General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: On DU's population aging, and change to DU... [View all]Hekate
(90,202 posts)Last edited Thu Jan 26, 2023, 02:16 AM - Edit history (2)
It was here that I learned about the theocrats of the USA, their support for homeschooling including a full range of textbooks and handy calendars showing when each of the Founding Fathers was born again. Rushdoony was their billionaire patron, whod already been working on his project for 30 years at that point. They seriously work to undermine the whole institution of public education and look where we are today.
I discovered Right Wing Watch and from there I accessed primary sources (to use scholar-speak) its easy once you know what youre looking for in which these dangerous nutballs tell the reader all about who they are and what their plans are for turning America into a Christian Taliban nation, working in all directions but definitely utilizing distrust of public education. You think Ron DeSantis ideas came out of nowhere?
It was like looking into the Abyss.
It was at DU I found out about burn pits and other toxic injuries to our soldiers in Iraq. A young American journalist (Hispanic name? San Francisco area?) worked extensively on this issue, interviewing troops back home. (I think he made it to Iraq, but all those files are in my old computer, along with his name.) I remember one unit he interviewed when they came back home all young men and for a wonder he interviewed their wives as well. One wife said: Our babies were all healthy before they went to Iraq. Since they returned, not one baby has been born healthy. That tells me those toxins changed their sperm their reproductive systems. Was this on NBC?
From DU I found out that the extensive use of National Guard troops came with a peculiar twist: their medical treatment plan wasnt the renowned Walter Reed Hospital it is (or was, I hope its changed) kind of nothing much. The severely injured were sort of warehoused at Fort Knox, hoping and waiting for rehab. It was a scandal but I didnt hear about it on CBS.
I was already taking part in protest marches in my home town when a friend directed me to DU. For all I could tell from the national news, we were all alone. I knew that couldnt be true.
Some DU members went to the first protest in Washington DC, marched and took photos, which they uploaded here along with their eye-witness report on the experience. Thousands were there. The Washington Post reported that a couple of hundred were there. I wrote a couple of hot letters to the editor of the WaPo as I am sure others did over the next few days they changed their numbers from about 200 to several hundred to several thousand.
And I knew my town was not protesting alone.
Thanks for pointing out ways in which DU has managed to improve along the way. ( And I hope the Jackpine Radicals are happy where they are. )