By Uncle BoodaddyMarch 29, 2006 6:23 pm
I found out this weekend that my mother, who teaches at a Department of Defense elementary school, is not allowed to speak bad about the government, the president or the war in Iraq. She is also not allowed to look at any emails or internet sites, etc. that say anything against the same things. Obviously she wouldn’t want to say anything in front of young children whose parents are in the military and/or are overseas fighting, but it’s the principle, you know? I thought Freedom of Speech was a pretty big deal. Oh yeah, don’t send my mom the link to this blog. She could get fired.
Sorry. That was by Uncle BooDaddy
Comment by Uncle Boodaddy — March 29, 2006 @ 6:26 pm
Uncle B, you’ve entered in a major way. I think we should run with this story. Daily Kos might be interested. This is pretty big. And yes, is a violation of the 1st Ammendment.
Comment by Johnny Palmetto — March 29, 2006 @ 6:46 pm
Good post Boodad! How did the subject come up with your mom anyway?
Comment by Slingshot — March 29, 2006 @ 8:45 pm
I can’t remember. I got kind of worked up. My dad didn’t agree with me. He belives you should always support your government and your leader and your people. He’s pretty patriotic. I can see both sides of the (not the free speech thing), but is it more patriotic to always show support for your country, government, etc. no matter what, or to point out what’s wrong with the system. On that same note I don’t think every protest is a good protest. Protest what a person (or government) does, but don’t protest the person (or gov). However, you should always protest Carrot Top.
Comment by Uncle Boodaddy — March 29, 2006 @ 9:01 pm
I disagree. We have a right to protest any aspect of our government. It is more patriotic to exercise one’s constitutional rights than sit back and let things slide. That’s why these protests are so important right now. People are not only sick of the dispicable actions that our government has done, but sick of seeing them get swept under tha carpet as something worse comes along. People are sick of seeing corruption at all levels of the system and nothing being done about it. People are becoming proactive and it’s about fucking time! I hope people are waking up and turning off their ipods so they can pay attention to what’s going on. It’s not a distraction to protest, but THAT IS EXACTLY what they want you to think!
Comment by Slingshot — March 29, 2006 @ 9:25 pm
No. No. Protest man! I definately believe in the right. I’m just saying I believe you shouldn’t protest our leaders, but what they are doing wrong. The way our system is set up, who is elected is elected and they’re our leader until they royally fuck up (impeached) or someone else is elected. It is our job to support them, whether it’s saying “Hey man, good job” or protesting what they’re doing wrong and sayin “Hey dudes your really fuckin this shit up! Get your shit together you douche bags!”
Comment by Uncle Boodaddy — March 29, 2006 @ 9:44 pm
I see what you´re saying, Boodaddy. I think people on both (all) sides of the political spectrum get so hung up on painting individuals as corrupt, deceitful, incompetent, etc. that they lose the ability to look at actions objectively. If Carrot Top published a manifesto on how to achieve world peace, for example, who would take an objective look at it? Same goes for leaders/individuals/groups that are looked on so favorably that they can do wrong, regardless of what they may actually be doing. OK, back to the iPod.
Comment by Jórge — March 29, 2006 @ 10:31 pm
It’s difficult not to protest the leaders. For example, the Bush family has been a major player in the military-industrial complex for decades (with nefarious connections going all the way back to the Nazi party in good ole pre-WWII Germany). That family’s existence rests on the back’s of American citizens. I feel very comfortable protesting them. They suck. Last week Mama Bush made a $30,000 donation to Houston schools that took in kids displaced by Katrina. How noble! But then she said that the schools have to use the cash to buy educational software–from a company that her slack-ass son Neil owns. These people are assholes…I’ll protest them until the cows come home…And Boodaddy, your dad’s a good man, but patriotism, as you said, means that one has such a deep love of their country it angers them when it abuses others. That’s what I feel when the Bush family appears smiling on the evening news.
Comment by Johnny Palmetto — March 30, 2006 @ 2:30 am
Just to chime in, while it may be a somewhat noble idea to support your leaders, or never say anything bad about our elected leaders, we should learn a lesson from what history has to say about “good Germans”.
Comment by Lucy — March 30, 2006 @ 1:34 pm
Ah, the Hitler card! Funny in that it´s played by both opponents and proponents of the war/president.
Comment by Jórge — March 30, 2006 @ 3:04 pm
Nobody wants to be called a Nazi, or even be associated with anything to do with Hitler! People use it for everything to get their way these days. If you don’t like the other person, just say they’re just a bunch of Nazis! Unfortunately, the passion and truth behind that statement is becoming more and more diluted, the more poeple use it for their personal gain.
To his followers, Bush is a charasmatic leader who is a “man of the people”. He speaks like them, he worships like them, and (they think) he is like them. Others, see through this facade for what he and his administration are really trying to do. They have found that the dumbing down of the public, through television, video games, and the rest of the media (not to mention perscription drugs) gives this administration a huge advantage to herd a flock of supporters. Bush plays on their fears, keeps them paranoid and they will do anything he says. One false move and you’ll end up in Guantanamo, the scariest place on earth! “Just take your happy medicine and watch American Idol, nothing bad will happen to you as long as you follow me.”
Comment by Slingshot — March 30, 2006 @ 3:54 pm
I never said not say anything bad about them…
Comment by Uncle Boodaddy — March 30, 2006 @ 4:09 pm
Re: The Nazi Card–sure it has become dilluted, but the fact is the Bush family supported German steel companies making weapons for Nazis and now they support wars that are really about oil–and also ‘cause the deaths of thousands. (Sidebar: is it genuine for the Bush administration to call for democracy in Belarus? Isn’t that also about oil and access to it? And I thought the Cold War was over–we still got beef with Russians…) There’s a direct connection. Hitler is always a great example because he was the first leader to use mass media to control a nation-state. Yes, the Romans and Mongols did it in some ways. Yes, Mussolini did it. But no one can compare with Hitler’s audacious and awful program. The analogy in all things is apt.
Comment by Johnny Palmetto — March 30, 2006 @ 4:30 pm
Yeah. Yeah. But the good thing about Hitler is that he didn’t take shit from magicians.
Comment by Uncle Boodaddy — March 30, 2006 @ 6:23 pm
I think there’s also the larger discussion of the role patriotism plays in leading towards “nationalism”, and the tiny step it is from there to “fascism” (which is basically the brand name for Italian Nationalism coming from “fascia” the name for the long spears that the romans used so well to create their empire (the same spears that appear on our own money, by the way)).
I also think its funny that Hitler/Nazis are used by both the left and the right. I always hated that people would get shot down in discussions when they bring up how similar Bush’s actions are to the actions of the Nazi’s. Then, right after they say, “You just ruined your argument by bringing up Hitler, there’s no comparison,” they say, “So if you don’t believe in war, you must think we shouldn’t have been in WWII?” And it’s like, “hey, you just brought up the Nazi’s, you pig!”
Comment by Lucy — March 30, 2006 @ 7:32 pm
Coincidentally, this was on Overheard in NYC this afternoon. haha.
Woman #1: God, that was so funny when all of those Nazis walked into the courtroom and their hairstyles were like Hitler’s!
Man: Well, I mean, it makes sense, I guess. You know, people always copy famous people when it comes to stuff like that.
Woman #2: Yeah, like remember when I had that terrible Dorothy Hamill haircut?
–Houston Street station
Comment by Uncle Boodaddy — March 30, 2006 @ 9:49 pm