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#1421367
Reynardine
Nobody is going to make you buy cars, eat food, or read books, Penguin, but if you could bring yourself to follow a little wholesome advice, especially on the last point...
7/9/2012 3:46:38 AM
#1421368
Swede
Corporations are already telling you which cars to buy, which food to eat, which books to read. It's called commercials, and it's been around for decades. In some countries they are even telling people who to vote for.
In Sweden, commercials aimed at children are prohibited. You see, we "useful idiots" want to keep our children as much away from commercialism as we can, for as long as it's possible.
YOU'RE being taxed at an out-of-control level? Ever check, for example, the gasoline prices in the world? In Sweden, one litre (not gallon) costs about as much as a cheeseburger at McDonalds. Most of that are taxes.
7/9/2012 3:58:59 AM
#1421371
Raised by Horses
"How much longer before we're told which cars to buy, which food to eat, which books to read?"
Damn straight! Now go read your bible and don't eat any shellfish.
7/9/2012 4:03:12 AM
#1421374
michael3ov
"We're being taxed at an out-of-control level."
Except for the fact that we're not being taxed at an out of control level.
7/9/2012 4:06:30 AM
#1421375
OhJohnNo
"How much longer before we're told which cars to buy, which food to eat, which books to read?"
Advertising has been doing this since... I don't even know.
7/9/2012 4:07:41 AM
#1421381
Dayvan Cowboy
And there is a small chunk in me that laughs when I hear about the statistic that gun owners are more likely to kill a family member than in self defense.
7/9/2012 4:45:15 AM
#1421393
Filin De Blanc
A group of democratically elected officials passed a bill. The Supreme Court, all picked by democratically elected officials, declared the bill constitutional. What about this is dictatorial? If you don't like it, don't reelect the people who voted in favour of it.
7/9/2012 5:11:07 AM
#1421398
Mister Spak
Because a decent chunk of this country wholeheartedly supports living under a dictatorship, either because they're "useful idiots" (like conservative teabaggers, etc.) or because they have a special interest (Koch brothers, Romney, etc.).
Fixed.
An example:
"We're being taxed at an out-of-control level."
American taxes are lower than everyone else in the civilised world, but teabaggers don't know this, they are deceived by the Romney Rich propaganda.
7/9/2012 5:17:27 AM
#1421402
SaneChick
A representative republic where you don't like what the politicians who are elected fairly do does not equal a dictatorship, asswipe.
Oh, no, it's like Hitler again!!!!! Except totally not.
7/9/2012 5:21:49 AM
#1421417
ChakatBlackstar
Sure, being told to buy car insurance is fine, but get told to buy health insurance and suddenly it's time for a revolution. What is wrong with these people?
7/9/2012 5:59:15 AM
#1421419
dionysus
Doesn't the Bible already tell you what food to eat? And aren't fundies always trying to get books (such as Harry Potter) banned? Meanwhile, Obama has no such ambitions. Give me Obama any day over a fundamentalist theocracy (which fundies want the US to be).
7/9/2012 6:07:47 AM
#1421432
Doubting Thomas
Because those 600 people are backed up by the U.S. military, not to mention the entire police force of every jurisdiction. Not to mention the fact that you know you'll end up in prison for killing government employees because you were upset with a law that was made and upheld by all three branches of government.
7/9/2012 6:21:50 AM
#1421436
Horsefeathers
"The last chunk, the chunk which is made up of conservatives and conservative Christians, needs to be pushed pretty far to actually stand up for themselves with force."
Yeah, because you guys are known for being all meek and mild and keeping your opinions to yourself.
"We're being taxed at an out-of-control level. We're beginning to see our basic freedoms taken away."
Thank Bush and several other Republican Presidents for that. They laid the groundwork for such things and you goofy fuckers just bleated along like good little sheeple without making a peep.
"How much longer before we're told which cars to buy, which food to eat, which books to read?"
The government doesn't give a fuck. Corporations do though, and they've been telling you exactly what you should be buying for a very long time.
7/9/2012 6:33:22 AM
#1421441
Bad Wolf
Roberts is, and always has been close to the far end of the political spectrum on the right side. The fact that he happened to put aside his personal ideology, and rule on this case according to the constitution just frosts your nutz, doesn't it?
Further, we are not being taxed at an "out of control" rate, the fact is, taxes are lower than they have been in a very long time.
We are already told which cars to buy, and which foods to eat. All cars in the US are required to adhere to basic safety and environmental standards - set by the Government.
All food grown, imported, produced, butchered, etc. is likewise required *by the Government* to be free of disease, and labelled as to its nutritional content. Foods that do not meet basic standards are prohibited from being sold.
The so-called "Christian" activist groups have been the loudest in censoring books, removing them from libraries, and banning their import (Lady Chatterley's Lover, Ulysses, for example).
7/9/2012 6:43:26 AM
#1421449
fishtank
these people are so strange..
7/9/2012 6:52:08 AM
#1421452
breakerslion
"The last chunk, the chunk which is made up of conservatives and conservative Christians, needs to be pushed pretty far to actually stand up for themselves with force."
I needed a good laugh from the self-righteous, flag waving, vintage-trampling Jingoists! Know thyself!
"The colonists fought and died for much less. How is now any different from then?"
You are correct. They died so that a few pseudo-aristocratic families that would in later generations be known as "the 500" could become the ruling class in the USA. Now, fully half of us are not so easy to con. At least, we know we're being conned, even if we don't know what to do about it.
7/9/2012 6:55:28 AM
#1421456
Brendan Rizzo
Only in America is making sure that everybody gets decent medical care considered living in a dictatorship. Europe is ashamed of us. Canada is ashamed of us. Hell, Mexico is ashamed of us. The day that the majority of Americans support civilization, secularism, pacifism, and restrictions on corporate power will be the day that pigs sprout wings and fly all by themselves. America is a lost cause, beyond saving.
7/9/2012 7:01:02 AM
#1421461
Philbert McAdamia
How much longer before we're told which cars to buy, which food to eat, which books to read? What clothing to wear, how to treat your kids, including murdering them, which invisible entities to obey...
there's a book all about that...I just can't think of its name.
7/9/2012 7:10:58 AM
#1421463
Thinking Allowed
Because a decent chunk of this country wholeheartedly supports living under a dictatorship
dic·ta·tor·ship [dik-tey-ter-ship] noun
1. a country, government, or the form of government in which absolute power is exercised by a dictator.
2. absolute, imperious, or overbearing power or control.
3. the office or position held by a dictator.
I think ThePenguin needs a dictionary.
7/9/2012 7:15:10 AM
#1421467
John
We're being taxed at an out-of-control level.
The US has the lowest tax rates in the western world. Tax rates have been dropping since the 1960's. At the moment, our entire personal income tax doesn't even cover defense and interest on the national debt. Four things, defense, interest on the National Debt, Social Security and Medicare, are over 80% of the budget.
7/9/2012 7:34:07 AM
#1421469
Da Rat Bastid
(ChakatBlackstar)
"Sure, being told to buy car insurance is fine, but get told to buy health insurance and suddenly it's time for a revolution. What is wrong with these people?"
*notices this user-name has "chakat" in it* Well, hell-lo there. How're you doin'? *wiggles eyebrows at hir*
I'm not about to start defending the Raptards here, but there actually is a difference between those two things. You see, as much as it may seem otherwise in this modern world of ours, owning a car is entirely optional. (I should know, having not owned one since the first Bush administration.) A human body, on the other hand, is with its owner all the time, like it or not. It's not like a person who won't (or can't) pay for health insurance can simply put his body into hibernation for a few years after uploading his mind to some poor man's area of cyberspace. *sad sigh* I WANT MY ARTIFICIAL Ghost In The Shell-STYLE BODY NOW, DAMN IT!
7/9/2012 7:42:12 AM
#1421473
Stonespiral
The only thing I get out of anyone from RR on this kind of topic is 'I don't want anyone telling me what to do! It should be me telling *them* what to do!'
7/9/2012 7:49:51 AM
#1421476
Meishayuri
You forgot "which ass to follow", sheeple.
7/9/2012 7:53:48 AM
#1421480
navelgazer
My take home message from this:
"Sqawk! sqawk! whargle bargle [insert projection here]. Sqawk sqawk bargle!
7/9/2012 8:04:16 AM
#1421483
Ebon
You're being taxed LESS than you were under Bush, fuckwit.
7/9/2012 8:12:16 AM
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