I have been very tough on conservatives as of late. (And I promise this will be the last post in a while on this topic, I’m going back to comedy.)
I just hate to see us turn into a wacky "mirror" image of the far left.
I remember reading a liberal web site in 2007 that theorize that President Bush was going to "claim marshal law" over the "dangerous" country of Iran, in an attempt to remain in office forever. "Bush was going to cancel the 2008 election..!!"
This liberal site even had facts and legal bills that "sort of" PROVED what they were claiming. Tons of liberal readers were chiming in to warn of this pending doom.
It sounds funny now, doesn’t it..??
And it would be funny, except I am starting to see the same thing coming from the right.
If we were talking about political fighting and policy debate, I got no problem with that and I often take part in it.
However, today we are talking about the American economy and a possible depression.
What made the Great Depression so GREAT..??
Fear...
Fear and panic.
When rich people FEAR the future, they hoard their money. They begin to move money overseas, they no longer invest in American interests. This causes a loss of jobs, stagnation in construction, and a lack of new ideas for industry. (Or ideas head overseas; along with the rich peoples money.)
When average people FEAR the future, they quit spending. This also causes a loss of jobs and companies that rely on your spending begin to close stores.
Unlike many of the political issues that we have debated in the past, this selling of fear, AT THIS TIME, is dangerous.
We could SCARE ourselves right into a Great Depression.
Folks, I got to say this...
I consider this as equal to the crazy liberals who called American soldiers: "torturers and terrorists" while these poor soldiers were trying to with a war.
We conservatives saw this as an attempt to lose the war for political gain.
Today, I see this "selling of fear" by the conservative media as an attempt to bring on a depression for political gain.
(Not that I believe any decent conservative really wants to bring on a depression. Just as I never believed that any America loving liberal really wanted to see America lose a war.) We just get misguided from time to time.
Do I want to see this kind of federal spending coming from Washington..??
Hell no. I prefer a smaller government that stays out of our lives. (And our wallets.)
But I refuse to SCARE people into a Great Depression.
What goes around...
Comes back in your face.
Sometimes we feel that TODAY we are experiencing something "new" that America has never seen before.
That our two party system of government is "out of control" and gone too far.
This is what I love about studying history...
There is nothing that CAN BE DONE, that cannot be "undone" later on.
The politics of today is no worse than it was in the past.
Take this flyer from 1963...
The flyer shows Democratic President JFK and claims that he has committed (sic) treasonous acts against America. For the war in Vietnam, his dealings with Cuba, and it lists other "so called" crimes against the constitution.
Now, I’m not willing to say that this flyer was put out by the republican party. However, it was done by people who wanted democratic JFK out of office.
I bring it up because in modern times we saw progressive members use this very same tactic on President Bush. Though each member of the progressive movement saw, "with their own eyes", their democratic congress vote with President Bush to give the authority to remove Saddam from power in Iraq. It didn’t matter to them, they still used the political tactic of calling Bush a "war criminal."
Let’s do one more...
This political cartoon is from 1901.
This cartoon shows America as a "ship" and Uncle Sam is booting off a person who doesn’t agree with the way the ship is being run. The person being booted off represents the old way of doing things. Also, a person who speaks out about change.
This cartoon was favoring Republican Theodore Roosevelt and his policy of busting up BIG railroad trusts and setting aside land for National Forests. Fighting against the greed of the past.
Today, this same tactic is being used by President Obama. Because of "greed from the past", we must attack corporate America today.
Anyone who disagrees with the "Obama ship" should be cast off the side. (As in President Obama telling people not to listen to Rush Limbaugh, etc.)
I find these very interesting. They display so well that things you do to the "other political party" can come back to haunt you.
Also, spreading FEAR about a depression could actually cause a depression.
FACTS are stubborn things..
Current jobless rate- 8%
The last time the jobless rate was at 8%
1983- During President Reagan.
Jobless rate during the Great Depression-
29%
Relax...
Take a deep breath.
We are not in a Great Depression.
We are not going to be a communistic country.
There is nothing that can be done, that cannot be undone later on.
