48 Comments

1. E. Nigma:

Well, as long as they don’t give out any bonuses to people working for the subsidized newspapers, I guess it is alright, huh?

As for me, I would boycott a subsidized newspaper, just out of principle. I boycott NPR and PBS these days (and what a difference I have made, too!)
Let the streets fill with unread newsprint. “All the made up news, unfit to be read by a free people.”

Mar 24, 2009 - 5:03 pm 2. blert:

This can only lead to Izvestia accuracy in the old guard media.

This gambit is consistent with Reagan’s dictum that if it’s a failure government will subsidize it.

There is simply no way that pulp can compete with the World Wide Web let alone SeaDragon.

Get out your forks.

Mar 24, 2009 - 5:07 pm 3. Herb:

Is there nothing the govt cant do?

I didnt make much last quarter. Can I be a non-taxed nonprofit?

What happens when a paper goes after a systemic boil like the whole congress?

I expect Congressional coverage will be limited to weddings and funerals. Plus some coverage of their heroic attacks on private enterprise’s greed and corruption.

Mar 24, 2009 - 5:30 pm 4. Leo Linbeck III:

So, I have just one question:

Why does it matter whether or not you pay taxes if you don’t make a profit?

MSM, RIP.

L3

Mar 24, 2009 - 5:35 pm 5. Unsk:

Leo- It maters when you can have charitable fundraisers like PBS that rake in millions, and as a oh such a good cause! can rake in millions in subsidies from the Federal Government. What the dems are really talking about is lots and lots of PBS quasi affiliates in the print media, which will be of course run by people like Obama. Natch.

Mar 24, 2009 - 5:46 pm 6. blert:

The idea is to make it possible for Soros, Buffett and the Sandlers to get sweet tax write-offs while buying propaganda.

Mar 24, 2009 - 5:48 pm 7. Michael Hoskins:

I used to live in the Detroit area. (A story all its own.) Cable there carries CBC. CBC, like the Beeb, is a government agency. Large numbers of public service/ propaganda commercials end with “…this message brought to you by the govenment of Canada.” You would be amazed…or maybe not.

Mar 24, 2009 - 5:57 pm 8. Lifeofthemind:

Full employment for dinosaurs.
Slightly OT but to good to pass up.

The Honorable James Hacker MP: You know Humphrey, I think government has got to be awfully careful about throttling small businesses.
Bernard Wooley: The bank isn’t actually a small business.
The Honorable James Hacker MP: It will be if we throttle it, Bernard.

Mar 24, 2009 - 6:05 pm 9. joe buzz:

Would it not be a very good green idea to let the print media shut down or do pulp wood trees not scrub CO2? Someone should do a study. This suggestion should in no way be construed as a joe buzz acknowledgment of a correlation between CO2 and warming….just saying….

Mar 24, 2009 - 6:15 pm 10. Starling:

If they become 501 3(c) non-profits then certain restrictions will apply concerning endorsement of candidates and other clearly partisan acts, restrictions which if violated result in the loss of non-profit status. Somehow I find it hard to believe newspapers want their partisanship scrutinized.

Mar 24, 2009 - 6:33 pm 11. Storm-Rider:

Government support of the mass media is a pre-requisite for Communist totalitarianism. The relationship today between the Democratic Party and the out-of-mainstream media is becoming closer and closer to that which existed between the Soviet Communist Party and Pravda/Izvestia.

“When one makes a Revolution, one cannot mark time; one must always go forward – or go back. He who now talks about the “freedom of the press” goes backward, and halts our headlong course towards Socialism.” Vladimir Lenin

“The press should be not only a collective propagandist and a collective agitator, but also a collective organizer of the masses.” Vladimir Lenin

Mar 24, 2009 - 6:46 pm 12. Walt:

Wretchard wonders if there might not be a conflict of interest between covering the news without fear or favor and biting the hand that fed you. I believe there is no conflict of interest, at least so far as the MSM is concerned, for they would never bite the hand that pets them.

In days of old when journalists were bold
And readers were not particular
We got the facts and some attacks
Both flat and perpendicular
When Murrow spoke we did not choke
And wonder who had paid him
We knew it was the truth because
The living God had made him
The New York Times for just two dimes
Produced a Sunday paper
That told when bought what whole world thought
As well as latest caper
But Cronkite’s tears while stoking fears
And tearing down the pillars
Led other guys to claim GIs
Were hulking, brutal killers
This turned the tide of the free ride
Once owned by comp’ny presses
And made us wince and ever since
We’ve seen beneath their dresses
They’re in the tank and they can thank
Their plight on one another
As readers flee their company
And now they cry for mother
To give them aid for which they’ve paid
The Dems in largest measure
They cry the first amendment’s thirst
For justice is their treasure
So just say no to those so low
Who lick the hand that feeds ‘em
So let ‘em die, I don’t see why
That anybody needs ‘em

Mar 24, 2009 - 6:49 pm 13. PA Cat:

Jonathon Porritt knows just what to do with those unemployed journalists, for Gaia’s sake.

Mar 24, 2009 - 6:55 pm 14. Leo Linbeck III:

Unsk and blert,

Perhaps. But these guys could just buy scads of advertising now, and it would be fully tax deductible so long as their company purchased them.

Even non-profits have to make a profit. No amount of tax structuring on the part of the useful idiots will save the useless idiots.

Cheers.

L3

Mar 24, 2009 - 6:56 pm 15. E. Nigma:

I thought it interesting that after Obama’s presser tonight, David Axelrod appeared on MSNBC with Keith Olberman and Rahm Emmanuel appeared on CNN with Larry King to further the Administration line, and fill in the blanks for all those tough questions answered by our doughty president.

Softballs, did I see softballs?

But no one from the Administration appeared on Fox. I wonder why? OF course, because it’s not a “real” news network, of course. No subsidies for you, Fox News!

The subsidies will be a clever means of “credentialing” news organizations. Really good newspapers and such will of course be unappealing to the masses, so they get a subsidy.
Much like Tim Geithner, they will be failing upwards.

Failing upwards. It’s the New America.

Mar 24, 2009 - 6:58 pm 16. linda seebach:

Nothing now prevents newspapers and magazines from organizing as nonprofits. For example, Mother Jones, which adopted that model 33 years ago, according to a recent article in the SFChronicle
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/24/DDUV16LGPC.DTL
that also refers to the recent startup. MinnPost.com.

Cardin’s bill proposes extending tax-deductible status to them, so that they could better appeal to foundations and individuals for whom deductibility is a significant consideration. That would limit their political role, as it does for churches. For instance they could not endorse, unless the law in that regard is changed for them.

Mar 24, 2009 - 8:32 pm 17. Subotai Bahadur:

For the last 4 decades the major news media in this country have not given an obese rodents glut’s about anything but promoting a specific political ideology. That ideology is not of American origin.

For the news media, or actually the politically correct portion thereof, to become wards of the state and have their news spoon-fed to them is the ultimate wet dream of those who call themselves “journalists”. No more grubbing around in even mock competition. Never having to deal with the unsophistocated public that lives outside of NY, DC, Seattle, San Francisco, or LA ever again. Job security, once the special status morphs into a full on subsidy [as it must because even non-profits will have to sell an occasional bird cage liner. As noted by #1 E. Nigma, patriots should boycott not only buying anything from subsidized news outlets, but advertising in them and maybe buying anything advertised in them. (OK, that last is not possible due to grocery ads, or presumably in the future notices about food ration coupons.)]. Imagine, being a “journalist” and having a regular government paycheck, job security [unless you commit thoughtcrime] and probably a special pension plan. Not a bad deal being the government’s kept poodle.

We already are almost where the State wants us for news coverage [except for sometimes FOX and those pesky bloggers who I assume will be dealt with]. Look at NPR and PBS. When was the last time they did an expose criticizing anyone, anywhere, on the Left? How many of their “specials” are recitals of the evils of whites, racism, conservatism, and the United States? Newspapers and broadcast media already have it down. How can you tell what party a politician is from when he gets caught up in a scandal? If it is a Republican, it will be mentioned at least once per paragraph. If it is a Democrat, either the story will be buried and/or downplayed, or party will not be mentioned at all. We’ve all played the game of “What’s that Party?” when something breaks.

Oh, by the way. That little bit about them having to become non-partisan if they take government non-profit status? Keep in mind, that laws do not apply to Democrats. How many sitting members of Congress would be imprisoned right now if the law applied to them. How come Black churches are perfectly fine for campaign appearances and endorsements of Democrats, but Conservative churches risk losing their tax free status if they preach their church doctrines? Just as what counts now in this country is who counts the votes rather than how many votes each candidate got; legally what counts is who decides if a law will be enforced or not. We lost equality under the law a long time ago to our political class. Ask the head of the IRS about his boss.

I note that a Brit paper says that the infamous Teleprompter was used at tonight’s TV Press Conference, while I have heard that supposedly it wasn’t according to US sources. Given the nature of the media, absent other independent sources, I have to give foreigners the most credibility. As in all the other press conferences he has had, the reporters who were to be allowed to ask questions were notified in advance and their seating changed; at least according to DRUDGE. This time, however, it seems that the questions were not pre-screened as usual, because there was a question about the amount of trust the American people could have in ‘Teh One’. Someone’s editor is going to receive a phone call.

Anyone want to start a pool as to when we get a full fledged Ministry of Information? Keep in mind that Tyranny is moving far faster than we expected. Just in the last 24 hours Obama has asked for authority to confiscate any business in the country [and by extension, any property], the bill to establish a government controlled political movement has progressed, and now we see the first steps in bringing the politically loyal media to the government trough. Been a busy day in a busy few weeks.

On one of the other threads, a commenter gave us a list of violations of our rights that have occurred in just those few weeks. That list grows by the day.

If we ever succeed in becoming a country under the Constitution and laws again, it is going to be after a long fight that is not going to be without casualties and martyrs on the patriot side. If we succeed, do we pat Hussein Pasha and his minions on the head and tell them to be good boys and girls from now on, or do we take steps to make sure that they cannot do it again?

Somebody, on another thread, said something about “rope burns all around”. When this is over, if we survive, we are going to have to bring a whole lot of people to account. The Left, and the political class as a whole, believes themselves to be immune from any consequences to their actions. Some reality needs to be introduced into their equations. Not show trials like they want to do for the Bush administration for prosecuting the war they voted for, and signing the national security bills they passed. Real trials, based on real charges. Violations of the Constitution [bills of attainder anyone? Ex Post Facto?] Bribery and sale of government favors [before, during, and after the Intergenerational Theft Bill was passed]; there are plenty of charges and more keep coming. We have the votes and signatures on the laws. A guilty verdict would be based on their own specific actions. I note that I am far from being opposed to capital punishment.

If the political system has been broken, another cannot be put in place without cleaning up the mess and putting safeguards so that the same people cannot do the same thing again.

Subotai Bahadur

Mar 24, 2009 - 9:42 pm 18. Unsk:

Starling, to echo Subotai- the ban on endorsement of candidates and other partisan acts only apply to Repubs and conservatives. PBS of course has been unbiased all these years and has never done anything non-partisan! Not!

Leo- Just like the Sierra Club, Greenpeace and other so called non partisan non profits, millions of people will donate, just not the Soros of the world. In fact, it’s probably a much more profitable business model. There are many ways to make a profit at a non-profit.

Mar 24, 2009 - 10:19 pm 19. blert:

SB…

He was on the teleprompter…

LCD style…

http://baracksteleprompter.blogspot.com/

Check out the posts and the back-posts…

You’ll see a picture of it.

Mar 24, 2009 - 11:15 pm 20. wildernesscalling:

The big picture here is this is a back door operation for the big newspaper companies to get in on government hand outs, this is the typical MO of liberal operations! Let me give the quick and dirty on it. Send a bill thru congress, one that is aimed at the constituency heart, keeping the neighbor employed, why even the first amendment lovers should support this! claiming it would never be used for the big ugly corporations (i.e. insert whatever organization you want), why even the wording of the bill says it can’t go there, yo, bill passes and next thing you know the “Big Ugly Corporation” has their very big Ugly Lawyers screaming discrimination and whola you are now giving the lion share of the monies to the big ugly corporation, that my friends was and is the aim of this bill, to support the liberal propaganda machines! and the supporters weather in on the scam from the beginning or duped idiots can then point the finger at our justices system (i.e. supreme court) which by the way the elitist who push these things thru know that there is nothing the (little, ignorant, (i.e. red state) peasants) people can do, Supreme Court judges don’t get elected so they are insulated from the public fury which also keeps the fury of the elitist who sit back and chuckle at how easy it is to toy with the serfs of this country.

Mar 25, 2009 - 3:11 am 21. RWE:

I understand that both the Seattle Post Intelligencer and US News and World Report will stop publishing Dead Tree editions and go to on-line only.

Does this mean that they have to start wearing Pajamas to work?

Mar 25, 2009 - 4:49 am 22. always right:

#3 Herb
Is there nothing the govt cant do?

Is there anything the govt can do BETTER than if there is competition from private sector?

Mar 25, 2009 - 5:04 am 23. Doug:

Confiscate Profits and Wages, Stifle Productivity.

Mar 25, 2009 - 5:09 am 24. always right:

#10 Starling
Somehow I find it hard to believe newspapers want their partisanship scrutinized.

The exemption will be written into the provision of said bill.

They want the money to run the propaganda machines, but fairness doctrine won’t apply. In fact, opposition views will be mocked and attacked first, then gradually only govt sanctioned view point will be allowed.

Mar 25, 2009 - 5:09 am 25. Doug:

(also, intimidate the populace)
—
Media Realism
How the GOP should handle increasingly biased journalists
EDWARD W. GILLESPIE

Over the past few months, a steady stream of journalists from mainstream-media outlets — at least eight, led by Time Washington-bureau chief Jay Carney — have abandoned journalism for positions in the Obama administration or with congressional Democrats. Fortunately for them, the difficult transition from objective reporting to ardent advocacy of a party’s agenda was made easier by the head start they got in last year’s campaign. Though there have long been concerns about liberal bias in the media, 2008 was the year the referees took off their striped shirts and donned a team’s jersey.

As a conservative who has worked with reporters for 25 years and generally enjoyed friendly relations with them, it’s a dispiriting change — one to which Republicans must adapt, and soon. Despite witnessing the media’s evolution firsthand, I was slow coming to this conclusion.

Mar 25, 2009 - 5:10 am 26. geoffgo:

Subotai@17

Nicely put, as we’ve come to expect. I doubt the print media can offer anything but “exclusive” information, as the network gets smarter and competitively-honed and entirely ubiquitous. Speed, reach and relevancy – three competitive advantages of the net – whereafter ink-on-paper delivery has no hope.

That progress will eventually suck-in most of your potential revenue producing sources; eg, grocery coupons, which will automatically be found on the Web according to what you’ve bought before and loaded onto your cell-phone, rebated when you pass the checkout. Aside: about 15 years ago I worked with digital couponage. WiFi instore changes the playing field. If you have a coupon for $1 from Coffee A, then Coffee B can offer you $2 to switch. Oh the marketing battles to come!

As for ration cards, public notices, et al, information of that sort becomes essential and/or evidentiary and/or taxed. Microsoft’s Findem Version 8.1.45 English.

What’s an investor/producer in the US to do? Go short on scissor stocks? Invest in re-cycled paper birdcage liners? Is that last redundant? Or, go long on chainsaw-makers because as you suggest, government propaganda comes with mandatory subscription?

Mar 25, 2009 - 5:44 am 27. Stones Cry Out - If they keep silent… » Things Heard: e60v3:

[...] Money for blogging? [...]

Mar 25, 2009 - 6:07 am 28. Belmont Club » Can bloggers apply? « live.exofire.net:

[...] View original here:

Mar 25, 2009 - 6:23 am 29. Herb:

Ill answer my own question:

The only thing a government does well is to kill people and break things, but if and only if it has unlimited funds with which to do it.

This is Herb’s First Law of Government.

Reagan’s Law:

If you want less of something, tax it. If you want more, subsidize it.

These two laws explain everything.

Mar 25, 2009 - 6:23 am 30. geoffgo:

Subotai

That was me suggesting that hemp-based “friction burns” will be necessarily applied by the winning side to the losing side. And, that the haulers’ hands often suffered similarly from the effort.

The resolve issue for me, is not so much in gearing up to win; but rather in having done so, how we unwind what they have wrought, and outlaw the Left from ever again participating in our political system. If that’s unsettled, we dilute our call.

Course I’m hoping to be one of those wearing gloves. However, since it’s clear we rebels will face long prison stays at a minimum should we fail, then we must get intellectually prepared to honor justice, leaving mercy at home, if we win. Harsh trials. Things get very black and white.

So if we win, then what? As we roar into this economic destruction, doesn’t the “what” get intensified? Doesn’t the measurement of “damages” increasingly apply?

I’m convinced that our winning requires US to wound, if not cripple our fundamental cause; at least for decades. And, I fear too few will have heart enough for the winning, with even fewer the resolve to implement the measures necessary in the aftermath. “Join US, we’re gonna hang’em all” is hardly the rallying cry I want to be shouting. Nevertheless….

How can either outcome end in anything but a single party system – Comrades or Patriots?
Some guidance from the smarter heads here would be sincerely appreciated. Typing while reloading…cellphone turned off.

Mar 25, 2009 - 6:36 am 31. Ernie G:

Starling:

If they become 501 3(c) non-profits then certain restrictions will apply concerning endorsement of candidates and other clearly partisan acts, restrictions which if violated result in the loss of non-profit status.

NPR doesn’t seem to have a problem with that.

Mar 25, 2009 - 7:19 am 32. geoffgo:

Wretchard,

Your writing, commentary and content is my favorite read. Since the beginning you’ve provided me unique insights, clear assessments and oftimes prudent advice on a growing list of grievences against freedom, among many other interesting topics.

I (I’d suggest all) would throughly enjoy your thinking and reportage on possible solutions. Let’s frame the future outcomes – how it’s gotta be, if we can, while we’re doing it and after we do from now on. We already know the alternative. You attract the essense of the opposition here – US – in this war of just ideas; absent engagement/gunfire for a while still. And past that point, the Belmont Club becomes either an offshore insurgent network command post, or stays a beacon of truth. Besides, BC (or PJM for that matter) won’t be on the list of gov’t susidized news sources, either way it goes. Help us get our principles aligned. Thanks in advance.

Mar 25, 2009 - 7:38 am 33. In the Industry:

10, 18, and 31

Restrictions will apply but even those restrictions are restricted. Any 501(c)(3) can promote an agenda as long as it is not explicitly partisan or supporting/opposing specific candidates. This allows wide latitude for an NPR not to call for the defeat of pro-surge Congressmen but instead to do a zillion documentaries on the one soldier who came back a paraplegic and opposed the surge even if there are a dozen soldiers from his division with similar injuries who are proud of their service and will explain to anyone in earshot why their sacrifice was necessary and right.

Even this has limits, so propaganda that is obviously inflammatory could result in scrutiny and loss of exemption (meaning left-wing OK, left-wing hothead, not OK).

On the other hand, the same benefits and restrictions are available to conservatives too and to outlets who look for information neglected by MSM and the left (sponsoring Bill Roggio, Michael Yon, Michael Totten etc).

I have a little different question. Is this enough to save newspapers? Even 501c3s are in market competition. Please donate to my charity before theirs. While they will have the benefit of getting foundation grants and not paying taxes on core income, how many newspapers will still be able to cover operating expenses. Remember, for businesses, unlike people, it is net income that is taxed, not gross. So the newspapers that are failing having been losing money for a long time and presumably paid little to no tax.

A few newspapers may be reincarnated as 501c3s, but there is still a fundamental restructuring of the industry that cannot be stopped.

Mar 25, 2009 - 7:47 am 34. Subotai Bahadur:

#30 geoffgo

Thanks, I could not remember which thread I had seen that on. I’m writing and commenting too much of late, perhaps.

The threads of comment here in response to the daily flood of constitutional atrocities that has become our norm in the last couple of months [has it only been that long?] are marking a second dawning realization, for me and perhaps others. The first was in the immediate aftermath of January 20. It soon became apparent that we had lost our final tenuous grip on a system of Constitutional government. The law no longer is what is on the statute books, applied with some semblance of even-handedness by the Executive and Judicial branches. The law now is the whim of those more politically connected than the general public. It does not have to have any consistency or relation to the past at all.

By avocation and some small training, I dabble in being a historian and a political scientist. By nature, I tend to be a bloody-minded realist. What secular faith I hold is to the Constitution and the Oath. As was discussed in another thread, there was a period of depression when it became plain that the former is no longer the central point of our polity. And all that remains is the Oath.

The last few days; with bills of attainder being passed, with the creation of the core of a government subsidized core of a Democratic Party political movement to indoctrinate those they can and oppress those they can’t, the demands for the right of the Almighty State to confiscate any business [and by extension any property] that participates in the economy on a whim, and the fact that it is carried out openly and arrogantly by a government and lapdog press that feels that it can totally ignore both the people and the Constitution …. it reinforces the belief that the old system is now dead and that we are in the situation I have described elsewhere after the breakdown of a political system acceptable to all. That is the second cause for a feeling of depression; compressed and concentrated in a shorter time span.

There is no automatic reversion to a Constitutional system of government if this lot of Collectivist dictators is removed from power. For they are not willing to submit their desire for power to the limits of this or any Constitution. If toppled from power, they will use any means to regain it and revenge themselves. In the unlikely event that they allow themselves to be removed by electoral means, they will redouble their efforts and make sure not to make that mistake again.

We are now in the interval. The interval between the collapse of the old system of government and before a final settlement on a new one. In that period, we are in the state where brute force is the final determinant of power, not law. It is just beginning now, but it is irreversible.

Those in power now, those referred to on another thread in twobyfour’s mock divorce decree as American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists , Marxists and Obama supporters, et al are not restricted by either law or internal ethics. They have already been willing to try to unleash government sponsored mobs on the families of “class enemies”. We already have seen government subsidized agents going door-to-door asking for pledges of loyalty to “Obama and his Program”. There is no doubt that they were writing down those who would not sign.

Those in power now are the heirs of collectivist dictators throughout modern history. And in common with them is the belief that the only way to deal with opposition, disagreement, or even apathy; is to kill off all of those whose devotion to the State is not absolute. They become the scapegoat for all that is going wrong; be they Jews in National Socialist Germany, Kulaks and various Left or Right “Deviationists” in Russia as they “built Socialism”, or “professionals, the educated, and urban dwellers” in Cambodia. The ideological mentor of Hussein Pasha spoken lightly of the necessity of killing off 10% of the population of the United States.

There can be no doubt that in that interval, if they can, they will try to eliminate all opposition to the new Socialist paradise, by the traditional means of collectivists everywhere. That is the future. Conversely, those of us who consider themselves Patriots will have to try to do the same to them to survive. At the end of the interval, before a new political settlement and framework can be arranged; no matter which side wins, there will have to be an accounting that leaves the losing side totally incapable of rising up again.

“Rope burns all around”. No matter who wins. We can glimpse the future if Obama prevails, merely by looking at the history of similar movements. Although there is no guarantee, I would hope that at the end of the interval, much of the Constitution would re-emerge in a new form if Patriots survive. But I know that the ends of such conflicts frequently do not match the original goals.

It has been a busy few days. I have been internalizing much that I knew intellectually, and the process is not pleasant. And incidentally, since for years I have been woolgathering on line, I am sure that some database has my name on it for thinking counter-revolutionary thoughts. Too late to change now. All that remains is the Oath.

I realize that these thoughts are … disturbing to most who do not want to contemplate such a future. And I wonder if I am alone in coming to such conclusions.

Subotai Bahadur

Mar 25, 2009 - 8:27 am 35. Subotai Bahadur:

RE: #34

Sorry about the typos and fumble-tongues. Not enough coffee yet.

Subotai Bahadur

Mar 25, 2009 - 8:35 am 36. Storm-Rider:

Subotai Bahadur, you are not alone in your thinking. We are in the middle of a Marxist Revolution in the United States; and it is a counter-revolution against the American Revolution. Our American Revolution is the only revolution in human history which limits the power of federal government (Constitution); and which thereby secures our God-given human equality before the law, and God-given human rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness – including our right to property creatively attained (Declaration).

Marxist revolutions work in reverse order of our Declaration of Independence. In order to gain total control the Marxist State must first infringe upon property rights (pursuit of happiness), then liberty (especially freedom of speech); and finally, as is usually necessary, life it’s self.

I believe we are entering a struggle for our sacred human rights; a struggle from which our founding fathers did not shrink; and defense of our sacred human rights is casus belli. Never forget that our Declaration of Independence is an eternal declaration of just war against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.

“Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.” George Washington

“If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” George Washington

“Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.” Thomas Jefferson

“A nation ceases to be republican…when the will of the majority ceases to be the law.” Thomas Jefferson

“Where the law of the majority ceases to be acknowledged, there government ends; the law of the strongest takes its place, and life and property are his who can take them.” Thomas Jefferson

“Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories.” Thomas Jefferson

“When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.” Thomas Jefferson

“Law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual.” Thomas Jefferson

“I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” Thomas Jefferson

“The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first.” Thomas Jefferson

“This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or exercise their revolutionary right to overthrow it.” Abraham Lincoln

“We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.” Abraham Lincoln

Mar 25, 2009 - 9:28 am 37. always right:

Subotai Bahadur
…government subsidized agents going door-to-door asking for pledges of loyalty to “Obama and his Program”…

We’ve heard about the Project ??? (I forgot the name). But there is no evidence that there actually are teams of youths going door to door in the neighborhoods yet. Have we heard it did happen?

Mar 25, 2009 - 9:30 am 38. Captain Ramen:

The Obsolete Man. One of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes. Most poignant part of the show starts at ~4:15.

Mar 25, 2009 - 10:52 am 39. Subotai Bahadur:

#37 always right

Their first effort was last weekend. In the main, they stuck to heavily Democratic/black areas; but “Organizing for America” is an ongoing effort. I find it interesting that one of the leaders in Birmingham, Alabama made this statement to the press:

“We’re looking for supporters,” said DeHaven of Hoover, one of the event’s organizers. “We’re not looking for a fight. That will come later, when we have an army.”

Re-read the last two sentences.

I believe the appropriate response comes from musket drill: “Load, in nine times, LOAD!”

[there are 9 separate motions in the old army regulations for loading a muzzle-loading long arm.

Article at:

http://www.al.com/birminghamnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/1237709752152800.xml&coll=2

Pity they did not hit rural areas this time. I know of more that a few who were preparing a special welcome.

Subotai Bahadur

Mar 25, 2009 - 11:29 am 40. Quig:

@37 always right

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2009/03/obamas_grassroo.html

Mar 25, 2009 - 11:36 am 41. always right:

Thanks, #39, &40.

Mar 25, 2009 - 11:38 am 42. always right:

I just googled the ‘obama budget support door to door’, in return, there are more than 8 million hits.

/hit own forehead, I should’ve done this first

The first few pages are from all 50 states. The rest must have been the rest of the 7 of the 57 states…

After they get all them names/addresses/signatures, what next?

Mar 25, 2009 - 11:50 am 43. buddy larsen:

getting this bunch armed is the reason for the admin’s otherwise-inexplicaple departure from the “living breathing Constitution” to become strict-constructionist on the Second Amendment?

Mar 25, 2009 - 6:46 pm 44. Marcus Aurelius:

I don’t see how it can be any worse. As it is right now, it is as if the press is paid off.

Mar 25, 2009 - 6:59 pm 45. buddy larsen:

Not all of the press –just a board member or two who has approval over an HR manager or two. That’s the level that often received a Mercedes of appreciation from Saddam.

Mar 25, 2009 - 7:04 pm 46. Storm-Rider:

American Marxists (Intellectuals, Journalists, Democratic Party leaders, and the non-productive proletariat) are organizing themselves for class struggle – a struggle to take and “redistribute” the property of the American middle class. They will first use unjust (unconstitutional) government taxation and other monetary powers; but unopposed, they will out of necessity, resort to tyranny in the end – Marxist police state methods.

“The proletariat will use its political supremacy to wrest, by degree, all capital from the bourgeoisie, to centralize all instruments of production in the hands of the state… Of course, in the beginning, this cannot be effected except by means of despotic inroads on the rights of property” Karl Marx

“You must, therefore, confess that by “individual” you mean no other person than the bourgeois, than the middle-class owner of property. This person must, indeed, be swept out of the way, and made impossible.” Karl Marx

“The history of all previous societies has been the history of class struggles.” Karl Marx

Mar 25, 2009 - 7:30 pm 47. buddy larsen:

In this country, whatever conditions there may be for class struggle, are conditions that the marxists themselves have created. We had a nice country here, all the upward mobility there could be, within the constraints of economic growth. it’s a damn shame this bacillus has gotten loose inside us. We need to inoculate & fumigate.

Mar 26, 2009 - 12:52 am 48. Gaffe Prices:

Once it was, “If it moves, -tax it. If it stops moving, -subsidize it. If it starts moving again, -regulate it.

Now adays its: “If it is in (any) trouble, -pretend its in real bad trouble (Great Depression), then -pretend its dead, or near death. If enough people -fall for it (Specter, Collins, Snowe), then go on to pretend to -resurrect it.”

Mar 26, 2009 - 12:07 pm

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