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mnhtnbb

(31,319 posts)
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 09:51 AM Nov 2014

America is Dead

Found this on fb this morning, and thought I'd share. It really hits home.



I’m simply waiting for some Conservative to tell me that America is the will of the people, and this is the people’s will, so it’s America.

That’s so untrue as to be laughable. America is a set of ideas that our Founders thought were so important that they protected those ideas even from the will of the people.

America is an idea, one that we used to believe in. These people we’re electing have lost those core values.

<snip>

Equal opportunity is an American core value...

Service to country is an American core value...

Being your own man – not paying for the sins of your father – that’s a core American value...

<snip>

We elect leaders that believe that a beating heart is a person with rights that supersede its host, but that paper-and-ink corporations, by virtue of their amassed resources, have the same rights as the flesh-and-blood component parts of which they are made.

We imprison our citizens for drug crimes because it’s too expensive to rehabilitate them, but we rehabilitate our corporations from their failures at huge expense because they’re too important to fail.

We apparently now believe that liberty means protecting everyone’s freedom to take from each other with impunity, that we no longer have the right to demand that our government set the rules in favor of the many instead of the few.


http://www.onyxtruth.com/2014/11/05/america-is-dead/

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America is Dead (Original Post) mnhtnbb Nov 2014 OP
I'm hiding under the bed shenmue Nov 2014 #1
You're not alone. mnhtnbb Nov 2014 #2
Republicans supposedly believe in states rights yeoman6987 Nov 2014 #7
I want to adopt a cat shenmue Nov 2014 #8
My husband wants us to get another kitty. Our last kitty boy mnhtnbb Nov 2014 #12
Hugs shenmue Nov 2014 #14
My dog helps me get the red out Nov 2014 #41
Yes shenmue Nov 2014 #52
Do it. Adopting a homeless critter is one of the best things hifiguy Nov 2014 #58
I adopted a dog years ago shenmue Nov 2014 #60
Max was shy boy and would just watch. hifiguy Nov 2014 #61
:) shenmue Nov 2014 #62
"When I went into winter camp I always took plenty of novels Eleanors38 Nov 2014 #63
whats the msm's agenda ? father founding Nov 2014 #40
Koch brothers wanted the senate bad- paid people to steal for senate, didn't care about referendums J_J_ Nov 2014 #53
In the case of Arkansas, at least, minimum wage was a state constitutional issue Art_from_Ark Nov 2014 #66
Right there with you. MoonRiver Nov 2014 #10
Good one! mnhtnbb Nov 2014 #13
I was actually grateful TNNurse Nov 2014 #23
I would like to hide also. But I have to watch for the next shoe to fall. Which safety net program jwirr Nov 2014 #30
i'm right there with you. I've got a news boycott going on. kcass1954 Nov 2014 #46
Yay! shenmue Nov 2014 #50
What, no old people yelling at clouds??? Odin2005 Nov 2014 #71
I will bring some beer and sandwiches hifiguy Nov 2014 #48
Thank you shenmue Nov 2014 #49
What about travel money? geardaddy Nov 2014 #55
I see what you did there...... hifiguy Nov 2014 #56
hehe. geardaddy Nov 2014 #57
Stop that. I couldn't stand that guy. Nay Nov 2014 #78
I'm already with you! Odin2005 Nov 2014 #70
America has been dying for 30 years. liberal_at_heart Nov 2014 #3
I'd say longer. I date the decline from the JFK assassination. mnhtnbb Nov 2014 #5
I also believe that was the turning point deutsey Nov 2014 #11
He sure did. We saw him start when he was Gov of California and we were living there. mnhtnbb Nov 2014 #15
Not Trying To One-Up You Two. . . ProfessorGAC Nov 2014 #79
Not one-upping at all deutsey Nov 2014 #80
We're Of Like Minds ProfessorGAC Nov 2014 #81
Try, the start of the Industrial Revolution. Myrina Nov 2014 #25
Bobby Kennedy...so much promise. SammyWinstonJack Nov 2014 #34
Yes, it has been. And it's not just about R, D and I. It is a dying country falling behind the RKP5637 Nov 2014 #16
I'd say... ReRe Nov 2014 #21
Citizens United was the final blow brush Nov 2014 #24
Ain't dead, just smells that way. Eleanors38 Nov 2014 #64
Like Scott Walker said, their strategy is to Divide and Conquer. postulater Nov 2014 #4
conservative values Thenewire Nov 2014 #6
True shenmue Nov 2014 #9
Exactly! Well said! n/t RKP5637 Nov 2014 #17
Yes, yes, yes.... ReRe Nov 2014 #22
¨These people are plain evil.¨ SammyWinstonJack Nov 2014 #36
Nah, we'll win the next one big budkin Nov 2014 #18
Welcome to Galt's Gulch vlyons Nov 2014 #19
. . . Triana Nov 2014 #20
America has been clinically dead heaven05 Nov 2014 #26
It's sure fighting a lot of wars for a dead thing. Orsino Nov 2014 #27
Loathe defeatism Puzzledtraveller Nov 2014 #28
Moving this to General Discussion: Eeyore FSogol Nov 2014 #29
DUzy! KamaAina Nov 2014 #51
!!! Odin2005 Nov 2014 #72
Well said walkerbait41 Nov 2014 #31
Sad,,,,,,Papa Paul got wish! Cryptoad Nov 2014 #32
Brain Dead. n/t kag Nov 2014 #33
You've nailed it. Too many people have stopped thinking for themselves or using their mnhtnbb Nov 2014 #44
Great points made, and also food for thought. world wide wally Nov 2014 #35
See the US Red-Blue MAP with the 'Ring of Fire Midterms' video and article on DU Front Page today appalachiablue Nov 2014 #37
If the American Dream TBF Nov 2014 #38
Yes it is. I am going to disconnect from the news for awhile. It's too draining and I locdlib Nov 2014 #39
Good luck with that. If you have another language, it may be easier. mnhtnbb Nov 2014 #45
The Declaration of Independence stated this: AZ Progressive Nov 2014 #42
And in the meantime Germany provides a free college education, advancements in fast rail jillan Nov 2014 #43
Thank you for posting marions ghost Nov 2014 #54
Since Ronald Reagan, at least. hunter Nov 2014 #47
We really need to consider moving KittyKat13 Nov 2014 #59
I'd go if I could shenmue Nov 2014 #68
Oh, the drama. Warren DeMontague Nov 2014 #65
Operative word = "are." Republicans will seek to make that "were." WinkyDink Nov 2014 #74
And they'll fail. Warren DeMontague Nov 2014 #75
Arrogant self-absorbed selfish myopic twaddle. Beausoir Nov 2014 #67
2008 Alive! 2010 Dead! 2012.....Alive! DEAD! 2014 maced666 Nov 2014 #69
Most americans didn't bother to vote bhikkhu Nov 2014 #73
Message auto-removed Name removed Nov 2014 #76
Meet "halfway"? Compromise does not mean we give and give and give and you say no and no and noan uppityperson Nov 2014 #77

mnhtnbb

(31,319 posts)
2. You're not alone.
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 09:54 AM
Nov 2014

I don't want to read the papers. I certainly don't want to watch the news.
I really feel like I'm in mourning.

The irony of those red states voting for minimum wage increases while at the same time electing
Senators that want to eliminate the minimum wage seems symbolic of some strange schizophrenia
on the part of voters. It's really hard to believe people can be so stupid. But, there it is!

 

yeoman6987

(14,449 posts)
7. Republicans supposedly believe in states rights
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 10:02 AM
Nov 2014

So no I am not shocked by the props that were passed. They just don't want the federal government having a minimum wage. They could care less if an individual state has a minimum wage.

mnhtnbb

(31,319 posts)
12. My husband wants us to get another kitty. Our last kitty boy
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 10:06 AM
Nov 2014

joined his brother at the Rainbow Bridge about 18 months ago. For me, I'm
not up for the work (read litter box scooping) involved and happy with
just having our dog. But I think a pet is a good idea! I start
off every morning walking Snowy for 45-50 minutes and it's my favorite
time of day--being outside--having time to reflect on nature and its
beauty.

 

hifiguy

(33,688 posts)
58. Do it. Adopting a homeless critter is one of the best things
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 06:07 PM
Nov 2014

anyone can do. I adopted both my cats - they both are now at the Rainbow Bridge because of kidney failure - and it was the best thing I have ever done in my life. They were wonderful companions and I was inconsolable when they passed.

shenmue

(38,501 posts)
60. I adopted a dog years ago
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 07:01 PM
Nov 2014

We had her for nine years and she went to Heaven last year. She was awesome!

Hope she is playing at the Rainbow Bridge with your buddies.

 

hifiguy

(33,688 posts)
61. Max was shy boy and would just watch.
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 08:56 PM
Nov 2014

Butch would definitely have something to say. He was a big ol' guy with enough personality for two cats.

 

Eleanors38

(18,318 posts)
63. "When I went into winter camp I always took plenty of novels
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 10:12 PM
Nov 2014

and tobacco, and usually a cat," reported Jim Christian, a line rider for the J A Ranch in the Pandle (of Texas? c 1886). "A cat and a briar pipe were lots of company when a fellow spent months shut off from the world."

Description of line rider's life, isolated in 1-rm huts while maintaining fences on the mammoth ranches of the day.

THE COWBOYS, Eds. of Time-Life Books, text by William H. forbis, NY, 1973.

 

father founding

(619 posts)
40. whats the msm's agenda ?
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 12:08 PM
Nov 2014

The people are stupid because they are trained to be stupid by the media and those who own the media, the question is why ?

 

J_J_

(1,213 posts)
53. Koch brothers wanted the senate bad- paid people to steal for senate, didn't care about referendums
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 02:06 PM
Nov 2014


That is the only thing that makes sense to me.

Everyone else is trying to make sense out of corporate media manufacturing consent nonsense.

Art_from_Ark

(27,247 posts)
66. In the case of Arkansas, at least, minimum wage was a state constitutional issue
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 10:29 PM
Nov 2014

Now that it's passed and part of the state consitution, it will be difficult for politicians to tamper with.

TNNurse

(6,911 posts)
23. I was actually grateful
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 10:52 AM
Nov 2014

To work a 12 hr shift at the hospital yesterday. I was totally disconnected from the media.

jwirr

(39,215 posts)
30. I would like to hide also. But I have to watch for the next shoe to fall. Which safety net program
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 11:38 AM
Nov 2014

will be stripped to get more money for our wars? Who will be starving tomorrow? Who will commit suicide because he can no longer provide for his family?

I need to watch because someone needs to witness the fall of our nation. Someone has to ring the fire alarm.

kcass1954

(1,819 posts)
46. i'm right there with you. I've got a news boycott going on.
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 01:21 PM
Nov 2014

I've been watching House Hunters, Real Housewives of wherever-the-fuck-they-are-this-week, and non-stop Hallmark Christmas movies.

God love him, Mr. k hasn't had the pretend news on since early Tuesday evening.

shenmue

(38,501 posts)
50. Yay!
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 01:58 PM
Nov 2014
It's the Weather Channel for me. Just some nice person pointing at things and talking about clouds.

mnhtnbb

(31,319 posts)
5. I'd say longer. I date the decline from the JFK assassination.
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 09:58 AM
Nov 2014

That was the beginning of the end from my perspective.

deutsey

(20,166 posts)
11. I also believe that was the turning point
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 10:04 AM
Nov 2014

Reagan helped to lock the decline into place and accelerated it.

ProfessorGAC

(64,421 posts)
79. Not Trying To One-Up You Two. . .
Fri Nov 7, 2014, 10:03 AM
Nov 2014

. . .but i think it started when they ignored Eisenhower about the MIC.

When the war hero, soon to be leaving two term president says "watch out for these guys" and they made that whole warning fade into oblivion, the game was already afoot.

deutsey

(20,166 posts)
80. Not one-upping at all
Fri Nov 7, 2014, 10:51 AM
Nov 2014

You're just putting it in its larger, historical context.



Now, I'm not trying to one-up you here, but I believe this can even be traced back further to the failed "business coup" against FDR that Smedley Butler exposed in the '30s.

The interests behind that attempt to replace FDR with Butler went on become the MIC during WWII (wheeling and dealing with the Nazis as well as the Allies) and were involved after the war in the black ops activities around the world that benefited it geopolitically and financially (Iran, Guatemala, Cuba, Congo, etc.).

Although I don't think Eisenhower's hands were entirely clean, he did see the danger the MIC/CIA posed to America and tried to warn us. With JFK, it's well-documented that he constantly butted heads with the MIC, threatened to smash the CIA, and was hated for what happened in the Bay of Pigs, his efforts to pull troops out of Vietnam, and his behind-the-scenes talks with Krushchev and Castro to thaw out the Cold War (I base a lot of this on James Douglass's book JFK and the Unspeakable).

I don't think JFK was a saint, but I do think he posed a genuine political threat to the MIC and that they were concerned about his re-election. In my theory (and that's all this is based on the research I've done) JFK was taken out by the "Murder, Inc." crowd in a more effective way than the "business coup" could do to FDR in the '30s.

Myrina

(12,296 posts)
25. Try, the start of the Industrial Revolution.
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 11:00 AM
Nov 2014

As soon as rich dudes realized they could institutionalize mistreatment of employees & oppression of poor people, and get others to buy into it, it was on.

RKP5637

(67,032 posts)
16. Yes, it has been. And it's not just about R, D and I. It is a dying country falling behind the
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 10:27 AM
Nov 2014

rest of the world as money and greed are the virtues of today's America.

People do not count and are seen as an obstacle to be overcome and one slick/sick way to do that is to get people to vote against their best interests through fear and propaganda.

The goal is to eliminate the masses from the prosperity equation, but the masses have been dumbed down so much, uneducated and propagandized that the masses are incapable in today's "new" America to make intelligent choices when they vote. And a significant number also sit home on their asses than vote, and many do not have the foggiest idea what is going on in today's "new" America with respect to the political and financial future of the country.

Hence, they cede power to the oligarchs, crooks and manipulators over and over again.

ReRe

(10,597 posts)
21. I'd say...
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 10:50 AM
Nov 2014

... it begun to die the day Harry Ship Truman signed that "National Security Act" back in 1947, which turned the wartime OSS into the peacetime CIA and on later to the creation of the NSA.

brush

(53,471 posts)
24. Citizens United was the final blow
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 10:57 AM
Nov 2014

Until it and dark money it allows is overturned the country is doomed to right wing, neo=liberal/austerity bullshit

(Kansas is a great example of it, and it's a failed experiment). Fascism is the next stop on the rush to the right — and

with all the out of control cop incidents who can say we aren't very close to being a police state?

Thenewire

(130 posts)
6. conservative values
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 10:01 AM
Nov 2014

are a source of corruption and despair. Fiscally conservative is just a keyword they use to mean 'screw everyone else but me.' The majority of these people have sociopath tendencies. How can a country flourish with conservative principles? How can a country grow if the rich keep getting richer and we still depend on fossil fouls for energy? These people are plain evil.

 

heaven05

(18,124 posts)
26. America has been clinically dead
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 11:01 AM
Nov 2014

since November 22, 1963. It's been struggling along on life support since then. Had a serious 'event' in 2000 and on November 4, 2014, the 'drs' informed us all that the life support systems WILL BE turned off. Soon.

Orsino

(37,428 posts)
27. It's sure fighting a lot of wars for a dead thing.
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 11:25 AM
Nov 2014

I'm detecting a pulse despite the necrosis, and still have hope.

mnhtnbb

(31,319 posts)
44. You've nailed it. Too many people have stopped thinking for themselves or using their
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 01:03 PM
Nov 2014

intellect to analyze what they're told and figure out the agenda of who's giving them information.

world wide wally

(21,719 posts)
35. Great points made, and also food for thought.
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 11:52 AM
Nov 2014

The premise of "America" laid out by the founding fathers requires diligence, devotion, hard work and intelligence. They even limited voting to white, male landowners because they thought they would be the only segment of the population that would be intelligent enough to make these honest and yes "compassionate" decisions that would benefit ALL Americans.

Although these men were intelligent, insightful, and of noble intentions, they were NOT Godlike. They did not imagine the time when corporations bought power to supersede this jewel they had struggled to create, fought for, died for and knew it would be man's last, best hope.

They didn't see a time when people would work all day just to come home and watch tv shows about other people's lives as the more ambitious, ruthless, and greedy plotted to steal the hard
earned money they had just worked all day for and brainwash them with fake news.

They assumed that our citizens would always be as noble as they themselves were and rise up to fight for themselves. Not to join in with the power crazed greedy against their own brothers.

RIP USA

appalachiablue

(41,053 posts)
37. See the US Red-Blue MAP with the 'Ring of Fire Midterms' video and article on DU Front Page today
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 11:56 AM
Nov 2014

and last night. Note the small SLIVER of BLUE area representation now in the US, vs giant mass of RED. Very disturbing reality especially in a graphic illustration. Several quality articles I read on DU yesterday and the Map did it for me. The disappointment, shock and fallout haven't fully sunk in yet but will.

In Nov. 1980 I was in Wash. DC when Reagan was elected. I couldn't believe this country voted for an old, painted B H.wood actor. B/c I was so young I didn't realize the full meaning of his policies. We lived through the next 12 years of Occupation here by Reagan-Bush- by God that's survival!

I now see the fruition of that eventful turn, despite interim years of effective Democratic action. But we must go on for the sake of the young and future generations somehow. (Now back to bed!).

TBF

(31,921 posts)
38. If the American Dream
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 11:58 AM
Nov 2014

(which is really what you're referring to) ever existed it was for a very brief period of time. Maybe a few generations from the end of WWI to the early 80s at most. A time when rich folks paid taxes and the rest of us had some aspirations of class mobility. Once the parties we knocked down in WWII got up and started punching again the elites decided the experiment was over.

My personal feeling is that we need to kill that America once and for all, the capitalism along with it, and build something better.

locdlib

(176 posts)
39. Yes it is. I am going to disconnect from the news for awhile. It's too draining and I
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 12:02 PM
Nov 2014

cannot watch the bloated gloating faces of those who feel like they "won." My efforts are going to be concentrated on moving out of amerikkka, which is something that I've wanted to do for a long time for a lot of reasons. I know that every place has its issues, but people in other countries seem to vote for their own interests, their elected officials work for the people who put them in office (not the other way around, as it appears to be here), etc. I won't be completely out of the loop, though, because I fully intend to check in on DU to see what is happening.

mnhtnbb

(31,319 posts)
45. Good luck with that. If you have another language, it may be easier.
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 01:08 PM
Nov 2014

I know someone who successfully moved to France--but he was a teacher here (language)
and speaks both French and German. He lives in Lyon and loves it. He also married
a Frenchman a year ago. It all came about because he went to take classes
in Lyon the summer of 2012.

I also know someone else who went to work for an international company some years ago.
He first lived in Spain, now in Singapore. He's having a fabulous time.

AZ Progressive

(3,411 posts)
42. The Declaration of Independence stated this:
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 12:32 PM
Nov 2014

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

And then it stated: "That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed"

This country was founded on the ideal that people have RIGHTS to LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS, and that Government's role was to secure us these rights

SMALL GOVERNMENT MY ASS

Fuck the Republicans who say that we are ENTITLED, that we expect too much from government, our country was founded based on the idea that we have certain rights, including the right to be able to attain a good life, and that government's role should be to help us secure these things.

jillan

(39,451 posts)
43. And in the meantime Germany provides a free college education, advancements in fast rail
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 12:42 PM
Nov 2014

going full speed in Eurasia. GMOs banned pretty much everywhere except here. Green Energy advancements? Get your solar panels made in China (I live in Az and this really pisses me off!). And then there is healthcare.

So while the rest of the developed countries are educating their children, providing them with healthcare and developing new technology - the US is going backwards.

Maybe it's a good time to re-watch this:

 

KittyKat13

(19 posts)
59. We really need to consider moving
Thu Nov 6, 2014, 06:20 PM
Nov 2014

If this country is too stupid to understand we are right then we should move to a better country. We should collectively pool our resources so that all of us can move to countries that are more progressive and let the teabaggers make their own beds and lie in them.

Warren DeMontague

(80,708 posts)
75. And they'll fail.
Fri Nov 7, 2014, 02:31 AM
Nov 2014

The Federal Government was already gridlocked. It sucks to have the GOP control the Senate, but in terms of on-the-ground day to day reality I suspect it won't change a whole hell of a lot.

bhikkhu

(10,708 posts)
73. Most americans didn't bother to vote
Fri Nov 7, 2014, 02:23 AM
Nov 2014

evidently they either think things are fine, or nobody gave them any reason to think their vote mattered. America isn't dead, its just disillusioned. If you could find a way to change that, that would be something.

However well written, bemoaning our fate doesn't seem to get people to the voting booth; perhaps the opposite.

Response to bhikkhu (Reply #73)

uppityperson

(115,674 posts)
77. Meet "halfway"? Compromise does not mean we give and give and give and you say no and no and noan
Fri Nov 7, 2014, 03:40 AM
Nov 2014

and then you complain about us not meeting halfway.

Of course, being the "moderate repub" you say you are, you will probably now complain about being banned, your right to free speech taken away, all the while ignoring those pesky Terms Of Service for this forum you agreed to.

ps. Thanks MIRT, on the job!

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