Daily Counteraffirmation

Why Glenn Beck Is the Modern-Day Girolamo Savonarola

2010-12-21T07:36:00.001Z

   Here's this for the sake of a brief history lesson if you need one. I don't expect you to be familiar with Florentine history.

   Anyway.

   Now, I'm not saying Glenn Beck's next step is book burning and forcibly removing people's personal property, but what I am saying is that the two men have extremely similar styles of rhetoric and even came into prominence in the same fashion while having been regarded in much the same way before their rise. It's absolutely worth noting that until fairly recently, I've not been all that against Glenn Beck and what he does. I've been able to look the other way at the social calls and general "God stuff" so long as his focus was on being a watch dog for the extremist elements of the Progressive movement, the evils of George Soros and the nutjobs in the dark recesses of President Obama's administration.

   What he's doing now is harder to ignore, what he's doing now reeks of proselytising and it does so in a way I can only describe as nefarious. It is much the same kind of strategy of "preemption" adopted by the Holy Roman Empire in its early days (and especially so before the first Crusades) as today adopted by modern American Protestants. This is not, however, what give Beck his shades of Savonarola in my eyes.

   Girolamo Savonarola rose to power in Florence after French armies under Charles VIII drove out the ruling Medici family and their closest beneficiaries. As the Medici had basically been de facto rulers (not to say that their rule was anything but absolute), Tuscany and especially Florence were left with a definite power vacuum. With the powers tied to the Medici gone, even the budding middle classes of Florence were left voiceless.

   What happened in this vacuum? Savonarola, a extremist Dominican friar who had, before the flight of the Medici out of Florence, been seen mostly as a rambling crank, suddenly developed a popular following. At first, it was only with his fellow "far right" sorts, but over time, as Florence looked for leadership and a unifying voice, more and more of the middle class stood behind Savonarola.

   Now, let's stop for a second. It's true and entirely fair to say that a lot of Savonarola's message at first was actually pretty fair. The Catholic Church had become incredibly corrupt and the ascendancy of Alexander VI to the Papacy was an excellent example of this. In an era of corrupt, whoremongering, murderous and downright villainous Popes, Alexander VI was a stellar example of an incredible bastard, it's fair to say that his rise to Pope was one that can be followed in a trail of blood. To wit, cantarella, a form of arsenic, is historically tied to Alexander VI and the rest of the Borgia family because it was arguably their favourite way of killing people. So it's fair to say that, at least at first, Savonarola's railing against the Papacy, the corruption in the upper echelons of Florentine society and the church and his general call for the Florentine people to expect more from their government and church was, actually, not that bad and not even that extreme.

   However, as more power, specifically public opinion, aligned itself behind Savonarola, his extreme views came to bear. He called for an end to personal property, a return to a time of simplicity and freedom from the corruption of materialism and "impure knowledge". At first it was a popular movement and entirely voluntary, but it wasn't long at all before Savonarola's vision of an ideal society became mandatory and the remaining middle and upper class that served under the patronage of the Medici aligned behind Savonarola, giving this batshit monk obscene social power. Thankfully, this undeniably insane individual was lynched and burned to death by the very people he oppressed and freedom, thought and gambling returned to Florence.

   Glenn Beck rose to power in the same way. His time on Headline News was spent being viewed as a joke, a rambling goober on the far-end of Social Conservatism. It wasn't Barack Obama's candidacy and Presidency that led to Beck's rise, Obama only enables Beck. If not for the faltering of Social Conservatism and its lack of a clear head from 2006 to 2010 (Sarah Palin does not count in any serious way) there would be no Glenn Beck as he is.

   Like Savonarola, Beck's message was originally completely valid and worthy of attention. He spoke out against the extremist factors surrounding Barack Obama, warned the nation of the dangers and history of George Soros and reminded us of what the Progressive movement is. However, there is an element of danger in Beck himself. Like the Progressive movement itself and both Liberalism and Social Conservatism of the last 20 years, Beck has used a certain creative element in his retelling of American history, one that shines the best possible light on his message that only now is completely evident.

   Glenn Beck's call is not to restore responsibility and an expectation of worthy representation from our government. His call is for a return to a time of community togetherness, honour and unity under God is, like Savonarola's, a call for a return to a time that never existed. His tenets of "faith, hope and charity" are falsehoods in his own eyes as proven by what he now preaches with his malignant use of the Torah.

   This is where I lose my objectivity and we enter into what I consider the obscene connection between Beck and Savonarola. Savonarola used his knowledge of the Bible to twist its message to suit his antisocial, anti-material world view. The mad monk was an anarchist who wanted an anarchy that existed only under him as God's prophet. Beck uses his knowledge of the Bible to twist its message and, now, the message of the Torah to claim that all morality and human decency is descendent from God and religion. The disgusting irony of this view is that the the Torah says in no mixed terms that doing good for God or for fear of retribution is not doing good, it is a self-serving act.

   That Beck now wraps his message in both Jewish and Christian scripture while even daring to malign the Hebrew language itself by making bizarre, direct translations of a language that is arguably baffling to any outsider from an etymological perspective is an affront to an independent, thinking mind. While I myself do have some world views that come with being a Right-Wing Jew (while not a Social Conservative), I have no problem saying that Glenn Beck's partner in crime, Rabbi Daniel Lapin, is a traitor to his people and heritage by enabling the rantings of the modern-day mad monk.

   I am hardly one of those idling, over-imposing twits who says that private individuals and companies shouldn't be allowed to have religious holiday displays, but there is another side to that freedom. When someone like Beck, overtly supported by so many, makes aspersions that the concepts of faith, hope, charity and honour are unique not only to the religious but unique to Christianity (as, in his historical view, all of the "important" founders were absolutely devout Protestants without a deist among them). This type of alienation breeds contempt, both among those whom are being elevated above the uninitiated and those whom Beck is tacitly denouncing as without faith, without hope, without charity and without honour.

   Girolamo Savonarola dared to abuse scripture and recent history to elevate himself as the vox populi, attack the Pope, attack the existing power structure and turn public opinion against the public itself. His just reward for his deeds was being mobbed and burned at the stake. While Beck's ultimate goals may be less extreme than a brief return to the Dark Ages, I must wonder what end his aims will reach and what will befall the important aspects of Beck's original message. I don't see him being burned at the stake, but I do see his warnings of Obama's extremism, the dangers of George Soros and the elements of Progressivism that seek to destroy this nation going unheeded once he is widely regarded as the deranged theocrat he is.

Bluh Bluh, Gay Marriage, Bluh Bluh Bluh

2010-08-08T00:51:00.000Z

First off, let me just say, I love women and am definitely very straight. Also, for the purposes of this image, I love Indian women. I usually do anyway, but... Dang.

Padmapriya being ludicrously attractive.

I feel like I'm getting off-track here, it's just... Wait, what does that subject line say? Oh right, I'm going off about this whole thing. As a bit of a preface, I'd like to point out a few things about myself. I am not a Conservative, I am a Republican. Fiscally, I am very much lockstep with the GOP, I am a hawk in terms of my views on national security and I am anti illegal immigration and amnesty. In all honesty, I am probably a social liberal, my views on social policies are best-described as Libertarian. Actual Liberals and Democrats usually don't like me because I'm not a fan of government intervention, and Conservatives usually hate me because, well, I'm not a fan of government intervention (funny how that works). Just to get it out of the way, yes, I am completely for giving same-sex couples the right to marry as they so choose and yes, I think it should be a national standard (we'll go into why later). I am being clear about this right now so as to remove any chance that this might seem like an attempt at "sneaking" my view across. As a reader, you now exactly where I'm going with this in the end-game, just try to stick with me here.

This is a thorny subject, I know, like so many issues in the political domain, it's become a matter of morality, what is "right". Many of the arguments for and against this subject are, quite honestly, invalid in the context of law. While I am absolutely not a legal professional, I know enough as at least a layman to point out some basic fatal flaws with a few of the more common arguments surrounding this issue. I don't pretend that this blog has sufficient readership for these to matter, but if a few people actually use their heads, then it's done some good (plus it's a good exercise for me).

It is the right thing to do to allow gays to marry.

Or, conversely:

It is the wrong thing to do to allow gays to marry (for whatever reason).

These are arguably the most simple, and most common arguments about the issue. The simple truth is this: Law and morality are unrelated. Murder is not illegal because it is wrong, it is illegal because murder is a violation of another person's civil rights (the right to live) on the part of the murderer. By that logic, it is outright unconstitutional to do anything on the basis of law for the sake of morality. It is literally against the law to legislate morality. You might note that there are instances in which we do exactly this, and, as a rule, these instances have some thin veil of constitutionality supporting them, but that still doesn't make it all right to add more on to the "legislated morality" pile.

Marriage is a Christian institution and homosexuality is wrong in Christianity, hence, gay marriage is wrong.

I don't even know how this argument maintains any traction, to be completely honest. I mean, I do, but there is a certain incredulity I feel with that understanding. The First Amendment gets a lot of use and ludicrous beating from time to time, but the text's meaning is fairly easy to apply in the vast majority of instances (I bolded the relevant section of the Amendment; do note that it is the very first item noted in the First Amendment):

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

To me, it follows like this. If marriage is to be accepted as a purely Christian/religious institution, then the government of the United States should in no way actively make allowances for marriage. That means no marriage licenses, no tax conditions for married couples, no legal support in the case of wills (living and otherwise), no nothing. If, however, marriage is a civil right of citizens of the United States and recognized as an institution by one or more religious groups, who cares what these religious groups think of how the United States government views marriage? In legal context, marriage is not a religious matter and if it is treated as one, then it is a violation of the Constitution.

The people of California democratically supported Proposition 8, it is not fair to all of those people that a single judge overturned their decision.

Is the United States of America a democracy? If you said yes, you're an idiot and didn't pay attention in school. This country is a Republic. We elect public officials to make laws, yes, but even the President is elected under the electoral college system and not democratically (I.E. via a plurality of votes). We elect these officials to create and enact laws with the understanding that they have a greater understanding of American law than does the average American, furthermore, there's a very simple question. Since when is it a remotely good idea to have the vast majority of people decide the civil rights of a vast minority? The abolition of slavery, women's suffrage, black civil rights and the legal allowance of unions (when they were a very necessary thing) were not decided democratically. It is against everything that is arguably American to allow a group of people to determine who does and does not get equal rights simply because they are larger. This, of course, leads to a more unique argument that appears very intelligent.

Marriage is not a civil right guaranteed by the Constitution.

Not explicitly, no, that's completely true, but let's take a look at the Ninth Amendment while remembering that whole jazz about "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness":

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Ok, wow, that's confusing as all hell, let's break that down a bit. "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights," reads, "The list of specific rights in the Constitution" and, "Shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people," reads, "Are not meant to be taken as the only or even most important rights held by the people." Broken down, we can read it all together, "The list of specific rights in the Constitution are not meant to be taken as the only or even most important rights held by the people." (Because you needed them meshed into one sentence, I know.) What this means, of course, is that there are other rights, rights not listed in the Constitution, several of which were added after the Ninth Amendment's addition to the Bill of Rights in 1789.

Arguably, the next question has to be whether or not marriage is a civil right granted to a citizen of the United States. Personally, I would say yes, two consenting adults have the right to decide to marry one another in a legally-binding agreement that grants them unique rights in relation to one-another (in relation to taxes, shared property, etc.). If you agree, then you are basically required to consent to the right of same-sex couples to be married by Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment, which reads as follows (particularly important section bolded):

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Equal protection is a simple and incredibly vital element of American law, it is very simply that all citizens are required, under the Constitution, to be treated equally under the law. Under the law, no individual is to be allowed special consideration or treatment based on their gender, ethnicity, religion, or any other trait. Personally, I would consider "sexual orientation" a very notable trait, at least for the individual in question. Furthermore, I would (and do) consider barring any two people from a group of people a right that is intrinsic to any two people of another group of people a severe violation of the first group's civil rights.

Consider, for instance, the anti-miscegenation laws that persisted in the United States until 1967 which barred people of two different races from marrying or having sexual intercourse. As, arguably, these laws were primarily directed against blacks, it's fairly easy to say that in the context of the Constitution, the American federal government was calling blacks non-persons (as they did not have the rights of equal protection under the law). I would hope that, in 2010, we have reached a point in society that we may openly call homosexuals persons.

Marriage has always been between a man and a woman, it is tradition.

Slavery and misogyny were also tradition before they were outlawed.

But slavery and misogyny were wrong, marriage between a man and a woman isn't!

Shut up, seriously.

As I've now descended into being silly, you can probably tell I'm done with this (or at least eager to go look at more pictures of hot Indian women). Obviously, these aren't the only arguments that are just downright wrong, these are simply the ones I hear the most and the ones that bother me the most. I think what people most forget, most ignore, or perhaps simply most don't know is that the law has very little (if anything) to do with what is "right" for anyone. Morality is a personal matter and should govern a great deal in your life, it should not, however, govern how we run our nation.

Michelle Antoinette

2010-08-06T15:14:00.000Z

First off, I'd just like to say this to keep anyone from potentially flipping out, not that anyone actually reads this blog with regularity (mostly because I don't post with said regularity). I am not now suggesting, I have never suggested, nor will I ever suggest that beheading anyone is a good idea. Got it? Got it.

This is the bug that has crawled up my ass today. There are bigger bugs, there are more important bugs, and there are bugs that will very soon be chomping at a much larger section of my colon, but today, this is the bug that has crawled up my ass. When unemployment is as high as it is (and undoubtedly quite higher with the uncounted discouraged workers) and, you know, this thing is just ticking away we have Michelle Obama and her two crotchspawn (don't get me wrong, the little one is super cute) living their entitled lifestyle of American royalty. This little junket involves three people and forty of their BFF's (along with a cadre of secret service agents and whatever else) taking up sixty to seventy rooms that cost, on average, something in the neighbourhood of $2500 a night. This, of course, does not include the cost of actually moving these forty-three people around in plane-that-is-sometimes-Air-Force-One-but-usually-isn't and the hilarious fact that they saw fit to have a ludicrously extravagant European vacation. Apparently American hot-spots suck right now and aren't worth taxpayer dollars. You know, American dollars.

This is not just a one-off event, honestly. This kind of detachment from reality is endemic to Democrat politics right now and this is nothing more than a grotesque example of it. You have Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA) saying that the reason why November's upcoming mid-terms will be tough for Democrats will be because there are so many who are not Democratty (not a word) enough. That's right, they're just not far enough to the left for all of us and we're just going to have to teach them a lesson, the centrist fiends that they are.

Then you have this incredible gem in which Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) suggests the IRS should afford tax breaks to people living in areas with higher costs of living. I want you to think about that for a second and, if you know anything about history, I want you to think about what actually started the American Civil War (spoilers: not slavery). Now, take a peeky-poo at this:


Source: Missouri Economic Research and Information Center, Cost of Living 1st Quarter 2010

Oh hey, the states with the highest costs of living are, for the most part, either (a) very liberal states (in the cases of the highest costs of living) or (b) ludicrously important swing states during elections.

Now, it occurs to me that these kinds of things are almost inciting the public not among the blessed chosen of the government to be resentful of their government. I am an American, I am a very patriotic individual, and I can honestly say I would never hate America. Right now? America is dying, and the country it is turning into? I hate it with every fiber in my being. The political elite have formed themselves into a type of elected nobility, above the fray of the ignorant masses and, apparently, disdainful of the republic they represent. While they're apparently familiar with concepts of condescension and self-righteousness, they're genuinely ignorant of history. I know what happened to the French royalty the Obamas seem so happy to mimic and I know well enough what happened when Washington deigned that some states be more important than others, they either don't, or they choose to believe that it won't happen to us. The mistakes they make and grievances they sow don't just hurt them and their political futures, they hurt every citizen of this nation and the very soul of the nation itself.

Just to wrap this up on a hilarious note, here's an awesome (and moronic) quote from Mr. Obama himself because he knows just what it's like to be you:
"It was just a few years ago that we had high credit card balances, we had two kids, thinking about college. We had our own retirement accounts, wondering if we were going to be able to get enough assets in there."

Yes, I really like overusing links and parenthetical statements.

James Cameron Is a Gigantic Asshole

2010-06-02T16:11:00.001Z

I was going to make a "real" post about this, but I'm saving my butthurt for a later omnibus post.

In the meantime, I made this, click on this mofo for full size:

Yours in caring about Barack Obama's love of basketball,
Nameth Black

Not to be a cynical douche, but...

2010-04-15T17:21:00.001Z

... I'm gonna go ahead and be a cynical douche.

With everyone (who isn't a jerk) rather stunned by the actions of individuals like this gomer (hurr, Fox News link) trying to infiltrate the "Tea Party" movement, there are quite a few people (Glenn Beck) who are going street rat crazy about the writings of a certain Saul Alinksy. Because I'm lazy and you know you are too, here's a Wikipedia link for Rules for Radicals (that thing written by Saul Alinsky).

What I find out offensive about this crap isn't what he actually wrote, this is actually good stuff to be completely honest. I mean, let's look at this douchebags rule-o numero uno:

Power is not only what you have, but what an opponent thinks you have. If your organization is small, hide your numbers in the dark and raise a din that will make everyone think you have many more people than you do.

My main problem with the fear/hatred (from the right) and the love/reverence (from the left) of Saul Alinsky is that this idiot didn't actually come up with anything original. If you're like me, and I hope you aren't, you've read at least one version of Sun Tzu's Art of War. In that case, you can easily recognise this advice as almost directly lifted from the text, even the phrasing is similar to many of the translations of the discussions (of Art of War) I've seen.

Just to borrow from Sun Tzu, here's what may well possibly be the most famous passage from the text. You might note that, despite being translated from Chinese, it's far more descriptive and intelligent in its general meaning:

All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.

Saul Alinsky was a "smart" guy in that he took concepts that have been outlined for centuries, maybe even millennia (Xerxes of Persian fame had a certain love of psychological warfare), but at the end of the day, his work is ultimately derivative. If you want to know how to crush anyone who thinks they have a leg up on you because they know Alinksy's Rules, read Sun Tzu's Art of War at least twice (it makes sense the second time around) and, if you can, make your way around to Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince.

Keep in mind, I'm not a Conservative, I'm a Republican, but I (unlike many Conservatives) can admit that I'd rather have people in power with whom I "mostly" agree than people with whom I do not agree whatsoever. It is the alternative to this reasoned position that caused the Republican party to bleed so much in 2006 and it is this idealism with which Conservatism chains itself that will be the reason November 2010 is not the red-letter month it absolutely should be. At this point, any successes are not the GOP's, but failures on the part of the DNC.

Long story short? Saul Alinksy? Not the liberal/progressive Sun Tzu. At best, he's a hack, at most realistic, he's a relatively talented plagiarist.

I Came From the North

2009-07-05T18:19:00.002Z

Yes, poetry. Gay, right?

Wait, no, let me correct that.

Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.

Anyway, here it is because I felt I needed to post something!

I came from the North,
Through aged towns and broken villages,
Ever mindful to stay wary of those old cities.

I would ask what was and what happened,
Always would I be evaded of an answer,
The pride of those sundered people unable to bear the load upon their tongues.

This land had been verdant and plenty,
Its greenery and beauty still shining through the ruin,
Untouched for so long by the potential of these men of varied homelands.

Ever did they warn of those old cities,
In them bandits and men of ill intent and means they warned,
But for one of those old cities I did not heed this dire warning.

From afar I saw the temple city across the river,
Its citadels and monuments hard-touched by centuries’ age,
Those of hewn stone and old only marred but those youngest and of steel scorched and ruined.

Upon a mossy pond stood a great preservation of this kingdom of men,
Its white spire still reaching skyward as the hopes of these people once had,
I could only marvel at its state so relatively unharmed by the hateful glare of forgotten history.

In the frigid cold and among the blossoming trees I approached it,
Its stony silence managing to warm my heart and stir my soul through the ages,
As I approached I saw upon its base a chiselled message only slightly more fresh than the spire:

In this land lived people of greatness,
Together we toiled and strived,
We offered each-other opportunity and hope.

For the sacrifice of our forebears we were born,
For earnest work we succeeded,
For deleterious hatred of those successful we fell.

Once we and this city were as a beacon to all men,
Those who loved our home nation for our strength,
Those who hated it for our will and freedom.

We stood against the tyrant and the inequitable,
We stood aside the free and the willing,
We stood for the oppressed and the maligned.

In the greatest of times we rose as a singular power above all others,
Forgetful though we were all greatness is ephemeral,
Unprepared though we were for when times would turn dark.

As our burning torch flickered in harsh wind we turned inward,
We forgot what birthed our success and greatness,
We forgot what wars of both blood and philosophy we fought.

So much power given to so few atop the dais across this pond,
So many freedoms stripped from common men of all classes,
So hated were those who had toiled and succeeded.

Times darkened and the torch flickered still in that forbidding night,
The hate of the masses grew as we tore down the towers of our greatest men,
We forgot whom had built those towers and upon whom they would fall.

The world darkened with us bringing war and fear,
Those who sided with us for convenience turned away from us first,
Soon enough to follow were those across the world we thought kindred and true.

Further still we slipped and chaos beckoned,
Even lesser men than the first of fascist way and fallacious hope rose,
So much power we gave them and so much they took in lust.

The many states once closely knit under our banner crumbled and fell,
Only then did we know the true darkness in the heart of men,
Only then did we know the true enemy would come from within.

We mourn so long our lost home and greatest calling,
Its lofty goals and achievements forever destroyed by ludicrous thought,
Forgotten so readily were science and reason by the will of the politician.

It is best that we be forgotten,
We had been a beacon and singular hope,
We ended as man’s greatest failing alone in the darkest night.

Under that spire and desperate script I slept,
So troubled by the forgotten and ruinous plight,
Its great influence and forgotten past weighing upon my mind.

In that coldest night amid the blossoming trees I faltered,
Together with this lost nation I share a fate,
So too did I come to my death in this darkest and coldest night.

Unforgiveable Ignorance

2009-04-07T15:30:00.003Z

Actually, this is stupidity.

If you're too damn lazy to look at the link (you're going to hate this post shortly), take a look at this picture that I definitely took from the article:

Now you may say, "Well Nameth, those numbers don't look all bad! Who really needs to know what Tim 'Turbo Tax' Geithner's job is? Much less the unemployment rate, what automaker is not getting billions of dollars to fund union pensions, who's determining the ultimate short- and mid-term fate of the economy (Bernanke), what the Dow (the standard barometer of the American economy) is doing, the regional standing of two of the more turbulent nations on the planet, what Obama is going to do in a war he won the Presidency with pure gleaming rhetoric involving, and how many of our own soldiers have died in the hopes of stabilising the scorching, sandy, hostile Hell-hole that is the Middle-East."

You're right. Who really needs to know that? Nobody who votes, that's for sure.

For the ultimate in disgust, take their ultra-simple, twelve-question quiz and you had best feel horror at the breakdown of the numbers you get afterwards. Spoilers: It's pretty bad, and people under 30 are dumber than you thought.

Misanthropy and Ironic

2009-03-02T17:06:00.002Z

Why I hate Wikipedia.

Let me make something very clear, these people do an excellent job of describing high school, Hot Topic, and generally horseshit misanthropy. This thing is written like a fucking middle-school report on douchebags. You think you're a misanthrope? That's fine, but understand this: You probably are not.

The majority of people who claim to be misanthropes are the stereotypical misanthrope. They want to pretend to be Gregory House, they think it's fun to be a surly asshole who writes off massive swaths of mankind as worthless beyond keeping the utilities working. They really, honest-to-God, want to be that guy who seems to just not care about his fellow man. Yet, ironically, this is a world view born out of a reaction to being a social failure.

Mr. Hyde (I'm mentioning him because he's mentioned in the article) is not a misanthrope, he is a sociopath. People without remorse, inhibitions, and any social mores are not capable of functioning. They are insane.

Ebenezer Scrooge is not a misanthrope either. He showed no love for anyone and is merely a pinnacle of greed and pride. He hated other people because he felt he was superiour to him, not because of any inherent, grand failing of humans as a whole.

A true misanthrope is someone who has taken a long, hard look at humanity for any number of reasons. This person sees the flaws, corruption, stupidity, animalistic nature, backstabbing, and passive-aggression of humans and they generally dislikes, if not hate, what they see. Often, misanthropes seperate themselves from other people because other people remind the misanthrope that they as well are human, and that surrounded by other humans their own human flaws become more present. A true misanthrope is someone who sees the human condition as wholly negative; a grave, vile downside to the existence of society.

This is not to say the misanthrope is loveless. Misanthropes often have great passions that don't involve people, a human without love for something cannot be sane. Misanthropes often have at least some number of friends, as well. Human interaction is vital to the maintainance of sanity. The misanthrope does not see themselves as inhuman, emotionless, or really even any better than anyone else (except for the fact that they've managed to figure out the great hoax of human virtue). They can usually admit there are upsides to humans, and that the people they keep close are the "good among the bad".

Back to my original point: If you're going to post on Wikipedia, if you can't cite a source for your bullshit philosophical waxing, don't fucking post.

Russia Goes to War, but...

2008-08-09T01:19:00.001Z

Apparently, the news media cares more about John Edwards boning a mistress (though the story was broken by the National Inquirer last week, Edwards just admitted it today) than Russia taking the same steps in the former Soviet Georgia that Germany did when it invaded Poland before WWII. The world could be poised on heading into a horrific conflict involving an actual superpower, World War III, and we're hearing about John Edwards being a philandering sack of shit.

Woop. Tee. Doo. This is, if anything, proof that if we fight against Russia, much less a renewed Soviet Union, we will either lose or win and horrific cost. We lack the will and the mental agility to defeat a difficult opponent.

Here we have two examples of the largest American cable news networks. First, a screenshot from Fox News:

Full size here.

Now you may be thinking Fox isn't so bad, and it really isn't that atrocious, to be be a little overly fair to Fox's coverage. I mean, while the Russian invasion didn't get an image, it is the first thing you see after the image, what with the large text and being in the upper-left of the page.

CNN's coverage is a little more horrifying, I even felt like I had to highlight the coverage because you have to damn-near hunt for the story:

Full size here.

I do believe I'll be getting my news elsewhere for a while.

Yours in welcoming our Soviet overlords,
-Nameth Black

About the Clintons

2008-08-05T19:32:00.000Z

First, a preface:

I am a staunch, far-right Republican. I'm so far to the right I'm not a member of the "Religious Right", I am a classic, Dick Cheney-style, corporate Republican.

That being said, I'm learning to appreciate the Clintons.

Pardon me while I vomit

...

There.

Anyway, I became "politically aware" during the Clinton years, and as a lifelong Republican, you can imagine how that went. I honestly believed that Bill Clinton was a lying, cheating sack of human filth with no love for country or his fellow man, and Hillary was a self-important demon-bitch whose only loyalties were to herself. This persisted in my mind for about ten years after Bill Clinton left office, we all remember how "clean" a break that was (not very).

Then we met Nancy Pelosi, and a short while later, Barack Obama.

I have since come to realise something important about the Clintons. In a way, nobody loves America like those two. Think about it, Bill Clinton grew up in podunk, backwater America and clawed his way up, having to fight what was, back then, the very real issue of classism, eventually becoming the President of the United States of America. If that's not the American Dream, or at least a version of it, then I can't imagine what else could possibly qualify. I can guarantee you that every day, Bill Clinton wakes up and thanks God he lives in America and couldn't give a flying fuck less about what the world thinks about him, and while he may not have done the best job in the world, he did try to do his best for this country in his love for it.

The very same could be said for Hillary Clinton, and I see her as far more competent in her aims than her husband. Looking at her, listening to the conviction in her voice, and really, the sheer disgust over the Barack Obama situation, I've really come to sympathise with the woman and understand her desire to fight to the very end for the candidacy. I have no doubt in my mind that, as different as I may see things from her and as mistaken as I may think she is, Hillary Clinton honestly does everything she does politically for the sake of the greater good of the American people, out of patriotism and love for her country.

Barack Obama? Looking at his actions as of late, his hypocrisy involving the race "issue", and his constant double standards over certain issues and what he can attack while John McCain cannot while Obama goes about touring like the President Elect on a parade of self-importance tells me one thing...

His running is not about America. Barack Obama's desire to be President is all about Barack Obama. What isn't solely about him is about his agendas, most of which are either incredibly Marxist or loyal to his old, racist associations. The man worries me greatly. He is a Neo-Bolshevik if there ever was one.

Yours in Free-Market Capitalism,
-N.B.

Hypocritical Racism and Black Supremacy

2008-03-21T19:12:00.003Z

Back after a long hiatus due to life issues and computer "issue", but no time for that, America's being attacked by Socialist black supremacists.

First off, watch this and be sick:

Want a translation? "Barack Obama deserves to be president because he's a black man." Does such "because he's a black man" reasoning among politicos sound oddly familiar? If it doesn't, you need to read up on what Geraldine Ferraro has been saying as of late. Of course, this kind of racism is fine when it's one-way, pro-black. For an insightful, brilliant view from someone I outright dislike, read up on what Pat Buchanan said on his blog.

One thing he missed though, there were more black business owners in 1960 than there are today, many, many more. I'm frankly sick and tired of negro organisations (they call themselves negros, I take the right to call the black seperatists that myself) bitching and moaning about the actions of the white man "against" them all while spewing their own racist blather against the majourity that is required to stand still and take the punishment from "uppity blacks".

I'm tired of them and am being turned into a racist by them, I won't lie.

Barack Obama is one of two things, a liar or a retard. You don't spend over twenty years in a church with the following precepts without being a retard:

"We are a congregation which is Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian...Our roots in the Black religious experience and tradition are deep, lasting and permanent. We are an African people, and remain 'true to our native land,' the mother continent, the cradle of civilization. God has superintended our pilgrimage through the days of slavery, the days of segregation, and the long night of racism. It is God who gives us the strength and courage to continuously address injustice as a people, and as a congregation. We constantly affirm our trust in God through cultural expression of a Black worship service and ministries which address the Black Community.

"Trinity United Church of Christ adopted the Black Value System written by the Manford Byrd Recognition Committee chaired by Vallmer Jordan in 1981. We believe in the following 12 precepts and covenantal statements. These Black Ethics must be taught and exemplified in homes, churches, nurseries and schools, wherever Blacks are gathered. They must reflect on the following concepts:

1. Commitment to God
2. Commitment to the Black Community
3. Commitment to the Black Family
4. Dedication to the Pursuit of Education
5. Dedication to the Pursuit of Excellence
6. Adherence to the Black Work Ethic
7. Commitment to Self-Discipline and Self-Respect
8. Disavowal of the Pursuit of "Middleclassness"
9. Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to the Black Community
10. Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for Strengthening and Supporting Black Institutions
11. Pledge allegiance to all Black leadership who espouse and embrace the Black Value System
12. Personal commitment to embracement of the Black Value System."

Mind you, that was pulled from the website of Barack Obama's church before they changed it in a hurry after this current shitstorm exploded into the public domain.

Barack Obama is a racist, he is nothing more than more of the same old black separatist wrapped in a coating of poor-quality bullshit. I'd know, I'm a bullshit artist myself, I can sense these things, and Obama is terrible terrible at it. Anything he says that hasn't been hand-crafted by his team of fellow racists has to be spun after the fact by those same racists so people don't realise what he is.

A racist who wants to take this country away from those who make it great and put it in the hands of some percentage of less than thirteen percent of the population (because that's all the blacks there are in America).

Think about it.

Huckabee Post 2.0

2007-11-29T07:25:00.000Z

Just got finished watching the Republican debate on CNN (which, for the most part, just made me hate Youtube even more) and I have to say...

Between John McCain being unelectable, Mitt Romney being a greasy douchebag, Rudy Giuliani being... Rudy Giuliani and those other two guys having whatever issues they have (I choose not to mention Fred Thompson), Mike Huckabee is indeed the candidate least offensive to my sensibilities. I'll still vote McCain in the primary, but I have this sad, sad feeling that even though he'd leave bootprints all up and down Hillary Clinton, he hasn't a hope in Hell of getting to the general election in the first place.

I have no problem saying I feel uncomfortable voting for someone because they used to be a Baptist Minister. Mormonism might be weird, but every open Baptist I've ever met has been an asshole. I'm not even using hyperbole. I've never met a Baptist (who was openly Christian/Baptist) who wasn't just a complete cock about it and wasn't all hepped up on sticking his ass into my business.

Still, better than Bitch, Car Dealer, and Igmo. Guess which three Democrat candidates I'm referring to and win no prize whatsoever!

As a footnote, Keira Knightley is fucking hideous. I've seen people with AIDS, cancer, and polio (at the same time) who were more tappable. I want to punch her for being able to be so hot but instead looking like an anemic twelve-year-old boy a G.I. tract filled with tapeworms.

Something I did just to prove I'm a massive fucking nerd...

2007-11-28T18:23:00.000Z

This blog is now powered with Wowhead tooltips. Yeah...

Pontiff's Pantaloons of Prophecy

I just randomly felt like doing that.

It breaks my heart...

2007-11-20T16:14:00.000Z

... that Mike Huckabee hasn't a hope in Hell of being elected.

Let's think about our other options:
Mitt Romney: I have no problem admitting I won't vote for a Mormon. Mormonism is fucking crazy by Christianity standards. Seriously, read into that stuff, you will shit a brick. Plus, he looks like the kind of man who bathes in Aqua Velva.

Fred Thompson: Besides looking like Franken Berry (I'm not stealing that from The Daily Show, he honest-to-God looks like Franken Berry) and having the personality of a spent roll of paper towels, he has no real political stance on... you know... things. Can anyone name anything this guy is for except things people don't like? If I wanted waffles, I'd go to IHOP. I'm so witty.

Rudy Giuliani: Beside being a one-trick pony who's out of touch with the bizarre Republican base (which, in an ironic twist, is just as out of touch with reality as Rudy Giuliani), he's unelectable in a good chunk of the south because, really, who out there is going to vote en masse for an Italian unless it's against Hillary? Plus, he looks like a fucking goblin in a suit. A poorly-tailored suit.

Ron Paul: What with the car salesman, Franken Berry, and Rumpelstiltskin, Ron Paul has, at best, a snowball's chance in Hell of winning the nomination. Sadly, Ron Paul is a solid, decent human being with no glaring personality faults that make him truly unelectable... which is why he doesn't get any press.

Thank God the Antichrist (Hillary Clinton, if you're too stupid to see the signs) will give anyone she runs against a decent chance of winning. I'd vote for Ted Nugent wearing a suit made entirely of baby seal faces just to keep Hillary Clinton out of office.

Oh, and Pakistan is blowing up or some crap, but like every other American, I apparently care more about Kanye West's mother ignoring sound medical advice, seeking surgery anyway, and then dying for her stupidity. Apparently rap doesn't make you immune to bullets or cardiac arrest. Tupac and Donda (or whatever) West have much to teach us.

Advice for Fired SNL Staff

2007-11-18T11:41:00.000Z

So I heard things are kind of rough for you guys.

This writer's strike would probably concern me if not for the fact most mainstream writer's are lazy hacks, that goes double for Saturday Night Live's fail-prone staff of retards and asshats. The fact of the matter is that the shows these people write for do well and are viewed on the internet not because they're clever, creative writers, it's that the American viewing audience is made up largely of easily-entertained morons who are also ugly and probably have lackluster records in the area of hygiene.

Writers should get no bonuses for internet viewing.

Continuation

2007-10-12T13:13:00.000Z

It's totally our business to be building missile defense platforms in other countries. Russia wants to defend itself against the growing radical threat that is Iran, a threat that our country acknowledges, and we say, "Oh no sir, you may not! We'll haul ass into other countries and start all kinds of shit for terrorists who attack us, but it'll be a balmy day in Moscow when you Vodka-chugging assholes do anything prevent terrorists states from attacking you."

Obviously, there is indeed a problem with allowing anyone to build up a nuclear "defense" against anyone, because by God, that's just overkill in the most literal sense possible. Plus, if you can't beat the shit out of some pissant sand-hole led by a militant whackjob with conventional weapons, you just aren't trying hard enough.

On top of that, there's such a thing as Mutually-Assured Destruction. Now, everyone who's not a complete retard will know that Iran cannot possibly bomb all of Russia without nukes (heh...), but Russia? I'm pretty sure they could bomb it to glass with the Mighty Ducks (Disney ones) of their bombs. Remember how that team was all fat kids, losers, and nerds? That's right. Russia's loser bombs could still kick the living Hell out of Iran. A hot plate of MAD (read, "You bomb us, you'll be converted into a slightly-charred skeleton") may well be what it takes for the Iranian people to stand up against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's stupid hat.

That's right, it's a stupid hat.

WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO, ALICE, I'M IN AMERICA, CAN'T CHOP MY HEAD OFF HERE.

Also, your Arthur Fonzarelli impersonation sucks.

Aaay!

Today's Post Brought to You by the Letter E

2007-10-11T14:07:00.000Z

As in Evil.

Now, he may be evil, but damnit, I like him. In fact, I love Vladimir Putin. As long a he doesn't go crazy and decide to blow us up or really any members of the potentially good parts of society (read, "anyone who doesn't stone women to death for showing more than the two square inches of skin immediately surrounding the eyes"), he's doing a damn fine job. The potential for regional influence for resolving the Islamic issue of Russia is unmatched by any other nation. Frankly, I don't think any nation with a reason to do anything has the ability and the resolve. We're too busy caring about... I dunno... America-stuff.

Also, try to ignore any potentially off-colour jokes about the Jerusalem Post's internet edition being filled with scads of adverts. Anti-Semetism is wrong. Funny. But wrong.

As for Putin's move to create a new Mother Russia and potentially end their experiment with total democracy? I rather support it. Hey, Russia loves Vladimir Putin, and he loves Russia. I know it's something that Americans have a hard time with understanding (like math, but with vodka) sometimes, but there can be systems other than representative democracy that work, depending on the people who live under that system. It's one of those "whatever tickles your pickle" things. As I not-so-subtly hinted to above, as long as you're not going around and blowing people up all willy-nilly, hey, have fun with your fascism, I hope it works out for you.

This idea that we, as a country, cannot and will not cooperate with nations that do not march in lock step with our particular governmental habit of democracy is sort of ironic, given the way in which that idea itself removes freedom from nations who would very much like to associate with us. Let's be really honest, Russia has been around for... ever, and America sort of stopped being a punkass rebel state "for real" in 1812, so we're swinging our just-post-pubescent balls around mightily firmly for someone who just got the right to use the big boy public showers.

What can be gleaned from that? Freedom is a wonderful thing, but only if it's the right kind of freedom that's spelled with a capital F, because that's the good kind of Freedom that means a politician who doesn't wear a ninety-nine cent MOTHERFUCKING LAPEL PEN ON HIS GODDAMN SUIT IS WORSE THAN A NAZI AND IS A NEWS STORY THAT REQUIRES CONSTANT FUCKING COVERAGE ON ALL OF THE MAJOUR NEWS SOURCES, JESUS CHRIST IN A HANDBAG, HOW STUPID ARE WE?

Oh, and apparently planting flags at the bottom of the ocean isn't a hollow gesture.

I need to lie down now...

Political Tease Finally Makes Up Mind

2007-09-29T21:52:00.000Z

Oh Newtie, you naughty, naughty boy. It looks like you've finally decided no one would actually vote for you. Actually, you probably didn't decide jack squat.

Newt Gingrich saying he "decided" not to make a run for the Presidency is like the ugliest, fattest, bucked-toothiest girl at school saying she "decided" not to get a date for the prom. I daresay I question Gingrich's political relevance outside of being a half-ass pundit (a caste given to him when Fox News needs a guest and Asian hottie Michelle Malkin is busy proving Republicans field the hotter babes) and hawker of countless asinine books centering their content on how much this country and its leadership wouldn't suck if people listened to him.

Spoiler: Nobody does.

On top of his uselessness as a political figure, Gingrich actually had the balls to say that he would run if he received thirty-million dollars in campaign pledges. It's worth noting that no candidate has ever received that many contributions that quickly. Ever.

I'd question Gingrich's self-esteem, but I'm pretty sure he's living in a dimension in which every city that doesn't have an eighty-foot-tall bronze statue in his Herculean likeness is burned to the ground for its unforgivable heresy. I'll give Gingrich this much though, the only politico I can think of with more balls is John McCain. Mind you, Gingrich is delusional and McCain is bat-shit insane (I'd vote for him), so it's like the Thunderdome on crazy pills when it comes to a competition involving those two.

ATTN: Al Qaeda

2007-09-16T06:35:00.000Z

I'd like to join now please.

Why?

Because I hate America now that I've seen this.

Why I'm Worse Than Hitler

2007-09-11T20:37:00.000Z

I'm not making a post about 9/11 today.

Anyway, I'd just like to say something...

There are some things in this world I wouldn't be caught dead buying.

Maybe my diet is just that "tender" or perhaps I just have gentle movements, but either way, there are some products that you don't want to be man enough to require. I have never, ever, had an issue with my hygienic paper breaking down on the job.

Well, barring that outdoorsy, barely-there, single-ply, rapid-degrading stuff. It's like trying to wipe with the Shroud of Turin; the stuff just crumbles in your hands.

Also, what the fuck do bears and toilet paper have to do with one-another?

Bin Laden Hits World Trade Center, Grecian Formula

2007-09-07T22:30:00.000Z

Personally, I don't think this chap in the new video looks anything like previous pictures of Osama Bin Laden.

Unless he's somehow taken a disfiguring injury to the face and not died from complications therein (which is a bit of a logical leap, given what are likely to be his living conditions), I'm fairly sure that's not him.

But hey, that's just me.

Sometimes You Can Judge a Book by Its Cover...

2007-09-07T22:20:00.000Z

Or its excessively huge forehead.

Whatever.

Maybe it's just me, but I know I wouldn't take massive amounts of money from a man who looks like he rapes kittens. Not that Clinton herself is all that attractive (or her sequoia-esque legs for that matter), but the point still stands, you probably don't want to be seen in a crowd full of cretins, unless you are o-

Ah. Makes sense now.

CNN and Insurance

2007-08-24T20:13:00.000Z

Ok, so I'm watching the CNN and they're talking about how these people lost their homes to floods and such buuut their homes weren't insured for flood damage. Everyone's acting like the insurance company is the bad guy here.

Maybe I'm a heartless capitalist on the level of Dick Cheney (there's no "maybe" about it), but isn't it, you know, on the head of the consumer to make sure they're buying what they want? All one has to do is ask, "Excuse me, does this policy cover flood damage?"

Easy as that.

Now mind you, for the majourity of my childhood, we did not have insurance against flood damage because our house was about a thousand feet above sea level and around seven-hundred feet above the level of the lake. My folks sort of figure that if water was getting to our house, flood-wise, losing our shit was the least of our concern, as we'd be more worried about some old Jewish dude making fun of us from his boat full of animals.

As a footnote, I want Reena Ninan's sex.

I don't quite understand...

2007-06-15T15:32:00.000Z

... this fad. This video explains it pretty well though.

I'd like to note...

2007-06-14T14:10:00.001Z

I'm not dead, but Windows Vista is an aneurysm in a box. I'll be returning in the near future.

This week in "Who's Burning Like a Tire Fire in Hell"...

2007-05-15T17:41:00.000Z

Jerry Falwell is d-e-d dead. I'd like to thank God for making this possible, but props to Satan, too, because he'll be putting up with that son of a bitch for the next eternity or so.

To quote the Associated Press, I'm to understand that a "history of heart challenges" includes being a fat bastard.

Edit:
Expect a parody of the report within the day. I believe it was Worf who said, "Today is a good day for Jerry Falwell to die."

You have much to teach us.

Mr. Falwell as seen just prior to consuming an entire turkey in under five minutes.

It's Mother's Day

2007-05-13T17:30:00.000Z

If you haven't at least called your mother to say you love her, Woodrow Wilson hates you.

Me? I have a Jewish mother, so I've been at home since Friday. That's right, I'm better than all of you. Choke on that, Internet.

So yes, happy Mother's Day.

Woodrow Wilson as seen shortly after hearing his "momma so fat she block out the Sun" and shortly before curb-stomping some jive turkeys.

Something you don't want as the last thing you watch before sleeping...

2007-05-06T06:17:00.000Z

Cinco de Mayo

2007-05-05T14:12:00.000Z

Is it wrong to celebrate a Mexican holiday with a German beer? Meh, doesn't matter.

On a less-important point, this almost amuses me. Now God knows her narrow ass will ever spend a day in jail, but I still like the mental image of a scared, makeup-free Hilton, clutching her bundle of linens, being led through the block as muscular women are shouting out hoots and cat-calls. Though she's not going to one of those rough, lesbian, women's prisons that totally isn't some kind of sick, rough lesbian sex fantasy of mine, the mental image still makes me grin.

Can you tell I don't like her?

P.S.
If you happen two be two female Asian nurses with the badonkadonk, contact me at...

This is my sexual fetish

2007-05-01T16:08:00.001Z

Quite possibly the best concept for a website ever. Even if it isn't, it kicks the shit out of mine.

Old as Hell

2007-04-24T21:02:00.000Z

But always wonderful.

Huwuff

2007-04-20T02:11:00.000Z

First off, I'm gonna be honest, some people who know personally know I like girls who the media would call "chubby" at the very least. I like a girl to at be healthy, and to be really honest, I'd rather (biblically) know a woman is fat than one with pelvic bones you could hang a coat on (read skinny).

I have a few other criteria (read "no skanks") that certainly come in to play now and then, but for the most part, none of those matter with what I'm going to talk about here.

Note the before and after here. Supposedly she got up to 267 at her max which is certainly on the large side. Don't get me wrong, if you're not healthy and you're overweight, you'd probably do best to lose some weight. That being said, 150 pounds in a year is a lot of weight in a short span of time. Hate to break it to the dieting world, but ten pounds a month is pretty impressive, any more than that and it's probably not a good thing to be doing to your body without a doctor watching you like a hawk.

Monologue about the weight loss aside...

Note how she's rail thin, but more importantly...

Could she not have lost the weight without ending up looking like a total skank?

I can't say she was ever my cup of tea (skank, etc.), but now? Good God. Besides that, any good plastic surgeon (note the horrifying breasts) would have suggested a nose job before sewing cantaloupes into her.

Random Note

2007-04-19T15:43:00.000Z

While Blogger is letting me use Zulu/UTC/GMT time, I'm sad that I can't use 24-hour format for that extra flair. Oh well.

I know it's wrong to laugh at other people's misfortune, but...

2007-04-19T15:22:00.000Z

This whole BlackBerry thing is giving me the grins.

I'm not bashing the tech generation, God knows I feed it myself, but the fact that there are indeed people wigging out about this is awesome.

Part of this scare, even though it wasn't as severe and interruption as it could have been, was more about a potential danger. With eight-million customers to this service worldwide, a huge swath of those people being in the financial districts of companies and markets (The Guardian notes that there were worries in the stock markets of the US and UK about a lack of communication for major deals), one would have to wonder what would happen if this was worse. Given that the American market can void its metaphysical bowels over nothing. Let's not forget that there was a talk about skyrocketing natural gas prices over something that happens on at least a monthly basis anyway. Since the story completely evaporated after it turned out to just be a huge wad of mindless hype, many people might not remember that nothing happened.

God only knows what could happen if something with an actual impact occurred. In the meantime, I don't really have a problem chuckling at the mental image of men in suits swearing at a little plastic thing because they can't check their e-mail.