Tuesday, September 21, 2010

By JDC88 on 09/21/2010 at 8:04pm

Their is such a gross through-line of disconnect from the working/middle working class in these profiles, it really sickens me. Such an achingly ingracious acknowledgment of the disparity, in human terms, between the banker and the doctor. Interesting that the there was no mention, in any empathetic way, of the effect that this homophilic culture's self-interest had and still has on the 401Ks of normal working Americans, who are merely trying to, and excuse the mundane humility of it all, earn a living and carve out an education and a somewhat improved future outlook for their family. We hear again and again, keep the government's hands off my money! Well how about this: keep Wall Street's hands off my money. Hmmm...how would that privatization of Social Security have worked out, do you think? These fund managers and brokers are bright people who are not, I hasten to point out, blinded enough by the context of their own uber-cultural environment to not be aware of the ramifications in HUMAN TERMS to the type of folks with whom most of them, I suspect, would squirm if expected to spend longer than 5 minutes at a Thanksgiving table. They were irresponsible and the consequences of their actions reached far and wide. I feel absolutely no sorrow for their plight, especially in light of the fact that they were rescued by the tax dollars of those very same folks that will never register on their moral radar screens. It makes my skin crawl.

The Rage of the Privileged Class As It Loses Its Privileges -- New York Magazine

The Rage of the Privileged Class As It Loses Its Privileges -- New York Magazine

The Rage of the Privileged Class As It Loses Its Privileges -- New York Magazine

The Rage of the Privileged Class As It Loses Its Privileges -- New York Magazine

Thursday, September 16, 2010

RePost From Comments on Fox

Fox may be the most watched by, and therefore, "trusted" source, an ironic and elastic term in this day and age, but this is due largely to the demographic of it's viewing audience, which ranges from the minimally to marginally educated shallow thinkers, to the educated and accomplished status-quo, "I've got mine and got over" capitalist conservatives who endorse and support the effective way with which this shrill rhetoric maintains that status quo in a time when they are threatened by a liberal administration.

The trajectory of the Fox agenda originates from a sensational, disingenuous source and I have a difficult time separating the political agenda from the commercial one, and wonder if even those folks purveying the programming can discern where the motive meets and greets the merchandise. They most certainly win the "who's most vocal" contest within the broadcast media, and therefore, the most heard, but the caveat there should be "by whom".

As kids, when we would hear something outrageous, offensive or incredible, my father would mollify us with the instruction to "consider the source". We should be able to do that on our own, as sentient, thinking adults, without someone prompting us to while then providing us with thoughts for our heads and words for our mouths. In this day and age, so much information is available to us, yet we've allowed the bullies to rule the schoolyard. It's unfortunate, for the common folks--and by that I mean most of us--that, so far during this administration, we've failed to maintain that same bombastic and resolute tone while helping to push through reasonable, thoughtful reform. It's given me a wimpy feeling. I have high hopes that President Obama will redirect a purposeful agenda with his address tonight.

Our leaders on the left are guilty of corporate cowtowing in the name of concensus, while we the people put up with the Fox-generated haranguing of the right who have successfully sold the scenario of "behind-closed-doors" opaque wheeling and dealing to an angry and hurting populace many of whom are unrealistically looking for overnight redemption. Fox has successfully manufactured a "failed President", who has been in office one mere year. It's time for a lazy electorate to wake up and not stand for this hijack job.

We must maintain the message and push through reason with informed clarity. The bailout needs to be sold again. Jobs need to be created NOW. Reform must continue. With that, perhaps we would not be so eager to have our heads turned by the Fox bullies of the world. In the meantime, folks need to READ MORE and LISTEN LESS.

I firmly request that TVs which are tuned to FoxNews in public places be switched to something else, or demand a good reason why they are tuned to Fox. If they refuse, I follow through on my threat to not patronize their business. This was more difficult recently when my wife and I had a medical emergency. Our Fairfax Hospital had Glen Beck on Fox playing on BOTH its TVs in the ER waiting room. I looked around and no one in the burgeoning room appeared to be watching or even interested. I requested that they change the channel to something more "neutral". The Discovery, Weather or ESPN channels seem to be palatable alternatives.