Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

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Monday, February 13, 2012

Sincere Ignorance and Conscientious Stupidity


"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." --Martin Luther King, Jr.

We've known for a long time that a brain-eating virus has taken over the GOP and is consuming it at an alarming rate.  Manifestation of this horrid malady presented itself when the GOP debates offered dimwits like Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, and Herman Cain as viable candidates for the POTUS, and  when their supporters cheered wildly when they talked of the state executions of prisoners, guilty or innocent, letting people drop dead who had no access to medical insurance, and booing a gay Iraq war veteran.  We watched in disbelief as debate after debate these candidates embarrassed themselves by trying to outdo one another in their allegiance to ignoranance and stupidity by eagerly jumping on the anti-science, anti-women, anti-gay, anti-immigrant, anti-tax, anti-government [except, of course, for the government job of POTUS that they so wantonly covet] and the anti-Michelle and Marixist, Kenyan, Socialist, Commie, Baby Killing, America-hating Barry Soetoro wagon and driving themselves off the Cliffs of Sanity into Crazy Gulch.

All of this may win them admiration from the fundamentalist base of the GOP, but the rest of the country is not as welcoming of their kookoo-barley ideas and crackpot positions.  Tom Friedman wrote on this subject on Sunday:

Tom  Friedman, NYTimes, Feb. 12, 2012:

"...when all the Republican candidates last year said they would not accept a deal with Democrats that involved even $1 in tax increases in return for $10 in spending cuts, the G.O.P. cut itself off from reality. It became a radical party, not a conservative one. And for the candidates to wrap themselves in a cartoon version of Ronald Reagan — a real conservative who raised taxes, including the gasoline tax, when he discovered his own cuts had gone too far — is fraudulent. "      

"Until the G.O.P. stops being radical and returns to being conservative, it won’t provide what the country needs most now — competition — competition with Democrats on the issues that will determine whether we thrive in the 21st century. We need to hear conservative fiscal policies, energy policies, immigration policies and public-private partnership concepts — not radical ones. Would somebody please restore our second party? The country is starved for a grown-up debate. "

Grown-up debate?  Here's where extremism has taken the GOP (a random sampling of conservative comments on a conservative blog and what passes as "grown-up debate" on them):

On the subject of FLOTUS, Michelle Obama and her "Let's Move" program:









BloggerLone Ranger said...




I'm trying to imagine Jackie Kennedy doing something like that. Nope, can't do it. I think whomever wins the presidency in November, Callista Gingrich should be the First Lady. She's classy enough to bring a semblance of respectability back to the position after Michelle and Hillary.



February 11, 2012 9:10 AM




BloggerJoe said...





To All: MO is all class...all of it low. She is also all dignity, the lack thereof. She garners and diserves no respect for herself or the office of First Lady.



I herd[sic] that Michelle is going to star in a new movie.



The remake of Gorilla in the Mist.
February 11, 2012 6:45 PM


Another commented:

By the way, is she proud to be an American yet??
Poor Fat Cakes needs to get over her angry black woman image.
Someone should tell her how ugly she looks before she leaves her dressing room. And that her huge butt is to big for the size dresses she wears. What pisses me off is that we are hammered constantly by the media and people like Shaw Kenawe telling us Michelle is wonderful, smart, beautiful, and strong. Sorry, buy I see no evidence of that whatsoever.
She wouldn't know anything about poise or grace if they jumped up and bit her in her fat behind..
February 11, 2012 6:34 PM

And this bit of ignorance from the same blog:

BloggerJoe said...





Craig: "...random mutation and natural selection is probably the most extensively supported scientific theory there is..."

There is not one single piece of scientific evidence to support that idea.

It is nothing more than an idea.

From the time they were discovered, not a single microbe, or any other life-form, has mutated into another species.

Bacteria, for instance, have mutated, but they have never become something other than bacteria, after trillions to the trillionth power of mutations.

Evolution is a belief system, nothing more. It is more akin to faith than to science, and is on a par with flat-earthism.
February 12, 2012 3:46 PM

"Evolution is a belief system, nothing more. It is more akin to faith than to science, and is on a par with flat-earthism."

Why do I bother with this?  Only to gauge how far into a dark slime-hole of ignorance some of the more radical conservatives have sunk as a result of the ceaseless conservative noise machines that feed them lies, distortions, and misinformation.   These comments reflect the underlying racism and ignorance that have overtaken a once proud American political party.

Dave Dubya's Freedom Rants has a post up that explores this same subject.  Go read it HERE.

Infidel753 has a post up on the FAUX NOOZ website and the racist comments posted there on Whitney Houston's death.  The GOP has allowed itself to become a receptacle of rancid racism.  I hear many conservative howl about Liberals pointing fingers and crying RACISM! at every turn.  But just look at the comments I have documented on this blog and then look at the ones on the FAUX NOOZ site and tell me why this isn't true.

31 comments:

Infidel753 said...

Lie down with dogs, get up with fleas. For three decades they've been catering to people like those whose comments you quote, and that's now their base. It's not surprising that only nutcases (or those who can pretend to be nutcases) can succeed as Presidential candidates.

Conseevative fiscal and energy policy? Santorum is now up 15 points in polling for the Michigan primary. The party may actually end up nominating a totalitarian from the Dark Ages who thinks the country's major problems are the pill, masturbation, and gay sex.

okjimm said...

Shaw... did the short walk from Dubya's to here. He wrote a nice piece. So did you. Infidel also posted a link... that is worth a link.\\warning\\ some pretty vile stuffed cited at:

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/39914_Reactions_to_Fox_News_Commenters_Spew_Racism_at_Whitney_Houston

keep up the good stuff!

Dave Dubya said...

It is frightening, really. There's more than enough ignorance and hate in this country to propel us into fascism.

Jerry Critter said...

Liberals name-call. Conservatives hate. There is a big difference!

John Myste said...

I hear hateful statements on both sides. We all have blood on our hands!

It is even worse for liberals, though. We have nasty conservative blood on our hands!

S.W. Anderson said...

As far as the GOP is concerned, racism is just one of a series of resentments that represent raw material its pols can turn into votes and campaign money. Ignorance, paranoia about gun rights and religious rights, and pure, damned selfishness are others.

They will keep on this track as long as it works for them, and so far it's working for them all too well.

Leslie Parsley said...

Between your post, Dave's and Infidel's, I don't know whether to weep or cry out in rage.

Les Carpenter said...

Somehow the once valid conservative movement begin slipping into reactionary mode. It is disheartening for a Goldwater and Buckley conservative to witness the headlong descent into the past. One can only guess how deep into the past some will sink. The Dark Ages perhaps?

Still scratching my head as to how and why some conservatives seem prone to use Rand to hold up as an example of conservatism. She was quite harsh in her judgement of conservatism.

Oh well... Classical Liberalism needs to be recharged and understood.

Infidel753 said...

RN: On some things Goldwater was a very sensible guy. It's too bad conservatism as a whole didn't take his advice.

Jerry Critter said...

The republicans are not going to beat Obama this year. Real conservatives have about four years to take back their party from the crazies if they want a chance in 2016.

My advice -- cut the crazies loose!

Les Carpenter said...

Infidel753 - Goldwater was a very sensible guy about a lot of things. It was too damn bad he didn't beat LBJ, the lying scum.

Les Carpenter said...

Infidel753 - BTW, thanks for the reminder. Gave me an idea for a short post.

Anonymous said...
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sue hanes said...

Hey Shaw - I like your Really
cool Blog.

Anonymous said...
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Shaw Kenawe said...

Both sue hanes and Aquarians Love to Cuddle are regular commenters over at Jo Joe Politico's blog.

That is the blog where Joe allowed a racist comment to stand. The commenter made a joke about Mrs. obama being in the remake of "Gorilla in the Mist."

Neither sue hanes nor Aquarians Love to Cuddle complained about the blatant racism in the comment that Jo Joe Politico left on his blog. Therefore, I can only assume that both enjoy that sort of rancid racism.

Joe of Jo Joe Politico likes to brag that he marched with the Reverend MLK. I'm wondering if Joe of Jo Joe Politico would have been proud to show MLK his blog where he left a disgusting racial slur on the FLOTUS and refused to delete it.

We can only infer that Joe of Jo Joe Politico approves of the racism in that comment and that his boast about MLK is nothing more than empty bragging and worthless.

They are all perfect examples of the racism that infects the ultra rightwing of the GOP.

Anonymous said...
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Shaw Kenawe said...

ALtC,

Your comparison doesn't make it.

Not having denied being a member of Al Qaeda is NOT the same as being in a comment section that contains a racial slur on the FLOTUS and not saying anything about it. You and Joe's other commenters said nothing about it, therefore, one has to assume you and they are fine with racism.

BTW, have you publicly denied being a member of Al Qaeda? If you haven't, then are we to believe you are a terrorist as well, as would be every single person who has not publicly denied membership in Al Qaeda? Wow! That would mean even Joe is a terrorist, since I've never read his public denial of membership in that terrorist group.

Anonymous said...
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Shaw Kenawe said...

ALtC,

Whatevah.

BTW: "There is no such thing as a biological entity that warrants the term "race."

Biology tells us this.

okjimm said...

What RN said...\\It is disheartening for a Goldwater and Buckley conservative to witness the headlong descent // yes.. though I never cared much for Barry...he like Buckley was articulate, thoughtful and polite. Add William Safire to the list.

I am still very liberal...but I miss the voices of opposition that 'Spoke' with out spitting venom.

Anonymous said...
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Shaw Kenawe said...

ALtC,

Have you never heard of the expression, "constipation of thought and diarrhea of words?"

Anonymous said...
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Infidel753 said...

I've seen the type before -- "Ooh! Ooh! Look how clever I am!" but with a thinly-disguised mean streak. Sort of like Gingrich.

We in the profession spell it 'diarrhoea'.

Diarrhea is a profession? Who knew? Well, in her (?) case I can believe it.

Anonymous said...
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Shaw Kenawe said...

Infidel, another description for ALtC's affliction could be "supercilious pedantry."

Anonymous said...
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Les Carpenter said...

Aquarians Love To Cuddle - Cute, however boorish.

Infidel753 said...

Aquarians love to babble: I'm a competitive copraphile.

Coprophile. Look it up.

Anonymous said...

I had to delete all my comments here.
Apologies.