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Why Al Franken Has More Guts Than Rush Limbaugh
www.patricksamuels.com

Posted on 05/27/2009 8:37:44 AM PDT by Mikey76

Allow me to begin by saying that I am no fan of Al Franken and I’m not specifically picking on Rush Limbaugh. If and when Al Franken takes his seat in the senate, it will be a bad day for America. And I am using Rush Limbaugh as an example for all the radio and television talk show hosts, all the writers and bloggers out there including myself, who have ever despaired of the direction of the country, deplored the behavior of our elected politicians and thought that we had more common sense in our little finger that they had in their whole body.

The media has an important function in our society, which is why it is referred to in the first amendment. The ability to educate, inform and persuade is a powerful tool in the political process. But for all the words spoken by Rush and the other talk show hosts, for all the words written in newspapers, magazines and on the Internet, the stimulus package passed for want of one vote in the senate. Government health care, a nearly four trillion dollar budget, cap and trade may all be forced on us for the lack of one or two votes.

For all the talking, all the educating, all the informing done by talk radio and other conservative/alternative media, the country is falling rapidly into the black hole of statism. Why? First, while Rush’s fifteen to twenty million listeners sounds like a lot, there are over three hundred million people in this country, over one hundred million voters. And not all those listeners agree with Rush’s viewpoint, some are just entertained, and this goes for all of talk radio. The point here is that the vast majority of people in the country don’t tune in to talk radio, they don’t follow the news closely, they are not politically educated or aware. As products of a government education and fans of reality TV, they easily fall for a demagogue like Barak Obama.

Second, it is an “us vs them” approach to politics and this is encouraged by the behavior of both sides. On one side is the “us”, the average citizen who actually seeks to inform himself and those who seek to do the informing. Then there is the “them”, the “political class”, the people who actually make the rules that govern our lives, rules that are increasingly intrusive and destructive. Too often we have the mindset that we are merely subjects of the king who stand outside the palace gates shouting our pleas and hoping we are heard. On the other side of the gate is the political class who turn a deaf ear to our pleas because they are confident in their power and position. When the vast majority of the incumbents are elected regardless of what they do, they see no problem ignoring the interests of anyone but themselves. The whole system turns on its head. Instead of serving us, the politicians serve themselves. Instead of seeing ourselves as part of the process, we are reduced to servants of the political class. We fear them, they don’t fear us. According to Thomas Jefferson, that is the definition of tyranny.

This was a primary cause of the revolution. Parliament and the king, three thousand miles away, were making the rules without any input from the colonists. They were free to ignore them because there was nothing, short of armed insurrection, the colonists could do about it. The colonists could not vote for any representation yet they were told they were British subjects and had to follow the dictates of such an elected body. Today, we have the same problem. Washington may as well be on the moon for the amount of impact we, as average citizens, have on it.

Finally, and this is probably the most important point, talk radio, and the media in general, is reactionary by its very nature. Commentators, by definition, are reacting to something that has already happened. News, by definition, is a description of an event in the past. Conservatism by its very name, is reactionary. It seeks to conserve the status quo, conserve the liberty that remains. If we look back on the last hundred years, or even the decades since President Reagan, any objective observer can see that as a movement, it has done a lousy job “conserving” liberty. Government has grown and liberty has retreated under both major parties. For all the growth of talk radio and the “alternative” media, its real impact has been negligible because it is reactionary and has no cohesive agenda.

That is why the progressives, the statists, have been so successful. First, they have a cohesive agenda and a long term vision. If all else fails they can fall back on Marx as an ideological rallying point. Everything they do is geared toward expanding the power of the state until everything is under its, and their, control. Second, they are patient and persistent. If something does not work, they try something else with the same goal in mind. They will use legislation, the courts, the mob, executive order, bureaucratic fiat, whatever it takes to get their way. Third, they manipulate language to confuse their enemies. Look at he words liberal and conservative. Liberal once meant what libertarian does now. Personally, that is why I don’t use it. I prefer statist, one who believes in the state. Conservative now means bigot, out of touch, sexist, redneck, hyper-Christian homophobe. President Obama is moving this along at a rapid clip. Success no longer means money but the poverty of government service. Wealth is evil, freedom is slavery, ignorance is bliss. Finally, and this is by no means a comprehensive list, the statist knows how to set the agenda. We have been dancing to the statist tune for one hundred years. Some may have tried a few new steps but the music hasn’t changed.

If those of us who love liberty want to save our country from the statist vision that is quickly becoming a permanent reality, we must stop being reactionary. We cannot be like the little boy with his finger in the dike because there is an army on the other side always drilling new holes. The dike needs to be rebuilt with an impenetrable steel and concrete structure we once knew at the constitution. The only way to restore the constitution is to take power away from Washington, not to simply stop them from acquiring more. Consider the original Revolution. Samuel Adams and his friends in the Sons of Liberty didn’t just write letters to parliament and the king asking them to please not take away their God given rights. They had an agenda, independence, that they worked towards for twenty years through networking, protests, pamphlets, “slanted” news, property destruction and intimidation of government officials; whatever they could do to move toward the goal of liberty.

It is time we stopped reacting and started acting. It is time those who loved liberty started setting the agenda and removing the ability of our elected officials and unelected bureaucrats to make our lives miserable. If ACORN can rent a mob to intimidate corporate officials, it is time we showed up outside the homes of our elected officials with signs and pitchforks to get their attention. It is time we stopped being intimidated and started doing the intimidating. We need to develop long range plans to eliminate all non constitutional functions from government. For example, we can start with the Department of Education. The statist knows that as long as he can keep creating good little government robots through government education, his plans will succeed. If we return education to the state, and ultimately, the local level, we will once again have control. We need to defund the government. I believe, like Thomas Jefferson, that income taxes are immoral and therefore we should work toward repeal of the sixteenth amendment. Without the ability to take our wealth, it will be hard to redistribute it. The seventeenth amendment should go as well to to give the states themselves a voice in government as originally intended.

Ultimately, however, we need legislators who believe in the liberty of the people more than their own power who will introduce and pass such legislation. Al Franken threw his hat in the ring for the statist agenda. It is time those who talk a good game “put some skin in the game” as Joe Biden said. It is time to put up or shut up. Sam Adams and the Sons of Liberty were not just rabble rousers. Many of them were elected assemblymen who shaped the course of our nation’s history. If men like Rush Limbaugh really care about the country, prove it. Do what needs to be done to change it. Take the pay cut and endure the media “anal exam” and put yourself in a position to really accomplish something. The statists have plenty of leaders, the lovers of liberty have none. We need a plan and courageous men and women to push it forward. Not career politicians but people who are willing to step forward as they did in the past to do a job that needs to be done. If it doesn’t start happening now, if the agenda is not removed from the hands of the statist, the country our children inherit will be a nation no Son of Liberty would recognize.

www.patricksamuels.com


TOPICS: Freeoples; Miscellaneous
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1 posted on 05/27/2009 8:37:44 AM PDT by Mikey76
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To: Mikey76
The left has been successful because they have the microphone. Period.

The radical left-wing MSM needs to be attacked every day.

2 posted on 05/27/2009 8:39:39 AM PDT by skeeter
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To: Mikey76

Bogus

Rush is more valuable on the air, getting this stuff out there then as a minimally influential politician

I shutter to think of what this country would be like without him each day.


3 posted on 05/27/2009 8:40:51 AM PDT by Vaquero ("an armed society is a polite society" Robert A. Heinlein)
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To: Vaquero
Another blogger using Rush for traffic and hits.
4 posted on 05/27/2009 8:42:59 AM PDT by roses of sharon (We must get a grip on what we can, and hold on. Hold on with energy, imagination, and ferocity)
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To: Vaquero
Why Al Franken Has More Guts Than Rush Limbaugh

Because someone who spews that much crap has gotta have more guts?
5 posted on 05/27/2009 8:43:16 AM PDT by aruanan
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To: Mikey76

By even voting for al the people of Minnesota have proven themselves to be a tragic joke. They are the laughing stock of America.


6 posted on 05/27/2009 8:45:22 AM PDT by bert (K.E. N.P. +12 . Crucify ! Crucify ! Crucify him!!)
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To: Mikey76

This guy must have been hard up for a blog topic.

How about this one: I Think Rush Limbaugh Is Heavier Than Al Franken?


7 posted on 05/27/2009 8:47:39 AM PDT by RexBeach ("Do your duty in all things." Robert E. Lee)
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To: bert

The Al voters are the same people that voted for 0bama. They just happen to live in Mpls./St. Paul and Duluth. Leave the rest of us Minnesotans out of it. My apologies to FReeper stalwarts still living in the bastions of liberalism.


8 posted on 05/27/2009 8:49:59 AM PDT by mplsconservative
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To: Mikey76
typical post and run newbie.
9 posted on 05/27/2009 8:51:15 AM PDT by HuntsvilleTxVeteran ((B.?) Hussein (Obama?Soetoro?Dunham?) Change America Will Die From.)
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To: RexBeach

Look at me. I have a blog. I’m impotent!


10 posted on 05/27/2009 8:51:39 AM PDT by McGruff (Bumper sticker I saw on a Ford older pickup, "Eat my Carbon")
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To: bert

2 words: Al Gore.


11 posted on 05/27/2009 8:52:56 AM PDT by astyanax (Had enough Hope and Change yet?)
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To: mplsconservative

I had a close working business relation with a stalwart Republican who worked in Medina but lived I think in St Cloud. Alas, he passed on.

I know what you mean


12 posted on 05/27/2009 8:54:16 AM PDT by bert (K.E. N.P. +12 . Crucify ! Crucify ! Crucify him!!)
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To: aruanan
Why Al Franken Has More Guts Than Rush Limbaugh

Well, at least Rush has had the decency to not appear on National TV in a diaper...YMMV.

13 posted on 05/27/2009 8:56:45 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
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To: Mikey76

Since Franken is talentless, he needs a job that requires no talent. He couldn’t make it on Air America ... the next best place is congress. It is full of talentless people.


14 posted on 05/27/2009 8:57:40 AM PDT by dartuser ("If you torture the data long enough, it will confess, even to crimes it did not commit")
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To: bert

Yep. There are a lot of conservatives in Minnesota. It’s hard to overcome the inner-city totals though. My district is represented by Congressman John Kline and the district next to us is represented by Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann. When we decided to get out of Minneapolis, we purposely chose a conservative area. Our neighbors, by and large, are 90% conservative. Life is soooo much better. :)


15 posted on 05/27/2009 8:59:55 AM PDT by mplsconservative
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To: Mikey76

If Jesse The Body Ventura can win high office in Manyanoplace, then Al Franken, professional doofus, was a shoe in.


16 posted on 05/27/2009 9:00:05 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (If you like the Dept. of Motor Vehicles, the IRS, and the Post Office, you'll love govt Health Care)
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To: Mikey76

Rush’s fifteen to twenty million listeners sounds like a lot, there are over three hundred million people in this country, over one hundred million voters.

if every American voted in the last election we wouldn’t be in this problem. what was the real percentage of voters?

i understand what you are saying but he is making too much money to take a senators seat.


17 posted on 05/27/2009 9:02:42 AM PDT by longfellow (Bill Maher, the 21st hijacker.)
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To: longfellow

Maybe the writer should factor in over 40,000,000 podcast subscribers as well, since he forgot to add them in. Then he can show me a single media outlet that can match those numbers. And we are getting our message out - they’re called “TEA Parties.” We have jobs and families - unlike ACORN, who has all the time and money available to go “door to door.”

And sorry, but Franken has no guts - he’s been part of a scheme to embezzle money from a charity, hasn’t paid his taxes, and used any means necessary to steal an election. He is, to paraphrase Stephen King “a petty crook with all the finesse of a shiplifter at Wal-Mart.”


18 posted on 05/27/2009 9:09:47 AM PDT by Right Cal Gal (Abraham Lincoln would have let Berkeley leave the Union without a fight)
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To: Right Cal Gal

“...that should be SHOPlifter.” He hasn’t the muscles to be shiplifter.....


19 posted on 05/27/2009 9:10:59 AM PDT by Right Cal Gal (Abraham Lincoln would have let Berkeley leave the Union without a fight)
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To: mplsconservative
So, how straight is the vote in your "inner cities?"

How clean are the voter rolls?

How many dead people voting?

How many absentee ballots?

How was the military vote and the overseas vote handled.

How many illegal aliens registered by Motor Voter?

Bottom line, did the RINO Wimp really lose this election, or was it stolen?

20 posted on 05/27/2009 9:16:44 AM PDT by Kenny Bunk (The Election of 2008: Given the choice between stupid and evil, the stupid chose evil.)
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