Playing for Keeps
by Joseph C. PhillipsI was an innocent – not pure as the driven snow, but certainly unwise as to the level of the stakes at which we were playing. I entered the debate believing it would be an intellectual exercise; we would joust with each other and after it was all over shake hands and exit with mutual respect. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Mutual respect? The black panelists on my side of the question were called uncle toms, the white member was accused of seeking to repeal the civil rights act. Honesty? No lie was too large to tell; statistics were made up, facts were created to suit the argument. And there would be no shaking of hands at the conclusion of the debate, in fact barely a graceful word was spoken. It was in that moment I realized the left not only disagreed with me; they hated me. I was not only wrong; I was evil. That slap in the face knocked the rose colored glasses from my eyes and I am now seeing clearly: we are in the midst of a cultural and ideological war and while Conservatives concern themselves with civility and rules, progressives are playing for keeps.
It is a continuing fascination for me that conservatives are constantly depicted as wearing Jackboots and engaging in intimidation, violence and general thuggery. However, current events suggest that more often it is the new left that is wearing jack boots and not the right.
For instance who was doing the goose-stepping when radio host Rush Limbaugh was booted from an investment group trying to buy the NFL franchise St. Louis Rams? The new left lied and slandered Limbaugh with the aim of denying him an economic opportunity. Denying a man opportunity because we don’t like what he believes, what he says or what he looks like is (or should be) anathema to a free society. Shame on Dave Checketts and Roger Goodell for giving in to cheap intimidation and ideological bigotry! By their cowardice we are all diminished.
Many on the left disagree and are no doubt satisfied at the outcome. But for whom does the bell toll next? Who else’s opinions will be objectionable? What makes a football team any different from any other business that employs people? Should anyone with unpopular beliefs be barred from owning, say, a Burger King franchise? Should we then also check ideological credentials at the gates of certain neighborhoods? The doors to our schools?
The left often dons the coat of righteous indignation because it tends to give one an air of civility. They are not, however, above some good old fashioned name calling or back alley beat-downs.
Recall the response of Dennis Rivera, health care chairman of the Service Employees International Union, (SEIU) – as well as a master of irony — following the arrest of two of his esteemed members for allegedly pummeling a conservative protester senseless. Rivera denounced conservative “terrorist tactics” aimed at derailing the debate on health care reform. Terrorists tactics are now defined as peaceful protest.
Rivera is not the only one with a rather elastic definition of terrorism; Rosabeth Moss Kanter a professor at Harvard business school writing in Politico justifies the depiction of tea partiers, conservatives and health care reform protesters as racist buffoons because they are enemies of America. Kanter writes: “President [Barack] Obama is marginalizing not just his enemies but those of the American people. He is attacking organizations standing in the way of progress toward reforming health care or cleaning up the conditions that led to the financial crisis. He is putting on notice advocates of greed – instead of the greater good – that they no longer have public legitimacy.”
Yes you read it correctly. America’s enemies are not Islamist, North Korean demagogues, or even Maoists and admitted communists working at the highest levels of our government. Rather they are American citizens that disagree with this president and other new liberals on the degree to which government should interfere and control our economic and cultural institutions. No doubt they had better keep their opinions to themselves lest they be greeted with some of what Rush got.
I have been working on a collection of thoughts by Americans on their love of America. After agreeing to participate a comedian friend of mine reneged. He joked that he didn’t want to be dragged from his car and beaten for having his name appear in a conservative book. Two things struck me as peculiar: first that loving ones country and writing about it is a “conservative” activity (not my belief but apparently his), and that he would joke of his concern that the liberal thought police would find him and give him a beat him for stepping out of line.
As my mother used to say, “Many a truth is said in jest.”
Obviously my friend had discarded his rose colored glasses long ago.
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112 Comments
Such is the sad state of affairs. The tolerant liberals are the least tolerant of all unless you believe in thier form of tolerance. Freedom of Speech a cherished liberal ideal only applies if the speech you engage in conforms to liberal ideologies if it does not it is hate speech. This is the tyranny of the modern left. The real trouble is that the liberals cannot see it. They have bought thier own deffinitions of tolerance and free speech and are blind to thier own hypocrisy. This is exactly how every dictator has come to power, the population willingly supports the loss of thier own freedoms. I am not saying that President Obama wants or desires anything of the sort but the conditions are identical. First you have to demonize a segment of your own citizenry and that has been accomplished.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Big Hollywood and Fernando Colon, s maniscalco. s maniscalco said: RT @bighollywood: Playing for Keeps http://bit.ly/10XCpa [...]
Excellent column. I have often wondered how on earth conservatives got the Nazi label when it's been the left that has engaged in intimidation, fraud and violence especially in recent years.
But you are right, they play for keeps, about time we did too. BTW, YOU need to run for office Mr. Philips. A bright mind like yours shouldn't be on the sidelines in this struggle.
I gave up playing nice years ago.
Thanks. You get it. Too few do. It was my mixed blessing to grow up on the Left and to see this personally decades ago. It never changes. These people have no interest even in co-existence with you and me. When I hear Newt Gingrich say he's mingling with the Left so he can have "a seat at the table" I laugh, but feel a sad frustration.
Nazis are labeled right wing because the left has changed the definition of "right" and "left."
They do that a lot.
Left is now defined as what ever modern liberals like, and everything else, is labeled right.
Same thing with racist. A racist is no longer some one who prejudges people based upon their race. It's now anyone who disagrees with a modern liberal.
I use the term modern liberal to differentiate between true classical liberals, like Madison, Washington, Adams and Jefferson. They do not deserve to be lumped into the current incarnation who have stolen that ideology.
Mr. Phillips, welcome to the real world of modern liberalism.
My current mission is to use this forum, Big Hollywood, to educate conservatives as to just what they are up against with the modern liberal, left wing hate machine.
Trust me, I know, I used to be on the inside of that thing. I've been free from the for several years now, and will do everything I can to help expose them for what they are.
Welcome to the real world!
PS. If you have any questions about their thinking, just let me know, I know this game better than they do. They were afraid of me.
Talk to Juan Williams a decent man of the Left who was just told on The O'Reilly Factor by that swine Warren Ballentine, to Go back on the Porch. In effect calling Mr. Williams a Porch Monkey. Your complexion is not your protection if you don't tow the ideological Leftist line. Can't we all just get along…I Don't Think So. They've made it that way. Keep Punching Brother . Your a Good Man.
Scary. Isn't it? It makes me fear for my country, and especially for the continuance of freedom and individualism.
That's the real issue. People on the left don't see the rest of the world as their possible enemies, they see them as sheep to be groomed.
No, they're enemy is any American who does not agree with them. To them, you are either with them or against them, and if you're against them, then all bets are off, everything is fair, and if they get the chance, they'll knee-cap you.
Same here. I'll be civil right up until they raise their voice. Volume does not equal intelligence. After that I pull no punches…
It's no longer a "public option"; now it's a "competitive option".
Maybe you should have a column. I need better barbs than just pointing them out to be the racists that they are. They don't seem to care that they're racists anymore. (They're racist for 'the greater good', so it's OK to them I guess.)
The fatal flaw to their logic is you cannot "tolerate" intolerance.
It is no different with radical Islam, or modern leftists. They both are guilty of drinking too much of their own Kool-aide and now believe their stuff does not stink. They empower themselves with the belief there is "NO WAY their thoughts could be wrong" and therefore all of the rest of us are simply to be swept aside, marginalized, shouted down, or blown to bits with no guilt on their parts. If they are 100% right, we must be 100% wrong.
If we don't start fighting all of these ideological battles "all in" we will be destroyed.
The left has a Robert MacNamara "soft war" approach at best to the outside world but plays realpolitik at home. The right plays realpolitik internationally but like Robert MacNamara at home. That's because they foolishly wish to venerate and emulate William F. Buckley, who fought at home like McNamara fought abroad. They lose and lose and lose and they never learn because Buckley is their idea of the ultimate Conservative. It is possible in Buckley's era he had no other way to play it, I don't know, I wasn't there. But it's a loser at home and Phillips is the first person here that seems to get it. Unless we start getting out the blowtorch and pliers we're going to lose our inheritance. We have to fight to win.
IMPORTANT: Beck is UNDER fire on Twitter, please pass this link along. These idiots are taking Becks comments about Hitler out of context.
Here is a twitter link to the full context video
http://myfreepress.net/2189
…And so it goes with another example of the dichotomy between left and right. We think of them as naive, wrong, sometimes stupid; they think of us as evil.
I agree with you in concept. The real difficulty lies in the paradox that fighting this particular type of blindness has great danger of blinding ourselves. We cannot use the same methods or we become what the left has accused us of being in the first place. Somehow we must find a way to shine the light of truth and show them who they have become. I am afraid sometimes not so much from the left but from the exact predictable response. If we fall into that trap we have let them control us and that I will not do.
Mr. Joseph C. Phillips,
You sir are an excellent writer. Thank you for this post. I enjoyed it so much I clicked on you to see your other posts, and discovered I've been reading you for some time and simply did not know it was you specifically.
I promise to pay better attention and to seek out your words for my edification.
Thank you, and keep fighting the good fight.
David
Justification for genocide and mass murder in the modern era always begins with the claim that some group is an impediment to progress. In the 19th century in the Americas (North, South and Central) the progressively minded elitists saw the non-European peoples as obstructing progress and fit to be moved off their land or in many cases (see the history of Argentina) outright exterminated. Hitler, Stalin and Mao committed their mass murders because they saw certain groups as impeding the progress towards their visions of Utopia. The nasty rhetoric of the left is nothing new and is to be expected. But when they shamelessly and openly name their political opponents as enemies of the state and to progress, then we have entered dangerous new territory.
I'm curious, I see that liberals often change their minds and come around to the conservative POV. Since you were in the middle of the liberal world, did it happen the other way around?
I'm with you DW and H_S. Nice gets interpreted into weak . Let them have it with both barrels as long as you know what your talking about.
I have always been frustrated that conservatives will dismiss liberals as "well meaning but simply mistaken". I hope this column sheds more light on the real motivation of the left (as if we need any more evidence). The left will do anything it takes to 1) destroy their perceived enemies, and 2) destroy the American system – that is, capitalism and anything that goes with it, including our freedom. They are totalitarians of the worst kind. I will grudgingly admit that there are a few reasonable liberals remaining, but very few. Most of them are under attack from the left as well.
I have a lot of time on my hands, having retired back in 1999 with my service connected injuries and now collecting my VA bennies for those injuries.
During that time, I have listened to thousands and thousands of conservative talk radio while tooling around the house.
Prager, Medved, Hewitt and many other thoughtful smart, (smarter than me I dare say), well spoken and calm folks. (I hadn’t listened to Rush since the mid 90’s. I think it had to do with the fact that he was constantly sticking up for the Republican Party what ever they did stupid.)
However, since way before the last election, these wonderful intelligent speakers have been telling us to, “dialog” and “try to convince the opposition with facts and logic” to “reason with them” to “convince them that we are right”.
They’re just not MAD enough for me.
I’ve learned in my 60 years that there is “NO reasoning with the unreasonable”.
There are NO facts or logic considered with liars and the intellectually illogical.
And you can’t “convince” anyone when their “mind is made up and don’t want to be confused with the facts”.
And mostly, they really, really hate us and they just don’t want to hear from you. They'd rather see you rounded up and carted off for "reeducation" for getting in the way of "reform" or their “progress”.
Mark Levin, Rush and “crazy uncle” Glenn are my guys now.
I just yell at my radio right along with them over all of this Obambi BS.
Keeps me frosty.
Not over.
Your link to the full Haggis letter is broken or at least doesn't work. The error message is that "access to the server is forbidden," and there is also a "403 error."
While I was totally immersed (caused by location – NY, family, friends, etc.) I never completely bought in. But I did thoroughly love idea of completely destroying debate opponents with insults for the sheer joy of watching their spirits crushed. I'm sorry for that now, and want to atone.
I used to view politics as hobby, like bird watching. That all changed on 9/11. It became deadly real. My daughter was 8 years old at the time, and I realized there was no way in hell I could stop these monsters from killing her, or her mother, or me (my primary concern there was my daughter growing up with out a father, not for myself).
And when I tried to have serious conversations and debates about these serious issues, I was mocked and ridiculed for not toting the party line. I didn't really leave the left. They left me. I still want the same things, peace on earth, good will towards men, but I realized welfare, wealth distribution, and forcing people to do things against their will, is not the way to accomplish anything but tyranny.
I cringe a little when I have to define the difference between classical liberal and the modern statist "liberal" And when people argue the founders were liberals (especially Madison and Jefferson) and thus akin to today's "liberals", I can point to the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions to demonstrate the difference, but it is like beating my head against a wall. It just doesn't get through. The statists have stolen the term, liberal. We are truly in a war of information. And we need to take the term back.
"After agreeing to participate a comedian friend of mine reneged. He joked that he didn’t want to be dragged from his car and beaten for having his name appear in a conservative book."
Hi Joseph,
When they drag you out of your car I'll be right there with you taking a pounding and giving all I have back.
P.S. You might consider redefining your criteria for what does and doesn't constitute a real friend.
If my opinion is asked for I will give it with no hesitation. If that starts the name calling, then I can give better than I get. If it starts out with in-your-face BS, then it's time to have some fun.
they started this war. We can finish it for them.
When LBJ was asked why he was pushing the Civil Rights agenda so vociferously, he didn't say it was the right thing to do. He didn't look the dixiecrats in the eye and say, "because racism and segregation is flawed at its very core" he said "because I'll have those niggers voting democrat for the next 60 years." Even now the rewrite of history is that Lincoln was gay, and he was the first real Democrat since Jefferson. Our founding fathers were just a bunch of white slave owners that didn't care about blacks, yet Washington knew it was a necessary evil to keep the fragile Union together to defeat the British. He had hoped the injustice would have been rectified long before the Civil war, yet every President between, Democrats mostly, found no need, and the Republicans found no spine. It is one of the blood stains on our history. But ask yourself, who are the real racists. Who has benefited the most from destroying the black family, and actually kept the "black man" down. I say look to the inner cities, controlled by Democrats for generations, and you'll see the truth more clear than ever before.
There are fewer and fewer people who care who or what you shine the light on, however. Is the media going to cover it besides Fox News? Remember the "not a real news station" comments by the devil himself Rahm Emanuel? Or the Propagandist in Chief David Axelrod? Do you see all of the pogress with the ACORN thing? I don't. They keep collecting funding and not a thing is said in Congress. They are no longer our servants, they are our masters, or close to it. They pass massively unpopular legislaton time and again, thinking "The protestors don't know what is good for them". We are rushing head-long into a Marxist form of government and it scares me. With third party options neutered in government, I am seeing fwer and fewer palces to turn.
The Lefties have gotten smarter. Leftist totalitarianism once had to arrive via the barrel of a gun. Now it comes following a ballot. Chavez, Mugabe, Putin, the Honduran now on the lam, the Kirchners — all were elected. Once in office, then they start moving against the free press, nationalizing businesses and banks and … DAMN.
You're absolutely correct. We are in a war on information, specifically, definition of terms in the English language. That's the point I'm trying to drive home here at BH.
By seizing the authority (from exactly who?) to define terms, issues, and such, what they are really doing is seizing the authority to define the premises and the rules of the debate. That's one of the left's major tricks. When they get to set the rules, they win, because they can make the rules anything they want.
The current health care fiasco is a perfect example. The left has declared there is a crisis, they have declared insurance companies the culprit, they have declared the only way to combat the issue is to have the federal government crush them through a so called public option.
Now what they are ready, willing and able to debate is how you can't see that those are carved in stone truths.
That's how you beat them. Refuse to accept their myths as facts, tell them so, tell them exactly why you refuse them, and then give them the real facts.
Of course, at they point they just call you a racist, declare victory and march off to have a mental orgasm over how cool they are. Picture the smirk on Michael Moore's face.
And We Will Brother. We Will.
The irony is that I think just about everyone wants the same basic things, whether you are liberal or conservative, but the devil is truly in the details. Our views on how to arrive at those goals are about 180% in opposition.
1 GooDDaaDDy you should listen to Michael Savage once in awhile . He'll help you with your vocalize and keep you ice-capped.
I understood this the day a complete stranger called me evil for simply admitting to being Christian. I've been called evil many times since because I'll say what I think and damn the consequences.
Wait, I thought we were the intolerant ones blinded by religious zealotry? Is the difference that liberalism isn't an "official" religion?
It should be, they sure have enough "non-profits" working their side of the street. And they beat out real religious people for "belief over reason" long ago.
Vote all the bums out is the only hope I see. It can only work if more than a committed minority does it. If we can make that one thing possible most of our problems will self correct. That is why any time I can I say just vote them all out. There can be no keeping just the good ones. All of them must go in order for the message to be clearly sent to Washington. It needs to be repeated for twenty or so years until this mess is a distant memory.
Yep. They see salvation comes through control of society, via the state.
I'm not trying to interject religion into this in any way, I'm just relaying my own experience.
My wife bought me a book for Christmas a couple of years ago, I think it was called The History of God, but what it was, was a history of various past societies, and how their definition of the term "God" affected their fates.
There was a huge revolution in religious thinking that last about 800 years. It includes the reformation of Judaism, and the birth of Christianity and Islam.
The point the author was making was religion kind of moved from salvation of the tribe, clan, nation etc., to the salvation of the individual.
It's almost like the modern liberals are still stuck in salvation of the tribe.
I think after 9/11 happened, politics got real for a great many people. I also think that a great many people have reverted back pre- 9/11 days.
Your average progessive is 1) a red diaper baby taught over the course of a lifetime that conservatives and others who disagree with the left have cloven hooves for feet and barbed tails, 2) an outer-directed blank slate overly influenced by rhetoric at school, pop culture, peers, etc., or 3) or someone who's really ticked off at a family member/hometown/church for somehow doing that person wrong. Very few people come to leftist thought out of logic or analysis, if any at all. When your ideology is driven by a grudge or a long-held prejudice with a hefty serving of self-righteousness, you're not exactly going to be fair to "the other side."
I listened to Savage when he was just a local guy at KSFO in the first days of his broadcast career back in the early 90's. I even gave him a call a few times.
I want to know more about how to stop this Bambi juggernaut taking over our country than what Savage had to eat at one of the diners he frequented last night.
Listening to Savage sometimes makes me just want to cut my throat with a dull butter knife.
Yet, he has his moments of clarity.
Not Over.
The un-civil war has begun, and as you say, for the left there are no rules. You've got it exactly right, and we (true conservatives) are with you, because we believe in freedom, our Constitution, the rule of law and fair play. We don't care what the color of your skin is. Along with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. we care about the content of your character, something the entitlement community has completely forgotten about – or maybe they haven't forgotten about it, it's just that their characters are so lacking they could not stand the light of day.
I agree with your statement, Williams is a decent man of the left. Very rare these days.
He says what he thinks, and I disagree, and I know he'd disagree with me, and that's where it ends.
I'm not sure how much longer the left will put up with him. Can't have people pointing out they are hypocrites.
I think Buckley made some great accomplishments, but I certainly wouldn't lionize him. He was part of the group that helped push the racists out of the right wing. He also started the National Review which brought the libertarian streak of conservative out of the closet and into the main stream. And he was on the team that convinced Goldwater to run for President.
Goldwater never stood a chance, and that's the only reason he ran, he knew America would re-elect Johnson as a tribute to JFK. It gave, what was then, a minority political ideology main stream attention. In that, the succeeded. Reagan's proof.
What my opinion what this side needs to do to fight against the left, is first off, stop letting them make the rules. Secondly, figure out early on who can be reasonable – and there fore reasoned with – and then ignore the rest, because its a waste of time.
nobody saw this coming? throughout the campaign a decent number of their supporters verbally, and occasionally physically, assaulted anyone pro-McCain, not to mention all the vandalism towards those who had signs on their property. Yet I have to admit that I felt positive after the election seeing how happy the pro-Obama supporters were, to me it was a bit electrifying. Where to start with the disappointment? poor plans, poor decisions, gaffe after gaffe, it is too much, too easy, and it seems to happen daily! Where are those same supporters, the everyday Americans who voted for him? My guess is that you are too ashamed to show your disappointment. There is no longer a need for blind support, your man won, so start ASKING QUESTIONS!!!
A few years back Juan Williams wrote a book called Enough. A book about the under-mining of Black America due to Bogus leaders and the failures of the Black Culture and the necessity for self -examination. The Left went after him hammer & tongs. They really worked him over. So EdSki I agree with you . I don't know how long they'll be able to put up with each other. There's room over here on the right for a man of his caliber. Nothing like a Liberal that's seen the light . Look at David Horowitz. Be well.
something for the Red Left Goon Squads to think about: If the so-called "conservatives" even alleged "extremists" (and remember this is a relative word, depending on one's definition of "normal") were even a portion as violent and dangerous as they make us out to be then …
Why are they still alive and breathing, the better to bother us?
The Red Left should seriously ponder the ramifications to themselves should they succeed in provoking the "right" (whatever that is) into violent reprisal. Methinks they would be destroyed rather brutally, but I could be wrong about that.
Why are conservatives called "Nazis"? A good and common question. First a historical review, then the obvious connections:
During the Second World War, recall the principal ally to the US and UK was — yes it's true — the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The Soviets were led by a Bolshevik successor to Lenin, one Josef Stalin, a thug of hte first order and participant in the early Bolshevik revolutions, and one who murdered his Menshevik comrades.
The Soviets consequently had considerable access to the highest governmental levels of America and Britain both. Our wartime propaganda took enormous "cues" from the Soviets, for whom propaganda was high art and science both.
Years after the war, thousands of actual Soviets and unknown thousands of their ideological "fellow travellers" remained in Washington and London both, not to mention our elite institutions. You might recall one US Senator who had the audacity to complain about all these left-over but still very effective Soviet agents infesting our government and institutions: Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin. The actions of one Senator Richard Nixon in exposing Alger Hiss as one such spy did not help…
So why are conservatives "nazis"? Because in the addled, extremely reduced and yet 'never forgive, never forget" mind of a Bolshevik, the seminal event of WWII was the Battle of Stalingrad. The glorious forces of the Soviet proletariat were of course engaged in life-or-death struggle with — YOU GUESSED IT! — the Nazis.
So there you have it. Conservatives are Nazis only because they are the enemy of the Revolution and all enemies are naturally Nazis in the same way we think of all things weak and wussy as "French".
QED.
And by the way: all those Soviet/Boslhevik spies and influence operative McCarthy suffered to expose are still there. In many cases, so too are their children and now grandchildren. In fact, some occupy the White House.
Remember 1776!
Excellent article. What this nation needs, imao, is a Black Conservative magazine with contributors such as Joseph Phillips, Michael Steele, Condoleeza Rice, Clarence Thomas, etc.
I hear what your saying. But when he's on point and focused. He's insightful and clear as a bell in what he's saying. As for the Obamao juggernaut . It's going the way of the Yamato. Wait and see. Take Care Brother.
To Americans
In the days since President Obama has taken office, there has been a library worth of dissent and accolades written about him and the Democrats take over of the Government. Most well written and insightful from many views that cover Americans perception of what this Nation represents. And while much of what has been written and said is true to some extent, a fundamental truth is America is now in the hands of the drug loving, anti American Hippies of the 60’s. The same group who rioted in our schools, and streets. The very ones who felt a need to spit on American Service men and women returning from overseas, and the same ones who vandalize our flag, and monuments to past heroes. Well now they have they have grow wrinkled and fat, turned in their tie dyed uniforms of protest, slipped into pin stripped suites of the very institute they hate. And with devastating efficiency systematically tearing down all they view as evil or threatening within America. It has taken over forty years for them to infiltrate and corrupt our schools, places of worship, courts, media, and government. That in a free society that allows dissent. If anyone thinks the damage these cretins have inflicted to our Nation can be undone in 2010 or 2012 think, again we already have a view of how these control freaks will attack and marginalize those who do not share their dream of larger government and control of the wealth. Dissent will not be tolerated. Right now, the biggest target on their list is the media, and free speech. Laws already in place by Tarp and the Stimulus allow them to direct salaries, and company policies. The Health Care Bill will allow for tax fines for not purchasing health insurance. Eventually we will see taxes and or insurance requirements for owning a weapon. These will be used as a means to control gun ownership in America. This is coming; Chicago is a prim example of this tactic, and the political home of this President and the socialist cadre that he has surrounded himself with.
The old saying of bringing a knife to gunfight applies to a lot of republicans and conservatives. They think the other side could not possbily be as vile, corrupt, or as insane as they appear to be.
All you have to start doing is listening to what they say and believe it, they are deadly serious.
Good Daddy: congratulations on overcoming a very effective Leftist technique: beating us with our own clubs, in this case "fair play" and "reason". Never forget the Devil "reasoned" with Eve at the garden…
The way to defeat them is … well, as a retired US Marine, you know better than most Americans what will be required to defeat these traitors and saboteurs. No one in the Respectable Conservative Movement will dare speak it but it should be rather obvious at this point that the game of US politics has been rigged for many generations, now at the national level as much as any corrupt city machine.
How does one retake a government designed for a people no long in abundance, let alone in majority? Our constitution was designed for lovers of liberty, not peasants and serfs content to be led! All the "education" and "dialog" in the world cannot implant the love of liberty and freedom into a born follower. Moreover, thanks to modern transportation and electronic communications, we are no longer geographically concentrated and our political power is dispersed and ineffective against the masses of Americans who are content to be led and fleeced.
Do we retreat? Regroup in a more congenial locality? Is that even possible with no remaining unoccupied land available? Do we fight? Who will join us? Do we acquiesce and accept our lot – that Our Royal Masters Want the Serfs Back and possibly negotiate for the best deal possible????
I don't know Good Daddy… but our choices become more limited by the day. Soon, there will be no one left in this country that remembers the old concepts of Freedom and Ordered Liberty. But htere will be tens of millions who know nothing but an omnipotent state.
Hello there, I have been reading you as well but did not know it!
Great article and my heart is so heavy these days. The sheer ugliness and truly jackboot mentality is so upsetting.
I now speak up, where before I just ignored insults and rude comments about conservatives. I live in the Bay Area, Ca. so of course we are the home of Nancy Pelosi and Gavin Newsome so it is pretty whacked here.
We all have to start speaking up and standing up now. Where we are heading is horrible. I agree with you, if you love your country right now, liberals call you a right wing nut. So sad.
Absolutely. If the people of this country can come together on one thing, it is their want of a government that will actually listen to the people who foot the bill for it all.
"These people have no interest even in co-existence with you and me."
No wonder they identify with Palestinians: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091026/ap_on_re_mi_e...
"Israel has controlled the compound since capturing east Jerusalem in 1967 and insists it will retain it forever, though it has left day-to-day administration to a Muslim clerical body… The unrest erupted after Muslim leaders urged followers to protect Islamic holy sites from alleged Israeli plots to damage them or let Jews pray in the compound, where only Muslims are allowed to worship."
I have my ups and downs with Savage too. At times his rants are great, but he keeps falling back to Bush bashing, and that's when I turn him off. I've heard enough Bush bashing through Pravada media over the past eight years, and after all he is no longer POTUS.
The biggest racists are progressives. They judge people by their skin color/ethnic group/political affiliation. I still cannot understand why so many blacks in this country do not see who keeps them on the ideologival plantation today. The KKK was a Democrat organization. Planned Parenthood was founded by a racist who wanted to reduce the number of blacks in this country. Jim Crow was a political tool of the Democrat Party to keep blacks out of the political arena. Desegregation was opposed by the Democrat Party to keep blacks in their separate place. The black man who said to judge people by the content of their character, NOT the color of their skin, was a Republican. So many lies are taught to children in schools by the Gramscian wh*res who have taken up residence that until that changes, until we reward excellence and not give trophies for trying, this Nation will continue to deteriorate.
We are living in very scary times. Every conservative I know feels the same way. We see our beliefs marginalized and made fun of. We see our intelligence put into doubt by people who believe that, if we REALLY HAD A BRAIN, we would be liberal. During WWII the enemy was real and on the other side of the oceans. But liberals believe that we as conservatives are the enemy, and they are using everything they can think of to destroy us. The sad fact is that they are destroying America in the process. But I think they know that.
I disgarded my rose colored glasses long ago too. I'm sorry you had to come to this realization yourself, but it's true. This dichotomy between Left and Right has become all out war. To the winner goes the prize of our country, and liberty itself.
Welcome to the battle.
By the way, Mr. Phillips. You are a man of great courage. Everyone who reads your columns recognizes that you and other black men and women have paid a higher price for freedom of speech and for the freedom for all conservatives to believe as we do. Besides that, you work in the entertainment industry where conservative thought is villified irrespective of the race, sex, or ethnicity of the conservative. So it is tougher for you even than it is for the rest of us. That makes us appreciate your voice all the more.
I wonder how long until the left deem conservatives in need of re-education?
America's greatest enemy is obama and his followers and the repubs still dont have this figured out
Prissy Republicans concerned more with civility than winning really tick me off. Every day it seems like one of these intelletual lite-weights lectures us conservatives on the virtue of losing gracefully. We are in a fight to the death here and our way of life is at stake. Mr. Obama and his evil minions are playing their end game and we are worried about being miss manners. Joe Wilson was right. How can anyone be offended by what he said when Mr. Obama spent most of his speech calling those who opposed him liars? It is time that we played some hardball and racked some heads together.
It seems to me that sometimes conservatives regard liberal intolerance the same way Comrade Obama and other Dems are treating terrorists. Sometimes instead of avoiding the bullies, you need to kick 'em in the groin.
I, too, have friends (artist friends) who are afraid to speak up for fear of the new "jack-booted" thugs coming after them. I now have "former" friends because they drank the Kool-ade and will no longer associate with a freedom loving Constitutional American. Freedom is at stake and the mafia style Chicago knee-capping Marxists in our government are doing one helluva job shutting freedom down. I'm all for voting all of them out…including Rinos, but not sure we can do this in time to save the Republic. The thugs can do a lot of damage and have already. Like a fast growing monster, the lying Alinsky left is consuming America now with big bites at a time. The debts will be so high that we will never get out from under it.
Thankful for Fox and all of those who are speaking out. I sure am missing Joe McCarthy ( who was proved to be correct in most all of his assertions of Communism in our country). But we have half a country who is too stupid to listen. Young people who have no clue how dangerous this government has become. We have to keep encouraging people to speak up and to not be afraid. Keep up the good work! And God Bless Rush and Glenn Beck and those who stand with them for truth.
Man, that was well said.
I concur
God bless you, Joseph C. Phillips, and God bless black conservatives. No braver people exist in America. The psychological abuse Democrats will hurl at you is nothing short of grotesque. The hatred they will heap on you comes in limitless supply, and you already know you won't have any media defenders. May God grant you the patience, the wisdom and the strength to withstand their venom.
May I ask a favor of black conservatives? The next time one of these jackasses is assailing you as an "Uncle Tom", could you kindly ask them why they've spent their entire lives supporting the same Democrat Party which tore our nation in two and went to WAR in defense of slavery? Do these jackasses know that the Ku Klux Klan was founded exclusively by Democrats? Do they know that the KKK targeted newly freed blacks and Republicans alike?
They are not and never have been well meaning. They have an inner psychological imbalance which feeds not only their need to be right but to have you admit they are right and for all opposing opinion to cease and desist. They are scavengers of misinformation. Bottom feeders on facts. Hypocrites on ethics and morality. Selfish to the nth degree, and naively believe that what they will wrought by legislation, mandate and the obfuscation of the bought and paid for MSM, will not apply to them. They cackle in unison when they feel that there is a voice in opposition. They are dry drunks, exhibit alcoholic behavior and parade around like true drama queens. They may have been well meaning forty years ago, but like a bottle of wine with a faulty cork, the longer it sits fermenting the more rancid and sulphorous it becomes.
[...] See more here: Playing for Keeps [...]
They can't see whats happening. They have their head up their ass.
If they ever get enough power. How many times in recent years have you heard various leftist intellectuals pronounce conservatives to be mentally ill? Soviets used that diagnosis to publicly justify many arrests, detentions and long term imprisonments, for the purpose of rehabilitation. It is important to understand the language they use; it reveals their views and goals. Accounting for cultural differences, the Nazis and communists in Russia, the Eastern Bloc, China, etc. all used similar language when referring to their opponents.
He isn't your friend. Waking up is lonely. That is why it is rarely done. I think these guys gave drugs and took up hate.
I agree and disagree. I know (and am related to) several lefties, and they really DO mean well. They honestly think the way of the left is going to help people. Sadly, it's because they've been dooped by the real bad guys- the left leadership. The folks I know don't understand history, facts or logic, they just put blind trust in the party and feel they're making a difference. That to me is the real evil of these lefties, they deceive their own kind the most.
"…our choices become more limited by the day. Soon, there will be no one left in this country that remembers the old concepts of Freedom and Ordered Liberty…"
I know of two my brother…they go by the names of “Chance and Hunter”, (my young boys), one is 12 yrs. old and the other just 9.
Both taught since birth, (by me), to love and respect their country, honor our American traditions, treat ALL of our citizens of ALL backgrounds equally, how to shoot the “wings off a fly” with an AR-15 at 100 yards, (in the rain.)
And, most importantly, I’ve told them, “If you ever turn into a commie loving libtard, don’t ring my door bell in the future”.
All is not lost…there will be a few “patriots” still left to keep the balance of power alive in out future never fear.
I’ll cut and paste your comment to put in a safe place on my HD to use at a later time. Thanks.
Not Over.
Yeah, I finally got home so I could comment. You know, those big bro gov computers at my school and all. Last year during the whirlwind campaign of O, I experienced the tyranny of my 6th grade experience with Anne Frank where no one could be trusted. My fellow conservative teachers and I were talking in whispers. I am brave, but frightened about our future.
Leftists and Islamofascists are naturally allies in that both want to dismantle western civilization and build a new civilization in its place. While they disagree dramatically on their vision of the new society, they both agree that western civilization is the enemy and must be destroyed before they can create their utopia – whether it is the progressive statist society or the rule of the caliph. Therefore, conservatives – those who wanted to perserve western civilization – are the common enemy and must be defeated at all costs. That is why Mr. Obama (as someone else pointed out) is easier on the terrorists and other foreign dangers than he is on his conservative opponents. It is also why conservatives have to fight as if civilization as we knew it depends upon us – because it does.
I could not agree more.
You indeed have a big challenge being in the Bay Area, but, it is everywhere. I love in a Southern town, red overall, but, my neighborhood is very blue. I was physically threatened last summer when I had the gall to wear my Palin t-shirt to the grocery. I stood my ground, and would have taken a beat-down for my beliefs. Please stay strong.
Only your callow youth excuses you.
WFB was conservative when there were on other conservatives ANYWHERE. I found his characteristic verbosity a bit tedious, but that was his rebuttal to the MSM stereotype of the Conservative knuckle-dragger. Don't speak ill of a pioneer who wasn't afraid to take the arrows.
Buckley railed against the Rockefeller RINOs influence on the party, and was one of the major inspirations of Ronald Reagan.
You are otherwise correct in your observations re: Dem ruthlessness on the home front/weeniness abroad, and the GOP vice versa. The national Republican leadership needs to learn to play hardball.
They are not 'Liberals'. Leiberman is a liberal. Once life harshes a lib's buzz, they turn conservative.
These yahoos are committed Communists and Marxists who will lie, cheat, steal and kill your grandma for power.
Talking to dictators only annoys them and gets your a$$ chopped up for dog meat.
Anyone who believes that we could talk common sense into Harry Reid if only we could come up with the correct words, perfect syntax and a merry twinkle in our eyes, is delusional.
The health care debate IS an good example. "Health Care Reform" is a misnomer. Who doesn't want better health care? But that isn't the issue, using that term is a deflection. It is about people having insurance coverage and receiving medical treatment when ill or injured. Health care for most people is a personal responsibility. But by using the term health care reform and focusing on government programs, the responsibility is displaced and government centered. The real question is what is the best way that people can afford medical insurance and encourage patient choice when medical treatment is required? But by shifting the focus to health care, individual responsibility can be displaced, and opposition to government programs can be painted as being uncompassionate.
Of course, people like Olberman can f-ing outright LIE and say Republicans are obstructionists solely for the sake of opposition and have not presented a plan for "health care reform" A quick google search "GOP health care" disproves that, but the lie has been repeated enough times it becomes ingrained in people's perceptions.
Hooyah and Semper Fi. God bless you and your boys and may he show mercy on the people of the United States for we surely are under judgment.
The Spirit of '76
Yep, God Bless black conservatives and southern, christian stay-at-home mothers who homeschool their children! The two most despised groups in America!
Oh, and people who admire Sarah Palin.
Mr. Henry, I love the idea to try and educate the militant members of our society, but as I said elsewhere, they are neither liberals nor democrats, but Marxists and Communists. They know the truth as well as you and I, but it doesn't fit in with their plans. Nor do we, I'm afraid.
BTW: Does anyone realize that Uncle Tom actually sacrificed his life for his fellow slaves by refusing to tell Legree where runaway slaves had gone? That he was beaten for reading his bible?
So, how'd this become an insult?
Well, he is correct though that we must stop viewing our national future through the eyes of D and R. In many ways, politics have been reduced to the NFL season and we root for our teams in exactly the same way. Until we judge each candidate by his actions — and not whose organization backs him — this time, the parties will play us like the Stradivari they have played at our expense since at least FDR's day.
Remember, politics is a career for the politician and the party is his employer in a very real sense. They are in it for their own interests and their own interests only, whether D or R.
We need to cancel the outsourcing of our governance to national political parties!
I second those sentiments.
Pragmatism excuses me. Convince me the John Bircher movement (which was wrong about most stuff but not liberty, socialism, communism) wasn't a better approach than Buckley's elitism. The fact is, we lost this fucking war to a bunch of morons and now we're stuck with revolution. We lost because we didn't play to win. I don't care what Buckley made conservatism seem like to elitist fucktards. I care about results, and in my callow youth I never saw a day that wasn't dominated by the philosophy of people morally and intellectually inferior to most high school students– all I've seen is pussies LOSING. Well there's a new, callow generation in town and it's going to win. You wait and see.
Well I do agree with you and Savage in regards to judging the D's & R's like a sports team, and I enjoy his show when he talks about growing up in the Bronx, or when he talks about his dog and other things not necessarily related to politics. However I just flat out get weary when he goes on an anti-Bush rant. I realize that Bush was far from perfect, and that he expanded gov. too much in some ways & spent a lot in others, I had some issues with him like any POTUS. But he did, or his policies did keep us safe after the 9/11 attacks and I give him and his admin great credit for that.
We're all Americans and I'm most certainly in favor of anything that benefits our country regardless of who has the idea. The Bush rants just force me to turn him off, when it's over I turn him back on, because in the end I am a fan even when I disagree with what he says at times.
How the conservatives got the name for having the jackboots is the same way the Jews got the name for every evil Hitler could think of, by a big lie shouted over and over by the left including the MSM.
Welcome to the real world. Keep your powder dry.
By the way I don't demean you if this is a fresh discovery for you. I'm guessing you'd realized or at least suspected this before, but maybe just had an occasion to write about the stark facts.
Mr. Phillips, you are one of the reasons I visit Big Hollywood everyday.
I think the Nazis became "right wing" mainly because Hitler backstabbed Stalin. Will have to check the socialist propaganda before and after Germany invaded the Soviet Union to be sure.
Yeah, with that sparkling wit and personality, like-minded trolls will flock to you like pigs to sh-t.. Climb up your own fundament and disappear.
Outstanding post Joseph.
I thought it was because American Progressives and European statists adored Mussolini and Hitler because they agreed with most of their economic policies and some of the social policies, especially certain forms of eugenics. But when the bodies were found in the concentration camps and the Holocaust came to light, they backed away from it and claimed that fascism was really a "right wing" political ideology.
But if you understand politics on a spectrum from no control on the far right to 100% control on the far left, you easily see that fascism falls on the side of the left.
Perhaps another reason to call is 'fascists" is because fascists tended to be very nationalistic and also militaristic. But people forget Woodrow Wilson. As for racism, they also forget the Progressives who were very much in love with eugenics ideas and were very racist.
So the Left just twisted the terms around and now you can't get them NOT to parrot it every chance they get. And no matter how many times you point out the truth to them, they just keep repeating the "racist" and "militaristic" and "nationalistic" meme as if that is the only thing that matters. I think the degree of control matters.
Just my 2 cents.
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