Friends of the Moon

The BBQ Pit
1

Right-wing and left-wing are terms that entered political parlance due to the seating arrangements of the 1789 French Etats Generaux. Venues and seating arrangements changed, (even going so far as to devolve into numbered seats drawn by lot in an attempt to break up any special interest groups) but the distinction between the nobles and pro-monarchy forces seated at Louis’ right, and the more radical bourgeoisie seated on the left maintained.

Out of any given pair of opposites, there will be a general consensus as to what category it “belongs”: past/future, stable/chaotic, conservative/liberal, hawk/dove, rich/poor, industry/nature, reactionary/revolutionary, male/female.

Note that I do not say that there are no right-wing women, or left-wing hawks. (Or turkeys, for that matter). It just seems, in the West, as inheritors of an Aristotelian system of classification, we have a tendency toward binary bifurcation.

(There are two kinds of people in the world: those who split the world into two kinds of people, and those who don’t.)

There are other possible cleavages proposed by those with other axis to grind. :slight_smile: Libertarians claim state control versus individual choice is the most significant cleavage; Greens claim the protection of the environment is the great divide.

Others (foreigners, most likely) recognize this left/right split as being far too simplistic, and have added additional axis, but it comes down to a slightly more sophisticated version of the same thing.

You ain’t got no friends on the Left (That’s right!)
You ain’t got no friends on the Right (What’s left?)
-Firesign Theatre

2

Currently, the US has, in effect, a two party system: all of the Greens, Independents, Reforms, Socialists, add up to a small fraction of the body politic:

–Of course, the real majority belong to the Unaffiliated Party - the people who are post (or pre) politics–

The Republicans, who, under the under-handed definition above, fall under the rubric of the Right, and the Democrats, who, for better or worse, represent the mainstream Left in the US.

There are socially progressive Republicans, just as there are fiscally conservative Democrats. But speaking from a psychological perspective, one can reframe the Right/Left dichotomy as two systems, one of which sets security as the highest value, and one of which values liberty as the greatest good.

In this view, mandatory sentencing, zero tolerance policies, and a tendency toward the anti-abortion position are right wing issues, while, though not much in evidence these days, argument against victimless crimes like prostitution, pornography and drug use would be the flip side of that coin.

(Interesting counter-examples would be right-wing decimation of the EPA, and left-wing pimping for the NEA).

There is the appearance in professional politics, (reinforced by corporate media) of no credible opposition. There are military-entertainment complex politicians who wear red ties, and one’s who wear blue ties; that is all.

If the doors of perception were cleansed,
Man would see things as they truly are - then slit his throat.

3

A case in point is Congress rolling over on the USA Patriot Act. Who could possibly be against something like that? Does it have a Mom and Apple Pie rider? I’ll vote for that, too!

No, what it does is expand domestic surveillance, reduce/eliminate judicial review, broaden definition of terrorism, provide for the collection of DNA samples of anyone convicted of any crime of violence.

Was it Ben Franklin who said anyone willing to trade a little freedom for a little security deserves neither?

I think that we are already really, really good at putting US citizens under surveillance, and a law to make it easier isn’t going to fight terrorism and might be abused. Just ask Martin Luther King (Ooops, can’t ask him.) Just ask John Lennon (Sorry, another bad example.) Just ask… ANY OF THE HALF A MILLION U.S. CITIZENS THE GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN SPYING ON SINCE THE MCCARTHY PERIOD.

And, if a spook gets into a fight with me in a bar, I get to leave a skin sample down at the station? If infiltrators start a fight at a peaceful demonstration I’m attending, a curly lock of my hair goes to Washington?

The only logical response is to form my own political party, Friends of the Moon, and send a special “Friends of the Moon” salute to our elected officials who slowly seem intent on overthrowing the Constitution.

(!)
KMRIA

The patriot must always be prepared to defend his country from his government.
- Ed Abbey

4

Okay, just so that I’m the first to do this:

:confused:

5

“I spend my days… just moo-oo-oo-ooning…”

6

Maybe Dr Pinky couldn’t find a wall big enough for the graffiti.

Why “Friends of the Moon”?

7

It really doesn’t have to be shiny side out.

The tinfoil hat will protect you from the government’s rays either way.

8

Pinky has a point: various governments are currently attempting to push through rather frightening legislative measures in response to Sept. 11 that risk alienating a lot of basic freedoms in favour of some nebulous fight against terrorism.

I started a GD thread about these measures as they are being discussed in Canada:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=95406

9

“…And if your head explodes with dark forebodings, too, I’ll see you on the dark side of the Moon…”

Man, this is fun.

10

I would be amused by this, if the current political situation in the United States didn’t frighten the everliving fuck out of me. There was an article in the New York times, which was essentially Robert Mueller saying that the FBI was baffled and would welcome help from amateur detectives. The Onion can’t write headlines that funny, folks. When the FBI calls out the Hardy Boys, it’s time to buy canned goods and shotgun shells. If we would just give them those bamboo splints and that sack of doorknobs they want, though, they’d sort this all out right quick.

I’m going to go dig a hole and hide in it.

11

The FBI has been asking for help from EVERYBODY in the country. Which is exactly what they’ve been doing ever since they were created. And which is exactly the smartest thing for them to do.

What, you thought that the Feds are an omniscient agency that oversees everything that goes on in the country?

12

So sayeth Spoofe

No, but I didn’t think they’d give every Tom, Dick, and Harry an excuse to suspect and harass everyone they think to be an Arab. We hire law enforcement professionals for a reason: they are trained, equipped, and sanctioned by law. If you feel thief-takers, bounty hunters, and mob justice would be more expedient, you are certainly entitled to your opinion.

13

for the thinking impaired

There are those who have expressed some bewilderment at my convoluted mode of expression. Let’s see if I can get babblefish to translate into monosyllabish.

** LUNATIC POLITICS **
Fuck you, Wellstone, you weasel! I thought you had a spine!
Bad mine!

Congress, I wiggle my uncloaked buttocks in your general direction!

(Any questions?)
Trucido, if you know of a good spot for a burrow, please spill. I know how to operate a spade. matt_mcl, I’ll check your link in a minute. Didn’t some leader of a Canadian movement just get charged with a HATE CRIME for criticizing USA policy? I guess my plan to relocate to Atlin will have to go on hold…

Anyone want a cite for any of my insane rant, speak up. I’ll be here until Thursday – try the veal!

14

And where did I ever advocate that, buddy-boy? What’s so wrong with the FBI asking the public for information?

15

Duh. Like anyone would join “Enemies of the Moon”.

16

Moon hammered my brother with a big chunk o Gorgonzola. Closed casket 'cause of the stench. You think it’s funnny? ‘L kill that fuckin’ moon.

17

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by SPOOFE *
**

Indeed, what’s so wrong to infect the populace with paranoia?
What’s wrong with using slight of hand on a massive scale?
What’s wrong with turning everybody into a junior Barney Fifes against their parents, teachers, chums?

Could there be anything wrong about putting informants on the dole?

Ask anybody that grew up in Poland or Latvia:
You don’t need civil liberties in a police state if you behave yourself…

18

Sorry to take the hard role there Dr. Pinky, but infecting the populace with paranoia is better than quietly allowing it to be infected with Small Pox. Chump. If the shrub’s daddy had the cuyones to finish what he started, namely, go in and dispense with Hussein, then we wouldn’t be in this spot, perhaps. It will be interesting to hear what you have to say about civil liberties when there is no civil society left here, for whatever reason. Small pox, multiple dirty bombs, attacks upon reactor sites, poisoned water supplies, etc. The WTC is small time relatively speaking and it is not paranoid to protect ourselves.
Great Britain and France have had strong laws concerning their domestic terrorism situations for some time. According to the WHO and the United Nations, the Liberal Democracies of Western Europe are better places to live than the USA in many ways, including civil rights. It is flippant to think that we should be able to have such porous borders and lax security, gluttonish appetites, and a propensity for violence to feed them, and then expect “them” to “behave” themselves.
sleight.
http://www.korpios.org/resurgent/tenets.htm
You will no doubt be the first chunk of anal moraine on his soap box deploring the ineptitude of the gov’t, when you have absorbed a shit load of rads or your daughter/mother/brother gets killed by falling debris, small pox, etc. Frankly, I like my “way of life” (flush toilets, steady, cheap food supply, electricity to read books by, an educated, accomplished wife) and I am sure you do, too. Your puling unmeasured rant might be seductive to some, but anyone who has critical thinking skills and some education (reading a good newspaper for twenty years will do), will quickly see that you are full of shit.

19

Du-uh yourself … why not some other astonomical term, hmm? Oh, forget it … Maybe it’s just luna-tic fringe.

20

Ok, how about “Acquaintances of Uranus”? :smiley: