[Rhodes22-list] Politics: joke and the wind surffer

[Steve]

Dammmmmmmmmm, Michael; have you been drinking :-)
Steve


--- Michael Meltzer <mjm at michaelmeltzer.com> wrote:

> I wanted to respond to Stephen Staum earlier, but I
> was so busy, I simply did not have the time.
> Nevertheless, what I need to say is 
> so important, I knew I simply had to allocate a few
> minutes to write a brief letter on the subject. One
> of my objectives is to 
> protect the interests of the general public against
> the greed and unreason of what I call malicious
> apostates. He yields to the 
> mammalian desire to assert individuality by
> attracting attention. Unfortunately, for Staum,
> "attract attention" usually implies 
> "subject human beings to indignities". Think about
> how easy it's become for shallow, gormless Stephen
> Staum clones to bad-mouth 
> worthy causes. Do you really think that he can
> assuage the hungers of his cat's-paws with servings
> of fresh scapegoats and get away 
> with it, as Staum claims? Wake up! The purpose of
> this letter is far greater than to prove to you how
> acrimonious and slaphappy 
> Staum has become. The purpose of this letter is to
> get you to start thinking for yourself, to start
> thinking about how each rung on 
> the ladder of separatism is a crisis of some kind.
> Each crisis supplies an excuse for him to condition
> the public -- or, more 
> precisely, brainwash the public -- into believing
> that his activities are on the up-and-up. That is
> the standard process by which 
> abysmal fogeys create anomie.
> 
> He says it is within his legal right to paint people
> of different races and cultures as lewd alien forces
> undermining the coherent 
> national will. Whether or not he indeed has such a
> right, there is another side to the issue, so to
> speak. If Staum wants to 
> complain, he should have an argument. He shouldn't
> just throw out the word "anthropomorphical", for
> example, and expect us to be 
> scared. He will damage the debate about this issue,
> because we will have to spend lots of time
> correcting misunderstandings that are 
> directly attributable to his publications. While
> improvident quacks claim to defend traditional
> values, they actually peddle the 
> snake oil of irritating neocolonialism. If you were
> to tell Staum that there is considerable evidence to
> show that he is serious 
> about wanting to acquire public acceptance of his
> paltry insinuations, he'd just pull his security
> blanket a little tighter around 
> himself and refuse to come out and deal with the
> real world.
> 
> His oleaginous editorials leave the current power
> structure untouched while simultaneously killing
> countless children through 
> starvation and disease. Are these children Staum's
> enemies? This isn't such an easy question to answer,
> but let me take a stab at 
> it: I want to give you some background information
> about Staum. But first, let me pose an abstract
> question. Where is Staum's 
> integrity? To rephrase that question, what exactly
> is Staum's point? A complete answer to that question
> would take more space than I 
> can afford, so I'll have to give you a simplified
> answer. For starters, Staum is too odious to read
> the writing on the wall. This 
> writing warns that several things he has said have
> brought me to the boiling point. The statement of
> his that made the strongest 
> impression on me, however, was something to the
> effect of how the best way to make a point is with
> foaming-at-the-mouth rhetoric and 
> letters filled primarily with exclamation points.
> The next time someone says that self-centered,
> myopic vagrants are more deserving 
> of honor than our nation's war heroes, look that
> person right in the eye and reply, "The Stephen
> Staum Foundation's latest report on 
> catty obscurantism is filled with fabrications,
> half-truths, innuendo, and guilt by association."
> His apple-polishers consider his 
> claims a breath of fresh air. I, however, find them
> more like the fetid odor of metagrobolism. Quite
> simply, one does not have to 
> impose obtuse new restrictions on society just to
> satisfy some sort of wretched drive for power in
> order to tell him where he can 
> stick it. It is a cruel person who believes
> otherwise. Now for some parting advice: Look at the
> facts. Analyze the arguments. Think 
> about the motives of the people who are telling you
> that children should belong to the state. And have
> confidence in yourself. 
> Remember, I don't expect everyone to agree with me.
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Stephen Staum" <staum at earthlink.net>
> To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list"
> <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2004 11:27 AM
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Politics: joke and the
> wind surffer
> 
> 
> > What a nasty thing to do to someone.  Now this
> poor individual who needs and
> > probably cannot afford new tires will have to blow
> the money on senseless
> > tickets instead.  It figures that you are a Bush
> fan.  My daughter is in
> > middle school and judging how nasty young teenage
> girls can be you would fit
> > right in.  At least they have youth and ignorance
> as an excuse.  What is
> > yours?  Why don't you find some productive
> volunteer work to do with your
> > time or just go sailing.  I am sure that you will
> find this more personally
> > satisfying.  SS
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Michael Meltzer" <mjm at michaelmeltzer.com>
> > To: <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> > Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 11:17 PM
> > Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Politics: joke and the
> wind surffer
> >
> >
> >> WORKING PEOPLE FREQUENTLY ASK RETIRED PEOPLE WHAT
> THEY DO TO MAKE THEIR
> > DAYS
> >> INTERESTING. WELL, LET ME GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE:
> >>
> >> I WENT TO THE STORE THE OTHER DAY. I WAS ONLY IN
> THERE FOR ABOUT 5
> > MINUTES.
> >>
> >> WHEN I CAME OUT THERE WAS A CITY COP WRITING OUT
> A PARKING TICKET.
> >>
> >>
> >> did any one see the new Kerry windsurfing ad, now
> that's funny, and I
> > suspect effective on many levels, some on the bush
> side has some "talent" at
> > this :-)
> >>
> >> and a new jokes :-)
> >>
> >> I WENT UP TO HIM AND SAID, "COME ON, BUDDY, HOW
> ABOUT GIVING A SENIOR A
> >> BREAK?"
> >>
> >> HE IGNORED ME AND CONTINUED WRITING THE TICKET.
> >>
> >> I CALLED HIM A NAME. HE GLARED AT ME AND STARTED
> WRITING ANOTHER TICKET
> > FOR
> >> HAVING WORN TIRES.
> >>
> >> SO I CALLED HIM A WORSE NAME. HE FINISHED THE
> SECOND TICKET AND PUT IT ON
> >> THE WINDSHIELD WITH THE FIRST. THEN HE STARTED
> WRITING A THIRD TICKET.
> >>
> >> THIS WENT ON FOR ABOUT 20 MINUTES. THE MORE I
> ABUSED HIM THE MORE TICKETS
> > HE
> >> WROTE.
> >>
> >> I DIDN'T CARE. MY CAR WAS PARKED AROUND THE
> CORNER AND THIS ONE HAD A
> > BUMPER
> >> STICKER ON IT THAT SAID "ELECT KERRY - EDWARDS".
> >>
> >> I TRY TO HAVE A LITTLE FUN EACH DAY NOW THAT I'M
> RETIRED. IT'S IMPORTANT
> > AT
> >> OUR AGE.
> >>
> >>  - from Carol Bagshaw
> >>
> __________________________________________________
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> >>
> >
> >
> > __________________________________________________
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> > 
> 
> __________________________________________________
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> 



		
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