so they trick themselves into thinking that they're actually helping people when they aren't. people aren't that smart about themselves, looking at themselves in a larger context. confirmation bias and context create the illusion that a middle manager is doing his best and providing for those who are closest to him.
yeah this is key i think.
― difficult listening hour, Friday, 30 December 2011 22:32 (twelve years ago) link
making so much up lol. hay out of straw. call it whatever you want, that uhhhhhh "single-minded focus" is definitely fucked up. xxp
― nuhnuhnuh, Friday, 30 December 2011 22:35 (twelve years ago) link
a middle manager is doing his best and providing for those who are closest to him. hive mentality in the face of a harsh world. i think it's the same thing with someone directing a waterboarding
Outside of the rest of the discussion: I just don't get this part. The responsibility levels seem so different to me. Torture spoken of as somehow equivalent to the place of a middle manager, not, like, an executioner or something?
― anatol_merklich, Friday, 30 December 2011 22:37 (twelve years ago) link
We're all talking about Dick Cheney and Antonin Scalia aren't we
― Lord Sotosyn, Friday, 30 December 2011 22:40 (twelve years ago) link
well torture, at least as far as i understand how it works currently in the us military, is just as bureaucratically entrenched, with a shared responsibility among many people and policies (some more than others), as fucking people out of their mortgages is. xp
― nuhnuhnuh, Friday, 30 December 2011 22:42 (twelve years ago) link
the visionary is protecting the nation and the executioner is just following orders.
― nuhnuhnuh, Friday, 30 December 2011 22:44 (twelve years ago) link
best illustration of how distant people can get from other people w/r/t u.s. military torture is still don rumsfeld's scribbled margin note next to the authorization request for "stress positions" at guantanamo: "i stand for eight hours a day! why only four?"
― difficult listening hour, Friday, 30 December 2011 22:46 (twelve years ago) link
(don rumsfeld in general a pretty rich seam for this sort of thing)
― difficult listening hour, Friday, 30 December 2011 22:47 (twelve years ago) link
rumsfeld is a psychopath
― Mordy, Friday, 30 December 2011 22:47 (twelve years ago) link
haha otm
― nuhnuhnuh, Friday, 30 December 2011 22:49 (twelve years ago) link
yah butbutgnnh
― anatol_merklich, Friday, 30 December 2011 22:50 (twelve years ago) link
welcome to Indefinite Detention Land btw
(with "serious reservations" of course)
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/us/politics/obama-signs-military-spending-bill.html?_r=1&hp
― Dr Morbius, Sunday, 1 January 2012 09:33 (twelve years ago) link
Happy New Year!!!
― Lord Sotosyn, Sunday, 1 January 2012 13:35 (twelve years ago) link
dexneb can tell us how it was politically necessary.
― Dr Morbius, Sunday, 1 January 2012 16:02 (twelve years ago) link
http://news.yahoo.com/republican-candidate-romney-veto-immigration-dream-act-023856783.html
To be fair, his defense of it is pretty sound:
"If I'm the president of the United States I want to end illegal immigration so that we can protect legal immigration. I like legal immigration."
smh
― if you ain't gonna wash it, i ain't gonna eat it, Sunday, 1 January 2012 16:24 (twelve years ago) link
pandering at its best
― if you ain't gonna wash it, i ain't gonna eat it, Sunday, 1 January 2012 16:27 (twelve years ago) link
I mean you'd think even the most hardened anti-illegal people would see the 'serve military' caveat in lieu of school and at least appreciate that but noooooo
there's a GOP thread
― k3vin k., Sunday, 1 January 2012 18:30 (twelve years ago) link
nothing like starting the new year off with a nice hit piece: http://exiledonline.com/failing-up-with-joshua-foust-meet-the-evil-genius-massacre-denier-who-shills-for-war-profiteers/
calling a dude who was bullied a twerp and making fun of his height maybe not the best look but other than that
― k3vin k., Sunday, 1 January 2012 18:32 (twelve years ago) link
ive been seeing that feud play out on twitter over the last couple weeks... really hard to take any of these people seriously when they are all so bad at zinging
― max max max max, Sunday, 1 January 2012 20:03 (twelve years ago) link
yeah that dude is trying so hard to be taibbi
― k3vin k., Sunday, 1 January 2012 20:04 (twelve years ago) link
foust is a dick though i remember him being all "occupy wall street should get a job" stick to foreign policy bro
― max max max max, Sunday, 1 January 2012 20:05 (twelve years ago) link
yeah he def seems like an idiot
― k3vin k., Sunday, 1 January 2012 20:06 (twelve years ago) link
heh kev you know that ames and taibbi co-edited the exile for years
― max max max max, Sunday, 1 January 2012 20:07 (twelve years ago) link
no! that explains so much though seriously
― k3vin k., Sunday, 1 January 2012 20:08 (twelve years ago) link
that actual signing statement is like unabashedly evil. "I personally won't use these powers, think they're wrong, but let me sign them into law in case somebody more bloodthirsty than me becomes President at some point"
― undervalued aerosmith tchotchkes sold in bulk, Sunday, 1 January 2012 20:36 (twelve years ago) link
otm
― k3vin k., Sunday, 1 January 2012 21:53 (twelve years ago) link