Cynical Sincere Proverbs 7:30

These are words of wisdom that I once bestowed about yet another fool whining about how he's losing some of the privilege of having his belligerent  ignorance pandered to the "elitists" look down on him because they won't tolerate his intolerance:

"When you insist on lying in the gutter, where else can one look but down. Now if you really want, I can help you up; even rinse you off (unless you're covered in fecal matter, then, brother, you better wait until I get the decontamination suit and more scented candles than a Pier One warehouse), but for Pete's sake, don't pull me down with you just so your stank ass can meet someone eye-to-eye."

Da Mic Drop: Michelle Obama

Da Mic Drop is a regular segment, where we look at people who make such a pointed "standing-ovation-worthy" commentary in regards to a person or issue that it has to be highlighted. 

Now i usually I want until a few weeks apart to regularly feature this segment, but since this will be First Lady Obama's last oration in her position, I decided to highlight her very well-regarded speech  at the Democratic National Convention showcasing why she was one elegant classy lady (so much so, that even The Trumpanzee couldn't really throw poo at). I mean seriously, in a sea of great speeches, this one still stood out like a beacon.

One most remarkable elements about Michelle Obama in general (and this speech in general) is that she is a master of "kill 'em with kindness." Here she is, demonstrating that philosophy in this segment which ends with what is destined to be a quote for the ages:

That is what Barack and I think about every day as we try to guide and protect our girls through the challenges of this unusual life in the spotlight, how we urge them to ignore those who question their father’s citizenship or faith.
(CHEERS, APPLAUSE)
How we insist that the hateful language they hear from public figures on TV does not represent the true spirit of this country.
(CHEERS, APPLAUSE)
How we explain that when someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you don’t stoop to their level. No, our motto is, when they go low, we go high. (Emphasis mine)

Da Mic Drop: Glenn Greenwald

Da Mic Drop is a regular segment, where we look at people who make such a pointed "standing-ovation-worthy" commentary in regards to a person or issue that it has to be highlighted. 

This one will be a quickie, which will be a surpruse because it involves Glenn Greenwald, who regular readers of his columns know usually thoughtful, detailed, long-winded factually-sourced analysis on political and media matters that often challenge conventional wisdom and causes one to re-examine the status quo narrative often imposed on government policy or journalism (a stance I like, despite the encyclopedia-legth post because even when I don't quite agree with Glenn, he explains hiself well enough so I can at least see where he is coming from. You really don't get that from political discussions nowadays.) Hilarious enough Glenn is also one of the (ugh) "Twiterrati" somehow about to condense his verbosity into 140 characters or less. This sonetimes necessitates a slight change of tone as we find out that (meow!) certain rather plesant news can bring out Greenwald's catty side:

Glenn Greenwald–Verified account ‏@ggreenwald

If you know any payday lenders, give them a hug today. https://twitter.com/CNN/status/757304711783575552 …

1:20 PM - 24 Jul 2016

293 RETWEETS584 LIKES

Note, that I'm not saying I disaprove. Burn. (Edited to Add: To those who don't "get" what Greenwald's well deserved jab at Wasserman-Schultz is about just go here. Or here too.)

Actually Glenn is far more right-on at making pithy little comments then I expected (since his more serious style could easily be considered by some as "boring.") For instance this awesome comment from a few months ago really deserves a T-shirt emblem, stat:

Glenn Greenwald–Verified account ‏@ggreenwald

Is it really necessary to spend next 6 months pointing out that "criticism of Clinton" ≠ "support for Trump"? Just get a different tactic.

9:53 AM - 29 Apr 2016

2,983 RETWEETS5,370 LIKES

SERIOUSLY! Sheesh! A lot of the criticism Hilary has recieved came about way before Trump stopped pretending to fire people or ogling bikini-clad pagent contestants, so they shouldn't always be conflated.  (And for the record NO politician should be immune from critcism. That's an abdication of our responsibilities as citizens.

Da Mic Drop: AnBheal

New segment here, where we look at people who make such a pointed "standing-ovation-worthy" commentary in regards to a person or issue that it has to be highlighted.

If your wondering who the hell "AnBheal" is , he (or she) is only a Salon commenter who left a brilliant response to yet another contrarian scold of an article (yet more blah blah blah about "angry Trump supporters" who as we know are the only demographic in existence and are so ignored what with only about 2,654 articles about how we need to pander to them and the only them and how people who actually think elitist aren't giving enough respect to their willful ignorance):

AnBheal12 hours ago

"Liberals condescend to 'these people' at their peril"??? Oh man, I am so sick and tired of professional blowhards spouting this Libertarian lie!!!  No, Mr. Yimberg, YOU condescend.  The TeaParty condescends.  The mainstream media condescends.  And Libertarians make more money from encouraging the condescension.  Liberals (in any sane interpretation of the term, a la Gladstone or Burke or FDR) do just the reverse.  They advocate for higher incomes, better union representation, and a bigger slice of the political, economic, and juridical pie. 

What Liberals sometimes do (a la Thomas Frank) is occasionally scratch their head and wonder why a teen burning a flag in New Jersey or a gay couple getting married in Vermont or a scared college student getting an abortion in Manhattan could possibly convince a coalminer in West Virginia to vote for a politician who promises to ruin the coalminer and his family.  That's not "sneering".  That's not "condescension".  In fact, it's a super-Hegelian dialectic, wondering how in heaven's name did that poor white person get snookered into giving their last crust of bread to a banker, and doing it willingly?

And the answer as Phil Ochs and Nina Simone pointed out, is Mississippi.  Racism is the 250-year cancer of the American soul.  And if Liberals don't like racism, that is not sneering.  That is not "condescension".  That is calling a racist cracker a racist cracker, and hoping that he wakes the fuck up, and that some morning he will vote for his own three quarters of a crust of bread, even if a damn n**ger gets a quarter of the crust.

Because right now the Tea Party and the Libertarian National Front are selling these sneerable and condescendable crackers a piece of the Brooklyn Bridge that says "Mississippi is great, so long as you're the last poor white, with no bread at all, but one more gun and one more Jesus that those n**gers."  And the viciously complicit corporate media sings Alleluia from its Amen Corner. 

Liberals aren't the problem, you corporate shill!!!

Da Mic Drop: D.L. Hughley

Da Mic Drop is a regular segment, where we look at people who make such a pointed "standing-ovation-worthy" commentary in regards to a person or issue that it has to be highlighted. 

Uh-oh, which black person is "reverse-racisming" society by acknowledging that discrimination exist in the country (specifically when it comes to law enforcement)? Why it's actor and comedian, DL Hughley who took a trip to The Stepford Network Fox News so Megyn "I'm 'fixed' so I can toss Trump a few softballs now" Kelley can kindly explain to him that racism and police brutality are not in fact "friends with benefits" and that "the blacks" should be ashamed of themselves for letting the back of their heads get in the way of innocent police bullets and billy clubs. Hughley and Kelley already got off to a rocky start when it was revealed that racism and perjury expert (he leads by example) Mark "yes that Mark Fuhrman" Fuhrman was featured on the previous segment. And then it just deteriorated from there as Hughley proceeded to call Fox News out right to it's blonde plasticine face.

Here's the "money shot" right here:

D.L.: What I’ll tell you is this … it is not uncommon for you all to see one thing … the only place racism doesn’t exist is Fox News and the police department. That’s absolutely true.
MEGYN: Come on, come on, that’s insulting. You just insulted millions of people watching this channel.
D.L.:And you know what? I’m insulted by the things I hear on this network. I could care less about insulting people that insult me on a daily basis. (Emphasis mine.)

"Wow" indeed. Ok that makes up for the otherwise unforgivable crime of being a UPN star, DL Hughley. You are now the Original King of Calling out Bullshit.

Anyway poor Megyn didn't like that at all and proceeded to offer up this polished turd prized jewel in the lack-of-self-awareness crown:


😮

I would say that Fox News desperately needs to buy a mirror and take a good long look at it, but considering who runs (well "ran" at this point) the network, I'm sure they are all being used to look up the anchorbots' dresses.

More like "The Coloring-Book of The Deal"

I tried to avoid talking about Donald Trump and his stubby-fingered iron-pyrite-encrusted vanity campaign too much, because The Hairpiece already gets a disproportionate amount of attention it is.

However, this New Yorker interview about the co-writer of Donald's Trump myth-defining book The Art of the Deal (who turned out to be a LOT more "writer" than "co") is worth a look, if only to confirm that, surprise, Trump is fraud on legs (and generally shitty at everything he does, including his fabled "business acumen.") Let's take an excerpt from the article to see mad negotiating skillz in action:

He told Trump that if he would give him half the advance and half the book’s royalties he’d take the job.

Such terms are unusually generous for a ghostwriter. Trump, despite having a reputation as a tough negotiator, agreed on the spot.

Boy our economy is sure to be in good hands with that financial prowess on display!

The most crucial piece of information from this is the confirmation that Trump is actually a lousy businessman and that even the very title of "his" book is a lie. His entire image is build on that shaky foundation so it would behoove anyone looking to unravel him to start rocking that a bit (as Queen of the Smack-down, Elizabeth Warren, has started to do.)

Of course (warning, soapbox alert), this just shows the inevitable result of a culture that treats conspicuous consumption and unfettered materialism as the religion of choice, with Rev. Trump as it's most zealous disciple. Our society constantly views fevered devotees of unrestrained displays of wealth as "successful" which is how people get fooled.

Just saying that Trump is just the festering pustule of a symptom, but he's not the disease, like some people think he is. Of course, lancing that boil is always better than letting it get infected

Cynical Proverbs 7:16

"We're all in the same boat"

Which becomes "a problem" when you are constantly told you are suppose to be in First Class ("I guess you two are in the same boat. I'm in the yacht." --Blanche Deveraux)

Something to consider when people start wondering why we're not all rowing in the same direction.

Da Mic Drop: Random Starbucks Lady (Cara Jennings if you're nasty)

Da Mic Drop is a regular segement, where we look at people who make such a pointed "standing-ovation-worthy" commentary in regards to a person or issue that it has to be highlighted. 

Today's entry* is a blast from the (recent) past about all-around awful guy Florida Governor, Rick Scott. This guy is such a huge douche that he practically has "Massengil" tatooed on his arm. One citizens who did not appreciate the aroma of summer rain interfereing with her coffee time was former Lake Worth city commissioner, Cara Jennings who, through a chance meeting at Starbucks, really let him have it about the reason he sucks. And it is fantastic! Not simply because Ms Jennings tells Governor Scott off over some really salient points of his his terrible governorship, but because, when you think about it it is so uncommon to be able to really confront a politician about your political concerns and disapointments directly (made clear when some Scott lackey tries to intervene as a communication shield and Jennings verbally pushes her ass aside with a "I'm not talking to you") and it's great that this lady didn't waste this rare opportunity.

*Ok, so this was technically suppose to be "yesterday's entry", per my supposed pledge but I forgot to finish it in time. Sue me. I promise to have another one of these baby's on the way soon.

Da Mic Drop: batlitwilight

Da Mic Drop is a regular segement, where we look at people who make such a pointed "standing-ovation-worthy" commentary in regards to a person or issue that it has to be highlighted. 

To celebrate my "grand return" to actually doing stuff on my blog, we're going to have a special "cram school" edition of this otherwise biweekly segment (better get your japanese schoolgirl uniforms, everyone). So for this week I'll spotlight new a Mic-Drop calibur speech every day.

Speaking of craming otherwise biweekly rituals into a daily occurrence, we as a society decided to do just that when the purveyors of police brutality decided to up the ante with TWO high profile cases of African-American people being killed for being "thuggish criminals" (the grand transgression, of course, is existing while black) culminating into horrific spectacle at a BLM protest about THOSE tragedies which resulted in 5 police officers being shot to death and the sniper being killed by some Robocop prototype or something. 

In any case, I thought one of the commentors for the latter Salon article, balitwilight, had a particularly insightful statement on what it means for black people to navigate around the minefield of double-standards that is modern-day law enforcement  (which is suppose to be serving and protecting us, mind you):

balitwilight 19 hours ago
For a regular, normal, human being (which in America means NOT a "Black Person"), regular normal police tactics are adequate. But when it comes to "Black People", you can never be too careful. Now, apparently, they just need to be blown up sometimes. They have superhuman powers. "Black People" can threaten the lives of two burly policemen who are pressing Glocks against their chest while they lie on their back, unarmed, already stunned from a taser.  In such a situation the only reasonable outcome is to kill them. Even when "Black People" are requested to show their license and registration at a vehicle stop, and the police officer is already shoving a gun in their face (and which one of us hasn't had that happen?) - "Black People" can detonate like tactical nuclear weapons when reaching for that requested license and registration. Is it any surprise when the police officer reduces that threat with 4 point-blank gunshots, with a little girl in the backseat? They can still threaten the lives of 16 New York police officers who are hanging around their neck choking them to death in broad daylight for selling cigarettes on the street. (And thank god none of those fine officers was harmed or prosecuted)...
..."Black People" are not to be allowed to touch BB guns in public, even BB guns on sale inside the store they are buying them from. So much so that they need to be shot dead on sight in that Walmart. This includes "Black Children" in playgrounds - even more so, since they tend to grow up to become "Black People". A "Black Child" with a bag of skittles, walking home in his father's neighbourhood can threaten a creepy hair-trigger-temper grown man with a history of maniac violence stalking him with a loaded gun - so much so that he needs to be killed immediately and a jury of fair-minded citizens will find his executioner "Not Guilty".  And 60% of Americans will agree.
So... is it any surprise that a "Black Man" who is cornered, surrounded by police, in a siege situation, with no hostages, is so extremely dangerous that he needs to be blown up like an IED in Fallujah? This is how dangerous "Black People" are. In contrast, "White People" (who as a false "race" category created, benefit from, and are largely responsible for this racial dystopia) are extremely benign, innocent and harmless. Is this not obvious? Just look at them walking around untouched with AK-47s strapped over their shoulder while directly threatening the US government and federal agents.  Doesn't that prove they are harmless? In fact, for "White People" there is no "they"... just individual actions that rarely implicate any group.  You know, like normal human beings.
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Orlando's Concern-Troll Progressive Cosplay Convention

Ok, I'm finally back after my period of slacking retreat of self-reflection and centered introspection. So let's see what I missed...oh...ugh! Just the world going crazy (what, again?) during my electronic absence, that's all. For now let's go back about 200 tragedies ago (yes, way back to June of this year, because crap like this must now be a daily occurrence) to briefly comment on the horrifying scenario that was Orlando, (in the unlikely event you were living in a cave and suffer from Hyperink-Adversion-Syndrome, the synopsis is that an armed Muslim man with possible ties to terrorist groups killed and wounded around 100 people at a gay club in Florida) mostly to address a particular pet peeve of mine that occurs whenever one form of discrimination is exploited to clash with another. Here a special request to all the vultures (pretending to be doves) circling the carcasses that I shared on another message board:

...to all the insincere asswipes out there, you can kindly take off your "Concern-Troll Progressive Cosplay" costumes now. Your assess aren't fooling anybody! One of the most INFURIATING part of this whole sad discussion is hearing one exploitative muthafucker after another cry crocodile tears about solidarity with "our people" (gay people count as "real Americans" now? Since when?) being attacked by them...while simultaneously denouncing homophobia as a thing that exist (apparently us silly gays haven't realized that we can make that problem go away if we just attacked nearby Islamo-sexicans more or something)...and at the same time subtly blaming the victims by whining about people playing "identity politics" (it was rudely getting in the way of their hatred.)
We saw this shit during the run-up to the Iraqi war too, when, faster than you could say "Social Justice Warriors", a bunch of hypocrites suddenly became "concerned" about the lack of rights and autonomy of Middle-Eastern women (which is why we have to bomb them to smithereens, of course)
So yeah, the trolls trying to exploit (while also diminish) our pain in order to fight bigotry with bigotry can fuck right off!
P.S. Who wants to bet that our newly "enlightened brothers" won't right to repeal anti-gay ordinances?