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I thought that in America movements like MoveOn are already considered radically left by the right wing noise machine.

Hell, they even tell me Steve Clemons is a leftist.

Where this leaves the actual radicals, I don't know.

by nanne (zwaerdenmaecker@gmail.com) on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 02:04:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]
They think Merkel and Chirac are leftists.

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
by DoDo on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 02:09:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Compared to Clinton and Obama, they are.
by redstar on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 06:51:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I don't want to get into the situation where I'm drunkenly shouting at an American "You wouldn't know a leftist if one came up and bit you" again

Life should consist in at least fifty percent pure waste of time, and the rest doing what you please.
by ceebs (bunchofwankers (at) gmail (dot) com) on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 02:10:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Again?

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
by DoDo on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 02:11:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Who hasn't?
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 02:15:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]
At some point continuing to read daily kos becomes nothing more than a vehicle for cultivating your anger.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 02:21:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Feel the anger flowing through you... you cannot deny the power of the Orange Side.
by Metatone (metatone [a|t] gmail (dot) com) on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 02:53:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I was thinking about a diary on this, but after your comment, what more is there to add?

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 03:31:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]
That will teach me not to snark.
by Metatone (metatone [a|t] gmail (dot) com) on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 03:36:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Well, most people view the media much like they view advertising - the propaganda and emotional manipulation affect everyone but me, because I understand how it works. So I write a 2000 word essay on the topic, everyone nods in agreement, then go right back to media induced fear and loathing. What's the point?

I suppose I could whip up a personal narrative on how I (mostly) beat this out of my own system.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 03:49:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Same way for many of us Americans.  I just go, look, despair and head for here or Docudharma or EENR.  Or get out the Strat and bug my office mates.

"I said, 'Wait a minute, Chester, You know I'm a peaceful man...'" Robbie Robertson
by NearlyNormal on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 04:39:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Well, yes, but they really love to troll for the genuine ones and suggest that mainstream libs share their views - it's their favorite one-two punch. The irony of course is that many of the radicals despise us wishy-washy libs about as much as they do the right.

Incidentally, another nice example of double standards is the treatment of Venezuela and Columbia. In both cases you have a genuinely popular and democratically elected leader with strong authoritarian tendencies. One harasses his opponents and applies heavy governmental pressure on the opposing media. The other does the same - plus has ties to death squads who kill and terrorize the opposition. Expressing sympathy for the former is a mark of dangerous radicalism and hatred for Freedom. Hailing the latter as a champion of Freedom is de rigeur among the center and the right.

by MarekNYC on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 02:20:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Don't get me started on the US media attitude to Columbia...
by Metatone (metatone [a|t] gmail (dot) com) on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 02:41:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]
it's spelled ColOmbia - just because it took me a while to figure out what you were talking about

I spent quite a bit of time in that country and it was an amazing place

there were a few things that surprised me about it:

  •  I expected the place to be as macho as Poland or Greece, with the men sitting and drinking coffee and the women doing all the work but that wasn't the case at all.  Later, I learned that Colombians were once considered to be great workers in the USA, until the narcotics over-shadowed that reputation.

  •  there are guns everywhere.  Even the traffic police in Bogota carry Uzis on their belts.  Every shop has an armed guard that stands outside the shop with a rifle ready to use.  This means that on a commercial street with shops on both sides, all you see are these armed men with their rifles.

  •  there are army posts all over, sand-bagged with soldiers at the ready behind machine guns.  this can be quite disconcerting for someone who isn't used to it.

  •  people spend the whole day walking their cows in the cities because they are landless.

  •  don't ever drive in Colombia unless you have piloted in Formula 1

  •  the Colombians are the kindest, most hospitable people you will ever meet.  
by zoe on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 02:56:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]
it's spelled ColOmbia - just because it took me a while to figure out what you were talking about

Considering where you live, you must have heard Kolumbien.

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 03:03:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]
zoe:
don't ever drive in Colombia unless you have piloted in Formula 1

Why?  Is no overtaking allowed?

"It's a mystery to me - the game commences, For the usual fee - plus expenses, Confidential information - it's in my diary..."

by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot dotty communists) on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 03:12:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]
overtaking is only allowed when it is near impossible to do, and only on twisted mountain roads with no guard rails and 2000 feet drops at high speed with a car with no brakes - you get the idea

lots of those roadside memorials in Colombia...

by zoe on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 03:16:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]
ah yes - you mean like in Portugal?

"It's a mystery to me - the game commences, For the usual fee - plus expenses, Confidential information - it's in my diary..."
by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot dotty communists) on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 03:21:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Or on a good many of the mountain roads I've driven in the US.

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 03:27:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Irish financial directors should have no problem...

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
by DoDo on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 03:24:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Now you've really lost me.  Do you know any Irish financial Directors?  They don't do overtaking.  They just own the road.

"It's a mystery to me - the game commences, For the usual fee - plus expenses, Confidential information - it's in my diary..."
by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot dotty communists) on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 03:33:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Sorry, forgot the link into today's Salon>

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
by DoDo on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 03:35:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Ah, ok.  Don't know the guy. It seems he got off on a very minor technicality - a pretty common occurrence under Irish law.  The chief requirement is to have a good lawyer.  I would have thought that under a European Union, extradition wouldn't be required in the first place -but it looks as if we have some way to go.

"It's a mystery to me - the game commences, For the usual fee - plus expenses, Confidential information - it's in my diary..."
by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot dotty communists) on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 03:48:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]
... and Columbia.

The school or the space shuttle? ;)

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 03:02:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Wasn't the school spelled "Columbine"?

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
by DoDo on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 03:04:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I was thinking of the university in New York.

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 03:05:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]
The school or the space shuttle? ;)

Gotta watch out for those death squads of political correctness crushing dissent on campus.

by MarekNYC on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 03:07:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Ha, not so far from the actual right-wing talking points.

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
by Drew J Jones (blahblahblah@blahblahblah.com) on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 03:10:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]
not really very funny, is it?

I know a story of a person who lived in a small village in Colombia and returned from studying abroad.  The local priest asked him to teach English to the parishioners, but the guy declined because he didn't want to be involved with anything with the Church (but didn't say that - he declined politely).

A few days later, he was in a shop, when the shopkeeper told him that there were people outside waiting to kill him when he got out because he had dishonoured the priest.  He slipped out the back and left, never to return.  

This war between right and left in Colombia has been going on for 50 years.  

by zoe on Tue Apr 15th, 2008 at 03:10:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]

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