Have any of you DUers just stepped back and looked at the threads...

[Bigmack]

... either LBN or GD... and wondered what the fuck is happening to our country?

Rape... just another method of conception.... "legitimate rape"... FBI raids on Occupy...Birth Certificate (still!) ...plot to obstruct Obama..."dishonoring Custer" by meeting with Native Americans...Rallies in support of Akin...Voting Rights Act under attack...secret mega-donor GOP meeting...

Lots more.

This fucking country is NUTS!

[NYC_SKP]

1. I missed "dishonoring Custer"... He was a homicidal maniac.

[Ken Burch]

61. and a failed homicidal maniac at that:

[lunasun]

68. nope not to this repug -here you go

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=206339

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

2. You left out the one about buying hollow point amunition...

Social Security or homeland security,,, Maybe it was the Post Office, that would give a heads up to "Going Postal" huh?

[Blanks]

3. The hateful attitude displayed by the Chick-fil-A supporters...

...is another example.

Sure it's quieted down now, but a lot of right wingers were coming up with new ways to display their hate on a daily basis.

[HeiressofBickworth]

4. I'm so saddened by what I see

I've always been a believer in live-and-let-live. These right-wingers want to determine every phase of your life, and if you are a woman, of your body. And yet they have no compassion or interest in helping the young, the elderly, the poor, the disabled. And yet they call themselves Christians.

It's been said that the first one to mention Nazis loses the argument. But facts remain facts. I looked up articles about the rise of Nazism to see what parallels there are to modern times. There seems to be the same lack of compassion for the "other" combined with financially difficult times. All the Germans needed was someone (Hitler) to direct their frustration and anger at a scapegoat and they were off to the races. There is the same scapegoating here but this time it's the poor, minorities, immigrants and women.

The loss of civil rights in Germany in the late 30's was justified as being in the national interest. That period of time wasn't so long ago that it is lost in history. We all need to read about the rise of the Third Reich in order to understand what intellectual disassociation can be achieved by good propaganda so we can resist it here.

[Blanks]

39. That was the topic in the film 'The Wave'

People don't realize how easy it is to lead, or be lead down that path.

[kardonb]

67. that was....

No , our whole country is NOT going nuts , just a few very vocal idiots are going nuts , spewing hatred and divisiveness .

[Blanks]

69. Our whole country is suffering from a few people going nuts.

'The Wave' was just one classroom of kids in a high school. The teacher was trying to teach them the basic principles that make people behave in a way that individually they would find objectionable (studying Nazi Germany). I read the short story in high school (the film on Netfix is a German adaptation with subtitles, and a little darker than the original story) 35 years ago, and it has always been kind of rolling around inside my head. In a very short period of time with just a few small tricks; the teacher had this high school class ready to kill for him. It was based on an actual event.

The students did not want to end the experiment when the allotted time was up. Elitism and a sense of belonging can be very powerful forces. Currently the republican 'hate machine' gives these people a sense of belonging. They are in opposition to the evil liberals; who, they believe, are threatening the American way of life.

Our modern day GOAT partiers are manipulated into believing that they are modern America heroes. That's a pretty powerful force.

[janlyn]

52. If the shoe fits..

Sometimes it is ok to call it like you see it,I too have seen parallel to Nazism over the last 12 yrs. for anyone to say that it could not happen again is arrogant and ignorant of the facts. Like you, I researched the rise of the third reich and what I found was disturbing..the use of media as it was then to fuel the propaganda bears a striking resemblance to the use of media today.

What is truly frightening is the media's ability to reach a much larger audience with our modern technology than what was used in the 30's.

If it could happen then with the limited tools that media had,imagine what can and probably will be achieved today and in our immediate future.

[haikugal]

5. it's been happening for 30+ years.

Don't forget the ones they hate the most, liberals! I agree with your assessment and expect ugly times to come our way in future. These are the people that wouldn't bat an eye at rounding people up, burning books, smashing business' and stealing homes and their contents. They'd feel they were doing 'the lords' work, very self satisfied.

They're dangerous and they don't believe in democracy.

In other words I know what you mean.

[99Forever]

6. I'm not surprised in the least.

The coming shitstorm has been building for 30 years or more. To quote BTO:

"You ain't seen nothin' yet."

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. Where are we going,

and what are we doing in this handbasket?

Yeah, it's scary.

[demwing]

8. Whatever is in Romney's Taxes has got to be devastating for THIS to be his distraction

Last edited Sat Aug 25, 2012, 01:55 AM - Edit history (2)

because you don't think all this drama was an accident do you?

[Angry Dragon]

9. Evil has taken over the republican party

[Posteritatis]

10. Or vice versa; I can't be sure this week. (nt)

[MrMickeysMom]

11. Yes, and worse...

The Democratic party is dancing to the same masters...

So, it's either time to roll or go.

[freshwest]

18. Who is the Democratic Party version of Todd Akin?

[MrMickeysMom]

19. Didn't say there was one...

... but, big money influences both parties... very troublesome, don't you think?

[freshwest]

20. ...

Last edited Sat Aug 25, 2012, 06:30 PM - Edit history (1)

[HiPointDem]

35. yes, all evil is lodged in the republican party.

[MrMickeysMom]

38. You don't?

That's like saying no Democrat is ruled by big money as much as no Republican. If that's the way you feel, you're entitled, but I'm pretty sure big money is the reason we don't see the Democrats do their jobs of countering every insane move of the flying monkeys on the right.

[Blanks]

42. The difference is that the republicans acknowledge...

...'looking after the rich' as their primary function. In this day and age; a politician can't get (or stay) in office without some big money interests.

The democrats are the party more likely to change that because 'looking out for the rich' isn't their primary function.

[rhett o rick]

56. If by "equivalance" you mean absolutely equal, then I agree. But you are dodging the question.

It is obvious and ridiculous to continue to point at the REpublican Party as the sole cause of our problems. Big money isnt stupid and have invested in both parties. Denial that there are problems in the Democratic Party is hurting efforts to fix us.

Voting the lesser of evils wont solve our problems.

[sofa king]

53. It isn't influencing Democrats on killing tax cuts for the rich.

You would think that is one issue on which big money would attempt to sway Democrats.

Instead, they're going to lose a quarter of a billion dollars in an effort to defeat Democrats. Because President Obama and Congressional Democrats aren't coming off the ball.

So, uh, there's that, which is very troublesome for false equivalence of the influence that big money has on the two political parties. One is bought, and the other ain't.

[Arugula Latte]

49. And it's also taken over a lot of this country.

[liberalmuse]

12. It's very depressing.

And increasingly overwhelming. There's so much outrage to be had I feel like I'm in the throes of labor because each new outrage comes on top of last outrage and it's getting so there's not even space in-between to catch your breath.

I grew up really loving what "America" was about - or at least what I was told it was about. Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would come to this - so many Americans behaving like self-entitled, selfish, greedy, ignorant, racist, misogynist, heartless assholes. There is a war against women and gays, and pretty much everyone who isn't a white, wealthy, Christian male in this country.

[CrispyQ]

46. It's exhausting & demoralizing.

"...each new outrage comes on top of last outrage and it's getting so there's not even space in-between to catch your breath."

I feel like I'm stuck in a horror movie where the setting is a daycare & the two year old brats have taken control. And the media feeds it because drama sells.

I am not a violent person, but when I see Ryan's face I want to punch the smugness off of it. Bush & Palin had the same effect on me.

[A Simple Game]

13. The rape and incest part really scares me. Not just for the obvious reasons

but the desensitizing about abortion that it does. Six months from now after the elections if the Republicans are in any position to pass a bill in either the house or senate, they will pass a bill without an exemption for rape or incest. They will then "negotiate an exemption into the bill and say "see we compromised". But abortion will be illegal for everyone else.

Democrats will wrongly think they won a victory.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

14. My 91 year old dad and I

were talking yesterday and I said I thought we were living through something that might go on for years. He said, "Yes, and if it's ever over and you're alive then to read about it in the history books, you'll wonder how you ever lived through it. I certainly won't be around, but I hope you and my grandchldren will."

[Auntie Bush]

65. I hope I'm that sharp minded when I'm 91...hell...make that 85.

[SalviaBlue]

15. Abortion is legal. We already went there.

Deal with it, you backwards mf'ers.

That's where we need to come from.

[Comrade_McKenzie]

16. Progressives suck at framing the debate. I'm reading a bunch of books here lately...

About how to better control the message and use the right's tactics against them...

Everyone should... because we'll get nowhere with facts and statistics.

It's rhetoric that gets through to people.

[defacto7]

17. unfortunately, you are right.

Being the adult in the room with millions of screaming 2 year olds means very little.

Evolution people...

If you do you can win...

But if you don't, you die.

Maybe when it's all over we can have a chance to grow up again.

[Jamaal510]

26. We suck at convincing people to vote in favor of their interests,

while conservatives are experts at convincing people to vote against their interests. The big whigs on the other side know how to exploit people's fears and animosities, and they have special ways of wording things in order to confuse their voters (two prime examples being "economic freedom" and "job creators&quot .

[Blanks]

43. That's because the hate radio message has them hypnotized

...into believing some really bizarre shit. Step one is to expose hate radio as the right wing campaign component that it is.

Of course Fox News too. The working class republican cannot be reasoned with until these things are rendered inert. The material that comes from these media outlets must be removed from the debate.

[Herlong]

63. too true

n/t

[girl gone mad]

34. Our national party leadership is not really progressive.

They are corporatist "centrists" (far to the right, in reality).

They are most concerned with pursuing the corporate agenda. Progressive values are treated as an afterthought, and it really shows at times like this.

[HiPointDem]

36. lol. they don't 'frame' it right because it's not about framing. it's about who pulls the strings

and funds the reporting.

[redqueen]

40. "... and funds the reporting."

Yep.

[CrispyQ]

47. Why don't the dems hire George Lakoff?

Or someone like him?

Lakoff's book, "Moral Politics" points out how liberals think that because facts work on them, they work on everyone. Not true. Our soundbites need to be supported by facts, but we need soundbites! Especially in today's America, where a 15 second attention span is a long one.

[AlbertCat]

21. This fucking country is NUTS!

I blame the ignoring of facts. This dismissing of things that you might not like but are obviously true I blame on religion. Religion promotes "magical thinking" as a legitimate way of addressing problems and demands respect for it.

Also, the racism is at a frantic pace now. This is for obvious reasons.

Hopefully these are the death flailing of these things. Sure.... they won't go away, but there have been times in the past, in my lifetime, when they took a back seat and weren't even part of being "fair and balanced". And we can get there again.

[Fire Walk With Me]

22. Drones at the RNC, ground and air.

[just1voice]

23. Yes, nuts. There's torture camps, criminal banks, huge propaganda networks

and people think if we just let criminals continue to commit more crimes then everything will be alright.

It's the very definition of insanity, to repeat the same thing over and over and expect different results.

[AsahinaKimi]

24. This is NOT the country I grew up in

I don't recognize it anymore. Racist rants, attacking Women's rights (Do the Republicans want to take away our vote as well?) Voter purging, and all kinds of crap being spewed by the RELIGIOUS right wing. Anti-Non Christians... People being shot nearly every week, a Judge who talks about a Civil war if Obama wins... Police brutality... Arresting people for feeding the poor... Stripping away Medicare and Social security would be a good thing? Companies refusing to hire Americans because its better to import them from some place else, or ship the companies over seas... and now

this Republican Platform. We have to defeat the Republicans in the Fall..if we don't...if you think its nuts now...wait till Romney gets into office... There will be hell to pay.

[ailsagirl]

27. Where is the America that felt like home?

Last edited Sat Aug 25, 2012, 08:58 PM - Edit history (1)

It's virtually unrecognizable from the America in which I grew up. And NO, I don't consider the repukes Americans at heart because they have been systematically destroying all that made America great. Nominally, they're Americans, but in fact, they're bound and determined to contaminate what was/is our once-sane way of life. (Certainly saner than now.)

I feel sometimes it's too late to reclaim our country. Now I can see why civilizations collapse.

[DeSwiss]

25. K&R

- ''Chaos is needed for the veils to fall down.''

"Just look at us, everything is backwards; everything is upside down. Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge, governments destroy freedom, the major media destroys information and religions destroy spirituality."

~Michael Ellner

[Wednesdays]

31. That second one's a dynamite quote

That should be your signature (if it isn't already) and have its own OP.

[Jennicut]

28. It is because when the country takes some steps forward

those that cling to the past what to take it backward. It is actually not surprising. It happens in lots of countries that start having some reforms. Women are now common in the work place, gay rights are pretty accepted by younger generations, and so on. Repubs are the party of money and power and they use people's fears of a changing world to work in their favor. Most of the tea partiers have no idea how manipulated they are.

[daligirl519]

59. You are absolutely right. . .

and if you read history, this is really nothing unusual. It sucks that we are living through it. Different populations of humans generally go insane en masse at some point. I hope we survive this one. But progress is progress, and you will always have those that protest against it. Perhaps our alien overlords will intervene this time.

[David Zephyr]

29. Fascism.

Bigmack, I am an old man now, and I can tell you that this is the most fascist time in my life time in America.

A far brighter bulb than me, Noam Chomsky, and one who had analyzed the right-wing for decades, saw the paid-for-hire tea-party as a genuine threat to us all. He somehow sensed something ominous in it more than what he'd seen before. So do I.

Your OP expresses the frustration (and I think fear) of what we see happening.

Remember, Germany was probably the most civilized nation on earth at the time before it slipped into utter darkness.

Mark my words, they have already stolen the election. Only a tremendous turn-out will trump their shenanigans.

They still elections. And they do it with precision.

[awoke_in_2003]

30. I am gobsmacked...

just about every day. I no longer recognize the country I was born in, and that saddens me deeply. I still remember the bicentennial. I was in grade school, and still remember how proud I felt to live here then. I haven't been proud for quite a while now (although I felt a HUGE sense of pride when I voted for our president- I grew up never imagining I would be on the right side of history)

[Prophet 451]

32. All the time

It's like all the normal "rules" of political society got thrown completely out the window with Obama's election.

[MadrasT]

33. Yes. Noticed the same thing.

I don't know what to do or where to turn.

All the rape and abortion stuff is particularly terrifying.

Oh hell, it is all terrifying.

[Shankapotomus]

37. Custer was a piece of shit (nt)

[redqueen]

41. Lower than shit. nt

[xiamiam]

44. i also notice that most of the threads have romney or ryan in the title and fill the front page

and anything of substance gets buried and few recs

[NeverEnuff]

45. Fascism

Fascism again rears it ugly head. The Republican Party has been taken over by radical Neo-Nazism. We must stand up and fight as if our life depended upon it, it probably does. I for one will not go down without a fight.

[treestar]

48. Extremists cause news because they say something outrageous

I'm not worried that a majority of people are likely to think as Akin does. In fact I had not heard that one before after 50+ years on the planet. It's obviously something like the humors or the use of leeches - it's not in danger of becoming a major opinion.

Even in red MO, Akin's poll numbers went down.

[ZombieHorde]

50. If you think of humans as apes, then the behavior may make more sense to you. nt

[hifiguy]

60. Too true. Then it all makes sense.

And the dumbest apes are the loudest ones.

[a geek named Bob]

51. Bigmack...

Most of the folks I know, in different parts of the country...

Figure on laying low, and then picking up the pieces, when it all goes bad.

Sad to say, but there it is.

[BlueNinja]

54. I feel like I'm insane...

or in the Twilight Zone. Seriously, the cognitive dissonance of the age we live in constantly makes me feel like my head is about to explode.

[jimlup]

55. Correction - an element of this country is "nuts"

Let's not lump ourselves together with those lunatics.

[avebury]

57. K&R nt

[hifiguy]

58. This nation's little red choo-choo is chugging around the bend

maybe for good.

[part man all 86]

62. Now I see how countries can be turned around in a decade or so and go against their creeds.

De-evolution baby!

[rurallib]

64. along with shooting each other at an impressive rate

violence is as american as apple pie.

[mick063]

66. It is far different than it used to be.

Extreme. Nazi Party extreme.

There are people that believe there is a "final solution" for Islam as we speak. Heck, even mormons might not be safe from the super extremists.

And these folks are waiving red, white, and blue while they are doing it.

If the world didn't like America before, just wait.

Once you get the rest of the world pissed, then an escalation of rhetoric will start.

Then.....statements like "Obama will hand over the US to the UN" can grab a real foothold. The "us against them" meme is the Teabillie way and it applies to EVERYTHING. They are the complete opposite of unification, cooperation, and compromise. They are the epitome of greed.

Their foreign diplomacy would be similar to Adolph's.