Posts Tagged ‘socialism’

Republican Platform of 1956

Thursday, December 2nd, 2010

Republican Platform of 1956
by
Dave Speck

How much has the political landscape changed in the past 50 years? You would be horrified if you knew it was going to change that much in the next 50 years.What if I was to inform you that the health plan that Nixon proposed is very similar to Obama’s, yet hardly a single Republican voted for it. (Only the democratic republicans voted for it.)

Here are some highlights of the 1956 Republican Party Platform.

  • We are proud of and shall continue our far-reaching and sound advances in matters of basic human needs—expansion of social security—broadened coverage in unemployment insurance —improved housing—and better health protection for all our people. We are determined that our government remain warmly responsive to the urgent social and economic problems of our people.
  • We favor a comprehensive study of the effect upon wildlife of the drainage of our wetlands.
  • We favor recognition, by the States, of wild-life and recreation management and conservation as a beneficial use of water.
  • We subscribe to the general objectives of groups seeking to guard the beauty of our land and to promote clean, attractive surroundings throughout America.
  • We recognize the need for maintaining isolated wilderness areas to provide opportunity for future generations to experience some of the wilderness living through which the traditional American spirit of hardihood was developed.
  • We will vigorously promote, as we have in the past, a non-political career service under the merit system which will attract and retain able servants of the people. Many gains in this field, notably pay increases and a host of new benefits, have been achieved in their behalf in less than four years.
  • We condemn illegal lobbying for any cause and improper use of money in political activities, including the use of funds collected by compulsion for political purposes contrary to the personal desires of the individual.

Some would say that the party was as good a liar back then as they are now but that’s wrong. They helped advance lots of programs and policies that actually helped America.

Contrast that with today. The Republican party’s sole purpose is to destroy America’s president, even knowing that it’s destroying America.

In the past 40 years, America has:

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TSA Whole Body Scanners

Sunday, November 21st, 2010

TSA Whole Body Scanners
by
David Schlecht

For the benefit of those unfamiliar with the US constitution, here is the preamble, the single sentence which sets the purpose and tone of the entire document:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice [for wellbeing of the people], insure domestic Tranquility [for wellbeing of the people], provide for the common defence [wellbeing of we the people], promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty [wellbeing] to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Note that the comments are mine. From this it is obvious what the founding fathers considered the purpose of government: it is a system by which we can and must provide for the wellbeing (welfare) of we the people. Any politician who says Welfare or Social Security are unconstitutional or Socialism are either sick in the head or are just outright liars. Hmm, what political party has created an entire industry exposing their lies?

What does the constitution say about the naked body scanners or punitive, invasive and insulting grope searches at the airports? Amendment 4:

Amendment 4 – Search and Seizure. Ratified 12/15/1791.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Well, that seems pretty obvious doesn’t it? Random and required searches are unconstitutional.

It begs a question: Why are the American people of today so quick to give up the freedoms our forefathers fought and died for? Giving them up will require more people fighting and dying to get them back in the future if that will even be possible. We aren’t even demanding a vote to change the constitution. We’re just silently throwing the whole thing away.

It’s time we all got upset enough to draw a line in the sand and say, “this far and no further!”

Reading this morning’s NY Times (you know, that bastion of LIBERAL MEDIA) I see that objecting to the nude image scanners creates a target for terrorists. Are they really that stupid? Why didn’t the NY Times question the sanity of that comment from the TSA?

So, will America draw the line in the sand or just go quietly into the night? The point of no return is upon us. Never before in America’s history has the population been so uninvolved in preventing the destruction of our country, our rights, our constitution.

What legacy are we leaving for our children and grand children?

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Define Socialism

Monday, May 10th, 2010

Define Socialism
by
Captain Jack

I found it rather amusing to read David’s prior post on the social foundations of America and our founding fathers. I was not in the least suprised by the confused response to his references to socialism.

As sad as it is, Americans have no clue what Socialism is. They’re taught to hate and fear it because it represents the arch enemy of democracy, communism. Many tyrants in the world’s history have used the term socialism to hide and sweeten the sound of the awful deeds they wrought upon their people as well as the earth as a whole. Even Hitler was selling his hate-filled and corrosive politics as a form of socialism.

No wonder Americans are so afraid of the sound.

But, alas, a couple years in school (well, higher education perhaps) one quickly learns that socialism is either a political theory or an economic theory that is constructed for the benefit of society, for the benefit of the social.

Since this is primarily a political blog though not exclusively, my understanding of David’s reference to the term socialism was that of a political bent. It’s important for everyone to know that there is world of difference between socialism and communism, even though some like to blur the lines. There is also a world of difference between political socialism and economic socialism.

Obviously, political socialism is political decisions made for the benefit of society. Economic socialism is a form of economy that is similar to communism where some or all of the businesses are owned by society. It is obvious that using the term communism for this type of economy is easier to understand by everyone involved than to use the term socialism. This is obviously why the republicans try to use this confusion at every opportunity.

You can go to five different sources and get five different definitions for socialism. Too bad. It’s an easy opportunity for those intent on keeping their uneducated followers motivated. Fear Socialism!

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The Government

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

The Government
by
David Schlecht

This will be fun for anyone who loves America or is an American patriot. This is the first paragraph in the US Constitution:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

From this preamble, can you tell who the government is?

Obviously it’s “We the People.”

The next time you hear someone telling you how bad the government is, remember, that he is saying how bad you and I are, how bad “We the People” are. When you hear Reagan saying the nine most terrifying words are “I’m from the government and I’m here to help,” realize that he was criticising “We the People”, he was disgracing you and me and saying we are incapable of governing ourselves.

Look over the preamble again and tell me what the six reasons are for creating our American government. Can you tell what they are?

  1. Create a more perfect government
  2. Ensure justice for all
  3. Keep the peace (tranquillity)
  4. Defend each other
  5. Promote welfare for all (general welfare)
  6. Make freedom certain (liberty)

These are the six things that all of us Americans are responsible for ensuring and providing to ourselves and our neighbors.

Look back at the preamble. Looking at the capitalizations, what is the ONE purpose that is the least important?

Did you know that the one least important thing is the thing that we spend more money on than all the rest combined? Is this really what we’re supposed to be doing? We spend more on defense than all other things combined. In fact, we spend more on our non-defensive defense than all the other countries in the world, combined. WHAT’S WRONG WITH THAT!??

What are we Americans supposed to be doing regarding Welfare? Are we supposed to be ensuring that EVERYONE is provided for? Or should only the rich get medical care and only the owners get rich from OUR labors? No, we are all, every one of us, responsible to ensure that everyone benefits when our country prospers and even when it doesn’t. By the constitution, billionaires should not be getting rich at the expense of all the rest of us.

Look over the preamble one last time. Tell me what kind of government provides all these thing to the people? What kind of government provides for the people, all the people? If you guessed Socialist, you’re right. Our government, our country was founded on the principles of We the People uniting for the sake of benefiting everyone. That is as Socialist as you can get. All is for the benefit of society.

The next time you hear someone calling someone a socialist, remember that the socialist is the true America and those who disgrace it are disgracing America, they are disgracing our founding fathers and they are disgracing you and me, We the People.

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Posted in Politics | 16 Comments »