Carmichael's Position

Society’s Ills

Another day, another abhorrent act.  This time a school shooting in South Florida at a fairly well-to-do high school.  17 lost their lives due to a highly disturbed former student. 

As is our norm, our society’s knee jerk reaction this is the usual talking points of:

• Banning black mean looking guns
• Eliminating access to guns via closing loopholes
• Mental health
• Arming teachers
• Better security at Schools
• Making schools a gun free zone
• Parenting
• God
• NRA
• Video Games
• Movies
• Bullying
• Participation Ribbons
• Should have seen the signs
• Have to find blame!
• Only America has this problem…

Ad nauseam…

I’m over it.  The idiocy that ensues post knucklehead rampage is predictably asinine!  

Can we prevent these acts from happening in the future?  No…  They are going to keep happening.  There is evil in the world, there is no getting around it.  You can’t legislate it out of existence, so quit turning to Congress, your local government, your schools etc… to solve it.

Be vigilant, take care of yourself, take care of others.  That’s all we can do.

The Ebbing Tide of Journalistic Integrity

A good friend of mine, intelligent and well reasoned, has also had it with today’s media, especially regarding the topic so hot in our national dialog right now, Gun Control.  I am posting his well written editorial (of sorts) below in its entirety.  It is good reading, and he brings up some very valid and cogent points in the discussion.

Reasoned dialog will absolutely be accepted in the comments on this post… If it degenerates into name calling I will delete the trolls responsible.  This is an Adult forum!  I expect it to remain such!

Without further adieu, I give you “Joe’s” editorial:

________________________________________________________

19 December, 2012

To the Media At Large:

Fair and Balanced?

Not exactly.

In the wake of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook elementary, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the Media is engendering a national trend to allow emotion to overwhelm journalistic integrity. Over the last several days many “fair and balanced” journalistic outlets such as NPR have been producing news articles that are factually inaccurate and factually incomplete. One of the tenants of true journalistic integrity is to fully research all sides of a story before releasing it. This lapse has resulted in an overwhelming bias in the reporting on the gun control debate and is clearly putting our national media into a position of no longer being a true journalistic source, but instead as a lobby for the position of gun control.

Item one: the reporting immediately following the incident was poorly sourced. Every major news outlet misreported the shooter’s name and relationship to the school. They jumped right in, following the other news outlets with lemming-like precision to produce piece after piece containing factually incorrect information. Fortunately, no one was seriously harmed by this. However, one wonders what could have happened if an innocent individual was singled out as the perpetrator before law enforcement could intervene. This, at the very least, is shameful.

Item two: No one seems to be able to find or interview a credible advocate for gun rights or assault rifle owners. The recent interview with Malcolm Brady (Dec. 17) on NPR’s “All Things Considered”, a misnomer at best, was a farce. Although Mr. Brady is something of an expert on firearms policy, it is doubtful that coming from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms that he is an objective spokesperson for the millions of private citizen gun owners in the United States, especially when it comes to assault rifles. Simply put, the reason for owning an assault rifle is for personal protection. A cursory study of human history will show that governments fail again and again to protect their citizens from disaster and internal political turmoil. The argument is often heard from those who have not considered the factual details of personal protection of life, liberty and property that there is no need for a private citizen to own a firearm for personal defense. They say there are police or the National Guard to defend us. Studying the days immediately after Katrina will show anyone that even in good times, the protection afforded by the government will break down. When the police and their families become victims of disaster, they abandon their posts just as quickly as the folks who operate shopping malls. Being prepared means that you are ready for the scenario that is improbable, and strictly mathematically speaking, which may be above most journalists, improbable means that it will definitely happen at some point. There is no region in our nation that cannot become lawless due to either man-made or natural catastrophes. Denying this or acting as if this is so unlikely as to not be considered is folly, farce, and ignorant of the simplest lessons taught by history. One of the other lessons taught by history is that societies that become reliant on the protection provided by their governments become the victims of those governments. Even a cursory examination of the events in Syria will show that an unarmed populace is ripe for victimization, and the weapon that is providing the most effective defense for that population is the assault rifle. This point wasn’t covered by Mr. Brady, the one-time soldier and apparent “expert” provided by NPR to explain the case for assault rifles. The bottom line is that in a ground based, person on person encounter, the assault rifle is the status-quo for tactical defensive engagements. Mr. Brady’s experience in the military must have skipped this basic point. In most American communities, the good guys outnumber the bad guys one hundred to one, but one bad guy with an assault rifle can easily overwhelm one hundred good guys armed with rhetoric, faith in their government and good intentions. The continuing experiment that is America relies on the ability and right of the people to provide the majority of services to themselves. Outside of providing protection beyond our borders which has been delegated, and rightly so to the military, the government should not be in a position to disarm the American populace. This is the essence of the second amendment to the constitution. This is the essence of being an American, and is why the right to own firearms that guarantee that we will be able to, in times of disaster or injustice, to protect ourselves, our families, our property and our communities must be maintained. As a free citizen of America, it is more than our right to be able to defend ourselves, it is our responsibility. The media needs to do a much better job of identifying spokespersons. In the case of Mr. Brady, it would be obvious to anyone on the side of firearm advocacy that he would not be an appropriate representative.

Item three: the incidence of mass shooting is not increasing. Again with the bad math. Reporter after reporter has made the statement or insinuated that the incidence of mass shootings is increasing. In fact, we have been experiencing a lull. This occurs in statistics and is seen in many bodies of data where events occur sporadically. There are groupings of events and they occur at an average or standard rate. Since we are currently experiencing a grouping, this would appear over the last 2-3 years to be an increase in the overall rate of these incidences. Considered over a period of time going back say 30 years, it is likely from a mathematical standpoint that the rate of these incidences is not going up. The emotion involved makes us say that this seems to be an increase, but this is where that journalistic integrity thing comes in. Do a better job. Take a statistics class.

Item four: hunting is not the only credible reason for owning a firearm. A recently broadcast editorial by Frank Deford was consistent with the apparent overall stance by journalists that the only reasonable case that anyone would own a firearm is to hunt with it. Target shooting with what are sensationally referred to as “high power rifles” is one example of another use. (There is no standard for this, by the way. Any rifle could be considered to be “high power”, or low power depending on how it is compared.) Also, many firearm sporting enthusiasts shoot at targets using semi-automatic firearms. These are never intended to be used for hunting or self-defense. Many organizations offer college scholarships for students who are marksmen, and the firearms they operate are clearly designed and intended to be used for target shooting of one type or another. Mr. Deford’s columns are opinion pieces for sure, but as NPR’s resident sporting expert, he could have done a little more research.

News reporting requires more than just reporting on what is easy to find, it requires burrowing down to find all sides of a story. Preventing emotion from interfering with this process is one reason why I have been, even as a staunchly conservative individual, a supporter of NPR’s program. This year, based on this apparent lapse of journalistic integrity, I will be contributing the money I normally give to NPR elsewhere, most likely to the NRA. We have now become an embattled organization, not mainly due to the recent tragedy, but more due to the continuing loss of journalistic integrity by news organizations that used to provide facts and unbiased reporting while taking into account all perspectives that utilized view points from actual subject matter experts. Reporting on the emotion behind this tragedy is certainly news worthy, using it to grind an axe is not.

Very Truly Yours,

~Joe

We’re from the Government, and we’re here to help!

Action is afoot in the Legislative Branch of the Federal Government that is dangerous in its nature…

Several Democratic lawmakers called for a new push for U.S. gun restrictions on Sunday, including a ban on military-style assault weapons, in the wake of the Connecticut massacre in which 20 children and six adults were gunned down in a school.

Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, the author of an assault-weapons ban that lapsed in 2004, said she would introduce new legislation this week. Senator Dick Durbin, the chamber's No. 2 Democrat, said lawmakers would hold hearings on gun control, and several others said they would devote new attention to the long-ignored issue.

"I think we could be at a tipping point ... where we might get something done," Senator Charles Schumer, another top Senate Democrat…

Never let a Crisis go to waste huh?

[Senator Diane] Feinstein said her planned legislation would outlaw the high-capacity magazines and military-style assault rifles that have factored in many recent mass shootings, including Friday's massacre in Newtown, Connecticut. People who own such weapons now would not be required to give them up, Feinstein said.

Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes...

No... I am not going to sit idly by on this one.  I simply would like to voice a request for restraint and caution in turning an extremely vile event into a catalysis for whatever agenda you find association with. 

For you who want desperately for the 100% disarming of Americans... I have little use for you and even less to say to you (it is not like you would listen anyway) you will always live in that desire with the hopelessly smug attitude that you are always right when tragic events include the unlawful, and disturbed use of a firearm.  Yet amazingly absent in your philosophical disposition is any instance where a life was traded for the better good.  (Meaning a perpetrator of evil and ill-will was summarily dispatched (by a person wielding a firearm) before more chaos could ensue)  You seldom acknowledge that Good or Bad lies in the intent of the person wielding the weapon, not in the weapon itself.

Using incidents like Newton killings for politically self riotous agenda building is easily the most repugnant act of opportunistic political ambulance chasers ever perpetrated!

Where should we be focused?  How about repealing the 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution?  Because, this so called "Free Press" we have? Is obviously a threat to our lives, as free thinking, free associating, used to be intelligent beings! I am sick of being "sensationalized" to death!  Our media relentlessly bombards us with sanctimonious platitudes, not to better educate us of the facts of a matter, but rather in a continuous attempt to indoctrinate us on HOW we should think or "Feel" about a subject".  Everything is Right or Left now... No longer is anything Right or Wrong.  So what's the next logical step?  Well obviously these fools can't be trusted with as pervasive a Right as free speech!  Nor can we, for we are offending too many people!  

Seriously, sounds like I've gone like a loon into the abyss?  Really...? Is it because I brought up the untouchable third rail of Freedom of Speech? and that ONE Amendment is oh so much more protected than any of the others of the US Constitution?

Exactly my point... no one of any intellect would dare suggest that the First Amendment in the United States Bill of Rights should be repealed.  No matter how offensive speech is, it is to be protected!  Question for you, why would "inoffensive speech" ever need such protection?

But yet the Second Amendment, the Right (THAT'S a "RIGHT" not a conditional permission!) of the People of the United States to bear arms, is allowed to be ignored or dismissed, or manupulated simply because in the Neon Bulb of sensationalistic opportunism declares it offensive?

That is a slippery slope folks, please be careful where we tread!  These Rights are there for a reason, and must be protected.

Am I a gun nut?  No, I don't think so... I am however a concerned American, and I am... A Constitution Nut!  Anytime the Government proposes to do something for our greater good we need to be weary... Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes... Still holds true today, but fortunately we are all educated by the Media and would have no earthly clue what that means... now would we?

Empowering Thugs

Thugs and predators actively seek the path of least resistance in their assault on individuals and our society at large.  Nice to see they have allies in the US House of Representatives.

“The Treyvon Amendment” seeks to withhold federal funding to states that have and enable “Self Defense” laws.

From the Washington Times

House Democrats said Tuesday they will offer an amendment to push to overturn stand-your-ground self-defense laws in states like Florida.

The amendment, which would withhold some grants from states that have such laws, will come as part of the House's debate on the Commerce Department spending bill.

"'Shoot-first' laws have already cost too many lives. In Florida alone, deaths due to self-defense have tripled since the law was enacted…

Who’s death?  The perpetrator?  The one who used to have a free pass on assault, rape, battery?  Of course no one will properly identify all other instances as “Death due to non-self-defense” oh yeah, that’d be murder…

Federal money shouldn't be spent supporting states with laws that endanger their own people," said Reps. Raul Grijalva of Arizona and Keith Ellison of Minnesota, the two Democrats who are offering the legislation. "This is no different than withholding transportation funds from states that don't enforce seat-belt laws."

My Gawd, talk about throwing the baby out with the bathwater!  So let me get this right, Democrats want to remove people’s right to self defense, if not overtly, then subtlety through one of the two most motivational methods available to the Federal Government as it relates to manipulating State Policy.  (Grant funding & Tax Incentives).

Most states will issue a concealed carry permit to whomever petitions for one and can pass the requisite background checks (and in some states dexterity tests to prove you know how to use the firearm).   This is an onerous and intrusive process.  And if you fail, you don’t get a license to carry.  And later if you are found with a concealed weapon on your possession without that permit you have, in most states, committed a felony.

Oddly enough the state with the most Liberal (real meaning of the word) Concealed Carry Laws enjoys some of the lowest Crime Rates per Capita!  Vermont!  By the way the Vermont law is basically… you want to carry a concealed weapon?  Go ahead…

This is the law… So why would someone want a concealed carry permit?  To go play John Wayne as many would want you to believe?  No.  It is to insure one’s security in arbitrary instances when one’s life, the life of a loved one, or property is threatened.   It serves as a chance to level the field.  I do not say “Playing Field” because this is not a game!  Taking a life is never to be treated lightly!  But in cases when individuals or groups of individuals choose to not play by the rules of our society and prey on whom they perceive as vulnerable or weak with life threatening intent or perceived intent, if they choose a target who has a weapon, and the right to protect themselves… well… tough shit, choose an easier target next time!  Hopefully there won’t be a “next time”.

If you are a thug, and are looking for easy marks, might I suggest starting in Berkley, or Boulder, Westchester, Southern Arizona, or Urban Minnesota apparently the representatives in these areas would much rather you be a victim than be allowed to see your loved ones tomorrow. 

Don’t want to die at the hands of who you thought was your victim?  Don’t attack them… I promise you they won’t shoot you for the fun of it!  That’s reserved for the Thugs.  Not the law abiding citizen!

Agendas

People have agendas, knowing what these agendas are help us filter the content and intent of their message, especially when that message is meant to be persuasive. 

One of the oldest “tricks” in persuasive rhetoric is to obfuscate the intent to persuade by representing the context as simply informative.  Our current news media is guilty of this tactic to the n^th degree!  In Classical Rhetorical Theory, this practice is considered as unethical, but our media cannot be burdened.

It boils down to Agendas, which agency or organization has what agenda?  Some are as plain as the nose on your face and very clearly represent themselves in such a fashion.  Everyone knows where Code Pink’s loyalties are and what their agenda is… Same holds true with organizations like the National Rifle association.  Where a fog develops is when organizations make public facing claims of neutrality (no agenda) in delivering a message, “Oh, I’m just the messenger, I’m not responsible for the content”.

News organizations are growing in this unethical behavior.  NBC, ABC, FOX, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, PBS, BBC, New York Times, Investors Business Daily, Wall Street Journal, LA Times, USA Today… will all claim truth and neutrality in their reporting of the News… “We Report, You Decide…” or “The most trusted name in news”, “All the news that’s fit to print”.  Which causes many of us, who actually have cognitive reason, to snicker a bit every time we hear or read these slogans.  We all know there is a bias, not only in what is reported and how it is reported but also, in what is NOT reported (also known as omission bias). But we have to come to that conclusion through exercise of our Cognitive Reasoning skills!  A skill set I suspect is painfully lacking in our population at large (and you do to…) examples of brain dead individuals pollute our path every day, go to a McDonalds, a Safeway, a Starbucks, a freeway, a Wal-Mart, any roundabout or any Wholefoods market… or you could simply watch “the Jersey Shore” or anything else on MTV… Hell I’ll even include “Finding Bigfoot” in that fray too! and the proof will be apparent.

Unfortunately, we who would like to think ourselves as “Enlightened” and “Intellectually Honest” are contributing to this problem, by allowing its practice without recourse or consequence.  We as a Republic need to know facts!  Not opinions!  We need to know the substance of what is happening in the world around us to allow us, the voting populace, to make INFORMED decisions.  When the information is represented as simple facts, but in reality the delivery methodology does not match the agenda based intent, it gives the appearance of malfeasance, an intentional act we need to not sit idly by and laugh off.

In these past few days there are two glaring examples of where we are left to question an agenda, both regard the much to much overheated Trayvon Martin™ case and the Media’s reporting.  We have all seen a very disturbing tendency of Racial Opportunists taking advantage of situations and running very loose and very fast with facts often even resorting to outright fabrications!  This is regularly the modus operandi of Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, The New Black Panthers, Sheila Jackson Lee and the like… we know their Agenda, and this reaction is expected, if not misguided.  It is important that in these stressful times that “Cooler Heads” prevail and manage with facts, and share those facts with we the electorate, not simply carry the water of the loudest.  But apparently when the “Facts” don’t support an agenda they are either omitted in the story, or manipulated. 

ABC News recently bragged about scoring a coup in the Trayvon Martin™ case by obtaining the raw police station video of George Zimmerman’s detainment.  In the story, ABC’s Good Morning America was so eager to manipulate the discussion that the Headline even read…"Trayvon Martin Video Shows No Blood or Bruises on George Zimmerman"  [link].

The associated article, written by Matt Gutman goes on to self-righteously proclaim (contrary to police reports) [bold rendering mine]…

A police surveillance video taken the night that Trayvon Martin was shot dead shows no blood or bruises on George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch captain who says he shot Martin after he was punched in the nose, knocked down and had his head slammed into the ground.

The surveillance video, which was obtained exclusively by ABC News, shows Zimmerman arriving in a police cruiser. As he exits the car, his hands are cuffed behind his back. Zimmerman is frisked and then led down a series of hallways, still cuffed.

Breitbart (another organization with an Agenda) challenged this assertion the day the original “Scoop” was posted by ABC news highlighting specific frames of the video (without the need of enhancement) that seemed to indicate a gash and a wound on George Zimmerman’s head, a wound that would support his “Self-Defense” claim.  But no… ABC News couldn’t be bothered with these inconvenient facts in their rush to get it to air first! (Who gives a damn about accuracy? We have an agenda to advance!!!  Wait… Shhhhhh).

Now, 5 days later, ABC News themselves are now stating that, through THEIR research and processing the footage through legally approved enhancement, that “oh… yeah… hmmmm… yeah, it does look like George Zimmerman has a gash and wound on his head… Hmmm what???… oh yeah… as Zimmerman… and the Police Report claimed.”

What’s even more disgusting is that in ABC’s not-a-retraction-revision, the same Matt Gutman goes on air in a joyous proclamation of how great we are at ABC News!!! We got this video first (no mention of editorializing about no blood or apparent wounds) and now… We’ve ENHANCED it!  WOW!  Look! a head wound!…

Enhanced video footage of George Zimmerman being taken into custody less than 30 minutes after he shot and killed Florida teen Trayvon Martin shows the neighborhood watch captain with what could be an injury to the back of his head.

The never-before-seen evidence of an injury to Zimmerman, in this case a gash or mark to his head, would appear to back his claim that he was in an altercation with Martin on the night of Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla. Zimmerman says he shot the teen in self defense after he was attacked.

Hallelujah! aren’t we just great?… Dudes seriously, in your rush to publish and editorialize you poured gasoline on an already raging Race Fire!  And now, now that you have done your job, you’re trying to pee the fire out while whistling, hoping no one will remember your original accusatory inference.

In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves.
~ Buddha

Next page… Not to be outdone by ABC news and Good Morning America in misrepresenting the facts, NBC news published a segment on their Today Show where they played an edited version of George Zimmerman’s 911 call to police that fateful day.  The way NBC edited the recording, made it sound like Zimmerman volunteered that Treyvon was Black, thus making it part of the motive.  NBC originally aired the recording to make it sound like George Zimmerman said the following:

Zimmerman: This guy looks like he’s up to no good…  He looks black.

The transcript of the real 911 call is:

Zimmerman: This guy looks like he’s up to no good. Or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about.

Dispatcher: OK, and this guy — is he black, white or Hispanic?

Zimmerman: He looks black.

Obviously, again the facts didn’t fit with NBC’s Today Show Agenda… So they altered the facts (by omission) to make Zimmerman appear more racist.  But, they don’t tell you their agenda, you have to guess at it… work at it… discover the obfuscation.  So, is the media biased?   No… they are as neutral as they come! 

I CALL BULLSHIT!  And so should all of us!  Damn it, whistling in the graveyard pretending this is not happening is inexcusable, especially for those of whom we are to rely on to provide us with the facts to better run our Republic!

Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.

~Albert Einstein

Maybe it is about race!

This whole Trayvon Martin™ thing has me more than a little queasy lately.

If viewed from a higher Macrosocioracial point of view, a few observations are taken from this whole disgusting incident.

Never let a Racial Crisis go to waste!  Or in this case… Damn, the economy is in the tank, our foreign policy is a fools errand, we need something to polarize Americans immediately!!!  Something that shows how truly compassionate we in the media and government are in relation to Race Issues!  Y’know, because those Republicans are racist, we all know it.

Hey, there's this case in Florida where this Neighborhood Watch Nazi shot an innocent black teen… simply walking in a neighborhood before he was to help elderly folks across the road!

What?… Whaddya mean the shooter identifies himself as Hispanic?  Oh… Damn… Wait!  His dad was white!  That makes him WHITE!  and a RACIST!

What?… Whaddya mean Zimmerman a registered Democrat?… Hmmm that’s a bit inconvenient… He’s still white right?  Ok, he’s a token Democrat!  Racist!

What?… Whaddya mean Zimmerman has physical wounds indicating he was assaulted, punched, and had his head being bounced on the ground?… Before he shot Trayvon™?   Hmmm, well that’s because he assaulted Trayvon™ first by observing him and asking what he was up to in a neighborhood where he had not been seen before!  Racist stereotyper!

What?… Whaddya mean witnesses account that Zimmerman was heading back to his SUV after being advised by the Police Dispatcher not to continue following the suspicious character when he was then assaulted by Trayvon™? … Hmmmm… damn… Zimmerman is still WHITE right?  He’s a liar then!

This unfortunately seems to be the message being perpetuated by the Media and the Administration… “If I had a son he’d look like Trayvon™!”  --- Really??? Would he also have the attitude and vocabulary Trayvon™ apparently possessed? [Link to Trayvon’s™ tweets under the handle “No Limit Nigga” (his words not mine…)] ---

Granted Zimmerman had no knowledge of these character traits of this particular youth, but honestly I don’t think George Zimmerman gave a rat’s ass about this kid’s past as he lay on his back, bleeding from his nose, having his head pounded on the pavement.  He didn’t know the kid’s past, but was well aware of Trayvon’s™ “present” and in a decisive moment was about to determine the kid’s future.

Had the outcome been different and George Zimmerman been the one remaining on the ground in a pool of his own blood, what would the headline read? “Profiled Persecuted Warm Hearted African American Youth Kills Oppressor in Self Defense”?

Without having all the facts in yet, I may be leaping to conclusions… but why are my leaps (based on pretty substantial circumstantial evidence) any more heinous than the leaps being made by Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, The New Black Panther Party, MSNBC and to a degree the sitting administration and water carriers in congress?

This whole incident seems nothing more that racial opportunists run amok! The more time passes the more it is beginning to look like the facts do not support the claims by the emotionalism excelling to the point of lunacy!

The point is, investigations are continuing and now that we have meandered so far down this dirty road, what is to be the outcome when Eric Holder and his Feds are left with no choice based on REAL evidence to declare that, no civil liberties were violated, no racial motivation was present, and it is indeed under the law, a case of self defense! 

But then again, maybe that would be the best outcome… Only Nixon could go to China.

Whitney was doing Coke???!

CAUTION!  Cold-hearted-SOB commentary follows…

This just in…

Coroner: Houston drowned after cocaine use

NO!!!! Can’t be!

“[In addition to cocaine] The toxicology tests found other drugs in her body, including marijuana, the anti-anxiety drug Xanax, the muscle relaxant Flexeril and the allergy medicine Benadryl, the report said. But these drugs "did not contribute to the death,"

Nah, the veritable Twinkie full of medications and narcotics she had onboard didn’t contribute to her death… Noooo…  Obviously it was her inability to swim!

I am so tired of Superstar Apologists!  Y’know, she destroyed her life, God gave her talent and opportunity and she turned it into a soup sandwich!  I have no sympathy to those who choose this path and end up exactly where the route map said it would.

I found it an interesting irony that on the same day the Coroner released this news, the LA City council passed a symbolic resolution “Urging Media to Curb Racist & Sexist slurs”…

What was the onus of this?  You ask…  No, not Rush Limbaugh’s insensitive “Slut” remarks, but rather because two LA radio hosts had the gall to call Whitney a “Crack Ho”!  … Obviously a slur! 

As she said to Diane Sawyer, Whitney don’t do Crack! “Crack is cheap! I make too much money to do Crack!”… “Crack is Whack!” … no really… she said this:

Now if that’s not sad hilarious enough for you… There was a fantastic MAD TV parody of this interview that followed shortly after… A parody, that today under the censorship muzzles the LA City Council would like to impose, would never be aired. 

I miss shows like MAD TV and In Living Color, these shows did not follow the safe and secure meme of only bash Conservatives and Christian White folks… they picked on everyone… equally!  And most (like Whitney) deserved the ridicule!

How did we get to this point?

I read two exceptionally disturbing articles today, that both to a degree revolve around our decreasing sense of self responsibility.

Article 1: (http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/30349192/detail.html)

5-Year-Old Seriously Injured After Swallowing Buckyballs

Mom Warns Parents: Powerful Magnets Not For Children

Buckyballs are powerful little magnets you can form into any shape.

But a Colorado mom learned the hard way the powerful magnets can also be life-threatening…

…"It could have been dire. Really dire," said Stephanie Thompson.

In September, her 5-year-old son, Finn, had emergency surgery. The scar on his stomach is healing, but for his mom, the emotional wound still fresh

Thompson said she popped into a Boulder toy and novelty store and instantly saw the display for Buckyballs.

"It's pretty front and center in the store. There's a video and a demo. I was watching the video for a while and thought I'd love to buy them and they said, 'OK, they are behind the counter.' I told them they are for my son who is 5 and they said, 'He'll love them,'"

Thompson said she never saw the warnings that say, "Keep away from all children."  (JC note here: Which by the way are posted all over the package, and re-stated in the instructions pamphlet)

Long story short here… The kid thought the magnets (even after having played with them) were just like those bakers BB’s that are edible… so the kid… ate 4 of them!  Erp Derp… The Boulder Soccer Mom went on to continue off the deep end…

Even after Finn's emergency surgery, his mom told Marchetta that one of his little friends got Buckballs as a birthday gift.

"What was your reaction?" asked Marchetta [local news reporter].

"I just started shaking and I went right up to his parents and said, 'I don't know if you know the story and I told them. They were shocked," said Thompson.

Since returning home from the hospital, Finn and his mom have posted an online video warning to other families. In it, Finn's message is clear…

…Now it's other kids his mom worries about.

"I don't think these should be sold in a toy store and I think that it should be on everyone's mind that these are extremely dangerous," said Thompson.

I feel for the kid, I do… it sucks bad enough to do something stupid, I know (and so do you yon gentle reader!) we’ve all been there!  But more embarrassing is that the kid’s “I have to find someone else to blame” over zealous mother then uses his erp derp moment to serve him up as a poster child for irresponsibility! That’s right, Mom is pissed that there is anything out there that when used inappropriately might harm her precious!…

• “The WARNING SHOULD HAVE BEEN LARGER!!!”
• “It was the CLERK’s responsibility to throw himself on the Buckyballs thus preventing me from buying them for my apparently ball bearing deficient son!” 
• “The display was too alluring, I couldn’t help myself! The Horror!!!”

So the cry goes out that someone ought to do something about it!  It is not my job to be responsible!  Which is how it all begins… the key in the lock of pandora’s nanny state box!

Don’t believe me… I’m sure someone, innocently enough said,

“Ya know, that Michelle Obama chick is right, our kids today are not getting the nutrition they need in their daily lunches.  We should force the schools to serve properly balanced meals to all of our kids.”

You: “But what about those kids who bring their own lunch?”

Soccer Mom Commie Sympathizer Concerned mother:  “Well there should be an inspection of those lunches to be sure they have the proper Government Recommended Nutritional value.”

You:  “Like who is going to stoop so low to take on the job of ‘5 year olds lunch bag inspector?’ Talk about a crappy business card.”

Socialist Zealot Concerned Mother: “It’s a recession, I’m sure there are a number of people who couldn’t qualify for a TSA job who’d jump at the chance!  Besides will be sure they are issued a badge.”

You: “And if Barney finds little Becky’s lunch to be sub par?”

Stalinist Concerned Occupy Cafeteria Mom: “We’ll then force Becky to eat the Government mandated food, and bill the negligent dolt of a mom who is so stuck in the past that she even thought to prepare a homemade lunch in the first place!”

You: “What kinda Government Mandated food we talking about here?  Turkey and cheese sandwiches?  Bananas? Apple juice?”

Nose Ringed Lemming Concerned Mom: “Of course not that clabber!  We’re talking wholesome foods… y’know like Chicken Nugget parts and ketchup!”

Face-palm-smack!

Don’t believe me?  Read for yourself… can’t make this stuff up… [Link]

State Inspectors Searching Children’s Lunch Boxes:

…A mother in Hoke County complains her daughter was forced to eat a school lunch because a government inspector determined her home-made lunch did not meet nutrition requirements. In fact, all of the students in the NC Pre-K program classroom at West Hoke Elementary School in Raeford had to accept a school lunch in addition to their lunches brought from home.

The mother, who doesn’t wish to be identified at this time, says she made her daughter a lunch that contained a turkey and cheese sandwich, a banana, apple juice and potato chips. A state inspector assessing the pre-K program at the school said the girl also needed a vegetable, so the inspector ordered a full school lunch tray for her. While the four-year-old was still allowed to eat her home lunch, the girl was forced to take a helping of chicken nuggets, milk, a fruit and a vegetable to supplement her sack lunch.

The mother says the girl was so intimidated by the inspection process that she was too scared to eat all of her homemade lunch. The girl ate only the chicken nuggets provided to her by the school, so she still didn’t eat a vegetable.

My gawd!  How did I ever live to be 30?  I ate a Mom prepared bag lunch, every day of my school career!  Consisting of 2 sandwiches (one meat, and one usually peanut butter an jelly) a sandwich bag of chips, a sandwich bag of carrots, a cookie or two, and a dime to buy a milk! (later became a quarter thanks to that Jimmy Carter Inflationary pinhead).  I also played tag on monkeybars, on the asphalt playground, while Timmy ate bottle caps that Nathan dared him to… Not the candied bottle caps either!

Seriously people… stop!  People (that includes you!) will do dumb stuff, sometimes that will be painful (funny how god created pain as nature’s teaching headsmack)… quit looking for someone to blame for your stupidity!!!  Or, for that matter, the stupidity of the seed from your loins… never falls to far from the tree huh?

Why Newt Won South Carolina

Two days before the South Carolina Primary, one of the big media outlets scores what it thinks is a coup sure to devastate the campaign of one Newt Gingrich!

“Let’s Air Newt’s Dirty Laundry relating to his previous marriage!”…  “Yeah! That’ll show him to be the despicable dirtbag we all want him to be!”

Well… the voting populace in South Carolina is… well… Southern!  And one thing that Southerners know how to do is… Not Air Their Dirty Laundry in Public!  Southerners know damn good and well that taboos are regularly crossed behind closed doors (and by the way all good southerners also know that if you are going to cross a taboo line that it is best done “Behind Closed Doors”!) Liberal Yankees are of the opposite extreme, they are of the opinion that the concepts of Taboos are archaic and therefore all behaviors, no matter how distasteful, no matter how immoral (by any favorite standard), no matter how harmful, should be not just tolerated but accepted if not celebrated!

Southerner’s hate when Yankees try to rub their noses in anything!  So when a perceived Liberal Media Outlet, decides it is going to “Out” a Southern Republican for “Immoral” behavior… the Southern Voting base isn’t repulsed, as ABC executives thought they would be… The voting populace becomes Defensive!

We’ve all had experiences where a good friend, or relative experiences a divorce.  Divorces by nature are not pretty!  The two parties involved do not get along any more!  What at first, many years prior, looked like the land of Beer and Skittles, later turned into the land of sweatpants and curlers with an attitude!  Now many couples try to stay together for the sake of whatever… be it the kids, public reputation, you name it.  Divorces are public acknowledgement of failure!  And many, in a fit of misguided pride try to make internal adjustments to the private relationship while still having outward appearances remain intact. It is especially true in the south. Southerner’s are all about appearances.  “Never let them see you sweat” is definitely a Southern Term! 

Eventually, it all collapses and indeed the divorce becomes public.  It’s tough!  But you know something, shit happens!  Ok… that’s that!  And that is how Southerners see it.  What happened behind closed doors that caused the rift, or what behavior agreements were aired in an effort to keep public appearances, are none of my damn business!  But it doesn’t mean we won’t gossip about it!  Remember, you’ll never hear one of us repeating gossip!… so you better be sure and listen close the first time!

We’ve all heard the rumors of Newt’s breakups, and through the rumor mill how terrible he treated his former wives (a claim that eventually was repudiated by the very wife he was supposed to be such a jerk to!  A repudiation supported by his and her daughters as well).

And once we Southerners realized again that the stories weren’t necessarily true… we then took the rest of the blather with a grain of salt.

Newt may well have tried to broker an agreement with his wife where he could sleep with another while still maintaining outward appearances of a stable marriage. Happens all the time!  The pompous Yankee asses at ABC made the mistake of assuming that Southerners are too naïve to even think this could happen.  So, ABC News, high in their Ivory tower, thinks that they will be exposing Newt for what he really is, and in so doing illustrating the hypocrisy of these pesky Republicans in all of their Moral Stances.   Heh!  Jokes on them!

In the south we know there are disturbances in the moral force that binds us. What we do not tolerate is spitefulness!  Back-stabbing is unbecoming, and southern empathy will immediately be directed toward the perceived victim!  That who is being back stabbed in public!  You just don’t' do that.  So when Newt’s Ex went on National Television to air her laundry, she violated the Southern Code!  And therefor became immediately petty and irrelevant!  Southerners saw a fellow southerner now under attack by those damn Yankees, supported by fodder from a jilted turncoat former wife (who, after this display… Southerners thought, “No wonder Newt wanted to sleep with someone else!”)  So what does the south do?  Protect their own!  And damned if they will vote for that Republican from that Yankee Bastion Massachusetts!

And when CNN, not realizing all they were doing is throwing Newt into the Briar Patch, carried ABC’s water and asked about the Succubus's claim… Newt, a true Southerner, knew he had the advantage and attacked the Liberal Media for stooping so low as to bring this type of issue up at something so dignified as a PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE!  Remember CNN, ABC, CBS, NYT… Southerners don’t give a shit if you wear boxers or briefs either… as long as they’re clean!

Paucity of Posts

Visitors to this space may not help but notice the growing rarity of literary wit or prose on these here virtual pages.  I could obviously cite any number of convenient excuses, much in the same way I can concoct reasons for not dragging my growing figure to the gym.  But the reason lies more in frustration than apathy or inconvenience.

In the case of Carmichael’s Position I don’t really attribute the growing dearth of cognitive essays, to laziness but more to lack of motivation.  It is this motivation I intend to change.  Of late I have been more reticent to express my opinion, choosing to hold my tongue (or fingers in the case of CP) in a misinterpreted impression I was being more balanced, or understanding.  The proverbial “Don’t speak unless you can improve the silence".  I find without outlet, my mind stirs with each absurdity our world seems to generate in the way a nauseated goose creates flatulent fertilizer! 

My trouble lies in my lack of self assuredness.  I know, to many who know me personally describing me as anything remotely close to insecure would be like accusing Obama of being humble!  No, follow me here, I have been reading excellent prose from spectacular writers and thinkers, ranging from George Will, Peggy Noonan, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, Sun Tzu, Stockdale and his motivative mentor Epictetus.  When I compare my composition, or syllogistic methods I come up painfully short.  Who wouldn’t?  I know.  It would be like me comparing my photographic works to the likes of Ansel Adams, or Charlie Waite.  Which is what got me to thinking… Like in my photography, I use the works of these paragons to better challenge my own quality.  I know I will never be Ansel Adams… but then again the world has already had one.  So I can simply be John Carmichael, aspiring photographer, writer, commentator.  Maybe my words will raise the discourse, or maybe not, they may just land like the feces of the sick goose… but they will be my words and thoughts, and once again… CARMICHAEL’s POSITION!  My words may not “Improve the Silence” but they certainly cannot harm the din!

More to come… fortunately it’s an election year, and I suspect there will be no shortage of idiots regurgitating bromides and platitudes in an effort to sway an electorate! 

I will not sit on the sidelines any more. 

Not to worry there will be a continuing smattering of my more tame, artistic impressions on these pages as well, just because I plan to expand one facet does not mean I plan to curtail the other… besides I am going to the gym again too!  … new leaf and all that…