Nov14
President Ed Wood
on November 14, 2012 at 12:44 pmHilarious: “‘I hope and intend to be an even better president in the second term than I was in the first,’ said the president.”
Just like this:
Really? Worst film you ever saw?
Well my next one will be better.
Hello?
Hello?
Hope springs eternal.
[Thursday morning update]
Here’s a bonus — the trailer. It’s all good, but the relevant words are at the end.
His policies stink, but he’s a star; as Ed Wood said…
Yes, but if you take that crap and put a star in it, then you’ve got something.
The man’s a genius. Plan 9 from Obama.
I winced when I heard him say “even”, because I knew how it would sound, but really, once he started that sentence, he was damned either way, because leaving out the word “even” would make it sound like he was acknowledging not being a good a president, which would be untrue as well as false modesty.
It was a fun press conference though – I await your commentary on the Obama vs McCain&Graham rice fight.
OBAMA: If Senator McCain and Senator Graham, and others want to go after somebody? They should go after me. And I’m happy to have that discussion with them. But for them to go after the U.N. ambassador who had nothing to do with Benghazi? And was simply making a presentation based on intelligence that she had received? And to besmirch her reputation is outrageous. And, you know, we’re after an election now.
I know this won’t happen, for seperation of powers reasons and all that, but I would like for congress to take up the president kind offer and invite him to come answer the many questions about Bengahzi in the friendly and relaxed setting of a congressinal hearing. You know, just like the Watergate hearings were. I remember them well as a child. It was my first experience with politicians. I distinctly remember them interupting my cartoons and the Daniel Boone show on TV. For that have earned my eternal enmity.
Ya gotta luv that righteous indignation, eh?
I would like that too. I think the US should try the”question time” system that many Parliaments use: ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Question_time ).
And don’t miss these four paragraphs:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Question_time#United_States
They cover a lot of ground, including why an American Question Time could be considered in accordance with the US Constitution, and how President Obama has already engaged in one or two of them (and how Sen. McCain also promised to do to so if elected President.) I’m sorry Boehner and Obama didn’t keep it up.
Question Time be raciss.
What gets me is that the vote count in the swing states was within the stuff percentage and no one is talking about that. Or that Ohio still has 300,000 votes to be counted.
I really don’t care who is elected as we are going to hit the wall. Just might be a little easier picking up if we don’t have a leader with the delusions of grandeur our current leader has.
Comparing righteous honorable African-American president-for-life with floppo white movieaker be racist.
True…Ed Wood may have lacked talent, but was regarded by everyone who knew him as a dedicated professional who worked hard to perfect his craft. Barrack Obama prefers golf and living large to the messy business of governing, and is regarded by everyone around him as ‘oddly detached’….
Wood doesn’t deserve the insult of being compared to that loser….
Obama does less damage to the country when he’s playing golf than when he plays president. Let’s hope he plays a lot of golf.
f1b0nacc1 & Larry,
You answered Bruce Lewis as if he is just an Obama critic. But he isn’t just criticizing Obama – he is race-baiting.
This doesn’t bother you? Rand, do you find it “refreshing”?
I see B Lewis’ comment as a parodic response to the reflexive race-card playing of Obama defenders. You know, the kin d of people who invariably accuse anyone who notes the president’s skin color, even with parodic intent, of “race baiting.”
Define “race-baiting” please. And try to avoid saying “shut up”.
McGehee,
Fair enough. I can see how it looks like parody. I’m still frustrated over this exchange:
http://www.transterrestrial.com/?p=45748&cpage=1#comment-293545
I think given that context, Lewis’ comment isn’t really parody anymore, but I can see why you would disagree.
My feeling is that if someone brags about being racist, they should be criticized with at least as much vigor as the people who have criticized me for thinking that Obama is a good president.
Only because hypersensitive people like you cry wolf all the time. It’s like homosexuals reclaiming the word “queer” as a badge of honor. If “racist” is your epithet for white folks that give black people jobs, what word do you keep in reserve for those who wish to hang them from trees?
Curt, here are two definitions of race-baiting:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/race-baiting
noun, often attributive \ˈrās-ˌbā-tiŋ\
: the making of verbal attacks against members of a racial group
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/race_baiting
Race baiting
The act of using racially derisive language, actions, or other forms of communication in order to anger or intimidate or coerce a person or group of people.
You linked to a video of Pelosi and other Democrats applauding the guy who defeated West. Given Pelosi & West’s acrimonious history, and given West’s leadership in the Tea Party, I don’t find the Democratic enthusiasm to be at all surprising.
But I’m going to try to take your comment seriously: There is no problem with overwhelmingly white crowds calling for the defeat of an African-American politician. If someone thinks that, in itself, is a problem, they are the ones being racist, or at least, they are the ones who are wrong. Applauding politicians you like, and applauding the defeat of ones you don’t like, should be color-blind. Jim Treacher knows that. You know that. So why are we talking about that video?
I brought up race baiting because Bruce Lewis has been bragging about being racist here on this blog, and to my surprise, he didn’t get criticized by anyone here, except for Wodun. Is Wodun the only decent person here? It isn’t like people just ignore people they don’t agree with — lots of commenters are very quick to criticize me for expressing mainstream Democratic Party views. Why weren’t they quick to to criticize Lewis for being a racist, when he was bragging about it?
“what word do you keep in reserve for those who wish to hang them from trees?”
Murderer.
What word do you have for people who actually commit murder?
Bob, if you don’t see the rank hypocrisy of a bunch of white people who continually accuse others of being racist for the horrific act of disagreeing with Barack Obama mocking a black man who they think they just defeated politically, then I don’t know how to explain it to you. Particularly because we know that the real reason they were doing so is because he was uppity. It’s OK to be black as long as you stay on their plantation, but don’t try to wander off.
Sorry, I missed the word “wish” in “wish to hang them from trees.”
But you know, natural language isn’t well-worked-out like an example of fine engineering, where there are neat categories, and proportionate incremental gradations. A person can be a “racist” even while not being the worst kind of racist. Or maybe you disagree. By analogy: can a person be a socialist without being the worst kind of socialist?
I find Bruce’s racism refreshing only insofar as it is honest (assuming that he’s not just pulling your chain, which I actually suspect he is), as opposed to that of the Democrats.
Rand,
” who continually accuse others of being racist for the horrific act of disagreeing with Barack Obama ”
There are some people who do that. They are wrong. But the politicians in the video didn’t do that. The Democrats who post to this forum don’t do that. When I call Bruce Lewis racist, I do so because he keeps telling us that he is racist, while explaining how white people are better than everyone else.
“Particularly because we know that the real reason they were doing so is because he was uppity”
No. The following has nothing to do with “being uppity”, nor does it have anything to do with race:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0711/Allen_West_tirade_WassermanSchultz_viledespicablenot_a_Lady.html
We have a word for the worst kind of socialist: communist. But, the point it taken. Still, it seems odd to paint yourself into an epistemological corner in such a self-aware fashion. Have the Progressives lost all their wordsmiths? If the “racist” bar is set so low that it approximates sports fandom, it must not be so bad after all, thus pleadings for condemnation from our host fall flat.
Give it a rest Bob….
The number of times that the Obamabots have suggested that any criticism of the Jug-Eared Jesus(tm) is prima facie evidence of racism passeth understanding. Barry’s rather pedestrian parody of that is as unremarkable as it is inoffensive to anyone not looking for something to complain about. Suggesting that it is anything more than that simply makes you look silly(er).
Titus,
Do you remember Clarence Thomas’ argument when cross-burning came before the supreme court? The majority decided that cross-burning should be legal so long as there was no attempt to intimidate. I think that was the right legal decision, but I don’t see how anyone with a heart couldn’t at least be sympathetic to Thomas’ dissent, in which he said that cross-burning implied a prelude to violence and worse. People can read the Court’s decision, including Thomas’ dissent, here:
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=US&navby=case&vol=000&invol=01-1107
I think my views – that Obama is great President, that healthcare is a huge boon to the American public, that the economy is better off under the Democrats – get criticized here because people perceive that if enough people feel as I do (and apparently they do, judging by the election), they’ll get hurt. What I have to say isn’t just an approximation of jeering sports fandom because – if enough people believe as I do and vote that way – those views are a precursor to political decisions which, in their opinion, have real world harmful consquences
Similarly, Bruce Lewis’ racism isn’t just an approximation of jeering sports fandom because, as Justice Thomas points out, racist speech is a precursor to racist action. Bruce’s speech isn’t as horrible as cross-burning, but I’m not calling for it to be outlawed, nor do I think Rand should censor him if he doesn’t want to — I just think it should be criticized, because it is worse than jeering sports fandom.
Bruce’s speech isn’t as horrible as cross-burning, but I’m not calling for it to be outlawed, nor do I think Rand should censor him if he doesn’t want to — I just think it should be criticized, because it is worse than jeering sports fandom.
And no one has stopped you from criticizing it. In fact, you’ve devoted most of your comments in this thread to doing so. But that’s not enough for you. You demand that everyone else do so as well. Sorry, but I’m not going to be lectured on such things by the Left. When they actually embrace racial equality and color blindness, rather than division and handing out political spoils to favored racial groups, I’ll start to take them (and you) seriously.
I embrace racial equality and color blindness. I don’t know how to convince you of that. But thank you for the space to share my views, and thank you for your blog.
So you oppose affirmative action?
Obama is great President
healthcare is a huge boon to the American public
the economy is better off under the Democrats
Well, our healthcare is the envy of the world. It’s why so many come here for it. Obamacare on the other hand is another subject entirely. You get criticized here because your grasp of reality is clearly being impacted by hero worship. Which is always deserving of derision, regardless of the political leanings of the one suffering it.
Rand,
That’s a big question, which deserves a long answer, not a simple yes or no. But if you need a short answer, the answer is yes, I would end many affirmative action programs (the ones you are probably thinking of) and I would replace them with a variety of other programs which would seek to lessen the effects of economic disadvantages by promoting economic opportunities.
Why this deserves a longer discussion: I would continue to look at unfair hiring practices, and in doing so, I would harken back to the first use of the term “affirmative action”: President John F. Kennedy’s Executive Order 10925 mandated “affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin.” I would also seek to maintain bans on racial discrimination when it comes to who can eat at certain restaurants, drink from certain drinking fountains, or stay in certain hotel rooms. I could go on, but I hope you can see that the nature of my caveats has to do with ending discrimination rather than continuing it.
Curt, that’s fine. In case you missed it, I was expressing sympathy with those who criticize me. I’m just surprised Bruce Lewis isn’t coming in for criticism too.
I would replace them with a variety of other programs which would seek to lessen the effects of economic disadvantages by promoting economic opportunities.
That is genuinely vomit-inducing. It can fairly be summarized as: “change its name.” Which is disgusting. Thanks for sinking to a new low Bob.
Curt, my mistake. I meant “Obamacare”.
No, it isn’t just “changing its name”.
It is debatable whether there is some societal benefit to preferentially selecting rich well-educated well-qualified black kids for admission to Harvard over equally rich, well-educated, well-qualified white kids, but I think there is also a societal cost, and it is an example of the kind of racial discrimination I think should be ended.
I think putting in place programs which help poor kids of any race have a shot at good schools is a much better idea. I can see why that might be vomit-inducing in someone opposed to government programs, but it isn’t just “changing the name”.
Jeering sports fandom is a precursor to rioting in the streets, destroying property and injuring the innocent after a win and/or loss.
Fibonacci,
I concede that Lewis’ words in this post could be construed as a parody, but they are coming from a racist. Do you think the following is a parody?
B Lewis
November 7, 2012, 11:34 am
wodun: Values don’t come with skin color.
No, but that’s the way to bet.
“All men are created equal”: an admirable sentiment. Unfortunately, however, it does not track with reality as observed. Detroit vs. Pittsburgh. Denmark vs. Nigeria. Apartheid South Africa vs. South Africa today. Rhodesia vs. Zimbabwe.
America pre-1964 vs America now.
If it makes you uncomfortable to stare these facts in the face, I sympathize. Doing so makes me uncomfortable, too. We have all been carefully trained to avert our eyes from the truth, to cast about frantically for explanations rather than believe what we see every day.
But I refuse to take refuge in the comfort of platitudes. I insist on facing the truth, no matter how ugly, unpleasant, or “racist’” the truth may be.
And I can do that — today. Today, stating the truth is merely offensive. Today, I’m a mere “racist”.
Soon, however, it will become illegal.
I look forward to becoming a thought criminal.
Earlier, I followed the link that you are citing, and while I think it was rather blunt, no, I don’t see it as racism. As for whether Bruce is a racist, I have never met the man (nor have you, I hazard to guess) and I rather doubt that either of us can assess this from a few comments online. “Racism” is an accusation increasingly thrown around so freely as to render it almost meaningless, and worse still, it has been so exquisitely refined by the Left as to exclude almost anything that they say while embracing almost everything said by those on the Right, that its use becomes problematic at best.
Do I believe that someone with a darker skin than mine (my complexion, like so many other nerds, is closest to minty-green) is inherently inferior? Of course not, no sane person does. Do I believe, on the other hand, that some cultures or sub-cultures are inherently inferior or undesirable on their merits? You betcha, and if that makes me a racist, I will happily wave the flag. What is more, I’ll bet serious money that you believe pretty much the same thing. No less than Jesse Jackson once said that he was ashamed to admit that when he was walking through DC late at night and heard footsteps behind him, he was relieved when he turned and saw that it was a white man. I lived in DC for 15 years, and the Rev Jackson, whatever his other flaws, was spot on in this observation. That isn’t about race (which the left used to argue was a social construct anyway…what changed to end that partiular trope? I cannot imagine….), it is about culture, and ignoring that some cultures are dysfunctional (oh right, we musn’t judge!) while others are not (or less so) is not colorblind, it is willfully blind and silly to boot.
A professor of mine once shared a great bit of wisdom with me. 37.6% of all people are thieves, finks, and poltroons. It doesn’t matter how you divide them up (by race, gender, etc.) you always get the same percentage of crap. It proves the universal brotherhood of all mankind….
If you think that Bruces somewhat rough-edged comments are racisim, you are misuing the word or you fail to understand what it means in the first place. Even if he was a racist, would his parody be less amusing? Look at the comments made my Chris Rock, for instance, openly racist in many ways, but often very, very funny. do you suggest that we have a ‘weeding out’ of all politically incorrect thought? Just who gets to make that set of choices? Oh yes…I know…the Left will, as the self-appointed guardians of all virtue…
Funny how that works…
If you can’t see Lewis’ comments as racist, I don’t know what it would take to get you to say that someone has made a racist comment. He was clearly arguing for exactly what you say no sane person would argue for.
Lewis’ cherry-picked tour of the world, and his reference to 1964 make me think he wasn’t talking about specific cultures or sub-cultures – he was talking about humans across the world. In the thread I linked to, he didn’t suggest that people who believe in “traditional values” marry each other — his advice was to “marry a white women” and have children.
You say that I’m failing to understand what racism means. If denying Wodun’s comment that “values don’t come with skin color” isn’t racism, please explain why.
There is no good kind of socialist.
Well, do you think there is a good kind of racist? I don’t, which is why criticizing affirmative action programs on the grounds that they are racist is a respectable position which is regularly discussed by the Supreme Court. (I bring up affirmative action, Rand, because you asked me about it in the conversation I linked to above).
I think Titus is wrong: the views Bruce Lewis has been expressing are racist and wrong and deserving of criticism, even if Lewis is, as he tell us, someone who hires African Americans, and even if he is, as he tells us, a Christian who would never physically attack anyone.
Well, do you think there is a good kind of racist?
No, though I remain open to the possibility that Bruce is pulling your chain.
And what Allen West said about Debbie Wasserman Schultz was dead on, even if politically incorrect. She is the hackest of party hacks.
Yes, I understand that you agree with West, and approve of his rudeness to Wasserman-Schultz. Being rude to politicians is a grand American tradition.
But it should be no surprise that Democrats wouldn’t like what West had to say, and they wouldn’t like how he said it. So why bring up race? Where is the evidence that race had anything to do with the Democrats’ disapproval of West?
Where is the evidence that race had anything to do with the Democrats’ disapproval of West?
It’s the same place as all the evidence that the Tea Party is racist. And I’ll bet if you polled that crowd jeering West, they’d claim that it is, just as the Democrat leadership did for all those months. Hence the appropriate mockery of them. Turnabout is fair play.
“I really don’t care who is elected as we are going to hit the wall.”
Given that Obama has doubled the amount of tax increases he wants, I’d say we’ll hit the wall harder and faster. Might as well hit it ASAP.
Hit the wall?
Nope.
This is going to be MUCH more like two sub atomic particles, in the LHC, going head to head, at juuuuuust about, the speed, of light.
Bang bitches!
So does Obama dress up in Moochelle’s pink angora sweaters?
Nah… J. Edgars.
Pull the strings! Pull the strings!
You just made my day….
Go easy on Bob-1, people. Obviously thinking isn’t his forte, and you have to be a thinker to appreciate parody. For one thing, you have to comprehend what is being parodied.
I keep trying to make sense of what Bob is saying in hope that I can find the thread of reason to pull on. Some of the things he says are straight forward, but the holes are huge and I don’t think he realizes they’re there.
He seems like a decent, honest guy with a broken brain. I keep thinking, if we can understand his reasoning and perceptions it might be a eureka moment to fixing other lefties.
Ken,
You seem like decent honest guy too. So let me ask you: When Bruce Lewis explained how white people are better than other people, and when he advised you to marry a white woman, and when he said that he was a racist, well, did he seem like a racist to you?
It depends on context. The fact that he’s splattering ‘be raciss’ everywhere suggests some form of humor.
Actually, I think a lot of things are racist.
I once had a teacher that embarrassed me with her praise. She was young and beautiful and every 8th grade boys dream. They all made fools of themselves around her. One day, when I was sitting on some steps near her, this weasel from our class made a usual weasel statement and I saw an opportunity to knock myself off this pedestal I seemed to be on. When I’d have debates in class, this teacher would always come to my defense even when there was no need. It really was embarrassing for me.
So I did something I have always regretted. The topic this weasel brought up was are boys better than girls? My opinion was people are people (being in a whole spectrum) but that’s not what I said. Instead I said, “of course, boys are better than girls” and watched the expression on my teachers face. I will never forget that and once spoken, I couldn’t unsay it.
Does that make me a misogynist?
Ken, I’m not talking about “be raciss”, I’m talking about this:
http://www.transterrestrial.com/?p=45748&cpage=1#comment-293230
Look, maybe I can help: You asked if your comment makes you a misogynist. The answer is no, but your comment was misogynistic, which explains the expression on your teacher’s face, and which presumably explains your regret about it.
What if you kept saying things like that, year after year? Would that make you a misogynist? Whatever you want to call yourself at that point, it wouldn’t be so good, right?
I don’t really care if you want to label Bruce Lewis as a racist. I’m concerned about his comments, not him. His comments were racist. It isn’t just in these threads, but they are enough. I think they deserve criticism. I’m asking you if you agree.
I might agree except for a fact that seems to have escaped your notice. He’s making a point (now using an alter ego) that goes beyond racism.
Yes, his comments are racist as you point out, but equally obvious is there is a bigger point to them.
Lot’s of things are racist. Lot’s of things are abstractions. Some things are evil. Some things are unavoidable.
You might ask yourself why, being that most commenter here are decent people, others are not in an uproar regarding those racist comments. Is there something going on here that you might be missing? (Yes, there are always things that all of us miss which again would be missing the point.)
In particular, what do you think of the reference to thought police?
Oh, and in fairness to Bruce, “Luce Brewis” isn’t him. Guess how I know this for sure.
“You might ask yourself why, being that most commenter here are decent people, others are not in an uproar regarding those racist comments. ”
I am asking myself that question. I’m coming up with very disappointing answers. I’ve recommended this blog to others as an example of how Tea Party-style politics isn’t racist. I’m rethinking that recommendation. If I send someone here, and they see a moderate Democrat like me getting attacked (quite rudely in some cases), but they see Bruce Lewis not getting attacked at all, even by someone like you, Ken, what are they supposed to think. What am I supposed to think? The Islamophobia found here I could chalk up to ignorance, but I can’t think of any excuse for your acceptance of a racist segregationist.
“In particular, what do you think of the reference to thought police?”
I think it is completely orthogonal to the issue. If I start posting rabidly communist messages, but then make dark references to the thought police, people here would be very quick to jump all over for me for my odious communist beliefs. They might, in passing but with sincerity, mention that they believe I should be free to be an odious communist,maybe they’d even “defend to the death my right to speech” in public, and Rand probably wouldn’t censor it on his blog either, but then they’d go back to criticizing me, and they wouldn’t let up, including Rand. Don’t you think so?
Ken, I’d like to hear your honest opinion of the above.
I’ve recommended this blog to others as an example of how Tea Party-style politics isn’t racist.
I’m curious, how does that process work exactly?
[other]“The Tea-party are all racists.”
[Bob, the moderate Democrat]“No they’re not, look at this blog. They suffer from Islamophobia, but other than that they sometimes seem reasonable.”
[other]“Islamophobia! How can you expose yourself to that!”
[Bob, the moderate Democrat]“Well, it is disgusting obviously. But sometimes I think I’m actually reaching some of them.”
[other]“Well, I’ll take a look, but I don’t think I’ll see anything worthwhile. I know they’re all racists anyway. But thanks for letting me know they’re Islamophobes too.”
[Bob, the moderate Democrat]“They’re really just ignorant you know. But as a moderate Democrat I think it’s my duty to try to enlighten them when I can.”
[other]“I’ll bet they don’t even realize how fortunate they are.”
That was pretty accurate. I hear over and over again “You’re wasting your time talking to them.” I reply “That is probably true, but I don’t think I’m wasting my time reading them”.” But if you can’t criticize a racist segregationist, you’re going to keep losing elections, and then, yeah, it really would be a waste of time to read what you have to say.
Also, I thought most of you were wrong, but not loathsome. Libertarianism is usually well-intentioned, after all. But if no one but Wodun can’t even disagree with a racist, well, then I’ve got to reassess.
Oh, stop whining. No one here agrees with Bruce, or “can’t even disagree” with him. We just ignoring him. And he’s getting exactly the reaction from you that he wants.
When everybody is “racist,” nobody’s racist. It’s just a term of abuse. No reason the Republicans shouldn’t use it all the time, just like the Democrats do. So yeah, the Dems are racist about West.
Everyone isn’t a racist. The guy who is a racist is the guy says “I’m a racist” and then explains why white people are better than everyone else, and disputes that notion that all men are created equal. That guy is a racist.
I hate to burst your bubble, not really, but all men are not created equal. All men are equal before the law and in the eyes of their creator. As usual libs stop reading when they’ve got the juicy tid-bit that sends the tingle down their collective leg.
Again, you point to a cognitive perception problem.
Everyone isn’t a racist.
But what everyone is, is an abstractionist. Everything is understood in the abstract because none of us possess total knowledge. Stereotypes are an example of abstraction. They are USEFUL abstractions, even though as all abstractions are, they are not literally true.
If they are grossly wrong, then you’ve got a problem.