DUCK AND COVER
When the bomb drops, Admiral A.G. Cook, civil defense director, suggests San Franciscans lie down with the lions. The lion house at Fleishhacker Zoo is one of 59 public fallout shelters he earmarked on a list submitted to City Property Director Philip D. Rezos yesterday for approval For those too timid to share Armageddon with a lion, the admiral also tagged the elephant house as a shleter. Candlestick Park was on the list as a place to hide, although the admiral did not say how the open stadium could provide protection.
— SF Chronicle, 1962
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— R. Crumb, Rejected New Yorker Cover, 2009, watercolor, ink, and graphite on paper, 14 1/2 x 10 5/8 inches. Courtesy the artist, Paul Morris, and David Zwirner, New York, Copyright ©Robert Crumb, 2009.
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ENGAGING THE SQUARES, AGAIN
"You know, I always laugh when I hear young white kids speak of some people as 'squares' or 'straights' - old people, hardened in their ways, in their minds, in their thoughts. They don't even have to be old. You can be an old square at eighteen. Anyway, calling these people 'squares,' an Indian could have thought it up....The Indian's symbol is the circle, the hoop.... Nature wants things to be round..." -- Lame Deer, Lakota Medicine Man
Somehow I got on the mailing list for Nation of Change, a "progressive" newsletter much like many others. The most radical writer there is Jim Hightower who lately just seems to ride the anti-corporate train. Since we all know that corporations are evil and Monsanto is poisoning the planet and such, do we really need to be told over and over again? I tread on thin ice here because I'm about to provide another futile dialog with a hard-core by-the-book right wing believer. But only because this guy provides useful insight into the futility of communicating with them. I'm sure we've all had arguments of this type.
The article in question was one about Limbaugh and Hannity being dropped from a radio network, likely because paying advertisers had pulled their spots from these shows. Predictably the hallelujah liberal chorus was cheering this and talking about "hate speech" Limbaugh and Hannity serve to their eager audiences. Enter yours truly here, where Mr. RW challenged liberals to provide examples of hate speech.
JC - All one has to do is listen to Hannity or Limbaugh for examples. Religion and politics amount to the same thing. One "believes"in an entity or not depending how strongly it supports one's own beliefs, opinions, fears, etc. L & H play expertly on fear and anger, whether the fear is of immoral college students, muslims, or poor people who might take away one's toys and white privilege, or heaven help us, get "something for nothing" in the form of food stamps.
RW - Obviously you do not listen to "L & H". There is no fear and anger. Of course that is what the Left's knee jerk reaction when someone disagrees with them. Truth is Detroit. It is the Left that plays on fear and envy! Starve children, cut everything, fair share, take away health care. Give me a break. Have you heard Obama pander? Truth is objective. Liberal values = Detroit. Conservative values = Houston. Have intellectual curiosity? Listen to "Red Eye Radio". The most logical program there is, bar none!
JC - One man's logic is another's insanity. I've had many similar dialogs with right wingers. Same clichés and denials, same beliefs, as rigid and unyielding as those of any religious fanatic. Intellect? There are brilliant minds in the Pentagon and Northrop-Grumman developing new ways to destroy more life. Brain without heart. Your have the facts, the Truth is yours. Have a nice day. P.S. I am not a liberal.
RW -Funny how looking from the Right side it is heart without brain.Which is what causes things like DETROIT.
One man's logic is another's insanity. I've had many similar dialogs with Left wingers. Same clichés and denials, same beliefs, as rigid and unyielding as those of any religious fanatic. Intellect? WHERE IS THE BEEF? I do not care about labels. I care about the exchange of ideas.
JC - "Where's the beef?" Another fine example of woefully non-original right wing "argument." Parroting an old TV commercial. You can't get less convincing than that.
RW - Yes you can! Just read what you wrote. Tell me where I'm wrong. How about some shining examples of Leftist accomplishments. I know! Detroit.
JC - Accomplishments by liberals, what you think is the "left," are all things you would argue are "bad." Food stamps, Medicaid, social security, anything people like you call entitlements for irresponsible ne'er do wells. There really is no discussion here. You speak for well-off white people. If you aren't well-off, the arguments make even less sense. You will always be 'right,' sitting there daring everyone to prove you wrong. Why would it be worth the bother?
RW - See, this where you come off as a racist. My arguments have nothing to do with color. I do not care what color, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation a person is. I take Martin Luther King's philosophy to heart and to judge a person by his character. Your comment either implies that only white people can be well off or that any person that is not white and happens to be well off, does not have the same concerns as a "well off" white person. The Left is always trying to put people into little boxes in order to control them. I have never been envious of a rich person. I strive to learn from them. Look what Cuba became when they tore down the rich. A safety net is not bad, but a CRADLE is. Are you saying that there is no abuse of these programs? Independence is freedom, You have choices. With dependence you only get what they give you. Why do I do this? I believe in the power of the soap box. You do like intellectual DIVERSITY, don't you? I wish the Left would stop treating people as "colors" and understand that people are just people. But then, they would lose their power, wouldn't they?
JC - Putting the left in little boxes there, eh? And I love the right wing dodge of calling anyone criticizing white people racist, while at the same accusing them of name calling. You of course know precisely where the line is between safety net and cradle, because you are morally qualified to judge that and most other things, including the intellectual capacities of those who see things differently from you.
RW - It is not a dodge. Just read "Nation of Change" and see all the little boxes. The Left is constantly calling people names because they can not deal with the ISSUES. It seemed that anyone disagreeing with Obama was called a racist. YOU brought up color not me. You should try listening to Glenn Beck for another perspective. You still did not answer any of my questions. Talk about DODGING.
JC - I've heard Beck and all your other heroes. Beck is an especially narcissistic crackpot. He and the others appeal to your prejudices and teach you to accuse 'liberals' of exactly what you do. Why on earth do you deserve to be taken seriously? Nation of Change is a mild liberal publication that takes no chances and is aimed at the politically correct democrats who fancy themselves "progressives." Do you read it to try and needle "leftists?" To prove them wrong? How tedious. You'll never believe anything but what you already are convinced of, period. You have the truth in same sense that a Mormon or Jehovah's witness does. I'm not sure you know what a leftist is. An old woman in southern CA told me "Hillary is a socialist." And she really believed it. Democrats today are like republicans of the 50's only not as reasonable. I cancelled my subscription after getting into this futile dialog with you. I've been in these useless conversations before and learned about people with your views and beliefs and found them appalling but worth chronicling up to a point.
— Jeff Costello
Several items weren’t posted Saturday night, folks. We’re having tech difficulties on the Boonville end of the process. We’ll make them up with Sunday’s posts.