The Quadrennial Exploitation Of The Moronic Masses

Allow me to clarify - i feel i may have expressed myself wrong


"you" is a metaphror for any of the ATS users in this thread that have supported it but contributed nothing.


Your post is proving my point

It died.

Chances are because it was posted in "space exploration"

I would argue you could put it in both - maybe decision 2008 if you want it to recieve some feedback.

I will be reading into it and contributing my own two cents.

But this thread that we are talking in seems to rest on the premise of the decision 2008 forums.


So while your thread does contribute to an overall site wide stance of intellectual contributions - it does not contribute to the D'08 forum that most people complain about.

Thats my point.

It is so difficult to rise above the propaganda today. There is right and there is wrong and there seems to be no gray areas. Liberal or Conservative and nothing else matters.

This is a pure form of conditioning for all that participate in our media today, tv news, cable news, radio, now the internet. It would be interesting to get the view of world events from some one not influenced by all of this mess. Personally I have had almost 40 years worth of conditioning, I attempt to see beyond it but it so much easier to just go alone with the other sheep of sort of the same color.

Personally I find it hard to believe that Obama and McCain are the best two options we have come up with. This is part of the problem, we need more real choices. When Abraham Lincoln won the presidency there were 5 people running for that office, he only got like 35% of the vote and won, but I would feel more comfortable with more options other than blue or red.

Now if you don't mind I posted this thread and got no responses, Am I just as guilty or am I apart of The Quadrennial Exploitation Of The Moronic Masses.

The failure of imperial presidency and the one-party government that would rule for generations. Spin is spin yes? is this just liberal spin? or propaganda? Not about the election BTW.

This is a good thread

All Hail our Fearless Leader SO

reply to post by Andrew E. Wiggin


All of that is correct to a great degree. And it will be correct until after the elections.
We can only hope.

Originally posted by schrodingers dog
reply to post by Andrew E. Wiggin

 

The OP appealed to:

-*- mindless repetition of divisive spoon-fed political talking points

-*- patently false information about candidates presented as truth

-*- exaggerated disaster scenarios if one or the other is elected

-*- shameful racism

-*- shameful bastardization of candidate names

-*- shameful focus on personalities instead of issues

-*- pathetic fear mongering

-*- embarrassingly little focus on real, important, vital issues

I know there are good threads, I participate in many of them.

All I am saying that the hateful ones are as frequent as ever. And long term they will not, try as they might, taint ATS.

If ATS members did en masse abandon pathetic fear mongering and exaggerated disaster scenarios, posting numbers would fall faster than Heather Mills in a room full of hungry termites. I guess it all comes down to the question of quality vs quantity. Do we want ATS filled with 99 threads about how GWB is preparing a cybernetic body to have his brain implanted in to assure he's the president forever and one thread about actual conspiracies, or do we want 10 threads about actual conspiracies and a lot less fluff posted? Personally, the anti-conservative crap doesn't bother me half as much as the incessant "the sky is falling!" propaganda does. I'm resolute in my political identity so I could care less what the pleebs think about it, but it would be sort of nice to be able to see some legitimate alternative news posted and not have to spend hours running down a huge agenda checklist to make sure the entire things isn't just typical baseless fear mongering. It's cliche but accurate to say that if I read on ATS that the sky was blue, I'd be doubtfull of the statement until I had verified through numerous sources that the sky really was blue.

reply to post by burdman30ott6

posting numbers would fall faster than Heather Mills in a room full of hungry termites

Thats hilarious!

As the rest of your post pertains:

I totally agree with you!
Thank you for having that approach with ATS.

It is very refreshing.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


You know what? I'm gonna have to take one for the team.

SDog is going to change his Avatar to turn all this negative energy into fluffy bunnies.

I'll be back in a jiffy.

There We Go, this better work!

[edit on 8/13/2008 by schrodingers dog]

Originally posted by burdman30ott6
Personally, the anti-conservative crap doesn't bother me half as much as the incessant "the sky is falling!" propaganda does.

Try these:

"Is the sky falling?"

"The sky may be falling."

"What would you do if the sky fell?"

"If you wanted to make the sky fall, how would you proceed?"

How was the election four years ago handled on ATS?
Were the same problems you discuss now happening then? Given the nature of Bush v. Kerry and all the drama surrounding the campaigns and the election in the general media, I suspect it was just as ugly "back in the day."

Politics has always been an ugly topic in any discussion forum. People are passionate and those who are otherwise sane, rational folk will froth at the mouth when it comes to political talk.
I think when it comes to a site like ATS, which has a greater range of viewpoints on all sorts of topics, politics is even uglier to discuss here than on a general site. Likewise, trying to calm the froth on a site like ATS will be met with as much, if not more, resistance than on a general discussion site, y'know?

How many active members are on ATS? There must be tens of thousands; the front page lists 2500 in the last 6 hours. Will your (spot-on) post here convince that many people to drop the bull and focus on what really matters? Honestly I have no idea; maybe your words can work magic. On the chance that they can't, though, convincing people to think rationally about politics in this day and age has to be like herding a million cats into a two bedroom apartment.

I don't mean to be a fatalist here but if you could just shift yourselves from the so called "Norm" whatever that may be to a more Schizotypal mindframe.. I think you will be well on your way to conquest of what you have identified thus far. The fact that every single micron of what we call reality and what we have been taught is reality is a true sham and has been that way for a very very long time.
Schizotypal personality disorder

I know..it sounds lonely doesnt it? Ya get use to it

There are 4 significant events that will be happening over the next several weeks: the VP nominations and the conventions.

There are plenty of issues to discuss: energy, jobs, health care, immigration, privacy laws. And that's without even crossing our borders. The candidate's stands on these are valid topics.

The candidates themselves are still valid topics, imo.

What *will* be discussed? We shall see.

reply to post by Andrew E. Wiggin


Termites eat modern thermoplastics?

No, I get the joke, even if it is more of a Pirate reference.

There is an old joke about the two wallflower misfits, embarrassed about their disabilities....the girl has a wooden eye (she's too poor to afford a good glass eye) and the boy has a wooden leg....at the school Sadie Hawkins Dance. They were constantly taunted, and were quite sensitive about it. Well, everyone's certainly heard this one, it's quite old....

Guess it's best to just avoid these political forae....at least until we get closer!!!!

Just in case....the rest of the story...

The boy, sitting dejected....she, also spurned by everyone....finally gathers the courage to go over and ask the boy to dance, thinking he'd certainly not resort to taunting. Relieved, he blurts, "Oh, wouldn't I !!" And, insulted, she points and shouts, "Peg Leg! Peg Leg!"

(this works best, verbally....hopefully...)

I will be the first to admit I have been drawn into many of these political threads and have responded with anger. Puppet strings moving my fingers on the keyboard.

I heard the song "heart of the matter" on the radio the other day and believe it or not I found myself thinking about the political debates here on ATS and all the anger I see infused into this election cycle.

Some of the Lyrics...

These times are so uncertain
Theres a yearning undefined
And people filled with rage
We all need a little tenderness
How can love survive in such a graceless age?
The trust and self-assurance that lead to happiness
Theyre the very things - we kill I guess
Pride and competition
Cannot fill these empty arms

And the more I know, the less I understand
All the things I thought Id figured out
I have to learn again
Ive been trying to get down
To the heart of the matter
But everything changes
And my friends seem to scatter
But I think its about forgiveness
Forgiveness

There are people in your life whove come and gone
They let you down you know they hurt your pride
You better put it all behind you baby; life goes on
You keep carryin that anger; itll eat you up inside.

Ive been trying to get down
To the heart of the matter
But my will gets weak
And my thought seem to scatter
But I think its about forgiveness

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


Thank you!!

One thing I've noticed and what all but proves people are just voting for the "lesser evil" is that they don't focus on what their candidate has to offer. Pretty much all you get is why the other guy sucks so bad.

Neither candidate has come out with a really sound, strong plan for our country during their term. All I've heard from Obama is, "I'm gonna change America" pandering to those who are very p.o.'ed at what Bush did to this country but not saying exactly what it is he plans on doing.

All McCain ever tells us is that the war in Iraq must continue pandering to those who are consumed with some type of America's-the-world's-hero complex.

Neither of them has said what they will do to restore our rights. Neither has said what they are going to do to make sure our kids aren't going to be stuck with the bill (money wise and social wise) that we have run up in this country and the Earth. Neither has said what they are going to do to make sure we don't continue to destroy our Earth making it increasingly difficult to maintain a life sustaining planet.

I don't care whether you believe climate change is caused by humans or not. That's completely beside the point and it is exactly what they want you to focus on in order to make it a political issue. What we need to focus on is the undeniable facts that we are polluting our earth, skies, waters, and bodies and in addition to all that we have to worry about our ecosystem becoming increasingly unbalanced. But neither candidate has even remotely addressed the issue.

It's amazing how something such as our entire world showing very clear signs of distress has turned into a gawd darn political issue. It's not! It's a human issue.

everyone is also under the impression that we only have two choices so you have to vote for one or the other. Vote for your dang neighbor if you believe he can do a better job than either of these two yokes. You vote for who you think is best fit to run this country and lead our people. You don't vote for who you think would be better than the other guy even if he's not exactly what you want. You vote for exactly what you want!

Cat feces or dog feces . When these are the only choices, you know that the system stinks. I am going to write in my choice. He probably will end up smelling bad also, but it will be my choice.

Out of the ballpark SO you nailed it... i have little to add to because you adressed it so thuroghly.... thanks for being a voice of reason in these troubled times.... i havent been on ats for a long time but i understand its purpose and many many threads since ive joined have taken away from the true purpose of the site (i to am guilty of indulging these threads) I will try not to any more

Vote Skeptic Overlord in '08 sorry i had to

here is my thread adressing the devisive rhetoric in ats and in the much broader world i probably titled it wrong but the message remains the same lets stop fighting eachother and fix this

www.abovetopsecret.com...'

[edit on 14-8-2008 by constantwonder]

We need to start asking questions to candidates that will show how they think or even if they even think. Some of mine are:

1. Was the Kelo ruling in conflict with Article V of the Constitution?

2. Are judges who legislate committing insurrection?

3. Is the Constitution "a living breathing document"? Follow up question, if answered positively: How do you reconcile that with Article V?

I just saw on the news (what little we get these days) that the McCain camp is offering rewards for people who blog the party talking points the most...Perhaps that can account for much of the foolishness as of late. I know we all have our own views and tend to gravitate toward one of the various party platforms and thus are bias in terms of what we will post based on our world-view, however, there is something more valuable in the post made by someone who is genuinely trying to speak for what they themselves feel or think, rather than what they just heard on a talk show or read on a party web site. Even better are the posts backed up with factual evidence and / or sound theory. It's the bogus name calling and obvious false ridiculous statements that are (just as was stated in the O.P.) ruining it for everyone. Besides most of us (no matter what side of the ideological spectrum one resides) see right through it anyway, and so it really has little effect other than wasting time and space.

I for one, simply navigate around the garbage as best I can, and still have found a large amount of stimulating threads and every once in a while something quite intriguing and provocative. ATS is still my favorite site, but I doubt it will let up much until after the election...that is if they don't start immediately working on the next election the day after we just voted!

That said, I think though offering rewards for those who post the most talking points on blogs is about as low as one can go...

the distress logo (bar-logo.gif) should link to this thread, SO. Seriously. I had to do a search just to figure out wtf was going on, and this should be front page.

reply to post by weedwhacker


Who wa the comedian, on his death bed, who was asked what he was thinking, as his life was nearing an end???

Anyway, the lline goes....."Dying is easy.....comedy? That's hard!"

OK folks that's it, only two shows per night!

Thank you very much!!

The citizens of this once great country need to get a man like Ron Paul, if not Ron Paul himself as a write in vote in every state. Corrupt government, corrupt congress, corrupt supreme court. Evil Federal Reserve, IRS, IMF, World Bank and NWO.
Vote Ron Paul and throw everyone else out!