33 replies to this topic

[Connor MacLeod]

I'm proud of my country now, after 8 years in the desert.

Welcome back!

[Connor MacLeod]

Forget the unity of this country. Your side spent eight years annihilating Bush at every chance. Now it's time for payback.

Yes and this is the reason I have long suspected my country is not only headed for Civil War (again) and its own form of Balkinization but that our Civil War will be the real impetus for the most violent global war in human history. The Soviets were able to dissolve relatively non violently but I doubt this nation can.

No one does violence to Americans like Americans. We will probably end up being not only the first nation to use nukes in combat (and technically the last too) against a foreign nation but the first to use them against ourselves.

Oh and lest you foreign nationals gloat too much trust me, no one gets out alive. There will be no innocent bystanders, no neutral or sacred ground, should we go to war against ourselves we are the nation that claims you are either with us or against us and you will be forced to take sides or be overrun. When we go berserk the world will be lucky to survive the hangover.

Everyone here can easily prove me wrong, make this dire prophecy false and I would be glad if you do. It would simply require that everyone come to their senses and seek a form of reasonable reconciliation but I trust most see only one form of victory and that will be the death of us all. Your own included.

True victory is not predicated on the defeat of an enemy, it requires survival of the conflict intact and the ability to grow even stronger from the conflict and perhaps even unified with the former foe, blending strengths and ameliorating weakness but all that requires rational understanding and honest negotiation, something all too few appear capable of lately.

The only truth of who is right and wrong right now in America is that we are all armed and very dangerous. Might may not make right but it sure can make a bloody mess of things. You want a fight?

I suspect you very much underestimate the curse of being very careful about what you wish for because you just may get it.

I think you need to take a break from the Politics section for a while.

[Lazarus Long]

Wow Laz, I haven't seen you this cynical before. I'm afraid I don't see civil war on our horizon. I don't know where you got the quote since I have some of the dead-enders on my ignored users list now. It's most helpful. I must say that it's a creepy example of the problem. There are quite a number of people like that in America, whipped into a frenzy by Right Wing Hate Radio, Fox News, and other propaganda outlets. I think their day in the sun is over. Even Rupert Murdoch has been said to be turning away from the Roger Ailes-style hard right approach. I think a lot of people on the Right are going to come around. A few dead-enders will remain bitter, withdraw somewhat from society, and turn to their guns as some sort of refuge. I hope that the Limbaughs, Coulters, Malkins, O'Reillys, and the rest of the hate-mongers will be further marginalized to the point that they can be nothing more than objects of pity. At the moment they are still trying to destroy our nation, but their star is fading.

You're right it was cynical and meant not as a prophecy of doom per se but more a warning of where the path many blithely take is leading. No, such an outcome is not inevitable but it is possible yet and my reason for finally speaking up with my concerns is more to try and encourage more to work together to prevent this worst of all possible outcomes.

The rabid far right is not in a full fledged retreat and certainly they have not been routed. I have lived through the times of euphoric change before only to awaken to the collapse of the age of opportunity into avarice and deceit. There is still a long road ahead and the real threat from the right is not yet visible the worst have not gone to the shadows just to sulk but to scheme.

You see I guess I should confess I also take a little time to observe hate groups on the web from time to time. My attitude toward them is that one can never turn their back on a poisonous snake and few are more venomous than the hate groups which still operate in this country that have actually found in Obama's election a recruitment bonanza. It is sad but also true. If you don't believe me just ask the FBI and Secret Service that is going full tilt to keep up with the grass roots crazies. I don't ignore people to maintain my own peace of mind even if at times I probably should and more over, it a tough job but it must be done.

The good news is that not everyone on the right is crazy and many are willing to give Obama a chance but some cultural issues will probably make that difficult later. It will be very difficult for many to reconcile patriotism when the cultural shift they witness is too profound. No their day in the sun is not exactly over but they have receded into the shadows to regroup and plot, it is what they do.

BTW right now the view of the growing crowds demonstrate this will be largest turn out in history for an inauguration in history so I fully respect the idea that an increase in expense for the event is warranted even as I also recognize the hyperbole of the exaggerated claims of 150 million. The DC police predict between 1 and 2 million and official numbers say the numbers are easily going to make the new record.

[Lazarus Long]

I think you need to take a break from the Politics section for a while.

Little disappoints me more about humans than politics, ironically few things can also more inspire hope in dark times. On balance it reminds me of flying, hours and hours of boredom punctuated by moments of shear terror or exhilaration.

In defense again of my comments they are designed to get thinking members of the Right (like yourself) and Left Wing to more closely examine their own words as well because when the passions run hot they also forget the Law of Unintended Consequences and this nation has suffered greatly of late from this conduct.

We are still a very polarized nation but the divide goes through neighborhoods not just between states.