Was it always this bad in America and we just didn't hear about it or care about it? Football icons covering up the rapes of 10- and 12-year-old boys. Mayors, senators and congressman using insider knowledge to feather their own nests. Lobbyists not only pushing for legislation but even writing legislation. Public service unions more interested in wages and pensions than serving the public. Military officers from generals on down lying and covering up atrocities and mistakes. Company CEOs and other top officers awarding themselves tens and hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses. Banks who lie to their stockholders over and over again. Our Department of Justice not enforcing the federal illegal alien laws that have been on the books for generations. Homeland Security selling guns to the Mexican drug cartels that kill American Border Patrol agents. A First Lady who all of a sudden, before the 2012 election, remembered the sacrifices of our military families. A President who flies to different cities three to four days out of every single week. A President who's pre-election motto is to "lead from behind," don't do anything that you can be held accountable for. Our roads and bridges are crumbling, our power grid is inadequate to handle solar power. Even our churches have become "temples of greed" not "temples of worship." We used to revere our pastors, rabbis, preachers and priests. Now we won't even let our children be alone with them.
What has happened to our Great Nation? What changed?
Leon Ceniceros
Mesa
Rich posted at 7:48 am on Wed, Dec 7, 2011.
"What has happened to our Great Nation? What changed?"
a) They are getting caught more often.
b) The public is disregarding them more often.
c) They are borrowing more money than ever.
d) The misdirection from their theft is obscured by spin doctors.
Dale Whiting posted at 11:38 am on Wed, Dec 7, 2011.
Nice points, Rich.
But more direct to Leon's question, Yes and No. "Yes," it has been this bad. But "No," we weren't as aware of it as we are now. The news cycle and competition to get the story first, even to exagerate it or create it [Murdock], did not used to exist. Remember the press core kept JFK's affair with Marolyn Monroe hush hush. No such luck for Clinton! What percentage of Americans knew that FDR was wheel chair bound?
And Rich's point "c" could have addressed money more broadly. Political Action Committees and Citizen's United make it possible to not only buy influence but also to buy discretion.
So, yes, it has been this bad, occasionally worse, but no we did not know that it was.
chatmandu002 posted at 1:09 pm on Wed, Dec 7, 2011.
It will get worse if we let it.
chatmandu002 posted at 1:11 pm on Wed, Dec 7, 2011.
Then again what's good, bad or worse for you may not be good, bad or worse for me.
gc coyote posted at 1:38 pm on Wed, Dec 7, 2011.
Yes, it has always been this bad. With the internet, Facebook, Youtube and camera phones not much gets missed.
Leon, in1870 you could have shot a man in Tombstone, ridden to Prescott and told them your name was Buck.
It would have been weeks, months or never that they even heard of the shooting.
Today you could get into an altercation in the parking lot at Basha's and it could be on Youtube before you get home.
As for your first statement about football icons. There is only one that I know of in the last month. If you are stating it as fact you are wrong as of today, if opinion you are ill-informed. Can you name the 3 people who where charged with anything?
truth posted at 4:06 pm on Wed, Dec 7, 2011.
You forgot when the U.S. crawled in bed with China and slave labor some how became ok. When health care for profit became more important than peoples lives.. When Hustler maganize offered one millions dollars to anyone who could prove a politician had a affair and and many Republicans confessed to a love child or affairs, one being Newt Gingrich who cheated on his first two wives, or is their more? When lobbyist control government and corporations can donate any amount of money to a politician behind closed doors.
Cerulean posted at 7:12 pm on Wed, Dec 7, 2011.
Nice points, truth.
Yes, occasionally it has been many times worse.
“Railroad men traveled to Washington and to state capitals armed with money, shares of stock, free railroad passes. Between 1850 and 1857 they got 25 million acres of public land, free of charge, and millions of dollars in bonds – loans – from the state legislatures. In Wisconsin in 1856, the LaCrosse and Milwaukee Railroad got a million acres free by distributing about $900,000 in stocks and bonds to fifty nine assemblymen, thirteen senators, and the governor. Two years later the railroad was bankrupt and the bonds were worthless.” (The Peoples History of the U.S. by H. Zinn ppg220)
Lobbyist and corporations still control our politicians. They don’t even need to close the door.
Rational Human posted at 10:31 am on Thu, Dec 8, 2011.
Good points Leon. Truth is that anti God liberals are slowing creeping into power in America. Not atheist mind you, but people who are actively pursuing a Godless agenda. They have an ant hill agenda, where we are all equal slaves to a Godless dictatorship. Equality of the masses really means equality of the slaves.
Poorman posted at 11:52 am on Thu, Dec 8, 2011.
AW! shucks,lets blame it all on Obama,most eveyone says he has caused all the problems,might as well dump this on too.
Cerulean posted at 12:02 pm on Thu, Dec 8, 2011.
Or put another way, as read from another online blog,
“How have we sunk so far, so fast when a Presidential Candidate for a major political party says they want children to work as janitors in schools and they are now the front runner? “
That’s right, Newt Gingrich recently stated that children should take jobs at schools as janitors. Of course, this would only be for the ‘really poor children’ because THEY ‘have no habit of working’. Never mind that these children rise every morning, dress and ready themselves for an attempt to get an education.
Yes, I do wonder what has happened to this rich and sometimes arrogant Nation.
http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/TheAZLiberal/150149
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/01/9146400-gingrich-wont-back-off-support-for-relaxed-child-labor-laws
Rich posted at 8:07 pm on Thu, Dec 8, 2011.
"AW! shucks,lets blame it all on Obama,most eveyone says he has caused all the problems,might as well dump this on too."
It probably isn't his fault. But he had his shot to fix it, and didn't. Time to give some else a shot who might. I rather doubt that our system can produce someone who can, but changing them for the same reason we change diapers at least gives us a shot.