It just struck me.....We have Officially Entered Crazyland. (Or maybe I'm just an old fart)

[Armstead]

Entering my 59th year a few days ago, and observing the current political/media/ economic landscape --- I just had a revelation.

We have left reality behind, and have officially entered Crazyland. It is as if the real world has been transformed into some psychotic cartoon.

This strange new world has all of the elements of reality. But they have been exaggerated, distorted and become like a Tim Burton movie....Or the exaggerations of Jonathan Swift.

The last straw was Paul Ryans budget proposal. IT is so f'in nuts that it would not be taken seriously in a world with any connection to logic and common sense. I suppose there is some attempt to rationalize it. BUt at base it is a giant stick in the eye -- They are practically saying "this isn't trickle down economics. It's Piss On You Economics. And you can like it or lump it' you peasants."

And these flinty eyed robots who have invaded Congress in their Revolutionary War uniforms and pre-programmed resistance to anything that has occurred since Jefferson was President, and are now holding our 21st Century government hostage.


....Then there's the Koch Brothers. They are like Mr. Potter on steroids and acid....Suddenly the old nemesis like Richard Mellon Scafaife seem like mildly cranky eccentrics.

Then there's these GOP Governors and legislators. I mean corruption and power politics at least used to be placed behind a veneer of PR that attempted to look legitimate to the public. Now it is almost as if they are trying to outdo each other to see who can be the most blatantly obnoxious, bullying and crooked.....

I mean I've been through periods that are bad. But during the Nixon years, Reagan years, the Bush Sr And Jr years, and the speed bumps in-between, there was at least some tenuous thread of sanity and reality. The GOP and the Oligarchy at least had enough of a sense of -- something -- to go to the effort to try and play the game and seem legitimate.

But now they've just tossed even that out and have let loose a rampaging Primal Id on the land.


....Or maybe I've just reached that Old Fart stage of life where my ability to absorb change has reached the saturation point.

Get Off My Lawn!

[northoftheborder]

1. We've stepped through the looking glass and down the rabbit hole............into a distorted reality

[Rosa Luxemburg]

150. Yeah baby!

[Bigmack]

2. 59..? Shiiiiit.... I've got socks that old!..

... but I agree that this country has never... never been this fucked up. The wildest crazies in the country used to believe weird shit, and even say it to their buddies at the bar, but now those crazies are behind the wheel of government, and the things they say are getting national coverage.

Nucking Futs!

[Armstead]

4. Nucking Futs is right -- yes Barrom blather has become policy

[xiamiam]

41. lol..and you are right..nt

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

58. What brand? Sounds like a good value.

[marew]

63. I so agree!

I knew it was either me or the world was going "Nucking Futs." Thanks for giving me a reprieve on my sanity.

[RevStPatrick]

78. Actually, the country HAS been this fucked before...

These things are cyclical. History is cyclical. I'm re-reading "The Fourth Turning" now, and it's (re)opening my eyes to how we don't really learn from history, and each generation/cycle of generations experiences the same things. Over and over and over again.

It's just that none of us has lived through these cycles before, so it all feels new. It's not. We'll eventually get through it. Somehow...

[Hestia]

100. It's because we do not solve the problems currently and past. We always seem to get to a point and

stop, take a collective sigh, and go on, letting the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, in the 80s, cocaine and crack, today it's meth and Iraq & Afghanistan & Libya. It's always something to distract us.

As a collective, we've got to say, we're solving this problem once and for all and not back and take concessions. Either we're serious or we go back to playing ostrich for awhile and let our kids handle the problem. The past would quit biting us in the ass if we actually solve the problems.

In the 1930s, there was a issue that the country would turn communistic or at the least socialistic. Huey Long, Upton Sinclair, et al, were really pushing for major change and it really almost happened. FDR came in as a pacifier to all the commie talk. The monied really were scared. This is what made it so easy for McCarthy to come in and say that people were members of the communist party because they were - a lot of people were. They were tired of the starvation and do whatever it takes to eat.

I think one movie that really shows how it was is "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" That is one disturbing movie, dramatizing the lengths that people would subject themselves to just eat and make a buck or two. I cringe to think of the movies they could make about our society today. Sometimes Law & Order SVU touches upon the problems - street families, child porn, sex slavery, but they are the only show doing it.

edited for spelling & clarity

[kag]

124. I agree with you...

My 14-year-old son practically memorized The Fourth Turning, and I have to say it's pretty compelling. When I read about how corrupt things were in...say, the Harding administration and how divided the country was during the Civil War and even during Viet Nam it makes me a) wish we would learn our fucking lessons, and b) understand a little about how we got here.

[newspeak]

80. yeah, well the "nuts" are given VALIDATION

by the MSM. People like Glen Beck are given a national sounding board and now the "squirrels" are legitimized publicly. Just like the corporate owned MSM gives credence to one or two hundred ditzy teabaggers or a network informing people where they can go join the teabaggers. Hundreds of thousands protested against going to Iraq, hear any MSM informing people where to protest? Their pro-corporate "fake" grassroots movement is brought to you by the corporate backed "rich and infamous" FOR the rich and infamous who could care less about the health of this country or the majority of its' people.

Yeah, I'm old enough to know we are going down a very dangerous, dark rabbit hole.

[Arkansas Granny]

86. A lot of that has to do with the 24 hour news cycle these days.

They have to fill those hours talking about something and the crazies draw a lot of viewers. The more they are featured, the more some people are persuaded that their views must be legit. It's like a self perpetuating fairy tale.

[PatSeg]

126. Sadly it feels like we're only a few years away from this

http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTQwMjc4MjMyNl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwOTk0NDczMQ@@._V1_.jpg

[Ricochet21]

3. We been there quite a while

[emulatorloo]

5. You are old enough to remember the John Birch Society?

They were pretty much the same as the teabaggers, conspiracy nuts, a commie under every rock, etc etc/

(Oh by the way, Daddy Koch (yes, daddy of our wonderful Koch Brothers) was a founding member of the John Birch Society)

Republicans flirted with them too, got real cozy.

Then William F Buckley said -- These folks are extremists, Conservatives should denounce them. He used the National Review to expose them for what they were, and said they had no place in the conservative movement.

Press began to treat them as the marginal nuts they were.

So we were real close to Crazy Town then.

Basically this time around, no body denounced them.

And the media promoted them and made them seem mainstream.

Clearly Koch Brothers had their media act together a little more than Daddy did.

Anyway you probably know all this, but your post reminded me of it all

[freshwest]

11. It's cyclical.

[Armstead]

12. I remember them...and a satirical folk song about them

I'm too young to remember the McCarthy Era, which was probably similar to today in some ways....But at least things caught up with him and he became a political pariah.


Oh well, Maybe the wheel will turn again, and the current crop will also wither away.

[freshwest]

19. We used to call them the Birch John Society. You know, the outhouse...

[Armstead]

24. The song by Chad Mitchell Trio

The John Birch Society lyrics

by Michael Brown
Oh, we're meetin' at the courthouse at eight o'clock tonight
You just walk in the door and take the first turn to the right
Be careful when you get there, we hate to be bereft
But we're taking down the names of everybody turning left
Oh, we're the John Birch Society, the John Birch Society
Here to save our country from a communistic plot
Join the John Birch Society, help us fill the ranks
To get this movement started we need lots of tools and cranks
Now there's no one that we're certain the Kremlin doesn't touch
We think that Westbrook Pegler doth protest a bit too much
We only hail the hero from whom we got our name
We're not sure what he did but he's our hero just the same
Oh, we're the John Birch Society, the John Birch Society
Socialism is the ism dismalest of all
Join the John Birch Society, there's so much to do
Have you heard they're serving vodka at the WCTU?
Well you've heard about the agents that we've already nameda
Well MPA has agents that are flatly unashamed
We're after Rosie Clooney, we've gotten Pinkie Lee
And the day we get Red Skelton won't that be a victory
Oh we're the John Birch Society, the John Birch Society
< From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/c/chad-mitchell-trio-lyrics/the-john-birch-society-lyrics.html >
Norman Vincent Peale may think he's kidding us along
But the John Birch Society knows he spilled the beans
He keeps on preaching brotherhood, but we know what he means
We'll teach you how to spot 'em in the cities or the sticks
For even Jasper Junction is just full of Bolsheviks
The CIA's subversive and so's the FCC
There's no one left but thee and we, and we're not sure of thee
Oh, we're the John Birch Society, the John Birch Society
Here to save our country from a communistic plot
Join the John Birch Society holding off the Reds
We'll use our hand and hearts and if we must we'll use our heads
Do you want Justice Warren for your Commissar?
Do you want Mrs. Krushchev in there with the DAR?
You cannot trust your neighbor or even next of kin
If mommie is a commie then you gotta turn her in
Oh, we're the John Birch Society, the John Birch Society
Fighting for the right to fight the right fight for the Right
Join the John Birch Society as we're marching on
And we'll all be glad to see you when we're meeting in the John
The John, the John Birch So- ci- i- teee.

these lyrics are last corrected by Mary Kay

http://www.elyrics.net/read/c/chad-mitchell-trio-lyrics/the-john-birch-society-lyrics.html

[freshwest]

40. Well that sums it up! Never heard of that. Good stuff, thanks.

[Art_from_Ark]

43. I've never heard that song before

but it pretty much sums up what I knew of the John Birchers back in the day.

[mlevans]

101. This one is also, I think, apropos.

Barry's Boys
Chad Mitchell Trio

We're the bright young men
Who wanna go back to nineteen-ten
We're Barry's boys
We're the kids with a cause
Yes a government like grandmama's
We're Barry's boys
We're the new kind of youth at your Alma Mater
Back to silver standards and solid Goldwater
Back to when the poor were poor and rich were rich
And you felt so damn secure just knowing which were which

We're the kids who agree
To be social without security
We're Barry's boys
'Cause his hat's in the ring
Where Westbrook Pegler once was king
Now he's too left wing
So if you don't recognize any old Red China
Or Canada, or Britain, or South Carolina
You too can join the crew
Tippecanoe and Nixon too
Back to Barry
Back to cash and carry
Back with Barry's boys

Why did the chicken cross the road?
To get from the left to the right

Roses are red, violets are blue
Walter Lippmann's a pinko, too

A-na-ka-nee, ka-nah, ka-nay
Let's investigate the PTA

Barry, Barry, make your bid
I love John Birch, but oh you kid

Mother, mother, wear a grin
And don't complain, or we'll turn you in

Hold the presses, stop the mail
The Pentagon's having a one-cent sale

What's the latest news statistic?
Hootenannies are socialistic

Shut the door and lock and latch it
Here comes Lizzie with a brand new hatchet


Back with Barry's boys

We're the kids full of nerve
As long as it's conservative, we're Barry's boys
And we can't comprehend
Why our parents aren't friendlier to Barry's boys
Why Dad once crusaded for Sacco/Vanzetti
Now all we're doing is doing the same for John Paul Getty
Our parents emulated Roosevelt and Farley
But we just want to grow up to be like Ev and Charley

No college days with Socrates and Plato
When you're Barry's boys
You just organize parades for the abolishment of NATO
And the rest
The entire West
So let's go back to the days when men were men
And start the First World War all over again
That's right you tell'em son
Isolationism can be fun
Back to Barry
Back to cash and carry
Back with Barry's

And remember, "An American first, and a politician second"
Spoken like a true American politician

Back with Barry
Not with Lyndon, Ike or Harry
Back with Barry's boys

Barry's Boys by the Chad Mitchell Trio

[tweeternik]

104. Here's one from Mr. Dylan .... Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues

Well, I was feelin’ sad and feelin’ blue
I didn’t know what in the world I wus gonna do
Them Communists they wus comin’ around
They wus in the air
They wus on the ground
They wouldn’t gimme no peace . . .

So I run down most hurriedly
And joined up with the John Birch Society
I got me a secret membership card
And started off a-walkin’ down the road
Yee-hoo, I’m a real John Bircher now!
Look out you Commies!

Now we all agree with Hitler’s views
Although he killed six million Jews
It don’t matter too much that he was a Fascist
At least you can’t say he was a Communist!
That’s to say like if you got a cold you take a shot of malaria

Well, I wus lookin’ everywhere for them gol-darned Reds
I got up in the mornin’ ’n’ looked under my bed
Looked in the sink, behind the door
Looked in the glove compartment of my car
Couldn’t find ’em . . .

I wus lookin’ high an’ low for them Reds everywhere
I wus lookin’ in the sink an’ underneath the chair
I looked way up my chimney hole
I even looked deep down inside my toilet bowl
They got away . . .

Well, I wus sittin’ home alone an’ started to sweat
Figured they wus in my T.V. set
Peeked behind the picture frame
Got a shock from my feet, hittin’ right up in the brain
Them Reds caused it!
I know they did . . . them hard-core ones

Well, I quit my job so I could work all alone
Then I changed my name to Sherlock Holmes
Followed some clues from my detective bag
And discovered they wus red stripes on the American flag!
That ol’ Betsy Ross . . .

Well, I investigated all the books in the library
Ninety percent of ’em gotta be burned away
I investigated all the people that I knowed
Ninety-eight percent of them gotta go
The other two percent are fellow Birchers . . . just like me

Now Eisenhower, he’s a Russian spy
Lincoln, Jefferson and that Roosevelt guy
To my knowledge there’s just one man
That’s really a true American: George Lincoln Rockwell
I know for a fact he hates Commies cus he picketed the movie Exodus

Well, I fin’ly started thinkin’ straight
When I run outa things to investigate
Couldn’t imagine doin’ anything else
So now I’m sittin’ home investigatin’ myself!
Hope I don’t find out anything . . . hmm, great God!

[lyonn]

89. The McCarthy Era....

What I remember from the era was while I was about 12 years old in a small school in Paradise, CA, I had a lady teacher that asked the class, "How would you prove you are not a communist?" I was Never a student of any consequence but that comment made us all think about how do you defend against a charge against you by the government that is not true. Funny that I would remember that teacher and comment since I attended at least 3 different schools a year. Not much else stuck in my mind like that through the school years. She was good.

The "Tea Party" appears to be the new McCarthyites. It's a matter of scaring the people that don't have the time or bother to realize what is truly happening to our govt.

[prairierose]

147. That song is on youtube....

I listen to it every once a while just to make myself believe that we defeated these horrible people the last time and maybe we will this time too.

But last time, we still media that reported actual news and asked questions instead of just repeating the lies of every right wing "think tank" out there without ever mentioning that they are right wing and funded by the Koch brothers or fossil fuel industries. They give the teabaggers incredible amounts of air time and never question their underlying ideas. They never mention that they do not have any knowledge of the Constitution or how government works.

I feel like the inmates have taken over the asylum and the asylum is now everywhere. We are all prisoners in the asylum now.

[Bigmack]

21. I studied the Birchers, and they were tame compared to the Teabaggers. nt

[Pacifist Patriot]

55. I'm 42 and I remember those nutters.

Then again, when I was a teenager my grandparents lived in Larry McDonald's district. (second president of the JBS) When he died on Korean Air Lines Flight 007, his widow ran for his office. I remember that insane special election clearly because I was just becoming politically aware and considering a career in public service. I volunteered in Buddy Darden's successful campaign (my first) against her. Both Larry and Kathy gave me the willies and I was only fourteen, closing on fifteen when he died.

[hifiguy]

66. And there are no Eisenhowers or Buckleys left

to denounce and ridicule them. Which may be the even bigger problem than the Kochtopus.

[ernie1241]

71. Charles Koch and John Birch Society

Most people don't know that Charles Koch was a JBS member until May 1968 -- so it is not just his dad (Fred) who was affiliated with the JBS.

It would be interesting if someone would ask Charles if he still accepts the basic predicate of the JBS -- namely, that most of our national leaders, government officials, and politicians during the past 8 decades have been Communist traitors, Communist sympathizers, or Communist agents?

Does he agree with the JBS, for example, that Presidents Carter and Clinton should have been impeached for TREASON?

Or, for that matter, does he agree with this comment from the May 2008 JBS Bulletin in an article entitled "The New World Order Isn't New".

"Just as the John Birch Society showed in the 1960's that the communists basically ran both the civil rights movement and the KKK, the strategy was nothing new. The former was used to transfer power to Washington DC in the name of civil rights and the latter provided a pretext for transferring power to Washington. You cannot get a really good conflict started unless you control both sides of the argument.”

[newspeak]

81. yeah, well, I was raised in Arizona

and know about the Birchers-even debated a wealthy bircher over wine one night. But, the birchers weren't given much validation by the MSM as they are today. I remember back then everything the birchers believed rested upon those damn commies. Labor unions, even churches could be influenced by those damn communists. To me, they were a bunch of mostly wealthy or comfortable assholes attempting to control everything and everyone else for their benefit by waving the red commie boogieman flag.

[PatSeg]

82. I was just thinking about that

and I realized that the difference between past nuts and current nuts is the media. Not only does the media give them attention they don't merit, we have 24/7 cable news. The extremists must be heaven with all the exposure they are getting. Its like a 24 hour Jerry Springer Show.

[demigoddess]

96. and big money, there is so much more money concentrated

in the hands of nutters.

[PatSeg]

99. True

Most are being financed by the very wealthy who will just use them and cast them aside later, much like they did with the religious fundamentalists in the past. You'd think these people would get tired of being used and abused.

[oldhippydude]

113. well

a lot of the narrative has changed simply because we now have a media outlet that is indistinguishable from the john birch society.. by legitimizing the rhetoric fokkks news, has moved the overton window to the right so far, its on a structure in the next city block.. the Hitler line tell a big lie, and tell it often enough, seems to have born fruit

[PatSeg]

125. Sometimes it seems

that "news" has become an extension of the whole reality TV craze. Networks care about ratings, corporations care about their profits, and right-wing crazies care about their own special brand of crazy. Somehow these three have formed a dangerous alliance.

[oldhippydude]

108. yes i remember the Birchers

Idaho had the highest per capita membership in the 60's... we used to go to their events and heckle them.. they advocated the same stuff then and laughed.. now it gospel to the right wingers.. they didn't have the corporate media to legitimatize them!!

[NICO9000]

119. They're still around, sadly

Last summer, my wife and I walked over to the local high school for a weekend carnival in the San Fernando Valley. They had less than 20 booths, one of which hosted the John Birch Society. Manned (naturally) by an elderly white couple, my wife decided to engage them. I couldn't bare to even look at them, so I opted out of that conversation. The funniest part was that the Birchers had the Social Security booth next to them, and next to that was the Rethuglican Party booth. Somebody had a sense of humor when they planned the booth locations.

:)

I was really upset that it was on a public school grounds, but then found out this crappy little carnival was being put on by a private company, so they can rent the booths to anyone. It was interesting to see such an anachronism trying to lurch back to life, and given the couple at the booth, it ain't gonna last much longer with its current membership.

[trud]

146. Birch

Nobody in the mainstream took the Birch Society seriously. And back then we actually had journalists.

[snappyturtle]

6. I think you've struck a chord here! It's like the Mad Hatter's tea party

in the U.S. today...crazy. I'm a few years older than you and I feel the same way.

[Armstead]

17. Yes...That's actually how the budget negotiations were just described on MSNBC

[Canuckistanian]

7. Today's conservatives are an oxymoron

They conserve nothing.

Conservatives today make "throwing the baby out with the bath water" their only policy. It's slash-and-burn, take no prisoners and leave only scorched earth.

Why they aren't being run out of D.C. and various state capitals is a mystery to me, too.

[Armstead]

13. Or just morons...but lucky morons

[Nevernose]

25. Rush Limbaugh has both:

Oxys AND morons.

[Armstead]

32. Lol

[Yavapai]

114. Bring back the "Duzzies",

this one deserves first prize!

[femrap]

70. WI and OH

are trying to get rid of our monsters.

[lyonn]

95. Are they great or what!!!?

You can fool lots of people some of the time but, not all of the time and these States are proving that.

[damntexdem]

8. We entered Crazyland some years ago.

It's just that we're now entering its capital city.

[Armstead]

18. And a dystopian city it is

[RagAss]

9. Some very evil, rich people suddenly woke up and discovered how to make a ....

national collective IQ of 95 and a population that shit its pants on 9/11 work for them.

[Roci]

88. Amen!

For almost ten years now, I haven't lived in the America I grew up in part of the time. I've lived instead in a warren full of frightened, gutless rabbits who cower in corners until someone with a big mouth,a pea brain, and a thick wallet tells them what to think, feel, say, and do.
The America I remember stopped an unjust war (Vietnam) and just for kicks, even while that war was going on, we went to the moon in spite of it all.
Now, we have 3 wars at the same time, Our space program can't go across the bloody street (in cosmic terms) and the government might close down because nobody in office can find a slick and simple way to cheat the elderly and disabled out of the benefits they're entitled to, for the sake of simple humanity. Meanwhile, we have a new generation of ultra-rich who could buy us another "space race" with their loose change. Instead of bettering life for everyone, they look to siphon up the last penny they can beg from the Government, Borrow on shaky credit, or steal from those least able to afford it. None of this would have happened in the America I remember without riots in the streets and darned near a revolution.

Now-a-days?? Not a peep. No spines, no guts, and no brains. Rabbits asking the wolf if it's OK for them to breathe-for now.

And all this time, the people who ought to have the least to worry about-the very young, and the young who've been around for a few years- are suddenly the "Problem?"

I'd like to take all these folks that say we're the problem, and get them in a closed room. I'd show them what a "problem" really is, by thunder!

[freshwest]

10. You were warned to not take the red pill. The Matrix really sucks, doesn't it?

Just kidding. Nice OP.

:loveya:

[Armstead]

14. Lol...Good one.

[JVS]

15. We entered Crazyland ten years ago. What fills me with dread is that we've been more recently...

told that expecting our leaders to take us out of Crazyland is unrealistic and that instead we have to share sacrifices.

[Armstead]

33. Yes and their definition of "shared" is not in Webster's Dictionary

"One for you, two for me; one for you, three for me; two for you, four for me.....etc."

[Mojeoux]

16. WhenI saw the word "Crazyland" I knew the first

thing had to be about "Little Rand!"

Who is this guy? Who voted for him??? Where do they live? What American services do they enjoy?

Can we ask them to re-call him?

[Armstead]

20. No we can't....He's so pop-u-lar

And cute

[hayu_lol]

26. Armstead...you are young enough to 'see' the recovery...

lol...thats cause yer still a kid.

Good thread. Thanks.

We have come in my lifetime from a unified nation to 300,000,000 individuals all screaming 'me first.'

Get Off My Lawn seems to be becoming a battle cry.

[Armstead]

34. "You're a kid" .....I like to hear that LOL

[Buns_of_Fire]

68. NOW I know what my next sign will say!

"GET OFF MY LAWN!" That's it. Nothing else. If you can't convince 'em, confuse 'em.

Heck, I used to still have an old copy of "None Dare Call It Treason" stuffed in the bookcase for old time's sake. Can't remember one word of what it said. I think I was supposed to be looking for commies under the bed every night, but all I ever found was dust bunnies.

[Armstead]

69. Actually it is a pretty good slogan. Cantankerous Liberalism.

Get Off My Lawn...You GOP Nutbaggers.

Well, maybe not, but it is feisty.

[femrap]

72. Loved your OP....

Everything has become Upside Down. There are days when I just want to :hide:

I'm your age...but female so might I add a bit to your slogan:

GET OUTTA MY YARD AND OUTTA MY UTERUS, YOU WASTE OF HUMAN FLESH.

I'm beyond cantankerous....and bitter....I've reached :nuke:

:yourock:

[JimWis]

22. Great post. Truly enjoyed reading it. And you are right. It seems

to be getting more nuts each day.

[ladjf]

23. I think we have entered into the reverse Universe of the Republicans

philosophy. We are living in, as you have said, "Crazyland".

[Armstead]

37. Like the Bizarro Universe in the Superman Comics

[dixiegrrrrl]

27. McCarthy came close.

So did Henry Anslinger,The man who outlawed marijuana using fear, lies, and racial slander.

HE was outrageous:

"Colored students at the Univ. of Minn. partying with (white) female students, smoking and getting their sympathy with stories of racial persecution. Result: pregnancy"

"Two ****** took a girl fourteen years old and kept her for two days under the influence of hemp. Upon recovery she was found to be suffering from syphilis."

"An entire family was murdered by a youthful addict in Florida. When officers arrived at the home, they found the youth staggering about in a human slaughterhouse. With an axe he had killed his father, mother, two brothers, and a sister. He seemed to be in a daze… He had no recollection of having committed the multiple crime. The officers knew him ordinarily as a sane, rather quiet young man; now he was pitifully crazed. They sought the reason. The boy said that he had been in the habit of smoking something which youthful friends called “muggles,” a childish name for marijuana."


Oh,and look up Father Coughlin sometime.

Father Charles Coughlin occupied both a strange and a familiar place in American politics in the 1930s. Politically radical, a passionate democrat, he nevertheless was a bigot who freely vented angry, irrational charges and assertions. A Catholic priest, he broadcast weekly radio sermons that by 1930 drew as many as forty-five million listeners. Strongly egalitarian, deeply suspicious of elites, a champion of what he saw as the ordinary person’s rights, Coughlin frequently and vigorously attacked capitalism, communism, socialism, and dictatorship By the mid-1930s, his talks took on a nasty edge as he combined harsh attacks on Roosevelt as the tool of international Jewish bankers with praise for the fascist leaders Benito Mussolini and Adolph Hitler. The “Radio Priest’s” relentless anti-elitism pushed Roosevelt to sharpen his own critiques of elites, and in that sense Coughlin had a powerful impact on American politics beyond his immediate radio audience.
One of his speeches ..“Somebody Must be Blamed”.. can be heard here:
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5111

[Armstead]

31. I've always tried to keep perspective by looking back at such things

It usually helps to remember that progress has been made over time.
But it does seem frustrating when it feels like we are regressing. Now we have Father Coughlins all over the place and their ratings are high and they get elected.

[dixiegrrrrl]

38. Verily. And well put.

(Heavy sigh)

[Contrary1]

28. I'm a few weeks ahead of you as far as age goes...

but I could have written this, if my eyes would have allowed. Damn glaucoma. K&R

Your's truly,
Another Old Fart

[Rex]

29. Not at all 2000 'changed everything' and 9/11 is a crime still unsolved.

THEN the Insane Party took advantage of Americas apparent weakness for corruption and ran with it! Can you blame them? America has never been so weak, politically.

[slipslidingaway]

30. We've landed in Crazyland because there is no push back from the other side...

anyone who attempts to do so is crazy ... now that is nuts!

We've heard from our side for the past two years that Medicare, Medicaid and SS are the real problems that need to addressed ... and we let the other side come up with a plan in response to our words.

:crazy:

[Armstead]

36. True, but I'm not going to "go there" in this particular thread

[shanti]

35. yes, and

get ready for the BIG change. it's coming.

[calimary]

39. It's like that line in "Forbidden Planet" - "Monsters from the id".

What's rampaging across our land is just as monstrously ugly.

[suffragette]

42. "Mr. Potter on steroids and acid"

Sums it up quite perfectly.
K&R

[Lorien]

44. I keep wondering what our 1970's selves would have thought had we been given

a peek at what's happening today. Granted, I was a kid and teen in the 70's, but my parents were very involved in liberal politics and I was drawing political cartoons myself by age 13. I don't think that any of us would have been able to wrap our heads around it. It's horrifying.

[Armstead]

59. I think that even moderates would be appalled at today's "conventional wisdom"

Beating up on teachers as the primary cause of economic problems?

The notion that "we don't make things in America" anymore?

The fact that the middle class is disappearing? The size of the gap between wealthy and everyone else?

I suspect our 70's selves might feel like they're seeing a bad movie.

[Norrin Radd]

45. It's for the best, the insanity out in the daylight for

all to see and be able to identify it and deal with it. It's worse when it is more insidious and harder to detect or discover.

[Initech]

46. Our country has entered full-on Gran Torino mode.

[lonestarnot]

47. GET THE FUCK OFF HIS LAWN!

[Armstead]

145. Yeah...What he said

[DCKit]

48. Being a thinking/thoughtful person hardly qualifes you for alzheimers.

But, damn, do I feed your pain. The shit we're expected so swallow recently is just amazing and more than enough to make us believe that WE'RE the crazy ones.

As much as I love my family, I'm also (finally) beginning to understand the damage they can and will do.

[femrap]

74. Love your sig....! nt

[KT2000]

49. Leave it to Beaver

had a show where Beaver learned the water in the neighborhood was going to be turned off. He filled up buckets with water and went around the neighborhood trying to sell the water to people who did not know about the shut-off beforehand. The adults in the neighborhood were aghast and called Ward and told him what Beaver was doing.
Boy - did Beaver get it. Ward lectured him about how wrong it was to take advantage of people like that. He should share the water in times like this. Beaver understood and was sorry.
That used to be normal.

I am exiting my 59th year in a few days. I don't understand this world anymore.

[Armstead]

60. Today, Ward would be telling him to charge more

[FiveGoodMen]

90. Today, Ward would be telling him to poison the water

and charge for the antidote.

(I'll see your cynicism and raise you...)

[defendandprotect]

50. We entered "Crazyland" a long time ago -- and ...

The Rightwing Koch Bros. Funded the DLC --

http://www.democrats.com/node/7789

http://upload.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x498414


Democratic Part has been harboring a Koch/DLC for almost two decades now!



:nuke:

[Golden Raisin]

51. I'm a bit older and agree

these are crazy (putting it mildly) times. But it's been developing all our lives, much of it funded deliberately by right-wing money, think-tanks, etc. working assidulously towards these goals for decades. Who'd of thunk' we'd reach a place where Ike and Nixon look pretty liberal and would probably be outlawed from today's Republican Party for lack of purity? The entire political spectrum, including the Democrats, has shifted dangerously and sharply rightward. I feel terribly sad and concerned for the younger generations coming up. The USA they will inherit and live in is well on its way to being a very disturbing place: politically, economically, etc.

[Armstead]

61. Yeah seeing it develop over time -- Befiore it at least seemed tamped down

This has all been a central issue in some forms over my lifetime. But at least there seemed to be some counter-mechanism that kept it under control, and restraints that made them at least appear to be playing by the rules.

Now, it's become "What the hell, we're going to screw you over and we don't care what you think."

[femrap]

75. As King John

Kasich of Dumfukistan (former state of Ohio) advised Prince Scott Walker of WI after being punked by 'Mr. Koch'......"JUST DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO."

Just do what you want to do....that's their mantra. They don't care about community, about laws, about right or wrong.....Just do what you want to do.

These 2 dudes need to see the underside of a bus.

[Karenina]

52. :LOL: + a brazillion!!!

:rofl::applause::rofl:

:loveya::hi:

Tante K

[Vinca]

53. I think the biggest difference I'm seeing (at 62), is the lack of any unity for any reason.

I'm honestly wondering if we shouldn't be split into 2 countries. Let them live in their paradise that emulates Somalia. Let us live and work for the good of all without the constant interruption of some loudmouth opining about poor people getting an extra crumb of bread. I'm sick of it. My husband keeps muttering about being glad we're not young in this country.

[Armstead]

144. Well I live in the bluest of counties in the US, and I must admit.....

It's fine here politically.

But looking at tihe rest of the country, sometimes I think we ought to seat the borders and secede

[Vinca]

161. Don't seal it until I get there . . . I'm only 3 miles away.

[zbdent]

54. Republicans don't want employment to go down ...

it's like the old Roman Colosseum ...

They love to watch the fights over the scraps. Keeps the populace entertained, and forgetting that their life sucks, too ...

The gladiator fights were the "Survivor" of the time ...

[Armstead]

62. A few years ago I would have disagreed -- but now I'm beginning to agree

[FiveGoodMen]

91. Exactly right.

Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" documented something similar. (Intentionally flooded job market allowing inhumane treatment for all)

[KurtNYC]

56. LOL -- "Mr. Potter on steroids and acid" n/t

[Daphne08]

57. I'm almost 62 and I've never seen such nuttiness. Seriously.

Of course, I love to yell "Get off my lawn" as well. :-)

[felix_numinous]

64. Well you're definitely an old fart

being 5 years older than me :P , but I have to believe this level of stupid cannot be sustainable. It certainly can degrade further, but these RW policies are very unstable.

We seniors and elders have lived long enough to know what we are losing, we are living reminders of a boom time and remember why we have to conserve the laws of the land.

[Armstead]

67. I would have thought that five years ago too.....

See what you have to look forward to? }(

Now get off my lawn!

[hifiguy]

65. I am in my mid 50s

and I can not recall any time in my life where so many demonstrably batshit insane people were so prominent in public life and taken so seriously. The belligerently loony reichwing has always been there, but sensible conservatives like Ike and Wm. F. Buckley - and even Nixon - made sure they were relegated to the sidelines. I started wondering, at a low, back-burner level, what was going on when the religulously insane began making themselves heard in the 1970s and got seriously worried when Raygun was elected twice.

But even that couldn't prepare me for the Repiglican party turning into the vast, open-air lunatic asylum it has become in the last decade or so. Even 15 years ago someone like Bachmann or Rand Paul would have been hooted and laughed off the public stage almost immediately after surfacing.

The terminally stupid and hoplessly crazy (and I do mean crazy as in delusionally psychotic) have been organized and well-funded and present a clear and present danger to the survival of this country. There have always been neo-fascist nuts as far back as the Birchers, but I never expected to see them front and center on the political stage of the nation. People that scream at the clouds and expect answers are now "mainstream."

:wtf:

[snagglepuss]

153. I have the same feeling as I did when I watched the planes crash into WTC,

utter disbelief. It's seems impossible to process what is happening. I keep hearing myself ask "Is this for real?". The irony is that Repiglicans (I'm stealing that word) are doing to America what the terrorists did on 911 - total wanton destruction in the name of an insane ideology.

[tridim]

73. IMO all this crap is just a growing pain of the early Internet era

Thankfully the Internet is self-correcting, as long as it remains free.

[deutsey]

76. Though a little more than 10 years younger than you

I started feeling this way in the late '90s as everyone seemed to become fixated on self-centered fantasies of becoming obscenely rich (as exemplified by shows like Survivor and Who Wants to be a Millionaire?).

The big breakdown came during the Bush years, especially after 9/11. There was some, uh, hope in 2008 for maybe reconnecting to something like a shared notion of the "realworld," but I feel like we've only resumed our rapid nosedive into deep unreality.

[sinkingfeeling]

77. You're correct and Ryan's budget proposal just passed the House Committee and is on its way to full

vote.

[Armstead]

79. It'll pass the House.......Oh what a difference six months makes

One hopes it won't go anywhere in the Senate and die a well-deserved death in conference....But ya never know these days

[2Design]

83. absolutely right n/t

[Enthusiast]

84. K&R

Right on! Yet millions of voters don't recognize what is happening right before their eyes. And that is what the GOP is counting on.

[chervilant]

85. Sigh...

We humans are manifesting a level of mental disease that is both frightening and corrosive. Far too many of us are in react mode, driven by inchoate fears and resentments. Far too many of us are willing to pollute our spirits with negativity, eagerly engaging in name-calling and other forms of vilification. Far too many of us are willing to glorify violence or resort to violence, often just for entertainment or personal gratification!

We seldom acknowledge the import of overpopulation, but Calhoun's research with rats has proven that when a critical level of overpopulation occurs, the outcome isn't pretty. With rats, abnormal sexual behavior, hyperaggression, eating their young, and increased mortality are a few of the problems that occurred. With humans, well...isn't it past time we acknowledge that our species has passed a critical tipping point?

When I was younger (and naive) I thought our species was in its adolescence--obsessed with sex, drugs, and all other forms of self-gratification, especially as regards our economic behaviors. However, a thoughtful analysis of the 'dis-ease' of overpopulation has shone a bright light on the consequences of this macro-level manifestation of our species' hedonism. Regardless of how much energy we devote to denying the ravages of overpopulation, they are writ large by our increasingly sophisticated, increasingly corrosive socio-cultural and technological constructs--the very same constructs we use to remain in denial, and to externalize responsibility for our collective hubris.

Bearing this in mind, I feel overwhelmed with disappointment about the choices we (as a collective) have been making, because we seem to be moving inexorably back into 'balance' on a planetary scale. The inevitable consequences of our hedonistic overpopulation and denial of personal responsibility promise to be extreme.

Perhaps we need to stop bickering like a bunch of WATBs, and get busy finding ways to save our species whole planet. I have this dream of organizing the grannies and granddaddies of our ilk to advocate for a return to civility in our public and political discourse. Wouldn't that be a reasonable step in the right direction?

[stockholmer]

87. its not crazyland,its the controlled implosion of the US via systemic,full spectrum banker control

The left thinks the right is crazy, the right thinks the left is crazy, and the puppet masters sit back and pull all the strings. The real tangible wealth is strip-mined and sent up the vertical pyramid to the neo-pharaohs, slowly, grindingly, and unceasingly.

War profits and theft of trillions in sovereign wealth are the wages reaped at the top, whilst the masses are buried in the chattel yoke of debt peonage (both public and private) for generations to come.

[FiveGoodMen]

94. It's a shame the rest of us can't get organized

There are an awful lot more of us at the bottom than the top.

If half the country wasn't always rushing to the aid of the fuckers at the top, the top would be a dangerous place.

[stockholmer]

97. unfortunately, modern society is designed to isolate, splinter, fragment,& suppress dissent

The meta-narratives of the USA and most other nations are implemented at mass-zeitgeist levels that instantly siphon off 90%+ of the populace via numerous mechanisms, be they multi-media centered, 'main stream' political controlled opposition schema, social mores/norms and taboos, raw lust for material consumption, perceived threats from the 'war on terror', artificial class warfare (both bottom 'false-top' up, and 'false-top' bottom down)or the implied threat of the danger of dissent.

Politically, the US is really in a straight jacket, as the two party system is broken, with the Democrats and the Republicans, whilst protesting/warring on certain hot-button, base-rallying issues, almost always coalesce, at the end of the day, around an empiric, banker-centric continuity of agenda that serves both their masters.

[janet118]

112. And don't forget drive into poverty, wage slavery and despair n/t

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

92. Almost 70 here. Simply put, were watching fascism take over.

What are you doing about it?

[janet118]

116. Any ideas? Seriously, what would work?

I've worked hard on getting people elected - most of whom don't win and promptly disappear - but some of whom who do get in and then seem to be cowed or impotent against the machine, or, perhaps, never intended to change the things that will stop us from slouching towards fascism. I'm pretty worn out, physically, emotionally and financially. I feel ineffectual and leaderless. Is there something practical and affordable that you think we should be doing?

Where is FDR now that we really need him?

[hifiguy]

132. Definitely not in the WH

FDR welcomed the hatred of the moneyed criminals who tried to organize a coup against him. The Current Occupant obsequiously kisses the rings of the "sharp businesspeople" on Wall Street and surrounds himself with them.

[CanonRay]

93. I'm halfway trhrough 59 and feel exactly the same way

I've never quite seen it like this.

[truebrit71]

98. 50 is around the corner...I think we have been through the looking glass for some time now...

...It only just recently fully dawned on me how completely fucked we all are..

You know you're in deep shit when the crooks don't mind when their crimes are uncovered...see Wall Street, Big Oil, Coal, Media etc etc...

I'm old enough to recognize it for what it is, young enough to have to suffer through it, and hope that my kid is strong enough to see it through to the other side...

It is the insidious creep of corporate fascism...

...they'll give you just enough money to live, but not enough to relax...you never, EVER, let the donkey eat the carrot...

There are some very hard times up ahead and I don't know that any of us will be properly prepared for them..

[byronius]

102. It reminds me an awful lot of 1913, frankly. Before the Blender.

Same kind of shit. Same human urge for self-genocide, barely contained by a few sane folk.

That didn't end too well for anyone, lemmetellya.

[BlueJac]

103. You have enter the "TWILIGHT ZONE"

[janet118]

109. Ladies and gentlemen . . .

"This highway leads to the shadowy tip of reality: you're on a through route to the land of the different, the bizarre, the unexplainable...Go as far as you like on this road. Its limits are only those of mind itself. . . Next stop....The Twilight Zone."



Of course, I'm a swine. Isn't everybody?

[Drew Richards]

105. You want to know whats going on?

Well here it is...

The Christians had their old and new Testaments of the end of the World...
The Israelites have the Torah and Talmud which the old Testament is derived from.
The Muslims Have the Koran also derived from the Torah

On and on, every religion has their end days scenarios....

All are so very similar...

The new Fundamentalists have their own end day scenario too.

They have the words of:

John Birch Society
Jerry Falwell
Pat Robertson
Rev. James D. Kennedy
Karl Rove
and Rev. Tim La Hey

ALL decrying now is the time of DOMINIONISM...1980-present
God and his chosen must be in control of all things before the Rapture...

I truly believe that they are not afraid of hiding their Covet-ness and Greed anymore because...

They Truly Believe...

They think the Rapture is near and they are the Chosen People, So anything they do cannot be wrong or against the Planet, God or Man.

In essence, they are delusional bastards that care about nothing but themselves.

I pray we all survive them...

[oldhippydude]

117. yep

when you have senators openly using phrases like "the myth of separation of church and state", and dominionists conducting foreign policy in places like Uganda.. then throw in the fact that Bush and the Fundies, established the "faith based initiative" thus ensuring we the taxpayer subsidized the faith industry.. as well as the assault on public education soon we will be subsidizing christian madrasses..

no wonder the founding fathers were so Keen on separation of church and state... the two things that they seemed to abhor were religion, and corporations.. its ironic that the forces have combined, looks like we got a choice Fascism, or Theocracy,name your poison

[hifiguy]

133. A sane society would lock these people away

just on the off-chance that one of these lunatics may one day have their finger on the button.

[goobergoober01]

106. TEAPARTY to GOP.... PALIN to McCAIN.... attractive at first .... followed by years of BATSHIT

[janet118]

107. The word "unprecedented" has lost all meaning n/t

[Myrina]

110. I saw this movie on TCM yesterday:

http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/150144%7C0/American-Madness.html

... and it struck me, 75 years later we still have exactly the same greed/profit/FU problems - only worse - and it was depressing as hell.

I do have to wonder, though, if the GOP isn't pushing the envelope as far as they possibly can because they know if they demand the entire universe, the Dems and POTUS will cave in & give them the solar system and call it a 'bipartisan vistory' ... they still end up with waaaaay more than they ever could have expected from previous Dem Administrations.

Sigh.

[boblgumm]

111. budget

The way to understand our decent into this madness is to watch the movie Idiocracy as a documentary.

[FailureToCommunicate]

115. Happy Birthday !

(and get off MY lawn!)

JKJK We join you in head-shaking, blues-singing disbelief (and anger!).

:toast:

[LongTomH]

118. Maybe this is the "Batshit Singularity"

Rather like the Technological Singularity that some people believe in; but, denoting the phenomenon that the phenomenon of Batshit Craziness has been expanding exponentially. Yeah, I'm older than even Armstead; I remember McCarthy and the John Birchers. I have unpleasant memories of some of the editorials in the Tulsa World and Tribune papers in the 1950s. Quote: Brrrrr! UnQuote. :scared: :scared: :scared:

But this sort of thing has been expanding decade after decade. The nation rejected Barry Goldwater's Ayn Randian form of conservatism; then bought Richard M. Nixon's used car. Nixon came in with advisers like Milton Friedman; but, pulled back when the country was about to plunge into the abyss (Causing Uncle Miltie to call Dick: "the most socialistic president of the 20th Century!").

By the way, I'll have to confess to a youthful fascination with Libertarianism. Talk about the ex-girlfriend from Hell! Fortunately, I recovered!

The crazies got a deeper hold with Reagan/Bush, and never completely went back into the closet. By the end of George the 2nd's reign they were swarming like horror-movie zombies. :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared:

Will the U.S. ever recover from this? I hope so; but, it gets harder to hold onto hope as one gets older.

[jus_the_facts]

120. Happy Belated Bizzaroworld Birthday Berks!

:hi: :loveya:

[Armstead]

143. Thanks.....can't wait for the next one -- The Big One

[GeorgeGist]

121. Kakistocracy

[TatonkaJames]

122. Wonderfully written...

Thought I was sleep typing it's so spot on how I feel. Thanks for making me feel like I'm not the only one.

[Armstead]

142. Thanks back....looking at this thread it appears we're not the only ones

[okieinpain]

123. get off my lawn, you should put that on a t-shirt or is that overkill. n/t.

.

[Armstead]

141. No such thing as overkill these days

[liberal N proud]

127. I think you have a pretty good understanding of our current situation

We are screwed by wackos.

[NCcoast]

128. Leo Strauss & noble lies

Leo Strauss gave conservatives,(neo liberals, whatever, the ruling class) permission to lie to us for 'our own good'. Once they had deregulated media ownership and repealed the Fairness Doctrine, allowing for the rise of Clear Channel and Fox News they realized they could create their own reality. And they didn't have to fool all of the people, they just needed to keep about 20% of the voting populations freaked out. So they feed them every conceivable kind of outlandish BS and it worked. They won elections in spite of the fact that their policies hurt most of their base economically. But the 20% have gotten tired of policies that didn't jibe with the alternative reality. So now the loonietoons candidates arisen and been elected. And here we are. The loonies are taking over the asylum. Maybe the zombiefied middle class got woken up by Wisconsin. I hope so. But there's been a hell of a lot of damage done. And there's more coming. Buckle up. It's going to get stranger still.

[katty]

129. jumped the Rubicon, we are in deep deep crazyland

[Rosa Luxemburg]

152. maybe we filter our water here at DU?

the rest are bats88t crazy

[Beam Me Up]

130. you are a bit slow on the uptake. we've been in buzzaro land

ever since they installed the chimpanzee in the white house



and i'm 63 so there

[Armstead]

140. I'll one up you and say we've been there since the 1980s

Like I said maybe this is just my own personal saturation point being reached

[Plucketeer]

131. I think that for the first 225 years

we could easily be kept in the dark as to what went on in government. But once the information age started to afford us a view into what REALLY goes on, we saw a shift. At first, it just meant more elaborate cover by those in office, But of late - there's no escaping video surveillance and live mics and they've come to the CON-clusion of "Fuck it! I'll just do as I please and dare them to stop me!"

[bertman]

134. Definitely in Crazyland!

I know the Koch bros are big behind the recent anti-government/pro-corporate funding, but I hope we don't allow ourselves to be distracted from the other fascist movers and shakers--the Financial Elites who now own our elected representatives, Presidency, and Supreme Court.

Another Old Phart recommending this thread.

[WillyT]

135. K & R !!!

:kick:

[russspeakeasy]

136. Agree....I hollered at a cloud today.

[nichomachus]

137. OMG -- you're just noticing this?

We've been living in a freak show for years.

[Armstead]

139. I've been noticing for years....But it seems to crossed over a line of sanity

[neoralme]

138. We are near either end of times or end of country, and are in

the process of being taken over in the meantime.

[WheelWalker]

148. The Old Coots' Club. My place, Fridays at 5. For those who

are no longer relevant. Blessings.

[Armstead]

158. We can sit around drinking Metamucil

[RoccoR5955]

149. Gee, and I was starting to thing the same thing...

You know what they say, "Brilliant minds think alike!"

[salin]

151. After all these years, Armistead - I still find your words thoughtful

and find myself in agreement. Crazyland - indeed.

[Armstead]

159. Thanks

[RayStar]

154. Join the club

My 61 are no different than your 59.

[upi402]

155. most protesters i see at rallies have gray hair

telling huh?

blame the media -since the 80's

[OwnedByFerrets]

156. K and R.....I put the majority of the blame on right wing radio...right wing

faux news and the gullibility/stupidity of the American public. We are certainly in a downward spiral.

[Armstead]

157. I'm on a driving trip today, and the radio is scary...

Driving past New York City, supposedly a liberal sophisticated city, the Am dial goes from Hannity to that awful mark Levin to equally awful Mark Marlsburg to some whacky right wing preacher man.......

Thank God for IPods

[OwnedByFerrets]

162. Not to even mention the SHIT that the armed forces are forced to listen to

[Dawson Leery]

160. Look at what is on television. Sit-coms have been replaced

with "reality tv". These shows promote a life that very few live or could actually afford to live.