The Most Dangerous Man Alive? : Off Topic Discussion

OK, lemme clarify this one. I am not interested in or swayed by scare tactics, because the 9mm under my bed answers that issue.

And that scares me. No, don't try to say I'm anti-second amendment, because I'm not (though I do think it's been completely taken advantage of, there is no reason an average civilian should arm themselves with enough assault rifles to engage in a firefight), but the fact that people in this country are scared enough to sleep with guns under their pillows plays right into the hands of the people you're scared of.

What I am interested in is protecting my family from someone else's hatred of our way of life. I have been hoping for a more close-knitted Republican party that would emerge to at least bring control back to the Congress in 2012, but since everyone seems bent on nodding "yes" when Nancy Pelosi speaks I doubt that will happen. See .... this is what gets me. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor the entire nation went on the offensive to repel them and take back what was taken from us. Now, 60 years later we are attacked by a much more precision-based enemy (they went after specific targets and removed them) and what do we have in this nation as a response or in support of those fighting against it?

This is somewhat hypocritical, as Obama's administration has devoted much more resource into the Afghanistan war and capturing Osama than Bush ever did. The fact that "Iraq was a bigger target" so we should invade them (and again, on a personal vendetta) rather than the people who actually attacked us is what turned me and so many others off to this war. None of the news outlets really reported on this, but I at age 13 at the time could not for the life of me understand the reasoning behind abandoning the fight against those who attacked us and invading another country. You don't know how thrilled it made me during the campaign when this issue was brought up, as it confirmed my misunderstanding for the first time, despite no one reporting on it over the years.

Now, as I have a better understanding of modern history than I did back in 2003, I understand (well, not quite) the reasoning behind invading Iraq, though it's not as the previous administration would want us to believe. This is where the "rewriting history" thing is coming into play; WMDs? What WMDs? We went to liberate Iraq.

So you want to talk about morals, over control, and misleading the public, the previous administration is a good place to start, and has absolutely nothing to do with Nancy Pelosi (who's name gets thrown out there way too frequently but is not as much of a villain as Fixed News makes her out to be).

Anyone seeing any yellow ribbons on trees anymore (even though there are hundreds of thousands of troops still in harms way)? The answer is no. And why? Because as Americans we have become complacent, self-centered fools who blindly follow what the idiot box tells us too. This is at the heart of what is wrong with this country -- and I know, "damn those who dare speak against the Administration" and I am sure I will take heat for pointing out the obvious. But, something has got to change, and I don't think our current leaders in the entire DC Metroplex are the ones to do it. I am not lining up with the party here fellas, I am saying damn them all because there is not a one who really cares about the nation.

I disagree here. I'd actually say that we have been less influenced by the mainstream media (read:mainstream does not equal liberal) in recent times due to the internet and it's huge concentration of independent media outlets. The problem is too many people still don't want to hear non-partisan news, they want to hear their views confirmed (myself included, which is why I watch Keith Olbermann; he is to us what Bill O and Hannity are to you).

I also don't get how you don't think politicians are in a huge change right now? It might not be the change you want, but as we've seen in the past few weeks, we've moved away from cowboyism to diplomacy. Cowboy tactics had their run for 8 years; they didn't work. So right there is a pretty huge shift (change) in US policy, especially considering the short time the administration has been in office.

We are a product of our leaders, and our selfishness is evidenced in the life we lead. Divorce, crime, obesity, insurmountable debt, children not being raised properly, lives in ruins, veterans not being cared for, etc., ... it's all a product of what has gone on in the last 40-50 years in this nation, and it's time to stop playing games with my grandchildren's futures.

And lets go back one-two more decades back to the 20-30s. Nazi party gaining huge following overseas, stock-market crash, Hoover-villes.

As I said a few pages back, we are a nation of progression. With progression comes a series of ups and downs, we just happen to be in one of those 'downs' at the moment. To try to live in the past is absolutely the wrong thing to do. We need to adapt for the times. As I quoted, the tradition of this nation isn't to try to uphold old ideas as traditions, but rather to progress. Just because we had a good time in the 50s doesn't mean we can hold on to it.

I agree with you that the things you mentioned are not good, but I think they're a sign of the times. However, if history is any indication, we will move away from it at some point. It's just what this country does. However, I'm not sure crime specifically is a good point to argue as I'm pretty sure national crime rates are down a huge percentage. I don't have the exact figures in front of me, but I know New York City which was known for crime in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, is now ranked one of the top 5 safest major cities to live in. So this figure has actually gone down considerably.