Fear, fear, more fear and some more of...guess what? FEAR

Originally posted by METACOMET
How would you propose to stop this without coercion or force or censorship? That's what I don't get.

How about reinstating the Fairness Doctrine? Would you consider that censorship?

reply to post by intrepid


Yes I do. The fairness doctrine undermines our right to freedom of association.

EDIT TO ADD: I'm sorry if I'm way off topic here but I'm curious. Does the constitution act guarantee Canadians the right of freedom of association. Do you have something similar to the fairness doctrine?

Originally posted by METACOMET
Yes I do. The fairness doctrine undermines our right to freedom of association.

How?

The Fairness Doctrine was a policy of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), introduced in 1949, that required the holders of broadcast licenses both to present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was, in the Commission's view, honest, equitable and balanced.

en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by intrepid


If the FCC demands equal time for opposing views on particular broadcasts, that is not free association. It's pretty self explanatory.

reply to post by METACOMET


So you prefer "fear" to fair and balanced reporting.

I don't see that as any form of censorship. Demanding that the truth be told, not some sort of spin to form an agenda. Btw, what's wrong with the FCC demanding the truth? The gov't itself is using the media to divide people and spread fear.

reply to post by intrepid


Who gets to decide what the truth is?

It's like telling a pastor he cannot give a sermon in his church unless he also gives equal time to every other religion. People are at the church because that is where they want to be...free association. That is where they've decided to associate. If the want to hear about Judaism they can go to a rabbi, If they want to hear about the muslim faith they can go see the imam. Forcing viewpoints on people is against free association.

Originally posted by METACOMET
reply to post by intrepid

 

Who gets to decide what the truth is?

The individual, if they are given all the information, not a spin of it.

Your analogy of religion is off the mark. Religion is based on a persons own beliefs. They have already decided what is what. That is not what the news is about. It's about getting the news because you haven't already made your mind up about an issue.

You know what I fear? People who believe that Obama has actually done anything aside from sign pieces of paper when it's Congress who comes up with the bills, Congress who votes on those bills, and Congress who decides whether something becomes law or not. All Obama does is sign what they give him. (I can't recall him vetoing anything so far.)

reply to post by mnemeth1

Originally posted by mnemeth1
FDR was a fascist Nazi who imprisoned Japanese-Americans for no reason, ordered the US military to kill more civilians than any other president in the history of the world, and totally destroyed any remaining shreds of freedom while prolonging the great depression by a decade due to his insane economic policies.

What does this have to do with the thread?

I'm talking about the modern day. Just because the guy did some bad stuff doesn't mean that he didn't have a point when he made his famous statement about fear.

You're ad homming a guy who isn't even alive to defend himself.

reply to post by METACOMET

Originally posted by METACOMET
reply to post by madnessinmysoul

 

I apologize. I'm just very weary these days of "well meaning people" trying to enforce their pet formula of improvement while ignoring the principle of individual freedom. I was pretty sure that's what you were doing but I can see now that I was wrong about that.

Thank you, it's no problem. If I got a bit too agitated at your misunderstanding, I apologize.

But I do have one question before I let it go.

This needs to stop

How would you propose to stop this without coercion or force or censorship? That's what I don't get.

I propose we spread awareness and hope people realize that fear is something that inhibits progress. It's not a concrete strategy, but I am trying to spread awareness in my own little way.

reply to post by Jenna

Originally posted by Jenna
You know what I fear? People who believe that Obama has actually done anything aside from sign pieces of paper when it's Congress who comes up with the bills, Congress who votes on those bills, and Congress who decides whether something becomes law or not. All Obama does is sign what they give him. (I can't recall him vetoing anything so far.)

Except that he's the one that has full control of military policy (an unfortunate hold over from Bush and Clinton) and he's appointed two Supreme Court Justices and he's done his best to spread the word on certain policies. Aside from his diplomatic efforts and various other attempts.

If you don't believe that modern Presidents have some level of influence upon the legislature and their own parties...well, I've got some news for you.

Originally posted by madnessinmysoul
If you don't believe that modern Presidents have some level of influence upon the legislature and their own parties...well, I've got some news for you.

Influence yes, but presidents aren't the ones who actually pass the laws like some try to give them credit for. Obama didn't pass the health care bill, Congress did. Bush didn't pass the Patriot Act, Congress did. Clinton didn't pass the Defense of Marriage Act, Congress did. Etc., etc. ad infinitum. They can say "Hey, I want legislation on this. Come up with something." But it's Congress who actually comes up with the crap, votes on it, and passes it to the president so he can put his name on it.

reply to post by Jenna


Yes, that's very true. I think the problem is that there's an unfortunate lack of the teachings of civics in schools across the country.

Even where they do, it's not like you have to know that in order to pass. I went to high school in Missouri and we were required to take a test on both the state and federal constitutions. We had to pass those in order to actually graduate, but we didn't have to get better than a D to pass. They could have at least raised the standard to "D with nearly full marks on Articles 1-3 of the Constitution" or something like that.

I do agree that this sort of thing is a problem, but it's nothing to be feared as it's something that can be fixed.

Time for another fear roundup on US Political Madness!

Today we're afraid of:

Obamacare!
Political Candidates!
Obamacare!
Stagnation!
Political Correctness!
The UN and Obama!
Glenn Beck and the Mormons!
Al Sharpton!
Glenn Beck and the Mormons!
Changes in our political system!
Secularism!
Secularism!
Christine O'Donnel's witchy past!
Unemployment!
Corruption!
Obama!
Welfare!
Obama!

That's a basic rundown.

Honestly, it's getting a tiny bit better on here, but there's still too much fear dominating the discourse. Too much anger and immediate reaction rather than thoughtful consideration and weighing of facts and truths

Time for another installment of US Political Madness' favorite emotion: FEAR!

Hm..there seems to be less of it now that the midterms have passed.

Today we have to fear:

Freezing of military pay
Sarah Palin as the Anti-Christ
Airport security touching your junk
Pedophiles
The FDA
Neo-nazis
Sarah Palin and George Soros
Body scanners
Muslim holidays
TSA
TSA
Chertoff