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July 4, 2007 at 07:48:36

American Culture on the 4th of July

by John Carey Page 2 of 2 page(s)

www.opednews.com

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What some liberals do not seem to understand is why there is now such a phenomena as “Conservative Christians.” The answer is pretty simple: some people reject the America we have become and long for the greatness of the America we once were.

Personally, I ignore most of our current culture as the stuff found on the floor of a horse barn. I never did see one episode of “The Sopranos,” I missed entirely “American Idol,” and I was reading American history while others gobbled up “Harry Potter.”

I am not a reactionary and I love America and Americans very deeply but I do not wallow on the barn floor either.

The younger generation can make of America what it will and take what it wants: but there are consequences and there will be more (like when China surpasses the U.S. entirely).
The conservative http://www.spectator.org/ had this to say regarding American culture recently:

“John Wayne reigned as one of Hollywood’s kings for nearly 40 years, and his support of his country’s war efforts — from American settlement of the West to stopping Communism both here and abroad — got him into trouble as the nation’s ideas about patriotism took a sharp turn to the left. …

“[W]hy then is there no John Wayne today? Anyone who surveys the current scene and is old enough to remember the days of the Duke surely knows the answer. The sublime Katharine Hepburn summed it up more eloquently than anyone:

” ‘John Wayne is the hero of the ’30s and ’40s and most of the ’50s. Before the creeps came creeping in. Before — in the ’60s — the hero slid right down into the valley of the weak and the misunderstood. Before the women began dropping any pretense to virginity into the gutter. With a disregard for truth, which is indeed pathetic. And unisex was born. The hair grew long and the pride grew short. And we were off to the anti-hero. John Wayne survived all this.’”

— Lisa Fabrizio, writing on “The Duke of America,” June 27 in the American Spectator Online at http://www.spectator.org/

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http://peace-and-freedom.blogspot.com/

John E. Carey is the former president of International Defense Consultants, Inc.

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4 comments

Rob Kall is executive editor and publisher of OpEdNews.com, President of Futurehealth, Inc, inventor . He is also published regularly on the Huffingtonpost.com and is a columnist with Northstarwriters.com. He is a frequent Speaker on Politics, Impeachment, The art, science and power of story, heroes and the hero's journey, Positive Psychology, Stress, Biofeedback and a wide range of subjects. He is a campaign consultant specializing in tapping the power of stories for issue positioning, stump s...

to see more of bio, click on member name
Rob KallRob Kall is executive editor and publisher of OpEdNews.com, President of Futurehealth, Inc, inventor . He is also published regularly on the Huffingtonpost.com and is a columnist with Northstarwriters.com. He is a frequent Speaker on Politics, Impeachment, The art, science and power of story, heroes and the hero's journey, Positive Psychology, Stress, Biofeedback and a wide range of subjects. He is a campaign consultant specializing in tapping the power of stories for issue positioning, stump s...

to see more of bio, click on member name

ahem...

Nostalgia can blur those views of the past.

-By 1963, movies were no longer silver screen. They were color.

-You're blaming LSD for changing the culture? How about corporations (you know, those companies the right wing loves to support) taking over the media, running the content you compare to what you find on the barn floor. Corporations like GE, Time Warner, Disney-- running networks that spew the stuff you hate. And the right wingers supported consolidation of the media, so local content was subsumed by cheaper networked media homogeneous across America.

-then, about those cars and industries we used to have. Blame both the Dems and Republicans in congress who sold out to the few hundred big, transnational corporations that benefit from globalization at the cost of jobs and industries in the US. Globalization hurts most american industry and jobs. But right wingers are more loyal to globalization, except, perhaps for the the most genuine conservative in the congress, Ron Paul.

Then, let's talk about religion. People have become more educated in the past 45 years-- a lot more college grads, a lot more people learning how to THINK. They don't buy being told HOW to think by their religion. The ones who still buy the barn floor stuff the megachurch preachers dish out are in love with the rapture and the end of the world. That's something to respect or honor?

About Harry Potter-- apparently, you haven't had a kid to read to or take to a movie in the past nine or ten years. It's hard not to encounter Potter, if you're a parent of a kid in that age range, and I've kind of gotten to like Harry, Hermione, Dumbeldore, Snape and friends over the years.

The world changes. Some of it good, some bad. We disagree on some things, but it's good to be able to share civil discourse with you John.

Have a good fourth. I'm off to pick up some propane for the grill. We didn't use propane grills then either.

by Rob Kall (858 articles, 3987 quicklinks, 343 diaries, 1821 comments) on Wednesday, July 4, 2007 at 7:58:46 AM

Retired concerned citizen
walleyRetired concerned citizen

Rob's grill

Forget the propane use charcoal. Big Oil loves all those backyard grills.

by walley (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 108 comments) on Wednesday, July 4, 2007 at 9:50:36 AM

Mark A. Goldman is an activist, author, financial planner and recent unsuccessful Candidate for Congress.
Mark A. GoldmanMark A. Goldman is an activist, author, financial planner and recent unsuccessful Candidate for Congress.

Longing for what once was

What I observe is that there are those "who long for what once was" so much that they are afraid to take responsibility for what is. If you want your house to stay clean and neat, you have to be willing to look for dirt and smudges so that you can clean it up, and you have to look to see where the messes are so you can neated them up. Rather than take responsibility for what has gone awry too many "conservatives" refuse to see anything that disturbes them. And so they hide the truth rather than take responsibiilty for it. So if you point out injustice, they ignore you, accuse you of hating America, and criticise you for being unwilling to look at all the good things. The truth is that without mom on the warpath the house would be a continual mess and without true patriots our institutions would fall into decay and disrepute. And when our so called "conservatives" have been put in charge our institutions and our culture have been dismantled, corrupted and are now very much in decay. They have lead not with the People in mind but with their own greed as their hidden banner. They are not loyal to the Constitution but to their own power. The Constitution lies in tatters because of this.

by Mark A. Goldman (81 articles, 2 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 243 comments) on Wednesday, July 4, 2007 at 10:16:01 AM

teeem, a writer/researcher and activist recently transplanted to the Los Angeles area, is originally from Virginia and spent from 1989 to 2006 living in Upstate South Carolina (where she was able to observe the Religious Right mindset). She loves music, film, writing, art, books, ideas, and animals.
teeemteeem, a writer/researcher and activist recently transplanted to the Los Angeles area, is originally from Virginia and spent from 1989 to 2006 living in Upstate South Carolina (where she was able to observe the Religious Right mindset). She loves music, film, writing, art, books, ideas, and animals.

Errr....

In 1963 the Beatles were still hot ... IN ENGLAND, not the U.S. In the U.S. in 1963 they were unknown. In 1964 in the U.S. they appeared on the Ed Sullivan show and became popular thereafter. Please check your facts before writing.

Also, your theme is very simplistic, using the threadbare conservative mantra that "everything was perfect before the '60s culture took hold." (1963 was only in the '60s chronologically ... otherwise it was still the '50s.)

by teeem (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 41 comments) on Friday, July 6, 2007 at 2:34:39 AM