Displaying 301 To 330 Of 1,116 Comments Bageant and Webb: Virginia Will Miss’Em I know what you mean about people who purport to be from the Left who wouldn’t go within spitting distance of the rural poor or the working poor! I certainly ran across plenty of them at the Huffington Post. To many of these people, the words “stupid” and and “Southern” were synonyms. Oftentimes when a politician or a public figure said something unintelligent, there would be a comment like “Uh oh! I hear banjos!” EVEN IF the public figure in question didn’t even come from the South at all. I responded to one of these; it was in regard to Sarah Palin. She said something dumb, so a Blue State Liberal had to make a comment about the song Dueling Banjos. I replied that Sarah Palin was from Alaska, and as far as I knew, Alaska isn’t even known for its banjo music. I was told to “get a sense of humor” of course, but hey! I play a banjo myself. It’s a fine instrument, and there’s no shame in it, or for eating grits or collard greens for that matter. How do these people call themselves “liberal” when they make attacks on regional culture for no apparent reason other than the fact that it’s fun to do it? It’s not very liberal to adopt the philosophy of a scale of human worth based on the whereabouts of one’s birth. I suspect that a lot of Blue State people who vote Democratic do so for the same reason that so many Red States people vote Republican. It’s just the default position. Most people just want to do and say and think what others around them do. Most people don’t want to stand out and swim against the flow. I suspect that for many of these self-described “liberals” from Blue areas, voting Democratic is more about social inertia than it is about really believing in liberal values. (Obviously, I’m not talking about everybody from these areas, so I hope I’m not accused of making blanket accusations. That is not my intent.) » Posted By Buddy McCue On March 30, 2011 @ 5:10 am Good ol’ Joe Bageant! I’m gonna miss him. I will have to go back and revisit his blog to read the essays that I’ve missed. He was a true authentic voice of the working-class South. I loved his book “Deer Hunting With Jesus.” What a great writer. What a sincere guy. Goodbye Joe; we hardly knew ye. » Posted By Buddy McCue On March 30, 2011 @ 4:54 am Remarks by the President in Address to the Nation on Libya bito – I am also a longtime subscriber to The Nation magazine, and I usually read it cover-to-cover when it comes in the mail. For some reason, I never thought to look at the online version. If it has a comments section that can be characterized as a “wasteland,” then I do not regret my oversight. I suppose I can be content with the good ol’ fashioned ink-and-paper experience when it comes to The Nation. » Posted By Buddy McCue On March 29, 2011 @ 6:53 am WTS – You definitely should write such a piece. I notice that this one has well over 300 comments. Wow! » Posted By Buddy McCue On March 30, 2011 @ 10:16 am ADONAI – It’s certainly true that we are not living in unique times. Take the following quote for example: “Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders… they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers.” Of which generation was this said? The present generation? Generation X? The “Baby Boomer” generation? No, it was said by Socrates back in the 5th century BC. The more things change, the more they stay the same. » Posted By Buddy McCue On March 29, 2011 @ 6:04 am Yeah, it really is. » Posted By Buddy McCue On March 28, 2011 @ 3:59 pm By playing triplets for each quarter note in 4/4? I can dig it. But I don’t want to get too off-topic here. UPDATE: » Posted By Buddy McCue On March 28, 2011 @ 3:57 pm Right at this moment, I happen to be working on a way to combine Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata with Black Sabbath’s Electric Funeral (I realized this morning that they were both in the key of C# minor, and although the time signatures do not match, the Black Sabbath song is played with such rubato that the 4/4 could easily be wrangled into a 12/8 time that would fit the Beethoven. I intend to call this mash-up “Moonlight Funeral.”) In so thinking, I remembered that when I was in high school, Heavy Metal music such as this was blamed for teenage suicides by conservative activists. The music in question really doesn’t seem all that perverse now, with the perspective of a few decades… I can’t help but wonder: will the horrible “torture porn” of today seem…. I don’t know… kind of “quaint” by future generations? » Posted By Buddy McCue On March 28, 2011 @ 3:47 pm I can’t argue with that! You’re right. You & I both feel that those movies you mentioned should not be available for public viewing. Apparently the U.S. Supreme Court would agree, even if they do not use your handy acronym, “pof.” » Posted By Buddy McCue On March 28, 2011 @ 6:53 am I mentioned the majority view because that’s the basis of democratic ideals. Would representatives of public opinion select this panel of experts? And if not, what is the alternative? We don’t have Plato’s “Philosopher King” to turn to. Here in the United States, we have something called a “Three Prong Obscenity Test” established by The Supreme Court’s ruling in various cases. The three parts are these – In individual cases, the court should decide: (a) whether “the average person, applying contemporary community standards” would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest, (b) whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law, and (c) whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. If a state obscenity law is thus limited, First Amendment values are adequately protected by ultimate independent appellate review of constitutional claims when necessary. I first heard about this when reading about underground comics, specifically the work of Robert Crumb. In 1970, the comic book Zap No. 4 was was judged to be obscene, and not fit for sale. The State of New York found that nudity and sexual content alone are not automatically obscene, but that without clearly redeeming social value the book’s graphic portrayals were “unredeemable … filth for filth’s sake.” But today, public opinion has grown beyond that view, and the work is now sold openly, and has even been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The court’s 1970 decision was not legally overturned, but public opinion has “apparently rendered a de facto verdict” that Robert Crumb’s art does have serious value in debate on cultural issues. (Interested people can read more about this here, which is the source of my quoted phrase about a “de facto verdict:”) I guess my point is that even if we DID have a panel of experts to decide these things, the opinion of the public can not be discounted easily, and will almost certainly decide what is and is not obscene. » Posted By Buddy McCue On March 28, 2011 @ 6:40 am Whatsthatsound – You certainly raise some interesting points. I completely agree with you about the “torture porn” that you described. It should be censored. It’s almost impossible to see any valid social or artistic merit in such work. I understand what you mean about the need for “tribal elders” to make decisions about this sort of thing. Unfortunately, many different people with different points of view want to assume that role of tribal elder. For example, there was that controversial film “A Fire in My Belly” by artist David Wojnarowicz. The National Portrait Gallery in Washington was pressured to remove the work. But the people who pressured the National Gallery to remove it did not object to the images I found disturbing; instead they were most bothered by a segment of the film that depicted ants crawling over a plastic crucifix! To me, that seemed pretty tame compared to other parts of the work. Which leads me to this question: who gets to decide what is objectionable and what isn’t? On what grounds? Are these questions something that should be decided by majority view? (I do not presume that these questions are new to your thinking; your fine article proves that they aren’t. I only wished to put down the things that I ask myself.) » Posted By Buddy McCue On March 28, 2011 @ 5:51 am Friday Music Thread – Amazing Voice, How Sweet The Sound Absolutely classic. » Posted By Buddy McCue On March 25, 2011 @ 5:18 pm I would have liked to have seen that! I think keeping straight faces would make it even funnier. » Posted By Buddy McCue On March 25, 2011 @ 5:08 pm Nice! » Posted By Buddy McCue On March 25, 2011 @ 4:39 pm The King’s Singers singing the Overture from The Barber of Seville. This WILL make you smile! Hey, these guys are great, and they really know how not to take themselves too seriously…
» Posted By Buddy McCue On March 25, 2011 @ 4:36 pm Cernynkaya – I love those charts too. I’ve linked to the Mother Jones page with those charts more than a few times while arguing at HP. Usually the point I try to make is that we (the country) should stop pretending as though there was a “money shortage,” and instead we should realize where the money went. I like the way SequimBob put it better though: “We’re not broke; we’re just subsidizing the super wealthy.” » Posted By Buddy McCue On March 25, 2011 @ 11:47 am Brilliant. That is a great way to illustrate exactly WHY Newt behaved in the way he did. » Posted By Buddy McCue On March 29, 2011 @ 1:58 pm I like this painting too. It looks like the same hand that rendered the illustration for “A Letter From Sendai.” Very expressive and emotional work. » Posted By Buddy McCue On March 25, 2011 @ 12:33 pm KQ – Palin’s star may have faded. “Good riddance,” I say, if it’s true. Unfortunately, Palin seems to have been replaced by Michelle Bachmann, who is saying these days that social conservativism IS fiscal conservatism, whatever THAT means. Bad ideas just don’t go away, even if the people who speak them sometimes do. » Posted By Buddy McCue On March 28, 2011 @ 9:08 am HH – How do you keep the squirrels from eating out of your birdfeeder? We have that problem too. They act like hogs; they eat most of the birdseed and prevent the birds from feeding. I bang on the window and shout “Squirrel! Get away from that!” but that doesn’t help much. » Posted By Buddy McCue On March 24, 2011 @ 1:16 am Thanks everybody, for saying such nice things. » Posted By Buddy McCue On March 24, 2011 @ 1:13 am I agree with your position about this. I’m also willing to give the President the benefit of doubt. This must have been a terribly difficult decision for him to make, but he certainly went about it in the right way: instead of going with any kind of “gut instinct,” he surrounded himself with expert opinion and made a careful decision based on the facts of the matter. Plenty of people back at the Huffpost are quick to compare him to Bush because of this, but the difference between this and the invasion of Iraq is like the difference between night and day. I wish our involvement were not necessary. I can’t help but wish that. But I’m glad we have someone like President Obama at the helm during this difficult time. » Posted By Buddy McCue On March 23, 2011 @ 11:25 am We Are Aiding and Abetting the Republicans MossyOak – Must it be “either / or?” Must it be either “Obama is a complete neoliberal sell out,” or “ObamaBots closing ranks?” Personally, I don’t think it’s as black and white as that. » Posted By Buddy McCue On March 28, 2011 @ 8:25 am This is my home. I know it seems crazy, but after visiting other places, I’ve always wanted to come back here. » Posted By Buddy McCue On March 24, 2011 @ 12:36 pm Abby – The connection between big business and higher education does explain much, it seems to me. Big business is where the prestige is in today’s culture. Consider the derivatives market on Wall Street. The people who dreamed up those exotic financial instruments were educated in higher math. The concept of derivatives comes from differential calculus. Such things do not fall out of the sky; someone had to invent them. Students who major in math are less likely to become engineers or physicists, and more likely to go into big business. That’s where the money is, and that’s where the respect is today. » Posted By Buddy McCue On March 24, 2011 @ 11:56 am Truth – I describe what I’ve said here as a rant because what I’ve said on this page insults nearly everyone I’ve ever known personally, right down to the core. Down here, nearly everyone is a conservative. I can count the number of liberals I’ve known one one hand, and still have fingers left over. It isn’t easy to disparage so many of the people who surround me. It was difficult for me to say these things at all. » Posted By Buddy McCue On March 24, 2011 @ 11:50 am Thank you for listening to my rant. I get frustrated sometimes. » Posted By Buddy McCue On March 24, 2011 @ 11:34 am Abdy – No, you did not offend. I have great respect for you too, you know. And when you say that the persuasive aspects of group think are disturbing, I am in full agreement. From my perspective, I find that higher education is meaning less and less. I read somewhere that only about 31% of college graduates today possess the literacy skill that is required to read an entire book and comprehend its meaning. I don’t find this surprising. Because social mobility has stagnated to the degree that it has, a college degree is becoming more and more of a badge of status, and little else. (Present company excluded of course! Now I hope that I have not offended you!) I realize that this perception of mine is somewhat skewed, because my work has always been in the graphic arts. I’ve known plenty of people with art degrees who don’t seem to have much of any education at all. As far as I can tell, when someone who comes from one of the “better families” isn’t good at anything in particular, that person is considered the “creative one,” and is sent to art school, and winds up in a position to hire people like me. (And I sincerely hope that no one I’ve worked for reads this!) UPDATE: » Posted By Buddy McCue On March 24, 2011 @ 11:25 am Abby – Thank you for your thoughtful reply. But you should know that I have no formal education beyond High School either, except for what I’ve managed to teach myself. Sometimes it’s said that “stupidity is a pre-existing condition.” That may be so, but it’s important to remember that it is NOT an untreatable condition. I managed to get at least one person in the shop where I work to vote for Obama. When I first met him, he was a white supremacist, but I slowly changed his mind about that over a period of a few years. It IS possible to change minds. On a larger scale, what is to be done about mass ignorance? I regret to say that I have no answer. » Posted By Buddy McCue On March 24, 2011 @ 10:49 am Abby – I can explain some of it. I hear a lot of talk radio from day to day, and I feel as though I can understand some of what’s going on. A lot of it is pure hierarchy. It’s the philosophy of “kiss up and kick down.” A conservative believes that billionaires have generally EARNED what they have. They believe that homeless people similarly deserve their fate. They want and need to believe this. (This kind of thinking comforts many people. Even people who are not religious will often believe in “karma,” that people usually get what they deserve. Never mind the evidence: evil often flourishes and the good often die young.) Back to the talk radio. The “kiss up / kick down” thinking is reinforced by pure bullying. If you listen to Rush, you’ll see that immediately. His language is that of a bully. On a playground, when a bully acts against his victim, bystanders have two choices: they can stand with the victim, and thus be at risk themselves, or they can stand behind the bully, and feel safe. The talk radio listener is trained to feel as though he is in exactly that situation. He is manipulated to see society as “winners and losers.” Either support the winners or stand with the losers. It’s a kind of brainwashing, it seems to me. Yes, it’s ugly. I do not hate the manipulated, but I confess that I do feel hatred for the manipulators. They have poisoned the minds of the people around me, and I will never forgive them for that. » Posted By Buddy McCue On March 24, 2011 @ 10:37 amComments Posted By Buddy McCue
http://www.joebageant.com/
Everybody knows that Alice is just about passé by now. So yeah, “Alice Cooper cute” is a good way to describe it.
http://courses.cs.vt.edu/cs3604/lib/Censorship/3-prong-test.html
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/speech/arts/topic.aspx?topic=comix
http://abcnews.go.com/US/smithsonian-removes-ants-crucifix-video-exhibit-sparking-debate/story?id=12305404
When I read about this controversy, I wanted to see the film and judge for myself. I found it nearly unwatchable. There was plenty of blood, and there was the graphic, upclose video footage of the artist literally sewing his mouth shut. It was very disturbing, but I was reluctantly willing to admit that it was art, and did not deserve to be removed.
I suspect that few people would be likely to believe that 31% figure I quoted, so I looked it up. Apparently, I had read that finding here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/16/education/16literacy.html
«« Back To Stats Page
Home Stats