Comments Posted By Liberty60
Displaying 1 To 10 Of 29 Comments
IN DEFENSE OF HOWARD ZINN - SORT OF
"Simpletons who are exposed to critical pedagogy are usually floored when they realize that they don’t know everything. And upon receiving knowledge that overturns their assumptions, are almost evangelical in their desire to lecture the rest of us about what we don’t know."
Sharpest comment I have seen in a while. It makes me think of adolescent readers of Marx or Ayn Rand, or conspiracy theorists.
back on topic, I haven't seen the documentary, but I am amused that there is shock, tremendous shock when it is discovered that our history is filled with both heroism and tragedy, nobility and mendacity.
But of course, the same simpletons are simpletons for not being able to conceive that those traits, of both good and evil, are often contained within the same person; they insist on sorting all characters into cubbyholes clearly marked. Often their newfound evangelism only consists of moving character from cubbyhole "good" into cubbyhole "evil".
Comment Posted By Liberty60 On 13.12.2009 @ 14:21
The <em>NEW YORK TIMES</em> GIFT GUIDE FOR ALL YOUR MINORITY FRIENDS
Manning-
Comment Posted By Liberty60 On 11.12.2009 @ 13:21
I agree with your criticisms of many ethnic advocacy groups- it becomes tribalism pure and simple.
I wouldn't accept that somehow the Left managed to corner the market, though- when I hear people bawling that they are "losing our country" or see a pair of white hands crumpling a notice that says the job went to a minority- that too is the dog whistle of Our Tribe.
There is a legitimite place for ethnic-centric sentiments- notice the mawkish sentimentality of the Irish diaspora, or the Italian-American clubs, and so forth.
Comment Posted By Liberty60 On 11.12.2009 @ 11:12
So in that light, I can see a place for African themed articles. But Rick's point is correct in that ethnic tribalism is dangerous stuff, whether it is meant to be exclusive or not.
The American genius is to see us as individuals, not tribes, and the more we can subsume ethnic identity to the national identity, the better.
I would probably be more conducive to the notion of American exceptionalism and superiority, if it were not constantly being invoked as a mantra for jingoistic warmaking and heedless adventurism.If it were not constantly used as a justification for the betrayal of all the values that made America execptional in the first place.
Today I read glenn Greenwald's deconstruction of the lies told in order to promote the Iraq War, and it made me sick to remember how I supported the war, based on those baldfaced lies.
Lies told by none other than Dick Cheney, that strutting draft dodger who constantly puffs himself up as the exemplar of strength and certitude.
If my words seem a bit bitter, they are. When you have been lied to and made a fool of, there really isn't any other rational response.
The Cheneyite neocons have used the good name and hard earned trust and faith in America that previous generations built, to turn America into just another global Empire consumed with its own power and expansion.
Comment Posted By Liberty60 On 9.12.2009 @ 13:20
They talk about American values, but have no understanding of them whatsoever. Cheney and his supporters should be hooted at and driven from the public discourse in shame.
WHAT'S SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND ABOUT CLIMATEGATE? EVERYTHING
I think the environmental movement made a grave mistake when it presented global warming as the single definitive iussue by which environmental problesm can be viewed.
Putting aside AGW for a moment; is there any doubt that the ecosystems around the world are under stress and in danger of collapse?
Whether is is the fisheries of North America, the oceans, the air pollution in China, soil contamination in Russia, all over thw rodl we are destroying the very environment we depend on.
The second biggest error the environmental movement made was aligning itself with leftist pollitics; this ensured that every issue, no matter how sensible or local, became ensnared in Cold War politics of socialism vs capitalism.We can have a sensible policy of balancing the long term impacts of industry against the need for commerce, without resorting to pitched battles over climate science that no one but a handful of scientists understands
Comment Posted By Liberty60 On 8.12.2009 @ 18:27
PALIN MAINSTREAMS THE BIRTHERS
Rick-
this is as much a response to your "conservative apostacy" thread as this one-
I am seeing more and more of the principled conservatives break with the conservative movement before it veers off the cliff, and I applaud them.The modern conservative movement has become its mirror twin; Russell Kirk wrote that conservatism has no creed or manifest, it has no fixed ideology like Capitalism.
Conservatism seeks balance, order, and reason. It doen'st hold to a fixed idea, but changes course, adapts to new data, turns in popposite directions if the evidence demands it.
The conservative movement has become a cargo cult of Capitalism; they hold that any deviation from free market is inherently evil, and cling to "tax cuts" as the magic solution to any and all economic problems, regardless of evidence, or changes in facts.Conservatism seeks social order and mutual responsibility; yet the conservative movement seeks individualism, an atomized collection of private interests and personal gain, ignoring the larger societal good. The conservative movement- Palin in particular- is based on tribal identity, holding themselves up as real and true, and anyone else as inauthentic, alien, and dangerous.
The conservative movement has become its opposite; it is more like classic dogmatic Socialism than anything else.
Comment Posted By Liberty60 On 5.12.2009 @ 13:52
Free thinkers of all stripes are being thrown out, or leaving on their own accord.
THINKING IMPURE THOUGHTS IS MORE THAN A MORTAL SIN IF YOU'RE A REPUBLICAN
Sue-
You are correct, a massive Defense Dept and a limited government are at war with each other; war always enlarges and strengthens the Executive branch.
The Defense Dept and Homeland Security are costing us about 1 Trillion per year, or a 3 Trillion budget; This may or may not be necessary, but it sure as hell is not "limited government".
You will notice that no one...NO ONE at any level in the GOP is making a "balanced budget" a litmus test; or even a priority.The truth is no one in the GOP believes in it any more.
Comment Posted By Liberty60 On 24.11.2009 @ 20:11
'THE COST OF DYING:' FALSE CHOICES OR THE FUTURE OF AMERICAN HEALTHCARE?
"For a myriad of reasons, it is more jarring to have the state make the decision regarding rationing than private concerns."
Why? Why is it more jarring for a bureacracy make this decision, than an insurance company?
I agree with Rick's sentiment, that this is an agonizing and complex issue, and Richard bottoms comment that right now our national debate is so filled with wild theatrics and scare tactics, that reasoned discussion is nearly impossible.
Comment Posted By Liberty60 On 23.11.2009 @ 13:38
'IQ OF A CELERY STALK?' WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT ONE?
Dragon-
Comment Posted By Liberty60 On 22.11.2009 @ 23:12
I will speak for myself by saying that I don't consider ALL corporations evil; I am the manager of a medium sized corporation, and am as avid a capitalist as any.
The point is not that Exxon is evil; its that Exxon and others like it, are extremely powerful; Goldman Sachs for instance, seems to have a death grip over our elected government. TARP was not a liberal do-gooder program- it was a giveaway of taxpayer money to private interests.
We can champion free market capitalism all day long, and I will cheer. But in doing so, Palin and the conservative movement turns a blind eye to the threat to our liberty (and the free market itself) posed by over-powerful corporations.
As for the NSA and Homeland Security; if you, Palin and the conservative movement feel this is a necessary price to pay for security, that is your opinion; but at least have the honesty to say that you are in approval of a large and powerful central government, NOT a small limited government.
It is insulting to tell us you want to "set government back within its limits" and then tell us that we need to accept a large and intrusive Security State.
Dragon-
See, that is the point- you seem to think that everyone but you ache for Big Brother, that your group- and ONLY your group- can bravely stand against this tide of weakling fools and knaves.Just out of curiousity, who are these Elites that Palin mentions? The media, I know, but is that it? Are Goldman Sachs and the Wall Street banks part of the evil Elites?
This is part of the problem I have with Palin; that she is, in Rod Dreher's words, a "conflicted populist"; she writes movingly of how Exxon screwed over the people of Alaska, and how she was their champion; yet then goes on to chirpily state that Big Business gets a bad rap.
Its almost as if she doesn't see a bigger picture in that; that perhaps Exxon screwed the people of Alaska because they have accumulated too much power, and she doesn't then follow the logic of how to prevent such things from happening again.
This is why her populism seems phony- she rails against Elite media people like Katie Couric, but gives the corporations a pass. She complains about over-powerful government bureacracies, but seems content to give the NSA and Homeland Security even more power than they have now.Average Americans like you and me have much more to fear from Exxon and Homeland Security than we do from Katie Couric.
Comment Posted By Liberty60 On 22.11.2009 @ 18:16
