Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Right All Along

From the simple gut reaction that's dependent on your faction
(Everybody wears their heart upon their sleeve)
We can see, with no confusion, how you came to your conclusion:
What is true depends on what you first believe

Chorus:
And it's hip, hip, hooray
For the thing I learned today!
That convinced me I was always right
     and you were always wrong
And it's cheer, cheer, cheer
Cos it couldn't be more clear
I'm not boasting, I'm not bragging,
     but I knew it all along!

All around our mighty nation, finding brand-new information
Makes us more convinced of what we thought before
There's no need for a detective; every comment is projective;
Dr. Rorschach, we don't need you any more!

Chorus

Simply take a look around you, and it's liable to astound you
The objective world has all but disappeared
With our inner thoughts projected, we see just what we expected
And the problem is exactly what we feared

Chorus

Our opinion of the President's not tied to his accomplishments
Instead, it's based on what we think of him
If some Teabag son or daughter saw Obama walk on water
They'd complain because "the President can't swim!"

Chorus


Ok, so I'm not 100% happy with this one, but I had to say something. Regular readers will both recall that I loves me some comment threads. After the Bin Laden news, comment threads have been both a delight and a source of tremendous frustration. Every bit of information that comes in seems to have the effect of strengthening the positions people held before that bit of information showed up.

 Republicans are praising the president for his actions which led directly to the death of our #1 enemy... that's president Bush, of course. Democrats, though, somehow see no reason to credit W at all. Go figure. The president's decision was tremendously brave and embarrassingly cowardly, depending on whom you ask. Torture was and was not useful. Hell, Bin Laden was or was not killed, and Obama was or was not born in the US.

I am reminded of the time my mother-in-law cheered for Reagan when he said he wanted prayer in school.  The dyed-in-the-wool Republican that she is, it must have slipped her mind that she is an atheist.
Posted by at

2 comments:

Johnny Vector said...

Okay, I'll help with your comment thread. I have a bottle of Laphroaig riding on whether any useful information was extracted by torture (I'm betting no). I don't think I'm being blind, since I could imagine a case where some part of the information was got by torture (though I would still condemn its use).

My opposition in this wager has, by way of what he considers winning evidence, pointed to Dick Cheney saying he "assumes" torture was used (he says "enhanced interrogation", but I prefer the Army Field Manual term), and to Leon Panetta saying some of the information came from detainees, and some of the detainees were t*rtured (again relying on a euphemism).

I in turn have pointed out that merely juxtaposing "torture" and "information" in one sentence does not constitute proof, especially when Donald Rumsfeld emphatically states that none of this information was gotten by torture. Now, Rummy may be lying, and I'm open to further data on that, but at this point the claims that torture worked are suspiciously lacking in sequitur.

This friend is not stupid, and I'm sure if the passage were about kittens and puppy dogs he wouldn't have this much difficulty with reading comprehension.

I do sometimes wonder if I'm guilty of the same sin, but I'm just not seeing it here.

And, because I feel I have to rhyme something...

A dirty old man from Riyadh,
Had a plan that was coming from God.
His masculine powers
Unerected two towers;
That shot was the last of his wad.

9:47 PM
Melissa said...

It's human nature to seek out info that supports our views. It's also very stupid in some cases and prevents us from viewing events honestly. It takes effort to seek out the facts and accept them, especially if it conflicts with some idea you hold dear.

1:45 PM

Post a Comment