July 14, 2012

"Be afraid. Be very afraid."

I ended the previous post with that old sci-fi movie tag line.
I think what is going on right now is an effort to create a mindset, and emotional orientation toward Romney. Business is an alien entity. It's scary and mystifying, and Romney is part of that. You can't understand it, so don't even try. [NYT columnist Gail] Collins is planting the seed of fear. You laugh now. You won't even feel it. But it will grow. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Please pay attention to that. It's what's happening right now, and it is an effort to emotionally manipulate people in a way Obamans are counting on. It's The Framing.

But what is the source of "Be afraid, be very afraid"? I was thinking "Alien." But the original "Alien" tagline was "In space no one can hear you scream."

"Be afraid, be very afraid" came from... Googling... the 1986 version of "The Fly." I love that movie, the one with Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis.



Speaking of tags, this blog has long had a tag for "insect politics" — based on the line from "The Fly" "Have you heard of insect politics? Neither have I."

Full text: "Have you heard of insect politics? Neither have I. Insects don't have politics.... they're very brutal. No compassion.... no compromise. We can't trust the insect. I'd like to become the first insect politician. I'd like to, but.... I'm an insect.... who dreamed he was a man, and loved it. But now the dream is over, and the insect is awake."

And speaking of Obama and "The Fly," remember Obama and the fly?



And speaking of dreams being over? Remember the dream?

62 comments:

edutcher said...

McCain framed himself and Choom's other opponents were eliminated so he could run unopposed.

This time, he's getting opposition and it seems nothing's working.

Ann Althouse said...

And speaking of dreams being over? Remember the dream?

Dreams are for people who are asleep.

This is a nightmare.

Fr Martin Fox said...

"Obama and the fly"...

Yep, that was when I liked him. (Didn't vote for him, didn't agree with him; but I liked him.)

That was before we all learned he'll happily do to the Catholic Church what he did to the fly.

Won't work; the Church will survive.

(And, actually, what he has in mind for the Church isn't annihilation but domestication: something like a Patriotic Church.)

Pete said...

Thanks to you and your vote for Obama, Althouse, we should be afraid. Very afraid.

Now would be a good time to admit you made a mistake voting for Obama.

chickelit said...

"Dreams are for people who are asleep."

But I only get Barack's stuff while I'm dreaming,
I only get my rocks off while I'm sleeping.


Rocks Off, The Strolling Bones, Exiled On Mainstreet America (2012)

exhelodrvr1 said...

There's a lot of very naive voters out there.

The Crack Emcee said...

I think what is going on right now is an effort to create a mindset, and emotional orientation toward Romney.

Oh, but you guys defending Romney aren't trying to do the same?

Hilarious,...

edutcher said...

Fr Martin Fox said...

Obama and the fly

Yep, that was when I liked him. (Didn't vote for him, didn't agree with him; but I liked him.)

That was before we all learned he'll happily do to the Catholic Church what he did to the fly.

Won't work; the Church will survive.

(And, actually, what he has in mind for the Church isn't annihilation but domestication: something like a Patriotic Church.)


(Godwin Alert) tried the same thing.

The Crack Emcee said...

Just one more time - I promise:

Mitt's candidacy was "inevitable," remember?

THAT'S creating "a mindset, and emotional orientation toward Romney," if you ask me,...

chickelit said...

Choom this joint, gonna save your soul,
Round and round and round we go.
Choom this joint, gonna get down low,
Start my starter, gonna stop the show.
Oh, yeah!

Mister President, Mister Immigration Man,
Let me in, sweetie, to your fair land.
I'm Tampa bound and Charlotte too,
Short Fat David is on the loose.
Dig that sound on the radio,
Then slip it right across into Buffalo.
Dick and Pat in ole D.C.,
Well they're gonna hold some shit for me.

Ying yang, you're my thing,
Oh, now, baby, won't you hear me sing.
Flip Flop, tit to drop,
Come on baby, won't you let Barack?

Oh, yeah! Oh, yeah!
From San Jose down to ol' L.A.,
Kiss me quick, baby, won'tcha make my day.
Down to New Orleans with the Dixie Dean,
'Cross to Dallas, Texas with the Butter Face Queen.

Choom this joint, gonna rip yours too,
Some brand new steps and some weight to lose.
Gonna roll this joint, gonna get down low,
Round and round and round we'll go.

Wham, Bham, Birmingham, Condi Rice don't give a damn.
Little Rock Bill and I'm fit to top.
Ah, let it B'rock.


"Choom This Joint," The Strolling Bones, Exiled On Main St. America (2012)

Chip Ahoy said...

Elmer Fudd originated that line, be afrayed be vehwee wehwee afrayed ... heheheheheh.

Unknown said...

Even if Romney had some iota of responsibility for Bain during that time, so what? Has Bain been convicted of something? Did Bain ruin the world or something?

David said...

The emotions rule, which is something the left generally gets better than the right. Reagan was able to tie an emotional appeal to his political one, which was why he was so very successful.

The Crack Emcee said...

PatCA,

Has Bain been convicted of something?

In this don't-pass-judgement culture, THAT'S what you're going on?

Ann just did a post railing on the idiocy of colon cleanses - those people haven't been convicted of anything, but would you elect them for president based on the notion they're "nice" people who make money from it?

Talk about naive,...

leslyn said...

What Crack said at 9:49 A.M.

David said...

Pete said...
Thanks to you and your vote for Obama, Althouse, we should be afraid. Very afraid.

Now would be a good time to admit you made a mistake voting for Obama.


Pete, are you going to admit to the mistake of the hair, glasses and overall aura in your profile photo? Damn, people in glass houses . . .

SomeoneHasToSayIt said...

AS Josh Kaufman put it so well in "The Personal MBA", business is not rocket science, and not scary. It is actually quite easy to understand at the 'principles' level.

1. Create something (anything) of value (to others)
2. Market it so they know it exists
3. Actually close sales
4. Actually, clearly , and continuously deliver the value you create in #1, and promise in #2.
5. Watch the "books" so you can continue to bring in enough money to make the effort worthwhile to all involved.

Bain and companies like it simply look for businesses in trouble in one or more of those areas, and fixes the specific problems. In rare cases, they simply can't be fixed, and this is OK - part of life.

Each of the 5 have a whole body of knowledge, also not complicated, that allow you to diagnose and fix typical problems.

And that's it. That's "business". Not scary. Not even hard - as long as you are objective and clear-headed. Agenda-less. Take reality as you find it.

The Crack Emcee said...

SomeoneHasToSayIt,

4. Actually, clearly , and continuously deliver the value you create in #1, and promise in #2.

Romney's supplement company operates under DSHEA - AKA the "sell whatever you like, just don't get caught" law - set up by fellow Mormon Orrin Hatch.

Does that qualify?

I guess you're willing to elect Rhonda Byrne as president, too, because she got away with "The Secret"...

William said...

Why do some insectosapiens become forces for good and others become demented killers. It is not just education and a proper upbringing. The Jeff Goldblum character was not a product of a broken home or bad schools, but, unlike Peter Parker, the insect portion of his soul became the dominant force of his personality. This is one of those mysteries that science cannot explain......I think it would be cool to see a movie with Spiderman vs The Fly. Climactic battle: Spiderman keeps tangling up the Fly in his threads. But here's the catch. Those same threads communicate a dark force to Peter Parker's soul, and he ends up eating the Fly and other selected bad guys. Are we ready for a cannabilistic super-hero. Or alternate ending: the coccoon that Peter Parker weaves around the Fly becomes a womb of goodness and causes him to be reborn as a creature of justice. The Fly becomes a superhero with the power to fly around and defecate gobs of disgusting goop on bad guys......I like the first ending. Movies about cannibals always do well, and, so far as I can remember, there has never yet been a movie about a character struggling with coprophilia.

Unknown said...

Crack, what has Bain done wrong? And I mean against the law or against decency.

If Obama can close GM dealerships and lay people off to save the company with MY MONEY, why can't Bain do that with money from investors who gave willingly?

bagoh20 said...

What exactly was that dream anyway? I never quite got what it was we were hoping for.

I know there was some amorphous idea that we should "fundamentally transform" the greatest nation that ever existed, but was there ever anything actually both realistic and desirable, or was just being dreamy good enough.

bagoh20 said...

Crack, if you had to pick one, would you rather have a Mormon or a Scientologist.

I'm thinking Romeny/Cruise would scare the Islamists back into their caves and turn the deficit into surplus in 10 days.

edutcher said...

Chip Ahoy said...

Elmer Fudd originated that line, be afrayed be vehwee wehwee afrayed ... heheheheheh.

It'th wabbit theathon!

Duck Season!

Wabbit theathon!

chickelit said...

Crack has become like a good little Sullivanist.

If not, his message is indistinguishable.

Pete said...

David,

No, because:

1.) My avatar is no mistake,

2.) Even if it were, you don't have to be afraid, and

3.) No matter what you think of my avatar, my avatar is not leading the country to ruin.

sakredkow said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ann Althouse said...

"Why do some insectosapiens become forces for good and others become demented killers. It is not just education and a proper upbringing. The Jeff Goldblum character was not a product of a broken home or bad schools, but, unlike Peter Parker, the insect portion of his soul became the dominant force of his personality. This is one of those mysteries that science cannot explain....."

Science might begin by noting that spiders are not insects. That's the key, apparently.

In the original movie "The Fly," the Fly's final tormenter is a spider. He's caught in a spiderweb, about to be slowly devoured, and he's all "Help me!"

Ann Althouse said...

Here's that "Help me!" scene.

sakredkow said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
chickelit said...

phx wrote: I suppose a lot of people who identify with groups or are into identity politics do that.

That's your money quote dude. It fits you to a T. The rest of us care about the general welfare, not the welfare of the few or a whiny special interest.

sakredkow said...

phx wrote: I suppose a lot of people who identify with groups or are into identity politics do that.

"That's your money quote dude. It fits you to a T. The rest of us care about the general welfare, not the welfare of the few or a whiny special interest."


Jesus, chickelit, you don't know anything about me. What groups do *I* identify with? Go ahead, do tell.

bagoh20 said...

phx, One of, if not the primary campaign message of Obama was that he would "fundamentally transform" America, in his words.

You voted for him, but you never listened to what he said, or promised?

You should vote for who you think will DO what you want, and not do what you don't want. Everything else is crap. I know people that I like, agree with, find attractive and think are nice people, but that has nothing to do with if I would chose them to do a particular job.

For that I want to know what they plan to do, and if they have the skill and temperament to do it. The best indicator of that is what they have done in the past.

If you learn about Obama's history, you find out that when given responsibilities he has always either failed or just acted as a place holder. His successes have always hinged on dishonesty, rule stretching, playing on race and avoiding taking responsibility.

It's not a smart hire, plain and simple.

bagoh20 said...

"Why do some insectosapiens become forces for good and others become demented killers."

The problem for BrundleFly was diet: donuts and shit. Nothing good can come from that.

Chip S. said...

What groups do *I* identify with?

Admittedly a wild guess: public employees?

sakredkow said...
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sakredkow said...
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Known Unknown said...

Enough with the fucking fly, lady.

bagoh20 said...

I think anyone who looks at it honestly has to conclude that the vast majority of this nation's problems in both number and magnitude are due in one way or another to public employees, their unions, their contracts and their power.

There simply should be a lot less of them.

I have nothing against them as individuals, and most are fine people, and who would turn down a retirement at 50 with 90% of your best years pay. Unfortunately, as groups they are incredibly greedy, selfish, overbearing, dishonest, and destructive. As groups they act like insects or more precisely parasites that are willing to kill their host to keep feeding.

I've always wondered why a parasite or a virus would evolve in a way where it so often kills it's host. That seems counter-Darwinian. You would think that if anything they would make them amorous and active to spread the themselves more effectively.

bagoh20 said...

"What's the beef?".

If you think the ACA is good policy, and our FP is smart, then Obama has turned out fine for you, but neither is anywhere near what he said he would do. Somehow, you must have been psychic, or understood his secret code where he says one thing and did the other, or maybe you knew he was a liar, and like that sort of thing. Either way, what matters is what he did. If you like that, then yes, you should vote for him again. Just don't listen to him, or he might talk you out of it.

sakredkow said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

"Those were my two big priorities (and I'd like to see a bipartisan effort to improve ACA now) "

7/14/12 11:58 AM

Sadly phx, Republicans would rather see the apocalypse.

Chip S. said...

Republicans would rather see the apocalypse.

Very insightful comment. Absolutely guaranteed to generate reasoned discourse.

sakredkow said...

ChipS one of the things we can each do for our side is to stick to the reasoned discourse.

If I violate that, call me on it anytime.

leslyn said...
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Chip S. said...

phx, I think you're almost always reasonable.

(None of us is always reasonable.)

leslyn said...

chickelit said,

The rest of us care about the general welfare, not the welfare of the few or a whiny special interest.


chickelit, I didn't know you are a liberal!

Anonymous said...

Chip, if your comment was directed at me, it's the unvarnished truth, how much bipartisanship have you seen from Republicans? All the filibusters, a clue.

Who said "My top priority is to see that Barcak Obama is a one term President" another clue.

sakredkow said...
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leslyn said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
sakredkow said...
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Chip S. said...

AllieOop, can you understand why it's nonsense to demand "bipartisanship" from one political party?

If you want to see bipartisanship, though, check out the final House vote that passed the PPACA:

220 "yes" votes, all Democrats

211 "no" votes, from Republicans and Democrats

It was the opposition to Obamacare that was bipartisan.

You may also recall that a Republican won the special Senate election in Massachusetts on one issue: his vote to uphold a Senate filibuster against the PPACA.

What was the Democratic response? To use "reconciliaton" to thwart the clear intent of the voters.

You want another example of stunning bipartisanship? How about a 99-0 vote in the Senate?

So Obama's latest budget proposal was opposed with a degree of bipartisanship usually only attained in votes declaring National Pickle Week.

Unknown said...

leslyn, perhaps that is true in your Mean Girl galaxy, but Bain built many companies and many jobs. GM was pared down by the government, not by Bain.

I have no problem with investors taking risks, but not governments with my money.

Anonymous said...

Interesting article on filibuster reform and who may be using it in the future as much as Republicans used it since 2010

Chip, I'm not saying that Democrats are innocent, but the evidence is there that Republicans have abused the filibuster the last two years.

And if Romney wins and Democrats do the same thing Republicans have done, should they be in the position to do so, then we are screwed. We need to have a functioning Congress.

Chip S. said...

If you want more bipartisanship in the Senate, then you should be happy about the filibuster.

Without it, all it would take to get any bill through the Senate is the barest of majorities. This means that bills would never have to be written in such a way as to garner any support at all from the minority party.

The threat of a filibuster requires that successful bills be acceptable to more than the slimmest possible majority. It thereby encourages bipartisanship.

BTW, counting the number of true filibusters isn't the same thing as counting the number of cloture votes. The latter can be brought to the Senate floor by the majority leader any time in order to limit debate. Let me cite a study by the Congressional Research Service on this point:

Cloture is the only means by which the Senate can vote to limit debate on a matter, and thereby overcome a possible filibuster. It would be erroneous, however, to assume that cases in which cloture is sought are the same as those in which a filibuster occurs. Cloture may be sought when no filibuster is taking place, and filibusters may occur without cloture being sought.

The Republicans say that Harry Reid has abused the cloture rule quite often to stifle legitimate debate.

chickelit said...

AllieOop said...
...the evidence is there that Republicans have abused the filibuster the last two years.

Filling the buster with "stuff" is wrong and deceptive--I'll give you that much. And harms men more than women so it's sexist to boot.

Palladian said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Palladian said...

That's all right
That's all right
That's all right

Sometimes you felt the trouble
Sometimes you felt down
Let Oba-ma relax your mind
Let Oba-ma relax your mind

Stand up and be counted, yeah
Can't get a witness
Sometimes you need somebody
If you have somebody to love
Sometimes you ain't got nobody
And you want somebody to love, all right

Then you don't want to walk and talk about Barack
Just want to see His face
You don't want to walk and talk about Barack
Just want to see His face

Just want to see His face
Just want to see His face
Just want to see His face
Just want to see His face

Brian Brown said...

AllieOop said...
Interesting article on filibuster reform and who may be using it in the future as much as Republicans used it since 2010


The Democrats filibustered judicial nominations, which had never happened before.

You were utterly silent on that.

LilyBart said...

"... (and I'd like to see a bipartisan effort to improve ACA now) "

Because you think Big Government Healthcare only needs tweaking? - That there's nothing fundamentally wrong with handing over our healthcare money / decisions to political types?

LilyBart said...
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n.n said...

Business is not alien by any means. The structure and oversight it lends to economic exchange is high level, but it reflects a fundamental aspect of human society. That most people are either incapable or unwilling to participate, other than as workers, does not change its fundamental value to humanity.

I think Collins is attempting to deceive her readers about the circumstances of reality. Presumably to garner their support for divesting themselves of their individual dignity.

If she had any integrity, she would explain that life is an exercise in risk management, and that while we are not equal, we do have equal rights, but not necessarily equal outcomes. We cannot accept a regressive equality effected through manipulation of perception.

leslyn said...

PatCA said,

leslyn, perhaps that is true in your Mean Girl galaxy

Mean girl. Have I become a Mean Girl?

If I have behaved that way to you, I apologize. I've removed the offensive comment.

Rusty said...

Why does that Obama poster remind me of the Serendoso Luminoso?



Clasical liberal,leslyn.