The Descent of Man

Its the return of the fucking dark ages.

@Prommie:

Wait until they take back the Senate in the fall…

I wish the Civil War had gone the other way. Things would be better for sane, rational people had they been allowed to go.

wait wait
the Bible is PARTIALLY true?

which part.

Wow. Now you don’t just need to be a crazy-ass neo-Confederate libertarian tax protester to get the Alabama Republican nod, you’ve also got to be a scientifically illiterate biblical literalist.

What’s next? Will being married a relative closer than a second cousin be required? Perhaps a cap on the number of remaining teeth, or proof of KKK membership? Fucking ridiculous.

@Tommmcat Still Gets Carly Confused With Meg:

so sick of the democrats mealy mouthed bullshit I am rapidly approaching dont give a shit territory.

@al2o3cr: You left out the “racist” requirement. Its vitally important.

@Capt Howdy: the Bible is PARTIALLY true? which part.

Definite articles.

@Prommie:
and the prominence of the gun rack and the size of the truck nuts.

@, Capt Howdy, nojo: There actually were Romans roaming about the landscape back in the day. And if there was no Jacob’s stairway to heaven, where would Led Zep have gotten that idea from?

And if there was no Jacob’s stairway to heaven, where would Led Zep have gotten that idea from?

LSD?

Welp, that’s it. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s over. Democracy is over. Before long, there will be no “Republican Party”. There will only be the Tea Party. This will be final sounding of the final bell and we will know, at last, that the new world is upon us. It will be a world with no place for education or critical reasoning. Magical thinking and blind faith will lead all aspects of everyday life–even more so than today–and the American people will let it happen because who cares what happens now as long as we get to go to heaven afterward, right?

It will be at this point that I will start recruiting for a little operation I like to call “Project Mayhem”. Who’s coming with me?

@JNOVjr: I wonder what percentage of the planet’s human population believes in the invisible man in the sky who cares about them. As for this country, one of our biggest problems is a religious test for elected officials – if you don’t believe the fiction, you can’t win.

@JNOVjr:

Normally, I’d think the “we’re all fucked” reaction is excessive, but then then Mr. Byrne made his response:

Byrne: I do *SO* believe in creationism! I tried to put it into Alabama textbooks!

Question to the lawyer types: is there any Constitutional precedent for telling an entire state to GTFO, or do we have to trick them into leaving? :)

@al2o3cr: Tell them we’re gonna abolish slavery. That’ll get ’em to leave right quick. Oh and I’m not normally one of the “we’re all fucked” people, either. In fact, I don’t think we’re fucked…yet. We’re not past the point of no return, but I don’t think it’s a huge stretch of the imagination to think that it’s a possibility. Ignorance has reigned in the past and it’s certainly doing all it can to take back its throne.

The thing I’m worried about, though, is complacency. It’s that thought that “Oh, Rupert Murdoch and his perpetual ignorance machine are a bunch of clowns and we don’t need to take them seriously” that will eventually be the downfall of rationality in America. Fox has this amazing operation going where…they’re producing propaganda disguised as news, but because they’re “entertaining”, other networks like CNN and MSNBC have to follow suit just to keep their businesses afloat. So instead of actually reporting the news, everyone is now interpreting it.

The saddest part about all of this, I think, is that, to be heard over the echo chamber, you have to be the one to scream the loudest. Because of this, you end up coming off just as insane as Glenn Beck or Bill O’Reilly, irrespective of how truthful your words may be. Just look at Keith Olbermann. Yes, it certainly is satisfying to see someone on the television spend an hour nailing Rush Limbaugh’s testes to a wall, but…that isn’t news and it just adds fuel to the “vast liberal media conspiracy” conflagration.

I guess what I’m saying is just that I have this fear that Americans are so content with the hog slop that’s being fed to us that we won’t be able to take a step back and ask, “WTF is this shit?” until it’s too late and there’s no more PBS to change to when you want some actual news to watch.

@JNOVjr: eventually be the downfall of rationality in America
…
we won’t be able to take a step back and ask, “WTF is this shit?” until it’s too late and there’s no more PBS to change to when you want some actual news to watch
…

Sorry to break it to you, but that bird has flown the coop. Start making plans for the inevitable cannibal anarchy…

The bright spot is, there may not even be enough humans left to hassle you if you somehow make it through the coming Troubles.

We are in the midst of a mass extinction event that threatens our very existence. Earth abides; humankind…perhaps not so much. Not sure why so many of us have faith that we’re truly Exceptional in the grand scheme of things.

Anyway, it was a nice party while the keg was full.

@PedonatorUSA: Well, on the plus side I do have a few connections that have already started preparing for the zombie apocalypse, so as long as I can get a ride out to Radnor before the bombs hit, I should be okay.

@JNOVjr: That’s the spirit!

It’s not the bombs that worry me much, anymore. I grew up having frequent nightmares of nuclear apocalypse, but that scenario seems relatively minor in my dark imagination these days.

No, what frightens me to the core is the utter disconnect from reality-based outcomes that one should rationally expect from the “growth” of our global civilized culture.

But it gives me Hope that some of the younger generations recognize, to whatever degree, the rank cynicism with which their elders sweep into the gaping maw of their incessant sense of entitlement the fruits of both nature and labor that took generations to harvest.

@PedonatorUSA: Honestly, I feel like we are living the most rational outcome, at the very least, of American culture. If you think about it, just about everything we’ve ever done–going all the way back to Colombus–was in the spirit of gaming the system and finding new ways to make a buck. That’s what America was founded on, that’s what made us a global powerhouse, and unless we actually make some substantive changes, it’s going to be what kills us, too. Then the question will become whether or not we take the rest of the planet down with us in our star-spangled blaze of glory.

@JNOVjr: Astute.

But even back in the days of Columbus, corporations were chartered for very specific ends. And the Founding Fathers, racist as they were, and not to discount that by any means, had very different views of economics than their tea-bagging wannabe contemporaries.

unless we actually make some substantive changes, it’s going to be what kills us, too

My dilemma is that I truly believe that, even in the unlikely (as in, pigs fly out of my ass even though I haven’t consumed bacon in over 20 years) scenario where “we” would make substantive changes, it’s way too late.

Fact is, we will make substantive changes. But these changes will not be because we choose them. They will be thrust upon us. Severe energy shortages will necessitate changes in our behavior. Unfortunately, I think the vast majority of US Americans (not to mention Europeans and, FSM forbid, Canadians) will not be ready to accept the reality of a world vastly reduced in liquid carbon fuel options.

And perhaps, the few remaining superpowers (China, US, EU, Russia, India) will fight for that “good-to-the-last-drop” of oil. Just perhaps.

@PedonatorUSA: I refuse to believe that we’re beyond the point of no return. I’m one of those people that’s tried to live his life by the credo that if I think at a problem long enough, I might just develop psychic powers and blow it up with my mind. The way I see it, things could be worse. At least we’re talking about global warming and alternative fuel sources. I just wish I could terraform Mars and go live there while the rest of Dumbfuckistan self-destructs.

@JNOVjr: We, as a human race, need people like you. People who think we can fix this thing.

People like me already believe, from numerous reports from the UN, the World Wildlife Federation, etc., that mass extinction is already a self-fulfilling prophecy. And that it has a good chance of taking the human race down, just as a side note.

People like me are a big bummer.

But I totally believe that small tribal bands of humans might survive, nay, succeed and live, in the desert/frozen wastelands we have already condemned the Earth and its scraggly survivors to.

Survive! Thrive! JNOVjr., you may be the John Conner of the next generation. Not only would it be good for humanity, you could be a fuckin’ superhero! (superhero: how does it work?)

@PedonatorUSA: Hey now, we need people like you, too. Optimism on its own doesn’t do a whole lot of good. The people who say “Everything will be fine” need to be balanced out by the ones that realize there’s a problem. Someone needs to blow whistles and ring alarm bells, right? In any event, I can feel my coherence waning, so I must say good night to you. Oh, and now I’m lamenting the loss of TSCC all over again. Thanks a lot ;_;

@JNOVjr: If you think at the dishes long enough, will they get washed?

@JNOV:
i so enjoy your chip off your block!!!
i love hearing what smart young ‘uns are saying.

@JNOVjr:
now go do the dishes XOXOXO

@JNOV: Maaaa-uhm!