“You hate America, don’t you?” she said.

“That would be as silly as loving it,” I said.  “It’s impossible for me to get emotional about it, because real estate doesn’t interest me.  It’s no doubt a great flaw in my personality, but I can’t think in terms of boundaries.  Those imaginary lines are as unreal to me as elves and pixies.  I can’t believe that they mark the end or the beginning of anything of real concern to a human soul.  Virtues and vices, pleasures and pains cross boundaries at will.”

This has been a quote I have been fond of for most of my life.  The author was a WWII Veteran that was captured by the Nazi’s and held prisoner in Dresden.  He was a POW during the bombing of Dresden.

Here are a few direct quotes from this man who fought for the freedoms of the United States:

“By saying that our leaders are power-drunk chimpanzees, am I in danger of wrecking the morale of our soldiers fighting and dying in the Middle East?” he wrote. “Their morale, like so many bodies, is already shot to pieces. They are being treated, as I never was, like toys a rich kid got for Christmas.”

“I myself feel that our country, for whose Constitution I fought in a just war, might as well have been invaded by Martians and body snatchers. Sometimes I wish it had been. What has happened, though, is that it has been taken over by means of the sleaziest, low-comedy, Keystone Cops-style coup d’etat imaginable. And those now in charge of the federal government are upper-crust C-students who know no history or geography, plus not-so-closeted white supremacists, aka ‘Christians,’ and plus, most frighteningly, psychopathic personalities,or ‘PPs.’”

This American author praised men such as Eugene Debs and Trotsky.  (Both Socialists.)

The author in question is Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (or Kurt Vonnegut).  The initial quote is from Mother Night published in 1961.  The second and third quotes are from articles and interviews in more contemporary times.

What I think is telling is how this author from Indiana that fought in World War II makes comments that are seen today as seditious and “unpatriotic.”  Instead of singing the praises of men and women like Mr. Vonnegut, we have a large amount of “Patriotic” people singing the praises of Sarah Palin and Dick Armey.

In the meantime, a large portion of the bottom 80% of America are unemployed.  There is oil filling the Gulf and marine life is being killed at an unprecedented rate.  Local economies in Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and many other states in the region have been obliterated.  North Korea continues to have its temper tantrums begging for attention.  Two wars are raging in the Middle East and an end does not seem to be on the horizon.  And health care for the bottom 80% of the United States is below the average of most Developed countries.

On top of this, Tea Party candidate Sharron Angle makes a comment that unemployed people are “spoiled” and “lazy.”  Likewise, Rand Paul made a more recent comment that people on unemployment should just take jobs that pay less than they desire.

Sharron Angle also made comments about how Conservatives should pick up arms if they do not win their elections, or get their desired results.

It is like the same rhetoric that is deployed about Health Care Reform.  Barack Obama campaigned on a platform for Health Care Reform.  President Obama won the election with 53% of the vote.  How does this mean that “majority of Americans are against Health Care Reform”?  Or do we just spin it, because there are a lot of Americans that are not happy with the Reform Bill because the President had to compromise with the party that did not win as many seats as the President’s party?

This is not Patriotism, it is Blind Nationalism.

It is just like the spin Sarah Palin puts in her comments.  This is a woman that has routinely mocked the President and other persons for being “Community Organizers.”  And now, she is using the same tactics the “community organizers” utilized.  Sarah, how many Facebook status updates and Tweets on Twitter did you do today?  Well, the one thing I will give the Tea Party Movement:  It is not a real grassroots movement.

When you have speakers making $100,000 to speak, and organizations like FreedomWorks organizing for you, nothing could be less “grassroots.”  But that is the agenda they are following.

Paul Mooney made a comment not long ago about how it was the youth of America that elected President Obama into office.  He pointed out that the younger generation are tired of all the bullshit of black/white, democrat/republican, rich/poor – and they want “Change.”  They organized and mobilized and sent a clear message to the world:  We don’t want the old system of elitist white males making all the decisions for everyone.  (Whether or not you agree that President Obama is really much of a Change is beside the point; the vote was for exactly that.)

Now the Conservatives and the Tea Party Movement and the Libertarians are utilizing these same methods.  Just like how the Tea Party Movement supporters decry the “socialist libs of the 1960s that want to destroy America” but turn around and use tactics developed by the protestors of the 1960s, they are using the same tactics of the movement that swept President Obama into office.  What amazes me is how they continually denounce the methods they are using.  And then, they claim to be “Patriotic” on top of all of that.

What could be more unpatriotic then inciting those that lose an election to “take up arms”?  Or claiming parts of the Constitution are “unconstitutional”?  What is more unpatriotic then verbally assaulting Congress members who are entering to vote on a bill a minority disagrees with?  Proposing tax systems that benefit the wealthy?

These are not methods used by the “Libs” that the New Right claim are UnAmerican, they are tactics used by dictators and totalitarian political movements in Africa, Latin America and South East Asia.

Honestly, I could care less about patriotism.  What I dislike is being fed lies or attempts of deceit.  By denouncing this “false patriotism,” which is really blind nationalism, I am not making any claims as to whom is really a “patriot.”  That is likely because I don’t care who is a patriot.  I do care who claims to be a patriot when the reality is that nothing could be farther from the truth.

One could state that Kurt Vonnegut was not a patriot.  But you cannot overlook the fact that he fought in the US Military during WWII and was captured in Europe and held prisoner in Dresden.  He contributed to the United States on many levels.  He was not advocating picking up arms when his side lost an election.

When asked in 2003 about how he was doing, Vonnegut responded: “I’m mad about being old and I’m mad about being American. Apart from that, OK.“

“Don’t piss on my leg and tell me it is raining.”

I find your rhetoric to be appalling. You talk about being Patriots and observing the Constitution of the Republic and quoting “for the people” and then…

You talk about “redistribution of wealth” being such an awful thing. Your patriotic websites are flooded with “Obama is a Communist” and this and that because he stated to “spread the wealth around” and other such comments. Personally, I believe the legacy of J. Edgar Hoover lives on – in the labeling of any Black person that stands up as a “Communist Threat.” Maybe Obama was talking about “spreading the wealth” in the name of opportunity? Can’t use context all the time, though, huh?  (Like how Sarah Palin chooses to use context for Limbaugh saying “retards” but Rahm Emanuel is some type of monster for saying the same thing?) In any case, I’m not debating President Obama’s legitimacy or any other conspiracy theories when what we see is that President Obama has not taking any opportunities to nationalize anything, or restructure, or redistribute.

What I want to ask is, do you stand FOR Plutocracy?

Over the past ten years, the gap between the richest 8% of the United States and the poorest 80% has grown exponentially…and continues. The working class has had wages and benefits drastically reduced while those at the top increase their income levels…. and options for the bottom 80% are constantly decreased as well . . . so, how exactly does support of this process to maintain not constitute support of aristocracy and corporate Plutocracy? Who are for the working class and the average American? Those that want executives to maintain their wealth by bleeding the workers?

80% of the United States’ citizens are The People that shoulder a majority of the debt in America and benefit the least.

You are FOR THE PEOPLE when you support corporatization of the United States into a Plutocracy, where the Aristocratic class full of Plutocrats that define laws based on corporate interests? This seems to be, not only counter intuitive, but manipulatively false.

How can you be FOR THE PEOPLE when you are against social programs that help the disenfranchised people (such as Health Care)?

The reality is, the Tea Party and the Libertarians have been complaining about more limited government. We have seen a steady progression of what private corporations do when left to their own devices:

• The real estate market imploded due to a lack of oversight and regulation.
• The financial markets collapsed, due to the real estate implosion and a lack of oversight and regulation.
• The employment levels have plummeted faster than the jaws of the militias in Montana the day Obama was elected President, due to the collapse of the real estate markets and the financial markets, due to lack of oversight and regulation.
• Banks folded left and right, due to lack of oversight and regulation.
• Comcast continues to piss off 100 new customers a day, due to lack of something. (I made that number up.)
• The Gulf of Mexico is being deluged with oil, because of a lack of oversight and regulation.
• Fishermen are now out of work indefinitely, due to the oil spill, which was due to lack of oversight and regulation.
• Mexico is now in a state similar to Somalia, due to a lack of concern from their neighbor.
• Over the past decade, the wealthiest, top 8% of all Americans have continued to profit, while the bottom 80% have continued to increase debt and financial burden while decreasing their income levels… but continue to consume to profit the top 8% and the subsequent 12% below them.
• The United States education rate is far below most of the rest of the Developed World.
• The life expectancy of Americans has dropped well below many Developed nations.

All is not lost, though:  America hast he largest prison population in the world!
U – S – A !

And you claim to be FOR THE PEOPLE when you are against real reform and oversight?

The United States has a government FOR THE PEOPLE and the best way to be FOR THE PEOPLE is to let corporations continue to profit while destroying the environment and reducing wages and life expectancy for more than 3 quarters of the population of the country?

What violates the notion of a government FOR THE PEOPLE more than a government that is for Corporate Interests?

Let’s be honest… do you really think Dick Armey cares about THE PEOPLE?

This is the man who wrote a book about “What the flat tax will do for you.”  Well, it will make the rich much richer.  I guess it can turn the United States into a Utopia like Boznia or Russia.  Beautiful Serbia and Kazakhstan are what America should be!

And yet, using colorful language and great anti-intellectual intellectual chatter, somehow laborers in America think that Dick Armey and FreedomWorks are the “Patriotic Spirit” of America.

I’m sorry, but I’ve been sitting on my hands for far too long, and I have been researching these Tea Party and Libertarian and FreedomWorks websites for a while and I am disgusted.  I’m sick of words being twisted and the Real Americans are turning to the people who profit the most from their suffering to save them from their suffering.

I do not mind a difference of opinion, but don’t lie to me.  “Don’t piss on my leg and tell me it is raining.”  Do not pretend you are FOR THE PEOPLE when you support an agenda that leads to Aristocracy and Plutocracy.

And most of the people that tout these praises of the New Right barely even have a clue as to what they are so adamantly in favor of in the first place.

The reality is:  These are hard working people that just want a decent life. They don’t care about labels.  They don’t care about policy.  They just don’t want to make someone else rich while they suffer.  They want a fair chance to be happy and make their families happy, or just pursue happiness.

For some reason, these hardworking people tend to believe that Dick Armey and Sarah Palin are the ones that care about them.  It is very similar to the way WalMart is being sued by the state of California for overcharging employees for benefits so that they apply for MedicCal (Medicaid).  So, WalMart increases profits and the taxpayers shoulder the burden?  That is FOR THE PEOPLE?

If you want to discuss why President Obama is [this] or [that] then first explain to me how “smaller government” and “lower corporate costs” is FOR THE PEOPLE. Explain to me how less accountability from the wealthy top 8% is FOR THE PEOPLE.  (When I say explain it, I mean, really – actually explain the logic that states the division between rich and poor in America that keeps growing is somehow beneficial to the larger, poor majority.)  Honestly, I see your side of the argument and I see how it exploits the people.

Label me whatever you wish.  Call me a “Communist.”  Call me a “Marxist.”  Call me a “Socialist.”  Call me a “Liberal.”  I really don’t care.  Just give me a break.

You are about as much FOR THE PEOPLE as King George III  or the Weimar Republic was FOR THE PEOPLE.

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