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
~ joanie
I thought tonight’s summit on Service settled the issue. All we need is more Serfdom, er, Service, and everything’ll be alright.
How come the networks never air summits on how government service makes things worse? How come evertything that features politicians gets media coverage. Wait, before you answer that the media is the government’s watchdog, remember, press coverage only lends them legitimacy. I want to live in a world where people realize that the world is moved by an extended order of unconscious cooperation, and that all the government does is step in at the end of the process and move around the pieces.
Well done.
The Roman Empire subsisted for four centuries on bread and circuses. It looks like our leaders are following their model.
America seems to have peaked some time between 1965 when Johnson debased the coinage and sought to make government dependents of the poor, and 1970 when Nixon canceled the Apollo program and adopted a strategy of deceit and defeat in Indochina.
Leaders since then have tried, sometimes heroically, to arrest the decline but the institutional rot has set in and I can find no historical precedent for reversing the trend.
Excellent, Joanie! You make some very valid points that I hadn’t considered, and some that have angered us conservatives for years. Thanks for the ping.
Instead, I get the impression that a candidate many found to be an honorable serviceman turned politician and thought by a significant proportion of the Conservative electorate to be only palatable in light of the Socialist alternative has dropped off the radar.
He is conveniently upstaged, as is his position on Amnesty, the First Amendment, and a host of other issues which rendered him far less than desireable were there a viable alternative.
We know she is pro-gun, but where does he stand, exactly, even as judges are parsing Heller to uphold virtually any restriction on a right which "shall not be infringed".
Multiply the vagueness surrounding the nominee by the number of issues and you have what we are not hearing about from the candidate.
The tabloid atmosphere surrounding the election further promotes the disappearance from discussion of the very liberal policy history of the more Conservative of the major party candidates--not to mention any but the most vague references to his opponent's specific stance on any issues but 'hope and change'.
This seems like lean fare upon which to make an informed decision, and is made worse by the outrageous distortions of the media when some matter of substance leaks through the fluff and nonsense they publish.
Add in an electorate either virulently partisan or too distracted to be paying any more attention than they must, and it is likely that the next 'leader of the free world' will be decided by people who will figure out who they will vote for by counting road signs on the way to the polls.
I'm afraid that one of the most important issues, a crisis even, is the ignorance of the foundations of this nation. It is difficult to have a serious political discourse in this nation when 90% of the electorate don't really have a clue as to what the founders intended.
It would be nice if important issues were addressed during an election but it's really not the time for education. Both sides are intent on winning and victory will go to the one who fights hardest, smartest and best. But the fight has to be waged on the ground we find ourselves on.
The left has fought hard to pull all discourse onto this "bread and circuses" field of battle. Sure, Republicans have gladly played the cheap and dirty game too but don't kid yourself. The left has to drag things away from real issues and into platitudes and scandals because their agenda is to do away with the republic for which we stand.
I'm not saying you are wrong. You are exactly right and, as usual, you hit all the points with precision and eloquence. I don't even like McCain enough to root for him but this 0bama turd needs to be sent back to his jr. seat in the Senate.
On that score I have to give John McCain props for running a winning campaign that started from behind. Right now at least I think he's demonstrating an ability to lead and command. He is taking the Chosen One apart very skillfully. First he had to deal with the Plastic Fantastic media construction of a candidate that 0bama was. McCain has done that. Perhaps now he can force 0bama to fight on his ground. A more serious ground. Sarah Palin sure laid out the geography of the battle field.
That's my two cents.
Maybe I can get some sleep now. In fact, I've all of a sudden gotten really sleepy so I'll just make a quick point and run on. I would REALLY appreciate you putting your considerable writing talents to a "states' rights" piece. Nothing will change in D.C. until we wrest the power away from them and somehow get it back in the states where it belongs.
Goodnight, er, good morning...
Your entire post is very well conceived and expressed, and there's not a word with which I disagree.
I am far from pleased with the man at the top of the ticket, primarily because I vehemently disagree with the theory behind, and the ramifications of, McCain-Feingold, and because of his stance on illegal immigration/amnesty -- but also because his views on so many other important issues (chief among them, the right to keep and bear arms and the pseudo-need to address global warming) are troubling or unclear.
As for your comment above, that is precisely why the 'get out the vote' campaigns are appalling. If a citizen needs to be prodded to go to the voting booth, then perhaps he shouldn't be voting at all.
~ joanie
What I want to know is how did the arch weasle John McLaim become the "conservative" candidate for President.. instead of the obvious conservatives.. I have been clapping and clapping for Sara Palin the last few days.. until it dawned on me that I've been slipped a "mickey".. I've been BRAIN WASHED... Just like with voting first for the idiot George Bush against the cretin Al Gore then to top that off I voted for the known idiot George Bush over an obvious traitor and lying sack of you know what AGAIN.. And NOW I'am willing to vote for the arch weasle John McLaim over another empty suit masquerading as KingFish from Amos n' Andy..
(looking into the mirror.. I don't look right)..
To self: I may be drugged or brain washed.. I never was too smart... Heck I voted for George Bush twice his father a few times and even his brother when I lived in Florida.. Who chooses the opponents for these liberal republican candidates anyway?.. I know.. maybe I'm a SHeeple... thats it.. I'm a sheeple.. And have the "bleating" government I deserve..
I love well-placed sarcasm. :)
I watched the 'summit' tonight, until I heard Barack Obama begin talking about his plans to have 'government work in conjuction with' the people of America in order to provide for the less fortunate. Anyone with half a brain knows that that altruistic phrasing simply justifies the continuing incremental imposition of his socialist utopia.
'Government working in conjunction with the people' simply boils down to income redistribution at the point of a gun.
You may already be familiar with it, but Davey Crockett (of all people), delivered a stirring speech on the floor of the House regarding Congress' usurpation of power in that regard. Even though the speech was delivered nearly two hundred years ago, I've yet to read a more accurate, hard-hitting analysis of the subject.
Thanks for the excellent insights.
~ joanie
Decent points.
And, I’d be disappointed to see our side err tooooo much with such stuff.
On the other hand, some folks don’t even wake-up, much less pay attention until one speaks their language.
Not that THAT should excuse wholesale stooping to their level.
Certainly there are dozens and dozens of hugely important crises here and looming which the globalists are very skillful at distracting from with the bread, brainwashing and circuses routines.
I suspect you're familiar with the eighteenth-century historian, Alexander Tytler's, description of the inevitable, self-destructive cyle of all the world's democracies (not that we are one, mind you, but we're close enough):
As I see it, we're sitting at the penultimate stage. And, as you say, it's the historical inevitability of it all that's so maddening.
~ joanie
Thanks for the kind words, MM. :)
Beautifully said!
Whenever a friend tells me that he believes 'the American people' will rise up in defiance when the enemies of liberty cross the final line, I am forced to remind him that 'the American people' aren't what they used to be, as a result of your observation above.
For fifty years our public education system has been incrementally hijacked by left-leaning ideologues, with the result being that American history, if taught at all, is assuming an increasingly revisionist bent.
Each succeeding generation of American youth knows less and less about their noble roots, or has been indoctrinated with anti-American lies.
Adding to that the fact that we continue to allow the invasion of illegal immigration that is pouring across our southern border -- people who either bear no allegiance to this country, or, worse yet, seek its destruction -- and the percentage of the population that knows from whence we came is decreasing with every passing day.
As our liberties continue to be stolen from us, each succeeding generation sees government intrusion as a fact of life. You can't mourn the loss of something you never knew.
~ joanie
God's blessings to you and yours ...
~ joanie
I wrote the following on another thread recently, as to how I am able to justify supporting the Republican ticket:
We may well be in for a tragic four years no matter who wins this election, unless McCain recognizes that it was the genuine gun-toting, church-going heart of the republican party that put him into office ... and that he owes them ... and that he had better make a sharp right turn if he expects not to lose their support during his term in office.
He did, after all, select one of them as his running mate. Neither you nor I is fool enough to believe he did that because he and Palin are kindred spirits/ideological soul-mates. He did that because he knew he couldn’t win without us. And he must know he will lose us, once again, if he returns to RINO business as usual.
At the same time, I am not, and never have been, a Pollyanna. If I were taking bets, I’d bet that Sarah Palin will wield only as much power in a McCain administration as she is able to demand. Significant power will not be delegated to her, but neither is she one who will be content with thumb-twiddling. And I’d also be willing to bet that, should McCain win, November 5th will not mark a right turn of any significance in his ideology.
With that said ...
As I see it we are faced with the election of Obama/Biden, which might well spell the end of freedom and sovereignty in America. It won’t take more than four years for that to occur under O/B.
Or we are faced with the election of McCain/Palin. That eventuality is entirely different than the election of McCain/AnyoneElse might have been.
As I have written on my blog countless times, I probably would have stayed home, or written in the name of Ronald Reagan in protest, on November 4th had I been faced with an Obama/Biden vs. McCain/AnyoneElse choice.
But what a difference two weeks can make.
Palin is a staunch right-wing ideologue. And an activist staunch right-wing ideologue – not simply a pundit/philosopher/orator. She has an extensive (considering the amount of time she has held office) list of resounding successes to show for her conservative activism. She’s a dying breed, for sure.
She will not allow herself to be a passive vice president. And she will make noise if she is ordered to assume that posture. And she will have every right to do so, because she will have played a pivotal (vast understatement) role in the election of John McCain.
John McCain is seventy-two years old. Sarah Palin is forty-four.
This no longer boils down to the quadrennial ‘voting for the lesser of two evils’ conundrum, which I have vowed never to be a party to again. For the first time in twenty-four years, we have a genuine conservative on the ballot. No, she is not in the top spot. But she is there. The Republican ticket contains a fighter who is willing ... in fact determined ... to reclaim America’s status as a ‘shining city on a hill’. And, no matter the odds against her succeeding, I’ll be damned if I won’t do everything within my power to provide her a chance to do so!
If she fails ... if she is prevented from making a difference ... it won’t be because I wasn’t willing to afford her the opportunity ... what I see as the last opportunity for a genuine conservative to reverse the course of our suicidal journey into oblivion.
~ joanie
Many of my conservative friends have said the same thing.
I do agree, to a point. But, if we resort to 'speaking their language', we're altering the playing field to their advantage. The left will always win a battle in which superficiality and deception are the weapons. We just don't have it in us to trump them in that regard.
I don't believe it's ever advantageous to give up the moral high ground, especially when confronting people who are longstanding experts at low-ground tactics.
~ joanie
Mostly agree about the moral high ground.
Just maybe not 100% in every case.
I think a lot of stuff is silly spoof level stuff.
Tossing some of that back and forth doesn’t compromise any moral high ground, to me.
But the line is thin in many places! LOL.
Thx.
Thanks for the ping.
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