A pet peeve of mine

[EndlessWire]

is the fascist nomenclature of "Homeland." I hate it. Bush the Younger changed this. "Homeland Security." Bah. Homeland nothing. We are the United States. We are not some version of "Der Fatherland."

I want Joe to change it all back. We were doing just fine before! Our identity is not fascist!

I have gone so far as to reject courses labeled: "Homeland Security something." It is offensive to me, and I would not want a diploma hung on my wall with this word on it. It'd be like a Nazi award.

I don't know why brainless Bush had to do this. Now, we will have youngsters who know nothing else, and perceive it as normal.

Joe, Honey, do me a favor and just start changing it back. And, maybe while you're at it, take "In G-d We Trust" off the national money. We trust no one; we verify. And, also, I want Harriet Tubman on the $20. See if you can find a photo of her smiling.

[hlthe2b]

1. I Agree

[Ferrets are Cool]

2. Right there with you

[YorkRd]

3. The fascism started before Trump

I hated this from the first day!

[Solly Mack]

4. ...

I don't know why brainless Bush had to do this. Now, we will have youngsters who know nothing else, and perceive it as normal.

But you do know why - because that's exactly why. To normalize it.

Bush doesn't mind fascist/authoritarian/nationalistic forms and trappings - he, and other republicans, would just rather you called them uniquely American instead of making historical comparisons.

Bush would also like people to forget the attacks on the Press, the erosion of civil liberties (think Patriot Act), and well, war crimes/crimes against humanity by his administration.

[EndlessWire]

7. I'll never forget

when one of Bush's Cabinet members stated on the nightly news that we were going to send prisoners offshore to a third country--not Gitmo--so that they could be tortured for information.

It made me want to vomit. Those aren't clean hands. And yet, they wanted the average citizen here to think that it was all okay because we weren't doing it in our own backyard.

[wnylib]

16. Ever see the movie, Rendition?

[DENVERPOPS]

29. The reality is

That it was HWBush, not W.

W's mind was fried by Alcohol and Cocaine, just as Reagan's was by dementia or Alzheimers. Both were pure pawns or front men.

HW.........head of the CIA
Then VP under Reagan, but truly running the show with Cheney/Rumsfeld/Pearl/Wolfowitz and others.
Then HW became president, and continued with that same administration after having to pardon them all for shit in the Reagan years.
However, he pissed off the Repubs when he promised no new taxes and then did an increase anyway, violating their main thrust.
Clinton sneaked in, but did a lot to appease the Repubs.
Then, Repubs corrupted the election and installed W...Twice...with the same administration his dad had, Cheney/Rumsfeld etc
Enough dems finally got pissed and elected Obama by a large enough margin that the rigging of the election machines wasn't by enough
And I am sure the Republicans were trying to install some other republican, other than Trump, but they hadn't planned on Trump being blackmailed and assisted by Putin's help during the election......

The common thread for most of the past 40+ years was HW Bush and his cronies...............

[Karadeniz]

5. One of the most disturbing songs of all time is Fatherland, Fatherland in Cabaret. It sucks you in

With its beauty, then hits you between the eyes when you realize the Nazi evil it camouflages. In its aim to send a message to the viewer, it is as perfect as it gets... and therefore horrifying. I don't have much use for nationalism and suspicion of that is yet another thing that needs to be taught in high school.

[EndlessWire]

10. I agree.

And you don't hear "Fatherland" until near the end. The voice singing it is pure, delightful, and young. But, as soon as you hear "Fatherland," you instantly associate it with Nazi Germany.

[csziggy]

14. The title is actually "Tomorrow Belongs to Me"

You're right, when they pan down to show the Nazi symbol on the boy's brown shirt it is creepy. Then when everyone stands to join in, it gets much worse.

[wnylib]

19. Is that the Nazi song that becomes

part of a singing duel in Casablanca, when the band plays Les Marseillais?

[csziggy]

26. No, that was "Die Wacht am Rhein"

I don't think the song from Cabaret was written before the war.

Here's the scene you are thinking of:

[wnylib]

31. I know the scene. I've got the movie.

I just wondered because I remembered the Nazi soldiers singing the word "Vaterland" in Casablanca.

[Leith]

30. No

That was Die Wacht am Rhein, dating from the Franco-Prussian War. It is anti-French. When the refugees drown out the Germans by singing La Marseillaise, it still brings tears to my eyes though I have seen the it about 100 times.

[wnylib]

32. Same here. I can't watch it without Kleenex.

[hunter]

6. Absolutely!

And, please, ubundle law enforcement functions from humanitarian functions. Let the cops deal with the dangerous criminals, the bureaucrats with the ordinary immigrants, the customs agents with importers and exporters, and the social and medical workers with everyone else.

Fleeing genocide, violence, and starvation should never be a crime.

[EndlessWire]

9. Someone on DU

had a very good idea of hooking a national license and malpractice insurance onto the police forces in exchange, I think, for Federal funds. I think this would force the police to provide better training, and better vetting of officers. Everyone else has to be licensed at something. Why not them?

[hunter]

11. My wife over the years has paid malpractice insurance equivalent to a very nice house.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Sometimes, whenever she's been self employed, it's been more than our mortgage.

Why do the police get a free ride?

[csziggy]

15. The police get a free ride since we, the taxpayers, foot the bill

I think the police unions should underwrite the "malpractice" insurance for officers. After the police unions are the ones that have fought to keep police from the consequences of their actions. Let the unions bear the costs of that action.

[Vinca]

8. I totally agree with you. It's always driven me nuts.

[sarge43]

12. All of the above.

Mine: POTUS, stop the saluting. You are not a member of the armed forces; hell sir, you're not even in uniform. A standing military is tolerable only under civilian, repeat civilian, control.

[ancianita]

13. I've always hated it. It was brought up by fascist leaders and in no way reflects how Americans

should see their nation. It's not just "offensive" for historical reasons, it's dangerous for undermining America's vision of a sustainable, green, peaceful, moral future.

I'd like to see a better word or words that replace it. Dept of American Security, or ...

[Warpy]

17. Add to that the mispronunciation of "Antifa" by the "Der Vaterland" people

No, it's not anTEEfah. It's more like Auntie-Fah, it's just short for anti Fascist, which any sensible person should be.

Your point is well taken. We did far better before Dubya and Cheney gave us the DHS, which seems to exist mostly to get in the way of agencies that pre existed it, like FEMA.

Extra layers of bureaucracy rarely do anyone any good except a bunch of overpaid top bureaucrats who got the made up jobs.

[Maeve]

18. We are a nation of immigrants

And I say that as one whose ancestors arrived in 1750. "Homeland" has always pissed me off.

And yes, some came unwillingly and some have been here for thousands of years...no disrespect intended.

[ShazzieB]

20. Change it back?

The Dept. of Homeland Security has never been called anything else. It was created after 9/11, name and all.

I'm not a fan of the name myself and would be happy to see it changed. But it would have be a new name. There isn't anything to change it "back" to.

[llmart]

25. I'd rather see it just done away with altogether.

We lived without it for all of our history and can live without it again.

[Biophilic]

21. When I first heard it I felt a spike up my back. I hated it. I hated how it felt.

And I hated that the United States would use something so fascistic. My molars still grind when I see or hear it and...well you get the idea. I really, really hate it and all the things and feelings it connotates.

[barbtries]

22. i share your discomfort with the term.

somehow this shit flies. like "pro-life" for people who not.

[sarchasm]

23. Always hated that name ... DHS, bleck!

pet peeve indeed. I remember reciting the pledge in school without "under God."

[demigoddess]

24. AGREE TOTALLY

[llmart]

27. I agree with you 100%!

I hated it from the first time I heard it. It just reeked of Nazi as far as I was concerned.

[Iggo]

28. I'm with you.

[ymetca]

33. That one and "human resources"

I am not a "human resource". I am a person. A sentient being, not some disposable, replaceable cog in the machine.