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The empty chair rehearses for its final world tour.

What's that deep groaning sound coming from the walls of the dam?

"Even an unreal economy reported on by an unreal media cheering on an unreal leader can only run for so long until reality punches through the illusion, the curtain falls, the magicians scramble off the stage with rabbits and doves tucked into their pants, and everyone wakes up to realize that the dream is over and we realize that we are entering a world where the stories no longer matter and history is about to begin."

Highly related:

As described by Glenn Reynolds in a classic 2002 essay, a preference cascade occurs when people trapped inside a manufactured consensus suddenly realize that many other people share their doubts. Preference falsification works by making doubters feel isolated and alone. In a totalitarian society, the dissenter fears that if he speaks up, his will be a lone voice, easily squashed by the enforcers of the regime. When dissenters realize they are not alone, and the true strength of their numbers becomes apparent, “invincible” regimes vanish with astonishing speed.

Indeed.

Incredible. The Empty Chair. Bowing. It's incredible what a simple metaphor can do.

It freed Americans from obeisance to a fictional King and enabled them to mock the factual reality of emptiness, of an Obama who was nothing but words.

Thanks to Clint Eastwood. And to the GOP who I think knew perfectly well what he was going to do on that stage. After all, they gave him the chair and the teleprompter to use as props.

EBD: The common element between the empty chair world tour and Daniel Greenfield's point about "reality punch[ing] through the illusion" is that we have a lot for which to thank Clint Eastwood's allegedly "bonkers" (to use Piers Morgan's term) presentation the other night.

I hope the empty chair metaphor doesn't spin out of control, however: now the empty chair can bow down to Arab potentates? I thought it was, you know, an empty chair -- as in, there's nothing in it when there's supposed to be; allowing it to bow down to Arab potentates is sort of imbuing it with Obama-esque-variant human qualities, isn't it?

I think we need to be careful: people might start to feel that we're picking on the chair, as opposed to the guy who's supposed to be in it, but isn't. The empty chair could get a sympathy vote maybe.

That could happen, right?

Great song by Sir Harry Lauder after the loss of his son, "Keep Right On To The End Of The Road".

The Hamilton, Ontario Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders always put on a great mess dinner and the finale after a number of toasts was the straddling of a mirror to make sure everyone was dressed regimental. And if not, they were made regimental immediately. Excepting the ladies of course. For some reason they got a pass on this tradition.

"And to the GOP who I think knew perfectly well what he was going to do on that stage." -- ET

I'd go even further: I think you were right when you suggested/speculated in a comment last week that it's likely/probable that Eastwood made specific tactical points that the Republican braintrust specifically wished to make in its party speeches but couldn't, for obvious reasons. Regardless, you can be 100% sure that they thoroughly vetted his speech beforehand.

RT from the Boston Globe:

The Lexington economic forecasting firm takes two economic indicators plus three political variables, plugs them into a formula, and out pops the percentage of the popular vote the incumbent party is expected to win. The formula has correctly predicted the outcome in 14 of the last 16 presidential elections….The most recent update of the formula, using July economic data, shows President Obama losing decisively, with just over 45 percent of the popular vote.

h/t

"I think we need to be careful: people might start to feel that we're picking on the chair, as opposed to the guy who's supposed to be in it, but isn't. The empty chair could get a sympathy vote maybe. That could happen, right?"

I don't know if you're serious, or if you're showing a talent for almost Scandinavian-level deadpan. I'm at about 50/50.

/:>)

Watch the 2012 Democratic National Convention Live on BarackObama.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7O_ADbgQ8k&feature=player_embedded

I'm having a HARD time believing this real.

Obamacare Summed Up in One Sentence

http://tinyurl.com/8jfuw6b

EBD: Just having some sport on the "bonkers" thing, but I appreciate the compliment, if that's what it was (what's Scandinavian-level dead pan?).

Regardless, you might want to check the link to Viking Pundit, as the story's not coming up.

Oz, love that summation of obamacare at the link you posted.

Amazing how an empty chair can go from being a piece of furniture to an icon for the failure of this presidency in a matter of a week.

Ethnomasochism, a word coined by someone at a French blog called Fdescouche ("ethnomasochisme"), is more than just a word, it's a description of the officially-prescribed dominant mindset in the progressive West:

Ethnomasochism is the masochistic tendency to regard with a sense of guilt and a sense of worthlessness one's own ethnic group, one's own people….it is similar to shame of oneself and self-hatred. It is a collective psychopathology, triggered by a long propaganda effort to foster a presumed fundamental sense of guilt felt by Europeans vis-à-vis other peoples, of whom they are assumed to be the "oppressors". It is therefore necessary to repent and to "pay the debt." (It) can be likened to a type of "self-racism". The European man can be said to have been struck down by an original sin, an intrinsic racial stain: he is guilty of being what he is...Curiously, it denies to Europeans the idea of ethnic identity, but grants it to others.

(Emph. mine)

Ethnomasochism is "the counterweight of xenophila (love and overestimation of the foreigner, the other," In that sense, "xenophilia" is an apt one-word description of the roots of western progressive multiculturalism.

Bonus: via Moonbattery, a short video primer of sorts on Ethnomasochism. (Language warning: one swearword, delivered by a famous comedian who perfectly demonstrates the -- practically obligatory for public figures in the west -- ethnomasochistic tendency.)

Well, it is a compliment, David (11:50). By Scandinavian-level deadpan I just meant humour that provides not a hint of a clue that the speaker isn't completely serious. One of my dad's cousins in Denmark who worked at the Akvavit (hic!) factory would have my dad and my uncle in stitches all night, but for the whole time he looked like he was talking about, I don't know, how grommets are made.

Virginia O'Brien wasn't Scandinavian, but she could have….passed.

Thanks for the heads-up on the link, btw -- it's fixed now.

Excerpt from Nicholas Eberstadt's "American Character Is at Stake" in the WSJ:

What is monumentally new about the American state today is the vast empire of entitlement payments that it protects, manages and finances. Within living memory, the federal government has become an entitlements machine. As a day-to-day operation, it devotes more attention and resources to the public transfer of money, goods and services to individual citizens than to any other objective, spending more than for all other ends combined.

The growth of entitlement payments over the past half-century has been breathtaking. In 1960, U.S. government transfers to individuals totaled about $24 billion in current dollars, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. By 2010 that total was almost 100 times as large…

The whole thing here.

EBD I turn 37 this week, and caught the worst of it as a young (so called) adult. In my experience, the brainwashing is not that hard to undo and is already being undone. Nobody likes to hate themselves, and the kids these days just need an grownup (as opposed to an adult child) to call bullshit on it.

I did, in welding class 2010. The creep Admins kicked me out for standing up, the kids greet me like a savior.
Don't underestimate the power or the young to see through liars these days, one of the popular trolls in the 'States is to act like a hardcore Democrat, over-the-top lies, hysterical rhetoric and all. They're not buying it.
d

THE'RE, shizen.

Btw ET

Yes as hysterics go, the left are trying way to hard to attack Clint, and it shows.

That union guy sealed the deal, what a douche.

He's only preaching to a captive audience, and I doubt they will support a thug at the polls, knowing there's and alternative.

Today is the Quebec election.

I'll go vote for Option Nationale.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Option_nationale

I am bracing for the avalanche of hostile and hateful editorials coming from the ROC after the election.

Quebecois NDP separatiste good luck and I hope your party wins, despite being barely a year old.
The Option Nationale are very popular with the young people, too bad Quebec is so old demographically.
You do realize that the PQ and the ON will be fracturing the separatiste vote between them, yes?
That would allow the Liberals to march to victory again and then we'd still have to keep supporting you corrupt lazy louts.

Oh well, a man can dream so good luck.

Dwright (12:33), your description of the reaction among your young charges after you stood up to the bullshit and refused to lie down is encouraging.

What you describe -- what you drew out -- is what Glenn Reynolds described as a "preference cascade". The HotAir article at 10:04 paraphrased a preference cascade as being something that happens "when people trapped inside a manufactured consensus suddenly realize that many other people share their doubts….when dissenters realize they are not alone, and the true strength of their numbers becomes apparent, 'invincible' regimes vanish with astonishing speed."

I agree with you that young people have the power to see through liars, and to see through lies, but, as you noted, it really helps if there's an adult like you with the balls to stand up and lead the way, to show them that it's okay to publicly call bullshit. Good for you.

I live in liberal stronghold (*sigh*). My vote doesn't really count. Jacques Chagnon will win because the anglos will always vote Liberal anyway as long as Charest doesn't fire bomb their houses with napalm.

I can vote with my heart for Option Nationale.

Toronto Sun, Sunday, Sep. 2, Michelle Malkin.

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/08/31/a-sneaky-deadly-car-tax

"On Tuesday, the administration announced that it had finalized 'historic' new fuel efficiency standards. (Everything’s 'historic' with these narcissists, isn’t it?) President Obama took a break from his historic fundraising drives to proclaim that '(by) the middle of the next decade, our cars will get nearly 55 miles per gallon, almost double what they get today. It’ll strengthen our nation’s energy security, it’s good for middle-class families, and it will help create an economy built to last.'"

Next: to help the farm sector, new regulations to require all pigs to be able to fly by 2018.

Then: due to the failing corn crop following this year's drought, regulations to require all plastic must be edible.

And: in order to make students' calculations easier, regulations to require the ratio between the circumference of a circle and its radius to be 22/7.

Yes, everything is "historic" with these narcissists, and also with politicians in general.

Just like every hare-brained gamble with taxpayers' money is "bold".

Toronto Sun, Sunday, Sep. 2, Warren Kinsella.

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/08/31/tory-attacks-on-joyce-fairbairn-mindlessly-cruel

Somehow I doubt the Liberals would have shown any more restraint had a Conservative senator been similarly afflicted.

EBD it was the best $ 3500 I've ever spent, and I can challenge my "C" Class Welding anytime. One 17 year old stands out of many, he was a "loser" big time into drugs, just took one "old fart" (funny, 35 at the time) he turned his life around, quit drug culture, and is building himself a good life.
There's a lack of good influence, of people that can step away from the darkness, and show the way to light. I'm not saying religion, just to reality, just to rejecting lies, just to digging for truth, no matter how painful it is, it is we have all lost friends, we have all been rejected for the crime of disagreeing with a manufactured consensus.
Lets call Chomsky the sycophantic bitch that he is. He was the God that every wannabe intellectual
worshiped when I was in University.
Turn his Manufactured Consent against the Left, it is their (his) Demon.
They are the the ones doing the manufacturing.
We are fighting, we are the ones that will save ourselves. We refuse to be brainwashed, it's just not in our natures, and regardless of what they say, it's not a bad nature to have.
Maybe I'll not comment for another month or two, but I'll still search for truth over fiction, and If I influence a few people alone the way,
So Be It
d

Menzoid & Shaidle in The Man Cave. Hilarity ensues!

Its truly amazing how predictable leftists are.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57505334/calif-democratic-leader-john-burton-gop-lies-similar-to-those-of-nazi-propagandist-joseph-goebbels/

They love to accuse their opponents of their own transgressions.

Well... the dumbocrats open up by crying Nazi. We knew this was going to be a disgusting display. The immediacy of this does portray desperation.

Excellent!

Did I mention that I started in Engineering got a Existential crisis, majored in Philosophy, Quit the whole scam after learning Greek sophistry and learning the ultimate lie is that consensus is reality to the people that can't judge the difference between what they have been TOLD.
As in believe or be punished, what Human as a child can make that choice. This is what we are dealing with. No different from, I'm sorry belief in God, in some sects, (but not any measure, from all) but how is
It is the fact that some people believe anything anything they are told under threat of punishment, undefined, and some people that have endured hell say bring it on, the weak sell out.
The strong don't sell out, and that's what is certain. Cretins are doing their best (I spelled their right for once) to spin their lies, screaming at the top of their lungs that we are the liars.
Sad but true, and only it's not the religions, it's everybody that has ever tasted freedom, everybody that has ever walked down a road that has NOT been coerced or been intimidated, who can realize that there IS a society that has not given up, that will NOT be intimidated or bullied.

We do not stand alone, I stand strong because IT IS MY NATURE.

I am a Small Dead Animal, and this is my choice.

Sorry Kate, you're stuck with me.

dwright

That read insane, sorry, half a bottle of Vodka.
And we are so different from Russians?
Cripes its already fall, here, in Sept.
d

It wasn't quite hitting back twice as hard ,but it was hitting back nonetheless.
Our Canadian Autoworkers Wind Turbine Protest;

http://quixoteslaststand.com/2012/09/03/caw-workers-a-bunch-of-foul-mouthed-hot-headed-hypocritical-whiny-babies/

It wasn't quite hitting back twice as hard, but it was hitting back nonetheless.
Our Canadian Autoworkers wind turbine protest;

http://quixoteslaststand.com/2012/09/03/caw-workers-a-bunch-of-foul-mouthed-hot-headed-hypocritical-whiny-babies/

Quebecois NPD Separatiste:

Best wishes to you and Quebec today. Although your choice would not have been mine, I am glad to hear that you're not voting for the fetid swap of the Liberal-PQ condominium. A propos of the latter, is it true that they don't even bother to post signs around it anymore -- "Water not safe to drink"?

New study shows that 76% of supporters of CAGW are also conspiracy theorists. Here for the full details:
http://motls.blogspot.ca/2012/08/where-can-you-find-out-whether-climate.html#disqus_thread

Islamist lawyer for Muslim Brotherhood takes up Tipper Gore's mantle to fight the evil that is heavy metal: http://www.noisecreep.com/2012/09/04/egyptian-metal-concert-satanist/

I just drove from Ontario to PEI this past three days, through northern Vermont, NH and Maine. I was watching for them but I saw not one single Obama '12 bumper sticker. Four years ago on the same track there were hundreds. Lawn signs, two for Romney and none for Obama. Saw Dasousa's 2016 movie in Bangor Maine. 14 people in the theater. I can't speak for the 13 Americans but it scared the hell out of me!
Cheers, Eric.

Regarding the Quebec Election;

It is good to see that the separatist vote is splintering - it gives me a small hope that the dreaded PQ majority can be avoided. I am cheering for Quebec Solidaire to siphon enough votes from the PQ to let the CAQ sneak up the middle in several ridings.

It is likely wishful thinking - I think the PQ gets their majority (barely) with just over 30% of the popular vote. Only in Canada could 30% of the population dictate the government we have.

It's a good time to start a moving company - anywhere near the borders of Quebec.

I am all for Quebec separation, just give me enough time to get out of this third-world country before it happens.

O'narcissist & O'narcissist.

...-

"All The World’s a Stage"

"The New York Times has a story describing a president who fills every waking moment with card games, golfing afternoons, basketball games and gym routines — and every opportunity to practice his oratory — in an unending quest to make himself the most interesting man in the room.

As Election Day approaches, President Obama is sharing a few important things about himself. He has mentioned more than once in recent weeks that he cooks “a really mean chili.” He has impressive musical pitch, he told an Iowa audience. He is “a surprisingly good pool player,” he informed an interviewer — not to mention (though he does) a doodler of unusual skill.

All in all, he joked at a recent New York fund-raiser with several famous basketball players in attendance, “it is very rare that I come to an event where I’m like the fifth or sixth most interesting person.” …

For someone dealing with the world’s weightiest matters, Mr. Obama spends surprising energy perfecting even less consequential pursuits. He has played golf 104 times since becoming president, according to Mark Knoller of CBS News, who monitors his outings, and he asks superior players for tips that have helped lower his scores. He decompresses with card games on Air Force One, but players who do not concentrate risk a reprimand (“You’re not playing, you’re just gambling,” he once told Arun Chaudhary, his former videographer).

His idea of birthday relaxation is competing in an Olympic-style athletic tournament with friends, keeping close score. The 2009 version ended with a bowling event. Guess who won, despite his history of embarrassingly low scores? The president, it turned out, had been practicing in the White House alley.

When he reads a book to children at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, Mr. Obama seems incapable of just flipping open a volume and reading. In 2010, he began by announcing that he would perform “the best rendition ever” of “Green Eggs and Ham,” ripping into his Sam-I-Ams with unusual conviction. Two years later at the same event, he read “Where the Wild Things Are” with even more animation, roooooaring his terrible roar and gnaaaaashing his terrible teeth. By the time he got to the wild rumpus, he was howling so loudly that Bo, the first dog, joined in.

Anything so that on the Day, on the Hour, he can fill the stage with that limitless perfection that only he can generate. Yet despite the intensity of these exertions the president is disappointed to find himself in a close contest with Willard “Mitt” Romney. Puzzled at how anybody so perfect can be neck and neck with someone called Willard, or worse yet Mitt, Obama has manifested an open contempt toward his political rival. The NYT continues:

As far back as 2008, Mr. Obama’s assessment of Mr. Romney was scathing."

http://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/2012/09/04/all-the-worlds-a-stage/#more-24095
...-

"Barack Obama - Narcissist or Merely Narcissistic?

Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/13/2008

Barack Obama appears to be a narcissist. Granted, only a qualified mental health diagnostician (which I am not) can determine whether someone suffers from Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) and this, following lengthy tests and personal interviews. But, in the absence of access to Barack Obama, one has to rely on his overt performance and on testimonies by his closest, nearest and dearest."

http://www.globalpolitician.com/25109-barack-obama-elections

"Henderson scored 3 winners in Russia; created Canadian JFK moment"

http://www.newswatchcanada.ca/

...-

"He didn't even have the satisfaction of being killed for civil rights . . . . It's — it had to be some silly little Communist." — Jackie Kennedy, on hearing that a leftist had been arrested for her husband's murder."

"The Kennedy
Assassination"

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/home.htm

Mao Stlong* Lepolt.

"It’s quite clear we have a pretty rotten industrial cycle coming on"

...-

"Don’t expect China’s growth to rebound anytime soon"

"BEIJING – The last time China’s vast manufacturing sector had conditions like those in August it was March 2009 and the economy was about to rebound from the global financial crisis.

This time around analysts are not so certain a clear recovery for the major global growth engine will come anytime soon.

In fact, two purchasing managers’ indexes showed new orders are falling, adding to other evidence that suggests a slide in economic growth for the world’s second-biggest economy is deepening, pushing back expectations for when a rebound may occur.

“It’s quite clear we have a pretty rotten industrial cycle coming on. I don’t see it getting a whole lot worse… but I don’t expect them to get back for a long, long time,” said Arthur Kroeber, managing director of GK Dragonomics in Beijing.

“I see things bouncing along at the bottom of the cycle.”"

http://business.financialpost.com/2012/09/04/dont-expect-chinas-growth-to-rebound-anytime-soon/

*Ex-Liberal leader Rae's uncle, c/o Red China.

It's for the children.

"Buses for students".

...-

"Democrats set to move Obama's big speech from 74,000-seater outdoor stadium to 20,000-seater indoor arena"

"Democrats are poised to avoid the danger of President Barack Obama accepting his party’s nomination before a partially-empty stadium by shifting his speech to an indoor arena and citing ‘severe weather’.

The Obama campaign have been working desperately to ensure that the 74,000-seater Bank of America stadium in Charlotte would be filled.

Buses for students from across North Carolina and even members of black churches in neighboring South Carolina have been arranged."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2198206/Democrats-set-Obamas-big-speech-74-000-seater-outdoor-stadium-20-000-seater-indoor-arena.html

O'misty* narcissist.

"And I'm going to try not to let them see their daddy cry. Because when Michelle starts talking, I start getting all misty."

...-

"Obama says he expects to get 'misty' when Michelle gives speech"

"President Obama said he expects to cry Tuesday night while watching his wife, first lady Michelle Obama, speak at the Democratic National Convention.

"I'm going to be at home, and I'm going to be watching it with our girls," Mr. Obama said at a campaign rally in Norfolk, Va. "And I'm going to try not to let them see their daddy cry. Because when Michelle starts talking, I start getting all misty."

Many in the crowd responded to him with a unified, "Awwwww.""

http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2012/sep/4/obama-says-he-expects-get-misty-when-michelle-give/

*misty:

Ella Fitzgerald - Misty - YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQouJdvB80U

maz2 @5:10 - I wonder if this has been rattling around his mind.

Crying because he can't believe he married chewbaca.

U-Haul Truck Carrying Biden Gear Stolen in Detroit

http://news.yahoo.com/u-haul-truck-carrying-biden-gear-stolen-detroit-140902122--abc-news-politics.html

The radical Left is at again with Toronto's Mayor Rob Ford, trying another shot at a "coup" to remove the Mayor from power and appoint their own Mayor:
(http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/the-lowdown-on-court-case-that-could-cost-rob-ford-his-job/article4517086/)

The "private citizen" suing Ford (probably somebody fronting for the Unions using money divereted from members' dues again) is trying to get him removed for a totally selflessd act of charity that Ford did using the City's letterhead. Totally pithy.

George "the billion-dollar E-health thief" Smitherman has even come out of hiding after losing the Mayoral election to a landslide two years ago, probably in hopes he will be Ford's replacement.

An excoriating list of reasons to vote Obambi out of office:

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/315856/689-reasons-defeat-barack-obama-nr-staff