Thursday, March 17, 2016

Hoarse doovers ...


The pond's earlier piece this day was just the hoarse d'oovers for a fine gourmet meal of agitated megaphone Bolterisms ...

You see the  Bolter is warming - as mandated and suggested and proposed and required - by the Chairman - to his fellow climate scientist, teh Donald ...

And as an opera-lover with a delicious taste for excellent pasta, and a good red (if only someone could leave behind a bottle of Grange behind the ouch), the Bolter is in a perfect position to understand what it's like to be browbeaten by an out-of-touch elite ...

Let the out-of-touchery begin ...


Indeed, indeed, and as soon as the Bolter declares his intention to run, to lead, the pond will be ready to salute the new Führer ...

Let's face it, for too long, the modest lad has been prepared to hide his lamp under a bushel, for too long has he played the modest part of reporter Clark Kent, for too long he has refrained from playing a leadership role. An exciting program of fascist attitudes is just what the pond needs as a tonic and a pick-me-up ... enough of this do-gooderism, and hand-wringing.

Waiter, some jackboots for the pond, and don't forget the swish black leather jacket (hmm, always liked a three quarter coat smelling of dead animals) ...

After all, the media screams what must not be said, and it requires a defiant media man to defy the media ...



Now it's true that teh Donald is a bit of a loudmouth, and will be incapable of delivering many of the things he's promised, but where's the harm in that?

At least he'll deliver a lot of bullying bluster of a kind much loved by the Bolter ...




Phew, maybe a tad too shouty. Mustn't forget the Clark Kent pose.

Time now to organise a riot of insights ...



Indeed, indeed.

Who else but the pond and the Bolter would be prepared to discuss the banning of all Indonesians from entering Australia ... while at the same time shutting down the live cattle trade. And don't get the pond and the Bolter started on the Malaysians. No, not the president, he's just making a quick quid for retirement, we mean those dreadful Islamics ...

Oh you might think this sort of idle chatter is a tad inflammatory - or did you mean flammatory - and counter-productive, but who else will discuss the closing of the gates to all Islamics?

As for torture, the pond's right on with it. Forget the way the Yanks admonished the Japanese about what they got up to in the second world war. That's so yesterday ...

What we need is someone who's going to kick arse, or ass, as the case may be ...



Yes, that fucking Pope, just another fucking Latino politician ...

How lucky we are that all this discourse is conducted without ethnic prejudice.

You know, there'd be some that'd call the Bolter a dangerous demagogic anal retentive Dutch prick, and no doubt there'd be some do gooder hand-wringing totalitarian leftist clucking and tut-tutting in the crowd about such vulgarity and unseeemly behaviour.

But the Bolter shows how abuse is done. It's totally pure and correct to mock hopeless Latinos, and wogs and spicks and all the rest that create trouble in the world ... so where's the harm in calling him a Dutch dingbat?

What we need is more in your face confrontation, rioting in the streets, international warfare and a gigantic fuck you, I'm alright Jack ...

A wall, that's what we need, a wall. Could we convert Highway number 1 into a gigantic wall?



Well some of the pond's correspondents have a fortress mentality of the kind that would make any prepper proud.

By golly, that's not bad. Oh sure we'd give away the far north, but they're already deeply gone - could we push George Christensen up the top too? After all the homophobes are certain to get along with Daesh ...

As long as we could keep it safe below the Berrimah line ...

As for that dreadful violence ...


Oh okay, he's a liar and a fraud, but shame on the wretched media elite for pointing it out.

There's more at The Atlantic here, but the pond is warming to the Bolter warming to the Trump ...

Sure the Terrorists might try some cheap fear-mongering and a poll as a way to trying to touch hearts with the base and sell a few tree-killers...



Even the most impartial observer?

Sorry Norman, the Bolter's not just the world's top climate scientist, he's also the world's most impartial observer, and he knows where the trouble lies ...


Ah, that'd be the cultural elite that loves a good opera, would it?


Try getting those on the playlist of a Trump rally ...


Trump has provided this toxic American moment with its own distinct soundtrack — his rallies feature a variety of benign rock songs played at unforgiving volumes. And while the pundits have enjoyed some high-quality giggles over the quirkiness of Trump’s song selection, what matters far more is how this music shakes the air, how it shapes the psychology of the room. 
At first touch, Trump’s rally playlists look like typical trail fare. Lots of classic rock, lots of nostalgia sparks. What’s strange is how Trump has glommed onto the Beatles’ “Revolution” and Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World” — two counterculture hymns that feel completely incongruous with his autocratic hoodoo-voodoo. 
If anything, this is an important reminder that once a tune leaps off a singer’s lips, it becomes a sort of public utility, a container that can be filled with opposing ideas. Ultimately, a piece of music represents whoever’s listening to it. 
Philosopher Slavoj Zizek has written about this — specifically, on how Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” has repeatedly served as an empty signifier, “a symbol that can stand for anything.” Adolf Hitler enjoyed listening to “Ode to Joy” on his birthday; the Soviets and Maoists liked it, too. Japan’s kamikaze pilots listened to it on the runway before takeoff, and, in 1985, the European Union adopted it as the continent’s anthem. (And more with links at WaPo here, including a Spotify playlist).

Never mind we know how it goes down when the cultural elites see a demagogic rabble rouser in action ...


Put it another way:

In addition to agitating audiences, the cranked volumes also stifle direct human conversation. Reporters say they’ve had trouble interviewing folks at these rallies, which casts an ominous little prophecy: If you’d like to be heard in Donald Trump’s America, your options will be to shout or to be Donald Trump.

No, not like that, you silly hand wringers you, like this ...







21 comments:

  1. There an annoying habit US politicians have when faced with a cheering crowd. They wave their hands in the air in acknowledgement of the crowd, then point to an individual in the crowd and smile as if that person is an old long-lost friend.

    It's patronising, affected and irritating.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It was only a few days ago that Uncut Cash reintroduced us (or me, anyway) to the Gish Gallop: a rapid-fire spray of mostly untrue statements and assertions that the opponent has no real chance of addressing, much less refuting (or refudiating as Sarah would have it).

    So, the Bolter's little effort is just a good old-fashioned Gish Gallop. Paragraph (sentence) after paragraph containing a mostly or totally untrue assertion.

    Truly wondrous, is it not, how a Bolter will respond to His Master's Voice ... or tweet or whisper or whatever. And not one single mention anywhere of how Trump is just this self-promoted incompetent grifter who wouldn't actually be able to implement a single one of his "promises".

    ReplyDelete
  3. Don't you mean Bolt is a horse's doover?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The pond will accept the variation, because there are lozenges available for the other kind of hoarse.

      Delete
  4. A little Mendelssohn, because he irked Wagner, and destruction of his statue in Leipzig inspired Goerdeler's participation in the 20 July plot?

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  5. George Christensen: a good example of a man with irrational thought patterns.

    Q: Do you think [sexuality] is a choice?

    George Christensen:
    Obviously it’s a choice... Or they can be born that way. They can choose it.

    Q: Well which one is it?
    George Christensen:
    Whatever it is. If the person is born gay, then they’re gay. If someone makes the choice that they’re going to have homosexual sex, that’s up to them.
    It’s a free world.

    Q: If you think being gay is a choice -
    George Christensen:
    I didn’t say it was a choice. I said people could choose if they want. So I’m not saying it’s a choice people have, that they’re not born gay... You can choose to enter into homosexual relationships if you want to. It’s a free society.

    Q: What’s the difference?
    George Christensen:
    There’s no difference... There’s no difference in the act. If you’ve chosen it of if you’re born with it. The act is the act.

    http://bit.ly/1RQ3zk8

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. George is obviously obsessed with 'the act'.

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    2. Vile homophobic bigot ... but you've got to laugh at the enormous naked scale of the bigotry

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    3. George and 'naked' together ? Oh no, no ...

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    4. Was he born a disgusting fat shit, or was it a choice?

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  6. DP, I think you are overlooking the important distinction between an out-of-touch elite and an in-touch elite.

    Out-of-touch - worrying about children locked up on Manus Island
    in-touch: worrying about the social engineering effect of a program that might stop kids killing themselves

    out-of-touch: worrying about whether people actually get paid
    in-touch: worrying about how to keep unions off building sites so no one needs to worry about safety standards

    I'm sure noblesse oblige is a phrase which the Bolter would be comfortable with.... (yes, you can hear the irony drips falling)

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    Replies
    1. :)³ Careful, or the Bolter will have you writing copy lickety-split ...

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    2. I forgot to mention that while in-touch elites are currently worrying about reinstituting ABCC,only recently they were very worried about worker safety in relation to the HIP (pink batts). Of course this demonstrates that they possess the agility needed to prosper in these exciting times.

      Delete
  7. "As for torture, the pond's right on with it. Forget the way the Yanks admonished the Japanese about what they got up to in the second world war..."

    Whaaat? The Yanks, the Japs, and the duopoly power that be here have done what they can to wipe out memory of how little in fact the Japs were admonished. Now they're at it again. "Never trust a Jap," old Ned often repeated. "Make sure they're dead first..."

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  8. Pop goes the Fairfax today. A week after its 185th anniversary too.

    Hey, maybe the Nat's new business effects test will lead to a more diverse range of media being able to withstand the LimitedNews price war onslaught of all sorts of freebies for readers and massively reduced pricing for advertisers whenever a new player has launched in the past?

    Maybe the ACCC will indirectly have to wind back Ol' Rupe's reach? But who'd commit a start up to paper. And LimitedNews will face another business effects test soon enough. Ol' Rupe at 185? Tick tock Rupe.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Horses doovers! You've made my day DP.

    And democracy is a laugh, as the Chinese media points out.

    http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/17/democracy-is-a-joke-says-china-just-look-at-donald-trump

    Meanwhile as for opera, how about some Berg?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kPdwwvr0qo

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    Replies
    1. Now you know the Bolter can't stand Prokoviev, what makes you think he'd like Wozzeck? That's a perverted pond taste ... and jolly good too ...

      Delete
  10. So word has gone out from Lord Sauron, and all the News minions are now falling into line; Trump might be an obnoxious blowhard, but he's at least standing up for the little guy against those appalling Leets - who, by definition, are all a pack of pampered Lefties. Therefore, Donald isn't that bad a bloke, but if we want to blame anyone for him, it's the fault of the Left / Democrats / Obama.

    Faaark, why don't they just tell us that the world is flat and be done with it?

    ReplyDelete
  11. One of my favourite examples of inapt campaign music was in 1984 when Reagan's staffers asked Bruce Springsteen's management if they could use "Born in the U.S.A." at their rallies. Sadly for landmarks in unintentional humour, they were turned down.

    I know the Boss' gravel could make him hard to understand, but I'm pretty sure neither Reagan nor any of the bright sparks on his team had heard a single word about from the hook. "Hey that's catchy and patriotic, let's use that..." Trumps minion's look to be aping their forebears.

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    Replies
    1. :)³
      And funnily enough, each time the pond reads one of the Bolter's social moments, we're ineluctably reminded of Brideshead Revisited ...

      Delete
  12. The best commentary on the American Presidential election system I've come across recently is from the late, great Gil Scott-Heron. Talking here about the 1980 contest in his song 'B' Movie:

    "So we added it up. We said: 26% for Raygun, 21% for Skippy [Carter], 2% for Miscellaneous, and that come to 49%. So people immediately recognised the fact that that meant that 51% of the registered voters had voted for nobody.

    And so they felt that, democratically speaking, nobody should be the President."

    https://youtu.be/BFUPaT-h91M

    ReplyDelete

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