Nutcase
Nutcase 011211
A Fringe Perspective
Some of my best friends are nutcases, and they all agree that I’m one, too. They know what they’re talking about, so it doesn’t bother me.
But when decent people call me “Nutcase” I take offense. It’s like the other “n” word; you can’t use it if you ain’t one.
You don’t have to look far for people who defy the “nutcase” moniker, people I like to think of as flat-footed, mouth-breathing, white-bread-sucking decent folk. They are everywhere. Almost everywhere; there are none among the readership of the Prospect. People who read the Prospect are insightful, intellectual, intelligent and discerning. We know this because they read the Prospect, it’s an a priori qualification.
However that still leaves plenty of those special, non-nutcase people out there, and a lot of them are very scary.
Great example: People who view Julian Assange as anti-American. I was reading the Bill of Rights the other day, and we have freedom of speech here, not because it makes texting affordable, but because citizens and journalists are supposed to WATCH THE GOVERNMENT better than it watches us. It’s a race we’ve lost.
In addition, Assange did nothing to you and I. He simply let some light in on the dirty dealings of politicians. That’s a good thing.
But all kinds of “patriots” are coming out of the woodwork calling for Assange’s death.
Sarah Palin: "Julian Assange should be targeted like the Taliban"
Fox News Bob Beckel: "A dead man can't leak stuff...This guy's a traitor, he's treasonous, and he has broken every law of the United States. And I'm not for the death penalty, so...there's only one way to do it: illegally shoot the son of a bitch."
Washington Times columnist Jeffery Kuhner: "Headline: Assassinate Assange? Body: Julian Assange poses a clear and present danger to American national security ... The administration must take care of the problem - effectively and permanently."
Already outed as a World Class
lousy lay, now people want to KILL
Julian Assange?
These people are clearly not nutcases, they’re anti-American knuckleheads, and they’re dangerous.
Another great example: people who are willing to kill over health care reform. Health care reform was the subject of Palin’s now infamous “crosshairs” poster. What, mostly, do anti-health care reform zealots object to? That too many people would get health care, or that poor people would get the same health care as rich people. It’s cheaper for businesses to fire and forget sick workers than insure them. The idea that only wealthy people deserve to be healthy is simply selfish and classist. The idea that it’s good to have the underclass sick and desperate is simply stupid.
There is a long list of things decent, patriotic Christians do which are neither one nor the other let alone both. Restricting who may marry whom is a great example; is this India? How about insisting schools DO teach “creationism” but DON’T teach how to avoid getting pregnant?
Another example: killing people for “blasphemy.” Pakistanis, no doubt deeply devout people, all, support the death penalty for “blasphemy.” That means anyone who doesn’t agree that Allah is the One True God and Mohammed is His Prophet can be killed. You can be imprisoned by these holy people for taking down a sacred text. In some countries you can be stoned to death for not following religious laws.
We are protected from that kind of non-nutcase religious fanaticism in the United States, or so you would think.
But right here in our little county we have people who are willing deny a person their livelihood for what these narrow thinkers consider to be “blasphemy”. To these decent people, freedom of speech and freedom from the religion of others are not noble causes, they are blasphemy, which entitle one to poison the community against the sinner. These Christians are perfectly willing to overlook some good advice J.C. gave us: “let him who has not sinned cast the first stone.” It’s not only un-American, and not very Christian, it’s witless.
Given the choice to be decent like all these folk, or be a nutcase, this editor will happily wear a “nutcase” baseball cap, for easy identification.
A Fringe Perspective
Some of my best friends are nutcases, and they all agree that I’m one, too. They know what they’re talking about, so it doesn’t bother me.
But when decent people call me “Nutcase” I take offense. It’s like the other “n” word; you can’t use it if you ain’t one.
You don’t have to look far for people who defy the “nutcase” moniker, people I like to think of as flat-footed, mouth-breathing, white-bread-sucking decent folk. They are everywhere. Almost everywhere; there are none among the readership of the Prospect. People who read the Prospect are insightful, intellectual, intelligent and discerning. We know this because they read the Prospect, it’s an a priori qualification.
However that still leaves plenty of those special, non-nutcase people out there, and a lot of them are very scary.
Great example: People who view Julian Assange as anti-American. I was reading the Bill of Rights the other day, and we have freedom of speech here, not because it makes texting affordable, but because citizens and journalists are supposed to WATCH THE GOVERNMENT better than it watches us. It’s a race we’ve lost.
In addition, Assange did nothing to you and I. He simply let some light in on the dirty dealings of politicians. That’s a good thing.
But all kinds of “patriots” are coming out of the woodwork calling for Assange’s death.
Sarah Palin: "Julian Assange should be targeted like the Taliban"
Fox News Bob Beckel: "A dead man can't leak stuff...This guy's a traitor, he's treasonous, and he has broken every law of the United States. And I'm not for the death penalty, so...there's only one way to do it: illegally shoot the son of a bitch."
Washington Times columnist Jeffery Kuhner: "Headline: Assassinate Assange? Body: Julian Assange poses a clear and present danger to American national security ... The administration must take care of the problem - effectively and permanently."
Already outed as a World Class
lousy lay, now people want to KILL
Julian Assange?
These people are clearly not nutcases, they’re anti-American knuckleheads, and they’re dangerous.
Another great example: people who are willing to kill over health care reform. Health care reform was the subject of Palin’s now infamous “crosshairs” poster. What, mostly, do anti-health care reform zealots object to? That too many people would get health care, or that poor people would get the same health care as rich people. It’s cheaper for businesses to fire and forget sick workers than insure them. The idea that only wealthy people deserve to be healthy is simply selfish and classist. The idea that it’s good to have the underclass sick and desperate is simply stupid.
There is a long list of things decent, patriotic Christians do which are neither one nor the other let alone both. Restricting who may marry whom is a great example; is this India? How about insisting schools DO teach “creationism” but DON’T teach how to avoid getting pregnant?
Another example: killing people for “blasphemy.” Pakistanis, no doubt deeply devout people, all, support the death penalty for “blasphemy.” That means anyone who doesn’t agree that Allah is the One True God and Mohammed is His Prophet can be killed. You can be imprisoned by these holy people for taking down a sacred text. In some countries you can be stoned to death for not following religious laws.
We are protected from that kind of non-nutcase religious fanaticism in the United States, or so you would think.
But right here in our little county we have people who are willing deny a person their livelihood for what these narrow thinkers consider to be “blasphemy”. To these decent people, freedom of speech and freedom from the religion of others are not noble causes, they are blasphemy, which entitle one to poison the community against the sinner. These Christians are perfectly willing to overlook some good advice J.C. gave us: “let him who has not sinned cast the first stone.” It’s not only un-American, and not very Christian, it’s witless.
Given the choice to be decent like all these folk, or be a nutcase, this editor will happily wear a “nutcase” baseball cap, for easy identification.
