What Happened?

What Happened?
January 10, 2011
By eric

Watch old movies – you know, from the '80s – and you'll get a few snapshots in passing about how free we used to be, only 25 years ago – even though in those days we weren't "fighting" for it in foreign lands and being over-run with Rules, Procedures and such like back in the "Homeland."

Watch Rocky, for instance – and behold Stallone riding his motorcycle without a helmet. Unthinkable today. What would such a message tell the children, after all?

Or TV shows from that dreamlike era, for example Miami Vice. There's a clip of someone going to the airport – and buying a ticket, in cash,  with no ID – while smoking. Watch some more as he strolls right up to the gate without being scanned or given a hernia exam or even having to take off his shoes.

TJ Hooker carried a six-shooter (along with his rug) not a high-capacity military piece, the standard sidearm of every traffic cop today. TJ was tough, but even he didn't Tazer middle aged women over seatbelt violations or draw his gun on people for "speeding." Once upon a time, ordinary citizens were largely immune from being physically assaulted by cops. You could even talk back. Honest Injun.

Even the military was (relatively) benign in those Long Gone days. Often, it was portrayed in a humorous light. In shows like The A-Team and Magnum, PI, army people were was not the "The Troops" and they weren't venerated – even deified – as some sort of Praetorian Guard, like today. If anything, the military's tendency to dogmatism and rigidity – and to lusty, gratuitous violence – was openly derided.

Needless to say, we've come a long way in 25 years.

Today, riding a motorcycle without a hemet is not merely illegal in most parts of the country (even though you can legally ride while wearing shorts and a T-shirt) it is the sort of thing that prompts that pod people look of keening outrage when someone even suggests that maybe it ought to be up to the rider – not "the law."

Today, well, we all know about airports. The experience is not unlike the processing a just-caught felony suspect goes through down at the station. Only now we're all suspected felons until proven otherwise – and even when we're pathetically obviously not (as in the case, for instance, of the crippled old person forced to get out of their wheelchair at the bark of a TSA capo).

Keep right on singing that horse-faced song about how proud you are to be an Ahhhhmmerrikun, where at least you know you're freeeeee. Hand held over your flag pin, the other one clutching your Bible.

TJ Hooker is retired to doing interviews on cable. His successors are much less Officer Friendly. They wear body armor and carry Tazers as well as high-capacity military-grade semi-auto handguns. Buzz cuts make rugs unnecessary. You never see their eyes, either – as all wear mirrored Tough Guy sunglasses, which operate on the same psychological principle as Darth Vader's expressionless helmet. But nevermind. They're heroes and protecting us from all manner of evildoers – unless we video them doing the evil – in which case expect a wood shampoo, electro-therapy and a trip to the hoosegow for some more on top of that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVMZUgmrJrk&feature=player_embedded

And we just loves us Our Troops. There is nothing more noble than to join up and "serve" – no matter what that "service" might entail. Killing foreigners who've not asked to be killed makes one a "hero" in 2011 America. Spilling the beans about My Lai-style massacres by "heroes" (as Wiki/iBradley Manning did, when they leaked video of a U.S. helicopter gunship mowing down unarmed Iraqis – plus a reporter – with Playstation-like playfulness) means a one-way ticket to Gitmo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rXPrfnU3G0&feature=player_embedded


It's a strange mix. Urgent – turgid – flag-waving and song-singing such as is routine background noise today did not exist Back Then, yet somehow, despite the fact that not one politician (as I recall) ever wore a flag pin or gave finger-pointing lectures about "freedom" and "securing the Homeland" we still had some real freedom – and America was just our country.

How did it go so wrong?

Throw it in the Woods?

http://epautos.com/?p=1684

Good column from Don Surber about the leftist hate speech

http://blogs.dailymail.com/donsurber/archives/28041#more-28041

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Re: This so called "Political Forum" group is a pathetic group of evil Reich wing haters and liars.

Don't expect them not to go unchallenged, or that they will not be discussed.

Translation in seven words:  Expect them to be challenged or discussed.

Sheesh!

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From: Keith In Köln <keithintampa@gmail.com>
To: politicalforum@googlegroups.com
Sent: Sat, January 15, 2011 3:32:13 AM
Subject: Re: This so called "Political Forum" group is a pathetic group of evil Reich wing haters and liars.

Hello Dena !

 

I see you took the time to respond, and we thank you for your response.  It's always welcome here, as are you.  There is no one individual, based upon his or her beliefs, positions or political leanings, that are disallowed or banned here. 

 

Right now, there are a majority of posters who do tend to have more of a conservative viewpoint of lean, "left of center" in their poltical beliefs here in the Forum,  I will give you that, but your moderators have seen it when it was just the opposite, and we were a very small minority. 

 

I can also attest that this group is far more civil than it has been in the past, when it was a majority of those who believed that they exemplified kinder, gentler, more enlightened viewpoints than their conservative brethren. 

 

As you can see, even today, this very thread is captioned, (and I quote) :  "This so called "Political Forum" group is a pathetic group of evil Reich wing haters and liars".  

 

Again, you, as well as anyone is welcomed and encouraged to post their thoughts, missives and ideas here.   Don't expect them not to go unchallenged, or that they will not be discussed.   The Daily Kos, or TruthOut.org.  might hold a better forum for you if that is what you are looking for.

 

Respectfully,

 

KeithInKöln

On Sat, Jan 15, 2011 at 6:32 AM, Dena Liles <60sactivist@gmail.com> wrote:

Everyone,

 

When I read the description of your group I was excited. I truly believed that this forum was exactly what it said it was. After all, it is moderated and required you to request a membership. I'm not sure why some here remain. 

 

"PoliticalForum is a non-biased, non-partisan political forum, the Group treats each and every member's position and viewpoint equally. All members are encouraged to share and discuss their viewpoints on a broad spectrum of subject matter! "

 

I think this should be revised. There should be a statement that if the outspoken judges of this group deem you to be ______________________________  you can fill in the blank quite easily I'm sure (long insults, or maybe they are just modifiers tend to be the norm).

 

When I applied, my e-mail accepting me called me "ET" perhaps this is about my You Tube Channel because I am familiar with quantum physics and I am a spiritual person with a mass in my brain. The mind is a vastly complex system, and very fascinating to me. I want to hear all sides of the story, research, spiritual thoughts, on the subject.

 

My next encounter was a video was a video called "Shari don't be late" or something to that effect. That one shocked me because remember this group is non-biased. But I let that slide because I thought that possibly I was being too sensitive.

 

My next encounter was the one where I was called a "Kinder Gentler Tree Hugger" (I must admit that some in this group have an amazing talent for trying to incite skirmishes - I just don't take the bait that easily). Let me get to the point here. I was raised in the old south. There were a group in my family called "gentlemen." I'm over the hate speeches and tirades from both sides. I try to conduct myself as a lady, so I shall not lower myself to insult anyone here. I think everyone should step back and assess themselves objectively often, and also decide if they are spending their time wisely. Which is what I have done regarding even being associated with this group.

 

Thank you for the opportunity of being in this forum, but I just don't believe it can be a fruitful endeavor for me.

Respectfully,

TS

 

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**JP** [ Tum Meray Ho Ker Nahi.... ]

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Re: Start the Revolution! Government is out-of-touch with the People!

Curing the constipation of bad government.

Curing the constipation of bad government.

There is talk about 'both sides of the aisle' sitting intermingled for
"President" Barack Obama's State of the Union Address. But were is
the talk about arresting, trying, and hanging that same Anti-Christ
Bastard for TREASON? The majority of our supposed representatives in
Washington are loyal—not to the constituents who elected them—but to
the nausea-causing pomp and ceremony of our failed government. That
neglect-of-duty is tantamount to treason for every elected or
appointed public official who has sworn to uphold and defend the
Constitution, but who, instead, has worked tirelessly to destroy the
free-enterprise economic system that brought the USA to greatness.

A student was asked by her teacher to define a democracy. "A
democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what's for dinner." Two
years ago the Democratic Party became the wolves. Rather than being a
democracy, where every individual has value, we are a mishmash of
government types—most of them bad. A prevailing type, applicable to
much of what transpires in Washington, is what I call our "To the
victors belong the spoils." government. That seems to be perfectly OK
with the sports-mentality airheads who constitute about 50% of the
adults in this country. Those are the ones who read the sports pages
and get all of the latest game scores before even scanning the papers
for the important news stories. They tend to view… politics as being
like two sports teams, Democrat and Republican, fighting it out for
bragging rights. The polls are the daily scores, and the news
commentators describe the plays. Promoters in the media play-up how…
"close" the game will be, so that the maximum number of viewers will
stay-tuned for the entire game—already heading to 2012... The media
points out that Obama can easily tap a billion dollars for his 2012
campaign. And those, therein, know that the God-damned MEDIA is on
the receiving end of the majority of money being wasted on political
campaigns.

Waste in this country is a huge part of our socioeconomic decline. A
"Duck" team, somewhere, has just opened a new sport's arena costing
many millions of dollars. That same sort of wastefulness is viewed as
an… "OK" part of higher education. "President" Obama wants every lazy
and good-for-nothing minority student to have guaranteed entry into
higher education, paid for by government. The Rev. Al Sharpton, said
today that deficiencies in… education for Blacks are big reasons for
the lag of Blacks behind whites. For Sharpton, these are things that
must be worked out (by government). At no point has Al Sharpton ever
said: "The playing field is level. Success will come to those who
work hard and take responsibility for their own survival rather than
looking to government for anything." The greatest boon to having
increased Black success would be to REMOVE every basketball court in
or on government property all across America. The late tennis great,
Arthur Ashe, lamented the waste of human potential by the millions in
minorities who idealize sports figures, while having such slim chance
of ever benefiting from the time so wasted.

Philosophically, NJ Gov. Chris Christie has the right "tough" ideas
for reigning-in government over-spending. Those in education and
those getting exorbitant government pensions are apt targets. But
know this: No solution can ever be worked out by "negotiating" with
those causing the economic destruction. As I've described in my last
two essays, cuts must be made across-the-board without being waylaid
by the cries of the many leaches now on the government dole. With
just five to ten years of work in a thriving, unencumbered free
enterprise system, the 'security' of most Americans can exceed—by
their own effort—what our governments could ever provide. When all
but the 10% or so who are too old or too sick to improve their own
lot, quit looking to governments for ANYTHING, the USA will shoot back
to the top of the World's economic powers so fast that it will make
China's heads spin! However, I'm reluctant to look to Chris Christie
too hopefully… until he loses 100 plus pounds. That man can't do the
country any good if he is dead from his eating excesses. I suggest
that he read my recently published book: 'The Shortest Distance;
Harmony Through Prosperity' available at Amazon and B. & N.

Glenn Beck has, apparently, worn-out his "Faith, Hope and Charity"
mantra. Now, he's saying that over the coming year he'll teach us how
to wage our revolutions as individuals. That wimp continues to avoid
calling for the collective revolution of all caring Americans, lest he
be accused of "inciting violence". He was shaken out of his 'combat
boots' by an unconstitutional edict from the White House lumping
"revolutionaries" with terrorists, who have no free speech nor other
rights (sic). Beck is content to try to reverse over a century of
decline in government by educating even a few of those who don't have
enough initiative to 'lead' any part of our needed whatever-it-takes
revolution. And he is perfectly happy that that… "education" process
will take a year or more. After all, what Beck does is to fill time,
for those viewers and listeners without better things to do.

I find it ironic that Glenn Beck supposes "entrepreneurs" are
innovators. Only about 20% of entrepreneurs have a viable new product
or service to promote. Since only 5% of new businesses succeed (often
due to so little capital being available), cheering for entrepreneurs
makes little sense. But cheering for INVENTORS would make a lot of
sense! For someone who talks so much about jobs, I find it amazing
that Beck puts a religious slant on that by talking about 'manna'-
factoring jobs. He also glorifies words by claiming the mortar in the
bricks of the Biblical Tower of Babble was actually symbolic of
"materialism". It is schizophrenic of Beck to fault material
possessions, when the "manna-facture" of such goods is so large a part
of our economy. The FREEDOMS Americans deserve include being able to
purchase any form of goods available. Yes, I empathize with Beck not
being able to buy gifts for his young kids. My parents were living in
the Great Depression and knew that 'toys' need not be bought, but
could be hand made. The 'Little House on the Prairie' TV show
highlighted the resourcefulness necessary to show the love of giving
at Christmas.

Beck "sees" miracles where none exist. When the money wasn't there
for his bigger and bigger 8/18 rally, he, reluctantly, mentioned that
fact on his (Lucky him!) TV show. The Bible says: "… Ask, and it will
be given." People won't help out unless they know help is wanted and
needed. The 'prayer room' in that OHIO town of 12,000 people that was
devastated by the closing of the DSL package-processing center, was,
simply, a means for communicating, via notes, having needs. I doubt
that there were 7,000 people who lost their jobs. If that was true,
58% of those living in the town would have had to work there. With
most families having about two non-working kids, that means over 100%
of the adults in the town had to work for DSL. There could be no stay-
at-home moms nor school teachers, nor doctors and nurses.

Glenn Beck is very fluent. But he still makes grammatical mistakes,
though less than most. I—the man who has disproved Einstein's E =
mc^2 / beta equation—find it amusing that Beck, who admits to barely
being able to pass high school math, is now using as his logo for
2011, a 50s era, glass-globe, fuel pump with the symbol e^4. Gas is…
energy, and e^4 looks like 'energy' to the forth power. But Beck's
understanding of energy is more than suspect, as evidenced by his
continued put-downs of global warming. Of all (the few) worthy things
democrats have supported, stopping global warming makes the most
sense. It isn't a question of one's politics, but whether the oceans
are rising and the ice caps are melting. Both of the latter are
happening, big time, regardless of the spoutings of any Republican
know-it-alls like Glenn Beck.

Beck has questioned his audience regarding the purpose of the 17th
amendment. Such allowed electing, rather than having be appointed by
the state legislatures, the US Senators. A guest on the show said,
"Senators are like lobbyists for the states." HELL no they aren't!!
100 people, elected without apportionment to the population
constitutes an OLIGARCHY, that is more powerful than our should-be
Representative Republic. Lobbyists do NOT get to vote on issues!
Disallow the US Senate to vote, and there will be no constitutionality
question. Allowing the senate to vote on anything makes the USA,
largely, an oligarchy, since the US Senate is THE most powerful part
of Congress.

Barack Obama keeps talking about our great "democracy". He does so to
hide the too-prevalent REAL government form in America, which is: An
elected dictatorship. That is what Barack Obama, with his
unconstitutional Czars, is—plain and simple! In such form of
government, you vote for those who will then dictate every aspect of
your life. Socialism and communism become acceptable IF the
electorate is willing to keep deferring to a TRAITOR of the USA! Most
of Congress and those in the media are constantly deferring to that
TRAITOR, as evidenced by the fact they keep giving Barack Obama, the
Anti-Christ, air time on their shows. The media, including Brit
Hume's FOX News, is aiding and abetting a TRAITOR, as well as
fostering the social and economic downfall of the USA by allowing such
a TRAITOR to be talked about as being a "viable" candidate (sic) for
re election.

Most of the block voters who elected Obama are continuing to rate his
job performance as acceptable because: Obama is well-dressed, slender,
suave, and is fluent while READING the speeches written by others. He
also has the charisma and the voice inflection of Adolph Hitler, whom
he emulates in vocal style. The mindless block voters made him their
dictator for racial reasons, without consideration of his lack of
honestly, integrity, nor insight into the destructive nature of most
of his policies.

That "nice" speech that Obama made at the supposed memorial service to
the killed victims in the Tucson shooting, highlighted that man's
hypocrisy. His ACTIONS over the past two years have been
diametrically opposed to the all-too-easy-to-say ideals of a nation.
If whoever wrote that speech was President instead of that FRAUD,
Barack Obama, there might be hope for the USA.

The SICK status of education in this country was highlighted by the
"this is a GYM" shouting of youths. They all should be doing
manufacturing work, rather than goofing-off being at that University
and going to see their favorite rock star, Barack Obama. The
especially SICK status of the State of Arizona was highlighted by the
manner in which Gov. Jan Brewer "glowingly" introduced that God-damned
TRAITOR, Obama, to the viewing audience. Doesn't Brewer remember that
Obama sued Arizona for wishing to protect itself from dangerous
illegal immigrants? After that, numbers of Arizonans had said: "Let
Obama set foot in this state!" Where were the patriots willing to
arrest Obama for setting foot… anywhere? Is everyone but me being
seduced by Obama's suave, Fred Astaire bounce and bearing? Does such
somehow protect that rascal from swinging by the neck until his
rotting flesh falls to the ground to feed the circling vultures?

My New Constitution is less "severe" for most infractions by office
holders. After the terrible shooting, Pima County Sheriff Clarence
Dupnik would have instantly lost his job because of this clause:
"Exhibiting ideological bias in a job terminates the employment."

Janet Napolitano, after being introduced as a government official and
quoting scripture, would have instantly lost her job because of this
clause: "No law shall be made regarding the establishment of peaceable
religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, but government, its
campaigns, processes, slogans, and disbursements shall be secular."
If Napolitano hadn't been introduced as a public official, and the
memorial service was for individuals with whom she had had a non-
governmental relationship, her reading scripture would have been
perfectly acceptable. Additionally: "Representatives shall not, on
purpose, communicate with any news medium whose coverage area is
predominately outside of their home district. Nor shall they, or any
government official, cultivate a media personae, *** or make petty
public speeches or comments lauding any person, living or dead, nor
any civil or private projects or those responsible. Comments to media
by representatives or government employees shall be germane to pending
legislation, or to the exercise of their jobs. The media shall not
solicit public officials' opinions over those of the People. The
American Flag shall be red, white, and readily discernable blue. Only
when the President or Secretary of State are addressing the nation or
appearing before or receiving foreign dignitaries shall the American
Flag, bunting, or flag-color drapes be used as a backdrop. No other
public official nor candidate shall use such. Flags shall not be
displayed in or outside of government buildings other than: public
schools, post offices, military bases, memorials, the White House, the
Pentagon, and outside of the Capital or other government seats.
Governments aren't graders of performance, style, art, design,
history, nor social significance, and shall make no law, proclamation,
stamp or other acclaim recognizing any persons, organizations or
events in history. Officials shall make judgments within their
expertise or shall poll unbiased experts, or the Citizens, and defer
to the opinions of such."

Sarah Palin was rightfully angry at the statements of Sheriff Dupnik
and others implying that she is inciting violence. It's curious why
such a crack shot as Palin missed—three times no less—hitting a nearly
stationary caribou in remote Alaska. But that becomes understandable
when one realizes that it had just been reported that Barack Obama was
vacationing with a herd of muskoxen, just over the next rise!

With snows abounding this winter, it's more important than ever that
no voters with 'Oreo Cookie' eyes be allowed at the polls! Happy New
Year to all!

All across this great land, we must unite as INDIVIDUALS, because:
"United we stand; divided we fall!" May we all unite to SAVE the USA!

Respectfully submitted,

— John A. Armistead — Patriot

AKA NoEinstein on Google's sci.physics.

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