[joanie-f]

Pinging this to a small handful of remaining FReepers who I believe might share my view, to one degree or another.

[george76]

Ben Franklin roughly observed that : When the voters realize that they can vote themselves money and lots of benefits...they will.


Of course, old Ben said it better than me.

[metmom]

Hi joanie. Sadly, I agree with your analysis. You've just extrapolated what is already in the works.

When does the transition in the House and Senate occur? I know for the presidency, it's in Jan but I never really paid attention to our representatives.

[hellbender]

I think you are right. This is not just a cyclic off-season defeat. There are fewer conservatives than there used to be. They are not being replaced as fast as the old ones die off. Conservatism is based on ethics, honor, patriotism, and religion, all of which are systematically being sabotaged and subverted by the media (including Hollywood and the rest of pop entertainment) and the education establishment. The drastic loss of Republican strength in the mountain West and plains states, and in old Republican areas like northern New England and the Midwest, is the result of cultural decadence and (in the West) of massive invasion by third-world aliens, who will soon get full citizenship through amnesty. Most of the American people have been trained to think and react like sentimental children, not to be critical, mature, analytical and ethical. It's pretty much what happened to other great civilizations in the past.

[Czar]

"Prepare for a dramatic increase in the invasion of America by an irresponsible, parasitic, malevolent army which chooses to thumb its nose at the critical concepts of the rule of law/national sovereignty by illegally crossing our southern border with the over-riding purpose of reaping the benefits of two-plus centuries of courage, moral sacrifice, work, excellence, and unprecedented prosperity … without any intention of contributing their own. In the process, and under the governance of left-leaning American ‘leadership’, they will play an integral role in the realization of the socialization of America. Even worse, we will witness the complete erasure of our borders, and the establishment of a North American Union, in knee-jerk deference to the eventual vision of one-world governance, under which our Constitution will become increasingly ridiculed, mocked, and eventually declared entirely irrelevant, and the vagaries of Marxist/socialist-authored and implemented international law will take precedence."

This part of your essay, more so than the other excellent points you raise, is the one that needs to be shouted from the rooftops. To it, I would add only one more thought.

Our constituional right to have our vote count for something will be further diluted as that illegal alien invasion to which you refer reaches high tide. Already cheapened by several generations of anchor babies having attained voting age, our system of elections will continue to erode with the drip-drip-drip of illegal voting and manipulation of electronic voting systems until, finally, loyal American citizens recognize their votes have been rendered entirely meaningless.

What was it Claire Wolfe said about it being "too early to shoot the bastards"? Perhaps -- now, however, we are no longer "standing around numb and confused."

[tje]

bttt

[Two-Bits]

You have pretty much written what I have felt in my heart. The terrorists won last night, America lost. Amazing how blind those are that refuse to see.

[Eastbound]

Thanks for the ping, joanie-f. I don't think you overlooked anything. My projection is that unless some radical changes are made we will be living in a sustainable Mad Max-like environment in the not-too-distant future.

Sadly, I don't see any opportunity for change in direction by our current 'leaders' on either side of the fence for at least another six years. By then, it may be too late.

The North American Union may already be a done deal, as long as they have been working on it on the sly.

Amnesty for illegals also appears to be a done deal in the near future, now that the dems will be joining many republicans in passing the 'reform' they've always wanted.

On another front, I find it strange, if not ominous, that for the first time in American history, a person sharing the political-economic-religious beliefs of the very enemy we are currently at war with has become a member of Congress.

I have no immediate thoughts on how to remedy.

[Brad’s Gramma]

A sad BTTT....again, joanie, you've hit the nail(s) on the head...

[Humidston]

Joanie-f, please add my name to your "small handful of remaining FReepers who share your view." I'd be honored.

I've been at this for close to 50 years now, and I can't recall a time when I ever felt this frustrated.

Today our country is teetering on the brink and the pain I feel in my gut is excruciating. FR is my/our last refuge.

Eaker, thank you for the ping.

[B.O. Plenty]

This will be the logical outcome of our one man one vote "demoracy".

Consider this: Walter Williams has proposed that a citizen should receive one vote per $10,000 of taxes they pay; ie: If you pay $100,000 in taxes then you would get 10 votes, if you pay $10,000 then you get one vote, and finally if you pay nothing then you lose your vote. At any rate, anyone on any kind of welfare should have no vote, IMO.

This is most often attributed to Alexander F. Tytler:

"A Democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves largess out of the treasury with the result that democracies always collapse over a loose fiscal policy, always to be followed by a dictatorship."

So, my fellow Freepers, we are indeed in deep do do. I had to turn off the Hannity and Colmes tonight because Hannity was going to "shoot it out" with the major POS jesse jackson. I can't bring myself to listen to any liberals these days, since they look like the Star Wars bar scene when two or more of them get together. Hillary screeching, the greasy schumer, gravely voiced rangle, nostralitus, et al......all make my skin crawl.

[Mia T]

Wonderful, joanie.

 

 

Simply put, the future of our republic will lie in the willingness of her people to take the time, and expend the effort, to look beneath the surface. Believing the words from the mouth of a leader is a conscious choice that must be made by every concerned citizen. As with any choice, it cannot be made without critical thought. Believing their words was okay when our leaders in Washington were virtuous. It is a deadly practice when they are anything less.--joanie-f, The Day After

What you describe is the idealized solution. It has never happened in the real world, and I suspect it never will.

Because the Framers did not anticipate the demagogic efficiency of the electronic bully pulpit, they ruled out the possibility of the MTV mis-leader. In Federalist No. 64, John Jay said: "There is reason to presume" the president would fall only to those "who have become the most distinguished by their abilities and virtue." He imagined that the electorate would not "be deceived by those brilliant appearances of genius and patriotism which, like transient meteors, sometimes mislead as well as dazzle."

If yesterday's electoral debacle teaches us anything, it is this: If we are to retain our democracy in this age of the electronic demagogue (and terror), we cannot--we must not-- rely on the theoretical enlightenment of an increasingly disinformed, misinformed and uninformed electorate.

Your solution's underlying premise, (that we must remain in the system to save the system), is fallacious at best and tantamount to Lady Liberty lifting herself up by her own bootstraps.

"The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment." (R.M. Hutchins)

 

 

The Common Man

by Mia T

Balance is anathema to bill clinton.
bill clinton thrives on instability.
He gets off living on the edge.
Disequilibrium undergirds his every scheme:
An electorate distracted,
a balance of power fractured.

Filegate and The clinton Putsch,
committed in tandem,
the product of a careful criminal calculus,
at once empowered clinton
and disemboweled his opponents.
clinton was now free to betray with abandon
not only our trust,
but the Constitution as well.

As if threats of extortion and injustice were not enough,
clinton also embarked on a campaign to quash dissent
^__ "partisan, mean-spirited!" he said ^__
demonstrating once again his distaste for democracy
and his predilection for criminal overkill.

It's easy to see
how the common man in the 1990s
could imbibe such notions.
And the Zeitgeist emboldened the Philanderer-King.

Distrusting
the common man's essential wisdom,
the founding fathers appropriately distanced him
from the decision-making process.

But the founding fathers did not anticipate
electronic media or demographic science
which transmuted our democratic republic
into an illusory direct democracy,
into a de facto ^__ if indirect ^__ dictatorship.

By conservative estimate,
there is now enough fiberoptic cable
for the MTV tyrant to hang us all
(and to make it look like suicide).

 

 
It is natural for man to indulge in the illusions of hope.
We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth,
and listen to the song of that siren
till she transforms us into beasts.
Is this the part of wise men,
engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty?
Are we disposed to be the number of those
who, having eyes, see not,
and having ears, hear not,
the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation?
For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost,
I am willing to know the whole truth;
to know the worst, and to provide for it.
Patrick Henry
 


In a dark time, the eye begins to see.
Theodore Roethke
 

[SW6906]

BTTT

[ForGod'sSake]

Hi joanie; thanks for the ping. I have run out of superlatives to describe your work, so just let me add another -- well done. Since I can't add so much as a jot or tittle to improve on your amazing piece, I felt compelled to share with you an email I sent out some time ago to an acquaintance. Please feel free to add to or comment on my "random thoughts".


Hi again Bob,

Thanks for the "random thoughts". It's sometimes interesting to have a look at others' thoughts, especially ones who appear to be "thoughtful" individuals. You qualify.

I'll take a stab at a few of your random thoughts with a few of my own -- just for grins.

"Not even God was able to run the Garden of Eden with only two humans." If true, it is only a stone's throw to conclude that God cannot be "all-knowing", "all-powerful" and "all-caring".

In its simplest terms, God gave Man the freedom to choose between Him or the prospect of becoming as gods. We know how that worked out. Free agency, as you're probably aware, is the term most often applied to the concept. And while God has the ability, He could not give Man free will and also control him and his surroundings. Could God have removed all evils including temptation from the equation? Certainly, but then Man would not have been free. In essence, liberty is the greatest, and potentially worst gift He gave to Man.

I realize how difficult it is for anyone to believe how or why an all knowing, all powerful and all caring God could or would allow such atrocious behavior from his creation(That's all of us btw, some are just worse than others). I struggled with this very thing for years myself, in particular how He could allow abuse of innocent children. I had decided if there was a God, he would not allow this particularly egregious behavior; ergo, there probably was no God.

For whatever reasons, some years ago He allowed me a tiny peek into what He's about. The closest I can come to describing this revelation is Saul's/Paul's "road to Damascus" experience. To say I was awestruck doesn't even come close. There are actually no words I've ever found available to describe it. However, I became aware of so many things in a matter of what could have not been more than a few seconds. The thought entered my mind during these few seconds or so that I might not survive the sensory overload, such was the amount of information being transferred. Just to give you an idea, I wrote 12 pages in a spiral notebook with side notes all over the place of items I would try to fill in later. I was able later to only recover a fraction of the information from my side notes, which BTW were mostly in the form of questions. About 15 pages altogether -- all from several seconds(maybe less; I'm not sure); from a snapshot if you will, of what He's about.

I know this, there is a power in and of the universe(not my words) which we cannot begin to comprehend. He is everything He says He is and He knows what He's doing. He loves us, His creation, more than we can even fathom. He is powerful beyond words; omnipotent doesn't describe it. Did He create the universe and all that's in it? The Bible says He did, I know He could have, with only a thought.

Given this information, I can no longer question His actions, or more accurately, His inaction. You've doubtless heard the expression, "God is in Heaven and all is right in the world"? I believe a more accurate turn would be, "God is in Heaven and all is as He said it would be". That is to say, when Man chooses his own paths, things may go well -- for a while. Considering God's timeline, a few hundred years is but a breath to Him; He will give us some time to get it right -- but not forever. When He gives up on this bunch(as He knows He will), He will salvage a remnant and start over. I daresay Man will never learn, but then what would you have God do? Without His complete knowledge, we have no way of answering that.

As our nation moves away from God we can expect things to begin unraveling. If we as a nation are unable or unwilling to follow His lead and His commandments, our fate is sealed IMHO. Any efforts that don't include His wisdom and guidance are destined to fail. I've probably said it before but we can't defeat the evil in our midst on our own; the recruiting of [-] notwithstanding IMHO. You're probably familiar with this passage:

Ephesians 6:12
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

I believe the passage is prophetic. How do we fight this force on our own? I say we likely can't, but that doesn't necessarily mean we do nothing. We have got to request the assistance of the only one that probably can help at this point. If we ask for His guidance we may stand a chance. We're running out of options don't you think?

Regards,

[Guenevere]

I don't know if you saw this....I just saw it today.

Especially check out post #179....

[SuperLuminal]

BTTT