Is U.S. Now On Slippery Slope To Tyranny? President Reagan's address to the 43d Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, New York . September 26, 1988. "Mr. Secretary-General, there are new hopes for Cambodia, a nation whose freedom and independence we seek just as avidly as we sought the freedom and independence of Afghanistan. We urge the rapid removal of all Vietnamese troops ...." By THOMAS SOWELL Posted 06:13 PM ET When Adolf Hitler was building up the Nazi movement in the 1920s, leading up to his taking power in the 1930s, he deliberately sought to activate people who did not normally pay much attention to politics.
Such people were a valuable addition to his political base, since they were particularly susceptible to Hitler's rhetoric and had far less basis for questioning his assumptions or his conclusions. "Useful idiots" was the term supposedly coined by V.I. Lenin to describe similarly unthinking supporters of his dictatorship in the Soviet Union. Put differently, a democracy needs informed citizens if it is to thrive, or ultimately even survive. In our times, American democracy is being dismantled, piece by piece, before our very eyes by the current administration in Washington, and few people seem to be concerned about it. The president's poll numbers are going down because increasing numbers of people disagree with particular policies of his, but the damage being done to the fundamental structure of this nation goes far beyond particular counterproductive policies. Just where in the Constitution of the United States does it say that a president has the authority to extract vast sums of money from a private enterprise and distribute it as he sees fit to whomever he deems worthy of compensation? Nowhere. OBAMA & Rahm Emanuel IN 18 MONTHS , HAVE SUCCESSFULLY LED AMERICA TO THIS DISASTER. AMERICA WAKE UP AND FIGHT BACK. LOOK TO THIS REPORT . Emanuel links fall elections to GOP support of BP Jun 20 09:18 AM US/Eastern (AP) - President Barack Obama's chief of staff is warning about what might happen if Republicans—who have defended BP over the Gulf oil spill—were to run Congress after the fall election. Rahm Emanuel says the GOP philosophy is to paint BP as the victim. He says Obama will make clear to voters the fundamental differences in how each party would govern. Emanuel tells ABC's "This Week" it would be "dangerous" if the GOP held power in Washington. He says GOP lawmakers and candidates are attacking the administration for demanding that BP set up a $20 billion compensation fund. Last week, Rep. Joe Barton apologized to BP for what he called a White House "shakedown." The Texas Republican later stepped back from those remarks. Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Barack OBAMA vs Thomas sowell Tuesday, June 15, 2010 Oil and Snake Oil The big oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is bad enough in itself. But politics can make anything worse. . Just what is Obama going to do in his shirt sleeves, except impress the gullible? He might as well have shown up in a tuxedo with white tie, for all the difference it makes. This government is not about governing. It is about creating an impression. That worked on the campaign trail in 2008, but it is a disaster in the White House, where rhetoric is no substitute for reality. If the Obama administration was for real, and trying to help get the oil spill contained as soon as possible, the last thing its Attorney General would be doing is threatening a lawsuit. A lawsuit is not going to stop the oil, and creating a distraction can only make people at BP start directing their attention toward covering themselves, instead of covering the oil well. If and when the Attorney General finds that BP did something illegal, that will be time enough to start a lawsuit. But making a public announcement at this time accomplishes absolutely nothing substantive. It is just more political grandstanding. This is not about oil. This is about snake oil. _________________________________________________________________ The New Busy think 9 to 5 is a cute idea. Combine multiple calendars with Hotmail. http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?tile=multicalendar&ocid=PID28326::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:042010_5 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Cambodia Discussion (CAMDISC) - www.cambodia.org" group. This is an unmoderated forum. Please refrain from using foul language. Thank you for your understanding. Peace among us and in Cambodia. To post to this group, send email to camdisc@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to camdisc-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/camdisc Learn more - http://www.cambodia.org