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Same Scaremongering, Different Day
My mother called me yesterday, all in a tizzy over the push by those evil socialists to get the stimulus package passed. She's lamenting the threats of impending doom if it's not passed now. I listen to the news, read the quotes like this in the paper:
"A failure to act, and act now, will turn crisis into a catastrophe and guarantee a longer recession, a less robust recovery, and a more uncertain future," Obama said in his prepared remarks.
I agree with her, it's awful that Obama, Pelosi, Reed and others are using the fears of the people to feed the power grab. What I don't get is how she fails to see that it is exactly the same as Bush, Cheney & the gang using fears of impending terror attacks to rush through the Patriot Act, which did just as much damage to our civil liberties as the current stimulus will be doing to our economic lives.
Here's my question - do I dig up a quote from W about safety from terrorists which will read awfully close to Obama's economic safety (though not as eloquently phrased or properly pronounced, I'm sure) - or do I just bite my tongue and let her stew in her hypocritical broth?
I love her, and generally avoid stepping into her Hannity/Rush-fed political furors, but sometimes, it's just too much.
-Joy
Hi Joy!!
I know what you mean! I used to have those kinds of questions early on when my mom and I would discuss the "war on terror", but once I began to discuss the constitutional procedures that were being intentionally avoided by the Bushies and their buddies in the CIA and NSA, she started to see it differently.
I'd suggest starting with things like the War Clause in the Constitution, how that was intentionally skipped, for the reason of holding the prisoners as "enemy combatants" so that they could be tortured and not given habeas. Then you cna ask her why that kind of process was necessary when the Constitution provides for letters of marque and reprisal. That will get her wondering about the honesty of our vaunted "leaders" and how they make claims about terror that aren't true. Some claims are probably spot on, but one can't tell now because of all the lies. Hasta!
Loss of civil liberties feels just so foreign compared to economic policies that affect our daily lives. Where was it I read about the fence being constructed around us? We go along happily minding our own business and the fence gets moved in closer and closer to us. We get berated for feeling fenced in by those who feel the bad guys are being kept out. Kind of a half empty/half full argument.
Cathleen
I was listening to what the big O was saying on the news here in Norway. I am struck by his scary language, urging the idiots in the fancy building to act fast and not think things through, it is too important. He claims, as has been done before, that any delay is certain doom. How does this make sense if most of the money will not be used for years?
I'm reading Andrew Napolitano's Nation of Sheep right now. As I'm getting into it, I'm seeing more ways in which I can lead into a discussion with my mom from a position of [semi] agreement. I don't think it will change her mind, but it will get me past putting a muzzle on myself every time she brings it up. She's a Lifelong Republican. We all know the type - right or wrong, it's better than the democrats. Seeing as how I'm not a democrat, not really a republican, and don't fit into the category of the "kooky" third parties, she thinks I'm open for persuasion. I'm not, but it never stops her from trying.
Thanks for the thoughts, folks.