I know this sounds alarmist and I don't want anyone to think I'm some liberal crank pot....

[WCGreen]

But I don't want to be the Democratic Cassandra who saw into the future but no one was willing to listen to her either...

So, at the risk of being pidgin holed, let me bring this up:

What is more dangerous to the American Way of life as we define it here more than a decade into the 21st century, the Muslim Taliban who have embraced the superstitions of the 8th century or the US republicans who are taking dead aim at the modern world we have built with reason, education and debunking superstition.

We looked in horror, well. I believed at the time it was in horror, when the Taliban destroyed ancient artifacts because they didn't align with their world view. i remember watching them blow up ancient Buddha statuary that was carved into the side of a cliff.

If we don't stop this decent back to the "good old days" of back alley abortions, people being forced to worship and women were, well best suited for working in the home right NOW, it will happen.

I've seen a lot a trying times in this country, race riots, student protests ending in death, lynching and all the rest that we thought was fading into the past. But now I see the rise of the "reasoned" conservatives who disguise their extremism in self-centered economics that appeals to that much admired "American Spirit."

Well, if we aren't more vigilant, that American Spirit will be crushed by the onslaught of Old Testament fire and brimstone. You can take that to the bank.

[k8conant]

1. The Republican Rhetoric seems mighty like the 50s and 60s to me

I lived through those days and had hoped we were beyond them. Tonight, though, I told my son the same thing (well, not so eloquently).

[regnaD kciN]

9. It seems to me to have gone well past those days...

..and back to the nativist years of the Know-Nothings and KKK rallies. The '50s and '60s at least featured the notion of a social contract.

[JaneyVee]

31. Yes, the 50's. 1853 to be exact.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. We must stop these Old Testament folk.

We. Must.

There are far too many of them in power, and we must turn them out, away from our corridors of power, so that good people can write our laws again.

K&R

[defacto7]

8. This is so, so, very true...

When there are so many uneducated or unlearned people who vote according to their doctrines, getting rid of their "masters" becomes increasingly problematic.

How do we educate those who are blinded by false hopes? They are the ones who must choose to disassociate from the tyrants who control them.

[ProudProgressiveNow]

3. K&R

Not alarmist, just insightful. I have see our state go back to the 50s. Hard to endure. GOTV!

[amborin]

4. fight our ayatollahs. and make sure Obama wins!

or we have a mormon state, on top of the evangelicals, etc.

[MADem]

5. I think the GOP are the American Taliban. They put ideology over fact, they have zero regard for

women, they look askance at simple science, and they want to return to a day of tribal loyalties, replete with chiefs and overlords, all men, of course, and women subservient, in their place.

I enjoy that MAD MEN tv show, but I can't help but think that a lot of this "retro" television, where the plot lines are set back in the "good old days" before equal opportunity and workplace protections, that one side effect of these programs is that they are teaching young people, who haven't grown up with those attitudes or circumstances, that this old school lifestyle has a few charms. Nothing could be further from the truth. The good old days weren't so good for a lot of people, particularly if you had a little melanin in your skin or you checked the F instead of M block on any application for school or employment.

[WCGreen]

7. I think Mad Men also shows us what was wrong with that way of life...

I agree that some will wax nostalgic, but I believe that more people see how destructive that approach truly is.

[MADem]

18. I hope you're right. I've seen a lot of "enthusiasm" for the wrong reasons amongst the younger set!

All that drinking, smoking and pretty secretaries in girdles have an appeal for young men of a certain age...

[WCGreen]

30. Those kind of guys are all into that no matter what is on the tube...

I know a whole mess of guys who are like that. The thing is it was kind of fun when we were 25 but it just looks sick and wrong now that we are all in our fiftes...

[Turborama]

6. Men will be forced to grow beards and wear 'original' clothing...

[cui bono]

10. You are NOT being alarmist. You should listen to this interview I heard this afternoon...

It's Frank Schaeffer talking about how the evangelists have sold their souls to get Romney elected in order to further their backward religious agenda:

http://ianmasters.com/sites/default/files/mp3/bbriefing_2012_10_24c_frank%20schaeffer.mp3

If you haven't heard Ian Masters' show before you should check it out. He does really great interviews with fantastic guests and covers all subjects concerning the state of the world.

[Loudly]

11. If we announced our intentions and showed up at Bagram

with a fleet of planes expressly to take as many as women out who wanted to be evacuated to modern destinations as those planes would carry, how many would willingly board?

[WCGreen]

13. The only difference I see between the Taliban and the US is that the Taliban is

emphasizing what is already in place while the GOP wants to retrofit the 21st century with 13th century notions.

[Loudly]

21. Talibans everywhere can sense the good old days slipping away.

Despite their desire to crush modernity and set it back, modernity is inexorable.

[DCKit]

12. Too funny, I was thinking about all that today.

The Tali-Baptists are far more dangerous - they're already here.

[defacto7]

14. This really is a major turning point in American history

We are living in those interesting times we were warned about by an ancient Chinese blessing. These next couple of months running up to the election and after it for a period will be setting the future of this country for a generation or two or more. We know we must win this... they know they must win this. But it's no run to the mill election. We have freedom, equality and civil rights at stake for all Americans vs. a complete takeover and ransacking of America and it's people with ignorant leaders standing in front of the cameras who's puppeteers stand close behind making them move in synchronization to their coup d'état.

This one has much at stake... and I have some fears... fears for the safety of the president, fears for unethical and illegal voter fraud, fears of what the early outcome could be if extremists who have listened to hate radio for so long actually take up arms against our citizens.

But I also have confidence and hope and a sense of peace that the rights of Americans will not be undermined by the hoards of hate and ignorance, because WE are here. and WE will fight and defend those freedoms that are our inalienable rights as human beings. We will win this because we are right.

[WCGreen]

15. Very true....

Wish I could rec this...

[Nabbysensei]

16. OP

Last edited Thu Oct 25, 2012, 02:17 PM - Edit history (1)

Not to go off topic but as a 51 year old German citizen living in the states, I fear for your country. Being brought up by my grandparents, who both were involved in in world war 2 I think I might have a unique perspective. My Grandparents taught me to be wary of Television and radio because of propaganda, to think for ones self instead of just following the herd without thinking things thru. All the things I've seen so far coming from the Republican campaign is exactly what my Oma warned me about, all of this is very familiar to me. Seems I've seen this tactic somewhere before.

To add: Both my grandparents became very liberal and would never be looked at or judged to be {the word I won't use}.

My first post "closes eyes and hopes not to get banned"

Nabby

[defacto7]

19. Thank you for this great post

Welcome to DU.

My wife is German from the east, Jena. She and her mother escaped before the wall came down. I know many stories about which you speak.. and the stasi. There are many things in our country that are beginning to parallel times before WWII but there are few who see it happening. Sometimes in times of strong angst I say, "The Anschluß is coming" I'm not sure most people know what this means.

[The Doctor.]

25. You ain't gettin' banned for stating observations about the media.

Spot-on observations, I might add.

There are many on DU who will say "Pshaw! You're just being paranoid and irrational.", but the fact of the matter is that what is happening now is remarkably similar to the historic precursors of fascist takeovers everywhere.

It is insidious and frightening. It is the monster under the bed that's really there, but because so many don't look, it grows more real and dreadful.

We are being divided against each-other by the media, our politicians and institutions, and trolls. It is being done at so many levels and with so much innate intricacy that it is impossible to route without the bold journalism that is desperately lacking, and becoming ever more decrepit every year.

There are only two types of people that will tell you 'no such thing could happen/is happening': The trepid ignorant, and trolls.

Welcome to DU. Never be afraid to speak your honest observations.

[LiberalAndProud]

27. Welcomem to DU, Nabby!

Odd that you would say that. I think we all believe we are immune or to smart to be taken in by the propaganda. I think we are all wrong. We need to be wary and we need filters. Where do you get those, I wonder?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

28. Good thoughts. You get your filters from being educated, not propagandized.

But we no longer teach our children how to think; instead, we teach them what to think. It is a scary situation.

I do believe that we good thinkers will prevail, but we will have to fight to get this victory.

[WCGreen]

29. Jumped right into the deep end and came up for air...

Well done, Nabby, well done...

[nightscanner59]

17. How right wingnuts have branded "liberal" as something so bad...

Anyone who brands me as "liberal crank pot" has just complimented my intelligence. Has expressed that I am far more caring, more capable of sharing, and far more mature than the one who branded me such.
Since so called "conservatives" betray their selfish, backward, racist and jaded selves with every talking point they fart, other than some backward, religious or just plain ignorant philosophy, what are they "conserving"?

[defacto7]

20. the word conservative has no meaning

it's a peg on which to hang a bad hat, that's all.

The only words that are important are freedom, civil rights, equality, justice, tolerance, peace, and the pursuit of happiness.

[StarryNite]

22. I have to agree...

and I'm scared. This is one of the oddest elections I have ever seen and I've seen a lot!

[The Doctor.]

23. We are most certainly looking at the possibility of corporate sponsored

'Christian' Fascism.

They're creating an army of fanatics with the corporate media. It won't be difficult to just bowl us all over into a full-blown fascist state with death camps and everything.

[YOHABLO]

24. Will They Have To Goose Step Down Pennsylvania Ave .. before

people wake up. Don't you just know the populace of Germany thought those nut cases would never gain power. How wrong were they?

[condoleeza]

26. Letter to the Editor at the NY Times from a retired gynecologist

This is what it was like before Roe v Wade: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/health/views/03essa.html?_r=0

[woo me with science]

32. Most dangerous are the corporate rulers

who have purchased democratic governments and are busy implementing a war and economic agenda of corporate fascism that continues to murder and increasingly impoverish millions for the greed of a few.

We are being stripped of our country, our safety nets, and our civil protections, driving millions into poverty, and slaughtering innocents, and the policies behind this corporate empire are now mostly bipartisan.

Until we get the banks and corporations out of our government, none of it will change, millions more will die and suffer, and the fascism will grow.

The well-being of women is inextricably part of all of this. Only in a functioning democratic society do women have a prayer of obtaining and maintaining the respect, rights, and protections that you are talking about.