Posted on 09/08/2002 9:43:06 AM PDT by niki
Since When Does Patriotism Mean Love Of Big Government?
Patriotism seems to have taken on a strange new definition. Love for country has been replaced with love for big government. At one time, American patriotism meant love for liberty, love for family, love for faith, and love for the principles articulated in America's founding documents. No more. Today, only people who demand increased government protection, increased government handouts, and increased government bureaucracies are considered patriotic.
Today's Americans look to the federal government to solve virtually every problem, to protect them from virtually any adversary, and to even subsidize their own personal welfare. In exchange for this new insatiable appetite for serfdom, such people are more than willing to surrender their individual freedoms and personal responsibilities.
There doesn't seem to be Republican alive who remembers Ronald Reagan's famous quote,
"Government is not the solution to the problem; government is the problem!" Instead, today's Republicans appear just as anxious to invoke the heavy hand of government as Democrats maybe more so.
Virtually no one in Washington is calling for less government today. The only undecided question being debated now is how much to increase the size and scope of the federal government. The founders' concept of limited government has been repudiated by the vast majority of this me-first generation.
Even so-called conservative leaders (including Christian conservatives) on radio and television will fight anyone who dares suggest that the federal government has become a behemoth with virtually no resemblance to the country that was created back in 1776.
No one in Washington wants to dismantle any federal program or department. Even the once-despised National Endowment for the Arts gets a huge spending boost from these "conservative" Republicans. Ditto for federal spending for education, energy, agriculture, commerce, etc., and ad infinitum. And if you think all that's bad, wait until this new Homeland Security Department grows up. There won't be a shred of freedom left! Taxpayers have allowed themselves to be forced into financing a federal leviathan that is in the process of swallowing every liberty and personal responsibility in sight; and few people seem to mind.
Beyond that, if anyone dares suggest that the federal government is too monstrous, too oppressive, and too invasive, they are called unpatriotic. Worse still is the fact that many such people are paid personal visits from a variety of government goon squads in order to intimidate or silence them. (Yes, this practice continues under the Bush administration.)
This is not the America that tens of thousands of brave men fought and died for. This is not the country I grew up in. America has become an alien nation. It is a country completely foreign to the one bequeathed to us by our Founding Fathers.
I am very confident that if George Washington, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, James Otis, Paul Revere, Sam Adams, and the rest of those great patriots of yesteryear were alive today, they would be treated by our own government the same way they were treated by old King George of England: as traitors and criminals.
Yet, the real traitors and criminals are the ones in Washington and other places who have worked (and are working) feverishly to dismantle and destroy the fundamental principles contained in our U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence.
If despising an overbearing, overreaching, Orwellian-style federal government complete with its "swarms of officers" intent on harassing and stealing my liberties makes me unpatriotic, then I will gladly wear the moniker.
If that's the new reality the we have to be a major player in it or we'll cede it to the Socialists like we did with education, and labor, etc. Right Flight keeps giving away the store.
Given the left has control of the media and the schools, it may end up being a one party system. We have to break their hold on the schools.
No suggestions, no proposals, no alternatives. Just more navel-gazing from those incapable of discerning between Right and Left. There, does that do?
That is so true. What the children learn is everything, and there is no way we can trust the public schools with them. Sadly, while our hope lies in the children the responsibility lies with the parents. Thank God for all the devoted parents who refuse to allow their children to attend these government indoctrination camps. That number is growing. What concerns me is the growing number of parents, particularly single parents, who see the children as the government's responsibility from the time they are conceived. I suppose a case could be made for that from a certain perspective though. After all, it is government legislation that has strongly contributed to the decay of the family and political correctness is largely a government funded leviathon that has made looking to God for answers and guidance not only unpopular but even illegal in some settings and the idea of a nuclear family passe. It is government that has been so busy promoting the culture of victimization, dependency and lack of accountability, so in large measure they are responsible. People who have grown up with that mentality and especially if they are second generation, cannot really be expected to know any better. So that puts the burden of responsibility on those of us who do know better to change it, and it has to start with education.
The point is though, that a lot of parents are rebelling. Even many poor, single parents are making the necessary sacrifices to provide their children with quality education, be it in private schools or by homeschooling, and thankfully these parents are very vocal and the results are very visible. There is no question that these kids outperform their peers in public schools by large margins. Of course, the more glaring that difference becomes, the more the government schools will rise up to try and put a stop to it, such as what is happening in California right now. Of course they do it in the name of making sure that the children are being educated by qualified individuals, but anybody with any sense knows that what that really means is that the more kids who are pulled out of public schools, the less money they get and we might as well brace ourselves for the fact that they are not going to sit still for that. It has nothing to do with accountability. No government institution is ever going to relinquish its grip on power or money in the name of a higher good. These government bureaucracies have long since forgotten that the people ARE the government, or at least that we're supposed to be.
Why is Right Flight happening?
And what are yours?
Actually, thre aren't. There are a lot of independents who vote for one of the two major parties. The number of Americans affiliated with any third party is less than 1% of the total population.
Multiple party countries, like Italy, are disasters.
Maybe it's a Conservative "run and bitch" mentality. Maybe it's an offshoot of White Flight. Who knows?
Maybe it is perception, but a lot of time as in this case perception is reality....... Down the long road maybe it will be different
Name | Electoral Vote |
Popular Vote |
Party(ies) | Ballot Access (printed / write-in) |
Possible Electoral Vote |
||
David Harold Birchler | 8 | 0.00% | "Write-In" | 0 / 1 | 12 | ||
Cathy Gordon Brown | 1,606 | 0.00% | Independent | 1 / 0 | 11 | ||
Mike K. Brown | 1 | 0.00% | "Write-In" | 0 / 1 | 10 | ||
Harry Browne | 386,035 | 0.37% | Libertarian, Independent |
50 / 0 | 530 | ||
Pat Buchanan | 448,868 | 0.43% | Reform, Independent, Freedom, "By Petition", Citizens First, Independence, Right-to-Life, "Write-In" |
49 / 1 | 535 | ||
Governor George W. Bush | 271 | 50,456,141 | 47.87% | Republican, Conservative |
51 / 0 | 538 | |
Clifford Catton | 0 | 0.00% | "Write-In" | 0 / 1 | 33 | ||
May Chote | 34 | 0.00% | "Write-In" | 0 / 1 | 25 | ||
Alonzo Crawford | 2 | 0.00% | "Write-In" | 0 / 1 | 10 | ||
Earl F. Dodge | 208 | 0.00% | Prohibition | 1 / 0 | 8 | ||
Earnest Lee Easton | 6 | 0.00% | "Write-In" | 0 / 4 | 32 | ||
Vice President Albert A. "Al" Gore, Jr. | 266 | 50,996,039 | 48.38% | Democrat, Liberal, Working Families |
51 / 0 | 538 | |
John Hagelin | 83,555 | 0.08% | Natural Law, Independent, Reform, Independence, "unenrolled", "Write-In" |
38 / 3 | 421 | ||
James E. Harris, Jr. | 7,378 | 0.01% | Socialist Workers, Socialist, Independent, "Write-In" |
14 / 3 | 193 | ||
Keith Sherman Huber | 3 | 0.00% | "Write-In" | 0 / 1 | 8 | ||
Keith Russell Judd | 15 | 0.00% | "Write-In" | 0 / 1 | 12 | ||
Keith Lewis Kunzler | 1 | 0.00% | "Write-In" | 0 / 1 | 5 | ||
Forrest C. LaBelle | 1 | 0.00% | "Write-In" | 0 / 2 | 15 | ||
Denny Lane | 1,044 | 0.00% | Vermont Grassroots | 1 / 0 | 3 | ||
Bernard Marcus | 17 | 0.00% | "Write-In" | 0 / 1 | 10 | ||
Isabell Masters | 0 | 0.00% | "Write-In" | 0 / 1 | 10 | ||
Ken C. McCarthy | 6 | 0.00% | "Write-In" | 0 / 1 | 25 | ||
David McReynolds | 7,746 | 0.01% | Socialist, Liberty Union, "Write-In" |
7 / 7 | 252 | ||
Rachelle OneFamily Miller | 3 | 0.00% | "Write-In" | 0 / 1 | 10 | ||
Beatrice J Mooney | 7 | 0.00% | "Write-In" | 0 / 1 | 10 | ||
Monica Moorehead | 4,795 | 0.00% | Workers World | 4 / 0 | 51 | ||
Ralph Nader | 2,878,157 | 2.73% | Green, Independent, United Citizens, "Write-In" |
44 / 3 | 510 | ||
NONE OF THESE CANDIDATES | 3,315 | 0.00% | "unenrolled" | 1 / 0 | 4 | ||
Raj Alison Officewala | 3 | 0.00% | "Write-In" | 0 / 1 | 10 | ||
Daniel J. Pearlman | 1 | 0.00% | "Write-In" | 0 / 3 | 48 | ||
Jeffrey Peters | 2 | 0.00% | "Write-In" | 0 / 1 | 10 | ||
Sylvester J. Pettway | 1 | 0.00% | "Write-In" | 0 / 2 | 18 | ||
Howard Phillips | 98,016 | 0.09% | Constitution, Independent American, American Independent, Independent, American Constitution, Concerned Citizens, United States Taxpayers, "Write-In", "By Petition" |
41 / 6 | 501 | ||
David Reicher | 4 | 0.00% | "Write-In" | 0 / 1 | 8 | ||
Joe Schriner | 27 | 0.00% | "Write-In" | 0 / 3 | 27 | ||
Michael Skos | 0 | 0.00% | "Write-In" | 0 / 1 | 33 | ||
L. Neil Smith | 5,775 | 0.01% | Libertarian | 1 / 0 | 8 | ||
Michael F. Sterba | 0 | 0.00% | "Write-In" | 0 / 1 | 10 | ||
Gloria Dawn Strickland | 12 | 0.00% | "Write-In" | 0 / 7 | 83 | ||
Randall Venson | 535 | 0.00% | Independent | 1 / 0 | 11 | ||
James "Jim" Wright | 74 | 0.00% | "Write-In" | 0 / 1 | 32 | ||
Louie G. Youngkeit | 161 | 0.00% | Independent | 1 / 0 | 5 | ||
Write-ins Write-in Votes Write-In Candidates OTHER VOTES Other Write-ins All others Write-Ins Write Ins Scattering scattering Miscellaneous Write-in votes |
19,986 | 0.02% | (scatter) | ||||
Totals | 537 | 105,399,588 | 538 |
I include independents in the third parties. They will just as easily vote for a Perot or Ventura.
You're to cheer while holding your nose or be set upon."
You mean by these people?
Cyber Sisters
Cyber Sisters are an extremely fierce confederation of fighting females who act something like a shrill Greek chorus, echoing and amplifying one another's voice until their foes retreat in disarray. They are generally leaderless, but anyone who challenges one Cyber Sister can expect to be savagely attacked by the others. Only the most powerful and battle-hardened of Warriors is strong enough to weather a Cyber Sisters attack.
OR THESE?
Howlers
Howlers generally populate academic, technical or special interest forums in which particular issues are discussed. Newbies to such forums often wander in thinking they have found some devastating new argument that contradicts accepted wisdom on the forum topic. Of course, if the forum is a long-standing and active discussion group it will probably have heard and debated the argument at length, so instead of reviving a dead topic Howlers will simply shout and throw excrement until the intruder leaves.
To pump up your numbers, I can see why you would.
But, since they have no loyalty to any third party, or any party for that matter, if you're counting on independents to help build your third party movement, you're deluding yourself.
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