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December 17, 2008 at 21:08:45

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Promoted to Headline (H3) on 12/17/08:
An American Tragedy

by Jim Quinn     Page 1 of 4 page(s)

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If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” (Joseph Goebbels)

Truth is the mortal enemy of the lie. This is a profound observation from such an evil man. The definition of truth is being in accordance with fact or reality. The Nazis were masters of using propaganda to manipulate facts and produce the reality that suited their wicked purposes. Other states have attempted to repress dissent and rule by using the Big Lie. The Soviet Union and Communist China come to mind.

Our country was created with a Constitution that attempted to insure tyranny that occurred under British rule could not happen in the United States. Truth and freedom of speech are essential for a Republic to thrive. In the last two decades, facts and reality have been obscured, twisted, manipulated and obfuscated by our government, corporations, investment professionals and media. The Big Lie can be perpetrated by states, corporations, or individuals. The multitude of lies has made Americans increasingly dependent. The State gains more power as citizens become more dependent.

The following quote attributed to Scottish history professor Alexander Tyler in 1787, seems to portray an accurate reflection of what has occurred during our 200+ years of existence as a democracy.

A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.

The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

  1. From bondage to spiritual faith;
  2. From spiritual faith to great courage;
  3. From courage to liberty;
  4. From liberty to abundance;
  5. From abundance to complacency;
  6. From complacency to apathy;
  7. From apathy to dependence;
  8. From dependence back into bondage

These words were written two years before George Washington became our first President. There is so much truth in these words it makes me shudder, especially since we are clearly in stage 7. An honest appraisal of our country’s downward spiral is necessary to begin the process of redemption. We have continually voted ourselves increased benefits, dependent upon the printing presses of the Federal Reserve to sustain our country’s ponzi scheme. We have pawned our future and the bill will eventually come due.

The Great American Republic

My assessment of the chronological sequence our democracy has progressed through, follows.

From bondage to spiritual faith (1760 to 1769)

  • King George III becomes King of England
  • Currency Act, Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Quartering Act, Townshend Act passed by Parliament
  • Sons of Liberty formed by John Adams, Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, John Hancock, Patrick Henry, among others.

From spiritual faith to great courage (1770 to 1783)

  • Boston massacre
  • Samuel Adams organizes the Committees of Correspondence
  • Parliament passes the Tea Act
  • Boston Tea Party
  • The First Continental Congress
  • Battle of Bunker Hill
  • Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense
  • Revolutionary War rages for six years
  • British surrender at Yorktown
  • Treaty of Paris ends Revolutionary War

From courage to liberty (1784 to 1865)

  • Constitutional Convention
  • Constitution ratified by 13 states
  • George Washington elected President
  • Bill of Rights passed
  • Fugitive Slave Act passed
  • Louisiana Purchase
  • Robert Fulton invents steamboat
  • War of 1812
  • Monroe Doctrine
  • President Andrew Jackson battles bankers which leads to the Panic of 1837
  • U.S. Mexican War
  • California gold rush
  • Compromise of 1850
  • Dred Scott Decision
  • Abraham Lincoln elected President
  • Confederate states secede from the Union
  • Emancipation Proclamation
  • Civil War rages for four years
  • Union is restored
  • 13th Amendment abolishes slavery

From liberty to abundance (1866 to 1969)

  • Civil Rights Act of 1866
  • First Trans-Continental Railroad
  • Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone
  • Industrial Revolution
  • General Electric founded
  • Spanish American War
  • U.S. Steel founded
  • Airplane invented
  • Automobile invented
  • Federal Reserve created
  • World War I
  • Great Depression
  • New Deal programs implemented by FDR
  • Golden Gate Bridge completed
  • World War II
  • Holocaust
  • Atomic bomb used to end war with Japan
  • Marshall Plan rebuilds Europe & Japan
  • US emerges from the war as the only great economic power
  • Cold War
  • Korean War
  • Interstate highway system built
  • Civil Rights Movement
  • John F. Kennedy assassinated
  • Vietnam War
  • Great Society programs implemented
  • Civil Rights Act of 1964
  • Martin Luther King assassinated
  • Neil Armstrong walks on the moon

From abundance to complacency (1970 to 1989)

  • Roe vs Wade
  • President Nixon resigns in disgrace
  • Oil embargo
  • Ronald Reagan elected President
  • Military buildup and tax cuts
  • Fall of the Soviet Union

From complacency to apathy (1990 to 2000)

  • Gulf War
  • Bill Clinton elected President
  • Stock market boom
  • Gridlock between Congress & President leads to budget surpluses
  • President Clinton acquitted in impeachment trial

From apathy to dependence (2001 to 2007)

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www.TheBurningPlatform.com

James Quinn is a senior director of strategic planning for a major university. James has held financial positions with a retailer, homebuilder and university in his 22-year career. Those positions included treasurer, controller, and head of (more...)
 

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5 comments


You just need better lies.

You just need better lies and a host of people profiting from them.  People still believe in the Babylonian skygod don't they?

by John Hanks (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1762 comments [39 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Dec 18, 2008 at 2:14:10 PM

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Alexander Tyler

 The warning issued by Alexander Tyler is, of course historically true.

However, the United States was founded as a Republic, not a Democracy.

Tyler's thesis was given a full airing in both the lead up to [Fedralist Papers & Anti-federalist Papers] and during the Constitutional convention.

The nation was lost in 1913 when that fool Wilson was elected and used as a puppet by the International Banking Cartel. The Propaganda machine led by Bernays and Lippman convinced the population that it was America's duty to "Make the world safe for democracy"--it was "pubic relations", "spin", and "propaganda" that created the mob rule of democracy.

by William Whitten (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 4880 comments [1686 recommended, 28 rejected]) on Thursday, Dec 18, 2008 at 2:42:22 PM

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Rationality and morality essential in democracy over Empire

Jim, I am concerned and offended in the use of the term 'cockroaches' in characterizing humans involved in any activity.

While I am a strong advocate of rational thinking and strong measures, including revolution, to overturn empire --- including the 'corporate financial Empire' controlling our country by hiding behind the facade of its two-party, 'Vichy' sham government --- even the battle for democracy over empire is a conflict between men who believe in self-rule and those who favor elite-rule.

fortunately, the weight of history and the vast majority of human and humane belief comes down on the side of socially and economically democratic self-rule; liberty, equality and fraternité, but even the forces of empire are not "cockroaches".

Please be more mindful of your language as revolution against empire must be rational as well as spiritual and should not be misinterpreted  along racial, ethnic, religious or other false lines.

Remember, it is empire which seeks to divide and conquer, while it is the advance of human democracy that seeks to unite.

 

 

 

 

by Alan MacDonald (11 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 131 comments [43 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Thursday, Dec 18, 2008 at 4:11:50 PM

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Reply: THE BIG LIE HAS BEEN EXPOSED

As you can see the ELITES have sped up their agenda, they could have RAPED AMERICA for a lot longer , but the internet has exposed the truth, now they have to take the money and run and leave OBAMA holding the bag. OBAMA THE SMILING PUPPET, AND NOW WE ARE GOING TO GET BOOTS ON THE STREETS, TO KILL THE TRUTH. JIM you are so right, THIS IS AMERICA'S TRAIL OF TEARS.

WHEN THE WHITE MAN FIRST CAME TO THIS LAND, WE HAD THE LAND AND THEY HAD THE BIBLE. THEY TAUGHT US TO PRAY WITH OUR EYES CLOSED WHEN WE OPENED THEM AGAIN, WE HAD THE BIBLE AND THE WHITE MAN HAD THE LAND, 

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME; 

by MARGARET BASET (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 345 comments [45 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Dec 19, 2008 at 1:45:28 AM

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Reply: Magaret You are simply brilliant!

"WHEN THE WHITE MAN FIRST CAME TO THIS LAND, WE HAD THE LAND AND THEY HAD THE BIBLE. THEY TAUGHT US TO PRAY WITH OUR EYES CLOSED WHEN WE OPENED THEM AGAIN, WE HAD THE BIBLE AND THE WHITE MAN HAD THE LAND,"

Absolutely wonderful quote.

by William Whitten (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 4880 comments [1686 recommended, 28 rejected]) on Friday, Dec 19, 2008 at 1:26:49 PM

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