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I admit perhaps the actual executions of certain government ideas were not so great, but at least people had vision. JFK had vision, LBJ had vision. His main screw up was allowing Vietnam to go on. But too bad he's not remembered for signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law. Too bad people look down on his Great Society program because it failed instead of remembering the vision that he had and the intentions that drove the program in the first place.
Above all it was about helping people. Not about giving people a handout. Dr. King and other affiliated civil rights protesters weren't looking for a handout, they wanted opportunity.
Who do you think was worse, LBJ for at least TRYING to help people through Great Society, or George W. Bush for watching dead bodies float in the water in New Orleans after Katrina, and allowing the city to sit and die in the years thereafter?
I still remember W's theme of "compassionate conservatism" from his 2000 campaign. I also remember his quotes of how he would be a "uniter, not a divider." HA! It'd be funny if it weren't so sad. The tragedies of this nation that have taken place over the past 7 or 8 years, everything from 9/11 (which I will admit was not Bush's fault but everything that's happened since then is his fault), to Katrina, to the Iraq war, literally make me sick to my stomach and makes me cry, it hurts me to see these things happening and even worse is the fact that our federal government has done very little, if anything, to correct any of those problems.
People seemed to be more open to different ideas and belief systems as well. Yes it was OK to be Christian but it was also OK to believe in whatever else you wanted to believe in as well, just as long as you didn't impose on anyone else or cause harm on anyone else. Now this country insists on imposing Christianity on everyone out of fear that other Americans just might believe something different, and they forget about the basic FREEDOMS that this country was founded on. They forget (or maybe they never knew) that one of our great, highly revered Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson, was NOT Christian, and that this was a big reason why he and James Madison pushed so hard for the 1st Amendment guaranteeing freedom of religion, speech, etc. in this country. Now we have a presidential administration that takes advantage of people's fear in a post-9/11 world in order to take away our freedom. Instilling fear in people and then tricking them into believing you are their only way of obtaining security and stability is the oldest trick in the book when it comes to gaining power, influence, and control over a society. And that's what we see now with Bush.
I personally think both LBJ and GWB are evil. GWB is not a conservative-not what to me is a true conservative anyway. LBJ though I think made more radical anti-American changes to this country that we are still paying for today.
The "Baby Boomers" grew up, got jobs, still want to "be liberal" but they don't want higher taxes or people being all liberal-like in their gated neighborhoods.
This country is just as conservative as ever, just as religious as ever...
Thank God! This is why America is still the world's beacon for freedom, peace & prosperity—because we did not let the communist nutcases & hippies take over.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AQUEMINI331
..................was it supposed to happen this way? What happened?
Yes, I would say it was supposed to. God still governs the affairs of mankind, and apparently He has seen fit to keep America in her place as the world's superpower and leading exponent of human freedom, defender of individual liberty, bastion of moral strength, etc. He has protected this "shining city on a hill" from devastating tumult over the past 40 years.
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
68,326 posts, read 54,344,425 times
Reputation: 40726
Quote:
Originally Posted by LancasterNative
Thank God! This is why America is still the world's beacon for freedom, peace & prosperity—because we did not let the communist nutcases & hippies take over.
The economy's heading for a recession, the US$ is the weakest it's been in many, many years and we've invaded/occupied a soverign nation for extremely dubious reasons and little expectation of long term benefit to the US.
If THAT's the religious, conservative idea of a beacon of peace and prosperity can someone please direct me to the nearest liberal atheist meeting?
It's an inconvenience to them now. Also, the emergence of the generation X has apparently had little impact on the culture. Early on we were labelled "slackers" and told to get out of college and get jobs, etc. Most of the people my age have done exactly that. There is actually a tremendous need for conformism I think in the Xers due to the early criticism. Now the youngest of that group are kids who've gone to work and like making lots of money and are more or less the new yuppies. They don't want to be involved in anything progressive. They need to please their parents much more than the older Xers who are most likely never going to change the culture due to deep cynicism and resentment about the way things have unfolded.
The show Buffy the Vampire Slayer has helped me so much to get over the angst of all the culture isn't and never will be.
Quote:
Originally Posted by caution
My answer.
The "Baby Boomers" grew up, got jobs, still want to "be liberal" but they don't want higher taxes or people being all liberal-like in their gated neighborhoods.
...Says who? The media? Why should we believe everything they tell us?!
I've often heard it said the best way to cope with a recession is by not participating in it. Many predictions about the state of an economy are as much mental as anything else.
Anyway, I never trust pessimistic forecasts from people who make a living selling more government.
Quote:
Originally Posted by burdell
the US$ is the weakest it's been in many, many years
...So? All the better for exports, my dear! That benefits the bottom line for domestic companies—which in turn put more Americans to work and boost the economy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by burdell
and we've invaded/occupied a soverign nation for extremely dubious reasons and little expectation of long term benefit to the US.
You mean Serbia? Then yes, I would agree with you there. What business we have poking our nose into a region with no vital U.S. interest at stake, and propping up a new Muslim country in Europe (Kosovo) that could become a base of jihad, totally escapes me.
But alas...while this is a mistaken, shamefully misguided adventure by some elements of our government, I by no means regard it as signalling the end of U.S. leadership in the promotion of freedom around the world. On the whole, we've liberated 100s of millions of people from tyranny in the last two decades (USSR, Eastern Europe, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Iraq) so I'd say we're batting well above .500.
I'm serious................i try to remain moderate in politics and understand both liberal and conservative views of an issue, but it's difficult.
The right-wing nuts in this country have really gone buckwild over the last 7 or 8 years or so under the Bush administration. We seemed to be making a little progress in the 1990s but damn W and Company has helped undo all of that. IMO the right-wingers in this country are no different from right-wing extremsits overseas.
There's just as much hatred and intolerance from the religious fundamentalists here as the ones that are in the Middle East.
Thank God Mike Huckabee has no chance of winning the GOP nomination now, but what's scary is that he ever had half a chance in the first place. There's still a pretty substantial number of people in this country that would vote for him, and that is scary as hell. Seriously................why is the U.S. so staunchly conservative, when every other industralized nation is so liberal, particularly the EU nations? Even Canada, the closest thing in the world to the U.S. outside of the U.S., is much more liberal than we are. Why are we such an anomoly? As I said before, we seemed to be on the right track 30-40 years ago.............what happened?
_
AQUEMINI331
To understand others, you need to first understand yourself. You are no moderate. Start from there.
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
68,326 posts, read 54,344,425 times
Reputation: 40726
Quote:
Originally Posted by LancasterNative
...Says who? The media? Why should we believe everything they tell us?!
Says most economic indicators as wellas many small business owners. I suppose you know something no one else does? Would you like to tell us all just how stong the US$ is?
Quote:
Originally Posted by LancasterNative
...You mean Serbia? Then yes, I would agree with you there. What business we have poking our nose into a region with no vital U.S. interest at stake, and propping up a new Muslim country in Europe (Kosovo) that could become a base of jihad, totally escapes me.
So you choose to deal with the debacle we've created in Iraq by ignoring it?
Last edited by burdell; 02-19-2008 at 02:22 PM..
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what would Buffy do?
