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It is what it is
By the Darke Knight
I’ve had some interesting responses to my first two columns.
The first had to do with Editor Bob. The reader wrote… “I so appreciate
Bob's efforts, but I do miss his former "sock-it-to-'um"
editorials. Perhaps you are the one to pick up where he left off.”
Not sure if that’s a compliment, but I appreciated her saying it. What
I told her was that I thought E-Bob was pretty much doing his own thing
today. I think it is a worthy endeavor. But what good will it do if we
don’t start fixing things now? Will we be too far gone? I’m thinking
probably.
What I didn’t tell her was I doubt that anyone can pick up where he
left off. When he was writing that stuff, I think people cared. Today,
I’m not sure they do. Maybe he’s smarter than both of us.
On another note, a reader asked what I thought was a helluva good
question: “…how will anything be changed if 80 or 90 percent vote? You
make a good point including those who take advantage of tax loopholes
in the "47%," and yes it is most likely closer to 60% if not higher.
How many of the 60% or more are willing to vote against themselves
(assuming, of course, that they could)? Could you explain how
improvement will occur by voting for either side of the same coin?”
This gentleman is perceptive, impressively so… either side of the same
coin? In other words, no matter who we vote for, is anything really
going to change?
My thought when I wrote the column (America 50 Years from Now) was that
CNO readers were much more likely to be among those who want to stop
the “free-lunch” gravy train. They are the ones I want to get off their
butts and vote. It is not a column I would have sent to the New York
Times, for instance.
Besides, how many free-lunchers actually read anything other than the
comics… if that?
While I understand his point about the “free-bees” awarded to the
richest among us – and firmly believe they may never completely go away
– all I can say is I’m more PO’d over government dependency of the
masses than I am of anything else at this point.
We will always have the rich and ultra rich; we will always have the
poor and the ultra-poor. That’s the human condition and no do-gooder is
ever going to change it! What is quickly disappearing is the strong
working middle class that is actually the backbone of any prosperous
country… if we don’t get that back – and soon – everything else becomes
irrelevant.
There is a time and place for every battle… I’ve chosen mine for this
election. I’d love to hear if he has a better option.
I think what bothers me most are the overwhelming challenges we face.
Scenario 1: A secret tape is made of a private conversation of a
presidential candidate being brutally honest with a small group of
supporters. An edited portion is then released to the media (one that
leaves out the part where he talks about how his presidency would
benefit that 47 percent). The mainstream media gleefully runs it for
two or three days until they feel it’s been milked enough. By then, the
political ads of the same tape have taken over with their paid spots.
Scenario 2: A few days later, two national polls favored by the media
post average double-digit leads for the incumbent, noting huge (and
ridiculous) jumps from what has been a tight race for weeks on end.
This was gleefully reported for two full days.
And of course they blamed it on the tape.
What they didn’t report was that other national polls showed absolutely
no change in the ratings.
How can we possibly hope to prevail if our recognized communication
outlets (what E-Bob has often referred to as The Fourth Estate) feel
it’s more important to promote their agendas than it is to inform the
public?
Controlling the communication outlets of the masses has been a primary
mechanism of every dictator and despot in history. It seems that
control has already been voluntarily ceded to the current
administration.
Can we still turn this trend around? At this point I’m no longer sure
and evidently a few others feel the same way…
“We currently have a system that is on life-support and that grieves
me, deeply,” the first reader said in her email. “We, as a nation, have
strayed so far from what our Founding Fathers created for us that,
apart from Divine Intervention, we may have crossed the point of no
return. May God have mercy on us.”
Amen.
It is what it is. And what once was, could soon become a distant memory
for those of us old enough to remember what we threw away.
Have a nice day,
D.K.
darkeknight@rocketmail.com
Referenced articles:
Paint a Picture of America 50 Years from Now, click here
A fundamentally different America, click here
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