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ULTRAMAN VH
06-23-2010, 07:44 AM
Is U.S. Now On Slippery Slope To Tyranny?
By THOMAS SOWELL
Posted 06:13 PM ET



When Adolf Hitler was building up the Nazi movement in the 1920s, leading up to his taking power in the 1930s, he deliberately sought to activate people who did not normally pay much attention to politics.

Such people were a valuable addition to his political base, since they were particularly susceptible to Hitler's rhetoric and had far less basis for questioning his assumptions or his conclusions.

"Useful idiots" was the term supposedly coined by V.I. Lenin to describe similarly unthinking supporters of his dictatorship in the Soviet Union.

Put differently, a democracy needs informed citizens if it is to thrive, or ultimately even survive.

In our times, American democracy is being dismantled, piece by piece, before our very eyes by the current administration in Washington, and few people seem to be concerned about it.

The president's poll numbers are going down because increasing numbers of people disagree with particular policies of his, but the damage being done to the fundamental structure of this nation goes far beyond particular counterproductive policies.

Just where in the Constitution of the United States does it say that a president has the authority to extract vast sums of money from a private enterprise and distribute it as he sees fit to whomever he deems worthy of compensation? Nowhere.

And yet that is precisely what is happening with a $20 billion fund to be provided by BP to compensate people harmed by their oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Many among the public and in the media may think that the issue is simply whether BP's oil spill has damaged many people, who ought to be compensated.

But our government is supposed to be "a government of laws and not of men."

If our laws and our institutions determine that BP ought to pay $20 billion — or $50 billion or $100 billion — then so be it.

But the Constitution says that private property is not to be confiscated by the government without "due process of law."

Technically, it has not been confiscated by Barack Obama, but that is a distinction without a difference.

With vastly expanded powers of government available at the discretion of politicians and bureaucrats, private individuals and organizations can be forced into accepting the imposition of powers that were never granted to the government by the Constitution.

If you believe that the end justifies the means, then you don't believe in constitutional government.

And, without constitutional government, freedom cannot endure. There will always be a "crisis" — which, as the president's chief of staff has said, cannot be allowed to "go to waste" as an opportunity to expand the government's power.

That power will of course not be confined to BP or to the particular period of crisis that gave rise to the use of that power, much less to the particular issues.

When Franklin D. Roosevelt arbitrarily took the United States off the gold standard, he cited a law passed during the First World War to prevent trading with the country's wartime enemies. But there was no war when FDR ended the gold standard's restrictions on the printing of money.

At about the same time, during the worldwide Great Depression, the German Reichstag passed a law "for the relief of the German people."

That law gave Hitler dictatorial powers that were used for things going far beyond the relief of the German people — indeed, powers that ultimately brought a rain of destruction down on the German people and on others.

If the agreement with BP was an isolated event, perhaps we might hope that it would not be a precedent. But there is nothing isolated about it.

The man appointed by President Obama to dispense BP's money as the administration sees fit, to whomever it sees fit, is only the latest in a long line of presidentially appointed "czars" controlling different parts of the economy, without even having to be confirmed by the Senate, as Cabinet members are.

Those who cannot see beyond the immediate events to the issues of arbitrary power — vs. the rule of law and the preservation of freedom — are the "useful idiots" of our time. But useful to whom?

www.investors.com

Nickdfresh
06-23-2010, 08:20 AM
Is U.S. Now On Slippery Slope To Tyranny?
By THOMAS SOWELL
Posted 06:13 PM ET



When Adolf Hitler was building up the Nazi movement in the 1920s, leading up to his taking power in the 1930s, he deliberately sought to activate people who did not normally pay much attention to politics.
...
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q80/beachick323/funny/shit.jpg
www.investors.com

This stuff is just an abortion...I stopped reading there...

ELVIS
06-23-2010, 09:01 AM
Because you're a fool...

Nickdfresh
06-23-2010, 09:28 AM
No you're the fool, and reading this claptrap is an insult to anyone with an I.Q. above 70, to anyone that's actually ever read anything re. WWII, and to the actual victims of Nazism...

binnie
06-23-2010, 09:31 AM
The very fact that you can raise the issue in a public forum would suggest that American is a long, long way from tyranny.

ELVIS
06-23-2010, 09:34 AM
No you're the fool, and reading this claptrap is an insult to anyone with an I.Q. above 70, to anyone that's actually ever read anything re. WWII, and to the actual victims of Nazism...

You're retarded...

The article has little to nothing to do with Hitler and a lot to do with the average Obama supporter...

Nickdfresh
06-23-2010, 09:40 AM
You're retarded...

The article has little to nothing to do with Hitler and a lot to do with the average Obama supporter...

No, it just draws bullshit parallels and nonsensical allegories for morons like you to run around and act like faux victims and rebels...

Seshmeister
06-23-2010, 09:40 AM
http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2010/06/22/is-us-now-on-slippery-slope-to-tyranny/



Is US Now On Slippery Slope To Tyranny?

By John Rentoul
Eagle Eye
Tuesday, 22 June 2010 at 11:08 am

Number 347 in my series of Questions to Which the Answer is No is asked by Thomas Sowell at Investors.com. For good measure, he opens his diatribe, conforming to Godwin’s Law, with a reference to Adolf Hitler, and manages to throw in Lenin’s “useful idiots” in the third paragraph.

It continues with another favourite multiple clich้ of conspiracy theorists. “American democracy is being dismantled”, not only “piece by piece”, but “before our very eyes” by Barack Obama, and can he just tell you what the most amazing thing is? “Few people seem to be concerned about it.”

The implication first is that the heinous crime – something to do with spending public money – is being committed in broad daylight; then that it is a concealed secret operation that no one has noticed and which it takes the extraordinary percipience of the wool-free eyes of Mr Sowell to see.

Or, “few people seem to be concerned about it” because …

Thank you to Norman Geras. Number 346 is coming shortly.

Oh and ELVIS I have some shocking news for you.

Thomas Sowell is black! :)

ELVIS
06-23-2010, 09:41 AM
No, it just draws bullshit parallels and nonsensical allegories for morons like you to run around and act like faux victims and rebels...

How do you know, you didn't read it...

Nickdfresh
06-23-2010, 09:44 AM
Yeah, Elvis and his claptrap jackoff friends should hate him:


On race and intelligence (as measured by IQ), whole groups and nations have raised their IQ scores over time, undermining various theories of intelligence related to minorities such as Jews and blacks.

1. In Intelligence and Ethnicity, Sowell demonstrates how IQ scores have risen among many groups, (see the Flynn effect). He notes that a number of white ethnic groups tallied poor scores as they began entry into the American urban economy. Jews, for example, scored dismally on Army intelligence tests during WWI, leading to assumptions that they were second rate citizens. Jewish IQ scores have risen steadily, and now they rank near the top. Similarly, IQ scores of East Asians were unimpressive in early measurements, but they rank high today.
2. Sowell shows that black IQ progress has been concealed by the practice of statistical redefinitions, or "norming" of beginning measurement baselines. Thus an IQ score that might have been considered "normal" or "average" in 1960, is today considered below par. By recalculating from the original baselines, he demonstrates that not only blacks but entire nations have shown significant rises in IQ over time. He notes that the roughly 15-point gap in contemporary black-white IQ scores is similar to the gap between the national average and the scores of particular ethnic white groups in years past. Indeed similar gaps have been reported within white populations, such as Northern Europeans versus Southern Europeans. Sowell references some of these points in his criticism of the book The Bell Curve.[23]
3. In short Sowell argues, IQ "gaps" are hardly startling or unusual between, and within ethnic groups. What is distressing he claims, is the sometimes hysterical response to the very fact of IQ research, and movements to ban testing in the name of "self-esteem" or "fighting racism." He argues however, that few would have known of black IQ progress if scholars like James Flynn had not undertaken allegedly "racist" research.[24]



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Sowell

ELVIS
06-23-2010, 09:48 AM
Oh and ELVIS I have some shocking news for you.

Thomas Sowell is black! :)

Dude, don't get these girl's panties all tied up...

BigBadBrian
06-23-2010, 10:14 AM
Thomas Sowell is black! :)

Amazing!

Coming from a citizen of a country that has banned blacks.

You racist drunk!

Nickdfresh
06-23-2010, 12:42 PM
Amazing!

Coming from a citizen of a country that has banned blacks.

You racist drunk!

The U.K. "bans blacks?"

knuckleboner
06-23-2010, 11:33 PM
idiocy or hyberbole?

jhale667
06-24-2010, 01:31 AM
Lameness.

Ultraman, Mr. VP....consider yourself impeached. :rolleyes:

Seshmeister
06-24-2010, 04:11 AM
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/06/21/the_worst_of_the_worst?page=0,0

Nitro Express
06-24-2010, 05:17 PM
You have to remember Hitler came to power in a country devastated by war, war loses, lot's of pissed off vets looking for revenge, and an economy so bad, people were literally burning the money in cook stoves. Lenin came to power because of Tzarist oppression. The US currently is not as depressed as either Russia or Germany in the days those takeovers happened. Also, this is a country full of people who migrated here to escape tyranny or for the economic opportunities. If anything America is a victim of it's success and the people became dumb, fat, and happy not to mention passive and lazy. The politicians and bankers took advantage of the situation and now we have woken up seeing how screwed we are.

Movements are never one by the majority. They are ran by an organized minority and if push comes to shove in the United States, there are too many people that understand their freedom to let us get rolled. The big problem has been the big money owns the media and candidates. The last few elections I always felt there was nobody decent on the ballot. People gave Barrack Obama the vote because he seemed different and figured he couldn't be any worse than Bush. Now we see he's more of the same, grabbing more power and enslaving us more.

I really think this BP oil blowout is what is going to wake people up. BP is in charge and our government is letting them be in charge, no to mention Goldman Sachs and the BP CEO dumped their shares before the spill. That's fishy. It's like they knew it was going to happen so let's make some money. People are finally pissed and they needed to get pissed a long time ago. I don't see the American people in general being an easy push over. If anything, if push comes to shove, we will ignore Washington DC. What are they doing for us anyways? Killing are kids in war, taking our money, letting abusive and dangerous, multinational corporations take over, let illegal aliens stream in. The Federal Government no longer serves us so why serve it? People are waiting to see how these November elections go, but I wouldn't count out numerous states just saying fuck it, we aren't giving you a thing anymore. Everyone knows the fiat currency system is doesn't work anymore anyways. Why stay on the system when real assets matter. Food, water, energy, shelter are going to be king again not paper promises and IOU's.

Starwood
06-24-2010, 05:40 PM
Every time Starwood gets frustrated with the current administration, he simply takes a look at this and realizes it could be a hell of a lot worse.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/12/19/article-0-02A6A272000005DC-383_468x330.jpg

Nitro Express
06-24-2010, 06:47 PM
Every time Starwood gets frustrated with the current administration, he simply takes a look at this and realizes it could be a hell of a lot worse.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/12/19/article-0-02A6A272000005DC-383_468x330.jpg

McCain would have bombed Iran already and Sarah Palin would be doing what she is doing now. Pimping her image for money. Obama wants everyone dependant on the government for everything while his corporate friends run everything. McCain would have been less so in this regard but he would still leave the border wide open and probably me likely to start World War III. Sarah would finger herself in the mirror getting off on herself.

GAR
06-25-2010, 11:55 PM
Every time Starwood gets frustrated with the current administration, he simply takes a look at this and realizes it could be a hell of a lot worse.

Gar would like to publicly thank Starwood for reminding us how fucked up US politics is/are/am, and would like to address the fadt that notthing NO-thing in a Democratic Congressional world occurs without a bit of graft and administrative fee-feeding.

I hope the Gulf victims of the spill get at least 40% of that 20 fucking billion dollars. Fuck Obama! This is an over-reach by any way you choose to look at it!