Your remarks were excellent, Ed Kent
. I have posted the following message which hasn't appeared yet: Idealism is dead as a political movement. Ignorance Triumphs Similar happening in history: "Jesus, turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed [are] the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?" Luke 23:28-31 ******************************************************************* My point is that American progressivism has been defeated. Genocide, cruelty, meanness have triumphed in the vote of the American electorate. Rational Democracy is dead as any sort of popular movement. The dumbed-down public has nailed the final nail in the coffin of a democratic, fair America the day George Bush was re- elected. A similar "spanking" to what was described for Jerusalem is coming for us. We have proven ourselves to be a NON-moral, arrogant, out of control, greedy, bullying nation that has earned the hatred of a majority of the world's people. America has become "Amerika".. Sooner or later America will face retaliation for its sheer meanness and folly Any thinking American should now be warned that America will probably not escape the consequences of its folly in this vote. Maybe I am full of helium, but I doubt it. I don't' think America can escape the evil it has chosen to embrace, any more than Napoleonic France, Nazi Germany, or Slobodan Milosevic's Serbia did. So, "Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap." Thousands of dead innocents' blood cries out from the ground in Iraq as this `designer war' drags on; and just a hair over one half of our dumbed-down public has now declared itself to be spiritual heirs to Cain and in agreement with Dachau and Auschwitz in that the blood of their victims is what they desire to have more of. Progressivism is dead. Evidently what appeals to the masses here is only unfairness. squalor and hatred of those who think at all. Only dummies, liars, thieves and high handed public officials seem to win votes anymore these days.We should be very afraid for our future. American rationalism after this election will only survive in a weakened, self-deluding diaspora, among a rootless assortment of interest groups; a small minority of thinkers, without political representation. Our power elite will brook no real opposition party. We've seen that with Nader, before he became a stooge of Bush, and with Ross Perot, who had to hide to keep his family from being threeatened. Bullying, nazi-ism, xenophobia, ethnocentrism, bigotry, military adventurism, rampant public borrowing, the raping of the poor, the destruction of the environment,the stripping of the Constitution: All of these evils and more have been approved by 51 percent of the American people. "And we were singing "Bye Bye Miss American Pie�Drove My Chevy To The Levee But the Levee Was Dry�Them Good Ol' Boys Drinkin' Whiskey `n' Rye, Singing This Will Be The Day That I Die�Singin' This Will Be The Day That I Die�.." Requiescat in pace" old America. This is the day the music died. ****************************************************************** **** --- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], Ed Kent <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I am intensely aware of the costs in human lives and suffering caused by > regressive social and economic policies. > > As a teen exchange student I worked with comparably aged kids in the > West End of London in 1952 where the blitz had wreaked havoc and saw the > difference that supportive social and economic policies had made for > people who had been devastated by Hitler's terror bombings -- affordable > housing was being constructed, medical care was available for all > without charge, food was still rationed, but particularly made available > for young children and pregnant mothers. Life was returning to normal > for a nation that had been virtually bankrupted by a brutal war and > their kids were (many partial or full war orphans) living lives > comparable to those with whom I had worked as a counselor in summer > camps in the U.S. > > A few years later -- 1956-57 -- I worked with a similarly situated group > of kids in West Harlem and saw a nightmarishly different world -- one > devastated by unredeemed poverty and prejudice. These kids were simply > hungry all the time -- we baked cakes rather than played basketball. > They suffered from terrible untreated medical conditions. Their housing > was uninhabitable in ways that I would have to take paragraphs to > describe. And despite their urgent desire to live normal lives, all but > 3 of a gang of a dozen or more had died violently before they exited > their 40s. The last - the funny little guy who always kept the others > laughing -- had spent years in Attica prison where he had saved his own > life during the revolt http://www.talkinghistory.org/attica/ by hiding > under the bodies of the slain -- suicided out of a housing project > window a decade or so back. > > I sense, then, in the neocon victory of Bush -- based on the grossest > appeals to a variety of types of prejudice: against women (abortion to > be outlawed), minorities (racism and the end of affirmative action), the > poor (continued cutbacks in life-saving programs and fundamental human > rights such as those British kids had then and Brits have now), Muslims > here and abroad (smeared as 'terrorists' and killed almost for sport in > places such as Iraq), gays (now re-stigmatized after a brief respite > from several millennia of murders and lesser abuses) -- a disaster in > the making. > > The nearest historical parallel that comes to mind is the comparable > across the board victory of the Republicans in 1928. I trust those who > draw a comparison between the effects of greed then and what we may > expect to be coming in the not too far future as our economy is > devastated by the grab of wealth by those who do not particularly need > or want more and the global loss of confidence in the American dollar as > well as the American spirit. > > I would venture that we are likely -- despite nice words now by our > defeated about unity and pulling together -- to see the divisions > between the poor of different ethnic backgrounds exacerbated in the > competition for the dwindling store of jobs available to those who do > not have the benefit of higher educations, let along high school > diplomas -- a renewed 'Reconstruction' era! I well remember when blue > collar jobs provided a good life for those who had them. No longer is > that the case and the competition for what remains may become ever more > bitter and confrontational. Jim Haughton of Fight Back suggests that > the openings for African American men in such jobs are dwindling and we > know that in NYC more than 50% of such men who want jobs cannot find > them. The women of all ethnic identities who hold service jobs are all > too often trapped with minimum income jobs that carry no benefits and > with medical emergencies find either their salaries garnisheed or their > homes taken by law suits from our hospitals that give them or a loved > one emergency medical treatment. > > And then there are in prospects of the mass killings in Iraq and > elsewhere planned for the next week or so (?) which can only bring the > wrath of those who loved those maimed and killed down on our heads > somewhere down the line with those 'weapons of mass destruction' that > the Bush administration has left behind in the former Soviet Republics > or wherever. > > The prophets of old always left their condemnations of Israel to the > very last in the series. Had we truly religious folks running things or > electing such an horrendous crew, they would be aware of the hazards of > supporting murderous and hypocritical. We will presumably (also) learn > the folly of our ways too late? > -- > "A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort > to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy) > -- > Ed Kent 718-951-5324 (voice mail only) [blind copies] > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CollegeConversation > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PeaceEfforts > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EndingPoverty > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/440neighborhood > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StudentConcerns ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> $9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. 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