Spend some time looking back at the various executive orders issued by modern day Presidents. The move toward a more powerful executive branch has been a long time in coming and not solely while under the power of Democrats. Obama just makes the ideal, warm and fuzzy target.

 

I bear you no ill will, Paul, but I'm going to move on from this conversation. I'm not a confrontational type away from work and I fear your comments are becoming a little demeaning and micharacterizing, though I'm sure you don't mean to. Saddled with only a phone to respond and natural circumspection , I'm afraid this isn't going to be a productive talk. After all, I'm a member of the SILENT majority.

​​​​​​I really just entered the fray to offer some support to TRIARII and get some perspective. I've accomplished both.

It will all shake out between now and the next election. We will see. I do my talking in the voting booth.

 

Charlie_V, please don't quit on this debate, it's enlightening, these are the sort of academic debates that solve problems and understandings between people and parties. They break with pre-conceptions, traditions and create more and more discussion, in all honesty I really enjoy hearing other peoples views and perspectives on many subjects as it opens the mind to being receptive to alternatives. This debate has created good clean lateral thinking and will inevitably dispel many misconceptions. Your opinions and that of Paul and TRIAR are invaluable and are appreciated by the participants to this thread which stimulates the greater understanding. Diversity of opinion makes for good politics and great debates and is always worth voicing as we are all entrenched in our idiosyncrasies, foibles and beliefs until someone stretches those beliefs. Stick with it your input is appreciated

 

I'm sorry you are taking this as personally as it appears you are. At times I may be strident but no harm was intended. Nevertheless, before you go, PLEASE tell me who you go to for your news. I am desperately trying to understand how people gather their information these days. It's clear to me that someone like Triar finds youtoobers to be a primary source but what about you? I've been as open as I can be with telling you where and how I have arrived at my thoughts. Would you be so kind as to at least tell me who are the first two or three sources you confidently turn to when you want to get information about something going on in the world? Is that too much to ask?

 

I think Eco agrees with you. I don't think it was ever his attempt to 'define' fascism but rather to detail its 'features.'. It was never his contention to say that all of the 14 features are necessary in Fascism. In fact, he was quoted in the article as saying "These features cannot be organized into a system; many of them contradict each other, and are also typical of other kinds of despotism or fanaticism. But it is enough that one of them be preset to allow fascism to coagulate around it."

I thought you'd like the reference to Santayana's quote because it was a favorite of Churchill's. So much so that in 1948 he offered up a slight variation that might be even more poignant. "Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." A day doesn't go by that I don't run that notion through my head.

When I get involved with discussions where people have such a tenuous grasp of history, it's frustrating beyond belief and I am not talking about anything that has gone on in this thread but in day to day meetings with people. There is a certain pride and willfulness with NOT knowing things. The educated are labeled as "elites" and treated with disdain. Half baked conspiracy theories become all the rage and no one stops to think that maybe they are just a little too simplistic, a little too easy to explain away whatever problems or difficulties one might be having in a rapidly changing world. We shrink back into a tribalism that will ultimately do us more harm than good.

I am concerned by the isolationism that has become all the rage. With it, the hyper nationalism and the desire to keep the 'others' away are feelings I cannot connect with and it scares me. It's ironic that Charlie called me Chamberlain but I'm not the one wanting to shrink away from the world stage. I'm not the one who is ignoring the undertones of what has happened with Brexit, Trump and perhaps, next, La Pen.

Whether it be what Churchill or Santayana said, the words are more resounding today that at any time in my 56 years on this planet.

 

Paul, I have been Dr. Charlie V for 24 years. I'm not uneducated.

There are constraints on my ability to respond to you, and I am not here referring to the use of a phone. I'll PM you.

 

Charlie, I can't seem to say anything without offending you. What I was saying was not directed at you at all and I thought I made that clear when I said it was my experience for conversations I hold day to day with people I meet and work with. In no way was I intimating that I thought you were not educated or against those that were. But, I can tell you, I live in a VERY blue collar town where I see a lot of people who look with distaste and distrust and someone who is well spoken spoken, especially if they have a different viewpoint. I have had a shop in a commercial development for years where I have interacted on a daily basis and have seen and felt a level of resentment and distrust that was palpable.

I don't know how anyone could deny that there is an anti intellectual current coursing through this country.

 

Now, Charlie, I'll ask a third time, where and what do you turn to when you're looking to find information about what's going on in the world. What are the trusted sources you turn to when forming your world view?

 

I appreciate your feedback, input and support in this thread. I also understand why Charlie would withdrawal from this debate. Things in the US are changing rapidly. Seems like our way of live is about to be turned on its head. Freedom of speech and expressing your views is becoming increasingly discuraged and subject to censorship. Suddenly you may find yourself expelled from a university or terminated from a job solely because of something you said. Free thinkers are a thing of the past. I tread lightly and walk on eggshells.

It would be awesome if people could sit down as equals and engage in debates without turning to insults and bashing and trolling. Paulgrant is known for throwing out his little insults and belittling anyone who disagrees with him. Nobody wants to be labaled a racist, facist, communist, bigot, freak etc.

It is my sincere believe that within a decade there will be no free speech, no right to bare arms etc. You cant make everyone happy. Best thing to do is pack up your possesions, move far far from the masses and live out your days in peace off the grid. No tv. No radio. No newspaper and no social media.

Sit back and watch society tear itself apart. Acvording to history every great empire will fall into ruin.

 

Oh, Triar, you're still upset at me because you think I was the one who had the moderators like DiscoMike and ArmyRover toss you off these boards years ago.

As far as this thread is concerned, comments like yours are what frightens me most about our future. Frankly, your posts are anything but insightful. Rather, they are familiar to anyone who frequents sites like InfoWars (one of your videos is from Paul Joseph Watson, one of their editors). Alex Jones never met a conspiracy he didn't like. A quick look at his youtube channel shows videos about HRC's lesbian escapades, Kanye West and the Illuminati and Sex/Blood Rituals perpetrated by HRC. Come the f*@k on. This is where you get your news???