| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"pedro martori" |
| Date: |
02 Jan 2005 11:21:56 PM |
| Object: |
The Miracle of 2005 |
The Miracle of 2005
Will 2005 be the year when more of us take personal responsibility for =
doing whatever is necessary to bring about the changes we want? I hate =
to be negative about it, but I have to say, why should 2005 be the year? =
2004 was not the year. 2003 was not.=20
In Cuba, every year there occur more incidents of public opposition to =
the tyranny. So it can be said that more people in Cuba are taking =
personal responsibility. But can that be said of the United States?
On the one hand, a record number of voters turned out for the elections =
of November. On the other hand, the elections are over, and most people =
do nothing to bring needed changes, either with reference to Cuba or to =
anything else. We cannot depend upon politicians to do it, unless we =
pester them to death to make them do it. Politicians respond to pain, =
not to silence.=20
What did you do in 2004? Did you join a group? Did you write a book, an =
article, a letter? Did you make a phone call? Send an email message? Did =
you protest? Did you make a plan? Did you even talk to others about the =
problem? How about in English? Did you donate a dollar? Did you even =
tell someone you support his effort? Or did you just complain that =
"nothing is getting done"?
Of course, you are very, very busy. You have so many responsibilities =
and so little time. That is everyone's situation.=20
Don't assume that someone else is doing what you are not doing to solve =
the problem. To solve the problem, your collaboration is required.
David Rosenthal=20
"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great =
nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on =
religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason =
peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and =
freedom of worship." --Patrick Henry
From the United States Constitution:=20
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are CREATED =
equal..."
"Those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others." =
--Groucho Marx
"If men of wisdom and knowledge, of moderation and temperance, of =
patience, fortitude and perseverance, of sobriety and true republican =
simplicity of manners, of zeal for the honour of the Supreme Being and =
the welfare of the commonwealth; if men possessed of these other =
excellent qualities are chosen to fill the seats of government, we may =
expect that our affairs will rest on a solid and permanent foundation." =
--Samuel Adams
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Distributed by
Chachi Novellas-Bengochea
Delray Beach, Florida U.S.A.
FOR FREEDOM & JUSTICE GROUP
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ForFreedomandJustice/
"...one nation UNDER GOD" "IN GOD WE TRUST"=20
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| User: "pedro martori" |
|
| Title: FORSAKEN ROOTS |
02 Jan 2005 11:23:59 PM |
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Please read it and pass it on. =20
We need to conscientize our people how the ACLU is committed to the =
destruction of our Nation.
Click here: FORSAKEN ROOTS=20
http://www.wtv-zone.com/Mary/forsakenroots.html
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Distributed by
Chachi Novellas-Bengochea
Delray Beach, Florida U.S.A.
FOR FREEDOM & JUSTICE GROUP
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ForFreedomandJustice/
"...one nation UNDER GOD" "IN GOD WE TRUST"=20
.
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| User: "pedro martori" |
|
| Title: HATE SPEECH FROM THE LEFT |
02 Jan 2005 11:29:14 PM |
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HATE SPEECH FROM THE LEFT
By Jeff Jacoby
The Boston Globe
Thursday, December 30, 2004
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/12/=
30/more_liberal_hate_speech/
=20
As it does every year, the empty folder I labeled "Liberal Hate =
Speech" in January had grown to a thick sheaf of clippings by December. =
2004 wasn't even a week old when two videos explicitly comparing George =
W. Bush to Adolf Hitler appeared on the website of the liberal group =
MoveOn. They were entries in a contest soliciting "really creative ads" =
that would help voters "understand the truth about George Bush."=20
=20
And so began another year in which liberals engaged in, and mostly =
got away with, grotesque slanders and slurs about conservatives -- the =
kind of poisonous rhetoric that should be unheard-of in a decent =
society. Once again, too many on the left -- not crackpots from the =
fringe, but mainstream players and pundits -- chose to demonize =
conservatives as monsters rather than debate their ideas on the merits.=20
=20
As in years past, Republicans were almost routinely associated with =
Nazi Germany. Former Vice President Al Gore referred to GOP activists as =
"brown shirts." Newsday columnist Hugh Pearson likened the Republican =
National Convention to the "Nazi rallies held in Germany during the =
reign of Adolf Hitler." Linda Ronstadt said that the Republican victory =
on Election Day meant "we've got a new bunch of Hitlers." Chuck Turner, =
a Boston city councilor, smeared National Security Adviser Condoleezza =
Rice as "a tool of white leaders," akin to "a Jewish person working for =
Hitler."
=20
Even a federal judge, Guido Calabresi of the Second Circuit Court of =
Appeals, couldn't resist a Third Reich comparison. Bush became president =
because of an "illegitimate" Supreme Court ruling, he told the American =
Constitution Society. "That is what happened when Hindenburg put Hitler =
in." (Calabresi later apologized.)
=20
Such Nazi labeling is no less disgusting when it comes from =
Republicans. According to Bob Woodward, Secretary of State Colin Powell =
described Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith as running a separate =
government out of his "Gestapo office." Commentator Ralph Peters, =
writing in the New York Post, accused Democrat Howard Dean of using the =
tactics of Hitler and Goebbels to silence his competitors. Too many =
conservatives and libertarians refer to antismoking extremists as =
"tobacco Nazis," or to the humorless critics of fast food as "food =
Nazis." Whether it comes from the right or the left, language like that =
is vile.
=20
Overwhelmingly, though, political hate speech today comes from the =
left. It has increasingly become a habit of leftist argumentation to =
simply dismiss conservative ideas as evil or noxious rather than rebut =
them with facts and evidence.
=20
That is why there was no uproar when Cameron Diaz declared that rape =
might be legalized if women didn't turn out to vote for John Kerry. Or =
when Walter Cronkite told Larry King that the videotape of Osama bin =
Laden that surfaced just before the election was "probably set up" by =
Karl Rove. Or when Alfred A. Knopf published Nicholson Baker's =
"Checkpoint," a novel in which two Bush-haters talk about assassinating =
the president. "I'm going to kill that *****," one character rages.
=20
Bill Moyers warned a television audience on election day that if =
Kerry won narrowly, "I think there'd be an effort to mount a coup, quite =
frankly. . . . The right wing is not going to accept it." Chevy Chase, =
hosting a People for the American Way awards ceremony at the Kennedy =
Center in Washington, slammed Bush as a "dumb [f-word]" and "an =
uneducated, real, lying schmuck." A cartoon by the widely syndicated Ted =
Rall described Pat Tillman, the NFL athlete who gave up his career to =
enlist in the Army and was killed in Afghanistan, as a "sap" and an =
"idiot."
=20
So many examples, so little space. A political flier in Tennessee, =
depicting Bush as a mentally disabled sprinter, bore the message: =
"Voting for Bush is like running in the Special Olympics. Even if you =
win, you're still retarded."
The St. Petersburg, Fla., Democratic Club took out an ad calling for =
the death of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. "Then there's Rumsfeld =
who said of Iraq, 'We have our good days and our bad days,' " the ad =
read. "We should put this S.O.B. up against a wall and say, 'This is one =
of our bad days,' and pull the trigger."
=20
Fantasies of murder likewise animated British pundit Charlie Brooker, =
who ended his Oct. 24 column in the Guardian with a plea for Bush's =
death: "John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Hinckley Jr. -- where =
are you now that we need you?" Brooker later assured readers that he =
"deplores violence of any kind" and had meant his call for an assassin =
only as "an ironic joke."
=20
But the "joke" of left-wing hate speech stopped being funny a long =
time ago. There is room in the marketplace of ideas for passionate, even =
angry, rhetoric, but there are also lines that, as a matter of decency =
and civic hygiene, should not be crossed. The violent invective so often =
hurled at conservatives pollutes the democratic stream from which all of =
us drink. Democrats no less than Republicans should want to shut those =
polluters down. =20
(Jeff Jacoby is a columnist for The Boston Globe.)-- ## --
To subscribe to (or unsubscribe from) Jeff Jacoby's mailing list, please =
visit http://www.JeffJacoby.com. To see a month's worth of his recent =
columns, go to =
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/jacoby/.
-- ## --
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Distributed by
Chachi Novellas-Bengochea
Delray Beach, Florida U.S.A.
FOR FREEDOM & JUSTICE GROUP
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ForFreedomandJustice/
"...one nation UNDER GOD" "IN GOD WE TRUST"=20
.
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