By Jason Miller

Each day untold millions of US Americans unwittingly immerse themselves in an intellectual, social, cultural, economic, political and spiritual cesspool so rancid and toxic that even microbes with the most voracious appetites for human waste, vomit, and inanimate flesh would shun this infinitely repulsive sewer.

by Jason Miller

Possessing "all-American" looks, exhibiting unwavering patriotism, and fulfilling her self-designated role as spokesperson for "sane adults," Kathleen Parker is one of the establishment's chief proponents in the corporate media. As such, she provides relentless cover for a class of criminals who put Al Capone and his associates to shame.

Peggy Noonan (born Margaret Ellen Noonan on September 7, 1950 in Brooklyn, New York) is an author of seven books on politics, religion and culture and a weekly columnist for the Wall Street Journal. She is a graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University in Rutherford, New Jersey, and was a Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan.

"So begins the Wiki entry for Noonan in one of the Web's most supposedly impartial information platforms. In fact, who would suspect, from that innocuous sentence, that Noonan is almost exactly the opposite of that description? Because if there is one thing for sure about Noonan it is this: Noonan is not a true populist, nor, for that matter, a friend of the working class. But, then again, populist posturing has been the staple of rightwing and fascistoid sellouts since Mussolini and Hitler opened the franchise in the 1920s." from the introduction to this piece as it appears on Cyrano's Journal Online (

Essay by Jason Miller

5/2/07

"Let them call me rebel, and welcome; I feel no concern from it. For I should suffer the misery of devils, were I to make a whore of my soul."

--Thomas Paine

By Jason Miller

"'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.

'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat. 'We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.'

'How do you know I'm mad?' said Alice.

'You must be," said the Cat. 'or you wouldn't have come here.'"

---Lewis Carroll

Awakening to a masochistic impulse last Sunday, I opened the Op-Ed section of my local paper, The Kansas City Star. Throwing caution to the wind, I plunged headlong into the mind-engulfing thicket of sophistry. Running for my intellectual life, I felt the collective breath of the ravening wolves thirsting to rip the jugular vein coursing with the life-blood of my capacity for independent thought. Driven by an insatiable hunger to devour the cognitions of those who strayed from the herd, the voracious pack pursued me with a vengeance. Yet today I was moving with the agility of Brer Rabbit navigating the Briar Patch. Powered by critical thinking and a fierce determination to maintain my noetic integrity, I evaded the ferocious canines' furious bid to sink their razor-like fangs into the succulent gray matter they craved. Emerging from the tortuous copse, my psyche was bloodied but intact. And more importantly, it remained free.

By Jason Miller

"Patriotism ... is a superstition artificially created and maintained through a network of lies and falsehoods; a superstition that robs man of his self-respect and dignity, and increases his arrogance and conceit."

---Emma Goldman

9/20/06: Populist Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez had the sheer audacity to stand before the United Nations and deliver an angry diatribe against the enemy of humanity. Dispensing with mealy-mouthed pleasantries, he verbally savaged Bush in his fiery oration. Chavez knows an abhorrent war criminal when he sees one and he isn't one to mince words or use polite euphemisms.

In part one, I discover dormant political material from hell.

Do Something!

The voice on the other end of the phone is emphatic, "Why don't you Democrats DO SOMETHING! I'm a World War II vet and I think you're going to raise taxes."

He sounds like my father who died a few years ago. He was a World War II vet as well - Iwo Jima and the Pacific theatre. He never, ever spoke about the war. Not once in memory. But I saw the military books he hid away in a basement room on a higher shelf. I shouldn't have opened them.

Pages were filled with piles of dead bodies. I learned a lot about war in those pages. What can anyone talk about. How do you explain, justify, or account for what happens in war. There's nothing to say. I don't want to talk about it either.

My dad, like his fellow brothers and sisters came home from war and created the most successful, progressive, Democratic country on earth. A thriving middle class economic engine fueled employment, health, and social services unparalleled anywhere in a country this size. Today, they've been brainwashed to turn their backs on their own success. American Dream? What American Dream?

"We're not going to raise your taxes."

"Look I HATE THESE PEOPLE. I don't like what Bush is doing either. But you Democrats don't do anything about it! Why don't you DO SOMETHING!"

"We're trying, sir. We're all trying. Give Joe the benefit of your doubt. Thanks."

Later, I click on the youtube video smearing Courtney. There's that pile of bodies again. I think of the indignity of dying like that, naked, anonymous, humiliated - no final prayer. Whoever CT-CIA is, they have no idea how gruesome or outrageous the use of these pictures is. They have to come down. The voice of the dead would scream out to anyone, "How dare you use this shame for personal gain."

For those of you who remember last year's fight against Sinclair Broadcast Networks' attempt to show "Stolen Honor," a 90 minute anti-Kerry attack ad on the eve of the election, it is important to note that, once Sinclair was properly educated on the irresponsibility of its actions, it decided to do the responsible thing.  It aired only a small portion of Stolen Honor in the middle of a special that examined issues of how documentaries and other media influence elections:

There's something about Bush declaring a smackdown of Hezbollah that reminds me of the Pharoah Ramses II and his truthiness version of the battle of Qadesh. In 1273, Ramses declared victory over the Hittites despite massive Egyptian casualties and the loss of Syria. Lo and behold, as Bush does his hamster dance of hegemony, here comes Hezbollah's announcement of historic, strategic victory.

Myth: A traditional story accepted as history; serves to explain the world view of a people.

Myths are as old as humanity. Some provide useful insights.  Some provide comforting notions. Some are merely entertaining.  Some are downright dangerous -- especially if you confuse them for historical facts.

Rulers have relied on the power of myths to lead and mislead people since time immemorial.   I call it "Mything the Point" when myths are used to mislead people.  Misleading myths can be hazardous to the health of a society.  Misleading myths, like all lies, beget more lies. That is why we need to weed them out on a routine basis.  If we let them go unchallenged, they will run riot and eventually choke us in our sleep.  

Which brings me to a myth that needs to be uprooted:

VALUE VOTERS

There have been several excellent takedowns of the odious David Horowitz recently, one by our own Bill Hare, and a series by the relentless Aaron Barlow, one of Horowitz's most trenchant critics.  In one of his more extended critiques this past week, Barlow shows how Horowitz's pretense toward intellectual thoroughness through his use of prosopography (the collective study of a group of people to identify common trends and traits), is a sham, for the very simple reason that he has pre-selected those professors he deems to be most "unhinged."

There is a spot-on reply by commenter pico to this particular entry, one that highlights something that is at the very heart of conservatarian propaganda:

On a broader note, what Horowitz is doing is not surprising: this method of argumentation is the Right's most common and most pernicious: argument by anecdotal evidence.  Think about it:

• A school in some podunk community changes the lyrics to "Silent Night" = War on Christmas.

• A minority is offended by some term his/her boss uses = Political Correctness run amok.

• A comment left on Michelle Malkin's weblog = the Left is unhinged.

• A teacher asks for a moment of silence instead of outright calling it prayer = War on Religion in the classroom.

This is Bill O'Reilly's favorite technique, incidentally.  No background, no research, no context - just stories about 'crazy' people that are used to formulate his personal war on culture.

Well the puppet master will finally break his silence on shooting a man.

A belated start on what was obvious to anyone on scene or down the pipeline.

Fox News (where else?) will feature the sharpshooter Veep at 2:00 pm EST today.  

No doubt everything will be cleared up then.  I'll update only if anything new "comes to light."

(No link here to Fox, by the way. Go there at your own risk.)

A short time ago, I received an email from my friend Vonnie (as follows):

Hi Jason,

The following being friendly banter between my lobbyist pal, (who actually lobbies for AZ Governor), and myself. I am sure a sparring ring with the two of you would be fun to witness... I love to hear a good debate. Thought if someone put some heat under your ass you might snap out of your "funk" and start writing again. Hope you find your inspiration soon.
Vonnie

The letter written to Vonnie from the lobbyist (BRG) concerning my book (Propaganda 101: Mastery of the Dark Arts) is below.  My comments pertaining to each paragraph are identified with my intitials (JDG).  

Broken-hearted.  Bewildered.  Betrayed.  Bereft.

That's the emotional state of much of the Union.

Contrast that with the Bush view, recently expressed on his junket in Kansas City:

"You can't lead the nation, you can't make good decisions, unless you're optimistic about the future."

Two views, or two Americas?

One of the great frustrations of those of us who inhabit the Reality-Based Community over the past five to ten years is just how much better the Right and its powerful media allies are at sticking to a script than our guys seem to be.  They pick a point, blast fax it out to all outlets, and hammer it home again and again.  However off base or factually incorrect, it becomes part of the common consciousness; it acquries, as Stephen Colbert has noted, a certain "truthiness" (or becomes "factesque") which is more powerful than truth.  Thus the Mighty Wurlitzer at work.

So it has been extremely encouraging to this observer how well the Democrats seem to be doing in sticking with the "Culture of Corruption" theme in this election year.   (John Kerry's remarks on This Week are the latest example.)  The Democratic Party even has an entire (well-designed) page on their website about it.   Unlike most of the GOP's truthy lies, it is based on fundamental truths, and if repeated enough, it might be that rarest of beasts, both true and truthy.

As most us are working through the waning hours Friday just trying to withstand the onslaught of multitasking, bills, errands, routine challenges, while ignoring the corrupt state of affairs governing their country, Republicans have been busy framing their "come back to Jesus" moment before Bush delivers his SOTU later this month.  So much to spin; so little time.

Take a trip through today's Republican weapons of mass deception, or what the American Dialect Society and Stephen Colbert might term truthiness.

From reliable source Scott McClellan:

President Bush will visit the ultra-secret National Security Agency on Wednesday, underscoring his claim that he has the constitutional authority to let intelligence officials listen in on international phone calls of Americans with suspected ties to terrorists.

"We are stepping up our efforts to educate the American people."

There.  Feel better, now?  Scott McClellan, et al., "are educating" us.