Five Before Chaos

Electing a conservative is like hiring a carpenter who thinks hammers are evil.

Sorry for the disappearance, once again crunch time for school and just got hit with a nasty cold., you know, the kind where it feels like someone filled your head with concrete. That, and promising to stay away from politics for a while makes it kinda hard to blog, ya know? No worries, I’ll be back to normal shortly.

Happy Turkey Day.

A double treat here for you…

Levi Stubbs, the leader of the Motown legends The Four Tops, recently passed away. Here’s one of their groovier tunes, albeit a lesser known one, Are You Man Enough?, from the film Shaft in Africa.
There’s no real “video” for this one, but it’s a great song… corny lyrics, strings, incredible vocals, and an unbelievably slammin’ bassline by Wilton Felder (from the Crusaders). I love playing this tune on bass, it’s a bit challenging, but a blast to play. A bit of trivia… the Four Tops was one of those rare groups that actually had all of its original lineup intact for almost 40 years.

As a bonus, here’s the trailer for Shaft in Africa. This trailer is friggin’ awesome in every way possible, classic blaxploitation. And the movie was pretty good as far as those films go. It really was the baddest Shaft of ‘em all:

This time it’s part 1 of Jack from Rational Resistance (and fellow GMD frontpager). Best line: “Caribou Barbie”:

And here’s part 1 of Wes from Integral Psychosis. Best line: “Crisis as opportunity – I like that idea.” I’ll have part of both of these up in a few days.

(note from JD: Even though I posted this last week, I moved it up, as it’s rare that FBC gets any discussion mojo going on, and there’s a talk on this thread about those ever-annoying political labels such as “far left” and “conservative”. I’m hoping other readers of all political persuasions will chime in as well.)

There are so many “fight for the soul of the Republican party” articles out there (if one can indeed call that black, bottomless pit a “soul”) that it’s hard to keep track. Two recurring themes seem to be that the GOP will tack even further to the right (and lose more), and this (in most cases) a refusal to acknowledge that this election was indeed a repudiation of conservatism, as evidenced by the “we would’ve won if we were more conservative” bullshit.

There’s a profound disconnect with reality in that statement; if they were more conservative, they would’ve lost even more, as the public seems to not favor the “drown the gov’t in the bathtub/let the theocrats have free reign” stuff that they’d (the GOP) undoubtedly love to have more of. They didn’t lose this election because of rampant gov’t spending. Thye lost it due to incompetence, warmongering, and the fact that they’re just a bunch of mean-ass motherfuckers who could care less about the well-being of 99% of the country. That much to be obvious, even if you’re as idiotic as Sarah Palin.

David Brooks, who is mostly wrong on things but at least manages to use multisyllabic words, seems on the cusp of getting it, but not quite. In his latest, it’s yet another “traditionalists vs. reformers” story, and he does more or less lay out the factions and the problems they face correctly. But he get it so unbelievably wrong on this one here:

In one camp, there are the Traditionalists, the people who believe that conservatives have lost elections because they have strayed from the true creed. George W. Bush was a big-government type who betrayed conservatism. John McCain was a Republican moderate, and his defeat discredits the moderate wing.

Regardless of what McCain’s largely media-crafted persona was, the fact of the matter is the public persona he represented in this election was by and large a traditionalist one. Palin. Joe-the-Plumber. Xenophobia. Regressive taxation. Fear of the scary “other”. He said “cut spending” 50 bazillion times. That’s traditionalist crap, nothing less. There was nothing “moderate” about McCain’s campaign, other than he didn’t take it all the way in from the theocrats, but it’s really spit vs. swallow on that one.

Freaky story about a blogger who had to shoot a crazy dog running amok in the neighboorhood, at Monkeyfister.

I’m going to back down on the usual politics/right-wing idiocy reporting a bit over the next few weeks. I need to, because as many of you know, if you’re a political blogger, this was indeed the longest election in history. Plus I want to savor the win and quietly enjoy the ongoing right-wing meltdown – as the Palin hangover/afterglow wears off, will reality hit, or will they move further to the right?

Anyways, have a look at this… it’s from an Army guide to cartooning, from WWII. It’s definitely a period piece.. just look at the “races” (in addition to the “Steppin’ Fetchit”, we have the “Jap Monkey”):

At least now I know how to draw a Slav. And who knew you could learn a lot about art by drawing your buddies in the shower?

From the Onion… he’s not who you thought he was:

In a devastating blow to millions of unsuspecting Americans, newly elected president and international con man Barack Obama fled the country Wednesday with nearly $85 million in campaign funds.

According to FBI investigators, Obama’s sudden disappearance was discovered at 6:15 p.m. when the former Illinois senator failed to arrive at a gala event in Lincoln Square, prompting several aides to rush back to his campaign headquarters. At 6:23 p.m., flight logs at O’Hare International Airport confirmed that two passengers, a male carrying two silver briefcases and dressed in a perfectly tailored Brioni tuxedo, and an African-American female wearing a fur coat and speaking in a thick Russian accent, were seen boarding a private plane.

No, this time it’s not due to laziness, there’s just a lot of great stuff out there to read; if I blogged about ‘em individually, I’d be here all day.

First up, Krugman’s got a good one on why exactly Obama needs to shoot real big on the economy.

Last month, a group of humanists in England took out a bunch of ads on London buses letting people know, “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” The good news is in Washington state, a humanist group is doing something similar:

Ads proclaiming, “Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness’ sake,” will appear on Washington buses starting next week and running through December.

The American Humanist Association unveiled the provocative $40,000 holiday ad campaign Tuesday.

In lifting lyrics from “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” the Washington-based group is wading into what has become a perennial debate over commercialism, religion in the public square and the meaning of Christmas.

“We are trying to reach our audience, and sometimes in order to reach an audience, everybody has to hear you,” said Fred Edwords, spokesman for the humanist group.

“Our reason for doing it during the holidays is there are an awful lot of agnostics, atheists and other types of nontheists who feel a little alone during the holidays because of its association with traditional religion.”

Edwords said the purpose isn’t to argue that God doesn’t exist or change minds about a deity, although “we are trying to plant a seed of rational thought and critical thinking and questioning in people’s minds.”

Of course, the “war on Christmas” whiny-ass-titty-babies already have their panties in a wad about this. Who cares?

Right-wing meathead, washed-up-direct-to-dvd-actor and WorldNutDaily columnist Chuck Norris writes an open letter to Obama. Idiot.

Secrets of Talk Radio – there won’t be anything surprising to those of you who have easily figured out the modus operandi of the airwaves rightwing blowhards and hatemongers. An insider puts it all together nicely, however, for a very interesting read.

Have a great weekend.

Dear Sarah Palin, Please Shut Up Already.