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I can see the man’s point.
I heard the moving van pull up this morning. When I got home this evening I happened to spy my neighbor (he’s like 85 years old – I don’t know exactly, but he’s old, talks and moves very slowly) standing on the sidewalk next to the van. I walked over and shook his hand, and we started talking. I asked him where he was moving, and he said, “Back to Germany.”
I had been stationed in Germany for two years while in the military, so I lit up, and commented about how beautiful the country was, and inquired if he was going back because he missed it.
“No,” he answered me. “I’m going back because I’ve seen this before.” He then commenced to explain that when he was a kid, he watched with his family in fear as Hitler’s government committed atrocity after atrocity, and no one was willing to say anything. He said the news refused to question the government, and the ones who did were not in the newspaper business much longer. He said good neighbors, people he had known all his life, turned against his family and other Jews, grabbing on to the hate and superiority “as if they were starved for it” (his words).
Source: justicefornone.com
Are we starved for it?
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I know what you mean, man. I was thinking today, after I turned in my gay neighbor (the drapes gave him away) to be sent to the re-education camp, that this baby Jesus armband doesn’t really go with my Bush Youth uniform, and since he disbanded the Congress and made the other parties illegal, do I really need to wear it?
A little perspective, please. Just sayin’.
The fact that it is suddenly “upatriotic” to question our government’s role in our country and the world scares the bejeezus out of me. The additional erosion of freedoms compliments of the USA Patriot Act makes me understand where the old man is coming from. For your perspective, jp, you should reread the history books (or listen to the folks who lived it). It didn’t start with turning in your neighbors and concentration camps in Germany. On the contrary, it was much less insidious at the outset and got progressively worse.
Rush’s Reich: Love it or leave it…..
see you in Scotland…I am outta here…..
By 1925, the Hitler Youth, the SS, and the SA (paramilitary wing) were founded. The Nazi party had uniforms and called for seizure of all Jewish property. That’s how it _began_.
It’s _always_ been called “unpatriotic” to question a president, Democrat or Republican. Does no one remember Gulf War 1, or Kosovo, or McCarthy, for fuck’s sake? This is unquestionably not a recent development. Tony Snow fails to hurt my feelings when he questions my patriotism.
The opposition party just took control of an entire branch of government, and is poised to take another in a year. Courts are arguing about protecting the rights of _non-citizen_ detainees. We’re far from lost, here, people. But I guess the rats abandon ship first.
abandon ship…were going down……Holy shit…Self preservation..wow..we want to live…I guess I am not Nobel(or stupid) enough to drown….Living kinda rules….But God fearing dumbasses feel they will live for ever so, who cares what happens now when you can live forever if you just believe…yea right..I was fucking god yesterday, and after a good cumshot in his ass..He told me the whole afterlife thing was a way to make money…good luck, and make sure you buy some cool stuff for yourself….enjoy youre sinking boat..Cause id rather live…..
America…Fuck yea……yea right….
“When Fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in an American flag”
-Huey Long
nik – A remarkably cogent and cutting argument. I bow before your superior rhetorical skills. Well played, sir.
“The opposition party just took control of an entire branch of government, and is poised to take another in a year. Courts are arguing about protecting the rights of _non-citizen_ detainees. We’re far from lost, here, people. But I guess the rats abandon ship first.”
And the opposition party is too meek to act upon what the majority of the country (and world) sees as the most corrupt, evil and just plain wrong leadership of the US in memory. From removing protesters to “Free Speech Zones” to no-fly lists; from unauthorised (and blatantly illegal) wiretapping of US citizens to outing a proven undercover CIA agent (In Poppy Bush’s words :Outright TREASON) this has been going on for near 8 years, and with Cheney witholding subpoenaed documents and claiming he is not part of the Executive Branch… well, you’re right. This is no time to get worried. As long as you’re rich, white and Republican you are on the ‘good’ list.
We have been sliding towards an inevitable tipping point, and yet have always kept on the side of Liberty and the Constitution. With these chuckle-heads we have blazed over that line so fast, many people don’t even realize how bad it has become. I live in Munich, and if i get cornered by older people who lived then (yes they still exist…) They ask me ‘Why aren’t people making any noise? Why is he allowed to do this? Don’t people know…”
All I can say is “People are stupid, and there are many who are standing up, but unfortunately not enough are paying attention. Not enough are looking elsewhere for their news. I know people personally who didn’t get their Passport until they had to come visit me. They don’t understand what it’s like to live somewhere else. They have no concept that people do things differently. They don’t know that this has happened not just 60 years ago, or they just don’t care.”
As long as you get your $300 check ONCE from good ole boy Bush, you could care less.
I’m glad I left when I did.
It is unpatriotic NOT to question a sitting President. I just see a lot more rah-rah-cheerleader-types than during Clinton’s days. In fact, it was the network bobble-heads who were railing on Clinton for shit, while they cheer on Bush as if he is superior because he is Republican. The mere fact that that idiot Snow and all the right-wing talkshow tools are willing to question anyone’s patriotism should be an indicator of the direction of rational, factual discourse has gone. It has gone far far away to the land of grainy footage.
Is that a better statement for you?
As individuals, Americans have the potential for exhibiting passion, energy, drive,intelligence, and quite possibly wisdom. As a people, we have generally been apathetic and dumber than a sack of hammers.
The greatest legacy of the Carter administration has been environmental concerns, and the saddest thing is that we should have listened to the peanut farmer back then. Waking up after the Reagan-Bush legacy is like realizing that someone pulled the Jedi Mind Trick on us and then proceeded to ass-rape the country. As far as Bill Clinton’s 8 years in office, I’ll always go back to that roundtable discussion I saw of the democratic candidates running for the ’92 election. Paul Tsongas had the best answers with the least amount of bullshit, but Bill Clinton was the slickest. We could have had a razor sharp president, but we went with the guy you wouldn’t trust your fat sister with.
And Dubya? Holy fucking asscrackers, I never thought I’d live to see the day when Washington, DC would get an elected official worse than its illustrious former Mayor, Marion Barry. Dubya is an embarrassment to inbreeding. His greatest legacy will be the ass groove in the chair at the Oval Office.
Dennis Miller is fond of saying that the reason he votes is that he wants the right to complain about whatever is screwed up in the government. If you don’t vote, shut the fuck up. It’s no longer enough just to vote. We have to fight for change as if it were a war. This is a long-term fight, and there will not likely be solutions anytime soon. We have to let our elected officials know that it doesn’t matter if they’re an assemblyman or the next tenant at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave – we are watching you, motherfuckers. You’d best be working to fix the problems toot fucking sweet, or we will kick your asses out of office. Then they’ll be out of their precious meal tickets.
“You’d best be working to fix the problems toot fucking sweet, or we will kick your asses out of office. Then they’ll be out of their precious meal tickets.” -Seoul Brother
_That’s_ what I’m talking about. Right on. If you want to get some Eurotrash poontang by agreeing how much smarter, prettier and more evolved other countries are, go right ahead. If only we could get the trash on the other side of the spectrum to follow you.
The rest of us who realize what a unique chance we have here in this country, will stay and work to keep it alive. There’s _plenty_ of good foreigners willing to take your place here, and help us out.
Get involved…locally, state-wide or nationally…Democrat or Republican or Independent…get grassroots, start going to the meetings, listen, learn a little but don’t get caught-in their ‘this is the way we always do it’ rut, call bullshit when you see and hear it, challenge assumptions, stir the pot in a productive way…do it again at next month’s meeting, and the month after that…become part of the solution, ’cause just complaining about it is part of the problem. Democracy is not a spectator sport.
Dont forget to buy……..And then Buy more, and when you have everything that a human needs to live, Buy more…Then Buy more…And then some more…..When you think you have enough to be better than everyone else, anywhere else..Buy MORE…..
Capitolism works….And Eurotrash poontang taste great..talk is cheap..Money rules…enjoy….
I’m surprised that nik manaaged to spell “poontang” correctly. Take a look at how the knuckle-dragging feeb spelled “Capitalism.”
I’m pretty sure that somewhere on nik’s computer is something called “spell check,” but he’s obviously doesn’t have the brainpan volume to figure out how to use it.