Preserving the America I Grew Up In
There are other things we grew up with in America — those of us of Boehner’s age and a little younger — and not all of them bring pleasant memories to the surface. In fact, a significant number of them we wanted “snuffed out.” Certainly, the casual kind of racism and intolerance that was not unfamiliar in the America of my own youth should have been snuffed out. The second-class citizenship accorded women (cemented in both tradition and the law) needed to be left behind, as did attitudes toward gays, the handicapped, the mentally ill, and others in society who lived on the margins, largely invisible to the majority of us, and who suffered in silence until their concerns were given voice a decade or two later.
I know what Boehner is saying about the kind of America he grew up in and there is certainly much of that America that needs to be protected and cared for. Boehner’s America of strong communities, strong families, an expansive view of personal liberty, and a government that had yet to flex its muscles in an effort to control us is worth preserving. It is worthwhile to save as much of that America as can be accomplished without rolling back the genuine progress we have made in other areas of our national social life.
But trying to hold back change in America is an exercise in futility. America was created as an engine of change, a grand experiment that was to alter the consciousness of ordinary people around the world and allow them to believe that their own lives mattered as much as those of any rich man, nobleman, aristocrat, or king. Ordinary people, by virtue of being born human, were endowed with certain rights that could never be taken away, only suppressed by government. There was revolution in that idea, and the crowned heads of old Europe trembled as they witnessed the virulence of the American idea sweep across the continent and the rest of the world, unsettling and upsetting entire societies in its wake.
But it is here at home that we continue to see how that simple idea of liberty affects changes in our society. The problem has not necessarily been with whether change was necessary. Many changes we have witnessed since Boehner’s childhood have expanded the idea of freedom and have been a welcome counterpoint to traditions that had outlived their usefulness and stood in the way of human progress.
The problem in recent decades — and it didn’t begin with President Obama and the current crop of far left liberal Democrats in Congress — is that we have thrown prudence to the winds and have been trying to steamroll change without thought of the consequences, or an acknowledgment that we have unmoored ourselves from the basic principles found in the Constitution that define our nationhood.
Certainly Obama and the Democrats have accelerated this process enormously. Boehner’s lament is for an America of which President Obama and many on the left are openly contemptuous. Their stated intent to “transform” America literally seeks to deny some of the fundamental tenets that are embedded in our DNA and codified as first principles in the Constitution. In return for some kind of nebulous security against the ravages of disease, Wall Street bankers, and global warming, our choices as free men and women are being squeezed by government resulting in a loss of liberty.
The irony is that each area of American life the Democrats are bending their efforts to “transform” needs reforming. There are many conservatives and Republicans who could have supported small, prudent, incremental changes in health care, on Wall Street, and in energy policy. But this has never been about fixing what’s broken for the Democrats. It has always been about gaining for government the ability to control. Whether for angelic purposes, or as a grubby political power play, the connecting thread in what the Democrats are trying to do has, as a practical effect, limited the choices of ordinary people to control their own lives. This interposition of government in what were previously private matters, by definition, is an attack on our liberties no matter how well intentioned.
Boehner’s complaint about the Democrats is a reminder of what is at stake in the elections of 2010. The majority of us don’t want an American transformation, which should be made quite plain in November. Whether it will be enough to preserve the America we grew up in will be a continuing concern in the years to come.
The left understands the point, they just see an Orwellian Utopia as more ‘fair’ and ‘equal’ than the risky competition of individual achievement based on merit as an easier way to self sustaining stasis. The damage done to self esteem by devaluing individual contribution can be legislated at a later time and appropriate compensation can be delivered enhancing the benefit although not improving the personal pain of individual worthlessness to society.
The left isn’t really very good at mind experiments or consequential realities of unintended consequences because they act on emotion, not logic or reason. Other wise the paradoxical realities of the G20 riots last week would have been apparent to them. But a famous American humorist once said: “You can’t fix stupid.” A paradigm the left proves with crystal clarity every day.
Well said and I couldn’t agree more. I’m not as eloquent as you,tho’, I’d like to add that this country,in my opinion, was founded on the proposition that a person should be free to chose. The pinko lefties it seems want a society where everyone is equal,excepting themselves ’cause the pinko lefties expect to be the elite rulers.They should all move to China. It’s a ready-made equal society.
that’s all
You cannot preserve something that no longer exists.
The America that Representative John Boehner grew up in still had God as the command and control center piece of the country with a rock solid education as every person’s primary goal and objective.
America, in all respects was the standard by which the entire world was judged.
There was an endless, earnest and yearning thirst for America then.
There was a universal fear about denying God.
That America is gone.
Perhaps, someday we can restore it.
The disappearance of God from public and personal acknowledgement, acceptance and praise is the greatest change this nation has endured in my lifetime (1952-present). It is God who inspired the founders to create a nation and government built upon individual liberty and freedom for all. Although not without challenge, upheaval and sufferings, America’s history has been like that of no other nation. I shudder as I contemplate the anti-Christian, anti-Jewish presidency of Barack Obama, and wonder what the future will bring to a nation that has chosen such a hollow, soul-less man to lead them…in spite of the ample evidence and blessings of God that surround us.
You have precisely nailed my thoughts. Right on. Praise to GOD. Prayers for the ignorant, misled voters who pulled the lever, pencilled in the oval, punched the chad, etc., for this transparent vision of “hope and change”. Jesus Christ is the only hope for change in a positive sense. Thank you for your well-ordered thoughts.
“In the America John Boehner grew up in [1950s], the top marginal tax rate on wealthy earners was 90%.”
What this liar Michael Tomasky, and people like him, also never mention was that the tax code back in the 1950s had a boatload of deductions available to the super rich at that time, be they business deductions, travelling deductions, charitable deductions,and a host of other deductions that are not available to them today. Therefore, if the top Federal tax rate goes up to about 40%, that’s a firm 40% with few deductions. And we’re not even counting the skyrocketing state taxes, city/town taxes, real estate taxes, state sales tax (depending on the state you live in), corporate taxes (if you’re unfortunate enough to own a small corporation and you are what’s known as a “Sub S” corporate owner, God help you), and my personal favorite, the inheritance or “death” tax, where you’re actually paying taxes on money you already paid taxes on. So the top income tax rate in the 1950s was undoubtedly higher, but there were a lot more deductions and all of the other taxes were a lot lower.
But the larger point is this: Individuality and self-reliance has been totally snuffed out by the Federal Government. It is no longer, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country,” but “Ask how much your country can do for you and keep getting it until the day you die.” Liberals and Progressives want all Americans to rely on the state rather than be able to rely on themselves. They want a pathetic group of children, incapable of thinking, acting, or caring for themselves. It is an Orwellian nightmare where all government is good and all individuality is wrong, discouraged, and bad.
I shudder to think where this country would be today if the founding fathers were as weak, gutless, dependant, and cowardly as the people the liberals want us to be today. They had to rely on God and themselves to see them through all of the innumerable troubles that faced them. There certainly would never have been any westward expansion (let the government do it; why should I face those dangers without being compensated for my troubles) and we probably would never have fought the Civil War and would be two nations today (Can’t we just talk through this “silly” issue of slavery? Hey guys, why do we have to fight about this? Isn’t it easier just to settle the matter by breaking up the Union rather than fighting like a bunch of children?).
And lets not even talk about fighting two World Wars, a thankless war that nobody remembers today in Korea, and a sad but noble attempt to make a stand against Communism in a distant land called Vietnam. And forget about the two Gulf Wars. After all, those were all-volunteer endeavors fought by a bunch of poor kids who couldn’t get a job in the “real world,” according to John Kerry, right? George Washington, who’s very army was kept alive by poor kids who all served as volunteers, would have looked at you in disgust at that remark.
So this July 4th celebrate something special. Celebrate your ability to live in a country where you can still be (for the time being) an individual, even though the Federal, state, and local governments are quickly making you a ward of the state. If you want to do something about this, though, you’ll have a chance in November. If we do it right this time, we can throw most of those parasites out in Washington and replace them with conservatives that actually want to bring this country back to a place where individuality and self-reliance are celebrated, and where a total dependance on the state is frowned on.
The founding fathers would smile at that thought.
It is interesting, is it not, that with that 90% top rate, that the amount of revenue that the Federal Government received as a percentage of GDP, was about 15%?
And that deficits were measured in 100′s of Million$, or – at worst – a few Billion$.
If Obama’s ‘stimulus’ is working so well, why is unemployment paid out for a near THIRD EXTENSION? As well as unemployment remaining high?
The ’100 weeks of unemployment’ folks, Obama OWNS ~80 weeks of that sad factoid. Yet, the Obama administration continues to boast of the ‘successes’ of the stimulus. This is reminiscent of the line, ‘Don’t p iss down my back and tell me it’s raining’ from the movie, ‘The Outlaw Josey Wales’.
Boehner speaks of his childhood of the 50′s. I can attest to the frightening changes implemented since my 80′s childhood.
As our society welcomes more coddling, dumbed down rhetoric and believe our Government oligarchs mantra ‘were only here to help’, liberty, self-sufficiency and braving away from the herd is and always will be welcome and needed.
I am aware that the company I work for has manged to keep 35 people on it’s payroll due to stimulus money. Without the stimulus, that is 25 more people who would be trying to find a job, and collecting unemployment.
Three of my friends who teach school got “downsized”, and then rehired when their schools got stimulus funds.
My uncle works for Chrysler. They didn’t close the factory he works at due getting to stimulus funds.
That is 39 people I know who are currently not on unemployment due to stimulus funds keeping them working. Each and everyone of them is spending money which helps keep other people working.
Tanning Salon Beaner wishes America could come back?
He’s one of the treacherous pseudo-leaders that got us here in the first place!
They destroy America, then retire to their ranches with huge pensions and private health insurances.
T.S. Beaner should stop the CYA platitudes and go now!
It’s interesting to me that you use a racist slur against Latinos in your ramblings. This says quite a lot about you and your beliefs. Thank you for showing your true face to start with. I truly hope that you are not part of any conservative, libertarian, or blue-dog/centrist democrat movement. It’s a shame if you are.
I’m not exactly sure how they ‘destroyed’ anything. If you actually read the article, you’ll notice the author makes the point that the US of A is a dynamic engine of change, sometimes dramatic, sometimes not, and currently, we’re witnessing another dramatic change. As for problems, why yes, they exist. There’s plenty of blame to go around. Are you a union man (or woman)? When was the last time you paid attention to how you dues were spent, and are they really bennefitting you as an employee and member, or is the top brass furthering their own polictical and power ambitions? Can you argue as to the merits of deficit spending on defense versus the same on ‘soft’ capital, like maintaining social service jobs? Which, in the end, would likely to generate more jobs for more people, and hence, an increased taxable base and more money necessary social welfare programs? Or perhaps you’d like to tackle the expedient example of actually paying money for shovel ready projects, or even just to get infrastructure projects going, vs soft spending on projects that do not create work? I’d also like to know your take on such issues as the democrats on the various banking and finance committees telling the regulators that their issues with how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were adjusting their accounting were obviously racist? (You have to love Rangle, Waters, et al). Well, actually, I don’t want to know. I tend to not come back to comment threads since at best they end up restatign the author’s points in various ways, and at worst they eventually degenerate into name calling. But I thought maybe I’d give you some food for thought.
Instead of making lame attacks using racist slurs, perhaps you can point out how the goals, methods and already written laws of the currtent administration and congress can or has improved our society, how liberty will be or has been expanded, and how our federal budget will work out in the end. How recent changes in our laws and societal structure make it easier for communities to be more self-reliant and proactive at the local level (education, crime prevention, helping the less fortunate as well as protecting the local environment), as opposed to having to rely on the feds for permission and direction? While I may not agree with Rep. Boehner at all turns, I do agree that we face an unprecedented slide against personal liberty, self-reliance, and self-determination. Without those, the great experiment that is the US of A, will diminish, and in the end, cease.
Stop it with the PC stuff. I live in L.A. and am happily married for decades to a Latin. “Beaner” when applied to myself or anyone else is not a racist slur, though hard you try to make anything into a racist slur. It’s a fun way to tease — just ask Mencia.
Ease up and stop promoting strife where it doesn’t exist.
Who cares what a Tomasky of an unwashed socialist newspaper in England has to say? Just reading the Guardian is a waste of time, let alone polemicizing with it.
I believe what the good Congressman is trying to say in a easy view is that this, One Nation under God, is worth fighting for. I am a disabled veteran, (in body only) and am very patriotic in both my views and intentions, my daily deeds and mental exercises. I do not approve of the “transformation” of which the dem’s speak and act upon. I believe We the People, through our Bill of Rights and our Constitution are defined as a rebelious peoples to the type of change they, the demonrat party would have for us. They are not in my mind either American’s of Patriotic in any sense of the word, quite the contrary, they are of a one for all, all for one mentality. This is directly conflicting to the values and purpose of the BoR and the Constitution. This type of attitude some 100 years ago would have landed them in the jail cells all across these United States as a seditionist acts, traitors and the agitators they truely are. Why has this changed I am left to wonder. But as I read this article on our National Birthdate, I am more than willing to wheel my self to the front lines to protect our liberties and will be in their faces for the changes they have demanded of me, Iwill never give up the dream of being free. They will have to come and get me and bury me before I will give them one ounce of help in any fashion or form. If they continue to stick it to us through their dirty dealings, We will in turn have to give it to them back in spades. Don’t tread upon me, my rights, my freedoms or my will to fight you with all the good Lord has left of me, Ill never surrender to their vile evil ways, never. Stick that in your pipe obama and smoke it til it hurts.
Happy Fourth, Sir.
Thank you for defending our Freedom !
“Don’t tread upon me, my rights, my freedoms or my will to fight you with all the good Lord has left of me, Ill never surrender to their vile evil ways, never.”
Gotta love that spirit.
This is a bit off the subject, I apologize…
What I write about here is in no way contrived to demean, diminish, or change your mind. I too, am a disabled vet having served under all the ideas of patriotism, God and country, and the protection of freedom. Problem is, those ideals are fabricated in the US today.
To my mind it has nothing to do with conservatives, liberals, democrats or republicans. Whoever is responsible for the denigration and selling of the US Government to the point whereby it is owned by the powerful business conglomerates within the US has to step up to the plate and accept responsibility. As a result, it is in the interest of the u.s. government of mega business [sic] to protect their interests here and abroad. In short… a plutocracy forcing a class society onto America.
Laws of this land allow privileges to businesses an average person does not have. As a result, mass sums of capital accrue and those profits have been used to promote and perpetuate the model which has been shown not to be in the interest of this country and its citizens any longer. Do you remember when it was illegal for a business to locate overseas? Why do you suppose that was? Deregulation has reared its ugly head with the after effect of exposing true business interests. Regan thought “trickle down” was a great idea except he somehow missed the fact that once the money is in the hands of business it trickles only to their interests. Further, the destruction of this country has spread now to the destruction of countries overseas and IN the seas… all for profit. Research and development for technology or medicine is virtually nonexistent and/or ignored particularly if it threatens an existing cash cow.
From a historical perspective, the Constitution of the US was written by wealthy men with an interest in protecting their own wealth and status. It was their America they wished to protect. No mention was made of any indigenous peoples, working groups, slaves, or protection of them as (subjects) citizens. The first clear example is, after the Revolutionary War, the crushing of the farmers rebellion (Shays’ rebellion) in 1776. This was a classic example of rich vs. poor and was not only during the birth of a nation but set the cornerstone of plutocracy which has run amok today. The Constitution set up big government to protect slavery and slaveholders against slave rebellion, catch runaway slaves, to pay off bondholders, to pass tariffs on behalf of manufacturers, and to tax poor farmers to pay for armies which eventually attack them as they protested against high tax rates, foreclosures, and loss of their land and livestock. One can understand the necessity of the need to raise funds to run the government but the ugly truth at the time; the people were demanding the democracy they were promised in the Constitution.
Today, the wealth and power derived from amassing wealth has breed an immorality in business practices that have no conscience or sense of obligation to the country beyond its own interests. I think one has to think long and hard to determine if the patriotism is well placed or if the very nation is manipulated by mega business interests. Research and development and the nature of business has a place in this country but I believe it has turned into an ugly vulture feasting on a dying nation. Even a vulture waits for the death of its prey. Without regulation this country is doomed. Is that in your best interest? Is that a reason to place yourself in the line of fire? Are you a traitor if you oppose what is before your eyes? Are you able to consider where the truly vile and evil ways emanate?
Howard Zinn “A Power Governments Cannot Suppress” is a good read even if you may not agree with all of it. There is indisputable evidence of the destruction of this nation as greed and the laws protecting it are perpetuated.
I’ve seen the phrase so often in the blogs… “Don’t drink the cool aid.”
I salute you, sir.
These so called advantages exist solely inside your fevered imaginations.
It was never illegal for a company to relocate overseas.
Let’s just assume for the moment that all you say is true. Is any of that even possible with honest representatives in government? Do not blame business solely for taking advantage of a system made possible by dishonest politicians. If folks understood this very basic idea, they would not keep re-electing the same folks again and again. Voter stupidity, in the end, makes it all possible.
I honor your service to our country and mean no disrespect in what I am about to say but it is how I interpreted your post. First, if there was EVER an example of socialized medicine it would be the V.A. system of healthcare (government funded and administered). As a disabled vet I can’t imagine that you don’t benefit from it in some way, along with government funded retirement and/or disability. Medicare probably paid for your wheel chair and a host of other quality of life devices. I bet it was nice knowing that you had that safety net available to you in case you met unfortunate circumstances. It is always perplexing to me that people like yourself who are nourished by the federal teat would simultaneously deny others the same sort of safety net should they meet unfortunate circumstances. The question is why should others be denied the same things you benefit from (healthcare, decent retirement, etc.)? Conservatives go on and on about the evils of socialism but the reality is they’re, as you post demonstrate, only against other people getting the same socialism they get. It’s a very primal mindset. Picture pigs at the trough pushing other hungry ones away.
Conservatives and the GOP, while they talk a good game about being all pro-military and everything, could really care less about you. When you were serving the country they called you a patriot but now that you are disabled you are a leech, costing the government lot’s and lot’s of money (they would never say this to your face but it’s how they really feel). There have been countless times where they have voted against funding for veteran healthcare, etc. The real question is why you carry water for and support them?
My grandparents are part of the “greatest generation.” They want me to have all the benefits they had and more. You, by contrast, want all you can get but deny subsequent generations the same. You are not part of the greatest generation. You are part of the most selfish generation. That’s the way I see it.
Praetorian, you sicken me sir! To imply that a disabled veteran is “living off the public teat” and that the VA is “socialized medicine” is so off the mark and denegrating to veterans. They, unlike you probably, risked life and limb to protect the USA. The fact that they were hurt in this endeavour demands that the government look after them for the rest of their lives, if need be. It is their right to expect it! I can imagine you feel the upkeep of Arlington is an example of “dying on the public teat”.
The V.A. healthcare system, as a model, is a socialist model in terms of the way it is administered and funded. You may not like that but it is what it is. The facts are not dependent on what you may or may not want to believe. What does government funded and administered mean in your world? Oh, I get it, if it’s a program that you depend on, that’s just good old fashioned patriotism and apple pie. If it’s a program to give a hand up to, say, single moms, that’s socialism. OK, I get it now. For conservatives, socialism is in the eye of the beholder. Like I said, “the most selfish (and deluded) generation.
Praetorian, have you ever heard of a contract, in which I signed with the Federal Government, and by this your self included, in the event that I bacame unable to hold “meaningful employment” as a result of fighting to protect our way of life, and yes yours too, even though you come on as a arrogant and misled bastard in your words I cannot forgive your ignorance and condesending remarks. I can only hope and pray for your soul as your post demands that I show no pity for your ignorance or snidy examples of right and wrongs. I do not wish to or ever have advocated any other to the life I now lead as a result of injuries I sustained during combat operations, I would not wish this even on your poor soul. You totally missed the remarks of my post, try again and tell me why you are even a part of us calling ourselves selfless and servant upon your needs, I am waiting for the next round of excusses from your diseased mind.
Who do you think fought for all those government programs you live on with my tax dollar? It wasn’t the GOP. Quit being a water boy for the enemy. Didn’t you learn anything in the military?
You, sir, are beneath contempt.
More of a Trojan Horse than anyone’s idea of a Praetorian Guard.
a troll by any other name is still….praetorian…
“Don’t ask…don’t tell” Trust me I won’t after I bend you over a saw horse.
There are those who still love this country. This brought tears to my eyes-
http://www.kvue.com/news/Homeless-man-rescues-American-flag-during-storm-97864179.html
I salute you Ret. Marine for your service and sacrifice. You are still a better man than most regardless. MBY
The US is an odd place now. It reminds me of the expat who had just returned to the US after an extended overseas posting. He was asked, “How is it to be in the land of the free?”. His reply: “Its great and I sure miss it.”
This is what they call a dog whistle. Arf, Arf, Moran.
Rick: “But trying to hold back change in America is an exercise in futility.”
Perhaps, but changing back from bad government decisions to the way it used to be is also change. For example, I can now legally carry a gun to protect myself and others from those who have always carried illegally. I couldn’t do that in the place and time in which I grew up. (Not you in Chicago though, Rick. You work in one of the last outlaw cities.) I can enjoy opinions in the various media wthout the interference of the “fairness doctrine,” though some on the far left are again plotting to infringe upon free speech and media. Prohibition was eliminated by a change in the Constitution. There are many other examples. Personally, I believe we don’t need more change. What we need now is more change back.
I hope the GOP takes your suggestion to heart. Their fall campaign slogan should be “We’re going to take the country backwards,” because that is what you are saying, and unabashedly so. Sorry, but most Americans when posed with your vision, one where blacks were asked to sit at the back of the bus, and wife beating was just something that was kept quiet, among other things, is not one we would want to return to. As a nation we will continue in our effort to “form a more perfect union.” It’s unfortunate you have a problem with more people participating in that union. We are not the problem sir, you are. people who think like you are a clear and present danger to what the framers envisioned.
Nobody, least of all Mr.Boehner, is trying to repeal the Civil Rights Act, and return the country to Plessy, or Dred Scott.
But, the country could use a good case of “growing up”, and to stop standing around waiting for Uncle Sugar to do this, and Uncle Sugar do that; and to stop keeping the citizenry in a state of infantalization (Do it for the Children!).
Don’t kid yourself. There are plenty of the teabagging type that would love to do just that. They would love to see blacks at the back of the bus again. They just use different language. Sort of like how Sharon Angle is being advised how to talk about destroying Social Security. She speaks of “personalizing” it. That’s just a focus group tested way of making something unappealing sound appealing. Different color lipstick, same old pig.
Really? Can you back that up with facts? I have yet to meet a single Tea Party (not “teabagger”; you are showing your colors there) that has any desire to turn back the clock on civil rights. Perhaps you were thinking of the liberals, who need an oppressed minority to keep them in power. Throwing out the race card is pretty much the last refuge of a lefty scoundrel.
You find racism under every rock if you live under one.
Now you have shown your true colours, Praetorian. “Teabaggers”, is it? Your grasp of history is breathtaking. It was your kind that wanted the black man at the back of the bus. I and many others would have more to say but, you are not worth the time.
Get out of our house you loser!
Remember, Dems = Jim crow, “colored to the back of the bus” “whites only”, voting against civil rights ..etc X 100.
…bet most black Americans don’t know who the liberal/democrats are in this country really are…their heads are so full democrat lies it’s pathetic.
Liberals can’t get away from this conviction that everyone who disagrees with them is irredeemably evil.
Roman Nose say: “Sorry, but most Americans when posed with your vision, one where blacks were asked to sit at the back of the bus, and wife beating was just something that was kept quiet, among other things, is not one we would want to return to.”
I’m sorry that you used to beat your wife and make her keep it quiet. I’m also sorry that you used to ask blacks to sit in the back of the bus. I’ve never done either of those things and never advocated them. They must have been in part of the librul Dem platforms in your native land [see Senator Byrd?], wherever that may be.
I agree with Mr Boehner completely. It’s not a matter of anything outward and visible, like the economy or technology of those times. It is instead the ideals and traditions. People then understood the concepts of freedom and liberty, and valued the nation and founders who established them as a key component of our government and way of life.
The World War II generation went to defend America because they knew in their hearts that it was worth defending. It didn’t need to be said, it was just understood. The idea of freedom and liberty being good things was just common sense. It is this kind of spirit that I miss today.
Today, we must argue for the ideas of freedom and liberty. It is good that we become able to articulate why they are good things. The arguments we make will teach people to value their freedom in a liberal-dominated America. Still, the very fact that we have to try and explain why these things are important is what troubles people like Mr Boehner and me.
“The second-class citizenship ….”
Now if only whites weren’t third-class citizens, if citizenship weren’t lesser status than illegal immigrant…. The ranking by status is inherent in human beings. It cannot be avoided. Boehner’s only complaint is that he isn’t on top, but Boehner is responsible–what did he think he was voting for?
The American people have voted overwhelmingly in favor the New Deal, the Great Society, the Raw Deal (or whatever deal came next). Not one Republican, not one Libertarian has abolished an income tax at any level, has abolished an education department at any level, has abolished an environmental protection agency at any level, etc. They are the toy opposition of the age of Fascism, which everywhere reigns: no one in England has the rights of an Englishman either.
The American people do not wish to be free. They want a Caudillo state, where everyone turns to the Big Man, where the newspapers tell the subject what the government wills them to do, where science confirms what government lawyers assert, where anyone, anywhere, anytime can have their property looted for public purposes. Order embodied in the person of the President is what they want, not law.
The American people have voted for fascism and socialism bit-by-bit for 80 years. The salami has been sliced; it’s no use complaining the last sliver is about to disappear. Prepare yourself for the ugly and terrible rule of those who “who suffered in silence” under the old regime. For they admire Lenin, Mao, Stalin, Castro, Chavez and have said so for decades.
i remember that America where your word meant something.
Thanks, Retired Marine, for your service!! Happy Fourth of July to all those who truly love America. We are fast reaching the point where a political revolution will not do the job. . . .
What is happening in American today? As we celebrate the 4th July, our American fighting forces face daily dangers. And, the GOP chairman makes statements that are truly disgraceful. He should be rightly labeled a ‘traitor.’ and routed immediately.
What he said..does not even come close to what is being done to our troops each and every day by this administration…perhaps the new general will ease up on some stuff and our people will have a fighting chance.. We just need to get the hell out of the middle east and let them continue to kill each other.
With that being said, I think the current President
“should rightly labeled a ‘traitor.’ and routed immediately.”
“Don’t tread upon me, my rights, my freedoms or my will to fight you with all the good Lord has left of me, Ill never surrender to their vile evil ways, never.”
Gotta love that spirit.
This is a bit off the subject, I apologize…
What I write about here is in no way contrived to demean, diminish, or change your mind. I too, am a disabled vet having served under all the ideas of patriotism, God and country, and the protection of freedom. Problem is, those ideals are fabricated in the US today.
To my mind it has nothing to do with conservatives, liberals, democrats or republicans. Whoever is responsible for the denigration and selling of the US Government to the point whereby it is owned by the powerful business conglomerates within the US has to step up to the plate and accept responsibility. As a result, it is in the interest of the u.s. government of mega business [sic] to protect their interests here and abroad. In short… a plutocracy forcing a class society onto America.
Laws of this land allow privileges to businesses an average person does not have. As a result, mass sums of capital accrue and those profits have been used to promote and perpetuate the model which has been shown not to be in the interest of this country and its citizens any longer. Do you remember when it was illegal for a business to locate overseas? Why do you suppose that was? Deregulation has reared its ugly head with the after effect of exposing true business interests. Regan thought “trickle down” was a great idea except he somehow missed the fact that once the money is in the hands of business it trickles only to their interests. Further, the destruction of this country has spread now to the destruction of countries overseas and IN the seas… all for profit. Research and development for technology or medicine is virtually nonexistent and/or ignored particularly if it threatens an existing cash cow.
From a historical perspective, the Constitution of the US was written by wealthy men with an interest in protecting their own wealth and status. It was their America they wished to protect. No mention was made of any indigenous peoples, working groups, slaves, or protection of them as (subjects) citizens. The first clear example is, after the Revolutionary War, the crushing of the farmers rebellion (Shays’ rebellion) in 1776. This was a classic example of rich vs. poor and was not only during the birth of a nation but set the cornerstone of plutocracy which has run amok today. The Constitution set up big government to protect slavery and slaveholders against slave rebellion, catch runaway slaves, to pay off bondholders, to pass tariffs on behalf of manufacturers, and to tax poor farmers to pay for armies which eventually attack them as they protested against high tax rates, foreclosures, and loss of their land and livestock. One can understand the necessity of the need to raise funds to run the government but the ugly truth at the time; the people were demanding the democracy they were promised in the Constitution.
Today, the wealth and power derived from amassing wealth has breed an immorality in business practices that have no conscience or sense of obligation to the country beyond its own interests. I think one has to think long and hard to determine if the patriotism is well placed or if the very nation is manipulated by mega business interests. Research and development and the nature of business has a place in this country but I believe it has turned into an ugly vulture feasting on a dying nation. Even a vulture waits for the death of its prey. Without regulation this country is doomed. Is that in your best interest? Is that a reason to place yourself in the line of fire? Are you a traitor if you oppose what is before your eyes? Are you able to consider where the truly vile and evil ways emanate?
Howard Zinn “A Power Governments Cannot Suppress” is a good read even if you may not agree with all of it. There is indisputable evidence of the destruction of this nation as greed and the laws protecting it are perpetuated.
I’ve seen the phrase so often in the blogs… “Don’t drink the cool aid.”
I salute you, sir.
Howard Zinn was a Marxist, which makes you at least a “fellow traveler”, and someone who is to be pitied in your ignorance, and to be shunned as a destructive influence to the body politik.
Why does the fact that other people are more successful than you are, bother you so much?
Just what is it you would suggest to lead the American people away from their own demise, such as their willingness to “have their property looted for public purposes,” take science and the media back from government? I’m very curious about your assessment and understanding of solving the issues you raise.
Yesterday, I had a hungry vet over for dinner. His social security check had not arrived, and the government attitude is “tough”. This man won a Bronze Star in Nam, along with two Purple Hearts. He goes hungry, well scum get rich selling sub-standard equipment to our troops. My late father punched the wall, when I showed him a picture of the war profiteer who threw a $1,000,000 bat-mitzvah for his daughter – money made by manufacturing body armor that couldn’t stop a ping pong ball, in a Caribbean sweatshop.
That is the America I grew up in – the corruption and greed were just not out on the table. Remember what the 4th really represents: the beginning of a hard fought revolution. The enemy was the British Empire, controlled as much by bankers as the Crown. The Rothschilds’ had their real start funding the Hessian mercenaries we fought in the colonies. If they hadn’t stolen the funds to provision and equip those troops, we might have lost the fight. The Hessians fought Washington in the snow, often without boots or overcoats. The same war profiteers run the “Fed” and Wall Street today. Both parties, and Lieberman the “independent” are owned by them. We and Israel will both be destroyed by them. They get rich off our fallen sons, by creating the wars that enrich themselves. Their banks enable the world trade in arms and drugs. They are vampires, sucking the wealth of our nation. The Revolution was fought over less.
War-profiteers have been with mankind in every conflict through human history – they are like cockroaches in their ability to survive and to come out at “night”. They are not unique to America. But, we deal with them as we can if we have the will. It is that will and spirit that seems to be lacking in present day America as we stand back looking for someone else to be doing for us what we should be doing for ourselves.
Glad to see Moran is experimenting with leaving the dark side. Will he ever come completely into the light…we’ll see.
We can yell, scream, cry , wring our hands ’til the cows come home…the state of affairs in our country has been done by one group of people…the citizens.
We have lallygagged along, paid no attention, allowed all the crap and never said a word.. Now, we have a damned big problem and need to do something about it.
I thing the biggest problem will be to get the liberals…yeah, name calling so what..the “Obama’s god” because of his skin color people, to either change their minds, be challenged to see the truth as we see it..or EVERY conservative/republican/independent out to vote.,
After the black panther thing..I believe we will see a lot of voter fraud in one way or another. Honesty seems to be a lost virtue…and there will be no real revolution..i don’t think we have th guts for anything anymore..
Sure we talk here..but who really would step up…
even without the use of my legs, I’m there. You can go to the fricken bank on that one.
Actually, convincing the liberals to abandon their Obama worship won’t bee too hard . . . since they don’t. Voting for Obama, liking Obama, in no way equates with this mythical Obama Worship the Far-Right gleefully discredit.
Who worships Obama? Who thinks he is perfect? Who says Obama has done absolutely everything perfect totally everything and he’s just the bestest?
“Hmmmm, how can we break this nefarious mind-control effect that the False Prophet has used to beguile these poor souls?”
They’re fine. They just think that despite all of Obama’s faults . . . he’s still miles better than anything the GOP has to replace him. Are they correct? Maybe not. Probably not. Are they hypnotized, deluded, worshipful, trapped by a cult? No, so planning how to stage your Interventions is not the most important thing you nead to think about. Thanks for caring, but disagreeing with you does not mean you need to forcibly Deliver The Truth to the Heretics.
Your main problem will be recognizing the subtler shades of reality rather than living in your black-and-white comic book world.
huh?
More likely Boehner was referring to the lifestyle Americans enjoyed up until the early 1970s when we could leave our windows and doors opened and unlocked all the time. When children could explore their neighborhoods and communities riding bikes, playing hopscotch, stickball or street-hockey, and finding other children to play with and be home by dark without worry of child molesters or predators. Building tree-houses without a permit. Trekking through the woods at the end of town or the street. Fishing in the local pond. Walking to and from school safely. When everyone knew their neighbors. When wives stayed home and actually made a home safe and welcoming for husbands, children and other family members. When multi-generations lived together under one roof instead of grandparents being shoved in long-term care facilities to die alone. When a family could live on one paycheck and buy a nice home, not huge, but nice, a reliable car and put food on the table. Traditional American values, dare I say the Leave it to Beaver, Andy Griffith, the Walton’s and even Little House on the Prarie portrayals of American life. I think most American’s would give up all the tax-to-death social programs to have a safe and pleasant town to live in without trash of all kinds, gangs, drive-bys, and so forth. Most Americans would be thrilled to bring back industry, even with a little pollution, if it meant decent jobs and wages.
You are off your friggin rocker! The “Leave it to Beaver” American only existed on television. This is the problem with conservatives. They don’t deal with reality. They deal with how they fantasize how they want things to be rather than how they are (or were).
Yes, we can only hope for a return to the day when a woman’s only purpose in life was to greet her husband at the door in her freshly starched Saks Fifth Avenue dress with apron (that’s who did a lot of Barbara Billingsley’s costumes). A kiss on the cheek and a hot meal on the table followed. Other than that her only purpose was that of an incubator. Good times my friend, good times. I think you should run with it.
in every post you seem to hate America…no excuses…it’s just hate.
I’m sure you’ll have some smart @$$ bs to say..but it’s hate that pours out of with your words.
That’s what our librulism is at its core, carol, hatred for the U.S. But there is some hope. Even the touchy feelers now admit Obama is seriously flawed, e.g., as busyboy69 says “They just think that despite all of Obama’s faults…”
This is the first time one of them has admited that the One-We-Have-Waited-For has many faults. By the way, this is one of the frantic troll attacks the libs, for reasons unknown, think will influence bloggers and commenters to their way of feeling. They are wasting their time. As Don Surber might say: Good.
Praetorian, I don’t know where you are from, but I can tell you, I grew up in a small industrial town that was very idyllic and ‘Leave it to Beaver’. Where mom’s did stay at home with their children. Where we did keep our homes unlocked. Where we did ride our bikes, explore our neighborhoods until dark without worry. Where we even went trick-or-treating without our parents. Where we walked to school by ourselves. When did it stop? When the town decided to embrace federal programs, encouraging welfare and public housing. When people were shipped in from other areas so the town could get federal funding for “social projects” and expand federal ‘programs’ instead of letting industry develop and grow providing decent jobs for everyone. What was a town of hard-working families became a town of lazy, entitlement-driven leeches.
Do you think the degradation of the family and the community, the increase in STD’s, single mothers, broken homes, and absent fathers is due to women choosing to stay at home and build a safe and loving home and be praised for it or is it because women were told they could do anything they wanted, be promiscuous, choose career over family and make it on ‘their own’ with no repercussions?
It doesn’t matter what race ypu are, or what your gender is, what matters is that you are of decent and moral character and that you contribute to society and not drain it.
I see that you are as ignorant of history as you are of economics, politics, reality in general.
We’ve all head a great deal about what you don’t like about America. Please share with us your vision of what America should be according to your lights.
One small, but important question before you do, though:
“To whom does your life belong?”
Praetorian you know not what you speak about. I used to feel guilty because when we were growing up, we had the “Leave it to Beaver/ Father Knows Best” life. I don’t feel guilty anymore, I feel blessed. We walked to school or rode our bikes. During the summers, we would go out at daybreak and not come home until suppertime, then go back out ’til dark. We did family outings like camping, going to the beach or lake or mountains or desert. The neighbors were always there if you needed something, as were you for them. We could walk to the store without worrying about some pervert trying to pick us up. (Back then, perverts weren’t arrested and then let go, they got the crap kicked out of them.) And before you say…well, you lived in a small town, BS, we lived in a large city close to the border with Mexico. We had Black and Mexican friends. Pretty idyllic childhood if you ask me.
My point being, you sir, are full of crap.
P.S. Praetorian as in Praetorian Guard…one who guards the leader’s tent. Might you be guarding Obama’s tent?
You, the one picking on the veteran, you are an idiot and should shut your mouth! Our vets DESERVE the BEST care we can afford to give them! They are dying for us! You are scum and are the problem. You are what has gone wrong in this country. IF you cannot grow up and be part of the solution, SHUT UP AND GET OUT OF THE WAY. You are not welcome here.
True. I agree.
My mom stayed at home, never wore a starched apron though…
“I think most American’s would give up all the tax-to-death social programs to have a safe and pleasant town to live in without trash of all kinds, gangs, drive-bys, and so forth. Most Americans would be thrilled to bring back industry, even with a little pollution, if it meant decent jobs and wages.”
BUT..first get rid of Obama and the Unions!!! and we have to define “decent’ wages.. It’s almost too late to compete on many levels.
“get rid of Obama and the unions,” you say. It’s always interesting how some working class folk act against their own economic interests. An example of false consciousness perhaps. It’s gonna be a rough eight-years for you people.
no, the unions and obama are hand in hand and need to go, period.
…a long eight years “only” if there is voter fraud or intimidation….as they tried with the panthers.
It’s interesting how liberals always assume that it is in the interests of working class people to destroy everyone who might be able to give them a job.
Unions were never in anyone’s interest, the only people who EVER benefited from unions, were the thugs who ran them.
Praetorian…Unions MIGHT have been a good thing back in the early part of the twentieth century and I stress the word MIGHT, as they were Socialist organizations from their inception. Nowadays, unions are the bane of our existence. They demand more and more in salaries and benefits and produce less and less. As a businessman, why would you support an organization that bleeds you dry of resources and profit and doesn’t produce anything of value? You can’t!
America is the GREATEST COUNTRY on earth. We do some things wrong, yes, but what country does everything right? We are all AMERICANS FIRST, we need to teach this in all our schools. That does not mean lose your heritage, it means embrace your heritage but always remember, YOU ARE AN AMERICAN. Happy Fourth!
Why do you people insist on publishing Rick Moran. Virtually nothing this guy writes has a shred of value.
Please. Stop.
The USA? http://www.BorderInvasionPics.com
Obama has failed.
Period.
To say otherwise is asinine.
The only question now is how long shall we indulge him and his?
asinine: resembling an ass
apt for the Ass (Donkey) Party, no?
Nor is it the America I immigrated to 20 years ago. The most insidious thing is: an exit tax on all the assets of those who want to give up their citizenship. These people have already paid their world wide income taxes and various taxes. They have paid property taxes for the properties they own, paid capital gain taxes for their investment gains.
Reminds me of the Soviet Union where the Jews have to pay thru their noses to get out of the country, kidnapped victims have to pay ransoms to regain their freedom. Our govt. is getting disgustingly greedy and undemocratic.
Howard Zinn was a Marxist, which makes you at least a “fellow traveler”, and someone who is to be pitied in your ignorance, and to be shunned as a destructive influence to the body politik.
blah, blah, blah Let me call you names and say you’re stupid without any intelligent post. SHOW ME YOUR BOOK NOT YOUR IGNORANCE.
When you go around spouting marxist garbage about the evils of wealth, expect to get called on it.
Blah, Blah, Blah.
Show me YOUR book, show me YOUR research. Don’t show me your negative nasty comment without your intelligence. You do have intelligence don’t you? It doesn’t show here.
An interesting, albeit rather verbose, take on Boehner’s take.
The bottom line is that we have allowed our country to slowly slip from our grasp as too many of the populace have either been asleep or just apathetic.
To be sure, some of the “good old days” weren’t so good. However, it wasn’t all “Father Knows Best” and “Leave it to Beaver” either.
Only through education and engagement will we (hopefully) be able to restore the profound respect America deserves, both domestically and internationally.
~(Ä)~
Obama’s stimulus, was not a stimulus. It was a payoff to Democrat allies and supporters with taxpayer money. It was an outrage. The America we need to return to is the one envisioned by the Founding Fathers. Both parties have strayed from that vision. It is time to take back the government and country for “we the people”, before the professional politicians destroy it.
“About the Declaration there is a finality that is exceedingly restful. It is often asserted that the world has made a great deal of progress since 1776, that we have had new thoughts and new experiences which have given us a great advance over the people of that day, and that we may therefore very well discard their conclusions for something more modern. But that reasoning can not be applied to this great charter. If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth or their soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically is not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people. Those who wish to proceed in that direction can not lay claim to progress. They are reactionary. Their ideas are not more modern, but more ancient, than those of the Revolutionary fathers.”
-Calvin Coolidge on the Declaration of Independence, July 5th, 1776
Oh, and Nick Shaw it wasn’t my “kind that wanted the black man at the back of the bus.” It was the dixiecrats, who were part of the Democratic Party. They were white southern racists. The majority of them migrated to the Republican Party (i.e. Strom Thurmond, etc.). So to make the remark that “my kind” is responsible for such atrocities is a convenient misreading of history, which is something we can expect from conservatives.
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something,” said Upton Sinclair, “when his salary” — or, in this case, your deluded agenda — “depends upon his not understanding it.”
The classic Democratic lie.
All the racists became Republicans.
As to getting someone to understand something when their salary requires them to believe something else, you sir are a classic example of that failing.
Obama the Economy Slayer
Things have really been getting cooler in America, in the American economy, that is.
Not that the economy ever really warmed up in this Great Recession which doesn’t seem to want to go away despite Obama’s $787 billion stimulus which was supposed to be the cure-all for what ails us.
It hasn’t cured jacksquat. In fact, it’s made things worse and all Obama’s horses and all his men aren’t able to put the economy back together again.
His two year old mantra of “Bush did it!” is getting very old and tired and only his diehard fans believe it anymore. He continues to remind us that Bush left him with a $1.3 trillion deficit after 8 years but makes no reference to the multi-trillion dollar deficit he has dug for us in a mere 17 1/2 months.
Still, instead of admitting his errors and reversing course when the steed he rode in on is showing signs of dying, the president and his trusty Congress are obliviously still trying to spend us into prosperity. . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1771)
Yeah, we sure do miss the good old 50.s, the America that Mr. Boehner grew up in. Wars, Institutional Racism, Institutional Child Sex Abuse, Institutional Sexism, Corporate oil and tobacco lies, Back Street Abortions. Man, the good ole days eh? Back when men actually worked instead of spending two hundred grand on golf course fees like Mr Boehner does…… ohhh yeah…. have a nice summer !!
Gee, Poor Folk, I’m sorry you were forced to leave the USSR. I knew it was bad over there and I have never understood why so many Americans want to repeat that experiment in tyranny over here. I think you were right to leave. Oh, you’re talking about the America that worked so hard to defeat Nazi Germany and Japan using universal military service? No, we couldn’t do that anymore. Look at how our king bows to all the other potentates and tsarizes his court with fellow moonbeams. This new royalty is of the surrender first line of bluebloods.
Very funny Freddy. While your on the the subject of stupid american fantasy history I have some humor for you too. A few years ago I was really loaded and tried to burn my stupid lifetime VFW membership card when I realized it wasnt burning…cuz it is made of metal. Ha Ha eh? Hey, I have to catch a plane so I dont have much time. Have a nice summer and stop believing in all those fairy tales Fred, you have potential to learn real the real history. Dont trust anyone, your priest, your congressman, your teachers or least of all your law enforcement personnel…and remember….. this aint Vegas my friend ! hasta….
I love the way liberals can only see the flaws in the people and things that they hate.
That America is gone. The resources that the population had are gone. When I turned five the value of the dollar was still 50% of what it was in 1789, today the dollar would buy less than two cents would buy then. Those who saved and built have been whiped out by inflation and estate taxes.
All that we can hope to do is hang on to a little piece of the America the country started out with to rebuild on.
With regard to extended benefits for the unemployed…
I’m perplexed, it seems that both Republicans and Democrats, (and I belong to one of those two), have lost site for whom they represent. 90% of the people who are unemployed are unemployed due to the irreponsibility of the United States Government politicians, and “To Big To Fail” corporations. These unemployed individuals are now the brunt of another victimization, they are now being labeled lazy and unwilling to find a job. The United States is about the people, and 25,000,000 of them are out of work, not because they all quit their jobs, or are lazy, they are unemployed because of badly run government and big business.
Of all the entitlements The United States Government hands out unemployment right now is the most essential. Everyday we learn that not only are corporations cutting back, but they are also not hiring, so what is a technician, a secretary, a mail clerk supposed to do if there are no jobs available? Should they change occupations and pick fruit, clean dead chickens, clean tar balls off the beaches? Would the Unions who use illegals as cheap labor allow that?
If any group should get a bail-out it is those hard working Americans who were fired, laid-off and discarded by the same corporations who were given billions to maintain their companies and didn’t.
A note to the politicians who vote against unemployment extensions, unemployed voters now have the time to vote.
The Government does not create wealth. Only, emphasize ONLY, the private sector creates wealth. The Government uses funds APPROPRIATED from the private sector to fund its activities. To extend unemployment benefits, the Government must first appropriate the funds to be payed to the unemployed. That means they take it from someone else, borrow it from someone else, or print up even more funny-money which will eventually lose its purchasing power.
Trying to address the problem of unemployment by use of Government transfer payments is stupid. It’s the equivalent to trying to raise the water level in the shallow end of the swimming pool by pumping water over from the deep end. Worse, Government inefficiency siphons off the lion’s share of the transferred water.
As long as the Government keeps buying more voters with funds appropriated from the real economy, the economy will continue to slide.
As for Bail-outs, those are transfer payments too. The party currently in power bought a great many votes and political contributions that way. Bailouts are support payments for corporations run by people too stupid to be in business. Corporate welfare cases as it were.
Its good you have time to vote. You should use some of that time to figure out where your next job will come from. Here are some hints: A job will NOT come from a small business employer who sent his money to the tax man instead of hiring a new employee. A job will NOT come from people being paid to NOT work. A job will NOT come from a corporate sector that has no idea what their costs will be in the future.
The purpose of govt is to pay people not to work?
Rolling Stone and the Sacking of Stanley McChrystal
Jeffrey Carl Simpson, the somewhat acclaimed writer for Canada’s The Globe and Mail, wrote a nasty, slanted Fourth of July article sarcastically titled, “Happy Fourth of July–America Needs It.”
It was nasty because it adopts the typical Canadian superciliousness borne of Canada’s inferiority complex toward America; it was slanted because it starts from the premise of an idealized, gushing view of our president as the best thing to happen to America since the advent of Canadian bacon.
Simpson’s twisted gushing could cause the average American in the summer of 2010 to gag over his idolatrous praise of Obama and his skewed perspective of political life in the land of his birth.
He writes, “The United States gave itself the most gifted President in several generations, handed his party a majority in both houses of Congress, only to watch his presidency be swamped . . .”
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1772)
Boehner is both a hypocrite and a dumb*ss.
BZZZZZZZZZZZZT! I’m sorry, but an ill founded ad-hominem was the wrong answer. You’ve lost both the argument and your credibility, I’m afraid.
One pressing question: do your parents let you out that basement from time to time or do they just feed you through a slot in the door?
Anyone talking about the high marginal rates of the 60′s without mentioning that just about everything, up to and including breating, was deductable, is either too ignorant to be allowed to form opinions without supervision, or lying.
Nobody paid anywhere close to 90% of their income in taxes.
Queer News Updates
An occasional series on what the homosexual community is up to:
DADT Survey Boycott: It’s no secret that the military considers the repeal of Bill Clinton’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) policy toward gays in the military to be the worst idea to come down the pike since women were allowed in combat.
With a few notable exceptions, such as Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who endorsed the idea with the caveat that policy changes should be contingent on military review, our armed services consider repeal of DADT would be detrimental to their mission, morale, and effectiveness.
DADT simply restricts superior officers from investigating or asking if service members are gay and restricts gay service members from advertising that fact.
Both before and after the last election, Barack Obama pledged to repeal DADT and allow homosexuals to serve openly and has been vigorously agitating for that repeal to fulfill that pledge to a major constituency. Such repeal would be a political and social change visited on the military without regard for its consequences.
In an effort to complete Admiral Mullins’ policy review on those consequences, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has authorized a survey on the thoughts of service members on the issue.
Having already surveyed the families of service members on their thoughts, Gates felt it reasonable to consult the 400,000 random opinions of those who would be forced to serve next to outed gays.
The survey forms had barely hit the mailboxes when a homosexual group, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, called it biased and instructed gays not to participate for fear of being outed saying, ”At this time SLDN cannot recommend that lesbian, gay, or bisexual service members participate in any survey being administered by the Department of Defense, the Pentagon Working Group or any third-party contractors:” http://tiny.cc/ywp2z
Their reasoning is obvious. They want to discredit a survey that asks straightforward answers to questions such as: “If Don’t Ask, Don’t tell is repealed and you are working with a Service member in your immediate unit who has said he or she is gay or lesbian, how would that affect your own ability to fulfill your mission during combat?” . . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1780)