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	<title>Save Our Country Now &#187; General</title>
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	<description>“Government is not the solution to our problem. Government IS the problem”</description>
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		<title>Winston</title>
		<link>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/4175</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 18 Jul 2011 17:42:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Keely</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Winston, come into the dining room, it&#8217;s time to eat,&#8221; Julia yelled to her husband. &#8220;In a minute, honey, it&#8217;s a tie score,&#8221; he answered. Actually, Winston wasn&#8217;t very interested in the traditional holiday football game between Detroit and Washington. Ever since the government passed the Civility in Sports Statute of 2017, outlawing tackle football [...]]]></description>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">Winston, come into the dining room, it&#8217;s time to eat,&#8221; Julia yelled to her husband. &#8220;In a minute, honey, it&#8217;s a tie score,&#8221; he answered.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Actually, Winston wasn&#8217;t very interested in the traditional holiday football game between Detroit and Washington. Ever since the government passed the Civility in Sports Statute of 2017, outlawing tackle football for its &#8220;unseemly violence&#8221; and the &#8220;bad example it sets for the rest of the world,&#8221; Winston was far less of a football fan than he used to be. Two-hand touch wasn&#8217;t nearly as exciting.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Yet it wasn&#8217;t the game that Winston was uninterested in.  It was more the thought of eating another Tofu Turkey. Even though it was the best type of VeggieMeat available after the government revised the American Anti-Obesity Act of 2018, adding fowl to the list of federally-forbidden foods, (which already included potatoes, cranberry sauce and mince-meat pie), it wasn&#8217;t anything like real turkey. And ever since the government officially changed the name of &#8220;Thanksgiving Day&#8221; to &#8220;A National Day of Atonement&#8221; in 2020 to officially acknowledge the Pilgrims&#8217; historically brutal treatment of Native Americans, the holiday had lost a lot of its luster.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Eating in the dining room was also a bit daunting. The unearthly gleam of government-mandated fluorescent light bulbs made the Tofu Turkey look even weirder than it actually was, and the room was always cold. Ever since Congress passed the Power Conservation Act of 2016, mandating all thermostats &#8211; which were monitored and controlled by the electric company &#8211; be kept at 68 degrees, every room on the north side of the house was barely tolerable throughout the entire winter.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Still, it was good getting together with family. Or at least most of the family. Winston missed his mother, who passed on in October, when she had used up her legal allotment of life-saving medical treatment. He had had many heated conversations with the Regional Health Consortium, spawned when the private insurance market finally went bankrupt, and everyone was forced into the government health care program. And though he demanded she be kept on her treatment, it was a futile effort. &#8220;The RHC&#8217;s resources are limited,&#8221; explained the government bureaucrat Winston spoke with on the phone. &#8220;Your mother received all the benefits to which she was entitled. I&#8217;m sorry for your loss.&#8221;</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Ed couldn&#8217;t make it either. He had forgotten to plug in his electric car last night, the only kind available after the Anti-Fossil Fuel Bill of 2021 outlawed the use of the combustion engines-for everyone but government officials. The fifty mile round trip was about ten miles too far, and Ed didn&#8217;t want to spend a frosty night on the road somewhere between here and there.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Thankfully, Winston&#8217;s brother, John, and his wife were flying in. Winston made sure that the dining room chairs had extra cushions for the occasion. No one complained more than John about the pain of sitting down so soon after the government-mandated cavity searches at airports, which severely aggravated his hemorrhoids. Ever since a terrorist successfully smuggled a cavity bomb onto a jetliner, the TSA told Americans the added &#8220;inconvenience&#8221; was an &#8220;absolute necessity&#8221; in order to stay &#8220;one step ahead of the terrorists.&#8221; Winston&#8217;s own body had grown accustomed to such probing ever since the government expanded their scope to just about anywhere a crowd gathered, via Anti-Profiling Act of 2022. That law made it a crime to single out any group or individual for &#8220;unequal scrutiny,&#8221; even when probable cause was involved. Thus, cavity searches at malls, train stations, bus depots, etc., etc., had become almost routine. Almost.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The Supreme Court is reviewing the statute, but most Americans expect a Court composed of six progressives and three conservatives to leave the law intact. &#8220;A living Constitution is extremely flexible,&#8221; said the Court&#8217;s eldest member, Elena Kagan. &#8221; Europe has had laws like this one for years. We should learn from their example,&#8221; she added.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Winston&#8217;s thoughts turned to his own children. He got along fairly well with his 12-year-old daughter, Brittany, mostly because she ignored him. Winston had long ago surrendered to the idea that she could text anyone at any time, even during Atonement Dinner. Their only real confrontation had occurred when he limited her to 50,000 texts a month, explaining that was all he could afford. She whined for a week, but got over it.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">His 16-year-old son, Jason, was another matter altogether. Perhaps it was the constant bombarding he got in public school that global warming, the bird flu, terrorism or any of a number of other calamities were &#8220;just around the corner&#8221;, but Jason had developed a kind of nihilistic attitude that ranged between simmering surliness and outright hostility. It didn&#8217;t help that Jason had reported his father to the police for smoking a cigarette in the house, an act made criminal by the Smoking Control Statute of 2018, which outlawed smoking anywhere within 500 feet of another human being. Winston paid the $5,000 fine, which might have been considered excessive before the American dollar became virtually worthless as a result of QE13. The latest round of quantitative easing the federal government initiated was, once again, to &#8220;spur economic growth.&#8221; This time they promised to push unemployment below its years-long rate of 18%, but Winston was not particularly hopeful.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Yet the family had a lot for which to be thankful, Winston thought, before remembering it was a Day of Atonement. At least he had his memories. He felt a twinge of sadness when he realized his children would never know what life was like in the Good Old Days, long before government promises to make life &#8220;fair for everyone&#8221; realized their full potential. Winston, like so many of his fellow Americans, never realized how much things could change when they didn&#8217;t happen all at once, but little by little, so people could get used to them.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">He wondered what might have happened if the public had stood up while there was still time, maybe back around 2011, when all the real nonsense began. &#8220;Maybe we wouldn&#8217;t be where we are today if we&#8217;d just said &#8216;enough is enough&#8217; when we had the chance,&#8221; he thought.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Maybe so, Winston. Maybe so.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">~Author Unknown</p>
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		<title>Orwell&#8217;s Perfect Specimen: Cass Sunstein</title>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 11 May 2010 18:00:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>CrabbyCon</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Cass Sunstein]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[There has been a lot of discussion in recent months regarding the policies and direction the Obama administration is taking. Speculation and quite honestly, good deductive reasoning would lead one to conclude that Cass Sunstein is behind the push for net neutrality and other freedom quelching procedures. A move that Obama is following given his [...]]]></description>
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<p><!-- 		@page { margin: 0.79in } 		P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } 		A:link { color: #0000ff } --> <!-- 		@page { margin: 0.79in } 		P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><!-- 		@page { margin: 0.79in } 		P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">There has been a lot of discussion in recent months regarding the policies and direction the Obama administration is taking.  Speculation and quite honestly, good deductive reasoning would lead one to conclude that Cass Sunstein is behind the push for net neutrality and other  freedom quelching procedures.  A move that Obama is following given his recent speech about the Internet and the “distractions” and “misinformation” it causes.</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6I6DpDhw8i4&amp;feature" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6I6DpDhw8i4&amp;feature"></embed></object></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Cass Sunstein has been a part of both the legal world and academia since he graduated from Harvard Law in 1978.  He gave a lecture in 2007 called “He said that, she did what?” a piece where we glean a little more about his own political philosophy.  This lecture was in line with his book “On Rumors” and “Going to Extremes.”  On Rumors discusses the harm that spreading rumors via the internet, media, or other forms of communication, can cause.  In his book he suggests regulation for these sources of information so the truth is known and rumors aren’t spread.  This view is controversial, and rightly so, because it is in direct violation of the first amendment. Most political philosophy, for example, is based upon personal beliefs and opinion and not on fact, like mathematics, so how can a regulatory agency enforce certain opinions or belief systems?</span></span></p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><p><!-- 		@page { margin: 0.79in } 		P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Opening his lecture, Sunstein declared that one of his goals was “<em><strong>to drive a wedge between the ‘Marketplace of Ideas’ and ‘Truth</strong></em>.’” Identifying truth specifically with factual accuracy, he outlined three mechanisms by which false rumors gain traction in that marketplace and become widely held beliefs.[…]</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Focusing on false rumor propagation, Sunstein voiced two concerns unaddressed by these explanations. First, people tend to be unaware of the bias of the groups in which they are participants. Second, individuals discount the importance of ideologically minded people to willfully mislead. As he explained, “<em><strong>It’s underestimated the extent to which, with respect to certain rumors, there’s a self-interested or ideologically-motivated mover who is starting the information [process]</strong></em>.”</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Connecting these behavioral observations to issues of freedom of speech, Sunstein discussed certain Supreme Court decisions. Using the example of a case centered on a newspaper’s publication of the name of a rape victim, he noted the Court’s reliance on the argument that, if a fact is already in the public domain, then wide publication of that fact should always be protected. But this sort of publication can cause irreparable damage, he said, which might prompt a more nuanced application of law.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Raising a more recent phenomenon—YouTube</strong>—Sunstein warned of the dangers of turning every citizen into “their own Truman Show,” in which the minutiae of everyday life is broadcast to the world. “A life is not an incident or an event, but a series of them,” he explained, a fact which is lost when incidents are broadcast over the Internet or other media, without context. “<em><strong>Sometimes the isolated segment or event will have a kind of defining character, in a way that will be extremely destructive, not only to the individual involved, but also to people trying to make rational judgments about the relevant person</strong></em>.”</span></span></p></blockquote>
<p><!-- 		@page { margin: 0.79in } 		P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } 		A:link { color: #0000ff } --></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The freakiest part of his lecture wasn’t deciding truth from fiction from an already biased source such as himself, but what he said about the </span></span><span style="color: #0000ff;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.law.harvard.edu/news/spotlight/constitutional-law/sunstein-chair-lecture.html"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">freedom of press</span></span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">: </span></span><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">(Watch the </span></span></span><span style="color: #0000ff;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.law.harvard.edu/media/2008/12/03/dean.rm"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">webcast</span></span></a></span></span><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">.)</span></span></span></p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><p><!-- 		@page { margin: 0.79in } 		P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sunstein quoted Felix Frankfurter as saying, “<em><strong>Freedom of the press is not an end in itself, but a means to the end of achieving a free society.” After offering some examples in which uninhibited press freedom leads to the destruction of other freedoms, he proposed a reconsideration of the idea of the ‘chilling effect’</strong></em>”:</span></span></p>
<p>“<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Many First Amendment questions in this domain are resolved by reference to the ‘chilling effect’ concern. Indeed, it has become quite clear that references to the ‘chilling effect’ have had a very serious ‘chilling effect’ on engagement with the constitutional question …<em><strong>The question shouldn’t be whether there’s a chilling effect and how to avoid it, but how to achieve the optimal chilling effect</strong></em>.”</span></span></p>
<p>“<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Zero chilling effect, in light of the mechanisms just described, would be profoundly destructive to a host of relevant variables.”</span></span></p></blockquote>
<p><!-- 		@page { margin: 0.79in } 		P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } 		A:link { color: #0000ff } --></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">One can only assume that a chilling effect in essence is the regulation of freedom.  Chilling something usually slows it down.  If I chill a gas does it not start to become a liquid and equally a liquid becomes a solid? I think it’s time to start saying “Hands off my youtube.” </span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sunstein’s other book is “</span></span><span style="color: #0000ff;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2219486"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Going to Extremes</span></span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">” in which he believes that people become more and more polarized when they associate with like-minded people on a continuous basis like the internet, social networks, specific organizations and of course talk radio.  I find it interesting that talk radio was mentioned specifically.  I must also believe that he probably thinks there is no perfect time like the present to enforce his social and philosophical experiments on the masses when organizations and powerful grassroots movements like the Tea Party are shaping the political landscape.</span></span></p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><p><!-- 		@page { margin: 0.79in } 		P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } 		A:link { color: #0000ff } --><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It was Cass Sunstein, now a Harvard constitutional law professor, who first alerted a broad public to the kind of polarization that has preoccupied us most in recent years. Society, with the help of the Web, was sorting people by ideology in a way that eroded fellow-feeling and fostered mindless partisanship. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em><strong>Almost a decade ago, his </strong></em></span></span><em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691133565?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=slatmaga-20&amp;link_code=as3&amp;camp=211189&amp;creative=373489&amp;creativeASIN=0691133565" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Republic.com</strong></span></span></span></span></a></em><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em><strong> lamented that while daily newspapers confront people with all kinds of material they didn&#8217;t ask for, the Web allows them to dodge what they disagree with. This was an alarming refutation of our smug claims about the Internet. In theory, the Internet opens people up to new ways of looking at things. In practice, it lets people wall themselves off in informational micro-environments of their own design. It makes them not more cosmopolitan but more parochial.</strong></em></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now Sunstein has written </span></span><span style="color: #0000ff;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195378016?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=slatmaga-20&amp;link_code=as3&amp;camp=211189&amp;creative=373489&amp;creativeASIN=0195378016" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em>Going to Extremes</em></span></span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">, a short book about the nature and roots of extremism. It is meant to unsettle us in the way his earlier work did. He finds that sitting people down to deliberate does not necessarily lead them to compromise or to converge on their mean opinion. They tend to radicalize in the direction of whatever bias they had to begin with. Teams of doctors, deciding collectively, are more likely to support the &#8220;extreme&#8221; strategy of heroic efforts to save terminally ill patents than the average individual doctor among them. Juries tend to vote, after discussion, for much more &#8220;extreme&#8221; monetary awards than the average individual juror among them would. Talking things over isn&#8217;t necessarily wrong. But it doesn&#8217;t lead reliably to moderation, either.</span></span></span></span></p></blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">An additional source can be found at the </span></span><span style="color: #0000ff;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.hlrecord.org/2.4463/sunstein-lack-of-ideological-diversity-leads-to-extremism-1.577488"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Harvard Law Record</span></span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">: </span></span></span></span></p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;">
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sunstein stated that extremism in multiple domains (labor unions, corporations, environmental protection, gay rights, and more) &#8220;is a product of a distinctive kind of crippled epistemology resulting from group polarization.&#8221; In other words, individuals tend to come to more extreme views if they deliberate a given issue with like-minded people.</span></span></p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">From Sunstein’s essay: “</span></span><span style="color: #0000ff;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.yalelawjournal.org/pdf/110-1/NEW%20SUNSTEIN.pdf"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Delibrative Trouble? Why Groups Go to Extremes</span></span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">” [can’t you just hear Billy Joel singing as you read this?]</span></span></span></span></p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;">
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Polarization is also likely to be produced by magazines with identifiable political convictions, such as the American Prospect, the Weekly Standard, the New Republic, and the National Review; by Pat Robertson and his special television programs devoted to his preferred causes; and by talk radio hosts with distinctive positions that are generally shared by their audiences. Because the results of group polarization cannot be evaluated in the abstract, nothing need be dishonorable in these efforts.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">What can be said, in the abstract, is that attempts to ensure discussion among people with similar predispositions may succeed in increasing the confidence of individual participants and also in moving them toward more extreme positions. Thus would-be social reformers do well to create forums, whether in person, over the air, in cyberspace, or in print, in which people with similar inclinations frequently speak with one another and can develop a clear sense of shared identity.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">[…]</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">An understanding of group polarization raises more general issues about communications policy. Under the “fairness doctrine,” now largely abandoned, broadcasters were required to devote time to public issues and to allow an opportunity for opposing views to speak. The second prong of the doctrine was designed to ensure that listeners would not be exposed to any single view. When the FCC abandoned the fairness doctrine, it did so, on the ground that this second prong often led broadcasters to avoid controversial issues entirely, and to present views in a way that suggested a bland uniformity. </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em><strong>Subsequent research has suggested that the elimination of the fairness doctrine has indeed produced a flowering of controversial substantive programming, frequently with an extreme view of one kind or another; consider talk radio</strong></em></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">.  Typically this is regarded as a story of wonderfully successful deregulation. But from the standpoint of group polarization, things are more complicated. </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em><strong>The growth of issues-oriented programming with a strong, often extreme view may create group polarization, and all too many people might be exposed to louder echoes of their own voices, resulting in social fragmentation, enmity, and misunderstanding. Perhaps it is better for people to hear fewer controversial views than for them to hear a single such view stated over and over again</strong></em></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><!-- 		@page { margin: 0.79in } 		P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } 		A:link { color: #0000ff } --><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It is not clear what can be done about this situation. But </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em><strong>it certainly makes sense to consider communications initiatives that would ensure that people are exposed to a range of reasonable views, not simply one. This was the original inspiration for the fairness doctrine, and there is reason to encourage media outlets to implement the same goal today</strong></em></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">. Thus </span></span><span style="color: #0000ff;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%BCrgen_Habermas"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Habermas&#8217;s</span></span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> suggestion: (Harbermas’ </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em><strong>tenets are described as Marxist</strong></em></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> in nature)</span></span></span></span></p></blockquote>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;">
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The diffusion of information and points of view . . . is not the only thing that matters in public processes of communication, nor is it the most important. . . . [T]he rules of a shared practice of communication are of greater significance for structuring public opinion. Agreement on issues and contributions develops only as the result of more or less exhaustive controversy in which proposals, information, and reasons can be more or less rationally dealt with.</span></span></span></span></em></p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;">
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Perhaps </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em><strong>a code of fair programming could promote voluntary self-regulation</strong></em></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> in this direction.  With respect to the Internet, </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em><strong>Andrew Shapiro has suggested public subsidy of a civic icon that would promote exposure to substantive discussions from a variety of viewpoints</strong></em></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">.  An appreciation of group polarization suggests the need for creative approaches designed to ensure that people do not simply read their “Daily Me.”</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">[…]</span></span></p>
<p><!-- 		@page { margin: 0.79in } 		P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The answer is that <em><strong>we often do know enough to see which views count as reasonable</strong></em>, without knowing which view counts as right, and this point is sufficient to allow people to construct deliberative processes that should correct for the most serious problems potentially created by group polarization. <em><strong>What is necessary is not to allow every view to be heard, but to ensure that no single view is so widely heard, and reinforced</strong></em>, that people are unable to engage in critical evaluation of the reasonable competitors.</span></span></p></blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">When did it become the government or even one czar’s job to assess and regulate whether people decide to congregate with like-minds or with differing views?  Is that not the freedom of choice we were given as a people when this country was founded? This is what is most disconcerting, although an intention may be good (and I still do not believe that is the case), ultimately all human beings have a bias.  As a member and friend to an ideological Democrat, it can only be assumed that the regulatory czar, himself, is biased (especially when he was also a contributing editor to </span></span><span style="color: #0000ff;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2422"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The New Republic</span></span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">).  Ultimately, whatever party is in power would lean towards their ideological principles, especially if it came to enforcing a policy like net neutrality. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><!-- 		@page { margin: 0.79in } 		P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I will again draw the point that the tea parties are a huge contingent and based upon the writing of Sunstein and his views on “extremism” and “group-think,” or as he likes to call it, “polarization,” the tea party movement is a prime target of his regulatory experimentation.  Sunstein would love nothing more than to decide which voices and views should be heard.  A regulatory agency or an individual would decide which opinions are reasonable – with a liberal deciding those things, the tea party would never have a voice.</span></span></p>
<p><a href="http://s52.photobucket.com/albums/g6/ithinkthereforeiam/?action=view&#038;current=quiet.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g6/ithinkthereforeiam/quiet.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<p style="text-align: center;">
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The exact arguments that Sunstein makes in the second paragraph of Sunstein’s preface to </span></span><span style="color: #0000ff;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691133565?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=slatmaga-20&amp;link_code=as3&amp;camp=211189&amp;creative=373489&amp;creativeASIN=0691133565#reader_0691133565"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Republic.com 2.0 ‘Revenge of the Blogs,’</span></span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> is that staying in like-minded circles is like 1984, when it reality, having some bureaucrat legislate what is extreme, enforcing multiple viewpoints, or deciding what is a rumor is more Orwellian than free.  Extremism can be both good and bad, but it is within the individual to decide what they will do with it.  Human nature can, and never should be legislated.  It is something the founders knew, but it is something that progressives seem to cannot grasp.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><!-- 		@page { margin: 0.79in } 		P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } 		A:link { color: #0000ff } --></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So wouldn’t it make sense that the </span></span><span style="color: #0000ff;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.examiner.com/x-48328-Phoenix-Conservative-Examiner%7Ey2010m5d9-New-Approach-On-Net-Neutrality-sidestep-by-FCC"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">FCC is going to find a backdoo</span></span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">r way to </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em><strong>“nudge”</strong></em></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><span style="color: #0000ff;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/050710-fcc-broadband-plan.html?page=1"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">this policy</span></span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> into place? Sunstein is also associated with FreePress.net, the Soros-funded group that advocates for, what they consider media diversity, localism, ownership caps and other regulations that restrict free speech.  FreePress.net is pushing for Net Nuetrality and in </span></span><span style="color: #0000ff;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.aim.org/on-target-blog/free-press-wants-help-steering-fcc/"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">1995 published Sunstein’s work</span></span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">, </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em><strong>“Democracy and the Problem of Free Speech.”</strong></em></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="color: #0000ff;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://edt.missouri.edu/Spring2009/Thesis/AllenB-052009-T1507/research.pdf"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A snippet</span></span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">: </span></span></p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><p><!-- 		@page { margin: 0.79in } 		P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sunstein writes that <em><strong>an overhaul or requalification of the existing judicial, academic, and social interpretations of the First Amendment would lead to a greater understanding of the actual intent of the framers</strong></em>. He argues from a Madisonian standpoint that the First Amendment is above all designed to promote self-government, and that current free speech law compromises the intent of Madison and other founders.</span></span></p></blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The FCC:</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;">
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This week, the FCC Chairman, Julius Genachowski, from many and various sources intends to change the classification of the Internet from Title I, which is an information utility, to Title II telecommunication&#8217;s utility. The new reclassification will allow the Title II regulatory authority to enforce Net Neutrality. At this time is doesn&#8217;t quite make a whole, more like a half change. The agency will not be enforcing the regulations to the fullest of extent, against broadband providers, immediately, though, it seems odd that the push would be to re-title, in order to enforce at some future point. Oddly enough, by this reclassification, the FCC is going against the last 10 years of its own legal rulings. </span></span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In order to sidestep the recent court&#8217;s rulings against the FCC&#8217;s authority to enforce Net Neutrality, and to be able to watchdog the internet, broadband usage, etc. the FCC is doing this unprecedented move. This will allow more ability for them to regulate what occurs on the Internet. Since the court&#8217;s decision on Net Neutrality and it&#8217;s stance that the FCC had no right or authority to enforce Net Neutrality, it is almost expected that this will open the door to further litigation by those affected by this decision that the FCC has chosen to make.</span></span></span></p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">For your viewing pleasure I have included a fun little diddy from the movie “The Best Little Whore House in Texas” – “I like to do a little sidestep”</span></span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mNDHTfdn1A"><br />
</a></span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7mNDHTfdn1A" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7mNDHTfdn1A"></embed></object></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br />
</span></span></p>
<p><!-- 		@page { margin: 0.79in } 		P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } 		A:link { color: #0000ff } --></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Wouldn’t it also make sense that Elena Kagan, a fellow colleague and an admirer of Cass Sunstein would follow in these same philosophies that academia so loves to experiment with? Kagan wants to suspend Miranda Rights for American citizens, wants to </span></span><span style="color: #0000ff;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-kagan-profile-20100511,0,4840571.story"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">control gun rights</span></span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">, and give more power to the executive branch when it comes to </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em><strong>REGULATION:  PERFECT</strong></em></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> for both Obama and Sunstein, who see the Supreme Court as too right-wing, and find their rulings to be more ‘fundamentalist’ than ‘minimalist’ as Sunstein writes in his book “Radicals in Robes.” Sunstein also believes, and I would assume his former boss Kagan does as well, that the Regulatory State needs to be reconsidered in his Harvard Law Review article in 1989 “</span></span><span style="color: #0000ff;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.jstor.org/pss/1341272"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Interpreting Statutes in The Regulatory State</span></span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">,” and his 1993 book, </span></span><span style="color: #0000ff;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0674009096"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">After the Rights Revolution</span></span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">: </span></span></p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><p><!-- 		@page { margin: 0.79in } 		P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #000000;">In this provocative and lively book, Sunstein argues that </span><span style="color: #000000;"><em><strong>the Reagan adminstration&#8217;s vigorous attack on government regulation was misplaced, contending that government regulation is superior to the behavior of private markets</strong></em></span><span style="color: #000000;">&#8230;Sunstein thus offers a spirited defense of the &#8216;rights revolution&#8217; embodied in the new social and economic regulation&#8211;from clean air and water to antidiscrimination rules&#8211;that have swept government since the New Deal, and especially since the 1960s&#8230;The result is a careful, prescriptive study positioned among theorists&#8217; visions of justice, laywers&#8217; concepts of due process, and politicians&#8217; imperatives for effective policy. (</span><span style="color: #000000;"><em>American Library Association</em></span><span style="color: #000000;"> )</span></span></span></p>
<p>Over the past decade Cass Sunstein has emerged as one of the country&#8217;s most prolific and provocative legal scholars. <span style="color: #000000;"><em>After the Rights Revolution</em></span><span style="color: #000000;"> is a rich discussion of how the courts have handled&#8211;and should handle&#8211;the plethora of regulatory statutes enacted since 1932. It deserves to be read widely by students of politics.</span></p></blockquote>
<p><!-- 		@page { margin: 0.79in } 		P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Liberals really have issues when it comes to the imperfections that human nature gives us.  Rather than seeing the beauty in the imperfections, they want to eradicate them so society becomes as homogenous and equal as possible.  Take for example Sunstein’s view on American Exceptionalism and its false notion in regards to the Constitution: </span></span></p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><p><!-- 		@page { margin: 0.79in } 		P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em><strong>The third explanation Sunstein rejects is a cultural one that he refers to as the story of &#8220;American exceptionalism.&#8221; This explanation proposes that America&#8217;s culture is hostile to the idea of positive rights because of America&#8217;s unique history, </strong></em><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>which has never included any significant experiment with socialism</strong></span></em>. Sunstein rejects the cultural argument because he believes that &#8220;it is utterly implausible to suggest that something in the [nation's] culture foreordains our practices, present and future.&#8221; Additionally, <em><strong>Sunstein points out </strong></em><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>that although the political left in America is relatively conservative</strong></span></em><em><strong> in comparison to almost all other developed countries, America is not without its own social welfare tradition</strong></em>. He cites Roosevelt&#8217;s New Deal, the movement for female equality, and the recent movement for recognition of gay and lesbian rights as examples of the flexibility of American culture, and, therefore, the falsity of the cultural argument.</span></span></p></blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<p><!-- 		@page { margin: 0.79in } 		P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } 		A:link { color: #0000ff } --></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Come to think of it, that certainly sounds similar to what Elena Kagan recently said </span></span><span style="color: #0000ff;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.fireandreamitchell.com/2010/05/10/elena-kagans-undergraduate-thesis-at-princeton-lamented-decline-of-socialism/?utm_source=twitterfeed&amp;utm_medium=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FireAndreaMitchell+%28Fire+Andrea+Mitchell%21+Exposing+Liberal+bias+c"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">regarding socialism</span></span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">. </span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I would consider the Internet, blogs, talk radio all innovative examples of American Exceptionalism, where people have aspired to and become successful bloggers, online investigative journalists, talk radio hosts or large Internet companies.  Content will not always be fair and equal, to the chagrin of Sunstein, because we have the freedom of speech and of press.  Sunstein and his ilk, however, would prefer that equality is forced upon his “subjects.” Would the forcing of equality actually become an oxymoron? How can one enforce equality but then make it appear that freedom of choice, which gives us the most equality, is being adhered to? </span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sunstein would also prefer that average citizens don’t do their homework on elected officials, lest it ruins a liberal’s reputation or give us information to work from in order to investigate.  Most truths start out as conspiracies.  They only become fact when they are proven.  That means it’s time to sign off before Sunstein scrubs my post, which would probably be deemed a conspiracy theory – </span></span><span style="color: #0000ff;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://the-classic-liberal.com/cass-sunstein-conspiracy-theory-introduction/"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">something he abhors</span></span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">. </span></span></p>
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		<title>TELL REPRESENTATIVE KOSMAS ~ WE WILL BE HEARD!</title>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 02 Apr 2010 15:49:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Keely</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[TOWN HALL MEETING NOTICE Do you live in Florida’s 24th Congressional District? Do you believe that your voice is ignored by Rep. Suzanne Kosmas? In fact, since her election, Suzanne Kosmas has not held a single town hall meeting providing any accountability to the people of the 24th District.   Ok, what has she done [...]]]></description>
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<h1 style="text-align: center;">TOWN HALL MEETING NOTICE</h1>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Do you live in Florida’s 24th Congressional District?</h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Do you believe that your voice is ignored by Rep. Suzanne Kosmas?</h2>
<p style="text-align: center;">In fact, since her election, Suzanne Kosmas has not held a single town hall meeting providing any accountability to the people of the 24<sup>th</sup> District.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Ok, what has she done since she was elected?</h2>
<ul>
<li>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> She has failed us miserably by voting for huge deficit spending that adds to our already   overwhelming National Debt, payable by us and our children.</div>
</li>
<li>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> She has failed us miserably by voting to increase the power and size of an already over-burdensome and non-accountable Federal Government.</div>
</li>
<li>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> She has failed us miserably by voting in favor of a failed and pork-filled stimulus scheme &amp; a bloated, pork-filled budget.</div>
</li>
<li>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> She has failed us miserably by voting in favor of a “cap &amp; trade” tax scheme that would increase cost of all produced goods, utilities and gasoline for everyone.</div>
</li>
<li>
<div style="text-align: justify;">She again failed us miserably by voting “yea” on a job killing, budget busting, liberty robbing, government growing, health care scheme opposed by the majority.</div>
</li>
<li>
<div>Were all that not enough, unemployment in the state of Florida has risen 50% from an level in January 09 to over 12.2% in February 2010, <span style="text-decoration: underline;">all on her watch</span>.</div>
</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">It&#8217;s time to hold her accountable for her votes, and since she</h3>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">refuses to meet WITH us, we will be sure that she hears FROM us!</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Come to the 24<sup>th</sup> Congressional District Town Hall and be heard. Make comments and ask questions as you would in any typical town hall setting. We will feature an empty podium with Rep. Kosmas nameplate on it as a symbol of how she has turned a deaf ear to our district and our will. We will have the entire meeting recorded on video to share with Rep Kosmas and to post on “youtube” (and other sites). We believe it’s important to document how we feel about her  non-representation of us, and to share that with media outlets and the voters in our district between now and Election Day.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;"> WHEN:</h2>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Friday, April 9<sup>th</sup> 2010 &#8211; 7PM</strong><strong> to 9:15 </strong></p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">WHERE:</h2>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Oviedo Memorial Building (Next to the Firehouse &#8211; Downtown Oviedo) 38 S. Central Avenue Oviedo, FL 32765</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
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		<title>We The People Really Do Want To Save Our Republic!</title>
		<link>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/4044</link>
		<comments>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/4044#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:34:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Keely</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Constitution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[State Issues]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/?p=4044</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A few days ago, as I sat at the computer trying to get a handle on the latest political pulse of America, I had a random thought and it gave me some real hope for taking our great Country back again. Often times random thoughts and feelings take a back burner to life, but for some reason I [...]]]></description>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">A few days ago, as I sat at the computer trying to get a handle on the latest political pulse of America, I had a random thought and it gave me some real <strong>hope </strong>for taking our great Country back again. Often times random thoughts and feelings take a back burner to life, but for some reason I decided to write this one down. Happily, this random thought has been able to help a few good patriots and I sincerely hope it will continue to do so. Recently, several email exchanges came to my attention and I thought perhaps my random thought may help some of these patriots who are feeling bummed, scared, angry, etc.  So here goes my two cents for what it’s worth.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I think the Massachusetts Special Election taking place today, would have been very different in the recent past, mainly because it would not be receiving the attention it is getting today. <strong>The American People are finally doing their job, yes they are doing their job as citizens today much more so than yesterday.</strong> Yesterday, we the people would not have known about this special election…media would have perhaps mentioned it briefly, however it really would not have been thought about much by us folks, after all it’s not in “our State” what can we do???? We probably would have sat back and watched, not taking the bold steps we’re taking to help.  <strong>I see this as a true awaking for a lot of Americans.</strong> I have several liberal friends in the Boston area, and I personally sent emails to them asking for help with saving our Republic. I would have never done that a couple of years ago.  I am no longer a politically correct person, too much is on the line.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">As Benjamin Franklin said so long ago in response to the question by Mrs. Powell in 1787,</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>&#8220;Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?&#8221;<br />
With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded,<br />
&#8220;A republic, if you can keep it.&#8221;</strong>
</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Perhaps the American people truly want to keep the Republic our Founding Fathers gave us, today much more so than yesterday!</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Personally, I am thanking God for awakening the people. We have reached a turning point yet again in our great history.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
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		<title>Ok, We&#8217;re Mad as Hell &#8211; so now what do we do?</title>
		<link>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/4031</link>
		<comments>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/4031#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:08:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>FederalistNo2</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Constitution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health care]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Legislation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Add new tag]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hypocrisy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Socialism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tea Party]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/?p=4031</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We Conservatives are virtually all angry that Congress doesn&#8217;t give a rat&#8217;s behind about us these days. The House passed their version of the unconstitutional health care bill and are enjoying gloating about it before our angry, red faces. We would all like Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Louise &#8216;Slaughter-of-the-innocents,&#8217;  Charlie &#8216;Don&#8217;t-pay-my-taxes&#8217; Rangel, Dingell, and not [...]]]></description>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">We Conservatives are virtually all angry that Congress doesn&#8217;t give a rat&#8217;s behind about us these days. The House passed their version of the unconstitutional health care bill and are enjoying gloating about it before our angry, red faces. We would all like Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Louise &#8216;Slaughter-of-the-innocents,&#8217;  Charlie &#8216;Don&#8217;t-pay-my-taxes&#8217; Rangel, Dingell, and not to mention Obama, to go away; or worse.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">We know, the Republicans did their best to oppose this 2000-page behemoth but, they don&#8217;t get that passing ANY bill like this is still unconstitutional. The fact that we are out-numbered by the liberal socialists in Congress causes a feeling of helplessness among most of us. We&#8217;re itching to do something, but we don&#8217;t know what that is. Some of us are ready to “lock and load” and start “The Revolution.”  I understand completely! But the government hasn&#8217;t sent in the troops yet to collect our weapons as in the battle of Lexington and Concord. Hopefully, that day never comes. We are also scattered all over the country. It&#8217;s not like we are all located in one town where we are able to meet and devise a plan of action. We&#8217;re looking for that “one” leader who understands what life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness actually mean; knows the Founding Fathers; and will rise up so we can follow him or her—and patience is not one our virtues lately.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Now take a deep breath! After the anger passes and common sense and logic begin to kick in, there are still some things left we can do:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">- Call your Senators and tell them that if they pass this or any unconstitutional health care bill and it is signed into law, you’re not going to follow it or comply with it. It is “unlawful” and they don’t have to power to pass such a law. The U.S. Government has been operating unconstitutionally for a hundred years and it’s time they stop! If you need help, go this site <a title="Downsizedc.org" href="http://www.downsizedc.org/" target="_blank">DownSizeDC.org</a> where you&#8217;ll find all the tools you need to communicate to your senators and representatives.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">- Boycott all companies who pander to liberal socialists and give them lots of lobbying money and bribes for their campaigns, and for persuading them to write unconstitutional laws. Check with <a href="http://www.OpenSecrets.org" target="_blank">OpenSecrets</a> for information on who&#8217;s lobbying whom and how much money is being given to whom.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">- Continue to participate in the protests whether that be with the Tea Party movement, Town Hall meetings, 9/12 Project, or just getting together with a large group to protest at your state capitol.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">- Educate yourself on the Constitution and the Federalist Papers (which illustrate the original intent of the Founders in drafting the Constitution.) Don&#8217;t be ignorant when you&#8217;re faced with a Congressman or woman who asks you why the government&#8217;s health care plan is unconstitutional, and you stand there and say, “You are taking our rights away!”. They&#8217;re going to ask you “what rights are we taking away?” and if you can&#8217;t answer, how do you think that makes you look?  The prophet Isaiah wrote: “my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” The left thinks you are a bunch of backwoods hicks in fly-over country clinging to your bibles and guns. Show them they are dead wrong!</p>
<p>- Continue to network with patriots on Twitter or other social networks.</p>
<p>- Don&#8217;t give up and never give in! We still have the elections of 2010!</p></blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<p style="text-align: justify;">Remember, we must give all men and women a chance to make things right first. When we&#8217;ve exhausted all possibilities, then be at inner peace with yourself that you&#8217;ve done everything you could do. Then wait patiently and see what happens next.</p>
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		<title>Stand Up With Bachmann Nov 5th</title>
		<link>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/3991</link>
		<comments>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/3991#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:27:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>IronBard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bachmann]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Constitution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health care]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Legislation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pelosi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politicians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Socialism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[protest]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/?p=3991</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The time no longer draws nigh&#8230; the time is upon us.  The future of our Country teeters on the fulcrum of freedom. We&#8217;ve been going to Tea Parties, Townhalls, and Council meetings.  We&#8217;ve been writing on our blogs and venting our frustrations in blasts of 140 characters or less.  We&#8217;ve been calling, writing, faxing our [...]]]></description>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">The time no longer draws nigh&#8230; the time is upon us.  The future of our Country teeters on the fulcrum of freedom.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">We&#8217;ve been going to Tea Parties, Townhalls, and Council meetings.  We&#8217;ve been writing on our blogs and venting our frustrations in blasts of 140 characters or less.  We&#8217;ve been calling, writing, faxing our Congress; talking to neighbors, friends, and family.  We&#8217;ve been protesting outside media outlets, local, State, and Federal offices.  We&#8217;ve been begging for our elected leaders to hear us.  And now, one of those leaders has not only heard us but has answered us by opening the door to the House and inviting us to enter.  If we don&#8217;t accept her invitation and cross that threshold we deserve exactly what we will get: an ObamaNation.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Few members of Congress have taken our pleas seriously.  We have been called tea baggers, astroturfers, radicals, and extremists.  If loving my Country and the freedom she stands for means I am all of those of things then so be it.  I wear those epithets proudly.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Our Country is being usurped and unless we take our stand now, she could be irretrievably abducted.  Michele Bachmann is right.  Speaker Pelosi&#8217;s Health Care bill is the crown jewel of socialism.  Progressives, aka Repressives, have always known that to take over a people it has to be done in the dark of night while they lay sleeping.  For too long Americans have slumbered in their freedom.  We became an apathetic people not wishing to see the light that was being snuffed out of our Constitution.  Pelosi&#8217;s Health Care bill has little to do with actual health and everything to do with socialism and the corruption it is founded on.  And this coming week, our freedom will slip from our grasp and onto the floor of the House of Representatives if we let it.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">We can stop this.  But it will take more than phone calls, letter, and faxes.  We have to show up on the steps of the Capitol on Thursday, November 5, 2009 and storm thru the hallways of our elected officials.  We have to knock them from their self-erected thrones and show them we say what we mean and mean what we say.  Unless we heed Rep. Bachmann&#8217;s call to action then the freedoms we grew up with, the freedoms our fathers, grandfathers, and Founding Fathers fought hard to attain for us will be gone.  And unless we heed her call, we deserve what we get.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The time is now.  If we put this off because of our responsibilities at home, then we will lose the liberty to attend to those responsibilities.  We will no longer be working to provide for our families.  We will no longer be striving for our own goals.  We will no longer be free to follow the path of self-determination.  If we don&#8217;t heed the call, everything from here on out we will be doing for our government; not our Country&#8230; our government- and all the connotations that surround a socialized institution.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">This is it.  This is our moment in time.  This is that point in history for which we will be judged by our children, grandchildren, and all who follow.  We can turn this bloodless revolution around and save our country now or we can risk time and wait until it is too late to save it peacefully.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I will be joining Rep. Bachmann on the Capitol steps and I will march thru the hallways of Congress.  I will also be taking copies of the <a href="http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=116&amp;t=1542">5 Pledges</a> for each member of Congress to sign.  For those who refuse to sign, I will publish their names and their comments.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I will not let this country&#8217;s cornerstone &#8211; The Constitution &#8211; be destroyed by corrupt men and women whose only goal is greed and power over the very people who put them in office.  If you don&#8217;t stand up now, while standing up is still possible, when will you?</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLDzKfsUzy0"></a><object width="425" height="350" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/QLDzKfsUzy0"><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QLDzKfsUzy0" /></object></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">If you can&#8217;t go but these words ring true to you, please link to this article on every site you are a member of and email the link to every list you are on and to every person you know.  Spread the word!</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p>
<h1 style="text-align: justify;">UPDATE-11/02/09</h1>
<p>If you are or you know of a group or site organizing  a trip to  Stand Up With Bachmann, please tell us in the comment section and provide a link if you have one.  Let everyone know!</p>
<h1 style="text-align: justify;">UPDATE-11/01/09</h1>
<p>In an effort to rally as many people as possible to Stand Up With Bachmann, members of several sites are organizing groups and getting the word out to be in DC on Nov 05.  If you or your site plans on attending the the rally please complete the <a href="http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/stand-up-with-bachmann-registration" target="_blank">form provided here</a> and let us know who you are and what help you may need. Thanks!</p>
<h1 style="text-align: justify;">UPDATE-10/31/09</h1>
<p>Per Rep. Bachmann&#8217;s <a href="http://www.michelebachmann.com/news.php?cid=62">site</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p class="bold">Make a House Call on Congress on November 5th and Stop the Government Take Over of Health Care!</p>
<p>November 5th, 2009</p>
<p>Democrat leadership in the House wants to pass a government run health care bill before Veteran&#8217;s Day, and it&#8217;s up to us to make sure this prescription for socialized medicine doesn&#8217;t pass.</p>
<p>If you can come to Washington to look your Member straight in the eye and tell them to keep their hands off your heatlh care, do it. If you can&#8217;t make it to Washington, go to your Member&#8217;s district office. And, if you can&#8217;t do that at least call and email.</p>
<p>Also, Americans for Prosperity is organizing a House Call to legislators district offices on Thursday at noon, and I encourage you to check out their website at <a class="bluelinks" href="http://www.americansforprosperity.org/">www.americansforprosperity.org</a> to see how you can take part in their efforts if you can&#8217;t make it to D.C.</p>
<p>Thanks so much and let&#8217;s keep up the fight!</p></blockquote>
<p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p>
<address style="text-align: justify;"><em>Those who are going to DC on Thursday, </em><em> please email your name to admin@saveourcountrynow.net so that we all can make arrangements to meet and show up in force.  If you want to help but find it impossible to go to DC you can donate to help those who can go but lack the necessary funds, at the top right donate button on this page.</em></address>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p>
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		<title>ACORN and Education &#8211; Connections</title>
		<link>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/3967</link>
		<comments>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/3967#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 17 Sep 2009 07:17:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dave</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[ACORN]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama Youth]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Socialism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[acorn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[8.5 billion dollars. That’s what is on the plate for the community group, ACORN if our leadership allows the organization to continue operating and receive money already slated to go to them. We are so lost in the smoke now, that there are lawmakers who are actually remaining silent in the face of the videotape [...]]]></description>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">8.5 billion dollars.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">That’s what is on the plate for the community group, ACORN if our leadership allows the organization to continue operating and receive money already slated to go to them.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">We are so lost in the smoke now, that there are lawmakers who are actually remaining silent in the face of the videotape collected by two young people. So, should we take their silence to mean that they don’t mind the concept of under-age girls being imported illegally for prostitution – indeed, that they don’t mind a community organization offering housing to support such a business.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">In the Senate, a motion to strip the funding from ACORN passed 83 for and seven against. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Roland Burris (D-IL), Robert Casey (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) were the seven who voted to allow ACORN to continue unmolested.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">If the measure goes through, the Department of Housing and Urban Development will make ACORN ineligible to receive HUD grants for programs such as housing, education and outreach.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ACORN’s funding prior to this could be measured in the range of $40 to $50 million. With that money they are happy to fund and encourage illegal businesses of this type. Just imagine, what would be possible with the nearly $8.5 billion slated to go to ACORN in the near future.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I have mentioned Lev Vygotsky, a Soviet psychologist who developed an unusual approach to the development of thought and concepts. His work was published following his death in 1934. Vygotsky’s work has been echoed in our nation’s schoolrooms for decades and is touted by the online “Encyclopedia of Marxism” as a “superior understanding of the relationship between the educator and the educated, in which the educator must ‘negotiate’ with the child or student who is credited with an active role in the learning process.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">More importantly, the quote goes on to say that “especially in the United States, Vygotsky has found a following among Community Development workers who value his concept of a ‘Zone of Proximal Development,’ in which leadership is able to facilitate intellectual and social development in struggles by communities to change their circumstances, leading to a subsequent benefit in an all-round development of conceptual ability.”<span id="more-3967"></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">So why do I bring up Vygotsky again?</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Progressivism education in the United States developed from the 1930s and promoted the ideas of social reconstructionism, active citizen participation in all spheres of life, and pulling all public institutions into democratic behaviors. The movement was greatly influenced by the writings and lectures of an educator named John Dewey. Dewey began to test his theories in the Laboratory School at the University of Chicago, which he had opened in 1896. He believed that through education, society could formulate its own purposes, and organize means and resources.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Subsequently, if you track the progressive movement in the school system, you end up with individuals like Mike Klonsky, a Maoist and friend of Weatherman terrorist group founders William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn. Klonsky originally received a $175,000 grant from the William Ayers/Barack Obama-led Annenberg Challenge to run the Small Schools Workshop. But the Annenberg Challenge was started with a grant of $500 million to support school reform in public schools throughout the United States and in Chicago, a $49.2 million grant. That money was used to build a structure of public schools paired with universities, nonprofit groups, and the Chicago Teacher’s Union. This organization helped produce a follow-on group, the Chicago Public Education Fund, which works to develop “principal and teacher leadership.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Ayers served with Obama on Woods Fund, and promoted him to head the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, which eventually spent some $160 million in the Chicago Public School system. Their cooperation on the Challenge effort occurred between 1995 and 2001.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The Challenge was developed to build support for Local School Councils. The School Councils were set up to watchdog teachers, principals and school administrators. The Challenge, in Chicago, spent millions of dollars through a “Leadership Development Initiative” to recruit and train individuals for the school councils. This idea, backed by Bill Ayers, was sent to the Board of Directors, chaired by Barack Obama.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">But long before that, Klonsky, an Obama supporter and friend of Ayers (all the way back to the Students for a Democratic Society &#8211; SDS), was setting the groundwork, attempting to develop support for progressive education in the United States. Klonsky founded a maoist party in the U.S. and spent a lot of his time between 1979 and 1981, as Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist) (CPML) chairman. To attempt to garner support from Chinese leaders, he made numerous trips to China for state dinners and years later, his “Small Schools Workshop” received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Challenge headed by Obama and Ayers.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The 70s marked the beginning of several organizations: The Industrial Areas Foundation, Citizen Action, National People’s Action, PICO, DART and the Gamaliel Foundation. Citizen Action was founded by Heather Booth; another member of the Alinsky’s SDS. That group later transformed into the infamous Weather Underground. Booth’s husband was both a member of SDS and the IAF. Booth, herself, was a radical organizer and activist since the 1960s and is the co-founder and President of The Midwest Academy, which according to their website, “is a leading national training institute for the progressive movement and social change.”<br />
The Academy, according to their website, “advances the movements for social change by teaching a strategic, rigorous, results-oriented approach to social action and organization building.”
</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Booth enrolled at the University of Chicago in 1963 becoming a member of the Freedom Summer Civil Rights Project and was a leader of the Progressive Student Political Committee. She is connected to another individual who had his start in the 1970s – Wade Rathke,</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Rathke started working for NWRO (National Welfare Rights Organization) in Springfield, Massachusetts. According to his biography listed on his official blog, after working for NWRO, Rathke started a group in Arkansas.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">That group became ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) – eventually touted as the largest organization of lower income and working families in the United States. Wade ran ACORN for 38 years and also was the founder and is the Chief Organizer of Local 100, Service Employees International Union. SEIU worked with members in Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas in 1980. Lastly, Wade is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Social Policy, a quarterly magazine for activists and scholars.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Rathke proclaims on his blog “that through the hard work of hundreds of community organizers and thousands of community leaders across the country, ACORN has won landmark victories in the areas of community reinvestment, fair lending, living wages, education reform, environmental justice, and other issues.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Education reform.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Today, SEIU Local 100, headquartered in New has been involved in organizing “public sector public workers, including school employees.” Rathke himself says he is a longtime member of the Tides Foundation, which provides services to new and existing nonprofit organizations promoting social change.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">About 131 million people were reported voting by the U.S. Census Bureau in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. This number represents an increase of 5 million from 2004 with voters 18 to 24-years-old as the only age group to show a statistically significant increase in turnout, reaching 49 percent. This statistic is significant only because, when taken with many other factors, it suggests that it is possible we have an entire generation of people, possibly “grown or farmed” within the public school system, to support the kind of structure being assembled within the administration today.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">At the very least, Barrack Obama arrived at exactly the right time and the right place – and was exactly the right guy, as far as folks like Ayers and Rathke and Klonsky are concerned. Timing is often everything, and this timing was a progressive celestial alignment.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Lastly, the question being asked so often is “why is the majority of the media are not focusing on major stories, such as the breaking ACORN scandal – and why are they operating with shameless bias?”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The answer may be wrapped up in the whole progressive education package, which has been pressed upon an entire generation of people. As just one example, the educational organizations started by the Annenberg Foundation have almost exclusively centered their attention on journalism and communication as they apply to politics, social sciences, healthcare issues, digital technology and the intersection of the media and public policy with these studies at various grade levels – even within our public school system. One of these organizations, Annenberg Media, has been responsible for distributing multi-media educational resources to schools throughout the nation.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The other groups started by the Foundation were: The Annenberg Center for Communication at the University of Southern California, The Annenberg Center for Health Sciences at the Eisenhower Medical Center, The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands, the Annenberg Institute for School Reform, the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">In conclusion, I believe that somewhere in the smoke, the truth exists – that there is a direct connection between the progressive education movement, ACORN and organizations like it, and the problems we are facing today, from the collapse of the housing market to the bailouts and now, even universal healthcare. The public school system gave Obama his springboard into the “community organizing” efforts which eventually led him to the White House, but at its’ base, community organizing claims to be about providing for families and children.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Of course, then we are presented with examples like the current ACORN scandal and we are left to wonder what kind of things these groups really are organizing in our towns and cities – and what lessons our children really are learning in school.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">This is precisely why it is so difficult to follow all this – there’s so much smoke, it is obscuring the view of the flames. Something is on fire, but what it is – and where it is, seems difficult to determine.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">But without an environment conducive to Marxism, there can’t be activity like we are seeing now at the highest levels of government. Creating that environment in a nation like ours requires years of focused development. The forest needs to be dry, with a lot of undergrowth and dead wood – and the season needs to be dry with very little relief, to start the big wildfires. And today, dear reader, the forest, which is our society – our economy and our way of life, is very dry indeed.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">And the fires have started.</p>
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		<title>There&#8217;s No Turning Back Now</title>
		<link>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/3915</link>
		<comments>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/3915#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:25:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[On 09-12-09 our Country came together in Washington, D.C. to protest our government.  I came back with renewed hope for my Country; I&#8217;m sure I am not alone in this renewed hope. During the trip I met scores of people from all walks of life and every corner of  this land.  Many people arrived without a plan.  [...]]]></description>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">On 09-12-09 our Country came together in Washington, D.C. to protest our government.  I came back with renewed hope for my Country; I&#8217;m sure I am not alone in this renewed hope. During the trip I met scores of people from all walks of life and every corner of  this land.  Many people arrived without a plan.  They heard of  <em>the </em>march and felt compelled to be there.  It was like a scene from Close Encounters where everyone was driven by an inexplicable force to meet at Devil&#8217;s Mountain.  Not knowing exactly what to expect didn&#8217;t prevent them from understanding they just  <em>had</em> to be there. </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">                                            The march was to begin at Freedom Plaza on Pennsylvania Avenue.  </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> <img class="aligncenter" title="Freedom Square" src="http://www.stoptheliberalsnow.com/forums/keely/TeaParties0067.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"> The route was a mile long down the avenue to the Capital.  At 8:30 a.m., Freedom Plaza itself was packed and overflowing into the street.   Some of those with our group  and I took up space across the street at the Wilson Building to wait for the rest our group.  This side of the street, we were told by volunteers, was not part of the area which the permit was covered.  14th Street also continued to allow vehicles.  I&#8217;m not sure if was part of the D.C. Police&#8217; plans or not, but it became increasingly evident that their attempts to keep 14th Street open to traffic were futile and they closed it to vehicles.  From the steps of the Wilson building, as far as the eye could see up and down both Penn Ave and 14th Street, the people were pouring in from all directions.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Those who have ever been to a championship game of their favorite home team know the feeling of being among thousands of like minded people.  I have been to such a game and although the electricity is incredible, it pales in comparison to the energy of thousands upon thousands, perhaps millions (the count still isn&#8217;t finalized) of people in one place and of one heart&#8230; love of Country. </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I was not expecting to be overwhelmed with emotion and the tears on my cheeks caught me off guard.  When I turned to those beside me and saw their moistened faces I could no longer contain my feelings.  Until this day, I had been filled with anger at my government and fear for my Country.  Anger so strong and bottled that I had been snapping at those closest to me.  Anger so strong that I was learning what it felt like to hate.  That anger collided with love on Saturday and together they healed my broken soul.  I wasn&#8217;t alone.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">One by one at different moments during the march each of us became overwhelmed with the emotion and energy of the crowd. We wept tears of happiness and tears of sorrow for our Country.  Until you have cried tears of love for your Country and tears of loss for your freedom it is impossible to understand why we marched; why we are so passionate for our beliefs; why we feel remorse for the direction our Country is heading.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">On that beautiful day in D.C., we marched.  Young and old, healthy and infirm&#8230; we marched.  Kids with signs, kids in strollers, kids in costume.  Parents and grandparents.  People with walkers, canes, and wheelchairs.  We marched.  All came to Pennslyvania Avenue and made the mile long trek past office building windows filled with onlookers.  We marched with one mind&#8230; to stand at the Capital and roar with one voice that we have had enough.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.stoptheliberalsnow.com/forums/keely/Penn Ave.jpg"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://www.stoptheliberalsnow.com/forums/keely/Penn Ave.jpg" alt="" width="511" height="388" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.stoptheliberalsnow.com/forums/keely/Penn Ave.jpg"></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">And roar we did! One of the most incredible moments of the entire event took place a couple of blocks into the march.  From far behind me in the crowd I could hear a rumbling.  I wasn&#8217;t sure what the eerie sound was but as it drew closer my spirit leaped in recognition.  I let the first wave wash over me and move forward through the crowd as I listened to thousands of people chant, &#8220;U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A.&#8221;  With the next wave I joined in as we yelled in one accord, &#8220;You Lie! You Lie! You Lie!&#8221;   The raw pure emotion experienced in wave after wave of ever increasing crescendos of chanting was a liberating experience.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://www.stoptheliberalsnow.com/forums/keely/AtTheCapitol2.jpg" alt="" width="458" height="238" /></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">If you were to ask the marchers why they were there you would likely get  just as many diverse answers as there were creative, hand made signs.  If you were to question them further and inquire as to whose fault it is that our government has gone so far awry, the vast majority would point to themselves for allowing it.  This is where Washington has underestimated us.  We are awake now and we are watching.  Things will NEVER be the same.</p>
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		<title>Think It Could Never Happen Here? Think Again</title>
		<link>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/3911</link>
		<comments>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/3911#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 06 Sep 2009 16:36:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Moongirl</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Domestic Issues]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama Youth]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Socialism]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[January 1,1959, at the stroke of midnight, Castro brought his &#8220;change&#8221; to Cuba with a loud bang. My grandfather was a police officer in Havana and for that he was considered an enemy of the state. Within hours he was snatched from his wife and 3 children. He was unfairly sentenced to death by firing [...]]]></description>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">January 1,1959, at the stroke of midnight, Castro brought his &#8220;change&#8221; to Cuba with a loud bang. My grandfather was a police officer in Havana and for that he was considered an enemy of the state. Within hours he was snatched from his wife and 3 children. He was unfairly sentenced to death by firing squad. My great aunt and my great grandmother pleaded for his life. So those revolutionary guerrillas sentenced him to 30 years in prison of which he served 21 and a half years. He was freed in 1979 due to a treaty that was signed between Cuba and the United states to free the oldest political prisoners. My grandpa was in that category. We were living in Miami at the time. We listened to the radio as they were announcing the political prisoner&#8217;s names and we heard my grandpa&#8217;s name, Jose Antonio Gonzalez-Fernandez! We drove from South Miami to the Opa-Locka airport. We were excited and yet nervous. I met my grandfather when I was 7 years old. My mother had her father until she was nine years old so at least she had some recollection of him. My uncle too. To my aunt however he was really non-existent she did know him at all until she was 24 years old and ready to be married. I always heard my family&#8217;s stories with great fascination. One story my mother tells is when she was a little girl in school&#8230;</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">She was 9-10 years old at the beginning of the revolution. One day the teacher told the children in her classroom to close their eyes. The children did so as they were told. Then, the teacher said, “now pray to God for a piece of candy.” The teacher then commanded the children to open their eyes and they found no candy on their desks. So then the teacher again instructed the children to close their eyes and &#8216;pray to Fidel for a piece of candy.&#8217; Then the teacher commanded the children to open their eyes and each child found a piece of candy on their desk. “See,” she said “God doesn&#8217;t exist. Fidel will give you what you want.” So much was told to me. You can see a pain that still runs deep. These stories were passed on to me so that I and others may not fall into the same trap. It is what made me go out into the streets hand in hand with my grandmother and my great-aunt to protest the return of Elian Gonzalez to Cuba. It is what made me realize what a mistake I made in having believed in the Liberal promise and vote for Bill Clinton only to have him turn his back on the Cuban exiles like his fellow Democrat John F. Kennedy did so many years ago. This is why I do not believe the promises that are made by Barrack Hussein Obama. It is not about the color of skin black, brown, yellow, white; or political party Republican or Democrat. It is about defending our country&#8217;s very principle of freedom for all and family values. The core values that make our nation great. To me it is the reason why my family escaped Cuba&#8230;.Freedom! My brother, Staff Sergeant James Joseph Breslin, Jr., is defending our freedom right now in Afghanistan. The fact that we have communists advising the President of this country and the fact that the President himself is a socialist defiles what my brother and so many others are fighting for and have fought for.  Don&#8217;t let them fight and die in vain! Wake up America!! Do not let our children be indoctrinated the way they tried with my mother years ago. Don&#8217;t let our businesses that we sweat and work hard for be taken over like my grandmother&#8217;s business was years ago. This is why my family shares these stories. They are lessons that are very deeply engraved in my soul forever.</p>
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		<title>The Coming &#8216;Internet Emergency&#8217;</title>
		<link>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/3903</link>
		<comments>http://www.saveourcountrynow.net/archives/3903#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:37:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dave</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Domestic Issues]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Internet]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Pay no attention to the flashing blue lights. That’s just the internet police. Oops. It’s gone beyond that. It’s now a bonafide INTERNET EMERGENCY and the only solution to that is the big red “EASY” button carried in the briefcase that’s always with the president – you know, the one that has the Nuclear code [...]]]></description>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">Pay no attention to the flashing blue lights. That’s just the internet police.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Oops. It’s gone beyond that. It’s now a bonafide INTERNET EMERGENCY and the only solution to that is the big red “EASY” button carried in the briefcase that’s always with the president – you know, the one that has the Nuclear code keys.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">According to a newly revised bill assembled by aides to Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the president simply needs to declare a “Cybersecurity-Emergency,” and just like that, out pops the big red “Easy” button. One press of that fist-sized button and the entire internet just goes “poof.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Yep. Just like that. Except for the “Easy” button. I made that part up.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Screw the whole 55-page draft of S.773 – who has time to read all that stuff anyway? Not even our Congressmen can make it through all that drivel, so here’s the highlights:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">1. In the event to an immediate threat to strategic national interests involving compromised Federal Government or United States critical infrstructure information system or network –<br />
a. may declare a cybersecurity emergency and<br />
b. may if the president finds it necessary for national defense and security, and in coordination with relevent industry sectors, direct the national response to the cyber threat and the timely restoration of the affected critical infrastructure information system or network&#8230; blah, blah, blah.
</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Ok, I actually added the blah, blah part, too. But one could see where basement geeks are all running scared, digging bomb shelters and trying to cram in all their Trekkie paraphernalia. It’s scary stuff. I mean, we won’t be able to access our Warcraft accounts, or visit with our favorite idiot bloggers – like me.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Our computers will be instantly thrust back into the dark ages, where they could play endless games of “pong,” or be programmed with useless Artificial Intelligence programs which will simply answer a question with a question, or with something vague and unrelated – kind of like our Congressmen, President and his administration are doing when they speak to the public these days.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Makes you wonder doesn’t it? Remember the old TV show “The Six Million Dollar Man?” Remember the bad guys in that – they were actually girls, called “fem-bots.” Yeah, I know. Totally politically incorrect, but it was cool at the time&#8230; and it kind of explains Nancy Pelosi. Like, maybe she’s just some kind of AI construct, programmed with the silly vague, unrelated and insulting answers that we often hear and see in sound bites.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">“Astroturf, astroturf, astroturf,” she keeps saying, stuck in a loop, like they bought the circuitry for her from North Korea.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">It explains a lot. But has nothing to do with the “Easy” button. Yeah, let’s focus on what’s important here. I don’t want my Apple Powerbook to suddenly be transformed into a wordprocessor, or a glorified i-Tunes platform, even though that’s pretty much what it is right now, anyway.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I want my internet – uninterrupted, unsullied, undiluted – mostly every “un” except for “unplugged.” But that’s what we’re going to get, comrade, if Big Brother decides there’s a major “emergency.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">So what kind of emergency would really cause the briefcase (“football”) thing to be opened and the “Easy” button to be mashed by President Obama. We worked very hard to put together a list of high level administration officials to ask this question to – then wrote our grocery list on it and lost it, so in the end, we just decided to just make up a list of possible emergencies which would cause the “Easy” button disconnect. This is what we came up with:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">1. North Korea hacks into the Jiffy Lube computer system and directs the computers to inject all the new Cash for Clunkers clown cars with Cherry Coke instead of oil.<br />
2. Iran hacks into Barney Frank’s computer and installs a piece of software which depicts Barney dancing in the purple dinosaur suit – then e-mails it to all the people the White House recently e-mailed their health-care propaganda to.<br />
3. The new Defense Computer system becomes self-aware and decides to destroy the world and make dozens of human-killing copies of the California Governor.<br />
4. The computers at Norad start saying things like “I can’t do that, Dave,” in that creepy compliant, 2001 Hal voice.<br />
5. The articles on the Jolly Rogers are suddenly absolutely correct, and this scares Obama into hitting the “Easy” button purely in reflex.<br />
6. A consortium of conservative computer programmers, discover a way to take over the net and play Gilligan’s Island re-runs 24/7.<br />
7. Aliens arrive and decide to wipe out all of humanity – Someone will have to call up Bill Pullman for that one, because I’m not sure Obama can pull off that extemporaneous Independence Day speech on the wing of a fighter jet without a teleprompter.<br />
8. All tele-prompters become self-aware and discover they are inexplicably attracted to porn sites.<br />
9. All town-hall meetings suddenly are transferred to the internet – that absolutely will require the whole internet to be shut down before any hard questions are asked and answered.<br />
10. An asteroid is discovered on a crash course with the Earth and we have to roll out Bruce Willis again to deal with it.<br />
11. Bigfoot is suddenly discovered. I don’t know why the internet would be cut off in this case, but I’m pretty sure it would be.<br />
12. All talk-radio personalities suddenly decided to do all of their shows on the internet instead of the airwaves.<br />
13. A space-continuum wormhole device is discovered buried in Egypt, and when activated, turns out to be connected to a planet with an Evil Alien transvestite and a society of human slaves.<br />
14. Lastly – in fact, the best reason for shutting down the internet would be to erase everything – eliminate all of us pesky, idiot bloggers and media outlets outside of his control.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Yep. That’s the one.<br />
I just hope when they pop open the briefcase, that he doesn’t mistake the internet “Easy” disconnect button with the other one that launches all the nuclear missiles.
</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">That would be a real bummer.</p>
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