When did American become a country of such chickenshits?

[nadine_mn]

Ya I said it and I know it was been said before, but I am on a rant today so if you don't like it move on.

Maybe I am getting old - 36 - but dammit... we have a country full of whiners and scaredy cats. This is not news to many, and the reason it is a bug in my butt today is because I have a real concern that McCain might win the election because of that frickin fear card.

Yes the 2000 election was stolen and for 4 yrs we saw the ineptitude that was Prez Bush... but (despite the voter tampering) people still voted for Bush in 2004... and not just a few. They voted because of fear and ignorance.

And now "fear" is showing up in this election... oooh Obama is <gasp> Black and wants our white women (the Paris and Britney ad), ooooh Obama is Muslim... (this is such a ridiculous fear... one because its a lie and two because ummm so what if he was), oooh our taxes will get raised (but ignore the trillion dollar debt), ooooh if a Democrat is elected Al Queda wins.

And the Democrats are equally scared.. oooh we don't want to make the Republicans mad by impeaching, oooh we don't want to seem weak on terror, ooooh we don't want to be called names. Its ironic that the most diminutive (in size)Congressman... Kucinch has the most courage.

And the hyprocrisy running rampant in our country pisses me off... I see kids rollerblading down the block who have better armor than our soldiers. Heaven forbid little Johnny scrapes his knee, but fuck our soldiers in Irag and Afghanistan. A side note on the kiddie armor... what??? why? As a kid I went all over town on my pink Huffy and crashed that thing more times than I can count. And I scraped knees, skinned elbows and conked my head... and I lived.

We freak out about "spying" on our kids... we won't check their computer use or who they are friends with... that's invasion of privacy. Nevermind the fact our Prez is reading our emails, opening our mail, tapping our phones in case... yup terrorists. And if you ask the average Joe, they will say its ok because if you aren't doing anything wrong then why should you care? And in the meantime our children our left to their rooms unsupervised on the computer where they can see things like 2 Girls 1 Cup

We wage a war on germs... anti-bacterial everything yet we eat food that has more chemicals than nutrients. But we are soooo afraid of "germs" that we are impairing our own immune systems. And my favorite ... whenever there is a food contamination outbreak... some poor undocumented worker is always blamed for having unclean hands or taking a dump in the field. And immigrants are so scary we need to build a wall... they want our jobs, they want a better life, they want education... yet we ship highpaying jobs overseas that hurt our economy more than unskilled laborers working at McDonalds or in factories. And if we grant them citizenship... white people will become the minority? Holy Starbucks, Chad.

But you know who really scares Americans.... gays. OMG.. they have gay superpowers... they can destroy marriages, "corrupt" our children, and our poor defenseless military men and women - w/out armor to protect from bullets - also have no protection from gays in the shower... so we better just ban them from the military.

So back to the thrust of my rant... why are we so afraid? Why does fear work? And when did we become go from a country to be proud of to a bunch of 'morans' who are "Proud to Be American" but can't name their representative or find America on a globe? Why can McCain get away with outright lies..and comparing Obama to Hitler because of the crowds in Germany? Why aren't more elected Democrats standing up for Obama and calling McCain out on his lies? Why was it a Republican who supported Obama's decision not to visit the wounded vets while McCain was running his mouth?

Because I think Democrats think McCain is going to win/steal/tamper whatever this year and they are too afraid to make him mad.

Bunch of chickenshits

[panader0]

1. What about gay germs?

Black spies?

[nadine_mn]

4. OMG... Muslim Black Gay Germy Spies

:scared:

[BlooInBloo]

2. As far as "fear" of people is concerned, it's just a lie, that well-meaning folks allow to continue

The idea, as everyone knows, is that if you're a fucking asshole to someone because you're *scared*, then you're not as morally blameworthy as you would be if you were just being a plain old asshole.

So people make shit up about being "scared" of gay folks, and "scared" other shit - but it's just a smokescreen excuse for them to get their asshole-hate thing on.

Fuck them, and fuck those who enable it.

[texastoast]

9. I don't know

I really do think they have been taught to fear.

I've confronted relatives (my beloved grandmother included) about why, if they say they are Christians, are they racist?

The two to whom I'm still speaking answered that they were afraid of blacks. They said they were taught that fear. They were both influenced by their ancestors of the late 1800s.

So I think that it is easier not to confront the fear with bravery, but with violence. Violence is more comfortable and as long as it is culturally acceptable (murders of blacks were not news to this generation and just not something worthy of notice), it's just easier.

I thought it brave of these two people to say they were afraid. It is a start to healing the stupidity.

[BlooInBloo]

10. They just like being assholes without getting any of the blame....

Maybe they end up believing their own lies, but lies they remain.

[texastoast]

11. No, they don't like being assholes

"Asshole" is a culturally-established, subjective term.

What they are is fearful and willing to confront that fear.

And it is not good manners to call someone's grandmother an asshole, especially not mine. It doesn't speak well of your raising.

[BlooInBloo]

12. (shrug) Apparently we disagree....

EDIT: If it helps any, approximately 50% of my family is in the same boat.

[DailyGrind51]

3. Your's is a common frustration. I don't understand either why "we"

permit ourselves to be intimidated by the machinations of Rove and Company, exept that they have proven themselves to be very effective at stealing elections.

[qwlauren35]

5. One thing really struck me...

Why don't other elected officials in the Democratic Party get into an uproar?

It may be that they do and it's not reported. The other possibility is that it's an election year for many of them as well, and they are too busy saving their own skins.

I wonder how many Democratic incumbents are on the fence about supporting Obama while they themselves campaign.

Scary thought.

[nadine_mn]

7. Which is why I am so damn impressed with Keith Ellison

He constantly votes in the minority to impeach, to drag Rove's lying ass in front of Congress, and gasp... he is Muslim, Black and pushing for voter registration in predominantly black urban areas. And its an election year, and he is only in his first term.


How the hell Minnesota can turn out a man like him and a freak like Michelle Bachman is beyond me.

[fascisthunter]

6. Remember.... drinking Soy Milk will Make you Gay

people actually fell for that, why? Because they are stupid...

[alarimer]

8. It's anti-intellectualism run amok.

We have no critical thinking skills. Well some of us do but not enough apparently. Even smart Democrats believe in a lot of woo (Robert Kennedy, I am looking at you).

The Republicans play the fear card because it works. We are a bunch of gullible, uninformed idiots.

[stillcool]

13. Divide and Conquer...

it's the American way. As long as there is fear of others there can be no 'we'. And as long as there is no 'we', there is no way out. Anglo-Christian-Americans have so many witches to burn.

[AdHocSolver]

14. It isn't blacks, gays, "terrorists", or Muslims that they fear. It is Republicans that they fear.

Research the authoritarian personality. The Republicans are currently in authority, and the majority of Americans fear opposing them. It is the fear of children of the "principal". It is fear of the schoolyard "bully".

Their thinking is that better the gays should be attacked, or the blacks, or the Muslims, or any other "minority", in order to assuage the hate and aggressiveness of the Bush/Cheney mafia.

This also explains the timidity of the Democrats in going negative against the Republicans, something which they should be doing in this election year.

It would seem that Obama's "reaching across the aisle" approach should only be activated AFTER the election. At least, the campaign should make it plain that he needs approachable Republicans to be elected for that to happen.

In order to gain the support of fence-sitters, Obama has to show he can act like the "alpha male". Otherwise, they might stick with the bullies out of fear, not fear of Muslims or gays, but fear of the bullies.