Teabagger Billboard in Iowa

[merrylander]

Apologies to St. Paul, but I still cannot suffer fools gladly.

[piece-itpete]

I find comparisons to those kings of mass murderers distasteful, if not in a discussion of similarities.

Pete

[Fast_Eddie]

Originally Posted by Charles

My honest opinion?

Ads like this will not help the TEA people at all. If you want to win elections, you have to target the middle, and this will alienate them instead.

Chas

Originally Posted by piece-itpete

I find comparisons to those kings of mass murderers distasteful, if not in a discussion of similarities.

Pete

Agreed. It seems that this portion of the Republican Party is moving further and further to the right. If that continues it will be interesting to see how people like Sarah Palin define their relationship to this group.

[merrylander]

An ample demonstration of what I have always maintained, that the average American would not recognize a socialist if one bit them on the arse. The Nazis were extreme right while the Marksists were extreme left. But how easily they are led by the nose simply because the party name was National Socialist. A rose by any other name . . .

[piece-itpete]

You know Rob, I used to agree, but the more I study those killing machines the less difference I see.

Perhaps we should look at it differently than we do. Instead of a straight line with freedom in the middle, we should see it with freedom on one end and totalitarianism on the other, because the end result is remarkably similar.

Or a circle with good on top and bad on the bottom, with the only difference being who the bad guys appeal to.

Pete

[d-ray657]

Originally Posted by piece-itpete

You know Rob, I used to agree, but the more I study those killing machines the less difference I see.

Perhaps we should look at it differently than we do. Instead of a straight line with freedom in the middle, we should see it with freedom on one end and totalitarianism on the other, because the end result is remarkably similar.

Or a circle with good on top and bad on the bottom, with the only difference being who the bad guys appeal to.

Pete

I think I agree with you Pete. No question that Stalin's Russia was just a totalitarian as Hitler's Germany, or some of the Militarist dictators in South America. The totalitarianism in Russia didn't result from the change in the economic structure, but the continuation of the culture. Russians were used to being ruled by a dictatorial monarch, a transition from one type of totalitarian regime to another didn't require a major culture shift.

I think that we have seen the western democracies remain open, despite forays into socialized medicine and other state controls over the economies. I believe we would have a more democratic society now if we didn't have such a concentration of wealth and influence in the corporations and moneyed elite.

Nevertheless, even if we get some of these crazies in office, I'm optimistic that the democracy will survive. We have enough democratic controls in place that their clueless presence will not cause long-term harm. It will, however, delay the advance of a democratic economy.

Regards,

D-Ray

[merrylander]

I did not say anything about totalitarian, sure both were totalitarian governments but that did not alter the fact that the nazis were extreme right wing, hardly socialists regardless of what they called themselves. Sure, what the Russians practiced was not quite what Marx preached, but they still trended left.

[d-ray657]

Originally Posted by merrylander

I did not say anything about totalitarian, sure both were totalitarian governments but that did not alter the fact that the nazis were extreme right wing, hardly socialists regardless of what they called themselves. Sure, what the Russians practiced was not quite what Marx preached, but they still trended left.

I think that is accurate too. I think your point shows the poor reasoning of the message those wing nuts are trying to convey. Totalitarianism does not have to do with the type of economic system advanced by a dictator, but with the type of political system. When our elected president and congress pass legislation that intervenes in some health care and insurance practices, that does not signal a clampdown of the political rights of the citizens. Unfortunately, the ultimate outcome of the health care legislation shows the real danger that our democracy faces - the influence of lobbyists (or as Rob would put it, bribes) on the final product.

Regards,

D-Ray

[Charles]

Let a cold blooded killer become dictator and your going to have problems.

Obama may be an arrogant SOB, but he is neither of the above.

Chas

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by Charles

Let a cold blooded killer become dictator and your going to have problems.

Obama may be an arrogant SOB, but he is neither of the above.

Chas

But Dubya the Decider has aspirations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvUEsm0wNIA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A09Ha5M82us

John