Monday, January 18, 2010

FEAR Is The Mind Killer....

Sure. But DNA is still afraid of what this nation will become if its course is charted by religious zealots in the clothes of conservative politicians. In the past, we had the likes of Jimmy Carter, religious conservative, social reformer; Ronald Reagen, social conservative, religiously tolerant; Bill Clinton, socially liberal, and compared to his immediate peers, actually fiscally conservative, religiously questionable; George Bush, socially conservative, but fiscally out of control, religiously very conservative; and Obama, socially liberal, fiscally liberal, religously tolerant. In other words, not one of them were purely conservative across three axes: social mores, religious views, and fiscal policy.

If we get someone who is socially conservative, religiously conservative, and fiscally conservative, what we should get is someone who cuts military spending and funds socially responsible, religiously guided aid for those among us who are less fortunate, but unfortunately, what we will get is someone who will gut social programs, ramp up military action across the globe, and justify it all in the name of God.

So, when the good people of Massachusetts go to the polls tomorrow, and either the democratically controlled congress maintains its control, or a very conservative republican will become a wedge which will truly make our current president ineffective(regardless of what you think now of Obama, I think things would be so much worse in country right now without some of the things he helped make happen). If DNA felt that the addition of a republican would do anything to make congress more effective, then he would be supporting this guy. DNA thinks that republicans will be trumpeting the "end" of the Obama presidency if the guy wins however, and will be even less inclined to actually work with the majority in power right now.

DNA is really looking into New Zealand. New Zealand still has that "new liberty" smell about it, and considers things like free speech, freedom of expression, independent thought, the separation of church and state, the separation of powers, a free press, and the independence of the judiciary more like the rights of its citizenry instead of annoyances to work around.

I have taken to posting these two quotes on almost all political conversations I have had lately:

"It is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." Hermann Goering, 50 years ago, talking about how Nazis grew to power.

Sinclair Lewis, first American novelist to receive the Nobel Prize in literature, feared the kinds of tactics we see everyday on Fox News would one day take hold in America. He wrote, in 1935, "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross."

Jesus would have been the first to disavow a national identity; historians will tell you that the roots of almost all major conflicts over the last several centuries are nationalism and religious fervor. Jesus would have been the first to disavow a symbol like a cross or a book in place of living a christ-like life. Yet bible-thumping, flag waving "patriots" are going to ram a definitively un-Jesus-like way of life down our country's gullet. Sinclair Lewis was right, and DNA is sad for it. If indeed, folks like Pat Robertson and his ilk grow to exercise real political power, then we will march down a road toward becoming the thing we hate....a radicalized religious theocracy. As DNA has stated before, he believes this is actually the agenda of many on the far right. They are attempting to bring about the apocalypse, because they know they will ascend to heaven and leave the rest of us behind. If for no other reason than that, even those on the right-hand side of the road should think twice before trying to establish a conservative religious party in power. Our days as a country that values liberty will surely be numbered. And that number will be 666.

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