Political Rhetoric: Gone Fascist?

[Professor S]

Originally Posted by thatmariolover

No, he said:

I fail to see the difference. He said that having three branches, THE three branches of government mandated in the Constitution was not good, and Obama just should have walked in and... done what? What is the alternative? Stewart never finished his thought.

A couple of quotes (that you hand picked) without context from political comedians and you're afraid the left is abusing our political system? How am I supposed to take you seriously? All either suggested was that Obama use the bully pulpit as effectively as Bush. I find pushing Healthcare through congress pretty tame in comparison with how Bush ran his war.

1) I posted the entire interview from O'Reilly, I don't call that out of context. As for Joel Stein, read the whole article if you like. He does inject humor, but like Stewart, he wants you to take his main point seriously. After all, truth is at the heart of comedy.

2) I no longer fall for the idea of political comedians not to be taken seriously. Jon Stewart is a deathly serious commentator, regardless of the method of his communication. Masking opinion in humor does not excuse him from staements made. Ridicule is one of Saul Alinsky's main "Rules for Radicals" precisely because it's difficult to rebutt because the "comedian" can always shake it off as a joke. I don't buy it anymore.

3) No one said they were abusing the political system, they said they want the President to ignore Congress. It was an opinion, they have no ability to abuse process. It's the thought process that is dangrous. If you ignore Congress, how do you get anything done with no votes? You need the votes, and that is what Bush achiueved and Obama hasn't. So what is the alternative?

4) If healthcare and Iraq are similar... How? Bush had the votes, and got them with almost ZERO bullying. Everyone jumped into the pool before checking the water. Don't look back on history from today's perspective. Bush got the votes by a WIDE majority. Obama did not.

You complain about a president that the large majority disagrees with? Show me one. Certainly Obama's approval has been fluctuating, but come on. If that sentence (slightly reworded) had been posted 4 years ago, I might have taken you seriously.

No, the President is still somewhat popular. It's his policies, particularly on healthcare, that the people disagree with. Look at how his numbers have jumped back up since he put healthcare on the backburner.

No, what's funny is that you raise our founders to the level of Gods. To question their infallable wisdom is apparently blasphemous to you.

Their wisdom lies in that the constructed a government system that always puts the rule of law in the hands of the majority of the people, and not in one person or a select few. They looked hundreds of years into the future and put governmental regulations in place that would prevent the few from oppressing the many. They were not Gods, but damn, they're a lot smarter than the "we know better than you" politicians we have now.

Hilarious? How little Americans actually know about the Constitution, its intent and it's powers. That document created the most powerful and affluent nation in the world in less than two hundred years and people still doubt it. Incredible.

By the way, thank you for proving my point of childish reactions to the Constitution when things don't go your way.

You've taken two statements from 'the left' that fit your view, without regard for accuracy or context, and twisted them to fit your post.

No, I cited two high profile and highly respected examples to support my thesis. If I need more I could always quote Olberman and Matthews, but I think they're both jokes. I actually respect Stein and Stewart as liberal thinkers.

One, as you say, a humorist. The other, a comedian turned political commentator.

Humor is the method to get a point across without having to take ownership of it. Opinion masked in ridicule is a means to say whatever you want without having to be called out on it. I refuse to buy into this nonsense. "Ridicule is man's most potent weapon. It is almost impossible to counteract ridicule. Also it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage." ~ Saul Alinsky from Rules for Radicals

There are a lot of people over the years that have thought that they knew better than our founders. It seems entirely plausable that our founders wisdom might lose its validity to time. Being patriotic doesn't mean blindly doing things the way they've been done. It means caring enough to do the best for your country and its people.

Once again, the founders did not write laws we have to blindly follow. They wrote a structure that ensures the PEOPLE remain the ruling class, and all elected powers (judiciary appointed by one branch and approved by another) are spread out in three branches that check one another to avoid any one branch from becoming too powerful. If you don't agree with the founders on this, then what do you want instead? It's that question no one seems to answer without looking foolish.

Regardless, it's not what's happening here. And I can't take you seriously.

I've stated a increasing and disturbing trend. I've never a stated that their is a coup de tat in progress or anything of the like. What I've said is that the thought process behind a lot of the leftist thinking right now is not healthy and is in fact dangerous if anyone actually wants to take it seriously. That is all.