Sunday, November 14, 2010

D-FENSDOGG: ‘LOYAL AMERICAN UNDERGROUND’ (Or, “HAPPY McBIRTHDAY, JOE!”)

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"[Senator Joseph] McCarthy is a former Marine. He was an amateur boxer. He's Irish. Combine those and you're going to have a vigorous individual, who won't be pushed around. ... Certainly, he is a controversial man. He is earnest and he is honest. He has enemies. Whenever you attack subversives of any kind, ... you are going to be the victim of the most extremely vicious criticism that can be made".
~ FBI Director, J. Edgar Hoover

On November 14th, 1908, in Grand Chute township, outside the city of Appleton in upstate Wisconsin, future Senator of the United States of America, Joseph R. McCarthy was born.

In other words, today is his birthday.
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But since I am currently somewhat too intoxicated to compose a blog bit about it... I am going to postpone this blog bit until tomorrow. Return tomorrow when you will hear me say: "Consarn it all! Who turned the lights out on me?"
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NOVEMBER 15, 2010:

Consarn it all! Who turned the lights out on me?

Wow! So that's what people mean when they say “drunk as a skunk”, eh? OK, I got it now.

Sheesh! That stuff’ll really sneak up on ya, huh? That was like suddenly getting whacked in the back of the head with a bag of wine ‘n’ whiskey bottles and one 24 ounce can of Coors beer!

I’m just genuinely thankful to God that I was sober enough to realize how drunk I was so that I quit while I was still slightly ahead. That coulda gone very badly.

I suppose I could have returned here today and said that I was merely “jesticulating” last night and wasn’t really intoxicated at all, but I see no reason to lie about it when I can just as easily pin it on Andy Anderson and say that it was all his fault for killing himself.

Alright then, let me see if I can’t finish this fight that I started last night just before everything went dark on me.

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE BLOG BIT . . .

[In grade school I was taught that one ought never begin an essay with the word “I”, but being as big a “maverick” as was Senator Joseph McCarthy, I begin this blog bit with...]

I can scarcely believe what little curiosity the two regular readers of my blog have. Prior to August, 2010, the “signature block” I used for most of my blog comments was:

~ Stephen
"As a dog returns to his own vomit,
so a fool repeats his folly."

~ Proverbs 26:11

But after August of 2010, I began signing off on most of my blog comments with:

~ D-FensDogg
‘Loyal American Underground’

Not one of my friends and loyal “Followers” ever bothered to ask me: “What does ‘D-FensDogg’ and ‘Loyal American Underground’ mean?”

Well, I’m about to answer the question that none of you non-curiosity-havin’ readers never asked. -- [Hmmm...? What did he say? What language was that?]

D-FENSDOGG:

OK, so what happened last August that inspired me to change my blog comment “signature block”? I read the excellent and extremely important book ‘TAKEN INTO CUSTODY: The War Against Fathers, Marriage, And The Family’ by Stephen Baskerville, PhD. This is a book that I urge all people concerned about the American family unit and the preservation of Constitutional rights to read... and soon!

While reading this book last August I came across the following passage on page 250:

“Recall that in the original Angry White Male movie, Falling Down, it was partly a restraining order preventing him from seeing his little girl that launched the Michael Douglas character on his slash-and-burn rampage through downtown Los Angeles,” writes Kate Zernike. “Many divorced father’s groups are about as subtle.”

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Ah, yes, ‘Falling Down’ – that movie hadn’t crossed my mind for many years. I saw it in a movie theatre when it was released in 1993. From what I was able to recall of it, I judged it a very flawed movie that pretty much fell completely apart beginning with the scene when William Foster (Michael Douglas), the unemployed defense worker, encounters Nick, the neo-Nazi Army surplus store owner.

But the one scene that still stood out in my mind was where Foster comes across the city workers tearing up a street and inconveniencing everyone solely in order to spend money so as to maintain the size of their department's budget the following year. I nearly cheered out loud in the theatre during that scene because, as a Los Angeleno, I saw that exact thing happening ALL THE FREAKIN’ TIME! Heck, the department I worked for at UCLA used to do it too!

Later in ’93, I moved to Prescott, Airheadzona, and I remember telling my co-worker buddy “Big D” about that scene and how much the movie ‘Falling Down’ truly captured life in Los Angeles in the 1990s.

So, after reading ‘Taken Into Custody’, I put the movie ‘Falling Down’ in my Netflix queue and saw it shortly thereafter. I was knocked out! Yes, I still thought the scene with the neo-Nazi was over-the-top ridiculous, however, contrary to how I remembered things, the movie did NOT fall completely apart after that scene, and in fact, my opinion of the entire movie has completely turned around! Overall, I think it is a great movie and I immediately purchased a copy of it on DVD!

If for no other reason, ‘Falling Down’ should be seen by everyone for two scenes in particular: 1) The aforementioned bit when Foster encounters the city street maintenance crew, and 2) the scene when Foster encounters the socially “superior” country club golfer. Ha! I now rate ‘Falling Down’ amongst my favorite movies, but those two scenes alone are worth the price of admission!

The movie did slightly weasel out on the full strength of the statement that it might have made by showing William Foster to have a somewhat short-fuse temper, but considering the politically correct atmosphere of Hollywood, it’s actually rather amazing that ‘Falling Down’ ever got made at all!

And it was interesting to see the movie so soon after having read 2007’s ‘Taken Into Custody’ because it was apparent that as far back as 1993, the ‘Falling Down’ screenplay was on the cutting edge of family matters in America. In his book, Stephen Baskerville focuses on how divorced women are usually granted sole custody of their children and can control and dictate the “visiting rights” of the father even when there is no history of violence on the part of the male. This is highlighted in ‘Falling Down’ even to the point of a police officer’s skepticism when Foster’s ex-wife implies that he “could” “potentially” be violent, even though he had never inflicted physical violence on his wife or child.

Baskerville also mentions in his book that some researchers are convinced that murder by a mother’s deliberate “smothering” accounts for a significant amount of what commonly gets labeled “Sudden Infant Death Syndrome” (SIDS). This seems to be alluded to toward the very end of ‘Falling Down’, in a discussion between Foster and Detective Prendergast (Robert Duvall).

William Foster’s personalized license plate, which assists Detective Prendergast in his effort to identify and track down Foster, is “D-FENS”. And that’s how I came by the nickname “D-FensDogg”. The “Dogg” part is primarily a tribute to my old Amazon.com buddy A-DogG, but also an attempt to say it loud: “I’m Black and I’m proud!”
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I suppose one might say that "D-FensDogg" is just another way of saying "Watchdog". And that's how I think of myself - as a watchdog who signals the alert when he sees our liberty and the American way of life being destroyed.

Now, I’m not saying, of course, that everyone ought to take the law into their own hands like William “D-Fens” Foster did. Am I? Well, no, I don’t believe I am. But, I’m just sayin’ . . .

‘LOYAL AMERICAN UNDERGROUND’:

Now, as for the ‘Loyal American Underground’ part, what you need to know is that during Senator Joe McCarthy’s heyday, when he was tracking down communists that had infiltrated the United States government and was scaring allah’s unholy trousers off the Democrat and Republican Establishment because he was a maverick and a loose cannon who was sure to eventually blow the lid off the whole “New World Order” agenda if he wasn’t stopped, there was a small group of informants and whistleblowers within the International Information Administration (I.I.A.) who secretly apprised McCarthy of facts that the Elite “New World Order” folks wanted to keep under wraps. [Was that a run-on sentence?] In other words, this accounted for some of the “leaks” by which McCarthy was able to acquire suppressed information about subversives within our government, and these genuinely patriotic whistleblowers who assisted Senator McCarthy called themselves “The Loyal American Underground”.

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I really like that! I like the whole idea of patriots referring to themselves as a “Loyal American Underground” (LAU). And so I decided to resurrect that name and apply it to myself and all other true American Constitutionalists who wish to see our nation returned to the principles that our Founding Fathers worked so hard and intelligently to establish for us.

THE ‘LOYAL AMERICAN UNDERGROUND’ RIDES AGAIN!

And you, my ferret-faced fascist friends, are riding with me! Give me liberty or give me death! One if by land, two if by sea! Four score and seven years ago! There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root! They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety! The Supreme Court has made its decision, now let it enforce it! In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem, government IS the problem! The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants! I am not a vigilante; I am just trying to get home to my little girl's birthday party and if everyone will just stay out of my way, nobody will get hurt!

OK, OK, so I got a little carried away. But didja like that last one? Those were the words of William “D-Fens” Foster. Ride on, my ferret-faced Loyal American Underground

dot-compatriots, ride on!
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
‘Loyal American Underground’

YE OLDE COMMENT POLICY: All comments, pro and con, are welcome. However, ad hominem attacks and disrespectful epithets will not be tolerated (read: "posted"). After all, this isn’t Amazon.com, so I don’t have to put up with that kind of bovine excrement.

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13 comments:

  1. If I were intoxicated I don't know if I would have been able to put up all those pictures like you did. That was pretty good.

    Lee
    Tossing It Out

    ReplyDelete
  2. ARLEE BOID ~
    Yeah, that was pretty good, huh?

    Actually, Bro, I uploaded the photos FIRST, before attempting to type anything. Then just after I started the "writing" part, someone sneaked in here and jumbled up all the letters on my computer keyboard. Didn't get a look at who the culprit was but he sure made a mess of things!

    It's been a long time since I've had a typing test, but ordinarily I think I type faster than the majority of "blokes" do. I'm sure I can do at least 100 words per minute and perhaps even slightly more. But last night, suddenly I found myself typing about 3 words per five minutes and it then occurred to me that I was "all in".

    I wanted to get something written and posted so as to preserve that "November 14" posting date - McC's birthday. But even what little I got done was a tremendous struggle. It was maybe the greatest physical feat I've ever accomplished. If I weren't the athlete that I am, I would have passed out first.
    ;o)

    Let's see now, where was I?...

    ~ D-FensDogg
    'Loyal American Underground'

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  3. I've never seen you intoxicated, Stephen...that would be a sight!

    I just get goofy-no one knows the difference.

    LC

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  4. DISCDUDE ~
    Well, there's Tombstone next week... Mwah!-Ha!-Ha!
    ;o)

    Actually, Bro, it ain't all that spectacular a sight. I do a pretty decent job of "maintaining" most of the time, so unless you yourself were 100% sober, you might not even realize that I was "laminated".

    ~ D-FensDogg
    'Loyal American Underground'

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  5. Stephen,

    The revised bit was very nice. I wish i had the mental capacity to write two blog bits at the same time.

    Just a comment on the revised signature. I did notice it a while back and even tried to google it, thinking i had missed out on the party. I guess i did, had I lived in the 50's. Anyhow there were no hits when I searched. For some reason I really wanted to join.

    Thanks for the background info and for the continued FFFF bits.

    Steve in Seattle

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  6. I never questioned the new signature cause it just seemed you. I understood the implied generalities, but now you explained the specifics and I now understand exactly.
    Falling Down is a favorite of mine too. I own a copy and have watched it every few years since the movie came out. I fared better in my divorce as far as my kids went but I sympathized with the character in the movie for that and especially for all of the other crap he (we) has to put up with in the movie.

    Lee
    Tossing It Out

    ReplyDelete
  7. SEATTLE STEVE ~
    Thanks for the complimentary comment, Brother!

    >>...I wish i had the mental capacity to write two blog bits at the same time.

    Ha! I wish I did too.
    I had to cheat to accomplish this.
    But anyone can do it. Just combine into one stomach Old Crow, Claret, and Coors until a kind of multi-directional/multi-personality state is achieved. Then write.

    But beware the morning after.
    . .
    o
    ___ -- "I needs some Hair O'Dog!"


    ARLEE BOID ~
    No, no! Too late. You had your chances!
    ;o)

    Yeah, I remembered that "Falling Down" was a favorite of yours, and that's why I suggested that you check out my "completed" woik. (Thanks for doing so.)

    ~ Stephen
    "As a dog returns to his own vomit,
    so a fool repeats his folly."
    ~ Proverbs 26:11


    [For old time's sake.]

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  8. Brother,
    Sorry I didn't give you a call like promised last week. I have a good excuse, as my wife gave birth to our second child. This was a two day event that included an emergency C section as they coded my little one (who made it and is in good health I might add). Stressful times that all worked out OK. I didn't forget my brother, I just had a lot on my plate, and I figured my reserve time and energy was better spent praying.

    Br'er Marc

    P.S. I love the blog bit, and as always I read every word.

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  9. BR'ER MARC ~
    I'm sorry, my friend, but the birth of a child is not found on our list of 'Acceptable Excuses'. Of course, if you can bring us a blueberry pie, a bottle of Thunderbird and a note from your doctor, we might - MIGHT - be able to look the other way... just this once.

    Hey, congratulations, Brother! You're 2/9ths of the way to a full baseball team!

    What name did you give The Babe? Ruth? That's a Biblical 'n' baseball name.

    Hey, how come you got two and I ain't even got one? That ain't fair. I think you ought to send me your first-born just to make it even Stephen. You can put him in the same box with the pie, T-bird and Dr.'s note - save on postage.

    But no, but no, but no... SERIOUSLY!... Congratulations, Dada! Glad to hear the good news, Br'er Marc!

    ~ Stephen
    "As a dog returns to his own vomit,
    so a fool repeats his folly."
    ~ Proverbs 26:11

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  10. Regarding Falling Down - I think it's an excellent movie, though I believe I first approached it from a slightly different angle. At the time I was heavily involved in debating feminists online - very very dedicated feminists, women's studies types, lesbian separatists, etc.etc.etc. The Men's Rights backlash was just really gaining steam and I was involved in that too - considering that through a great deal of objective data I had been (and am) convinced of the fact that men are given a raw deal under the law as regards "women's issues" (rape and domestic violence) and divorce, and so forth. Now you have to keep in mind on the one hand I'm dealing with objective data from courts and insidious laws like VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) which provides solely for women; on the other hand I'm dealing with a bunch of femitarts who considered a woman like me posting on their message boards - the NOW boards (not that they ever really believed I was a woman) - was the literal equivalent of rape.

    So Michael Douglas has subtly dealt with a LOT of men's issues versus women's issues from a sensible man's perspective. There was the one where he was sexually harassed by Demi Moore, there was War of the Roses, and there was Falling Down, to name 3. There is a scene in that movie where the cops are talking to the ex, Barbara Hershey, and she acknowledges that no, he never actually hit her, but...but...but damnit, she was pretty sure that he MIGHT. Thus she got everything plus sole custody, right? Typical of what goes on every day in this country. That a man could reach a breaking point in this world gone mad was not taking too far of a stretch - one man, denied access to his children by a vindictive ex, ended up shooting the judge involved in the case. No, of course I know how wrong that is, but you can *understand* how someone can be driven to utter desperation. Hell, a man who doesn't pay enough child support not only ends up in jail, he is also put on the terrorist watch list ffs. Lives are ruined all the time, and "must arrest" laws regarding Domestic Violence lead to many innocent men who have been attacked being carted off to jail for the crime of being hit over the head with a chair. (Men will more often use their fists, but women will more often use the element of surprise, weapons, poison, etc.) And then the Duluth Model upon which the laws are based force that man into classes that teach him what a privileged male swine he is and how he harms women by virtue of his very existence.

    So in Falling Down (and I agree the weapon-dealer guy was a ridiculous caricature) you get to see a man who really has been driven to the breaking point, and based on nothing but the vague sensibility his wife has that he might someday raise a hand to her.

    At any rate it's a really good movie, right up until the part, I think, where he asks in genuine bewilderment..."I'm the bad guy?" Yes, and you would be even if you'd done nothing because you're a MAN. Heh.

    So there's my take on Falling Down; and naturally I pretty much agree with your political assessment as well.

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  11. Anniee -- Amen! You totally got that right!

    Lee
    Tossing It Out

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  12. ANNIEE ~
    Don't despair - your guardian angel was watching out for you! I found your "majorly long and detailed comment" right there in the file next to your "Holy Crap" comment, both waiting to be approved or deleted (I approved 'em, as you can see.)
    :o)

    And what a GREAT COMMENT it was, too!

    We are both on the same page for sure. When the movie first hit the theatres, I was not nearly as informed about this "male rights vs. female favoring judicial system" as I am now, so the movie didn't have quite the impact for me then as it does today. I have since read LOTS of books on Feminism and Male Rights (even though I've never been married), and so we definitely see eye-to-eye on all that you commented upon!

    And I have had similar types of debates with similar types of people, so I get where you're coming from there, too. An objective debate with that type of liberal is nearly impossible because facts will never trump ideology in their own assessments. In other words, those types are "intellectually dishonest" and not worth the breath it takes to argue with them.

    -->...There is a scene in that movie where the cops are talking to the ex, Barbara Hershey, and she acknowledges that no, he never actually hit her, but...but...but damnit, she was pretty sure that he MIGHT. Thus she got everything plus sole custody, right?

    EXACTLY! That's the very scene I had in mind when I posted this:

    ..."In his book, Stephen Baskerville focuses on how divorced women are usually granted sole custody of their children and can control and dictate the “visiting rights” of the father even when there is no history of violence on the part of the male. This is highlighted in ‘Falling Down’ even to the point of a police officer’s skepticism when Foster’s ex-wife implies that he “could” “potentially” be violent, even though he had never inflicted physical violence on his wife or child.

    YOU: -->..."must arrest" laws regarding Domestic Violence lead to many innocent men who have been attacked being carted off to jail for the crime of being hit over the head with a chair.

    You are so correct, and those "must arrest" laws piss me off so much. I could write an entire (long) blog bit about what is wrong with "must arrest" laws!

    -->...At any rate it's a really good movie, right up until the part, I think, where he asks in genuine bewilderment..."I'm the bad guy?"

    I totally agree, except I would push the mark forward by about 5 minutes. I think it's a really good movie up until they show "D-Fens" watching that old VHS tape where he is getting angry because his daughter is crying that she doesn't want to ride on the pony and D-Fens and his wife are arguing about the situation.

    That's what I was alluding to in my remark: "The movie did slightly weasel out on the full strength of the statement that it might have made by showing William Foster to have a somewhat short-fuse temper..." That and the earlier scene where his own mother says that sometimes she sees this terrible anger in his eyes.

    I feel the filmmaker was trying to "pull his punch" a little bit in those instances and maybe toss a bone to the Feminist dogs, knowing in advance how much that segment of society was going to scream bloody murder about the overall message of this movie.

    But those minor missteps aside, I think it was an excellent movie and one that in many ways was very cutting edge and even slightly ahead of its time.

    And I also think your comment was EXCELLENT. Thanks for submitting it, Anniee. It always makes me a little hopeful when I encounter a woman who doesn't let her own gender interfere with her judgment about what is right and wrong when it comes to these hot-button male/female issues.

    Very well said by you!

    ~ D-FensDogg
    'Loyal American Underground'

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  13. Try it again, but next time without the profanity, Private Zodscum.
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    ~ D-FensDogG
    'Loyal American Underground'

    ReplyDelete

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