Eric Idle on the Shutdown

On By southwerkIn Editorial
Actor Eric Idle at a meet and greet after his ...
Actor Eric Idle at a meet and greet after his show at the Paramount Theatre in Rutland, Vermont 2003. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Eric Idle on the Shutdown

 

I think the coming default is a totally irresponsible act, an extra-constitutional effort to take power when elections failed to deliver. It is apparent that this act us making the nation looks ridiculous from the virtually any rational viewpoint. You would think simple patriotism would deter people from plunging the nation into chaos, but that is not the case.

 

James Pilant

 

America the Half Beautiful / Eric Idle

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-idle/america-the-half-beautiful_b_4099243.html

 

The Mad Haters Tea Party throws everything overboard, not just the tea. The captain, the crew, the ships dog… Pirates could hardly do worse.It seems especially perverse that people purporting to be Christian, a religion that vows to help the poor and heal the sick, should be so violently against helping the poor and healing the sick. Followers of a religion that preaches forgiveness and turning the other cheek, demand the right for the outright insane to own more and more weapons. Nuts, Im afraid.Now some people get very angry when a non-American like me dares to talk about America. \”Well, piss off then, go somewhere else,\” they say. Forgetting that we who live amongst you are the ones who like you the most, and if you dont listen to what we think, then the ostrichisation of America will continue. Bend over, head in sand, hand on heart, salute flag.The great thing about America has always been your ability to rally round in difficult times, especially under attack and create new solutions to modern problems. Of your current state the Founding Fathers would be horrified and terrified. Nobody asked the Mothers. You may need to re-evaluate. The Constitution may need updating. Its not the Bible. Then, neither is the Bible.We need you to prosper. You can rule the world, or you can ruin it. Time to wake up.

 

via America the Half Beautiful | Eric Idle.

 

From around the web.

 

From the web site, Conrad Brunstrom.

 

http://conradbrunstrom.wordpress.com/2013/10/02/shutting-down/

 

The shutdown is the work of the people who failed win their argument
through the acknowledged channels of government and are therefore
prepared to pull the plug on government rather than wait and win the
elections needed to reopen political and legislative debate.  Of course,
this has happened a number of times before, though this is the first
time this century.  It is able to happen because of a register of
patriotic rhetoric that sees “government” as something to restrain
rather than something to use positively.  In the USA, many politicians
use the word “Washington” in the same way that Eurosceptic British
politicians use the word “Brussels” – as a synonym for something that
must be resisted at all costs.

 

This kind of defiance of federal government authority was first
tested in the 1830s – during the South Carolina nullification crisis. It
was subsequently tested in 1860, resulting in more than 600,000 deaths.

 

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