Knee-jerk Conservatives

I remember in the 1980’s when Reagan was president hearing a phrase over and over again, the phrase was “Knee-jerk Liberals”. Defined by Webster’s it means

1.	a person of strong liberal convictions who reacts predictably and emotionally to certain events.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, published 1913 by C. & G. Merriam Co.

Now remember this was when there was a huge republican resurgence in government and this phrase was used as an insult to make any liberal cause seem silly and a waste of time, from the environment to equal rights. Anybody that took up a cause that wasn’t in direct line with the conservative mind set was labeled a “knee-jerk Liberal” and viewed as unimportant.

In our current political climate in which there has been a bigger shift to the center or left of center, the conservative base now finds itself as a minority in politics. They didn’t see this coming either; they thought that there would be a permanent Republican majority, so enter the “Knee-jerk Conservative”.

The term “Knee-jerk Conservative” has no definition in the dictionary, I use the term to describe the radicals at the conservative base who believe that anything that is thought of by a Democrat is just wrong on principle, no reason or proof is needed, the belief that it’s wrong is more than enough proof to them.

The most noticeable “Knee-jerk Conservatives” are the ones with a media outlet such as; Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck & Bill O’Reilly, these are the ones that stir the pot and get the others riled up over nothing. Now I’m all for bringing attention to something that’s messed up and needs to be fixed, however, that’s not how these people work. They take a small fact and then cover it with a generous coating of B.S. Their listeners swallow it whole with-out question, then, when someone tries to explain the truth to them they won’t listen to it because they already heard the “truth” from one of their demigods who wouldn’t lie because they’re “conservatives”.

To these people who have been successfully brain washed and indoctrinated into this mind-set any conspiracy theory against Democrats especially President Obama is the truth in their eyes, no matter how far fetched, how outlandish or how many times it has been proven false, they will still believe it.

As recently as last week Sarah Palin, poster girl for the Republican base, was still talking about “Death Panels” as if they were real. Glenn Beck was trying to show his viewers “Communist” propaganda in the artwork at Rockefeller Center in New York and Rush Limbaugh was telling his listeners that President Obama himself was trying mandate circumcision for all males in this country, as if anybody this side of Limbaugh gave a crap about his penis.

These inane rants would be little more than an annoyance to those of us that know better, but to those that believe every lying word it’s a call to arms. People like Jim David Adkkisson who killed 2 people and injured 7 in a Unitarian church in Knoxville TN. He did this because he wanted to kill all the Liberals and Democrats because he believed the book “100 people who are screwing up America” which blamed every problem in the country on Liberals.

These “Knee-Jerk Conservatives” feel that Liberals are the living embodiment of Satan himself, almost the same way that Islamic radicals see the U.S.A. And like those radicals any peaceful protest has the likelihood of turning ugly.

What is the best way the deal with this problem? In my opinion the Republicans that have at least a little grasp on reality need to step-up and clean-up their own back yard. The “knee-jerk Conservatives” will not listen to anyone on the Liberal side, but they might listen to some of the Republicans. The Republican leaders need to call all of these fear-mongers on their B.S. and get the point across that this partisan crap is bad for everyone, including them.

I can only hope that some of the Republicans will start to do what is the best for the whole country and not just their own self interest.

"Too Late For Impeachment, But Not Too Late For Investigation"

Impeachment. The sound of the word can send shivers down the spine of the whole nation, even when it’s necessary.

In our nation’s young history we have only brought proceedings against two of our presidents, one resigned and one was acquitted. Therefore it’s not something to be taken lightly, however, I do believe that it’s time that we as a nation did the job that we didn’t do while they were in office, since a friend of mine pointed out that it’s only impeachment if the charges involve a sitting President, and start proceedings against the Bush administration.

I know that many would see this as a partisan vendetta, while others, think that we should look toward the future and solve the problem that are before us rather that look back, but I feel that we will not be able to move forward, not effectively, until we start righting the wrongs of the past starting by holding the ones who perpetrated those offences accountable.

Holding the people responsible for their actions, in my opinion, should never be considered as vindictive or as a witch hunt as long as it’s done fair and by the book. The Clinton hearings to me seemed to be un-fair due to the fact that nothing that they were trying to make stick to him should have been a “High crime or Misdemeanor”. No I’m not just saying that because I voted for him, I’m saying that because he had an encounter of a sexual nature in the “Oval Office” with a woman other than his wife. Yes as a President this was wrong and yes he should have not have done that, but, no one died because of this, national security was not put in jeopardy, and no one’s Constitutional rights were taken away. Basically, the only victims of this unfortunate episode were the trust of a man’s wife and a blue dress. Yet it seemed like Ken Starr was trying to get a lynch mob together.

Fast forward to Bush. He was practically asleep at the wheel for the fist 8 months of his presidency, he ignored warnings in his daily security briefs which let to the 9/11 attacks. Then he and his cronies used the fear and confusion of the people to extend the power of the executive branch past what was intended by our founding fathers, to take away constitutional rights of our citizens. His administration lied to the American people so that he could get authority to invade Iraq, and his VP’s company received the contracts without bidding for them, as is procedure. He passed laws that undid years of environmental protection, and de-regulated Wall Street which let to the sub-prime mortgage crisis and, subsequently, caused the failing world economy.

There is, in my opinion, more than enough evidence to launch a special investigation into these actions. And if it’s pursued with half as much energy and determination as the Clinton investigation was there should be no problem getting a conviction.

There are other countries in this world where Bush and Cheney are considered war criminals and are to be arrested on sight. There is even one city in Vermont where the police have the same order. Other countries should not have to clean up our mess; we should be willing to do it our selves. And, if we let them get away with it then we are setting a president that says that our constitution isn’t worth the paper that it’s written on.

9/11 Remembered

It's September 11, 2008. Seven years since the worst terrorist attack that ever happened on U.S. soil. On this day we remember where we were when we heard the news, we hear the numbers of people that died that day, but the damage that was done that day didn't end on that day, in fact it continues as I write this and goes unnoticed or at least unspoken by the media.

A shocked nation watched the horror unfold in front of them, and in the days immediately following the attacks most of the nation, including myself, thought that the president was taking appropriate action. It wasn't long though before some of us started seeing that the attacks had destroyed more than lives and buildings. That day marked the day that our rights started being taken away from us. U.S. Patriot Act, which stated that somebody that was SUSPECTED of being an enemy combatant could be detained indefinitely without bail or trial was introduced by the president and passed by congress. Your house could be searched and your phone could be tapped without a warrant. Some of us started to wake up at that point, but the media said nothing.

Then Congress gave the president a rubber stamp to invade a country that was no threat to us. A country that we still are fighting in that we have lost over 4,000 service men and women in that war. Some more of us started to wake up, but the media still said nothing.

Some of the ones that woke up wanted to be heard, but found that now if you had an opposing view point, it could only be said in a "Free Speech Zone", which was well away from where you could be heard. I thought that as an American in America anywhere that I was standing was a "Free Speech Zone", but that had changed as well. We wanted to wake up others, but they couldn't hear us, because the media still said nothing.

Now the Executive branch has extended its power well beyond what was ever intended by our founding fathers, and congress for the most part has stood idly by while all of this has taken place and the news media looks the other way, or worse, actually helps the current administration lie to the people, who swallow the lies without question because they don't want to seem unpatriotic.

The "Smear and Fear" tactics that are being use by the Republican Party to try and keep the power that they have are basically terrorist tactics. They try to convince the people that they are the only ones that can keep the terrorist at bay, and that the other candidate, by the sound of his name, may even be a terrorist. They want to make the American people afraid to vote for anybody but them.

Foreign terrorist attacked us seven years ago today, but they didn't drag down our economy or take away our freedoms, we let the domestic terrorist do that.