JMJ

You insult your own intelligence and what little sense of humor you have.
First of all I have a computer and I can enter into any debate with whatever knowledge I need.
I’ve proven to be way,way,way better at coming up with facts and relevant documents to prove my claims as opposed to you always expecting people to take your word for it as in your list of gripes up above where you give no example of anything you say is happening.
You rely on the emotion and expectation that people will trust your word and lay down like fools.
And when we don’t you accuse us of not being informed ?
I was being a smart a$$ with recovering from the great depression as sarcastic comparison to the recovery after the civil war.
It was an industrial boom and so we did enter another phase of prosperity after WW 2 just like we recovered after the civil war.
But oh no !
You have to bust out your ” as a student of history” crap so readily that you forgot to look a little closer. And so all that narcissistic baggage you carry impeded your ability to see the joke.

Yea, you are an elitist snob.
Here’s how I got there.
Its only obvious that you think its fashionable on the one day we should celebrate our country to go off on some whining spree that makes you look like you are so aware of all the hurt going on, here and all over the world.
THATS WHAT LIBS DO !
Liberal activities are all about ego - to demonstrate “I care more than you do” without really helping anyone.
And all your gripes up above are just creating an atmosphere of crisis and fear to justify the collectivist oppression you guys want to impose on the country
All you bitch about could be fixed if you guys could just control everything, right ?
Only problem is that as a “student of history” you should be aware of the fact that socialist and communal collectivism has always failed and what remnants of it that have survived so far are not doing all that well now, are they?
But, that’s why the left is insane.
The description of insanity is to keep going back and doing the same thing over and over again and at each return you expect different results.
Like Carter. Hmmm .. let me go back to the middle east and try the same act again , maybe it’ll work this time. NOT !!!

Proved your point ?
ROTFLMAO.
You proved no point at all. WHERE ?
You haven’t even made clear what that point would be other than that you think I missed on the guilded age.

But yet, up til this point so far.
You have not been able to give me one example of all the things you are crying about and you talk about the ability to “suffice”?

Weak bro, weak.
Your game has been better before and you know it

“Return of the Guilded age?
You mean like when we pulled ourselves out of the great depression?”

You don’t even know what and when was the Guilded Age.

You use stupid terms like “elitist” created by the truly elite to denegrate progressivism for the consumption of the writhing sycophants who vote against their own interests.

I won’t even address the rest of what you said. Suffice to say, you proved my point.

JMJ

“Don’t feel sorry for me, Parrot. I’m perfectly happy living my life without the blinders always on. It makes life worth living.”

So what you’re saying is that the rest of us are happy because we dont see things your way ?
How dare you come off as someu nique little elitest who is the only one aware enough to see things that quite frankly are only products of your hate for your country and George Bush ?
Does it really make life worth living when everything you just said would make someone want to move to Darfur if it were all true ?
Blinders ?
I think you’re blind to the fact that most of what you stand for and wish upon this country will never happen. Mostly because the party you support has failed consistanly on a average far greater than the right.

“What I mourn is the degradation of the body politic”

Then go to a country that affords you more opportunity than this one to change it

“the dumbing down of the culture, the return of the Guilded Age,”

What dumbing down ? Maybe in your neighborhood but American culture is a mixed bag that has produced some of the most diverse and intelligent people in the world. And we are also the most innovative of all cultures on this planet.
Return of the Guilded age ?
You mean like when we pulled ourselves out of the great depression ?
What ? You got something against our countrys progress and a man making out alright ? Would you prefer we go back to the dark ages ? Or something less ?
What the hell are you talking about ?

“the rise of the police state”

Yea right. LOL.
We’re all under curfew and have to succomb to law enforcement at their will constantly.
Prison population not right ? YEA!
Police state ? Not even.

“the militarization of a once benign nation”

Benign my a$$. Lets talk about all the people that died as a result of Iraqs benign revolutionary gaurd and the millions of human rights violations that were anything but benign.

” the coopting of the European colonialism model”

Iraq is a soveriegn country with its own resouces and government.
You saying we are guilkty of colonialism and theres really nothing but your intentinally exagerated views to back that up.

“the cannibalization of the nations wealth”

No, that wont happen unless Obama gets his way. It’ll be worse. Instead of it being eaten within our country our wealth will be passed out to the rest of the world.

” the cultural religion of uber-individualism and uber-materialism masquerading as Founding American ideals, and on and on. Personally, I think only a selfish fool wouldn’t mourn such regression of the American state.”

Individualism is not religion. Its a constitutional right and the materials are our constitutional right as the pursuit of happiness.
Bad money ! Bad money ! Go away !

Personally ?
Only an arrogant idealistic fool would make these claims on the most wonderful day in our countrys history and not cry a little everytime the national anthem gets played and be so grateful that he would out of respect not spout off such crap

JMJ

As for Democracies, this list from the Economist ranks us at 17: http://www.economist.com/media/pdf/DEMOCRACY_INDEX_2007_v3.pdf

As for liberty, this list from the WLP ranks us at number 8: http://www.stateofworldliberty.org/report/rankings.html

Even with economic freedom, as defined by Heritage, this list puts at number 5 (up over the Bush years due to deregulation and lowered taxation which the Heritage people see as always positive): http://www.heritage.org/Index/countries.cfm

So by any measure, be you liberal, conservative, libertarian, whatever, the US is MOST CERTAINLY NOT the freest country in the world. And to be honest, I would leave if it were more feasible. As for being freer then ever before, I would suggest reading up on your country’s history, because that’s just a plain loony thing to say.

JMJ

Jersey, sorry to hear about the shock but I must say I feel sorry for you and at the same time am confused. How you can mourn and not see that this is still a great country guided by those same ideals is beyond me. Furthermore it seem you tend to advocate positions which whittle away at the very ideals you seem to feel are disappearing.

To me the 4th of July has always been a source of pride and joy about the nation Of which I am proud to be a citizen. My earliest memories of this day are when I was very young and my dad was stationed at Yokota AFB in Japan, We would go to the base carnival, tour the airplanes and watch the fireworks at the end of the day. It was a piece of America in a land far away. I am just as proud of our nation today as I was 40 years ago.

How convenient that you forgot the rest of the countries I mentioned.
You could be living anywhere right now.
but you’re not, are you.

If you truly think that you have more to mourn than to celebrate on this day I dont know what to say to that kind of cruelty