Just Americans Being Americans

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Michael
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Just Americans Being Americans

Post by Michael » May 11th, 2007, 10:39 am

<center>(originally published at OpEdNews)</center>
I like to use baseball analogies. That’s OK, but it does have its drawbacks.

First of all, not everyone who reads this column is familiar with “the great American past time”.

Secondly, as was the case in my article entitled “It's Time to be Honest About Who and/or What We Do or Don't Support?”, the analogy was far too long and far too strong. I lost the message that I was trying to make by spending far too much time on the baseball part. This made for a poorly written article and I apologize to those who tried to suffer through it.

Having written that, I’m going to use a very brief baseball analogy to explain the title of this article.

There’s a player who plays for the Boston Red Sox. His name is Manny Ramirez. When Manny hits a home run, he stands for a few seconds admiring his handiwork instead of running around the bases.

Opposing teams hate this, but Boston fans have a saying for it. Red Sox fans say that “it’s just Manny being Manny.”.

Hence the title of this article.

Penn Jillette and Raymond Joseph Teller became a team of magicians in 1975.

However, as of late, they, especially Penn Jillette, have become quite politically active.

Their Showtime television documentary series is entitled “Bullshit!”. In it, they morph from masters of deception to people who expose masters of deception or at least people who think that they’re masters of deception.

Sometimes they expose the masters, sometimes they expose the deceptions and sometimes they expose masters of deception.

We all know that The Regime prides itself on being a master of deception.

I happened to watch an episode of “Bullshit!” last evening.

During that episode Penn and Teller’s staff posed as a right wing organization with a name like Americans for Family Values or some such typically right wing Orwellian named group. The staff stood about 200 feet from The US Capitol Building with a petition stating that no protests should be allowed within 300 feet of the US Capitol Building.

It didn’t take long for the petition to be fill up.

Some of the reasons that people used for signing the phony petition were:

“The Capitol is a symbol of American democracy and freedom and should be respected as such.”

“I believe in freedom of speech, but there’s a time and place for everything. Within 300 feet of The Capitol Building is not the time nor the place to hold a protest rally.”

“They can do what they want to do, just not in the open.”

Penn Jillette editorialized on some of these explanations.

One statement he made was that he agreed that there was a time and place for freedom of speech in the US. According to Penn Jillette, the time is “any fuckin’ time” and the place is “any fuckin’ place.”

The most insightful statement that Penn made, or maybe the most insightfully sad point he made was that, if such a law was passed, the signatories of the petition would be breaking that law.

And that’s just Americans being Americans.

To friendship,
Michael

“Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps, for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are and what they ought to be.” - William Hazlitt


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microbe
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Post by microbe » May 14th, 2007, 3:06 am

According to Penn Jillette, the time is “any fuckin’ time” and the place is “any fuckin’ place.”
But not if you question the official version of 9/11. Penn thinks it "takes a special kind of asshole" to believe that it was an inside job.

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Post by Michael » May 14th, 2007, 12:21 pm

Nobody’s perfect.

I’m not crazy about his unquestioning acceptance of the government’s 9/11 conspiracy theory.

I’m not crazy about Libertarians. Libertarians think that government should stay out of people’s lives, even if they’re homeless and on the street.

To me, a Libertarian’s domestic policy centers around the phrase, “I’ve got mine, fuck you.”

To friendship,
Michael

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jimboloco
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Post by jimboloco » May 23rd, 2007, 7:51 am

speaking of sports
giambullshitti on amphetamines
i don't care
but
rookie elija dukes, my home team devil rays
has 5 kids by 4 women
and all the while married to one
just sent to her telephone a photo of a gun
with n-words and threats to her and kids
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/05/23/Tampa ... __He.shtml

ya think maybe we will boo and hiss next time we see him?
can't wait to see how the rays smooth over this one
Fast Facts:

Elijah Dukes' children

Date of birth Mother Gender

Nov. 25, 2003 NiShea Gilbert boy

Dec. 3, 2003 Carla Bryant girl

June 7, 2004 Shantell Mitchell boy

June 16, 2005 NiShea Gilbert girl

July 19, 2006 Porcia Daniels girl
when can i really ever be myself
i gotta get straight long enuf to find out, man
[color=darkcyan]i'm on a survival mission
yo ho ho an a bottle of rum om[/color]

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stilltrucking
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Post by stilltrucking » May 23rd, 2007, 8:14 am

Speaking of sports
My hero
My idol
My good man
Ted Williams
"fuck them, I hit a home run they cheer, I strike out they boo, I am the same guy" paraphrase from memory.
he might tip his hat to the rose of san antone but he never would tip his hat to those BOston crackerheads.
Boston should never had won a world serries again after the way they treated Ted Williams. I suppose he forgave them.
when can i really ever be myself
i gotta get straight long enuf to find out, man
too late for me today jimbo
a bowl of oat meat tried to stare me down...
i think,


vonnegut called it the american way of suicide.

I walked in an ice house in Texas and told them I need a pack of your most expensive cigarettes. I started smoking stale Merit ultralights at six dollars a pack. I made a pack last three days they tasted so bad. Unfortunately I was too good a customer and they re ordered a fresh supply for me. They taste too good like a cigarette should. Back up to a pack a day.

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jimboloco
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Post by jimboloco » May 23rd, 2007, 5:57 pm

those lights will constrict your blood supply as bad as the strong ones
i would buy some of those all natural american indian brand ones
had a puff and they were ok
buglers made me puke

i like the idea of having a petition as a joke to entrap the anti-free speech folks

great idea “Bullshit!”. thanks!

i like manny too
devil rays don't play Boston until after the all star break
then 18 times
cheer and boo
there will be more red sox fans at the tropicana stadium than home town folks
we might go to one red sox game, if at all
i was down and out there, too

i used to sit in the left field bleachers in old Ebbits Field in Detroit
in the late 70's down and absurd
i was comforted, green bleachers, old folks

glad i was resilient cause i had another several years before i hit bottom
mercy

poor old ted
they got a ted williams museum inside the Trop
at least the redsox fans will come

just americans being americans
i got mine
as long as i can play the game
otherwise
but for the grace of gawd

glad somebody else is a responsible intellectual (mike \/)
[color=darkcyan]i'm on a survival mission
yo ho ho an a bottle of rum om[/color]

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