Monday, May 3, 2010

Sabotage!

Godzilla mousetrap In the latest round of right wingnuttery so astounding that I'm left shaking my head as I attempt to plunge two freshly sharpened Number 2 pencils into my eardrums, a couple of people address the massive oil spew going on in the Gulf.

First is former Bush press secretary Dana Perino, who said on "Fox and Friends" that she was "not trying to introduce a conspiracy theory," then went on to ask "But was this deliberate?" She finished, "...if there was sabotage involved."

Then there is Limbocontin:

Now, lest we forget, ladies and gentlemen, the carbon tax bill, cap and trade that was scheduled to be announced on Earth Day. I remember that. And then it was postponed for a couple of days later after Earth Day, and then of course immigration has now moved in front of it. But this bill, the cap-and-trade bill, was strongly criticized by hardcore environmentalist wackos because it supposedly allowed more offshore drilling and nuclear plants, nuclear plant investment. So, since they're sending SWAT teams down there, folks, since they're sending SWAT teams to inspect the other rigs, what better way to head off more oil drilling, nuclear plants, than by blowing up a rig? I'm just noting the timing here.

People, people, people...anyone who thinks either of these two scenarios are reasonable or possible is just as retarded as Limbaugh, and apparently as Perino...although she always seemed somewhat reasonable and not at all as idiotic as she sounded in these latest statements.

This is insane. I continue to be amazed at the lunacy of such remarks. Anyone who thinks that either the Obama administration or environmentalists are responsible for this oil well going kablooey is...hm, let me think on how to word this delicately...fucking stupid. And let me make my apologies to regular stupid people—I’m not disrespecting you, because this is a special kind of stupid beyond what you could ever achieve.

If you're so desperate in your hatred of Obama that you think he would order the destruction of an oil well in order to...well, what exactly do you think that would accomplish? I don't get the logic there. Same goes for environmentalists. If you think any environmentalist would deliberately destroy an entire coastline, ecosystem, and fishing industry in order to make some sort of a point about off-shore drilling, then you are an IDIOT.

I'm so dismayed by the current tenor of debate that I am in tears right now. Even those of us who pretty much agree on issues are contentious and ready to brawl, and I include myself in that. I've always tried to debate using reason, facts, and persuasion, but I'm finding that that is out the fucking window these days. How do you deal with someone who, when presented with hard facts, numbers, and logic simply says, "I don't believe you" or "You're wrong"? How do you deal with someone who thinks it's amusing to join a group that prays for the death of our President, apparently forgetting what our country went through in the 60s when our President got his head blown off, and then a peaceful man trying to effect change and gain equal rights for all Americans got his head blown off, and then another guy who was trying to prosecute bad guys (and who also happened to be the brother of the first guy) got HIS head blown off?

I've lost my sense of humor about this. I don't find this funny, and I don't find an atmosphere of hateful rhetoric funny. I see it as the possibility that some mentally unbalanced loon will decide that it is his duty to put a stop to it all by blowing another head off. At the very least, it has all of us bickering rather than finding solutions, and that is really a crying shame.

I am going to pick myself up, dust myself off…and listen to some Beasties. They’re good for what ails ya.

11 comments:

  1. Hi Beth, I to am crying for you all. I heard this morning on the early news that they had arrested someone for the car bomb in NY he was apparently an American Citizen. next time it was on a later news he had changed to a Pakistan origin....did they notice he had a diferent shade...if he did have...colour ?
    Bless you
    Sybil x

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  2. It's called The Era Of Stupid, and I'm afraid it's going to get worse before it gets smarter.

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  3. I fear for the state of things myself...although I'm partial to "The Sounds Of Science" by the Beastie Boys myself.

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  4. Hi Beth,
    Don't these nutjobs that are filling the airwaves speculating about the cause of the disaster have something better to do? For now, the focus should be on stemming the flow and cleaning-up this mess. I wasn't sure what to think about offshore drilling before ... didn't especially like the idea. Now I'm 100 percent against it.
    Best,
    Marty

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  5. Beasties' "Paul's Boutique" will cure what ails ya. It's my all-time fave release in any genre.

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  6. Like you I do not find that kind of comment funny. Any form of criticism should be constructive not argumentive or decisive.

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  7. I have to say this was so over the top that I did laugh. And it's so blatantly and obviously silly that I'm not sure that it didn't do our side some good. I think Limbaugh and Fox get a lot of people who just don't think much, and even they have to have a bit of trouble imagining some Greenpeace scuba diver going down 5000 feet to blow up an oil well.
    I expect this from Limbaugh. But from Dana Perino? Honey save your rantings for something that might even be remotely plausible.
    Beth, you need to not take these people so seriously. They are the "fearful fifth" that has occupied the far right since the founding of the nation, and though it seems worse than it was, we used to have the Confederacy, McCarthyism, and the John Birch society. There are people who are just scared to death of change. Their ideology is a smokescreen. It's offers simple explanations to a world they find indimidating. History will sweep them away, and they will be replaced by a new generation who find a whole nother bunch of things to wave their garlic and crosses at.

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  8. I really hate to see my favorite feisty truth sayer robbed by the stupids of her best defense--a wicked sense of humor. However I totally understand that sometimes it just gets to you. I try to believe that Mark is right and that this is just another variation on a theme by the far right and that it too shall pass.

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  9. I am not happy with the hate talk from either side. And I agree with you that I cannot understand the logic behind an intentional sabotage on the oil rig by any party. But then again.. there's plenty of other things that have happened in this world that I couldn't believe until they happened either. I will say this much.. .I am appalled by the delays in dealing with the oil issue by this administration.
    Oh.. and by the way.. when debating with folks that can't see your point of view inspite of your "facts, numbers, and logic" you might try starting with a method called "getting your foot in the door." You start with some small inconsequential thing that you can get them to agree with you on, and then you build from there. :)

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  10. If mainstream media would ignore the nuts, maybe they would disappear.

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  11. It is hard to ignore the shit heads out there. I still believe America is way smarter than these folks are trying to showcase. Thanks for the post.

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I'm funny how, I mean funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you?