Churchill intensified his contacts with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had started corresponding with him even before Churchill became Prime Minister. Churchill also welcomed the American supplies, both military and civilian, that Roosevelt had provided through such measures as the Lend-Lease Act of March 1941. Many Americans, however, were reluctant to enter the conflict, and Roosevelt felt compelled to adopt a gradual approach toward full belligerency.
Few of our fellow progressives seem to be aware that whenever they apply the label of "conservative" to the likes of Limbaugh, Hannity, DeLay, Falwell, and especially George Bush, they are needlessly conceding ground to these opponents.These right-wingers are very pleased to be called "conservatives," and indeed they never tire of applying that label to themselves. But is it an appropriate name for these individuals?Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (Second Edition) defines "conservatism" as "The practice of preserving what is established; disposition to oppose change in established institutions and methods."Does this correctly describe those individuals who are determined to tear down the wall of separation between Church and State? Who violate laws and treaties at will, most especially our Constitution and Bill of Rights? Who stifle the free expression of diverse opinions? Who rule under a veil of secrecy and who sequester historical documents from public and scholarly scrutiny? Who over-rule and disregard at convenience, the accumulated knowledge of the sciences? Who distort language and use it as a political tool, rather than respect language as a common endowment and the fundamental institution of social cohesion?Clearly, these are not "conservatives." So why do we persist in calling them "conservatives"? Just because they insist upon this false appellation, does not oblige us to go along.It is past time to take the initiative and to adopt a term of our own choosing to apply to our political adversaries.I've considered several, but at last have settled on "regressive." It immediately and correctly places our adversaries in direct opposition to our "progressivism." "Regressive" vs. "Progressive" is a splendid delineation of our present contest.Why "regressive"? Because far from "preserving what is established," these right-wingers are clearly disposed "to oppose change in established institutions and methods." (Webster's) As Paul Weyrich states, quite directly: "We are no longer working to preserve the status quo. We are radicals, working to overturn the present power structure of the country." Nor are the right wingers looking forward. On the contrary, they are casting nostalgic eyes back beyond the New Deal to The Gilded Age of the Nineteenth Century. As William Grieder** aptly puts it:
Behind.Enemy.Lines.2.Axis.of.Evil Dual Audio
Let us stop teaching our children, at schools and Universities, the nonsense racist stuff/philosophy of Aristotle (repeated by Hegel, and Montesquieu several centuries later) who has made up his nonsense/racist story/"philosophy" saying that the East is wild/emotional/savage and West is "civilized" -- "soul started from emotional, irrational, wild East and during its voyage towards West it gradually developed/matured until it arrived in West [its final destination/home] completely "Civilized".
Here is a quote from Hitler which we have heard it from Bush and Chesney. Read it and be the judge. But first read this:Thomas Jefferson:"If once [the people] become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, Judges and Governors, shall all become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general nature, in spite of individual exceptions." -- Thomas Jefferson to Edward Carrington, 1787 =Here is that quote from Hitler:"An evil exists that threatens every man,woman, and child of this great country. We must take steps to insure our domestic security and protect our Homeland" - Adolf Hitler (1933). How similar it is to what President Bush repeats. Just like Bush, Hitler also has claimed that by the will of God, he had been leading his nation [into war].
Thomas Jefferson:"If once [the people] become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, Judges and Governors, shall all become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general nature, in spite of individual exceptions." -- Thomas Jefferson to Edward Carrington, 1787 =Here is that quote from Hitler:"An evil exists that threatens every man,woman, and child of this great country. We must take steps to insure our domestic security and protect our Homeland" - Adolf Hitler (1933)
"What happened here was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little, to being governed by surprise; to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if the people could not understand it, it could not be released because of national security. And their sense of identification with Hitler, their trust in him, made it easier to widen this gap and reassured those who would otherwise have worried about it: Milton Mayer - Excerpt from pages 166-73 of "They Thought They Were Free" First published in 1955 http:// www.informationclearingho...rticle11845.htm
Here's my problem with that assessment. A biblical proverb says "the love of money is the root of all evil" and Jesus said you would recognize the nature of the individual by his "fruits" (by what he produces). 2ff7e9595c
Comments