June 27, 2008
Gloriously articulate idiots
I was listening to Slate.com's GabFest on XM Radio's POTUS '08 (channel 130) just a few minutes ago, apparently because I'm a glutton for punishment.
As I've mentioned before, they typically have some of their young, snooty writers shoot the breeze about the week in politics, giving us their ever-so-sophisticated take on things.
When I tuned in the discussion had turned to their dismay over Democrats "caving" to the Republicans on the latest FISA Bill, reauthorizing a variety of national security-related surveillance measures. One of the women -- legal "experts" Dahlia Lithwick or Emily Bazelon -- lamented that wiretapping doesn't seem to offend Democrats and couldn't understand why this was the case, especially since Americans seemed to have lost their supposed fondness for torture, now that habeas rights were being given to foreign terrorists (ACLU be praised!)
Host David Plotz responded that he wasn't bothered by wiretapping because he wasn't saying anything worth eavesdropping on, making the whole thing a tremendous waste of time and money -- missing the point that it's the needle in the haystack that the spooks are looking for, the lone conversation amongst billions that contains hints of an attack on the U.S., meaning, of course, that it's inevitable that innocuous talk will comprise most of what is being heard.
One of the females riposted with her dismay at the increasing levels of passive surveillance that people seeming willing to accept, pointing to England's vast number of CCTV cameras blanketing the U.K.
This is where it gets good.
She said that we're approaching "East German fascist" levels of surveillance, like that of the STASI.
"East German fascist."
Ahem.
The East Germans were Communists, not fascists -- although the Nazis were essentially a Socialist movement (see Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning).
But that's the point, isn't it? All things bad and oppressive are fascist, like Nazis and Republicans, Hitler and George Bush.
Communists and Socialists? Hell, they were just misunderstood, their violence and excesses merely aberrations caused by foreign fascist influences, like an infection or a malevolent conservative virus.
I think it's just perfect that the Slate moonbat couldn't bring herself to identify a repressive regime with the Left, rewriting history to convert East Germany from a Communist prison into the Fourth Reich.
Posted by Mike Lief at June 27, 2008 08:35 PM
| TrackBack
Comments
I think you're missing the point of this show. With the group of them all talking loudly at the same time, generally, by their own admission, without any expertise on the subject, in a shrill, judgmental, and ill-informed manner, they're trying to mimic a group of 20-somethings talking at a Starbucks about whatever topic enters their vapid minds. They're not trying to inform; they're trying to make you contemplate suicide. So you see, the show really is working after all, once you understand its purpose.
I can't tell if these dipshits are liberal, moderate, or conservative. They're all over the map and seemingly, intentionally, trying to goad each other. This isn't bad talk-radio; it has a long way to go before it gets there. But it is, at least, talk-radio on important subjects. I suspect it's drawing in some 20-somethings, who can listen to this cacophony. Somewhere between 20 and 40, when our brains evolve into maturity, this kind of talk becomes fingernails on the chalkboard. It's no longer meant for our demographic. Try sliding the dial on over to the BBC, CNN, or even Fox News. They may each be equally vapid or useless, but they will at least be geared for an adult mind and will not push you to thoughts of violence...
Posted by: Bull Butz at June 27, 2008 10:36 PM