Category Archives: Cargo Cult

The Republican Cargo Cult : Explaining the GOP’s “Turn Back the Clock” Obsession.

05 Wednesday Jun 2013

Posted by in 1980's, 21st Century Political Movements, A Piece of the Action, Afghan Massacre, Benghazi Attacks., Cargo Cult, Cargo Cult Republican's, Dystopia, International Politics, John Frumm, Republican Cargo Cult, Republican insanity, revisionist reality, Right wing extremism, The Tea party, War in Afghanistan

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What are Cargo Cult Republicans? Cargo Cult Republicans are those whose behavior and beliefs have devolved into a quasi-religious mindset towards Modern American Conservatism revolving around the 1980’s and Ronald Reagan in an

The Republicans View of Reagan

idealized, ritualized and unrealistic way. The influence of this aspect of modern American Conservatism is palpable yet there has been very little discussion of it.
The classic historical Cargo Cult refers to a quasi-religious phenomenon that arose on the isolated pacific islands used as bases by various militaries during the Second World War. The native islanders in places like Papua, New Guinea had not had much contact with the outside world. Their ways of viewing the day to day world included a good dose of the paranormal. If someone got sick, perhaps a curse had been put upon them. Flood? Famine? Perhaps the villagers aren’t living up to the standards of their pantheon of deities. A thumbnail description would be that they fed the Volcano to pacify the gods,

who were surely a bit crazy.
After the Second World War began in the Pacific the lives of the native islanders were subject to massive culture shock. Literally overnight and literally out of the sky in the form of shiny silver airplanes as well as great iron beasts from the sea came the mid-20th century. None of the previous limited contacts with outsiders provided a frame of reference for what transpired on their islands, their very world, as emerged over the weeks following arrival of troops from both sides of the conflict. To these isolated natives the idea that an internal combustion engine would spin gears and operate pistons to spin a propeller to power a vehicle capable of carrying goods or people was inconceivable. Imagine and bringing a flashlight, cigarette lighter and .9mm pistol via time traveling helicopter to Dark Ages Europe to get any sort of grip on this.
To the natives of islands such as those of New Guinea the planes were not machines but great beasts akin to hollow metal dragons. They were summoned from the sky by rituals at a holy temple, or as we would call it, a Military Airfield. The “rituals” were the day to day operations of the base. Waiving in incoming planes with flags and lighting runways. Groups of identically clad men marching in formation, sometimes firing their bang sticks!!

members of the John Frumm Cargo Cult in New Guinea imitating American soldiers in the hopes of bringing wealth from the sky

In the wake of the Second World War these isolated bases were mostly abandoned and life, for the natives, returned to ‘normal’. But it was a ‘New Normal’. They had become accustomed to the gleaming aluminum dragons regularly summoned by the clergy (read: US Navy Sea Bees) with the sacred relics (read: radios, landing lights and parades). No longer were the great beasts from the air and sea disgorging the cargo they desired. Gone was the supply of canned goods, textiles and the giant crates that had seemed like enormous wooden eggs that birthed the coveted “cargo”.
In a turn of events still being studied by sociologists and historians, the Cargo Cults emerged. The natives formed into cults of sorts and imitated in ritualistic fashion the actions of the men who had summoned the great beats and cargo from the sky. Coconuts were fashioned into radio headsets, bamboo control towers were created. Uniformly dressed men marched in ritual manners similar to

A replica Second World War plane used in John Frum Movements rituals. Is the GOP Elephant now an equivalent Trojan Horse of Willful Blindness?

the military drills they had seen under the mistaken belief that by simply doing so they themselves would please the gods of the sky and bring down the shiny metal beasts filled with goodies. These beliefs were personified in the form of an image of an American World War 2 Sailor, frequently portrayed as African American, known as “John Frum”. Think of him as a sort of Santa-Jesus type. British occupied areas developed similar cults based on an idealized perception of Prince Phillip.
The John Frumm Movement and Prince Phillip Movement still exist today in New Guinea. Despite the fact that these places slowly became less isolated and were slowly but steadily overtaken by rational explanations of the outside world some still cling to the Cargo Cult beliefs. In the case of the Prince Phillip society egotistical detachment from reality is shared by the object of their affection. Prince Phillip perhaps unwittingly endorses the cult’s beliefs by sending gifts and autographs. This leads to the inevitable conclusion that what is really needed, by the prince and his worshipers, is some help handling a brutal but needed dose of reality. This need also applies to early 21st Century Tea party Republicans. Ritualized Reaganistic Worldview has become a meme accepted by most Republicans, albeit for the most part unknowingly.

The Gangster Planet featured in the Original Star Trek Episode “A Piece of the Action” is an illustration of a classic “Cargo Cult”. One of the shows most popular episodes and most Americans only glimpse at Cargo Cults;

The “gangster planet” from the original Star Trek is probably the most familiar depiction of a Cargo Cult to most Americans

where an isolated planet had been exposed to 23rd century technology by earlier space travelers. When the Enterprise arrives a generation later they find an entire culture influenced by a book the first contactor’s left behind about 1920’s gangster culture in places like Chicago and New York. By looking, dressing and acting like the gangsters they read about the natives of Sigma Iota IV were attempting to make a great leap forward by throwing themselves feet first into imitating a society that had been outlined in book that to them seemed a blue print to the “cargo” they had seen accompanying the first earthmen they met, technology and abilities that would provide for worry free prosperity.
How does this apply to early 21st century American Conservatism? The Republican Party is now packed with under qualified ideologues, who espouse an unrealistic image of a worry free past, in this case, the Go Go 1980’s.

The images of John Frum (a bastardization of “John From America”) and Prince Phillip associated with the Cargo Cults of the South Pacific have been replaced by an idealized, unrealistic image of Ronald Reagan. Like John Frumm, Ritual Reagan is a demi god who summoned “Cargo” (read: Worry free prosperity) through rituals that included sparring with the Russians, bellicose military threats and a somewhat narrow social view and an overemphasis on an extreme interpretation of “Christian” thought.
To one degree or another every single modern conservative is a member of a Reagan oriented Cargo Cult. The Cargo Cult mentality has threaded its way into every aspect of current Republican narrative.
The Cargo Cult Volcano God demands certain sacrifices be made lest it grow angry and erupt. Among other things, it demands ritual.
Repeated mawkish Ritualistic displays by Romney during the 2012 Election and other leading Republicans have so far done nothing to dispel the validity of the Cargo Cult Assertion.
A right wing politician politician in the mold of Mitt Romney seizes upon every perceived advantage and this is no exception. It’s not a difficult role in its Ritualistic Form. There’s some passing physical resemblance, both coincidental and contrived between Romney and Reagan. Among these are their hair, approximate build and hypomanic personalities. Romney seems to be smugly emitting what he seemingly thinks is a subliminal puppet show where he plays Ritualized Reagan. Pushing on the physical he layers on a veneer of the cold warrior aspect of Reagan by strapping on the coconut headphones of some sort of bamboo transmitter and sending pugilistic messages to the Russians, who are clearly not a threat to the United States in 2012. Another Ritual Reagan rain dance is over emphasizing the level of danger posed by Iran. While an outlaw nation and a sponsor of terrorism, the current sanctions and global shunning seem to be worth sticking worth for a while to most Americans who are leery of another American Ground War in an unstable part of the world.

George H W Bush Dead; The Red Band Trailer

28 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by in #toc, 21st Century Political Movements, burning man cargo cult theme, Cargo Cult, Cargo Cults, Dead pool candidates, dealey plaza, Desert Storm, failed presidents, famous cargo cults, Famous Satanists, George HW Bush Dead, GeorgeHW Bush Improving, notable cargo cults, Political Cargo Cults, Political Satire, Politivians bound for Hell, presidents who sold souls, Psychic Predictions

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November 2018; as his stock continued to rise in the face of even more inept presidents, George HW Bush passed away from natural causes earlier today.

While in his time he was considered to be our second stupidest president his own son and of course BLOTUS Donald Trump have exceeded his ineptitude and pushed him into the ranks of “mediocre president”

Below is the original satirical obituary from SEVEN years ago, when it looked like he had little time left. He rallied back and lived to get accused of “Me-Too-ing” a couple of women, so he stayed current and maybe never really respected women. 

Former President George HW Bush, Dead at 88

Former President George HW Bush, Dead at 88

Former president George HW Bush passed away today, partially from Embarrassment upon getting what sources are calling “absolute genetic proof” he was in fact the father of subsequent president George W Bush.

“He had always suspected I had an affair because W was so slow;” a tearful former first lady Barbara Bush was quoted as saying.  Close friend William Bennett was reached at the Sands Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where he swears he isn’t under house arrest for nonpayment of gambling debts. “He had always held out hope George W was someone else’s son in spite of the obvious physical resemblance.” Bennett said. “He was a proud man and he never could come to terms with the mistake he made not punching his wife harder in the belly while she was pregnant with W. I guess knowing for sure W is his was the final insult. Let’s face it, any man would have felt the same.” Bennett had learned of the former presidents passing when he asked why the flags at Churchill Downs were at Half Mast while he was placing online bets.

In his book “Blackmail Photo’s, My Time Serving in the Reagan Administration”, former Secretary of the Treasury Donald Reagan said of the senior Bush,”Whenever W would come around George would make a point of saying he had barely been in town when the kid

hot granddaughter Jenna is considered one of George HW Bush's greatest accomplishments as 1/2 of the hottest first daughter team ever.

hot granddaughter Jenna is considered one of George HW Bush’s greatest accomplishments as 1/2 of the hottest first daughter team ever.

was conceived and if it was his he”probably should have shot that one into the sink.” Bush, known for naming his penis after prominent Olympians,  also occasionally claimed radioactive alien remains he came into contact with as CIA director (under our 4th most failed president of the last 50 years, fellow Republican Gerald R Ford) had “fucked up all my little Mark Spitz’s for awhile.”

He cited a time travel paradox as the reason he was able to retroactively create a birth defect in a son who already 20 years old and working towards his first DUI at the time the encounter occurred.  When asked if he was upset someone else may have made love to his wife Bush would often fork his fingers in front of his mouth, flick his tongue rapidly, wink and say “at least somebody is!”

Word has it he had been watching Fahrenheit 9-11 while huffing oxygen when in a massive attack of common sense he realized he had been saved by his own penis from the title of “Most Failed President of the last 50 Years not named Richard Nixon”. The Medical Examiner has listed “Embarrassment” as the initial cause of death.

UPDATE- The ‘election’ of Donald Trump has moved George HW Bush to 4th worst president

In addition to other things i will delve into when he actually DOES die is the fact that George the 1st was a much braver pilot than his son and a slightly better one than John McCain.

Unlike his son, Bush 1 loved war in a personal hands on way as well as killing by remote control. A dedicated servant of darkness, war and death were near and dear to Bush Sr’s heart.  He happily served in the Pacific Theater during World War 2 where he was notably shot down and sadly saved by a submarine that was unfortunately nearby, sealing America’s fate and blowing a great chance to let the Japanese save us from two terrible presidents in one fell swoop. Damn their terrible marksmanship!

We were literally like less than a foot from never having to deal with either of these guys. It makes what happened to Little Joe Kennedy all the more tragic. This in and of itself justifies the dropping of both atomic bombs despite the Japanese begging us to accept their surrender for three months previous.

a gleeful George HW Bush showing he's not embarrassed he had already been shot down twice

a gleeful George HW Bush showing he wasn’t embarrassed that he had already been shot down twice. Note the Devil Tail on the “Barbara III logo! Imagine being this guys tail gunner? Probably the inspiration  for the Star Wars Character ‘Dak’.

During the war Bush passed his time cheating at poker, fantasizing about new ways to fail at his combat missions and how to lose more crew members in the torpedo bomber he helmed. Unlike fellow Navy Pilot and insane right wing war loving maniac John McCain he almost always landed on the aircraft carrier without damaging his plane. Occasionally he would come back having actually completed his missions. Despite incompetence, poor vision and an inability to read a map sheer love of war was enough to motivate Bush to rain death and destruction down upon the helpless civilians in the final month of the war when Japanese resistance was almost nil. “Sure we bombed hospitals, orphanages and old folks homes, but sometimes we would hit a factory and really take it to the Tojo’s!” he wrote home to his mother in 1945. In the same letter he enclosed the severed ear of a kamikaze pilot whose body Bush had taken custody of after the attack. He promised “more to come, I’ve really been reading the heck out of them taxidermy books you an pa sent me.”

In other letters home he would recount combat experiences. To his then 8 year sister Bush wrote,”They look like ants running away from me and that’s sort of how i think of them. I have never enjoyed anything in my life so much as the smell of their roasting flesh as I fly back to the carrier over the devastation and burned out buildings that I helped to destroy for America. I sleep like a baby at night knowing I am doing the work of the Lord. The only thing  that scares me is the thought that someone might invent a bomb so powerful that it could blow up an entire city and end this turkey shoot. God I feel alive today!”

Obsessed with hatred for his Asiatic enemies, Bush read an article in Life Magazine about the Flying Tigers but was so drunk on coconut hooch he thought the Japanese were afraid of Demons instead of sharks. The next morning a hung over Bush painted up his plane, Beautiful Babs, like a gigantic Satanic Bat with blood dripping from its fangs. Felton Carmichael, an African American Steward and anti aircraft gunner who served with Bush remembered him as a profoundly racist rank puller whose twisted love of war disgusted his comrades. “He loved them fat girls,” Carmichael recalled, desperately searching for positive things to say about his former comrade in arms. He recounted how, drunk and flush with money won cheating at poker, a jubilant Bush once engaged him in a conversation about the perils of combat. “He pulled out his wallet and after he made sure to flash a wad of hundreds he pulled out a picture of his future wife and said ‘Would you fear death if you had THIS waiting for you at home?’ He really was let down when the war ended,” recalled Carmichael. “Not just because he couldn’t kill people all day anymore, we all missed that part, but because he had survived and would have to go home and fuck that horrible monster. Lotta us survivors had that kind of guilt. I think a part of his soul died that day.”When asked if he was put off by Bush’s overt racism Carmichael nodded his head in accord saying,”He put me at ease with a lot of antisemitic jokes. I figured he hated Jews so much they must’ve sent him to the Pacific so he wouldn’t switch sides.”

When the war ended Bush had earned the Overseas Service Medal, the Air Medal, and a commendation for ingenuity when he made a low pass over a schoolyard of Japanese Children and used his planes propeller blades to decapitate them after expending all his ammunition on a Buddhist Shrine and Monastery.

By the wars ens he had taken off for 58 combat missions (and landed 23 times). Of the dozens of men to serve in Bush’s torpedo plane crew only the very last one survived the war (he voted for Dukakis).  All the rest were lost at sea when Bush would have them bail out so he would not run out of fuel.

“I wasn’t afraid to die,” said Bush,”Were I in their position I would have done the same thing. Imagine if that aircraft and pilot weren’t able to kill more people the next day? We were at war!”  lost in the moment he continued,”You can always train another tail gunner, but good pilots? Well, that’s a different story. I didn’t do it for me, I did it so America could Kill more people.” As always when speaking of his passionate love of war his nasally whining voice stood in stark contrast to his tough words.

Though they broke his heart by ending the war he loved so much, as president George H W Bush showed a softer side and would come to love nuclear weapons. Had he been re-elected he had planned to nuke Vietnam, Japan and Canada for an inaugural fireworks show. After Bill Clinton took office he spent most of the first day talking Bush into giving up the nuclear launch codes. Weeks later Bush was still calling a then deposed Gorbachev and threatening to “nuke his red Ivan ass!” In 1997 Gorbachev told the BBC,”I would try to tell him, ‘George, neither of us have that kind of power anymore.’ Then he would usually start weeping and lament he had wasted his chance to use the worlds biggest nuclear arsenal. This went on for several months. Whether he kept calling after I changed the number I just can’t tell you.”

After the war Bush tried to gain work as a prison executioner and later as an undertaker so he could be surrounded by death all the time.  Sadly he had no talent for these pursuits and turned to politics.

th

super fucking hot Jenna Bush

His reversal on “Voodoo Economics” upon insinuating his way into being Assassination Insurance for Ronald Reagan and his infamously insincere “Read my Lips, No New Taxes” statements defined this walking contradiction of a president who would sometimes look like he knew exactly what he was doing and the next moment would puke on the president of Japan. The president of Japan deserved it though, because as noted earlier, the poor marksmanship of the Imperial Japanese Army caused the entire world 12 years of suffering under 2 different George Bush’s.

Bush leaves behind two super hot Granddaughters that I will find provocative pictures of for his official post death obituary. We will talk extensively of the Bush Legacy of Economic failure, Unnecessary Wars, Crushing of the Middle Class and Whopping Lies as numerous as his references to his laughable “Thousand Points of Light Foundation”, a presidential charity so ill defined Historians have chosen to largely ignore it rather than attempt to make any sense of it.

Bush's other granddaughter laura isd also smoking hot and enhances her beauty by always wearing a Kristen Steweart like "Total Fucking Bitch" expression.

Bush’s other granddaughter Barbara is also smoking hot and enhances her beauty by always wearing a Kristen Stewart like “Total Fucking Bitch” expression.

Undeservedly elected president based on simply being Assassination Insurance for Ronald Reagan he was the very first Pope of the hilariously misguided Republican Cargo Cult.  American’s will remember him for his spelling ace vice president, his hot granddaughters, the relative who fucked the maid and created Jorge P Bush, his losing in a landslide to scandal ridden and beatable Bill Clinton and,perhaps most notably, despite being a one termer, being responsible for fully half of all Bush family presidential election wins.

His insincere laugh, sissy voice and effeminate way of threatening other world leaders will also figure greatly into his legacy. Though he claimed to hail from Texas, probably to offset his obvious stupidity, he had the nattering annoying voice worthy of a Masshole Red Sox Season Ticket Holder, which in fact he was. In later years the older Bush was often seen at sporting events supporting unlovable teams like the Houston Astro’s and the Texas Rangers. Like all true assholes, he was a big Dallas Cowboys fan. At many games he would appear as a sober counterpart to his unbelievably intoxicated son with other notable assholes like Jerry Jones and Nolan Ryan, one of baseball’s least worthy Hall of Famer’s. When asked about Ryan Bush once remarked,”I like a man who can walk 200 batters in a season and still make the Hall of Fame, he’s an example to all mediocre people everywhere that if you never really try but keep showing up you might just fluke your way into some kind of success.  I see myself in him.” Even more irritating, because he spent so much time in New England, he also got to enjoy Tom Brady’s spotlight turn as God’s Man Crush and winning a bunch of Superbowl’s too. Thankfully he was never associated with the New York Yankees, who have enough conservative assholes in the stadium now that seats are an arm and a leg now anyway.

When George the 1st finally does shuffle off this mortal coil we will also have a good laugh at the hilarious fact that the GOP is actually considering trying to make Jeb Bush into George III. Good luck with that one tea baggers! he will never be president. Chelsea Clinton has a better chance.

George HW Bush has now been replaced by Jimmy Carter as second least successful living President and Dan Quayle now moves into second place behind Dick Cheney as second most hated vice president. When reached for comment Carter simply said, “He always had the worst breath and cheated at golf.”

The former president will lie in state at  the front gate of Fenway Park where he personally witnessed the first Red Sox World Series Game ever. The sleeves of his suit will be cut off so mourners can see Bush Senior’s extensive collection of tattoo’s, some of which date back to his military service in the Second World War. Bush also had a large rendering of the album cover of Iron Maiden’s “Killers” on his right forearm. he would often point to his tattoo, blow on his fist and say “the Maiden tattoo is for when I arm wrestle that Gorbachev guy!”

“I only wish we could bury him face down,” said son Herb, the only Bush with the decency to spare the country a political career of his own,”he had an awesome tat of the KISS “Dressed to Kill” album across his entire back he would show everyone he met!” The former president’s son reminisced about some aspects of his father the public may not have previously known. “My Dad loved music, man. I mean, he really loved it. System of a Down, Lamb of God, Machinehead, sometimes the Deftones, Ozzy, Maiden, Judas Priest, plenty of Black Sabbath and of course Mercyful Fate. Some pussies like Chris Christie pretend to like Springsteen so they can score points with the electorate. Not my Dad. He refused to even have Bruce at the White House. He just put on my moms dress, a wig and some old shades I think Jackie O left behind and went to see Slayer instead. That was my old man, he loved his Metal. Whenever I hear Ronnie James Dio I’m gonna get a little choked up and think of my Dad.” Herb then flashed his “Devil Horns” hand sign and wiped a tear from his eye.

George W Bush finished what his father started- pointlessly alienating every single person in the Middle East

George W Bush finished what his father started- pointlessly alienating every single person in the Middle East

A faithful vassal of his Lord and Master Satan, Bush’s body is expected to explode in a ball of fire in roughly 6 days as he descends into Hell where he is expected to be offered a management position.

Notable George HW Bush trivia facts include – He had the second lowest college grades of any president when he took office. After his son took office HW had the third lowest grades of any president. He spent a larger percentage of his presidency on vacation than any president other than his own son. He threw America’s Fourth Most Pointless War in the Ass kicking we call Desert Storm. In Desert Storm we freed the citizens of a totalitarian government from the clutches of another totalitarian government in the name of Freedom so their original, legitimate oppressors, could get on with the legitimate repression. In the process he set up a pointless rivalry with Sadaam Hussein and his third rate thug army and pissed off a

In war he fought like a man, in baseball, well, he threw like a girl.

In war he fought like a man, in baseball, well, he threw like a girl.

former CIA trained anti Soviet operative, Osama bin Laden. Both of these things would cause major problems in the years ahead. Among his greatest accomplishments was creating 100,000 wounded warriors who had to spend almost 20 years pleading with the country they served for medical help with the now confirmed malady know as “Gulf War Syndrome.” His pointless use of military force at the slightest provocation ensure him a war mongering legacy boasting a disregard for human life as heinous as Andrew Jackson’s.

A private ceremony is planned for this Sunday at the Dallas First Church of Satan,Reformed, just steps from Dealey Plaza. “Dad wanted the services to be near Dealey Plaza” said an even more intellectually inhibited than usual George W. Bush, (or possibly Will Ferrell, there’s no being sure), “he said he had done some of his best work there.”

He was 89 years old.

UPDATE 6-12-13- George H W Bush celebrated his 89th birthday today in defiance of all predictions. Kudos, but we’re still ready for when you go to your reward!

The Republican Cargo Cult Explained

29 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by in #toc, 21st Century Political Movements, A Piece of the Action, Burning man, Burning man 2013, burning man 2013 cargo cult theme, Cargo Cult, Cargo Cult Republican's, Dystopia, famous mormons, Glenn Beck, International Politics, John Frumm, Libya, modern conservatism, political extremism, President Barack Obama, Prince Phillip Society, Religion, Republican Cargo Cult, Republican Fails, Republican insanity, revisionist reality, Right Wing Conservatism, Right wing extremism, Ritualized Reagan, Ronald Reagan, Star Trek, The Tea party, Willard "Mitt" Romney, willard romney

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What are Cargo Cult Republicans? Cargo Cult Republicans are those whose behavior and beliefs have devolved into a quasi-religious mindset towards Modern American

How the Cargo Cult Republicans view Ronald Reagan

Conservatism revolving around the 1980’s and Ronald Reagan in an idealized, ritualized and unrealistic way. The influence of this aspect of modern American Conservatism is palpable yet there has been very little discussion of it.

The classic historical Cargo Cult refers to a religious phenomenonthat arose on the isolated pacific islands used as bases by various militaries during the Second World War. The native islanders in places like Papua, New Guinea had not had much contact with the outside world. Their ways of viewing the day to day world included a good dose of the

paranormal. If someone got sick, perhaps a curse had been put upon them. Flood? Famine? Perhaps the villagers aren’t living up to the standards of their pantheon of deities. A thumbnail description would be that they fed the Volcano to pacify the gods,who were surely a bit crazy.
After the Second World War began in the Pacific the lives of the native islanders were subject to massive culture shock. Literally overnight and literally out of the sky in the form of shiny silver airplanes as well as great iron beasts from the sea came the mid-20th century. None of the previous limited contacts with outsiders provided a frame of reference for what transpired on their islands, their very world, as emerged over the weeks following arrival of troops from both sides of the conflict.

To these isolated natives the idea that an internal combustion engine would spin gears and operate pistons to spin a propeller to power a vehicle capable of carrying goods or people was inconceivable. Imagine bringing a flashlight, cigarette lighter and .9mm pistol via time traveling helicopter to Dark Ages Europe to get any sort of grip on this.
To the natives of islands such as those of New Guinea the planes were not

–Members of the John Frum cult in New Guinea imitating American Soldiers in their “ritual”

machines but great beasts akin to hollow metal dragons. They were summoned from the sky by rituals at a holy temple, or as we would call it, a Military Airfield. The “rituals” were the day to day operations of the base. Waiving in incoming planes with flags and lighting runways. Group s of identically clad men marching in formation, chanting magic words (read: military cadences) and sometimes even firing their bang sticks!!

In the wake of the Second World War these isolated bases were mostly abandoned and life, for the natives, returned to ‘normal’. But it was a ‘New Normal’. They had become accustomed to the gleaming aluminum dragons regularly summoned by the clergy (read: US Navy Sea Bees) with the sacred relics (read: radios, landing lights and parades). No longer were the great beasts from the air and sea disgorging the material goods they now so desired. Gone was the supply of

A replica Second World War plane used in John Frum Movements rituals. Is the GOP Elephant now an equivalent Trojan Horse of Willful Blindness?canned goods, textiles and the giant crates that had seemed like enormous wooden eggs that birthed

a smug Mitt Romney exulting in the opportunity to make hay off  Ambassador Chris Stevens and others even as they were dying for their country. Only the 47% comment hurt him more

the coveted “cargo”.
In a turn of events still being studied by sociologists and historians, the Cargo Cults emerged. The natives formed into cults of sorts and imitated in ritualistic fashion the actions of the men who had summoned the great beats and cargo from the sky. Coconuts were fashioned into radio headsets, bamboo control towers were created. Uniformly dressed men marched in ritual manners similar to the military drills they had seen under the mistaken belief that by simply doing so they themselves would please the gods of the sky and bring down the shiny metal beasts filled with goodies. These beliefs were personified in the form of an image of an American World War 2 Sailor, frequently portrayed as African American, known as “John Frum”. Think of him as a sort of Santa-Jesus type. British occupied areas developed similar cults based on an idealized perception of Prince Phillip.
The John Frum Movement and Prince Phillip Societies still exist today in New Guinea. Despite the fact that these places slowly became less isolated and were slowly but steadily overtaken by rational explanations of the outside world some still cling to the Cargo Cult beliefs. In the case of the Prince Phillip society egotistical detachment from reality is shared by the object of their affection. Prince Phillip perhaps unwittingly, endorses the cult’s beliefs by sending gifts and autographs. This leads to the inevitable conclusion that what is really needed, by the prince and his worshipers, is some help handling a brutal but needed dose of reality. This need also applies to early 21st Century Tea party Republicans. Ritualized Reaganistic Worldview has become a meme accepted by most Republicans, albeit for the most part unknowingly.

READ- CARGO CULTS AND  JOHN FRUM THEME OF 2013 BURNING MAN FESTIVAL??

The most familiar Cargo Cult known to Americans in popular culture would be the “Gangster Planet” in the famous episode of the Original Star Trek “A Piece of the Action”,

The Gangster Planet featured in the Original Star Trek Episode “A Piece of the Action” is an illustration of a classic “Cargo Cult”. One of the shows most popular episodes and most Americans only glimpse at Cargo Cults

where an isolated planet had been exposed to 23rd century technology by earlier space travelers. When the Enterprise arrives a generation later they find an entire culture influenced by a book the first explorers from Earth left behind about 1920’s gangster culture in places like Chicago and New York. By looking, dressing and acting like the gangsters they read about the natives of Sigma Iota IV were attempting to make a great leap forward by throwing themselves feet first into imitating a society that had been outlined in book that to them seemed a blue print to the “cargo” they had seen accompanying the first earthmen they met, technology and abilities that would provide for worry free prosperity.
How does this apply to early 21st century American Conservatism? The Republican Party is now packed with under qualified ideologues who espouse an unrealistic image of a worry free past, in this case, the Go Go 1980’s. The images of John Frumm (a bastardization of “John From America”) and Prince Phillip have been replaced by an idealized, unrealistic image of Ronald Reagan. Like John Frumm, Ritual Reagan is a demi god who summoned “Cargo” (read: Worry free prosperity) through rituals that included sparring with the Russians, a somewhat narrow social view and an overemphasis on an extreme interpretation of “Christian” thought.
To one degree or another every single modern conservative is a member of a Reagan oriented Cargo Cult. The Cargo Cult mentality has threaded its way into every aspect of current Republican narrative.
The Cargo Cult Volcano God demands certain sacrifices be made lest it grow angry and erupt. Among other things, it demands ritual.
Repeated mawkish Ritualistic displays by Romney have so far done nothing to dispel the validity of the Cargo Cult Assertion.

Citizen Romney did everything he could to work the Cargo Cult crowd. As a result failure analysis has given way to willful ignorance on the right

Citizen Romney did everything he could to work the Cargo Cult crowd. As a result failure analysis has given way to willful ignorance on the right

During his chaotic and doomed 2012 campaign Romney seized upon every perceived advantage and this was no exception. It’s not a difficult role in its Ritualistic Form. There’s some passing physical resemblance, both coincidental and contrived between Romney and Reagan. Among these are their hair, approximate build and hypomanic personalities. Romney seemed to be smugly emitting what he seemingly thought was a subliminal puppet show where he played Ritualized Reagan. Pushing on the physical he layered on a veneer of the cold warrior aspect of Reagan by strapping on the coconut headphones of some sort of bamboo transmitter and sending pugilistic messages to the Russians, who were clearly NOT a threat to the United States in 2012. Another Ritual Reagan rain dance was over emphasizing the level of danger posed by Iran. While an outlaw nation and a sponsor of terrorism, the current sanctions and global shunning seem to be worth sticking worth for a while to most Americans who are leery of another American Ground War in an unstable part of the world.

I think in the last few weeks of the 2012 election Mitt Romney  became a true believer in his own Reagan-ness; operating with the Ritualized Reagan approach as a default position on everything. It was a Franken-Ronnie with none of the warmth and conviction of the original. The “Cargo” aka the Go Go 80’s, can only be delivered by putting the Ritualized Reagan, that is Mitt Romney, in the White House. He can then summon the great gleaming beasts from the sky that birth the great wooden eggs filled with the canned goods (aka-worry free prosperity).
This Shackle of Defeat for Romney was exploited. The Ritualized Reagan that he pantomimes doesn’t square with the real Reagan. Reagan was confronting a real threat from Soviet Russians. Reagan was a culture warrior, but only after being a patriotic American type who believed in some practicality, compromise and some tolerance. When Reagan spoke of Libya that country was run by an evil dictator since deceased in fantastic fashion due directly to initiatives taken by the Cargo Cults hated “Anti-Reagan”, President Obama, who realistically could be argued is a truer heir to Reagan’s positions on Libya by doing so. Ritual Reagan is at his weakest on Libya.
Despite a display of  unpresidential weakness best left behind in his bumbling and inept reactions to the 9-11 attacks in Libya, Romney revisited the issue at almost every opportunity. Was he doing this because his “Inner Reagan” simply knee jerks him into having to include comments about Libya into his rhetoric? It only hurt him. If someone has a better explanation for this obviously misguided attempt to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat on what any other candidate would have rightly moved on from please leave me a comment.
The “rank and file core base republicans’, (read: formerly disavowed extremists from the Wild Wild Allen West Wing of the party) show strong and prevalent evidence of Cargo Cult behavior in social media. They promoted Romney as a Pseudo Reagan “Mitt-siah” capable of summoning the all-important cargo planes. Romney’s one unquestioned credential, ruthless and unaccountable vulture capitalism, is a direct result of the unregulated excesses of the 1980’s and increases Romney’s credibilty as a worthy successor to  Reagan.  This is manifested best in his regulation hating approach to managing the economy. De-personalization and detachment from reality are evident in the Hoover era bootstrap “Rugged Individualism” that has become part of a negative feedback loop that convinces many Republicans they live in Bill Clinton’s proverbial “log cabin they built themselves”.

24 days after a huge election fail the Republicans STILL can’t figure out how they lost. The Romney Campaign, reduced to a one man show, continued for a couple of days after the defeat just so he could find a way to offend and denigrate people he had overlooked insulting earlier while he still had a modicum of relevance. Campaign staff also issued repeated out of touch statements that certainly seemed delusional to the point of strapping on coconut headphones. Take this as a sign that absolutely nothing has been learned through failure analysis. All indications are that many if not most Republican truly and strongly believe that if they just rain dance longer, faster and harder in preparation for the next election they can somehow avoid losing again in 2016. Their unrealistic Hypothesis-If they had just been more extreme, suppressed the vote more and passed more insane homophobic laws they are SURE they would have won instead of getting walloped by a 3 million votes margin in an Obama cakewalk.

Though some of the cult has sheered away out of fear of losing their seats these are mostly from Blue States and there is no sign of a massive shift to more pragmatic methods of winning elections on the part of rest of the Republican.

Now that Romney has gone from Mitts-siah to whipping boy Senators John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham from Teabagistan jumped feet first into the Ritual Reagan role. Senator Kelly Ayote also tried to get in on this, but apparently if you’re a woman Ritual Reagan

The inept and polarizing self destructive Fox News pundit, Glenn Rice seducing and MILF, Sarah Palin

The inept and polarizing self destructive Fox News pundit, Glenn Rice seducer and MILF, Sarah Palin

just doesn’t work. Possibly because of another Republican Cult behavior,the Cult of Domesticity, which dictates that women should be ‘kept in their place.” This means that the self hating women of the Republican party are merely tuned out as having ‘too many opinions’ and/or ‘speak a little too much of their minds.” Only Sarah Palin has had any success pretending to be Ronald Reagan. This has routinely blown up on her. When this happens she hides behind her children like they’re Human Shields, basically defaulting to the Cult of Domesticity to deflect criticism by appearing in her ridiculous gun toting Reindeer maiming “Mama Grizzly” mode where she’s beyond reproach.

The Cargo Cult will likely thrive for years to come. In fact it may outlast the GOP itself as the party has lost four of the last 5 elections.

How the Republicans Killed Christmas

29 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by in Cargo Cult, Cargo Cult Republican's, International Politics, modern conservatism, Republican insanity, secular holidays, Uncategorized, War on Christmas

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How the Republicans Killed Christmas
The holiday season is upon us, but you would never know that if you listened to the Republican Cargo Cult. To them this is ‘the Fighting Season”. Every year as sure as Black Friday will be a disgraceful mess of human failings, you can be sure

the Republican idea of Jesus.

the Republicans , especially the Cargo Cult Republicans, will begin crying over the “War on Christmas”. This is distinctly hilarious. When one considers the fact that Christmas is the time of year where the most people commit suicide the idea that Republicans would find it a GREAT time to recruit and spread their signature 19th century social outlook is in no way shocking. Endless laughable hate screeds about how people shouldn’t call it ‘the Holiday Season” will fill the right wing media. President Obama is a particularly favored target of the cultists who refuse to understand that Christmas is also a secular holiday. Even Atheists throw parties on Christmas. Hell, even the crazy Scientologists throw huge Christmas extravaganza’s to sugar coat their poisonous ideas. What could trivialize anything more than that?
All of this is pointless. Christmas is dead. It was killed decades ago by the Republicans. Much like when they routinely destroy the economy only to benefit from the outrage they manufactured, they manage to reap a dividend on death. Look no further than the 2010 mid term elections for proof. Insane Tea Baggers like Christine O’Donnell created countless democrats and did it by espousing crazed religious fervor and a vague promise NOT to do their jobs. Instead they took a pledge to Grover Norquist to never ever raise taxes. This went hand in hand with their true agenda, helping rich people get richer by keeping everyone else as poor as possible. This is an agenda so counter-intuitive that a smokescreen is absolutely necessary. Since they are Republicans they go with what has always worked, wrapping themselves in the flag while loudly thumping the Bible.
The fact is it’s the Republicans BFF’s, Big Business pulled a 1-8-7 on Christmas decades ago with massive consumerism. Who hasn’t been revolted when Christmas decorations go up in stores 30 seconds after Halloween? In the decades following the Second World War when Americans were finally enjoying peace and prosperity the attack began. Every kid needed a Hopalong Cassidy outfit or a new

Hopalong Cassidy merchandise was the tip of the spear that killed Christmas. That said he’s still pretty cool.

bike. This was not the biggest problem at first, but the uptick in profits did not go unnoticed. In typical corporate style they rushed to push the Holiday Season harder every year. By the time the American economy bottomed out in the early

1970’s lavish Christmas gifts had become an accepted norm. Gifting everyone was seen as mandatory. Forget the

fact that inflation was killing the average American’s ability to buy gifts, this was a

matter of Corporate profits. So instead of feeling like inadequate failures when their kid didn’t get that Millenium Falcon. Remember comparing toys Christmas afternoon and vying for bragging rights? This is learned behavior pushed by nonstop noise and advertising that dwarfs any political campaign.

Assaulted by the blatant consumerism that has become the REAL meaning of Christmas the average American was just a cog in the machine. Christmas is damn near recession proof and everyone gets a piece of the pie. The media does their part with endless Christmas specials, only about four of which are watchable. In turn they enjoy the profits generated by the massive onslaught of commercials. The credit card companies also get their piece of the pie as people go into debt just so they don’t have to feel like a failure until December 26. This is convenient because after Christmas comes the massive push to sell booze in time for New Years. The target market for alcohol increases immeasurably as the Holiday Blues takes hold with the arrival of the bills and other consequences of holiday excess kick in, like finding out you knocked up your coworker in the bathroom stall during the office Christmas party and you’re not even friends.

All this is the fault of Big Business. We must gift more, drink more and think less. Now I don’t hate Christmas, I even won the Keep Christ in Christmas poster contest when I was in 1st grade, so I may even qualify as an expert. The Republicans hate America and they hate religious freedom. They have ruthlessly used the Holidays to bitch about their concocted “War on Christmas”. This is

A very Republican Christmas

beyond phony because Easter is supposed to be the most important day in the Christian calendar yet all anyone gets is diabetes from chomping down oodles of tooth destroying jelly beans.
In the Republican World all 4000 years of the existence of the Universe when God miracled the Earth into existence in 6 days was just an excuse to create Christmas. That’s right, when the Holy Family rode their dinosaurs to Bethlehem for the first Christmas it was the most special day ever. Plus Christmas is in December, so it’s a GREAT time to scoff at Climate Change. This is real gut buster because aside from overwhelming evidence the world is going through Human Induced Climate fits; every amateur historian knows Christ was born in spring. The early Christians simply moved the celebration to a Roman holiday in a bid to avoid ending up as lunch for hungry lions. This proves that the Christians were much more pragmatic than their modern day counterparts who willingly jump into the lions jaws by incurring massive debt. Dicks like homophobic douchebag preacher Rick Warren are right there to tell them being cash spouting idiot is the best way to honor the Baby Jesus.
The need for a huge scat of cash just not to be seen as a failure drives everyone into a rat race. The oil companies make a fortune because a small ocean of gasoline is burned every minute as people sit in traffic desperately trying to get to the human cattle drive at the mall.
At the end of the day what really is destroyed is the Holiday Spirit. As people work desperately just to squeeze by with what little they have left after Christmas they have less to give to charity, less time to volunteer and less time to think and reflect on the fact they aren’t really enjoying Christmas at all. Add our not so great economy in 2012 and you can see why so many people are hoping the Mayan’s were right and the world ends December 21st.

an even MORE Republican Xmas

Consumerism, corporate greed and decades of indoctrination have killed Christmas dead. The Republicans are the ones who murdered it and no amount of phony hand wringing about how evil liberals hate Christmas can ever change that. It’s not the day Jesus was born and there is no Santa Claus. Don’t tell this to the Republican Cargo Cult. The idea that mechanically mimicking old rituals will bring magic Cargo from the sky is the norm to them. Drunk on eggnog and mired in debt they will commiserate over how the Liberals hate Christmas as their spoiled kids run around on a soda high breaking the overpriced gifts that their clueless self-hating parents bought them after waffling under pressure from their corporate masters. Doubtless they look forward to Memorial Day when they get their debt under control. I always make sure to put “Merry Xmas” on the gifts I give my Republican family members because it’s better to give than receive just like its best to laugh last and trust me I am laughing pretty damn hard. This is when I prove their hypocrisy because if they believed what they said they should decline the gift because I didn’t honor Christ in my holiday gift. No one has done it yet. This is because by and large Republicans are much more greedy than they are pious.
This year I am drawing a crime scene style chalk outline of Santa Claus in front of my chimney instead of getting a tree. In this joyous secular holiday celebration of mass consumerism and credit card debt let us not forget the words of Charles Dickens;”Let any man who goes about with “Merry Christmas on his lips be boiled in his opwn Christmas pudding and be buried with a stake of holly through his heart.” Merry Xmas to all!

Re-Hire David Petraeus? Have another drink!

23 Friday Nov 2012

Posted by in 1980's, 21st Century Political Movements, Benghazi Attacks., Cargo Cult, Cargo Cult Republican's, David Petraeus Resignation Scandal, Libya, Mitt Romney, modern conservatism, Mormon politiciasns, Petraeus Scandal, President Barack Obama, Right wing extremism, Ritualized Reagan, War in Afghanistan, Willard "Mitt" Romney, willard romney

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Next CIA director: General David Petraeus ????
It’s a little scary to see the Republican Cargo Cult ginning up headlines touting the idea that disgraced former CIA

‘Someone tell Petraeus he’s not Sean Connery’

Director; Gen. David Petraeus should have a chance to publicly screw up and have to quit in disgrace again. The idea of recycling the head of the Central Intelligence Agency just FEELS wrong. While his affair could have been survived had he chosen, he at least took the High Road and quit.
I can’t believe that out of nowhere suddenly Barack Obama by implication, had made a hire in the first place that was SO good that a small tempest or a glaring mistake wouldn’t destroy. In fact, people believe Obama should overlook the fact he has a resignation in hand from a spymaster so inept that he was unable to conceal a simple extramarital affair?
This is a ludicrous idea! First of all, the obvious- the man has a very important espionage job and he has terrible judgment and no command of subtlety. Shirley Sherrod was fired and then turned down the re-hire after the

administration balked over a creatively re-edited video where she seemed to make harsh statements. Van Jones was branded an anti-christ. Rahm Emanuel had to go back to run Chi-Town because he cursed too much. The presidents critics and Republican foes have been able to sort of have their way with “All the Presidents Men (and women)”.
Now, David Petraeus, a white male, is the offender and it’s a mistake to

George Lazenby is no longer the biggest joke in the espionage world

accept his letter of resignation? It would make the president look really bad, so of course, it’s being floated. Obama has been a much better political operator than anyone expected, so it’s more than likely he understands that he is being baited. He will appear patently ridiculous if he suddenly made a stand against common sense and made an exception for the first non brown guy who screwed something up.
In the first term this President was not all about loyalty and was careful, even skittish, about choosing his battles. In the last election he received something of a mandate and his flag has never flown higher than it is right now. He has what George W Bush called “political capital”.
The president seems less guns shy. This has been manifested in what has been so far the non-nomination of Doctor Susan Rice, currently the US ambassador to the United Nations. The president has not backed down on this and pointedly told his critics that anyone who he feels unfairly criticizes his people ‘would have a problem’ with him. This is a welcome change for Democrats, many of whom are a tad fed up with their guy getting bashed all the time and under-reacting to it. This was the first time he showed no reluctance to get angry. There was even some good push back against America’s designated angry old man, John McCain.
Even more perplexing then Tea Bagger Republicans fuming over the (currently) Non Nomination of Susan Rice is the obsession with politicizing the Benghazi attacks. Republicans like crazy Senator Lindsey Graham from Teabagistan have been shameless. Mitt Romney screwed the pooch first, nearly exalting over the tragedy even as the people he was mocking were dying for the country. Romney’s energetic, brisk and self-satisfied delivery reeked of ‘I have been praying someone would die horribly so I can exploit it’ sentiment and canned charm. He was exultant. The American people saw right through this and were sickened. It was the starting point of Mitt Romney’s final series of career killing inhuman gaffes that marked his entire failed campaign.
Benghazi is a great topic if you want to create Democrats though. Senator John McCain skips a briefing on the attacks so he can attack the administration for not having a briefing about the attacks. Another fail. It seems no one but the crazies in the non existent but influential astroturfing Tea Party and their “Cylons” in the Republican Party have any problem with the idea that no one could kept safe from an al Qaeda attack, anywhere. Not in New York, not in Benghazi. The American People also seem to understand that confusion ensues after a terrorist attack. In this case the confusion was after the fact, not willful ignorance before the fact, like 9-11. When compared with the only other president to deal with the new post 9-11 landscape, woefully inept George W Bush, the American People were far more satisfied with Obama. Let’s face it, it’s not exactly like following Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock.
The Tea Baggers would LOVE to have Petraeus back. They could lampoon the president for lack of resolve while lauding the great David Petraeus and grooming him and his already sizable ego to maybe be the next losing Republican Candidate. Here’s a guy who thinks he’s Douglas fucking MacArthur already and

the ignominious stalker mistress from Hell- Paula Broadwell

has a “Petraeus Cult” in real life and cult leader status in his own mind. Not to mention he also thinks he is Sean Connery despite leaving everyone who saw what has happened more shaken then stirred and disappointing people in a way no spy short of George Lazenby has before. In fact, the only people who love David Petraeus more than David Petraeus are idiot tea baggers hoping to see a white guy get a job he doesn’t deserve or even want like its 1952.

Its almost worth doing to feed their delusion…
It’s hard to believe the Right is so out of touch with America’s massive rejection of their ideas. Apparently they are still a Cargo Cult and have no clue that the 80’s are over, Reagan is not coming back by proxy through Mitt Romney and they aren’t going to bring Cargo from the Sky by doing a rain dance.

2012 Presidential Debate- Will the Republican Cargo Cult play role in tonights second preisdential debate at Hofstra University?

16 Tuesday Oct 2012

Posted by in 1980's, 2012 presidential Debate, 21st Century Political Movements, A Piece of the Action, Benghazi Attacks., Cargo Cult, Dystopia, famous mormons, hofstra university, Libya, Mitt Romney, modern conservatism, new Guinea, Politics, President Barack Obama, Presidential debate, Republican Cargo Cult, revisionist reality, Right wing extremism, Ritualized Reagan, Ronald Reagan, Star Trek, The Tea party, Third Presidential debate, Uncategorized, willard romney

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Mitt Romney will do his best to portray a Ritualized version of Ronald Reagan tonight at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.

Mitt Romney and the GOP Cargo Cult – By John McTeag, 10-16-12

Hempstead, NY- With hours to go before the second presidential debate for the 2012 General Election many in the media talk of the possible paths to victory open to President Obama and Republican Nominee Mitt Romney. Winning over women, projecting an ability to be in command of the current Great Recession, and just seeming presidential are major focuses of the “Paths” approach. Instead of “Paths to Victory” I am viewing tonight’s contest with an eye on a different facet of today’s debate analysis, I call it “The Shackles of Defeat.”
Known Shackles include the candidates individual records. These have been analyzed to death and back by traditional media, so we’ll leavethose alone.
A Shackle of Defeat is anything that reduces the individual candidate’s ability to nuance their approach or engage in espousing creative and possibly innovative policy overtures. The biggest and least discussed Shackle for either candidate stands against Romney, Cargo Cult Republicanism.
What are Cargo Cult Republicans? Cargo Cult Republicans are those whose behavior and beliefs have devolved into a quasi-religious mindset towards Modern American Conservatism revolving around the 1980’s and Ronald Reagan in an idealized, ritualized and unrealistic way. The influence of this aspect of modern American Conservatism is palpable yet there has been very little discussion of it.
The classic historical Cargo Cult refers to a quasi-religious phenomenon that arose on the isolated pacific islands used as bases by various militaries during the Second World War. The native islanders in places like Papua, New Guinea had not had much contact with the outside world. Their ways of viewing the day to day world included a good dose of the paranormal. If someone got sick, perhaps a curse had been put upon them. Flood? Famine? Perhaps the villagers aren’t living up to the standards of their pantheon of deities. A thumbnail description would be that they fed the Volcano to pacify the gods,

–Members of the John Frum cult in New Guinea imitating American Soldiers in their “ritual”

who were surely a bit crazy.
After the Second

World War began in the Pacific the lives of the native islanders were subject to massive culture shock. Literally overnight and literally out of the sky in the form of shiny silver airplanes as well as great iron beasts from the sea came the mid-20th century. None of the previous limited contacts with outsiders provided a frame of reference for what transpired on their islands, their very world, as emerged over the weeks following arrival of troops from both sides of the conflict. To these isolated natives the idea that an internal combustion engine would spin gears and operate pistons to spin a propeller to power a vehicle capable of carrying goods or people was inconceivable. Imagine and bringing a flashlight, cigarette lighter and .9mm pistol via time traveling helicopter to Dark Ages Europe to get any sort of grip on this.
To the natives of islands such as those of New Guinea the planes were not machines but great beasts akin to hollow metal dragons. They were summoned from the sky by rituals at a holy temple, or as we would call it, a Military Airfield. The “rituals” were the day to day operations of the base. Waiving in incoming planes with flags and lighting runways. Groups of identically clad men marching in formation, sometimes firing their bang sticks!!

The Gangster Planet featured in the Original Star Trek Episode “A Piece of the Action” is an illustration of a classic “Cargo Cult”. One of the shows most popular episodes and most Americans only glimpse at Cargo Cults

In the wake of the Second World War these isolated bases were mostly abandoned and life, for the natives, returned to ‘normal’. But it was a ‘New Normal’. They had become accustomed to the gleaming aluminum dragons regularly summoned by the clergy (read: US Navy Sea Bees) with the sacred relics (read: radios, landing lights and parades). No longer were the great beasts from the air and sea disgorging the cargo they desired. Gone was the supply of canned goods, textiles and the giant crates that had seemed like enormous wooden eggs that birthed the coveted “cargo”.
In a turn of events still being studied by sociologists and historians, the Cargo Cults emerged. The natives formed into cults of sorts and imitated in ritualistic fashion the actions of the men who had summoned the great beats and cargo from the sky. Coconuts were fashioned into radio headsets, bamboo control towers were created. Uniformly dressed men marched in ritual manners similar to the military drills they had seen under the mistaken belief that by simply doing so they themselves would please the gods of the sky and bring down the shiny metal beasts filled with goodies. These beliefs were personified in the form of an image of an American World War 2 Sailor, frequently portrayed as African American, known as “John Frumm”. Think of him as a sort of Santa-Jesus type. British occupied areas developed similar cults based on an idealized perception of Prince Phillip.
The John Frumm Movement and Prince Phillip Societies still exist today in New Guinea. Despite the fact that these places slowly became less isolated and were slowly but steadily overtaken by rational explanations of the outside world some still cling to the Cargo Cult beliefs. In the case of the Prince Phillip society egotistical detachment from reality is shared by the object of their affection. Prince Phillip perhaps unwittingly endorses the cult’s beliefs by sending gifts and autographs. This leads to the inevitable conclusion that what is really needed, by the prince and his worshipers, is some help handling a brutal but needed dose of reality. This need also applies to early 21st Century Tea party Republicans. Ritualized Reaganistic Worldview has become a meme accepted by most Republicans, albeit for the most part unknowingly.
The most familiar Cargo Cult known to Americans in popular culture would be the “Gangster Planet” in the famous episode of Star Trek “A Piece of the Action”, where an isolated planet had been exposed to 23rd century technology by earlier space travelers. When the Enterprise arrives a generation later they find an entire culture influenced by a book the first contactor’s left behind about 1920’s gangster culture in places like Chicago and New York. By looking, dressing and acting like the gangsters they read about the natives of Sigma Iota IV were attempting to make a great leap forward by throwing themselves feet first into imitating a society that had been outlined in book that to them seemed a blue print to the “cargo” they had seen accompanying the first earthmen they met, technology and abilities that would provide for worry free prosperity.
How does this apply to early 21st century American Conservatism? The Republican Party is now packed with under qualified ideologues, who espouse an unrealistic image of a worry free past, in this case, the Go Go 1980’s. The images of John Frumm (a bastardization of “John From America”) and Prince Phillip have been replaced by an idealized, unrealistic image of Ronald Reagan. Like John Frumm, Ritual Reagan is a demi god who summoned “Cargo” (read: Worry free prosperity) through rituals that included sparring with the Russians, a somewhat narrow social view and an overemphasis on an extreme interpretation of “Christian” thought.
To one degree or another every single modern conservative is a member of a Reagan oriented Cargo Cult. The Cargo Cult mentality has threaded its way into every aspect of current Republican narrative.
The Cargo Cult Volcano God demands certain sacrifices be made lest it grow angry and erupt. Among other things, it demands ritual.
Repeated mawkish Ritualistic displays by Romney have so far done nothing to dispel the validity of the Caro Cult Assertion.
Romney seizes upon every perceived advantage and this is no exception. It’s not a difficult role in its Ritualistic Form. There’s some passing physical resemblance, both coincidental and contrived between Romney and Reagan. Among these are their hair, approximate build and hypomanic personalities. Romney seems to be smugly emitting what he seemingly thinks is a subliminal puppet show where he plays Ritualized Reagan. Pushing on the physical he layers on a veneer of the cold warrior aspect of Reagan by strapping on the coconut headphones of some sort of bamboo transmitter and sending pugilistic messages to the Russians, who are clearly not a threat to the United States in 2012. Another Ritual Reagan rain dance is over emphasizing the level of danger posed by Iran. While an outlaw nation and a sponsor of terrorism, the current sanctions and global shunning seem to be worth sticking worth for a while to most Americans who are leery of another American Ground War in an unstable part of the world.

bamboo and straw plane built as an idol by the John Frum Movement

A replica Second World War plane used in John Frum Movements rituals. Is the GOP Elephant now an equivalent Trojan Horse of Willful Blindness?

I think in the last few weeks Mitt Romney has become a true believer in his own Reagan-ness.He may well be operating with the Ritualized Reagan approach as a default position on everything. It’s a Franken-Ronnie with none of the warmth and conviction of the original. The “Cargo” aka the Go Go 80’s, can only be delivered by making the Ritualized Reagan, that is Mitt Romney, in the White House. He can then summon the great gleaming beasts from the sky that birth the great wooden eggs filled with the canned goods (aka-worry free prosperity).
This Shackle of Defeat for Romney is one that can be exploited. The Ritualized Reagan that he pantomimes doesn’t square with the real Reagan. Reagan was confronting a real threat from Soviet Russians. Reagan was a culture warrior, but only after being a patriotic America type who believed in some practicality and some tolerance. When Reagan spoke of Libya that country was run by an evil dictator since deceased in fantastic fashion due directly to initiatives taken by the Cargo Cults hated “Anti-Reagan”, President Obama, who realistically could be argued is a truer heir to Reagan’s positions on Libya by doing so. Ritual Reagan is at his weakest on Libya.
Despite a display of unpresidential weakness best left behind in his bumbling and inept reactions to the 9-11 attacks in Libya, Romney revisits the issue at every opportunity. Is he doing this because his “Inner Reagan” simply knee jerks him into having to include comments about Libya into his rhetoric? It can only hurt him. If someone has a better explanation for this obviously misguided attempt to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat on what any other candidate would have rightly moved on from please leave me a comment.
The “rank and file core base republicans’, (read: formerly disavowed extremists from the Wild Wild Allen West Wing of the party) show strong and prevalent evidence of Cargo Cult behavior in social media. They promote Romney as a Pseudo Reagan “Mitt-siah” who is waving in the all-important cargo planes. His one unquestioned credential, ruthless and unaccountable vulture capitalism is a direct result of the unregulated excesses of the 1980’s. This is manifested best in his regulation hating approach to managing the economy. De-personalization and detachment from reality are evident in the Hoover era bootstrap “Rugged Individualism” that has become part of a negative feedback loop that convinces many Republicans they live in Bill Clinton’s proverbial “log cabin they built themselves”.
On the economy Ritual Reagan Romney may have a perceived edge, but this can be unmasked. Obama can paint Romney as a Non Reagan who merely benefitted from then effective but now outdated policies and a lack of regulation that was appalling. For supporters of the president the “Path to Victory” may well be-How well can Obama exploit and secure this Shackle of Defeat to Romney? The dead corpse of Ritual Reagan will be a great impediment should Obama show it for the farcical joke that it is. This will be a tough task for Obama but it is do-able. This is, of course, providing that the Obama Campaign has become aware of the existence of the Cargo Cult Shackle of Defeat and opts to exploit it.

Third Debate Update- The Cargo Cults most likely Guises–

In the wake of the strong performance of Barack Obama in the second debate look for Mitt Romney to do some serious Cargo Cult Ritual. The third and final debate features Foreign Policy, an area where Romney is justifiably considered to be weak. His best bet and most likely tactic is bellicose saber rattling. In Particular he will try to focus on Egypt, the Israeli-Palestinian situation, China, Iran and of course, Libya. He will likely go with a straight Reagan foreign policy approach. Libya is a key aspect of Reagan’s presidency and a situation that still remains volatile. There are obvious ways Romney can and most likely WILL connect these situations to the 1980’s and Ronald Reagan.

No respect will be paid by Romney to the slain ambassador, he will be portrayed as a victim of Obama’s foreign policy and not as a Patriot who was murdered by al Qaeda type terrorists.

Romney need not show an overall mastery of the world situation, just a tough talking schematic of his ideas. He will bring the argument home as often as possible.

Providing anyone skips Monday Night Football to watch the debate- Advantage Obama.