Crow's Eye: Maintaining a commitment to Pointless Acrimony™ and Hate Filled Invective™! Also available in corvid mischief and traditional sly dog's mistrust.
"...it's not the training to be mean but the training to be kind that is used to keep us leashed best." ~ Black Dog Red
"In case you haven't recognized the trend: it proceeds action, dissent, speech." ~ davidly, on how wars get done
"...What sort of meager, unerotic existence must a man live to find himself moved to such ecstatic heights by the mundane sniping of a congressional budget fight. The fate of human existence does not hang in the balance. The gods are not arrayed on either side. Poseiden, earth-shaker, has regrettably set his sights on the poor fishermen of northern Japan and not on Washington, D.C. where his ire might do some good--I can think of no better spot for a little wetland reclamation project, if you know what I mean. The fight is neither revolution nor apocalypse; it is hardly even a fight. A lot of apparatchiks are moving a lot of phony numbers with more zeros than a century of soccer scores around, weaving a brittle chrysalis around a gross worm that, some time hence, will emerge, untransformed, still a worm." ~ IOZ
As heartening as it is to see his cult of personality crumble, it's crushing that people still think, "Well, if I'm gonna throw the Democrats out, that means we need to put the Republicans in!" As if that's going to do anything at all.
Who just happens to be a slick smoothie with cafe au lait skin, an exotic name, the child of university professors, a meritocrat's wet dream.
Which excuses the "greedy fucktard" part, for most Americans.
And that's our problem.
And if Al Cocky weren't so naive (while, ironically, implying Obama is naive!), he could see this.
Al Cocky needs to retire. He is a moron. I'm not a paid author, nor a "respected" journalist, and I see and write better and clearer than Al Cocky.
What does that tell you?
Tells me the world is for dupes, gulls, lemmings... and that's how Al Cocky can eat, clothe himself, be housed... all by writing errant, confused, naive bullshit.
I honestly wouldn't have looked at it that way, to start.
Grist for the mill.
I agree with Fwoan, though, that the CoP has worn thin. A goodly part of that comes from volte face within the press corps, probably following those signals from above which indicate a plan for regime change, in 2012.
Al Cocky has been tripping over his own dick for the past decade, if not longer. It's time for him to retire.
The last time I remember Al Cocky being relevant was in the early 90s writing "Beat the Devil" for The Nation, which column almost balanced out the bullshit from Katrina vandenHeuvel and company.
Lately he's been no better than the "provocative" moron, Andrew Sullivan -- meaning, instead of offering a coherent analysis of things, he simply provokes by being "different" from whatever he perceives as the expectations his fan-base might have regarding his views.
Since I'm not part of his fan-base and can't be surprised by his reversals (i.e. global climate change -- watch him fumble and drool on that subject), I simply see the pitiable mis-reads (in a positive light) or sad willful misinformation (in a negative light) like the suggestion that Obama was and is pure, competent and noble -- but honestly mistaken because he's too optimistic.
The swing of mainstream "news" and opinion media favoritism away from The Obamessiah ("away" = no longer constantly fawning over him) is indeed a signal that 2012 belongs to the GOP for the POTUS slot.
The metronome swings back and forth, the musicians may play different notes, but supporting backbeats remain the same.
I like how Cockburn seems to favor the stereotype of the angry black man and seems to expect, hell, he hopes that all black guys are like that. Yeah, that's not racist at all!
I think Charles might be on to something (which would link people like Raimondo, Vidal and Cockburn - as Richard noted in comments a while back, as people trying to recover a lost paradise).
But - ah, nevermind, JM...
You're like "feminists" who discover a rape in the existence of a single penis...
I Agree that Cockburn is long past his sell-by date. And a gullible yutz.
Witness the reports of "success" with the BP cap, which came suspiciously soon after they said a larger top hat wouldn't work. People at the LATOC forum and elsewhere have been following the spill 24/7 and saying there are leaks they're not telling us about. Then apparently Obama casually mentioned the possibility of leakage outside the well bore and cracks/leaks in the sea floor. After the stock had already shot up on the "good" news.
How convenient.
What the hell is it gonna take with some people? Especially the one-time radicals. Is reality just so fucking painful that they've retreated, forever, to a theoretical dream world?
"It’s Obama’s fault, too, that, as a communicator, he cannot rally and inspire the nation from its fears. From his earliest years he has schooled himself not to be excitable, not to be an angry black man who would be alarming to his white friends at Harvard and his later corporate patrons. Self-control was his passport to the guardians of the system, who were desperate to find a symbolic leader to restore America’s credibility in the world after the disasters of the Bush era. He is too cool."
So this isn't a stereotypical racist assumption on Cockburn's part?
I think Charles might be on to something (which would link people like Raimondo, Vidal and Cockburn - as Richard noted in comments a while back, as people trying to recover a lost paradise).
Jack,
Naturally I'm just giving my own experienced estimate of the landscape's meaning. I may well be onto something, or I may just dislike and not respect Alexander Cockburn.
As to Raimondo -- his blind spot is big -- like driving an early 70s American "fastback" car and trying to see what's just off your passenger side rear wheel/bumper. His blind spot we've discussed before, it's all rooted in the love of capitalism and the admiration for Hayek and Mises. At bottom, Raimondo's essays are just carrying water for Ron and Rand Paul.
As to Gore Vidal -- shit, the dude's a fancy, rich, upper class man who wishes the world were fancy, rich, upper class. He reminds me a lot, thematically, of the two books of the early late 80s (or was it early 90s?) that got so much attention, ED Hirsch's "Cultural Literacy" and Allan Bloom's "The Closing of the American Mind," the two books that lamented the loss of primacy of the Pale Penis People. Gore Vidal wants a luxurious America somewhat like Father Knows Best set somewhere on Doris Duke's estate in central NJ, complete with full servant staff and sexual scandals aplenty.
Cockburn's playing to an audience, rather than writing the truth. Is he tired of writing the truth? Or did he ever care about it?
Cockburn's audience fancy themselves a bit more "revolutionary" or "fringe" or "progressive" than Arianna's High Tea Ceremony attendees, but the style of appeasement isn't too different from one sect to the other.
Glenn Greenwald does the same, tiptoeing around the truth in order to not alienate his silk cravat & pinot grigio crowd at Salon.
I find it all a bunch of horse shit, personally. Speak the truth, let the dipshits flounder in their idiocy and delusion if that's their aim. Diluting the truth in order to persuade a fool -- or worse, distorting the truth to entice the fool -- is an asinine game that is highly counter-productive.
To me, Alexander Cockburn is about as trustworthy or believable as Christopher Hitchens. He may not be as drunk as Hitchens, but he's as useless.
16 comments:
As heartening as it is to see his cult of personality crumble, it's crushing that people still think, "Well, if I'm gonna throw the Democrats out, that means we need to put the Republicans in!" As if that's going to do anything at all.
Al Cocky says:
"But it *is* Obama's fault that he did not understand this...."
Al Cocky is wrong.
Obama DID understand all those things Al Cocky says. Obama is, um, smarter than Al Cocky and, errr, more world-wise than Al Cocky.
Al Cocky is the dupe here. The naif.
Al Cocky thought Obama was noble.
Obama isn't noble, isn't holistic, isn't pure, isn't liberal, isn't progressive.
Obama is a greedy fucktard.
Who just happens to be a slick smoothie with cafe au lait skin, an exotic name, the child of university professors, a meritocrat's wet dream.
Which excuses the "greedy fucktard" part, for most Americans.
And that's our problem.
And if Al Cocky weren't so naive (while, ironically, implying Obama is naive!), he could see this.
Al Cocky needs to retire. He is a moron. I'm not a paid author, nor a "respected" journalist, and I see and write better and clearer than Al Cocky.
What does that tell you?
Tells me the world is for dupes, gulls, lemmings... and that's how Al Cocky can eat, clothe himself, be housed... all by writing errant, confused, naive bullshit.
Nader was right.
Interesting take, Charles.
I honestly wouldn't have looked at it that way, to start.
Grist for the mill.
I agree with Fwoan, though, that the CoP has worn thin. A goodly part of that comes from volte face within the press corps, probably following those signals from above which indicate a plan for regime change, in 2012.
*
Right about what, Spartacus?
Jack,
Al Cocky has been tripping over his own dick for the past decade, if not longer. It's time for him to retire.
The last time I remember Al Cocky being relevant was in the early 90s writing "Beat the Devil" for The Nation, which column almost balanced out the bullshit from Katrina vandenHeuvel and company.
Lately he's been no better than the "provocative" moron, Andrew Sullivan -- meaning, instead of offering a coherent analysis of things, he simply provokes by being "different" from whatever he perceives as the expectations his fan-base might have regarding his views.
Since I'm not part of his fan-base and can't be surprised by his reversals (i.e. global climate change -- watch him fumble and drool on that subject), I simply see the pitiable mis-reads (in a positive light) or sad willful misinformation (in a negative light) like the suggestion that Obama was and is pure, competent and noble -- but honestly mistaken because he's too optimistic.
PS:
The swing of mainstream "news" and opinion media favoritism away from The Obamessiah ("away" = no longer constantly fawning over him) is indeed a signal that 2012 belongs to the GOP for the POTUS slot.
The metronome swings back and forth, the musicians may play different notes, but supporting backbeats remain the same.
How hilarious will a President Palin be? At least as much as how sad it would be.
I like how Cockburn seems to favor the stereotype of the angry black man and seems to expect, hell, he hopes that all black guys are like that. Yeah, that's not racist at all!
Huh?
I think Charles might be on to something (which would link people like Raimondo, Vidal and Cockburn - as Richard noted in comments a while back, as people trying to recover a lost paradise).
But - ah, nevermind, JM...
You're like "feminists" who discover a rape in the existence of a single penis...
I Agree that Cockburn is long past his sell-by date. And a gullible yutz.
Witness the reports of "success" with the BP cap, which came suspiciously soon after they said a larger top hat wouldn't work. People at the LATOC forum and elsewhere have been following the spill 24/7 and saying there are leaks they're not telling us about. Then apparently Obama casually mentioned the possibility of leakage outside the well bore and cracks/leaks in the sea floor. After the stock had already shot up on the "good" news.
How convenient.
What the hell is it gonna take with some people? Especially the one-time radicals. Is reality just so fucking painful that they've retreated, forever, to a theoretical dream world?
Jane,
Yep.
The capped well is a distraction. The floor is rent in multiple locations.
And according to several geologists (Oil drum, etc) the successful capping of the well could spell an immediate deterioration in well core.
Talk about a lose/lose.
Respect,
Jack
"It’s Obama’s fault, too, that, as a communicator, he cannot rally and inspire the nation from its fears. From his earliest years he has schooled himself not to be excitable, not to be an angry black man who would be alarming to his white friends at Harvard and his later corporate patrons. Self-control was his passport to the guardians of the system, who were desperate to find a symbolic leader to restore America’s credibility in the world after the disasters of the Bush era. He is too cool."
So this isn't a stereotypical racist assumption on Cockburn's part?
Jenny = pollution.
I think Charles might be on to something (which would link people like Raimondo, Vidal and Cockburn - as Richard noted in comments a while back, as people trying to recover a lost paradise).
Jack,
Naturally I'm just giving my own experienced estimate of the landscape's meaning. I may well be onto something, or I may just dislike and not respect Alexander Cockburn.
As to Raimondo -- his blind spot is big -- like driving an early 70s American "fastback" car and trying to see what's just off your passenger side rear wheel/bumper. His blind spot we've discussed before, it's all rooted in the love of capitalism and the admiration for Hayek and Mises. At bottom, Raimondo's essays are just carrying water for Ron and Rand Paul.
As to Gore Vidal -- shit, the dude's a fancy, rich, upper class man who wishes the world were fancy, rich, upper class. He reminds me a lot, thematically, of the two books of the early late 80s (or was it early 90s?) that got so much attention, ED Hirsch's "Cultural Literacy" and Allan Bloom's "The Closing of the American Mind," the two books that lamented the loss of primacy of the Pale Penis People. Gore Vidal wants a luxurious America somewhat like Father Knows Best set somewhere on Doris Duke's estate in central NJ, complete with full servant staff and sexual scandals aplenty.
Cockburn's playing to an audience, rather than writing the truth. Is he tired of writing the truth? Or did he ever care about it?
I think you might have a good read on late Cockburn, Charles.
Playing to an audience - a la Huffington?
Cockburn's audience fancy themselves a bit more "revolutionary" or "fringe" or "progressive" than Arianna's High Tea Ceremony attendees, but the style of appeasement isn't too different from one sect to the other.
Glenn Greenwald does the same, tiptoeing around the truth in order to not alienate his silk cravat & pinot grigio crowd at Salon.
I find it all a bunch of horse shit, personally. Speak the truth, let the dipshits flounder in their idiocy and delusion if that's their aim. Diluting the truth in order to persuade a fool -- or worse, distorting the truth to entice the fool -- is an asinine game that is highly counter-productive.
To me, Alexander Cockburn is about as trustworthy or believable as Christopher Hitchens. He may not be as drunk as Hitchens, but he's as useless.
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