Posted on 07/19/2011 7:38:54 PM PDT by Charles Henrickson
The Revolution is a-brewin'. Or at least it should be. Heck, things are so bad--the tipping point should have been tipped and the Rubicon crossed long ago--the Revolution ought to be NOW! And Know-it-all Nadin, that is, DUmmie nadinbrzezinski, is getting impatient. So she lays down the challenge to her fellow DUmmies, here in this THREAD, "How long until we take to the streets?"
Of course, while excoriating others for not TAKING IT TO THE STREETS, Nadin herself will sit safely ensconced in her fallout shelter in San Diego, sipping triage milk and dispensing tidbits of wisdom and sage advice from her vast storehouse of knowledge.
But for the rest of you slackers. . . . "Why aren't you out there NOW, like those Egyptian guys a few months ago? Can't you spot a worldwide TREND when you see one?? No, of course you can't! You're not me, Know-it-all Nadin Brzezinski, the World's Foremost Authority. Oh, how I pity you people! Just be grateful you have ME, Nadin Brzezinski, to guide you through the often perplexing world of History, International Geopolitics, and Trendspotting. Oh and yes, be sure to thank me, or else I'll put you on my iggy list."
So let us now listen to the Wisdom of Nadin, as she descends from on high to spur the DUmmies on, in Bolshevik Red, while the commentary of your humble guest correspondent, Charles Henrickson, always amused when the DUmmies are revolting, is in the [brackets]:
How long until we take to the streets?
[If you start lecturing us, Nadin, I predict a large number of DUmmies will vacate their basements and run out into the streets to get away.)
Don't expect media to cover it either.
[OK, thanx for that tip, Nadin. I was half-expecting the media TO cover it when the Revolution begins. Now, though, let's see if your fellow DUmmies--your students, really, for you are the Master, and DUmmieland is your one big classroom--let's see if anyone takes up your challenge . . .]
It's hard to take to the streets when you have to drive to get there.
[Those gas prices, man--we may have to postpone the Revolution until the gas prices come down. Or maybe if we carpool. . . .]
Aren't Greece and France much more dense in their urban areas than the US?
[Oh, I think DUmmieland is MUCH more dense than Greece or France.]
How long until YOU take to the streets, nadin?
[Oooh, MineralMan! You're cruisin' for the iggy list!]
Like WI it will happen
[Now remind me, Nadin, what did that revolution in Wisconsin ACCOMPLISH exactly, other than a bunch of teachers getting fake sick notes from doctors so they could stand around and hold signs and feel good about themselves?]
Taking to the streets won't do good, they lived in walled off castles.
Who are "they"?
[Don't ask. It's nice just to have a "they" to revolt against in our pretend revolution.]
TPTB
["The Powers That Be." Or maybe, "Those People, They Bad!"]
And who are "TPTB"? Kinda vague, isn't it?
[OK, let's get more specific: The Man. The EEEvil Rich. The Corporatists Who Control Everything.]
If you prefer to believe that there are nameless, faceless people that control everything, that's your prerogative.
[It's our DUTY, as DUmmies!]
Google Grover Norquist, the Koch brothers, etc.
[You forgot Karl Rove and Dick Cheney.]
Them. No, that was ants. We? Crap...I think that was Anonymous. They must be the other. No...scary kid from hell. I'm not sure. But "they" sound pretty bad. We should probably do what we can to protect the village from them...er...they.
[I detect a note of sarcasm.]
DUers Postpone Taking To The Streets For Yet Another Year
[It's a reign delay.]
i don't know what you want people to take to the streets for. . . .
[What for?? Why, for EVERYTHING, of course! It's hot outside! I can barely afford a frappucino at Starbucks anymore! Radiation from Japan! Sky is falling! Seniors eating dog food! Dogs eating seniors! I mean, COME ON! Can't you SEE what is happening??]
I've never stopped taking it to the streets since 2003
[Is that you, Bobo the Hobo?]
People need to be willing to risk arrest and actually do something to shut the system down, not just march from point A to point B.
[Let's march from point A to point B . . . TO POINT C THIS TIME!]
Ummm... shut WHAT system down?
[The System! You know . . . The System!]
Capitalism, corporate America, the military industrial complex, Wall Street, call it what you want. Blockade the financial district. Blockade Faux news headquarters. Sit in at BP corporate offices.
[But that would require getting up from our keyboards.]
I guess you think the Egyptian people had no right to do what they did by rising up against their oppressors?
[Squawk like an Egyptian.]
Bush was not legitimately elected. He stole power. He launched an illegal war. He ordered the use of torture. He stripped Americans of their civil rights. How is he not a dictator?
If he was a dictator... how come there was an orderly transition of power after the election of 2008?
[OK, well, that was . . . that was an accident. But he was THINKING of being a dictator. And it FELT like he was a dictator, sorta, to us. So, I mean, it was really bad! And he smirked! And what about Cheney?]
it's silly to call him a dictator. Just plain silly.
[Silly, but accurate! Besides, he was BUSH, man! And we're still angry about it! So let's have a revolution to make up for it! Eight long years, man! The National Nightmare! Smirky the Chimp! AARRRRGGHH!!!!]
Resistance IS fun.
[Resistance is FUtile! But let's hear once more from Nadin . . .]
Again I am done with going on this. Won't happen (well it will but it won't be covered). So wvery one has to be documented. As to local actions seat inns don't result in arrest no more.
[Huh, wha?? "Seat inns"?]
Shut the system down, eh? . . . If you want to actually do something, go convince people to vote for the right people. That will bring change. But, you have to actually do it. You actually have to go talk to people and convince them.
[Good luck with that!]
A human barricade will work just fine. I've done it before. We shut down the financial district of SF the weekend the Iraq War broke out. It's quite easy to do.
[Human barricade, coming up!]
Last I heard, the financial district of San Francisco is still operating, so you did not actually shut it down, it seems. You may have temporarily blocked traffic on a street for a short time. Then, you went somewhere else and things resumed their normal state. So, I'd say that you shut down nothing.
[Picky, picky, picky. . . .]
Good on you. While some sit around a computer nannying and chastising those who get things done, you actually go out and take action when elections prove meaningless.
[Yeah, at least you go out and take a bunch of meaningless ACTIONS!]
Keep on pwning their asses. And let me know if I can help for, though I'm in a faraway land, I'll be there if you need me.
[I live on the Planet Gorgon, but I can beam myself down anytime you want!]
I was hoping for some... coherence.
[You came to the wrong place for that.]
What are you asking? Why is that such a hard question to answer?
And you're sitting there implying that I'm being evasive? LOL.
Hello? What is your question? Do I need to ask you again?
What is your question?
What is your question?
What is your question?
What is your question?
You having trouble reading that? Here let me put it in big, bold letters:
WHAT IS YOUR QUESTION?
[So what I hear you asking is, "What is your question?" Is that your question?]
Ted Robert Gurr, most famously, observed that frustration and aggression are interlinked, and most often revolutions occur after efforts at reform have failed and some improvement in conditions was realized. That is the "J-Curve" theory of revolutionary potential. . . . Also, as Skocpol and Goldstone point out, revolution doesn't just happen, it's a process that requires objective preconditions. Chalmers Johnson posited that revolution occurs only when several major subsystems of society have reached a point of "disequilibrium." The product of an actual revolution doesn't organize itself, as the Tillys observe, there has to be some sort of alternative structure created by the opposition that is capable of assuming power - that precondition is called "dual sovereignty."
[The surprising thing in this post was that the namedropper was NOT Know-it-all Nadin! It was some DUmmie named leveymg. But, speak of the devil, here comes Nadin . . .]
Well add Nash to that list. . . .
[Nadin can't let another know-it-all out-namedrop her!]
You know, the Social Revolution theorists don't count the American Rev as a true Social Rev. A split within and among elites, and a political separation accompanied by a war, but not a true reordering of society in any fundamental fashion. The Great Social Revolutions list generally includes the British Glorious Revolution of Civil War of 1688, the French (1789), Russian (1917) and Chinese (1949) revolutions and dozens of smaller national liberation struggles that followed. I don't see any persuasive evidence that we're headed for anything so drastic as a Social Revolution, Class War, or even a shooting war among polarized elites. The American Empire, however, is ripe for collapse like the French in 1940, the British in 1946, and the Soviet Union in 1991. Imperial collapse has a different mindset and dynamic.
[Nadin has met her match! Congratulations, DUmmie leveymg! DUmmies nadinbrzezinski and leveymg go back and forth now for a whole bunch of posts, trying to outdo one another with their impressive yet boring displays of knowledge. . . . We resume . . .]
Too many questions. You just have to TAKE TO THE STREETS! Never mind about the details. MAN THE BARRICADES! Allons enfants de la Patrie!!11! That sort of thing is what I think we're discussing here. POWER TO THE PEOPLE! STICK IT TO THE MAN!
[DUmmie MineralMan, who used to post on FR, must be a closet DUmmie FUnnies reader, since he knows how we satirize the DUmmie revolutionaries! Hee! Hee!]
When I get my bicycle back from the shop, I will be taking to the streets again. I'm stuck using the sidewalk for a few days. Is this about the Netflix price increase?
[More sarcasm. Come on, people! This is series! I mean, people are DYING!! Somewhere, I think. . . .]
Egypt, like any other revolution did not happen overnight. That one took about 30 years. The American REvolution took about a generation... I could go on.
[No, please, Nadin, don't. Please.]
I think it's delusional to believe the people are going to take to the streets. Of course this is the DU alternate universe where the reality of the regular universe does not count.
[The Reality-based Alternate Universe®.]
Take to the streets and do what exactly? Demonstrate? Sit-in? Civil disobedience? Riot? How many people might you expect to do this because as bad as things might seem here it is much better than the rest of the world. Basically people are too comfortable, too satisfied with the status quo. If 40% of the electorate don't even bother to vote in a presidential election, how many would ever take to the streets.
[OK, panel, for these two last posts, I'm going to flip all the cards and award today's Kewpie Doll to DUmmie elocs! Well played!]
Well then, sit at home and don't bother participating, Perfect example of what happens when people give up. and good bye.
[Welcome to Nadin's iggy list, elocs!]
I plan to walk my dog this evening - does that count?
[Take him to the streets, but just be sure to clean up after him.]
These days writing an angry blog is about all we're able to do...
[Walking the dog, writing a blog--it's the thought that counts.]
They are revolting indeed. But, what are they rebelling against?
Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about. I don’t see any Starbuck’s around there so it could be touch and go trying to get them to show. And then there’s those pesky skeeters. LOL!
I wonder how many of them have experience pulling leeches off themselves?
Heh heh heh. Most of them are leeches.
MOA?
I always find the DUmmies revolting.
I’m only $1200 short of getting my 1919A4 up and running. Well, if they’ll hold off for another three months or so, I’ll have a proper meet ‘n greet ready.
If we’re lucky, all the folks at Democratic Underground will self-immolate, simultaneously.
They certainly are! .......................... FRegards
The gangs have been working their way west of Denver and tagging the rocks along the canyon I live in. For some reason they think that although they are so easily spotted, we will be easy prey. My dogs spot them when riding in the SUV and also the drug addict, alcoholic beggars and sense them as threats. They go crazy! I would have plenty of notice to get a gun that eats 20 rnd mags of .308 in no time. And I always carry and, no, I won;t line up in front of a big ditch without empty magazines.
BTW, I vaguely remember MineralMan from FR. Did he get banned, or go Charles Johnson on us?
The most accepted standard of accuracy.
Sadly that was the beginning of michael mcdonald's complete lack of singing ability at front and center of what was, before him, a great group. And thus their destruction. macdonald always sounded like he had a hole in his throat, like that old lady in the anti-smoking commercial.
“No castles here, just woods, swamps, fields, and heavily armed bitter clingers as far as the eye can see.”
Oh I see you live near us. Semper Fi!!!
Just want to thank you for the threads on DUmmie FUnnies that you provide, Charles!
I look forward to reading them every day, as your great wit provides a welcome break from most of the doom and gloom news.
Your “Squawk like an Egyptian” comment had me laughing so hard that tears were rolling down my face!
Why exactly are they demanding a revolution? Their looney lib moron president is busily destroying the US as we know it; their looney lib moron Senate is busily backing him up; and the MSM is hiding all of their incompetence and destruction under a thin film of cr*pola. The DUmmies ought to be delighted.
MOA?
Great clip from the 1953 classic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkdqCTcDkbc
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