Conservative?

Can we come up with new names for our ideologies? I am particularly tired of people referring to themselves as conservative. If someone were to ask me "what do you think about conservatives" my reply would be, "I'd like to meet one". 

When I think of conservative, I think of fiscal responsibility, like trying to have a balanced budget. No one talks about this. You would think that "conservatives" would be all over this issue but they are not. During Bill Clintons last 2 years in office the country was actually running surpluses. He was the only president to have done that over the past 3 decades and we are now back to running 400 billion dollar deficits every year. 

When I think of conservatism, I think about the Federal Government getting smaller. Its grown significantly larger over the past eight years. True conservatism would scoff at the idea of using tax payer money to bail out AIG as well as many other cooperations. 

Some how conservative has become, huge military (so we can fight off the evil Soviet Union), low taxes (even if that means our national debt goes through the roof), the expansion of executive power, pre-emptive military action, pro life, and hunting.

Meltdown

Has anyone been following the worst week on wall street in years? I am trying to get this all straight in my very small brain. Who in the hell is responsible for this? Is anyone at fault?

First, people like Ralph Nader and Ron Paul were predicting this years ago. Our government has continually been lowering it's regulation on Wall Street for the past several decades. There was no one to keep these companies from making incredibly risky investments. Is this a problem? well, Yes. From what I understand, their isn't enough capital or MONEY for these investment firms or banks or whatever the hell they are when their horribly risky investments go sour. So what's the big deal? When they run out of money, the government (yes, our stupid government) bails them out. What do you mean by "bail them out"? I mean our government pumps money into them so they don't just evaporate. How much money? Hundreds of billions of dollars when it is all said and done. Where did our government get the money? I guess its our tax money, but really it has to be deficit spending. At least thats what it seems like to me. 

Look, we as a nation are about $9,000,000,000,000 (trillion) dollars in the whole. This year we are somewhere around 400 billion dollars over budget, which means we don't really even have the money to loan these cooperations. Theoretically, this is an investment in the American economy, so their really is not any other option at this point.  

I'll be honest, I have absolutely no idea how this works. How do you spend money that you dont have? I dont know, but our government can do it and some of the wealthiest cooperations are reaping the rewards.

Laugh so you dont cry...and throw stuff and curse

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/16389

This is an article from a blogger. It is making the case that Obama and McCain are very similar, at least in all the wrong ways. In a nut shell, if you want to know why politicians do what they do, follow the money. This article breaks it down pretty well, and he lays it on pretty heavy for both men.

If you are starting to notice that there is not alot of difference between the two major parties, this is why. They are both fighting over the same dollars. Lobbyists are working both parties, huge contributions are coming in from the Major industries, or just anyone that needs a favor.
Where do loyalties lie, with the common people or with the Exon's, Duponts, Fannie Mae's, AT &T's etc. I think we all know the answer to that.

Colon cleaning

I was talking to a friend of mine a while back, who is a Replican and I asked him. "so, what happened to Colin Powell?". "I think he needed some vacation time, or wanted to spend time with his family", was his answer.

Really? do most people think Colin Powell was ready for a vacation? The man was sent before the UN to make a case for why we needed to invade Iraq, which we now know was baced on bad intelligence and he has said that he counceled president Bush not invade Iraq....

Look, one of my choir directors was screwing a student. He was asked to resign, so he did. HE WAS FIRED. Colin Powell either left the White House because he felt he could no longer work there or he was asked to leave. Of course, I could be wrong. He is really old, I believe 71 and could have used some time to hang with the wife, but I doubt it.

Youtube, I tube.

I dont know how to put up the cool video thing link where the video is actualy frozen on the screen and has a triangle in a circle for you to press play...but this is a video of a CIA agent saying that the white house has threatened him with criminal prosecution if he publishes some of his findings. Basically, they dont want him to tell a story because it is "classified"/it makes them look really bad. I think that sucks, and it makes me wonder who else has been censored? What information has been with held from us? Not just on our policy in the Middle East...just take a second to imagine what crazy info we arent hearing.

Those 5 seconds just blew my mind.



This is another good one. Kind of the same sort of thing, but definately worth watching. In a nutshell it is an interview with a former CIA official who says that the CIA is subserviant to the White house....that sucks.

Sheeple....you know, like a sheep and a people

" Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and 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 to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country"

This quote was made by Herman Goring....He was basically second in command to Hitler.

If you want to know more about Herman go to en.wikipidedia.org/wiki/hermann_g%c3%B6ring

As I read this quote I found it impossible to not thing of most of the conflicts the US has been in over the past 40 or 50 years, particularly the Iraq war. In fairness, we were attacked on Sept 11th 2001, but not by Iraq. Most of our government tells us that we are in danger, always, but especially if we did not have an occupying force in the Middle East/Iraq.

Those who have not supported the war have been denounced as unpatriotic. Somehow, the thought that the Iraq war is a mistake means you are not supporting the troops our country.

We have given pieces of legislation names like the Patriot Act. Make no mistake about it, it is no accident that such a name is given. If you do not support the patriot act you are perceived to be unpatriotic. Maybe I'm off on this. Perhaps it is coincidence. What do you think?

If you look at Goring's quote, he says, "it doesn't matter if you are manipulating people in a dictatorship or a democracy, just.... manipulate them". Goring believed that his government had the power, all of it. How does our government feel? Do they have all of the power? Do they fear us, the people who give them power by electing them?

I'm still learning about these ideas and issues, and if anyone ever finds this blog I hope you are trying to become a better citizen and searching for answers as well.

Things that I think people should consider investigating:

Why did we invade Iraq?

Who are we currently at War with now that we have conquered Iraq?

Who are the terrorists?

Why should we, or shouldn't we go to Afghanistan?

What is the Patriot Act?

Good luck.

First Blog since Europe

Hey

I used to have a blog so everyone could check out where I was (somewhere in Europe). That lasted something like a month. I have not done anything blog related since then. I have decided to start a new blog about.....nothing really, just some thoughts. I am not planning on telling anyone about this, its just a place for me to jot down thoughts, If anyone ever finds this, feel free to comment and set me straight when you feel the need.