Thursday, July 8, 2010
Meaning in a Madhouse: Freedom Fest @ The Ted
Words Jay Ford
Thursday, July 8th, 2010 at 7:22 am
Headlining Freedomfest 2010 was Sarah Palin, with Oliver North and George Allen in tow. As I stared into the pamphlet I could not help but shake my head. This was a who’s who in the derided and disgraced. Sarah Palin serves as the butt of jokes on the left, and is a nightmare for Republicans who shudder at the possibility of her making a run for president. The most frequent criticism being her complete and utter lack of credible experience, and the second most frequent being the suspicion that no matter how much experience she had, she’d still be unfit to lead.
George Allen.
Former Senator George Allen is by most measures a racist. In fact, the consensus is so strong that if you type, “George Allen racist” into Google the first hit is not some vindictive leftist site, but rather his Wikipedia page. You think that is a fluke and that his Wikipedia comes up with his name and any word? Try typing, “George Allen America.” The first hit is his father’s wiki, and the second hit? That would be a wiki dedicated to the Senator’s racial slur of choice. (Interesting addendum to his resume- Due to his efforts, the word “Macaca” was named the most politically incorrect word of 2006).
Oliver North… well what do you say about Oliver North? The man at the movie store told me that ol’ Ollie, “should still be in jail,” and I trust all of his recommendations. This video more or less sums him up. North has since made tons of money as an author and Fox news commentator. He now has his own show on Fox called, “War Stories”, which covers military history. Why a disgraced soldier was enlisted to host a show dedicated to our nation’s most praiseworthy military moments and personnel, I will never know.
These were the folks that the Tea Party wanted to hear, and sitting there staring at the crowd in the reception area (many of whom paid $1000 to $1200 to be there), I could not help but pass some kind of judgment by association. If these are your champions, what does it say for your cause?
I wanted to understand why these were the people behind the podiums, and so decided to ask. Most everyone responded that we need to “take our country back.” From whom I wondered?
***
Things that make you go hmmm:
- 74% of Tea Party supporters agree with the statement “while equal opportunity for blacks and minorities to succeed is important, it’s not really the government’s job to guarantee it.”
- 88% support the immigration law enacted in Arizona.
- 52% of Tea Party supporters said that “compared to the size of their group, lesbians and gays have too much political power.”
Tea Partiers also seem to like hats like this, and other novelties, which were on sale at the event.
Spotting a man slated to speak that evening, I made a beeline for him with my hand extended 20 seconds too early. Even with this awkward greeting, Bishop EW Jackson Sr. agreed to sit down and answer a couple of questions.
Could you tell me a little bit about yourself and how you came to be involved in the event tonight?
I run an organization called Staying True to Americas National Destiny (STAND). We advocate for a return to Judeo-Christian values, limited constitutional government, support for Israel, and a strong National Defense. We believe that you cannot divide human beings. The values that drive us need to be rooted in something deeper than just our opinion of what’s right, what’s just, what’s wrong.
What about those who do not live a spiritual life?
I don’t think you can bring them in to the party. I don’t think that people who believe in collectivism are ever going to come into a party with me… I love em, pray for em but I am moving on.
You believe we should be unwaveringly behind the nation of Israel?
I do.
Is this completely devoid of any policy decisions Israel might make?
I think you will find most Bible believers think that Israel and America have a unique place in human history, and what we share in common is a devotion to the god of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So, on a spiritual level there is a bond there, and on a practical level it is the only democracy in the Middle East, it is a nation that we have had long standing ties with. It is a nation that others have tried to destroy repeatedly, not just in the Holocaust. I believe that America is blessed to stand with and behind this nation. That does not mean that we support everything that they do, but it does mean that we understand that they need someone to stand by their side no matter what.
Is there any biblical reference you can point to, in order to support the belief that America is somehow chosen?
Two things we know: God looks like this and he loves us best.
There a number of scriptures that people quote, but the one that is most often used is “blessed is the nation whose God is the lord.” There are a number of Old Testament references that indicate that God is the one who sets up nations, that he even chooses nations. We view our rights as coming from God not from government. We are the only nation that holds this belief.
*****
“In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane.” -Oscar Wilde
During his speech Oliver North showed a video in which American troops destroyed a village. The big finale was a clip of our military blowing up a family’s house somewhere in Afghanistan. The crowd applauded and cheered loudly, as Mr. North explained this was part of a drug bust. Right or wrong I could not find it in me to applaud someone’s home blowing up.
Soon afterwards, Sarah Palin whipped the crowd into a frenzy by shouting the phrase, “Don’t retreat. Reload!” She also wanted to let us know that the oil spill in the gulf has not moved her; she’s still all about the “Drill baby Drill.” In fact, most of the speakers went out of their way to show their lack of concern for the environment, and in particular cap and trade legislation.
Another of the speakers, Ben Loyola, has bumper stickers that read, “Socialism isn’t cool.” Ben often chimes that America cannot be allowed to become like Cuba. I asked him once if he thought this was a fair analogy. After all, in Cuba there was horrific repression of the press, disappearances, and assassinations. Did he really believe America was heading in this direction? His response? Absolutely. He ended our talk with a dialogue about the importance of the Second Amendment because, according to Ben, the first thing they did in Cuba was take all the guns.
Later in the evening, I got a chance to interview Oliver North, and having written down a list of “objective” questions, my mind was anything but. All I could think of was how this man has real blood on his hands. When I thought about how he had just been paid to speak, and was now signing his books, shaking hands, and thanking fans, it just felt imbalanced. I know these things should have been banished from my brain, but this man was not only free, and prosperous, but also a figurehead for a movement now exercising considerable influence on our nations politics. How has this come to pass?
Do you support the President’s decision to remove McChrystal from command?
Jay and Oliver North.
I don’t support the President’s’ plan, but I think it needed to be done.
How long do you think we will be in Afghanistan?
I have no idea.
Do you think we made a mistake with the bailouts?
Yes. We undermined the notions of hard work that our nation is built upon.
Is there then a responsibility on the government’s behalf to prevent a company from becoming so large that its failure could devastate world markets?
If you are talking about AIG being “too big to fail,” I don’t buy that. I don’t believe in “too big to fail.”
You think we would have weathered the storm had we let these companies fail?
I don’t know. What I do know is that the government taking over these things creates a whole new paradigm that we have never seen in this country. Companies went under by the thousands during the 1930’s and we did not take them over, and FDR was the greatest national socialist we’ve ever had up until Obama.
Do you think that the BP escrow fund that has been established is also an “unwarranted” government takeover?
I remember an executive at BP describing this as a “slush fund.” Can you think of a better way to describe it?
(I must admit I think that there are many better ways to describe it that were not directly pulled from the lips of BP leadership – but I kept them to myself)
So you think we should leave the cleanup and the money for it in their (BP’s) hands?
Oliver North didn't like all of Jay's questions.
If you honestly think that there is $20 billion in that account, give me the account number. I’ve looked at their filings and they don’t have the money.
If you do not believe that the money is there, would you support a government dismantling and sale of the company in order to fund cleanup efforts?
You are assuming that our government has the right to take apart a private British company. I’m not entirely sure that is the case. I’d like to see the legislation that allows an American company to go after a British company for something that happened in international waters.
What does the word “justice” mean to you?
Excuse me.
How would you define the term justice?
Well, the Bible has an answer. People should suffer the consequences of the crimes they commit.
Like eye for an eye?
Yes. That is the biblical definition of justice.
Do you have a definition of economic justice?
What is yours? What do you mean by that?
I am looking for your definition.
Well. My beat is the military.
O.K. Do you believe that there are equal and fair opportunities afforded to all in our country?
Yes. I think there are.
*****
Oliver North reminded me of both of my grandfathers. I blame this for the evaporation of my anger towards him, because his answers certainly did nothing to make me calmer. He simply sounded like so many people in my life, and not a man responsible for illegal arms trades around the globe.
Listening to Mr. North, it seemed clear to me that his concept of justice, and his take on equality in our country, were simply and objectively wrong; as was Bishop Jackson’s belief in America’s and Israel’s unique rights as nations of God. All around me it seemed the dominant mindset throughout the center was this odd notion of American entitlement. Rather than seeing America as exceptional for its actions, they justify its dealings because it is exceptional.
Our wars are just because we are just. Our economic policies sound because we are sound. The logic of all arguments flowed in reverse, with each premise deriving its truth from the conclusion in a dizzying cycle of self-affirming reason. By turning logic backwards, perhaps the hope was that time would follow suit or at least stand still?
Why have we been so reluctant to demand a more rigorous philosophy from this group? Harkening back to days that never existed, and invoking a God who is far too loving to support their cause, these “leaders” of the Tea Party spent a night appealing to the worst aspects of our humanity, with the crowd eating it up and me extremely confused. Despite all of this, everyone seemed so very ordinary. This was not a crowd of angry hyperbolic rednecks. This was a crowd of average American citizens. This was a crowd of you and me, all of our inactions, idleness, and selfishness.
If these are you champions what does it say for your cause? What does this say about America, where this has come to pass?
By the grace of God and the will of Americans.
Sarah Palin is the consequence of our compromise. Much of America has come to want a leader that tells us our increasing mediocrity is okay, and Palin fits the bill. By elevating her we lend credence to the lethargy of spirit that has taken hold in us as a people. If she ever were to become leader of the free world then the rampant consumerism and selfishness she embodies would become in a way virtuous. Our highest goals are no longer an excellence of character but rather the comforts of our bodies. We have given up on the impulses that built the world’s foremost democracy and our politics have simply come to reflect that. Palin, North, and Allen are merely one sad logical extension of the America of today.
I would never cast a vote for Sarah Palin, yet walking about Freedom Fest I came to realize I am just as responsible for her rise as the Tea Partiers around me clutching their copies of Going Rogue. If you are one of those who lament that we live in a time when Sarah Palin would have a soapbox, then I’m here to tell you that you are a hypocrite. Sarah Palin is your fault. Somewhere along the way in this democratic experiment we traded the pursuit of human excellence for the comforts of mediocrity and she is simply our most painful reminder.
***
Thomas Jefferson said, “Every generation needs a new revolution.” This was meant not solely to remedy the decay in standards that take hold in government, but also for the staleness of soul that takes place in the individual. Want to know why Sarah Palin is speaking to arenas, with a racist and a man who committed high treason? This is our fault folks; not that of some ignorant, gun toting old man, as so many people like to imagine. If anything, that man ought to be applauded for at least remembering that democracy takes hard work, and that there was a time when we wanted more from our government and selves than the promise of economic success.
Who do we need to “take our government” back from?
Walk to your bathroom and check out the mirror.
""
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ABOUT THE WRITER
Believes the world would be a nicer place if we all made some of our own furniture and grew some of our own food. He has worked on various state and national political races around the region, before switching over to issues based campaigns, where he advocated for voting rights, universal health care, and the environment. He has taught grassroots activism, and happens to think it is pretty important. He believes passionately in environmental reverence, social equality, the power of collective action, and his ability to speak with his cat. He fancies himself a part-time philosopher and thinks that people should dance on their cars more often. Jay thinks that abolishing the hand shake and replacing it with mandatory five second hugs would go leaps and bounds in changing the world.
Other posts by Jay Ford.
Other posts by Jay Ford.
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what does the word justice mean to you…
excuse me?
scary. fantastic. really necessary splash of cold water in our faces. down with sheeple!! we really need to break loose from this herd of ego-centric, nationalistic, greedy, closeminded, close-eyed wolves. and my appologies to all the wolves of the world for lending their good name as a tangible symbol for our darkness. wonderful piece– keep fighting the good fight.
Let’s quickly go over some of factual errors that Ollie North made in this short interview
1- BP is not a private company, it is a publicly traded company
2- BP is not necessarily a British company. It consists of a network of subsidaries and other companies, many of which are not based in Britain. For example, the Deepwater Horizon rig belongs to Transocean, which is based in the Marshall Islands. Furthermore, any company that does business in the United States must apply for a ceritificate to do business, which makes them amenable to U.S. laws.
3- The Deepwater Horizon rig was not located in international waters; it was under the jurisdiction under the MMS, part of the United States federal government
4- It is absolutely idiotic and crazy to say that America does not have the right to take over foreign companies that operate within its jurisdiction and cause it harm. If BP was bombing American cities, would Ollie not let the government take over BP? What if BP was running drugs? As for the “legislation” that allows this, the Constitution allows Congress to regulate “interstate commerce” any way it sees fit. Also, see Chapter 15, Title 11, United States Code, which allows America to seize the assets of foreign companies to pay off their debts.
5- The Bible should not literally be interpreted to mean “eye for an eye.” In ancient times the punishment far exceeded the crime, so the Bible wanted to actually lessen punishment. Secondly, “eye for an eye” wouldn’t make sense, because how would you punish a person who had no eyes? The Bible is meant to be universally applicable.
6- I don’t know what “accounts” Ollie was looking at; but BP certainly does have $20 billion. In fact, the reason this fund was created was to save the money before BP lost it! Also, they have way more than $20 billion in assets, which they will have to sell if they are found liable for any harm.
7- No BP executive ever called the fund a “slush fund.” That idiotic Congressman who immediately had to apologize called it a “slush fund.” BP executives explicitly repudiated the “slush fund” comment. Another argument against this “slush fund” argument is that the administration could have done the same thing in the courts on its own – because if BP tried to unload its funds it would be a fraudulent transfer under the bankruptcy law – the point of making this fund is to avoid litigation and to make BP look good in the court of public opinion.
8- FDR was not a “national socialist.” Calling FDR a Nazi is one of the most ridiculous things a human being can do, given American history and how FDR defeated the Nazis. If you want, call him a “socialist” (which would also be inaccurate), but there was no nationalism in his game.
9- “I don’t support the President’s’ plan, but I think it needed to be done.” – So basically, sometimes things need to be done, but as a Republican, I will oppose them because I hate the President. If aliens invaded the United States, we would need to defend ourselves, but I would not support defending ourselves if there is a Democratic president in power.
Great piece! Way to make Oliver North squirm. Solid!
Thanks for subjecting yourself to that rally and writing something thought-provoking in response. I have varied responses to this piece, though.
First, I think the “we all have to take blame for this” is both accurate and myopic. Myopic only because of the negative connotations with which I presume you wrote that. While it may not yet be a majority, there are plenty of people who are happy to “take blame” for the rise of the tea party movement.
Second, you stated: “All around me it seemed the dominant mindset throughout the center was this odd notion of American entitlement. Rather than seeing America as exceptional for its actions, they justify its dealings because it is exceptional.Our wars are just because we are just. Our economic policies sound because we are sound. The logic of all arguments flowed in reverse, with each premise deriving its truth from the conclusion in a dizzying cycle of self-affirming reason.”
I could not agree more with this sentiment. It’s something, as an active participant, both through personal volition and being raised in the church (the people, not the building)I have seen become commonplace, cross-demographic in the US. It’s what? Machiavellian? The end justifies the means, or at least an extension thereof. We, as a country, love to accuse other nations and groups of acting in such a way, but are rather hypocritical when it comes to our own actions (Operation Iraqi Freedom as a prime example). It’s something that has seeped into our culture. We feel entitled, justified, righteous, and we act as though we can do no wrong. Ideological Imperialism, as I’ve come to call it, has been one of the greatest blights on our culture since the end of WWII (the NSC-68 and the Vietnam War as extensions of my point). It is disgusting and the reverse logic you mention is going to ultimately crush us. This, though, is on both sides. It’s tough to balance those transcendent human values with the ethical issues we erroneously absolutize at times. When this happens, we value things like drilling for oil over the environment or innate human worth. Or, we value privileges over innate human rights, or at least gravely confuse the two (and this happens quite a bit on the left as well).
It’s telling that even though many people support the Tea Party movement, not every supporter believes that these people are their “champions”. My father is a huge supporter of the tea parties, but he didn’t go to freedom fest and after speaking with him, wouldn’t have been caught dead there. Why? Because a rally like that doesn’t have a whole lot to do with even the limited information I have about what the philosophy of the movement is. It’s designed to allow people like Palin to get paid and they know there are enough “willing parties” out there to make it worth while. I don’t mean to hold my father up as the “average tea party supporter”, it’s just he’s the one I know the best and he can actually talk intelligently about it.
Is there any room for mercy amongst all this talk of justice? Sure, reconciliation requires a willing party and maybe North and Allen aren’t, but at some point it’s convenient to take single actions and label someone. It’s a personal opinion used to discredit anything another person says and is a logical fallacy; both red herring and ad hominem; I think it devalues the point you’re trying to make. It’s really tough to argue that someone is racist when you have no knowledge of who they are personally and, frankly, arguments of that nature really drive me crazy because they take momentary outward expressions to define the heart of a man. Imagine if every fucked up thing you’ve ever said in moments of passion were used against you in such a manner. I am guessing it’d be tough to get a job and retain friendships. It’s a dangerous road to travel: arguing that individuals are racists or traitors definitively.
Futhermore, negative information about George Allen from Google results obtained through keywords, metatags, and behavioral targeting based on other searches you’ve made are not surprising. Additionally, wikipedia is at its root a user-edited source of information so it is not surprising that those tags exist for him. In my search, his wikipedia was 2nd, not 1st. When you search “Barak Obama muslim”, his wikipedia is in the top 10, but I am sure that doesn’t mean anything. The first video result for “George Allen” (not even “racist” included) on Google is the very video you posted in your article. This isn’t indicative of inarguable racism and bigotry, it’s because it’s where the news is. Nobody searches George Allen to find out all the details of his policies and party motives, they search him to get incensed by the time he said “macaca” at a rally.
All in all, another good article. Even for the points I disagreed with, it still made me think and respond, so in that respect, you’ve done your job. I’d say this is far more subjective than any other piece I’ve read of yours, but this shit is always a touchy subject for people, so I am not surprised.
I just wish that philosophical pendulums didn’t exist. For as much as these “champions” are wrong, I don’t see a lot of right on the left, so to speak. There’s got to be a balance, and I think that balance is found through people like you and me and us, not heavy reliance on elected “public servants” with motives that are either already tainted or easily manipulated by power and money.
I hope you know everything I write is done with the deepest love I can have for both a man and someone I hardly know.
cicero
p.s. @Rumpy: Thanks for providing that info, particularly on BP. A lot of that stuff I am unaware of in terms of how it all works or would work. That said, I think it’s convenient to call FDR a socialist. Many things made him not one, but what he did was frighteningly different than what the country was used to.
I think we can safely say that the in the Heart of George Allen there is at least a little bit of racism. His Macaca event was not isolated. He has also been accused of racism towards Blacks, and denying his own heritage so as not to appear Jewish.
If you are willing to call all of these, “momentary outward expressions” flukes then you are more charitable then I.
Also, what does that even mean? Isnt a momentary outward expression an overly verbose way of putting the term “speaking”? One lapse in his outward expression filter might be glossed over but he has a history of this.
Also… North sold missles, and arms to militants against legislation that explicitly prohibited it. That is high treason…. hence traitor.
Its nice that you want to forgive and forget but at a certain point people need to be culpable and these two people are well beyond that threshold.
@Joe. I think that you are right that it is dangerous to label anything definitively, but it is more dangerous to face down facts and remain a relativist.
@Anonymous: “momentary outward expression” is, for lack of a better phrase, poorly expressed. What I mean is, that statement of mine is unclear. Sorry about that. I write responses at work and they take me an hour to write, not because I am thinking so deeply but because I am mixing in my job with it all. What I really meant by that was basically what you got from it: more so a “momentary lapse in judgment” than “outward expression”. Sorry about that.
I think in Allen’s case, I am not trying to argue against the nature of “macaca” being racIST but most of the other instances (racist behavior toward college teammates, etc.) have been questionable allegations in terms of their validity. I am not even suggesting he ISN’T a racist, I just think talking about him as though it were absolutely the case is a dangerous thing to do when writing a piece on something like the tea party. Even as someone opposed to Palin (sorta indifferent to North and Allen, personally)that sort of communication just seemed manipulative and unnecessary.
@Jay: Are you implying that I am staring down facts and remaining a relativist? Or are you suggesting that as a defense for calling him a racist(if we’re using Allen as an example) I don’t want to respond on the assumption of one or the other. For the sake of posterity, I am far from a relativist. That said, I do find myself more likely than not to look at rhetoric and structure than the issue at hand. It’s my downfall because I mix the two all the time. It’s the problem of being attracted to editing. However, I do believe that rhetoric is innately linked to the message that gets portrayed, whether intended or not, so I feel like it does matter. I got distracted by it when reading this particular piece and felt that in my response I should at least reference it.
Jay-
I love and hate you. I am also scared of you, and for you.
I read this right when you posted it and I thought I am going to tell him I hate this. Somewhere between that decision and the comment section I realized I actually love this. I hate it because its true and it does not fit neatly into what people think about politics… that one side has to be right. You leave off telling everyone they are wrong and perhaps thats what we need to hear. I thought about Greece and Rome during the second half. Not the real greece and rome but the ones we learned about as kids. I could not help but feel thats what you were driving at.
I would like to live in your world, but I am scared of what it would take to get there.
I was feeling the Greek thing too. I would like to feel like we were striving for something bigger.
Sadly Jay I think people are just going to read the first half and love it or hate it based on their feelings towards the tea party. The conclusion asks people to do something and that is what we try to avoid at all costs. even democratic leaders are simply playing up to our selfishness. They just take a different road.
Good luck pushing that boulder up that hill.
I only love you. I also appreciate your (unfounded) concern for my well-being.
I was going to say something about you being in my world, but it was going to be uncomfortable and tatum would kill me.
Not even one word about chasing for the purpose of tackle-kissing.
I’m very disappointed in you, Mr. Ford.
On the other hand, I would make a really terrible political journalist, because I would have real trouble thinking clearly and continuing to ask questions in complete sentences with a calm face about 6% through those interviews. The rest of mine would have consisted of inappropriate words and sputtering. I appreciate your demeanor, Daddy-O.
Brava, Jay. Standing ovation from this corner.
_______________________
When the lights come up on the fucking freakfest faire
and you realize that you are left gulping for air-
the environment so toxic, the rhetoric so thick
you could set the night on fire with a single candlestick-
you wonder how it came to pass- your seat in this vile place?
You feel the look of energized contempt mirrored on each face.
“Don’t retreat- reload!” she said and you heard the many roar,
but what you missed at each quick quip: community hitting the floor.
No video, no media, no wonder it can go on:
for the light of day- the free press- is to them the devil’s spawn.
The fire-and-brimstone, dervish-provoking hype this woman wields
leaves the middle majority marginalized- too stunned to find their shields.
She speaks so plain and sometimes just wrong, she must be one of us!
And all these men, they say it too, so gosh darnit just don’t fuss.
But- did she really just say THAT out loud- is that really okay?
Oh, who cares- here’s one of my favorite songs: God Bless the U.S.A.
Jay, this is a great article. Let’s get together so you can tell me more about the nuthouse. Maybe we can talk about it with the Cowboy candidate in the 2nd district. (I forget his name) Or not. Or both.
I don’t want to sound dramatic or exaggerate, but I can say with complete confidence that 9-11 was Ollie North’s fault. After Hizbollah killed 231 United States marines in a truck bombing in 1983, instead of wiping out Hizbollah in Lebanon we instead chose to sell arms to Iran (who created and funded Hizbollah), doing it in such a sloppy haphazard way that the entire world found out about it. From then, terrorists in the Middle East saw America as weak and easily cowed by terrorism. Therefore, when the Taliban started harboring al-Qaeda they weren’t scared of any reprecussions from the United States at all – in fact, they saw their harboring of al-Qaeda as a bargaining chip they could use against the United States to get what they wanted, the same way Iran did so with Hizbollah. This disgraceful action also basically told Middle Easterners that if they wanted to succeed politically, they would have to join terrorist organizations, because the U.S. was scared of terrorists and would bend over backward if the terrorists got strong enough and if the price was right. It also told Middle Easterners that Americans were liars and had no principles, so there was no use in trusting them or making deals with them, because they will sell arms to terrorists behind their backs and back both sides in a brutal war. So basically, Ollie North sold arms to a terrorist regime, helped fuel the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, destroyed America’s credibility in the Middle East, and cost the lives of many innocent Iranians who were fighting for freedom in their country.
Jay, I was with you until the final two paragraphs. From a readability viewpoint I think the ending hampered the overall effectiveness of your piece by going off on an abrupt and not thoroughly-explained tangent. As for the argument you were making (that we are all responsible for the Tea Party phenomenon), I can’t really comment because I don’t think I really got what you were driving at.
Overall a very good piece. I just think it needed another 300 words so that you could fully explain your conclusion.
I knew the Bishop’s words sounded familiar:
“What we have to fight for is the necessary security for the existence and increase of our race and people, the subsistence of its children and the maintenance of our racial stock unmixed, the freedom and independence of the Fatherland; so that our people may be enabled to fulfill the mission assigned to it by the Creator.” – Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, Vol. 1 Chapter 8
This was an excellent article, well-thought, thought-provoking, and delivered far more calmly than I could ever do – Ms Palin’s incredible mind reduces me to froth-at-the-mouth incoherence, and that’s before you add churchly mandates and missles to the mush.
Jay–well done. You are the Josh Lyman of Norfolk.
Jay, how about a series about how we got ourselves to the point that the Tea Party can be such a force on the political landscape so quickly?
I would love to write that.
I suspect that would be a pretty sweeping history of the media, and our nations politics, set against the backdrop of globalization and technologies that advance more quickly than we can adapt.
Lets see how summer comes along:)
Oh yeah…the series would also chronicle spiritual bankruptcy.
How did the Tea Parties become to be a force so quickly in American politics? I could write that article for you very easily: After Obama was elected president a series of wealthy conservative donors funded a series of “grass-roots” organizations that capitalized on people’s simplistic religion, unconscious racism, economic despair, degradation of morals, and general bewilderment at the modern world to create a new strand of hatred to make American politics even more divisive and polemicized than it was. Fox News then jumped in to give shape, direction, and legitimacy to the Tea Party. The Democrats were going to have a tough go at 2010, because America is inherently a conservative country, but the Tea Party has divided conservatives between those intelligent ones who believe in hard work and social values and those racist psycopaths whose minds live in the gutter. So now its not so bad to be a Democrat in 2010 even though you’ve done stuff that most of the country hates.
Samz
Simplistic religion? Obviously, you’ve never studied the Bible.
Unconscious racism? Weak is all I can say. Can’t prove a negative so where is your evidence. BTW your evidence must be based on the dictionary explanation of racism, not the contemporary liberal definition that any difference with a liberal (1/2) black man is racism.
Economic Despair? The Tea Party folks all have jobs or are retired. This is what is un-usual about them. For the first time many are going the extra mile to find time off so that can protest the generation thief that congress is passing. Do you understand that the nation (government) has no money to spend? We only have the selfish idea that we can have it now for nothing and our grand children will pay for it?
Degradation of Morals? I refer you back to “Simplistic religion” and the Bible.
General bewilderment at the Modern World? We built the modern world. You’ve inherited it. It’s primarily the 60′s (Hippie) generation also know as the “better red than dead” crowd that wants to dismantle and destroy all that was ever good about this nation.
I could go on with this commentary but I’ll leave this as a start. I will point out that you need to step out of your inter circle and live in the other camp. Jay Ford has done this and I commend him for it. I would point out that Jay also has exposed some of his’ bias. That’s Okay, we all have our own unique experience, but they do change over time if you actually observe the human condition and except human nature. People believe what they believe for a reason. To call them simplistic, racist, despaired, or degradation of morals only shows your own narrow-mindedness.
Jay is an exceptional writer and appears to be intrepid as well. I do disagree with nearly all of his prescriptions but if he keeps respectfully asking the questions and keeps listing he will ultimately serve into the truth. We all do eventually.
v/r
Sam