GOP Rhetoric: Appealing To Morans?

[TahitiNut]

In the past week we've been treated to another exposure of the sleazy hypocrisy of the GOP (Greedy Oligarchs and Psychopaths). In a breathtaking example of pot and kettle hypocrisy, they have claimed that questions regarding Junior's obvious failure to fulfill his service obligations in the Texas Air National Guard have been demeaning to service in the National Guard itself.

Excuse me? Let's try to get this straight. An elitist "Fortunate Son" who blew off the last two years of a six-year service obligation isn't demeaning to those who honorably served in the National Guard ... but questions regarding that failure are? In what psychotic wonderland could this possibly make sense? In my view, people who buy this fallacious argument aren't apparently capable of rational thought. People who buy this specious crap are a danger to themselves and others, an operative definition of insanity worthy of custodial care.

Junior's obligations were not only freely undertaken but were eagerly undertaken to the degree that he bypassed many hundreds of others who were queued up to offer their services. Junior wasn't dragged kicking and screaming like some hoi polloi draftee. Junior is depicted as some sort of eager patriot desirous of protecting the skies of Texas and Alabama from the global reach of the North Vietnamese Air Force. Of a six-year obligation, Junior only showed up for four years. Yet the GOP would have us believe that it's the questioners who're demeaning service in the Guard? Sane and reasoning beings should be appalled.


Why is this an issue? It demonstrates that Junior is the corrupt spawn of an "aristocratic" entitlement attitude -- those who see themselves, in an authoritarian hierarchy, somehow entitled to give orders without first demonstrating an ability to follow orders. Junior was (lawfully) ordered to take an annual Flight Physical. It wasn't a 'suggestion' or an 'invitation' or a 'request' -- it was an order. Junior failed to follow orders. When Junior was relieved of (flight) duties, this wasn't like sending him to bed without dessert. This was the regular first step toward further disciplinary actions, including a possible courts martial. In the military, people who cannot follow orders cannot be entrusted with performing their duties.

Even in an authoritarian's view of the world, Junior has not demonstrated an ability to follow orders and perform his duties. He is, even in that world view, unqualified to lead ... even as a Lieutenant. (I personally wouldn't let him lead my dog.)


(Sorry, folks ... I just had to rant on this one. I'll return to my Customer Service Desk now. :hi: I hope I didn't break any DU rules on this one.)

[leftofthedial]

1. neocon control of the masses

are a testament to the triumph of form over substance.

For 25 years now, they have ceaselessly posited baseless absurdities in the form of a logical argument ("the sky is blue, therefore liberals are evil and we need more tax cuts for the rich"). The neocon moran sheeple dittohead freepers have bought the form of these assertions and the messengers who deliver them and have lost all ability to parse the actual illogic within. After a generation of this brainwashing, they no longer even grasp that the supposed logic is supposed to be the nut at the heart of this empty shell.

Another poster started a thread that I saw very late last night . (LINK?) It was a link to a whitehouse.org page with a dozen or so photos of "witnesses" to Bush's Alabama guard service. In an argument, a freeper had given the DUer this link as "proof" that the AWOL story is bogus. Trouble is (from the freeper point fo view), the page is a parody and is presented on a seriously anti-Bush site. The photos are of imaginary people with laughably unflattering tales of Bush's "service," including drug use, sleazy sex, and priveleged-son arrogance. Again, the freeper mistook the form of the page for its content.

These people are literally brain damaged and incapable of basic logical thought. Opposing them is like fighting "The Infected" in _29 days later_.

[plaguepuppy]

3. Language is a virus

(as Laurie Anderson once said)...from outer space.

And the language of the mass media is an especially virulent one - corrupt people's language and you corrupt their thinking.



http://www.plaguepuppy.net/public_html/video%20archive/Paris%20-%20What%20Would%20You%20Do.mp3

[TahitiNut]

9. Isn't it ironic ... in this new era of Babel/Babylon?

The ironies are seemingly unending ...

Babylon was the Greek name of the city written in the cuneiform script of the Babylonians, bab-ili, which means in Semitic, "the gate of god." The Hebrews called the country, as well as the city, Babhel. This name they considered came from the' root, balal, "to confound" (Genesis 11:9). The name in Sumerian ideographs was written Din-tir, which means "life of the forest," and yet ancient etymologists explained it as meaning "place of the seat of life" (shubat balaTe). Ka-ding'irra, which also means "gate of god," was another form of the name in Sumerian. It was also called Su-anna (which is of uncertain meaning) and Uru-azagga, "the holy city."
http://www.searchgodsword.org/enc/isb/view.cgi?number=T1070

[TahitiNut]

7. I tend to see their audience as victimized.

In order to sustain some degree of 'loyalty' to a perceived ideology, such loyalists must suspend whatever rational and conscientious thought they might otherwise be able to sustain. This is the epitome of "dumbing down" ... a regressive heuristic.

Rather than demonize those who're susceptible to this assault on reason, I tend to have sympathy for those who would sacrifice part of their sanity on the altar of blind loyalty. The unreasoning elevation of some purported virtue (like 'loyalty') above one's own responsibilty to nurture and develop one's own "God-given" abilities is emblematic of corruption -- a rot in the body politic.

Those most deserving of the condemnation by people of conscience are not the victims of this assault, but those who would exploit them for their own narrow benefit. Pimps are more ethical.

[plaguepuppy]

2. Language police

No DU rules, but the last time I checked the official spelling was "moron", though "moran" seems to be an up-and-coming variant.

corrupt spawn

Can't disagree - this guy could be the poster child for degenerate scions of extreme wealth, and the rest of your rant is spot on.

[rfranklin]

4. "Moran" was lifted from a Freeper demonstrator carrying a sign...

Labeling the objects of his affection as such. Someone can probably dig up the photo for educational porpoises.

[supernova]

Moran avatar

Skinner made an avatar out of the "Moran" sign. Some DUers use it. :D

edit: Here's the avatar -

[wuushew]

11. Moran is an official entry at urbandictionary.com

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=moran&f=1

[kimchi]

5. Locking; Greedy Oligarchs and Psychotics--

is entirely too apt a description. Please refrain from being so sensible in the future.

NB: "Moran" is an acceptable substitution for "moron"; see picture of mulletman holding "Get a brain, morans" sign. Also, "oligarchy" should be "OILigarchy", IMHO.

Thank you for your understanding.

Kimchi
DU Customer Service Rep #21

[supernova]

6. LOL, Kimchi

:D Too funny.

[TahitiNut]

8. (grin) Obviously, I employ such terms as 'moran' ...

... to distinguish between those who, by virtue of their birth, are less blessed with the ability to reason and those who, by virtue of their allegiances, are complicit in destroying their own ability to reason. Both deserve our compassion, imho. Those who'd exploit them for their own greed are far less deserving.

[nostamj]

12. "DU Customer Service Rep #21"

do i detect an Indian accent?

[smaug]

10. Failure to follow order - Article 92 of UCMJ

TahitiNut,

here's a link to the relevant Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) violation:

http://usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/mcm/bl92.htm

Article 92 refers to failure to follow an order of a superior. Of course, someone who was able to "jump" over 500 more qualified and (presumably) more capable volunteers for National Guard service via the lowest possible score on the test (didn't this guy graduate from college? Military paper tests are not quite *that* tough!), probably didn't understand the wording in the order.

Here's a quotation from the above link concerning ineptitude:

A person is not derelict in the performance of duties if the failure to perform those duties is caused by ineptitude rather than by willfulness, negligence, or culpable inefficiency, and may not be charged under this article, or otherwise punished. For example, a recruit who has tried earnestly during rifle training and throughout record firing is not derelict in the performance of duties if the recruit fails to qualify with the weapon.

I've seen other comments referring to the Dilbert Principle and the Deserter in Thief; I personally think there's somethere to this idea. But, this idiot has failed all the way upward.

[TahitiNut]

13. Yes, indeed. I was once "intimately" familiar with Article 92

It's important to note that Junior's failure is, at a minimum, of the kind noted for 92(3), for which the punishment is

Forfeiture of two-thirds pay per month for 3 months and confinement for 3 months.

If he continued to fail to get a physical after the orders suspending him from flight duty (and we have no indication whatsoever that he complied), it's clear he'd be subject to

Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 2 years.

This was not merely a case of being allegedly "AWOL." That's a red herring. Junior disobeyed orders. Junior apparently should've been jailed. There's no indication whatsoever that he obtained a Flight Physical at all after 1971, even after being (lawfully) ordered to do so twice.

So, who is it who's demeaning service in the military again? :eyes:

[ThoughtCriminal]

14. Here's a Bush quote that should be mention more often

"I don't want to play like I was somebody out there marching when I wasn't. It was either Canada or the service. ... Somebody said the Guard was looking for pilots. All I know is, there weren't that many people trying to be pilots."

Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Nov. 29, 1998

For "W" Canada was plan B!!!!!!!!!

Just think folks, if he had scored 1 point less on the entrance test, Bush would have been a Canadian. Pretty ironic - eh?