this country scares the living daylights out of me

[cali]

Any country that regularly elevates people like Perry, Bachmann, Palin and the majority of repubs in Congress and in U.S. statehouses, is reflective of a sick and broken society. Any country that relies so heavily on its military and war, is reflective of a culture that's lost its way completely. Any country that excoriates the poor, the elderly, the disabled and children has no fucking right to ask for my loyalty or patriotism.

We're a culture that, I'm afraid, is broken beyond repair.

[eShirl]

1. I'm afraid it will not end well.

[kestrel91316]

35. Of course it's not, but then neither is the whole failed human race experiment.

I try to live every day like there IS hope for a better future. But I'm mostly playacting.

[Puget Progressive]

38. Interesting that you use the Max Headroom icon

as that is a likely scenario for where the DisUnited States of America is heading. That show was way ahead of its time. I am 62 and I have never seen it like this. It makes the years of old Tricky Dick look almost tolerable. Back then the Demos were actually the loyal opposition. Now they are mostly complicit including the Current Occupant, as Garrison Keillor likes to call him. Can you imagine how the American people would have reacted 40 years ago to the news that there were going to be unlimited corporate contributions for political campaigns or that there would be a "Super Congress"! Yes, we have fallen much deeper into the corporate wet dream and I agree with you - I do not think that this will end well.

[truedelphi]

43. Welcome to DU and a big Thank you for your post. n/t

[Fuzz]

69. Max Headroom should run for President with a bible and a flag.

[RKP5637]

75. +1, n/t

[NEOhiodemocrat]

84. Welcome to DU!

[eShirl]

105. Yes; the subtitle of the series was "20 Minutes into the Future"

and it does seem like only 20 minutes ago...

[Enthusiast]

51. I'm afraid you are right.

Nothing coming from the right side of the political spectrum would surprise me in the least.

An attempt at world military conquest, or at least middle East conquest. Debtor's prisons. Forced euthanasia. A return to segregation. Death camps. A complete end of social security and medicare for current recipients. Mass starvation. No need to mention absolute environmental degradation, that is in the works right now.

[RKP5637]

76. Probably a theocratic dystopia. n/t

[PonyJon]

91. Quit thinking it to death just VOTE A STRAIGHT DEMOCRATIC TICKET and you will be happy! nt

[OnyxCollie]

98. Democrats are in part responsible for this mess, too.

Therein lies the problem.

[Fumesucker]

2. Easy for you to say, sitting up there in socialist utopia Vermont.

Come on down here in the BuyBull Belt and tell us about it. ;)

I'm pretty sure I've said that to you before though..

:hi:

[MH1]

3. unfortunately, I have to agree with you.

I felt this way back in 2000. I was shocked and appalled that Bush got enough votes to even be able to steal the election. Then, that there was relatively little outrage against the clear voting irregularities that at least (from a moderate view) threw the election into question but yet the SC awarded it to Bush anyway. (Of course I take a stronger view that there was no question that more people in Florida attempted to vote for Gore.)

It's been all downhill from there. Looking at this political landscape, is the reason my expectations for Obama were (apparently) much lower than most. (Hence my failure to be as disappointed as many here are. I think he's done admirably in many areas in this crazy political environment, although not as well as I'd like in others. I'm sensing that he was unprepared for the viciousness of his opponents and their willingness to fuck America over in any and all ways necessary to make him fail. )

[RKP5637]

8. Yep, and I agree strongly with your last statement that

"I'm sensing that he was unprepared for the viciousness of his opponents and their willingness to fuck America over in any and all ways necessary to make him fail."

[Butch350]

54. Maybe his opponents are also trying to F**K the people who voted for him too.

[brewens]

82. Precisely. A lot of it is designed to teach us a lesson. Never elect

another black man.

[B Calm]

4. Fascism will come to America wrapped in the flag and carrying a bible.

[Enthusiast]

52. It has already come....nt

[me b zola]

64. And it sure did. n/t

[mmonk]

5. It's dark, no doubt. We need a press and a stage where discussion

can take place but there is no venue or platform for proper debate, only corporate news and political lies and hate speech.

[RKP5637]

6. The country, collectively, is pathologically ill, a psychosis. We are going through a

major void of sound leadership at many levels. Better individuals in many cases are not running for office, they are intelligent, compassionate and know how F'ed up this country has become. You summed up well the situation.

The culture we are morphing into is unstable and dangerous for the majority of the citizens. Many don't see it, they have been brainwashed by what we call MSM in this country which is propaganda shoved on us by a few mega-corporate conglomerates controlled by great wealth and benefactors of a dysfunctional society.

I'm not sure where we are headed anymore, but I doubt we will see much repair down the road. Depending on 2012, we well might see the dark ages propelled into this country quickly.

Sadly, I'm reaching pretty much the same conclusion as you, "We're a culture that, I'm afraid, is broken beyond repair."

[tama]

10. First Nations

Healing from the collective mental disorder begins with the correct diagnosis - that western culture IS a collective mental disorder.

Derooting from the pathologically ill culture and getting in touch with healthier People of the Land is one good step towards feeling better. Humbly asking for help and forgiveness from the nations the pathologically ill culture stole that land from, is a major step towards reconciliation.

Dostoyevsky said, "we hate those people we have wronged". Time to let go of that hate and guilt.

[OneGrassRoot]

13. Thank you for that. :) n/t

[dixiegrrrrl]

17. "that western culture IS a collective mental disorder."

I have read nothing recently that says it better than that.

the capitalism model has always struck me as as aberrant.
Got kicked out of my econ. class in college for saying that, I did. Proud moment.

[RKP5637]

25. What will ever change it short of a collapse. Certainly the politicians

today sponsored by the corporate/greed culture will do nothing, and all I see are things getting worse.

I always thought the capitalistic model was bizarre. It basically encourages sociopathic behavior and rewards people for some of the worst of human traits. And by default, the push for endless growth in a finite space is ridiculous and doomed to fail eventually. And it's ripe for endless corruption.

[Jackpine Radical]

28. Yes, exactly. To me, the most insane of propositions has always been

the notion that a society that finds its highest expression of virtue in psychopathic forces and permits those forces to dominate and rule would somehow work out in a way that would serve the best interests of all.

[MellowDem]

57. Haha, wow...

there is no such thing as a monolithic "western culture". And trying to elevate Native Americans to some sort of cultural pedastal is just creepy, reminds me of the "noble savage" everytime it is brought up on here, just silly and incorrect.

If people want to know why extremists have so much power in the Republican Party, there are a ton of factors, with culture only being one of them, and even then, there are lots of different cultures in the US.

[tama]

65. Nothing is monolithic,

except a rock, perhaps. And the observation that Native Americans have relatively better mental health than the imperialistic culture that took their land spoiled it, is just a simple observation.

If there is one cultural trait that needs to be raised to the cultural pedestal I suggest narcissim, ie. the conviction that everything is allways somebody elses fault. :)

[MellowDem]

74. "Simple observation"

I didn't realize that the mental health of cultures could be so easily measured and compared with a simple observation. Pray tell, what is an "imperialistic culture"? Does it permeate empires? Maybe the Inca, Mayan, and Aztec Empires were all "imperialistic cultures", not to mention numerous other smaller Native American nations and tribes that used brute force to expand their power.

The problem is a human one, and the attempt to make it a purely "culture" problem will only distract from the source of the problem.

[tama]

81. Imperialistic culture

is hierarchic system that destroyes the carrying capacity of its natural environment so that it must expand and conquer more territory and carrying capacity to avoid collapse and stay functional. So, as it behaves like a cancer tumour, which gives a sound measure of the relative health of a culture. Cancer like imperialistic cultures that destroy natural carrying capacity are inherently suicidal in terms of evolutionary adaptation and thus unhealthy. Cultures that live sustainably and even find ways to increase the local carrying capacity are healthy in terms of evolutionary adaptation.

I'm not an expert, but I have no argument against the claim that some native american cultures have behaved imperialistically for some period of time in the enviromental and evolutionary sense described above. Most didn't and many found ways to increase the natural carrying capacity of their local ecosystem - e.g. "indian fires" of Californian forest garden.

The hypothesis that "the problem is a human one", not cultural, meaning that all humans and human cultures behave imperialistically, ie. destroy the carrying capacity of their ecosystems, gets falsified with even one counter example and cultural anthropology offers more than enough counter examples from all continents. The view that 'human nature' forces all human cultures without exception to destroy the carrying capacity of the ecosystem they belong to (biosphere of Earth in the final regard), is thus not only empirically untrue, it is also hopeless.

[MellowDem]

87. So it has nothing to do with the OP...

or what I was talking about. I think defining living unsustainably an "imperalistic culture" is a pretty confusing name, but that is your label. You then go on to argue against a strawman, since I had no idea the "imperialism" you referred to was about the environment, and since it has little to do with the OP, which is about why extremist conservatives are where they are.

[tama]

104. Well

To quote OP:
"Any country that relies so heavily on its military and war, is reflective of a culture that's lost its way completely."

To understand the underlying cause of US imperialism, military and war and other means for consumption of natural resources, as environmental unsustainability, is IMHO by no means confusing but most claryfying and also historically accurate understanding of how and why empires (Athens, Rome, etc.) emerge, behave and collapse.

This understanding also shows the way to healing from this collective mental disorder and learning better way to live, the cultural change that is required on individual and collective level, if we wish to conserve a livable planet for our children and grandchildren.

In this sense environmental conservatism or rather conservationism, is a healthy sign, where as progressivism, when defined as growth for growht sake to destroy more and more of carrying capacity of Earth, is most unsound. No doubt the tar sand pipeline is something a "progressive" president wants to do in the name of "progress", and the people who think conserving atmosphere and water for future generations and get arrested for that belief, are "extremist conservatives". Words go many ways, and if we want to heal and understand that we are all on the same boat, mothership Earth, the trick is to defuse words from meanings and emotions that divide we the people into us and them.

[Bonobo]

7. That is why I took my family and left.

Those are not values I want my kids to internalize.

When they are grown, they can choose their own country as I have.

[RKP5637]

9. That is a smart move. I still don't think many Americans really grasp

what is happening in this country. You were fortunate to have that option. Many are stuck in the box and really can't seem to grasp what is going on in the big picture, and hence they toil on, many doing the deeds of those out to destroy them in the long run without understanding their motivations.

[newfie11]

12. where did you go?

I have been looking around at different countries myself.

[Bonobo]

18. Japan. nt

[Lydia Leftcoast]

39. I wouldn't mind living in Japan, but unlike Bonobo, I don't have a Japanese spouse

:-(

[tblue]

89. Honto? There is a much stronger sense of community there.

Not sure we have it here anymore.

[blindpig]

11. Narrow your aim...

The ruling ideas of each age have ever been the ideas of its ruling class.

Communist Manifesto

I would not condemn the entire people.

[cali]

14. Sorry, that's cold comfort.

[newfie11]

15. It scares me also.

I am amazed at the people that don't seem to care what is going on, where this country is headed, and the insanity of the republicans running for president as well as congress.

Here in Nebraska (WY-CO-NE corner) most folks seem totally oblivious as to whats happening with our society and are not interested in anything outside this area.

This is a farming/ranching community and come hell or high water they will vote repug. God help this country.

[mnhtnbb]

45. When we left Nebraska in 2000 I said the state motto should be

"Ignorant and proud of it". Unfortunately, I think that
now no longer applies only to one state. I think it applies
to about 40% of people in the country.

[newfie11]

111. Sadly I think you are right. n/t

[NNN0LHI]

16. Anyone who lived through the Reagan administration and just realized this wasn't paying attention

Some of us had no choice but to pay attention back then because we were living through that nightmare.

And yes, I began fearing for our country way back then. Lot of us did.

Don

[Chipper Chat]

19. We are not over the grip of St. Ronnie.

Many, many 'Murcans' are still gripped by the patriotic and religious dogma of Reagan and his henchmen (Baker, GHWB, Peggy Noonan, even Evil Dick, etc:) Clinton made a lot of headway but Monica set things back. Fox and Limbaugh have done their job well and the media licks Fox's ass. Obama has no balls (unless he is 'like a Jedi knight waiting to strike in his second term' as one DUer put it a year ago). The death of Ted Kennedy, in my view, was when the steam went out of the democratic party. We just don't have any strong leaders with enough clout anymore to make a difference. We need a JFK.

[NNN0LHI]

20. I have a theory on why so many people who lived then forget it

I think it is because many people who were negatively effected by Reagan policies block it out. I sure know I did that for a long time. We were traumatized. Then I started realizing that I have not fully recovered financially from that period to this very day. Went down hill back then and never really recovered. It has been one step forward, and two steps back ever since.

Don

[Chipper Chat]

30. I initially liked Reagan.

I felt sorry for Carter because of Iran and felt that maybe the republicans could do no worse. But then when Reagan announced that the hostages had cleared Iranian air space I knew that it would be a dirty administration. He should never have done that to Carter. Then when he refused to confront the aids crisis and fired the air traffic controllers I was pissed. He started the rich getting richer era (as you mentioned). That being said, he had the charisma to become a god in the eyes of the fundies. It just spread: witness today with all the Ronnie exaltation going around.

[NNN0LHI]

31. Yep, he made being anti-union cool

Wasn't just the fundies either as you said. It did spread. I can't believe the number of educated and seemingly intelligent people who fell for that, but they did.

Don

[RadiationTherapy]

21. George Carlin asks, "where do you think they are coming from? OUR families! OUR

churches! OUR schools! These people are the best we can do, folks. They're US!"

Paraphrased.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIraCchPDhk

[MrMickeysMom]

48. I know it's Carlin...

But I think it's more than "us".

I am prejudiced, cause I'm busting my ass in local govt, and I haven't caved in to the things that he's talking about.

Give me reason to do it again after this term, pleeeeze!

[Zax2me]

22. It's always been this way.

At times in our history, much worse.
Doesn't appear this country never has, not is, never will be your cup of tea.
Maybe this just isn't the place for you.
Then again, don't be surprised when you find the world as a whole does not measure up to your...standards.
Everyone has problems. So do countries.
Grass is always greener.
Until you jump the fence.
Then the other side becomes green once again.

[Odin2005]

23. Preach it, sister!

:yourock:

[bigtree]

24. looking back at our history

. . . I can find many, many more instances where I would have truly feared for my country, but, here we still are. In many, many ways we have deepened our compassion and concerns, and have made a lot of those efforts universally accepted and practiced. I see folks of Bachmann's ilk as aberrations who represent the challenges we have always faced in advancing positive and productive agendas against superstitions and charlatans looking to promote their own self-serving lies. Vigilance!

[Rex]

26. I'm with ya on this one!

We have a sick and broken society.

[TwilightGardener]

27. This brings to mind the Marco Rubio statement that helping the sick and elderly has made us weak

as a nation. That's where we're headed, in a nutshell. Time for us to shed those "needy" burdens and slackers who are dragging us down.

[moondust]

29. Loss of values.

With cancerous corporatization and financialization has come a new set of values: greed, greed, and more greed.

:puke:

[KoKo]

68. We worked hard to Elect a President...we thought had VALUES....What Happened?

and, this is after electing THREE Presidents...Al Gore and John Kerry and Barack Obama...that we "thought" had values we believed in who would honor and defend our Democratic Principles.

So...it's, indeed, a desperate situation. At this point, I cringe..thinking about what goes forward.

[FirstLight]

32. so much to say on this...

So there are those of us who are on the lower end of that scale and are surviving as best we can in this culture of greed and pillaging.

It is all leading to collapse, economically, culturally, societally. The top 2% believe is they leave us to fight over the scraps they can be free of guilt or harm in their gated communities.

What they are not taking into account is that while their greed and rape of the collective and the planet is making them very rich...the earth and it's shift is bigger than them. droughts and crop loss and floods and super storms and such are not escapeable...and that's the real leveler of the playing field.

While I agree with you, the MIC and the PTB are seriously twisted and we as a culture have grown to value compassion and cooperation less & less. Perhaps the rocking & rolling of what's coming down the pike will help turn it around. Humility in the face of that which is bigger than you needs to come into play.

[RKP5637]

78. Earth will eventually cleanse itself, humans will eventually become extinct like

about 99% of the other species that once roamed the earth.

[Raster]

33. cali, meet reality.

Unfortunately, I can do nothing but agree.

[Taverner]

34. I hear you, I agree with you, and I think we are having a moment that will make...

the Weimar to Nazi jump look like Happy Days.

[blkmusclmachine]

36. A lot of it is by design, I fear. Very ominous times ahead.

I wonder how they intend to use the post-9/11 laws, too. :scared:

[barbtries]

37. share your fear.

we are a very sick country at this point in time, and i am losing hope that the picture will brighten in the future. sigh.

[Mosaic]

40. Agreed, no longer a patriot

Its sins are too heavy to repair. I live here by no choice and hate it, I'd leave in a heartbeat to Western Europe if someone just funded my move. I also don't want to face the karma that comes with all that wickedness. None of us is immune.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

41. While all countries have their problems, I have clear political memories from

the time of the Kennedy administration. I remember much of the Civil Rights movement, Vietnam War, Watergate, stagflation, the Reagan administration, the Bush Sr. administration, everything.

I have not seen such shameless, unadulterated meanness in this country since I watched the mobs of segregationists screaming at black school children.

Sure, there have always been evil people in this country, but for a while it seemed as if they knew better than to let their ugliness out for all to see.

Not anymore.

Let a newspaper carry a story about a person who has suffered a misfortune, and there will be an immediate pile-on of right-wing crazies raving about how the person 1) deserved it, 2) could have avoided it, 3) made bad choices early in life, 4) shouldn't be helped because that's what's making the country weak, 5) is mooching off hardworking taxpayers, 6) isn't trying hard enough to overcome that misfortune, 7) shouldn't expect any help from society because it was that person's choice to a) smoke, drink, or overeat, b) not prepare for a more lucrative career, c) have that disabled child, d) get laid off because s/he obviously wasn't valuable to the company, etc. etc.

[southmost]

70. exactly, that's why I hate reading comments section

on youtube or any online 'news' source

its overwhelmingly filled with the most vile, bigoted, hateful, greedy comments....

a sad reflection of the worse among this nation

[russspeakeasy]

42. Fortunately, we have those rough, stand tough democrats

looking out for us.....do I need the sarcasm tag?

[Jim_Shorts]

44. Our government is definitely broken, we now live in a "corporate state"

I wonder what the founding fathers would have thought about corporations being classified as people or that it costs 1 billion dollars to run for the presidency. Our government has become just a gang partaking in legalized bribery that it no longer represents the people.

The Plutocrats, Fascists, Royalists (call them what you will) are going to push agendas and promote fringe groups, like the tea baggers to keep the "small people" fighting among themselves, all the while continuing their plundering.

"We get to choose the rhetoric and manner in which we are deceived and disempowered. Nothing more". - Chris Hedges

[kwheatcroftpardue]

115. Broken Government

Our government is broken. Our electoral and political systems
do not work.We cannot amend our Constitution and make it more
democratic. And we cannot get corporate money out of our
elections because we have an activist Supreme Court that
believes it can channel the thoughts of the framers – as if
the framers even had opinions about the “personhood” of
transnational corporations.  And if we can do neither of
those, then the odds of any real change happening are not
worth betting on. 
I'm afraid our government is like Elmer Fudd; it has done to
itself the old gag from vintage cartoons. It’s painted itself
into a corner, and I have no idea how, or even, if our
government will ever get out of this corner. We have serious
problems that need to be resolved and can be resolved, but the
very nature of our system prevents workable solutions from
even being tried. In short, because our system is so totally
broken, we cannot fix our system.(For more analysis, check out
http://kwheatcroft.blogspot.com/)

[Ohio Joe]

46. Great, thanks for giving up!

Go crawl into a hole somewhere while we try to fix things.

[MH1]

49. I didn't see where the OP said he was giving up.

I concur heartily with the OP and I'm not giving up. Just realistic about my expectations.

A favorite saying of mine is attributed to Gandhi: "Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is most important that you do it."

[Ohio Joe]

53. "I'm afraid, is broken beyond repair"

Sure sounds like giving up to me.

[Butch350]

58. Thanx for making his point!

[Ohio Joe]

59. I do not understand...

I simply have not given up... How does that make the point of the OP?

[Enthusiast]

47. K&R I agree, it ain't looking good.

Just a light switch away from post armageddon.

[coalition_unwilling]

50. Enough with the patriotism. It is, as Samuel Johnson once quipped, the

last refuge of a scoundrel.

What we need today, imho, is some 'matriotism' (my nod and wink to fellow 'Catch 22' fans :)

[dogmoma56]

55. this is where it's going.............. >>Link>>

http://doggo.tripod.com/doggchrisdomin.html

[kayakjohnny]

56. You are right and the best any person can do now

is to have a good life lived while the going was good.

[Auntie Bush]

60. Yes, we're broken...but hopefully not beyond repair.

[Shagbark Hickory]

61. OK wel if you think these clowns are scary, whatever you do, don't go overseas.

[cali]

62. huh? and what makes you think I haven't been?

furthermore, I think it was clear that what I find scary, is the culture that empowers the "clowns".

[Shagbark Hickory]

66. You may have been there but If you follow overseas politics, some of them

make our lot look like girl and boy scouts.

[Ricochet21]

63. Well, we've been that and more for a long time

Wait till the bridges fall down

[Lucian]

67. The only reason it's broken beyond repair...

is that computer chair bitching solves nothing. We have to get up off our computers and start doing something. Anything.

Until that happens, everything will stay the same.

[Fumesucker]

71. You mean like electing Democratic majorities in Congress and a Democratic president?

We tried that and they passed a quintessentially Republican individual mandate to purchase private health insurance.

Next up, the Democrats solve homelessness by mandating everyone buy a house.

[Lucian]

73. We could do that...

we could nominate different people. Or if that doesn't work we could get a little more...extreme. When Europeans get screwed by their governments, they know how to take care of things.

[inna]

72. wow, Cali. K&R #113

[unkachuck]

77. K&R....n/t

[DeSwiss]

79. K&R

"We have to create culture, don't watch TV, don't read magazines, don't even listen to NPR. Create your own roadshow. The nexus of space and time where you are now is the most immediate sector of your universe, and if you're worrying about Michael Jackson or Bill Clinton or somebody else, then you are disempowered, you're giving it all away to icons, icons which are maintained by an electronic media so that you want to dress like X or have lips like Y.

This is shit-brained, this kind of thinking. That is all cultural diversion, and what is real is you and your friends and your associations, your highs, your orgasms, your hopes, your plans, your fears. And we are told 'no', we're unimportant, we're peripheral. 'Get a degree, get a job, get a this, get a that.' And then you're a player, you don't want to even play in that game.

You want to reclaim your mind and get it out of the hands of the cultural engineers who want to turn you into a half-baked moron consuming all this trash that's being manufactured out of the bones of a dying world." ~Terence McKenna

[cantbeserious]

80. Cali - I Agree - I Have Reached The Same Conclusions - Things Will Not End Well

eom

[OwnedByFerrets]

83. Amen

[rosesaylavee]

85. No. It's reflective of a broken media.

Our culture will be fine once we fix that.

[treestar]

86. There's no way it is broken beyond repair

It is basically a good country. The system just allows people from red states too much influence, though they are a minority.

But this country does reject Palin. The interest in her is of the train wreck variety.

[certainot]

88. the left hasn't even tried challenging the right's most effective weapon and you're giving up.

if you want to know where it starts you just have to listen to some RW radio.

but the same people who are giving up and blaming obama can't listen to it, much less challenge it, because it gives their heads an achy-wachey.

[OnyxCollie]

101. The left created the right's most effective weapon

when Clinton signed the 1996 Telecommunication Deregulation Act.

You never mention that. Why?

[certainot]

102. fairness doctrine was killed first by reagan, then the radio was used to get clinton to do a lot of

shit he never would have done.

the FD was a bigger problem for them. if the same limbaughs and hannitys have 1000 radio stations and are coordinated by the same few think tanks/rove and are protected from challenge by call screeners and prompted by paid callers it matters less if those radio stations are owned by a few republican media moguls or more of them.

[OnyxCollie]

103. Bullshit.

Through the Fairness Doctrine, now contained in Section 315(a) of the Communications Act of 1934 as amended, the FCC has given electronic media managers the power to limit corporate access to the public airwaves. The Fairness Doctrine charges station licensees "to devote a reasonable amount of broadcast time to the discussion of controversial issues" and "to do so fairly, in order to afford reasonable opportunity for opposing viewpoints." Broadcasters have the affirmative responsibility of seeking and airing balanced and contrasting views on controversial issues.

~snip~

The chilling effect of the Fairness Doctrine is statistically demonstrated when reviewing the actions taken by the FCC in responding to filed inquiries and complaints. In fiscal years 1970-82, for example, a total of 98,251 protests were registered with the Commission. Yet during this turbulent period, with an average of 7,558 complaints per year, only a relative handful of challenges proved successful.

~snip~

Thus the Fairness Doctrine is a generally ineffective remedy-when litigated, the Commission overwhelmingly supports programming and editorial advertising decisions made by broadcast licensees, who at the same time often fear its potential power by censoring their own ideas.

Heath, R.L. & Nelson, R.A. (1985) Image and issue advertising: A corporate and public policy perspective. The Journal of Marketing, 45(2), p. 62.

The Telecommunication Deregulation Act was the Holy Grail. Now one company could own half of the television/radio stations in one city.

[certainot]

113. an excellent analysis of the fairness doctrine from an advertising exec's perspective. well done.

media monopolization is the general problem but relative to what let the right dominate radio and set up the most effective propaganda tool this country has had and why we are in this disaster, the killing of the fairness doctrine was where it started. the other forms of media are notable for what they leave out- they can't create like radio can, with it's coordinated unchallenged repetition to 50 mil a week. mad ave would kill for that kind of targeted buzz. print and TV still have to pretend to be balanced and present other views. there's no comparison. fox owes all to talk radio 's total freedom to do the heavy lifting and considering the time lost on global warming the left's continued ignorance of it IS the biggest blunder in political history. dems have tried to demonopolize media and still have the opportunity but it is impossible as long as the left stupidly continues to ignore the right's most important weapon- the one that repeatedly defeats their initiatives and swiftboats progressive candidates.

and without limbaugh and sons pounding away all day at the clintons i suspect the TDA would never have passed. there was plenty of opposition from dems and citizens groups but the republicans were forced in lock step, joined by red state talk radio blue dogs, and clinton was weakened, just as the lazy left is now allowing for obama.

most of those FD cases probably had little to do with the organized propaganda found on talk radio today- the coordinated, organized, scripted lies and distortions and racism and swiftboating from blowhards protected by call screeners and prompted by paid callers.

[wial]

90. in some ways the American right is like a coral reef

20 years ago, it was a lot healthier, but even then it was extremely impoverished. Now we take it for granted these are the normal choices on offer. One broken coral. One jellyfish. A drifting patch of plankton. Changing baselines.

[grantcart]

92. Try living abroad for a while

People overseas can't figure out how this country manages to get out of its bed and tie its shoes every morning let alone maintain 5,000 nuclear warheads without pushing the button.

Now we have people running for President who are coninced that God has spoken to them personally about running and becoming President/

If you aren't scared yet think of a Perry or a Bachmann responding to a slight Iranian provocation and deciding that Jehovah (sic) said that this was a good time to wipe Mecca right off the map.

[zentrum]

93. If I was European...

....South American, Canadian etc. I'd be scared $hitle$$ because it knows it's watching the rise of fully armed nuclear Germany-like country spin up and out of control.

[tama]

108. I was scared

after 9/11, when US slashed out in mindless anger and was serious about New American Century based on purely military empire. Now I see you are fed up with war and have got most of that kind of anger out from your system. Threads like this present a collective mindset that is broken, demoralized and fearfull, which in the bic picture is IMHO a good sign - in terms of collective healing. Fear comes from love, fear of losing something you love, and when you get over that fear there will be only love left. Love for the land that feeds you, love for the planet that gives us life and all this beauty.

[krabigirl]

94. completely agree. it's even worse when so many democrats are also warmongers. nt

[SunDrop23]

95. You reap what you sow don't you?

and for the past 42 years - really alot more than that, but i am framing it in the context of how long i have been alive - the united states has been sowing that which leads to nothing admirable.

i agree we are a culture beyond repair, but i also think we are a country beyond repair and certainly not worthy of the "best" label so many in our country have and still do assign to the country. yes it is a great place to live. having travelled to many places around the globe, i am well aware of the benefits of living in the united states. however i don't think there is any one "best" country in the world, and if there is, it sure ain't the united states.

[BrightSideOfLife]

96. Yeah man, I feel this absence of hope for our society as well, but

don't you think this is a little extreme?

[cottonseed]

97. You're lucky you weren't around in the early 1900s.

Or anytime before that for that matter. This is still a relatively stable time for most.

[tabasco]

99. You're preaching to the choir.

We are totally fucked.

[Skittles]

100. it's a poor reflection of current "leadership", too

[glowing]

106. No!! This is what happens when people don't vote.

It should be automatic.. Anyone turning 18 is automatically registered. The republicans do everything to try and keep people from voting. What sucks is that for the first time a lot if people became involves and had hope for the insanity to stop... And it's just more of the same.

[DesertFlower]

107. scares me too cali. K&R.

[Nye Bevan]

109. Try not to live in such fear.

This country has made it through the War of 1812, the First World War, the Second World War, the Great Depression, the Korean War, Watergate, and a lot of other bad stuff. I'm sure we can survive Bachmann running for president (and losing).

[cali]

110. yes, because that's what I'm talking about- Bachmann running for prez.

way to miss the point. And no, I don't live in fear, my dear. It's both a turn of phrase and a recognition of the insanity that's gripping this country. Fortunately for me, I live in Vermont, a sane and pretty wonderful place.

[Nye Bevan]

114. Sorry, my mistake, equating "scares the living daylights" with "fear".

Silly me.

[DCBob]

112. just complaining and making doomsday statements certainly does not help the situation.

this nation has been through worse.. think civil war, the great depression, the turbulent 60's.. all were much worse than now in my view and we survived all those.. we can get through this also.