It's still "hate the hippies" ...

[SHRED]

...and tear-up with pride when a fighter jet flies over.

Excuse me for seeming a bit arrogant here but America, for the most part, is dumb as a box of rocks.
Hence 75% favored invading Iraq and the majority now think drilling more domestically means lower gas prices.

:argh:

[BlooInBloo]

1. Yup. The reason America is turning faster and faster into crap is Americans.

[zanne]

2. I agree. The over-50 set is still fighting that battle.

It started in the 60's and it's still going on. It just needs to be rejuvenated by political scum like Karl Rove and we're off on the warpath again. We still define ourselves by our cultural and political lifestylex.

[Warpy]

3. It's the over 70 set and the under 50 set

The first was too old for the 60s and the second only heard about it from parents who were too old for the 60s. The rest of us experienced it in one form or another, if only as hopelessly clueless frat boys who grew their hair long in the vain hope of getting laid.

None of the silly "history" shows on the 60s have managed to capture any of what went on, done as they were by pudgy old white guys who were mostly alarmed at kids who had rejected everything the pudgy old white guy had always stood for. What they missed is that the 60s were a blast for those of us fortunate enough to have come of age at the right time to experience all the lunacy, hope, and bad fashion first hand.

They all miss the fact that we grew up, got jobs, took on mortgages, paid taxes, and raised our families.

But yes, this country has never gotten over the fact that for a few brief years, one generation saw outside all the established forms and assumptions and challenged them.

[zanne]

6. I think that imagery will help people understand this.

First, picture people, with or without long hair protesting in the streets. Then, picture Karl Rove going to school every day in a jacket and tie.

[zootlux]

21. The current War on Medical Marijuana...

is just a continuation of 'stomp the hippies'. Still hating the Hippies is almost as important to conservatives as hating blacks. Nixon pushed the war on pot because he believed that Marijuana turned good people into G-Dam Liberals.

Sezzme

[zanne]

24. If congress is leaning towards labeling tobacco as a drug...

I think the legalization of marijuana will not come in the near future.

[Raksha]

26. It's the "raised our families" part that has long-term consequences.

Re They all miss the fact that we grew up, got jobs, took on mortgages, paid taxes, and raised our families.

My husband and I were proud of our Sixties counterculture values and made a conscious effort to pass them on. It's no accident that our son and daughter aren't racists, sexists or homophobes and have a strong environmental awareness. Oh yeah...and we also warned them about the propagandistic bullshit concerning "pre-emptive" wars--the domino theory or whatever the current equivalent might be. I almost forgot about that one!

We also stressed the importance of creativity and thinking outside the box, and most important of all, thinking for themselves and not following the herd.

To this day, whenever some right-wing regressive tells me "the Sixties are over" (whatever the hell THAT means) I say, "not for me they aren't!

I guess Karl Rove just can't forgive me for all that...well, guess what? The feeling is mutual!

[no_hypocrisy]

4. Is it me or do you get the feeling this is how us "old hippies" are still seen?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mOEU87SBTU

Either that or rolling in the mud at Woodstock, stoned out of our minds and fornicating with anything not dead?

[klyon]

33. people have this notion that hippie pot smokers will cut their heart

out, drink the blood, rape their daughter, and steal all their stuff.

The only way to overcome this is to re-educate and legalize.

It is time for a serious discussion.

I hope it will come soon.

[carlyhippy]

38. me too n/t

Carly

[fla nocount]

5. It's time for some Prine

Spanish Pipedream (AKA Blow Up Your TV)
© John Prine

She was a level-headed dancer on the road to alcohol
And I was just a soldier on my way to Montreal
Well she pressed her chest against me
About the time the juke box broke
Yeah, she gave me a peck on the back of the neck
And these are the words she spoke

Chorus:
Blow up your TV throw away your paper
Go to the country, build you a home
Plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches
Try an find Jesus on your own

Well, I sat there at the table and I acted real naive
For I knew that topless lady had something up her sleeve
Well, she danced around the bar room and she did the hoochy-coo
Yeah she sang her song all night long, tellin' me what to do

Repeat chorus:

Well, I was young and hungry and about to leave that place
When just as I was leavin', well she looked me in the face
I said "You must know the answer."
"She said, "No but I'll give it a try."
And to this very day we've been livin' our way
And here is the reason why

We blew up our TV threw away our paper
Went to the country, built us a home
Had a lot of children, fed 'em on peaches
They all found Jesus on their own

[fla nocount]

7. Or maybe some piggies

Piggies
by George Harrison, The Beatles

Have you seen the little piggies
Crawling in the dirt
And for all the little piggies
Life is getting worse
Always having dirt to play around in.

Have you seen the bigger piggies
In their starched white shirts
You will find the bigger piggies
You will find the bigger piggies
Stirring up the dirt
Always have clean shirts to play around in.

In their styes with all their backing
They don't care what goes on around
In their eyes there's something lacking
What they need's a damn good whacking.

Everywhere there's lots of piggies
Living piggy lives
You can see them out for dinner
With their piggy wives
Clutching forks and knives to eat their bacon.

[Whoa_Nelly]

8. Boyfriend of my friend told me the other day that OCS drilling can be done in three years

and we can immediately have lower prices, and no we are NOT in a recession, and no, there is no such thing as global warming.

I looked at him and said, "Let's choose to not talk politics to keep our friendship good. It's clear you are a hardcore conservative."
He replied, "Damn straight I'm a hardcore conservative, and proud of it! So, yes, we can keep politics out of the conversation."

I treasure my friend, and while she's more centrist and quiet about her views, she adores this guy. So for the sake of my friendship with her, and her otherwise likable b/f, I won't enter into any debates with him...he's a Rush/Savage/FAUX listener/believer.

And, there's no way to make him understand (what he calls LIES!) that even if there is production from OCS drilling in three years, we don't have national rights to the crude like Venezuela. He works for Chevron, and refuses to believe that the corporates would desert the US. Have to wonder what flavor of kool-aid the oil corps are handing out at the water cooler these days... :eyes:

[Iris]

19. proud of being backwards and unable to accept change

go figure....

[bryant69]

9. Yeah I hope we can get power over these dumb Americans

That'd be ideal.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[treestar]

13. The republicans have no problem with that

that's the rub. The liberals are unwilling to take advantage of people.

[bryant69]

15. And also the Republicans are liars - they pretend to

respect the American people. But here at DU we are too honest to do that.

Bryant

[tjwash]

22. heh.

I'm waiting to see what the Dem reaction is going to be when Obama wins and goes LBJ on Afghanistan, after signing several approvals to keep the permanent military bases in Iraq.

[treestar]

42. Should they be respected, just because?

Maybe as a group, we have not earned respect over the past several years, at least.

It appears the candidates don't respect us, and with reason. If we reward negative campaigners with victory, smearers and liars, what are we saying about ourselves?

We don't get respect just because we're here.

[HughBeaumont]

10. Don't forget the "Commies" and "Soshulists" . . .

Anyone who uses "Red Menace" smack in 2008 FAILS and needs to be dragged off the floor.

Socialism is practiced with benevolence in many countries and it works for the most part. Here, we only socialize risk, ruin and loss while privatizing the wealth.

[zanne]

25. Alot of people equate Socialism with Fascism. nt

[Ganja Ninja]

11. Tom Tomorrow must have read your mind.

[SHRED]

12. awesome...thanks for that

[tjwash]

17. My fave of his...on Americans and gas prices

Now, if gas gets down to the low threes in the next 3 months...tell me this isn't dead on!

[treestar]

14. Americans have this problem with intelligence

Others countries are proud of their Obamas.

Only this one is "threatened" by his intelligence and would actually prefer a leader who is ordinary.

Trouble is, these people forget to recognize that the number one status of the U.S. in the world they covet so much will fall with mediocre leaders.

Obama's trip should have done him good. For once, someone we can be proud of.

[tjwash]

16. The problem with America...is that it's full of Americans.

Jingoistic, nationalistic, spoiled assed, think they are entitled to eveything in the entire world Americans.

Hell, want to watch us band together? Give us something to hate on, and we are all over it.

[DailyGrind51]

18. A lot hinges on one's defintion of "freedom".

Today, "freedom" means working more hours to pay for more shit and maintain the shit you already have. During the 60s, "freedom" was doing without shit, so you could live the way you wanted to live, rather than doing a job you hated for people with values you didn't respect.

"White collar conservative flashin' down the street, pointing that plastic finger at me, they all assume my kind will drop and die, but I'm gonna wave my freak flag high."
Jimi Hendrix

[Javaman]

20. Never under estimate the power of dumb. nt

[natrat]

23. not necessarily just dumb

perhaps acting stupidly by not taking any interest in issues that effect them. You know the type. All they care about is their stupid suburban lifestyles and their number one concern is protecting their children. It's insane because their kids have to live with what the parents let slip away.

[Fumesucker]

27. The two most common elements in the universe..

Hydrogen and stupidity. -Frank Zappa

[fascisthunter]

28. "Knob Robber Gets Stuck in Room during Fire"

[AndyTiedye]

29. Most People Believe What the TV Tells Them. It's The Same Everywhere Else

[tomg]

30. I just came back from a

conference in Wales, and at the conference dinner we started talking politics. One of the people I spoke to said that among many others, one reason he really wanted to see Obama win - and he was dead serious about this - was that he wanted his faith in the basic intelligence of the people of the United States restored. He could not believe that the people of this country would be stupid enough to choose McCain over Obama. Absolutely everyone agreed that this election should be a no-brainer. I didn't use "dumb as a box of rocks" like the OP. I said "dumber than a bag of hammers."

Actually, I have been able to spend a fair amount of time talking to European friends over the last two or three years, and many of them say that while thay have their own share of right wing fascists and racists and corporatists, they are pretty amazed at how remarkably stupid we are over and over again.

[SHRED]

32. Well...

...I would wager that MOST Americans have the idiot box (TV) going on all the time at home.


----

[tomg]

41. I agree. And I don't think they are

watching Bill Moyers.

[Greyhound]

31. The dumber we get, the more threatened we feel by any hint of knowledge. n/t

[ThoughtCriminal]

34. Two things right-wingers hate about hippies

1) They were right about war
2) Jesus looks like one (at least the image like one they saw in Sunday school and on slices of toast)

[blues90]

35. It shouldn't but it still amazes me

How the public will go along with anything when fear and lies are at play.

I still feel we are truly screwed no matter what people hold onto as some sort of hope.

[spanone]

36. yep...idiocracy is here & now

[Odin2005]

37. Too many Boomers (and some older Gen-Xers) have their heads stuck in the 70s.

And still think the Dems are all "murika-hatin McGovernite hippies" :eyes:

Thank God I was born 12 years after we got out of 'Nam...

I've read that the younger Boomers and older Gen-Xers are the most conservative generational demographic. The folks born during WW2 and us people born after 1980 (Gen-Yers or Millennials) are tied as the most liberal generational groups.

[Bombtrack]

39. Blame Trey Parker

He's a talanted hilarious guy but has his head up his ass on many aspects of politics the way his kind of hypocritical promotion of his agenda manifests itself among millions of South Park viewers.

[lynettebro440]

40. I have always felt

for the last 7 years that my generation (and fortunately I was born at the cusp, turning 50 this year) is a bunch of lazy ass retards. The older people act stupid, like they are stuck in the reagan Alzheimer's era. I can't stand them. But the younger ones aren't much better, they have there heads stuck in their asses and don't do anything to motivate this country. It has pissed me off for so long now, the day they let that dumb ass in the white house. It would be like the younger generation watching jenna bush grow up and then voting her as president. I couldn't believe how stupid my generation got. It's like all they do is make fun of everyone else and take no self analysis of themselves.

I'm glad most these son of a bitches are losing their money. I'm glad that they have had to be slapped into reality and if they vote the wrong way again most of them will die because health care sucks here. So my generation needs to wake the fuck up NOW!!!!!!!!!