The Curmudgeon

Your steadfast Curmudgeon realizes he may be putting himself up for a Keen Grasp of the Obvious award with this, but doesn't it seem to anyone else that perhaps these death-threats to congressional dems who voted for health insurance reform would qualify as terrorism? Doesn't this country have some stated antipathy to terrorists, especially those who target the denizens of this nation, some great and broadly powered mandate to incapacitate such evil-doers?

It just may be that if justice is brought to these death-threatening (heya Boehner, your words here are just as public as your fellow weapy-eyed terrorist Glenn Beck...) democracy-subverting, fear mongering domestic terrorists, the US may just stand a chance to regain its ideals.

Your Curmudgeon has been watching the blathering news take a back seat to Olympics (rightfully so- the Danish Women's Curling Squad wears skirts and stockings) and All Things Tiger (not so rightfully so, see the latest American Patrol entry).

In spare moments, I think I have caught the real clue about the Palin Panty-Wadding over the term "retard". The winktacular Caribou Barbie has been taking on somewhat of crusade over the word "retard".

To recap the unfolding of the story:

Rahm Emmanuel (who could best serve the nation by going to 'spend more time with his family', or alternately, rest his severed head on a pike on the White House lawn) called politcal lefties "fucking retards". Palin got upset, and wanted Rahm fired. Rahm apologized.

Rush Limbaugh used "retard" like it was fresh cracked black pepper on his piccata. Palin demurred. Rush continued to bloviate.

Family Guy used the word "retard". Palin's panties got sucked into a massive two-hole wad.

Now, at every juncture of this event, there has been commentary from left and right over this, ranging the spectrum predictably from fawning praise to cries of 'hypocrisy'.

Just as predictably, the above mentioned response have been thus far considerably far from the mark.

I don't think that hypocrisy is the prime motivator here. Just as the LBGT community took over the word "queer", the kinky community reclaimed "pervert", and the black community turned "nigger" into "the n-word"... the fRight wingnuts have been looking for a word to claim as their own- and in 'retard', they've found it.

Whether this move on the part of Palin et al is praiseworthy will remain as a mental exercise to the reader.

In my ever-intermittent coverage of the subtitled translation of the events of the day, I offer this:

And yes, it truly just doesn't matter. The status quo will be what the ownership class decides it will be. Nothing- well, nothing that improves the state of affairs for the non-ownership class will happen.

Lest you delude yourself: owning a house doesn't make you part of the ownership class.
Being a 'politically active citizen' doesn't make you part of the ownership class.
Owning a retirement account, some stocks, or any other 'investment vehicle' doesn't make you a part of the ownership class.

Being simply a "have" instead of a "have-not" doesn't make you a part of the ownership class.

The ownership class sits upon massive dynastic wealth, livid in greed over the thought that anyone else has anything else. And the ownership class runs this show. The government? It is just another arm, another vehicle to express their control.

Think I am just angry? Just some foam-mouthed class warrior? Feh. Look at what is happening, look at where the money is going, and from where it comes. Look at how where the power lies within the structure, and notice too how it grows evermore concentrated.

There is no class war. It is over. We didn't win. And far too many are STILL too fucking stupid to realize it.