Comments to the Oregonian "News"....

Since the Neo-Con "Revolution" of the 1980's, Bullying has become expedient in politics, religion, business and American society as a whole. Obviously, those who comment here don't recognize the obvious Bullying inherent in their own submissions to the conversation.

Conservatives are by nature Authoritarian and Hierarchical, comfortable only in a strata of high Authority figures and low Subjects of those "heroic" figures. This sets up conditions in which "Bullying"...those Authority figures using their positions to enforce their Will and Opinions upon others...is automatic. Authoritarian systems depend upon this. The Authorities have to enforce Control and Dominance over their Subjects.

You can see that dynamic reflected in the comments submitted above in the writers' insistence that they are "moral" Authorities and all should bow to their edicts in order to have a Controlled society. And nevermind that in 40,000 years of human community this has always been contested and never worked well, besides resulting in the worst examples of brutal Dictatorships in history. (Name any that come to mind.)

Authoritarians, however, feel more comfortable even in such Dictatorships than they do in more Democratic societies, where each individual must decide for themselves what Values ("morals") they choose to cherish and abide by. Rather than being ordered to adhere to those some Authority figure hands down from "above", and Bullies others into accepting.

Under the neo-Republicon Authoritarian regime of the past 30 years, American society has become a "Top Down" structure that accepts and encourages Bullying as necessary to sustain its Dominance. It is this "dog eat dog/top dog rules" system that has become the norm in business, politics and society in general. This is what our children learn (and all the "clever" snarkiness incorporated in it) from US culture on every level. How else could they then be expected to act?

As usual, I'm appalled by the attitudes expressed here by Oregonian readers; by the cold heartless callousness, aggression, spitefulness, meanness, malice, and sociopathic narcissism people feel so free to express. Not only do they feel free to express it, they are Proud of it! And as I read their snarky opinions, I hear the echos of Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, FOX "News", and every extreme Right-wing talker, blogger, "newsy", politico, pundit and pimp out there. They march along in ordered ranks, shout their prescribed slogans, repeat their advised talking-points, and insist that anyone who doesn't think, act and believe exactly as they do is a "deviant" who should be punished, restrained, and Bullied into compliance.

And the "News" breathlessly gasps at the audacity of our children's actions and wonders, "Where did all this Bullying come from?!?"

Those #%@$ Government Regulations and Taxes!!

I always wonder which Government Regulations the shouting Republicon voters find so odious? The ones designed to protect ours and our children's health and safety? The ones designed to provide us with clean, safe food, water, air to breathe, and consumer products? The ones that guarantee we get the ingredients listed on our bottles of medicine and other products, at the strengths listed? The ones that make sure the doctor, lawyer, car mechanic, plumber, electrician, etc. we hire are actually qualified to do the job?

Well, I could go on and on but you get the point. Without those pesky Government Regulations, and the Taxes that provide the money for inspections and enforcement, we would be a much sicker nation.

We have seen a lot of this already as Industry cronies have taken over many government agencies that once insured our health and safety were paramount and above the reach of Industry finagling. Add to the cronyism the budget chopping and defunding of these "watch dog agencies", cuts that Republicons have undertaken since the 1980's, and we face becoming a nation like China, Somalia, the Philippines...where there are no "intrusive regulations" against any kind of Industry practices.

We now suffer from many threats to our health and ability to pursue happiness without the "job creation" Industry always promises will follow the removal of Taxes and Regulations. I can't help but wonder if "low information voters" may not be suffering the mental debilitation of exorbitant levels of lead, mercury and arsenic in our water supply over many decades. These have been allowed to accumulate to dangerous levels under Industry pressure to prevent laws limiting these major brain and nerve destroying heavy metals, not to mention dangerous chemicals, bacteria and radiation accumulations.

But we will likely never know these things as our "News" is also controlled and filtered by those same "Industry Consortiums" who heavily Regulate what we hear, see and read. I cannot help but note that for all the Trillions of dollars spent on protecting us from "Terrorism", less than 200 americans (other than active duty military personnel) have died in any way related to Terrorist attacks since 9/12/2001. While over 500,000 have suffered and thousands have died from poisoned food and water born toxins in that same time, as funding for programs to prevent those deaths has dwindled to less than 1/3 of what it was in 1998. (Though these numbers are difficult to find and noted as being "lower than accurate", they can be searched out on various government websites.)

The United States is the only developed "democratic" nation in the world that allows these kinds of Crimes against its people. And as Republicons and their low-info voters aggressively promote more of the same leniency for those who put their vast personal profits and political ideology above the health and safety of Americans, we will become an ever sicker, more endangered and diseased people, with ever less ability to hold those who poison us accountable for their crimes against us.

American Museum of Natural History - Science Bulletins

American Museum of Natural History - Science Bulletins

One of my Most Favourite sites.... *')