[Peace-discuss] Nurembore Rally

[Laurie Solomon]

>Jon Stewart's Sanity show was one of the oddest, at times dumbest events 
>I've seen. I'm not sure what it actually was or what its organizers hoped 
>to accomplish, but American reality is no saner today than it was before 
>the weekend.

I have to smile at this.  What did the author really expect; is it not 
insane to have expected that America would be saner today than it was before 
the weekend?  One has to wonder who is being crazier here the Americans who 
are crazy enough to believe that such events are going to really change 
anything or those who debunk said events because they did not change 
anything about American Reality.  Unfortunately, "American reality" is 
"American Reality." It has not substantially changed in its underlying 
premises and presuppositions since the first white man invaded the 
hemisphere, bringing over many of the white Christian supremacy beliefs and 
prejudices and colonialist ideologies from Europe.  The changes that have 
taken place over the years are in appearances, surface structure, and 
peripheral practices (e.g., from slavery to segregation to covert 
discrimination in the case of blacks, from termination to concentration 
camps to segregation to discriminatory practices in the case of the Native 
Americans, etc.)  The first mistake the author makes is probably to have 
taken the event seriously in the first place rather than as a big parody of 
the American version of demonstrations in which Steward & Colbert are using 
and playing the American Public as shills unbeknownst to them just as many 
politicians and comedians do vis-a-vis their audiences.  I am inclined to 
think that even the serious parts were tongue-in-cheek.

>white male "contrarians" tend to become more reactionary as they age

Some would say that this applies very well to those within our midst.  It 
would appear that they also become much more dogmatic and intolerant as 
well.  The reactionary element sometimes appears to manifest itself in the 
substantive content of their arguments and actions, sometimes in the form 
and types of articulation and expression it is given, and sometimes in both 
substance and practice.  However, an interesting and equally occurring 
tendency seems to be that "contrarians" and "activists on the left" tend to 
burn out and become apathetic more than their right-leaning and reactionary 
counterparts who seem to be blessed with not only an abundance of energy, 
stamina, and commitment but the resources to support that abundance.



-----Original Message----- 
From: C. G. Estabrook
Sent: Tuesday, November 02, 2010 8:40 AM
To: Peace-discuss
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Nurembore Rally

     MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2010
     Nurembore Rally

Jon Stewart's Sanity show was one of the oddest, at times dumbest events 
I've
seen. I'm not sure what it actually was or what its organizers hoped to
accomplish, but American reality is no saner today than it was before the 
weekend.

In essence, the rally served as a three-hour Comedy Central commercial, with 
a
"play nice" sermon attached. Even by tame American satirical standards,
Stewart's laugh-in was a dud. It reminded us how utterly empty the present
culture is, and how subservient countless Americans remain. At least 
Woodstock
'99 had Rage Against The Machine. Sadly, Rage would've been profoundly out 
of
place on Stewart's stage. Too angry. Too political. Too partisan. Eeek!

I'm not surprised. For as clever as Stewart, Colbert, and their writing 
staffs
can be, they are at bottom corporate mouthpieces, part of the very 
distraction
Stewart bewailed in his closing monologue. Indeed, Stewart's focus on cable 
news
channels and their corrosive influence on the body politic proved how
disconnected he truly is. The vast majority of Americans don't watch these
channels, so their lives and public behavior aren't coarsened by blather and
sensation. Daily American life batters them enough without O'Reilly and
Olbermann screaming in their faces.

Stewart's main audience are white, college-educated/age liberals with deep
self-regard. For them, politics is basically voting Democrat and little 
more.
This was seen on the faces in the crowd, and on several signs, celebrating
superiority to Tea Partiers and the ability to spell correctly. Looking at 
them,
you felt no sense of alarm, no anger about present conditions, no effort to 
make
their desires (whatever they are) reality. Just solipsism, smugness, waving 
at
the cameras like they were at a ball game. Afghanistan? The economy? Boring!
Appletinis after the show? Sweet!

Again, this comes as no shock. Hostility to political action and 
indifference to
political thought runs through this crowd. I've seen it up close, and the
precision with which the larger culture has depoliticized contemporary youth 
is
both remarkable and heartbreaking. Obama's PR blitz in '08 successfully
exploited this sorry condition, and his re-election campaign HOPEs to 
harness it
once more. It may work. Judging from those empty smiles at Stewart's rally, 
this
crop of consumers remains ripe for the fucking.

Unlike Jon Stewart, Bill Maher isn't shy in making his true feelings known. 
On
last Friday's Real Time, Maher noted that in England, more and more newborn 
boys
are being named Mohammed.

"Am I a racist to feel I'm alarmed by that? Because I am. And it's not 
because
of the race. It's because of the religion. I don't have to apologize, do I, 
for
not wanting the Western world to be taken over by Islam in 300 years?"

Well, unless China becomes a Muslim country, I wouldn't worry about Sharia 
Law
spreading westward. But I understand Bill's anxiety -- white male 
"contrarians"
tend to become more reactionary as they age. Still I wonder: Given the 
growing
Latino population, is Maher equally alarmed by Spanish-speaking Christians
naming their sons Jesus? Not that said concern would be racist, of course.

POSTED BY DENNIS PERRIN AT 9:23 AM
http://dennisperrin.blogspot.com/2010/11/nurembore-rally.html
_______________________________________________
Peace-discuss mailing list
Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss