Thursday, August 15, 2013

You're Getting Sleepy (And I'm Getting Tired)

The following advertisement showed up in The Blog's email inbox, today.

Read it and be SHOCKED!

                                                                          (It goes on, but you get the idea.)
HOLY SHIT!!!!!

Fort Knox is empty!!!!

All the gold is gone!!!!!

Nothing is backing the dollar but faith!!!!


Why isn't the Liberal, Lame-stream Media reporting this?


As a "concerned American" I demand answers!!!

I blame Obama!!!!

(aaannnd, scene!)

This ad came from Townhall Spotlight, the marketing wing of the right-wing vomitorium  Townhall.com.

Advertisers, running the gamut from the "Newt 2012" campaign to investment newsletters to "Miracle!" fat burning supplements, pay Townhall a fee to send out advertising on their behalf.

It's genius on Townhall's part, really. Rather than sell their mailing list, (that they poached from unsuspecting right-wing bloggers,) to other marketeers, they take a fee for each ad they send out. All while doing an end run around a "privacy policy" that promises not to sell subscriber's addresses.

And the advertisers are willing to pay, because they know that Townhall reaches subscribers who, for the most part, will buy any ridiculous shit that carries the Townhall seal of approval.

In past posts, The Blog has ranted about one of THS' best customers...






The NRA and other gun propagandists have been pushing their UN small arms treaty batshit for nearly six years, now.

You can get the facts on that, here.

But this "Fort Knox/Missing Gold" thing is a new one.

And it's a hoot!

Let's break it down, shall we?

First, let's get this out of the way...

The "letter" is an ad for "Wall Street Daily," an investment newsletter/web site that traffics in right-wing talking points and conspiracy theories. I'm not going to link to it. You may check it out at your own peril.

Now, to the claims...

For about a century and a half, the US economy was backed by gold and other precious metals. Private ownership of gold was highly regulated by the government and was limited to jewelry and coin collections. The rest was owned by the United Sates government. And for most The Blog's young life, that gold was protected at Fort Knox.

The name "Fort Knox" was synonymous a vault of the highest security.

*Usage- "Check out that Tea-bagger! His mind is locked down as tight as Fort Knox!"*

Anyone who was conscious of anything beyond the shit in their diaper or the new Partridge Family album in 1971 knows that, in that year, The United States, under President Nixon, abandoned the economic policy known as "The Gold Standard"

The young Bloggling was in the 5th grade in 1971, (and was all about the new Partridge Family album.) At the ripe young age of 12, the Bloggling understood that gold had become irrelevant to the value of the American dollar.

In 1971, private ownership of gold was deregulated and, from that point on, "faith" was the only thing backing the value of the dollar.



Read about the facts about Fort Knox, here.

FYI... This is why the value of the dollar is now, largely, dependent on credit ratings from the likes of Standard & Poors, and why last year's debt ceiling hostage crisis caused a downgrade (aka: loss of faith).

*BTW... The US rating has recently been upgraded back to the highest rating. You won't find that being reported by Fox "News" or the "liberal" media, but it's a fact. Some GOP members of The House seem to be hell-bent on undoing that improvement, soon.*

"Whispers are swirling around Capitol Hill..."

"Some say..."

Nearly a billion dollars worth of 'Merican gold has been shipped out of the country to China and South Africa. "Some say."

The Blog spent an hour of his life that he will never get back, attempting to verify this claim.

He found hundreds of links to blogs and propaganda sites that tell this story.

But, not one reliable, unbiased news source.

And, when The Blog queried the U.S. Census Bureau's "foreign trade division" on the subject, they replied, "What the fuck are you talking about?"

Well, maybe not in so many words.

But, you get the point.

The ad goes on to post a side bar banner.

"Is Fort Knox Empty?"

"Click on "Yes" or "No."

There is some serious journalism for you.

Poll readers who know fuck all about the actual subject.

Then post the results as actual "journalism."

This sort of propaganda appeals to the low information voters, who will never question the veracity of this paid advertisement. And, to the ideologues who don't give a shit whether it is true or not.

                                      __________________________________________

This brings me to the original purpose of this post.

Something weird is going on.

Something freaky.

The Blog's liberal friends are, and always will be, liberal.

The Blog has conservative friends...

The people who voted for Bush.

Twice.

The 27% who approved of Dubbya, even in the summer of 2008, when the Bush economy went sideways.

We have our ideologies, on either side, and we are sticking with them.

What worries The PC are his self-proclaimed "non-political" friends, coworkers and acquaintances.

For some, it began slowly and subtly way back in the summer of 2008, when it became evident that Barak Obama stood a good chance of becoming POTUS.

For others, it has, literally, happened in the last month or so.

These decent, intelligent people seem to have checked their brains at the door.

They believe that they are thinking for themselves. But, their eyes have developed the trademarked Ronald Reagan glaze, as they trade in critical thought for right-wing talking points.

What the fuck?

Mass hypnosis?

Brainwashing?




                                                  I'm thinking body snatching pod people.


I had to "unfriend" a Facebook friend, today.

Her name is Susan Olsen.

I don't usually name names in cases like this. But, you will understand, shortly.

Not a big deal.

I do not know Susan, personally.

We became "friended" because we have a few mutual friends and she had a fluffy, mindless radio talk show in KLSX about 20 years ago, that I enjoyed listening to while I ate my lunch.

And, besides, how campy, kitschy,  hipster cool would it be to be Facebook "friended" with...

                                                                 Little Cindy Brady?


Over the last year or so, her status posts consisted, mostly, of cute puppy and kitten memes, pet adoption notifications, and the occasional witty observations about current events.

But, about a month ago, Susan's posts shifted to hate mongering, islamophobic, Obama Derangement Syndrome fueled posts.

I feel bad about "unfriending" her. No apologies for not tolerating her hate, anymore.

I feel bad because I had to "unfriend" her on her birthday.

Happy Birthday, Susan! Now, go away.

Now, what do I do about my other friends who divide their posts between Christian affirmations, gluttonous bacon and cheese intensive food porn recipes, and hateful, slanderous, anti-Obama, anti-liberal propaganda?

The Blog is feeling a housecleaning coming on.

It feels, kind of, liberating.

Back to the question of the cause...

Of course, alien, body snatching pod people are the stuff of sci-fi silliness.

Brainwashing, mass hypnosis, via television, radio and internet propaganda is far more plausible.

                                   ____________________________________________



Which, as luck would have it...

Brings me to tonight's Roy Zimmerman video...




"Vote Republican" is a song that is very much about the days or months leading up to the 2008 election.



This was the YouTube™ post that made a fan of The Blog.

Republican hypnosis for the low information masses.

But, here in 2013, the song is dated, but, still funny and true.

*Heads up!*

There are 50, count 'em, 50 sequels to the original "Vote Republican."

One for every state of the union.

And, they are all on YouTube™.

Check them out.

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