All Skate
It's open swim time. Here's an open thread, a place for you to make any comments which might not fit somewhere else.
Get it off your chest. What have you seen lately? What have you been reading? What really pisses you off? What have you seen that's been done right? Seen or read anything inspiring lately? Read any good books? Seen any good movies? (or lousy ones). Had any flashes of genious and insight on the political scene?
Anything and everything goes. (except of course, the truly stupid.)
posted by The Inside Dope @ 1/06/2006
5 comments
5 Comments:
Can someone give me a definition of "Conservative" that applies to the Bush Administration and the Republican majorities in Congress?
Obviously traditional definitions of "conservative" which include the concepts of fiscal responsibity, living within one's means, believing in a limited federal government (either in size or scope), careful and responsible stewardship of public resources just won't do.
Why does the news media persist in referring to these people as conservative? The way they are throwing out established traditions of good governance and fiscal responsibility makes the term "radical" much more appropriate than "conservative."
I got to thinking about this again recently after watching a television documentatory on predatory lending practices. It mentioned that 25 years ago all 50 states had usury laws capping interest rates at 12%. When a bank convinced South Dakota to lift their cap this set in motion a series of events which, among other things, created the modern credit card industry.
Think about that. For 200 years there was such a broad concensus in this country that charging more than 12% interest was wrong that all 50 states had laws against it. It is just within the last 25 years that anyone has been allowed to charge anyone in this country more than 12% interest. This has created changes in our society at least as monumental as allowing women to have legal abortions or allowing consenting adults to do whatever they want in their own bedrooms. And yet I have heard no "conservatives" publicly suggesting that the laws be changed to once again outlaw predatory lending. (I have heard a few "progressives" in a few blue states suggest such a thing.)
Just what is conservative about these people?
Applying Occam's razor, and at the risk of being dismissed as "radical", I believe that there's more than ample evidence that the simplest answer to your question Dave, is greed and lust for power... period.
Strip away everything else, all the jargon, all the logical disconnect between their B.S. they put out to keep the rubes and the superstitous fundies in line and reality, their immoral stances on "premptive" war, their "reverse Robin Hood" assault on the poor and middle class in order to widen an already enormous gulf between the very wealthy and the very poor, and literally dozens of other facts and evidence, and it's hard to come to any other conclusion.
It may sound simplistic, but truly, if you boil it down, every single step they take to subvert democracy, errode our rights, rig the system, take money away from the poor and middle class and hand it to the wealthy, and their arrogant attitude that the law and constitution don't appply to them, all of it, is motivated by the lust for money and power.
Really no big surprise, as those two things (and sex) are usually the motivation behind almost everything humans do. But this gang has elevated it to unprecidented levels while at the same time, claiming ownership of all that is holy, moral, and patriotic.
Bullshit.
Perhaps it explains why it appeals so strongly to so many.
After being told by liberals and religious leaders that being greedy, selfish, blindly hateful toward people not like them, and generally uncaring pricks is something to be ashamed of, finally, the Republicans and the fundies tell them that it's all just fine.
They ARE greedy, selfish, hateful pricks, and they hate anyone who tries to say that there's something wrong with them.
After all, they're told that God wants them to be that way by the right.
Allowing greed and lust for power to be your guiding principles is neither holy, moral, nor patrotic, but that doesn't prevent them from failing to see this.
Maybe it's time for the Democrats... or someone more capable... to show them the light.
Can anyone tell me why this woman hasn't resigned yet???
http://newjerseyblog.blogspot.com/2006/01/deadbeat-evelyn.html
Justin,
I kind of doubt this is the place to ask that, seeing as how the woman the piece refers to is relatively minor nobody in New Jersey and this blog is focused on northwest Illinois.
But good luck.
Have you already tried asking a blog in Nevada or Alabama or North Dakota. Maybe they'd know.
Or better yet, how about addressing your question to someone in NEW JERSEY who knows or cares who this person is? Just an idea.
Go and see Munich. It's a real good retrospect on the turmoil of the 70s and the middle east - plus makes one connect a lot of "dots" when seeing George Bush's war on Terr -- and the history and how ridiculous our current foreign policies are at this date.
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