Everything Always Looks Different In The Light Of Day

Why do I feel like I've awakened from a Republican hangover?

"Debates were a disaster for the party in 2012, an endless circus made up entirely of clowns on a national tour of shame. 

These debates were on TV, people watched (and mocked) them, and the real candidates, the ones the money people were counting on to win the stupid race, were forced to say unacceptable things to appeal to raging loons."

Oh yeah - THAT'S why,...

 

"Occult" Means "Hidden" (It's Best To Stay That Way,...)

Check, check, and double check:

America’s “Mormon moment” is over, and public opinion appears to be little changed. Eight-in-ten Americans (82%) say they learned little or nothing about the Mormon religion during the presidential campaign, according to a new Pew Research Center poll. Most Americans still are unable to correctly answer basic questions about the history and sacred texts of the Mormon Church. And three-in-ten Americans continue to consider the Mormon religion a non-Christian faith, though there appears to be some warming of attitudes toward Mormonism, especially among religious groups that voted heavily for Mitt Romney in the 2012 election.

But the man was vetted! Sure, and really well, too: 

 As the old saying goes, you can fool some of the people some of the time,…

 

My Love Don't Give Me Presents,...

So where was I? 

Oh yeah - I was Charlton Heston at the end of Planet of the Apes or something.

Was I right or what? 

Of course I was.

But it's time to get back on that horse.

Seems to me NewAgers overplayed their hand again, and the "Mayan Apocalypse" - like the "Harmonic Convergence" before it - reduced them to the Republican Party of the spirit world.

Nothing new there, apparently:

The real Santa was truly a rough-and-tumble son of a bitch,…Not only did he smack the bishop, but,…Of all his strong opinions, none matched his hatred of paganism.

And a Merry Christmas! to that!

Celebrate by freely telling "be humble" types to get over themselves.

They wouldn't have been insisting on it if they weren't intimidated or otherwise threatened.

(That's "operating from a position of fear" for those of you keeping score at home.)

Oh, I feel like a bad guy on Batman's old TV show, all yakkity-yak-yak-yak - so quickly:

We're on to you.

It's over.

And starting today - in honor of Ol' Saint Nick - let the beheadings begin,….

 

It's So Hard To Be Normal Being "Out There" Is A Peach

As "spiritual battles" go, Christianity's getting it's butt kicked because (let's face it) there's just too much there to work with - especially if you're nursing a Freddie Mercury fetish.

No, Hell is filled to overflowing, and the spillover ain't looking to "attain" the status of angels playing harps on clouds.

But then again (let's face it - again) it's never been easier to Dance With The Devil:

What these fine folks don't understand is, either way, they're still playing the game - they're "spiritual" - and atheists ain't got time for that.

No, to this atheist, the "spiritual" are even more of a problem than the ordinary religious believer, since they're just as apocalyptic (as we've seen) but also feel entitled, knowing few are connecting the dots to their particular collection of "faiths."

That was a "Mayan Apocalypse" we just witnessed - not a NewAge prophesy, right?

Slippery little fuckers that way,...

 

If You Were Caught Up In A Cult, Would You Want Help?

I've been working all night and, on two hours sleep, started looking at nursing homes for my friend this morning - which, at least, makes it feel like Doomsday. But, as far as today's NewAge prophecy is concerned, I submit this quote from a retired construction worker who lives in the shadow of Pic de Bugarach, the mountain in France "which some say will open on the last day and aliens will emerge with spaceships to save nearby humans." He said:

“For the past 50 years I have wandered over every single inch of that mountain, I know every rock, nook and cranny and everything what has been said about Le Pic de Bugarach is nothing but lies. Whoever started this rumour about Bugarach three years ago is a liar and all those who have followed him ever since are crooks.”

Here's another, from the Chinese government, which - in light of what some see as China's heavy-handed response - seems to elicit chuckles and dismay:

"The end of the world is not to be believed. The cult has evil intentions in lying about it. They cheat you out of money, lure you into the cult, and once you are in the trap you will be accompanied by misfortunes."

For instance, in response, The Telegraph, UK's Tom Phillips says:

"'You will be accompanied by misfortunes'? For all their faults, let it not be said the Chinese authorities are not eloquent. Bit difficult to take the moral high ground after you've arrested nearly 100 people for 'spreading rumours' though isn't it?"

Clearly, the man has never had to deal closely with cult-related issues - especially where loved ones are concerned. (Nor does he have a thing against outright fraud.) He assumes, I think, the Chinese can reason with sharks, or we should just let the disruptive "liars" and exploitive "crooks" continue.

What's a little "crazy" in someone else's life, right?

As long as it's not yours,...

I've returned to People's Temple member Deborah Layton's words more times than I can count:  

"...Nobody joins a cult. You join a self-help group, a religious movement, a political organization. They change so gradually, by the time you realize you're entrapped - and almost everybody does - you can't figure a safe way back out...."

That, my friends, is truly the end of the world,…

Starship Troopers

They think my friend has meningitis, which I knew little about until this happened. Nasty stuff. They're hitting him with 5 different antibiotics now, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens. There doesn't appear to be any brain damage, which is good, and hopefully he'll make a full recovery.

Thank You for everyone's kind words.

Why isn't there more talk about institutionalizing the mentally ill?

That was Ann Althouse after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The question strikes me as disingenuous, or even maybe naive, in light of the recent events in my immediate vicinity:

We're a freedom-loving people, and we labor to allow others (and ourselves) as much autonomy as possible - which allows, whatever troubles the afflicted, a lot of leeway.

Plus, in this culture, who are the mentally ill?

"What kind of country is this? There's a disconnect, between the country we think we are, and the country we actually are. And that only gets you so far, as you coast on the investments of the previous generation. But if you think you're there and you're not, that's called 'delusion,' and stuff catches up with you."

-- Neil deGrasse Tyson

One popular presidential candidate thought trees grow to a "right height," and is now the proud owner of The Plain English Campaign's 'Foot in Mouth' award for speaking gibberish, with this:

 

'I believe in an America where millions of Americans believe in an America that's the America millions of Americans believe in. That's the America I love.'

Problem? And what about Jesus coming "back" to Missouri? Or, say, Westerners who think the Dalai Lama is reincarnated? In the NewAge, madness is more difficult to diagnose, apparently.

And that's where we careen into the side rail, right? Whoopee - bumper cars with the Feds:

Does NASA seriously think someone who's sold all their worldly possessions and run off to Serbia is capable of understanding facts? Or even cares?

If you ask me, everybody needs to do some reframing - fast. This is the NewAge. So we shouldn't be hearing about a "Mayan prophecy" but a NewAge prophecy - the Mayan are as confused by the nature of these events as anyone else. I think we should be investigating that.

What is NewAge? What effect is it having on people? On society?

This preposterous cosmology, that has believers gathering in "power spots," awaiting rescue spaceships as others die. Is that mental illness? What else is going on? I'll tell you - again:

 

Naw, forget that - I think you can figure it out for yourselves,....

 

Headlines I Didn't Write (But I Certainly Could Have,...)

Life of an early alternative medical pioneer goes on on display at Sutton Library

Seek an alternative to alternative medicine

Revealed: How a cult-like band exploits voter deception to wield political power in N.Y.C.

The Psychology of Cults - All In The Mind

Mayan apocalypse: Serbia's mystic mountain targeted by believers 

The School Of Hard Knocks Graduates Another Student

Charles Tatum: "What do you know about Yogi Berra, Miss Deverich?" 

Miss Deverich: "I beg your pardon?" 

Charles Tatum: "Yogi Berra!" 

Miss Deverich: "Yogi? Why, it's a sort of religion, isn't it?"

-- Ace In The Hole, 1951, when they knew the difference between a spiritual ritual and exercise.

And, if you've been raised to think Russia was atheist, think again:

For those not schooled in New Age prophecy, there are rumours the world will end on December 21, 2012, when a 5125-year cycle known as the Long Count in the Mayan calendar supposedly comes to a close. Russia, a nation with a penchant for mystical thinking, has taken notice.

The question is why Americans haven't "taken notice." Offline and on, I get hit with so much NewAge malarky, and plain ol' misinformation, I sometimes wonder how our society functions at all. Like, when I read Your federal tax dollars are being used to prepare for the zombie apocalypse,…well, let's just say those all-important "fiscal cliff" talks take on a whole new dimension, and it ain't good.

Let's see, a former “Good Morning America” producer is a perv, an Amish cult leader is being called O.G. (Original Gangsta) in prison, some London-based Nigerian con artists ran a £2.7million lotto scam that led to a murder-suicide, and Burning Man has finally adopted a "cargo cult" theme to make the point they've always been toying with even clearer. Simply put:

I need a break - bad. 

♬It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a wonderful day for a neighbor, 

would you be my, could you be my,…♬

 

"Some, Inspired By New Age Philosophies, Expect A Day Of Universal Peace And Spiritual Transformation"

That's always been the promise - but even NASA and I are kinda on the same page:

"The greatest threat to Earth in 2012, at the end of this year and in the future, is just from the human race itself."

And another quote for a lot of what many find important is:

"There is no true issue here. This is just a manufactured fantasy."

Which has never mattered to those in NewAge/Nazi Land. I mean, sure, "it's evil for people to propagate rumors on the Internet to frighten children," but has that stopped them from doing it? Nope. All that's ever mattered is making their vision real - including by shaming, silencing, or getting rid of, those who don't fit and/or will not go along. It has nothing to do with the Maya:

Only a couple of references to the 2012 date equivalency have been found carved in stone at Maya sites, and neither refers to an apocalypse, experts say. 

Such apocalyptic visions have been common for more than 1,000 years in Western, Christian thinking, and are not native to Maya thought. 

'This is thinking that, in truth, has nothing to do with Mayan culture,' said Alexander Voss, an anthropologist at the University Of Quintana Roo, a state on Mexico's Caribbean coast. 'This thing about looking for end-times is not something that comes from Mayan culture.' 

No - it's all about these loving white "spiritualists" in the West. But who cares? So it is written, so it will be done:

 Fire up the ovens!

Change The Date On This Photo, To The Last Election, And You Can Inscribe It's Message On My Tombstone

Home Is Where The Heart Is

The National Review's Andrew C. Mccarthy is telling it like it is:

The key to understanding the 2012 election is simple: A huge slice of the electorate stayed home. 

The punditocracy — which is more of the ruling class than an eye on the ruling class — has naturally decided that this is because Republicans are not enough like Democrats: They need to play more identity politics (in particular, adopt the Left’s embrace of illegal immigration) in order to be viable. But the story is not about who voted; it is about who didn’t vote. In truth, millions of Americans have decided that Republicans are not a viable alternative because they are already too much like Democrats. They are Washington. With no hope that a Romney administration or more Republicans in Congress would change this sad state of affairs, these voters shrugged their shoulders and became non-voters.

Why The Republicans (Showing Off) Received Their Well-Deserved - And Self-Inflicted - Head Wound,...Pt. II

Part I is here.

The Christian Broadcasting Network News predictions for the 2012 White House contest:

 Everyone has seen the polls, which show the race to be agonizingly tight. If the national and battleground state polls are over-sampling Democrats, which some conservatives claim, they are probably under-stating Romney's strength. 

If this is true, Romney could win significantly more than 300 electoral votes. 

 • Prediction: At this point, Romney wins Virginia, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Nevada, New Hampshire, Colorado, and Wisconsin. President Obama wins Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, giving Romney a 295 to 243 victory.

I had to work late, so I'm getting off to a late start - more rambling:

There are no ways to get around the facts. For Republicans and conservatives and independents who wanted a new direction for our country, the victory of President Obama is sad — and for many of us, unexpected. Those conservatives who assured us with statistics, theories, and arguments about Romney winning the White House, even in a landslide, should be eating their hats. 

In the past week, conservatives who usually disagree with each other about many things, including Fred Barnes, Peggy Noonan, Dick Morris, my PJM colleague Roger Kimball, George F. Will,  Karl Rove, and Michael Barone, among others, provided analysis and arguments, all of which led to predictions of an inevitable Romney victory. Instead of the outcome they all looked forward to and assumed would be inevitable given Obama’s failures and the state of the economy, they found that their theories collapsed as the returns poured in. Instead of a long night, by 11:30 p.m. even Fox News had called the election for the president. Yes, Karl Rove thought their statistics desk called it too early, but 15 minutes later he too agreed that Ohio had gone for the president. 

So what happened? I had been trying to warn my optimistic friends in recent days that I thought Obama would win, and was regularly greeted with a slew of polls meant to prove I was wrong.

Let's start this section with the fact Republicans are too insular. For all the talk of Democrats living in a bubble, the right refuses to admit they're walled off - in their own minds - even to those of us on their side. I know I've got to be their kind of people, and though I've got all the proper credentials - including, some would claim, my own tinfoil hat - as my Mormon friends would say, I've also got "a potty mouth," and this just won't do. Their loss.

As I see it, their priorities are wrong and they're seeing only what they want to see, trying to use peer pressure to orchestrate their schemes. They've never met me, and if they never act as my peers - but only exploiters when it suits them - how well is that going to work out for them in the long run? I've got nothing to lose.

Chris Christie lashes out at 'know-nothing disgruntled Romney staffers' who criticised him for refusing to attend campaign rally with Mitt after Hurricane Sandy.

There's another kind of guy - completely outnumbered - who is more likable, but more importantly, correct more often than the rest. That should be what matters. Who can accurately chart a course out of this mess - and connect with the rest -  not who behaves themselves.

And let's not forget how some Republicans translated the word "post-racial" as "go for the jugular," which resulted in some ugly, and largely unmentioned, behavior that few minded at all. I won't go into it, because it was just stupid - not racist - but the stupid's got to stop. You can't sing, and put your fingers in your ears, expecting this black to stand by your side - or others to come running. Niggas like music, but, come on.

Giving Romney a pass on releasing his tax returns was a "tell." He could do no wrong - his supporters would do no right. Ethics were turned to taffy. Not a convincing start.

Viewers of The Real Housewives Of Miami watched as Adriana De Moura threw punches this week in a vicious fight. 

But the Brazilian beauty has obviously reconnected with her spiritual side, striking the 'tree' pose as she did yoga on Miami beach.

And - oh yeah - here's a simple-but-really-important lesson for all the geniuses out there: 

You do not choose a president based on the economy, or any other single issue. 

The presidency is not a single issue job.

I’ve got egg on my face. I predicted a Romney landslide and, instead, we ended up with an Obama squeaker.  

-- Dick Morris, who's been mailing me nonsense, several times a day, for what seems like forever

And the polls? Republicans treated the polls like messages from Heaven. Polls, like pundits and fact-checkers, mean nothing. Weeks before the election, people making bets in Europe gave Obama a 60% chance of a win - those gamblers, putting their money where their mouth is, should be included as a reliable indicator.

Would somebody please pass the catsup? This crow is awfully dry. 

Yes, I am eating crow. I predicted a 53-47 Romney win. I was wrong, chiefly because, I think, the pollsters were, contrary to my pre-election conviction, using the right turnout models.

All around, the ease with which the right fell for their own side's media manipulations - from the Obama-eats-dog meme to Benghazi - was amazing to behold. Not a lot of skepticism out there.

Republicans chose style over substance - acted like substance was Kryptonite - which didn't help when selling competence. Not even with conservatives. Romney, repeating "I know how to create jobs," wasn't evidence. Where are all those grateful employees who love Mitt so much? Are you seriously going to tell me no one thought of that? (I'm going to need proof Republicans can say their ABCs after this.) We didn't have to vet Romney any further? That one killed me.

“If Romney wins, he will need us to constantly push him in the direction of sanity. If Obama wins, we will need to fight him at every turn. I’m not quitting. Don’t you quit now, either.”

-- Stephen Green, part of the Instapundit crew, before it mattered if anyone was listening

Here's a question: 

 Why choose an insane candidate to begin with - pretending all along he isn't? 

  Isn't that crazy?

The prophecy Romney describes is nutty—for a thousand years, Christ “will reign from two places,” Missouri and Jerusalem—but it’s no nuttier than the Book of Revelation or the parting of the Red Sea.

And can the demonstratively insane push someone equally out there "in the direction of sanity"? The first problem of dealing with nutty folks is getting them to acknowledge they're nutty - and Republicans have proven they don't/won't/can't listen, or learn. As long as money is the only criteria they choose to judge on, that ain't going to work.

There are waaay too many functional idiots out there - and no, I'm not talking about Bill Maher.

I'm not done yet,…