'The Problem With America'

[Einhander Sn0m4n]

http://howtostart.org/2007/08/16/the-pr ... h-america/

The biggest problem in America today is not George W. Bush, but he does give it a face. The biggest problem in America today is that the party line has been drawn over our lives, drawn down the center of the nation, drawn through our homes and families. Rather than Republicans and Democrats agreeing on a vision of America but disagreeing on the means to achieve it, the two parties point their fingers, call their opponents names, and declare the other side unpatriotic. The Republicans are running on a platform of “the Democrats will destroy America”, while the Democrats do practically nothing at all, proud to not be Republicans. And we, the people, call them leaders. We, the people, elected them. We, the people, make their jobs easy because we, the people whom they have sworn to serve, don’t question them.

And why not? Why aren’t we questioning the status quo? Why aren’t the millions of angry Americans, the silent majority, doing anything? Because we have been conditioned to stay quiet by federally sponsored, color-coded fear mongering.

September 11, 2001: the most exploited date, phrase, and idea in our young century. Every American had a rude awakening on that day: we all realized that we aren’t invincible and we never have been. The government has used that realization to slowly strip us of more and more rights, all under the red, white and blue banners of patriotism and “Homeland Security”.

The most notable exploitation of the newfound American vulnerability was leading us into a war and subsequent invasion of a country that had absolutely no ties to the people who attacked us. All the president had to do was repeat the phrases “Osama bin Laden”, “Saddam Hussein” and “Weapons of Mass Destruction” every time he appeared on television. This assured that the news channels would also link these phrases, and that the link would be formed in the American psyche. And it was, it worked, and we’re at war.

The most recent exploiter is Presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani, who is known variously as ‘Mr. 9/11’, ‘Mayor of America’ and ‘Adolph Ghouliani’, depending on who’s doing the talking. On September 11th, while the President and Vice President were hiding in their bunkers in undisclosed locations, a soot-suited Giuliani filled the role of hero, as he walked around in lower Manhattan – the only public official to appear in public. Overlooked is the reason he appeared on foot: against overwhelming objections, he had made the decision to locate New York’s emergency response headquarters in the world’s top terror target, the World Trade Center. The reason he was on the ground was because his office had been blown up.

In 2004 the whole Republican Party played to the nation’s pity by hosting their party’s convention in New York. In one day, over one thousand protesters criticizing this decision were arrested and held for over 30 hours with little food or drink, no access to lawyers, and no formal charges. That was a message from the establishment, letting the American people know what would happen should they raise their voices.

And so we soldier on, checking the news every evening for the latest terror threat, and the latest word from the White House.

Over the past few years, the nation has been temporarily outraged by many different government scandals – the leak of a CIA agent’s cover by their own government; the firing of United States Attorneys who weren’t blindly loyal to the administration; the suspension of habeas corpus rights (which Attorney General Alberto Gonzales maintains are not guaranteed in the Constitution); the friendly-fire death and subsequent cover-up of soldier Pat Tillman; the warrantless wiretapping of American citizens. That last scandal is in the news again, because the President managed to have the laws changed retroactively, so his once-illegal surveillance program is now the law of the land. You have the Democratic Congress to thank for that.

Why are these outrages so short-lived? Why are we, the people, not still enraged by any of the earlier scandals? Because the press in our country has other priorities: mainly making money. How do you keep the ratings fresh? By reporting on what you know will get people to tune into your station. From this, we have our attention artificially angled from disaster to scandal to celebrity gossip to political soundbites and back again, all in the name of ratings: all in the name of advertising money. When you watch television, you are not the consumer: you are the product. The advertisers, the ones whose commercials you skip with Tivo, they are the customers of the networks and thus the networks’ primary concern.

Moreover, the mainstream media in America encourages and tacitly endorses the animosity between the parties, by hiring as pundits people who truly loathe their opposition. When an American comes home from work, tired from a long day but just in time for the evening news, she or he trusts that the person they’re watching has done the research they don’t have time to do. We believe in the people we see on television for the same reason we believe in the people we see in Washington – because we naively believe that they are there for us. We would all do well to remember, however, that those who make business out of war, do not value peace.

What are we left with? A partisan, feuding populace, who only tune into the channels that report on what they want to hear. A population of people who believe that there is nothing wrong with our government – or if there is that the next election will reverse it. The latter group is, I believe, the silent majority. We sit on our hands with our eyes on the screen, waiting to hear what we’re told to believe.

My purpose in writing this to begin to knock down the party line so we can focus on what matters: our lives. The government exists for us, and is meant to do what we want. There was a revolution in 1776 fought over less than what we’re facing today: it was fought over taxes. No matter how comfortable you are today, and no matter how it feels in your daily life, if you examine the facts you will realize that our government no longer operates in our interest: the government has all the freedoms it has taken from us. There are laws prohibiting you from photographing some government buildings, under the guise of securing them from terrorism. The list of those buildings, however, is classified, and you are not allowed to see it. Keep that in mind next time you walk down the street, followed by the gaze of countless security cameras.

It is time for us to band together. It is time to raise our voices as one against the men in charge. It is time to put partisan arguments behind us and focus on the problems plaguing this nation: a crooked government, corrupt beyond repair, acting in the interests of corporations and billionaires everywhere.

We, the people, can do something. If you’re angry, give this essay to your friends and family – get them angry too. We need to organize locally, neighborhood by neighborhood, street by street. From the ground up, a unified front. Where will we go from there? I don’t know yet.

So let’s talk about it.

[The Yosemite Bear]

ahh yes the politics of algae. We need some catfish to come along and clean up our little aquerium...

[Starglider]

Some student somewhere has started a new blog with a reasonably insightful but utterly generic description of the US political situation, followed by an utterly generic 'people should be complaining more about this'?

Ok for a blog post I guess, establishing one's personal position, but it doesn't seem terribly significant. No new sources, information, analysis, proposed strategies etc.

[Coyote]

And so we soldier on, checking the news every evening for the latest terror threat, and the latest word from the White House.

Feh! If only! What people check the news for is the latest Lindsey Lohan Vicadin-and-Red Bull party and to see if Britney shaved downstairs as well.

It is easy to blame the press, but they are only partially to blame-- the people are tuning out, either overwhelmed or ignorant (probably ignorant) or just plain feeling helpless. The media feeds them the brain candy they want because serious news loses ratings, as mentioned.

The American people do not want to think about any of this. There is no one else to blame.

[The Yosemite Bear]

Idiocracy becomming required viewing for people.

hell half of them can't even get the joke in that movie...

[SirNitram]

You know, it's interesting how this rant starts off decrying Democrats as well as Republicans and partisanship and such, but most of the examples come from the GOP... It's almost as if there's a good chunk of cognitive dissonance to maintain the 'DEMOCRATS MUST BE JUST AS BAD' mantra...

[MKSheppard]

Let's see:

*takes out checklist*

1.) Ein wakes up and logs onto intardnet [CHECK]
2.) Ein finds a hysteric article which mixes up the usual suspects; American Empire; Corporatist Interests, etc etc [CHECK]
3.) Ein Posts it on SDN [CHECK]
4.) Usual posts about it [CHECK]

Good to know Ein is running true to form after his sabbatical from SDN.

We should all be thankful that he doesn't lean to the right. Then he'd be posting articles about Chemtrails.

[Illuminatus Primus]

Let's see:

*takes out checklist*

1.) Shep wakes up and logs onto intardnet [CHECK]
2.) Shep finds an unacceptable post according to his right-wing political preconceptions that decry his sacred cows; American Empire; Corporatist Interests, Glossy-spread Sexy Military Hardware, etc etc [CHECK]
3.) Shep bitches about it on SDN [CHECK]
4.) Usual posts about Shep lacking any education, independent thought, debating skills despite having been exposed to their methodology for literally a decade straight, inability to comment on-topic, etc. [CHECK]

[MKSheppard]

Ah, I see that Illuminatus has been around in the thread, waving the limp wet noodle that he calls a penis around.

You know son, simply waving that around won't scare people, much less intimidate them. You need something a bit more substantial for a good honest to god, cockslap that leaves a red welt.

I suggest you contact:

Ein Sn0wMan
1234 Dicking Drive
Queen Creek, Asstonia.

to learn how to cockslap correctly. He might even do it gratis.

I do wish Ein would stop dipping into the conspiracy theory fever swamp every so often; it just makes him look foolish; as I'm sure I did when I posted a gun-related article every 2.23123 hours years ago.

[Vendetta]

I do wish Ein would stop dipping into the conspiracy theory fever swamp every so often; it just makes him look foolish; as I'm sure I did when I posted a gun-related article every 2.23123 hours years ago.

And still do, when you automatically respond to even the vaguest sniff of the political left. So we have a handy benchmark for foolish 'round these parts.

[Feil]

Re OP: Tonight's news - people are easily manipulated sheep who can be lead to the slaughter without complaint if you just do it gently! Next, studies show grass green, water wet. Stay tuned, after the break.

Re Shep & Co: Ah, nothing but a flame war to brighten my day. Ya put a smile on my face.

[Einhander Sn0m4n]

I do wish Ein would stop dipping into the conspiracy theory fever swamp every so often; it just makes him look foolish; as I'm sure I did when I posted a gun-related article every 2.23123 hours years ago.

It's not a conspiracy theory that large corporations routinely abuse their status in society, buy legislation with campaign donations, mercilessly propagandize against fairness, use divide-and-conquer tactics to set factions against one another to prevent everyone en masse seeing the real enemy, and even attempt the occasional fascist putsch in America; it is a fact.

[Vendetta]

You know, it's interesting how this rant starts off decrying Democrats as well as Republicans and partisanship and such, but most of the examples come from the GOP... It's almost as if there's a good chunk of cognitive dissonance to maintain the 'DEMOCRATS MUST BE JUST AS BAD' mantra...

Well he mainly seems to be decrying the Democrats' habit of bending over and taking it.

The disconnect comes because whilst he raises the spectre of Partisanship, he isn't actually complaining about that, or at least not in a coherent fashion, he's complaining about a weird cocktail of the sheeple, the Republican administration, and the ineffectuality of the current opposition party.

[Illuminatus Primus]

Ah, I see that Illuminatus has been around in the thread, waving the limp wet noodle that he calls a penis around.

You know son, simply waving that around won't scare people, much less intimidate them. You need something a bit more substantial for a good honest to god, cockslap that leaves a red welt.

I suggest you contact:

Ein Sn0wMan
1234 Dicking Drive
Queen Creek, Asstonia.

to learn how to cockslap correctly. He might even do it gratis.

I do wish Ein would stop dipping into the conspiracy theory fever swamp every so often; it just makes him look foolish; as I'm sure I did when I posted a gun-related article every 2.23123 hours years ago.

You should at least come up with insults that I didn't use to make fun of you within the last couple weeks. You're a pitiful little creature. The fact that you've been exposed to intelligent people, scholarship, and logical arguments for a decade and have absorbed nothing is actually a convincing argument in favor of right-wingers' insistance that the underclass is fundamentally unintelligent fuck-ups which can't be enriched by education. I guess you have made your contribution toward their movement. Or maybe its just that you have a shriveled walnut in place of a brain.

[MKSheppard]

You do realize people have been calling me exactly what you wrote for the better part of oh, a decade now? Your stuff isn't even original at all. It's just a slightly different version of:

DURR DURR, SHEP IS A DUMB FUCKED UP INDIVIDUAL!

[Illuminatus Primus]

Yeah, maybe they say it because there's an evidence-backed concensus that its true. Maybe?

[Crossroads Inc.]

You know, it's interesting how this rant starts off decrying Democrats as well as Republicans and partisanship and such, but most of the examples come from the GOP... It's almost as if there's a good chunk of cognitive dissonance to maintain the 'DEMOCRATS MUST BE JUST AS BAD' mantra...

This is something I have unfortinatly found all to often today... You get people who say they are fed up with republicans saying "They have done this this this this this and THIS" but then immediatly say, without any citations, "ANd Im sure the Democrats are JUST as bad"

[Darth Wong]

I do wish Ein would stop dipping into the conspiracy theory fever swamp every so often; it just makes him look foolish; as I'm sure I did when I posted a gun-related article every 2.23123 hours years ago.

Could you explain what part of the OP is a conspiracy theory? Surely you're not so blindingly naive that you think the part about how the media's #1 goal is to make money rather than inform the public is a "conspiracy theory", when they proudly brag about precisely that to their shareholders.

[MKSheppard]

Yeah, maybe they say it because there's an evidence-backed concensus that its true. Maybe?

If people want to go on thinking that I'm a nutcase for whom 1+1=3, sure, all the more power to them.

[Illuminatus Primus]

Maybe for once you could explain how you are right, support your claims, and use logical arguments. You act as if this is some factual or doctrinal dispute. Your inability to use logical arguments is fundamentally wrong. No matter what the subject matter, the methods you use to dispute your opponents are wrong, and will always be wrong. Are you arguing logic doesn't work? Or that your "not 1+1=3" logic makes your replies to Ein rational disputes or critiques? How? Why?

[The Yosemite Bear]

children mucking about the forums [check]
minor flamewar [check]
thread is HOSed [inprogress]

[Illuminatus Primus]

How are any my points about Shep's depleted uranium skull and lack of debating skills "childish" after he homophobically harasses a board member and tries to evade points once called out to substantiate his claims and criticisms of Einy with actual substance?

Speaking of which, true to form, once I stopped stooping to the 70-range IQ-level gruntfest that Shep is acclamated to and asked for him to substantiate his claims, he suddenly is nowhere to be found on this thread. What a chickenshit.