half of their American fellows weren’t Benedict Arnolds though. Only 33% supported British loyalty, and even they weren’t traitors like Arnold.

So no, the Founding Fathers did not have it worse, since more than 50-70% of Americans are already known traitors to the nation.

Pride is what Lucifer/Satan was said to be guilty of, for rebelling against God and thus falling to evil and the war against free agency/will.

Humans haven’t really changed all that much since Moses.

As for Matt, his prediction on Chavez was pretty spot on, so respect for that one.

Remember the celebrations of how the East European citizens will now have “democracy”?

This is what neo’s article reminds me of.

Democracy is important, but not the be all and end all for Liberty.

Hong Kong, until 1997, had NO elections, but was one of the freest places on earth, and, inside a generation or two, zoomed to one of the top level economies in the world, all without natural resources, only people.

I see in Trump and Clinton (and Obama before her) two sides of the same coin. If it comes to an election between the two, then it won’t be much of a choice at all. Chaos vs Corruption (or is that Chaos and Corruption vs Corruption).

In the end, too many people seem to be willing to trade their freedom bit by bit for very little benefit (2008 it was the “Obama phone”, for some today it is a “Wall”, as if these things addressed the core problems we face).

I see a lot of comments here about Obama and the left, and some whining along racial lines.

Blame them all you wish folks, but if we all were honest, we ought to blame ourselves.

Too many think Liberty is a Right, when it is a Responsibility.

Just how involved and committed were we each to getting the right people elected and holding elected officials accountable?

Probably not much, instead leaving it to others. Expecting, hoping, not caring that what those others do represent our interests, or maintain our Liberty.

We cannot lose all hope if we are faced with Trump vs Clinton. Didn’t the Founders face worse?

We just need to get off our collective duffs and work at it.

Eric calls it “activism”, I call it “getting involved”.

It is the future of equal poverty, one-party rule, media mooching, government looting, bureaucratic corruption, rigged elections, underground literature, half-whispered jokes, and the useful habit of looking over your shoulder.

-=–=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In the Soviet Union telling political jokes was in a sense an extreme sport: according to Article 58 (RSFSR Penal Code), “anti-Soviet propaganda” was a potentially capital offense. Historian Roy Medvedev looked through the files of Stalin’s political prisoners and concluded that 200,000 people were imprisoned for telling jokes, such as this:

Three prisoners in the gulag get to talking about why they are there.
“I am here because I always got to work five minutes late, and they charged me with sabotage,” says the first.
“I am here because I kept getting to work five minutes early, and they charged me with spying,” says the second.
“I am here because I got to work on time every day,” says the third, “and they charged me with owning a western watch.”

-=–=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The existence of the threat, the possibility that the teller could pay dearly for telling a political joke – with interrogation and imprisonment – created a separate genre of jokes:

Conversation in a prison:
“What are you in for?”
“For laziness. I was at a party and someone told a joke. I went home and thought: Should I inform now, or wait till the morning? In the end, I said to myself, I’ll go tomorrow. That night they took me away.”

-=–=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Stalin, Khrushchev and Brezhnev are traveling together on a train when suddenly it lurches to a stop.
Stalin has the conductor shot. The train doesn’t move.
Khrushchev rehabilitates the conductor. The train still doesn’t move.
Brezhnev closes the curtains and says, “Now, we’re moving.”

-=–=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

This is venezuelaRadio; our listeners asked us: “What is the difference between capitalism and socialism?”

We’re answering: “In a capitalist society man exploits man, and in a socialist one, the other way around.”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

A woman walking in the street is carrying a bag full of rolls of toilet paper.

A passer-by opens his mouth, “Hey, mother, where did you buy it?”

“Buy? Are you crazy? Where could I buy it nowadays? They are five years old. I am taking them back from the cleaners.”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Seven paradoxes of the socialist state:

Nobody works, but the plan is always fulfilled.
The plan is fulfilled, but the shelves in the stores are empty.
The shelves are empty, but nobody starves;
nobody starves, but everybody is unhappy;
everybody is unhappy, but nobody complains;
nobody complains, but the jails are full.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

On the occasion of the anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, a meeting of Party members is held in a village. The Chairman of the local Soviet gives a speech,

“Dear comrades! Let’s look at the amazing achievements of our Party after the revolution. For example, here sits Maria. Who was she before? An illiterate peasant woman, she had but one dress and no shoes. And now? She is an exemplary milkmaid known over the entire region. Or look at Ivan Andreev. He was the poorest man in this village, had no horse, no cow, and even no axe. And now? He is a tractor driver, and has two pairs of shoes! Or look at Trofim Semenovich Alekseev. He was a nasty hooligan, a lowest drunkard, a dirty gadabout. Nobody trusted him even with a snowdrift in wintertime, as he would steal anything his gaze fell upon. And now he’s a Secretary of the Party Committee!”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

A man died and was sent to the paradise. After a while, he became bored with the paradise, with the eternal quiet, abundance of flowers, absence of worries. So he requested to let him visit the hell as a tourist. God consented. In the hell, he saw people playing cards, drinking wine, and making love. He liked it very much and upon return to the paradise applied for a transfer to hell for good. God consented. As soon a he appeared at the hell’s gate, demons grabbed him and pushed him into a barrel with hot tar.

“Stop it! I was here with a visit and saw the people drinking vodka, playing cards, making love.”

“Don’t confuse the area designated for tourists and sustained by the Propaganda Department, with this area which is for residents.”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

During the war, Stalin discussed with Marshal Zhukov the plans for a new offensive. “What do you think, comrade Zhukov, what direction should we choose for the attack?”

“West, comrade Stalin.”

“Go and think, comrade Zhukov!”

As Zhukov walked out, he muttered, “What a pig!”

Stalin’s secretary Poskrebyshev overheard the Marshal and reported to Stalin. Zhukov was ordered back to Stalin’s office.

“Whom did you have in mind when you said ‘What a pig?’ Stalin asked.

“Of course, I meant Hitler,” Zhukov said.

“Then whom did you have in mind, comrade Poskrebyshev?” Stalin said.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Stalin is dead and things have begun to lighten up a bit relatively speaking. An old couple live in an apartment in Moscow and she sends him down to buy some meat for supper. After queueing for the obligatory three hours he gets to the counter and the woman says ‘No more meat, meat finished’. He cracks and starts raving ‘I fought in the Revolution, I fought for Lenin in the First World War and for Stalin in the Second World War and we are still in this shit?’ One of the leather-jacketed brigade takes him on one side and says ‘Look old man you know you can’t talk like this. Just think, a few years ago you would have been shot for saying these things.’ The old man trudges home. His wife seeing him empty-handed says ‘Run out of meat again have they?’ He says: ‘It’s worse than that, they’ve run out of bullets.’

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This is Venezuela Radio; our listeners asked us: “We are told that the communism is already seen at the horizon.” Then, what is a horizon?”

We’re answering: “Horizon is an imaginary line which moves away each time you approach it.”

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This is Venezuela Radio; our listeners asked us: “Why policemen always walk the streets in teams of three?”

We’re answering: “The partners in the police team are always chosen in such a way that one of them knows how to read, the other how to write, and the third one, naturally, has to keep watch over those two intellectuals.”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

This is Venezuela Radio; our listeners asked us: “What is the difference between the Constitutions of the USA and USSR?” Both guarantee freedom of speech.”

We’re answering: “Yes, but the Constitution of the USA also guarantees freedom after the speech.”

Most people think Soddom and Gomorrah were some fabled cities that God destroyed.

From my stand point, that might have just happened in this century as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdqWlW4-dDg

http://city-journal.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b75d222a8ff4ade269f9efd3b&id=2135c50005&e=48ca5e0ae7