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February 07, 2008

Yes We Can

Ken Silverstein:

Hillary Clinton is meaner and tougher and that in some ways seems preferable to Obama’s naïve calls for bipartisanship. Also, you know from the get-go what Hillary is all about. Hence, it’s possible to skip the phases of betrayal and disillusionment and go straight to opposition...

Right on.

It was a creed written into the founding DNA of a politics designed by billionaires.

Yes we can.

It was whispered by red-faced, round-shouldered, self-hating Lockheed lobbyists who knew no matter who lost the election, they would win.

Yes we can.

It was sung by hedge fund CEOs, eating organic, cruelty-free sashimi on their Gulfstream G550 to Singapore, smiling as they realized their good-hearted Brattleboro librarian opponents had abso-fucking-lutely no idea what they're up against.

Yes we can.

We have been told we cannot do this, by a chorus of gentle graphic designers forwarding that video to all 78 of their Facebook friends. We've been told we cannot betray 20 year-old daughters of corporate lawyers, who want to vote in a way that finally lets them live in Scarsdale and feel good about themselves. We've been told we can't create a system in which someone who began as a decent human being must be utterly broken and perverted by his burning lust to climb to the top of the slipperiest pole on earth.

Yes we can.

Now the hopes of the Viacom executive who used to be in an indie band are the same as the gay investment banker who paints still-lifes as a hobby, the same as the dreams of the Brown Literature Professor who's secretly furious when her Salvadoran maid doesn't clean the bathroom properly. We will remember that there are no nations; there are no peoples. There are no Russians; there are no Arabs; there is no West. There is only one holistic, vast, interwoven, interacting, multivaried, multinational dominion of money. We will begin the next great chapter of human submission with three words that will ring across the universe:

YES WE CAN.

(Original here.)

—Jonathan Schwarz

Posted at February 7, 2008 08:22 PM
Comments

Reminds me of the revelations Roddy Piper received in THEY LIVE. Politics and national boundaries are a farce. We are just THEIR livestock.

Posted by: Dorn at February 7, 2008 08:51 PM

Right on the money. This change and unity mantra is one of the oldest tricks in the American political playbook, and I know that a whole lot of people are going to be incredibly disillusioned soon after their saint is installed in the White House.

Posted by: haelig at February 7, 2008 11:17 PM

Wow. I feel like you just strangled my puppy. But in a good way.

I wonder what would happen if you were to post that to, say, the Daily Kos?

Posted by: Chris E. at February 8, 2008 01:53 AM

well, the good hearted Brattleboro librarian is likely a dimwit who knows fuck-all about anything. God help us all if her silly wishes guide public policy.

Posted by: xyz at February 8, 2008 02:56 AM

haelig: I wish it would happen that way, but it's not bloody likely. Some people may be disillusioned, but they'll be in the minority. The majority of the faithful will rationalize every single thing their hero does, no matter how awful—just as they did with Clinton. Words like "realistic" and "achievable" will suddenly be on the lips of liberals everywhere. We've seen it before, and if a Democrat wins we'll surely see it again.

Posted by: John Caruso at February 8, 2008 03:28 AM

neolib says "si se puede"; does that top reagan's springsteen moment?

Posted by: hapa at February 8, 2008 03:44 AM

Well, Chris E., remember the cultists from the Rosemary's Baby movies? Imagine what happens when you threaten the antichrist.

Posted by: No One of Consequence at February 8, 2008 04:09 AM

Jon,

LOL!! coffee would be snorting out of my nose if I was drinking coffee reading this.

oh the yes we can video is a real hoot as well

America, put on the blinders to the carnage in iraq and just repeat after Obama "YES WE CAN"


Posted by: Sam at February 8, 2008 04:09 AM

Pure corporatist fatalist crap. Yes, Obama's administration will not (and cannot) give us all a pony, being answerable to the two other parts of government, which will for the foreseeable future contain Republicans. It will take actions that are despicable, it'll probably invade a country or two. But it'll also do things that improve the functioning of the US as a whole, just as Clinton's did. The alternative is one that will do the former, as well as much more besides, and neglect the latter. THESE ARE NOT THE SAME THING. I don't know why people don't get that. Chomsky does. A lot of people who've read his work don't seem to. It makes me wonder about their motives.

Don't you think criticism not couched in hyperbolic terms would have more effect, barring that of dissuading people from voting(*)?

I do understand the notion that the Dems only exist as a buffer to prevent the true desire of the people of REVOLUTION becoming reality. And it's a load of crap. There is no majority desire for a change of government except by conventional means. It's also a con, persuading people to underestimate and disregard the influence that is available.

(*) weakening the majority and thus giving Dems less room to manoeuvre and making the inevitable Republican comeback happen more quickly

Posted by: me at February 8, 2008 07:57 AM

"I wonder what would happen if you were to post that to, say, the Daily Kos?"
You'd get a load of greens and thinly disguised Republicans agreeing with you and saying "funny!", etc, a few frothing Obama-supporting loons who'll at like loons everywhere whoever they've latched onto and accuse you of whatever pops into their heads then insult you, a few people pointing out that you're not saying anything new and yet more people trying to take your post apart point by point. Mostly you'd be ignored. You may believe this is because the post is TOO CONTROVERSIAL. It's actually mostly because it's not very original.

"Well, Chris E., remember the cultists from the Rosemary's Baby movies? Imagine what happens when you threaten the antichrist."
The Great Orange Satan, you mean? Sheesh, way to live the cliche.

Posted by: me at February 8, 2008 08:07 AM
I don't know why people don't get that. Chomsky does. A lot of people who've read his work don't seem to. It makes me wonder about their motives.

It's almost like they aren't willing to have Chomsky do their thinking for them. How, oh, how, will the democrats AND progs ever become monolithic if they don't accept Chomsky wholecloth? Are they doomed to be forever fractiously cacophonous.

Um, probably, and for the better.

I'll venture to guess that their motives are probably self serving -- unwilling to submit to an ideology that doesn't suit their conscience.

Posted by: Ted at February 8, 2008 08:44 AM

Butbutbut...Obama means change! Change and Hope! That is, Hope for Change! You know? With Obama we can hope for spare change!

(Greens on DKo$? What kind of delusional pwoggie lackwit thinks there are Greens on DKo$? Oh.)

Posted by: AlanSmithee at February 8, 2008 08:50 AM

It will take actions that are despicable, it'll probably invade a country or two. But it'll also do things that improve the functioning of the US as a whole, just as Clinton's did.

Did Clinton improve the functioning of the US as a whole ? How ?
With the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act ? With the War on Drugs ? The SWAT's funding system, that pushes for its ever-extending use in ever-more ridiculous situations ? The end of the Posse Comitatus Act ? The possibility of using proofs obtained illegally during trials ? The Free-Trade Agreements ? Echelon and illegal spying ? The health-care reform maybe ?

How full of crap must you be to choose to look away from murder abroad, in the name of a better situation at home ?

It's actually mostly because it's not very original.

Right. Cause we're hearing all the time on them liberal websites about how Obama is a sell-out like the others. All the time. Actually I'm tired of reading it every day on Digby, DKos, etc.

Unoriginal is another version of the "not serious" adjective. The one attached to anyone who thinks war ain't a good thing and is certainly not an acceptable mean. Man, that person is not serious. You gotta be willing to accept compromise if you wanna look serious.

Change is very original too. I guess.

Well "me", i invite you to think about all the times Democrats were elected in the past, and think about how this has changed the state of affairs in America for the last 200 years, in terms of how much the US is racist, goes to war, bombs countries and such other shit. From what i see today, not much. Not much at all.

The alternative is one that will do the former, as well as much more besides, and neglect the latter. THESE ARE NOT THE SAME THING.

Ah yes, the comparativeness of politics. Both parties are wrong but one is worse in your view, so vote for democrats and keep the wrongness alive.

Posted by: littlehorn at February 8, 2008 09:23 AM

To Dorn: I netflixed "They Live" a month ago. Still as good as ever.

Otherwise:

As shitty as it was that Reagan's handlers misused "Born In THE USA" to push the Great Codger, it undoubtedly led to Springsteen's balls-to-the-wall cover of Edwin Starr's "War" on his live album. "In 1985 blind faith will get you killed..." In politics subtlety can be exploited.

Posted by: Bob In Pacifica at February 8, 2008 10:35 AM

Please, "me." The only hyperbolic person here is you. I compared a SUBSET of the DailyKos readers to cultists, which one can always do with such a large body of individuals. You protest too much. Your frothing insistence that we should acknowledge differences between Clinton and Obama that you merely assert exist is very similar to the crap we have to put up with from Republicans.

Fact of the matter is, Clinton's health care plan is better than Obama's for me. You can spew all the bullshit you want about how Obama's magical powers will make the world a better place, but the insurance company backing he's gotten is proof positive that he wion't even bother implementing the half-assed plan once in office, even less fixing its massive flaws. That's a solid position, unlike the pixie dust and moonbeams you've offered to convert us from one candidate to another.

Your dogmatic propagandisement (which, by itself, is no problem; propaganda can be good) combined with your insults are excellent support for my comparison.

And I compared the subset of Kos to cultists, not Satan. Are you being deliberately obtuse? Or do you just have delusions of grandeur?

And THEY LIVE is The Shit.

Posted by: No One of Consequence at February 8, 2008 11:27 AM

heh -- the perfect is the enemy of the good, and the good is the enemy of the preferable

Posted by: hapa at February 8, 2008 12:58 PM

-- wake me when we get to zero

Posted by: hapa at February 8, 2008 12:59 PM

"...(*) weakening the majority and thus giving Dems less room to manoeuvre and making the inevitable Republican comeback happen more quickly"

What the hell are you talking about? I mean really.

Posted by: Coldtype at February 10, 2008 03:45 PM