The Rules of the Political Spectrum: Use or Lose!

Media Watch: Journalists on the Couch

Further to yesterday's post "Playing Dice With Liberty" in part reporting on the convention "Covering The Crisis" of the European Journalists Centre being held today and tomorrow in Brussels, here are a few means to monitor the proceedings from a safe distance.

Video material on the EUX.TV channel on YouTube.

Official site

Program

Playing Dice With Liberty (I): Questions to Our Leaders

A post under the title "Financial Journalists in Crisis: Did We Fail?" has been up on the main page for the better part of this week. It shows a video produced by the European new media service, EUX.TV.

It announces the upcoming convention "Covering The Crisis"  of the European Journalists Centre (EJC) to be held on November 9 and 10 in Brussels.  The aim appears to be a rare bout of professional introspection.

The matter struck me, because the press in general on almost every issue earned themselves a huge #fail tag for non-achievement over the last couple of years. But those members of the press corps, reporting on financial and economic issues are probably the least guilty of professional sell out. Nevertheless, it is them doing the self critique. Remarkable!.

Around the 1.50 mark the video shows an unspecified pundit stating:

"We've heard from every Head of State and Government Minister that we would reform Capitalism. This [speech] came from the persons who were responsible for this mess we're in."

The question who or what actually triggered the opportune crisis may never be answered and it is perhaps immaterial, given that the subprime mortgage situation was a bubble waiting to explode in our faces. But that's just one of the questions hardly ever posed, let alone answered.

Of course, as the journalist in the video states, we've all heard our respective Heads of State's and Government Ministers' comments, particularly in the run up to the last G20 summit in Pittsburgh, but perhaps we never took their assertions all that literally (unless you are a Socialist, in which case it must have sounded like collectivism come true!).

Nevertheless, the 800 pound gorilla this commentator set loose into the room cannot be whiped under the carpet.
 
Our leaders' comments to bring down - or "reform" - the capitalist system invite a very serious charge of treason against them. Of course most people are too 'ideologically evolved' to see the problem here, but it is nevertheless very fundamental (not to say, existential).

An exaggeration then? (Treason, indeed!) But here's the thing ...

Without going too deep into the field of epistemology, this is how the human mind works: concepts are formed from percepts, and concepts are expressed in words. Words are not rough approximations! A word has a very specific meaning. Language is not just a means of communication, it is also a convention which allows us to perform complex procedures, from neuro surgery to rocket science.

Technically, the expression of a concept into words is not the same as a definition, but the term will do for the moment to re-acquaint ourselves with absolutes. We need to get back using language with the respect it deserves! Find out the meaning of a word, before using it!

Reverting to cognition, this process is done by an individual. The individual is therefore the basic universal unit. It is the result of that natural process, derived from a higher power which we may call God, or Nature, if you are an atheist.

This is nothing less than the foundation of Western civilization: the all important primary, individual rights  derived from Nature, or bestowed upon us by God, who made us equal (it is no coincidence that it is individualism and reason that are most under assault!). This brings us to secondary rights.

On the political level primary rights lead to the rule of law and limited government in the service of individual voters whom they represent. 

Individual property rights, and rights to the fruits of one's labor form the economic basis of what Carl Marx pejoratively termed, Capitalism. 

To deny this system like collectivists and statists of various hue do, or to criticize it to the point of wanting to "reform" it, as our own leaders take the liberty to do, is not without consequences for our rights and how we organize the world.

A clarification would be in order before we embark any further upon this subtle shift from individual liberty to submission to the whole. What would this "reform" entail and from who or what do you derive the authority to do so? Furthermore:

- Do you still recognize individual rights? Or are you advocating collectivism under your leadership: special prerogatives and privileges for certain groups of people based on gender, race, religion or cultural identity, bestowed upon them by the Government?

- Are you still the servants of the people? Or are you a member of an oligarchy who know better what's good for us; and do we owe you gratitude for all the positive rights that you in your goodness, will bestow upon us through the Government?

- Do you still respect our economic rights to property, and mutually beneficial interaction and trade? Or will we keep a current account with the Tax Department through which you will determine the value of our labor and services under considerations of "social justice"?

To be continued. 

- Posters by "The People's Cube": Liberty and Tea Party Posters - Complete Collection - Free Downloads - 

On Cultural Resistance, Child Abuse and Divided We Conquer

There's a new post up over on the cultural blog, The Lighthouse.

It deals with newly discovered cases of Youth-for-Obama child abuse, racism and how the Left divides societies, as a means to better rule.

Breitbart's The B-Cast discuss ABC's premiere of "V", the highest-rated 8 p.m. drama series debut since "Lost". It was seen by 14.3 million viewers and had a 5.2 rating among adults 18-49. And let's not get all politically correct now! This is not subliminally tapping into your subconscious: of course "V" really is "O".

Financial Journalists in Crisis: Did We Fail?

Have a listen at this, because you won't get that all too often.

Financial journalists asking themselves, did we fail?

Sit tight around the 1.50 mark when one of them drops an interesting remark. Let us know what you think.

We shall be monitoring this convention on 9 and 10 November in Brussels for you.

Grima Wormtongue Commemorates Theo van Gogh (Updated)

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the beastly assassination of Theo van Gogh.

Last night during a party convention Dutch PM Jan Peter Balkenende lamented - what is unbeknownst to him - the use of postmodern rhetoric in politics (it's also known as pomo lingo). The basic tenets are: facts are irrelevant, the truth is whatever you want it to be, and since everything is in the service of expediency, no bars where ad hominems and expletives are concerned.

Two years before Van Gogh wannabe politician Pim Fortuyn was murdered, in what was the first political murder since the founding of the country. Fortuyn was shot by a postmodern econut who claimed to act on behalf of an endangered minority, the Muslim collective. Van Gogh was slaughtered by a Muslim radical, acting on behalf of the same 'endangered' ideology.

Both murders set the country into turmoil. Both murders were preceded by the Left-Islamic ideological complex relentlessly demonizing the victims. A familiar pattern is emerging. 

Van Gogh set out as a Leftist, but sprouted brain cells and moved over to the Right. We know since yesterday that Fortuyn had asked Van Gogh to become his Minister of Culture. One of Theo's first acts would have been the abolition of government subsidized film productions. 

Fortuyn set out as a Socialist as well, but soon abandoned Leftism and developed his own specific brand of politics in the tradition of American grassroots liberalism. John F. Kennedy was his hero. In practice his politics were much more statist and socially liberal than would ever have been acceptable in pre Barack Hussein Obama's America. But that is still a whole lot less than is currently the case in the Netherlands.

Both men liked to provoke middle class sensitivities and Leftist notions of political correctness, each in his own way: the more outrage, the better. Van Gogh considered himself some sort of a court jester (reason why he figured he was safe), and called Muslims goat f@ckrs at every opportunity.

Fortuyn was openly gay, wheeled around in a chauffeur driven limo, wore tailored suits and was accompanied at all times by his two effeminate pet dogs.

Consider that the Netherlands, for all its small l liberalism is first and foremost an egalitarian society in which everyone is expected to conform to the middle ground. Mediocrity is the norm. The two stood out like fly-fishers in the dessert.

More importantly, both were what the Left considers to be sell-outs. A greater sin one cannot commit. As commented on in part II of "The Cosmology of the Progressive Narrative" , conservative and Republican African Americans know allll about it. Stray too far off the porch or the plantation and the entire progressive collective comes down on you like a ton of bricks. 

In the US in recent history we have seen how this "aims justifies the means" mentality set itself against the opposition: they morphed from opposition, to opponent, to enemy. It's a matter of incremental re-framing which we know as the soft power of political correctness: from a violation against accepted civility (you lie!), to socially reprehensible, to illegitimate and immoral.

Another time honored Marxist method are smears of fascism, extreme right and racism. It has reached such heights that it's a wonder people haven't stopped caring about it. The recent slurs are so ludicrously remote from reality that it has become a farce. Recently spoof has surfaced picturing White House spokesman Robert Gibbs as Washington Willy, a variation on Baghdad Bob, a measure of self-made narrative taking the place of reality.

In the Netherlands meanwhile the liberal Left, the Postmodern Left and the progressive middle ground have begun their assault on liberty in earnest. Singled out and targeted is Geert Wilders. Politics is war, the aim justifies the means, no bars allowed to stand in the way of Wilders' destruction.

The more vitriolic inveighers have gone as far as to call Fortuyn and Wilders "inferior human beings". The fascist epithet never quite stuck to Van Gogh. But the entire repertoire of classical Marxist scheming is set loose on the nation.

Yesterday the in-house Leftist newspaper De Volkskrant opened with an article about a leaked, state sponsored, 'scientific' investigation into Geert Wilders and the Freedom Party. The method is positively fascist and shockingly dishonest, precisely because it is done under the cover of 'science'. A freeish translation is available here.

The basic, potentially 'explosive' findings are that Geert Wilders' Freedom Party is "extreme Rightist", "mobilizes fear, Islamophobia (how scientific!) and hatred of the system", "creates a threat", and "undermines democracy and social cohesion". In short: Wilders is an enemy of the state, a danger to security.

Unfortunately, in the recent polls the party of evil still manages to amass some 27 seats in Parliament. It somehow never enters their heads they're slurring all these potential voters in the process.

- Caption: Theo van Gogh Monument "The Shout", by Amsterdam artist Jeroen Henneman - 

Who are these 'scientists' who are constructing a perception of Wilders as an extreme Right wing "populist" as the enemy within? Possibly all come from the Postmodern school which states that science is but a Western narrative and proves nothing objectively true (which is actually true of their departments of linguistics, anthropology, sociology, etc., etc.).

That said, let's see - no Wikis, no national peer reviews, no international peer reviews, and that's just for starters. Only one of the triad, Prof. Dr. Bob de Graaff of Leiden University can be considered a serious investigator, albeit with a far Leftist slant (more details at the bottom of the translation).

Had these investigators not been professionals a possible conclusion might have been a case of psychological projection. But these are experienced ideologues who know how to spin a narrative. The enemy must be destroyed at all cost! 

Unfortunately many of our leaders are criminally naive. The Dutch MP doesn't recognize pomo lingo for what it is, and has no inkling he's being played like a violin by political ideologues masquerading as scientists. Another saw no problem in voting our way into sharia law, while yet a third specimen proposed to solve the self-induced problems of multiculturalism by simply "adding a hyphen"!

It sends chills up and down your spine to realize what has become of the free world. We've lost our way, and are well on our way of losing our liberty as well. But our leaders are manipulated by Grima Wormtongue c.s. into investigating the redoubt for evidence of the enemy within, while the real one is already rattling the gates!

Updated:

Elsevier Magazine: Minister of Integration one ups the scientists: "if Freedom Party grows very large, the rule of law is in jeopardy" (in Dutch)

Elsevier Editorial: "Five years after the murder of Theo it isn't Islamic terrorism that is endangering the security of the country, but Geert Wilders - at least, according to his opponents. The world is on its head: is Islam a symbol of democracy, rendering all critique a threat? Or is Islam Leftist, so that criticizing it is Rightist, or even extreme Rightist? One would almost think so. It is remarkable this debate is going on precisely five years after the murder."

"A number of politicians and pundits have security detail; standup comedians reluctantly admit they circumvent the subject out of fear (yes, bullying and terror works!), and exhibitions are called off because of threats from Muslim circles. Wilders vents his opinion but he's never threatened anyone. But he does endanger 'the system' in speaking up where others remain silent, which made him very popular with the voters."

Elsevier/Afshin Ellian Blog presents the short history of the term 'goat f@ckr'. Around the year 1900 Dutch soldiers used the term to indicate Asian British colonials. It again occurs in Dutch literature in 1988. Van Gogh used it at first in a column in 1995 entitled "Hurrah for Islam" about Salman Rushdie. After Van Gogh's death in 2004 no one ever dared use it again.

- Caption: newspaper headline "Hitlist: Hirsi Ali and Wilders underground - targets in Mohammed Bouyeri's letter" -

Related: 

- Van Gogh website, "The Healthy Smoker", now an online museum
- "Theo van Gogh Commemorations" (2007)
- Breitbart: "Amsterdam grapples with integration since filmmaker's murder" 

Movie Theater: "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"

In the movie theater on The Lighthouse, in honor of Doug Hoffman and individual patriots like him, tonight Frank Capra's 1939 film "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington", starring James Stewart. 

The story is shockingly relevant! Have fun, be inspired!

Of Eurocratic Musical Chairs, a Nasty Rumor and Rather Good Spoof

While a thriller of a race is on in New York's 23rd District as well as in a few other constituencies in the US, Europe is showing the world how real statists operate. Obama c.s., while very promising in the field of collectivism and intrigue, they are as yet small-time tinkerers when it comes to constructing a solid edifice of total state.

Talk of the town of Brussels the last few days is Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, or JPB, as he is affectionately known to his Christian Democratic followers.

While Czech President Vaclav Klaus is dealing with ratifying the Treaty of Lisbon (the 'Constitution' that dares not speak its name) as best he can for his country, securing a few opt outs that less euroskeptic nations will have to forego, the Euro machinery has kicked in to appoint the new 'Government' as is required under the agreement.

- Caption: spoof of JPB as Harry Potter - 

While it goes without saying that no messy, direct democracy is involved here as in NY23, there is a power sharing mechanism in play by which the largest party in Parliament delivers the chairperson or 'President', the second largest the 'Foreign Minister', and so on, and so forth.

Another completely obscure and byzantine, post-democratic mechanism governs power sharing between various sub collectives: large versus small countries, North vs South, and new against old Europe (please don't ask!). Individualism is anathema in Europe, almost is much as patriotism.

The balance of power in the Europarliament is currently held by the Christian Democrats assembled in the European People's Party.  (The British Tories notably detached themselves recently from this body and became part of the Conservative and Reformist bloc. That Italian PM Berlusconi's party for example is still a member of the EPP goes to show that all is rather relative here!)

Although theories abound, this is the obvious reason why British Socialist Tony Blair has dropped out of the race for the 'Presidency'. One rumor has it that Blair is too much associated with the Bush era: with the fresh Obama across the pond we need fresh Europeans at home to go with it, or so the nasty reasoning goes.

The buzz around Europe today, is that UK Foreign Minister David Miliband (also of Labor extraction) is a contender for Europe's first real 'Foreign Minister' (unsure at their stage if these titles should be 'ironized' or not, given the awkward status of the 'Constitution'). Miliband has far left credentials and for some reason, triggers the same warning signals in me as Rahm Emanuel.

Should JPB be appointed Europe's first 'President' the Netherlands might well face a political crisis of sorts. Although there's no constitutional reason for new elections, this may well prove the way to go. Support for the sitting cabinet is dwindling; swathes of the electorate will not be at all sad to see the colorless JPB go after he's sat as PM to four consecutive, equally colorless Governments of variations in grey.

A much more exciting prospect is the buzz involving the candidacy of Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, former President of Latvia. A Liberty loving woman for first President of Europe ... now that's a novel idea even a staunch euroskeptic like myself might warm to, but ... nah ... we can't have too many libertarian influences ruling Euroland.

EUX.TV: "EU Seeks Council President - Eurinfo Report"



The opposition puts it into perspective:



Related dossiers:

- "Building the State of Europe"
- "The Treaty of Lisbon"
- "Neototalitarianism"

- "Hegel's Legacy"
- "Leviathan's Birth Certificate: Analysis of the Lisbon Treaty"