Lack of Commands: Albums that didn't suck in 2009

Here at Lack of Command, we really do love top tens. Many days and nights of our lives have been spent making "top" lists with friends. Comparing and contrasting and all of that. Being that it's already 2010, but we figured it's still January so our list still counts!

Now, there are thousands of "Top Ten Albums of 2009" lists out there. Most of them are marketing strategies, some are the similar to "Readers Choice," and some are created by the critics who think that they know more than you.

Guess which one this is? This list is catered to our tastes. So with that in mind, if you've read this blog at all you know it's all about the sludgey-doomy-droney-stoner metal. I will say, if anything; it's a list that doesn't include Animal Collective as #1 (or anywhere at all). We decided to be honest with you guys and rather than to try to impress you with our broad tastes of music genres and bands and actually show you our favorites of the year.

Oh. Don't worry. We'll have not-quite-as-awesome-as-this-list-honorable mentions.

So, disclaimers aside: The 1st Annual Lack of Command Top Ten Albums That Don’t Suck.

2009 was a good year for metal. Through out the whole genre, we had old dogs re-inventing their own sound and young pups really making their mark. This year is a tribute to the perseverance of passion for making music. Because I wish I could put Wino, Clutch, and Fu Manchu on this list, but I think the fact that they didn't make shows how good of a year it has been. And those are just the veterns. Big Business, Giant Squid, and fresh from the muck Black Pyramid all had it going on. This actually wasn't easy. And when top ten lists aren't easy to make, you know the gettin' is good.

Included are pictures that I took from my phone from the bands that were seen by one or both of us. Aren't you impressed? I know I am.


10. Flood - Native



Definitive Track: “Water”
Richard
“My pick for the 2009 Rookie of the Year. Named after the Boris masterpiece album, Flood lives up to its namesake with their debut album, "Native." What’s that? That’s right I said debut. These guys just get it. They understand their metal. Drone-y at times, never a shortage on riffs, and the heavy meter cranked to 11. The tracks take the listener from the magma centers of the world on a slow crushing journey ending on the planet’s lifeblood. Water. Watch out for these guys.”


9. Ancestors – Of Sound Mind



Definitive Track: “Bounty of Age”
Russell
“And yet another shout out to the young guns in the scene. A heavy whirlwind of patient psychedelic sorrow. I literally just finished this album two hours before I wrote this and I knew it was one of the best things I've heard in a while. It’s THAT good. It’s their sophomore album but it sounds like these guys have been doing this for ages. They use careful inspirations of legends (Pink Floyd, Neurosis, Sleep, Hawkwind…and I think there’s some Eno in there) but keep their emulation to something absolutely unique. If I said Ancestors were epic, that would only scratch a very superficial surface. Now, this album does require a time commitment but I never scoff at track lengths. If I were still driving, this CD would probably never leave my stereo. Apparently this is their first studio recording and it serves them well. It’s textured but not over-produced. Simply brilliant. On my list of bands to see live.”

8. Sunn 0))) – Monoliths and Dimensions



Definitive Track: “Big Church” (There’s a name after this track...and I ain't typing it. Once you see it, you'll know why.)
Richard
“Let’s face it, with Drone metal, you either get it or you don’t, those who don’t get it, really wish they did. Those that do get it listened to this album for a solid month after it was released. Like Neurosis did with “Given to the Rising,” Sunn 0))) shows us something new by not changing at all. From the very first track, the brown note is hit, but the heavy crawl that is trademarked with the genre is not without subtle beauty in its riffs and occasional church choirs. In any case, I’m positive this album is what HP Lovecraft heard in his head everyday.”

7. OM – God is Good.



Definitive Track: “Cremation Ghat II”
Russell
“I took a friend of mine to see them; I was nervous she wouldn’t dig on it. I was wrong. It’s hard not to lose yourself in the hypnotic bass hymns and moving rhythm. She described OM as gently engulfing. After the show, she turned around and said: Thank you. She’s now an OM convert. Om is a hard band to like on face value, but being a fan, this album is exciting because of the growth that is shown. Now, if you haven’t heard Om, then buckle up. Now, with a new drummer, this album was the first true test run for Emil Amos. Talk about hitting the ground running. The biggest change to your typical OM is now their best asset to this album is Robert Lowe (Lichens and TV on the Radio fame) and should seriously be considered as a permanent member. Of course, not enough could be said about a master like Al Cisneros. He makes the bass light as a feather or as thick as metal. I really do hate to bring it down to this but it’s true: It’s Om…but different. The thing about Om and the previously mentioned Sunn O))), the subtle changes have to be noticed. If you get the chance: see em’ live.”


Om@Bowery Ballroom


6. Church of Misery – Houses of the Unholy



Definitive Track: “El Padrino (Adolfo De Jesus Constanzo)”
Richard
“Where was I with this band? Why wasn’t this shown to me the minute I started getting into this genre? Church of Misery is fairly straightforward band: A Japanese stoner doom metal band that sings songs about serial killers. If that does not sound like something that appeals to you, then you probably wandered unto this blog by accident. Sabbath-esque riffs with a heaviness that would make Electric Wizard proud, mixed with Pantera like vocals. If that’s not enough for you to listen to this album, your browser probably froze, restart your computer.”

5. Snail – Blood



Definitive Track: “Sleep”
Russell
“I haven’t heard of them before this album and I feel like a phony because of it. Of course they haven’t made an album in 16 years, so can you really blame me?!? But after hearing this album, my first thought was: WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE? I’ve never heard a band sound so close to Alice in Chains since Alice in Chains. Stoner rock with the 90’s sensibility of young angst. Ultra-fuzzy guitar that soothes the soul. As far as Stoner Metal this year is concerned; this is the album to get. Stays within the genres constraints, but far from uninspired. It takes a lot of guts to be an obscure band from the Seattle days, call it quits and then make an album a decade and a half later. They pull it off better than they could’ve hoped. Instant classic.”


4. YOB – The Great Cessation



Definitive Track: “Burning the Altar”
Russell
“The doom metal genre has had a void in its heart when YOB decided to hang it up. Like an erupting volcano, the myth of YOB clawed its way back and they are not fucking around. A grand return. After a horrible hiatus filled with side bands and greedy lawsuits, YOB arrives with hunger and a passion that few bands reached this year. You can hear it in Mike Scheidt’s vocals (one of the things that has always turned me off to YOB, to be honest); it’s a release of rage and loss. This album is perfect. Doom at it’s core: angry, foreboding, painful, and scary.”



3. Shrinebuilder – Shrinebuilder



Definitive Track: “Science of Anger”
Richard
“Let’s face it, we here at Lack of Command knew the album was going to be somewhere toward the top. 2009 had its fair share of super groups. Dead Weather, Them Crooked Vultures, Monsters of Music Critic Rock Folk, etc. However, none was more anticipated than the convergence of Scott Kelly, Al Cisneros, Wino and Dale Crover. Now unlike many super groups throughout history, this not only doesn’t suck, but it really REALLY fucking rocks. While the new kids on the block are reinvigorating the genre, the DDSS super friends remind us why we like this style. Each master of his own realm is well represented, and gels so perfectly. If this is what these gods of their own genre can do in three days, imagine what’s going to happen next.”



Shrinebuilder @Le Poisson Rogue



2. Mastodon – “Crack the Skye”



Definitive Track: “Crack the Skye”
Richard
“Every one seems to have their own “I first saw Mastodon at…” stories, and the venue gets smaller and smaller with each story. If you didn’t think they weren’t going to make it as far as they have, you weren’t paying attention. In short “Crack the Skye “ is nothing short of a masterpiece. What some might call a departure, and others might call an expansion, Mastodon demonstrates the bravery that all musicians wish they had. They sing more; have longer older school guitar solos, an ORGAN for Christ sake! Where are the crushing riffs from Leviathan? Simply put, every album that Mastodon puts out is different from the last, progressively better than the last. Mastodon grew up on Neurosis and High on Fire; I’m excited to see who grows up on Mastodon. This was our shoe in, no questions asked, ring the bell winner for Album of 2009 until…”


Mastodon....IT WAS CROWDED!!


1. Baroness – Blue Record



Definitive Track: “A Horse Called Golgatha”
Russell
“A good album is a journey, and the Blue Record is certainly that…like by a lot. It manages to boil down all the positive shifts happening with the metal genre into one album. It’s melodic, it’s delicately paced, it’s even random. But every song forces you to lean in to a punch and it shifts on you. It’s brilliant. It’s produced well, but just off-key that makes it believable. At times, it tricks you with poppy hooks, but never a moment that isn’t honest. It's tragic, it's angry, and it's even fun! They are one of the most promising bands for a new decade. If this is vision of metal for the next ten years, than Godspeed. They carry the flame in every respect. “


Baroness @Bowery Ballroom. (Thank you Angelica.)

Doom and Drone, Sludge and Stone Part 5: The Sludge.

Well it’s 2010, and we hope you’re prepared for an onslaught of awesomeness from we here at Lack of Command. More on our developments as they…well as they develop. In the meantime, let’s start of off 2010 by getting our hands dirty with another DDSS lesson. REAL dirty.

Sludge.



Sounds nasty right? Metal’s sub-genres often have a degree of rebellious dominance in their nomenclature. Thrash Metal. Power Metal. Death Metal. Hardcore. Even Stoner and Doom metal has some semblance of a “fuck you” power to the names. But Sludge Metal? Isn't that the crap (literally) that forms at sewage treatment plants? What in the name of all that is good and holy could sound like that?

Well…something like this:




That’s right, we return to the Melvins. That’s off of their very first album, “Gluey Porch Treatments. Bringing the tones of west coast punk and hardcore to the lowest of low tones. The Melvins really do deserve a whole post on their own. Not just there historical and musical influence, but because trying explain The Melvins to anyone who hasn’t heard them can be quite the chore.

During the death of punk’s wave across the country starting in the west, The Melvins managed to roll it’s way to the south. I’ll paraphrase what Phil Anselmo (Pantera, if you don’t know, you really should) said “While kids everywhere else were listening to Slayer, we were listening to Gluey Porch Treatments.” Like gasoline to the fire, when you combine the low and slow metal to drunk and stoned southerners, what happens is immediate combustion. Actually in this case, it’s more like coagulation. A pissed off bunch of hillbillies with names like Acid Bath, Crowbar, EYEHATEGOD, and Harvey Milk made sounds like this.



You think it’s the low quality of the Tube, but don’t be fooled. Eyehategod is really that dirty. This was the first song I heard when somebody wanted to show me sludge metal, and to this day I think it’s definitive of the genre. It has all the characteristics, guitar feedback, a bass so down tuned the strings are falling off, and as slow as the current in a Louisiana swamp. As you can see, they speed it up for a little bit, but then they get tired and have to slow it down even more.

Fat. Drunk. Lazy. That’s the Southern sound my friends. CT, frontman from Rwake and KMBT Dj has a documentary coming out about the southern sound. Here’s the trailer. Watch for Hank Williams III, Phil Anselmo, and Jimmy Bower (southern sludge superhero of bands like Eyehategod, Crowbar, and Down) offering CT a hit of weed.



The south is and always will be the land of the oppressed. It’s oppression that is either attached or self-induced. From the bankruptcy of the Civil War defeat to the victims of Jim Crow and to it’s tragic devotion to an unforgiving church. That oppression is what fascinates the rest of the country. We can see the agony and the ecstasy of the struggle for freedom. Sludge metal is a good device for demonstrating this. It shares the same spirit of struggle that comes with American music.

Sludge isn’t the only example, but it’s another chapter in the discourse of music from a region that birthed us rock and roll. It’s lyrical content ranges between cosmic wars, to hard drugs, to raising a family. But it’s the music that makes it unique to their region. Soul. Sludge is the icky sticky soul of metal.



You read it right folks. The band’s name is Alabama Thunderpussy. It’s like Lynyrd Skynyrd covered Black Sabbath.


That sludgy shit has laid the ground work and loosened the soil for some of the best bands in the game today. Punk gave us the means to do it ourselves, but sludge gave us an overdrive!


First Command Image for 2010: COMMAND-O'S!!!!

To Anonymous: A risky message

First of all, I feel really silly posting this right now, but it's happening:

I would like to address a group called Anonymous. Bravo.

I don't know who you are, nor do I wish to. This message is only a result of my bored curiosity of Scientology jokes. Any YouTube search, the name Anonymous pops up.

Here's an example to give people an idea of what I'm talking about. Not only the impact of Anonymous, but Anonymous's gripes against Scientology.






Now, I'm sure that there are a lot of kids out there doing a lot of stupid shit like pirating kids credit cards and putting up Nazi shit on websites (at least so they've been accused of a la wikipedia, so I can't claim if any of this shit is true).

Even if it is true there is an important lesson that the war against Scientology is an important statement of why people want control of the internet for the rest of our significant future. The internet is such a power tool that we, nor they, have really grasped it's power. Our generation and the one behind ours, is just a little a head of the curb to understanding what it can do. Anonymous, while doesn't harbor the tool, is it's greatest protector.

At it's current state the internet is still an amoeba. Unfiltered speech. Free videos. Instant companionship. Information (real and fake). Created by us humans as a way for us to know ourselves at all times. The internet still needs to time to grow. One of the reasons war was declared by Anonymous was the Scientology's attempt to censor or put out false information.




What I love about Anonymous is the idea of Anonymous, its that there is no Anonymous. When you have a group that doesn't exist, any one can join, but only if the whole approves. They make it easy for anyone to fake, but everyone to participate. They've harnessed the energy and the power of the internet by remaining functionless. No real way to communicate. No real way to notice. But more power than any silly cult can stop or understand. There's no point in trying to stop them or try to join them. Because there is no them. It's a true democratic movement that makes any teabagger movement seen pathetic.

A lack of command.

At least it can. The fact that people showed up at these Scientology protests is important. That means there is indeed an Anonymous. Who they are isn't important. It's simply THAT they are. It keeps the internet in it's current form but asks it to evolve beyond it's digital restraints. Making the internet a far more powerful force than simply information recollection, but now we can see that it can have a conscious and not even be aware of it.


So if Anonymous is really watching the internet and I have message for Anonymous:

Watch yourselves. Keep going. People can't have the internet yet. It doesn't have to be owned or controlled, but move by natural courses of time. I don't know how much you power you have or if you have the power that you claim you have, but whatever power you have remember responsibility. Keep fighting I guess. You might end up a paradoy of yourself, or a shell of the former self of whatever the hell the "collective" is. But whats important that you remain an idea. An idea is the only thing that they can't touch. Whatever target you chose, the idea is your saving grace. Blameless, relentless, and anonymous. Remember there are common enemies that everyone has, just make sure you get the right target. Your motives are pure, but power corrupts.

Have fun. Someone will always be watching I guess. Myself included. I just hope knowledge of your existence isn't the cause of your destruction or misuse.


Command Image: War Commands

Why did you resign?

Okay. I will be very very brief. So AMC remade the Prisoner.

Normally, I'm in huge defender of updates and remakes. I generally see nothing wrong with old ideas being reformed for contemporary times as long as it remains true to the original ideas and captures the nature of it's predecessor. Especially with an old show like The Prisoner, which is hard show to watch.



The Prisoner, the original, is about a secret agent (Patrick McGoohan, the brain behind the show) who resigns from his job and then wakes up in a strange place called the Village where is called No. 6. The Village is run by No. 2 who tries to find new ways of getting information out of No. 6, particularly the reason why No. 6 resigned. No. 6 tries to escape and uncover the the mysteries of The Village such as, who do they work for and who is No. 1.

I won't go into how much I love the 1967 show.

The new Prisoner misses. It completely misses of why No. 6 is in the Village. It seems the whole point of the show was just to have No. 6 accept the Village. They never explain why he's a prisoner.

It doesn't bother asking who is No. 1. Nor does it give No. 2 any reason for keeping No. 6 in the Village. There is too much revealed to the audience about No. 2 which is a mistake because No. 2 isn't really supposed to be a person. I was okay with only having one No. 2 (because in the original No. 2 changes every episode). No. 2 is supposed significant and powerful...but not all powerful and certainly not very human. The only aspect of No. 2's humanity should come from his job as No. 2 which is to break No. 6 and the frustrations of No. 2's failure to do so.

Part of the problem is the purpose of No. 6's incarceration and the need for No. 2 to interrogate him. "Why did you resign?"

The new show deals with the metaphor of No. 6's resistance to conformity but doesn't. No. 6 really doesn't struggle with it. What I mean is that, No. 6 represents the epitome of individuality and all of it's flaws and the Village is the crippling comfort of conformity. The new No. 6 doesn't resist, nor toy with the system. He barely tries to escape. In the mini-series, he seems to just do what he is told.

Perhaps it is the way James Caviezel performance felt a little too melancholy and not determined. McGoohan was far from a brilliant actor, but he had a stoic presence that was captivating and charismatic. Caviezel just looked like he was bummed about the whole thing.

All in all, in my opinion, the Village is supposed to make you feel trapped. Not isolated.

While I applaud AMC for it's bravery for giving this a shot, they should have studied the 1967 show and tried to actually update it, rather than try and make the show a gimmick.

My advice. Stick with the 1967 show...if you want. It's a hard enough show to like without watching the remake.

Be seeing you.


Command Image: The Prisoner Commands

In Defense of...Hockey.

We here at Lack of Command are proud debut a new series to our chronicles of insanity entitled "In Defense of..."


Whenever the notion strikes us, we will take an aspect or issue that at best doesn't get the respect it deserves. We will present our subjective love for such things in the most unbiased way possible, dissecting the reasons against, while presenting reasons for. We will also invite you to add your two cents, feel free to comment on this blog or elsewhere, and we just may revisit the defense. Who knows, you might change our minds.


Our inaugural induction will be the defense of America's fourth sport, hockey.


HOCKEY



What’s wrong with hockey, America? Seriously? The other night I watched a game while at the gym (yeah, I go to the gym.) I was quite excited to watch the Washington Capitals vs. Philadelphia Flyers. A game I have no vested interest in seeing other than to watch some damn good hockey. What inspired me to take up the cause of hockey is that I had to ask the guy to change the channel to hockey.


Now, being in New York in the middle of the World Series, if baseball was on I wouldn’t bother. It is my opinion that early season games of one sport take a back seat to the post season of another, I think any sports fan agrees with this. I wouldn’t like it if someone wanted to switch from the Stanley Cup Playoffs to a pre-season Mets game.


However, what they were playing on ESPN? Poker. Seriously, ESPN was airing a game where the audience watches other people win money in a card game. This got me thinking, why doesn’t hockey get any love here in the states?


I’m not saying that hockey is somehow superior to other sports, I am saying that for my money, hockey is just as good as the other three. In terms of popularity or notoriety in the states, the big four are (in order) football, baseball, basketball and hockey. While I was on the treadmill, hating the fact that I was on a treadmill I asked myself, what about hockey doesn’t resonate with America? Here are a few reasons why Americans might be reluctant to embrace hockey:


1) Hockey isn’t an American sport.

The crux of the issue is that hockey A) was not invented by Americans or B) isn't dominated by American players. I would buy this point if the opposite were true for the other big three, but sadly it is not.


Football is based out of rugby which is about as American as Monty Python. Baseball’s roots have been traced back to England as well. In fact Basketball is the only sport with it’s official origin in America and was developed by a Canadian. Hockey is no less an invention of America than hamburgers and french fries.


In terms of Americans’ dominance of the sport, I truly don’t know where this misconception comes from, since a Canadian team hasn’t won the championship since 1993. For such a Canadian sport, there are only 6 teams out of 30 that call the Great White North home. What’s that? Oh it’s the players that aren’t American, like Yao Ming or David Ortiz right?


Sure the ratio to non-American hockey player to American hockey players is ridiculously in favor of non-American players, but is that legitimate reason to not watch a sport? Is it easier to cheer for a guy named Troy Polamalu over a guy named Sidney Crosby because the latter is not American? A fairly dubious argument.

A side note: With the Olympics coming up this year, Team USA is going to be one of the most exciting things to happen in the 2010 Olympics. It's a young team with a lot of heart and talent. They have the possibility of being the true underdogs of the Olympics. I encourage you all to tune into that.

So the "Un-American" argument doesn’t hold much water, unless you want to hold those same standards to ALL of the Big Four, which I sincerely doubt anybody would. So let’s move on, huh?


2) It’s a low scoring game.

Compared to what? How much different are baseball scores compared to hockey scores? Football has a lot of points sure, but imagine if every touchdown, conversion and field goal was worth one point. I suspect that, unless you’re watching Tom Brady take his frustrations out on the Tennessee Titans, the scores would look quite similar.


Basketball is the only acceptation, but when you think about it, the reason for that is simply because you’re not allowed to touch any player at any time. They call fouls for looking at a guy the wrong way. If that’s your idea of a good sport where a fast moving game screeches to halt because Lebron accidentally face palms Kobe, that’s your right.


3) It’s a game you actually have to pay attention to.

This is a point that hasn’t been presented to me, rather a theory that I conjured up, and it’s one of the reasons why I think that soccer (that’s right, I’m calling it soccer) and hockey are sort of in the same vein in terms of American “watchability.”


Think about watching football and baseball, it’s something you can easily watch at a bar or at a party. They are social sports. You can be engaged in a deep philosophical discussion during a baseball game and you won’t miss any action. You can be at a party playing beer pong, and still catch the big passes of the Superbowl.


In hockey, the big plays happen instantly. Blink and you’ll miss the great goal, the sick pass, or the nasty hip check. Play does not stop very often, certainly not as often as baseball, and when it does the stops are certainly not as long as football. This doesn’t really lend itself to drinking games or involved discussions during play. I seriously doubt however, that any sports fan would take this a knock against the sport.


So now that I’ve shaken you’re initial reluctance to the sport of hockey against your favorite sport, allow me to share with you the reasons why hockey may not deserve your fanatical devotion, but at the very least your respect.



Keep in mind that compilation is just from this past week in the early 2009-10 hockey season. You want finesse goals? Dramatic saves? Dynamic team plays? Brutal checks? Hockey as a sport, has it all.

Do yourself a favor and tune in January 1st for the Winter Classic in Boston. The NHL goes all out for this event as they pick a city to host an outdoor hockey game. The venue is usually something identifiable to the city, last year was at Wrigley Field, with the Chicago Blackhawks taking on Detroit Red Wings. This year, the Boston Bruins will take on the Philadelphia Flyers at Fenway Park. Should be some "old time hockey." What do I mean by "Old Time Hockey?"





So I propose a question to you, loyal follower(s), what does football/baseball/basketball have that hockey doesn't? If you're a sports fan, why not watch hockey?


Command Image: Missile Command

The beginning and the end: A random rant about albums.

I don't know how most people judge a music album when they first plug it in. I know that there are many variables to consider, such as how much do you liked the previous album, if this is their debut, who recommended it, etc... I think what makes people's musical taste differ is expectations. Those expectations are usually drawn from either what you know already or what you have been told. For example, if I were to recommend to a Brian Eno fan the new Sunn O))) album simply because it is "ambient like Eno," someone is going to be surprised (By the way, any Eno fans...check out the new Sunn O))) album). Meaning that, what I told the Eno fan wasn't a lie, it just wasn't the whole truth.

I, on the other hand, do take people's word for it a lot of times because I trust their music tastes, or rather I trust their knowledge of my own tastes. But, when I'm searching alone, and by alone I mean flying blindly into an album because it was on some internet Top Ten list, I always feel a little anxious but I think I've discovered my criteria in whether or not I like an album. It's either the first track or the last track.

Now, this standard applies with most albums that I consider to be my all-time favorite. From Pink Floyd to Earth. From Neurosis to Blackalicious. Usually my favorite of those favorite are the albums that connect the beginning from the end (Pink Floyd - Animals, Earth - Pentastar: in the style of demons, Leftover Crack - Fuck World Trade or any Frank Zappa album to name a few). But I wonder if my philosophy is flawed. How many albums have I discarded because the first song didn't do it for me? Note: I'm not including the 30 second intro track that a lot of good albums have.

Not to say that albums with solid beginnings and endings are the only good songs on the album. But I find when I'm new to a band or an album, I typically judge it by the first and last tracks. Harvey Milk, The Arcade Fire and Sonic Youth are good indicators of that.

Music is really the only medium that allows for these kind of lazy techniques. Movies and books can sure be tainted be a shitty beginning or end, but I'm still willing to take the journey with a little more vigor if they don't open strong than with a music album.


Now what so important about the beginning of an album to me is not necessarily to "wow" me. But to set me up for whats to come. Either buckle up or chill. The problem some albums run into is that the albums are too front heavy. I can get half-way through Choking Victims - No Gods, No Managers, and not be bothered with the rest of the album.

The point I want to make is the construction of an album is a delicate art that I don't understand. All I know is if I like the beginning I'm sold. If I don't, you better knock me out with that last track.

Command Image: Pushing command!

Killing of Mailmen

So what I wanted to do is write about sitcoms or the new Shrinebuilder track. But instead I'm going vomit this at you, dear public. I simply can't help it.

Take a look at this video.




Your politics towards health care is not really relevant to me, but what this video shows is that the people who say inspiring words such as: "Abolish all health care" or "expand medicare rather than Obamacare," it makes it difficult for me to take you guys seriously. I wonder, where are you getting all of this? Where in the world is this coming from?

Notice how this name keeps popping up. Glenn Beck.

Okay. You know the guy. Unfortunately if you are a quasi-rational person, you would absolutely know that this guy is a journalist in the same way that I'm a journalist. A guy who reads whatever crazy shit he finds on the internet and present it as fact.

No, he's far worse than your average lazy blogger. He delivers it as more than fact but as warnings. He brings an apocalyptic doom in his rants and demands that people do something about it. He often compares himself as a modern day Howard Beale (our unofficial and *cough* unlicensed mascot here at Lack of Command). He makes this comparison due to his "mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore" attitude towards the news Glenn Beck has clearly never seen the whole movie nor clearly has he ever read the full monologue. Beale says things need to change, where as Beck seems to only say things need to stop.

What I don't think he realizes is that a call for things to stop, for some people means a call to go backwards. So he uses the same tactics as McCarthy, getting Czars fired, protests started, and people's fears (whether legitimate or not) to shift to blind anger.

AP posted today that a man in Kentucky was lynched. He was a census worker and according to the report: the word "Fed" was sketched on his body.

So we're back to this are we? I understand the anger, I can even understand the hatred. Lord knows, I called for the head of George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. With some degree of seriousness as well. Not in the sense where I really wanted to see them in the gallows, but I definitely wanted justice. Now, just because I felt anger and hatred, I didn't kill the fucking mail man!

A message to Republicans: to whoever wants to be the leading canidate in the 2012 presidential election needs to stand up now and demonize this kind of behavior. Honestly too. But you won't will you? After all, when George Tiller was killed this summer (in CHURCH of all places), what did you do? You all pretty much said: murder is wrong, but there's a special place in hell for him anyway. Or how about Joe Wilson? Shouting at a joint session of Congress at the President and than touting that line as a battle cry. You allowed it.

This is what happens when hatred meets stupid.

What happened? Where are the smart people on the right? The problem is the religious right has taken over. The only problem is we didn't see this coming but we should have. They've bullied and muscled there way on to the school boards, on to the library boards and community chairs. They did it quietly in some places. So they get to advance and give suction to those who were beneath them and agree with them on "moral standpoints." And used a media system and a "scorched earth" political tactic. Filling people with the idea of: it's us or them.

That mentality has carried over into the nut house.

This is may just be an isolated incident. I hope so. But this one incident to me is one too many. I desperately want there to be "have you decency, sir?" within the Republican party to oust these guys away from the megaphone, like in the McCarthy era. Here's the thing, I don't want it to get to that point. I don't want there to be another McCarthy era. Or another blacklist. Nor another Civil War.

Is it racism? Probably. Is it an irrational fear and anger towards the federal government? Probably. Is it people being poor and not having anyone to blame for that fact? Probably.

I don't know how to fix this. I wish I did. I thought that if someone could only show them that they are incorrect in their conclusions but welcome to the process, we would be done with all of this. All I know is that we as a society have to move past this. We have to grow beyond these all too familiar cycles. We have to be able to trust ourselves and each other. After something like this happens, it damages that trust I have for people and almost destroys any sort of hope I have for a better country or a better human race.

Only time time will tell how this will play out but we've seen this happen before. We need to change it before it gets that bad again. The killing of mailmen just because they are mailmen is the type of hatred that lacks all logic.

Anyway. We now return to our regulary scheduled program. Just pay attention. And remember, keeping your moral high ground is the most important when the stupid and the crazy lose theirs.




Command image: Mailman Command