tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318892095452258182.post6629197510447425102..comments2023-10-16T02:49:20.192-07:00Comments on Our Rants & Raves!: An Inconvenient Truth About Our PoliticsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318892095452258182.post-69456398292320989442010-02-08T20:56:27.411-08:002010-02-08T20:56:27.411-08:00Great post Michael!
I think the truth is frequentl...Great post Michael!<br />I think the truth is frequently less convenient than the alternative:<br />"One is astonished in the study of history at the recurrence of the idea that evil must be forgotten, distorted, skimmed over. We must not remember that Daniel Webster got drunk but only that he was a splendid constitutional lawyer. We must forget that George Washington was a slave owner . . . and simply remember the things we regard as creditable and inspiring. The difficulty, of course, with this philosophy is that history loses its value as an incentive and example; it paints perfect man and noble nations, but it does not tell the truth." <br />-W.E.B Du BoisAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318892095452258182.post-64752587276786778082009-11-24T12:50:57.184-08:002009-11-24T12:50:57.184-08:00Thanks for all the great comments guys. GR, I don&...Thanks for all the great comments guys. GR, I don't have anything to add. Let's all just get along. <br /><br />I'll try to write about the health care debacle soon. I'm sure I'm not alone when I say the whole process is making me sick. Of course the Republicans are the worst, but we all know they're a lost cause. A bad joke!<br /><br />Sadly, I'm now thinking that Reid put the public option and anti-trust language in his bill just to give it all away to the four horseman of the apocalypse - Nelson, Lincoln, Landreiu and Lieberman. They never intended for us to have it. <br /><br />It's all so depressing. I'm also beginning to believe the progressive Senators who constantly tell us it will all be okay are full of shit. I just don't believe them anymore. I also don't beleive much in Obama anymore. He's not doing enough. <br /><br />Anyway, have a great THANKSGIVING everyone - MichaelMichael Bohhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17802461239955936784noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318892095452258182.post-5102997179823550682009-11-19T09:27:12.273-08:002009-11-19T09:27:12.273-08:00LETS TELL SOME MORE LIES
When the administration ...LETS TELL SOME MORE LIES<br /><br />When the administration lies, as in often the case, Obama is lying. It is hard to remember a more corrupt government in Washington, although such corruption is commonplace in Chicago. It has spread like a nasty rash, and Obama’s Recovery Lies are just the most recent evidence of corruption.<br />Obama Failed Recovery Lies<br /><br />We know that Obama “inherited” this economy from George Bush and we also now know that Obama has pulled this economy back from the brink in his recovery efforts. (By the way the link goes to the white house video of Obama Quoting he brought the Economy back from the brink, so don’t be surprised if that link breaks at some point when the Economy doesn’t look better than when Obama took office.) The Obama Recovery is doing so well it is not only creating or saving jobs it is creating districts, such as the 9th district of Arizona that has had 30 jobs saved or created although the district doesn’t exist.ghostrider6265https://www.blogger.com/profile/02057577848164064252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318892095452258182.post-89857572768037954032009-11-18T06:41:49.345-08:002009-11-18T06:41:49.345-08:00“The time for American innocence, ignorance and ne...“The time for American innocence, ignorance and negligent stupidity must end.”<br /><br />If the Web and the Internet have done nothing else, Michael, they have exposed us to “all of the above.”<br /><br />The uneducated cannot detect revisionist history, because they have never learned history in the first place.<br /><br />The uneducated are being told that the educated are the “elite.” This is how they are being controlled. They have been told by “the usual suspects” that higher education and those institutions long held in high regard (Nobel Peace Prize, for example) are all in conspiracy against them and against America. They know American is the greatest nation on Earth and has no need to interact with other nations or consider global problems. They believe all this because they don’t know any better.<br /><br />Lacking a well-rounded liberal education makes them susceptible to manipulation by ideologues. Yet, these are, by and large, not bad souls. Most are hard-working, salt-of-the-earth folks with a strong faith in a higher powere. They are merely preyed upon because of their core values.<br /><br />What is the antithesis of ignorance? The return to an education system that truly educates. Have we gone past the point of no return? It’s very possible.<br /><br />As for “news,” I did better than turn off the TV. I disconnected cable altogether about five months ago, and I have not missed it at all. I decided to seek out “straight news,” and to form my own conclusions. No more “opinion” shows where I could only find validation of my beliefs rather than facts! (And, that includes MSNBC’s nightside.) <br /><br />There is so much more to be said about your thought-provoking post, but I will conclude with this:<br /><br />Looking back through the years since the War Between the States, most efforts to improve our nation have been made by Democratic administrations.<br /><br />We came to our current administration with the highest of hopes, and it is the very people we so sincerely want to benefit, who are being manipulated into rejecting the very policies which will help them.<br /><br />BJB.J.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12004309077511856506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318892095452258182.post-52278925777019648872009-11-17T10:33:12.230-08:002009-11-17T10:33:12.230-08:00Religion is definitely a point of departure is som...Religion is definitely a point of departure is some respects. Yet my faith shares much in common with Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, etc. The reality is that most faiths share much in common. <br /><br />Finding and building alliances based on common/shared values is often very difficult. Especially in the face of the cynical deliberate divisive efforts of those who are out to benefit themselves. Those who insist that they have the only path to a higher power/GOD while espousing the limits of human comprehension and spirit are to my mind just a subset of those whose only concern is themselves.<br /><br />Unfortunately, many people fail to reflect upon their own beliefs. My sense of things is that if you can remove the threats/fears from most peoples lives and then seek common foundations we are all more similar than different. <br /><br />How often do we engage in these discussions about what we share in common? How often are the differences used to build barriers to communication? How often are the differences used to foment hatred and to divide people?<br /><br />Believe me when I say, I do not have any answers. I just wonder if a change in perspective might be useful and so I offer my thoughts to see if they help us to at least start looking at things a bit differently.Mukwa Ogimaahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15587312059097867335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318892095452258182.post-12254367337546003822009-11-17T10:17:31.112-08:002009-11-17T10:17:31.112-08:00Thank you Sue. I especially agree witht the idea t...Thank you Sue. I especially agree witht the idea that we're slipping backwards when we should be moving forward with the rest of the world. Who knows, let's hope it's the last gasp of a dying breed. <br /><br />You too Mukwa, great assessment on your part as well. Sadly, common ground seems especially elusive if Infidel is right. Unless we can get the electorate to consider civics instead of religion when voting, we're all doomed. <br /><br />Thanks for the great feedback Infidel. As usual, you hit the nail on the head. My main political concern these days is all about the independents, and how they will vote in the future. <br /><br />They don't seem to see the GOP as a discredited party. They still think we have a two-party system. The corporate party continues to con them, and they continue to buy it. Unless they catch-on quick, we're all potentially doomed to go backwards even faster after 2010.<br /><br />Forget the Republicans, they're a lost cause. We need to focus on the independent voters. It's our job now to teach them, and discredit those who are lying to them.Michael Bohhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17802461239955936784noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318892095452258182.post-9518759578689445172009-11-17T09:27:58.232-08:002009-11-17T09:27:58.232-08:00I find it hard to believe that the vast majority o...<i>I find it hard to believe that the vast majority of American's on the political right are really all that much different from myself</i>.<br /><br />You're overlooking a critical factor -- religion. Yes, of course there is a class struggle going on, but then how is the Republican party able to attract enough support to be a major force? By means of religious fundamentalism. There are tens of millions of Americans who are not rich, but will vote for the Republican party against their own economic self-interest because they believe the fight against abortion, homosexuals, secularism, evolution in the schools, and so forth, is paramount. Remove that factor and you'd have a political situation more like what exists in western Europe.<br /><br />As Republican party identification shrinks, it has reduced itself to pretty much just the 20%-25% of the population that makes up the Christian Right. Religion is what enables the Republicans to remain a power even though -- indeed, because -- they've largely abandoned any pretense of a rational or reality-based world-view.<br /><br />The left ignores religion at its peril.Infidel753https://www.blogger.com/profile/10965786814334886696noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318892095452258182.post-55902756954452438432009-11-16T18:31:17.400-08:002009-11-16T18:31:17.400-08:00Michael,
I am in agreement with your assessment. ...Michael,<br /><br />I am in agreement with your assessment. We American's seem to swallow myth hook, line, and sinker. I do not agree though that we should abandon the effort to deliver us all into a better social contract. I've been thinking and I am beginning to think that our failing is that we are failing to define the common ground, that which binds us all together.<br /><br />I find it hard to believe that the vast majority of American's on the political right are really all that much different from myself. I'm increasingly convinced that we are engaged in a class struggle. I can clearly see differences between the uber wealthy/powerful and the rest of us. Those are the people who control the corporations, foundations, banks, lobbyists, and corrupt lawmakers. They are the ones who are truly different from myself and most Americans. <br /><br />They are the one's controlling the media and the debates. Perhaps this is where you can focus your energies. Don't give up the fight. We need you. Perhaps, by our force of numbers we can make IT work for us!Mukwa Ogimaahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15587312059097867335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318892095452258182.post-43098522974415308412009-11-16T16:18:32.765-08:002009-11-16T16:18:32.765-08:00Michael you speak the truth and I am proud of you!...Michael you speak the truth and I am proud of you! I feel the same way, So many times I'm embarrassed, dismayed, sickened by the actions of our people and our nation. Those who say "how dare you say our country is not the greatest on this earth" are the same people who put down Michelle Obama for the things she said in the past, the people who are blinded by the mistakes our country has made. The way we do not respect each other and treat each other with dignity and equality. We're slipping backwards when we should be moving forwards in our plans and our thinking. We do have a long way to go before I can say we are the greatest country in the world! I sure hope we get there in my lifetime! Take care Michael!Suehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18303260031729868857noreply@blogger.com