Psychopolitik 2.0

Lately it seems like the only thing NOT going in reverse is the growth of the State.  Here’s another oldie being revisited: testing out pharmaceuticals on prison inmates.

Yeah, I know, it’s a NYT link.  I didn’t see the story anywhere else.

Taking the national pulse after those terrorism suspicion arrests, Newsweek did a poll:

…the most murderous terror plot to be publicly exposed since 9/11 disrupted more than air travel. It roiled public opinion too. While the NEWSWEEK Poll suggests President George W. Bush and the GOP-led Congress have plenty to worry about just three months before the midterm congressional elections, it shows a slight uptick in the president’s lagging approval rating and a significant boost in voters’ opinions of his handling of the terror threat.

According to the poll, conducted through phone interviews with 1,001 Americans, 55 percent disapprove of how the president is doing his job, while 38 percent approve, an increase of 3 points since the May 11-12 NEWSWEEK Poll. But a majority, 55 percent, approve of Bush’s handling of terrorism and homeland security (40 percent disapprove), an 11-point boost since May, returning the president to levels not seen since early 2005. (emphasis mine)

WTF?!?!?

This makes absolutely no sense, whatsoever. Whoever responded to this poll & approved of Bush on terrorism that didn’t a couple months ago (of course the ones that approve period are whacko, but at least they’re consistent), I am honestly shocked that people so dumb could work a telephone. Let’s deal with this shit, shall we?

-Those arrests, first of all. Contrary to President Dumbass’ explanation, none of the extraordinary powers he requested had any hand in those people being caught. The arrest in Britain was thanks to a tip from Pakistan and also, oh yeah, in fucking Britain! It was also rushed, by request of Bush so it would coincide with a GOP event, which may have deprived the brits of evidence to use against them. Did I mention it was in Britain? As for the others, that story of the arab immigrants US citizens w/ the misfortune of being of palestinian descent & living in Texas* “caught” w/ a ton of throwaway cellphones & money reeks of racial profiling, they just won’t admit it, and those guys in Miami were a joke. That leaves the Seattle jewish center shooting — oh, wait, that guy actually got to hurt people. Oops…

-In any non-political setting, when people approve of something that they didn’t before it’s because they adapted to the situation and/or somehow improved the service. Nothing policywise changed between the last poll & this one, so there was no reason to say “waitaminute, he’s doing good now!” That some apparently did, assuming that the samples were similar, is mind-boggling.

-If you think about it, what’s being asked is itself innacurate. The question should be if you approve of the TACTICS taken to address terrorism & national security, not a “how’m I doin?”. Also, these kind of things should come w/ a questionaire verifying that only people who know WTF is being discussed are counted in the sample, the political tides should not be determined by people who don’t care enough to learn before forming an opinion. If you tell someone what you think but the most you pay attention is a quick glance at the front page of your local paper before flipping to the funnies, that’s not an opinion, that’s a visceral reaction, a nervous twitch that thinks it’s a thought, and neither I nor anyone else with half a brain cares what that mental fart of yours smells like.

-The worst part of it all is what approval itself means. Government feeds off of FEAR, if people are scared they get irrational, if they get irrational they mindlessly clamor for Big Brother to “do something!!” & approve of whatever the hell they end up doing as a result. In politics, image is everything, effect doesn’t matter. Hell, effect on this issue is overblown anyway. There are so many layers to the State that even if by some miracle something done at any level of it makes sense at all, it is illogical to trace that achievement upwards: some cop lucking into a plot in, say, Colorado does NOT mean that the ideas of some empty suit in DC are a success.

If all this is too much, let me ask just one thing to the people frightened into Bush worship: if your fear of terrorism is going up, then by what standard does that mean success? Hmm? Think about that one & get back to me.

For our sake, I hope this poll is not even close to being representative. Cuz if it is, the US lost…

(* - in case anyone misreads this, I know they weren’t caught in Texas.)

-Ever saw that show “Penn & Teller: Bullshit!”?  I hadn’t until now.   Steve VanDyke of Hammer of Truth found out episodes ended up on Google Video, and he’s conveniently provided a list of them.  It says a lot about how loopy our culture is at the moment that the news does shock material for ratings that we eat up as if it’s facts, meanwhile a couple of comedian/magicians are telling truths as entertainment.
-Via Radley Balko: Dinky-ass town cop sez “why climb tha tree when ya can ram it wit’ an armored SUV an knock dat damn cat down?  Thanks, Homeland Security!”

-Kevin Carson is gonna do more chillin’.  He deserves a break.
-They must have better liquor stores wherever John & Tim live, cuz I’ve never heard of this kind of beer.

-and last but definitely not least, Grand Moff Texan mercilessly ethers the phrase “Islamo-fascism”.

Curious Washington Post headline: “Are we ready for the next oil shock?”

Could a mere 4 percent shortfall in daily oil supply propel the price of a barrel to more than $120 in a matter of days? That’s what some oil market experts are saying, and if they’re correct, we face the very real possibility of an oil shock wave that could send our economy reeling. Such a rapid rise in fuel costs would have profound effects that could severely threaten the foundation of America’s economic prosperity.

So far so good.  Sounds like a typical recognition of our dependance & how it’s probably going to screw us soon.  Nothing new, but also nothing unimportant.  Onwards…

Considering the potentially devastating impact of an oil crisis, the time has come for new voices, especially those of business leaders and retired national security officials, to join the call for meaningful government action to reduce projected U.S. oil consumption. (emphasis mine)

…and the house of cards comes crashing down.

You knew it was coming.  It is extremely rare for voices to be aired in the mainstream that realize our addiction to oil can’t go on forever that aren’t flacks for statism.   As if according to a plan, all issues are portrayed as binary — either you want the State to “DO SOMETHING!!” or you think it’s all a big crock whipped up by the mythical creature HippieMcLeftyMooreOnCommieGore in its spare time inbetween burning american flags & throwing christians to the lions.  If you were to go up to the average MSM type and say “the government is the problem” on this, their head would explode.
On with the begging…

Pure market economics will never solve this problem. Markets do not account for the hidden and indirect costs of oil dependence.

A lack of pure market economics is the real issue.  At numerous points during the emergence of oil, the government has acted to strong arm consumption to the sky, from less obvious things like making long distance travel (and thus suburbanization) artificially cheap, to handing off “rights” to land it had no legitimate title to, all the way to virtually contracting out the US military to guard oil wells out in what might as well be Timbuktu to the average US citizen.  Some countries export other stuff that can be used for fuel, do you see them w/ US troops providing security?  I think not.

Speaking of that security: where else do you think the “hidden” cost goes to?  Here’s a summary, listen close: the US government endorses unreasonable levels of oil consumption, which when combined with NIMBYism leads to having to get oil from foreign sources.  A substantial chunk of that oil is under the middle east.  To get it as cheap as people want it, we have to cozy up to elitist scum who blow the money on cocaine & whores during trips to Europe.  People that have to live with the aforementioned scum are PISSED that we have more influence on thier country than they do, and when people get desperate they start blowing shit up.  So what does that mean?  More occupation, of course!

You wanna get an idea of how much oil really costs, take a look at our military spending.  Then ask yourself: if that cost didn’t come out of taxes but instead were added to the price of oil (and by association, gasoline), how popular would oil be now?  I’d guess about as popular as a 90-year-old topless dancer.

Government leadership is absolutely necessary. Many of the most promising solutions on both the demand and supply sides will require decades to mature.

This is like blaming a kid for having stunted growth from malnutrition after seeing their parents weighing 300 pounds each.

Government proposals should align the interests of businesses and individuals with society’s goals; for example, tax credits and similar incentives must allow businesses to recover investments and engage in essential long-range planning, and they must account for the high implicit discount rates that consumers apply to future savings.

Basically, they must be paid to switch, just like they were paid to use it in the first place. Figures…

So, who do we thank for this post-all-you-can-eat-bad-mexican-food strength turd of an opinion column?  Why, Fred Smith, CEO of FedEx & his pal P.X. Kelley, a former Reaganite.  What’s next, an op-ed on immigration by David Duke?

Remarks after a dry-run for trans-atlantic plane bombings was stopped in Britain…

Bush:

President Bush called the foiled plan to blow up passengers aboard U.S. bound airplanes “a stark reminder that this nation is at war with Islamic fascists,” but unlike past incidents, critics were quick to challenge his priorities in fighting terror and his credibility in protecting the nation.

“This country is safer than it was prior to 9/11. We’ve taken a lot of measures to protect the American people. But obviously, we’re still not completely safe, because there are people that still plot and people who want to harm us for what we believe in,” Bush said from the tarmac of an airport in Green Bay, Wis., where he traveled to deliver a speech on the economy and stump for GOP candidates.

Lieberman:

Sen. Joe Lieberman set out on his go-it-alone re-election campaign Thursday and seized on the terror arrests in Britain to argue that his Democratic opponent, Ned Lamont, does not fully understand the danger facing the nation.[…]

“I’m worried that too many people, both in politics and out, don’t appreciate the seriousness of the threat to American security and the evil of the enemy that faces us — more evil or as evil as Nazism and probably more dangerous than the Soviet communists we fought during the long Cold War,” Lieberman said.

The foiled terrorist plot making yet more erosion of the Constitution self-explanatory, vs “you people only oppose the Iraq invasion because you just don’t understand!!  Look at these crazies!!”.  One assumes  that measures effectively throwing out innocent-until-proven-guilty & requirement of actual reason for suspicion to spy on US citizens are the key to stopping terrorism, the other somehow makes a logical leap of epic proportions — that a bunch of Brits being caught shows why we need to do more killin’ in Iraq.

Which one is dumber?  No, seriously, I can’t tell.

Roughly overheard in a “teaser” commercial for NBC’s nightly news tommorow:

“It’s a new issue on the minds of parents: kids being able to buy BOOZE online, using the internet as a gateway to underage drinking — and all it takes is a credit card.  Question is, should it be that easy?”

*BZZZ* Wrong!  The actual question is two-fold: 1) should my kid even be trusted with a credit card? & 2) if the answer is “no” and they use mine for that — or for any other reason — what’s the most effective method of ass-whooping?

Say it with me now: The mainstream media is not ‘liberal’, it’s STATIST!

Somehow I stumbled across something on the Chicago Tribune website that — for a moment, at least — gives confidence to journalism.  Paul Salopek did a special a couple weeks ago tracing fuel from a gas station in Illinois all the way back to where the oil for it was obtained, taking note of the tribulations involved & the actual cost along the way.  Go read it.

According to NPR, somewhere in Iraq, a goat is being fitted for a diaper.  Not because the owner is a neat freak, but because local nutcases find the goats to be too sexually appealing — and, of course, are threatening to kill shepards for leaving all that nekked goat ass out there.

Props.

Headline: “Employees unionize Chinese Wal-Mart”

Thought to self: “wow, who woulda thunk it?  They don’t even allow that in the US, but they allow it in China?”

Third paragraph down:

A senior official of the state-controlled All-China Federation of Trade Unions has said the body will work toward establishing a union in every Wal-Mart outlet. (emphasis mine)

Thought to self: “Gee, that headline should’ve said ‘Chinese government unionizes Wal-Mart’.  Or even more accurately ‘Chinese government adds false layer of lube to typical corporate-state ass-ramming’.  This isn’t even news.”

I sometimes look at Wikipedia for stuff.  I also watch “Colbert Report”.  Naturally, I found it quite the hoot when he used it to “change reality” during one of his segments.  I thought he was joking (as in not really making edits) at first, but someone under his name at the moment that bit was done actually made the edits he mentioned.  That got him temporarily banned from the site (though it looks like the one that blocked him really just wanted some cheap fame).

Funny, amusing, not really that big of a deal.  So what’s my beef?  Click here.

As of 11:09 PM EST, August fifth, 2006, the Wikipedia category listing for “Libertarians” includes — get this — Timothy-Mc-fucking-Veigh*.  I’ve helpfully pointed it out on a screencapture in case anyone reading this doesn’t believe me.  Clearly someone figured out “Wikiality” before Steve did & used it to throw a huge guilt-by-association slant in.

Now, I don’t know the amount of people for whom they might’ve looked at that list and based on his name being there got pushed in the general direction of “man, libertarians are crazy bomber types!”
Far as I’m concerned, one is too many.  People being crass enough to create their own reality like this just serves to undermine open platforms of all types, this goes beyond Wikipedia.
(* - the person who classified McVeigh as a libertarian based it on a random comment he apparently made in response to a PETA publicity stunt where they asked him to pick a vegetarian last meal.  That comment is near the bottom of the page here.  Considering he got inspiration for the Oklahoma City bombing from a white-supremecist wet-dream novel, no rational person could see his problem with the State as being its size rather than its “tolerance” for minorities to exist.)