Demagogues
Looking back at the history of this country, I thought that the age of the great American demagogues such as Sen. Huey "Kingfish" Long, Sen. Theodore "The Man" Bilbo, Sen. Joseph "Commie" McCarthy, Gov. Lester "Ax Handle" Maddox and Gov. George "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door" Wallace (among others) had come to a thankful end. Then I looked around, and, lo and behold, I saw the Republican candidates for president, along with Franklin Graham (his saintly father must be so ashamed). I said to myself, "Oh God, here we go again."
I hope other loyal Americans will join me in standing up to these hate-mongers and the poor people they incite.
ERVIN BROWN
Winston-Salem
Quran burning
It is regrettable that anyone's Holy Book would be burned. But this was accidental and our government has apologized for it ("Obama apologizes but protests rage on," Feb. 24).
My answer is to get over it. These are the same Muslims who would not hesitate for one minute to burn the Holy Bible and do it on purpose or cut off your head for just having a Bible in their country.
WILLIAM L. KILPATRICK
Lewisville
Finish the Thought
Last Saturday we asked readers to complete the sentence, "Big government becomes a problem when it ..."
"… tells half of its citizens we are not competent to make our own medical and ethical decisions regarding our own bodies so it will insert itself between women and our doctors and make those decisions for us."
TERRI GOFF
"… does not represent the people who work for a living but rather the people who vote for a living."
HIL CASSELL
"... gets so big it can no longer afford itself."
FRANK SCISM
"Big government becomes a problem when we forget that "government" is only a concept.
The "government" that is a problem is actually the people who are in the "government" (elected and nonelected) who have decided that they know what is best for us and inflict their agendas on us. They overreach and try to be everything to everybody at all times. They try to "protect" us by controlling our lives and remain blissfully ignorant of the Law of Unintended Consequences. They live in fear that someone may be "offended," a rare squirrel becomes extinct or worst of all, a big donor shuts off the money flow for the next election.
There is a solution: Authorship. Who wrote Obamacare? Who decided about the Keystone Pipeline? Whose idea was it to send our troops to Iraq? No, these are not the president's ideas, it may have been his decision, but it is rarely his "idea." Make people own up to their ideas, plans and programs and be prepared for the consequences of failure. Almost like in real life. Or at least as real as Washington and Raleigh can be."
KEN HOGLUND
"… replaces my doctor with Congress and replaces my pastor with the president."
CYNTHIA GOUGH NANCE
"… is 'bad' government. The size of government is not the issue, as the simple-minded Republicans claim. They just want to gut the programs of the Great Society. We are not going to fix 'bad' government by reducing federal spending relative to GDP. Don't confuse 'bad' as being synonymous with 'big.' Size is not the problem."
KAM BENFIELD
"…attempts to control the women's bodies through legislation proposed by the small government advocates who are supposed to be abhor intrusive government."
BOON T. LEE
"…falls into the hand of progressives like President Obama."
DONALD R. CREWS
"… is controlled by the Republicans because they cause huge debts and deficits (Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush), start needless and expensive wars (Grenada, Panama, Iraq), create an economic environment where the rich grow richer and the poor become more plentiful (Reagan, Bush I and Bush II), and they want to stand between doctors and patients to restrict people's personal medical decisions and take away people's right to adequate medical treatment.
STEVEN WADE
"Big government becomes a problem when it ...
ReplyDeletewants to "shrink" itself to a size where it can invade a woman's vagina. The Republican Party has become a cultural wolf dressed in economic sheep's clothing. They are all about jobs and the economy until they get elected.
Lte1...demagogues will always be with us as they come with the deal. The good ones are bad and the bad ones are good...depending on where you stand.
ReplyDeleteLte2..Quran burning is inflammatory to Muslims. Consequently, everyone treads carefully on anything that might even remotely inflame these good folks. Lets hope other religions don't decide that the Muslim way is a good way to fight back against detractors. Won't be very tolerant.
Big government becomes a problem when it takes the role of central planner, central controller, central banker.
Good afternoon folks!
ReplyDeleteLTE 1: The era of demagogues will never end. There will always be those around to fan the flames to suit their purposes. Speaking of which, Breitbart died at 43. He looked a lot older than that.
LTE 2: Christians in this country would be highly offended by the sight of burning a Bible, but not to the extent to warrant creating a riot. Just an example of the different mindsets between a modern society like the US and a medieval society like Afghanistan. When dealing with ME countries, you cannot think like a Westerner. That's why Bush's efforts in Iraq were such a failure. The Bush administration tried to create a Western style society in a tribal country where being an Iraqi came after being a member of their family, their tribe, their brand of Islam, then as a Muslim. You have to be able to work with different countries and societies on terms that they can understand in order to be effective.
Finish the thought: I'd say when it starts to make decisions that are none of its business and do not serve the community at large. I'm in agreement with Mr. Benfield that the size of govt isn't the issue as much as it's the effectiveness of the govt. As Colin Powell once noted, Americans want a govt that works effectively for them. With the largest economy, the most powerful armed forces and a population greater than 300 million, a complex country such as the US is going to have a significant fed. govt. Those who say the founders advocated a "small" fed govt forget that a significant fed presence was not possible in 1776 for a new country that had no money and extremely limited means of communication to cover a vast area of land.
"Breitbart died at 43. He looked a lot older than that."
DeleteTrue. And Davy Jones looked younger than 66.
Breitbart exposed a real 'Weiner'. Thanks Andrew.
DeleteRest in peace. We'll miss you.
I guess it's because Davy Jones spent his career spreading joy and happiness instead of bitter division.
DeleteEvery Democrat I know makes it a point to smear conservatives, it's about time conservatives strike back.
DeleteThanks again Andrew for all of your help.
Shirley Sherrod: My Prayers Go Out To Brietbart's Family
ReplyDeleteShirley Sherrod, who was a primary target of Andrew Breitbart's criticism, released the following statement on the conservative media icon's death:
"The news of Mr. Breitbart's death came as a surprise to me when I was informed of it this morning. My prayers go out to Mr. Breitbart's family as they cope through this very difficult time."
I wouldn't call what Brietbart did to Shirley Sherrod "criticism". What he did was make a doctored video of her that got her fired from her job. Just more right wing slime.
Delete