Pleasure: An intriguing Hed on Alternet today: "Why Are Conservatives Obsessed With the Sex Lives of College Kids?"Dr. Woody guesses it's cuz they never had one of their own. Unlike Dr. Woody and his hedonistic, contemporaries in the counter-hegemonic counterculture of the time, who flouted convention, fucked indiscriminately at every chance that presented, took EVERY drug offered, partied continually, and still got good grades when we needed them.
I have a theory that these antediluvian, troglodyte, members of the hover-round conservo-tard cavalry--especially the Teahadists--are the aging, angry (who wouldn't be) "Niedermeyers" of the world. In school, they played by the rules, studied hard (it was hard for them), had NO fun, did NO drugs, married the first girl who laid 'em, and still got fucked by the system in the end, despite their eagerness to sell out to it, and they cannot now figger out where they fucked up/got fucked, but they blame "us." It's "Revenge of the Niedermeyers": they outnumbered the "cool" kids whom DID have all the fun, and now they're gonna make us pay.
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The Decalogue: There is a LOT of furor over the so-called "10 Commandments." They have great ideological standing in some circles (and, sadly, cracker courtrooms, too), despite there being little or no agreement on which of the several versions are being referred to.
These are valorized by the fuckloons and rightards as the Heavenly Source of democratic justice. But even a cursory examination of any of the lists reveals that they only four of the so-called "commandments" have anything to do with stigmatizing or preventing physical/matertial abuses that might disrupt the community: those--their 'numbers' vary according to the source--forbidding lying, killing, theft, and greed/concupiscence. All of those are legitimate social concerns, and any decent social order would probably have to secure the society's right to censure their violation.
ALL the rest, however--six or so, depending on who's counting-- have exclusively to do with prohibitions against violations of the thought-crimes--heresy, blasphemy, apostasy, sacrilege--which constitute not secular good order but 'religious orthodoxy' focused on the "demands" of a particular "god" which wants to be worshipped in these particular ways, accorcing to these rules. Hardly seems fitting fare for a democracy, somehow, innit?
One of the fascinating things that close reading reveals is that, the way it's translated usually, whichever Commandment forbids "lying" doesn't really forbid "lying" at all; at least not all KINDS of it, the way it's usually taught. How I learned it (#8, for the Catholics) is: "Thou shalt not commit false witness against thy neighbor." That does NOT prohibit lying to cover your ass with your wife for a strange number on the cell-fone, claiming the check is in the mail, or denying you ran over the cat. It prohibits "calumny," lying about your neighbor's behavior. You can lie yer butt off to "cya"; but slandering a neighbor is wrong.
Ya prolly don'wanna be tellin' stories on nuestros vecinos, anyway, esse!
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CorpoRats: Dr. Woody "gets" the ire about the ability of the largest corporations/richest individuals to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. It sucks. But he's also a little weary of the constant drum-beat of outrage against the particular CorpoRats seen as the villains of the piece. I typically don't defend them, and I am not now. I want, however, to put the focus where it belongs, and where it could (in a wonderful, dreamy world with flowers and ponies!!!) make a difference: on the Congress, and the shameless, almost glad complicity of both the legislative and the Executive in enabling this "legal larceny."
Seems to me, stamping yer feet loudly and "demanding" the CorpoRats "pay their fair share," and posturing angrily in front of their offices, are pretty much empty, meaningless gestures (unless yer gonna burn 'em out, to emphasize the point, a perspective with which I am both familiar and comfortable).
Who you/we otta REALLY be pissed at are the GOPhux/DIMS who passed the laws which the CorpoRats wrote to relieve themselves from "oppressive" civic responsibilities. Mostly, unless, as I mentioned, you're planning to use your fury at 'em to underwrite a campaign of arson, I think 'blaming' the CorpoRats is a distraction.
The real villains are the sumbitches who use OUR votes to get into position to betray our interests. Them I wanna have suffer terrible things.
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