Comments on: The Perils of Emergency Power http://jimbovard.com/blog/2007/01/04/the-perils-of-emergency-power/ Author James Bovard Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:32:25 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: REB http://jimbovard.com/blog/2007/01/04/the-perils-of-emergency-power/#comment-15683 REB Sat, 13 Jan 2007 02:27:28 +0000 http://jimbovard.com/blog/2007/01/04/the-perils-of-emergency-power/#comment-15683 As long as there are folks who refuse to look to themselves for their lives and support,who refuse to take responsibility for their own lives and actions,who look to others,ie government to save them, protect them,feed them, wipe their rearends,make the world play fair,ad nausium,there will be those who are called government who believe they are destined to be the masters and the people,serfs working for them, there will always then be "boogie men",something or someone to be afraid of,and for them to protect us from,time to realize who the enemy is and to start working together with likeminded folks to tick off and throw off tyranny in all its forms,without throwing the baby out with the bathwater,lets keep the liberty and toss the system! As long as there are folks who refuse to look to themselves for their lives and support,who refuse to take responsibility for their own lives and actions,who look to others,ie government to save them, protect them,feed them, wipe their rearends,make the world play fair,ad nausium,there will be those who are called government who believe they are destined to be the masters and the people,serfs working for them, there will always then be “boogie men”,something or someone to be afraid of,and for them to protect us from,time to realize who the enemy is and to start working together with likeminded folks to tick off and throw off tyranny in all its forms,without throwing the baby out with the bathwater,lets keep the liberty and toss the system!

]]> By: Dirk W. Sabin http://jimbovard.com/blog/2007/01/04/the-perils-of-emergency-power/#comment-15367 Dirk W. Sabin Thu, 11 Jan 2007 19:40:38 +0000 http://jimbovard.com/blog/2007/01/04/the-perils-of-emergency-power/#comment-15367 Possible alternates for Dictator" Perhaps; a. "Kinder, Gentler Dictator" b. "Rilly Rilly Nice Deecidertator" c. "Good Old Boy Monarch" d. "His Royal Bupkus" e. "The Grand and Glorious Null" f. "El Dunce" g. "Flounder", (the dumb kid pledge who had his brother's Lincoln trashed in "Animal House") h."Living proof of the sorrows of a lack of birth control in Poppy Bush's House" i. "Chief Poquiddneck...roughly translated as: He Who say many words but come out backwards" j. "His Imperial Imperialite, Defender of the Indefensible" k. "Me No Makemistakemhatshupsut I" l. "Surge I" m. "il Surgenator" n. "Hizzoner, the Surgetatertinator" o. "Jackass is spelled j...a...c...k...a...s...s" p. "Neoconensis I, Lord of the Yoomans" q."With Presidents like this, who needs Dictators" r. "Condi's Special Project unfortunately beyond it's Expiration Date" s. "Hall Monitor On a Bender" t. "King anti-Midas" u. "El Glorioso de la Texaconnectibunkport" v. "Massuh" w. "GI Joe Deprivation Syndrome " x. "The Ever-blessed Thousand Points of Pointlessness" y. "Jebs worst Nightmare" z. "General Genrul, Trew Leeder". Possible alternates for Dictator”
Perhaps;
a. “Kinder, Gentler Dictator”
b. “Rilly Rilly Nice Deecidertator”
c. “Good Old Boy Monarch”
d. “His Royal Bupkus”
e. “The Grand and Glorious Null”
f. “El Dunce”
g. “Flounder”, (the dumb kid pledge who had his brother’s Lincoln trashed in “Animal House”)
h.”Living proof of the sorrows of a lack of birth control in Poppy Bush’s House”
i. “Chief Poquiddneck…roughly translated as: He Who say many words but come out backwards”
j. “His Imperial Imperialite, Defender of the Indefensible”
k. “Me No Makemistakemhatshupsut I”
l. “Surge I”
m. “il Surgenator”
n. “Hizzoner, the Surgetatertinator”
o. “Jackass is spelled j…a…c…k…a…s…s”
p. “Neoconensis I, Lord of the Yoomans”
q.”With Presidents like this, who needs Dictators”
r. “Condi’s Special Project unfortunately beyond it’s Expiration Date”
s. “Hall Monitor On a Bender”
t. “King anti-Midas”
u. “El Glorioso de la Texaconnectibunkport”
v. “Massuh”
w. “GI Joe Deprivation Syndrome ”
x. “The Ever-blessed Thousand Points of Pointlessness”
y. “Jebs worst Nightmare”
z. “General Genrul, Trew Leeder”.

]]> By: Jim http://jimbovard.com/blog/2007/01/04/the-perils-of-emergency-power/#comment-14775 Jim Mon, 08 Jan 2007 22:11:01 +0000 http://jimbovard.com/blog/2007/01/04/the-perils-of-emergency-power/#comment-14775 I agree that the proposed Oval Office signing ceremony would be a heckuva lot more edifying than the usual televised announcement from the East Room. The only thing that would make it better is the tar-and-feather option in case the president smirched the page. Actually, as far as tattoos, I think it would be an improvement if politicians were required to get tattoos to match their rhetoric. The "Freedom Fries" tattoo would be especially uplifting. I agree that the proposed Oval Office signing ceremony would be a heckuva lot more edifying than the usual televised announcement from the East Room. The only thing that would make it better is the tar-and-feather option in case the president smirched the page.

Actually, as far as tattoos, I think it would be an improvement if politicians were required to get tattoos to match their rhetoric.

The “Freedom Fries” tattoo would be especially uplifting.

]]> By: PintofStout http://jimbovard.com/blog/2007/01/04/the-perils-of-emergency-power/#comment-14773 PintofStout Mon, 08 Jan 2007 21:54:11 +0000 http://jimbovard.com/blog/2007/01/04/the-perils-of-emergency-power/#comment-14773 I'll second Sunni's sentiments. That would be priceless. Speaking of the overuse of words, I'd rank "hero" right at the top. And it isn't a word, but imagery of eagles overlaid on large flags (such as Jeremy Shockey has tattooed on his arm) makes me want to gag. I’ll second Sunni’s sentiments. That would be priceless.

Speaking of the overuse of words, I’d rank “hero” right at the top. And it isn’t a word, but imagery of eagles overlaid on large flags (such as Jeremy Shockey has tattooed on his arm) makes me want to gag.

]]> By: Sunni http://jimbovard.com/blog/2007/01/04/the-perils-of-emergency-power/#comment-14763 Sunni Mon, 08 Jan 2007 20:24:36 +0000 http://jimbovard.com/blog/2007/01/04/the-perils-of-emergency-power/#comment-14763 Adam, not only would I watch a spectacle such as you describe, I'd probably be willing to pay (a little) to do so. The entertainment value would be well worth it, because I'd be LMAO. Adam, not only would I watch a spectacle such as you describe, I’d probably be willing to pay (a little) to do so. The entertainment value would be well worth it, because I’d be LMAO.

]]> By: Adam S. http://jimbovard.com/blog/2007/01/04/the-perils-of-emergency-power/#comment-14752 Adam S. Mon, 08 Jan 2007 17:52:07 +0000 http://jimbovard.com/blog/2007/01/04/the-perils-of-emergency-power/#comment-14752 I remember the comic Mallard Fillmore did a series on why the dinosaurs went extinct. One of them had the dinosaurs sitting around with an inch of snow on the ground and a bunch of shrews and birds emerging. The one dinosaur says, "I know what we should do. Let's all wait for the government to do something" I think that governments need emergencies any more. The whole Liberal idea of government spending or forcing everybody to be happy has been discredited. The only thing that keeps Big Government from turning into a black hole is the fear of something, so-called emergencies. And when these fears start to abate, as they already have, (someone just recently published a book called "Overblown!" about the "overblown" war on terror)it will be a long time before government will have the power it used to. Alternatively, if "emergencies" are discredited, it could mean the end of politics as we know it. What good is a government if we have nothing to fear? The usage of fear in politics is not because people like being afraid, it is because it panders to people's secret desire to be led. This is why socialism was so popular in the last century. Socialists had to fear the capitalist class and the mythical bourgeoisie. Now terrorists and drug cartels have filled the place left by Communists. Every time a President makes an "emergency announcement" he should be required to do it in front of a campfire in the Oval Office with a flashlight under his nose and his VP and chief of staff dressed up in bedsheets and dragging chains, respectively. Then we can get the whole feeling for an "emergency". I remember the comic Mallard Fillmore did a series on why the dinosaurs went extinct. One of them had the dinosaurs sitting around with an inch of snow on the ground and a bunch of shrews and birds emerging. The one dinosaur says, “I know what we should do. Let’s all wait for the government to do something”
I think that governments need emergencies any more. The whole Liberal idea of government spending or forcing everybody to be happy has been discredited. The only thing that keeps Big Government from turning into a black hole is the fear of something, so-called emergencies. And when these fears start to abate, as they already have, (someone just recently published a book called “Overblown!” about the “overblown” war on terror)it will be a long time before government will have the power it used to. Alternatively, if “emergencies” are discredited, it could mean the end of politics as we know it. What good is a government if we have nothing to fear? The usage of fear in politics is not because people like being afraid, it is because it panders to people’s secret desire to be led. This is why socialism was so popular in the last century. Socialists had to fear the capitalist class and the mythical bourgeoisie. Now terrorists and drug cartels have filled the place left by Communists.
Every time a President makes an “emergency announcement” he should be required to do it in front of a campfire in the Oval Office with a flashlight under his nose and his VP and chief of staff dressed up in bedsheets and dragging chains, respectively. Then we can get the whole feeling for an “emergency”.

]]> By: Jim http://jimbovard.com/blog/2007/01/04/the-perils-of-emergency-power/#comment-14625 Jim Sun, 07 Jan 2007 16:58:44 +0000 http://jimbovard.com/blog/2007/01/04/the-perils-of-emergency-power/#comment-14625 Lois - excellent point on Clinton & 9/11. I dealt with this in a chapter titled "Blundering to 9/11" in Terrorism & Tyranny (St. Martin's/Palgrave, 2003). I was surprised how any debate about the role of US govt policies in spurring hatred of the US was cast overboard even before the Twin Towers ceased smoldering. I hope you're right about people having less respect for authority now than they did in the 1930s or even the 1960s. But I was dismayed that the immediate impact of 9/11 was a doubling in the percentage of Americans who trusted the government to do the right thing. Lois - excellent point on Clinton & 9/11. I dealt with this in a chapter titled “Blundering to 9/11″ in Terrorism & Tyranny (St. Martin’s/Palgrave, 2003). I was surprised how any debate about the role of US govt policies in spurring hatred of the US was cast overboard even before the Twin Towers ceased smoldering.

I hope you’re right about people having less respect for authority now than they did in the 1930s or even the 1960s. But I was dismayed that the immediate impact of 9/11 was a doubling in the percentage of Americans who trusted the government to do the right thing.

]]> By: Jim http://jimbovard.com/blog/2007/01/04/the-perils-of-emergency-power/#comment-14623 Jim Sun, 07 Jan 2007 16:52:58 +0000 http://jimbovard.com/blog/2007/01/04/the-perils-of-emergency-power/#comment-14623 Ryan - thanks. You're dead-on about the abuse of the word "crisis." It is amazing to see how merely reciting this word disables so many people's BS alarms. Ryan - thanks.

You’re dead-on about the abuse of the word “crisis.” It is amazing to see how merely reciting this word disables so many people’s BS alarms.

]]> By: Lois http://jimbovard.com/blog/2007/01/04/the-perils-of-emergency-power/#comment-14622 Lois Sun, 07 Jan 2007 16:41:05 +0000 http://jimbovard.com/blog/2007/01/04/the-perils-of-emergency-power/#comment-14622 Bill Clinton had 8 years to get rid of those sanctions on Iraq, remove the bases from Saudi Arabia and make a just peace between the Israelis and Palestinians - all 3 of Osama bin Laden's stated grievances that motivated 9/11. It was so strange to see the big kerfluffle about Path to 9/11 criticizing Clinton for not assassinating bin Laden rather than his real failures. Interesting about FDR ordering citizens to turn in gold. I don't think people would have that kind of respect for authority today. I just saw Judy Woodruff on Meet the Press say she's doing a program on the 18-25 year old generation and how they are different from other generations. One point was that they are closer to their parents. IMO, thats because their parents love them more than earlier generations loved their children. My parents had 2 draft age sons in the Vietnam years, one of whom did go into the army, and they had such respect for authority that they had no problem with the war. I remember my father saying we had to be over there because of some treaty obligation. Bill Clinton had 8 years to get rid of those sanctions on Iraq, remove the bases from Saudi Arabia and make a just peace between the Israelis and Palestinians - all 3 of Osama bin Laden’s stated grievances that motivated 9/11. It was so strange to see the big kerfluffle about Path to 9/11 criticizing Clinton for not assassinating bin Laden rather than his real failures.

Interesting about FDR ordering citizens to turn in gold. I don’t think people would have that kind of respect for authority today. I just saw Judy Woodruff on Meet the Press say she’s doing a program on the 18-25 year old generation and how they are different from other generations. One point was that they are closer to their parents. IMO, thats because their parents love them more than earlier generations loved their children. My parents had 2 draft age sons in the Vietnam years, one of whom did go into the army, and they had such respect for authority that they had no problem with the war. I remember my father saying we had to be over there because of some treaty obligation.

]]> By: Ryan Murphy http://jimbovard.com/blog/2007/01/04/the-perils-of-emergency-power/#comment-14476 Ryan Murphy Sat, 06 Jan 2007 20:09:05 +0000 http://jimbovard.com/blog/2007/01/04/the-perils-of-emergency-power/#comment-14476 Excellent and imformative piece, Jim. I thought I knew everything about this, but I didn't. "Crisis" is another word they abuse the hell out of. I think that word is one that the media misuses more than anyone else. When I hear both words used my reaction is to think to myself "how are we going to get screwed now?" Excellent and imformative piece, Jim. I thought I knew everything about this, but I didn’t.

“Crisis” is another word they abuse the hell out of. I think that word is one that the media misuses more than anyone else. When I hear both words used my reaction is to think to myself “how are we going to get screwed now?”

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