Almost a year ago, I started this blog, planning to use it as an outlet for my frequent socio-political rants and, maybe, help influence the outcome of the 2004 election. I did just that, pouring out quite a few large pieces of commentary on political things big and small. My personal journal just wasn't a place for that anymore, I'd lost numerous friends over the election as it was and my remaining friends really didn't care to hear me chatter on for three pages about Memogate.
I hate writing things if I know no one will read them, so that led me here. This worked for quite awhile, but by the time Dubya found victory, I was fried. Burned out. Cooked. Just completely spent, physically, mentally, and emotionally. All those hours spent on the intellectual battlefield here and elsewhere just took a toll on me, and it was a high one.
Before and during this period, I was also writing for a major Internet entertainment site. Once the election was over, I became very busy there as I covered video games and, well, the fourth quarter of the year is zero hour for video game releases. Needing to heal and rest after the lengthy election battle and focus on my part-time journalism gig, I abandoned this blog, supposedly just until things cleared a bit.
That turned out to be a long time, as you can see.
I lost my voice. Many things happened in that time, and continue to happen, that changed who I was as a person and a writer. They're the kind of changes that don't have much of an effect on my outward personality, but the voice that tells me every writer what to put down on the page is very susceptible to those elements. The final effect was that I just wasn't interested in simple political rants anymore, commenting on public affairs in a sarcastic way. This left me without anything to say here. As you can see in my original introductory post, this was a pretty small frame I built for myself, a cramped box with little room for stretching.
That has to change if I'm to continue here, and I am. I'm back, this blog will return to relatively frequent action. I've found my voice again, changed though it is.
So what's new? Don't expect quite so much political ranting. At least, not the standard stuff I did before. In the last couple of months I've embraced the wild, bizarre side of the writer inside me, and I've decided I like him quite a bit. Expect to see him show up a lot more often. You'll either get into it or you'll think I've gone a bit odd and delete the bookmark to the site. Either way, I'm his hostage at this point. I'm a writer. I HAVE to write. It's not an option, it just has to happen. This stuff either comes out on the page or it finds it's own escape route, and that frequently involves a high-caliber handgun.
Keep checking back. More often than not, you'll be rewarded. If I can sort it out, I'll set up an RSS feed for you to add so know when I've updated over here. If you enjoy it, keep coming back and maybe leave a comment or drop an e-mail. If you don't enjoy it, just remember that it's free and all you're paying is time you'd otherwise be spending reading the rantings of some other semi-demented netizen.
As long as I'm enjoying what I'm writing, I'm going to keep doing it. Maybe this can be a place where people will actually read what I write and enjoy it. That's all I want, no loftier goals in mind at all. If you enjoy what I put in here, recommend it to a friend. That's all I ask.
3 comments:
Congratulations! You are well on the way to being a fascist state:-
Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each.
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays. Another way of describing this characteristic might be the exaltation of the “state” as the highest value (and ultimately only value) of the nation.
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial, ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.
5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.
6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes the government directly controls the (sic) media, but in other cases, government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives indirectly control the media. Censorship, especially in wartime, is very common.
7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
8. Religion and Government are intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.
9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
10. Labor Power is Suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police is given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associate who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.
14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
Mark:
Congratulations! You're well on your way to being a useless liberal troll! I stopped being amused by this pathetic attempt at socio-political analysis the first 400 times a troll like you foisted it upon me.
You -really- need to do better. Try thinking for yourself. As a libtard, I know it's hard, but if you work at it you -might- just form your own independent opinion on something within a year or two!
I just stumbled onto your blog, and I felt the same way you did aftter the election. I was completely filled with Joy when W. won and then every ounce of energy evaporated from my soul. So tired from trying to get others to see the truth about Kerry and the Dems. Well, I am glad to hear you have a voice now, because I am still finding it difficult to get back into the groove. Anyway, I have bookmarked your blog and look forward to reading your writings. TTFN.
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