Wednesday, May 22, 2013

GOODBYE TIN-FOIL HAT.

I mentioned the other day that some of the brethren think Obama used mind control like some kind of supervillain to get his minions to persecute the Tea Party. Today James Taranto takes this to a whole new level.

First he recounts some recent secret-message fantasies by various press dopes. For example, Kimberley Strassel says Obama "publicly call[ed] out by name political opponents whom he'd like to see harassed." I guess "harrassed" was part of the telepathic rather than the verbal component of the President's public statements, as I don't recall hearing them or seeing them in the transcript -- or maybe Obama's magic powers rendered all but bureaucrats blind and deaf to them.

Then Taranto explains:
Jaded political observers listened to Candidate Obama and heard (depending on their leanings) either a viciously desperate politician or a feisty fighter. Agents of the government heard President Obama, their ultimate boss, urging them to turn their attention toward evildoers. 
As we've repeatedly argued, if that is the extent of Obama's involvement in the scandal, it is much more worrisome than if the persecution of dissidents was carried out under his direct orders. It would mean that the government itself--the permanent institutions of the state, not just the administration currently in office--has turned against the citizenry and the Constitution.
So, if Obama directly told IRS officials to intimidate the TP people, it wouldn't be as bad as if he used mind-rays to make it happen on the zombie hordes. Of course if they had evidence of direct non-magic intervention by Obama, I'm sure they would be happy to have it to put in a bill of impeachment. But they don't, so they have to impeach Washington, if only figuratively, as Obama's magic co-conspirators.

It doesn't say much for their cause that even as the hearings proceed, they're devoting this much effort to the Harry Potter version.

72 comments:

  1. Politics is a giant Rorschach ink blot.


    Except when you're dealing with MY opinion, I mean. My positions are always objective and never mere projections of my loves and fears.

    ReplyDelete
  2. sharculese10:53 AM

    Jaded political observers listened to Candidate Obama and heard (depending on their leanings) either a viciously desperate politician



    You know, if you're one of the people who spent the 2012 campaign weaving fantasies that despite all evidence to the contrary, Obama was losing the election badly and acting out of desperation, I don't think you get to call yourself a jaded political observer.

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  3. sharculese10:57 AM

    Also, this is a brilliant example of the "he hit back! no fair!" school of Republican bullying. Obama is an illegal Kenyan Marxist who hates America and has never had a real job? We're just asking questions. Obama speaks in less than glowing terms about his political opponents? That's a Constitutional crisis.

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  4. You know, if I worked for the IRS and was looking to prioritise, I might consider focussing my attention on people who constantly harp on about the evils of taxation...

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  5. PulletSurprise12:04 PM

    This crowd will keep muttering "Obama Kedavra!" in the hopes that one day, there will be proof that conservatism is magical.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Formerly_Nom_De_Plume12:06 PM

    Rorschach


    You rang?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Glock H. Palin, Esq.12:10 PM

    As we've repeatedly argued, if [much less shocking claim], it is much more worrisome than if [original overblown claim that has been shown to be false].


    Because of course it is. The most worrisome thing is whatever scandal is left over after all their original accusations collapse.



    (Also, props for the Mingus reference.)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Big_Bad_Bald_Bastard12:27 PM

    Gotta love right-wingers... sensible gun control is so difficult, it shouldn't be attempted, but mind control is easy

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  9. Big_Bad_Bald_Bastard12:32 PM

    Once again, we have a clear cut case of projection- they are used to speaking in code and using dogwhistles, and their minions are susceptible to the most juvenile propaganda, so they assume their political opponents are similar.

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  10. PulletSurprise12:36 PM

    You ought to read what Alex Jones says about weather control. The NOAA's Storm Production Center can create and steer groups of tornados, create floods, and manipulate snowfall on behalf of insurance companies to prevent claims by ski resorts.

    ReplyDelete
  11. hellslittlestangel12:37 PM

    Obama is a power-crazed madman who must be sto-- ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD.

    ReplyDelete
  12. hellslittlestangel12:40 PM

    The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a cyclone is a good guy with a counter-cyclone. Surely weather weapons are protected by the 2nd Amendment.

    ReplyDelete
  13. BG, ribbons in my hair12:44 PM

    They knew he was about to take over their minds whenever he first said, "Oooga booga!"

    ReplyDelete
  14. wileywitch12:52 PM

    Oh. So suddenly one of them becomes aware of how institutional racism works.


    sigh

    ReplyDelete
  15. hellslittlestangel12:56 PM

    I'm afraid I have some bad news Mr. Taranto -- the other day, Obama was heard to mutter, "Who will rid me of this meddlesome Wall Street Journal columnist?"

    ReplyDelete
  16. Big_Bad_Bald_Bastard1:00 PM

    Obama is obviously in league with the Deros.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Gromet1:13 PM

    The Kenyan birth is actually a ruse devised to keep people angry so that they never look DEEPER and learn that Obama isn't human at all, but is a shapeshifting Reptilian from Alpha Draconis. THINK, just for a minute: Do you have ANY actual proof that Obama was born on Earth? You do not. WAKE UP, SHEEPLE.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Windhorse1:28 PM

    It would mean that the government itself-- the permanent institutions of the state, not just the administration currently in office--has turned against the citizenry and the Constitution.

    Obama broke the government! Party's over!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Halloween_Jack1:30 PM

    Salon's Joan Walsh is spoiling for a catfight with our colleagues Kim Strassel and Peggy Noonan [emphasis mine]

    Looks like Jimmy still hasn't clued in as to one of the main reasons why his team went down so hard last fall. But maybe he believes that repeatedly praising Nooners is some sort of proof otherwise, propping her up versus not only Joan Walsh but Nate Silver. Did he lose some sort of bar bet with her?

    ReplyDelete
  20. sharculese2:06 PM

    I would definitely bet on Nooners in a drink off, that's for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  21. http://wonkette.com/275831/peggy-noonan-saw-a-mexican
    ~

    ReplyDelete
  22. Jay B.3:00 PM

    Yeah, at least Nixon was hands on about this kind of thing.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Jaime Oria3:20 PM

    I'll just leave this here -

    ReplyDelete
  24. rickmassimo4:11 PM

    "As we've repeatedly argued, if that is the extent of Obama's involvement
    in the scandal, it is much more worrisome than if the persecution of
    dissidents was carried out under his direct orders."


    He's even MORE guilty if we DON'T have any evidence!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Waffle_Man4:22 PM

    COINTELPRO.

    That's my one word argument. It's not like I'm in favor of the IRS assuming any group with the word "constitution" in it's name is a tax evader, but this is just a lesser version of the same shit the US Government has been pulling fairly frequently since before James Taranto was born.

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  26. smut clyde4:26 PM

    Old-school!
    http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8047/8392005824_f88f6b48f2_o.jpg

    ReplyDelete
  27. smut clyde4:30 PM

    1. Does Taranto explain how he broke the key to Obama's secret code-talking communication channel?
    2. Does he realise THE DANGER HE IS IN while he possesses that information? Once Breitbart was struck down with the orbital heart-attack beam, no-one was safe.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Windhorse4:36 PM

    Brilliant. This is just another form of the argument "The fact that we have not found Saddam's WMD's is proof that he has them."

    ReplyDelete
  29. smut clyde4:47 PM

    Politics is a giant Rorschach ink blot.
    I looked at politics and saw a skull. Also two elephants fighting.
    Was that the right answer?

    ReplyDelete
  30. smut clyde4:59 PM

    UPDATE -- Boing-Boing informs me that it's not "code-talking", it's "social steganography".

    ReplyDelete
  31. satch5:18 PM

    I've checked around this here intertubes thingy, and it has been damn near impossible to unearth actual facts that the average mook, like me, wants to know. Which conservative groups were targeted? Names, please. What does "targeted" actually mean in this context? Audits? Requests for more information? Delays? How many groups were there? Is it REALLY true that ONLY conservative groups were targeted? If so, why was the only group to have its request denied a progressive group? Of the total number of groups seeking exemptions, what percentage were conservative? I'm sure others have questions as well, which only goes to illustrate the skill the media have shown in fanning the flames of "SCANDAL!!!" without actually providing information.

    ReplyDelete
  32. LookWhosInTheFreezer5:26 PM

    Didn't Obama once say that he would negotiate with Iran? Taranto's next article will be an expose on how Obama sent that message back in time and hypnotized the Reagan administration into committing Iran/Contra.

    ReplyDelete
  33. AGoodQuestion5:47 PM

    The only thing worse than if Obama told the IRS to go after his enemies is if he didn't have to tell them. Taranto certainly has all the bases covered. Covered in what I daren't say.

    ReplyDelete
  34. AGoodQuestion5:49 PM

    Windbag in Groucho disguise seen boarding plane for Argentina. Film at 11.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Big_Bad_Bald_Bastard6:14 PM

    This is coming from a guy who was probably cool with the Bush administration staffing government agencies with Regents University grads.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Big_Bad_Bald_Bastard6:23 PM

    Obama's no Reptilian, he's half black and half white, so obviously he's a Grey.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Big_Bad_Bald_Bastard6:23 PM

    At the risk of coming across as a "hoor"... Obama's Weather-Smurfing Machine.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Al Swearengen6:41 PM

    It's the perfect shitstorm of "Heads I win, tails you lose."

    ReplyDelete
  39. montag26:52 PM

    The corollary might be phrased, "Tea Partiers are doing their level best to intimidate and threaten sane people everywhere--including with loaded guns--just because they are excitable and have overactive imaginations and some long-suppressed racial grudges. Maybe they're long overdue for a little persecution, just to even the score."

    ReplyDelete
  40. Tudor Jennings6:56 PM

    You know, the government stole all of Wilhelm Reich's cloudbusting equipment. Just saying....

    ReplyDelete
  41. Al Swearengen6:56 PM

    You must lose a lot with that argument.

    ReplyDelete
  42. whetstone7:10 PM

    if that is the extent of Obama's involvement in the scandal, it is much more worrisome than if the persecution of dissidents was carried out under his direct orders

    Someone *totally* didn't understand that discussion about the "Green Lantern Theory of Presidential Power."

    ReplyDelete
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  44. Tudor Jennings9:28 PM

    This city is afraid of me. I've seen its true face. The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and
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    Oops, sorry. Wrong Rorschach!

    ReplyDelete
  45. Tudor Jennings9:36 PM

    I always knew that Source Code was based on a true story.


    Incidentally, so is Moon - except we obviously don't know that yet. But it is.

    ReplyDelete
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  47. Atticus Dogsbody9:50 PM

    One of our Aussie cyclones should do you right.


    Our conservative Prime Minister tried to ban them in 1996, but not even he could go against the rights of the people.

    ReplyDelete
  48. redoubt10:33 PM

    It would mean that the government itself-- the permanent institutions of the state, not just the administration currently in office--has turned against the citizenry and the Constitution.


    More words that never got written during the Cheney Administration.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Windhorse10:46 PM

    Exactly. Never mind the fact that some of these IRS people were Bush appointees, as are thousands of others in this government which apparently has turned on its citizenry.

    Somehow Obama's powerful Kenyan juju is able to turn lifelong civil servants, drooling Regent University grads - even Daughters of the American Revolution working in the GAO against good, patriotic "merkins.

    I personally blame it on him never having had a father figure to teach him to tame his powerful telepathic abilities, but I'm no expert in psionics.

    ReplyDelete
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  52. I think there's a video game in which you can play Obama and KILL ALL CONSERVATIVES.


    I blame that.

    ReplyDelete
  53. smut clyde6:20 AM

    Extra points for the title.
    I've been singing it to the tune of "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road".

    ReplyDelete
  54. mommadillo6:25 AM

    Whenever Strassel rears her ugly head, I'm reminded of her odious defense of animal abuse to take a cheap shot at Hillary Clinton.

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  55. Halloween_Jack8:16 AM

    That was the level of Castle Krugmanstein 3D that I could never beat.

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  57. Big_Bad_Bald_Bastard12:30 PM

    I thought it was K-Lo: Conbots Evolved.

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  58. KatWillow12:35 PM

    Just imagine if Obama had the ability to influence other person's actions by just thinking! Who would he concentrate on first- Boner or McConnell, or some low-level IRS worker? If it was ME, I'd be thinking really hard at the Starbuck's barrista, so I'd get less foam on my latte.

    ReplyDelete
  59. KatWillow12:40 PM

    This comment wins the thread.

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  60. It's all in the chemtrails :)

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    Supersonic Aluminum Nazi Hell Creatures from Beneath the Hollow Earth !!!

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    Otherwise known as "Saturday date night".

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  65. satch9:31 PM

    If Obama really had mind power, it'd be better if it were something along the lines of this:

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  66. satch9:52 PM

    I was thinking more along the line of Scanners...

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  67. littlebrowndog8:36 AM

    Really? I was thinking Mingus.

    ReplyDelete
  68. You are on the right track, no pun intended. But how can a semblance of a being "think!" I think in the lower order sense! Kind of like a dog who fetches!

    ReplyDelete
  69. Buckeye Nut Schell10:45 AM

    Ben Bova was my favorite author as a kid. I read every book I could get my hands on (Escape being my favorite). Back around '82 sometime, I was on a trip to Lake Erie and left my 3/4 finished copy of "Weather Makers" in a Burger King and I have never gotten to finish it. I think I will order it from Amazon so I can finally learn what happens thirty+ years later.

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  70. DemoChristian7:52 PM

    No group of conservative donor hiding "social welfare organizations" was denied tax exempt status. There is no scandal. There is only media complicit electioneering.

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