Category: The Dish

Amory Lovins explains how.

A reader writes:

Not so much accidental Nazi aesthetics as reflecting the influence of Soviet Constructivism. The aesthetics of the "YouTube Propaganda" video echo the iconic style of early Soviet design, such as that of El Lissitsky and any number of classic Soviet posters from the twenties through WWII. Nazi propagandists freely appropriated constructivist imagery, so it’s not at all surprising to see a resemblance. Given the references, I’d be surprised if the aesthetic was a coincidence. It can be viewed as both an extension of the visual rhetoric of Soviet propaganda and a means of portraying the U.S. in terms of fascist iconography.

He keeps getting slicker.

He told Hughie he was a fan.

Sarkozy gives us a reason:

"I want to launch a call to all those in the world who believe in the values of tolerance, of liberty, of democracy and of humanism, to all those who are persecuted by the tyrannies and by the dictators, to all the children and to all the martyrized women in the world to say to them that the pride, the duty of France will at their sides, that they can count on her. France will be at the sides of the Libyan nurses locked up for eight years; France will not abandon Ingrid Betancourt; France will not abandon the women who are condemned to the burqa; France will not abandon the women who do not have liberty. France will be by the side of the oppressed of the world. This is the message of France; this is the identity of France; this is the history of France."

Wow. And Amen.

(Photo: Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty.)

You may have noticed I’ve adopted Matt’s and Ross’s practice of cutting short some of my longer posts with a "Continue reading …" link to the full version. It keeps the blog packed with items and helps it move more quickly. Really long posts tended to crowd out others, and the pace of blogging has meant only a day’s worth of posts can be viewed on one page at the same time. So I’ve made the adjustment. Let me know if you have any objections or experience any problems.

There was an error in my post below about the Utah County Republican Party’s convention. The resolution does not speak of the dangers of "self-invasion" but of "stealth-invasion." The full resolution is quite a remarkable document in the annals of Christianism. Here it is, in full:

Resolution opposing Satan’s plan to destroy the U.S. by stealth invasion Whereas, "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." (Revelation 12:9) Whereas, in order for Satan to establish his "New World Order" and destroy the freedom of all people as predicted in the Scriptures, he must first destroy the U.S. There are ways to destroy a nation other than with bombs or bullets. The mostly quiet and unspectacular invasion of illegal immigrants does not focus the attention of the nation the way open warfare does, but is all the more insidious for its stealth and innocuousness.

Whereas, Americans will have to make a choice …

… either close our borders to illegal immigration, which is now vastly greater than any time in the past, or witness the passing country [sic]. The proof of this statement is the record of history. It is a history littered with the gravestones of great nations and civilizations which allowed invaders to overrun them. If we fail to learn from the lessons of history, we are doomed to repeat them.

Whereas, all polls show that the American people overwhelmingly want limited immigration, reform and control of our borders as mandated by the Constitution. But many do not realize the extent of the dangers ahead because of the lack of accurate media coverage and public debate. An important reason for the lack of understanding is that the powerful commercial, political, ethnic, and the godless globalist elites who control the major media do not want the issues of illegal immigration to come to national attention.
Whereas, it is obvious that most promoters of massive immigration and open borders do not like the ideas of patriotism, national identity, sovereignty, our Christian culture and freedom. Many consider themselves cosmopolitans or world citizens. Their religion is atheistic humanism. They are found primarily among the elite of foundations, universities, big business, left-wing politicians, Hollywood, ACLU (Anti-Christian Lawyers Union [sic]), CFR (Council on Foreign Relations), the American power elite and the liberal media. They prefer a world without borders ruled by a one world tyrannical government.

Whereas, we cannot benefit the world by eliminating our borders and sovereignty as advocated by Satan’s “axis of evil”, if we do, the world will pull us down to its lowest common level and we will have committed national suicide. In that case, the U.S. will no longer be a free and prosperous land or light of liberty for all nations. Once he has destroyed the U.S., Satan will be able to establish his “Satanic New World Order” and destroy the freedom of all people.

Whereas, the national security and the future of the nation and the American people depends upon how well we do our job and defend our borders. We must control our borders to illegal immigration, have a well regulated temporary worker program, as needed, or face extinction. The destruction of the U.S. by the forces of evil is a top priority of Satan.
Now therefore, we (delegates) are obligated to support the Utah State and Utah County Republicans Platforms regarding the mandates to support the “Rule of Law” and the Constitutional mandate to protect and secure our national borders.

Now therefore, because we support the “Rule of Law,” the Constitution and the principals that made America the greatest and freest nation in history, the Utah County Republican Party supports the closing of our national borders to illegal immigration to prevent the destruction of the U.S. by stealth invasion.

I swear I didn’t make this up.

A reader writes:

I clicked on to the links you featured in your bit on Romney and France’s supposed seven year marriage contracts. Like others, when I heard about the seven year marriage contracts, I immediately thought of the science fiction novels of Orson Scott Card. In Card’s novels these temporary seven year marriage contracts are a major part of his fictious cultures.

What I didn’t see mentioned anywhere is that Orson Scott Card (like Romney) is a Mormon – indeed, the most successful Mormon writer ever…

I studied playwriting under Card while a student at BYU in the early 80’s. He explained how his novels were meant to be symbolic of Mormon theology, and that the seven year marriage contracts were inspired by the non-traditional marriage system that was central to Mormonism in the 19th century (aka, polygamy AND easy no-fault divorces.)

So Romney uses stories of fictional marriage contracts to prove that he believes in traditional marriage – but those stories were invented by a fellow Mormon who took as his inspiration the non-traditional marriage system embraced by Romney’s great grandparents.

Sitting down? I agree with all of it.

Patrick Lasswell has some analysis of who might be behind it.