Brass Knuckles

Starting to feel my pre-9/11 funk as they start with the programming.  I witnessed the attacks and their aftermath from the World Financial Center across the street and attached to WTC 1 by a footbridge.  I watched an excellent special last night featuring the debunking of the conspiracy theories by the staff of Popular Mechanics and other leading experts.  One phrase that rang out to me, spoken regarding the supposed order from the White House for the Air Force to stand down, was that the theory rested on the cornerstone of the “hyper-competent government”; that the government was really good enough to interdict the attacks but instead chose to allow the attacks to happen.  The corollary is that Al Qaeda was a bunch of ignorant cave dwellers living three thousand miles away that could never executed said attacks.  

To me, the really insidious fallacy is the “hyper-competent” government theory; that belief that human organizations, especially a government, has the capacity to be omniscient and omnipotent.  Interestingly, they don’t extend the same courtesy to the Catholic Church – the doctrine of the infallibility of the Pope is seen as ludicrous and is always good for a hearty belly laugh and guffaw. 

This belief in an omnipotent government seems to be a logical fallacy that pervades  everything the left believes, and makes its way through their belief systems and worldview like a kind of logical worm.  That’s the best explanation I have of how they think that the GOP has had a hand in  mobilizing all the townhall protesters and everybody that disagrees with the Obama agenda, from Glenn Beck to Michael Savage and every protester in every two bit town.

The GOP is not that good.  To the contrary, the Republican party is pretty much toothless and inffectual.  Here’s an open letter written to the RNC and published in the Substatum blog from a gentleman in Sealy, Texas – not too far west from where I write this now.

Before I print the letter, it seems to me that there is a name for what’s happening to the Democratic Party and their partners in the media, and how they are seeming to misread thepolitical landscape and may pay dearly for it in 2010: Groupthink.  Studied this as a young political science student in the mid-1980’s, and the case study centered around the decision-making processes that led to the dismal failure of the Bay of Pigs.  

Symptoms of Groupthink, from Wikipedia.

• Illusions of invulnerability creating excessive optimism and encouraging risk taking.
• Rationalising warnings that might challenge the group’s assumptions.
• Unquestioned belief in the morality of the group, causing members to ignore the consequences of their actions.
• Stereotyping those who are opposed to the group as weak, evil, biased, spiteful, disfigured, impotent, or stupid.
• Direct pressure to conform placed on any member who questions the group, couched in terms of “disloyalty”.
• Self censorship of ideas that deviate from the apparent group consensus.
• Illusions of unanimity among group members, silence is viewed as agreement.
• Mindguards – self-appointed members who shield the group from dissenting information.

 Interesting to view this in action as the Obama administration’s MO.  Here’s the open letter to the GOP.

OPEN LETTER TO MICHAEL STEELE AND THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE

On the first page of your website you have a section that says something to the effect, “tell me what you think.” OK, here it is. How much longer do “we the people” have to sit out here and wait for you to do something? Where is your voice? Where is your spine? Why does a talk show host/entertainer have to do your job? Where is the leadership of the Republican Party in Congress?

If the United States of America survives past 2009 it will certainly not be because the RNC and the congressional leadership stood firm and held news conferences and produced YouTube videos, to keep us, the citizenry informed. What a sad state of affairs when the media controls what we get to hear from you, the elected officials. Are you fearful of what they will call you? Have you no power? Do they own you?

The grassroots have been fighting since April to voice our opposition to what is happening in our government. We have held tea parties, town halls, rants in public places, we have all become proficient on Facebook, twitter, blogs, etc. We stay up most nights trying to Google information, watch Glenn Beck, read and re-read our constitution. We have been like blind people trying to put a puzzle together and now that we are succeeding in seeing what is being done to us, it’s a frightening thing. I can only speak for myself but there have been times in the last six months that I have to pinch myself and ask if I am still in my country.

We have spent time calling, writing, emailing, petitioning our elected officials and we are called un-American, terrorists, mobs, dangerous, right-wing extremists, kooks, etc. I don’t hear national voices calling the main stream media to task for attacking us. I have only heard of one congressman who is going to the Library of Congress before the session begins to look up information on “redressing of grievances”. Why hasn’t the entire Republican congress called a meeting to ask the same thing?

We begged the Republicans to stop cap and trade and they did not. I can’t believe that any thinking person would even be talking about trying to pass something as heinous as HR 3200. When I hear a Republican, especially McCain talk about tweaking the bill and then passing it, I want to scream! What could these people be thinking. The only thing that could help this bill is for it to be flushed!

Do you watch television? Do you watch Fox News? Do you watch Glenn Beck? I’m appalled that there has not been a movement from the Republican Party to impeach this man who is living in our White House. Don’t even try to tell me that we can’t do that. We must impeach him. Are you aware that Van Jones, the green job czar, whose organization, the Apollo Alliance wrote the stimulus bill and is receiving tax dollars to dismantle our country? Van Jones is a self-avowed communist! Those are his words. This man is an advisor to the President? How can that happen? How can any elected official stand by and let this happen? Who is representing us?

What about Cass Sunstein? This man is a fascist nut. Yes, I did say fascist. I’m sick of not being able to speak truths because we’re fearful of not being politically correct. Guess what? We are out of the p.c. closet. Sunstein is a proponent of the ‘nudge’ philosophy – Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness. Our decisions, our health, our wealth and our happiness. No thank you. This man thinks animals should have the right to take people to court??? This is not a fairy tale.

Now we hear that our internet may be taken from us through legislation. SB 773. Will this be carried out through martial law? I have not heard one Republican official say that they are not going to allow this to happen.

Are all the conspiracy theorists correct when they say that the Republicans are just as instrumental in destroying our country as the liberal fascist arm of the Democratic Party are?

The President is destroying the United States of America. If a Russian Professor can see it, and write articles about it, why can’t you? What do we need to do to start the impeachment process? I could list numerous other things that he has done that I believe are in direct opposition to our constitution but I don’t have the time or the space. You could contact Glen Beck, he will fill you in.

I am going to put this letter on Facebook, Twitter, blogs; I’m going to email it to every address I can get my hands on. I will send it as a press release to every media outlet I can think of and who knows, maybe one or two will print it. I’m going to send it to talk shows and I’m also going to email it to you. I certainly hope I receive an answer and if I do, I will also send that out to all the above mentioned sites.

Thank you for your time and I pray that God will Bless America.

Sincerely,
Pat Wright
Sealy, Texas

Well said.