Penis shadow on McMansion wall of inarticulate Blonde dead of Snickers OD & RestlessLegSyndrome

[omega minimo]

We embrace and wrestle and kick and cling to the Distraction du Jour because the truth is too terrible and terrifying

We embrace and wrestle and kick and cling to each other because the simple strong heroes of the past are dead and branded

Today's heroes are not the ones who stand and ask not what your country can do for you or proclaim their Dreams

Today's heroes are the ones who sort out the truth from the mass media punditry poisoning-- with lucidity and/or satire

There is no greater satire than the life we are living now

One of those heroic voices on the air today told the secret that none dare speak-- that our Congress is terrified of this administration

We embrace and wrestle and kick and cling to the Distraction du Jour

[LoZoccolo]

1. Actually, people kick my threads because they are so important.

Have you ever seen a team of four dedicated to bringing the most vital threads to the forefront? I have, but it's only on my threads.

[ScreamingMeemie]

2. Or we are multi faceted people who are able to take in more than

one idea/news item/bit of fluff at a time and decide for ourselves what we think.

[Fran Kubelik]

4. YES!!!!!!!

Wow these threads are making my blood pressure rise.

[Guaranteed]

9. This shit is fucking ridiculous. Jesus fucking Christ. nt

[Guaranteed]

8. I'd go so far as to say my entire life doesn't revolve around the Iraq War. nt

[ThomCat]

40. And again, you cut right to the point!

:woohoo:

[omega minimo]

45. except it seemed the point may have been missed if by "OR"

... if by "OR" MG thinks her comments conflict with the OP. Not at all. That flexibility is folded into the idea........... it's not either/or. We're all going about negotiating the mental clutter in our own ways. And collectively we ARE doing a lot of DENIAL is not just a river in Iraq............. C'est la vie.



Hey there Thomcat, say hi to H3 and LIV for me, eh? :pals:

[Swamp Rat]

3. OBEY

[omega minimo]

5. ow

:rofl: :scared:


pay no attention to the men behind the curtain

[Porcupine]

6. You're my hero today!! nt

.

[omega minimo]

10. backatcha

:toast:

[Guaranteed]

7. Since when are OTHER THINGS going on in the world DISTRACTIONS?

Do you ever like, talk to your family?

Go see a movie? Go for a walk, or to work? Do the dishes? Take a drive?

You do realize there are "things" out there OTHER THAN the Iraq War- right???

[omega minimo]

11. sorry you seem to be on the wrong thread

:peace:

[JackRiddler]

55. This isn't about the Iraq war...

"Our Congress is terrified of this administration"

There is a serious danger that the last days of the Republic (in form - its heart was hollowed out long ago) are literally a matter of a few weeks.

[omega minimo]

62. o.m.g.

[JackRiddler]

66. omg what?

omega minimo gastronomy?

[saltpoint]

12. Will you people please keep it down? I'm watching COPS on FOX.

[leftstreet]

16. Prime Time has become Crime Time

Bad boys, Bad boys

[saltpoint]

19. The baddest boy I ever heard of was probably Lou Reed.

'Bad' as in heavy, industrial-strength street credentials.

I love your "Prime Time to Crime Time" phrase. It's despairing watching police and law enforcement types rounding people up on my tv screen. Most of the time I ignore those programs and throw on a little Emmylou Harris or some Rachmaninoff.

[ProgressiveFool]

59. Probably better than watching Fops on Cox

Otherwise known as the Prince Superbowl Half-time Show.

[omega minimo]

63. oh yeah that is such a great example

TrickyNameContainingDemOrProgressiveEtc.
Disabled profile
"FOP"!!!!!!!111111 :puke: Xcuse me WHO THE FUCK SAYS "FOP"?

[westerebus]

13. Thank god!

Politics, really?

[saltpoint]

14. I feel alone tonight on DU because I don't have an opinion one way

or the other on Anna Nicole.

I understand the components of the story, but so far I'm not drawn to any particular part of it. I'm sorry if anyone is in pain, whether they're famous or not, and I'm sorry when anyone loses a child.

From Joan Didion:

"As it happens, I am comfortable with those who live outside rather than in, those in whom the sense of dread is so acute that they turn to extreme and doomed commitments; I know something about dread myself, and appreciate the elaborate systems with which some people manage to fill the void, appreciate all the opiates of the people, whether they are as accessible as alcohol and heroin and promiscuity or as hard to come by as faith in God or History.”

--Joan Didion, Slouching Towards Bethlehem

[omega minimo]

15. when celebrities die

we reflect on ourselves as we reflect on them (whether "in 3's" or not)


great quote. thanks OC.:pals:


COPS on FOX :spray:

[saltpoint]

17. I may be guilty of some serious projections and perhaps should

confess them here.

Not regarding Ms. Smith or OJ Simpson, maybe, but regarding Robert F. Kennedy. Waiting in the airport lobby earlier this evening I read for the first time Donald Barthelme's "Robert Kennedy Saved From Drowning," a strange but eerily beautiful short story.

His death suggests to me a more appropriate grief, even if it is a political/social celebrity and not a pop idol, or whatever category I should use with Ms. Smith.

There's the white-knuckled, street-fighting Bobby, and there's the literature-reading, classical education Bobby, the Let's Work Together to Find Common Ground Bobby, and the 11 kids and blue and windy days Bobby, along the ocean shore. I like many of our Democrats these days but I miss Robert F. Kennedy horribly.

Barthelme's story at the airport tonight slapped me around til I was dizzy.

[omega minimo]

23. he was a real human being

beautiful post. i was thinking of his era of heroes in the OP. when they were real human beings. in (physical) contact with real Americans.

where would we find that short story? :hi:

[saltpoint]

25. The copy I have is an old one -- a Pocket Books paperback --

UNSPEAKABLE PRACTICES, UNNATURAL ACTS
by Donald Bartheleme
Quokka edition / published by Pocket Books
ISBN: 0-671-82306-X.

Barthelme's writing is surreal, so fasten your seatbelts.

Yes. Kennedy just plunged right into a crowd. He had the public servant role down by instinct -- didn't have to learn it from PR consultants.

[Hardrada]

24. And there was the Backstairs Negotiating Bobby

saving us from the Missiles of October!

[saltpoint]

26. Yes -- there were many others I don't even know about, I'm sure.

What seemed to ignite in him to make him so vivid was some combination of gut fighter and social champion.

[omega minimo]

27. that sounds like what the Founders had in mind

"What seemed to ignite in him to make him so vivid was some combination of gut fighter and social champion"

... a people of such a combination to deserve the government they got.

[saltpoint]

37. Yep. I don't think Madison, Franklin, and Jefferson had someone like

Tom Coburn or Bob Corker in mind.

[Bluebear]

18. "I'm sorry if anyone is in pain, whether they're famous or not"

You are not alone then, my friend. THAT is your opinion of Anna Nicole, whether you knew it or not. Because you are a progressive.

[saltpoint]

20. Hi to you, Bluebear. I have active opinions of Montgomery Clift and

Duke Ellington -- several famous people, in fact -- but Ms. Smith really never spoke to me. Any parent losing a child suffers, and the suffering seems unrelated to their income or star quotient.

Teddy Roosevelt comes to mind -- and the sons he and his wife lost in the War.

[Bluebear]

21. I still grieve for Minnie Riperton, Rob McCall (skater), Denny Doherty...

I do not expect anyone else to have the affection I had for those three, for instance, but I damn well would not expect anyone to tell me "Stop! ___ of troops died this month!" I can grieve for all. Which can be kind of depressing lol.

[saltpoint]

22. Minnie Ripperton I know of -- what a voice -- but sorry to say

I am unfamiliar with the other two. I try to keep up. But I'm a bit stuck in a limbo between the tail end of Dwight and Mamie and the Armstrong moonwalk. In the middle of that is the period where I really jumped into Democratic politics. RFK's assassination in Los Angeles marked my thinking more than any other single event, I think, at least politically.

I volunteer as a Democrat for many reasons but not least to participate in a party he believed in.

[Annces]

36. Minnie Ripperton came to one of my parent's parties

My father helped her in a discrimination case in Chicago.

[omega minimo]

50. that is too cool

:thumbsup: B-) did you talk to her?

[Annces]

65. No, I was a kid, but somehow it made an impression on me that she was there

I did get to hand deliver a letter to Mike Royko, who was my idol for a while. I didn't talk to him, but I stared at him until he got on the elevator, and he gave me a real funny look.

[BrklynLiberal]

58. Maya Rudolph..of SNL... is Minnie Ripperton's daughter.

I loved Minie Ripperton too.

[NuttyFluffers]

28. i liked the shadow of the demonic phallus. it made the "extra large one" super bowl fun.

but then, i'm strange. i represent myself by a flower. i'm gonna go hide now...
:hide:

[omega minimo]

29. Is that a Telecaster in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?

Prince still has his finger on the Signs o' the Times.

Hilarious. :spray:

[Jim Warren]

30. Omega shoots and...............scores!

(sigh) Ah, but dear omega, methinks it falls on mostly deaf ears.

[omega minimo]

31. ......deafened by distractions ..............? ................. !

:think:

we're all drowning in the mental clutter, trying to sort it out. thank you for checking in-- the OP is an acceptance, not even "resignation," yet a few early posters saw it as something else.... i was questioning the Distraction du Jour when it was Edwards' house, but every day it is something else, every minute, relentless. Then more threads show up (including a good idea for a "Shiny Object" forum) as if we can make this (or other distracted DUers) stop. And a thread about A Campaign Against "Norbit" For Bashing Overweight Women gets ginormous while a thread about A Campaign Against "Bushco" For Bashing American Democracy slides down the memory hole..............

And there we are.

Also, a friend pointed out that you never know what will come of a topic or how it may be relevant later--

And there is a bad rash of DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO WHAT TO THINK OR TO THINK AT ALL AND IF I'M NOT PERSONALLY AFFECTED OR OFFENDED THEN DON'T TELL ME I SHOULD CARE IF IT AFFECTS OR OFFENDS SOMEONE ELSE DAMMIT!!11

wonder how many of those drowning, deafened ears perked up when Randi finally said it on the air yesterday.


Today's heroes are the ones who sort out the truth from the mass media punditry poisoning-- with lucidity and/or satire
One of those heroic voices on the air today told the secret that none dare speak-- that our Congress is terrified of this administration

[Raffi Ella]

33. ...

"...that our Congress is terrified of this administration"


But why!?They've got the people behind them,the were voted in to do something,to change it.Is BushCo. blackmailing them?Has he got dirt on every single one of them?Their silence is frightening and confounding and horrible!I don't think there is any excuse for the non action being taken by Congress to stop what is happening.In fact I think it treasonous against The People,The Constitution,that nothing is being done to stop this.


Your OP saddens me but it also connects me in some way to everyone and makes me a little less irritated by the Shiny Object posts that are so prevalent lately.These are frightening times.

[omega minimo]

35. thank you. you got it. perfectly.

and yes, Randi was talking about blackmail, anthrax....... how the House (Dems) was all on the same page, but the Senate.................... :scared:

[Raffi Ella]

41. I'm sure a lot of people got it

but for whatever reason skipped replying.Your post is very meaningful and I thank you for it.

[omega minimo]

44. i love how you put it. thank you.

"Your OP saddens me but it also connects me in some way to everyone and makes me a little less irritated by the Shiny Object posts that are so prevalent lately.These are frightening times."


Frightening and maybe enlightening. Floating in a blinding sea of images, dreams, metaphors, literature, beyond base politics, propaganda, puerile pasttimes :toast:


"These are the times that test wo/men's souls....."

[Annces]

32. Maybe Anna Nicole is important in her own way

Being a symbol of sexual love, which is important as other matters. What would life be without beauty?

[omega minimo]

34. Agreed--- plz see #15

[Felinity]

38. Can we just agree

that it would be nice for shiny object threads to obvious from the subject line? That way we can be selective in our shiny object attraction.

I hit the back button immediately when someone deliberately misleads on the subject line to get more attention. The current thread is acceptable because it adds meaning to the commentary, but it does approach the line for me.

[omega minimo]

47. i walk the line

and appreciate your patience with this thread............. :hi:

As to your idea about "it would be nice for shiny object threads to obvious from the subject line..." It seems like they are and the first replies to this thread thought they knew this was another BS OP jumping onto the dogpile .........

The Edwards' house Titles bonked me in the eyeballs becuase of what else was going on and because some of the early OPs seemed to be master baiters dropping by for a visit and a laugh. It hurts (or used to) to see folks fall for what seems like obvious bait.

And that's what we're dealing with here. An atmosphere, a megamedia, an administration, a Republic party, a corporate culture and corrupted political process that is all about bait and spin, obvious and not-so. People have bullshit fatigue.

[Felinity]

68. Back at ya!

:hi:

[dapper]

39. I was offended by the Snickers commercial.

The one that showed two closet gays, pretending they were hetero/macho. Why must I see two gay guys kissing on TV?

I am offended!

I am also offended by the ED Drug commercials. I mean, those people look old and I find it disgusting to think about it. Keep your personal life personal please!

I am offended!

I am offended by kids shows with adult humor in them ie. "Sugar, Honey, Ice Tea".

I am offended!

I am offended that when I pick up a call at work, the other person is speaking like they have a mouth full of marbles... this is America Jack!

Oh yes, I am offended.

Okay... I'm not really offended, just joking around. However I am offended when other people resort to name calling because one persons opinion differs from another. And the gang mentality is really, really sad. You cannot gang up on someone, call them names and think they are going to change their mind. Far from it.

and to the person who called me a f&ck, you are now on Ignore. If you cannot speak to someone civilized, then I don't need to hear what you say in the future.

Dapper

[omega minimo]

52. Everything about the Superbowl is offensive.

:yoiks: :bounce: :wow: :bounce: :hide: :evilgrin:

[dapper]

64. I find the user of those Smilies offensive!!!!!

in fact, my reply is pretty offensive.

I'm going to stop typing because I don't want to offend anyone. In fact, the more I type, the more offensive I feel I am getting.

I'm going on the Defense.


Dapper

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

42. When You Say 'We' You Are Referring To YOU And Who Else?

Cause I know on DU, there's still tonsssssssss of other important topics being discussed.

So who were you referencing by 'we'? You and the general public who are not DU'ers? Or were you referencing you and DU itself, which would've been misguided due to the initial statement above?

Not sure who you were referring to.

[omega minimo]

61. No One Who Is Insane And Ignored

:hi:

[nashville_brook]

43. fnord

[kohodog]

46. Great summation of the MSM this week n/t

[JackRiddler]

48. HEY! I did "Prince's Penis"

And it was meant to point out the insanity of the very phenomenon you criticize (contrast to the insane reaction around Janet Jackson's breast).

[omega minimo]

51. Also impressive

the response to you "Norbit" thread...................... :eyes: :hi: which I used for comparison, not criticism (and for an "anecdotal" experiment...)

Mind posting a link to your Prince thread? He definitely goosed all the Good Ole Boys, din't he :yoiks: :evilgrin:

[JackRiddler]

54. Can you do me a favor?

I don't have a link to the Penis Known as the Artist's, it's dropped who knows how many screens down. Since you have a donator's star, you can search

Prince flashes three-foot penis "Super Bowl"

and dig it up. Thanks.

The Norbit thread, wow, certainly my most viewed ever. I figured it would be when I had the idea. Of course it was tweaking at a certain nameless gang of self-appointed torquemadas, but meant for a serious discussion of how given problems become public issues in the Electronic Age. It ended up as a Rohrschach test.

I do take "fat awareness" seriously, and it ties right into many a large subject: conformism, diet, health, how beauty is seen or constructed, the need for socially acceptable scapegoats or objects of revulsion, schoolyard politics, child-rearing, anorexia, men and women... our way of life. I think it's essential that we can discuss all of these topics openly, thoughtfully and without all the dense-minded misreadings and imputations of motive on an Internet board, of all places.

One thing I won't touch is the uses to which fear of pedophilia and "missing children" has been manipulated in constructing the police state. That could set off a tombstoning festival.

[omega minimo]

56. "tweaking at a certain nameless gang of self-appointed torquemadas"

i don't know what that means but it is sheer poetry :hug:

"but meant for a serious discussion of how given problems become public issues in the Electronic Age. It ended up as a Rohrschach test. "

And that's what we're talking about here.

What caught me eye about your ginormous "Norbit" thread, was the word "campaign."

My copycat thread died a thousand deaths.

No way would folks snap out the "Rohrshach" mentality and empower themselves to CAMPAIGN against Whatever. "Norbit" fine. Opinions galore. "Bushco" notsomuch. Crickets echoing.......................

General strike? Corporate boycott? Campaign for impeachment or mere accountability?

:boring:

[JackRiddler]

57. It's the wonder of democracy

Elect a representative, they'll protect you from the regime.

We're in such a soup of distraction and atomization, I don't know what is possible. To think on the workers movements of the early 20th, the fighting spirits who didn't let the rich define the meaning of their riots, the enormous and wild protests against the Vietnam war (which may not have even been numerically superior to today's but had impact), even the strike wave of the 1970s... You can call a general strike all you like, this is a highly fragmented time. There's an irony that the resistance nodes have never been better networked or informed, thanks to the amazing invention by the Pentagon's research arm DARPA, and yet this same invention turns into the biggest distraction.

Is it any wonder that so many people hoped some revelation about 9/11 would be the spark for a general uprising?

[omega minimo]

60. wut?

Excuse me, what?

"Elect a representative, they'll protect you from the regime."

Is that a "thing"? I'm outta that loop. Where the :wtf: is that coming from?

[mondo joe]

49. Spoken like every snotty kid who can't convince others to play their way.

If you can't get others to play with you, insult them. :eyes:

[blitzen]

53. Don't forget Nancy Grace's words to Bobby Trendy:

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, Mr. Trendy."

[LoZoccolo]

67. The only reference I don't catch is "restless leg syndrome".

I know what it is, but I think I missed when it was a big deal here.

[Error]

69. its when you get up in the middle of the night

to shake your leg because it feels tingly. But don't worry because they have a new pill for it that only causes headaches, nausea, occasional liver damage, drowsiness, cold sweats, hot sweats, fingernail sensitivity, pelvic discomfort - and don't operate motor vehicles whole on it.

[LoZoccolo]

70. Sure, I guess I don't remember when it became a big topic on DU...

...like the Edwards' house or the Snickers bar.

[Lilith Velkor]

71. Great poem

You could write weekly verses about crap like this, it'd be fun.

[marions ghost]

72. maybe

we* need this media distraction to cope right now.

Simultaneously :rofl: and :cry: at your post omega.

*I take your "we" to mean we collectively, as a society.

The truth CAN be too hard to swallow. It's really ugly out there. Not everybody is tough. The media gives people what they crave. And we crave it because we have been driven insane by what seems to be really happening.

Heroic voices are breaking through. But only some will be tough enough to face the full implications of what they are saying.

I'm not worried. The truth-tellers will have their day.

[KamaAina]

73. I hear she'd just gotten back from the Olive Garden

:spank:

[tom_paine]

74. So very well said!