Month: August 2008

Obama and The Heckler

Interesting footage from Ohio. A disturbed man insists on reciting the Pledge Of Allegiance in the middle of a speech on energy. What’s striking to me is the level of paranoia and what can only be called patriotism-as-neurosis from the dude. Actually, neurotic patriotism is not a bad description for some elements on the degenerate right. But Obama handles it almost perfectly. Check it out:

Photographer insists on Pledge of Allegiance before Obama rally

PETA’s Problem

There they go again:

As though it were a gruesome scene in a horror movie, a Canadian Greyhound passenger found himself in the hands of a highly disturbed man this past weekend while en route from Edmonton to Winnipeg. Passengers riding the bus reported that Vince Weiguang Li jumped on top of 22-year-old Tim McLean and began stabbing him repeatedly before cutting off his head and allegedly consuming some of his flesh. Parts of McLean’s ear, nose, and mouth were found in Li’s pocket. This tragic incident will certainly leave scars on the minds of the other passengers and the victim’s family and friends.

While it isn’t every day that a human is violently attacked and eaten by another human, it’s worth noting that it is the norm for many people not to give any thought to the fact that restaurants are serving flesh that comes from innocents who were minding their own business before someone came after them with a knife. How amazingly and conveniently compartmentalized the human mind is…

Sometimes I wonder if they actually want to turn the public off.

Deconstructing Rove’s Latest

A reader writes:

I see three layers:

1) Top layer: main thrust is spin to reinforce the ongoing Obama = celebrity talking point. Of this layer you asked "Is this pure spin from Karl Rove? I mean: could any sane observer see this as true:". Audience = general.   

2) Middle layer: Agree w/ your update, this is Rove’s way of signaling to the Christianists that McCain is one of them. I was too pre-coffee to notice, although it did tug on the corner of my befogged mind. Nice catch. But how about this one: 

3) Bottom layer: It’s also Rove’s private pointed message to McCain (and the McCain camp) that he needs to "share (or allow others to share) more about him[self], especially his faith" – in other words, fake something heartfelt and solemn on that score, package it up and peddle it to the Christianist base.