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Is Dennis Linthicum ignorant, or is he the typical (wannabe) politician who is willing to distort reality to fit his ideological preconceptions?
He writes that advances in Klamath County "do not stem from any government program, strategic plan, or collaborative policy effort." Has he not heard of the Bureau of Reclamation, a government agency responsible for the possibility of about 95% of the agriculture in this county? Does he think the highways and roads that connect our communities to each other and the outside world are unrelated to our development? And then there's the sheriff and police and fire departments, the schools, the community college, OIT. If Linthicum really wants to be a leader, rather than another ridiculous conservative spewer of ideology, he needs to step back and think about what he says before going public with it. This editorial is a serious strike against Linthicum being a serious leader for our community in these troubled times.
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Right, so elect Republicans and enjoy the "freedom" to be a serf in the service of the corporate plutocrats. The Democrats are lame; the Republicans are evil. The only REAL agenda of the national Republican Party, as opposed to bogus distractions like imposing religion on others (e.g., outlawing abortion), which they never do even when they have power (see 2002-2006), is to advance the wealth and power of the wealthy and powerful. What is good for the wealthy corporate ruling class (such as "free trade" and "outsourcing") is NOT good for the vast majority of Americans. If you're not wealthy (i.e., worth more than a million dollars) and vote for Republicans in national elections, you are a dupe. Unions built up and protected the working middle class; Republicans and plutocrats destroyed the unions and now the rich get richer and everyone else sinks. People need to wake up before the plutocrats and their Republican toadies utterly destroy our nation. (For a little preview, see financial collapse under Bush, 2008.)
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And yet the statistics show that crime has gone down in Arizona in recent years. Maybe the problem is one of people believing things that sound like what they want to believe rather than find actual facts and basing one's analyses on those. Some actual facts about Arizona crime is available here: http://www.opportunitygreaterphoenix.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5325
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The desire to have "the news" reflect one's ideological proclivities is a sign of intellectual and moral weakness, which has, unfortunately, reached epidemic levels in America at a time when we can least afford it.
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Cowboy -- those are excellent, pro-democracy sentiments that I totally agree with. The problem is that certain of "us" have almost all the wealth/power, so that a small minority (less than 5% of all households) control the politics, the economy, and the mass media public discourse. The obvious fact is that the rich run the United States, and government by and for the rich is called plutocracy. Currently, we have plutocracy, not democracy. Ultimately (as a whole), all the wealthy ruling class cares about is maintaining and extending their wealth and power. And as we have experienced over the last 30 years (under Republicans and Democrats), when government is run in the interest of the wealthy, the rest of us sink. That's how "free market capitalism" works -- wealth is steadily concentrated at the top, leaving less everywhere else. (For instance, worker productivity is up over the last 30 years, but wages are down -- where did the profits from the increased productivity go? Record-level corporate profits and luxury living among the plutocrat class.) So the point is that any accomplishments we make as a country benefitting the large majority of people will be based on taking control of our nation away from the wealthy and powerful minority who currently control it and instituting democracy (not, as the conservative scare-mongers prefer to call it, "socialism").
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More evidence Linthicum is a lightweight who is unfit to serve in any significant political position. But since he calls himself a "conservative" and mouths the kind of dimwittery Fox News dupes are trained to appreciate, he will most likely be elected as one of our three County Commissioners, and get to work further snuffing out Klamath County's potential to overcome the current crises we face.
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Mrs. Fairfield, I think you need to broaden your reading list. Conservative Republicans are not answer to our country's problems because they support plutocracy (rule by the wealthy), which is the biggest source of our problems. Thus, if elected, Mr. Huffman can be counted on to follow the lead of other "Conservatives" in the Senate and advance the interest of the wealthy over the great majority of Americans with votes like this: "Senate Republicans beat back an effort by Democrats Tuesday to end tax breaks for companies who send jobs offshore only to import products back into the United States." See, Republicans LIKE outsourcing of jobs because it helps the wealthy make more money. The fact that outsourcing is bad for regular working Americans doesn't matter to Republicans in Washington. If you don't have a net worth of over a million dollars and an annual salary over $250,000, and you vote for Republicans for national office, you are being taken for a ride. THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU!
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So, the " Klamath Conservative Voters Political Action Committee" shamelessly distorts reality in order to advance its ideological interest. I guess I was wrong -- the local "conservatives" are no less intellectually and morally bankrupt than the national-level Republicans whose success depends on a population of dumbed-down Fox News viewers who believe anything that fits their disgustingly self-righteous biases.
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I note that this letter includes not a single actual example of how the current administration has trashed the Constitution (there actually are some examples, all of which are continuations of Bush/Cheney policies). And then to hold up Bush 43 as an example of what a good president was like? That is just delusional. Where were you when Bush was violating the Constitution with warrantless wiretapping, issuing signing statements to undermine legislative intent without the veto called for by the Constitution, precluding judicial review with bogus "state secrets" excuses, exposing CIA agents for political gain, torturing and starting a preemptive war in violation of international treaties to which the US is a signatory (see Article 6, Sec. 1, clause 2)? Those were all impeachable violations of the Constitution. Oh, but since he was a Republican, it was okay, right? You obviously don't care about the Constitution. This letter is truly a sorry commentary on the state of United States citizenship in the year 2010. With people like this in any significant percentage, America has no future.
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Notably, this letter does not contain a single fact (as opposed to the letter writer's opinions) to support the assertion that removing the dams would have negative consequences. In this way, the letter is an example of one of the biggest problems in American politics today -- facts no longer matter to some portion of our population, including most of the people who call themselves "conservatives." What matters to them is affirmation of their own self-righteousness. Unless this trend is corrected and people make the effort to engage with reality, instead of just believing what they want to believe, the United States is doomed.
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Mr Jefcoat -- I get the joke. I can tell you are really a good-hearted person who is trying to parody the Alice-in-Wonderland, up-is-down Fox News Tea Party disengagement with reality. But to be honest, I think you overplayed it -- not even Klamath County conservatives are as delusional and backwards-thinking as portrayed in your letter.
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QrtzCam -- your explanation is a much more honest representation of the typical opposition to the KBRA in Klamath -- it's all about making sure the Indians don't get anything. That's what "conservatism" is about among non-wealthy people -- finding "others" to despise and blame for our problems. That's why conservatism is in direct opposition to the teachings of Jesus and is, in actual fact, anti-Christ. You can't be a Fox News Tea Party conservative and also follow the teachings of Jesus as related in the New Testament. Fox News Tea Party conservatives who purport to follow the Ten Commandments need to stop calling themselves Christian because by doing so they are taking the Lord's name in vain.
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So "it is time" to put Republicans in every office? The party that's only real concern is advancing the interest of the wealthy minority ruling class? The party that ran the economy into the ground following that path? The part that votes against unemployment insurance and food stamps and tax cuts for 98% of the population if the plutocrat overlords don't get their own tax cuts? What would Jesus do, Ms. Kerns? I am not a member of the Democratic Party, and I vote for the person I think best regardless of party affiliation, but there can be no doubt among thinking, good-hearted people that the contemporary Republican Party and those prancing around calling themselves "conservatives" preach and practice the opposite of the teachings of Jesus. It's time to lay it on the line: conservatives and the Republican Party are anti-Christ. If these people purport to follow the Ten Commandments, they need to stop calling themselves Christian because by doing so they are taking the Lord's name in vain.
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It's interesting that as the election draws closer, local "conservatives" are increasingly unable to hide their true beliefs. This guy doesn't even want to be part of the United States! Very "patriotic"! And, given your concern with "sovereignty," and since I am sure you are not a hypocrite, you are not going to use any services provided by government medicare, no deposits in FDIC-insured banks, right? And you must surely oppose tax dollars going to the very bureaucratic armed forces, right? If you are really so concerned with your "sovereignty", I suggest you move out to Sycan Marsh and let the rest of us move on without your misery.
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Why get rid of the dams on the Klamath River? Because they have messed up a crucial natural ecosystem and they don't provide that much power. (Some reasonable conservation would more than make up for the power lost by taking out the dams.)
You accidentally revealed the real issue for most of the anti-KBRA people in the Klamath Basin at the end of your letter -- it's not about green power, it's about making sure the Indians don't get anything. (That's the sorry state of morality among "conservatives" in Klamath [WWJD?].)
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HEiz -- it is clear you know nothing about the teachings of Jesus. Those are the red letters in the New Testament. You should really read them for some education based in reality rather than the plutocrat propaganda crafted to elicit hate-filled self-righteousness that you have obviously based your views on to this point. People who think like that are objectively against Christ -- it's right there in the red letters of your New Testament! But it's not too late, HEiz -- Jesus will forgive and welcome you with open arms!
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Wow -- the Jesus who says words in the Bible would not recognize himself in HEiz's post. Most particularly, HEiz, you write that Jesus "simply gives us a way to separate ourselves from sin." There is nothing simple about the path Jesus lays out (check out those red letters). The kind of "easy does it," pseudo-Jesus theology you propose may be helpful to assuage the guilt and advance the interests of the ruling class (as they accelerate their self-enrichment and immiserate more and more of the global population), and therefore be profitable, but it has nothing to do with the prophet whose words are marked by red letters in the New Testament.
I have read your archive and I know you can't see this, but it is psychotic hate -- it really and truly is. Even so, I think there may still be hope we can all come together and create a good society if you would be willing to acknowledge and adopt the following principles if they pass the "What would Jesus do?" test.
[*CREDO*, edited out here, reproduced below]
Now let's work together to create a better society!
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Other words not in the Constitution: God, Jesus, Christian, Christianity, marriage, individual, corporation, capitalism, free market, stock market, federalism, police, agriculture, labor, ... The semi-subtle point is this: If people would only take the responsibility to think about things with a little independence and heart, rather than constantly absorbing and regurgitating the Rush Fox News Tea Party line (always specially crafted to advance the interest of the ruling bankster elite by eliciting hate-based self-righteousness from the media-ted mass), we could take a significant step toward restoring good will among ourselves as citizens, a necessary step if we want to be a democracy, which I, for one, do.
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The idea that somehow there has been some increase in "tyranny" since Obama took over after the most authoritarian president in American history (the beloved Bush, whose authoritarian policies surpassed even those Lincoln imposed during the Civil War) is totally totally ludicrous. It is literally deranged: so disengaged from reality that I don't know whether to laugh or step up the stockpiling of shotgun shells. People who think Obama has instituted tyranny or is a Socialist or a Muslim are so WILLFULLY disengaged from reality that it is IMMORAL -- they are bad citizens and a threat to democracy based on their susceptibility to plutocratic propaganda.
Here's the key point: Obama and the Democrats WON the right to govern in democratic elections -- this means that until the next election, they get to define "the will of the people". That's how democracy works, right? When the other side wins, they get to govern, right? Or are you an authoritarian and only people who believe the same things you do get to rule? For instance, you Conservatives don't have some exclusive right to define the meaning of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution -- WE ALL GET TO! -- that's democracy -- love it or leave it -- and don't tread on me! And we anti-conservatives can read "fairness" and "privacy" into the meaning of those documents as easily as you can read God or the free market or anti-immigrant hate into them.
Now there's an election and you have the right to win back the part of the government up for vote. I can't wish you luck, but that's democracy. (And if you succeed, I have no doubt any power the conservatives have will be used to become even better tools of the ruling bankster elite.) But take a slightly longer view and the perspective changes -- the time during which "conservatives" have that much say in the federal government is running out fast. The demographics of the United States will make Whites a minority before 2050 (less than 40 years!) and half of those Whites are not "conservative" anyway. In other words, it's too late, Teabaggers! It's only a matter of time before you become a small, angry minority left behind by the tide of democracy (one person, one vote!). Better start brushing up on your Spanish!
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What's on my mind: Apparently my most recent comment (which was, I daresay, a devastating critique of the Fox News Tea Party "conservative" world-view) has been excluded by the Herald and News. (And, presumably due to an unrelated software limitation rather than editorial intent, several of my most recent comments are not included on the "my recent comments" page.) I note that the H&N's invitation to comment says "no rants," and the definition of a rant includes "speech that incites anger." So I can only presume my comment was banned because it surely would have "incited anger" among the "conservatives" whose sub-par and anti-democratic citizenship was exposed therein. Well, it's your "community" and, since you aren't the government, you actually have the right to create your community by banishing free speech. But it must be acknowledged that by doing so you are enacting an extreme version of political correctness in a transparent effort to protect local "conservatives" from having to confront the ugly, abased position they occupy as the hate-rallied shock troops of the bankster overlords, the plutocratic/authoritarian ruling class whose core values of greed and power are the exact antithesis of those advanced by Jesus (whose own speech, by the way, "incited anger" [see, e.g., Mark 10:18, John 5:18]). Anyway, I will accept the "banishment" represented by the refusal to post my comment and take my message elsewhere. So let it be known: I tried to bring the good news to Klamath conservatives but you couldn't hear it, distracted as you were by the shrieking on Fox News and the shouting-style anger and self-righteousness it creates in your head. But, again, the voice speaking in this letter, this bit of unwelcome-here freedom-speaking, will happily move on (more and more in Spanish, by the way), with one last well-intentioned reiteration of the fact that you, Klamath "conservative," still have the chance to save yourself even though I'll be gone. Here, again, is the first and fundamental lesson of the good news: the path to being saved, the path to light after death, requires you adopt and strive to put into practice the following basic principles of morality and freedom:
Step 1) HUMAN DECENCY --- At birth, every human being is equally deserving of respect and equally deserving of a society where they can live a good life.
Step 2) THE GOLDEN RULE --- Good citizens and decent people live by the following principle of morality and freedom: do unto others as you would have them do unto you, or your children or grandchildren or mother or whoever you care most about in the world. The golden rule demonstrates that morality ("the way a person should act") is social; it's about how you treat other people and the extent to which you consider how your actions will affect other people.
Step 3) DEMOCRACY --- With golden rule-morality as the starting point, the only acceptable political form is what can be called "true democracy," which is to say that people govern themselves cooperatively – government of the people by the people and for the people, whoever the people happen to be in a particular situation. Wouldn't you want to participate in any decision that affects you? The golden rule demands we extend that right to all.
Step 4) JUSTICE ---- Within the open-honest-thoughtful discussions that make up the political process of true democracy, good citizens and decent people will consider the good of everyone affected by the decision to be made, as called for by the golden rule. If people try to argue for a course of action based on selfish self-interest, good citizens and decent people will recognize and critique such positions as anti-democratic and immoral.
Step 5) FREEDOM --- Live and let live; look kindly on people, both generally and specifically; feel free to find ways to be happy and enjoy life any way you can without hurting or infringing on others.
Living by these principles is a necessary precondition to being welcomed to the light after death. Put another way, if you decline to adopt and live by these five principles, you will not be shown the way to the Kingdom of Heaven. But it is up to you.
Vivan la democracia y la luz! Adios.
-- Jefferson
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