Posted on 06/08/2007 2:59:53 PM PDT by joanie-f
I remember the gloom and doom prognistications in 1980 when in stepped a man named Ronald Reagan who told us our BEST times were AHEAD of us.
Yeah, well they were saying about the same thing in 1930 in the middle of the Great Depression. Also around 1968. Also around 1861. Oh, and 1980 too. Plus lets not forget the Panic of 1893. And the 1896 election. Oh and the aftermath of the 1876 contested election. Etc., etc.. The common thread among all was how UNIQUE our was the "dire threat" of our particular time.
If you really think those years that you mentioned were as dangerous and corrupt as this one your vision isn’t anywhere near 20/20. Ridiculous.
Ping to possibly the best vanity I’ve ever read in my 8 years on FR.
Yeah, silly of me to think a Civil War in America was worse than our current times. My "apologies."
Although it was a black era, we survived the civil war.
These gloom and doom End of Times threads are tedious. Also they lack much in the way of historical perspective. Didn't like my Civil War comparison? Okay, in the Great Depression there was massive unemployment and many people didn't know where their next meal was coming from. Banks had to close and there was massive migrations (Okies) in search of work. But lets forget all that inconvenient history and narcissistally claim that we are SPECIAL and this is truly the WORST of times (note: in early autumn 1781 it appeared the American Revolution was a hopeless cause and we would cease as a independent nation). And I won't even go into the Whiskey Rebellion when things appeared so dire at the time that PRESIDENT George Washington had to personally lead the army to supress that uprising.
CLUCK! CLUCK! THE SKY IS FALLING!!! THE SKY IS FALLING!!! CLUCK! CLUCK!
And oh, by the way, they flew three commercial airliners into American building a couple of years ago.
And many of our leaders in DC, including the probable Democratic nominee, are soft-pedaling the threat they pose to us.
Compare that threat to any of the ones you believe are equivalent.
You've resorted to ridicule. One of my cardinal rules is to bow out of "debate" at that point. So long.
Not a very strong religion supported by deep beliefs. Before those 9-11 hijackers flew into the towers, they blew their chances for 40 virgins in paradise by going to Vegas strip clubs for lap dances. The fact is that there is actually LITTLE real belief in Islam since almost every Muslim I see in America head straight for the bars, especially the Saudis. I once knew an Iranian Muslim guy named Hassan who told me to call him "Steve" since that was his nightclub name. I eventually asked him if most folks from his part of the world actually believed in the crap they were spouting and he just smiled since it was obvious he thought it was BS.
You want a religion that really did have fanatic believers? Shintoism. It was what made the Pacific war so bloody since the Japanese truly believed they were dying for their emperor. Even Osama Bin Laden dressed like a rich yuppie in Britain and called himself "Sammie" until he cyncially positioned himself as some sort of religious warrior.
Sorry, I just don't believe we are somehow in the most UNIQUE of times leading to doom and gloom. Just the year 1968 alone appeared more dire than now with the Tet offensive, Khe Sanh, street riots, assassinations, etc..
Sorry to disturb the D&G fantasy here.
I plead GUILTY! Since pointing out the obviously ridiculous could be classified as ridicule.
Joanie also is involved and fighting for her country. She is involved locally, and she is involved with others as events arise ona more regional and even national basis trying to make a difference even as she does toll the bell.
She has every right to raise the warning voce and I am glad she does. One price of keeping our liberty and avoiding the worst scenarios is to be eternally vigilant...and Joanie is.
Now, I also believe, like you, that this nation has faced very difficult times in the past and has ultimately found the will and fortitude to overcome it...mainly be being faithful to the foundational principles upon which our liberties and way of life were founded and then fighting with a passion to preserve them.
There are ample seeds of that all around us today. Indeed, it is also a long tradition in our nation dating back to the Revolutionary War, when things also looked so dire...then they crossed the Delaware. That is the type of thing I meant from my post #148:
Despite the painful and distressing events of the day. Despite politicians who are blatantly leading our nation to destruction. Despite so many of our own people who have become hooked on entitlements, who are so eager to get what they can from their hard working neighbors and countrymen...despite so many who have been educated to hate our nation and what it stands for...still there is reason to hope.
In the 1980s, most thought that we were on the brink...and under Carter we were.
But then a miracle occurred. In the midst of the dominance of the democratic party in the political areana...in the midst of the push for cultural, sexualy, moral, and foreign policy malais...Ronald Regan came on the scene. And the people elected and chose him overwhelmingly...and time was purchased, a measure of our greatness was retained and we moved on.
Although he has failed in so many critical areas...in 2000 and in 2004, at a time when again the forces of abject betrayal and treachory are working from within to destroy us...this nation picked Bush over Gore and then over Kerry. it was a near thing...and with either of those two things would have gotten much worse, quicker. But the people came out in record numbers and voted...and it was based on most of the same issues we are hearing belabored this time around again.
Then we have this immigration bill fiasco. Clearly a quick and direct ticket to ending our soveriegnty and continuing the push for a borderless, stateless North American Union...and a stab in the heart at our culture and way of life. Again we see the American people rising up and making a difference. Make no mistake, the votes this week are a result of millions and millions of direct phone calls, in person visits, emails, letters, and faxes.
With these types of things going on at the same time we so much else depressing...I say there is reason to hope. There is a vast segment of our population that can and will act. They have proven it over and over again. Sometimes it takes longer than we hope...many times much ground is lost between. But the power is out there to make the difference.
As I said, we have a long trradition in this nation of rising up at the critical hour...I believe with what I have seen of the people around this country, that we will do so this time too.
OBTW, the number of dead Americans (because I include the southerners in that number too) was closer to a million in the civil war. More than all of our other wars combined...and in four years.
BTT
bttt
Well, my point is that there were plenty of eras WORSE than the current one in American history. Just the Great Depression alone was MUCH WORSE than now. Widespread unemployment, people on breadlines, other people riding the rails like hobos, Okies desperately looking for work just to pick oranges in California, communist unrest. Sorry, but I think just the OPPOSITE. We actually live in quite good times. Technology is improving our lifestyles at a very rapid pace. Al-Qaeda is being slaughtered in Iraq. And, most importantly, the dopey use of corn for fuel is forcing many food companies to substitute sugar for that horrible corn syrup.
My apologies about the Civil War statement... I said "dead" American for the Cvil War...and what I really was talking about was casualties. Big difference. Sorry for the fopah.
Generally, 620,000 combat casualties are accepted (some say a little higher,, others a little less). Butthere were also several hundred thousand civilian, and non-combat (ie. in prisons) casualties.
You are forgiven, my son. Now go and sin some more.
It has always, to one degree or another, been thus.
Surrealism was most anarchically powerful when a historical view of the scenery was replaced with a political view.
We don’t live in perfect times but this is definitely one of the BEST of times. A lot of this can be attributed to technology. Thanx to the internet, we now have the free flow of information that was unthinkable just a few years ago.
Difficult times...but lots of hope at the same time. The people are making their voices more and more heard on this immigration issue. Despite all the media, the liberals, the RINOs, the extremists groups like La Raza...and unfortunately the support of the President, the people are making their voice heard above all that clamor and many of the political whores are hearing it and fearing for their political hides.
That's good...now we just need to get the people to vote accordingly and get rid of these whores and get some real statesmen in there who will work for America as opposed to themselves.
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