Arkansas Blog

I'm sure their right-wing propaganda films will whip up a lot of enthusiasm and fill many of them with half-truths that they'll repeat here ad nauseam.

But they already have a huge talk-radio world to keep them whipped up, a much larger audience than any liberal counterpart. I'd say films like "Bowling for Columbine" and "An Inconvenient Truth" will continue to do better at the box office.

Actually it was Little Rock -- Market Street -- that got the Hubbards excited. Martin wrote about the Hubbards and their conservative film festival in the DG a couple of years ago,

Though I once knew a conservative in Bentonville (quite a racist, in fact) who made films for a hobby and was pretty good at it, this is simply one of those things that liberals have more talent for. Of course, in the 21st Century they're also the only ones with a non-repugnant message.

The liberals are the "bleeding heart artists" and the conservatives are the business-authoritarians. It's been that way for centuries. It's a shame that it appears the people in the middle are just now figuring out the "authoritarian" part of that equation after 25 years of rising conservatism.

As is typical of these right wing (supposedly Christian) fundamentalists, like their Muslim counterparts, they have a theology of domination. Instead of staying in their churchs and closed communities, they seek to overtake and overrun everything with their beliefs. I attend a very progressive church, but there are some people in the congregation that are absolutly obsessed with gay marriage, ordainment, etc. Instead of going and becoming a Baptist or some other right-wing crackpot theology, they insist on sticking around and trying to conform everyone to their beliefs.

This is no different, as these conservative "documentary" filmmakers are really in the propoganda business. They aren't interested in documenting anything, just spewing their right-wing rhetoric so they can dominate yet another aspect of this world and drown out everyone else.

One thing's for sure: they won't have any trouble raising money for their films. I'm surprised somebody didn't years ago tap the deep Republican pockets for this.

Hitler had lots of propaganda film makers. Oops. Not supposed to mention the H name. Gets the right really bent out of shape to be compared with him. But still, I wonder why Hitler keeps popping into my mind when I think of Cheney and Rummy and their underlings.

All the money in the world won't help em if they can't scrounge up (or buy) some artistic talent. Conservatives have their talents. But for the most part creativity, humor and open-thinking aren't among them.

This isn't the first time 'conservatives' have tried to create alternatives to movies like Fahrenheit 9/11. That most everyone, liberal or conservative, knows of Moore's 9/11 but can't remember the name of the documentary created as a conservative counter says a lot about the prospects for more forced conservative 'art.'

If money can't buy it or it can't be produced by a third-world sweat shop, conservatives are going to have a hard time getting their hands on it. But hey, they've always got that great piece of fiction called FOX news.

"But what we noticed was a definite lack at the center-right of things."

Looking at what American's have shaped their elected offices into tells me there's no lack of center-right things.

Conservatives have their talents. But for the most part creativity, humor and open-thinking aren't among them.
Posted by: zelda

That's right. Mel Gibson and Dennis Miller come to mind, but that's about it.

I hope you're right about money not making much difference. It usually makes a huge difference, and Republicans have lots of it.

The film makers will have no money worries for a few years. But if the films don't amount to much, the money may start to dry up. Time will tell.

First a person has got to decide whether or not they have a fundamentalist mentality and whether or not they want to be associated with or donate their hard earned dollars towards yet another disingenuous scam.

Here's "Top Ten Signs To Tell If You Are a Fundie or not" !

10 - You vigorously deny the existence of thousands of gods claimed by other religions, but feel outraged when someone denies the existence of your god.

9 - You feel insulted and "dehumanized" when scientists say that people evolved from lesser life forms, but you have no problem with the Biblical claim that we were created from dirt.

8 - You laugh at polytheist's, but you have no problem believing in a Trinity god.

7 - Your face turns purple when you hear of the "atrocities" attributed to Allah, but you don't even flinch when hearing about how God/Jehovah slaughtered all the babies of Egypt in "Exodus" and ordered the elimination of entire ethnic groups in "Joshua" -- including women, children, and trees

6 - You laugh at Hindu beliefs that deify humans, and Greek claims about gods sleeping with women, but you have no problem believing that the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary, who then gave birth to a man-god who got killed, came back to life and then ascended into the sky.

5 - You are willing to spend your life looking for little loop-holes in the scientifically established age of the Earth (4.55 billion years), but you find nothing wrong with believing dates recorded by pre-historic tribesmen sitting in their tents and guessing that the Earth is a couple of generations old.

4 - You believe that the entire population of this planet with the exception of those who share your beliefs -- though excluding those in all rival sects -- will spend Eternity in an infinite Hell of Suffering. And yet you consider your religion the most "tolerant" and "loving".

3 - While modern science, history, geology, biology, and physics have failed to convince you otherwise, some idiot rolling around on the floor speaking in "tongues" may be all the evidence you need to prove Christianity.

2 - You define 0.01% as a "high success rate" when it comes to answered prayers. You consider that to be evidence that prayer works. And you think that the remaining 99.99% FAILURE was simply the will of God.

1 - You actually know a lot less than many Atheists and Agnostics do about the Bible, Christianity, and church history -- but still call yourself a Christian.

Perhaps the Murdoch/McMellon-Scaife crowd will get excited enough to fork over the $$$$$$ to use Ailes' craft and wyle to make a documentary film about Karl Rove's many talents in governing this country, especially in foreign relations. That would be a dandy production. Mel could be the star and Will could be the puppet.

" . . . a series of six documentaries that Mr. Hubbard wanted to produce, on various subjects, including the growth of government and whether it is 'potentially a threat to our freedom.'"

Unless I'm missing something vital or simply reaching incorrect conclusions, Hubbard's aim as noted above seems contraindicative.
Is the national government we now "enjoy" not definitely right of center? Doesn't a right of center government generally espouse limiting the growth of government, even argue that its reach needs to be trimmed?
Yet the current administration seems to find it more and more necessary to intrude into our private lives by attempting to monitor our calls, our reading habits, our computer use and who knows what else, all in the name of national security.
My conclusion: such intrusions are absolutely "a threat to our freedom."
So is Mr. Hubbard going to say there is no such threat? Is he going to say that the Bush administration policies are not indicative of a growth of government? Perhaps the current administration is not far enough right?
I'm puzzled.

Well, Doigotta, Mr. Hubbard is still under the illusion that Republicans of today are the Republicans of old, the myth that these neo-cons believe in small government, no deficit spending, lowering of the National Debt, and not interfering in the affairs of the states nor in the affairs of foreign nations.I'll bet too he thinks children can't pray in the public schools.

You libtards better wake up if you are serious about the preservation of freedom. When economic freedom is eroded, as most of you advocate, all other freedoms are at risk. This is an historic fact but obscured by those who are selectively ignorant of the past.

Most libtards just rant about the non-utopian world we live in and prescribe wealth redistribution as the way to nirvana. If you blame rather than take responsiblity then you get what you deserve.

The mean, cramped sentiments on this blog illustrate, eloquently, why Liberal Democrats don't have a prayer, if my fellow bloggers will pardon me, of winning national elections. We have become the embittered meanies we accuse, rightly in many instances, our conservative brothers and sisters of being. How sad.

PS I voted for Gore and Kerry.

The mean, cramped sentiments on this blog illustrate, eloquently, why Liberal Democrats don't have a prayer...We have become the embittered meanies we accuse, rightly in many instances, our conservative brothers and sisters of being.

Right. The voters will turn out for us in droves if we only speak of love and flowers and puppy dogs.

Being considered tough guys who are stronger on national security never helped the Republicans a bit, did it?

Every time they talk tough Republicans lose another election, right?

When economic freedom is eroded, as most of you advocate, all other freedoms are at risk. This is an historic fact...
Posted by: O' Repent you libtards

OK, the floor is yours. Please elaborate on the above. I honestly don't know what you're talking about (so I'll take a guess).

If you're talking about communist states also taking away other freedoms, I'll agree. Taking away freedoms is the only way you can get people to go to work if they don't have hope of rewards, with more rewards for more work.

Communism was a terrible idea that didn't work because it ignores human nature to think people will willingly work and give most of the fruits of their labor to those who don't work as hard as they do. If working harder doesn't get you ahead, why bother?

But just as communism is an extreme that won't work, so too a laissez faire economic system with no restraints won't work. Extremism, at either end of the spectrum, never works. The economic system must have controls, else the powerful just become more and more powerful until a few people, like J.D. Rockefeller, eventually end up running everything.

One of the economic controls required is redistribution of wealth. But I only advocate that for really huge estates, like the Waltons and the Gates. One or two generations is long enough for one family to sit on, and keep accumulating, that much of the nation's wealth, and returning some of it to society doesn't at all reduce incentive to work for 99.99% of the population.

...PS I voted for Gore and Kerry.

Yeah, right.

Remember the days when you watched and movie and it was great, ok, or it sucked? Now we are constantly looking for the real agenda behind everything and it's sure made life a tedious, unenjoyable experience.

I think I've seen every Michael Moore movie ever made. Roger and Me forecast what TV would be on down the road. The American audience loves to see a little guy chase down and pester a big guy. Been in our blood since the beginning of time. Think about David and Goliath.

Unfortunately Moore's movies point out very sad truths about modern life. The rightwing nuts hate his movies, but they can't seem to dispute the facts contained in his movies. How is that Iraq War going for you Republicans? Our military has dumbed down the entrance requirements in order to get new warm bodies to the point that my dog could qualify for that signing bonus.

When American parents quit giving up their kids for this war, Bush will have to tear down his new southern fence and use illegal aliens to fight his war for oil.

But I digress. These Bush conservatives are wired wrong. They constantly feel like the underdog, constantly feel under attack, even while laying on the deck of a cruise ship. Their brains tell them the other side IS the devil and is winning and time is running out. So guys like Hubbard wants to fight fire with fire and win back the America they already own and control. They're just wired wrong.

I grew up being fed Christian movies like the Cross and the Switchblade. Didn't hurt me any. But those movies saw the devil as the devil. The war wasn't with a middle man, like a Democrat or a gay person, it was with the actual devil himself. Those movies, as poorly made as they were, put a face on the devil, made the devil seem real, made me want to get up and fight the old devil every day.

Funny thing is, as I remember, the bad guys in those movies were never white middle class people like me. They were dark and foreign and evil down to their toenails. And now the same bunch of devil fighting film makers see the devil in all things. Except the White House of course.

If you think about it, it's kinda natural for them. They worship a man that can't be seen, but is supposedly everywhere. They're mission is to fight a man that can't be seen, but is supposedly everywhere.....now they're believing in a President whose intelligence, goodness, and abilities can't be seen. Lordy.

After all these years of phantoms, the rightwing nuts want an enemy they can see. And it is us. And there comes the rub. According to their side, I hate America, I don't want to work, just live off rich people's money I tax away from them. I want man sex, child sex, animal sex. I hate our troops. I want Mexicans to steal all our jobs. I love Osama and Sadam. I like it when churches burn. I'm a member of NAMBLA. I want terrorists to take over America. I'd stab Jesus if I got the chance. And on and on and on. Total rubbish!

These folks are crazy. They're just wired up wrong and I honestly don't know what to do with them. But I know if we're ever going to have a chance, we have to understand them first.

"The mean, cramped, sentiments on this blog..."
Posted by: Liberal Democrat | 11:08 AM

HELLO--Right-Wing-Nuts-AnonXP--~!

Oh Yeah,
Why should we waist our beautiful minds on such thoughts?

We are all One big happy GOP family, United like 1984, Big Brother, Animal Farm, The Thought Police. Don't worry be happy, hold hands and group hugs for everyone.

There is no where else to post this, but Arkansas Business Week has just reported the death of Lt. Gov. Win Rockefeller at about 10:38 this morning.

There is no where else to post this, but Arkansas Business Week has just reported the death of Lt. Gov. Win Rockefeller at about 10:38 this morning.

Wake up Warrick and post the sad news about Win Rockefeller. You must have been up really late last night. Here's the link to AR Business Week.

http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article.aspx?aID=94949.23325.107094

Yes, he died at 10:37 a.m., surrounded by his family. Rest in Peace, Mr. Rockefeller.

Look no further than the current administration. It's first veto this term will be to limit science (stem cell research). It wants to restrict free speech by supporting the Federal Election Commission's attempts to regulate 527's (90% Dem). There is no countervailing power to this concentration of power. Poitical power is a fixed pie with politicians fighting over it, while economic power is fluid and growing (the pie gets bigger with free enterprise, less prosperous when it"s burdened by redistribution). That is why politicians always want to control it.

To name just three and in their end, the Byzantine, Dutch and Roman empires all had parallel economic policies that restricted economic freedom. (I recommend reading "The Economic Decline of Empires" by Carlo Cipolla). Swelling of the bureaucracy, increased public expenditure vs. private investment are just two. When wealth is redistributed, capital is destroyed and capitalism has to have capital to succeed.

O' Repent you libtards | July 16, 2006 01:10 PM

And we have our next flavor of the week for AnonXP--!

Drum roll please O'Repent You libtards...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2006/07/14/cnusa14.xml
US 'could be going bankrupt'
By Edmund Conway, Economics Editor 
(Filed: 14/07/2006)

The United States is heading for bankruptcy, according to an extraordinary paper published by one of the key members of the country's central bank.

A ballooning budget deficit and a pensions and welfare timebomb could send the economic superpower into insolvency, according to research by Professor Laurence Kotlikoff for the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis, a leading constituent of the US Federal Reserve.

Prof Kotlikoff said that, by some measures, the US is already bankrupt. "To paraphrase the Oxford English Dictionary, is the United States at the end of its resources, exhausted, stripped bare, destitute, bereft, wanting in property, or wrecked in consequence of failure to pay its creditors," he asked.

According to his central analysis, "the US government is, indeed, bankrupt, insofar as it will be unable to pay its creditors, who, in this context, are current and future generations to whom it has explicitly or implicitly promised future net payments of various kinds''.

The budget deficit in the US is not massive. The Bush administration this week cut its forecasts for the fiscal shortfall this year by almost a third, saying it will come in at 2.3pc of gross domestic product. This is smaller than most European countries - including the UK - which have deficits north of 3pc of GDP.

Prof Kotlikoff, who teaches at Boston University, says: "The proper way to consider a country's solvency is to examine the lifetime fiscal burdens facing current and future generations. If these burdens exceed the resources of those generations, get close to doing so, or simply get so high as to preclude their full collection, the country's policy will be unsustainable and can constitute or lead to national bankruptcy.

"Does the United States fit this bill? No one knows for sure, but there are strong reasons to believe the United States may be going broke."

Experts have calculated that the country's long-term "fiscal gap" between all future government spending and all future receipts will widen immensely as the Baby Boomer generation retires, and as the amount the state will have to spend on healthcare and pensions soars. The total fiscal gap could be an almost incomprehensible $65.9 trillion, according to a study by Professors Gokhale and Smetters.

The figure is massive because President George W Bush has made major tax cuts in recent years, and because the bill for Medicare, which provides health insurance for the elderly, and Medicaid, which does likewise for the poor, will increase greatly due to demographics.

Prof Kotlikoff said: "This figure is more than five times US GDP and almost twice the size of national wealth. One way to wrap one's head around $65.9trillion is to ask what fiscal adjustments are needed to eliminate this red hole. The answers are terrifying. One solution is an immediate and permanent doubling of personal and corporate income taxes. Another is an immediate and permanent two-thirds cut in Social Security and Medicare benefits. A third alternative, were it feasible, would be to immediately and permanently cut all federal discretionary spending by 143pc."

The scenario has serious implications for the dollar. If investors lose confidence in the US's future, and suspect the country may at some point allow inflation to erode away its debts, they may reduce their holdings of US Treasury bonds.

Prof Kotlikoff said: "The United States has experienced high rates of inflation in the past and appears to be running the same type of fiscal policies that engendered hyperinflations in 20 countries over the past century."

Paul Ashworth, of Capital Economics, was more sanguine about the coming retirement of the Baby Boomer generation. "For a start, the expected deterioration in the Federal budget owes more to rising per capita spending on health care than to changing demographics," he said.

"This can be contained if the political will is there. Similarly, the expected increase in social security spending can be controlled by reducing the growth rate of benefits. Expecting a fix now is probably asking too much of short-sighted politicians who have no incentives to do so. But a fix, or at least a succession of patches, will come when the problem becomes more pressing."

Wow! That link is a keeper. Thanks.

I think those right wing Xtians should have their films, their communities, their developments some place nice - like a piece of land they can all migrate too and leave the rest of us good folks in peace.