Where Is The Outrage?!!

[emanymton]

shrub and wife walk on the flag of USA just like the friendly people in Iran. Can anyone imagine the M$M response had Clinton allowed himself to be pictured in this way?



I cannot find a direct link to the Absolutely Worst Photo Op the world will ever see, so
I include this:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2109547


Keep this picture going forever!!

[Monkeyman]

1. I saw that and went nuts

They are the nasty=ist people in the world. Brother Vets sound off

[onecent]

2. That man could shit in Laura's mouth, and no one would complain. n/t

[peace13]

4. Not even Laura!! n/t

[Rex]

3. No wonder Bush ran like a coward during Vietnam

he HATES the military as an honorable body. What's next? Standing on top of the caskets as they roll in at night? I just couldn't believe that picture was real when I first saw it. Standing on the flag. What an embarrassing, worthless little man.

[donco6]

5. Well, at least it's not the Constitution.

Although he's probably already done with wiping his feet on that.

[neoblues]

7. He's been there, done that... and continues to do it off camera.

Bush Inauguration... "I do solemnly swear that I will (ahem) subvert and (cough, cough) destroy the Constitution of the United States..."

[genie_weenie]

6. I don't believe that counts as desecration.

But, I'm not sure.

Of course, since I'm anti-State I don't care what happens to the emblems of dictatorship...

[eccles12]

8. I am amused to see Laura wearing pants on such a solmemn occassion.

It's no big deal to me but I just remember how the RW pundits (Drudge, Limbaugh and others) went after Hillary for wearing pants to formal occassions. Rush called her "robo hips." There were always some remarks by the female pundits as well. "Restoring dignity and respect to the Oval Office" included establishing a dress code for those in the WH and attending
WH affairs. No pants for women was going to be the rule, I thought. But all I can see is Laura and Condi (even when meeting Islamic reps) wearing pants most of the time. I personally think they should be able to wear what the hell they want when they want to but the hypocrisy of it all is waht gets me.

[neoblues]

9. When American's Find Their Long-Lost Outrage...

then we'll really begin to restore this country.

I think the question of "where's the outrage" is profound beyond the obvious. Whatever has suppressed our** ability to either recognize the wrong, emote sufficiently or organize a shared response is a very serious and deep problem. It's not, at least for the other side, and absence of emotional intensity (they're filled with, perhaps even blinded by, anger and hate)--if anything, it's that they seem to prefer the flights of immoral hatred and intolerance provided by the Republican's new ideology to that of the more serious concerns for and anger over the corruption of government, abuse of power and being blatantly lied to by our President, Vice-President, Republican Congress (etc). They get to glory in the ectasy of erroneously thinking they're right, finally kicking ass and showing "the world" who's who. Seems to me that one reason the Democrats don't attract these people may have something to do with the fact that we aren't willing to stimulate and exercise their "righteous" anger (even worse, we condemn their self-indulgent intolerance and lust for violence). Still, none of that explains the behavior of what probably amounts to another third to half the population who are acting as though they were 'stoned' or catatonic (which effectively makes them apathetic).

If we could only find and fix whatever is obstructing people from becoming properly aroused and/or acting on that arousal, we might turn this thing around. Perhaps too many people have come to believe they're helpless, so there's no point in reacting or doing anything (see learned helplessness). If that's it, we need both an example and access to the media (to both cover the example and to use TV as a form of mass therapy). So easily said, but... I feel helpless, so I'll just cross my fingers and be sure to vote--yeah, that's the ticket--"real action"--to vote. It's a good thing I'm able to get outraged (I'll get around to doing something once my depression (related to learned helplessness†) lifts). A wee bit of sarcasm.


†"Learned helplessness" offered a model to explain human depression, in which apathy and submission prevail, causing the individual to rely fully on others for help. One wonders, can a whole population be conditioned to react with 'learned helplessness' with respect to, say, their roles as citizens? To be fair, there's not much evidence that learned helplessness affects humans and clearly some never react that way.

**"our" refers, in the main, to Americans other than those Democrats/progressives/liberals and other rational, critical thinkers who are awake, alert and aware of just how egregious, malicious and misguided the Bush Administration (and Republican majority) is in their thinking, attitudes, activities and behaviors. This includes realizing how vast and severe the damage is that they have done and are doing to our nation. It also includes the ability to feel outrage--though even among them, the level of outrage seems strangely less intense than it potentially be.