-productive.
"Death to Obama Death to Michelle and her 2 stupid kids" was written in an organised demonstration (meaning the fellow demonstrators had to have countenanced it) and not said in reference to any point other than the desire to murder Obama and his family.
We could play the "game", as you call it, all day and all night (I should have so much free time...) but at the end of it I would still not accept the proposition that liberal groups generate hate of the anything like the toxicity and stupidity of the far right.
"irresponsible people say irresponsible things and they are responsible for their own speech. Guilt by (very loose) association is another propaganda trick"
Oh I agree. The whole Bill Ayers smear was an example of that.
Appreciate the link and went there, but given that there are ads there for Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity's books I don't think I'll be a repeat visitor.
Hadn't heard of Ed Schulz before (I AM in Australia) and I can see he's definitely of value, so thanks for that.
We're all sensitive to charges thrown at "our" side. Islam is indeed a very conservative movement, but equating it with Western Christianity is stretching it a bit. When's the last time a christian cut somebody's head off.
ReplyDeleteI am glad to hear you acknowledge, Bob, that we're on the receiving end of a bi-partisan screwing and that the government is in bed with corporations, all on our dime.