tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20524196.post120930447071818925..comments2024-02-14T11:00:03.180-05:00Comments on Tom McLaughlin: Write, Left, RightTom McLaughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07691546351143209227noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20524196.post-12207403835215015132012-07-25T14:19:45.489-04:002012-07-25T14:19:45.489-04:00Tom,I started out as a straight-party-ticket Democ...Tom,I started out as a straight-party-ticket Democrat myself. There are many reasons why I woke up and switched to the right, but two individuals had much to do with it: Jimmy Carter (for whom I campaigned in college) and Ronald Reagan. It's interesting that you have so many readers who feel the need to follow what you write despite posting comments that indicate they believe themselves to be vastly superior to you and 99.9% of humanity. I wonder how many of these people also watch the television they claim to despise. That's another thing I quit doing over 20 years ago. I have never missed TV OR being a Democrat! Thanks for the post.Jules Hnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20524196.post-26925781476892513222012-07-21T08:51:49.274-04:002012-07-21T08:51:49.274-04:00Is this an attempt at some kind of Stephen Colbert...Is this an attempt at some kind of Stephen Colbert copy cat piece? Because it is damn funny. Good jobGonzonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20524196.post-20981057150875298972012-07-20T10:17:01.154-04:002012-07-20T10:17:01.154-04:00Would your government lie to you?
ha ha ha ha ha ...Would your government lie to you?<br /><br />ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha <br />ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha <br />ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha <br />ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20524196.post-69101964876004863422012-07-19T11:02:48.290-04:002012-07-19T11:02:48.290-04:00I think you're right on the money, Mr. Smith. ...I think you're right on the money, Mr. Smith. Arthur Miller said, "The only thing I'm reasonably sure of is that anybody who's got an ideology has stopped thinking." A person's deep desire to believe, or their fear/reluctance to challenge their own beliefs is catered to by the FOX news and MSNBCs of the media world. People subsist on those channels because they know they'll never have to think, they'll just have to agree. Partisans gravitate to those sources because they want to be lied to. They want to hear from people who to take the position that our party is responsible for everything good that's happened to this country and the other party is responsible for everything bad that's ever happened to this country. The idiot box has become a source of enlightenment for far too many in this country. It's all just opinion, and people are eager to accept it as researched fact.Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01343163377040116742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20524196.post-14965328467391455952012-07-19T09:14:37.468-04:002012-07-19T09:14:37.468-04:00"The subjugated mind of those adhering to dua..."The subjugated mind of those adhering to dualism is in the process of destroying its own inner layers so that no complexity can be seen. It is now a myopic puppet that cannot recognize the brilliance or beauty of what is true and real. It can only see what fits inside the notions predefined by those with less imagination."<br /><br /><br />Yes.........Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20524196.post-68669662993937221122012-07-19T08:09:15.240-04:002012-07-19T08:09:15.240-04:00..con't
The subjugated mind of those adhering.....con't<br /><br />The subjugated mind of those adhering to dualism is in the process of destroying its own inner layers so that no complexity can be seen. It is now a myopic puppet that cannot recognize the brilliance or beauty of what is true and real. It can only see what fits inside the notions predefined by those with less imagination.<br /><br />It cannot see that there is no right vs. left. Aside from what this interpretation says about the right/left subscribers’ inability to see a clear path in front of them and their inability to look back and reflect on mistakes is the fact that there are options. And there are almost always many more than two. In fact, it is usually not until we see things in multiple dimensions that we gain any perspective. The rights and lefts have become inculcated in and by their own fiction. So it can be said that there is no right vs. left; there is direction.<br /><br />And direction is something of which we are in desperate need in political America. Everything we love about life is much more important than politics, but there is nothing in our world that has been left untouched by politics. It is for this reason that we need to seek direction. But no real, clear, lasting direction will be shown to us without our first looking inward and being honest with ourselves, informing ourselves, and seeking leadership that does not pander to us but levels with us based on its recognition of our ability to reason. Once we are honest with ourselves, break free from the chains of denial, and discontinue supporting criminal elements in suits whose greed has overtaken our world, we will recognize real leadership and honest vision, which cannot be found in corporate mantras professing fiction as reality.<br /><br />http://www.williamsportguardian.com/2011/10/01/political-america-duality-denial/Mr. Smithnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20524196.post-62522588132936830182012-07-19T08:04:47.910-04:002012-07-19T08:04:47.910-04:00“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over ag...“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” — Albert Einstein<br /><br />Hopefully, there will come a time when it is widely understood that people are complex organisms with varying degrees of political persuasions. But these days, the media have become a successful tool in shaping our inner monologues in such a way that many have subscribed to the fallacious, dualistic “liberal vs. conservative” paradigm.<br /><br />When culture is shaped by a dualistic paradigm, intellectual and critical thought cannot reach its potential. This is because those stuck in a dualistic mindset cannot fathom the multidimensional, and so the intellectuals’ attempts to reach out are automatically put into one of two categories.<br /><br />This stunted growth can be observed in the irrational behavior of those in the political arena of the United States with their adherence to dualism, evident in the cognitive denial of Obama and W. Bush supporters.<br /><br />Bill Maher has used the term “working backwards” to describe the process by which one begins with an agenda and makes reality fit in or around it. Rather than beginning with an agenda of truth and a desire to learn the facts, those in denial begin with their supposition, and whether correct or not, make all facts fit into this. Maher is guilty of contradicting himself with his own political assertions, but this doesn’t negate his point.<br /><br />A rephrasing of Einstein’s quote to describe political America would be “Insanity is voting Democrat and Republican over and over again and expecting different results.”<br /><br />A single machine with two major cogs that serve the same purpose, we have one major conglomerate of corporations marketing itself as two dominant political parties, and it is succeeding to such a degree that the Obama presidential campaign won an award for its marketing, beating Apple, Coors, and Nike in the process. They would not have won this award nor spent the largest amount of campaign money in history for marketing that did not work.<br /><br />Call it cognitive denial or willful ignorance, but those most successfully marketed to are the last to recognize it. People need to feel acceptance and go to great lengths to achieve this in life. Teens wanting to fit in will buy into brand consciousness that, for the right price, tells them they are hip, cleverly odd, or independent, and political adults will do the same for imagery and rhetoric that reaffirms their needs or beliefs. Marketing has evolved over time, and people’s acceptance of reality as a marketed entity has evolved right along with it.Mr. Smithnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20524196.post-88029212111154277082012-07-19T07:19:32.694-04:002012-07-19T07:19:32.694-04:00And yet you read it. Why?And yet you read it. Why?Tom McLaughlinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07691546351143209227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20524196.post-18366019585531587782012-07-18T20:16:17.955-04:002012-07-18T20:16:17.955-04:00You say you write for yourself, yet so much of wha...You say you write for yourself, yet so much of what you say pretends to know what is in others hearts and minds, making you just another self-righteous and know-it-all blowhard. Thank goodness for our youth that you are no longer an "educator".Samanthanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20524196.post-44032956521893164422012-07-18T11:32:09.203-04:002012-07-18T11:32:09.203-04:00I have gone back and forth so many times I cannot ...I have gone back and forth so many times I cannot keep track. And that is how it always will be. I am not sure I want to know. Eternity is a long time to deal with a what might be a bad choice.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20524196.post-67973455004828761832012-07-18T10:53:45.374-04:002012-07-18T10:53:45.374-04:00You may write for yourself in order to frame your ...You may write for yourself in order to frame your thinking, but you also write for many of us who are struggling with the plethora of information which surrounds us. <br /><br />It is difficult to winnow the wheat from the chaff.Texas Transplantnoreply@blogger.com