I pledge never to mention the Military-Industrial Complex, Covert Ops, torture, the destruction of habeas corpus, and of course ANYTHING that might sound even a BIT like I’m not blindly and unconditionally supporting whatever the US government does.
Holy shit that was scary, on so many levels. “I pledge to be a servant of the President”?!! He’s OUR f***ing servant, We the People are supposed to rule!
Well, my conscience is clear. I voted for Nader, who never would have put out some slick bullsh*t about being the “lonely president — can you help make him less lonely by being his servant?”
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963
US black civil rights leader & clergyman (1929 – 1968)
But we won’t talk about injustice, right? at least not when the agents of that injustice are Americans — that wouldn’t be patriotic, and it would make our leader sad and lonely…! You don’t want to make our leader, our master (we being his servants) sad and lonely, do you? You want to bask in the warm embrace of us know-nothings, don’t you?
Okay, if that idiot at 2:25 was saying that he would only flush his toidy after taking a dump and not after taking a piss, that’s a really good way to destroy a flush-toilet’s ability to flush. Mineral salts in human urine form a build-up of scaly deposits on the inside of the entry of the toilet-trap (that’s essentially the channel in the base of the toilet that connects to the sewage pipe in the wall), and after a while the narrows the effective width of the passage. Consequently, the toilet will only do a half-assed flush known as a “lazy-flush” without the width in the passage necessary to do a proper flush.
As to the whole video itself, it starts out in a way that’s actually good to hear, seeing as how our society has become spoiled rotten and existentially insane with asshole-moron self-centeredness. (Thanks so much, Baby Boomers!) But the end part came off as, well, more than a little Orwellian.
@loveandlight: very educational about the toidy, thank you.
As for the rest, I’d argue that the whole thing is Orwellian, or maybe more accurately, Huxleyan: “the truth bringing you down? Then just ignore it!” Why no pledges to root out corruption, boycott Israel until it’s back on its leash (at least), and hold criminals in the highest offices just as accountable as those that hold up the corner liquor store? What’s being put forth here is the idea that because there’s been so much “partisan fighting” the last 8 years, we’d all be best served by “focusing on the future, and not the past”. But the reason there’s been so much “partisan fighting” isn’t because anyone’s been fighting for the truth, but because the two sides of the duopoly have been fighting for turf. When they want to agree, they agree: on FISA, on the “bailout” (i.e., corporate mega-welfare), on the Patriot Act, on war and more war. No “partisan fighting” there. And so now, the logic goes, don’t be a “negative person” by bringing up what’s wrong and has NOT been addressed; that’s not the cool, evolved, hope-filled thing to do. Just make a bunch of feel-good pledges, and let the “experts” and our “masters” decide what’s right w/regard to the mountains of bad karma the USA has and still is making for itself and our planet.
Oh, well. It’ll play out as it plays out. I just don’t think denial is a good long-term strategy.
Why, that video was nothing but a call for community service, tolerance, and responsibility. Disgusting! I can see why you’re all horrified!
All this snarky, ultra-cool cynicism and detachment is such a copout, such an easy way out. But perhaps I’m being unfair. Cryptogon is about describing problems, eh?
“Why no pledges to root out corruption, boycott Israel until it’s back on its leash (at least), and hold criminals in the highest offices just as accountable as those that hold up the corner liquor store?”
First, you do realize that this was made by Ashton Kutcher, yes? Not by Obama, but by a sitcom actor.
Secondly: is this ya’ll’s first election? Because I’ve been watching politics for quite a while, and I’m not seeing anything that’s all that shocking and new. Better packaging? Eh, maybe, but really folks: give the exceptionalism a rest.
Defense.gov News Photo 110426-A-7597S-183: U.S. Special Operations service members with Special Operations Task Force South board two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters following a clearing operation in Panjwa'i district in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, on April 25, 2011. Source: Wikimedia.
I pledge never to mention the Military-Industrial Complex, Covert Ops, torture, the destruction of habeas corpus, and of course ANYTHING that might sound even a BIT like I’m not blindly and unconditionally supporting whatever the US government does.
Holy shit that was scary, on so many levels. “I pledge to be a servant of the President”?!! He’s OUR f***ing servant, We the People are supposed to rule!
Well, my conscience is clear. I voted for Nader, who never would have put out some slick bullsh*t about being the “lonely president — can you help make him less lonely by being his servant?”
Amazing.
(Sorry, have to add this:)
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963
US black civil rights leader & clergyman (1929 – 1968)
But we won’t talk about injustice, right? at least not when the agents of that injustice are Americans — that wouldn’t be patriotic, and it would make our leader sad and lonely…! You don’t want to make our leader, our master (we being his servants) sad and lonely, do you? You want to bask in the warm embrace of us know-nothings, don’t you?
Alright, I’m done. grumble… grumble…
At least you can manage to write coherent sentences about this. When I watched it, I just sat here like this:
:O
I called to Becky and said, “You have to check this out.” She started watching it. She chuckled. Then she kinda went…
:O
The end is breathtaking.
Okay, if that idiot at 2:25 was saying that he would only flush his toidy after taking a dump and not after taking a piss, that’s a really good way to destroy a flush-toilet’s ability to flush. Mineral salts in human urine form a build-up of scaly deposits on the inside of the entry of the toilet-trap (that’s essentially the channel in the base of the toilet that connects to the sewage pipe in the wall), and after a while the narrows the effective width of the passage. Consequently, the toilet will only do a half-assed flush known as a “lazy-flush” without the width in the passage necessary to do a proper flush.
As to the whole video itself, it starts out in a way that’s actually good to hear, seeing as how our society has become spoiled rotten and existentially insane with asshole-moron self-centeredness. (Thanks so much, Baby Boomers!) But the end part came off as, well, more than a little Orwellian.
@loveandlight: very educational about the toidy, thank you.
As for the rest, I’d argue that the whole thing is Orwellian, or maybe more accurately, Huxleyan: “the truth bringing you down? Then just ignore it!” Why no pledges to root out corruption, boycott Israel until it’s back on its leash (at least), and hold criminals in the highest offices just as accountable as those that hold up the corner liquor store? What’s being put forth here is the idea that because there’s been so much “partisan fighting” the last 8 years, we’d all be best served by “focusing on the future, and not the past”. But the reason there’s been so much “partisan fighting” isn’t because anyone’s been fighting for the truth, but because the two sides of the duopoly have been fighting for turf. When they want to agree, they agree: on FISA, on the “bailout” (i.e., corporate mega-welfare), on the Patriot Act, on war and more war. No “partisan fighting” there. And so now, the logic goes, don’t be a “negative person” by bringing up what’s wrong and has NOT been addressed; that’s not the cool, evolved, hope-filled thing to do. Just make a bunch of feel-good pledges, and let the “experts” and our “masters” decide what’s right w/regard to the mountains of bad karma the USA has and still is making for itself and our planet.
Oh, well. It’ll play out as it plays out. I just don’t think denial is a good long-term strategy.
Why, that video was nothing but a call for community service, tolerance, and responsibility. Disgusting! I can see why you’re all horrified!
All this snarky, ultra-cool cynicism and detachment is such a copout, such an easy way out. But perhaps I’m being unfair. Cryptogon is about describing problems, eh?
“Why no pledges to root out corruption, boycott Israel until it’s back on its leash (at least), and hold criminals in the highest offices just as accountable as those that hold up the corner liquor store?”
First, you do realize that this was made by Ashton Kutcher, yes? Not by Obama, but by a sitcom actor.
Secondly: is this ya’ll’s first election? Because I’ve been watching politics for quite a while, and I’m not seeing anything that’s all that shocking and new. Better packaging? Eh, maybe, but really folks: give the exceptionalism a rest.