Are Americans willing to make the sacrifices and tough choices necessary to change?

Question

-- or are we too fat, dumb and happy to bother?

Yes, I think we're at a crisis point. Taking away basic civil liberties is a serious matter, because once taken away, it's almost impossible to get them back. As a rule, they don't get taken away by dramatic strokes, but rather eaten away, eroded. That's what Bush and company (read Cheney) are doing. The difficulty is that a lot of people simply don't care, either because they approve of harsh treatment of people they perceive as enemies, or because they simply use all their energy just getting through the day.

The hope is the peculiar genius of a democratic form of government. Over time it tends to balance itself, to correct wild swings that result from crises and reach a stable point. It remains to be seen whether we can do that under the current stresses. Winston Churchill said that democracy is a very poor form of government --- but it's better than any other form we have been able to come up with.

The people at the controls right now are ideologues, and if they have their way we will end up with some kind of unholy alliance of big business and Christian conservatism. Military-industrial theocracy isn't something I would like to live under. I used to vote Republican. I won't anymore. I didn't leave the GOP; they left me. But the Dems aren't much better. A viable Independent Party might be the answer, but the pols on both sides of the aisle will do their level best to stop that from happening, because it threatens their grip on power. Yeah, I'd call that a crisis. W will go down, I am confident, as the worst President we have ever had, against some stiff competition (e.g., Harding). The damage he has done -- diplomatic, social, financial, military -- will take generations to correct. He richly deserves to be impeached, or even tried as a war criminal. But I don't think we are up to that, for reasons cited above.

Answer 1

I have to agree with you 100%, but I really don't think the majority of people in this country see any threat. The average Joe Sixpack has his job pays his bills and watches his football and thinks the rest of the world is crazy. Like you said "Fat, dumb and happy."

It would take a lot more than another 9/11 to motivate this bunch. In fact 9/11 caused these average Joes to do even stupid(er) things like lessen freedoms and let a loonatic run the make believe war on the wrong shores for the wrong reasons against the wrong people.

Somewhat off topic, but not completely was the Kerry taser incident. Annoying or not the student should not have been treated like he was and the taser was not needed. No one came to his aid when the jackbooted thugs infrindged on his constitutional rights.  sheep  baa, baa This kind of c**p happens everyday in this country and people "look the other way!"

Answer 2

Maybe Bush was the right man at the right time, to scare the bejesus out of the dumb masses and get them out of their complacency. His catastrobic failures maybe a blessing in disguise.

Answer 3

Not your liberal way skippy.

Answer 4

Couldn't agree with you more here, said it well.  I believe we are at a crisis as well.  Liberties are being taken away left and right and most people turn a deaf ear to it.  The coming of the national id card and chipping people is just crazy.

I hope some major changes happen as well.  The only candidate that I see who is not a corrupt drone and is against all this stealing of our liberties is Ron Paul.

Answer 5

Americans started giving their rights away when Democratic President Roosevelt was in office for three terms.  It was easier to let Big Govt. handle things.  That was when we started giving our rights away.  So get off your soap box and quit blaming Bush for your stupidity.    

That was also when 'handouts' became part of the American way of buying votes.  Did you know that it was illegal for the govt. to give handouts using our tax money?  Leave it to a Democrat to 'jerry-rig' the law and start stealing our money.

Answer 6

Q. Are Americans willing to make the sacrifices and tough choices necessary to change?

A. I think so. Especially if survival and money are the motivators.

In the era of the Great Depression in the 1930s, things were a little different. There were 12 million people still unemployed in the late 1930s in the United States. When the 1940s and World War II rolled around, the U.S. reinstated the draft and basically eliminated unemployment for good. The war, despite being a horrible time in history, invigorated industry and the economy of the U.S.  and it has been that way ever since.

These days, in this the relative beginning of a new millenium, things are changing rapidly for America, Europe and other industrialized nations. America is having to face the fact that many other nations are catching up to or surpassing it in many areas - population and workforce, quality of life,  technology, education, natural resources, production of goods and services, etc...

America is finding that it is going to have to compete,  innovate, and reinvent itself in order to maintain its position. This also happens to be a time of incredible technology. Americans are finding that if they use that technology, they can and will survive and the rewards shall be equally incredible. So, yes, I think enough Americans will find the motivation necessary to change and adapt.

Answer 7

You bet we are tough enough, when the Americans finally realize that their children and grandchildren will not have a clue what freedom really is they will fight to the death to make this world and country great again don't underestimate us Japan id it was a disaster.

Answer 8

No, Americans are too selfish.

As long as the food is cheap, the labor is cheap, and American Idol and Monday Night Football keep broadcasting, they are fat, dumb, and happy.

Answer 9

Americans listen to too much biased radio, run by those who would steal the civil liberties. (Wal Mart got permission to start making a database of customer's faces, photos taken after they enter the store, matching that with anything they ever bought!) It's not just the conservative government attacking civil liberties.

Answer 10

No. We've become to accustomed to instant results.Life just doesn't happen that way.

Answer 11

This problem has been around way before Bush and Cheney.

Wake up people, and pay attention. Where have you been?

We have been giving our rights away for ever, and will continue to do so. It is easier to blame the government or people in power than to remember that we as a people voted for our government and people in power. We don't have a vote for nothing. If people wanted to change, they would. However, until that happens, if ever, pay more attention to what is really happening than on whom to blame.

Remember, "We, the people...".

I would like just one person to be able to show valid proof that one person could change, single-handedly, the fate of a nation. Even Rosa Parks had help and publicity.

It is up to EVERY LIVING BODY to maintain and secure our future.It is also up to these same people to accept responsibility for our actions.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as we d**n well please. And with it comes the only basic duty, the duty to take the consequences."  -P. J. O'Rourke

Answer 12

Nice rant. But I haven't lost any civil liberties. If you are talking about security measures at the airport, that's a loss of convenience.

Answer 13

If indeed you were a republican, and I doubt you were, you would not be so quick to impeach our President. Your worn out logic of Iraq, authorized by Congress, intelligence reports around the world knew what we knew about Iraq.

As far as you veiled hint on spying on Americans. If it was illegal , why does it continue ? The hatred towards our President is the reason that the Dumbocrats will not take over the White house and may cost them their seats in Congress. Bush may not be the best President, at least his policies do not change with poles taken by the drive by media. Terrorism in the world today is a real threat that needs to be won. The Democrats did a fine job in the 90's taking care of the terrorist threat . Thanks to their run and hide policy we are stuck with the results that started on 9/11/01. I'll stick with leadership that is not afraid to confront our enemies.