Today I read an exchange between HadItWithThem and donna in the comments section of Michael Snyder's The Most Important News blog, titled, "Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter are Right--America is on the Verge of Widespread Chaos and Civil Unrest". Donna contended that these times were like the violent, chaotic '60s and '70s, and HadIt disagreed. The dialogue became rather abusive and ugly, as it can get on the web. I offered my take on the difference in a reply to donna:
Sorry to see the level to which your exchange with HadIt has gone to. I'm also 67 years old, and remember those days quite well, although I was not politically very aware. My recollection of those times was that, yes, they were very chaotic and often violent, but there's a difference today. An ominous difference. The lunatic left was fringe then. They hadn't come to the positions of power they have now, and were not able to direct public policy the way they can now. Yes, the Black Panthers and the Weathermen openly advocated violence, but the populace as a whole didn't feel threatened by them. The establishment was much more in control of the situation.
Speaking of the establishment, it has now become the instigator of much of what we see and hear, and it is now establishment figures who are putting forth much of the inflammatory rhetoric. That was not the case then. Yes, the average man/woman in the street decried what was going on, but in those days, the opinion of Mr./Mrs Average was RESPECTED, not maligned. This is a huge difference. The general tone of what we read/hear in the MSM outlets is one of thinly-disguised contempt for the troglodytes in "flyover country". There is a push to RE-EDUCATE the people to accept the premises of the hard left, such as climate change, gay marriage, the necessity of one-world government, etc. Those themes were playing back then, but not as openly and blatantly as now. Outlets such as the NYT and WaPo were run by the equivalent of RINOs then, rather than the Neolibs and leftists of today (although they voted majority Democrat then).
Yes, you could hear the same sort of leftist rhetoric back then as you hear now, but it was coming from people in patched coveralls driving VW microbuses, not people in three-piece suits and $6,000 dresses, and not from members of Congress either! Several years ago I read an editorial by the editor-in-chief of our local medium-sized newspaper, which was basically a hit piece on Christianity and Christians. I couldn't believe what I was reading. This, coming from a 50- or 60-something pillar of the community! It sounded like some screed written by a solitary misanthrope of the '70s. The left has been so successful, and have become so emboldened by their success, that they've become very arrogant and overt. They speak and write as though they expect a majority to agree with them. And in many cases, they're right! Scary. THAT'S the difference between what I see today and what I remember of then.
Sorry to see the level to which your exchange with HadIt has gone to. I'm also 67 years old, and remember those days quite well, although I was not politically very aware. My recollection of those times was that, yes, they were very chaotic and often violent, but there's a difference today. An ominous difference. The lunatic left was fringe then. They hadn't come to the positions of power they have now, and were not able to direct public policy the way they can now. Yes, the Black Panthers and the Weathermen openly advocated violence, but the populace as a whole didn't feel threatened by them. The establishment was much more in control of the situation.
Speaking of the establishment, it has now become the instigator of much of what we see and hear, and it is now establishment figures who are putting forth much of the inflammatory rhetoric. That was not the case then. Yes, the average man/woman in the street decried what was going on, but in those days, the opinion of Mr./Mrs Average was RESPECTED, not maligned. This is a huge difference. The general tone of what we read/hear in the MSM outlets is one of thinly-disguised contempt for the troglodytes in "flyover country". There is a push to RE-EDUCATE the people to accept the premises of the hard left, such as climate change, gay marriage, the necessity of one-world government, etc. Those themes were playing back then, but not as openly and blatantly as now. Outlets such as the NYT and WaPo were run by the equivalent of RINOs then, rather than the Neolibs and leftists of today (although they voted majority Democrat then).
Yes, you could hear the same sort of leftist rhetoric back then as you hear now, but it was coming from people in patched coveralls driving VW microbuses, not people in three-piece suits and $6,000 dresses, and not from members of Congress either! Several years ago I read an editorial by the editor-in-chief of our local medium-sized newspaper, which was basically a hit piece on Christianity and Christians. I couldn't believe what I was reading. This, coming from a 50- or 60-something pillar of the community! It sounded like some screed written by a solitary misanthrope of the '70s. The left has been so successful, and have become so emboldened by their success, that they've become very arrogant and overt. They speak and write as though they expect a majority to agree with them. And in many cases, they're right! Scary. THAT'S the difference between what I see today and what I remember of then.
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