[redshift]

I wouldn't accuse you of trolling PBO, you've been a helpful member. We've had some spirited exchanges :) and probably annoyed the hell out of some people, so it's all good.

I had to wait a bit to see if someone wanted to jump in on that one, apparently they're all just fine and dandy.... so I guess I have the floor for a minute.

There's no way could I answer that in a short post, but I actually appreciate your interest. If only most born Americans would show some...


On the surface not much looks different, it's in the details.

I must say it's hard for me to articulate well. In some ways the decay of freedom is subtle,in other ways it's glaringly obvious.

It's no one thing, it's a million little things, most of them not even really tangible. But I'll try to give you some of the more solid examples.

Number one would be the video above. Whan a nation does not have (or loses) freedom of the press, you no longer have a free country. This is hardly the first time that has happened, the difference is the players are now making themselves known, without shame. And those players are not involved in what usually passes for "politics", or any actual democratic process. I hope that's clear.

This used to be a place where people not only thought for themselves, but also took responsibility for their action, lawsuits were rare, and our Constitution was revered. Even a crook could at least respect the document at one time. Over the decades, and at an ever-accelerating pace we have seen our Constitution mocked, and gutted. Our famous former chimp-in-chief referred to it as a "G-ddamned piece of paper".

I try to put myself in the shoes of someone 20 years younger. I wouldn't have much interest in politics (still don't) I have an interest in decoding deception. Let's call it what it is. But truth be told, if I was 17 today, I would not know what the hell 'I' was bitching about. And that is one of the operating procedures of creeping Fascism/Socialism/whatever we've become. Those in power know that as each new generation is coming of age, most of what they know about the previous generations will be faded memories. That's what my 'freedom' is becoming. Fading memories.

And a quick thought on the Gulf...

Whether or not BP thought they knew what they were doing is irrelevant now, we have a catastrophe on our hands. I could care less if it was a British company or an East German one, we're all going to be affected by this. But we are not to know what's happening at the scene, that would be un-American.

At least the kids know who's running the show.