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Journal Profane MuthaFucka's Journal: Moral value example: Mr. Goodhair 33

Journal by Profane MuthaFucka

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2009/06/02/romney_assails_obama_on_national_security/

"Arrogant, delusional tyrants can not be stopped by earnest words and furrowed brows," Romney said. "Action, strong, bold action coming from a position of strength and determination, is the only effective deterrent."

Instead of reducing defense spending, as a proportion of total economic output, he said the United States needs to spend much more, restoring full funding for the missile defense system, modernizing the American nuclear arsenal, and rebuilding the military to keep pace with China's rapid military buildup.

"For a fraction of the money that was spent on various social and domestic programs, Washington could have given our servicemen and women the tools they need to defend us for a generation," Romney asserted.

Romney's words draw from the conservative moral value of physical strength.

Physical strength supports the primary conservative moral value of winning in an obvious way.

The metaphor is with a family where the father is physically strong and can physically defend his family from threats. Anything that interferes with the ability of a father to protect his family is immoral in his worldview. The father at the head of the family doesn't get any help. He's all alone, and the survival of the family depends upon his strength. If the father loses the battle, the entire family loses.

"Of these four competing strategies, notice that only one includes freedom. Only if America succeeds will freedom endure," Romney warned. "Do not imagine for a single moment that China, Russia, and the jihadists have no intention of surpassing America and leading the world. Each is entirely convinced that it can do so."

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Moral value example: Mr. Goodhair More

Moral value example: Mr. Goodhair

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  • Reminds me of a journal that I posted (recently) that never showed up anywhere except limbo (I can only see it through the Management screen). Here it is (I may re-post it) Ref: http://slashdot.org/~unlametheweak/journal/229887 [slashdot.org].

    Since the topic is about strength and missile defense I will highlight one paragraph:

    In roleplaying situations, authoritarians tend to seek dominance over others by being competitive and destructive instead of cooperative. In a study by Altemeyer, 68 authoritarians played a three hour simulation of the earth's future entitled the Global Challenge Game. Unlike a comparison game played by individuals with low RWA scores, the simulation by authoritarians became highly militarized and eventually entered the stage of nuclear war. By the end of the high RWA game, the entire population of the earth was declared dead.

  • Romney's words draw from the conservative moral value of physical strength.

    Or, maybe his words draw from the conservative moral value of getting elected.

    Against Obama and the current crop of Congressional Democrats, it's a sure-win. The Republicans can't actually implement their stated agenda, so there's no chance of negative blow-back. But, in the event of some kind of national security "event"--which is almost sure to occur in the next three years--they have positioned themselves as the party we should have been listening to.

    It's a pretty standard tactic for both US political pa

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Profane MuthaFucka ( 574406 )

      Conservative moral values have nothing to do with the Bible. Obviously you haven't been paying attention, so I'll recap.

      Politicians say stuff. That stuff originates in party moral values. That stuff is meant to resonate with the moral values that the party participants hold. By identifying what moral values underlie political rhetoric, then you can understand why politicians say the things they do. And you can understand why their party constituents agree with the rhetoric of the party.

      • Good as far as it goes.
        Still working on your juxtaposition of "moral" and "physical".
        Sounds too arbeit macht frei.

        • What juxtaposition do you mean?

          Do you know what a moral value is? Do you know what physical strength is?

          • One is abstract, the other concrete. Placing the two in the same sentence bemuses.

            • You are amused, but do you understand it?

              Rephrased: "Conservatives believe men who have big muscles are good."

              Abstract and concrete are irrelevant to this, so I'm thinking that you just don't understand it.

              • OK, I've never heard or thought that.
                It's the lanky ones, (think Navy SEALs) that you have to worry about. All that beefcake==crappy endurance.

                • Nevertheless, it's a fairly prominent conservative moral value. Many more journals of this type (examples of rhetoric and the moral foundation they rest on) are forthcoming.

                  I'll make the next one on this particular moral value.

                  Also, bear in mind that the simplification I made for you was so you could understand it. It's not just muscles that count here.

                  It's physical strength. If that lanky SEAL can kill the lion before the lion kills him, then the lanky SEAL is good.

                  Physical strength means not just muscles,

                  • It's a MORAL value because it can be a discriminator between good and bad people. A good man will blast the intruder in the house. A bad man will fail to stop the intruder. A good man will put a bomb on his enemy's house. A bad man will fail to stop his enemy.

                    Ho hum. You seem to be coming back to some pagan doctrine of might makes right, and misfortune indicates the displeasure of the gods.
                    The Book of Job debunks the concept of poorly applied causality thoroughly.
                    If I can get some time, I might pore ove

                    • If the doctrine is pagan, that would be irrelevant. It's certainly the implication of winning as the primary conservative moral value.

                      And the rhetoric bears that out.

                    • Ah yes, very good. We can analyze that too.

                      President Obama listened to Republican gripes about his stimulus package during a meeting with congressional leaders Friday morning - but he also left no doubt about who's in charge of these negotiations. "I won," Obama noted matter-of-factly, according to sources familiar with the conversation.

                      Obama's got an understanding of the nature of political rhetoric that is very fine tuned. If you were speaking to a group of Republicans, wouldn't you make it crystal clear

                    • Yeah, I see I had a lengthy exchange with you there.
                    • +5, Mental Gymnastics Gold Medal. If you don't see through the Chicago Way on display, then you're in a sad state.
                      Which does not mitigate your point that the audience for the statement are an equally rotten bunch.

                    • Why does the explanation not make sense? It makes perfect sense. If you analyze Obama's other examples of political rhetoric, where he's speaking to a different group, you won't find that same linkage to a conservative moral value.

                      The guy is a skilled politician. That's but one example of his skill.

                    • Here's the deal: let's quit apologizing for politicians. I won't apologize for Bush, and let's just admit that Obama is everything you could expect from Chicago.

                    • This is why I think you're a numbskull. You won't argue the point, and you can't consider the viewpoint of others.

                      WHERE have I anywhere in this series treated the general principles I am bringing up in an unbiased fashion. You need to think like an athropologist here - don't judge the culture you're analyzing.

                      If this were some kind of apology for Obama, then that would mean that I am making a judgement of the moral values. This would be illogical, because liberals hold the same moral values as conservatives

                    • Ah, it's you again. And I notice that you're analyzing the problem at the wrong level again too. We're looking for a journal, not a comment.

                      What a pain in the ass you are. I have to keep saying the same thing to explain why you're wrong. At least smitty has a slight amount of range in his performance. But you're like Keanu Reeves. Fucking same thing every time.

                    • Your time zone betrays you, Dickhead.

                    • Yes, Reich said a few good things.

                      And the explanation that the Space Shuttles went down because of an improper arrangement of atoms is 100%, and 100% useless.

                      It's the wrong level for the analysis we wish to perform.

                    • Well let me express myself clearly. You're offtopic. If you want to talk about your own analysis, log in and make your own journal entries. Let me know who you are so I can participate.

                      But here, we're analyzing rhetoric and the underlying moral values. Nothing else right now.

                    • As I said, get your own fukkin journal and you'll get more cooperation.

  • "For a fraction of the money that was spent on various social and domestic programs, Washington could have given our servicemen and women the tools they need to defend us for a generation," Romney asserted.

    If you stopped pissing money out the window you could do both and have a space program worthy of the name.

    let's see - agricultural subsidies, brain dead wars that can't be won. I am sure there are other things that could be happily cut.

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