Just stuff, but lots of it.

[davidmacluna]

The Past
If you read some previous observations I've made, you're probably aware that I believe the President rather deftly handled a bait-n-switch, due to needing something done that Capital Hill probably wouldn't do, definitely wouldn't if the Republican contingent had any influence whatsoever - passing a National Subsidy Act.

What? You've not heard of it? That's because it was sold as an "Economic Stimulus"; however, only the Baby Boomer generation still clings to Keynesian economic concepts as cutting edge and valid - Reagan did a great job of proving which worked and which didn't.

Thus, monies that were desperately needed to restore the core infrastructure and the microstructures (state and local economies) that support it were voted into effect by a Congress that would have otherwise argued the bill into limbo; they saw a bill that threw money at a problem and passed it, basically.

They didn't realize how good the aim was; in fact, they altered the bill enough that it would be a little too scattered, were it truly a stimulus bill.

A nifty support of this hypothesis is news I heard just today - an earmark from the stimulus is coming here to Columbus, Ohio, to pay directly for the hiring of Police Recruits that the City had already written off.

The Present

Rush motherfuckin', "White Whale" Limbaugh.

Multiple concepts have made him a target of the Administration; don't for a moment believe that this is traditional petty party politics (a phrase I should copyright, heh).

It's bigger, even, than Limbaugh himself - and that's big.

First, consider the Republican core still entrenched on Capital Hill. They're hugely obstructionist, blindly adhering to old strategies and policies that served them, not the country - but the nation is aware and watching, now.

Ironically, they believe they're making populist heroes of themselves; this belief comes from the Neoconservative "Echo Chamber", spearheaded by the Weekly Standard and coordinated by the New American Century project.

Ever wonder how the Neoconservatives became so influential without a grass roots base? They created a media echo chamber - an echo chamber being a structure that takes a sound and reverberates it, over and over and over again. (credit to Eli Clift of AP for the concept)

They then began to aim that echo chamber's output toward politics. The problem is that, while it was effective while it lasted, it was artificial: without a broad base of U.S. sentiment driving the message, and with the power brokers that built it having sated their greed, been driven from power or simply gotten too old or died, it's now just reflecting what the users want to hear.

Examples: Read Op-Ed from the Washington Post or watch Bill O'Reilly; then check back in with reality. The disparity is unsettling - they loaded the message of "Stimulus BAD! Obama beginning to fail!" and put it on high gain...

And the noise made little impact; the message, apparantly, didn't work on anyone except those involved with the machinery: the Bill passed and Obama's popularity spiked a little before settling.

The Future

But the system is still in place; it's obstructive, counterproductive and greedily selfish.

It will die, as such things do, given time; but we really can't afford to wait. However, killing or disconnecting such things isn't really a possibility - that's always been their greatest defense.

Until now.

Targeting Limbaugh does the following:

~ Draws the media's attention on part of itself. Mainstream, traditional media has been dying in the internet age, and has gained the habit of gumming things to death.

The bones of the echo chamber will be seen, perhaps even exposed.

~ Gives the public's Populist rage a target; Rush Limbaugh is the epidomy of the Neoconservative elite, pointing that out seems overly obvious - perhaps petty - but it's true.

~ Reactivates the dividing lines amongst Republicans that Falwell and Gingrich worked so hard to anesthetize: chaotic, evil and greedy people cannot work together as they cannot trust each other. That's the edge the good guys always have; good doesn't have a house advantage due to skill, apathy keeps their numbers down and, as the old quote goes, "Good is Dumb."

Nope, it's that the bad guys just can't work together for any length of time - unless your henchmen are the bad guys religious fanatics. Then they follow blindly, as they're unaware and deny the paradox between their beliefs and their actions.

I should sue Newt Gingrich; I used that concept to create a kick-ass Villain when I was still doing RPG.

Oh, well, like with any fanatics, once they really understand they've been had?

They turn on their Masters, going for the throat.

Comments

[patzilla]

I created a syndicate feed: http://syndicated.livejournal.com/dshort_dot_com/

Might interest you. Did you read/view the email I sent you a few days ago about the credit crisis and how it happened? I thought the video was amusing, and the NPR stories about the Big Pool Of Money were fun.

I just found out my house is worth about $20K less than what I paid for it. I put $15K down in cash on it. I'm a little miffed. But oh well, guess I didn't need that refi after all. Fucking Republicans. I was watching ol' Rushbo on c-span at the cpac the other night. Newt was on, too. Real fun, those two.

Ta ta

[beetlefuck.livejournal.com]

I would really like to see Limbaugh die of gonorrhea.

[jenmur.livejournal.com]

i just don't like rush..altho i am glad to know about him. @~~{~

[calialleykat.livejournal.com]

Isn't saying you hope the government will fail also known as sedition?
Free speech is all very well and good, but damn he strains it dontchaknow.