Peer Pressure

Peer Pressure; it’s not just for kids anymore.  I recently dawned on me that one reason the ultra left political wing members are so angry is partly due to peer pressure.  It seems that when one needs acceptance so much that one is willing to sacrifice themselves to the group then anger at a subconscious level builds to dangerous pressure.  These people are not allowed to disagree without facing rejection, derision, animosity, and despair.  To whit no one else can disagree with them.

This is especially true in Hollywood where people are afraid to speak their minds, even to close friends, because they fear the reaction of those who might disagree with them.  The act of disagreeing with ultra left conventional wisdom is enough to raise questions about one’s sanity.  Under the circumstances it’s easy to see why.

Recently I have had some feed back that indicated the reader missed the point.  I must take part of the blame for not making it crystal clear; but one would expect the average vocabulary to include the word anathema.  I guess not, and so a nice twist was wasted on the audience.  Apparently the second a slight barb hits home the liberal brain begins to shut down, the eyes blur as a red haze of anger and fear is sent to the communication center.  It’s fun really, and quite useful as an exercise.

When one cannot conceive let alone consider that someone else might have good or interesting to say regardless of its divergence then life becomes a bit frustrating.  For example the 2000 election theft by George Bush was invented from whole cloth.  The very precincts where the so-called fraud took place were controlled by the Democrats.  How then did Georgie steal anything?  Even the New York Times concluded that Bush won fairly.

To this day anyone in need of a black eye, a harangue, insults hurled ineptly, simply state that the 2000 election was fair and square to almost anyone from a Blue State.

No doubt there are many liberals with views that conflict with their friends and leaders who are afraid to say so. Peer pressure makes it impossible to have a full life, which is one reason intelligent children have trouble in school and don’t reflect on their experience there with happy thoughts.

Comments Welcomed and Appreciated

Thanks to all you who have been kind enough to read my articles.  Especially thanks to those who have sent in comments, corrections, diatribes, etc.  I welcome all and any reaction to my remarks.  I have had some critical but very thoughtful well written commentary, and some emotional moronic blather.  I enjoy them all.  Please feel free to make your thoughts known.  I will respond to all; though most have been anonymous thus prompting this post.

IslamoFascism

Apparently Muslim organizations in the United States are irritated by the term Islamofascism.  It’s not clear who coined the term, but it is heard with regularity on such talk shows as Rush Limbaugh.  American Muslims who do not support the actions of radical Islamic Fundamentalists should not really be upset. The term is quite apt, distinctive, and useful in separating one group of Muslims from the rest.

Almost all the Middle Eastern governments are Islamofascist regimes.  They are secular dictatorships, religious dictatorships, or military dictatorships.  These are the models that Wahabbi adherents want to emulate when they successfully defeat the infidel.  There is no compunction about killing infidels because the Mullah’s promote the belief that non-Muslims are essentially wild beasts to be exterminated.

Their apocalyptic vision should cause thinking Westerners to pause and consider the position their civilization faces.  Very few if any non-Muslims are willing to die or happily sacrifice their lives for a cause.  The enemies of Western civilization have no such doubts.  No matter what the question “Can’t we all just get along?” means to Westerners, the answer will always be No!  The pathetic aspect of the current situation is the hope that the good life will appeal to these killers and so ameliorate their actions.

It does appeal, but it is not available, so jealousy, rage, and psychological confusion reign supreme.  There are no economies in the countries that produce terrorists.  Petrodollars are basically the only form of national income and wealth.  The proceeds are not shared with the citizenry of the Arab and Farsi nations which mine the oil.  These funds are used to buy weapons to prop up the regimes and to promote terrorism to distract the world’s attention from the real intentions of these governments and from the internal conditions of the countries.

Will Iranian leaders use a nuclear weapon against Israel?  The answer is yes and probably as soon as they can.  They don’t care if they disappear in the retaliatory strikes.  Their populations are large, young, and underemployed.  They cannot build what might be considered normal lives even under the skewed standards of Islam.  An outlet for their energy and anger must be found; enter terrorists.  Bliss is promised in the afterlife, bliss that can never be attained in this life.  Is there much of a choice?

The hallmarks of fascism are totalitarian rule, clandestine arrests, torture, state supported economies concentrated on weapons development, and aggression towards neighboring countries.  The term Islamofascism works very well in defining these adherents.

The Naive General

Former General Wesley Clark provided an analysis of the Joe Lieberman defeat that is really goofy.  The General, who was fired by Bill Clinton for his behavior in Kosovo, is an opportunist of the first water.  Unfortunately for him he is behind the curve at this point.  His view that the Lieberman defeat is good for the Republicans in the short term but a bonus for the Democrats in the long run is a false reading of the tea leaves.

Clark posits that the Republicans will pound the Democrats for weakness on defense; which they certainly should do.  Clark further asserts that every Democrat is just as patriotic as any Republican, something that doesn’t pass the laugh test.  Clark states that the Democrats will be united in protecting the United States another ridiculous idea that is disproved by the statements of the MoveOn.Org and their fellow travelers.  Today’s wealthy white Democrats don’t even believe that there is a war on terror, forget about Iraq.  The Hollywood types clearly despise their homeland as many of them don’t live here most of the time.  Their comments and behavior in foreign lands disparaging their country is a gimmick to gain acceptance in France, Germany, Spain, and England.  They will never truly be accepted simply because they are Americans.

General Clark will never be a candidate again and if the Progressives win power he will be shunted aside in disgrace.

Another Great Editorial

The Wall Street Journal might be the newspaper of record supplanting the New York Times.  Once again the editorial page has great material to consider; take a look.  Michael Barone discusses the disappearance of the Democrat Party and the appearance, in its stead, of an as yet unnamed party but one that could be called The Progressive Liberal Party.  As usual the name of an ultra left organization hides their real intentions.

Mr. Barone points out things that have been discussed in these pages namely that today’s leftists are rich, white people, insulated from the general citizenry of the US.  The blacks and Hispanics who make up a large portion of US society are deliberately kept down by these so called Progressives.  Where are they in the power positions?  Where is Miguel Moore?  The Progressives refuse or don’t think about supporting minority candidates.  They see them as gardeners, garbage men, servants, but not as real people who could participate in society if properly educated and truly given an equal shot at life.

Instead they patronize them and tell them it’s not their fault that they continue to be mired in poverty.  Any time a black citizen questions the conventional wisdom they slapped down as traitors, Oreos, and Uncle Toms.  These Progressives don’t believe that Muslims want to kill them.  They couldn’t be more wrong.  It can only be hoped that the American public will catch on but it’s doubtful.  It appears that most Americans are unconcerned with thinking and considering on an intellectual level the true condition of society.

Morons On Top

I’ve been noticing the BP ads on TV but I haven’t seen one that explains how morons came to be in charge of the company.  The idea that Prudhoe Bay oilfield can be shut down for any length of time is ludicrous.  I guess all the black belt 6 Sigma gurus were out to lunch.  Surely there had to be some awareness of the fact that metal tubes will corrode.

The design of a pipeline system must consider maintenance, so presumably there would be built in some kind of secondary system so that the piped products could be diverted to allow inspection and repair to take place.  Are we to believe that until someone noticed a spot of oil in the snow and that the company was blissfully ignorant of not only the possibility of leaks but the existence of one or more? Now BP is going to replace 70% of the transport tubes, how can this be?

Any manager knows that good quality systems increase profit by reducing cost. Maybe BP is making so much money that quality was not considered a very high priority; in fact that is obvious. There is a saying that high revenues hides a lot of problems and that is certainly true in this case. The Board of Directors must demand the resignation and replacement, over time of course, of the current management team. The superintendent of Prudhoe Bay must be terminated immediately.

Congress has to defy the environmentalist nut cases and get some new oil flowing and new refineries built and online. The fake outrage over large profits can be muted by making reinvestment possible. More capital expenditure will strengthen our chances for energy independence and boost our economy if only slightly. We can certainly use an economic boost about now.

The situation at Prudhoe Bay is almost criminal and certainly demands scrutiny. I cannot agree with those commentators who say “Let’s stop the blame game and get on with developing our resources.” The latter part of the statement is correct, but the former is not. There must be blame assessed and punishment, in the form of sending the boss home, so that future managers will hesitate to save money by deferring maintenance. The practice of maintenance deferral is a time honored way of beating the budget. Airlines use it and are courting disaster when they do. BP is simply reaping the results of deferring just a little too long.

Lanny Davis Awakens

When one looks in a mirror what does one see?  It’s usually what the viewer wants to see: handsome, beautiful, trim, attractive, brilliant, and so on.  But what does the mirror see?  That is the age old question to which there is no answer only speculation.  In today’s Wall Street Journal there is a rather sad editorial by Lanny Davis.  It is sad because he has finally be forced to admit what many people already know and that is that today’s Democrats are juvenile, hateful, and dangerous.

Yesterday on the Fox News Channel Bob Beckel, a Democrat Party strategist remarked during the conversation about his liberal credentials that “…I don’t have to prove anything.  During the 60s I was down south getting crackered.”  Now if he had said getting niggered, or getting spicked what would the reaction have been?  These people can not see themselves as the mirror sees them.

The Davis editorial provides several examples of what liberals like to call hate speech and they are disgusting.  Why any Jew contributes and votes Democrat is beyond wonder; they are outcasts in their own party. Lanny Davis is either very naïve or disingenuous.  Most likely it is the latter as he is a Democrat apparatchik and knows well the ways of the political world.  While criticizing right wing commentators for hypocrisy and sanctimonious tirades he is betrayed by his own writing.  His self-serving hoax attack on the left wing bloggers is really a ploy to warn them to not be as open as it will hurt the Democrats with most Americans who fear extremism from any side.  Anyone that writes for public consumption should remember that the impulse to share one’s thoughts is a form of exhibitionism and is usually more revealing than anticipated.

The current Middle Eastern flare up is a very dangerous situation, but even more dangerous are the young, poorly educated ultra liberal bloggers who, because they have no sense of history and are functionally illiterate, accept distortion for truth and are easily manipulated into a rage.  Should you want to view this problem for yourself get out in the blogosphere or into the Usenet groups, it will more than surprise it will shock and possibly frighten you.

A High School Reunion

Over the weekend I attended a high school reunion, it wasn’t quite the devastating experience I expected, and immediately afterward I had a difficult time about how I felt about it.  The high school, St. Joseph’s in Atlanta, Georgia, was short lived; 1961 – 1976.  This gathering was to include all the alumni so naturally there were many people that were unknown to each other.

It was rather like a surprise meeting of several friends in a crowded airport: a lot to catch up on with the pressing deadline of a departing flight schedule. I came to understand that a reunion, of any sort, is a mirror producing of reflection of one’s experience through memory of others.  It can produce some really amazing feelings.

High school can be the worst of times in a young life creating bends and twists in a personality that are difficult to repair, at best only slightly.  In the case of disasters like Columbine the damage is fatal.  Children are naturally insecure by the time they reach high school and their self image is at risk insidiously. Somehow adults must make it clear that thinking for another person and acting upon the imagined outcome can never work.  How this is to be done is a mystery for greater minds to solve.  The high level of emotion, hormones, self-doubt, and the yearning for acceptance is a potent mix and difficult to control.

As for the reunion it will be my last.  While the voyeuristic pleasures of such an event cannot be denied, the sense of loss and wonder are too much at this stage.  For anyone considering a reunion remember that memories are never truly clear and others remember it differently.  Have fun.