If you want to get depressed about the level of political discourse in the country these days, just pop on over to the delightful Hannity forums, and read a few. The moderator (the MODERATOR mind you) of the site opens a thread called. “Is it time to shut it down?” The idea is that democrats in general and President Obama in particular have so thoroughly ruined America that we need to shut down all businesses in the US until we can remove all of the duly elected Democrats are replace them with real Americans.
Bad enough for the moderator to open it, but the 750 posts in the next 24 hours contain outright threats on the life of the President, a call to armed insurrection and much talk of violence. As Jon Stewart put it so well, “You’re confusing tyranny with losing.”
These people somehow can’t manage to see that they lost an election, actually quite a few, and when your party loses, you can’t just called for a revolution and claim to believe in democracy. It just doesn’t make sense. One of the unintended funny comments echoed GWB’s preemptive war strategy, “We have to take out Obama for what he might do in the future!” Here’s another actual quote, “Obama is the greatest threat to this nation that it has ever faced.” Really? Not Hitler? Tojo? The Civil War? (These are the type of assclowns who call it, “The War of Northern Aggression”.)
Huh? No wonder these guys lost.
The Republican Party is in real danger of falling off a cliff, and as it’s aging, dwindling membership loses moderates and independents, the remaining folk become more and more toxic, and more and more marginalized which will make them madder and madder. This can’t end particularly well. And their own little media circus of Sean and Rush and Ann and Michelle Glen and all their lesser wannabees are fanning the flames of this desire to harm, hurt or destroy those who’s opinions vary from theirs.
A two party system is probably a healthy thing, so the disappearance of the Republican Party would likely be an ugly thing. Personally, I’d like to see a parliamentary system, which coalitions and a Prime Minister, but that would require a constitutional conference, and THAT would be really, really hard to pull off in the current atmosphere. Imagine not having to pick the lesser if two evils, and actually join a Socialist or Nihilist or Populist or Libertarian or Agrarian or Green or Muslim or Christian party? Works for me.
4 comments:
That site is SCARY . . . a lot of HATE and no good sense . . .
Although we have 16 parties in South Africa, South Africans tend to be apathetic or ignorant, I'm not sure LOTS of parties helps - if you asked the average South African to name 10 Parties (let alone their manifestos) they probably could not ?
Zuma scares the living daylight out of me . . . we vote 23 April . . .
http://www.globalclashes.com/2009/04/z-as-in-zuma-and-zero.html
Man! I miss a couple of days, and you blog all the great stuff!
Your nephew and I get to watch Hannity as your sainted sister in law seems to miss the irony...but I am impressed with Josh's insights and wanted to tell you that my survey of one 14 year old shows a clear understanding of the ridiculous nature of our fair and balanced friends. The only way they appear anywhere near normal is in comparison to that pill popping fat guy who changes his rant with every turn of the Republican corpse that doesn't realize it's buried yet showing he has not one iota of actual substance but is grasping at the receding straws of the pollsters on FOX that are the remnant of those who used to listen to his pablum. I actually heard in one FOX broadcast, a talking head say it was horrible for an Obama staff person to call the teabaggers unhealthy, followed within five minutes of another head ( up his???) call our president unhealthy. The one phrase characterized as an act of treason, but the other...simply fair and balanced reporting.
apologies to Dennis [ who used to be funny and relevant] Miller
Hey Lee!
It must be weird to live in the country where you had an amazing revolution...possibly the best man for president in the last century, but still can't make the bloody thing work! I know Mr. Mandela may not have been perfect, but he certainly gained cred by being imprisoned for more than your life time, and then not being vengeful.
But, what happened?
Here is my 2 bit analysis of our respective countries. [But I really want to hear your input]
I too live in a country where there are more candidates than voters who care, and it gets downright scary...I think the gene that held a sense of justice was erased from the population of Guatemala by unnatural selection, as anyone in the last 500 years who said "Hey! that's not right!" disappeared. So now everyone expects corruption from the government. AND it is against the law for the press to say anything derogatory about an official.
We are not there yet in the good ol' US of A, but it feels like we are moving in that direction. Does that mean that Guatemala and South Africa are more advanced that the states? HMMM
Yow
I just followed all the links from HDLee's comment.
Zuma bodes pretty bad for women in SA
and I thought he was one of the better ones.
Justice. That's the litmus. It is fairly simple, but seems so elusive in light of money lobbying and power playing. If we cannot guarantee justice to the least of these among us ( might that include enemy combatants? to segue back to the original rant) then we cannot guarantee justice to anyone.
Justice is that fragile, and vulnerable...unless good men DO something.
Post a Comment