Look, I admit, I'm pretty cynical about some things, but I have to admit that I am actually amazed at what I just saw.
I hadn't ever actually seen Rachel Maddow--ah--perform before; hell, we don't even get television at home (I'm away on business as I write this). Surfing for a bit after watching the swimming events at the Olympic trials, I stumbled on Maddow's show, saw a Fast and Furious image in the background, and figured I'd take a look. You know, put the real deal up against what others have said and how I've seen her quoted.
Hotel Foxtrot Sierra. This woman has a following?
It was breathtaking in multiple dimensions. She appeared to be hyperventilating the entire time, for starters, and rushing both to fit everything in, and then repeating it all as frequently as possible. The transparency of her content, as parroted eleventh-hour talking points from the "don't be nosy" phone tree, was jaw-droppingly laughable, even by modern urinealism* standards. It was clear that the expectation was that if she said it enough, it would simply become true from sheer force of will and repetition.
It was embarrassing to watch. I felt like I should look away--not so much out of disgust (which would be perfectly understandable on its own merits) but out of simple, sheer pity for the complete, on-camera abdication of her own dignity. I'd use the "oh, bless 'er hawrt" locution, but this is way beyond just being full of shit. What she was doing here wasn't personal bluster, it was a sortie. (It's perfectly clear that when Master talks, she musters.)
Someone must be landing blows that hurt, or at least scare. (Thank you again Mike and David.)
Well, I guess now I have first-hand experience to go on. I'd figured I'd be disgusted, I admit, but this was just in a completely different category than I was prepared for. In the end, I can't decide whether to kick myself for not being cynical enough, or to be happy that my continuing disbelief at what impersonators of human beings are capable of, might be prima facie evidence that I've still got some humanity left intact in there.
Well, let's just hope that she represents "the best and brightest" of tyranny's footsoldiers. (Ha. I wish. Still.)
_________________
* Damn, I do miss straightarrow.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Monday, June 25, 2012
A shout out...
Posting has been light of late--part of an attempt to recover a little sanity--but a few things bear mention.
First: sincere condolences and best wishes to David Codrea, who just lost his father. It is difficult to overstate how important David is in the resistance to the War on Guns, and when he took a personal hiatus to attend to his family, it was impossible not to notice his absence.
I try to mention David's importance frequently when I post about Gunwalker or the War on Guns in general, but you know, it's worth mentioning here. (Not that readership here even registers as "meager", but rather that it's just worth documenting "at home".) The man has been a pillar of principle for a stack of years now, and I have been personally following his work for nearly a decade of that. I make no secret of a few differences of opinion, but in the scheme of things those are trivial: on matters of import regarding guns and gunnies, there is no one more authoritative than David.
David: you do further credit to yourself by the way you took and handled your hiatus. It reminds us that you are human, and with the work you do, that is an observation easy to overlook.
Thank you, again, for all you do. It freakin' matters.
Next: it's also good to have Mike Vanderboegh back, still recovering from a medical adventure rather more substantial than it first appeared. Mike has been as tireless as David in the Gunwalker case, and it is likewise very difficult to overstate the value and importance of his work in keeping the life in something that powerful people very much want to go away. These two complement each other quite effectively; where David is the rock, the steady, Mike is the firebrand. (And if you're familiar with David's work, you'll recognize what it says about Mike that he makes David look like "the steady". :-)
Mike, it's good to have you back. Please do take care of yourself; there is still much agitating to do, and nobody does it better than you do.
And that brings us back around to Gunwalker, which as Joel notes, may be "go[ing] into extra innings". Via Mike, check this out:
Now I'll admit I don't know anything about this Bill Whittle guy, but damn, that was good. Good enough to overlook those few places where the pointless partisan labels get trotted out; even those seemed to be in service of the point, which he flogs admirably in plain sight.
More of that, please. Maybe something from Glenn Greenwald, or Scott Horton, or someone else that everyone identifies with "the left", just so we can dispense with the ridiculous notion* that this is a partisan issue. (Hell, I still wish Balko would pick it up, with his audience at The Huffington Post.)
_________________
* Don't get me wrong. I understand perfectly that to those inside the Beltway it may well be a partisan issue. But anyone deluded with the notion that those trying to keep this case alive are simple Republican stoolies is invited to explain Vanderboegh's use of the terms "dead elephants" and "Old Yellowstain".
First: sincere condolences and best wishes to David Codrea, who just lost his father. It is difficult to overstate how important David is in the resistance to the War on Guns, and when he took a personal hiatus to attend to his family, it was impossible not to notice his absence.
I try to mention David's importance frequently when I post about Gunwalker or the War on Guns in general, but you know, it's worth mentioning here. (Not that readership here even registers as "meager", but rather that it's just worth documenting "at home".) The man has been a pillar of principle for a stack of years now, and I have been personally following his work for nearly a decade of that. I make no secret of a few differences of opinion, but in the scheme of things those are trivial: on matters of import regarding guns and gunnies, there is no one more authoritative than David.
David: you do further credit to yourself by the way you took and handled your hiatus. It reminds us that you are human, and with the work you do, that is an observation easy to overlook.
Thank you, again, for all you do. It freakin' matters.
Next: it's also good to have Mike Vanderboegh back, still recovering from a medical adventure rather more substantial than it first appeared. Mike has been as tireless as David in the Gunwalker case, and it is likewise very difficult to overstate the value and importance of his work in keeping the life in something that powerful people very much want to go away. These two complement each other quite effectively; where David is the rock, the steady, Mike is the firebrand. (And if you're familiar with David's work, you'll recognize what it says about Mike that he makes David look like "the steady". :-)
Mike, it's good to have you back. Please do take care of yourself; there is still much agitating to do, and nobody does it better than you do.
And that brings us back around to Gunwalker, which as Joel notes, may be "go[ing] into extra innings". Via Mike, check this out:
Now I'll admit I don't know anything about this Bill Whittle guy, but damn, that was good. Good enough to overlook those few places where the pointless partisan labels get trotted out; even those seemed to be in service of the point, which he flogs admirably in plain sight.
More of that, please. Maybe something from Glenn Greenwald, or Scott Horton, or someone else that everyone identifies with "the left", just so we can dispense with the ridiculous notion* that this is a partisan issue. (Hell, I still wish Balko would pick it up, with his audience at The Huffington Post.)
_________________
* Don't get me wrong. I understand perfectly that to those inside the Beltway it may well be a partisan issue. But anyone deluded with the notion that those trying to keep this case alive are simple Republican stoolies is invited to explain Vanderboegh's use of the terms "dead elephants" and "Old Yellowstain".
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