Well stated.

I was thinking about Malcolm X's saying, "Don't strike the puppet -- strike the puppeteer" as I was writing this.

LOL

Thanks for sharing!

One of the great things about the internet is that I can watch films of some of Malcolm's speeches and debates on youtube. Of course I have numerous books covering Malcolm, and still have a record set of his speeches put out in Detroit in the late 1960s. But there is something about watching that beautiful & brilliant man "striking" his opponents with words. No one enjoyed debating Malcolm.

The other night, I was having a conversation with an old friend that I've known for decades. He posted some misinformation about FEMA, and I politely corrected him, and suggested he be more careful. Neither of us has ever been offended if the other says something like that. Some human being that I don't know was moved to write an obnoxious attack, directly at me. He ended with saying he would leave it to me to figure out his political beliefs.

Now, SheltieLover, it was late and I could not sleep because the old bag of bones (and lard) that life has reduced me to was aching. A relative had told an afternoon joke, and I had laughed so hard that my broken ribs hurt like heck. And I couldn't stop laughing ..... until late at night, when I read that message. I responded by saying it was presumptuous of him to think that I cared what he thought, or what he had to say. This started a discussion between him and I in which I went into a bit more of the reasons why he means nothing to me -- that he was not close to the level of being able to debate me if I was blindfolded, with one arm tied behind my back. He found that offensive.

My friend then said I didn't have to be so darned mean, and treat him like an opponent in a boxing match. I said I agreed fully with him, but it was fun. Then I wrote a few paragraphs about how I had primarily illustrating how easily outraged people are to control and direct and redirect in any way I wanted. Then spoke of how when one talks about facts, that doesn't usually happen. A few of my friends republican buds found that interesting, and we had a good conversation.

Then you had every right to have a good time with the magat who stuck his nose into your conversation.

You're absolutely right. People in a state of high emotional arousal and not in wise mind mode. Matats are rarely, if ever, in wise mind, because their amygdalas are enlarged and hyperactive. (Loads of good research articles online. NIH & such.)

So good for you that you both had fun with the jerk and engaged some Rs in a good conversation. Who knows, you might have converted some to vote for Kamala & down ballots!

One of the funny things about the late 1950s and the '60s is how Malcolm, though his public image was "violent," was a peaceful man. The first time he was associated with violence came in 1957. In NYC, two police beat Hinton Johnson and three others with night sticks, leaving Johnson with bleeding on the brain. Malcolm insisted they take Johnson for medical treatment, but they hesitated. Soon the police headquarter's block was surrounded by NOI men, silent, dressed in suits. This convinced the police that they needed to take Johnson to the hospital.

Malcolm left the police station, gave a hand signal, and the NOI men left. A top cop told the Amsterdam News, "No one man should have that much power." Later, when Malcolm heard this, he said, "He meant 'no black man'." This incident brought Malcolm to the national news. Soon, someone said he was the only man who could either start a riot or end one. Malcolm thought for a minute, then said, "I don't know if I'd ever want to start a riot. And I don't know if I'd ever want to stop one."

These things scared people, especially white people. Malcolm had a way with words. Eventually, of course, came the second time he was associated with violence, when he was murdered while starting a speech at the Audubon Ballroom. Meanwhile, Martin Luther King was a prophet advocating nonviolence, who was subjected to frequent violence from racist trash, until he, too, was gunned down.

Only in America.

Thanks for posting the link - bookmarked.

I think you will find the linked article interesting.

I've said for a long time that the people who label Trumpists fascist are using the wrong f-word.

As you note: They're feudalists.

I think the feudalists have been in control of the fascist maga mob all along. These people admire Putin.

...only it's the 1250's, NOT THE 1950s.

Feudalism is about right.

I love it!

Thank you!

If it were only the crazies we had to worry about, it would be so much easier.

We grew up with the crazies. Some might be relatives. Others are neighbors. We went to school with them. Might have worked with a few of them. We liked them alright ...... not to the extent we wanted to hang out with them as adults.

Then we started noticing some of them being a tad anxious when Senator Obama won the presidency in 2008. A few of them might have wore one of those silly triangular hatsaround their lawn when it wasn't even Halloween. And saying things that suggested that they were losing touch with reality. Then the felon announced he was running, and they morphed into bat shit crazies.

Now, my question: Is this some time of accidental diseased condition? Or is the Universe doing this on purpose? There might be a cure if it's the first thing. We are stuck with them if it's the second.

I'm old enough to remember when even though it was bad, there were idiots who were comfortable spouting racist shit in public. Then there was a time when they shut up. I didn't anticipate racism coming back into style, something of a maga badge (of dishonor). Or a presidential candidate who would be talking about DNA in the evil, hitler-like manner the felon is.

I really enjoy reading your input.

That is very nice of you, and I appreciate it!

This is why I think he would last approximately one minute after hypothetically winning an election. Those groups need the GOP to win, and that means they have to vote for the face of the GOP, a man they wouldn't spit on if he were on fire otherwise. Once he got elected, they would have zero use for him, and they aren't stupid, they know how dangerous he is. Get the GOP in, dismantle the government along the lines of Project 2025, and continue to put up a succession of puppets who will dance to their strings. Which of course DJT is too demented to do reliably. He is an asset only in the election, and not one second after.

-- Mal

They have considered the felon to be a petty criminal and ass-clown for decades. He is merely the vehicle they use to drive their agenda. And I think they are fully aware that his primary goal is to get elected to have "his" DOJ drop Jack Smith's cases against him. Maybe do a few more destructive things for "revenge." Appoint a few federal judges. But if he wins, he won't last for four years. They will replace him with Vance.

I've bee saying all along that Mr Vance isn't "weird," he's a creep. He's just as mad as DJT, but is of the cold, psychotic, type, not the demented loose cannon DJT has already become. He reminds me of Herr Himmler, in fact. Petty little vicious bureaucrat who has the directed and connected intellect to construct multiple death camps and plan the movement of millions to die in them. Whereas DJT, especially now, while not lacking in malice, hasn't got the attention span of a squirrel and would lose interest after a brief spasm of terror. Then he'd move on to the next spasm, of course, but overall, he'd never do as much damage as his running mate unless it were to accidentally trigger global war -- which I don't think our military would allow to happen. Mr Vance is exactly the sort of person the Project 2025 boffins want implementing their program.

And of course, it won't end with 2024. Project 2025 will become 2029, will become 2033, and so on... I don't think we'll ever be shut of these bastards, certainly not within our lifetimes, Pat.

-- Mal

They utterly reject the American ideals of truth and justice.

That so many of our countrymen fail to see this -- or have becoming knowing accomplices -- is distressing beyond words.

Not only because faith in our fellow citizens has been shattered, but because the threats currently embodied in the Felon will likely continue long after his bloated carcass stops taliking.

A house divided against itself cannot stand. Fortunately, neither can an ideology built on lies -- but it can do a helluva lot of damage if we fail to defeat the Felon and his cohorts a few weeks from now.

like the Michael Caine told Christian Bale in the movie The Dark Knight -- the type of man who wants to burn the whole jungle down. He didn't start the hatreds that were growing in America, especially after the 2008 presidential election. But the felon knew how to read the room, so to speak, and has exploited it ever since. He's done a lot of damage.

His overriding ideology is feeding his own need. The felon can be manipulated by smarter men seeking to channel his power to serve their own ideology -- be it Christian nationalism, corporate greed, or the burn it all down nihilism of a Steve Bannon.

Regardless, the potential damage is there.

Crushing the felon is an important step, and it needs to lead to an on-going struggle against the varied enemies of our democratic form of government. For they will remain a threat, just like they have long been.

Last edited Sat Oct 12, 2024, 07:21 PM - Edit history (1)

Thank you!

We’re busy re-releasing two Ted Cruz songs from the past, still debating on one last “Liar” song, a Johnny Cash parody.

Lonesome Rhodes, addressing the candidate and his backers: “Respect? Did you ever hear of anyone buying any product - beer, hair rinse, tissue - because they respect it? You gotta be loved, man. Loved....Politics is people...Senator, I'm a professional. And I have to look at the image on that screen same as I'd look at a performer on my show. And I'll have to say he'll never get over to my audience. Not to the 65 million people who welcome me into their living rooms each week. And if I wouldn't buy him, do you realize what that means? If I wouldn't buy him, the people of this country aren't ready to buy him for that big job on Pennsylvania Avenue.”

https://www.filmsite.org/faceinthecrowd3.html



Actor on Rhodes' show: [Speaking about Senator Fuller] You really sell that stiff as a man among men?

Lonesome Rhodes: Those morons out there? Shucks, I could take chicken fertilizer and sell it to them as caviar. I could make them eat dog food and think it was steak. Sure, I got 'em like this... You know what the public's like? A cage of Guinea Pigs. Good Night you stupid idiots. Good Night, you miserable slobs. They're a lot of trained seals. I toss them a dead fish and they'll flap their flippers.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050371/quotes/?item=qt5351950

Take it from me, the truth, just another county trustee who looks a helluvalot like a very old LR.