Can Heckling Change The World? Let’s Find Out

By on January 6, 2011 in News 19

A big molte grazie goes out to the folks at Disinformation.  Their media aggregation board is always a real thought provoker.  As discussed below, I got a big kick out of their recent repost of a Reuters report about the “job surge.”

The nation owes a big debt of gratitude to wise ass m*f*’s like Jon Stewart who finally shamed the ra-ra, flag wavin’ hypocrites of the Republican party into finally voting to support 911 First Responders.  But while we correctly applaud the righteousness of Mr. Stewart and the Daily Show team who made this possible, we should perhaps be mindful of a broader principle:  The Truth shall not only set us free, it is also fucking hillarious.

However, we shouldn’t just passively rely on television comedians to do all the heavy lifting for us.  Indeed, although many contemporary comedians seem to have a firm grasp on this fact*, others do not.  Remember Dennis Miller**?  Time for you and me to step up to the plate.  Here’s a little training exercise to get you started.  And who knows?  With a little coordination and work, maybe you and I can engineer a grass-roots heckling movement to save American democracy.
See the table at the left here?  Based on yesterday’s Reuter’s write-up on ADP’s trumpeting of the brilliant “economic recovery”, it is also a graphic illustration of just how fucking lame median attempts at deceiving the public are.  It is a very start demonstration of the palpable contempt mainstream outlets have for the intelligence of the man and woman on the street.

One need not look very far to see just how big a sham this piece is, so I’ll make it brief and discuss only 3 of its many shortcomings…

More at Dystopia Diaries.

, , ,

  • Pingback: Tweets that mention Can Heckling Change The World? Let’s Find Out | Disinformation -- Topsy.com

  • MoxAmok

    It’s unfair to vilify the Republicans just for being apprehensive about the 9/11 first responders bill when the Dems tied it to the closing of an overseas tax loophole. I’m not supporting the loophole (or Republicans), I just think it shouldn’t have been necessary in the first place, since we should have a corporate tax rate that’s on par with the rest of the world (rather than the highest in the world). I also think that adding items that you know the other party will reject to a seemingly unquestionable bill just so you can vilify them when they reject it is a rotten practice (that both parties are guilty of).

    On your broader point, I also find it amazing to watch the media and politicians try to convince us that any significant economic recovery is taking place, or that our gov’t's stimuli are working. As someone on the line between minarchist and anarchist, I think the only way real recovery will take place is with governmental fiscal responsibility, lower corporate taxes and (selective) deregulation of business (which despite what you may think, is not what large corporations want, the dereg part that is).

    I realize I’m pissing in the wind here, but I really think you’d be better off taking a deep breath and trying not to be so derisive in your writing (this coming from someone who’s more angry than almost everyone I’ve met). I think you’d find more people would be able to get something out of your writing. It didn’t take long for me to see we have much different views, but despite this I’ve found it unusually difficult to make it through your articles, which without glancing at the byline I recognize almost immediately by their contemptuous vitriol. Frankly I’m surprised Disinfo picked you up, though I don’t pretend to know anything about that process.

  • MoxAmok

    It’s unfair to vilify the Republicans just for being apprehensive about the 9/11 first responders bill when the Dems tied it to the closing of an overseas tax loophole. I’m not supporting the loophole (or Republicans), I just think it shouldn’t have been necessary in the first place, since we should have a corporate tax rate that’s on par with the rest of the world (rather than the highest in the world). I also think that adding items that you know the other party will reject to a seemingly unquestionable bill just so you can vilify them when they reject it is a rotten practice (that both parties are guilty of).

    On your broader point, I also find it amazing to watch the media and politicians try to convince us that any significant economic recovery is taking place, or that our gov’t's stimuli are working. As someone on the line between minarchist and anarchist, I think the only way real recovery will take place is with governmental fiscal responsibility, lower corporate taxes and (selective) deregulation of business (which despite what you may think, is not what large corporations want, the dereg part that is).

    I realize I’m pissing in the wind here, but I really think you’d be better off taking a deep breath and trying not to be so derisive in your writing (this coming from someone who’s more angry than almost everyone I’ve met). I think you’d find more people would be able to get something out of your writing. It didn’t take long for me to see we have much different views, but despite this I’ve found it unusually difficult to make it through your articles, which without glancing at the byline I recognize almost immediately by their contemptuous vitriol. Frankly I’m surprised Disinfo picked you up, though I don’t pretend to know anything about that process.

    • razzlebathbone

      Wait, hold on.

      Did you actually say that U.S. corporations pay too much tax?

      • Liam_McGonagle

        Yeah, that “too much tax” thing was a transparently stupid and douchey piece of tomtrollery.

        As if we could somehow forget that in ’65 we had 4.5% unemployment and 70% top marginal rate for corps and instead be encouraged to emulate Ireland, whom I love dearly, but let’s face it, they’re even deeper in the shit than we are. They’ve got a 12% top marginal rate, nearly 15% unemployment and have effectively lost their national sovereignty to an international cabal of gombeen men and bankers.

        Great idea. Let’s all vote the “Doom Ticket”.

        • http://voxmagi-necessarywords.blogspot.com/ VoxMagi

          Any man who knows what “gombeen men” means wins my vote :-) Someone knows their Irish history as well as their number crunching :-)

          • Liam_McGonagle

            Well, “gombeenism” isn’t a new phenom. So sadly ironic that an entire nation that defined its character by opposition to imperial machines got co-opted by the biggest multi-national financial-imperial machine of all.

            I have many friends and relations with long, long histories of supporting Fianna Fail, which has traditionally billed itself as the most nationalist of the centralist parties. And now that very party just handed the keys over to the IMF and the Anglo-Irish Bank.

            God, the heart break and disillusionment are unbelievable.

  • Anonymous

    STFU!! LOL

  • GoodDoktorBad

    STFU!! LOL

  • Anonymous

    Wait, hold on.

    Did you actually say that U.S. corporations pay too much tax?

  • Liam_McGonagle

    Just updated the blogpost (within a comment) for the preliminary BLS release. Looks like Dystopia Diaries gets a gold star for calling this one–we were within 0.0059% of the Work Force.

    Now if some fucking shaved chimp with Excel can do this at home while nursing a hangover, why can’t ADP, Reuters or any of the lame-ass “professional” media I call out in the blog post? Lazy fucks.

  • Liam_McGonagle

    Just updated the blogpost (within a comment) for the preliminary BLS release. Looks like Dystopia Diaries gets a gold star for calling this one–we were within 0.0059% of the Work Force.

    Now if some fucking shaved chimp with Excel can do this at home while nursing a hangover, why can’t ADP, Reuters or any of the lame-ass “professional” media I call out in the blog post? Lazy fucks.

  • Liam_McGonagle

    Yeah, that “too much tax” thing was a transparently stupid and douchey piece of tomtrollery.

    As if we could somehow forget that in ’65 we had 4.5% unemployment and 70% top marginal rate for corps and instead be encouraged to emulate Ireland, whom I love dearly, but let’s face it, they’re even deeper in the shit than we are. They’ve got a 12% top marginal rate, nearly 15% unemployment and have effectively lost their national sovereignty to an international cabal of gombeen men and bankers.

    Great idea. Let’s all vote the “Doom Ticket”.

  • http://voxmagi-necessarywords.blogspot.com/ VoxMagi

    Any man who knows what “gombeen men” means wins my vote :-) Someone knows their Irish history as well as their number crunching :-)

  • http://voxmagi-necessarywords.blogspot.com/ VoxMagi

    Well…it would be nice if heckling could change the world…but I’ve been unloading both barrels of venom into any handy ear for a couple decades…and all I’ve seen is a slow slide to the right (more of a groaning couch roll to the right) and a brain dead willingness to worship the TVs talking heads instead of disciplined analysis and personal participation.

  • http://voxmagi-necessarywords.blogspot.com/ VoxMagi

    Well…it would be nice if heckling could change the world…but I’ve been unloading both barrels of venom into any handy ear for a couple decades…and all I’ve seen is a slow slide to the right (more of a groaning couch roll to the right) and a brain dead willingness to worship the TVs talking heads instead of disciplined analysis and personal participation.

    • Liam_McGonagle

      Well, may not happen all at once. But at least the normally bland “Market Place” report on NPR seemed to change its tune. Modified their tone–including emphasis on the decreasing participation rate (i.e., 1.3 million people so discouraged that the government doesn’t even count them when calculating the unemployment rate).

      http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/01/07/132732840/unemployment-rate-falls-to-9-4-103-000-jobs-added

      Could be a beginning. “Togtar na caisleain de reir a cheile,” as the older Irish folks used to say: Castles are built slowly.

  • Liam_McGonagle

    Well, “gombeenism” isn’t a new phenom. So sadly ironic that an entire nation that defined its character by opposition to imperial machines got co-opted by the biggest multi-national financial-imperial machine of all.

    I have many friends and relations with long, long histories of supporting Fianna Fail, which has traditionally billed itself as the most nationalist of the centralist parties. And now that very party just handed the keys over to the IMF and the Anglo-Irish Bank.

    God, the heart break and disillusionment are unbelievable.

  • Anonymous

    Well, may not happen all at once. But at least the normally bland “Market Place” report on NPR seemed to change its tune. Modified their tone–including emphasis on the decreasing participation rate (i.e., 1.3 million people so discouraged that the government doesn’t even count them when calculating the unemployment rate).

    http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/01/07/132732840/unemployment-rate-falls-to-9-4-103-000-jobs-added

    Could be a beginning. “Togtar na caisleain de reir a cheile,” as the older Irish folks used to say: Castles are built slowly.