Doug posted some snark, I posted some snark, a few others posted their head shakings, and you feel obliged and in a position to put us all in our place because snark, snark and headshaking is superior, anti-the people and irresponsible. Who's holier than thou, now? Please go out and find me a political and intellectual hero who refused to make fun of, or laugh (or maybe just smile wryly, when their friends made fun of, the iconic representatives of their opponents... There are many ways in which this forum is one of mutual support more than an organizing tool.
If I can't snark, I don't want to be part of your revolution. If you hadn't noticed, there are a whole host of people here who don't discriminate when it comes to pointing out the ludicrosity (neologism, anyone?) of quotes from the far right, the right, the center-right, the center, and the center-left? Not only do such folks point out the ridiculosity (new neologism... heheh, he said "gism") of Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachman, but also John McCain, Olympia Snow, Barak Obama, Larry Summers, writers for the Nation, etc., etc., etc. We're not interested in organizing them, or anyone who can't laugh at them... or us for our foibles. No one here thinks that these figures straightforwardly represent neocons, neolibs or capital, but they ARE the iconic figures of the day and, as such, are worthy of snark... Jeez, who would you rather read, snarky Marx or way-too-serious Adorno? For fun, sometimes, I seek out Marx on Malthus 'cuz it makes me smile. If it ends with snark then its useless. I don't know anyone on the list for whom snark is intended to be anything other than snark. My advice, get off your high horse and join us in the water, its a nice, warm, fun, mutually supportive and, actually, less judgemental than you might think place, even if - every once in a while - someone's taking a piss. ;-)
On Fri, Apr 9, 2010 at 5:39 PM, brad bauerly <bbauerly at gmail.com> wrote:
> >Aren't you the one who's suggested there are rich pickings there?
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Nope, I've never said anything like that. Good to see that you read
> your own listserv.
>
>
> >> What does that have to
> >> do with your attempt to personalize the political and talk about how
> >> stupid some person or another is?
>
> >You think that's all I do? Really, where'd you get that idea?
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Don't think I said that was all that you do. But you were engaged in
> it, which is what I was questioning. And wouldn't blaming that guy in
> the white house as the source of the problem also be a sort of blaming
> the individual for a social/political issue?
>
> >yes, Sarah Palin is a fucking idiot. There are a lot of people who support
> her
> >who think Obama is a socialist. That's fucking insane.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> I don't think that you have to tell people here that. Doesn't this
> feed into the problem that you outline below?
>
> > That's not the
> >sum total of "our" problems, but those things are a problem. That
> >quote was kinda funny, I thought, if you have a dark sense of humor.
> >But like I just said, the Democratic Party right now is a bigger
> >problem than the GOP, as far as I'm concerned. Like I've said, Palin
> >and the TPers have made it too easy for liberals and Democrats. All
> >they need do is invoke the fascist threat, and the checks come pouring
> >into Morris Dees' PO box. Instead of "holding Obama's feet to the
> >fire" as The Nation etc promised in 2008 - with whose arms?, I always
> >wondered - they've got Melissa Harris-Lacewell practically calling for
> >the prosecution of TPers for sedition. I've said that sort of thing
> >here and elsewhere a bunch of times.
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> You say that and you post the stuff about how stupid and evil the
> right is. Don't those kind of counteract each other? Are they
> stupid, evil and scary or is their portrayal as such enabling the dems
> to do nothing? Can't really be both. I agree that it is the real
> issue, but I guess I see a different strategy. One that is less
> contradictory.
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >> problem is that they are the ones running everything
>
> >They're running Congress and the White House? That's news to me.
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Yes, they are running everything. Not the TP or the Republicans but
> the whole two parties of capital. We have to do everything we can to
> break these two parties into pieces. Talk about how one party is full
> of loony idiots acts to make the other seem as some sort of vehicle
> for the left. It isn't and won't ever be.
>
> >> Sometimes I wonder if the whole point of this list isn't to make sure
> >> that a strong left doesn't emerge.
>
> >Do tell how it should emerge.
>
> >Doug
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Oh let's just find another funny Palin quote...what an idoit.
> ___________________________________
> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
>
-- ********************************************************* Alan P. Rudy Dept. Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work Central Michigan University 124 Anspach Hall Mt Pleasant, MI 48858 517-881-6319