5

Quiz: Name That User

I see an article on the home page describing how the Department of Homeland Security is warning of "rightwing extremist activity."  The comments posted by users in response to that piece speak for themselves.  "This sounds like the beginning of a dictatorship to me. Suppress the voices of who oppose you by classifying them as a dangerous militia..."

Take a look, at http://www.politics.com/news/9460/us-government-warns-of-right-wing-radicals.

OK, then.  Time for a bit of digging.

Who, among the good citizens of this site,

- is really no fan of the United States government, calling it "the ultimate bully"

- is a big supporter of gun rights, saying "The government is afraid of the guns people have because they have to have control of the people at all times. Once you take away the guns, you can do anything to the people."

- believes our country is headed as far left as Sweden: "We are slowly turning into a socialist government. The government is continually growing bigger and more powerful, and the people need to prepare to defend themselves against government control."

- has some very real issues with taxation, and politicians: "Taxes are a joke. Regardless of what a political candidate "promises," they will increase. More taxes are always the answer to government mismanagement. They mess up. We suffer."

- referred to the Golden State as "The People's Socialist Republic of California"

- believes we face "imminent danger" from our government

???

Sound familiar? 

Is it a user we hear from regularly? 

Is he or she even among this site's "Top Users?"

Maybe those sound like your words?

tick

tock

tick

tock

Trick question.  Those are the words of Timothy McVeigh, executed in 2001 following his conviction for conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, use of a weapon of mass destruction, destruction by explosives, and first-degree murder.

One hundred and sixty-eight were killed and some 800 others injured in the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

Be very afraid, indeed.

6

A Conservative's Reconstruction Project

Wow, C. Rich  Just...wow.

Nimrod asked what C. Rich ever did to me, and the answer is, simply, nothing.  Certainly nothing personal. 

As I said at http://www.politics.com/crashtack/blog/8863/welcome-back-new-look-new-insights/, C. Rich seemed a "randomly reasonable" user to me, and after being pointed to C. Rich's site and seeing what I saw, I thought an exploration into the directing mind behind the "Conservative Reconstruction Project" was in order.  I wrote that post with a minimum of adjectives and pulled a lot of punches, leaving lots on the floor for fear it would look like a personal hatchet job rather than an exploration others might use to draw their own conclusions.

A proper hatchet job would have included posting my link on C. Rich's own site, on any and all comment threads I could find, and as often as C. Rich could delete them. It would have gone on, in... punctilious length, to catalog all I saw.  It would have included comment on C. Rich's use of the third person to describe C. Rich, and some possible psychological explanations for that.

[Speaking of hatchet jobs, C. Rich's review of one in book form again has me fascinated:

"A** C***ter is one of the right-wing’s most outspoken bomb throwers. The fact that she is sexy allows me to forgive her when she doesn’t give it her all. That long, beautiful, blonde hair leaves me in a pool of wonderment. This wouldn’t be the first A** C***ter book that I would recommend, but there is enough mental masturbation in this to make it worth the buy."]

But I digress.  In short, if this online persona didn't exist, critics might seek to invent C. Rich to serve their political ends.

Now here is C. Rich in another blog post, urging all to "Follow me on a voyage of unspeakable truth. A voyage of core beliefs."  http://www.politics.com/news/9150/the-president-will-speak-at-notre-dame/

Among those "core beliefs" is that "The respect for all forms of life trumps any written document written by man in the history of the human race."  Having resolved not to respond to Nimrod, and to stop the beatings in the hopes of improving morale, C. Rich's latest words have roused me from my slumber.

So let's pick some things up off the floor and resume the exploration.

Since that last blog post, C. Rich seems to have:

 - removed the "XXX Adult Links" tab from C. Rich's website [note: a hatchet job would include the still-very-live link to the archived page]

 - moved the link for the "Conservative Reconstruction Project" from the second row to the first row

 - changed the poll question from what was on C. Rich's site that day: “Are we living in end times?”

 - deleted C. Rich's responses to my post from the list of C. Rich's "Last Activities" on this site, but not from the list of C. Rich's "Last Comments"  [perhaps because users can't do that, I don't think]

And that, to some extent, is progress.  I'm sure C. Rich would have deleted the XXX link if I had posted my observations or not.  The impetus can't be from me, or else C. Rich's followers might conclude that C. Rich listened to (and acted upon) the observations of a commentator.

But there may be additional reconstruction to do. 

Also since my post, C. Rich seems to have:

- added a very fancy flash-driven advertising feature to C. Rich's site, presenting writhing girls in very nice shiny vinyl lingerie exhorting us to “Click Me”

 - added links to C. Rich's site concerning what must be another of C. Rich's interests - "spanking"

No, not "spanking" in the sense that a parent may spank a child in an expression of tough love, but in the sense of "Bad Females," "Boys Boarding School," "FemDomVIP," "Her First Punishment," and...among others..."Lupus Spanking."

Lupus Spanking?  Does C. Rich mean spanking people, of any gender, who are afflicted with systemic lupus erythematosus?  The disease, from which a friend of mine died 15 years ago, which:

 - involves unspeakable pain

 - has other symptoms so graphically awful I won't describe them here

 - occurs 4 times more frequently, and with greater severity, among those of Afro-Caribbean descent in contrast to those of European descent

 - affects females more than 9 times as often as males???? 

Lupus Spanking?  Listed under the site's heading of "Spanking," in the same style and adjacent to C. Rich's "Archives," below C. Rich's "Twitter Updates"?  That's not regrettably necessary sponsorship to support a political commentator, but more an undeniable view into the heart and mind of C. Rich.  IMO. Of course.

One might think it's time for some adjectives, but they hardly seem necessary.  Deeds speak louder than words.  If this, now, is what "respect for all forms of life" looks like, or conforms to some framework of conservative or libertarian thought, I may stop reading the works of C. Rich altogether.  Maybe, then, morale might improve.

7

Welcome Back (New Look, New Insights)

So….out of curiosity I click back to Politics.com after some time and find that:

They have a nifty new interface that brings users more content in the same space, and particularly lets me find, up front, what’s cooking right now.  Cool.

The usual suspects (and some new ones) have yet to tire of their tirades, but seem to be moderating their views somewhat and engaging in what increasingly looks like debate, or at least discussion, on some of the threads.  The more flexible thinkers are still at it, apparently neither discouraged nor dumbed-down.  That looks like progress, imho, though of course I'm not the decider.

C. Rich, whom I saw as something of a randomly reasonable chameleon but a devout defender of faith, prayer and the social right, has written yet another piece, featured on the home page, denying global warming.  This, as North Dakota is experiencing its second 500-year flood in the last 12 years.  That’s weather, yes, and maybe climatically irrelevant, but the forces of no are again earning their stripes.

Oddly, C. Rich’s piece ends with this queer sign-off: “One thousand years from now, the human race will be able to point back into human history and make fun of those crazy people who thought mankind could affect the earth’s temperature. I’m just glad that the one about masturbating and going blind was not true”.

A bit baffled, I look at the headers on C. Rich’s personal blog and find, above the link to his “Conservative Reconstruction Project,” a link to “XXX Adult Videos.”  Now I’m no prude, I don’t think, but if this is the face of conservative reconstruction, then things are worse than I thought.

Amidst C. Rich’s proud description of his alter ego “Captain UB Strokeman” and a video C. Rich posted which apparently depicts sexual acts in an elevator (removed by his blog host, as contrary to the site’s terms of use) is a graphics-rich page linking to what seems to be hard-core content.  The titles C. Rich is promoting include “Barley [sic] Legal Bi-Sex,” “Bareback boys club,” “Men in uniform,” and “Threeway Bi-Pass” (with the description “Fuck my boyfriend in the ass while I play with your nuts”).

Considering his political comments in the context of that is a reconstruction project in the making, imho.  May you find peace.

His site sells various products, including a cute t-shirt for dogs with the text “My Mommy is a Proud Conservative”.  That product appears – scout’s honor - right beside the images for the hard-core titles.  I’m kinda spinning here.

And there’s way more than that.  http://americaspeaksink.com/xxx-adult-videos/

The comments by C. Rich on his blog, in response to his critics, make it clear he doesn’t care what others have to say, so this post is not directed to him but to his fellow travelers and various fans on this site.  The ones who, for example, have yet to let us know what the “legal name” of Bobby Jindal might be (hint: it’s not Robert).  Yes, I’m still worked-up over the name stuff.  Nothing is but what is not.

My admitted naivete is again on display, as I must have missed these nuggets from C. Rich’s comment file:

On Sarah Palin

I like the fact that she is nice on the eyes.

Sarah, is a hot chick who deserves our little man standing at attention.

She is very special.  Being beautiful don't hurt either.

On women generally, and the aged

Helen Thomas is an old broad which is open game for us men to laugh at.

As to whether I have any place in the sexual affairs of C. Rich, or anyone else, the answer is no.  But C. Rich did pretty much swing the door open with his comment that “I'll stay out of your bedroom when your president stays out of my pocket to pay for this crap”.

I’m kinda speechless, not my usual state.  And no concluding thoughts come to mind which could tie up this narrative arc, perhaps because it is not an arc at all, but rather a line soaring (or plunging, as you wish) with exponential properties.

If C. Rich embodies the socio-moral framework for a stronger conservative movement, led by Captain UB Strokeman, then good luck with that.  C. Rich will one day confront his maker, but that so many sensible so-called "conservative" thoughts risk being buried, under a writhing mass of chicks with dicks, is a true shame.