Quote of the century!

QUOTE OF THE CENTURY, MAYBE EVEN THE MILLENNIUM

Some people have the vocabulary to sum up things in a way you can understand them. This quote came from the Czech Republic . Someone over there has it figured out. We have a lot of work to do.

"The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America . Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him their president."

Click to expand...

Interesting. So, the author of the quote is asserting that the majority of the voting population are idiots. I have asserted that the majority of the population are idiots. One thing I agree with in the quote, that some majority of Americans are idiots, more specifically, the majority of the population, including, but not limited to the voting population. So, there are at least (based on the numbers that voted in 2008) at least 120 (ish) million idiots in America.

since9 said:

QUOTE OF THE CENTURY, MAYBE EVEN THE MILLENNIUM

Some people have the vocabulary to sum up things in a way you can understand them. This quote came from the Czech Republic . Someone over there has it figured out. We have a lot of work to do.

Click to expand...

I like the quote. Could you provide a cite for it?

Definitions...

Great quote Since! I would like to define a few terms and hopefully guide the conversation along a more positive track. No offence meant to any armed American 2A types...:lol:

Definition of IDIOT from Merriam-Webster
1 usually offensive : a person affected with extreme mental retardation
2: a foolish or stupid person

Definition of FOOLISH from Merriam-Webster
1: lacking in sense, judgment, or discretion
2 a : absurd, ridiculous
b : marked by a loss of composure : nonplussed
3: insignificant, trifling

Definition of STUPID from Merriam-Webster
1 a : slow of mind : obtuse
b : given to unintelligent decisions or acts : acting in an unintelligent or careless manner
c : lacking intelligence or reason : brutish
2: dulled in feeling or sensation : torpid
3: marked by or resulting from unreasoned thinking or acting : senseless
4 a : lacking interest or point
b : vexatious, exasperating

I have interviewed hundreds of Americans over the last few years regarding their government and they are not stupid. These American people are not simply fools or idiots as a whole, though some do very foolish or stupid things. The real core issue, I believe, is ignorance.

Definition of IGNORANT from Merriam-Webster
1 a : destitute of knowledge or education ;
also : lacking knowledge or comprehension of the thing specified
b : resulting from or showing lack of knowledge or intelligence
2: unaware, uninformed

The thing about ignorance is that it can be fixed. Stupid is generally a permanent state while through education and effort, ignorance can be overcome. I stand here as a prime example. Poorly educated but learning to make better decisions. Even TJ agrees:

“The qualifications of self-government in society are not innate. They are the result of habit and long training, and for these they will require time and probably much suffering.”
Thomas Jefferson
Writings Vol. 14, p. 22

Freedom First said:

Great quote Since! I would like to define a few terms and hopefully guide the conversation along a more positive track. No offence meant to any armed American 2A types...:lol:



I have interviewed hundreds of Americans over the last few years regarding their government and they are not stupid. These American people are not simply fools or idiots as a whole, though some do very foolish or stupid things. The real core issue, I believe, is ignorance.

Definition of IGNORANT from Merriam-Webster
1 a : destitute of knowledge or education ;
also : lacking knowledge or comprehension of the thing specified
b : resulting from or showing lack of knowledge or intelligence
2: unaware, uninformed

The thing about ignorance is that it can be fixed. Stupid is generally a permanent state while through education and effort, ignorance can be overcome. I stand here as a prime example. Poorly educated but learning to make better decisions. Even TJ agrees:

“The qualifications of self-government in society are not innate. They are the result of habit and long training, and for these they will require time and probably much suffering.”
Thomas Jefferson
Writings Vol. 14, p. 22

Click to expand...

I have two definitions of stupid:

1. Persons not capable of learning (to be treated gently and with much patience)

2. Persons capable of learning but refuse to learn(not to be treated gently or with patience)

We have many too many of number 2.

Freedom First said:

I have interviewed hundreds of Americans over the last few years regarding their government and they are not stupid. These American people are not simply fools or idiots as a whole, though some do very foolish or stupid things. The real core issue, I believe, is ignorance.

Definition of IGNORANT from Merriam-Webster
1 a : destitute of knowledge or education ;
also : lacking knowledge or comprehension of the thing specified
b : resulting from or showing lack of knowledge or intelligence
2: unaware, uninformed

The thing about ignorance is that it can be fixed. Stupid is generally a permanent state while through education and effort, ignorance can be overcome. I stand here as a prime example. Poorly educated but learning to make better decisions. Even TJ agrees:

“The qualifications of self-government in society are not innate. They are the result of habit and long training, and for these they will require time and probably much suffering.”
Thomas Jefferson
Writings Vol. 14, p. 22

Click to expand...

Excellent points. I'd add that ignorance begins in the home. It is carelessly nurtured by ignorant teachers in school, and even fed by those teachers who're more foolish, stupid, or idiotic than ignorant. Much of the ignorance is reinforced by ungrounded idealism.

since9 said:

SNIP ...I'd add that ignorance begins in the home. It is carelessly nurtured by ignorant teachers in school, and even fed by those teachers who're more foolish, stupid, or idiotic than ignorant. Much of the ignorance is reinforced by ungrounded idealism.

Click to expand...

/engage sarcasm drive

But I thought that the public schools were responsible for teaching my kids everything they will ever need to know to be a good tax payer... How is it my job to be teaching my own kids? Won't that mess up the fine work the professionals at the school have been doing?

/disengage sarcasm drive and return to "normal" space

Good points Since. Thus we homeschool our kids. It's not the government's job to educate my kids any more than it's their job to protect me and my family.

Bring to mind a question: "Is the ignorance that runs rampant throughout America an accident?"

As my sainted father taught me: "Ignorance, like virginity, can be cured. Stupidity is permanent."

Fools, on the other hand, come in three varieties: innocent (they know not what they do but are amusing); intentional (they know what they are doing but are doing it to get a laugh for their audience); and malicious (they know what they are doing and are doing it to get a laugh for themself at someone else's expense).

We must be able to recognize which it is (ignorance or fool) that we are looking at, and then respond accordingly.

stay safe.

OldCurlyWolf said:

I have two definitions of stupid:

1. Persons not capable of learning (to be treated gently and with much patience)

2. Persons capable of learning but refuse to learn(not to be treated gently or with patience)

We have many too many of number 2.

Click to expand...

Getting bitter at the foolish is Pi$$ing into the wind...

My comments here are not based on media reports and untested assumptions but personal face-to-face interactions with hundreds of Americans. Like it or not, we are chained by the reality we share to these folks and just getting mad at them does nothing to change their apparant unwillingness to learn.

Most of the folks I have spoken with have a willingness to learn but lack even the basic information to see where to begin. They have been trained to see "The Few" as experts who hold power and information that is beyond the normal man. Think of the Federal Reserve Chairman or a university president and see what sort of image that draws up in your own mind. These ignorant Americans have been taught to give unearned respect to those in positions of authority and power and this assumption must be confronted and overcome in each individual before they can move ahead.

When aimed in the right direction, many times these folks have moved from a place of ignorance to a place where they are SELF educating. That's a big deal. It changes everything for them. And we, the not so ignorant, have a vested interest in helping these others learn and move to a place where they are functional and educated members of a society, not just taxpaying cogs in a machine.

Have a good day! Be safe.

The classical definition of 'idiot' is "afraid of the light." I believe it is Greek. Buckley once called Lindsey an idiot, but added "I mean it in the classical sense."

Freedom First said:

Good points Since. Thus we homeschool our kids. It's not the government's job to educate my kids any more than it's their job to protect me and my family.

Click to expand...

Imagine being a father who by sole virtue of the fact that fathers are men, that he was in the military and stationed overseas, was unable to secure any custody of his son other than "liberal visitation" which is nevertheless limited to 7 weeks per years (13.5%). I am that father. Now imaging the difficulty I have raising a son to think clearly during those 7 weeks while during the other 45 weeks he's fed who knows what at his school and by others.

I'm very lucky that his Mom and the teachers in his school (it's a private school) and I agree on many things, including clear, rational thinking. Still, there's some work to be done, and 7 weeks isn't a lot of time.

Bring to mind a question: "Is the ignorance that runs rampant throughout America an accident?"

Click to expand...

I'm sure much of it is. On the other hand, much of it is also ignorant idealism spread by those who think they know better. Because they're idealists, not realists, they really don't know better at all.

since9 said:

I'm sure much of it is. On the other hand, much of it is also ignorant idealism spread by those who think they know better. Because they're idealists, not realists, they really don't know better at all.

Click to expand...

A little quote from a dead guy:
"10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production." Ol' Karl Marx, Communist Manifesto 1848 (Start with the "10 Planks" as they are a shocking read.)

Why would they, the communists, seek to lure all children from "home education" and move them into "free" public schools? Why has this happened here in America and why do we accept it?

Hitler, a dead socialist tyrant, gave you this answer about the why of public schoolin', "He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future." That's why they want your kids in government schools.

It happened here because, IMO, there has been a push since the Fourty-Eighters arrived on our shore, to bring to pass the implimentation of a Marxist state here in America. Don't believe me? Read their own words. Start with Marx. He was completely honest in what he wanted to see. Then, having read some Marx, dig into the reasons for the revolutions of '48 and who these people were who arrived here and what they did once they "got settled". Lastly, start listening to your "representatives" in Congress, at your state house, school boards, etc.. They'll be saying the same things.

Here's another dead guy with the answer to why we accept it:
"...a long habit of not thinking a thing WRONG, gives it a superficial appearance of being RIGHT, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom." Mr. Paine, Common Sense 1776

I, for one, grew up in public school. That's "just the way it was." You went to school. Nothing wierd about it. Now, try talking to a teacher about the benefits of home schooling and watch the sparks fly. Not all, mind you, as I have found some who think it's great, even some who home school their own kids and also teach at a public school.

So, are all teachers communists? Hardly. IMO very few are. Just as in Nazi Germany very few actually embraced the true tennants of Nazism. "It's just a job." "I'm here for the kids." On the other hand, very few also question the fact that their job even exists. The change has already been made. It's just a matter now of shaping each generation in the correct direction, just like training a plant to follow a trellis. Too fast and the plant breaks, slow and steady and the plant will grow in circles if that is where you wish to guide it.

To close, let me dig up another dead guy,
"Power is always gradually stealing away from the many to the few, because the few are more vigilant and consistent;..." Mr. Samuel Johnson: Adventurer #45 (March 27, 1753)

There's nothing truly new on this planet. Governments seek to aquire power and then keep it. Powerful men seek to manipulate those governements to their benefit. A government of, for, and by the People is manipulated over time by controlling information. It's not hard and has been done several times in the last century. And, I believe it's happened here but most don't see it.

Freedom First said:

Why would they ... seek to lure all children from "home education" and move them into "free" public schools? Why has this happened here in America and why do we accept it?

Click to expand...

Because it's precisely what took us from being a tenth-rate pioneering society in the 1800s into the world's leading industrialized nation in the 1900s.

It happened here because, IMO, there has been a push since the Fourty-Eighters arrived on our shore, to bring to pass the implimentation of a Marxist state here in America.

Click to expand...

Oh, flurp. Marxists need wealth and machinery the same as does a Republic or any other form of government. One could just as easily cite Ben Franklin as "Marxist" for inventing an automated printing press.

Beretta92FSLady said:

Interesting. So, the author of the quote is asserting that the majority of the voting population are idiots. I have asserted that the majority of the population are idiots. One thing I agree with in the quote, that some majority of Americans are idiots, more specifically, the majority of the population, including, but not limited to the voting population. So, there are at least (based on the numbers that voted in 2008) at least 120 (ish) million idiots in America.

Click to expand...

Mislead, and why we are not supposed to be a democracy, because mob thinking can be very tyrannical.

Freedom First;1594867[snip ... said:

Bring to mind a question: "Is the ignorance that runs rampant throughout America an accident?"

Click to expand...

No it is not. An ignorant and non-critical-thinking public is easily led by propaganda. I see very little evidence that any high schools are graduating critical-thinking students, and I do not see that being encouraged or taught at the three universities I have attended.

If you really want to help out, get yourself elected to the state/local school board and advocate to move away from the fed-mandate educational system and towards charter schools, etc. And take a hard look at the school books that Kalifornia is publishing. You also need to look long and hard at the mistakes made in the books and what they represent in terms of shaping thinking in the future.

since9 said:

QUOTE OF THE CENTURY, MAYBE EVEN THE MILLENNIUM

Some people have the vocabulary to sum up things in a way you can understand them. This quote came from the Czech Republic . Someone over there has it figured out. We have a lot of work to do.

Click to expand...

I think it should be acknowledged that the moonbat messiah was not forthcoming with the entire voting public. He didn't come out and campaign on Obozocare, raising taxes, quadrupaling spending, and bowing to every royal family (except in the UK). I specifically recall his promises of fiscal restraint, but that was only because he had to maintain the "anti-bush" facade. He was only honest when he was surrounded by rich bed wetting socialists, but you only heard those soundbites on Limbaugh or Hannity. Of course we're "brainwashed" for having heard it and opposing such ideas, instead of ignoring it like the psuedo-intellectual elite.

From recent polls, it seems that only about %39 are still under the illusion that bam is anything but the opposite of bush in any aspect besides foreign policy. He's continued most of bush's bad policies, and spent a $#!tload more money. His mask has been removed. More and more recognise the ugly face of "progressivism" for what it is. They clearly did not like it in 2010, and I suspect will reject it again in 2012.