Politics, National and World Issues, and Sports...
Rational Nation USA
Purveyor of Truth
Was there ever a time when American electoral politics trafficked more in substance than is fluff and hyperbole? I seem to vaguely recall a time when substance, and maybe even a bit of integrity played a larger part than paranoia and fear. Maybe it's just me and I have a foggy memory. There was after all the infamous Red Scare of the "1950's.
Come to think of it the nation has remained fixated on the socialist and or communist threats almost perpetually since the end of WW II. Marx sure created a helluva stir with his vision of a socially equitable economic system back in the mid eighteen hundreds. Too bad he strayed into the weeds of utopia.
Since we've not become communist since Barrack Obama has been in office for 7 years we'll just have to keep up the fight against just in case. Although we have engaged in forms of socialism going back to FDR and forward.
Now there is the immigrant issue. You know, the one that goes back years and President Reagan clamped down on by signing into law and act giving limited numbers amnesty. Here we are today with the same issue and a by far greater number of illegal immigrants hiding in the shadows. Some think we should round them all up and depart them. Still waiting for the specifics on how that would work exactly.
Of course the terrorist threat is very real and must be dealt with. To listen to some, radical jihadist Islam is going to take over the civilized world unless the USA destroys the threat, single handedly if necessary and according to some demagogues.
Most of the fear and slaughter has been the terrorists terrorizing their own and threatening the governments of Muslim countries in the Middle East and Africa. Maybe the answer is to actually do exactly what Obama is doing and build on it. Even our allies in the region aren't too terribly fond of us. Maybe figuring out why and rectifying it might help in the effort against terror from the Middle East. As for Iran, kudos to Obama and his team.
Last I checked all Americans have the freedom to worship as their conscience guides them, peacefully and without disruption to others. But to listen to some you'd think religious freedom is in peril in America. I guess that must be because a lot of people believe reproductive rights and LGBT rights somehow diminish or negate their right to continue to discriminate.
My son, a responsible and loving family man recently acquired his permit to carry. So I guess the hyperbole over the 2nd amendment right to own firearms is your typical NRA and the political right inflated and overblown hyperbole. Meanwhile millions of responsible firearm owners and hunters are scratching their heads and wondering what all the hoopla over background checks and waiting periods are. But this is America, I'll leave it at that.
This weekend is Super Bowl 50, and it is as expected shaping up to be a huge media and sporting event. Come to think of it politics in America bears more than just a casual resemblance.
Purveyor of Truth
Was there ever a time when American electoral politics trafficked more in substance than is fluff and hyperbole? I seem to vaguely recall a time when substance, and maybe even a bit of integrity played a larger part than paranoia and fear. Maybe it's just me and I have a foggy memory. There was after all the infamous Red Scare of the "1950's.
Come to think of it the nation has remained fixated on the socialist and or communist threats almost perpetually since the end of WW II. Marx sure created a helluva stir with his vision of a socially equitable economic system back in the mid eighteen hundreds. Too bad he strayed into the weeds of utopia.
Since we've not become communist since Barrack Obama has been in office for 7 years we'll just have to keep up the fight against just in case. Although we have engaged in forms of socialism going back to FDR and forward.
Now there is the immigrant issue. You know, the one that goes back years and President Reagan clamped down on by signing into law and act giving limited numbers amnesty. Here we are today with the same issue and a by far greater number of illegal immigrants hiding in the shadows. Some think we should round them all up and depart them. Still waiting for the specifics on how that would work exactly.
Of course the terrorist threat is very real and must be dealt with. To listen to some, radical jihadist Islam is going to take over the civilized world unless the USA destroys the threat, single handedly if necessary and according to some demagogues.
Most of the fear and slaughter has been the terrorists terrorizing their own and threatening the governments of Muslim countries in the Middle East and Africa. Maybe the answer is to actually do exactly what Obama is doing and build on it. Even our allies in the region aren't too terribly fond of us. Maybe figuring out why and rectifying it might help in the effort against terror from the Middle East. As for Iran, kudos to Obama and his team.
Last I checked all Americans have the freedom to worship as their conscience guides them, peacefully and without disruption to others. But to listen to some you'd think religious freedom is in peril in America. I guess that must be because a lot of people believe reproductive rights and LGBT rights somehow diminish or negate their right to continue to discriminate.
My son, a responsible and loving family man recently acquired his permit to carry. So I guess the hyperbole over the 2nd amendment right to own firearms is your typical NRA and the political right inflated and overblown hyperbole. Meanwhile millions of responsible firearm owners and hunters are scratching their heads and wondering what all the hoopla over background checks and waiting periods are. But this is America, I'll leave it at that.
This weekend is Super Bowl 50, and it is as expected shaping up to be a huge media and sporting event. Come to think of it politics in America bears more than just a casual resemblance.
As a child I was taught that everything was more or less okay after WWII despite the death and destruction of the war in Viet Nam. I guess the idea was we could more or less just wait out the delusion of communism to fail and disappear. This was not an unreasonable model of reality if one did not pay too close attention to poorer and more unstable regions of the globe. WWII had been won by the Allies and the nascent United Nations had a charter and organs to care for the entire war-torn world. Europe and the U.S.A. had led the way into a bright future for all of the peoples of the world. Problems in South America, Africa and the Middle East seemed to present their own solutions in the form of increased communications, better agriculture and modern infrastructure. Organizations such as the Peace Corps guaranteed that eventually the entire globe would ultimately benefit from this new age of enlightenment.
ReplyDeleteJust check in with Captain Fogg if you would like to disprove this theory.
Of course, all of this is O/T. I was just providing a background. Maybe the wonderful world that Trump would like to return to exists between 1965 and 1995. Certainly he was a lot younger and good-looking.
As far as presidential politics, I would posit that it was fairly civilized ever since the battle between Hoover and FDR, and perhaps all the way until the competition between GHWB and Bill Clinton. Sadly, I must place the blame for the current nightmare scenario of U.S. politics on the first universal symptom of rabid, right-wing politics, Clinton Derange Syndrome.
Obama Derangement Syndrome, Clinton Derangement Syndrome, and whatever future deranged syndrome comes along (maybe TDS) they are all so tedious as well as counter productive. As the nation's demographics have . changed, becoming more diverse both socially and politically, the ideological divisions have become more acute and thus we are where we are. Frankly Flying Junior I do not see it changing anytime soon. The four presidential candidates most likely to insure the current reality continues are, in my opinion, Trump, Clinton, Cruz, and Sanders.
ReplyDeleteAs a nation United We Stand, Divided We Fall. It really is as simple as that. Which is precisely why the ability AND desire to find effective compromise is critical. Assuming our choice is to remain standing.
We face a far greater threat from within than from the outside.
ReplyDeleteSuper Bowl and politics -- Both are controlled and fixed by a few billionaires.
RN, effective compromise? Look to our own state where a Republican governor works with a Democratic legislature and a Democratic mayor of Boston to get things done. It can happen and Massachusetts proves it. I may not agree with everything Charlie Baker believes, but I understand he is a decent man who looks for solutions to complex problems not by demonizing the opposition party but by finding common ground with it. He very well may be the future of the Republican Party once it gets over its sickness with the Tea Party.
ReplyDeleteYes Shaw Governor Baker gets it. As did William Weld when he was governor. Governor Kasich and Chris Christie, regardless of what you think of Christie personally, get it as well.
ReplyDeletePerhaps Governor Baker is the future of the GOP, only time will tell.
One thing I know for sure, liberals on the national level are going to have it shoved up their rear end if Cruz, Trump, or Rubio get elected and republicans hold both the house and senate. I'm certain they will be gleefully vindictive. It won't be a pretty picture.
Yes Jerry, the threat from inside is greater.
ReplyDeleteIt won't only bro the liberals that get it up the rear end. It will be 99% of the country.
ReplyDeleteWell lets see. If a majority of the country elects one of the top 3 republicans (currently) to the presidency and returns a republican majority to both house of Congress I guess that means,... the majority of Americans want to get it up the rear end?
ReplyDeleteWould be hard for some to understand but...
A majority of the country doesn't vote (and will therefore NOT be electing a Republican... if that is what happens). And people don't vote because they think that they'll "get it up the rear end" regardless of who is elected... and sadly they're mostly correct. In that most Repubs and many Dems are working on behalf of the wealthy instead of the majority of Americans. Of course not voting isn't the way to fix that problem - and this time we have a chance to elect a president who is a TRUE progressive (on the side of The People). Let's hope the American people realize this and get out and vote for Bernie Sanders.
DeleteFYI, Reagan didn't clamp down on illegal immigration, he encouraged it. Prior to Reagan's amnesty "non-citizens didn't have access to the non-agricultural US job market... because companies were unwilling to risk having non-tax-deductible labor expenses on their books by hiring undocumented workers without valid Social Security numbers. But Reagan put an end to that. His 1986 amnesty... combined with his aggressive war on organized labor (begun in 1981), in effect told both employers and non-citizens that there would be few penalties and many rewards to increasing the US labor pool (and thus driving down wages) with undocumented immigrants. A million people a year continued to come across our southern border, but they stopped returning to Latin America every fall because instead of seasonal work they were able to find permanent jobs". (Source).
ReplyDelete