RPWL – Wanted

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It’s hardly news that most Euro prog is irreligious at best and atheist at worst. Bands like IQ, who put out generally good albums drop the obligatory anti-Christian lyric in one or two cuts on every one of their releases. Normally I can ignore it, go with the flow and generally just enjoy the music.

I like RPWL. I’ve got most of their albums. It’s not news that they’re not Christians. “God Has Failed” was their first album. Big hint, huh? Still, RPWL is an automatic buy for me. Or was.

You’d have thought they’d have got it out of their system by now. After all, it’s been 14 years and most people grow up. But apparently I needed to be beat over the head with anti-Christian nonsense on the latest release I downloaded, “Wanted,” which is a never ending screed against religion, and managed to irritate the hell out of me.

“Misguided Thought”

“We’re still concealing
That the concept of one god is the ruin of all wisdom
So keep on breathing”

Well, um…I’ll keep that in mind.

“The Attack”

Did you believe we wouldn’t unmask the lie
Your concept of god vs the concept of life

Your sick morality distorts what Is true
Instead of health we find salvation of souls

Seriously?

“Disbelief”

This is your god, god of love
On condition of belief, belief in lies here lies no truth,
Truth can never be your creed,
You believe what you’re allowed not for want of what you need

Really/ I should have lies be my creed? This lyricist is an idiot.

“Wanted”

Wanted convicted by the helpers of the priest
Hunted, indicted for knowledge of release
Wanted, the story wasn’t written in our plans
Hunted the higher human being in our hands

“Hide and Seek”

Haunted by the ghosts of Paul 


(The lyricist has something against Paul for some reason. He gets hit in another song too.)

 All alone i waited for hours and hours and hours and….

Who brings the good news to the poor?
When belief is the sight of the blind
And shadow reigns over the light
Holy apathy is all you can find

“New Dawn”

And the spirits caged in minds
Too much fear that makes us blind
I call that religious
Repressing difference building walls
No tolerance at all
That’s what I call religious

By now you get the idea. Not exactly the atheist version of von Goethe here.

They managed not to piss me off with “Perfect Day,” but by that point I’d already had enough. “Wanted” is not wanted and will land in my never “playlist.” I’m just sorry I paid for it.

The music is pretty typical RPWL, which is to say excellent. I just wish someone would’ve gagged the singer.

Of course, the opposite of RPWL’s “religion” – which they get utterly wrong, of course – is vapid, New Agey stupidity. I expect that from a lot of Euro prog bands too, and RPWL has it here in spades. It’s like listening to a poorly educated, asshole 8th grader’s juvenile metaphysical musings set to lousier poetry. Blech. The bad part is that if they’d have stuck to that I could have at least tolerated it. “World Through My Eyes” wasn’t bad after all.

At least they avoided the neo-pagan (or heathen, whatever) garbage I love so little, so there’s that.

Just for inflicting “Wanted” on me, I’m going to find an nzb file copy of “Plays Pink Floyd” and download it for free.

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Interesting times.

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There’s plenty enough blame to go around. A Party (A) that demonizes it’s opponents and encourages – and justifies – a culture of violence and intimidation backed up by a mass media that enables and condones the worst behavior of it’s constituents and engages in the same hateful rhetoric as the worst actors of Party A.

Another Party (B) that has engaged in enabling some aspects of the Party A’s agenda and, if not condoning, at least keeping silent in the face of Party A’s hateful rhetoric and violent tactics, all while helping to demonize a good chunk of it’s own base and working to ensure that there is no outlet for legitimate expression within Party B.

A portion of the electorate that is marginalized and represented, really, by neither major party; frustrated and angry.

A campaign that engages in “forceful” rhetoric attracts these people who are justifiably, IMO, angry and are in no small part ready to return fire for treatment they’ve had to endure.

Does Trump’s rhetoric incite? Not directly. No. Some of the people who have been attracted to Trump’s campaign are involved in the process this time only because of Trump’s clear and forceful calls for what needs to be done and his breach of the “PC” etiquette that has kept people from even being able to talk about problems that are obvious, except among themselves. Yes they’re angry, and angry people do what angry people do, which is to lash out at the people who have done violence – literally and figuratively – to them.

I understand it and I sympathize. Moreover, it’s something that needs to happen.

Cruz gets this half right; the rhetoric is part of the problem. The tone of Trump’s campaign has attracted and encouraged the angry and marginalized and disenfranchised. I’m not sure if Trump himself understands the tiger he is riding. That the tiger exists isn’t on Trump.

Cruz’s constituency and Trump’s are two heads of the same coin. Principled, religious – and not so religious – constitutionalists have been a political outgroup for more than a century. They’ve attached themselves to one candidate or another from Party B and have made minor inroads and influenced Party B’s rhetoric, if not much more. Party B’s leadership have little more than disdain for them, and barely even try to disguise it. It’s entire election strategy this cycle has been to marginalize and inoculate the process from constitutionalists while saying just enough nice things about us and Trump’s supporters to keep us on the reservation come election day.

Cruz’s own supporters aren’t any happier about where they are than Trump’s, but they’ve been trying to make change from the inside, and that’s right and necessary and so far futile. Sure, a small win here and there, but no meaningful change as the people they manage to elect routinely sell them out.

I’m cynical enough to believe that Trump will revert to form. He’s part of the establishment and always has been. His supporters are due for a huge letdown; I’d like to be wrong. I’ve not been wrong very often. I’m hopeful that Cruz will do as he says he will do. He has a track record of pretty much exactly that; it’s the only reason I support him.

I’m realistic enough to know that, ideally, we need Cruz’s supporters and Trump’s supporters together because we are all in the same book, if not on the same page. The time is coming, faster than you think, where we will either have to stand or fall together. All of us, whether we support Cruz or Trump, are considered enemies by a good chunk of our countrymen.

The want to villify us for what we think. They want prosecute us for what we say. They cheer as our peaceful protestors, or those of us who just wish to be left alone, are harassed or killed. They work against our best interests and against the country’s best interests. They hate us.

Well, guess what? The feeling is mutual.

I don’t want to see what’s coming. But it comes nonetheless.

Cruz for President

Robert Reich on Facebook:   January 20

 

5 reasons Ted Cruz is even more dangerous than Donald Trump.

 

1. He’s more fanatical. Trump is a bully and bigot but doesn’t hew to any sharp ideological line. Cruz is a fierce ideologue: He denies the existence of man-made climate change, rejects same-sex marriage, wants to abolish the Internal Revenue Service, believes the 2nd amendment guarantees everyone a right to guns, doesn’t believe in a constitutional divide between church and state, favors the death penalty, opposes international agreements, embraces a confrontational foreign policy, rejects immigration reform, demands the repeal of “every blessed word of Obamacare,” and takes a strict “originalist” view of the meaning of the Constitution.

 

2. Cruz is a true believer. Trump has no firm principles except making money, getting attention, and gaining power. But Cruz really does detest the federal government, and has spent much of his life embracing radical right economic and political views. When Cruz said “we are facing what I consider to be the epic battle of our generation,” he wasn’t referring to jihadist terrorism but to Obamacare.

 

3. He’s Smarter. Trump is no slouch but he hasn’t given any indication of a sharp mind. Cruz is razer-sharp: It’s not just his degrees from Princeton and Harvard Law, along with an impressive record at Harvard, or even his winning arguments before the Supreme Court. For his entire adult life he’s been a fierce debater with a intensely-logical debater’s mind.

 

4. He’s more disciplined and strategic. Trump is all over the place, often winging it, saying whatever pops into his mind. Cruz hews to a clear script and a carefully crafted strategy. He plays the long game (as he’s shown in Iowa). Cruz’s legal career entailed a sustained use of the courts to achieve conservative ends, and he plots his moves carefully.

 

5. Cruz is a loner who’s willing to destroy institutions. Trump has spent his career using the federal government and making friends with big shots. Not Cruz. Most of his Republican colleagues in the Senate detest him. And Cruz is eager to destroy: He has repeatedly crossed to the other side of the Capitol and led House Republicans toward fiscal cliffs. In the Fall of 2013, Cruz’s strident opposition to Obamacare – including a 21-hour talking marathon — led in a significant way to the shutdown of the federal government.

 

Both men would be disasters for America, but Cruz would be the larger disaster.

 

What do you think?

I think:

 

The GOPe win if Trump succeeds in the primary but loses the general and they keep their space at the trough.
The GOPe win if Cruz or Paul win the primary but lose the general as long as they keep their places at the trough.
The GOPe win if somehow one of their pets wins the primary and loses the general and they keep their space at the trough.
The GOPe win if Trump or one of the GOPe pets somehow manages to win the general.
The Demonrats don’t lose if any of the above happen and get an outright win if the Dem nominee wins the general.
The only possibility – note that I said possibility – that the GOPe and the Dems lose is if either Cruz or Paul win the general. Between those two, Cruz is the better candidate.
 

Robert Reich, Demonrat extraordinaire, agrees with this assessment.
 

Cruz 2016

The Clown Show Continues…

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MSNBC 1/26/2016 – Donald Trump, a warmed over NYC libtard with a big mouth, spews:

“I think I’m going to be able to get along with Pelosi. I’ve always had a good relationship with Nancy Pelosi. I’ve never had a problem.”

“Frankly, if I weren’t running for office I’d be able to deal with [Pelosi], I’d be able to deal with Reid, I’d be able to deal with anybody…
Hey look, I think I’ll be able to get along well with Chuck Schumer. I was also very good with Schumer. I was close to Schumer in many ways.”

“Where are the clowns? There ought to be Clowns. Well, The Donald is here…’

Complete with dancing Trumpsters!

Let’s Make A Deal! NOT…

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I’ve been saying all along that this election is about breaking the GOPe. I thought all along that Cruz would be the best candidate. I’ve been saying for some time that if it’s got to be Trump, the goal is still to break the GOPe. Cruz, then Trump – because the GOPe has to be broken to build a true opposition party.

I’ve sometimes wondered aloud if Trump might just be TPTB answer to voter unrest. And now, it turns out that that is likely the case.

I’ve watched over the past couple of weeks as the GOPe has come out in support of Trump and, suddenly, I’m in the same position I have been for the last 7 elections. The GOPe can make a deal with Trump? Well, sorry. Not interested.

Donald Trump has been on the wrong side of every issue I care about, and all of a sudden he’s done a 180 and I DON’T TRUST HIM. If – and it’s a big if – he follows through on what he says he’ll do on immigration, I’ll be amazed. I suspect he’ll find a way to make a deal on that issue too.

I’m sick of cronyism. I’m sick of watching our freedom being whittled away day after day, administration after administration. I’m sick of seeing our joke of a legislative body allowing presidents to rule by executive fiat and unaccountable bureaucracies.

And I’m tired. If it’s not Cruz, then I’m done. I’ve already stopped giving even token money to the GOP, even on the state level. If it turns out it’s Trump, my vote – as if my one vote ever really mattered – will go elsewhere.

In 8 years, assuming the actuaries are wrong, I’ll hopefully be retired and sucking up some of the gravy I’ve been giving everyone else to suck up in the form of my taxes ever since I was 14 years old. And I simply won’t give a damn any more. It will no longer be my headache.

Good luck, Millennials. You’re going to need it.

57 Years

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Well, whoopdedoo.

I’d apologize, but it wasn’t my fault.

Audit the FED

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ACTION ITEM

Senator Rand Paul has introduced and “fast-tracked” S.2232, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2015. But…

1. We must act fast — BEFORE JAN. 12, 2016! — to demand of Congress: Audit the Fed! I sent a letter to my “representatives” in Congress using Downsize DC’s “Audit the Fed” campaign. I’m going to share my letter with you, so you can copy and paste it.
2. But you shouldn’t act alone. We need others to join us in sending a letter to Congress. Numbers matter. So, reach out to five people who will passionately agree and ask them to join you.

This is doubly important, because…

There’s a long-term STRATEGY at work…

Downsize DC is focused on its original intent — building an army so large that it can exert overwhelming pressure on Congress to make them submit.

Our goal for this year — recruit 100,000 people to pressure Congress. This issue is a chance to further that goal. Find people who agree that the Fed should be audited, and ask them to send a message to Congress.

The hardwired letter to Congress at the Audit the Fed campaign starts this way…

It’s time to “Audit the Fed.” You must PASS S. 2232 the Federal Reserve Transparency Act.

To which, I added…

The Fed regulates banks, influences interest rates, and determines the size of our money supply. The Fed’s policies determine the value of our money, the health of the economy, and the rates we pay to borrow.

But for too long, the Federal Reserve Board has acted under a cloak of secrecy.

• It’s decision-making process is secret.
• Minutes from meetings come three weeks after decisions are announced.
• The Comptroller General is legally prohibited from auditing several important FED activities.

But the economic consequences of Fed policies can be just as devastating to our lives as are taxes, regulations, and even war…

• Many economists, including former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke, blame the Fed, in one way or another, for the Great Depression
• Many also blame the Fed for harmful booms and busts
• The Fed’s continued inflationary pumping cuts the value of your money, devastating savings and the well being of people on fixed incomes

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky introduced the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2015. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/s2232 It expands congressional oversight of the Fed and gives the Government Accountability Office the authority to review its monetary policy decisions. Now, the bill is “fast tracked” and scheduled for a vote on January 12.

I insist that you vote to Audit the Fed. Support the Federal Reserve Transparency Act. I’ll be watching what you do.

—END LETTER—

After you send your letter to Congress forward this message to five friends that you think probably support the idea of Auditing the Fed. Ask them to join you in sending a letter. Good luck.

Jim Babka
President
Downsize DC

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No matter how you feel about Rand Paul as a candidate for president, he understands the need to rein in the FED.

Now is the time.