Interesting Diatribe on Politics & Fear

If you go back to the clinton administration, you'll find that everything was a "crisis" that needed gov't intervention. It's been their stock in trade ever since I can remember, so when they whine now about the politics of fear, it rings very hollow.
 
i was paying less attention during the Clinton years, but i don't remember ever having apocalyptic rhetoric waved at me with anything close to the regularity or severity we have today. no examples really come to mind that compare to what's happening in the last few years, can you give examples of what you have in mind? i was in undergrad at the time, but i generally remember the news climate as being almost boringly good

maybe i just wasn't paying enough attention. were kosovo or the uss cole presented as threatening to americans in any way?

regardless these tactics are far from unique to this admin, i'll give you that. it's been the MO of leaders throughout history to use fear to push personal agendas
 
Quote from Avid_Consumer:

i was paying less attention during the Clinton years, but i don't remember ever having apocalyptic rhetoric waved at me with anything close to the regularity or severity we have today. no examples really come to mind that compare to what's happening in the last few years, can you give examples of what you have in mind? i was in undergrad at the time, but i generally remember the news climate as being almost boringly good

maybe i just wasn't paying enough attention. were kosovo or the uss cole presented as threatening to americans in any way?

regardless these tactics are far from unique to this admin, i'll give you that. it's been the MO of leaders throughout history to use fear to push personal agendas
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Gotta love this.

" I wasn't paying attention during the Clinton years, so my only frame of reference is the Bush tenure, and his is the worst as far as I can remember."

Listened to Nancy Pelosis, Al Gore, Kennedy, Kerry, Dean lately???
Never have I heard a more shrill-hysterical bunch of chcken-littles.
And I have been paying attention.
 
lol

check your use of quotes man, that's not what i said. i was paying "less" attention. imo that's actually an even better measure of how fear mongering hits common people. whatever it was, it didn't reach me then but find me average people now who aren't affected by all the threatening rhetoric

i didn't come on here to make a partisan statement. both "sides" use fear. happy?
 
Quote from Avid_Consumer:

lol

check your use of quotes man, that's not what i said. i was paying "less" attention. imo that's actually an even better measure of how fear mongering hits common people. whatever it was, it didn't reach me then but find me average people now who aren't affected by all the threatening rhetoric

i didn't come on here to make a partisan statement. both "sides" use fear. happy?
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Sorry about my curtness. You are more reasonable than the typical bomb-throwing leftist lunatic. Too much coffee this morning I think.

in the 50's school-children had regular duck and cover drills. "Crawl under you desk children, and hide from the nuclear bombs ...."

"fear-mongering" .... good god, there is enough to go around. Al Gore is a hell of alot more guilty than Bush.

I think there is a justifiable hightened sense of awareness. Regardless of what fairy-tales the left believes, there are plenty of people fanatasizing about NYC going up in a mushroom-cloud.
 
sure no prob at all. just looking for some objectivity on the current climate.

in all fairness though as long as we're talking about fantasies, which side has basically institutionalized the rapture for mass consumption? i don't see how gore's attempt to deal specifically and constructively with a real issue compares to the vague and mythological expressions of demise that seem to come more from the right
 
Quote from Avid_Consumer:

sure no prob at all. just looking for some objectivity on the current climate.

in all fairness though as long as we're talking about fantasies, which side has basically institutionalized the rapture for mass consumption? i don't see how gore's attempt to deal specifically and constructively with a real issue compares to the vague and mythological expressions of demise that seem to come more from the right
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I don't have statistics to back this up, but I'd give good odds that the percentage of people that actually believe in the "rapture" is very small. Less than 10%. Again, no evidence, but I'd bet more people believe we are regularly abducted by aliens. Not all people of faith are fundementalist nutcases.

Gore's latest adventure is more about him regaining the spotlight than addressing globabl warming. Many of his movie's facts are in dispute, and he lives quite an extravagant life-style. He is akin to the preacher showing up for mass in his cadillac collecting donations for the poor.

I watched a discovery documentaty last night, filled with "experts" discussing the upcoming ice-age.

Warning americans of terrorist groups which have already been identified who are intent on blowing up US cities and planes is hardly comparable to claiming a "scientific consensus" that the planet is about to drown and it's all due to us bastard humans.

Obviously I'm biased. I'd very much like the left to regain it's senses because un unfettered Right does scare me...
 
Quote from neophyte321:

I don't have statistics to back this up, but I'd give good odds that the percentage of people that actually believe in the "rapture" is very small. Less than 10%. Again, no evidence, but I'd bet more people believe we are regularly abducted by aliens. Not all people of faith are fundementalist nutcases.

Gore's latest adventure is more about him regaining the spotlight than addressing globabl warming. Many of his movie's facts are in dispute, and he lives quite an extravagant life-style. He is akin to the preacher showing up for mass in his cadillac collecting donations for the poor.

I watched a discovery documentaty last night, filled with "experts" discussing the upcoming ice-age.

Warning americans of terrorist groups which have already been identified who are intent on blowing up US cities and planes is hardly comparable to claiming a "scientific consensus" that the planet is about to drown and it's all due to us bastard humans.

Obviously I'm biased. I'd very much like the left to regain it's senses because un unfettered Right does scare me...
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People who believe in the rapture are not trying to promote laws that cause everyone to adhere, like the promoters of the global warming fantasy. This is more than a small difference.

By the way, people of faith who are not "fundamentalist nutjobs" are not really people of faith at all. It may give some a warm and fuzzy feeling to say they are, but what is their faith in? If they can decide for themselves what truth is, then that means everyone is a person of faith, doesn't it?
 
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