Black Friday Stomp

I see that all the news shows have been hyping that we all get out and shop like good little consumers, even more intensely than ussual and especially today. I rarely leave the house on black friday and absolutely avoid any commercial centers if I do. A couple years ago between beers and turkey samdwiches I imagined what it my be like if I were infected with the sort of crazed consumerism that would get me out in the dark and cold to paticipate in a stampede into a (shudder) mall or (wretch) a Walmart. A happy Thanksgiving and a very peaceful Black Friday to you.

Black Friday Stomp


Friday mornin six AM standin here in line
Thanksgivin that might‘ve been livin, but it’s time to do some buyin
Cold’n damp along the wall, like in years before
Gotta thirst to be the first when they open up them doors
On our black Friday shoppin stomp, parkin lot hoppin romp
Pilgrims flockin by the score to the big box store

Don’t you push, don’t you shove, don’t you cut in line
We ain’t here to mess around, we ain’t got the time
Got our lists clenched in our fists, our marchin orders clear
If you ain’t with us yer agin us, git on outta here
On our black Friday shoppin stomp, parkin lot hoppin romp
D-day is at hand, the moment crouches near

Sakes alive, believe our eyes, the doors flung open wide
Swept along by the throng as we push our way inside
Triumphant cries and giddy smiles fanning out along the aisles
Scanning high, peering low among the mounding piles
Got to have this year’s device, no other will suffice
Stand aside won’t be denied, I’ve traveled all these miles

Round the corner twist and spin, man I’ve got the moves
Weaving out and weaving in, each year my skill improves
Got here fast and glory be there upon the shelve
This year’s gotta have it gadget, gonna grab it for my self
On our black Friday shoppin stomp, parkin lot hoppin romp
Three reasons for my ceasing, quickness, cunning, stealth

There’s the last within my grasp, got here just in time
Hey you git your mits off, that item is mine
In a flash grab it dash off to the cashier
My nemesis will not desist chasin at my rear
On our black Friday shoppin stomp, parkin lot hoppin romp
Dear Lord make fleet my feet, git me outta here

With a last ditch dive, my pursuer brings me to the floor
As I stumbled, nearly fumbled, never done that before
In the aisle a people pile asses, ankles, elbows
Got to be in possession when that whistle blows
Eye gouging, ankle bitting, all to get my grip untightened
Felt the blackness welling up and I slipped below

When I came to and I looked down much to my despair
The space in between my hands, nothing there but air
How could I return home, face my family
See their expectant eyes gazing back at me
On black Friday I got stomped, in the big box I got romped
So I signed aboard a merchant freighter and headed off to sea.

Copyright Sean Cranley November 26, 2004 (till death +75yr)

What Do You Do When Your Party Sucks?

Suck harder!

I found this analysis of the state of our GOPster friends to be such an uplifting read that I simply had to share it and spread the good vibes: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/11/24

Gotchyer GOPropoganda on the AM Radio

Hello, Be afraid, be very afraid-eo
We gotchyer GOPropoganda on the AM radio.

Linked here is an excellent article from Milwaukee Magazine by a former WTMJ Radio news director which outlines wonderfully the methods and manipulations deployed by rightwing radio: http://www.milwaukeemagazine.com/currentIssue/full_feature_story.asp?NewMessageID=24046

Those of us who don't count ourselves among the initiated noddinghead indoctrinants of this medium won't be surprised at all by this; those who are will simply choose to ignore it completely or stick it in a corner of their brain where it won't interfere with the machinations of their concrete belief system. But it does provide and interesting insider perspective with real people and real examples.

I have only one critique on the piece. While the author rightly points out how the hosts play on their listeners reptilian fears and their sense of righteous victimhood, he completely misses another avenue of mass mind management they employ, the ego.RWR listeners get their egos stroked on a regular basis. They are incessantly instructed in how they are better than "those people", how they are the bedrock of Merica the greatest nation ever in the universe!. Unlike those other people they are self-reliant, they got where they are all on their own, they don't need nobody else, they are rocks, islands. And so day after day they nod their heads in self-congratulation as they tool on down the public thoroughfare in their ostentatious SUVs. Fear and ego, one need only add greed to make the stool stand, but that's a topic for another day.

I know because I used to listen too. But then I engaged the critical thinking skills that I got from among other places, my public school education and realized they were trying to deceive me, to enlist me as a foot soldier in the War on Reality. So I went AWOL from their boot camp (figuratively, unlike our fearless flightsuit).Of course they don't lie outright, that would be too obvious. So they use the tactics above in concert with half truths and information taken out of context. Of course the intent (deception) and the desired outcome (manipulation) still make it in fact a lie.

Which is why I will not listen anything at all on stations like WTMJ and WISN, they are not serving the public interest as is their charge, quite the contrary. Oh sure from time to time I still get curious and tune in to El Snortbo or one of his clones to see what are the Rovian ganda-bytes of the day. But I always tune them out again at the first easily discerned deception or commercial, so my sessions are exceedingly brief.

Unlike the author though, I'm optimistic. I think the scales are finally falling from a lot of people's eyes and that the power of RWR lies to hold back the realities that are coming to pass from the failures of an extreme and deeply flawed belief system are on the wane. Which leads me to close with renewed confidence in the truth of my axiom:

If you must lie to advance your thoughts, your thoughts are not advanced.

Our President-Elect

BAP Rolls On

This may seem obvious, but I'll say it anyway. The election victory last night does not mean the end of BAP. We'll continue getting together and putting on events and talking about the next election. Though first, we'll probably take a bit of time to enjoy this one. :-) See you soon.