All Of This Manufactured Angst

[JFN1]

On pretty much every site I visit I am finding posts that plea for the infighting about health care reform to stop. Posts that comment on the anger and distrust growing in progressive ranks. Posts that demonstrate, quite effectively, that we as a nation, are moving in 300,000,000 different directions, even as we despair over lost unity.

Watching this, pretty much from the sidelines, I have come to a conclusion about our human race:

You - and everyone you know - are completely full of shit.

Wait, don't get mad - I'm completely full of shit, too.

It is a consequence of being human. But don't take my word for it - one look around the world will show you:

The Malaysian government Sunday said it would appeal a court ruling that allows a Roman Catholic newspaper to use "Allah," the Muslim word for God.

"The issue is very sensitive and touches on the feelings of Muslims, we need to be calm now and let the matter be resolved through the courts," Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak told reporters. link

So Muslims are upset about Christians using their word for God, and Christians are smugly continuing to do so, even went to court to be allowed to do so, despite their Muslim neighbors finding it offensive.

Will this lead to more terrorism? Will all of these hurt feelings and angst lead people over there to kill each other? Over this?

Republican attorneys general in 13 states are threatening legal action over a provision in the federal health-care reform bill that would shield Nebraska from the costs of expanding Medicaid programs -- language that was inserted to win the support of Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.).

In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), the attorneys general wrote that they consider the provision "constitutionally flawed" and demanded that it be stricken from the final bill.

. . . . .

The letter was signed by attorneys general in Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington state. The attorneys general of South Carolina, Florida, Michigan and Pennsylvania are running for governor in their respective states. link

Politics trumps humanity, yet again. These "concerned" citizens are simply doing their jobs, attempting to help their fellow citizens. Right? I mean, so what if some of them are trying to move up politically and see this issue as an excellent stepping stone? What's the big deal, right?

In an interview, David Axelrod, a senior adviser to Mr. Obama, said it was "unbecoming" for Republicans to "seize political opportunity" from a terrorist attack. Mr. Axelrod added: "We have not tried to exploit the <counterterrorism> successes that we've had." link

Isn't it nice to see our highest ranking public officials acting like children? With all of these vital issues pressing down upon humanity, it is so refreshing to know that we have our eye on the really important things.

Was there ever any doubt that News Corp. and Time Warner would come to an agreement that would allow Time Warner’s cable unit to continue showing News Corp’s cable or broadcast properties on its system? The announcement on Jan. 1 that the two sides had averted a showdown that would have kept the BCS football game on the sidelines for 11 million folks is, well, a yawner.

It’s become almost an annual kabuki dance among cable or satellite operators and content providers to show which side – content or distribution – has the most muscle when it comes to such talks. Guess what fellas? Neither of you really have what it takes any longer to force your will on the other. link

So the corporations have reached a point where they cannot even push each other around, so they engage in theater. Why? For what purpose? Is it like a mating dance or something? Are they bored with pushing us around? Are they looking for more thrills? What?

A Western diplomat said Hamas also hopes Riyadh will convince Cairo to abandoning a plan to build an underground barrier along its border with the Gaza Strip.

Hamas calls the project a "wall of death" that could seal an Israeli-led blockade by smothering smuggler tunnels from the Egyptian Sinai.

"The wall could turn the table on Hamas," the diplomat said.

Hamas does not recognize Israel's right to exist and opposes the Fatah strategy pursued by Abbas of seeking to negotiate a permanent peace deal. link

Wow. "Wall of death." Very dramatic. I mean, since there is absolutely no way any of these people will give up their hard-won beliefs about each other, the best the human race can hope for is to build more walls. Yeah - that ALWAYS works. But at least their independent beliefs won't be challenged. That's the important thing - right?

Almost a quarter of voters in Iceland have signed a petition against plans to repay money lost by foreigners when an Icelandic online bank collapsed.

The petition urges President Olaf Ragnar Grimsson to veto the bill that allows the move, and calls for a referendum on the issue.

Protesters gathered outside the president's official residence, Bessastadir, to mark the petition being formally handed over. link

So who then is responsible? In our global plutocracy, it is certainly not those who made the decisions that led to the fall of Icesave. And the Icelandic people apparently don't feel responsible. So who is responsible? Who, I asks 'ya?

And as all these institutions forgot their mission, they entered the empire of spin. They turned more and more attention, resources and effort to the public perception of their institution, and not to the reality of it.

Everyone gave their efforts to how things seemed and not how they were. Press secretaries, press assistants, media managers, public relations experts—they abound more than ever in our business and public life. Half the people in Congress are people who one way or another are trying to "communicate" the member's thinking. But he's not really thinking, he's positioning, and they're not thinking either, they're organizing and deploying focus-grouped phrases and turning them into talking points

So what to do? Here my friend the lawyer's stoicism and mindless optimism might come in handy, for turning around institutions is a huge, long and uphill fight. It probably begins with taking the one thing we all hate to take in our society, and that is personal responsibility. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704152804574628522483219740.html?mod=rss_Today%27s_Most_Popular">link

It's actually come to this? Peggy fucking Noonan has to lecture the nation about personal responsibility???? And what is this crap about Americans hating personal responsibility? It is crap - right...?

. . . . .

So much of what we are going through as a species is such bullshit. It is all self-imposed, it is all weak drama, and NONE of it ultimately matters. All of this manufactured angst...

We. Are. So. Full. Of. Shit.

[johnaries]

1. I have my own addendum to an old saying:

(Old Saying)Opinions are like assholes; everybody has one (my addendum) and they are ALL full of shit!

[JFN1]

2. And yet another...

Evangelical pastor Rick Warren's plea for donations to fill a $900,000 deficit at his Southern California megachurch brought in $2.4 million, Warren announced to cheers during a sermon at the church on Saturday.

Warren said the amount raised after the appeal was posted online Wednesday included only money parishioners brought in person to Saddleback Church by New Year's Eve. More was arriving by hand and by mail, he said. hat tip to babsbunny for the story.

We've got all of these big problems. People are hungry, jobs are disappearing and not being replaced, corruption runs rampant through our society...

And THIS is what We the People are spending money on. THIS is what is truly important.

Sheesh...

[Synicus Maximus]

4. But it is their money. If this is what they think is important, then I

think they should be able to spend their money on it. I can think of many things that I would consider a better use of my money, but then Warren's appeal is of no import to me.

[Jamastiene]

3. What this world needs in an enemy,

er, I mean, an enema.