The Authoritarian Personality

A 2-part series over at Orcinus, courtesy of guest blogger Sara Robinson. She starts off in this post with a discussion of the personality summarized from John Dean's book, Conservatives Without Conscience.

Dean is also emphatic that authoritarianism, in all its forms, is completely antithetical to both classical conservatism (he still considers himself a Goldwater conservative), and to the founding ideals of America. We must be clear: when right-wingers threaten liberals, they are directly threatening the seminal political impulse that created our nation. An operative democracy depends on having a populace that is open to new ideas, able to think for itself, confident in its abilities, willing to take risks, and capable of mutual trust. America was founded as the world's first radically liberal state. History has shown us that the nation's best moments, past and future, are created by people with a strong liberal orientation.

In her second post, Robinson goes deeper, first noting:

Cut loose from our moorings, in over our heads, we all look for something solid to hold onto. No matter how strong we are, we've all got areas where we are brittle and vulnerable. It's hard for any of us to say for sure that we'd walk away from an authoritarian leader who promised us precisely the right kind of salvation in precisely the wrong moment. This is something to bear in mind whenever we deal with authoritarian followers: they have simply responded to an impulse that exists -- at least to some degree -- in all of us.

And then, she discusses what it's like to leave fundamentalism, in terms that remind me most of what it can be like for gays to come out: personal enlightenment at what can be an enormous cost, personal, professional, and social. And yet, we still do it -- for what will it cost a man to keep the world when it means losing his soul?

Many of the ex-fundies I know made their break in the aftermath of sexual abuse, ruinous financial treachery, public humiliation, or power grabs that threatened their marriages or children. They saw, in devastatingly vivid color, what their leaders were capable of. Their endless loyalty was shattered, because they realized it was not being returned in kind.

The Bush Administration is not loyal to us Americans. It's time to change.

"It's not security, it's security theater"

Last Week's Terror Arrests "It's not security, it's security theater: measures designed to make us feel safer but not actually safer."

But only temporarily. Banning box cutters since 9/11, or taking off our shoes since Richard Reid, has not made us any safer. And a long-term prohibition against liquid carry-ons won't make us safer, either. It's not just that there are ways around the rules, it's that focusing on tactics is a losing proposition.

It's easy to defend against what the terrorists planned last time, but it's shortsighted.

As noted in my previous post below, law enforcement did its job catching these guys. They were under extensive surveillance by enforcement professionals who knew what they were doing.

And then, the U.S. pushed to get arrests early, when, let's face it, the pros wanted to wait a little longer to see who else they could draw in. Why is that? So BushCo could hit the Panic Button?

Bottom line: The British have had a hell of a lot more practice dealing with terrorism effectively. LISTEN TO THEM.

Wait, Aren't You Scared? -- NO.

firedoglake has a link to a great post by a blogger called Kung Fu Monkey: Wait, Aren't You Scared?

As the initial "OH SWEET MOTHER OF GOD THEY CAN BLOW US UP WITH SNAPPLE BOTTLES!!" hysteria subsides, we discover that these guys had been under surveillance, completely penetrated, by no less than three major intelligence agencies. That they were planning on cell phones, and some of them openly travelled to Pakistan (way to keep the cover, Reilly, Ace of Spies). Hell, Chertoff knew about this two weeks ago, and the only reason that some people can scream this headline:

"The London Bombers were within DAYS of trying a dry run!!!"

-- was because MI-5, MI-6, and Scotland Yard let them get that close, so they could suck in the largest number of contacts (again, very spiffy police work). The fact that these wingnuts could have been rolled up, at will, at any time, seems to have competely escaped the media buzz.

This is terrorism's A-game? Sack up, people.

Again, this is not to do anything less than marvel as cool, well-trained, ruthless law-enforcement professionals -- who spent decades honing their craft chasing my IRA cousins -- execute their job magnificently. Should we take this seriously? DAMN STRAIGHT we take this seriously. Left unchecked, these terror-fanboy bastards would have gone down in history. These cretins' intent was monstrous; they should, and will, all go to jail for a very long time. This is the part where we all breathe a sigh of relief that there are some actual professionals working the job in some countries.

But God gave me a brain, and a modicum of spine. Taking something seriously, and panicking over it are two different things.

Ain't that right!

I'm sorry the Republican Party is overflowing with panicking children. Even more so, I'm sorry a bunch of cowards are running my government.

I am willing to put my life, my fortune, and my sacred honor on the line, just like our Founding Fathers were over two hundred years ago. But if you think screaming at everyone to hide under the covers instead is going to help, rather than working to solve the problem, well, then, you're no patriot.

If it don't work, DON'T BUY IT

On July 13, the Pensacola, Florida based law firm of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. filed a “qui-tam” lawsuit in U.S. District Court, alleging that Diebold and other electronic-voting- machine companies fraudulently represented to state election boards and the federal government that their products were “unhackable.”

If that's what they said, they were definitely lying. We know, thanks to Black Box and others, that these systems are hackable.

"Nasty Liberal Bloggers"

Man, those right-wing bloggers sure have no shame, do they? It's interesting that it's really only innate human decency that keeps liberal bloggers from being as nasty as certain right-wingers rabid types in the first place, -- who suggest killing us (and the occasional Supreme Court Justice) -- and yet, we get *called* nasty.

Nasty Liberal Bloggers

I feel like starting a group blog just so I can name it that.

Supporting the Democratic Candidate in CT

Hillary Clinton keeps her word and supports the Dem candidate for senator in CT.

I haven't said anything about the Lamont-Lieberman race, but I am extremely disappointed by Senator Lieberman's hubris in his apparent assumption that Connecticut voters owed him a job just because they voted him in before.

I'm glad to see a new guy, with new ideas, taking the field. And I'm *extremely* glad to see Democratic leaders keeping their word.

"Backbone" is the watchword for 2006, friends.

Aw, crap.

Susan Butcher died on Saturday.

If you don't know who Susan was, then you've missed a vital part of the history of the Great Race -- the Iditarod. Susan was an icon, a giant, and she owned that race -- one of the toughest endurance tests of human and animal you can imagine, that simulates the desperate dash across Alaska by dog sled made in 1925, to deliver diptheria serum to Nome -- for most of the 1980's.

I remember when her team tangled with a moose in 1985. Two dogs dead, over 10 injured. I'd say that moose is probably the only reason the first woman to win the Iditarod wasn't Susan.

But she came back and won the Iditarod four times -- three of them in a row, prompting T-shirts like

"Alaska: Where Men Are Men, and Women Win the Iditarod."

Susan retired in the mid-90's, but she left an indelible stamp on the race, the sport, and the state. Alaska's most famous athlete, she was tirelessly dedicated to good dog care, and a gracious, inexhaustible champion who deserved to be called "the toughest dog in the team."

Susan was one of my very first heroes. R.I.P.

Oh, no, Canada!

Tories axe website in Kyoto assault

The Conservative government is trying to push global climate change off the federal map, shutting down the main federal website on the topic and removing mention of it from speeches and postings, opposition MPs and environmentalists say.

What, do you think if you ignore it, it'll go away?

That technique didn't work when you were in school and it won't work now.

Blackwater

Blackwater: Inside America's Private Army

After Blackwater contracters were killed in Iraq, their families have decided to sue the company.

Firedoglake has a great entry on all this, and informs us:

The company’s defense is that "although it is a private company, it has become an essential and indistinguishable cog in the military machine and, like the military, should be immune from liability for casualties in a war zone."

Well, well, well. If it's part of the military, it's going to have to act like the military and *integrate into it*. Be subject to -- and accountable through defined channels -- the UCMJ, the laws of war, etc.

You do not get to have your cake and eat it, too.

Global Warming and Non-Helpful Mutations

If you've never thought about it, take a moment and reflect on the fact that the reason strictly-white-bread colored people exist is b/c a low-melanin mutation was non-harmful, and even beneficial, in Western and Northern Europe.

Still with me? That was a lot, compressed. Evolution, race, and geography. (Even some bits on Intelligent Design, if you're interested.)

But, really, it never occurred to you to ask why low-melanin slobs like me never evolved in sub-saharan Africa?

Now, what about a warming globe, with the potential for higher and higher rates of skin cancer?

That mutation's maybe not so beneficial anymore, is it?

So here's my message to all the white supremacists out there: time to do something about emissions, bucko, before skin cancer gets you. 'Cause you can only slather on so much SPF 3000.

Just a thought.

Muslims and Jews: Common Ground

Muslims and Jews: Common Ground

The author says a lot of things that make sense, and has an interesting suggestion about the introduction of a stronger role for the clergy in negotiation of a peace.

Haditha probe supports accusations against Pendleton Marines

Haditha probe supports accusations against Pendleton Marines

I used to live in Oceanside, CA, which is just south of Camp Pendleton. When the Marines shipped out, the town really felt it.

I was driving along in my truck one day, on the...south, yes, south side of the 78, running some errand, when I spotted a Marine on the side of the road and pulled over to give him a lift. He was trying to reach a cell-phone store and wound up on the wrong side of the highway, so I saved him about 20 minutes of hoofing it in major heat with a big ol' backpack.

We talked. It's not like we bared our souls or anything -- it wasn't a long ride.

He'd just finished training in something and was looking forward to shipping out to Iraq. When I let him out in the parking lot of the local Wal-Mart, I told him to "stay safe".

This was back when we were still the good guys. It never occurred to me to tell him, "stay true". Because he was a Marine, and they've always been faithful.

When I talk about honor being stained, I'm talking about Semper Fidelis being spat on. I'm talking about oaths betrayed. About a proud military tradition being sullied.

This is no small thing. This is about our character as a nation.

Jimmy Carter on the Current Mid-East Situation

It is inarguable that Israel has a right to defend itself against attacks on its citizens [referring to the kidnapped Israeli soldiers], but it is inhumane and counterproductive to punish civilian populations in the illogical hope that somehow they will blame Hamas and Hezbollah for provoking the devastating response. The result instead has been that broad Arab and worldwide support has been rallied for these groups, while condemnation of both Israel and the United States has intensified.

Stop the Band-Aid Treatment

Diebold Electronic Voting -- Worst Flaw

WORST EVER SECURITY FLAW FOUND IN DIEBOLD TS VOTING MACHINE

I would just like to remind the world that when I worked as an election inspector in Southern California, the number of voter ballots allegedly issued (by my machine) and the number of voter signatures counted (by one of my colleagues) had nothing to do with one another.

Nothing.

U.N. to U.S.: Close Secret Jails

U.S. Should Close Secret Detention Centers, UN Panel Says

The U.S. ``should immediately abolish all secret detention and secret detention facilities'' as well as ``grant prompt access'' by the International Committee of the Red Cross to prisoners, says the 12-page report, published today. The U.S. must also stop transferring prisoners to countries where there is a risk they will be tortured and ``acknowledge the applicability'' of international law for individuals.

And the U.S.'s response? "Hey, man, North Korea's even worse."

The U.S. State Department issued a statement saying it was ``disappointed'' with the findings of the report and the committee ``loses perspective and credibility'' by spending more time criticizing the U.S. than ``countries with no civil and political rights'' such as North Korea, it said an e-mailed statement.