Posted on 04/23/2013 5:41:44 AM PDT by SJackson
There was a recent study of the 50 states that determined that the five freest were North and South Dakota, Tennessee, New Hampshire and Oklahoma; the least free were Rhode Island, Hawaii, New Jersey, California and New York.
The results shouldn’t be too surprising. The freest, after all, tend to be more conservative, the least free are all liberal. That stands to reason when you see how much leftists relish bureaucratic regulations and regularly elect nannies such as California’s Jerry Brown and New York’s Andrew Cuomo and Michael Bloomberg.
It occurred to me that even though I don’t watch Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel and David Letterman, I don’t read the trashy magazines or tune in to “The View” or Ellen DeGeneres, I am all too aware of people like Paris Hilton, Justin Bieber, Lindsay Lohan, Madonna and the 4,000 women known collectively as the Kardashians. It’s as if all this vile protoplasm were floating in the air, and no matter how hard you try, you can’t avoid sucking them in like human smog.
In the old days, movie stars and singers hired publicity agents. They paid good money to get their names and pictures in the press in order to promote their careers and enhance their images. Thus, nymphos, drunks and drug addicts, would be sold to the gullible public as if the next logical step in their lives wouldn’t be Oscars and hit records, but canonization as saints.
One of the few celebrities who was an exception was Frank Sinatra, who paid an expensive flack to keep his name out of the press. Even a guy who liked to play up his connection to Mafia dons didn’t want it to be headline fodder every time he sucker-punched some shrimp or had his thuggish bodyguards put some guy in the hospital.
But how the times have changed! Now every two-bit schnook can’t wait to go on TV and confess all. Instead of seeking atonement through private confession to a priest, these bottom-feeders seek out one of those aging sob sisters, like Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer or Oprah Winfrey, while 500 pinheads in the studio audience mindlessly applaud, and the viler the confessions, the louder the applause.
Whenever I see someone like Bill O’Reilly get dewy-eyed over Abe Lincoln, I wonder why. I know the 16th president has been passed down to us as a humble log-splitter who was killed during a valiant attempt to end slavery. But that doesn’t quite mesh with the fact that he only freed the slaves in the Confederacy, not those in the Union states. I also know that he didn’t care for black people and urged the freed ones to self-deport to Liberia.
On top of all that, although his fable tells of his walking five miles in the snow to school and five miles home, uphill in both directions, and being a poor, but honest, lawyer, he was in fact constantly running for one political office or another. In the meantime, he served as a very wealthy mouthpiece for the railroad barons, who, in turn, financed his successful run for the presidency.
Then there was also the blatant hypocrisy of his “malice toward none, with charity to all” malarkey, while constantly urging his generals to wage bloody havoc on women and children, burning down homes and farms, all the while waging a war that left 620,000 Americans dead. What’s worse, his overriding motive was to make it possible for the North to continue punishing the South with tariffs that protected the producers of steel and textiles, while ruining those who raised and exported cotton and other farm products.
To me, the greatest of our presidents was without question George Washington. Not only had he commanded the Army that defeated the mighty English forces, but he both rejected the crown and was probably the last president who couldn’t wait to leave the presidency and return home.
George (“First in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen”) Washington was to American politics what Babe Ruth was to baseball. Ruth, while with the Boston Red Sox, was one of the greatest pitchers in the game. Then he went to the New York Yankees and became the game’s all-time greatest hitter.
One of the worst results of the Lincoln fable was that, to this day, politicians never stop bragging about how poor they started out. Did even a single day go by in 2012 when Joe Biden or Rick Santorum didn’t remind us of their humble origins? But neither, you may have noticed, bothered mentioning how wealthy they had become in the guise of being public servants.
Another subject of popular fairy tales are Indians, or Native Americans, as they’re referred to in certain effete circles. Although there were some peaceful tribes back in the day, don’t believe anyone who tells you that it was white men who introduced torture and genocide to the noble savages. Many of them even engaged in cannibalism.
These days, they have added something new and shameful to their resume. It’s called disenrollment. That is a process whereby tribal leaders get to decide who does and who doesn’t have a legitimate claim to tribal identity. This outrageous activity owes its origin to the success of Indian casinos.
The way it works is that the fewer members of the tribe, the bigger the payouts to those who survive these purges. What’s more, because the tribal leaders get to make these decisions unilaterally, there can be no appeal to state or federal courts. I guess some people would take heart from the fact that in this way, at least, the Indians have finally learned the ways of the white man.
Finally, although Bob Beckel, who, for some unfathomable reason has become the darling of Fox News, should be commended for being a recovering alcoholic, I have to confess that every time I see him blathering away on “The Five” or “The Factor,” I feel as if I’m being driven to drink.
Another semi-ignorant writer who does not have a clue what the Emancipation Proclamation was and why Lincoln could not have used it to free slaves in the Union states.
And further, the movie Lincoln was not about the Emancipation Proclamation but instead about Lincoln's efforts to see the 13th Amendment through Congress, which ended slavery in the US.
I like this:
"Did even a single day go by in 2012 when Joe Biden or Rick Santorum didn’t remind us of their humble origins? But neither, you may have noticed, bothered mentioning how wealthy they had become in the guise of being public servants."And this:
"don’t believe anyone who tells you that it was white men who introduced torture and genocide to the noble savages. Many of them even engaged in cannibalism."All of which is true, of course, but contrary to the fictional popular narrative which millions of Americans, apparently, adore.
On the other hand, what's shameful about disenrollment? Who does Prelutsky think should decide who has a legitimate claim to tribal identity and membership? Prelutsky?
The tribe itself or the tribal leaders have every right to decide tribal membership.
Prelutsky:So what? Maybe Prelutsky thinks Big Brother in Washington should make the decisions."These days, they have added something new and shameful to their resume. It’s called disenrollment. That is a process whereby tribal leaders get to decide who does and who doesn’t have a legitimate claim to tribal identity. This outrageous activity owes its origin to the success of Indian casinos."
Rodney Dangerfield: “Frank Sinatra saved my life once. Some goons were beating me up and Frankie came up and told them, “Okay, you can stop now.”
Utter waste of bandwidth other than for the gratuitous slam against Lincoln. Good to know where folks’s priorities lie...
Sounds like Bernie Goldberg has been drinking at the Tommy DiLorenzo fountain of BS.
While it is full of misrepresentations, one bit of analysis demonstrates the doublethink that the Lincoln hater needs to use in order to stick to his convictions.
He must believe that Lincoln despised the Constitution and was willing to use any excuse to blatantly violate it.
Yet he must simultaneously believe that Lincoln was such a stickler for the Constitution that he structured the Emancipation Proclamation to free only those slaves that he believed he had the Constitutional authorization to free.
This is the intellectual quality of the Lincoln hater.
Ya know, I got so tired of this endlessly repeated and idiotic meme I put together a timeline of emancipation under Lincoln's presidency. It shows it was a continuous process completed in just a little more than 4 years. Not bad for freeing 4M people and destroying $4B worth of property value.
1861
May General Butler refuses to return three slaves being used to build CSA fortifications to their owner. Concept of “contraband of war” invented.
August Confiscation Act of 1861 declares that any property, including slaves, used by CSA could be confiscated by military action.
September “Contrabands” employed by US Army and Navy paid wages, in addition to rations
November Nathaniel Gordon convicted and sentenced to death in NYC for slave trading (classified as piracy)
1862
February Nathaniel Gordon executed
March Washington, DC slaves freed by Congress, with partial compensation to owners
Return of escaped slaves to their owners by army officers prohibited by Congress. Even slaves escaped from Unionist owners.
April Congress offers compensation to any state that emancipates
May Lincoln publicly entreats the border states to free their slaves
Slavery prohibited in all territories
July Lincoln appeals again to the border states
Militia Act of 1862 frees slaves who enlist in US military, their mothers, wives and children. Initially applies only to slaves from disloyal states or owners.
Second Confiscation Act provides for enticing slaves to leave owners in slave states, thereby becoming free. Authorizes President to issue Emancipation Proclamation as exercise of war powers.
September Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation
November Attorney General Bates issues ruling that free blacks are US citizens. Opens door to slaves of loyal states and owners freeing themselves, their mothers, wives and children by enlisting in US military.
1863
January Final Emancipation Proclamation issued
July WV slaves freed by state action
1864
January 13th Amendment introduced
March AR slaves freed by (puppet government) state action
April 13th Amendment passes Senate
June Congress repeals Fugitive Slave Law
September LA slaves freed by (puppet government) state action
November MD slaves freed by state action
1865
January MO slaves freed by state action
13th Amendment passes House
February TN slaves freed by (puppet government) state action
April Lee surrenders
December 13th Amendment ratified
Slaves in KY (~50,000) and DE (<200) freed
Abe was in politics from1832 to 1848, when he retired after serving one self-term-limited term in Congress. Exactly how is this supposed to be dishonorable?
He then retired and made an honorable living in the private sector for 6 years till brought back into politics by his opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Act for expansion of slavery./
In the meantime, he served as a very wealthy mouthpiece for the railroad barons
Lincoln is actually listed as among the least wealthy men ever elected president, down among the 10 or so whose maximum net worth never exceeded $1M in 2010 dollars.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Presidents_by_net_worth
(The railroad barons) ... in turn, financed his successful run for the presidency.
Kind of a silly comment. Absent TV, phone banks and other modern ways to spend money, it just wasn't possible to "buy" an election in the 1800s. Lincoln spent the whole campaign at home, and most campaign activities were voluntary and self-organized.
Hey, whoa - Justin Bieber, trashy? She’s one of the nicest young women in America.
Actually I think that this is Burt Prelutsky channeling Bernie Goldberg channeling tommy dilorenzo... ;-)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.