Culture War coming to a close?

[Arrow]

I think that this is a pretty interesting editorial. It compares the culture wars of 1900-1930 which ended for the most part during the Great Depression with the culture wars of 1960-2000 which may come to an end with our current economic crisis. It's hard to say--9/11 is a huge factor, it's not like everything will go all peaceful. The bombing of Pearl Harbor, World War II, and the Cold War followed the Great Depression, after all. Still--I found it a hopeful point of view.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/02/AR2008110201718.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

[rocknK]

Now thats a stretch, linking Palin to the KKK!:puke:

[WashingtonBay]

I'm sure you would find it hopeful. I couldn't disagree with it more. Blech.

He doesn't even know what Palin's about, so it doesn't surprise me that in trying to write about her, he needs to talk about her like she's some dinosaur, or somehow is like the fading KKK (!!!!).

She's the best hope on the ticket, for the future.

[Sundays Man]

I hope he's right Arrow, even though I strongly disagree with his comments on Sarah, but hey what's new? So called "culture wars" have been around forever and will continue with a different group of people everytime one generation dies out. There may be different issues and different values, but culture war just the same. We baby boomers aren't completely dead yet, after all, and after many years I'm finding out that many of the things my grandparents and parents were afraid of in the past have come to fruition. Year by year, degree by degree we are heading toward serious trouble. It will be too late when we realize that our parents were right after all, but hey, that's the way it's been with every democratic society throughout history. Somewhere in the 200 year range (give or take some years) every democratic society and political system has fallen from within. From corruption, moral collapse, greed, etc. etc. Look at all the great civilizations from the past. The Romans being one of the greatest. When we start treating our national treasury like a lottory and everyone wants their cut, moraility falls to the wayside, and when "I" becomes more important than "US", we're in trouble. Again, just sayin'. Just like Jesus said, "the poor you will always have amoung you". We will never get rid of poverty in this or any other country. We might bring poverty to more people who ordinarily wouldn't have been by taxing them to death, but we will never get rid of the poor. Some people will NOT work, some can't and some have lost the will to work because what little they had is being taken from them. The more we take the less incentive people have to earn their way. We're becoming a "gimme" society. At one time I was without a job and decided I could get by by getting me a ladder and cleaning gutters. I did that and got by for a while. It never occured to me to even apply for a handout. It totally infuriates me to see perfectly healthy and able people standing around with their hand out to the government, which is actually the money of those out there trying to make it own their own.:)

[Sundays Man]

I'm sure you would find it hopeful. I couldn't disagree with it more. Blech.

He doesn't even know what Palin's about, so it doesn't surprise me that in trying to write about her, he needs to talk about her like she's some dinosaur, or somehow is like the fading KKK (!!!!).

She's the best hope on the ticket, for the future.

Well, since you brought it up....Yeah!!!! WHAT YOU SAID WB!!! I was thinking about all of the really SERIOUS stuff that the blinded masses have ignored about his majesty Big O and are straining at gnats to try and get people all riled up at the other side. Complete insanity is what I see. If we can't take seriously the skeltons in HIS closet, we are headed for a serious train wreck. Heck, let's vote ole Ayers in next time, we can really get some change then!!!

[Arrow]

The author doesn't link Palin to the KKK, the author simply says that the politics of the McCain-Palin campaign is similar to politics back then--spreading fear of conspiracies, branding others as traitors to US mainstream culture, etc.

"She's depicting the campaign as a struggle between the culturally familiar and the culturally threatening, the culturally traditional and the culturally exotic. But Obama has dismissed those attacks as irrelevant, and the public, focused nervously on the economic collapse, has largely tuned them out."

[WashingtonBay]

But he's wrong on her message, and therefore, his conclusion about it's impact and it's future.

The whole piece is insulting in it's attempt to tell me he sees everything so much clearer than I do.

Evoking the name KKK in an editorial about this election on this day, is deserving of scorn, not praise. The man should be taken out and sprayed with a hose. Or just dripped with one.

Drip drip drip. :rolleyes:

[Arrow]

I disagree--Palin's all about "we're the real America, and they aren't," and she's all about painting Obama as untrustworthy. Not unqualified, mind you--but untrustworthy.

[JackieB]

when "I" becomes more important than "US", we're in trouble....It totally infuriates me to see perfectly healthy and able people standing around with their hand out to the government, which is actually the money of those out there trying to make it own their own.:)

One thing that has always been fascinating to me is that there is only one set of "facts", but we look at them sooooo differently. Such an interesting phenomenon.

I consider myself to be thoughtful and attentive to issues, and I know that you are as well, Sundays Man. In fact, pretty much everyone I debate with on this forum is well informed. Yet, I see a plan that is finally making "US" more imporant than "I" (to the extent that we should want in a fully developed country). And I also don't see anything in it that contradicts the absolutely-correct idea that able-bodied people should work.

[WashingtonBay]

I disagree--Palin's all about "we're the real America, and they aren't," and she's all about painting Obama as untrustworthy. Not unqualified, mind you--but untrustworthy.

Arrow - it's an election. Both sides are critical of the other. That 'culture war' will not end any time soon, unless you think after this election we'll all be so thrilled with the result we'll never have need for another one. Lets just sing kumbaya instead.

He's trying to paint her as a corrupt racist dinosaur. Ah - if we can kill HER, we can kill this movement.

What she represents, perhaps, is people who are tired of being talked to like none but the liberal elite can really be trusted to know what's best for us. That's what makes us not trust them. Well, me anyway.

[JackieB]

...who are tired of being talked to like none but the liberal elite can really be trusted to know what's best for us....

That is rude! I felt like I got a ton of that, but from the other side, for my questioning of our strategy for the Iraq War. The epitome of that attitude, I felt anyway, was that song "Have You Forgotten?" by Darryl Worley. That song about made my blood boil because I felt like he was singing it especially for me. I wanted to scream "Of course I haven't forgotten you blankety blank! My concern is that we aren't focusing our efforts on the ones behind bin Laden."

It was a good lesson for me to remember to respect those who hold an opinion that is opposite of mine, but who I know want the same outcome.

[Sundays Man]

I disagree--Palin's all about "we're the real America, and they aren't," and she's all about painting Obama as untrustworthy. Not unqualified, mind you--but untrustworthy.

O.K. so where's the problem??

[Sundays Man]

One thing that has always been fascinating to me is that there is only one set of "facts", but we look at them sooooo differently. Such an interesting phenomenon.

I consider myself to be thoughtful and attentive to issues, and I know that you are as well, Sundays Man. In fact, pretty much everyone I debate with on this forum is well informed. Yet, I see a plan that is finally making "US" more imporant than "I" (to the extent that we should want in a fully developed country). And I also don't see anything in it that contradicts the absolutely-correct idea that able-bodied people should work.

JackieB don't even get me started. You are correct though, it's QUITE a phenominon. I didn't mean "US" in the sense that Obama means "US". We are as fully developed as we will ever be. We are at the pennacle and we are going to head down. It may not be in 4, 8 or even 10 years, but watch close. I'm almost 60 years old and I've heard and seen a lot, but the things going on today are brand new territory in terms of the moral fabric of our country, the populace attitude, finacial situation and world situation.

For crying out loud, I remember when you couldn't even advertise toilet tissue on black and white tv, or have Lucy and Ricky seen in the same bed together, etc, etc, and God help us if anyone ever aired a tampon commercial. Now look at us. Things have changed for sure, but I question whether in the moral sense they are for the better. Certainly equal rights and all the other same sorts of things that have changed are good and HAD to happen. I see so much argument and so much division over things that in times past would never have been discussed. We didn't have biased media back then we didn't have some creep looking into your family history and reporting every time you changed underwear. Sometimes we know too much about people. But on the other hand, if anyone even suspected that you had ties to some of the things we have seen in Obama's closet, you'd have been laughed out of the country for even putting your name in the hat.

I really hate that I have gotten all caught up in this mess, but too many great Americans have died throughout our history so we can actually have the freedom to act like the caotic bunch we are today. My biggest concern throughout all of this is one thing; will we be able to ever come together as a united people again when the insanity stops? I really don't see it happening. Too many people living in heavily populated cities and an almost equal number of folks out in the rural areas raising the food and meat to keep them fed and their own tables set. Two completely different mindsets of what reality and life is all about. Two completely different sets of moral and religious values in the majority of the cases and two completely different outlooks on what they think this country is all about and the direction we should go. That's just statistically speaking. I know that no 2 people would ever agree on everything, that's just people. As Obama put it, "if the political winds ever turn ugly", my money will be on the "country folk". Reminds me of an old Hank Jr. song, "A country boy can survive".

I said all of that to say this; yes I totally disagree with Obama's platform and almost everything he proposes. I am especially concerned about some of his previous ties to certain people, some of his statements made in interviews and speeches and quite frankly he scares me as a presidential candidate. And what scares me more is that so many don't seem to care and will fight tooth and nail to keep any further discussion of it or digging into it to find out the facts. Call me a relic, old fashioned or anything else you want, but I've learned one important lesson in my life. My parents were right about almost everything. I was taught respect and civility towards others (which gets harder every year it seems) even today I have a hard time at my age not saying yes mam and no mam or yes sir and no sir to people that are younger than me. I was taught to respect authority and elders, problem is, there are fewer and ferwer elders around these days. LOL I was taught that bad company corrupts good morals and relearned that lesson later the hard way. I was taught that you are known by the company you keep, that your reputation proceeds you and that where there is smoke....there's usually fire. End of chapter one.:)