Posted on 03/21/2010 8:11:05 PM PDT by NoobRep
Seriously, I fully understand the significance of the assault on our liberties and freedoms we've just witnessed.
But for the love of God, take your two seconds and get it out of your system and get ready to take back the country. It's our own damn fault we let this happen so now what are we going to do? Sit and cry like these bozos own us? They only own you if you let them.
I'll say this-I don't know what all the answers are but I know it will take an incredible effort and some very brave and smart people to rebuild this thing. You have a choice-lay on the ground and get walked on by these cretins or get up off your butt and start fighting back. It starts now. I'm 34 years old and I'm not taking this laying down-I've got too much pride in my country and self to let a two-bit crackhead like Obama run my life. I also know that the old saying "United we stand, divided we fall," is going to be critical moving forward. I watched some people up in Washington that should inspire all of us-Paul Ryan, John Boehner, Mark Levin, Michelle Bachmann. What great great people and true leaders. We have some great leaders to build around that's for sure. I couldn't be prouder of the true Patriots that have fought and will continue to fight for us.
Molon Labe.
We keep praying. Gods answer is still, apparently, “no”.
_____
or “not yet”.
I am willing to listen for the 2012 election because I know with that stupid govenment funding of campaigns that RNC can do things a candidate has no money to do but for now I want them lean and mean and prove they spend their money wisely.
I think the idea of the RNC funding states in elections has to end as well. We should be able to fund our own states and forget the Victory fund. I will probably be clobbered by our State Chair for saying that but Republicans have got to be smarter with their campaign dollars and make them go farther. A good step would be hiring less consultants and fundraisers.
Yesterday I received four mailouts for the OK primary the end of July. What a waste of money is all I can say.
I live in the district held by Waxman and yet I can still say tomorrow will be a better day. Why? Because it is no longer an academic discussion. We ARE being stripped of our rights and nothing ticks of an ornery lot than Americans when someone thinks they can push us around. Let's find a way to come together, stand, and act.
The Tea Party in 1773 did not change the Brittish mind. It changed the American mind. It demostrated that the Brittish were arogant. Next came tar and feathers. For some they got the message but it took patriots to swear to one another all that they had and their sacred honor to bring about lasting change. Can we do less?
Fundamentally, nothing has changed. Evil men will attempt to control others. Only good men standing up and opposing them can stop them. It falls to us to find ways and the wherewithall to pick up where others have left off.
I'm going to bed. Be at peace. Night.
My parents fled communist Czechoslovakia with the shirts on their backs. My grandparents and most other relatives stayed behind. All of them lost everything materially, and lost their freedom for over 40 years. I visited them during those dark years. I had to register with the police when I visited, and they knew where I was staying and with whom. People ratted on neighbors, sometimes telling lies, other times the truth.
My loved ones coped by trusting only the closest of family and friends, developing a lot of self-sufficiency skills, bartering, and keeping their mouths shut. My family never joined the Communist Party and had a harder time of it. They were considered enemies of the state, since grandfather had been a successful entrepreneur and civic leader. Their business, home, land and bank accounts were confiscated. They were set to menial work, and lived in tiny apartments. Food was of poor quality, meat was scarce, and fresh produce of very limited quality and quantity. Nobody in my family was permitted to have a phone, and cars were completely out of the question. They may as well have asked for a spaceship. Travel outside the country was prohibited for most people, and carefully monitored within the country. University level education was free, I believe, but it was limited to "trusted" and qualified students. Needless to say, the grandchildren of an enemy of the state were untrustworthy or unqualified. My cousins were denied education beyond the age of 19, with one exception late in the regime when things loosened a bit.
It was the love of family that kept them sane. The 50's were the hardest because it was right after the war, and Europe was in desperate shape. Politically there were many crackdowns as the regime established its power (terror) over the citizens. By making examples of people and having some of them simply disappear, others were "encouraged" to toe the line. My uncle was sent to mine uranium, and my grandfather to dig ditches. My other uncle lost his long-time family business. It was nationalized, and he was sent to work there in a menial position among his former employees.
One thing people did to keep their spirits up was to employ political humor. The anti-police, anti-bureaucrat and anti-commie jokes were very witty and sly. Some of the literature and later films were also wickedly satirical.
As a group, Czechs are big readers and enjoy the arts. Books were relatively affordable even in the dark days, and my family developed a nice library over time. Even without a university education, people learned a lot through literature and photographic travel books. Theater, music and sport provided relatively inexpensive entertainment. Beyond that, of course, they drowned their sorrows in beer. The Czechs are historically good at drowning their sorrows while waiting out the latest political occupation. It's a small land in the middle of Europe, and occupation and domination are nothing new. They tend to fight back by quietly surviving rather than openly fighting. It's not the American temperament. Americans are more assertive as a culture.
As to beating the system, mostly they just outlasted it. There was a degree of "going Galt" if you remember the expression "we pretend to work; you pretend to pay us". Everything slowed down. Worksite pilferage was common, and long breaks and inefficiency were typical. People had small cement mixers in their yards and lots of things were painted with blue paint. That's because construction workers would bring home a few bricks at a time and mix up mortar and build a shed or garage piecemeal with the "acquired" goods. Blue paint was the standard for farm equipment and lots of trucks. Workers took some home to paint bicycles or small machinery at home. You get the picture.
Eventually these systems break down from the sheer inefficiency, and with leaders like Reagan, they are helped along into their demise. By ramping up the arms race with the Russians, he hastened the economic decline. This made it easier for the Czechs to "beat the system". Once it was pushed closer to economic collapse, it was easier to topple politically. We have a tough line to walk as a nation. We can learn from these cultures, but our national temperament and our resources are different. Our path forward will also be different.
Thanks for patiently letting me rant and vent for a while ... it's appreciated!
:-)
Goodnight now.
We conquer or die. Without freedom we are already dead.
The line has been drawn, FUBO!!
Well said. I'll stand and fight with you. Let's find the ways beyond protests, emails, faxes, phone calls to the enemy. Not to say we stop reminding them that they are now considered persona non grata.
We are an exceptional people, nation because we have recognized that our rights are from God not the state. I believe there are far more who believe this and will stand with us against the government control. We will find the ways to fight back and win.
Thank you for sharing that story. I heard many such stories when I lived in Eastern Europe and I have incredible respect for those who suffered under that tyranny. A good friend of mine escaped Czechoslovakia in the trunk of a car, so yes, the Czechs had it really bad, too, but in a different way than the Russians, who have a totally different outlook than the Czechs. I learned a lot from them all and appreciate the countercultures that they developed. I especially enjoyed the whole satire, Galt-esque, “trempink” lifestyle the Czechs developed and the music that came from it, too.
Of course we will - we must.
Look around folks - it may not be too late to get on primary ballots in some states. A lot of local GOP committees have openings. That's one way to influence the process by which candidates are placed on the ballot and endorsed for office. Those who already have decent representation could perhaps lend a hand (or send money) to districts with tough races. Here in PA-13th congressional district we're up against Allyson Schwarz, who is a big lib and has lots of funding. We appear to have 3 candidates going into the primary. Whoever comes out on top will need money for the general election. I'm sure there are plenty of other examples. It's the old "think global, act local" mantra.
If all the conservative states vote for conservative senators we would have the super majority to do what we want. The first thing we need to do is take back our own states. Look at where these senators are from.
Shame on us!
Ironically, the brick through Slaughter's window and Betsy McCaughey's explanation of the foolhardiness of the deem-and-pass tactic convinced them to drop that, and now it is harder to fight the bill in court. There are still grounds, but that would have made it a slam-dunk.
You're right that the Czechs and Russians had different circumstances and temperaments. The Czechs had a democratic tradition and institutional memory of how things could be done better. That made it easier to rebuild after the regime fell. The Russians don't really have that democratic history to guide them.
This is where people vent hoss. I’m madder than hell, and I’m not gonna take it much longer.
You sure about that?
Sometimes God gives us the results of our electoral choices.
Sometimes God's most severe punishment, is giving people exactly what they ask for.
Mea culpa for the comma hanging out there, all lonely and out of place in the Mencken quotation. Oops. (Sigh).
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