We need to raise the minimum wage!
Most armed country in the world: The U.S. has 90 guns per 100 people
Are U.S. gun rights being trampled? No.
It is our cause to dispel the foggy thinking which avoids hard decisions in the delusion that a world of conflict will somehow mysteriously resolve itself into a world of harmony, if we just don’t rock the boat or irritate the forces of aggression- and this is hogwash.
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Barry Goldwater, Republican party leader in 1964. The thing that Mr. Goldwater is denouncing is exactly what the Republican party does today. Since Reagan (and for some conservatives, even before) they’ve been hocking the idea that non-intervention and simplistic bloc decisions in the economy, in the social order, in foreign policy will make everything better. That if we throw money at the terrorists there will be no more terrorism. That if we deregulate and cut taxes for rich people everybody will benefit. That repealing civil rights ordinances is okay because people can get along just fine without them. Like Goldwater says, this is hogwash. Conservatives, libertarians and a growing number of liberals are spouting nonsense about the simplest solution being the best, about destroying what’s left of the country to make it better, about scoring political points because Party A would be so much better off if they didn’t have to listen to Party B. I’m sick of it. You all should be. Conservatives, get the Reagan out of your ears and pay attention. The rest of this speech is full of blind patriotism and us-v.-them party rhetoric but, honestly, I’d rather have that and a working system than what y’all want to give us. |
Goodbye, First Amendment: ‘Trespass Bill’ will make protest illegal:
Just when you thought the government couldn’t ruin the First Amendment any further: The House of Representatives approved a bill on Monday that outlaws protests in instances where some government officials are nearby, whether or not you even know it.
The US House of Representatives voted 388-to-3 in favor of H.R. 347 late Monday, a bill which is being dubbed the Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 2011. In the bill, Congress officially makes it illegal to trespass on the grounds of the White House, which, on the surface, seems not just harmless and necessary, but somewhat shocking that such a rule isn’t already on the books. The wording in the bill, however, extends to allow the government to go after much more than tourists that transverse the wrought iron White House fence.
Under the act, the government is also given the power to bring charges against Americans engaged in political protest anywhere in the country.
