Showing posts with label Freedom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Freedom. Show all posts

Friday, September 19, 2025

With 410 Days To Go... Are You Any Better Off?

 
Some thoughts... 
 
“Decades ago, George Orwell suggested that the best one-word description of a Fascist was “bully,” and on the day of the Normandy invasion, Franklin Roosevelt prayed to the Almighty for a “peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men.” By contrast, President Trump’s eyes light up when strongmen steamroll opposition, brush aside legal constraints, ignore criticism, and do whatever it takes to get their way."
     
~Madeleine K. Albright,

“Do not obey in advance.

Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.”
 
~Timothy Snyder


“If everybody always lies to you, the consequence is not that you believe the lies, but rather that nobody believes anything any longer.”
 
~Hannah Arendt

“Social conservatism and neoconservatism have revived authoritarian conservatism, and not for the better of conservatism or American democracy. True conservatism is cautious and prudent. Authoritarianism is rash and radical. American democracy has benefited from true conservatism, but authoritarianism offers potentially serious trouble for any democracy.” 

~John W. Dean,
 
“[No] social principle in the world is more foolish and dangerous than the rapidly rising notion that hurtful words and ideas are a form of violence or torture (e.g., “harassment”) and that their perpetrators should be treated accordingly. That notion leads to the criminalization of criticism and the empowerment of authorities to regulate it. The new sensitivity is the old authoritarianism in disguise, and it is just as noxious.”
 
~Jonathan Rauch,
 
 “The authoritarian character worships the past. What has been, will eternally be. To wish or to work for something that has not yet been before is crime or madness. The miracle of creation—and creation is always a miracle—is outside of his range of emotional experience.”
 
~Erich Fromm,
        Escape from Freedom
 
“Flattery is directly proportional to authoritarianism. For this reason, flattery can be said to be one of the main signs of the non-existence of freedom and democracy in the political system. The more "honeyed words", the greater the deprivation of personal liberty.”
 
~Elmar Hussein  
 
  “Democracy can exist only in the countries where people are brave! Coward nations always live under the authoritarian regimes!”
 
~Mehmet Murat ildan 
 
 “Patriotism is a villain's last refuge.”
 
 ~Xiaobo Liu,
 
 “One need only to admit that public tranquillity is in danger and any action finds a justification. All the horrors of the reign of terror were based only on solicitude for public tranquillity.”
 
~Leo Tolstoy, 
 
 “Who is watching the Watchers?”
 
~James Hauenstein  
 
There are 410 days left until the 2026 midterm elections. 
 
Are you any better off then you were 4 years ago?
Are you any better off then you were 4 weeks ago?
Are you any better off then you were 4 days ago?
Are you any better off then you were 4 hours ago?
Are you any better off then you were 4 minutes ago?
Are you any better off then you were 4 seconds ago? 
 
VOTE
 

 

Wednesday, October 30, 2024

The Promise From The Ellipse

 


“But when you can’t sleep at night, how can you dream?”
 
― Kamala Harris, 

75 thousand people showed up to the Ellipse, and the National Mall to hear the closing statement by Kamala Harris. And she rocked it! She was determined, straight forward, optimistic, dynamic and more than anything, not insulting to the very people who support her! I feel encouraged after her speech. The vibe lifted my spirits. If you didn't watch it, please do now. It's worth watching, especially if you haven't quite made up your mind. We are standing at the crossroads of freedom and a dictatorship. I choose freedom. How about you?





Friday, July 04, 2014

Happy 4th Of July 2014



"May the sun, in its course, visit no land more free, more happy, more lovely, than this our country."

~Daniel Webster

From Our House To Yours... 



                                                    HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Mood: HAPPY

~Me :)


Sunday, June 16, 2013

A Little Light Summer Reading (Rated PG-13) Strong Language



"Winston Smith: Does Big Brother exist?
O'Brien: Of course he exists.
Winston Smith: Does he exist like you or me?
O'Brien: You do no exist."

~George Orwell, 1984

Given recent events I thought it was about time I read 1984. I had a chance to do so, when I was in high school, but didn't. It was in a list of books we could read to complete our literature course, but I didn't choose it because my father had referenced it many times in our political conversations, and I felt I knew the plot. LOL. Silly me. When I was in high school there were computers, of course, I'm not quite that old, but given the brouhaha over the Nixon tapes, and countless references  thereof in TV, movies, and literature, I foolishly thought American's would safe from being spied upon by our own government. I wish I would have thought that one through. Anyway, while it comes as no real surprise that a government program like Prism exists, I don't feel any safer. If this highly successful government program is such a smashing success, why were 26 souls... 20 children... 6 adults killed in Newtown? If our government is doing such a good job keeping us safe, why were two young men, able to carry out an act of terrorism at the Boston Marathon a couple months ago?

I don't buy... "It's for your own good."

9/11 was the worst day for America, since the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

In the days after 9/11 we were told our freedom was attacked. We say Thank You to members of the armed services for "protecting our freedom."

If we continue to compromise what freedom means to us, we will no longer have any freedom to worry about. What happens then? When you close your eyes, and imagine that world, what do you see? Smell? Hear? Where does compromising freedom end? Do you have a specific tipping point? Is there a line that shouldn't be crossed?

Sarah Palin agrees with me... FUCK ME!

"Don't you see the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the language of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible because there will be no words in which to express it."

~George Orwell, 1984

Is the conversation, if there is one, an honest one? Half of congress claims that even they didn't know how far reaching the Patriot Act went. I guess all the wiretapping stuff was in the fine print.We are being told that if we had the Prism project in place prior to 9/11 we might have been able to prevent it. I can't help but wonder about what we found out about 9/11 in the official 9/11 Report. Didn't it say that the system had been blinking red? We also found out that President George W. Bush had neglected to read a file titled... "Bin Laden Determined To Attack." Hmmm... Could his having read THAT REPORT maybe saved us that day?

I read on Salon the other day, that sales of George Orwell's 1984, at Amazon.com, were up by as much as 5,000 Percent. In particular, the Centennial Edition. I bought the 60th Anniversary Edition. Hmmm... up 5,000 percent... not bad for a book written in 1949.

"Then the face of Big Brother faded away again and instead the three slogans of the party stood out in bold capitals:

WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH"

~George Orwell, 1984

Mood: Quiet

~Me


Monday, January 21, 2013

It Feels Like A New Day



"National parks and reserves are an integral aspect of intelligent use of natural resources. It is the course of wisdom to set aside an ample portion of our natural resources as national parks and reserves, thus ensuring that future generations may know the majesty of the earth as we know it today."

~John F. Kennedy
World Conference On National Parks (June 23 1962)

I was born six days after John F. Kennedy spoke those words. I wish public parks were as important today as they were in 1962. For that matter, I wish there wasn't such a drive to continue to invade and impose into our places of natural beauty for any reason, let alone for the greedy reasons that we tend to hear about most often... drill baby drill.

California has some magnificent parks. From the great big ones where one could get lost for days, to the small ones like this one, Greenridge Park, but more and more they are taking a financial hit, and it came very close to the permanent closure of many California parks after Governor Schwarzenegger's his term in office. Thank goodness, Governor Brown was able to take steps to fund most of the parks, at least in the short term, but there is still a lot to be concerned about. But with a surplus in the budget that California is currently enjoying, there is a lot of possibilities.

Sometimes things work out so strange. I was hoping President Obama would be more proactive with the environment, but he hasn't done much in regards to conservation. And I thought we had a champion in Al Gore, but I don't think I really know what his values are anymore. If I ever really did. I guess some things aren't always what they seem to be, but it really hurts all the same when someone you thought you could count on becomes someone you don't recognize.

When all is said and done, I voted for President Obama, and I wouldn't change my mind for anything. I think I have grown to appreciate the man for his ability to try and now his ability to know when to stop trying. The bible says even God stops knocking at some point. In retrospect, I think the frustration I would feel over President Obama's over reaching in his efforts to reach bipartisan conclusions, forced me to put a little more thought into what I really hold important. Perhaps in the next four years President Obama will do more about protecting the environment, so when I am finally at the age that all I can do is sit on a park bench and feed the birds, there will be a park bench to sit on.

Hope... it does a body good!

It's a strange feeling as I sit here writing this. President Obama was sworn in yesterday, officially, and today he is sworn in again for all to see. In some ways it feels like he is beginning his first term, and not his second. He has shown a lot of strength since the shooting in Connecticut. And a lot of courage to. I know that if the republicans, and the NRA wanted to be a part of a positive change in how we go forward concerning gun ownership, he would have been happy to have their input. Unfortunately, the NRA only wants their way or no way. And they don't care who they threaten. But President Obama didn't cower in fear, instead his is walking into the future and allowing his conscience to be his guide.

Thank You SO Much Mr. President!

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

Sarah Palin once asked... "So, hows that hopey, changey stuff workin' out for you?"

Well, 1/2 term Governor Palin... Pretty DAMN WELL! Oh and by the way, the British didn't want to take our arms, they didn't want us to begin our own nation. Sheesh. And shes allowed to pretend she knows how to sue a gun.



~Happiness :)

~Me