My fellow Americans;

Three years ago I undertook the awesome task of running this nation, this nation steeped in awesomeness. It was awesome. But with your help through your generous, but mandatory, ask my brother Wesley about that, tax donations, mandatory donations, we have turned the corner and see a new light shining through the darkness ahead, behind and back and to the left.

That new light will sadly bring with it much additional darkness, unless we act with wisdom, restraint and lots of threats, veiled and otherwise. Many will suffer through these trying times – if you are one, I and all of those of us who won’t, feel your pain. And if not feel, we can at least watch it on all those high def, 60 inch, flat-screen TVs you bought us. So it all works out.

While the union itself is in various forms of tatters, the accumulated wealth of we here in this room and in many other wonderful rooms all over the good parts of this nation, is secure as long as those of you who do have jobs continue to go to them, compliantly and obedient. Otherwise we’ll be forced to give them to all the illegal aliens who are already doing most of the shit jobs in the country.

This great, great country.

Of course, all is not sweetness and light – several wars are being waged around the globe, as we speak, or at least as I speak and you listen, compliantly and obedient. While it is not up to us to judge who started those wars or escalated them into other wars, who committed atrocity after atrocity based on lie upon lie, who institutionalized torture and extrajudicial-summary execution, it is our duty to see them through to their conclusion. Which means bomb every last drop of profit from them, then flee leaving a shamble crawling with anti-American refugees. Who hate us for our freedom.

I can’t stress this enough. It is not because we set up military bases on their land, exploit their natural resources, rape their women, burn their children, destroy their homes, or reduce their nations to ruins of despair that is the problem. No, the problem is a deeper hatred, a more abiding rancor. They hate us for our freedom. (Mostly to do all that other stuff to them, but what can I say, the system works.)

That is why I as the first official act of the New Year have instituted the Executive Explosive Option, the EEO, which grants me the right, the responsibility, to blow up places where people oppose us, even if those places are us. Right here. Not here, here, but out there, where people oppose our right to defend ourselves from anyone who is offended by such rights. As Americans we grant this right exclusively to us and as your chief executive officer and official spokes-model, I then grant it exclusively to me. And anyone I say is acting for me. For us.

And so in closing I as always want to thank you for your attention, affection as well as your compliant obedience. God bless America.

We’ll be watching.

Is this your monologue for your Year-Zero audition?

pieceofnothing posted:

Don't feel bad cause no one responded, I post in here sometimes and if it's not something that matches their libertarian pre-programmed responses they don't know what to say. At least you didn't get a bunch of Ron Paul quotes... ha ha, life is a gas.

Arrogance is the true downfall of men, wouldn't you say bunny? Presumptions lead to missteps and so forth..
I have a great respect for prezbyter's work. He seems to have a firm grasp on the political climate of past, present and perceived future. I think his ego is not so frail as to shatter at lack of a comment or two. He does a good job of capturing his audience through his subject matter. More words are not often needed.

Though I respect his work and read it, his particular area of expertise is not an area I choose to let my thoughts dwell in. It would seem since the beginning of time.. You don't suppose during strife, hungar, the fall of Rome, the Crusades, plague, crop failure, warring dynasties and on and on the people felt the world was fucked up and end times were just around the corner? This fear is ingrained in us. It lives and feeds daily on the information it receives from t.v., Internet, radio, social interaction.. I have one life. In the grand scheme of things it is only but a moment. I choose to spend it in brighter mental places. The end is always near, you know?

Sorry for my unnecessary swipe at people I hardly know, I'm not in a good mood, but it's no excuse. I didn't rise to the occasion, I avoided it with anger.

I like to think of this when envisioning presidents daily habits:

Robert Anton Wilson in 'Illuminatus!' posted:

He was, in fact, characteristic of the best type of dominant male in the world at this time. He was fifty-five years old, tough, shrewd, unburdened by the complicated ethical ambiguities which puzzle intellectuals, and had long ago decided that the world was a mean son-of-a-bitch in which only the most cunning and ruthless can survive. He was also as kind as was possible for one holding that ultra-Darwinian philosophy; and he genuinely loved children and dogs, unless they were on the site of something that had to be bombed in the National Interest. He still retained some sense of humor, despite the burdens of his almost godly office, and, although he had been impotent with his wife for nearly ten years now, he generally achieved orgasm in the mouth of a skilled prostitute within 1.5 minutes. He took amphetamine pep pills to keep going on his grueling twenty-hour day, with the result that his vision of the world was somewhat skewed in a paranoid direction, and he took tranquilizers to keep from worrying too much, with the result that his detachment sometimes bordered on the schizophrenic; but most of the time his innate shrewdness gave him a fingernail grip on reality. In short, he was much like the rulers of Russia and China.

Prezbyter posted:

The greatest crime of ancient time was hubris - lack of humility in the face of divinity. And while not a delicate little flower, response is an always appreciated reminder that I'm not merely blathering to myself. And is thus always appreciated - especially when accompanied with respect and I thank you for that.

While I appreciate the inclination to dwell in places offering respite from the travails engulfing us, the locus of my work is that as long as we avoid contending with the unpleasant or untenable, those things not only continue, but escalate. If thugs (in whatever uniform you apparel them) knew that every door they kicked down would be met with deadly defensive response, how many doors would be kicked down before the cost became to high (for the kickers, not their masters)?

I suspect our biggest problem is that we have allowed ourselves to be dulled with alcohol, pharmaceuticals and religion, fed intraocularly through the affirmation devices we huddle around like fires to the cold - we have lost the capacity for outrage. We take it. And in that taking it we allow our masters to give it to others who have even less say than we.

I've watched the deterioration of our happy faced world. I for one will maintain my focused outrage. Because once our hiding places are exposed, we'll be compelled to face it regardless.

Thanks for the support!

You are certainly not blathering to yourself when the view count of a thread goes up 30 to 50 in a matter of hours after you post a piece of your work. It is being read. It is feedback from the majority of your readers that's lacking.

"I suspect our biggest problem is that we have allowed ourselves to be dulled with alcohol, pharmaceuticals and religion, fed intraocularly through the affirmation devices we huddle around like fires to the cold - we have lost the capacity for outrage."

Would it not be fair to say that the above crutches are a symptom of the very issues you write about? War, poverty, minimum pay for maximum output, fear of tomorrow.. We are surrounded by and taught regularly the horror of just living. The air we breathe, a spoonful of sugar, products we use, etc.. It's all supposedly deadly these days. If say, I let the horror rule the majority of my existence then alcohol and mind numbing medications may become the only option for escape, if even briefly. I can't live where you live. It is not lack of concern or lack of knowledge of world events. I am well aware of what goes on around me. I just am unable or unwilling to let it dictate my life. Perhaps I am not strong enough. Perhaps my days of lugging around a cross I eventually end up nailed to have passed. I have time left to live. Inner peace and happiness is how I choose to fill it.

Forgive me if I have been a bit off topic.

I have enjoyed this particular discussion and reading your views. You certainly display a passion for both your work and getting your message across. I respect that.

Prezbyter posted:

The fact is that we as a culture cannot apologise: Obummer did once and the pundits had a field day. Apologise? Not an American president! Blasphemy! That inability to apologise is the inability to accept responsibility for shitty behavior and is how we are collectively represented by our leadership.

Oh, I see. The way to respect a leader who does what you say our leaders should do is...ridicule his name. Now I get what you were trying to say.

This thread, as of yet, has no point.

posted:

As an aside to this, I suppose the way I don't let my tragic subject matter consume me is by tempering it with the things I love. I live in the instant and play hard when I'm not working hard. I know I can not change anything other than my own behavior. I also know that to understand things that might not be perceived by others and not to share is in tension with civil society. So I share - I don't take me too seriously, even when dealing with the most serious of subjects and play whenever I can. (I'm not speaking of sports.)

If you actually felt like taking the subject seriously, you would do the following:

1) Come up with a list of what you feel are President Obama's most major tangible accomplishments so far.

2) Describe why the State of the Union address is given every year.

3) Considering 1 and 2, explain why the content of the President's 2012 address is appropriate or not.

In lieu of doing so, there is no point in continuing this discussion. This isn't a fucking "est" meeting.

Prezbyter posted:

Well, thank you for explaining the rules in this thread. Have you any other instructions for me or did you purge your disgust with that? As I started this particular thread, if I want to go EST, you'll pardon me, but I will. As that particular sentiment was clearly addressed to another poster, not sure what got up your butt, but I hope you've cleared it.

No, I won't pardon you. You don't own the fucking forum because you made a thread.

posted:

As for taking subjects seriously, do a little reading then cast your judgments on me.

As someone who comes to hide on an internet forum and anonymously take thrills out of poking fun at people's names like a first-grader on the monkey bars, you have a lot of gall telling someone to take you seriously. Since you enjoy telling people what to do and what not to so much, here's some advice: Deal with your own god damned topic like an adult or quit flooding the forum with nonsense.

posted:

And don't insult me be giving me little tests. I was out of college before you were born and have a fair understanding of our systemic problems.

Great. You "graduated from the School of Life." Tell me, did you live on-campus for that?

posted:

Any leader that wants my respect will have to earn it - that goes for anyone. Clearly this topic is the expression of how much our current crop has failed, by my standards.

Not only is your hypocrisy glaring, you don't even have the wherewithal to admit it. Two thumbs down.

posted:

There's plenty of room in here for blowjobs, if that's what you prefer. You're just not gonna find me passing them out.

Ah. I didn't quite know what to call the self-inflated ego worship going on in this thread, but "blowjobs" will do nicely. I guess that makes your blathering a hypocrisy twice over.

posted:

Thanks for your comments.

You must have learned how to patronize people at the School of Life. Get your money back.

Obviously, as you have demonstrated, you'd rather engage in an unproductive pissing contest than have a real discussion. That being the case, I don't have time for this utterly degenerate shit. When this thread turns into something of substance about the State of the Union address, I'll be back, and not before.

*watches all the mental muscle flexing for total thread domination*

"This is my land and I shall put what I wish upon it!"

"You think so? You don't own the actual nation it resides in, so therefore we demand you clean it up!"

See what I did there? *grin*

And thus the troops begin gearing up for war..

A well placed agent of strife.

Hmmm.. Oh yes, the topic!

What do we in the United States constitute as a 'Good President'? Are we even able to judge without the whole picture?
After all, we honor one every year simply because he was a great orator and signed a document ending slavery. Does it matter that he spent over 70% of his Presidency laying on a couch with continuous migraines, while his Cabinet Members actually ran the country and made the major war time decisions? Political propaganda is a powerful tool.

FDR? The American public was very against participating or getting involved in WWII before the bombing of Pearl Harbour. Yet unknown to them, Roosevelt had been sending money and supplies to England for quite some time before that. Yes, the allies won the war in the end and Hitler was defeated. But this begs the question.. Was he right to ignore the wishes of the American people and do as he felt was best?

Even now we are never given all the pieces when it comes to our nation's leader. So how can we, as American's make a truly informed decision on who they really are and what they truly can and can't do for our Country?

Interesting. Running a nation is a bit different than being a senator, congressman or governor. The history may not be there to point to. You can thoroughly train a soldier and send them off to war. But you can never be sure exactly how they will react when faced with having to kill an actual human being. A bit the same with a President. You can never be absolutely sure how they will react to any given situation.

As for our current President. Personally I don't feel he really had enough political experience for the position. Both the House and Senate take advantage of that fact and have gridlocked him on almost everything.

The other problem with Obama is with Americans themselves. We are a reality tv watching braggadocio nation. Obama is boring. Plain and simple. Oh, he's a nice guy and very charismatic to be sure. He lacks star power though. Our leaders must be consummate performers, masters of political propaganda and political theater. Good guy or bad guy it does not matter. We love to love them and love to hate them. Above all, we want them to pretend to be doing something. Anything. Give us and the world a show! If Obama shakes his fist at a hard line dictator, the last thing they will do is quake in fear. And our over inflated American egos demand that our enemy's shake in fear. Bush before him made a lot of bad decisions if we are honest about it. But he made them with conviction. Other leaders feared him simply because he was a bit crazy and a total loose cannon that played by no known rules. There was no telling what that man would do. That's why he served a full two terms. It was a monstrous and dramatic production that American's could not get enough of.

Perhaps that says more about "We the People" than the nation's leader. We have to fix ourselves before we can fix the government.

We most assuredly get the representation we so deserve, but really, the president is little more than spokes-model, the decisions are made well beyond that particular office. During the height of his troubles, Nixon snuck out of the White House and found himself confronted by protesters at the Jefferson Memorial. Upon asking him why he didn't stop the Vietnam war, the protesters realized that he couldn't - he had no real control, just the bully pulpit. Nixon likely in that instant realized the same thing.

The last president to actully stand up to power (pulling troops out of Nam, firing the CIA leadership, challenging the Fed and pissing off Israel) was JFK. We saw what his defiance bought him. I imagine footage of his lesson being played for each new resident of the White House as a cautionary tale by those truly in charge.

Ignorance can be overcome through learning, stupidity can be stopped by paying attention and standing up when sitting down is no longer fashionable. We can change - that's what evolution is all about. It would be nice to have an actual leader, a person of decency and wisdom and restraint, but for that to happen, we have to prove ourselves worthy of such leadership.

I would like to think we are.

Sadly, I have scant evidence of it.

Never enough. You?

People say to me, “Hey, Bill, the war made us feel better about ourselves.” Really? What kind of people are these with such low self-esteem that they need a war to feel better about themselves? May I suggest, instead of a war to feel better about yourself, perhaps…sit-ups? Maybe a fruit cup? Eight glasses of water a day?

He is missed.

Interestingly, we armed Iran too. Halliburton, while helmed by Dick Cheney was charged with trading with the enemy for providing a super computer to Iran, through one of their offshores. The reactor at Bushehr

would be the first plant, and would supply energy to the inland city of Shiraz. In 1975, the Erlangen/Frankfurt firm Kraftwerk Union AG, a joint venture of Siemens AG and AEG, signed a contract worth $4 to $6 billion to build the pressurized water reactor nuclear power plant. Construction of the two 1,196 MWe, and was to have been completed in 1981. Wikipedia

The regime of Komenii shut down the western driven nuclearizing of Iran - at least until our proxy war between them and Saddam compelled them into restarting it. Be nice to hold up some of those receipts in court and bring some real criminals to justice.