I know alot of people do not want to hear this, but the reason America is headed towards fascism and

[ej510]

third world status is because of working class white people voting against their own economic interest, helping corporate America destroy our social safety nets, civil rights, OSHA, unions and etc. The sad thing is they are proud of it, but are pissed when their voting comes back to bite them in the ass. The sad thing is they blame liberals for their own demise instead looking at repuke policies; which enable the continuation of this move away from democracy and towards Benito Mussolini. These Reagan Democrats or I should say baby boomers (majority) have destroyed this nation by supporting predatory capitalism. Most love medicare, but say they hate government run health care. They hate Social Security unless they are receiving it. Selfish behavior displayed by this group will be the demise of this nation. If they do not wake it will be at this nation's peril. We cannot continue down this path, repukes want to end minimum wage and unemployment insurance. They may accomplish this with the moron vote.

[Zoeisright]

1. Exactly right. Stupidity and greed are at the base of most downfalls.

The "dumbing down" of American which began with that asshole Reagan is now complete. And greed and selfishness are celebrated, thanks to that prick too.

[Enthusiast]

156. I agree that "dumbing down"

is a factor that is best not ignored.

[liberalmike27]

212. Reagan Democrats

I never voted for a republican in my life, but I know a lot of folks did. It's hard to pick a point in history since the big war ended (WW2). You could actually point to McCarthyism as the very beginning of the reversal of good fortune most of us "suffered" in the post war days. I think it was the first organized strategy put forward by republicans to begin the reversal of gains of workers. Let's face it, it's become common for republicans to associate any gains by labor as communism, or socialism. And of course, both of those words have been demonized.

Or perhaps it was Nixon, and his damnable agreement with the Chinese, where we first began tapping that cheap Communist slave-labor, that was pretty bad. Carter was no Peach economically, though he certainly had his good point.

Perhaps we could call Reagan just an acceleration of reversal, the actual attack on workers, after a whole lot of preparation for it, a lot of pre-war stuff taken care of, workers (check) bought media (check) get rid of fairness directive in the media so they won't be nagging us (check). Then we went through the beginning of Rush, profit free radio for 5 years, FOX's creation, no fairness at all there, a very organized bunch of republicans saying "liberal media" enough times to make you puke, even when the reality was any vestigial liberality had already been squashed, and it was more about continuing to teach the upcoming generation that "liberal" was a bad word.

Clinton kept on keeping on, OK, Bush can't get GATT, NAFTA, and other huge, onerous trade agreements through, I'll do it Bush-daddy, I'll do it. Want Banks unregulated, I'll take care of that, just stop talking about my penis.

Then Bush, the rule of law, man, he really knew what that was. Make it up, the rule, and do it. He ruled the law. So, lots of brainwashing down the tube, crapping up whatever pitiful education we've had, so most people don't know the difference. Only 2 percent read books, so the television and radio media can crap these folks out, as eggheads, or the effete. Ah yes, remember Tucker Carlson's frequent use of "effete" on Crossfire. Stupid, stupid sheeple...it may be too late for conventional means.

Beseech the heavens my friends for a massive coronary of Scalia, or Thomas, or another of the rabid right-wing SC justices while democrats still have the presidency and the Senate, or we may be so, so screwed.

[dkf]

2. Actually I would say we had been blessed in the past.

We attracted the best and the brightest and that helped us innovate our way to prosperity. But we are losing that edge and with that goes our preeminence.

Why do we expect to keep our superior lifestyles in perpetuity? Maybe if we dedicated ourselves to excellence we could do it but I don't see that character in the American public.

[ej510]

7. I don't care about being a super power, but I want our nation to

give a damn about its citizens.

[RKP5637]

23. +1000 +++ n/t

[dkf]

110. It's citizens only do well if the smartest amongst us innovate for us and do the genius work.

If we don't have those folk, we are only fit to be farmers and other pure labor. It's not the normal Joe that got us to this position in the world.

[JDPriestly]

119. dkf, those smartest often come from parents and grandparents

who were farmers and laborers.

I have known my share of children of the very wealthy. Some of them are normal, but many of them are psychologically messed up and totally useless.

It is apparently very difficult to be the offspring of a super, super rich family.

And don't ask me why in the world I have known so many offspring of the super, super rich. It's just fate, but I have. A few of them were/are very nice, but most of the ones I have known would have been happier and would be leading more useful lives had they become farmers or laborers.

[dkf]

122. Oh I don't mean to say that people who labor aren't smart.

It's kind of the opposite. Without a whole lot of brains that's what the rest of us are good for...labor.

And just because you are making a lot of $ it doesn't mean you are smart. Many times the truly smart people are in the labs. The CEO really is just taking advantage of these people.

[Enthusiast]

158. The efforts of such people

are subverted toward innovations in the Military Industrial Complex and the Medical Industrial Complex. Wall Street theft and the MIC is starving innovation and investment in other areas.

[fasttense]

194. Only fit to be farmers????

Just who feeds these so called geniuses?

Without these laborers you look down on, your geniuses wouldn't have homes to live in, food to eat, cars to ride in, or a society to complain about.

I say it is the normal Joe who built the US. Without us, who would have built and put together the things that keep you alive?

Labor always comes 1st. Before you can have capital, before you can have an educated genius, you have to have labor. Labor for the fields to grow food, labor for the buildings to house them and the educational institutes, labor is always before capital and brains.

It was these so called geniuses who have conned people into believing "free" markets, globalization, trickle down voodoo economics and supply side economics are grrrrreat. These so called geniuses are the ones who destroyed our economy. These geniuses have sold out America by coming up with pseudo-intellectual justifications for handing our national wealth to the already wealthy. The rich can easily buy up the geniuses to do their bidding.

Let me tell you, my husband and I farm. We have 2 bachelor degrees and one and a half Masters degrees between the 2 of us. It's just that there are no jobs that would use our degrees in our area. We like this location so we are working our farm to be able to afford to live here. It's good healthy work.

[TBF]

36. You do realize our "superior lifestyles" are the result of stealing resources

and labor around the globe?

[immoderate]

77. Doesn't have to be.

--imm

[TBF]

79. There are finite resources - if some exploit than yes it will be that way. nt

[immoderate]

96. We are not stealing them.

It's not going to us.

--imm

[Enthusiast]

159. There are alternatives

that we won't/don't pursue because of the influence of the ultra greedy powerful and influential corporations.

[HillbillyBob]

205. It does not have to be that way if we would get off our collective asses

and build a sustainable energy economy. Whichs blocked by the price of panels etc and the fact that our jobs no longer pay living wages.

This is what we are trying to build on our bit of old tobacco farm, organic farming and cracking down on power use by replacing energy use with efficiencies.

The house is modern and insulated..not nearly enough.
As we go along we have spent about 4000$ on air sealing so we keep in the heat/ or ac. We are now using 1/3 the power this place took when we moved in and 1/2 the heating fuel or less than on sunny days. I know many houses cannot do this.

The house we were renting before moved here was 1300 sq ft and used as much power and gas as this place.

Since we were not permanent there we did things like solar powered attic fans mounted on plywood and put in the attic vents..so when I left i just took my panel. I use that same fan to ventilate the crawl space in summer and fixed it up so i can use it on the central air handler in the winter, so that it circulates the heat either solar gain from sunny windows or the kero heater(23,000btu/hr as compared to the central heat pump/ac that is 48,000btu/hr and a power hog) We painted the roof with KoolSeal lowering the inside temp in summer by 20 to 30 degrees. whole house fan for when its not hot enough to fire up the ac, but warm enough to be uncomfortable.

In short instead of 450 to 500$ electric bills they are 150 to 200$(during ac with that 15,000btu/hr window unit 10.8seer) that unit cools 3/4 of a 2,000 square foot house.
Put gaskets in switch and outlet covers, insulated curtains, find air leaks around doors/ windows/ tubs-showers-sink plumbing, replace appliances as the die with more efficient ones ( search out reviews by current users independent reviews)
I have been replacing the lights with LEDs one or two at a time. for a 80% power savings. So far we are seeing about 2500 2600$ per year savings in electric bills alone. Turning off lights or appliances when no one is using. unplug or plug strips for coffee makers, microwaves etc that are vampire loans.

Eventually we plan to go solar for water heating/domestic and radiant infloor heat, and solar power for well and irrigation pumping and domestic use.
It all sounds like a pain in the A, but we are more comfortable and heaven forbid partner loses job we can maybe continue to live inside.

[TBF]

209. Good post - and I would like to see sustainable energy as well

for EVERYBODY. When I hear about 650 sq ft houses though what I picture is all of us living in them while the millionaires and billionaires continue to have palatial spreads all over the world.

[w4rma]

221. It's not that anyone is lazy about doing that, it's that folks are being roadblocked from doing that

by very powerful and very wealthy people who want to keep the status quo because the status quo means more money and more power for only them.

[JDPriestly]

136. That was not always true.

People forget that many of our ancestors who came here had been exploited in the country from which they came, and that many of them were exploited here -- as slaves or as indentured servants.

I saw how hard my parents and grandparents had to work to achieve just a life in dignity.

We are simply returning to that time. Have you ever seen the log cabin in which Abraham Lincoln grew up? Have you ever been to Springfield or what remains from any of the other early settlements in this country.

Those who survived had it very hard.

[HillbillyBob]

202. I live on what was a tobacco farm settled in 1725/30 era

While the house is a modern modular there is a grave yard out back and up the road that have many of my early ancestors relatives.

If you want to get an idea of how hard life was, look at the short lengths of their lives and the number of child / baby graves.
There are a number of surviving log houses some are still occupied and by the descendants of the original builders.
All of those people came from Europe as immigrants and carved farms out of the wilderness(as well as fighting off the natives that were here or marrying them into the family mostly).
My grand parents (pap passed on Dec 19 rip) live(d) on the farm back in WV, its a dirt farm and I have helped pull weeks, tend chickens, butchered cows and pigs. Its hard work just getting through the day. Pap was 89 and grew up during the Depression.

We are turning or trying to turn it into an eco farm because we cannot earn enough to live on other wise, with me on disability ( I suspect I'll see those entitlement checks cut or deleted in the next two years) and my partners jobs have continually been outsourced over the last 15 yrs he is now making about 40% of what he earned 10 yrs ago, plus he has to help his mom whose retirement fund was stolen when the company she worked for for 40 yrs was bought by a bigger company and the retirement she paid into was stolen. Its not like she would have lived in the lap of luxury, but would have been able to cover her bills w/o ss, now all she has is about 400$ a month to try to live on, buy food, meds, pay the rent(had to sell her house to pay for cancer care).

All these congress critters who are millionaires will live high on the hog with their own ill gotten gains plus pension from congress.
They are not geniuses but cunning crooks as I see it.

[JDPriestly]

234. Hillbilly Bob, I agree with you.

My family goes way back, and there is a trail of hard work, terrible mortality rates especially of infants and difficult living conditions. As a result, we are all pretty tough, determined, hard-working people. We have remained that way as we have benefited from public education and technological discoveries. Most of us are just lower middle class -- teachers, other professionals, but we have not forgotten our roots.

I, too, have visited graveyards in which some of my ancestors were buried. Some of their graves were unmarked because they were buried on their land before as it was being settled.

The story of indentured servants has also been omitted from the history books. Some of them were handed over to their masters to pay off the debts of their parents. In fact, I once saw a documentary on the history of African-Americans in the US in which it was stated that many African-Americans, prior to the huge plantation settlements in South Carolina and elsewhere in the deep South, were treated like and had the same legal rights as European indentured servants. Eventually, the European indentured servants were released from their temporary slavery after the agreed on number of years while African-Americans were not permitted any release. I don't know if that is accurate. I would be interested in some feedback on that.

[GeorgeGist]

72. If you consider the ease by which ...

the indigenous people were exterminated a blessing, I still wouldn't agree with you.

[Kweli4Real]

108. By "WE" ...

Do you mean working class whites?

If so, would it be fair of me to call you on defending "whiteness", rather than condemning ignorance?

[dkf]

109. I'm not white.

By "we" I mean Americans, US citizens, whatever we call ourselves nowadays.

[nannah]

120. for the short haul perhaps your analysis

seems realistic, but for the reality of the long haul, not so much. superior life styles????? "innovate our way to prosperity... at what cost???? and whose prosperity????

cooperation, not competition is at the heart of sustainability. sadly you do reflect the thinking of many people.

RE: the OP... Acquisition was popularized from the 80's forward; many fell thrall to buying yourself status. interesting how few real "success stories" keep so many people believing in the illusion.

and all while, real global issues affecting all are being ignored.

[dkf]

124. Maybe that is the point...we have been riding the good life at other people expense.

How long can we live like this and distribute it to everyone?

It would demand taking ever more resources to be used for just Americans.

We have begun to see the middle class on down start to revert to the mean. We think we can get the top to make enough to support us all, but I am not sure it is realistic as other countries ride the path to prosperity and outdo us with more discipline and smarter investments.

[Enthusiast]

160. We could achieve ANYTHING if

the citizens would vote their own best interests. We can see by the evening news on TV that there are massive efforts to keep 'the people' from knowing what these 'best interests' are.

[Enthusiast]

157. It is a matter of will.

When our priorities of war and profit over ride everything else the general population will suffer.

[liberalmike27]

216. We had the best and brightest

Because of the GI bill. Post WW2 folks got to go to college, then grew the biggest boom in history, thanks in large part to measures by FDR, banking regulation, and a very high tax rate (91 percent) on dollars over what'd be about 3 Million in today's dollars. It kept the power of wealth in check. There was also a 55% tax on all amounts on an Estate for everything over $625,000 in wealth.

People don't understand the importance of these high taxes on the most wealthy, and how it works toward keeping them in check.

But, one by one, over the Reagan years mostly, they disassembled one thing or the other, the biggest perhaps in allowing the media to go without any fairness, to go completely right. FDR had the good sense to understand that the wealthy, the moneyed fatcats would own the media, thus the necessity to REQUIRE fairness. Since it's repeal, we've seen how much sense it makes. Now it moves between center-right (MSNBC) and rabid right (Rush/FOX).

Reagan and republicans had a lot to do with dumbing down the population too, so those idiot Reagan democrats had a lot to do with that also. Republicans would never get elected unless they con about 30-40 percent of the people. Sometimes it's prejudice, ethnic stuff, or war, or religionists. They've always got to get it away from how badly we're going to get screwed economically. They are never going to tell you "We're going to basically bust you folks down to wage-slaves, and make a two-tiered economy of the vastly wealthy and the wage-slaves." It's always the unsaid that kicks your (*).

[yodermon]

3. they have been endlessly propagandized for decades.

Right wing hate radio, fox news, and lack of critical thinking skills, which public schools do not teach.

[OnionPatch]

127. This is so true.

It's really kind of amazing that there's even a left left in this country, with our media the way it is.

[Warren Stupidity]

196. there basically is no left.

we have no political power, no national organizations that have any impact, no representation in state or national legislatures, no grass roots level organizing efforts that are having any visible impact. The purportedly 'left' version of the Duopoly Party ignores us or uses us as whipping boys.

[paparush]

191. THIS! Psy-Ops works!

[ewagner]

4. I read a survey

a short time ago that suggested people who aren't rich EXPECT to be so they vote republican

[RKP5637]

28. Yep, that's been the way for a long time with poor republicans, and still poor. When I was

a kid years ago I asked one of my friend's father why he voted republican and he said because they know how to make money. And I've always thought that so odd. He was poor then and died poor. Voting republican all those years sure did him a lot of good.

As another poster said in another thread on DU awhile back, it just might be that we've finished living the good times in American for the majority and that was an exception, and now we're returning to what American used to be for a long long time, a nation of serfs, herded around by those that controlled the wealth.

We had a good run of it after WWII, and now IMO it's pretty much dried up. And it's the fault of the citizens with their heads stuck in the sand, but many still don't get it ...

[timo]

111. rich or poor ??

I dont buy the rich or poor thing, when more than half of my local dark blue county has for almost all of my 38 years been solidly democratic, and they still live well below the poverty line.

[RKP5637]

121. It can be a bad deal all around anymore. The particular time frame I was

talking about was in the early 50's.

[timo]

123. they were

busted and poor here then too, I mean your talking about the area Jesse Jackson called "little ethiopia"

[RKP5637]

138. Very good point! Yep, I can only talk about the area I was in. With the unions and all

it was pretty decent. I was in middle management and got the benefits because of all the work the unions had done. And we all worked together well, None felt they were getting screwed. There were no Dems vs pubs we just worked together quite well.

[Enthusiast]

161. Before Reagan started the

decades long attack on organized labor. Wake up people!

[intheflow]

73. Magical thinking.

It's not just for Wiccans anymore.

[Desertrose]

148. That's not magical thinking...that's just wishful thinking. nt

[Kievan Rus]

134. People who believe the Horatio Alger BS prove P.T. Barnum right...

there really is a sucker born every minute, for all those that buy the Horatio Alger nonsense hook, line, and sinker.

[janet118]

139. "When I win the lottery, I'll need those tax cuts for the wealthy." n/t

[Enthusiast]

162. Plus one. nt

[AspenRose]

226. It's also a bit of a status symbol for some minorities who come into money

as a means of showing "they've arrived."

If a minority is a Republican it's because they are either:

1) rich
2) hope to be rich, and/or
3) are fundamentalists (with all that implies; anti-choice, homophobic, etc.)

Those who remained Republican out of some loyalty to the "Party of Lincoln" pre-Civil Rights legislation are now either Independent voters or Democrats.

[groovedaddy]

5. Not teaching critical thinking skills early on, helps to generate a compliant worker bee mentality

but also rips apart the fabric of a healthy democratic society. It's a crying shame.

[Wednesdays]

14. The site I posted in this thread nails it exactly...both symptom and cause of it...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x119652

[okieinpain]

39. looking at the post, I think the worst one of all are people who

don't vote at all because to them nothing is going to change whether it's dems or repugs.

[ej510]

41. Another fact. This group is actually no different from the group I named

they are just as responsible. They are lazy.

[okieinpain]

48. i agree, I live in midwest city, ok. we just had a bond election fail

and now that they are talking about laying off 200 teachers and 20 administrators, everyone is up in arms worried about the children. yet in a city of about 55,000 only 3600 bothered to vote.

[kath]

70. Part of the problem is that elections in OK are held something like 6-8 times per year.

Most other places have TWO elections per year - a primary in the spring (and sometimes bond issues and local offices are on the ballot then) and a general election in November, possibly another for municipal offices.
I believe in voting, but I don't get out to do it every month or two. I have a real problem with OK having so many elections - first, it's EXPENSIVE, and utterly ridiculous in such a poor state. Second, many people like me are not going to get out to vote every couple of months. I really wonder if they do this *deliberately* to keep turnout low. The bond-issue elections are always held in freakin' DECEMBER, two-to-three weeks before Christmas, when the weather can be really crappy (there was an ice storm on the December election day a few years back) and people are very busy getting ready for Christmas. Could there be a much worse time to have an election?

(on edit - the school bond issue election was December FOURTEENTH this year. 11 days before Christmas. http://www.news9.com/Global/story.asp?S=13664689 )

Stillwater is having an election on a bond issue on Feb. 8. Guthrie had one on April 7 of 2009, another one on August 24, 2010 (now that's another great time - scorching heat, and right after school starts!)

In Oklahoma County, there were 9 possible election dates for 2010
http://www.oklahomacounty.org/electionboard/ElectionDates.htm
In Cleveland County, there could potentially be 11 elections in 2011 - one in each month except January http://www.clevelandcountyelectionboard.com/news/2011-election-dates
For Tulsa County, there are 5 elections currently scheduled for 2011, plus there are 7 additional "possible" election dates

Crazy.

[glinda]

146. add to that the need for fixing the sometimes rigged voting.

[christx30]

129. I voted for Obama

But I don't expect any real change to happen. The president is just one man. He can't fundamentally change the fabric of the country. Nothing is going to change overnight or anything. Things are getting worse and worse because of fear. I mean... cops time and time again go for force when the problem could he solved by reasoning. I heard a story the other day about a guy that was having an issue with his diabetes. He got pulled over, tasered 7 times, his seatbelt cut off and he was dragged out of the car and pinned. Then he was charged with resisting arrest. This kind of stuff happens all the time. You get a few cops that do things like this on trial and facing real consequences, you'll see less and less of this kind of activity.

[ZombieHorde]

69. + 999^999

[johnlucas]

237. The public school system was never designed to teach critical thinking

It was always designed to make you a compliant worker bee. That was the whole point.
Even secondary education reinforces this.
The rulers want a society beneficial to THEIR needs not yours.
If you're too smart, you will see that man behind the curtain in Emerald City & the whole Wizard of Oz thing falls apart.

They want you to be just smart enough to do the grunt work necessary to keep their lives comfortable & luxurious.
If they didn't have it like this, then THEY would have to do all the sweaty work that makes civilization run. And that's a "no-no".
Humanity has always suffered when lazy greedy people stood at the top of society.
John Lucas

[raccoon]

6. I was agreeing with you, until your statement about the boomers. nt

[ej510]

8. Majority of baby boomers vote repuke and have since Reagan was President.

[raccoon]

11. Lots of them don't. nt

[ej510]

15. I love how I was ignored when I used the word majority. Majority means most not all.

[shanti]

53. it's not even most

but hey, i live in cali, so what do i know :(

[annabanana]

18. How wide (or narrow) is your definition there?

just for reference, of course

[ej510]

19. My definition means most not all.

[WinkyDink]

59. I'd like your prooof of that claim. Who do you think elected CLINTON, then? Kids??

[Timbuk3]

64. I'm a baby boomer

...and I haven't voted for a Republican this century. I won't vote for one in the foreseeable future. I went to both anti-war rallies in DC. I've phone banked for, gone door-to-door for, and donated to Democrats. I donate to Move On.

I think you should apologize to baby boomers.

It's the "seniors", who are already retired and voting against the middle class. Most boomers aren't old enough to retire, yet.

[janet118]

141. Reagan was voted in by unions - boy, was that a mistake or what. n/t

[johnlucas]

236. Voting Democrat ain't necessarily the answer either

One day you may discover that neither of the political parties has your best interest in mind.
One day you may realize that this whole political entertainment is just an elaborate Good Cop/Bad Cop show. Babyfaces & Heels if you're into pro wrestling terminology.

WE are the only ones who are going to be able to change it.
And we can't do it until we get enough numbers to be effective.
Unfortunately, human beings are designed to be at odds due to their many differences & different perspectives on the same matters.
Unity is temporary with humanity so we will have to strike the iron while it's hot when that unity finally comes.

In the meantime, learn to separate the showbiz from the real life.
Then plan your strategies. It is going to take strategies, tactics, & logistics, believe me.
The Status Quo does not give up without a fight.
John Lucas

[kath]

71. Link, please?

sounds like BS to me, I'd love to see a citation.

[treestar]

100. Is there a link for that?

doesn't sound right.

[billh58]

114. I'm a Boomer, and I'm

going to have to disagree with your assumption that we Boomers are mostly Republican voters. Have you ever considered the possibility that Gen X Third-Party promoters have driven the Boomers to the point of exasperation with their constant demands for unrealistic goals and instant gratification? Maybe Boomers have just said "fuck it!" and stayed away from the polls -- especially during mid-terms. Who needs the infighting and constant Liberal vs. Progressive vs. "Independent" infantile bickering?

It was us Boomers who championed the anti-war movement during the Viet Nam era, and who also marched right along side Dr. King in support of the Civil Rights movement. We knew that we were in for a long, hard, and arduous fight, but we persevered. How dare you try to blame us for the shortcomings of the American political system since the formation of the Atwater/RayGun/Gingrich neoconservative movement. The attention-seeking Third-Party spoilers like Nader, Perot, and Ron Paul played Gen X-ers like a Stradivarius fiddle.

Those of we Boomers who have been Liberal Democrats since the 60s and 70s were the Democratic majority at one point. The Republicans have been smart enough to "hang together" through good and bad times, while erstwhile, Johnny-come-lately PUMA-like Democrats have been attempting to re-invent the Liberal wheel, and slowly destroying the Democratic Party from the roots upward.

Please spare me your age-biased opinions, and pony up with some facts to back up your ludicrous claims about Boomers being mainly Republicans. T'aint so McGee...

[chill_wind]

128. I'd like to see some substantive sources for that assertion. n/t

[eowyn_of_rohan]

173. where did you get this factoid?

do you also have stats on the other age groups?

[mwb970]

193. Wow, is this wrong!

Where do you get your information about boomers? Are you one yourself? I am, and not one of my boomer friends is a republican or would ever even consider voting for the lying shits in that party.

Next time you decide to post a foolish and false opinion like this, do us a favor and at least tell us why you believe the nonsense so we can debunk you properly. Just making a dumb remark with no backup does not benefit this forum, and it makes you look shallow and uninformed.

[CLANG]

204. link to the statistics cited?

[jaxx]

9. How dare you dump it on the boomers.

That was way out of line.

[ej510]

13. It's not just them, but let's not be naive here the majority of voters from that group vote repuke,

right along with the silent generation.

[jaxx]

24. I don't know any boomers who vote pub.

Being naive is assuming that they do.

[ej510]

26. What generation has the largest population. The majority of generation x my generation vote majority

democratic. Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation vote majority fascist.

[Joe Fields]

50. Oh yeah? and what percentage of your generation voted for Obama?

Your point? (which I take exception to, unless you can give me hard numbers)

Here is my point.

We have been lied to repeatedly by politicians, the press, by slick messaging from greedy corporate policy makers posing as "commentators" on the public airwaves, mainly through cable media and Sunday political talk shows, until the majority of this country becomes brainwashed, due to sensory overload.

My generation (boomers) may have been a part of the problem, but only a part. On the whole, we have done a hell of a lot more good than problems we can be blamed for. What's your generation done that's so great?

Wanna post blame? Think about what I've just laid out.

[Cherchez la Femme]

201. We stopped one war

at the very least,

and a long & arduous struggle it was!

Now we with graying hair (ugh) thought the baton was passed to a new generation...
but that generation doesn't seem to care. In fact it seems the biggest problem they face is Scientology which, I believe, is responsible for a single death;

plus they get to wear those way coool masks. :eyes:


It looks like if anything is going to be done about these futile wars we're in, we gotta dust off the bellbottoms, peace jewelry & signs and start boosting our Geritol

a sad but :evilgrin:

[shanti]

55. wow

fascist now....your tone is getting uglier by the minute. you're playing right into their hands.

[Enthusiast]

163. What ej510 meant was Republican = fascist.

On this I agree. But I'm a baby boomer that has NEVER voted Republican.

[WinkyDink]

61. You are ludicrous.

[Lasher]

143. You are one hundred percent wrong.

May 8, 2009

Democrats Do Best Among Generation Y and Baby Boomers

Republicans do better among Generation X

PRINCETON, NJ -- Although Democrats currently enjoy a party identification advantage over Republicans among Americans at every age between 18 to 85, the Democrats' greatest advantages come among those in their 20s and baby boomers in their late 40s and 50s. Republicans, on the other hand, come closest to parity with Democrats among Generation Xers in their late 30s and early 40s and among seniors in their late 60s.



http://www.gallup.com/poll/118285/democrats-best-among-generation-baby-boomers.aspx

Your divisive bullshit has no basis in fact.

[AspenRose]

227. That was my recollection as well (and I'm an Xer)

These folks were teens during Reagan's reign (during the ME decade). That left a profound influence.

I have a very difficult time finding people around my age (high school and college peers) who are Democrats. (But then I grew up in Texas.)

[Lasher]

241. No negative reflection on you, Rose.

Of course this statistic doesn't make me any better of a Democrat than you. You must be a person who knows how to think for herself.

:hi:

[CLANG]

206. But you refuse to post any supporting evidence? Your observations are bullshit.

[jotsy]

231. I'm sure the fresh census info can answer on the facts of that, so please find and post.

You've hosted quite a talk here and while I get the need to simplify for discussion's sake, I urge you to grab some angular distance and consider some subjective realities that make such kitchen sink call outs a precarious path. Briefly, (as though I do anything so) I had two experiences which I think speak a contrary truth to your perception of age brackets and blame. Last spring, I chaperoned a zoo field trip for my youngest, a middle schooler. Understand my oldest is going to be 30 this year, so I generally expect the ages of my 13 year old's peers to be significantly younger. So there we are, checking out the info at the polar bears and a young lady who had been reading aloud stopped when it came to mention of global warming on the grounds that it didn't exist. Oh so young and so certain. Gotta blame her parents right? Parents likely the era following mine. I got the other side too, wouldn't have brought it up if I didn't. Another school event, this year's holiday choir performance. I got the chance to hold a door open for a well seasoned gentleman sporting a ballcap of ancient military association indicative from the Viet Nam era. He thanked me, and I thanked him, he asked for what and I offered the cap a nod. We engaged in a brief chat and he made clear in no uncertain terms that the wars today are bullshit for money and this America in no way resembles the one he fought for. It's supposed to be for and about the people, he, this man who had to be in his late seventies at the very least said.

Young flat earthers and elderly enlightened from a single environment over a short space of time.

Finding flaw, not fault is key to solution.

Next, I notice you turn to the word majority quite often, and yeah, we all gotta say something, but are you sure you're not buying into the limits of a framed argument provided for you? I'd splice that word when ever given the chance, in pursuit of consensus. Speak to a majority and I'm tempted to hear a neener neener as background music. A suggestion that the minority is losers and the majority is winners, it's as divisive as the political theater they try to program us with. Just the toxic kind of interaction we need to resist not emulate.

[WinkyDink]

60. Again----PROOF?

[Capitalocracy]

87. There are a lot of young idiots too.

Probably more than we know.

[MedicalAdmin]

81. Ageism is not helpful.

It is the rich we need to aim our guns and pitchforks at.

Blaming each other is like starting a fight on a lifeboat among ourselves rather than tossing the rich fuck who decided not to buy those extra few boats because they were just too darn much money and who cares if a few poor die anyway? (bad analogy alert)

[Enthusiast]

164. PLUS FUCKING ONE!

[CLANG]

203. Not only that, but any time there is a "how old are you" poll

Baby boomers make up the largest group of responders. Most baby boomers I know are liberals.

[cali]

10. there's a great deal of truth in that, but it's a bit more complicated.

[jasigirl33]

12. Repeating myself a little: These same people were for UNIONS

when Reagan was President but they were for unions in Russia and POLAND. This proves that they can be blindly led to their own destruction because they don't understand what is happening to them. I never could understand how our media supported Ronnie in his call for allowing unions in Poland while he destroyed the Air Traffaic Controller's union at home.

[MedicalAdmin]

82. You don't get it? It's simple.

Cash.

[Enthusiast]

165. It was only another

example of right wing hypocrisy. It is their primary quality.

[RKP5637]

16. A brainwashed dumbed down nation with propaganda beating the drum everyday that

RW is great, republicans are great, and we're for the "real" Americans, god and country. It's a bunch of propagandistic bullshit and many Americans young, middle aged and old are now stupid enough to believe it - the propaganda masters have their message honed so it appeals to all age groups and walks of life.

Many Americans have become robots, blindly going about their business only as it affects them and the hell with the rest. It's not a country, it's a bunch of tribes roaming around.

Americans vote in their worst interest and then feel good about it ... it's absolutely insane.

[Enthusiast]

166. The greatest propaganda effort in history. nt

[The Wizard]

176. Goebbels

would be a rank amateur compared to Murdoch and Limbaugh.

[Enthusiast]

192. No question.....nt

[nc4bo]

17. So our only hope is to wait for them all to die? Wait for it all to collapse?

Seriously. We have a clusterfuck going on here and it starts from when we enter school and continues through adulthood. For some, it begins even earlier than that.

So many of us lack empathy but so many magically learn to become empathetic after we've lost it all. Just how long would it take for that virus to hit all castes?

It's all like some bizarre cycle from hell with no way to change things around since we all know who holds all the keys to that change.

So what do we do? What can any of us DO?

[ej510]

20. Our kids aren't taught about the importance of voting or critical thinking.

Our children aren't taught to ask questions.

[nc4bo]

49. Isn't it all by design? That way you can dumb down entire generations

from that point on. NCLB was supposedly created to help the education system but it's really done just the opposite.
I made that observation with my own kids. Instead of actually learning science and math, kids are taught how to pass the government's tests for science and math.

Text books with errors are given to our children to learn from - no problem. :wtf:

It's nuts and I think we're in serious trouble. We've been in serious trouble but are in the process of finding out just how serious it really is.

[walldude]

80. No they aren't.. but they are learning it on their own..

I have two sons in high school and I was damn surprised how well informed they are.

[emulatorloo]

90. That's because they aren't being taught by Boomers

[diane in sf]

103. Quit trashing boomers, your statement has no basis in reality.

[emulatorloo]

106. I'm not trashing Boomers, My point was boomers are great teachers

who can and do teach kids to think critically.

OP is the boomer basher, LOL.

[Enthusiast]

213. Sorry, emulatorloo.

I misunderstood your post.

[emulatorloo]

230. That's OK - I think I could have written it a little better so it was clearer,

[Enthusiast]

168. What a ridiculous statement.

This is how the right wing is destroying us -through dividing us. There are millions of very competent boomer teachers. And you owe us an apology, not me specifically as I'm not a teacher.

[CLANG]

207. You owe emulatorloo an apology for jumping to conclusions.

[Enthusiast]

214. Thank you for correcting me. nt

[RKP5637]

21. Good question. One way would be to vote them all out, but IMO many

Americans are just beyond reach. It's a sad state of affairs. Maybe another 20 or 30 years of Bush-like-times might do it ... I thought 8 years of Bush was enough to wake people up, but Americans are very very slow learners, always have been, apparently always will be.

This country had a good run of it because of some very brilliant people along the way, and many others just followed along.

We have people now in this country that are really sharp and know how to fix our problems, but we will never hear from them. The system stifles and silences them. MSM is very active in this.

[ej510]

25. Possibly, but our nation is trying to dumb down each generation

because the elite do not want to be challenged. Most Americans aren't willing to fight for 20-30 years in order to change this nation for the better.

[RKP5637]

29. Sadly, I think it's one downhill spiral now. n/t

[MedicalAdmin]

84. Churchill said that Yanks will come up with the best solution to any problem.

After trying every bad one possible.

[RKP5637]

125. Does that ever ring true, we sure have lots of examples! n/t

[pezDispenser]

104. This country had a good run

Because of the fortunate position we (and the Soviets) found ourselves in after WWII. Europe and Japans manufacturing base was seriouly hampered and we got part of the war spoils.

[olegramps]

36% of the workers were unionized.

They demanded and got a fair share of the wealth that they created. Today only about 6% of the workers are unionized and many of those are employed by local and federal government agencies. It is not a coincidence that the workers during the period prior to Reaganism enjoyed the highest level of wellbeing. When the younger workers bought the managements propaganda that unions were their enemy they were on the road to self destruction. They also sold them bull crap that tariffs were destructive and the free markets are a utopia for workers. They are going to level the playing field and you can enjoy the same level of existence as your fellow Third Country worker living on few bucks a day for 12 hours of work.

Today's working class has absolutely NO representation in congress and that also goes for the White House. The working class screwed their self. Younger workers refused to join the union since they could get the same pay and benefits and not pay dues. These same workers supported Right-To-Work Laws that were solely designed to destroy unions. The consequences are that entire industries have been were dismantled and outsourced along with the jobs. People talk about a recovery. There is nothing to recover with when you don't have an industrial base. Welcome to pre-FDR life style that your great grand parents enjoyed. One of abject toil and misery for the majority.

[RKP5637]

197. Exactly and well said!!! +1000 +++ n/t

[pezDispenser]

240. well said!

[Enthusiast]

169. It is the forces behind the MSM

that we should focus on. The MSM is their tool.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

183. Elections are CORRUPTED with evoting.

Despite the MSM focus on teabaggers, I have little faith that the election "results" truly reflect the actual votes or the will of the majority of voters.

[RKP5637]

198. Yep, same thoughts here. IMO elections can now be rigged. I've lost faith too that

"the election 'results' truly reflect the actual votes or the will of the majority of voters."

[Enthusiast]

167. Who do you mean by "they"?

I certainly hope you don't mean people like me -a baby boomer.

[c14444c]

22. You want people to vote their economic (i.e. class) interest

instead of race, gender etc.

But then use generation as an explanatory category.

Can we once and for all state that generation-baiting is as counter-productive as any other form of baiting, in that it minimizes the role of class?

[ej510]

30. I not going to ignore facts. Working class whites hurt themselves and

this nation every election.

[kctim]

52. Where are those "facts?"

[ej510]

68. I guess most working class whites vote democratic right? Of course

they don't they vote repuke.

[kctim]

208. But you have no idea of what is in their best interest

so you have no idea if they are hurting themselves or not.

[MedicalAdmin]

85. Here, here.

I agree. It's us vs. them and not us vs. us.

[robcon]

27. I think your premise is a crock.

We have a duly elected president and Congress.

Fascism is just a word to those who use it so loosely.

You haven't ANY idea what a fascist state would be if you think the U.S., is headed there.

[ej510]

32. Fascism doesn't happen overnight it is a long process. Just look at the

destruction of unions, social safety nets, civil rights, and etc. In many ways we are headed towards a police state as this nation continues to fork over civil rights.

[Bragi]

47. Germany had a duly elected government in 1933

I presume I don't need to explain what happened next.

[MedicalAdmin]

88. Ummmmmm. I humbly disagree.

I've lived in south america in what were considered fascist states. And I can tell you that the feeling is very similar here and now.

Are we there yet, no. But we should be fighting it every step of the way. Fascism counts on the complacency of the proles in order to take over. And yes, virginia, there is a fascist movement in the US and yes, it is at the top.

[truedelphi]

152. No, I think where a discrepancy exists between what you see as fascism and what others

(Including myself) see as fascism involves the view of the outer framework.

You'll believe a country is fascist only if there are troops goose steeping around in the town hall center to celebrate a Nuremberg style rally.

But that is only one way to examine a society and evaluate what that society is or isn't about.

Germany in the nineteen thirties was set up for fascism because the nation had been highly patriarchal, with people blindly conforming to authoritative statements and without much thought given to the rationale behind those statements.

We in the USA have moved in that direction over the last twenty years, as more and more RW control of our media has sprung up. But I doubt you would ever find the troops goose stepping up and down our streets.

Also, you say we have free elections, but in the past two elections, the same corporations would be able to gain greater control regardless of which person won. Monsanto has taken over the FDA, starting with President Reagan, but continuing not only under George The Elder, but also under President Clinton, and now under Obama as well.

Greenspan who has done more than anyone else currently alive to see to it that wealth is placed not in the hands of people who actually produce something, but in the hands of the financial sector, was at the Federal Reserve during Bush the Elder, President Clinton and George W Bush. When you examine who occupies the top spot at the Federal Reserve, that person always has very close ties to Goldman Sachs.

If you don't think it matters that with the Bernanke/Geithner duo in their positions, some eleven to thirty trillion bucks has been transferred out the back door of the Federal Reserve to the Biggest Financial entities on Wall Street, you will understand what it means as our citizenry is expected to do with less, while the Robber Barons do more.

In some senses of the word "fascism" Nazi Germany was more democratic and less fascist than our nation currently is. If you weren't of Jewish descent, or a labor union leader or a dissident, you could find a job. Your income went up. You had a two week paid vacation. The government of Germany helped you monetarily should you and your spouse wish to add another child or two to your family. None of those things are happening for many Americans, as employment in many areas is now close to twenty percent. Times are so dire that most people would not think of adding two kids to their family. Hitler was a middle class product who wanted the middle class to thrive, and I can only think of a handful of elected officials that care at all about the middle class.

[Enthusiast]

174. Thank you, truedelphi.

Some people just don't know the history of pre-war Germany so they do not spot the similarities.

[truedelphi]

244. You are welcome. Another thing to point out -

The label "terrorist" was assigned to so many of those taken into custody by the German secret police.

Even Anne Frank's family was not "arrested" for being Jewish. Her family was arrested for their "terrorist" involvement, i.e. their possessing a radio that received broadcasts from areas of liberated Europe.

I'm not saying that the real reason they were arrested did not relate to their being Jewish; but the Nazis needed and liked having cover stories for what they were doing.

[Enthusiast]

172. We ignore the parallels to classic fascism

at our peril. If you can't see it you simply are not looking very closely.

[jotsy]

31. A lot to have at there.

First, know that I rec'd this thread; subsequently, while much of your list is exactly the case in terms of conditions and circumstances, I would nit pick some as to the reason. We are in the state we are in cuz that's where the PTB want us. We are not headed to fascism IMO, we are there. Just this morning, while perusing lesser known news I came across a lovely little story by Bob Sullivan, seems California's Supreme Court has ruled that cell phone records can be searched without warrant. No fourth amendment can be applied, as such items are effectively considered clothing.

-http://redtape.msnbc.com/2011/01/court-cops-can-search-cell-phone-without-warrant.html]

The path as laid out before us is not one I find is suitable to govern a society rooted in social equality or the rule of law. As to the peril, that ship sailed in December of 2000, when the Supreme Court of United States appointed an unduly elected President and forsaking up and coming generations in the wake of a century's civil progress undone in a tenth of the time it took to build. There is no justice and less liberty in the land of the free and the home of the brave. I'll be writing a second eulogy for the country I have loved, the one I wrote during last year's State of the Union got shunned. The USA as we once expected or thought we knew has been exposed as a false front. Either WE make it real or perish with the notion of an independent nation.

Rant over.

[ej510]

34. I agree with your premise, but there are people who disagree with us. I would say we aren't

completely there yet though, but in another 10, 15, or 20 years we may reside in a full fledged fascist state.

[jotsy]

57. Guess it depends on how the term is defined.

My understanding, on the short form is that fascism is a merging of state and corporate interests. Out of fairness, I also grabbed my dictionary and confess, I was disappointed not to find a description which supports my assessment but...a list of three definitions.

1) a totalitarian governmental system led by a dictator and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism, militarism, and often racism.
2) the philosophy, principles or methods of fascism.
3) a movement toward embodying fascism, as established by Mussolini.

I have quoted this dictionary on the democratic principle with great pride, but these definitions strike me as scrubbed. There is a list!

<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4065512>

For historical red flags, hit Youtube and check out some Smedley Butler and War is a Racket, or give a listen to Eisenhower's farewell address and note his warning regarding the military industrial complex, which has since grown a couple of new limbs with the media to manage perception, and the full support of all three branches of the federal government. Our nation's 'leaders' view the agenda of this exclusive collective as seeing to the 'people's' business. I don't believe that is in keeping with the job the were elected to do. This country has but a single vibrant industrial feather left in the proverbial cap of commerce at the moment, weaponry. Electronic scans of the bod coming soon to a mall near you? Have you seen the mobile 'family' units yet? Are you familiar with how deeply involved former Homeland Security boss Michael Chertoff is in the company/ies delivering this technology? How about the media black out BP supervised last spring? Or why after four years of disclosing information, Wikileaks is demonized once Bank of America is expected to be the meat of the next bone they throw?

If I sound torked, it's true, but I hope it's clear, it's the situation that's got me bent out of shape, and not this chat. What ever you call it, I ain't going there willingly, and I'll scream like the diligent fool from the distant hill that I am as long as I can think and breathe, tyvm.

[MedicalAdmin]

91. Dude - you need to make this into an OP.

[Enthusiast]

177. I'll scream along with you, jotsy.

Wake up people!

[MedicalAdmin]

89. Which is why my wife and I are positioning ourselves to get out sooner

rather than later. If we do so then we may be in a place to assist our family when the time comes. If not them we will be among the first rounded up.

[annabanana]

56. Dear jotsy

It is a grim view, but a well documented one.

[jotsy]

62. Say hey Miss ab!

I see the potential for great opportunity here too. Chances to set proper what has fallen to profit, propaganda and predatory interaction. Places like the Institute for Local Self Reliance and the Mondragon principle are examples of where we can look to see better what options look like. We don't have to get forced down what they swear is the only road, it's just a coincidence that they own it and an unfortunate truth that it's chocked full of tolls. There is atrophy to shake loose from the apathy that has taken so many and I'd rather see remedy than red.

[Enthusiast]

175. Excellent rant, jotsy.

Keep up the good work. :fistbump:

[Javaman]

33. But the question that needs to be asked is: why do they vote against their own best interests?

Media, propaganda, easy answers, don't want to take blame for not doing the right thing, allowing others to take the lead when they know it's wrong to do so, etc.

democracy stagnates under a lazy population.

[ej510]

35. Economic disparity breeds fear and the elite class has capitalized on

people who are looking for answers. Like Noam Chomsky said these people are given answers its the wrong answer but its an answer.

[Enthusiast]

178. Complacent not lazy.

Some still have it too good.

[olegramps]

199. For a democracy to succeed it is essential that the citizens are informed.

This is a major problem with our society today. The Fourth Estate has been taken over by the mega-corporations. Every dictatorship realizes that it is essential to control the sources of information and the free press is always its first target. This is how we were marched obediently into the Iraq war. This is why the working class are convinced to support their own destruction. We no longer have a free press. Every law that guaranteed that the free press could not be controlled by special interest corporations has been systematically repealed. Big Brother is alive and well.

[MilesColtrane]

37. Losing the media was the game changer.

Dismantling anti-trust laws, allowing for only token limited ownership of stations and newspapers by giant corporations, and the abolishment of the Fairness Doctrine under Reagan's FCC were the nails in the coffin of democracy.

[ej510]

38. Clinton and a democratic congress under Reagan assisted with this country's demise.

[MilesColtrane]

40. They certainly did.

[Enthusiast]

179. Plus one. nt

[olegramps]

200. Absolutely. Control of the Press is essential for control of the people.

[33Greeper]

42. Pretty broad brush

you paint in blaming boomers!

[Enthusiast]

180. It's a good OP except for that. nt

[janet118]

239. punching the hippies - from both sides now . . . n/t

[MellowDem]

43. Race baiting, class baiting, and age baiting at once!

This might surprise you, but during the 2008 election, you know, when Democrats were really popular, 1/3 of Asians and Hispanics voted for McCain/Palin. To say it is only a white thing is pretty naive. 1/3 is nothing to sneeze at. But it's never talked about. In many states, those 1/3 make quite a difference. It shouldn't be ignored, that's for sure.

You can blame the brainwashed or go after the brainwashers.

Your comparison to fascism is still as insanely stupid as it was when other DUers constantly do it.

Hmm, you know what taking one single group (white working class baby boomers) and blaming them for a whole slew of problems sounds like? Scapegoating. Who used scapegoating? FASCISTS OMG UR A FASCIST OMG AHHHH!!!

:eyes:

[End Of The Road]

44. Gen X-ers don't know squat.

From ProjectVote.org, regarding the 2010 midterms:

"Senior citizens turned out in force, with the number of ballots cast by voters over 65 increasing by 16 percent. While making up only 13 percent of the U.S. resident population, Americans in this age group constituted 21 percent of 2010 voters. This age group also significantly increased their support of Republican candidates, from 49 percent in 2006 to 59 percent in 2010."

(These are NOT Boomers.)

"Relative to 2008, minority and youth voters dropped out of the voting population at higher rates than whites, undoing much of the gain in demographic parity achieved in 2008."

(Youth voters, which probably includes a few GenX and alot of Millenials, dropped out.)

http://www.projectvote.org/blog/?p=1105

I'd say that not voting is as bad as voting against one's economic interests. There's plenty of blame to go around.

[ej510]

45. I agree not voting is bad actually it's worse.

[Enthusiast]

182. Senior citizens were only voting in self defense

because Obama was going to "pull the plug on grandma". Now 'he' is going to cut their social security.

[Initech]

46. I've been saying this for years. The people need to turn off the propaganda and think for themselves

[Enthusiast]

184. Like that will happen. nt

[Initech]

225. True - it is everywhere.

[mstinamotorcity]

51. Its not only the Reaganites,

who believe in this type of Capitalism. You have Dems who believe in it too. If they didn't they would not Commerce with the Chamber of Commerce. They buy their products,they repeat their rhetoric,and constantly invest in their companies instead of themselves.

[Enthusiast]

185. Those so-called "Dems" are Reagan Democrats. nt

[mstinamotorcity]

210. lol lol lol

And here I thought they were Independents.

[SidDithers]

54. I guess "fascism" doesn't mean what it used to mean...nt

Sid

[WinkyDink]

58. "Reagan Democrats" are from "The Greatest Generation," my father's (himself a Nixon Dem), NOT

the Boomer Generation.

Yes, there are some in my age-bracket who vote "R"---NAME ME A GENERATION WITHOUT REPUBLICANS.

[tblue37]

63. A lot of it, though, has to do with the corporate control of all our media, so

that people are subjected to a constant barrage of corporatist RW propaganda. Thomas Jefferson feared corporations could destroy our freedom, and he was right. He also knew that a free press and an educated citizenry are prerequesites for liberty, and we no longer have either. When asked for their positions on most issues, most Americans consistently choose liberal positions, but they don't understand that they are in favor of liberal positions, because their understanding of "liberal" is the false one they have been fed by RW propaganda.

It is also true, though, that our supposedly liberal Democratic Party is only slightly less under the thumb of corporations than the Republicans are. Furthermore, the Democratic Party allows issues to be framed by the Right Wing and seems unable to frame anything effectively. Even when the Dems are on the right side of an issue and most people are in favor of what the Dems are proposing, the RW media persuade the voters that what the Dems are proposing is the exact opposite of what it is or that it is something entirely different--and terrifying! Example: "death panels."

The fact that most Americans believe their taxes have gone up under Obama and have no idea they have gotten a tax cut is ample evidence of the total disconnect between reality and the BS they are being fed by the media.

[Enthusiast]

186. Exactly + Plus one nt

[AspenRose]

229. Well said!

[Hydra]

65. No offense, but I'm getting sick of this meme

We elected President Obama in a landslide, gave him the kind of political capital almost undreamt of...and we got more and worse of the same!

Voting is a controlled act- we are given candidates by the people with the money and power, and they in turn allow us to think that the person we are electing is not completely beholden to them.

If 2000, 2004 and 2008 taught us anything, it should be that voting is the SMALLEST duty of a democratic citizen, and has the least impact.

[Enthusiast]

187. Good point. nt

[FiveGoodMen]

66. The right teamed up with the fundies and kick-started the disaster we're now in

The church is the main reason these people are so stupid.

[ej510]

67. Religion is a major issue.

[Ilsa]

74. They've also been convinced that Jesus only loves rich people. nt

[FiveGoodMen]

75. Too bad they didn't read their holy book and check for themselves.

[Juche]

76. Why do you think people don't want to hear that?

That is an extremely good way to phrase what a lot of us who live in red states end up banging our heads against the wall over. All the misinformed, low info right wing lower middle class white people who have no insight whatsover and who vote over and over again for the plutocrats because they have been divided along racial, religious and ethnic lines are helping to bring this country down. It sucks. If they wanted to destroy their own lives, fine. I could care less. But they end up dragging people like me into the shitter with them. That is what pisses me off. If the country is run by theocrats and plutocrats, I suffer.

I have met insightful, rational conservatives. I've even met conservatives who are honest with themselves and others about their motives (who openly embrace social darwinism), which is acceptable because at least it is honest. But they are the minority. Most are misinformed (intentionally misinformed by the powers that be. It isn't a coincidence that every opinion they have on economics benefits the powerful/rich and hurts the weak/poor), bigoted, full of primal emotions and clueless. And I have to suffer because 'mexicans get free health care' translates into eliminating labor laws at the ballot box.

I don't think we'll ever go into full scale fascism though. We are already a wealthy version of a third world nation though.

[hfojvt]

78. I know, if only they had elected Obama and large Democratic majorities

then the Bush tax cuts for the rich would not have been continued and there would be no talk of cutting social security and no privatizing of education

Wait, what?

[Enthusiast]

188. Exactly

I won't say it.

[Doctor_J]

83. Could still be salvaged, but it would take a

lot of carnage among the talking heads of cable TV and hate radio. At this point, that is the only thing that might help.

[Doctor_J]

86. Boomers aren't 65 yet - they don't get Medicare or SS

[Blue_In_AK]

95. Some of us get social security.

I took mine early so these younger people who want to bitch about baby boomers can have my job. They should be grateful instead of bad-mouthing us.

[emulatorloo]

92. Dunno, sounds kind of elitist to me.

You don't take into account the endless propagation of Republican Talking points over the mass media. It is constant.

P.S, All the boomers I know vote Democratic. So PLEASE drop that BS.

[WCGreen]

93. I write essentially the same thing and it gets Un Reced...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x116923

[Enthusiast]

189. That's a great OP.

Had I seen it I certainly would have recommended it.

[Blue_In_AK]

94. Oh, good grief, stop with the baby boomer crap! n/t

[tiredtoo]

97. While the context of this message is correct,

it does nothing to convince anyone to change their mind and vote for Democrats. We must use a different approach. We should all read books by George Lakoff and Frank Luntz. These men write about using language to convince folks to think/act the way you want them to.
Attacking these "idiots" only makes them stronger in their beliefs. We must learn to reframe or change the conversation to show a positive outcome from following our suggestions. This can be something as simple as calling the DOD the War Department. Everybody likes defense but nobody likes war.

[Enthusiast]

190. But there is no conversation.

There is only steady right wing talking points 24/7.

[zorahopkins]

98. Blame "I Love Lucy"

Things were so much better in the days before television.

Then people voted according to their economic interest.

It was the days of FDR and Truman.

Then came television.

"I Love Lucy" and "Milton Berle" and all the rest.

People elected Eisenhower.

It was the beginning of the end.

All because of television.

Television made the American people morons.

Television will be the demise of this country.

People were so much more intelligent before TV.

And don't get me started about smart phones.

[KansDem]

105. TV viewing at 'all-time high,' Nielsen says

February 24, 2009|By Taylor Gandossy CNN


Americans are watching more video online, on their cell phones and on television, according to the Nielsen Company's latest "three screen" report.

The report, issued Monday and covering the last three months of 2008, shows that the average American television viewer is watching more than 151 hours of television per month -- an "all-time" high -- up from more than 145 hours during the same period the previous year, Nielsen said.

The increase in television watching is part of a long-term trend, said Nielsen spokesman Gary Holmes.

--more--
CNN

[MrMickeysMom]

116. Does that mean you hated Lucy?

Infidel!

:rofl:

[CLANG]

211. Someone's got some SPLAININ' to do!!

[Change Happens]

99. WOW! Nice rant, I say Amen to that...Not sure if this is correct, isn't more than half of the US

without college education too?

Throw in some racism, some foreign crap about taking our FREEDOM from us (OMG!), some gay stuff, and you will get the votes EVERY time, no?

If you believe that Osama Bin Laden is coming to "take your freedom," you are fucking MORON! it is that simple.

If you believe that school teachers and their union are going to make your children gay, you are a fucking MORON!

I can go on and on..

[diane in sf]

101. R with reservations, it was old people and gen Jones who voted for Reagan

It was older social conservatives and the Alex Keatons (Gen Jones and early Xers). I know, I was there analyzing focus groups of voters for a market research firm that did stuff for the Republican Congressional Committee (gag me with a spoon). Old people and Xers are as much to blame as boomers for voting for Repukes.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

131. EXACTLY!

I was teaching college in 1984, and my colleagues and I (almost all boomers, with a few older people) were appalled at the number of students who were going around with Reagan buttons. They seemed to see him as some sort of grandfather figure.

[AspenRose]

228. Obama is Gen Jones. (Just sayin'.)

(And he's had plenty of positive things to say about Reagan. Coincidence?)

[BrklynLiberal]

102. The repuke message machine has been an incredible success...it gets people to vote against their

own interests....and promotes willful ignorance.

http://markmaynard.com/?p=7501

<snip>

The best part of the article is the contribution by Thomas Frank, the author of What’s the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America. Here’s a highlight:

….Right-wing politics has become a vehicle for channelling this popular anger against intellectual snobs. The result is that many of America’s poorest citizens have a deep emotional attachment to a party that serves the interests of its richest.

Thomas Frank says that whatever disadvantaged Americans think they are voting for, they get something quite different:

“You vote to strike a blow against elitism and you receive a social order in which wealth is more concentrated than ever before in our life times, workers have been stripped of power, and CEOs are rewarded in a manner that is beyond imagining… It’s like a French Revolution in reverse in which the workers come pouring down the street screaming more power to the aristocracy.”

As Mr Frank sees it, authenticity has replaced economics as the driving force of modern politics. The authentic politicians are the ones who sound like they are speaking from the gut, not the cerebral cortex. Of course, they might be faking it, but it is no joke to say that in contemporary politics, if you can fake sincerity, you have got it made.

And here, according to the author of the article, is the big takeaway message from all of this… “If people vote against their own interests, it is not because they do not understand what is in their interest or have not yet had it properly explained to them. They do it because they resent having their interests decided for them by politicians who think they know best. There is nothing voters hate more than having things explained to them as though they were idiots. As the saying goes, in politics, when you are explaining, you are losing. And that makes anything as complex or as messy as healthcare reform a very hard sell.”

<snip>

[reggie the dog]

153. this is international

the right wing does the same shit in france, italy, the uk, etc etc etc

[DeSwiss]

107. A few might have mentioned this before.....

Excerpts: 'http://www.myspace.com/video/vid/35764734">Video' (2007)

"Folks seldom talk politics or current events except during the final weeks before an election and when prompted by lefty agitators like me, or grassroots neocon Republican operatives -- people who understand that the four cornerstones of the American political psyche are (1) emotion substituted for thought, (2) fear, (3) ignorance, (4) propaganda.

Why had the working class so plainly voted against their own interest? And will they do so again?

I am standing in the checkout line at the Food Lion. The lady in front is telling the clerk how her church rallied to buy her and Eddie a secondhand truck after theirs was repossessed: "It only needs a front tire and new brakes." "Praises be to Him!" exclaims the clerk, as if God had come down to personally deliver the 1990 Toyota himself. Obviously they are all born-again. The wife grabs up her purchases, a sixer of Diet Pepsi, a carton of Little Debbie Cakes, and moves on to the door."

Behind me are four or five other customers who could be their doubles, overweight, cheap clothing, looking as though they'd been shot at and missed, and shit at and hit, each of them with his or her own assortment of money, health and legal problems. The fact is, liberals and working people need each other to survive the growing economic calamity delivered to us by the regime that promised to "run this country like a business." The left must come face-to-face with Americans who do not necessarily share all of their priorities especially with Americans who have not been voting."

So I sit here watching fat Pootie in a T-shirt that reads: ONE MILLION BATTERED WOMEN IN THIS COUNTRY AND I'VE BEEN EATING MINE PLAIN! That this is not considered especially offensive says all you need to know about cultural and gender sensitivity around here. And the fact that Pootie votes, owns guns and is allowed to purchase hard liquor is something we should all probably be afraid to contemplate.

The Nazis gave the German people the Jews to hate. The Republicans have given the American people the gays and Muslims to hate."

http://www.joebageant.com/">~Joe Bageant -- http://www.amazon.com/Deer-Hunting-Jesus-Dispatches-Americas/dp/0307339378?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210956592&sr=1-1">"Deer Hunting With Jesus"

- K&R

[sarcasmo]

112. One issue pro abortion voters relying on medicare and social security voting republican.

[deutsey]

113. Exactly whom has attempted to appeal to the "working class white people"?

The Democrats? :rofl:

There is, of course, no viable dyed-in-the-wool Left in America anymore, so who has tried to argue a case in favor of the "working class white people" or the working class of any race, for that matter? Who has fought unabashedly for the interests of the working class?

I'm not absolving working class whites, but I think the failure of a real political movement/party in this country that is dedicated to fighting for and rallying working people in this country is in large part to blame for where we are.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

132. Yup, the Democratic establishment forgot the working class and went all yuppie

which is why most of them couldn't (or didn't want to, like the DLC) mount a campaign against Reagan.

[MrMickeysMom]

115. I only find part of your post credible...

... since 50% of eligible voters DON'T!

That cuts it down to the kind of people showing up at the polls, such as has been the case lately. I found lots of seniors made bad choices, too. That's because some of them made those choices based on FEAR. The same thing happens, regardless of boomers.

The fact that damn near every minute another person turns 50, I'd say that the majority of eligible voters ARE boomers. That doesn't mean that strata is to blame, it just means there are more of them as a subset of voters who make bad choices.

But we are falling down and under the spell of fascism for other reasons....Remember the ones who don't vote? I'm fairly sure they are not boomers.

It's okay to be angry. I'm angry and was born in 1953. Let me pat your hand... there-there...

[The Backlash Cometh]

117. Wow. bookmarked for its simplicity and clarity.

[riverbendviewgal]

118. Very True

Read Joe Bageant's book Deer Hunting with Jesus...and his blog... Read his recent posts...He is from the area where those white folks are from and explains their thinking.
He is very ill but he plans on still writing until he can.....He is awesome...

http://www.joebageant.com/joe/

[southernyankeebelle]

126. You are so right and the idiots will not realize it until their are deeply in it.

[upi402]

130. Chickens vote for Colonel Saners cuz they're easy to fool

The media is the villian, and the bags of corrupt cash behind it.

[bertman]

133. Can't argue with any of that. Rec. nt

[midnight]

135. We need to have paper ballots, and verify the vote....

[pnwmom]

137. Baby boomers? Why blame baby boomers? There are working people

who consistently vote Repub at every age group in the spectrum. This isn't something to blame boomers for.

[sam sarrha]

140. the top 1% holds 42% of America's financial wealth, 6 times the bottom 80% with 7%.. richest 20%

holds 93% of americas financial wealth.. there is a recession because the rich tie up all the money.. Bu$h43 tax cuts are nothing but nearly 1/2 trillion dollars a year of WELFARE the richest 2.5% richest in america. money is being funneled up to destroy Social Security and Medicare.. the fed is printing lots of money so the GOP is creating ANOTHER TAX CUT FOR THE RICHEST to suck up all the Fed money intended to create under class jobs.. but the GOP believes it is a sin to help the poor.

income/wealth data..
http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html


... TOO Rich to Regulate.! because the GOP believes that wealth is proof of gods favor of a man, thus it's a sin to tax/regulate them.
and the poor are being punished by god so it is a sin to help them...the government is infested with Dominionists.. the GOP is Theocratic Cargo Cult of OCD psychotic narcissistic wealth/power hoarders.. they are mentally ill

http://doggo.tripod.com/doggchrisdomin.html
"snip...Leo Strauss was born in 1899 and died in 1973. ... He is most famous for resuscitating Machiavelli and introducing his principles as the guiding philosophy of the neo-conservative movement. ... More than any other man, Strauss breathed upon conservatism, inspiring it to rise from its atrophied condition and its natural dislike of change and to embrace an unbounded new political ideology that rides on the back of a revolutionary steed, hailing even radical change; hence the name Neo-Conservatives.

Significantly, Dominionism is a form of Social Darwinism.<48> It inherently includes the religious belief that wealth-power is a sign of God’s election. That is, out of the masses of people and the multitude of nations, wealth, in and of itself, is thought to indicate God’s approval on men and nations whereas poverty and sickness reflect God’s disapproval.

(It was not until I read this article that I realized that this is a fundamental tenet of Dominionists.

Worldly wealth and power are signs of God's favor -- to attempt to limit or decrease one's wealth and power is to disrespect God.

On the contrary, God's elect on Earth are called upon to increase their wealth and power.

It is not sufficient for a man to be a millionaire, or for a country to have sovereignty within its borders -- a man must strive to increase his wealth as much as possible, and a Dominionist government's behavior toward its neighbors must be "invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity".

Furthermore, any attempt to decrease a person's or a country's wealth and power -- to take from the rich to give to the poor, to reduce military spending and power -- is a direct attack on God.)

If “Secular Humanists are the greatest threat to Christianity the world has ever known,” as theologian Francis Schaeffer claimed, then who are the Humanists? According to Dominionists, humanists are the folks who allow or encourage licentious behavior in America. They are the undisciplined revelers.

Put all the enemies of the Dominionists together, boil them down to liquid and bake them into the one single most highly derided and contaminated individual known to man, and you will have before you an image of the quintessential “liberal” -- one of those folks who wants to give liberally to the poor and needy -- who desires the welfare and happiness of all Americans -- who insists on safety regulations for your protection and who desires the preservation of your values -- those damnable people are the folks that must be reduced to powerlessness -- or worse: extinction.

What would a “reconstructed” America look like under the Dominionists? K.L. Gentry, a Dominionist himself, suggests the following “elements of a theonomic approach to civic order,” which I strongly suggest should be compared to the Texas GOP platform of 2002, which reveals that we are not just talking about imaginary ideas but some things are already proposed on Republican agendas.<60> Dominionism’s concept of government according to Gentry is as follows:

“1. It obligates government to maintain just monetary policies ... fiat money, fractional reserve banking, and deficit spending.

“2. It provides a moral basis for elective government officials. ...

“3. It forbids undue, abusive taxation of the rich. ...

“4. It calls for the abolishing of the prison system and establishing a system of just restitution. *...

“5. A theonomic approach also forbids the release, pardoning, and paroling of murderers by requiring their execution. ...

“6. It forbids industrial pollution that destroys the value of property. ...

“7. It punishes malicious, frivolous malpractice suits. ...

“8. It forbids abortion rights. ... Abortion is not only a sin, but a crime, and, indeed, a capital crime.”<61>
. . .

* Gary North describes the ‘just restitution’ system of the bible, which happens to reinstitute slavery,
like this:


“At the other end of the curve, the poor man who steals is eventually caught and sold into bondage under a successful person. His victim receives payment; he receives training; his buyer receives a stream of labor services. If the servant is successful and buys his way out of bondage, he re-enters society as a disciplined man, and presumably a self-disciplined man. He begins to accumulate wealth.” ...snip"


http://blog.buzzflash.com/hartmann/10016
"Strauss's students and their students have occupied important positions in the Reagan and Bush administrations and continue to play a significant role within the Republican party. Prominent figures on the American political scene include Reagan's ambassador to Indonesia, Paul Wolfowitz; Caspar Weinberger's former speechwriter, Seth Cropsey; National Endowment for the Humanities Deputy Chairman, John T. Agresto; National Security Council advisor Carnes Lord; Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs, Alan Keyes; legal scholar and judge Robert Bork...; Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court; former Secretary of Education William Bennett; former Education Department Chief of Staff, William Kristol (later former vice-president Dan Quayle's chief of staff and then the chief pundit and policy maker of the Republican party). Journalists have been fully cognizant of this influx of Straussians into Washington and of the power they have within the Republican party. So much so that the New York Times has dubbed Leo Strauss the godfather of the Republican party's 1994 Contract With America."


the NeoCons Run the GOP.. they are Dominionists.. Dominionist ideology sounds a lot like Sharia law..

[RagAss]

142. We live in the Age of the American Cretin.

There is no hope. There is no future.

[janet118]

144. I think you might want to look at the "greatest generation" and

the Pat Boone/Elvis generation of the 50s before pointing the finger at the baby boomers who actually stood up to the hawks, racists, media and corporations AND who elected Carter and voted against Reagan.

[demodonkey]

145. Agreed with you, but then UNrecced due to unwarranted attack on baby boomers...

...this is NOT the baby boomers fault.

And this generational hate MUST END. It is dividing us and playing right into the fascists' hands.

[Frisbee]

147. But, but, but... Obama's a black socialist!

Seriously, it boggles my mind how people can be so stupid that they vote consistantly against their own long term best interest. And yet they continue to do so. As much as I hate to say it, I think a lot of it still boils down to this is a very racially divided country, and the repukes are masters at playing off of that.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

149. CALL THEM WHAT THEY ARE... THE STUPIDS

third world status is because of working class white people voting against their own economic interest, helping corporate America destroy our social safety nets, civil rights, OSHA, unions and etc. The sad thing is they are proud of it, but are pissed when their voting comes back to bite them in the ass. The sad thing is they blame liberals for their own demise instead looking at repuke policies; which enable the continuation of this move away from democracy and towards Benito Mussolini. These Reagan Democrats or I should say baby boomers (majority) have destroyed this nation by supporting predatory capitalism. Most love medicare, but say they hate government run health care. They hate Social Security unless they are receiving it. Selfish behavior displayed by this group will be the demise of this nation. If they do not wake it will be at this nation's peril. We cannot continue down this path, repukes want to end minimum wage and unemployment insurance. They may accomplish this with the moron vote.

[watajob]

150. Two good ones from Thomas Jefferson

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of
civilization, it expects what never was and never will be. . .
The People cannot be safe without information. When the press
is free, and every man is able to read, all is safe."

"If once (the people) become inattentive to the public affairs,
you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, Judges and Governors,
shall all become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general
nature, in spite of individual exceptions."

It's amazing how ignorance is now not only tolerated but celebrated. And, "greed is good".

[Golden Raisin]

151. Oh dear. I was with

you until the gratuitous boomer stuff. Another simplistic "Boomers-are-responsible-for-all-the-Evil-in-the-known-Universe" post. And, oh yes, we Boomers are all perfectly interchangeable and exactly the same (just like Blacks, Gen-Xers, Jews, Italians, Gays, Irish, Muslims, Christians, Millenials, etc.) Our lives have all gone down exactly the same path, which apparently had as its preternaturally evil goal the deliberate destruction of the good ol' U.S.A. in a Satanic orgy of narcissistic self-absorption. We all always vote exactly the same, have secret handshakes and have sworn oaths not to rest until we force the country into Fascism. I suppose the only equally simplistic answer is to call out the army, or better yet, Blackwater/Xe paid stormtroopers, so all Boomers can be rounded up and incarcerated in concentration camps for our heinous crimes against Humanity, God, Mom, Apple pie and the American Flag.

[defendandprotect]

154. Unfortunatley, right wing propaganda works ...the public can be tricked into

voting against their own interests -- nothing new there --

The problem compounds, however, when our Democratic Party doesn't sufficient

respond to the right wing propaganda -- and that's been going on for decades!!

We all know that when liberals unleash attacks on the right wing and its

propaganda it is turned to dust -- this rw propaganda is only protected by

a corporate-press which exists to further the rw porpaganda -- and a lack of

response by the Democratic Party.

Two parties with same sponsors.

[Enthusiast]

155. K&R, conditionally. Selfish behavior is

not a characteristic specific to the 'baby boomers'. This is one of the claims that Alan Simpson used to justify his recommendation to slash social security.

While I agree that millions of misinformed Americans are voting against their own best interests, I believe it is the result of a beautifully coordinated massive propaganda effort. This is the single greatest propaganda effort in history including elements of racism, religion, fear and economic distress. Historically this sort of propaganda has been effective. In the U.S. we have been spared a catastrophe only because we had a free press that included the Fairness Doctrine.

[The Wizard]

170. The vast majority of us Boomers aren't collecting Social Security nor are we on medicare.

Stop using that broad brush to vilify an entire generation. We were the ones who marched in the streets to end war and racial discrimination.
Unfortunately there are too many Americans who believe being born in a particular geographic region gives them certain powers and rights no one else has.
Most of the Boomers I know aren't that delusional.

[Swamp Rat]

171. Cut military spending in half and END THE WARS NOW!!

And double taxes for the rich!!

[The Wizard]

181. A positive step

would be for an angry mob to seize Pox News and destroy it so there's no means of mass brainwashing in place. Believe me, the corporate media that uses Pox for cover will cease and desist all propaganda. Make Pox News an example of what happens for betraying the public trust.

[Jawja]

195. It's called

"dumber than dirt"

[TomClash]

215. I disagree

White working class people have been sold out by so-called liberals and their corporate masters and they realize their economic gains are marginal under liberalism. NAFTA, the decline of unions, the increase in economic inequality, the financial collapse, the bailouts, the wars (which they fight while the educated liberal class gets the cushy jobs and more education) and many other events have been abetted and sometimes even created by liberals eager to curry favor with their wealthy masters. So why should they vote for liberals? To get a few weeks more unemployment insurance?

There are exceptions of course, like Kucinich and Sanders, but really liberals don't really offer them much if they don't protect their jobs, provide rising wages and better benefits. None of that is happening here.

Democratic socialism, and all its variants, is basically banned in the US, so that is not remotely an option.

If you really have no control over whether you keep your job and you are only going to get scraps from the table no matter who is in power, why not vote for the Lunatics who at least pretend to like you while they are driving the knife into your back? Like X Files characters, the white working class wants to believe, they want to feel they are a part of the American narrative, so why shouldn't they indulge in the rightist fantasy?

[roxiejules]

217. Women More Likely to Be Democrats, Regardless of Age

http://www.gallup.com/poll/120839/women-likely-democrats-regardless-age.aspx

Not only are women significantly more likely than men to identify as Democrats, and less likely to identify as independents, but -- with only slight variation -- this gap is evident across all ages, from 18 to 85, and within all major racial, ethnic, and marital-status segments of society.

Previous Gallup research has shown significant variations in party identification across age groups in the American population.

Baby boomers (aged 45-63) are more likely than average to identify as Democrats, as are younger Americans in Generation Y (aged 18-29), while Generation X (aged 30-44) as well as older Americans are somewhat more Republican in orientation. The new Gallup analysis, importantly, shows the persistence of a gender gap not only within each of these broad age groups, but at every age, from 18 to 85, even as the overall party identification patterns shift across the age spectrum.

[KurtNYC]

218. They didn't vote against their interests in 2000, nor in 2008

yet the wars rage on and "Kids" (banks and wall street) are running the candy store.

[crikkett]

219. Headed towards? We're there, my dear. n/t

[rainy]

220. I tried to say the same thing a few weeks ago but I said it in the wrong way

I acidentally blamed it on the middle-class and I got a lot of backlash. But, you made my point way better than I did. Thanks. You are right!!!!

[lunatica]

222. Way to blame us boomers. I'm probably more liberal than you are

at least I can tell the difference between teabaggers and the majority of boomers. Evidently you can't.

[Recursion]

223. What role did predatory capitalism play in Mussolini's economic policies?

Italian fascism started in unions, after all.

[Bette Noir]

224. Gratuitous jab at Baby Boomers. I'd unrec if I could.

Everyone born between 1946 and 1964 is evil based on birthdate, right?

[totodeinhere]

232. A lot of people consider social issues more important than economic issues.

And the GOP knows it. That's why they push conservative social issues because they know that will be enough to get a lot of votes, regardless of their stand on the economy, Medicare, Social Security, etc. Some people are so virulently anti abortion or anti gay that they don't care about anything else.

[stuntcat]

233. too late to rec.

I agree about baby-boomers. Of course I don't blame each of them personally, I mean my mom is one and she's like an angel and all that, but baby-boomers grew up during a literal EXPLOSION of energy and technology and progress and more-more-moreness. They are used to perpetual growth and consumption, I've seen this first-hand from everyone I know who's over 55.

I'll be thanking their generation for the disgrace the planet will be 2050, when I probably have to live to.

[johnlucas]

235. Psssst. Too late. It's already here.

It has already happened, ej510. WAAAAY before you or me was born.
What we should be doing is talking about the aftermath & how to undo this.

John Lucas

[Fire1]

238. HA! That moron vote is 60% of the population. It's a done

deal.:puke:

[stuntcat]

242. zactly

I am not waiting anymore for the Good to overcome the Stupid :puke:

[Joe Fields]

243. I can't believe this bullshit post got 205 recs.