Storyville, New Orleans - BellocqLet the poets pipe of love
in their childish ways
I know every type of love
better far than they.
If you want the thrill of love
I have been through the mill of love
old love
new love
every love but true love"Love for Sale" - Cole Porter
David Seaton's News Links
A long time reader of mine asked me why I slam Obama so hard... and so often. Good question.
A long time reader of mine asked me why I slam Obama so hard... and so often. Good question.
The answer lies, I think, in his barefaced use of purposefully vague language that links emotion to spirit for personal gain. He uses words like "hope" and "change" and "we" too freely, he is using these words intentionally to manipulate the emotions of people, especially young people, he does it to further his ambition. In the end his supporters will be left with the words and if things continue as they have till now, Obama will be left with the power.
Washington is a place where a lot of money changes hands, where decisions are taken that get people killed, where anyone looking for a friend is advised to buy a dog. Washington is a huge brothel like the legendary houses of New Orleans' Storyville. A word, like "hope" in this context is used in exactly the same way as prostitutes use the word "love"... The words are sweet, but the eyes are cold and hard.
This is not to say that these establishments do not serve noble purposes on occasion. One of America's greatest contributors to universal culture, Louis Armstrong, after whom New Orleans International Airport is named, earned his bread and cheese as a homeless waif delivering coal to these ladies. By patronizing genius, the Medicis earned immortality in similar fashion, but "love", "hope"?
Certainly it was not impossible to experience truth and beauty in the houses of such as “Countess” Willie Piazza. You could of course... if the piano player was good enough. But anyone entering the premise in search of "love", would certainly wake up with empty pockets, and an aching head.
And let he that is without sin cast the first stone. An old Spanish Communist once told me, "David, if all the sons of prostitutes that there are on this planet had wings and could fly, they would so cover the heavens that the rays of the sun would never touch the earth again and all life would be extinguished." DS
And let he that is without sin cast the first stone. An old Spanish Communist once told me, "David, if all the sons of prostitutes that there are on this planet had wings and could fly, they would so cover the heavens that the rays of the sun would never touch the earth again and all life would be extinguished." DS
Krugman: Deliverance or Diversion? - New York Times
Abstract: Some progressives are appalled by the direction their party seems to have taken: they wanted another F.D.R., yet feel that they’re getting an oratorically upgraded version of Michael Bloomberg instead. Others, however, insist that Mr. Obama’s message of hope and his personal charisma will yield an overwhelming electoral victory, and that he will implement a dramatically progressive agenda. The trouble is that faith in Mr. Obama’s transformational ability rests on surprisingly little evidence. Mr. Obama’s ability to attract wildly enthusiastic crowds to rallies is a good omen for the general election; so is his ability to raise large sums. But neither necessarily points to a landslide victory. Polling numbers aren’t much help: for now, at least, you can find polls telling you anything you want to hear, from the CBS News/New York Times poll giving Mr. Obama a 12-point national advantage over John McCain to the Mason-Dixon poll showing Mr. McCain winning Florida by 10 points. What we do know is that Mr. Obama has never faced a serious Republican opponent — and that he has not yet faced the hostile media treatment doled out to every Democratic presidential candidate since 1988.(...) If Mr. Obama does make it to the White House, will he actually deliver the transformational politics he promises? Like the faith that he can win an overwhelming electoral victory, the faith that he can overcome bitter conservative opposition to progressive legislation rests on very little evidence — one productive year in the Illinois State Senate, after the Democrats swept the state, and not much else.(...) All in all, the Democrats are in a place few expected a year ago. The 2008 campaign, it seems, will be waged on the basis of personality, not political philosophy. If the magic works, all will be forgiven. But if it doesn’t, the recriminations could tear the party apart. READ IT ALL
Abstract: Some progressives are appalled by the direction their party seems to have taken: they wanted another F.D.R., yet feel that they’re getting an oratorically upgraded version of Michael Bloomberg instead. Others, however, insist that Mr. Obama’s message of hope and his personal charisma will yield an overwhelming electoral victory, and that he will implement a dramatically progressive agenda. The trouble is that faith in Mr. Obama’s transformational ability rests on surprisingly little evidence. Mr. Obama’s ability to attract wildly enthusiastic crowds to rallies is a good omen for the general election; so is his ability to raise large sums. But neither necessarily points to a landslide victory. Polling numbers aren’t much help: for now, at least, you can find polls telling you anything you want to hear, from the CBS News/New York Times poll giving Mr. Obama a 12-point national advantage over John McCain to the Mason-Dixon poll showing Mr. McCain winning Florida by 10 points. What we do know is that Mr. Obama has never faced a serious Republican opponent — and that he has not yet faced the hostile media treatment doled out to every Democratic presidential candidate since 1988.(...) If Mr. Obama does make it to the White House, will he actually deliver the transformational politics he promises? Like the faith that he can win an overwhelming electoral victory, the faith that he can overcome bitter conservative opposition to progressive legislation rests on very little evidence — one productive year in the Illinois State Senate, after the Democrats swept the state, and not much else.(...) All in all, the Democrats are in a place few expected a year ago. The 2008 campaign, it seems, will be waged on the basis of personality, not political philosophy. If the magic works, all will be forgiven. But if it doesn’t, the recriminations could tear the party apart. READ IT ALL
1 comment:
Adlai Stevenson here;
I am becoming enlightened. I think I understood your concerns from the beginning. It was my own cynical understanding of American Politics that kept me from getting your point.
To be exact, since I was about 15 years old, I have never underestimated the capability of this system we call democracy here in the good ‘ol U. S. of A. From the beginning of this experiment, we have stolen equal amounts of hucksterism from snake oil salesmen, carnival barkers, and magic from the purveyors of the ultimate magic, the Christian orthodoxy, to bamboozle, cheat, frighten, hoodwink, and screw everyone for the benefit of a few. How else to explain why people would vote against their own best interests?
So I say; how can you be surprised? What do you expect? What’s the difference between Obama and McCain, or Bush, or Clinton, or any of the folks that call themselves public servants? Not much? Or…
For me it boils down to the words coming out of their mouths. [How do you know he/she’s lying? His/Her mouth is moving!] At least what the candidates I agree with are saying are things I think are good for this country. Can they deliver? Perhaps. Anyone who follows this even remotely knows that the best you expect is a compromise. Especially if the other side is full of amoral motherf**kers.
Deep down in that recess of despair and cynicism lurks the ability to be fooled again. And the biggy; these folks are all we have. I was for Edwards before I was for Clinton before I was for Obama…
For the first time voter, the ones that haven’t been fooled for the first time, there is something to cling to that is markedly different from what their parents have had to deal with for the past two decades. And it seems that the parents have gotten on-board as well.
But what about Clinton? Lately, she seems to be exactly what the past two decades have been all about. [Except that I believe her aura is in no small part a result of the rightwing attacks on her. Imagine if her health care plan had been adopted in some fashion back in the 90‘s].
So here we are again. Personally, I think the end is neigh. My cursory understanding of evolution and entropy leads me to think that I am living at the beginning of the end [of Empire USA]. But that’s what my father said about my g g g generation.
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