Democratic Party Progressive Agenda Mirrors Dante's Seven Deadlies [1 of 2]

Dignitas News Service ^ | October 23, 2014 | Paul M Winters

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As the final furlongs of the 2014 midterm election season approach, it is important that as conservatives we reflect upon not simply on polling data and the issues that drive individual races, but precisely what drives our political activism. While establishment Republicans and Tea Party enthusiasts alike fully recognize the failings and inadequacies of the GOP, we need fully recognize that our goals of a more perfect Union and the future of our children depends on electing men and women who share and reflect our values to the US Senate, Governors mansions and (possibly of even greater importance) state legislature seats throughout the nation. It is also of paramount importance that we defeat the agenda of Progressives, who now firmly control the Democratic Party and whose values mirror that of the "Seven Deadly Sins" detailed by Dante so long ago.

While liberal readers will surely dismiss this charge as hyperbolic rantings designed to drive election-season activity from our conservative base, as we examine Dante's writings and the nature of modern Progressive-left politics,you will come to see that the indictment issued is done so with absolute seriousness. Americans of all political and ethnic persuasions often lament that our society is on the path toward hell, but rarely do we take the time to examine the driving forces behind our moral demise.

While no ideological group, political party or subculture in this nation is beyond reproach, it is without reluctance or hesitation that I suggest the greatest earthy threat to our Judeo-Christian values, our children's futures, the moral and physical well-being of 300 million of our citizens, our nations prosperity at home and American hegemony abroad are the political forces who have dubbed themselves "Progressives." As a mere mortal filled with my own imperfections and although certainly not without sin, I shall nonetheless cast a continuous stone at those I sincerely feel serve the same nefarious forces who are in direct battle for the hearts and soul of man against the Creator I choose to follow.

For those of us who consider ourselves both conservatives and belonging to the Abrahamic set of faiths (for our secular liberal friends reading this I'll save you a trip to Google, the term encompasses Judaism, Christian and Islam. as all count Abraham as their direct forefather), it is impossible for us to deny or dismiss that nearly every form of wickedness that we find ourselves enveloped in is either propagated, sustained or defended by the Progressive. Behind every attack on what we find consistent with our faith as well as our instinct of right and wrong is a (relatively speaking) small group of Americans who relish in and profit from our human weakness. Taking an educated guess, at most possibly one million individuals represented in elected politics, professional activism, media,arts and entertainment, education and the intelligentsia, government and military and various points of society have driven the American culture over the past five decades to a place all of us fear is bordering on evil. As with any form of evil that infects our souls and causes danger to ourselves and those we love, we must first acknowledge to ourselves that this evil exists if we ever hope to defeat it. I am quite sure I am not the only conservative who has stopped to wonder if the fiercest of our opponents has an ultimate agenda goes beyond mere electoral victory.

*Editors Note: Given the amount of evidence in this indictment on Progressive-left politics, it was decided to produce this as a two-part feature. Lust, gluttony & greed will be covered in today's article, with the reminder available tomorrow. 

Dante's Inferno by no means provides the lone definitive summation of sin, but this historic and impressive work of literature does present mankind with excellent warning signs to be heeded as we navigate our way down the road of life, or rather walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Before we examine Dante's list of seven deadly sins as it mirrors the agenda of Progressives and as consequence the Democratic Party, it is important to distinguish the liberal in America from the Progressive. This is certainly a critique of "liberal" politics and as such would be hypocritical for me to suggest that there is any such notion of "all due respect" but that said I do find a distinction and separate levels of culpability between the self-identified Progressive and the much larger group of those who consider themselves liberal. At its best I can say that the American liberal has become a "useful idiot" of the Progressive, who quite skillfully utilizes the former's essentially good heart to ultimately turn society on its head.

All political movements have a small group of catalysts driving the agenda and flocks of followers and it is within the liberal masses that the Progressive sows his seeds. American liberalism has always suffered from a bit of narcissism and self-adulation accompanied by a strong intellectual bias. Leading Progressives understand perfectly this psychological mind set and have brilliantly framed its propaganda to turn American politics into a debate not on the methods of addressing the nation problems, but attacking the very motive of conservative policy. To disagree with left-wing Progressive ideas is to simply have an alternative method, but any dissension suggests that individual does not share the concern for the target of said legislation. For the intellectually lazy casual liberal, any politician or party who disagrees with his leaders ideas then of course must be of ill intention. This has not only been used to successfully paint the Republican Party as evil for tens of millions of "liberal" voters, but it also has the consequence of driving the direction of Democratic Party politics. Over the past five decades, activists and voters alike within the party have capitulated to Progressive whims on issues such as gay marriage, abortion, immigration, school vouchers, the environment and apparently Israel. The Progressive is the earthy embodiment of the three-headed entity Dante envisioned "lifting up his brow against his Maker." In his description of the seven chief sins, Dante details the principal character faults that if ignored, will eat at a man's soul and leave our society at the mercy of evil.

LUST

Dante listed lust as the first deadly sin, although not necessarily as its rank in importance. The final sin, Pride which will be discussed later, is generally listed as the first and foremost. That said, lust and the celebration of hedonism has been an area of particular Progressive success in seducing the American people. One need only survey the offerings of Salon, Slate Magazine, the Huffington Post or any left-leaning "news" site on any given to find numerous articles focus on our sexual natures. Leading Progressive organizations such as Planned Parenthood engage in literal promotion of sexual hedonism and obsession among our teenagers and young adults.

In addition to the hidden-cameras exposes that have documented Planned Parenthood's direct consultations with young women, they also fund and partner with Laci Green on an online series titles A Naked Notion in which Green has built a large internet following through this and her personal forums which utilizes her “girl-next-door” persona and inviting style to promote various sexual peccadilloes in a benign and perfectly acceptable manner.   Although Planned Parenthood puts the obligatory “over 18″ disclaimers at the start of each four to five-minute clip, her audience is decide younger and she often cites reference to her apparent frequent sexual practice which began at age 16. The ultimate message of each episode, be it on oral or anal sex, urination, bisexuality, random hook-ups, etc is that it is okay if it feels good and you desire it. Emotional consequence is rarely mentioned, as again the drive is to appeal to the pleasure principle. The following is one of the episodes, on BDSM, which to date has over 85,000 views. (WARNING: Explicit Subject Matter):

PlannedParenthood: ANakedNotion_GettingKinkyBDSM (via Youtube)

This is but one example of Progressive wickedness as it relates to sexual obsession, but a vital one given its target audiences are very young and emotionally inexperienced Americans. At a time in our life when we are reaching sexual understanding and experience, we are particularly vulnerable to forces who instill in us a belief that a "healthy" sex life is to give in to all hedonistic instincts, viewing sex as less an indescribably beautiful act of love and spiritual connection with our mate, into a tool whose main purpose is to derive intense personal satisfaction. As our society has turned, even the notion of mutual sexual pleasure has an underlying motive of enhancing the experience for self as a beneficial consequence of pleasing our partner.

Any attempts to combat this shaping of the national sexual conscience is met with accusations of a puritanical provincialism. In a multi-denominational society that respects the freedom to worship as one pleases, there are none among us who can rightfully define at what age, state of relationship, circumstance or manner of practice in which sexual activity is appropriate, but as a society I believe a vast majority of us would agree that we have a "sexual problem" in this country. Over the past century Western culture has abandoned all sense of shame and decorum related to our sex lives. Sex is everywhere. It dominates the theme of television, marketing, music and much of daily life. While love, passion and yes, sex, has been a prevailing theme of human culture, including arts and poetry from the dawn of time, it is our generation that has been the first among our species to embrace the "naughty" aspect of sexual activity with open arms. It is the "forbidden fruit" that is pushed upon us, as the Progressive and their allies on this front understand full well mankind's historically inability to resist it with the proper enticement.

While my indictment is focused on the Progressive, on this and the other six sins to be documented, this does not absolve we as individuals and citizens of our culpability in the regression of our humanity and submission to our primal urges. And as conservative we must acknowledge that our own political allies (and selves) can likewise be part of the problem as well. Our friends in the business community that we share overall common cause have come to learn that "sex sells" and been a part of the national acquiescence to a sexually obsessed society. That said, as it relates to the national discussion, it has been the Progressive at the forefront, beating the drums that the cosmopolitan liberal is more than happy to dance to and framing the discussion so that when raises the notion of caution and discretion, they in turn shall be labeled as "regressive" for suggesting man view sexual activity as something more than carnal pleasure. Most likely the attack is formed in manner to suggest the protagonist need to "get laid and lighten up." This approach is subtle yet quite effective, as places one in a position outside of the perceived majority opinion.

As is the case with all promoters of vice, little or no discussion is placed in the consequence of sexual excess. "If it feels good to it" fails to address the reasons for sexual morality in the first place. On the advice of our Creator, civilization developed an organic "sexual code" lasting millenniums precisely because the wanton disregard of such edicts frowning on adultery, boastfulness and other forms off self-control and decorum would easily tear a small village or community asunder. As we have "evolved" first from large metropolises to now one large interconnected nation, if not world, we have somehow fooled ourselves into thinking the same fate will not someday await our society should we continue down the path of lust. What makes us human is that at some level, as much as we may try to avoid it and certainly try to deny it, physical sex has a definite effect on our emotional being. The pain of a broken heart, the shock and danger of a venereal disease, the breakup of families and the harm to children is the consequence of lust.

GLUTTONY

The second deadly sin listed by Dante is that of gluttony. As is the case with lust, giving in to our primal and animal instincts distracts us from a healthy and spiritual life. In a masterful stroke of political forethought, Progressives have skillfully utilized marijuana as a means to attract young, libertarian leaning voters as well as to further pacify their locked in constituencies in various communities.

While relatively benign with casual use, as the drug becomes more readily available and inexpensive (free if Progressives have their way), marijuana threatens to further sap our republic of its collective energy and gumption. The Progressive city of Berkeley, CA recently moved to institute policy requiring “medicinal” marijuana outlets to allot certain amounts of their product to be distributed free to lower-income residents. Beginning next summer, anyone earning less than $32,000 per year and possess a prescription for medical marijuana will have the drug provided free of charge. Democrats up and down California are looking to replicate this policy statewide and Democratic Party lawmakers in Sacramento are crafting legislation to quickly add this to the docket while they still hold super-majorities in the legislature.

Having already utilized marijuana to turn traditionally red Colorado blue (for a period, as this tactic may possibly have backfired on them), they will likely seek to turn this into a national issue. And while there are those on the right who view marijuana usage on libertarian principles, it has been the Progressive at the forefront of the issue, seeking clever ways (such as with Berkeley) to further dumb down their constituency and make a life of indigence (and sloth) more bearable.

Culturally, Progressives have aided and abetted its acceptance in media and entertainment. While the 1970's had Cheech & Chong and marijuana has been a part of the "American party" for decades, its is fast becoming inescapable. Progressive Television hosts and opinion makers clamor shamelessly to get air time with the likes of Snoop Dog or Seth Rogen. While this in itself is not nefarious, given that both are successful talents in their given fields, but it is often the hosts themselves that interject marijuana into the discussion. In many cases, this is the entire point of the segment, as a means to prove their "street cred." In my native Los Angeles, it is not entirely uncommon to distinctly smell marijuana while waiting in line at the grocery, fast food restaurants or even driving down the street. On LA Metro Bus & Train lines, each day finds dozens of complaint by passengers of brazen young men and women literally toking up while riding or at passenger drop-off points.

SnoopDogTalksToJimmyKimmelAboutSmokingInTheWhiteHouseOnGGN (via Complex_YouTube)

As noted, there are certainly more dangerous drugs in society, but this should not numb us to the potential threats of expanded marijuana use. There is quite a difference between a group of 20-year-old friends securing a dime bag or lid (yes, I'm that old) on a Saturday evening of idiocy, and unfettered retail access to a drug (now far more potent than 20 years ago) where days and weeks can fly by as ambition wanes and acquiescence to an existence of lowered expectations prevails in a haze of scented smoke, munchies and bad movies.

GREED

Dante cited greed as the third of the seven deadly sins. While the conventional wisdom and rhetoric of the day would suggest this as a problem of the Republican Party, if we examine the nature of greed, it is reasonable to apply this to Democrats. As Dante warned, greed is manifested in various forms such as miserliness and unethical business practices.

As Progressives work to increase the size, scope and reach of government, this too provides economic opportunities for they and their allies. As they have with their long-standing relationships with Unions and organized crime, the Democrat Party has mastered the concept of crony capitalism. Their firm control of the politics of most major US cities has provided Progressive leaders with control of bidding processing and the awarding of civic contracting. This control perverts the concept of the free-market, and rewards local, state and national contracting jobs not to the most able and excellent bidder, but to those willing to pledge allegiance to the party and/or Unions who control relevant public coffers. A system of payoffs, graft and corruption then infects the body politic, where a company wishing to compete in a given market must usurp their sovereignty and liberty to the political powers involved.

During the 2012 election cycle, GOP nominee Mitt Romney corrected the assertion that Republicans were the "party of the rich," properly defining it as the party of "those who strive to become rich." The (former) beauty of the American system is that we have had an economy which shuffles the deck of the elite every generation or so. Men (and women) of industry regularly rise and fall with the demands of the marketplace. Opposed to, say, the traditions of Europe, while being born rich in America is certainly an advantage, it in no way guarantees sustained social status without further endeavor. Many a massive family fortune in America has been squandered by offspring lacking in character and strong moral fiber. The quasi-socialist policies of the Democratic Party and its Progressive leadership in reality protects the wealthy by limiting the opportunities for the lesser-born to join their fraternity.

While Democrats and liberal activists rail against the "large corporations" the past six years showed that Progressive regulation and labor policies have a disproportionate impact on small to medium-sized business. As these companies struggle to stay afloat and compete with larger firms, larger companies benefit from greater market share in their given fields. As smaller competitors have less margin to work with, minimum wage increases, added to costs for programs such as Obamacare (ACA) and cherished environmental regulations force these merchants to lower staff or raise prices. While these factors contribute to inflation for larger companies as well, they are better able to absorb these costs by improving operational efficiency or with smaller price hikes. While even mega-corporations grumble (rightfully so) about minimum wake hikes and calls for "living wage" laws, they will have more options at their disposal as to how to deal with government mandated increases in operations costs, whereas the small shop keeper with 10 employees and much smaller profits margins will find him or herself facing some very tough, and personal decisions.

Greed is not the concept of wishing to thrive in one's given circumstance. It is the desire to prevent others from enjoying the same opportunities we have at our disposal. Certainly within the business community there are individuals and companies who are themselves guilty of Dante's third sin, but on an institutional level Progressives are guilty of breeding an entire culture where patronage, not competitive excellence, is the pathway to success. Such a system creates a "closed" market where one must go along to get along.

On a tangible level, one need only look at the Progressive Obama Administration's desire to prop up the "Green economy" as an example of governments desire to mold and control the marketplace. Consumers, via Federal Government action, were provided numerous incentives to drive Chevy Dart's and other so-called energy-efficient vehicles, install solar panels in their homes and switch to appropriately "green" companies. While Solyndra, the now bankrupt solar panel manufacturer who got away with the tune of $535 million of the taxpayers money, received a certain level of national attention (thanks to the new media) the general public is largely ignorant of the full extent of the Green (Greed?) Stimulus fiasco. While the Progressive propaganda machinery is very active in educating its flock of liberal sheep on the salaries of given CEO's, profit levels and program them to mindlessly dribble on about "corporate welfare," they are curiously unaware of the $400 million given to Abound Solar, Fisker Automotive's $400 million, A123 Batteries $249 million, Ener1's $118 million and dozens more, all of whom were colossal and laughable market failures whose principles enriched themselves, declared bankruptcy and have escaped the justified scorn of the American public thanks to the silence of Progressive-run mainstream media. While documented (in the back pages), at no point did this receive the attention it deserved, given obvious collusion with the Energy Department.

FoxNewsReport: GreenEnergyScandal (via usACTIONNews_YouTube)

The free market place is already infected with enough organic skullduggery to add fuel to the fire with a bureaucratic presence that continues to overstep its mandate of regulatory oversight into a role in which government has direct influence in which companies or industries will succeed, fail and thrive, on local, state and national levels.

As we examine Progressive exploitation of human nature and leads us down the path toward hell via its takeover of Democratic Party policy, I'll temporarily spare you from the hell of the literary sort by continuing our look at Dante's seven deadly sins in tomorrow's adjoining article. As previously noted, this indictment of left-wing policy should in no way excuse our individual culpability in the erosion of what once a nation that while imperfect, aspired to the path of righteousness. I submit that our political battles run in conjunction with that of our moral longings. On both fronts our enemy is the same, and as conservatives it is time we recognize this.

Opinion by Paul M Winters Editor in Chief, Dignitas News Service

Sources:

PlannedParenthood: ANakedNotion_GettingKinkyBDSM (via Youtube) FoxNewsReport: GreenEnergyScandal (via usACTIONNews_YouTube) CNNMoney DanteInferno SnoopDogTalksToJimmyKimmelAboutSmokingInTheWhiteHouseOnGGN (via Complex_YouTube)

[G Larry]

Bump!
For later.

[Loud Mime]

BFLR - - Must revisit Dante