As part of my continuing effort to keep you all well informed and open-minded, I've decided to do a three part series. I don't usually like doing these because I find that very few subject matters are interesting enough to keep you reading for three parts. But, looking back on my other attempts at this, it just takes more space than I usually allow my posts. So I've divided my effort into; The Politics of Hate and Fear, and Humanizing, Dehumanizing and Exampling, and finally The Sources. I think if you follow all three, you'll find it's worth the effort.
Richard Nixon was an evil, corrupt bastard and so are all the Republicans. John F. Kennedy was a womanizer who should have spent as much time studying global politics as he did studying Marilyn Monroe's legs. If you put Republicans in office they will do nothing but fatten their rich buddies while raping the little guy. Democrats will get us all killed with their faith in dictators. Clinton assassinated Vince Foster and all his political enemies. Bush is pushing us to a third World War.
On and on it goes, the politics of fear and hate. The one thing that never seems to change is that our taxes keep going up, more and more people are without health care, and none of the real problems are ever really addressed or cured.
And it seems to be getting worse. Americans seem to be so distracted by proving how evil the other side is that next to nothing is being done about Social Security, Medicaid, schools, fractured families, National Debt, immigration, or any of the real problems we're facing. We spent 5 years and millions trying to hang Clinton and all his cronies for Whitewater and how did it matter at all? I'm not saying that we shouldn't be holding people accountable, but it shouldn't be consuming 90% of every news cycle. Recently we just finished (temporarily) with the whole Valerie Plame affair and what was the end result? No one charged for actually outing her, and Scooter Libby convicted of lying about when he found out that she was sort-of a covert spy. This affected our lives how? Day in and day out news coverage of the stupidest political story since.... well, since Whitewater.
But the circus of both Whitewater and the Valerie Plame Affair achieved for their party exactly what it was intended to. To make you even more convinced that these are shady people and they should not be trusted.
Republicans have spent the last 40+ years tearing down the legacy of JFK by pointing out his assumed affairs. Jimmy Carter, who was never even involved in an affair, was chastised continuously for one statement in a Playboy interview where he said that he had sinful thoughts. And last but not least, Bill Clinton got drug around for his trysts with Monica Lewinski and Jennifer Flowers. The Republicans actually have had just as long a history of affairs, (see my post; The Republican "Lack of Family Values Tour") but since the Democrats portray the Republicans as the people who are trying to "shove their morality down your throats", they can't say much about it. The end message? Democrats are immoral and will endanger us all by not paying attention to our safety and security in their never-ending quest to get laid. That is, when they're not busy raising your taxes.
The other rap against the Democrats the Republicans like to use is that they will destroy the social fabric of this Great Nation. Since they have demonstrated that the Dems are immoral, they appeal to the people who think that the youth of today have lost any moral compass. (this, by the way, has been said all through history) That appeals to older people in particular who, after already having had their wild days, feel they are in a good position to save young people from themselves.
Democrats, on the other hand, teach you to hate and fear Republicans by making them appear to be ignorant, gun-toting, religious zealot, war mongering, corporate tools. On this, I give the Dems the advantage on fear mongering. Some of the things that you hear Democrats say are far more sinister than anything the Republicans can come up with. I've heard them say the Republicans want to put blacks back in slavery, stop women from being able to work, spy on all of your phone calls ala 1984, arm black people so that they'll all shoot each other, blow up the World Trade Center to start a war, force old people to eat dog food, put birth control in government cheese and too many other things to even list. The beauty of this is, if you hate someone enough, that all starts to seem not only possible, but likely.
Another way they both try to control you is to focus your hatred towards a third party, such as; Gays, Blacks, Whites, Hispanics, Jews, The Rich, or Corporations. This is very effective as people have an inherent fear of anyone they don't really know. Blacks, in general, don't know a lot of rich white people personally, so it's easy to picture them sipping cognac and plotting how to hold them down. Wealthier white people on the other hand, don't know a lot of poor black people personally, so it's easy to picture them smoking crack and plotting how to rob them. The Democrats and Republicans then use these fears to convince their party faithful that they are all that's standing between them and the thing they fear. This perpetuates stereotypes and racism, but they don't care as long as it keeps them in office. The truth is, there are great people in all categories, don't let irrational fear keep you from meeting them or siding with them.
The main thing to remember here is that the intent by both sides is not to sway people over, but to keep the party faithful from ever, even thinking, about voting for the other side.
In this country we have what I call "The Thirty Percenters", These are people who are so convinced that the other side is evil, stupid, immoral, or whatever, that they would never vote for someone on the other side. But, since they cannot be swayed, it is us, the remaining 40% that have the true power. And that is the 40% I'm writing to. As I go through the ways that Democrats and Republicans attempt to control us in this 3-part series, I want all of you to take a moment, clear your brain of all preconceived notions, and ask yourself, "Am I being distracted from the things that I really feel are important? Have I convinced myself that Bush or Clinton can never be trusted? Do I automatically fall on one side no matter how I feel about the actual issue? Am I being manipulated?" Freedom is empowering. To set ourselves free we only need to understand that we are being manipulated and how. The politics of fear and hate serves only one purpose, to keep us in line. Once we understand what they're up to, we can no longer be controlled, and a thinking populace is what both of them fear the most. H.C.
Stay tuned for Part two; How they control us- Humanizing, dehumanizing, and exampling.
Richard Nixon was an evil, corrupt bastard and so are all the Republicans. John F. Kennedy was a womanizer who should have spent as much time studying global politics as he did studying Marilyn Monroe's legs. If you put Republicans in office they will do nothing but fatten their rich buddies while raping the little guy. Democrats will get us all killed with their faith in dictators. Clinton assassinated Vince Foster and all his political enemies. Bush is pushing us to a third World War.
On and on it goes, the politics of fear and hate. The one thing that never seems to change is that our taxes keep going up, more and more people are without health care, and none of the real problems are ever really addressed or cured.
And it seems to be getting worse. Americans seem to be so distracted by proving how evil the other side is that next to nothing is being done about Social Security, Medicaid, schools, fractured families, National Debt, immigration, or any of the real problems we're facing. We spent 5 years and millions trying to hang Clinton and all his cronies for Whitewater and how did it matter at all? I'm not saying that we shouldn't be holding people accountable, but it shouldn't be consuming 90% of every news cycle. Recently we just finished (temporarily) with the whole Valerie Plame affair and what was the end result? No one charged for actually outing her, and Scooter Libby convicted of lying about when he found out that she was sort-of a covert spy. This affected our lives how? Day in and day out news coverage of the stupidest political story since.... well, since Whitewater.
But the circus of both Whitewater and the Valerie Plame Affair achieved for their party exactly what it was intended to. To make you even more convinced that these are shady people and they should not be trusted.
Republicans have spent the last 40+ years tearing down the legacy of JFK by pointing out his assumed affairs. Jimmy Carter, who was never even involved in an affair, was chastised continuously for one statement in a Playboy interview where he said that he had sinful thoughts. And last but not least, Bill Clinton got drug around for his trysts with Monica Lewinski and Jennifer Flowers. The Republicans actually have had just as long a history of affairs, (see my post; The Republican "Lack of Family Values Tour") but since the Democrats portray the Republicans as the people who are trying to "shove their morality down your throats", they can't say much about it. The end message? Democrats are immoral and will endanger us all by not paying attention to our safety and security in their never-ending quest to get laid. That is, when they're not busy raising your taxes.
The other rap against the Democrats the Republicans like to use is that they will destroy the social fabric of this Great Nation. Since they have demonstrated that the Dems are immoral, they appeal to the people who think that the youth of today have lost any moral compass. (this, by the way, has been said all through history) That appeals to older people in particular who, after already having had their wild days, feel they are in a good position to save young people from themselves.
Democrats, on the other hand, teach you to hate and fear Republicans by making them appear to be ignorant, gun-toting, religious zealot, war mongering, corporate tools. On this, I give the Dems the advantage on fear mongering. Some of the things that you hear Democrats say are far more sinister than anything the Republicans can come up with. I've heard them say the Republicans want to put blacks back in slavery, stop women from being able to work, spy on all of your phone calls ala 1984, arm black people so that they'll all shoot each other, blow up the World Trade Center to start a war, force old people to eat dog food, put birth control in government cheese and too many other things to even list. The beauty of this is, if you hate someone enough, that all starts to seem not only possible, but likely.
Another way they both try to control you is to focus your hatred towards a third party, such as; Gays, Blacks, Whites, Hispanics, Jews, The Rich, or Corporations. This is very effective as people have an inherent fear of anyone they don't really know. Blacks, in general, don't know a lot of rich white people personally, so it's easy to picture them sipping cognac and plotting how to hold them down. Wealthier white people on the other hand, don't know a lot of poor black people personally, so it's easy to picture them smoking crack and plotting how to rob them. The Democrats and Republicans then use these fears to convince their party faithful that they are all that's standing between them and the thing they fear. This perpetuates stereotypes and racism, but they don't care as long as it keeps them in office. The truth is, there are great people in all categories, don't let irrational fear keep you from meeting them or siding with them.
The main thing to remember here is that the intent by both sides is not to sway people over, but to keep the party faithful from ever, even thinking, about voting for the other side.
In this country we have what I call "The Thirty Percenters", These are people who are so convinced that the other side is evil, stupid, immoral, or whatever, that they would never vote for someone on the other side. But, since they cannot be swayed, it is us, the remaining 40% that have the true power. And that is the 40% I'm writing to. As I go through the ways that Democrats and Republicans attempt to control us in this 3-part series, I want all of you to take a moment, clear your brain of all preconceived notions, and ask yourself, "Am I being distracted from the things that I really feel are important? Have I convinced myself that Bush or Clinton can never be trusted? Do I automatically fall on one side no matter how I feel about the actual issue? Am I being manipulated?" Freedom is empowering. To set ourselves free we only need to understand that we are being manipulated and how. The politics of fear and hate serves only one purpose, to keep us in line. Once we understand what they're up to, we can no longer be controlled, and a thinking populace is what both of them fear the most. H.C.
Stay tuned for Part two; How they control us- Humanizing, dehumanizing, and exampling.
4 comments:
Again, brilliant! Like enjoying guiness in moderation!
(And by again, I meant similar to comment to part 2, which was first...)
MMMMMMMM, Guiness. Good choice. Thanks again.
A-freaking-MEN!
Good work, Hippie.
Thanks Dre,
(H.C. hands Andre a Guiness so he can join the party.)
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