During my brief dalliance with the Left back in the '60's, the things we rallied against were these: suppression of free speech by state government and the universities, suppression of the right of people to peaceably assemble without being attacked by armed thugs and denounced by the government, and the right to determine our own destinies without government interference. Now flash forward forty-some odd years and I am a Conservative (ownership and parenthood changes even the most Bohemian values), but lo and behold, my enemies are still the same! This President and Congress have called me astroturf, unpatriotic, and a potential domestic terrorist simply for my temerity in questioning what I see as a corrupt and hypocritical political regime. My web cartoon blog at presidentsuit.com has actually been accused of inciting violence! And remember back in 1968 when the Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago and Mayor Daley had journalists jailed and the police went so wild on the Youth International Party camped out nearby that the independent commission that investigated called it "a police riot"? Well, folks, here we are in 2010 and the President is a product of the same Chicago political machine that was responsible for the suppression of free speech in 1968. This President and his henchmen even say things about "the Chicago Way" of politics as they call the Tea Party and Conservative talk radio hosts irresponsible and out of control and advise us "to tone it down".
This is the same Democrat Party that was responsible for restrictive voting laws in the South (the Dixiecrats), that segregated the schools and the lunch counters and the public drinking fountains, that allowed the Night Riders to terrorize anyone who spoke out, that stood in the school door in Little Rock, Arkansas, that elected men to the Senate and House who had served in the Ku Klux Klan. The party that escalated the Vietnam War and was responsible for deaths of tens of thousands of Americans in southeast Asia. We protested these scumbags! We demanded Power to the People! We chanted Hey Hey LBJ How many kids did you kill today?
And now that same party is in power and calling peaceful Tea Party protesters disgusting names like Teabaggers, and we are being treated exactly the same as the Democrat government in the 60's treated us for raising what I still believe were legitimate concerns about liberty and freedom.
The Who have that great song that says "...meet the new boss, same as the old boss" then talks about praying that "we won't get fooled again." Well, America, you did get fooled again! Can we hope it's the last time?
My politics shifted to the Right, but my Enemy is the Same
During my brief dalliance with the Left back in the '60's, the things we rallied against were these: suppression of free speech by state government and the universities, suppression of the right of people to peaceably assemble without being attacked by armed thugs and denounced by the government, and the right to determine our own destinies without government interference. Now flash forward forty-some odd years and I am a Conservative (ownership and parenthood changes even the most Bohemian values), but lo and behold, my enemies are still the same! This President and Congress have called me astroturf, unpatriotic, and a potential domestic terrorist simply for my temerity in questioning what I see as a corrupt and hypocritical political regime. My web cartoon blog at presidentsuit.com has actually been accused of inciting violence! And remember back in 1968 when the Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago and Mayor Daley had journalists jailed and the police went so wild on the Youth International Party camped out nearby that the independent commission that investigated called it "a police riot"? Well, folks, here we are in 2010 and the President is a product of the same Chicago political machine that was responsible for the suppression of free speech in 1968. This President and his henchmen even say things about "the Chicago Way" of politics as they call the Tea Party and Conservative talk radio hosts irresponsible and out of control and advise us "to tone it down".
This is the same Democrat Party that was responsible for restrictive voting laws in the South (the Dixiecrats), that segregated the schools and the lunch counters and the public drinking fountains, that allowed the Night Riders to terrorize anyone who spoke out, that stood in the school door in Little Rock, Arkansas, that elected men to the Senate and House who had served in the Ku Klux Klan. The party that escalated the Vietnam War and was responsible for deaths of tens of thousands of Americans in southeast Asia. We protested these scumbags! We demanded Power to the People! We chanted Hey Hey LBJ How many kids did you kill today?
And now that same party is in power and calling peaceful Tea Party protesters disgusting names like Teabaggers, and we are being treated exactly the same as the Democrat government in the 60's treated us for raising what I still believe were legitimate concerns about liberty and freedom.
The Who have that great song that says "...meet the new boss, same as the old boss" then talks about praying that "we won't get fooled again." Well, America, you did get fooled again! Can we hope it's the last time?