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What Happened to Our Country?
Townhall.com ^ | January 21, 2013 | Bruce Bialosky

Posted on 01/21/2013 8:08:40 AM PST by Kaslin

When people reminisce about what America used to be like, some act scornfully toward us. They say living in a Donna Reed world was great for a few, but that there were many suffering souls. The way our country is today makes some of us long for those days which seemed so innocent compared to the harsh, cruel, coarse, and sometimes murderous days we exist in today.

Yet most would argue that there were still injustices when we were growing up fifty years ago. Black people who had been freed a century before were still not treated equally in most parts of the country. Many women were limited in their businesses, political, and professional opportunities. And if they did enter any of those careers, they were capped as to what they could achieve. Few would want a return to those aspects of days past. Yet they would seem almost welcome compared to the experiences we have had in Newtown, Aurora and Tucson.

Even though now more than a month has passed, the pain of what happened in Sandy Hook Elementary school stills burns deeply in our hearts. There were some who started assigning blame for what happened within days which was clearly indecent during a national mourning period. Yes, we need to find paths to resolve the deep divisions that trouble this country. But will that really take us back to a simpler time? After all, the residents of Newtown likely lived there to avoid all this cultural degradation and live a “Leave It to Beaver” life where the biggest challenges were errant children chewing gum in class.

A yearning exists for the days when children rode their bikes to schools, which were open with flowing green fields where they frolicked under minimal supervision. Now children are escorted by grownups to their schools, which are fenced in and then locked down. Remember even at Sandy Hook the school was locked down at 9:30 each morning, just as almost all elementary schools are today.

What does it say to the children of our country that they have to be escorted everywhere they go? Are they left to think that wherever they go there are people in uniforms providing security and their parents are on a constant vigil watching them? What kind of country have we passed to them?

That we cannot as the grownups in this society come to some agreement of how to resolve this only makes matters worse. With every single massacre, we instantaneously divide into two camps. There are those who immediately shriek that it was the gun at fault, completely ignoring the other societal factors that brought a deranged madman to execute an unfathomable act. Then there are those who argue that there exists nothing that we can do to keep the means of mass murder out of the hands of these freaks.

Come on folks, we can do something about this, but the suggestion by Wayne LaPierre of the NRA to put armed guards on all campuses seems so distasteful. Already an estimated third of our children go to schools that have armed guards. We should not unreasonably restrict our Second Amendment rights because of these maniacs, but putting our kids on lock down would just make matters so much more obscene.

We have not yet had a coherent conversation about how to move forward. The people who want more gun control lurch into nonsensical talk about bazookas or tanks with very little knowledge of guns or how they function. People like the editor of the Journal News (Westchester area of New York), who listed the names and addresses of local gun owners in the newspaper, display to what extent the left will go to restrict gun ownership. They are scary as their actions are reminiscent of command and control countries that totally restrict gun rights.

Some people do not understand that there is a difference regarding gun owners. It is not like obtaining a driver’s license. That is a privilege. The right to own a gun is embedded in our Constitution. It is there for a reason. The unrepentant Caryn A. McBride, Editor of the Journal News which listed the home addresses of prison guards and district attorneys in her cause to restrict gun ownership, scares us and should scare you. It brings into question the rationale for a federal gun registry when ownership is a right not a privilege.

Yet, there are things that are just not going right. We have lost sight of the faith, family, and community that built this country. Our government has become too big yet cannot even confront the truly mentally ill among us. As Charles Murray taught us in his most recent book, Coming Apart, even our rock solid middle-class communities are falling apart. The amount of children being raised without proper parenting is just appalling. And when people do get married, far too many are getting divorced for their own selfish reasons while thinking their children will be just fine. Boys need fathers and not just as appendages.

Never being a fan of video games, we would just as soon trash them, but that would be a First Amendment problem. Yet, when politicians decry weapons, they should really assault the culture vultures who sell these games that desensitize young males. Our President booted this issue to be studied in his recent proposal. That means zero will happen on this aspect of the problem. Why do we have to hear this nonsense that only protects these products? Moral suasion still works as has been effective with cigarette smoking, so why can’t we do the same with these disgusting games? Why do parents acquiesce to allow the constant devolution of young male minds?

You may wonder why so many people bemoan our current culture and hark back to happier times. Maybe it is not as bucolic as we paint it, but our children certainly lived a more innocent existence. What our goal should be is to bring all children to those wonderful times instead of bringing every child down to the lowest common denominator. The innocence of childhood can never be devalued. It can only be lost. Let’s not have the innocence of another group of youngsters lost like we have at Sandy Hook. Let’s show some leadership.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: acultureoflife; guncontrol; guns; safetyandsecurity; secondamendment
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To: Westbrook

You’re right, it is all of those things, all centered in Progressivism, but I have recently become shocked at how far along the Progressives are in destroying the “Leave it to Beaver” lifestyles and culture that we enjoyed in the fifties and sixties.

In researching the backgrounds of some of the recent mass shooters, I started looking into “neuro-science”. I was curious because I couldn’t figure out what something with such a scientific sounding name was doing in the psychology dept of universities. What I found out was that neuro-science is the study of the use of words and pharases as emotional triggers and how to apply them to political campaigns. However, tipped by another poster, I started looking into it a little deeper, particularly the connection to something called, “lumosity” or brain training, which they claim can improve short term memory and attention deficit.

So, while I was reading about how this brain training works, I was thinking, that the problems, that they claim to ameliorate, were exactly the same as the negative affects that have recently been associated with heavy marijuana use. So, I did another search, and sure enough, they are actually using this brain training, as part of addiction treatment. So, while they are pushing the legalization of marijuana and claiming that it is harmless, they are already working on treatments for the negative affects of the brain damage.

They are experimenting with this brain training in public schools, the first one is a middle school in Portland, Oregon.


21 posted on 01/21/2013 8:40:41 AM PST by Eva
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To: Kaslin
What happened to America?..... Look at the TV right now; a vast wave of blind imbeciles standing arm to arm chanting Obama. Willing like blind sheep to be led by a fraud into Marxism.

May God bless America because it's His help we need, NOT OBAMA'S.

2Ch 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

22 posted on 01/21/2013 8:42:36 AM PST by wesagain (The God (Elohim) of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the One True GOD.)
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To: circlecity

Over 8 YEARS ago—I wrote this on THIS site. Few then really cared about it—some made FUN of what I wrote....

I wonder if they STILL feel this way NOW...

sted on Thursday, January 06, 2005 8:18:46 PM by Rca2000

This came to me, earlier, and so, i decided to put it into words. See how you all like it.

America, I miss you.

Remember,the country we once Knew, With Landscapes just lovely, and Oceans, so blue, and people who were kind, and who’s promises were true? America, oh,America,I miss you.

As kids, we played in the woods, and in the park, From early in the morning, until well after dark. And our parents, they taught us right, and wrong, and how to stand on our own, to be steadfast and strong.

From our earliest years, we were taught that morals mattered,

They made the country strong, and prevented lives from being shattered.

But, somewhere along the way, those things have been forgotten,

Replaced by somethng self-centered, and just totally rotten.

And children who are mean, and have no concern about others,

Be it, their teachers, parents, or sisters and brothers.

In our Government, those who try to do right,

Are called “mean spirited, and always ready to fight”.

And our courts seem to defend those who this counrty would weaken,

allowing others to come in, who desire to see our nation shattered and beaten.

When did trying to do right, suddenly become “wrong”, and where are the moral principles, that guided this country, for so long?

They have been replaced by an attitude of”just do what you feel”,

And if someone else gets hurt along they way, well, that’s just part of the deal.

Once in this land, little children were cherished, and those who hurt them, they were rounded up, and then they perished.

but,now, human life has little value, and is of little worth, When a child’s life is routinely snuffed out, even before birth.

In Neighborhoods, the children all played together, and each others parents, they all knew,

But now, they cannot play together, ‘cause if one gets their felings hurt, the other parents will SUE.

This sure is not the country, I once loved, the country I once knew,

America, Oh America, I miss you.

by Rca2000(Jack S.)




23 posted on 01/21/2013 8:44:21 AM PST by Rca2000 ( Still too shocked to have a tagline....)
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To: Kaslin

When people are well off it’s natural to feel some degree of guilt for those who are not. The rational response is to reach out through charitable institutions or churches to aid the needy, the irrational response is to steal from those perceived to have more than some nebulous concept of what their “fair share” might be. Likewise with horrific events like Sandy Hook-a measured rational response is appropriate, but hysterically action for the sake of doing something, even if it’s wrong, may salve the neurotic impulse in the short term, but will only do more harm than good in the long term.


24 posted on 01/21/2013 8:44:42 AM PST by Spok
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To: Kaslin

WhaHoppen?????

For starters...see Gov Richard Lamm...

Semper watching!
*****


25 posted on 01/21/2013 8:45:23 AM PST by gunnyg ("A Constitution changed from Freedom, can never be restored; Liberty, once lost, is lost forever...)
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To: Kaslin

We have turned our backs to the light of God, leaving us to peer into the darkness of our own shadows.


26 posted on 01/21/2013 8:46:07 AM PST by Joe 6-pack (Que me amat, amet et canem meum)
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To: who knows what evil?

A lot of folks get it backwards, saying things like the acceptance of homosexuality will lead to God’s judgement.

On the contrary, acceptance of homosexuality IS God’s judgement.


27 posted on 01/21/2013 8:47:10 AM PST by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
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To: circlecity
God has inflicted Obama on America for the same reason he inflicted King Nebuchadnezzar on Israel.

Maybe, or perhaps the deterioration we see in America is simply the product of Liberal thought and Liberal action in America.

Perhaps this is merely what the appeasement and accommodation of evil, licentiousness, tolerance of perversion gets a body of people.

28 posted on 01/21/2013 8:47:19 AM PST by RoosterRedux
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To: Eva
while they are pushing the legalization of marijuana and claiming that it is harmless

Who exactly is claiming that marijuana is harmless?

29 posted on 01/21/2013 8:48:29 AM PST by JustSayNoToNannies ("The Lord has removed His judgments against you" - Zep. 3:15)
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To: MrB
On the contrary, acceptance of homosexuality IS God’s judgement.

Yes...you are absolutely correct. I was one of those who 'had it backwards' a number of years ago.

30 posted on 01/21/2013 8:49:40 AM PST by who knows what evil? (G-d saved more animals than people on the ark...www.siameserescue.org.)
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To: Westbrook
What happened to our country?

Easy..

The propagation of the humanist/materialist/socialist agenda by the government school collectives, the Marxist saturated university system, and the communist infested entertainment business.

In short, over the last 100 years, Progressiveism happened to our country.

31 posted on 01/21/2013 8:50:23 AM PST by YankeeReb
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To: RoosterRedux

On the flipside,
thwarting the culture and intentionally violating the norms of the culture in which you live will not lead to success.

The whole rebellion to “white culture” has done nothing to further the cause of the black population as a whole, though a very few have enriched themselves doing so.


32 posted on 01/21/2013 8:51:07 AM PST by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
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To: Kaslin

[[What Happened to Our Country?]]

It’s very simpel what happened- Fox news did an ingterview with a woman right after the first time his highness was elected- and asked her why she voted for him- she said somehtign along the lines of ‘So I can git me soem of that orbamer money’ and when asked where she thought that moeny was goign to come from, a crap eating grin came across her lying liberal me me me first face, and she said ‘It’s free- it’s just gobernment money- it’s free’

It’s pretty clear what has happened to this coutnry- this country said it no logner wants to take care of the poor, the sick the downtrodden, but that it now wants the rich, the middle class, the healthy, thos who are capable of supportign htemselves, to ‘git htem some of da orabama money’

America spoke loud and clear this second election- they said with a colelctive voice- to hell with takign care of hte sick and poor- I want soem of dat money before it’s all gone- why shoudl the sick and elderly get it all? I’m healthy and I deserve it more because healthy peopel can enjoy itm ore’

Basically that’s it in a nutshell- This new generation is NOT about fairness and equality- they are abotu GREED and SELF INTEREST They want everythign for free and they want the governemtn givign htem money on top of it-


33 posted on 01/21/2013 8:53:21 AM PST by CottShop (Scientific belief does not constitute scientific evidence, nor does it convey scientific knowledge)
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To: Kaslin

In the “bad old days” Blacks were treated unfairly, yet the vast majority of black children were raised in 2 parent families.
In the “bad old days” the vast majority of black fetuses was protected and when given birth, was cherished and nurtured.
In the “bad old days” the vast majority of blacks went to schools that were dedicated to education, not indoctrination.
In the “bad old days”, the vast majority of black youths did not live in fear of being tommorrow’s news story.
In the “bad old days”, a black mother was really quite sure her child would return to home safely.
In the “bad old days”, the Black Church was the foundation stone of a strong family and community culture.
In the “bad old days, the successful black business man was not vilified as “being too white.”
There were truly things wrong in the “bad old days”, but why is it never pointed out that some things were RIGHT?


34 posted on 01/21/2013 8:53:36 AM PST by CaptainAmiigaf (NY TIMES: "We print the news as it fits our views")
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To: donna

[[“Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men.”
- John F. Kennedy]]

Said the man with hte eay privileged life


35 posted on 01/21/2013 8:55:08 AM PST by CottShop (Scientific belief does not constitute scientific evidence, nor does it convey scientific knowledge)
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To: Kaslin

It’s not the guns - back in those “happier times” kids took their guns to school and participated in shooting clubs or went hunting after school - and no one was massacred. Therefore it must be other societal factors such as the increased exposure to violence in society today via games, videos and music. Add to it the decrease/rejection of biblical based values on how to treat one another and respect.


36 posted on 01/21/2013 8:56:15 AM PST by Godzilla (3/7/77)
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To: CaptainAmiigaf

Thanks for a great post


37 posted on 01/21/2013 8:56:43 AM PST by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
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To: Kaslin

It’s not the guns - back in those “happier times” kids took their guns to school and participated in shooting clubs or went hunting after school - and no one was massacred. Therefore it must be other societal factors such as the increased exposure to violence in society today via games, videos and music. Add to it the decrease/rejection of biblical based values on how to treat one another and respect.


38 posted on 01/21/2013 8:57:18 AM PST by Godzilla (3/7/77)
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To: Kaslin

A yearning exists for the days when children rode their bikes to schools, which were open with flowing green fields where they frolicked under minimal supervision.
********
Due to a complete lack of any standards in our society, kids nowdays are under a smothering, constant supervision to protect them from all manner of violence and deviancies. The long term effect of this will be tragic as kids are no longer allowed the individual freedom to experience parts of life on their own and to develop a sense of self-confidence, independence and curiosity that comes from all those little experiences. We’re robbing kids of their childhood and when the reach adulthood, we’ll rob them of what little money they earn to pay off our obscene debt.


39 posted on 01/21/2013 8:57:35 AM PST by Starboard
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To: Kaslin

Pitting one color of skin against another.
Pitting the haves against the have nots.
Pitting homosexuality against heterosexuality.
Progressive income tax.
Political correctness.
Abortion.
Open borders.
Government corruption at ALL levels.

This list could go all day long.


40 posted on 01/21/2013 8:58:09 AM PST by unixfox (Abolish Slavery, Repeal The 16th Amendment!)
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