Renewable Revolution

I do not think the "shift to the right in the general population" is anything but a Koch bought-and-paid for media (false) perception. When honest polls have been done, the fact is that that the general population of the USA favors Socialism in government, not profit over people and planet Capitalism. Deliberately targeted voter disenfranchisement and undemocratic gerrymandering has more to do with getting Kochroachs "elected" to State and Federal government positions than anything else.

I'm not in disagreement with you here. But the effects are huge. And the Koch chosen torch bearers have managed to put great political power in the hands of Christian conservatives.

I thought for a long time about how Texas could go from Anne Richards as governor to Bush, then Perry, then Abbott....each of them a bigger toady and each of them perfectly successful politically.It didn't quite add up, until I was looking at demographics and I noticed that the Catholics and the Evangelicals together make a majority of voting Texans. And they share the same hot buttons....abortion, prayer in schools, fear of LGBT people, fear of being a victim of crime. They are a bloc.

It's not that they're Christian that bothers me. It's that they're persuaded by the kind of potent Orwellian means that you mentioned...brainwashed, if you will. They are the Koch's rank and file. And they are voting these people in.

And it's the courts too. There was a recent court case here in which the voting districts were examined and (even though they are ALL extremely gerrymandered) the only one found to be in violation was......(drumroll) that of liberal Democrat Lloyd Dogett of Austin.

Sure his district is gerrymandered. The Republicans put al the black people in one district --- his.  Never mind that my representative, the conservative prick Lamar Smith, has a district that cherry picks every middle-class suburban neighborhood from South Austin to San Antonio, and also includes  a nice slice of the rural outlying counties nearby (just in case). He's elected for life.

Yes, the level of corruption is off the charts. And you know how I feel about those so-called "Christians", not just in Texas, but all over the United States. Take any one of those holier than thou "Evangelicals" and quote some Scripture about John the Baptist telling people that if they have two coats, to give one to someone who doesn't have one and he that hath meat, let him do likewise (Luke 3:11), and they will call you a heathen Communist! There is NO "God" but Mammon in the "Christian" organized Church in the USA, period.

But to your more important, and profound, point that so many people are voting against their better interests, let me say that I have wrestled with that all my life. I see people being manipulated, suckered and made fools of, yet they remain stubbornly loyal to the P.T. Barnum bastard from whatever political party that smiles and glad hands them even as he or she lies over and over again. So I see where you are going with this and partially agree.

But there is a limit to the long train of abuses, Eddie. People are not as gullible as Hitler believed (see his quote below).

Psychopaths like Hitler and the Koch Brothers, to name just three, need to believe their clever lies are effective. Orwell brought that up in the book "1984" where the psychopathic government announced the ration of chocolate had been RAISED from 20 grams a week (forgot the measurement - you get the idea) to 15 grams a week... And everybody cheered...

Winston was not impressed. Winston saw through that. Orwell wrote the book because he knew that crap would be pulled on future generations. We are there. It's called "Tax Reform".

Psychopaths like to fool themselves into thinking we "little people" are all masochists and we just ENJOY (and DESERVE) abuse. Furthermore, they think they are DOING US A SERVICE by keeping us from doing whatever our "silly" minds think of doing.

Well, that is BULLSHIT!!!!

You can get away with that ONLY until your LIES are exposed. The Trumps of this world don't want to admit that, even to themselves.

All that Orwellian mindfork is falling apart now. Lamar Smith doesn't want to conserve the environment, the welfare of the people in his district or the right for people he does not  agree with to vote. "Conservative", MY ARSE! That bastard is a REACTIONARY tool of the highest corporate bidder, period!

I think that people all over the USA are realizing that they are being suckered with pretty words like "Freedom" and "Liberty" (and so on) which mean the exact opposite.

It is ironic that Communists are demonized for wanting to "corrupt the language" in order to undermine honest communication and truth (so they can take over the government from those poor innocent lamb Capitalists  ), when the Wall Street owned Politicians on the right (and several on the  so-called "left" too) have been the champion Orwellian mindforkers putting all kinds innocuous sounding or peppy euphemisms out there for activity that is actually horrendously exploitive and murderously crooked.

I can give you a LONG list of terms thrown around that, in practice, in the USA, mean the exact opposite of their definition in the dictionary. 

THAT, Eddie, is what has kept people confused and fooled into voting against their best interests. It has not been that they are stupid; it has been that they trusted. I will not blame the victim for what criminals have done.

At any rate, I think that is pretty much over. That is why the Republicans DO NOT WANT the masses to vote. That is why they are moving like greased lightning to gut what is left of our social contract. They ARE in hurry because they KNOW they ARE being exposed.

One more thing: If some "evangelical" tells you that Jesus is coming soon so we "don't have to worry about the environment", tell them they are disobeying Jesus Himself who said you MUST WORK (that includes STEWARDSHIP of the environment, not just giving Scripture tracts on a street corner) while there is daylight, because the day will come when no one can work. And tell them Jesus will spit them from his mouth for being lukewarm cowards without the spine to do what is right!

Tell them that the MAMMON worship they practice in their "prosperity preaching" church is CONDEMNED OVER AND OVER AND OVER in the Bible. And then tell them to have a nice day.   

Eddie, maybe I am crazy, but I think this country is hitting rock bottom and, at least spiritually, things will now improve mightily.