All Posts Tagged With: "American"
Asleep at the water cooler of life
It is not my intention to insult the American public. I happen to be one of them. However, you have to question what people are thinking these days. Americans seem almost passive about holding their elected officials accountable. I say almost passive because I know some Americans want to see impeachment move forward. Of course, the mainstream media is careful not to give these Americans any press. The concern I have is much larger: Americans are not outraged after eight years of outright lies, blatant disregard for the rule of law and failed public policy. It’s like the populous has been given a collective lobotomy and they’re asleep at the water cooler of life. The only thing flowing freely is, apparently, drool. Why do I bring this up?
I bring it up because the American people have recently put scum like Jerome Corsi at the top of the New York Times Bestseller List. Yes, Dr. Jerome Corsi, a known liar. The man who wrote Unfit for Command with the intention of preventing John Kerry from becoming president at all costs is back and with a vengeance. And, in spite of the fact that he was exposed as an outright liar back then, America is embracing him yet again. This time Barack Obama is in his cross-hairs. Let’s talk about Dr. Corsi.
- During Bush’s second term, when our leader’s popularity waned, Corsi’s star power dimmed. He teamed up with so-called “prophecy expert” Michael Evans to write a book entitled Showdown with Nuclear Iran. The book suggests that Israel and the United States conduct a pre-emptive strike against Iran before it’s too late. He’d fit right in with that other nut, the Reverend John Hagee.
- Corsi is a prolific staff reporter for WorldNetDaily, not exactly the bastion of truth. How reliable is WND? Well, they published a Corsi article that reported that the beltway snipers were homosexual lovers linked to that infamous terrorist group, al Qaeda. This was incredibly inventive. He managed to vilify (and, of course, link by innuendo) two groups he dislikes the most: Gays and terrorists.
- Dr. Corsi is a lover of the Vietnam War, a real patriot by his standards. Of course, Corsi is a patriot like so many of the ‘patriots’ we’ve come across on the conservative side of the aisle (George Bush, Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich, Tom DeLay) in that he managed to worm his way out of serving in the war he so loves by claiming “hereditary eczema.” It’s one thing to love. It’s quite another to serve. No?
- Obama Nation came out this month and it has already been skewered for its blatant falsehoods. It matters not to Americans that these are allegations based on lies. The book continues to sell as though anyone in print is truthful and knowledgeable. The book’s publisher, Mary Matalin (and ultimately, Simon and Schuster) should be skewered as well. You know, the notion that publishers of these types of books bear no liability for their veracity is pure crap.
I once (mistakenly) thought that at least I could respect Mary Matalin. Then, she went to work as senior adviser to Satan in a Suit (Dick Cheney) and I began to waver. Stubbornly, I still held out hope. However, as the publisher of this garbage she has sunk to new lows. Desperate for a “winner” for her two-year-old conservative Simon and Schuster imprint (aptly called Threshold Editions), Matalin got what she wanted. Let’s hope for publishing’s sake, it’s the gift that keeps on giving. I can’t imagine she’s got any credibility left but, hey, this is America. We love this stuff. We don’t have time for reality.
No longer a nation of thinkers
There’s the notion that thinkers are ‘liberals.’ Liberal has become a dirty word in the American language over the past eight years. The new popular notion is that we should be a nation of ultra-patriots who simply digest what our elected officials feed us because, hey, they wouldn’t lie. Forget the whole notion of Question Authority. If you question authority, you’re un-patriotic. There’s been a dumbing down of America, not only by the government but by the print and broadcast media. Let’s not forget that Americans themselves contribute to this dumbing down by choosing to be uninformed.
Conservative shock jocks rarely deal in facts. They deal in emotions; they prey on people’s fears. They do this through many methods, two of which are demonizing and stereotyping. Yet millions of Americans listen to and believe in these venomous spew bags because they naively believe that they wouldn’t be given air time if they weren’t telling the absolute truth. For the free thinkers left in America, even those who did not support Hillary Clinton had to admit that the hysterical conservative media did her candidacy a disservice. She was rarely criticized for her positions or politics, but rather for simply being a woman. They did this by advancing female stereotypes. If Clinton was tough, she was a ‘bitch’ or her actions were ‘castrating.’ If she was soft, Clinton was ‘weak’ or ‘emotional.’ The message was clear: Not fit for the presidency.
For the most part, Americans have become complacent. They accept what they are told at face value. The popular vision of ‘reality’ for most Americans is on television, but it is not the news. We Americans worship at the alter of Dancing With the Stars and American Idol. We especially love anything over the top, sordid and degrading. How else do you explain the popularity of shows like Keeping Up With the Kardashians? Even once-intelligent broadcast alternatives, like the Bravo network, have gone ‘reality’ television. It’s depressing that we’ve become a nation of voyeurs and it’s frightening that Americans think the Kardashian family represents everyday life.
I’ve actually had conversations with people who are just waiting out Bush’s term under the notion that, as soon as he’s gone, everything will be back to ‘normal.’ That’s a fool’s belief. Leaders do not just give back power that they’ve been allowed to take. Americans themselves have chosen to be uninformed (as well as misinformed, judging from Corsi’s success) and have lowered the bar on the performance of their elected officials. Until Americans get their collective act together, Washington will continue to be a cesspool.
Death Of American Diversity Confusing And Concerning
Change Means Different Not Better
The German magazine Der Spiegel says of Barack Obama’s speech in Berlin: “Huge Crowds Left with Mixed Feelings.” CNN’s Candy Crowley reported an “absence of euphoria” at the event. A huge crowd showed up to see what all the falderal is about and to hear substance left scratching their heads. His kumbaya-like message: “The walls between races and tribes, natives and immigrants, Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down” didn’t ring true. His comparison to the Berlin Wall was vbery shallow — the Berlin wall was a political wall that divided one people. It separated Germans from other Germans, a far cry from distinctions between nations and religions that Obama apparently wants to obliterate. A “World government” thesis reflected in Obama’s desire and even plans to shovel a trillion dollars to a gigantic U. N. world plan.
For Obama, differences seem to be what cause the world’s problems. We endlessly hear the story of his mixed-race background and his translation of his personal history into a message of the meaninglessness of difference. There are vast differences and strong nationalism between the French, English and Germans who do not share common language or cultures unlike the U. S. For instance efforts for a European Union constitution that would establish links in Europe going beyond economics and extending to politics have thus far failed.
It may come as a surprise to Obama, but for Christians, for Muslims, and for Jews, their differences do not amount to barriers to a better world but sources of meaning that define themselves and the world, says Star Parker in a Monday article. That contradicts with Obama’s idea that a homogeneous, tan colored America. A politician with a unification agenda is the penultimate of arrogance believing he/she knows best.
Parker says, what Americans “should demand from Obama is clarification of what, if anything, he sees unique about the America that he claims to loves so much. For a man whose ideal seems to be the global village, with no barriers or differences, is there anything special about the United States that makes it distinct from other nations.” For two centuries diversity has been viewed as one of the greatest strengths of America. Obama seems to assert that was and is wrong.
What is the distinction between the “proud citizen of the United States” and the “fellow citizen of the world?” Those in Berlin heard none and many went home legitimately confused. So am I.
A Real American Should Have left this Racist Church. Obama stayed for 20 years.
Why did Obama stay in that church for over 20 years?
Why did he have the pastor marry him?
Why did he donate $25,000 to the church last year?
Why did he seperate himself from the church and the pastor immediately when this cotroversy came out? It took him months to denounce the pastor’s statements?
Unleash American Innovation and Techology for Energy Independence
American Independence.
Ironic, how we won that a couple of centuries ago and today our economic independence is at risk, and other freedoms and aspects of independence are exposed. Political, physical and economic security, in todays global economy beyond our control, pushed on by increasing amounts of freedom in previously closed and more backward economies, empowered by one of the greatest change agents ever, the internet.
Many good things have happened in terms of freedoms. I think the US deserves credit for much of that, despite the poor use of power we have at times exhibited throughout history. On balance, we have been an agent for positive progress which we want all peoples in the world to enjoy. I believe that.
We are at risk because of becoming dependent on foreign sources of oil and our externally financed national debt.
They are related.
Half of our budget deficit, which needs foreign financing currently, is due to oil imports.
Much of our huge defense budget has always been, in my opinion, spent in order to attempt to insure the world that oil will continue to flow from the producers to world markets without interruption. We have provided confidence to world markets and to countries all across the world that they can count of being able to buy what they need to fuel their economies and serve their populations.
Oil is important to almost every one in the world. If it were cut off for any reason, the question would not be what is the outrageous cost for a barrel of oil, it would be how do we keep hundreds of millions of people from starving or freezing.
Not just in the United States. Everywhere.
So now we have helped unleash the innovation of billions of people in Asia, we now need to unleash our capabilities to maintain and serve our growing population and ensure we remain free of the yoke of someone else who has oil in the ground and is wiling to use it as a political tool
What is needed? Competition. Increased supplies, additional new sources and supplies of energy produced inside of this country.
We need to pursue all new energy sources and with due consideration for the environment, we need to tap the vast supplies of oil, gas and coal that we own and which can replace foreign sources.
energy source that is controlled significantly by foreign sources and which the growing world economies is competing for