tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8762223684746484243.post7778599625658935988..comments2024-03-26T17:28:04.126-07:00Comments on Pick Your Battles: Naomi Wolf - the Anti Tony CarrPickYourBattles.Nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16448529287854593110noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8762223684746484243.post-53985112296296200572014-03-30T04:28:12.378-07:002014-03-30T04:28:12.378-07:00Interesting. It appears to me that you have reacte...Interesting. It appears to me that you have reacted to a non-political statement by Wolf, in a political manner. You make a good point about times of war and power, but today our government claims the power to assassinate Americans without charge or trial and does so (and without imminent threat, unless you think two years on a kill list equates to two years of imminent threat), and the power to arrest Americans here at home and imprison them without charge or trial. That's a violation of the Fifth Amendment and counter to Article Three, Section Three of that same Constitution you mentioned. We know the NSA is sweeping up millions of Americans' digital effects without a warrant, in violation of the Fourth Amendment, an incredibly dangerous development that gives power never before held by any government. So, I find it staggering that anybody would want to come to government's defense in such times, and it appears to me to do so is to have learned nothing about the developments that Wolf writes about where western democracies fell to fascism. To explain such action away with, "Meh, it happens during time of crisis" is strange in my view.<br /><br />What do you think of Wolf's point that would be fascists reach out to "academics," to get them to promote "academic" pro-regime messages? I find that point particularly fascinating.PickYourBattles.Nethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16448529287854593110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8762223684746484243.post-78702834567467475712014-03-28T16:23:17.192-07:002014-03-28T16:23:17.192-07:00All you have to do is read Article II of the U.S. ...All you have to do is read Article II of the U.S. Constitution. If you do not have any faith in the Constitution or the men and women that the American people elect into congress, the Constitution is nothing more than a piece of paper. Wolf is extremely liberal. There is nothing wrong with this. She just should have refrained from presenting her book as research instead of what it truly is. The funny thing about the people that are far left, they share many of the same views as the far right and the extreme libertarians. The people that are on the fringe have every right to promote their political views but that doesn’t mean they have credibility. Thankfully, there are enough sane people in the middle of the extreme left and right for the American government to run. The sad thing is, a small group like the Tea Party have been so successful at hurting the GOP that the entire party is slowly shifting farther to the right alienating those of us that are moderate enough to genuinely want President Obama to be successful even though we are proud Republicans….but I digress. <br /><br />America’s checks and balances have not faded. The current U.S. government is nothing like Germany’s government in the 1930s. To compare Obama to Hitler or to compare the United States to Nazi Germany is not only idiotic but is academically irresponsible. American history has shown that the executive branch increases and decreases in power periodically. In times of war or crisis, the president is afforded more power. As the crisis fades, so does the executive power. Congress is capable of slowly regaining the power given to the executive branch…..and Congress will and currently is in the process of doing just that. The executive branch can be given more power suddenly, but the power can only be taken away slowly. After 9/11, things like the Patriot Act was possible. After 9/11, the executive branch was given a tremendous amount of power with very little complaint from the American people. To say that America is on the path to fascism is ridiculous. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8762223684746484243.post-55621898548669540632014-03-28T05:49:04.762-07:002014-03-28T05:49:04.762-07:00It almost completely ignores American history in w...It almost completely ignores American history in what way? She says that our checks and balances have faded, as they did in 1930s Germany. Do you disagree that the executive branch has grown more powerful and more unchecked? What are her political opinions, being that she has laid these claims against the last two administrations?<br /><br />What were her arguments and how was she dishonest to frame those arguments perfectly?PickYourBattles.Nethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16448529287854593110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8762223684746484243.post-84993442142900165712014-03-26T17:30:39.420-07:002014-03-26T17:30:39.420-07:00The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young P...The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot, is the worst thing Naomi Wolf has ever written. She lost all her credibility the day it was published. It almost completely ignores American history. She compares the United States government to parliamentary systems with very little checks and balances. She has a list of ten things that fascist groups use to destroy a democracies that are things that I would expect a high schooler that just completed Government 101 to come up with. Most of the things on her list either fulfills her current political opinions or are obvious precursors to Nazi Germany. She advertised her book as an authoritative scholarly work but it took no more than 10 minutes to discover that it is no greater than an Ann Coulter or Al Franken book. The most telling part of her book is how she almost completely avoids mentioning Stalin or any other dictatorship that didn’t frame her “arguments” perfectly. This is a book that someone reads to reaffirm the opinions they already have. I have no problem with an author selling this crap, but please save yourself the embarrassment of advertising it as a scholarly work that anyone above a 12th grade education should pay attention to. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com