It actually totally makes sense. What they stand for is, and should be, the issue. Now, they don't actually stand for any of that, but in the system, the party *is* the thing.
"If our modern society has carved a God-shaped hole in the populace, the Democratic Party has poured itself into that space. Like molten steel filling a mold, it has annealed into religion. As many Republicans are religious in a more conventional mold, it may help them to view the elections through this lens." Great image/paragraph.
Exactly! I think you phrased that perfectly regarding the Party.
And thank you for the kind words! Every so often the lethargic, chonky, cross-eyed hamster of my mind stops lying upside-down in the woodchips and waddles its way back onto the hamster wheel that powers this whole operation, and I manage to turn out a decently interesting turn of a phrase haha
Thank you so much for the read and for the kind words. And, yeah, I totally understand. Sometimes you have to laugh or you'll cry (and sometimes you cry anyway haha). I think writing these articles serves a similar therapeutic purpose for me, so if it can do the same for you then I am happy to hear it :D
If I had to guess, it is some whacked combination of the wealthy elites and corporations using bribes, the security state, the bureaucracy, and finally the politicians, more or less in that order.
A corrupt Kakistocracy, ultimately as the wealthy, the elites do not want competent politicians, so they fund fools, who have no principles, and have become extremely corrupt; there is no effective political leadership (and all the organizations that might challenge them such as churches, other political parties, reform movements, etc are subverted and made into Mini-Mes of the major political parties) leaving it to everyone else to take some power and wealth.
"Hobo Fett (as he is known in the Star Wars universe) makes Sleepy Joe look like Pericles. I’d contend he is the worst candidate in history. He looks like the Umbrella Corporation spliced together the worst parts of Uncle Fester, Sling Blade, Quasimodo, Sloth, Mole Man, and Frankenstein’s Monster, injected the result with some G-Virus, slapped a Steelers hoodie on it, splashed some ROGAINE® on its chin, stuck a cheesesteak in its hand, slapped its ass and sent it out into the world."
"Meanwhile, patient zero for the brain-melting, Bubonic, Captain Trips, Andromeda Strain, Omega Variant of TDS, Sam Harris, boasted that 'Hunter Biden literally could have had the corpses of children in his basement. I would not have cared.'"
I thought you said no more dying. FAIL. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
What you're saying here is quite true, but I think what's interesting is the reasons why it's become true. It has become inconceivable to most people that the party other than the one they support will represent them in any way, and the fact is, they're right! I recall the 90's when people often joked about how political candidates were mostly saying all the same stuff as each other. This was done because appealing to the center seemed most likely to get the most votes and appealing to extremes would be offputting. But then, along came human pile of pudding Karl Rove, who realized that you actually get more votes by appealing to the fanatics because they'll come out in droves for you and never desert you (though weirdly enough neither side is pushing for "extreme" policies like universal healthcare). It's been a march downhill from there to giving extremists what they want, which actually helps the opposing side too, since plenty now vote against candidates out of fear. But as long as you get that coveted 50%+1, politicians can readily work toward making the other 49% miserable with no real consequences.
And really, the extra sick part is that once in office, most people don't matter except for what votes they cast on bills anyway. So long as you can pull the proper yes or no lever as required, what does it actually matter if you're a fantastic statesman? Sure, that leaves a big question as to who is actually writing most bills and what they get out of it, but for the most part it isn't our elected representatives anymore.
1) I appreciate the phrase: "Along came human pile of pudding Karl Rove." If memory serves, it was also the working title for the underrated, 1997, Morgan Freeman neo-noir psychological thriller "Along Came a Spider," before the studio was sued by Big Pudding for defamation in being likened to the monstrous and wholly unappetizing Karl Rove.
2) Your observation about perceived "extremes" in this milieu reminds me of a quote from another old pal of ours (and future Harvey Dent Award winner--foreshadowing!)
"The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum - even encourage the more critical and dissident views. That gives people the sense that there's free thinking going on, while all the time the presuppositions of the system are being reinforced by the limits put on the range of the debate." -- "Garden Noam" Chomsky
You and me both, my friend! I will entertain any number of theories--ranging from the relatively quotidian deep state actors to the more Machiavellian, era-spanning secret societies to supernatural notions like Nephilim or inhuman entities... but I'd be hard-pressed to say with any real confidence where I'd put my paycheck if the chips were down at this point. Hell, it could just be an Idiocracy haha
Are you leaning in a particular direction with regard to the question, if I may ask?
And I just saw it! Thank you for the thoughtful reply. And as you'll see from my articles, I can be a bit perhaps... pleonastic at times haha. So, one never need apologize for being wordy here :D
It actually totally makes sense. What they stand for is, and should be, the issue. Now, they don't actually stand for any of that, but in the system, the party *is* the thing.
"If our modern society has carved a God-shaped hole in the populace, the Democratic Party has poured itself into that space. Like molten steel filling a mold, it has annealed into religion. As many Republicans are religious in a more conventional mold, it may help them to view the elections through this lens." Great image/paragraph.
Exactly! I think you phrased that perfectly regarding the Party.
And thank you for the kind words! Every so often the lethargic, chonky, cross-eyed hamster of my mind stops lying upside-down in the woodchips and waddles its way back onto the hamster wheel that powers this whole operation, and I manage to turn out a decently interesting turn of a phrase haha
It sounds like it's more often than you think! Thanks for the great work.
Thank you, Matt! I sincerely appreciate that : )
That was brilliant! I haven't laughed so hard in a while. Now I'll have a good cry because it's all true.
Thank you so much for the read and for the kind words. And, yeah, I totally understand. Sometimes you have to laugh or you'll cry (and sometimes you cry anyway haha). I think writing these articles serves a similar therapeutic purpose for me, so if it can do the same for you then I am happy to hear it :D
If I had to guess, it is some whacked combination of the wealthy elites and corporations using bribes, the security state, the bureaucracy, and finally the politicians, more or less in that order.
A corrupt Kakistocracy, ultimately as the wealthy, the elites do not want competent politicians, so they fund fools, who have no principles, and have become extremely corrupt; there is no effective political leadership (and all the organizations that might challenge them such as churches, other political parties, reform movements, etc are subverted and made into Mini-Mes of the major political parties) leaving it to everyone else to take some power and wealth.
You, me: same page:
https://open.substack.com/pub/publiusamericus/p/cities-are-cancer?r=b8rvc&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
You weren't kidding! Great minds, and all that:) I really enjoyed the article!
"Hobo Fett (as he is known in the Star Wars universe) makes Sleepy Joe look like Pericles. I’d contend he is the worst candidate in history. He looks like the Umbrella Corporation spliced together the worst parts of Uncle Fester, Sling Blade, Quasimodo, Sloth, Mole Man, and Frankenstein’s Monster, injected the result with some G-Virus, slapped a Steelers hoodie on it, splashed some ROGAINE® on its chin, stuck a cheesesteak in its hand, slapped its ass and sent it out into the world."
NOPE. I spoke too soon. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
"Meanwhile, patient zero for the brain-melting, Bubonic, Captain Trips, Andromeda Strain, Omega Variant of TDS, Sam Harris, boasted that 'Hunter Biden literally could have had the corpses of children in his basement. I would not have cared.'"
I thought you said no more dying. FAIL. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Ok... reading the rest now. LMFAO.
I was embarrassingly happy to be able to make an "Andromeda Strain" AND a "The Stand" joke in the same sentence there haha
I object! Do not be embarrassed of brilliance!
The competing but equal Sith Lords and Ring of Power parts had me cracking up too! 🤣🤣🤣
What you're saying here is quite true, but I think what's interesting is the reasons why it's become true. It has become inconceivable to most people that the party other than the one they support will represent them in any way, and the fact is, they're right! I recall the 90's when people often joked about how political candidates were mostly saying all the same stuff as each other. This was done because appealing to the center seemed most likely to get the most votes and appealing to extremes would be offputting. But then, along came human pile of pudding Karl Rove, who realized that you actually get more votes by appealing to the fanatics because they'll come out in droves for you and never desert you (though weirdly enough neither side is pushing for "extreme" policies like universal healthcare). It's been a march downhill from there to giving extremists what they want, which actually helps the opposing side too, since plenty now vote against candidates out of fear. But as long as you get that coveted 50%+1, politicians can readily work toward making the other 49% miserable with no real consequences.
And really, the extra sick part is that once in office, most people don't matter except for what votes they cast on bills anyway. So long as you can pull the proper yes or no lever as required, what does it actually matter if you're a fantastic statesman? Sure, that leaves a big question as to who is actually writing most bills and what they get out of it, but for the most part it isn't our elected representatives anymore.
1) I appreciate the phrase: "Along came human pile of pudding Karl Rove." If memory serves, it was also the working title for the underrated, 1997, Morgan Freeman neo-noir psychological thriller "Along Came a Spider," before the studio was sued by Big Pudding for defamation in being likened to the monstrous and wholly unappetizing Karl Rove.
2) Your observation about perceived "extremes" in this milieu reminds me of a quote from another old pal of ours (and future Harvey Dent Award winner--foreshadowing!)
"The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum - even encourage the more critical and dissident views. That gives people the sense that there's free thinking going on, while all the time the presuppositions of the system are being reinforced by the limits put on the range of the debate." -- "Garden Noam" Chomsky
So who, exactly, is running the United States of America? This is what I want to know.
You and me both, my friend! I will entertain any number of theories--ranging from the relatively quotidian deep state actors to the more Machiavellian, era-spanning secret societies to supernatural notions like Nephilim or inhuman entities... but I'd be hard-pressed to say with any real confidence where I'd put my paycheck if the chips were down at this point. Hell, it could just be an Idiocracy haha
Are you leaning in a particular direction with regard to the question, if I may ask?
And I just responded separately in this thread. Sorry. It is a bit wordy.
And I just saw it! Thank you for the thoughtful reply. And as you'll see from my articles, I can be a bit perhaps... pleonastic at times haha. So, one never need apologize for being wordy here :D
Pleonastic is a new word to me. I think I will keep it. :-)
Sorry, you lost me at the misquote of Trump, attributing to him things he didn't say.
Which quote?