Hall Of Mirrors

The world is like a room of mirrors. You look at an old person and you are reminded that you too will be old some day. You look at a baby and you know that you too were once young.

So it is with nations. They look at themselves in these mirrors which essentially reflect the times of a single observer; or, as Jorge Luis Borges would put it, a “garden of forking paths”.

The history of nations is always the same. All are birthed in blood. It’s just that each one, at any given moment, exists in its own time. This gives the illusion that each one is different.

Egypt is in the grip of revolution. There are good people on both sides - people with vision. It’s the chaos that kills - and even more so: indifference. It’s a time when nihilism prospers, when opportunists make their move, when things can go either way. It’s the reason NFL games are so popular with American viewers, that sense of not knowing; that sense of wishing, praying, wanting so desperately to see what happens and to be on the right side after the dust has settled. It’s been declared a crime to affect the outcome from outside betting parlors. Unless, of course, the outcome you're hoping for is chaos itself - chaos without end; containment - as it now appears to be.

Obama has nothing to add after having set the wheels (of fire) in motion. He is presenting us with a poignant historical spectacle. And yet, we are not amused. Chaos simply isn’t our cup of tea. We reject it in ourselves as we reject it in others. If chaos is Obama’s objective, he must go there alone.
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Perhaps historians were wrong. Perhaps Clinton wasn't the first black president after all. Perhaps it was Jimmy Carter who presided over the first Middle Eastern domino to fall. How long before Obama appears on our TV screens wearing a sweater?

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Splitting Hairs

“In Geneva I have known artisans who did not know what I meant when I inquired if they were communists; but immediately admitted to being ‘progressives‘. I was not deceived. The same is true of Buddhists. The name by which the world knows them is not one they themselves utter.” (adapted from Borges’ “The Sect of the Phoenix”.)

I don’t know why we keep trotting out Sarah Palin at every turn. She is a good person, to be sure; but her comments are utterly predictable (as are the comments of those entrusted to publicly berate her.)

Why are we still surprised about what Obama says or does? There is now enough evidence for us to know precisely who he is and what he hopes to accomplish. Anything beyond that reaches into an endless curatorial abyss. We must act now!

Obama’s remarks about the proposed mosque near Ground Zero are not remarkable. What is remarkable is that we still haven’t learned to avoid taking the bait. A huge argument ensued that now echoes on practically every doorstep. And that was the point; to get us to argue amongst ourselves. Any happenstance that allows BHO room to dodge and weave shifts our focus away from the damage that is being inflicted as we speak. By splitting hairs with our neighbors about what has happened, what should happen, and why, diverts our eye away from the actual threat.

Who cares if the mosque is built and completed even before (what used to be called) “Freedom Tower” has been started? The girl is being assaulted in a public place - right now! Who would refrain from jumping in to stop it on the basis of some absurd sophism? Who could not be certain that once the decision has been taken to personally intervene, others would not also join in to help? Would we really just stand there and argue while the rapist attacks woman after woman? Have we already reached that point?

We know that Obama is a communist, or an Islamist, or both. We know his playbook. We know what must happen if he were to succeed. It is as if we were already bound and gagged awaiting execution. We are aware of the circumstances that have conspired to bury us in this echo chamber - the lies, the exposés, the show trails, the false witnesses. We know; we anticipate; we fear, yet we do not act - except to argue amongst ourselves about something as meaningless as loopholes in nomenclature.

Moratorium

Man is by nature a deceptive animal. We wear masks which, if we were to let slip, would show us to be the same as everyone else. We are literally obsessed with masks to the point of confusing the mask with what lies beneath. This is good news for politicians who survive by division. They use what is obvious (and, at the same time, not so obvious) to divide us into indefensible camps in order to build a political base for themselves. POTUS is no different.

We are most sensitive about that which we cannot change. The indelible mark of gender and race are primary in our struggle to maintain the appearance of dignity. Culture and religion come in a close second; political orientation comes in third, and so on… By such superficial factors we allow ourselves to be herded into separate rooms, to be used and abused in the privacy of someone’s yawning void. When, in fact, biologically speaking, the differences between us are so minute, they hardly bear mention.

We are all equally human, though this is hardly apparent from the masks we are given and compelled to dance in accordance with. We are taught to hate, act fierce and threatening; or to seduce with words and delicate pirouette; smile; march; kill (always, we are told, for a higher purpose).

Our various protocols are constructed to hide the fact that we are predatory by nature. Our masks mask that aggression is ugly and hides inadequacy - which once again makes us victims to someone’s political ambitions - someone whose own inadequacy compels him to commit ever greater crimes to which we willingly accept the role of accomplice.

There can no longer be any doubt that Obama is not as was advertised: the benign ruler of a complex nation. He would fit much more comfortably into an autocracy (of which, sadly, there are many). But even this eludes him. ‘He is slender and flaccid at the same time; and gives the uncomfortable impression of being invertebrate. In private, he makes use of dialectical materialism to put an end to any discussion.

‘The reasons one can have for hating a man - or loving him - are infinite. Obama reduces the history of the universe to a sordid economic conflict. He affirms that the revolution is predestined to succeed. He dictates opinions with scorn and a certain anger.’*

If Barack Hussein Obama were an American president in the true tradition of American presidents, he would impose a moratorium on mosque building - not oil drilling.
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*Again I am compelled to borrow from Jorge Luis Borges; this time, from “The Shape of the Sword”.

Being Immortal

The following thought was sparked by two lines in Borges’ “Funes the Memorious”, in which this author asserts “that we live our lives putting off all that can be put off; (because) perhaps we all know deep down that we are immortal and that sooner or later all men will do and know all things.” The passage caught my eye because I too have been known to leave things to the last minute and because I too have always harbored the suspicion of being immortal. The latter would often plague me deep into the night - especially in my early youth - when thoughts of suicide would stalk me practically everywhere I went.

Then, just today, someone replied to one of my postings, claiming that Americans are no less intelligent than Indians. I responded saying that it’s not a matter of intelligence but, rather, of policy - specifically with regard to education (which is what we were discussing). I was careful to add that I’m not passing judgment, just noting results.

Then, later, it occurred to me that the way we commonly view education - a gathering of facts and statistics in a hoarding sort of way - may in fact achieve just the opposite; that every ‘fact’ we accept as our own, discards another (or even a whole series). Education, then, would amount to no less than blocking. In other words, we actually do know all we need to know, and then we proceed to block portions of our innate wisdom with facts.

When my son was still quite young, I taught him the elementary moves of chess. We played a few games which he always won. I bought him a book entitled “My 60 Memorable Games” by Bobby Fischer, which he read. After that, we played a couple more games, both of which he lost. We never played again.

Or, how else would you explain that so often - after a murderer has be caught, the murder weapon secured, the motive established - the jury clears him for lack of conclusive evidence? If the defending attorney is clever, he can pummel a jury with facts and suppositions designed to erase what they already know to be true. Such is the power of words and books, to block, twist and obfuscate until we find ourselves helpless to the talent of audacious seduction.

The present administration gives out ‘facts’ that now only 20% of us believe. Even with misreporting by the media, there is a feeling that something’s gone terribly awry. We are more apt to accept lies when things are going well; when facts don’t much matter. We were told that Bush was the worst ever. And we went along with it because it didn’t really matter either way if he was or not. Now it matters.

It’s reached the point at which we will ignore what Obama and the Democrats are saying, and vote according to the alarm bell in our gut.

Circular Ruins

Steve Slater, folk hero, captures America’s current mood precisely. He isn’t the first. He now joins the likes of Joe Wilson, who famously shouted “Liar!” during a joint session of Congress, and Rick Santelli who let loose from the floor of the stock exchange - all of which had the elites screeching like stuck pigs.

The American people have had just about enough of those who would shunt them aside and deny their humanity; subject them to endless experiments in social engineering while berating them and robbing them blind.

Something’s got to give at some point. The daily insults: the proposed mosque at Ground Zero; the government suing Arizona; the moratorium on oil drilling; the relentless spending of our money; ever accelerating tax rates and national debt; the now steady diet of blatant propaganda; the re-write of history - I could go on and on.

It’s nice to see that we’re not giving up; that we have come to realize that our enemies are mere ankle biters; that we can shake them off with some small gesture. All is not lost when such gestures - without violence, for violence is not in our nature - garner tidal waves of support that even the media can’t gloss over and render illegitimate.
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Lou, this one’s for you: You said you’d enjoyed reading Borges. I was given “Labyrinths” to read in college. It made no sense, so I left it. I just came across it again some 40 odd years later. I am reading it now and understand it perfectly. Last night I read “Circular Ruins” in which the protagonist arrives at the ruins of a temple with the intent of dreaming (creating) a man. He does so after so many fits and starts. At some point the temple burns and the man is consumed as well. As he walks into the flames, ‘they do not bite into his flesh, they caress him and engulf him without heat or combustion. With relief, with humiliation, with terror, he understands that he too is a mere appearance, dreamt by another.’

Reminds of Barack Hussein Obama.

The Lottery in Babylon

At some point someone will dare to write the truth about our government. It may go something like this: “In those days, as now, the government, with divine modesty, avoided all publicity. It’s agents, as is natural, were unelected and secret. The orders which it issued continually ( perhaps incessantly) did not differ from those lavished by impostors: the drunkard who improvised an absurd accusation leading to indictment; the dreamer who awakened suddenly and strangled the woman by his side. Did they not execute, perhaps, a secret decision of the government? That silent functioning, comparable to God’s, gave rise to all sorts of conjectures. One abominably insinuated that the government has not existed for centuries and that the sacred disorder in our lives was purely hereditary, traditional. Another judged it eternal and taught that it will last until the last night, when the last god annihilates the world. Another stipulated that the government is omnipotent, but that it only has influence in small things: a bird’s call; the shadings of rust; in the half dreams of dawn. Another, in the words of masked heresiarchs, 'that it had never existed and will not exist'. Another, no less vile, reasoned that it is indifferent to affirm or deny the reality of shadowy government, because Babylon has never been anything else than an infinite game of chance.”*

As for me, I have practically run out of words to describe a man (corporation, government) who receives a life-threatening wound on his right arm and seems totally absorbed in administering to his left. I have begun posting music videos on my websites.
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Passage taken from (and loosely translated to fit intent) Borges’ “The Lottery in Babylon”.

Punching Holes in Reality

In his writings, Jorge Luis Borges punched joyful holes in reality. He wrote mostly short pieces: hit and run. It is because of this that his writings never got the recognition they deserved. It only appeals to a select group of metaphysically-oriented intellectuals. The rest of us who are deeply engaged in life’s struggles tend to come away with very little.

Borges emphasized form over content. His writing is no doubt meticulously structured and at the same time dazzling in its denseness and complexity. As such, he is much as one who paints or sculpts. Borges managed it with words alone. If Borges had not suffered severely from progressive eye disease, I suspect he would have secured for himself a place in the visual arts.

Obama’s speeches are much like Borges’ writings. One never suspects that reality supports what he‘s saying. A leader’s job is different from that of an artist. We don’t look to a leader to necessarily entertain or dazzle. We look for results. Obama’s rhetoric leaves us empty. Even as he herds us towards the Marxist ideal, his vision lacks warmth, empathy and compassion. It is coldly theoretical. But unlike Borges, whose blindness released him from the world of color and form, Obama seems still trapped by the spectacle of high living which turns bitter on the tongue of all those who are asked to sacrifice.

Replicant Children vs. Tyrell

Time is a critical disciplinary element in what defines the human condition. As Jorge Luis Borges wrote in ’The Immortal’: "Death (or its allusion) makes men precious and pathetic. They are moving because of their phantom condition; every act they execute may be their last... Everything among mortals has the value of the irretrievable and the perilous."

Time, often said to be illusory, provides the framework within which we exist. Our ability to manage time effectively provides a measure of our effectiveness as human beings.

Even for those of the leisure class for whom time seems not to be of the essence, the need for precise scheduling somehow tends to assert itself. In William S. Burroughs’s book (and presumed semi-autobiographical) “Junky” (1953), the protagonist voluntarily submits to the timetable of his addiction. Also, often times, a child reared in an undisciplined parental environment, will later seek out the implicit discipline associated with some branch of the uniformed services in an effort to maximize his or her human potential.

It is significant that the Tyrell Corporation’s replicant slaves have been engineered to have only four-year life spans as to prevent them from developing emotions and the desire for independence – in other words, to become fully human.

Corporations – like the fictional Tyrell or the factual BP – clearly remain unconstrained by time. They - like the undisciplined young (and often reckless) - see themselves as eternally immortal. Yet, they too have need of a framework within which to operate and test their mettle. This framework is profit.

Leftists are quick to point out that the profit motive is rogue, out of control, and basically anti-life. When, in fact, profit is depended on a set of the strictest, most uncompromising laws in the universe. A business that is run badly cannot succeed. Going forward, a business plan is self-correcting at every turn. It is inexorably tied to the law of supply and demand and well managed risk which, in turn, is tied in no small measure to performance and customer expectations. If left to their own devices, corporations provide real value to their customers (which is you and I).

If corporations are interfered with for criminal or political purposes, they become cancerous. It is much more likely that corporations become rogue by political interference than the other way around.

It is unreasonable to blame BP for the oil spill in the Gulf. For one thing, anyone would be hard pressed to prove malicious intent. Such intent is infinitely more likely to have originated with some hard-nosed political agenda concern (of which BP may have become an unwitting victim).

Right now it seems that the stunted emotional growth of the replicant children that are presently running our government are far more culpable for the multiple messes that have accrued on virtually every front.