Posted on 09/11/2008 10:57:32 PM PDT by joanie-f
Most conservatives decry the ‘bread and circuses’ atmosphere of modern politics, principally because the consistent focus on meaningless pursuits takes the citizens’ focus away from the important issues … even crises … that must be considered, and faced, if we are to remain a free society.
Our Founders continually warned that liberty, and the republican form of government that is best suited to ensure it, can only be maintained through an informed citizenry.
Wisdom and knowledge, as well as virtue, diffused generally among the body of the people, are necessary for the preservation of their rights and liberties.
Many of us consider the ‘bread and circuses’ nature of modern American society to be most frequently exhibited in our adulation of the Hollywood crowd, professional sports figures, and reality programming, the accumulation of creature comforts, the me-oriented nature of the citizenry, the need to ‘be entertained’, etc. … with an incremental de-emphasis on genuine heroes, the importance of personal character and responsibility, and a sense of civic duty ... which includes being educated about our history, and concerned about our future as a free society.
I completely agree that all of the above trends have increased in intensity over the past fifty years, and that, if they continue to gain momentum, our very lives, liberties and sovereignty as a nation are in grave danger.
A sub-level of this toxic trend has become glaringly apparent over the past few weeks of the election campaign.
Our republic is facing potentially deadly crises the likes of which there is no historical precedent:
... and on and on, ad infinitum ...
One would think that, with one of the (if not the) most crucial presidential elections in the history of our republic approaching in fewer than eight weeks, the crises mentioned above would be foremost on the minds of every American who intends to step into the voting booth on November 4th. And, even more importantly, one would think that the American media (the self-appointed purveyors of information and education) would be hard at work seeking, and reporting, the candidates’ opinions on, and proposed solutions to, all of the above.
Yet what do we predominantly see and hear in all of our media outlets? What are we being subliminally told is of utmost importance in this crucial election?
Many of my conservative friends, all of whom are true patriots, have voiced the opinion over the past few days that they are glad Barack Obama and the left are ‘getting a taste of their own medicine’ via the production of the new RNC ad that plays off of Obama’s lipstick/pig gaffe, and they are pleased with all of the attention his gaffe, whether innocent or purposeful, is receiving.
I could not possibly disagree more vehemently.
By producing such an ad, and even debating Obama’s intent – indeed, by even giving credence to this story – conservatives are accomplishing three fatal outcomes:
(1) they are legitimizing the bread and circus atmosphere in this election process
(2) they are stealing a worthless page out of the left’s playbook
(3) they are spending major campaign funds on nonsense advertising that would be better spent educating the public about issues of critical importance to our republic
On my list of 'Things I Want the Voting Public to Know about Barack Obama That the Media Aren't Reporting', there are 8,563 items ahead of the fact that he may (or may not) have referred to his opponent as a pig.
I think the McCain campaign, and the RNC, should be telling us about those 8,563 things in their campaign ads, and leave the lipstick remark to those who believe it has some importance in the grand scheme of things. The fact that they have wasted the donations of loyal Republicans on such nonsense is infuriating to me.
The media, academia, and the political left profit from such abject stupidity. It allows them to fill the airwaves with such drivel, and to scrupulously avoid discussion of Barack Obama’s dark, longstanding connections to anti-American zealots and his agenda to impose his Marxist/black separatist ideology on a populace that has been programmed to be preoccupied with ‘looking the other way’.
Half of the American electorate is ready to put such a man in the White House. And I believe that ninety percent of that group possesses no real knowledge of his infamous background or his ultra-left-leaning agenda.
Why have so many of our countrymen fallen into such an ignorant stupor? Because, for fifty years, we have allowed the leftists in the media, our institutions of ‘higher education’, and Hollywood to incrementally turn our focus away from the enemy within ... and toward tattletale pranks and kindergarten pursuits.
I don't give a rat's patoot what derogatory label one candidate may affix to another. What I do care about is whether that candidate intends to dismantle the noble foundations upon which my country was built.
And the media be damned.
We're going to pay a terrible price for allowing ourselves to be so pliant in the hands of those who most certainly do not have our best interests at heart.
~ joanie
Eh, bzzzt, no I didn't. You cornered me into giving my opinion of McCain. I studiously avoided that until you badgered me into giving it. Your reasoning skills are sad. Very sad.
He is for amnesty, McCain-Faingold, talks and laughs to himself, and needs Joe Lieberman to whisper answers to him. Now he hides behind Sarah. As for pro-life, he is all over the map.
One step at a time.
The first thing we need to do is reverse Roe v. Wade. That was the decision that led to tens of millions of abortions. It was not only morally wrong from a Christian perspective, or even a human perspective. It was also an act of judicial tyranny that was basically unconstitutional.
Then we are back to the states. MOST states will be opposed to abortion on demand. A few—New York, California—may go the other way. Then we can fight the good fight on the state level.
You can also argue that the real meaning of the word “person” in the Constitution means that abortion is just plain unconstitutional. But first we need to reverse Roe, then we can pursue the fight further.
We also need to start appointing decent judges. That is only going to happen under a Republican administration led by people like George W. Bush or Sarah Palin—or, we can hope, John McCain.
It is a multi-pronged problem, and we should not neglect any avenues that will lead to better results in the future.
I want abortion banned at the FEDERAL LEVEL.
Stack the U.S.S.C. right. retry Roe/Wade and make it illegal throughout the U.S.. You will never get all the states to go along with banning abortion at the State level and it would take forever to try.
The more abortion becomes a “local” and “state” issue, the more it comes under the direct influence of local, highly motivated and politically active defenders of human life.
The radical Left is well aware of this. They deplore it; for it “devolves” power away from “the federal authority,” which is now largely in the hands of ideological elites, back to the people. Which entails greater human liberty and personal responsibility. And that sort of thing cuts against the very grain of the entire radical Left agenda.
Bears consistent, drumbeat repeating.
Thank you, betty, for your always fact-based, intelligent, well-reasoned commentary.
~ joanie
“Eh, bzzzt, no I didn’t”
Yeah ya did.
“You cornered me into giving my opinion of McCain”
I have such power.
“Your reasoning skills are sad. Very sad.”
LOL, that from one who rails against the pro-life candidate.
In what post?
So who are you voting for? Keyes? Paul? Obama?
See 195, or is that not your post?
That was a reply to your persistent questioning wasn’t it? IOWs I did avoid giving that opinion but you insisted on it. And you got it. Take responsibility for your own actions. You are the one insisting on making McCain’s qualifications a matter of debate on this thread.
"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect."
The fact that we, in our fallen state, struggle mightily against such a seemingly impossible standard, does not change the fact that it IS the standard set by our Lord and Savior.
Sounds like a workable plan to me Cicero!
But it seems to assume that Obama will not be the next president of the United States, with a compliant (Democrat) Congress at his beck and call. Just think about the sort of federal judges he would appoint (and the Senate confirm), including to the highest Court in the land — which is the only Court that can overturn Roe v. Wade. 'Nuff said.
Wake up America!!! Then hold your nose if you have to; but support McCain/Palin on Nov. 4th!
Thank you so much for writing!
Thank you so very much joanie for your kind words!
Ah. You start with a false premise. In no way "must" I do any such thing. (What do you do if two of your prospective employees are found to have aided and abetted in murder, but that there was a third available who was eminently qualified who had never done any such thing?)
We have, at some personal sacrifice, (including having to endure the kind of scorn you can see exhibited on this thread), made sure that the people of more than thirty-five states will have the opportunity to choose a good candidate who doesn't compromise on our foundational American principles of the protection of innocent human life.
Yours is one. All you have to do is write in "A-L-A-N-K-E-Y-E-S" and your vote will be counted.
You can't rightfully claim that McCain and Obama are your only two choices. We've made sure of that.
I guess we don’t have any ‘specialists’ on this thread today. That’s my way of saying, “I do not know the answer to that question.”
The fact that we, in our fallen state, struggle mightily against such a seemingly impossible standard, does not change the fact that it IS the standard set by our Lord and Savior.
For whom have you voted for President since you were eligible to vote? Did they all walk on water?
The first thing you MUST do is establish the principles. Then, no matter the political lay of the land, you cannot sacrifice those principles.
Otherwise, you end up where we are now. Every time.
The false idea that this is a problem only of the courts has run its inevitable course. We will not stop abortion in America until every single officer of the United States is held to the standard of their sworn oath to the Constitution, which clearly protects innocent human life.
But again, no state or individual has a right to alienate what is unalienable.
No. I was answering a specific question from my friend about what the true standard is.
Then why did you settled for "sub-standard" then, and you are not willing to settle for "sub-standard" now, when the stakes are higher than they have ever been, and the alternative is unthinkable?
I’ll address the rest of your post by simply pointing out that John McCain is horrible not just in the area of defending the unalienable right to life, he is horrid on practically everything else.
As always, life is the best litmus test of all. If a politician gets that one wrong, you can be sure they don’t have the moral courage, brainpower or understanding to figure out the rest of it and consistently fight for what’s right.
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