The fable of the mountain and the mouse
"A mountain had gone into labour and was groaning terribly. Such rumours excited great expectations all over the country. In the end, however, the mountain gave birth to a mouse." Aesop
"The Americans who voted for Barack Obama as president were promised change they could count on, but it rather looks as if they may actually be asked to make do with a mildly refurbished Clinton Administration, with many of the same officials and nearly all of the same policies. The policies are drawn from the same centrist Democratic Party sources as those of Bill Clinton, and Obama's admirers might even find themselves with Hillary Rodham Clinton as Secretary of State -- which makes no sense whatever. Are there no significant differences of view on war and peace between the two of them? Why did the American (and international) public have inflicted upon it a year and a half of Democratic party primaries in addition to the national election contest if the Democratic race could have been settled by the flip of a coin between people who believed in the same policies and thought the same thoughts?" William Pfaff
You'd think I'd be happy to have all my past cynicism proved right... and so quickly, but I'm not... maybe if I lived on another planet, or if I were a future Chinese historian lounging in my comfortable study in Beijing a hundred years from now, chuckling as I read about the absurdity of America's slow motion drop into inanity, I would, but I'm not, so I wont.
People are talking about another "Great Depression" and comparing our period to the terrible 1930s, but aside from the "clack-clack-CLACK" feeling of a roller coaster about to go over the top and down, there is not much similarity.
The first and biggest difference that strikes me is the terribly tacky, almost drugged quality of superficiality and shallowness in everything today. The 1930s were serious times with great writers, poets, painters, cinematographers, philosophers and politicians all at the top of their game. Ideas, utopias, infernos, evil and innocence fought using meaningful language and memorable symbols. Only Bush and Cheney briefly managed to recapture some of the sinister deadliness of those times. The ghastliness of Bush had some seriousness about it. The veils were torn off of many things and for the first time most Americans were forced to take a good, hard look at ourselves: to waken from childish dreams and see ourselves as other see us.
At least, if nothing else, George W. Bush caused thousands of people to read America's last great public intellectual, Noam Chomsky, people that never would have read him otherwise. Bush brought Chomsky's texts alive and gave flesh to his insights.
Insight and consciousness are precious things, building blocks.
The left is about ideas, about facing reality bravely with full unblinking consciousness. An opportunity for the left to rebuild itself arose in the unlikely shape of George W. Bush and now it is about to be wasted.
Now after lengthy labor pains, with much moaning and groaning, the mountain has given birth to a mouse.
What makes me sad and angry is that the consciousness that has been raised during the Bush years is going to be sanitized and neutered as we tell ourselves another soothing bedtime story about ourselves to ourselves.
http://seaton-newslinks.blogspot.com/
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Thanks for the insulting picture.
Much as I admire Pfaff, he makes a living by looking for things to worry about. It is absolutely the expected thing to work with existing expertise and political strength. Try changing things without Congress and the bureaucracy.
Nice to recycle your own comments. I've done that, but I make no claims to be a writer.
November 20, 2008 3:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Have to add that Pfaff is being silly when he asks why we had a bruising primary. One of the hardest decisions for primary voters is policies vs electability. Guess we proved that point, with a very dramatic win, which Pfaff ignores.
And I don't remember Obama running on change from Clinton policies, but GOP dominance. Please, William, I expect better.
From you I don't
November 20, 2008 3:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Recycling one's own material is very important.
One's blog is like a live, searchable notebook. Sometimes you are commenting on another post and that gives you an idea that you want to work up in conjunction with with other stuff you are thinking about or have already written. Anyway, you are accumulating and when you have to write an article, you have tons of material at your disposal. And then it is also important to write every day if you want to be a writer. You plod along and suddenly lightning strikes. As Picasso said, "let inspiration find me with the brush in my hand."
Summing up: the blog is not a "finished product", it is a "work in progress".
November 21, 2008 6:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
David.
When the world eventually pulls out of a time of turmoil, it's easy after-the-fact to look back & see the source, power and characteristics of the forces that were unleashed. Harder, ahead-of-time to see Lenin in exile & imagine what he will became. Harder to see the little artist with one ball, and foresee Germany rising as he rants. Yes, some see it beforehand. You fancy yourself such a seer. Warning of the "tanned" monster in our midst, warning us of our superficiality, offering the insight that... China is rising.
Oh bravo.
But let's set a tougher exam. The most important, most valuable seers also identify the positive forces on the rise. It's enjoyable to sit with friends, late at night, and spin fables of gloom & destruction. I agree. But ultimately, the world is as it is, with much good accomplished... and the forces of uplift not yet defeated. If you believe this time they will succumb, then please... return to your one-eyed sleep. Consider your message delivered. You've done your bit.
But as I've said before, I think you've become... Lazy. Which borders on the land of Smug. A place which, for us, the living, lies on the distant continent of Next-To-Useless.
Try harder, David. You embarrass yourself - not us - when you look for the new, for rising good, the hopeful sign... in the voices of the past. Like Chomsky. Brilliant analyst. But of next to no worth for those of us interested - in fact, engaged - in building something new. People read him to better understand monsters. Not for learning how to raise babies, to grow the new.
You're fighting the last war, David. Past wars are worth studying, learning from. But to be locked into their patterns locks in future failure. Where would I suggest you look? Well, I'm not sure you even recognize the Green flags flying, for starters. Not sure you recognize that the very thing you blog on, transmitting your late night Spanish dreams to us, the Internet, is likely to play any role, have any value, either as things fall apart... or rise up. Not sure you recognize that while Barack & Hilary may be mere symbols or signs to many, that the presence of blacks & women on such a stage not only changes who the players will be in the unfolding future, but how it unfolds, and what is destroyed, what created.
Spend some time looking for signs of the positive future. Not things you can mock, but things you respect. People, activities, tools, organizations. Do us a favor. Put up at least one post in ten that isn't full of the easy mockery of the comfortably old.
Otherwise, sleep well. We'll try not to disturb you.
November 20, 2008 3:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Quinn, you are engaged in the great American pastime... navel gazing.
Read this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7741049.stm
November 21, 2008 1:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
we'll see.
November 21, 2008 1:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
And THAT, my friend, was the comment of a buffoon.
Navel-gazing? A BBC link?
Sweet dreams dude.
November 21, 2008 2:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
Navel-gazing? Seriously David? I'm laughing out loud right now at just how funny that is.
In case you need a little reminder of the definition of navel-gazing:
Excessive introspection, self-absorption, or concentration on a single issue.
Hmm.
November 21, 2008 8:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hillary, that is the POTUS there is.
November 21, 2008 11:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
David - You have fallen into a trap and so has Pfaff of confusing change with people. Obama could not, to my thinking, be a very effective change agent if he and his administration are spending the first 100 days or so figuring out how things work. Bringing in staffer from a previous Democratic administration gives him the ability to focus on policy and not mechanics.
All this talk of former Clinton staffers make it sound like they are some secret cabal who are going to be a shadow government bringing back Bill's third term minus the sex. A little tin foil hat if you ask me.
Finally just couldn't resist beating that drum again, could you :)
November 20, 2008 3:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well and concisely put.
November 20, 2008 4:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, what I did was confuse the word "change" with the word change.
Like the man said, you could look it up, so I did. Result from Webster:
Obama is even cuter than Bill Clinton, who could rise no higher than, "that depends what you mean by 'is'."
November 21, 2008 1:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
Just as the water in a wave does not travel at the same rate as the wave itself, change can happen without the personnel being rotated. A group can change because you replace the members of the group, because the members in the group change themselves, or because of some combination of the two.
It's a rather simple concept, actually.
It's also quite telling that you're writing the obituary of the Obama Presidency before it's even began. I've never claimed the guy was perfect, and I'm sure he'll disappoint me from time to time, but I think I'll wait until he actually makes a mistake before I start playing the Cassandra.
November 21, 2008 6:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
Just so.
November 21, 2008 6:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
Right.
The big difference between the Clinton and Cheney administrations, policies aside, is that the Clinton administration was populated by competent managers, Cheney's by ideological fellow travelers and political hacks.
Mr. Seaton seems to think that Obama is incapable of establishing the policy and seeing to it that his administration officials carry through.
Of course, after Seaton's "tan" comment yesterday I'm wondering if he's just upset that a racially mixed person won.
November 20, 2008 6:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have said many times that the color of Obama's skin is what I like best about him. It is thrilling that a person of color occupies the White House. But what I have not really been able to ascertain is what is under that skin and after over 300 years of oppression it is kind of strange to see it used as a fashion statement.
November 21, 2008 1:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's difficult to imagine that you're completely unaware of the closeted racism in that statement. Could you possibly be? Or are you just indulging in your passion for "hitting a nerve"? While the color of Obama's skin may be vitally important to you, you must realize that you're a member of a dying generation and a worldview that is far, far past its freshness date. Your attitude is completely inconceivable to the vast majority of us--partly because we've worked very hard to make it so. We teach our kids and each other to find better ways to look at people, and in the teaching comes learning. Grow up, David. For your own sake.
November 21, 2008 11:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
Other commenters go on far too long. To sum it all up:
You're an ass.
And your smug self-satisfied "commentary" has no relevance to anything except your ego.
November 21, 2008 2:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree completely. Mistaking people for policy is a common failing of those who have fallen victim to American pop/junk culture and the personality cultism that follows. It is telling that David has chosen to portray our President-elect and our future Secretary of State as cartoon characters in Disneyland. It says nothing about them, but it speaks volumes about David.
November 21, 2008 10:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
What fatuous nonsense.
Obama is barely two weeks past his election, two months from assuming office, has yet to announce his administration team, and you've concluded his presidency a failure.
You are indeed silly.
November 20, 2008 4:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Tell us what you really think Chris! Cosign.
November 20, 2008 5:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama's entire campaign was built on thrilling people with the idea that something fundamental was going to change, was going to happen, new people, new ideas and now it all turns out to be warmed over Clinton, thus the "Mountain and the Mouse". This is indeed a bait and switch.
So the basic change seems to merely be the color of the President-Elect's skin, which is as if Jackie Robinson had integrated the major leagues, but then had never hit more than bloopers or stolen any bases.
November 21, 2008 1:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
Of course Jackie Robinson only re-integrated baseball, since during Reconstruction blacks and whites played baseball together. But we just forget about that so we can tell fairy tales about continuous progress.
"Change we can make believe in"
November 21, 2008 2:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
what?
November 21, 2008 2:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's one of the big mythologies of the way history class is taught in the USA.
African Americans played baseball with whites BEFORE Jackie Robinson, in the 1800s. Moses Fleetwood "Fleet" Walker is often cited as the first black major leaguer.
November 21, 2008 3:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks a lot Tiggers.
That's really interesting! It is information like that popping up that makes coming here worth the endless aggravation of all the toy poodles nipping at my ankles
November 21, 2008 11:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
Grrr. I bite Very Important Person.
November 21, 2008 1:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Tigger, I truely hope you read this comment! You are batting a 1000 in your comments and I think you are one of the best posters in our TPM world.
Anyway, you are spot on as usual. American History books don't give good coverage of the dreadful horror that followed Reconstruction.
Can I recommend on this topic:
Slavery By Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II Douglas A Blackmon, Doubleday [2008]
and there is an associated website:
www.slaverybyanothername.com
November 22, 2008 1:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
many people speculated jackie robinson would be a flop as a big leaguer. they were wrong. the parallel i see is you sound like one of those naysayers.
you've been banging the drum pretty hard and steadily that obama is an empty suit. you're not alone in that analysis, though i think you share pretty poor company. quite frankly, i'm not sure where you all get that idea. i'll keep reading. maybe i'll figure it out. it's at least sort of amusing.
November 21, 2008 2:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
The only problem is that it hasn't turned out yet. At least give the guy a couple months of his actual presidency before passing judgment.
See my comment above.
November 21, 2008 8:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
David, you casually list new ideas and new people in the same sentence as if they are somehow equivalent. Is that how you see the world? Because in that case, as a senior citizen, perhaps you should apply your own verdict to yourself and accept that you have nothing worthwhile to offer.
It's simply ridiculous to claim that if someone looks familiar to you, it means you know them and can judge them.
November 21, 2008 11:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
Perhaps part of the problem is that David never has any new ideas himself, so he assumes that holds true for others, as well. ;)
November 21, 2008 11:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
We tend to project our own failings and limitations onto others. Unless we're careful, of course. But it's not all that difficult to be careful.
November 21, 2008 11:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
To call Seaton "silly" is to falsely suggest he has substance.
November 21, 2008 2:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
As others have pointed out, unless you want an Obama Administration hamstrung by neophytes in Washington you are going to have to pick a lot Democrats who served in the Clinton Administration for top jobs.
A better place to look for change is in who gets Deputy and Assistant assignments. That's where most work will get done anyway.
November 20, 2008 7:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
That is what they meant by "no experience". If Obama had been say, governor of Illinois for two terms, and hadn't ended up in jail like governors of Illinois are apt to, then he would have a nucleus of a team that was his and his alone. As it is, he is forced to take on all the Clintonites who are going to run him like a toy train.
November 21, 2008 12:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
If Obama had been say, governor of Illinois for two terms...he would have a nucleus of a team that was his and his alone.
Jimmy Carter was governor of Georgia who took his own posse to Washington. It didn't work out that well.
The Clintons could be a problem but I don't see them 'running him like a toy train'. Obama has the support of some senior Democrats who were in Washington before the Clintons and who were quite happy to back him against the them in the primary. We probably won't know for a few years how much of their support was initially pro-Obama and how much anti-Clinton.
November 21, 2008 12:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
My contribution today is this one, most recently seen in "Charlie Wilson's War" a nice Zen story, in my opinion:
http://www.filination.com/blog/2008/06/18/well-see/
David, I agree with much of what you've said about the vapid state of many authors, artists, and musicians right now. Yet bear in mind similar things were said in the "roaring twenties" when clickety-clack, guess what was right around the corner. We're in a similar pickle now. If the leaves are on the ground and things are looking barren, it's because things must decay and die to grow again.
The insight and consciousness that has been raised must be brought into the physical world. If our inner intent has grown and evolved, so must our actions. And the coming recession may just test that, me, you, and everyone. We'll see.
November 20, 2008 11:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Back in the '60s, Beatles fans were forced to endure similar comments from out-of-touch old farts who bemoaned the demise of the "real" music of their day. It's a boring story that's played out generation after generation. Oh, for the golden days of Maceo Pinkard and George M. Cohan. They just don't write 'em like that anymore.
November 22, 2008 12:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
I>The first and biggest difference that strikes me is the terribly tacky, almost drugged quality of superficiality and shallowness in everything today. The 1930s were serious times with great writers, poets, painters, cinematographers, philosophers and politicians all at the top of their game. Ideas, utopias, infernos, evil and innocence fought using meaningful language and memorable symbols.
Requiem for a fogey.
There has always been wheat with the chaff;
elders lamenting contemporary vapidity;
those cowering in nostalgic fog,
everalways resentful of change.
You sit blinded by the setting sun;
ensnared within your own stasis;
blaming the present
for your own fainéant perceptions;
the sword which could sceptre your nobility;
driven up to the hilt
into the dark stone of arrogance.
Spare us the Fukyammering;
as within every end,
there arises a new beginning.
November 21, 2008 8:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm waiting for all the pain to set in - and the great literature that will inevitably emerge. It's a sad thing that great literature seems to spring from great suffering.
November 22, 2008 1:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm presently lost within Google Books. Early American History, specifically, Founders' collections of Writings. (Partial listing of Full Collection Volume links I've pulled, so far-Traversing Google Books search requires arcane search methods)
Although, Last night, I read:
November 22, 2008 1:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
They wouldn't have a private message feature, would they? I might have reason to join if they did! Just to message certain persons.... who may or may not use other handles...
November 22, 2008 1:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
If you're referring to the LibText forum; it's mine, so if you register using "TheraP", I'll enable Private Messaging, and email you too. The board is presently locked-down hard by default. It's getting member signups out of spammer hell right now, and I got tired of deleting a**l sex posts every day.
November 22, 2008 2:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
I kinda thought that was yours. And I will indeed sign up. I've missed our talks - and lost the links for those interesting sites of yours.
November 22, 2008 2:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have told you lately that you rock?
November 22, 2008 1:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
i try to avoid preponderate abstrusity here...
November 22, 2008 2:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'd rather you didn't. Avoid it, I mean. I've always liked working at understanding you. It makes me feel like I'm bettering myself, somehow....
When I (usually) find out that I actually agree with you, I feel good about agreeing with such an obviously bright person.
November 22, 2008 4:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Co-sign. What a creative mind!
November 22, 2008 5:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually I never lived the 1930. I am more or less contemporary of the Beatles. The 60s were ok, but artistically nothing like the 1930s. Today is especially dead. I don't think it is really the fault of the creators themselves. They don't operate in a vacuum and never have.
The problem is with the systems of distribution and packaging. If I were to rant a bit, I would say that the "optimization" by MBAs, who have no real commitment to anything they produce except balance sheet numbers, are at fault for today' cultural desert.
November 21, 2008 11:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
Please don't blame your curmudgeonly lack of curiosity on others. Five minutes spent surfing YouTube or exploring StumbleUpon recs should be enough to convince anyone that there are amazingly creative people working in the arts these days. The fact that you're unaware of what's going says nothing about what's going on, but it says alot about you. Start here. Follow the breadcrumb trail:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rrnTDDhVnw
Or here:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/138
November 21, 2008 12:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Check out The Fab Channel. I'm linking (2 per post limit sucks) to a specific concert by Corvus Corax, because for some reason the music moves me, but look around at all of their offerings. Outstanding contemporary music concerts are available for viewing. Also, Miro's Democracy Player offers some very interesting channels, but there is a great deal of chaff along with it.
November 21, 2008 9:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for the great links. I'm gonna download the Miro player right now and check it out.
November 22, 2008 12:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, it's pretty cool. Take it easy on the channel selections at first though, and watch your download folder if you start saving files.
For Windows, it's:
..\My Documents\My Videos\Miro\{ChannelFolder}
and often the filenames make no sense.
Do you have any video conversion software? If not, Any Video Converter has a free version that's decent.
November 22, 2008 1:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's so much easier when David disables comments on his posts because then you can just ignore him. He clearly doesn't post here because he believes anyone cares to hear his opinion. He comes here to start fights and piss people off. He comes here to post insulting images and ridiculous invective and to revel in the discord he creates. And then he accuses US of treating him in an uncivil manner.
November 21, 2008 11:55 AM | Reply | Permalink