Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, arguably the most infuriating Republican House member, although there are others who could certainly compete for that honor, has announced she is not going to run for a fifth term in her Congressional district, and everyone should celebrate this news!
Bachmann will go down as one of the most reckless, most irresponsible members of the US House of Representatives in its entire history!
She said stupid, inane things on a regular basis; worked at character assassination of Democrats and progressives; and her husband added to the embarrassment of her public appearances and speeches, both on the floor of the House and off!
She contributed NOTHING positive to American politics, working at dividing Americans, rather than unite them on anything!
She was also an embarrassment to the advancement of women in politics, and her Presidential campaign was a disgrace, that she even thought she was qualified to serve in the Oval Office!
To believe that she is a tax attorney is hard to conceptualize, as he came across as brain dead, having no understanding of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and rejected science totally, and accepting mythology and hearsay as fact!
To believe that this dumb moron was on the Intelligence Committee of the House demonstrates what a mockery the Republican Party has become in the House of Representatives, accomplishing the least legislative action of any Congress in 70 years!
Bachmann claims that she was not worried about losing her seat, even though her margins of victory were smaller each time, and the last round, she won by one percent.
Bachmann also claims that she is not concerned about the investigation of her Presidential campaign funding by the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but an active pursuit of information about likely corruption is in process, and do not be surprised that she could be indicted, and could, in theory, face expulsion from the House if the investigation develops quickly enough over the next 18 months.
It would be fitting for Bachmann to be repudiated and forced out, as she is a a literal nightmare that brought out the ugliest side of the American right wing!
And the Tea Party Movement, of which she was the leading member, is also in trouble, and hopefully, there will be a repudiation of that hateful, backward, movement that promoted selfishness and greed, and condemns people who are not part of the elite upper class white establishment that put us into the Great Recession!
Meanwhile, we have rid ourselves of Florida Congressman Allen West, South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint, and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, other morons and threats to a stable future in America, so we do have some things, as progressives, to be happy about!
Fox News should have no problem finding a position for Michele Bachmann.
Bachmann has to be the most brainless of any congressperson ever to serve. If my memory serves, she never passed any meaningful legislstion, not even one bill and proved by being elected to a second term that republicans encourage and celebrate ignorance !
Someone at one time was collecting “Bachmannisms” (obtuse things she said) and said they would publish it on FB. Will have to check on that.
I am sure, D, that Bachmann will join Allen West on Fox News Channel, making them the laughing stock of the news media!
Hello Professor,
This district of Michelle Bachmann’s GOP Gerrymandered her district, there may not be much change because they will just choose someone who is just as much of a wing nut but without the baggage.
This blog is getting more classless by the minute. I guess it just shows the true colors.
No, Juan, we are simply disgusted at the destruction of the middle class and exploitation of the poor by the super rich and the corporations! This is a nation that is supposed to give equal opportunity to all, not just to the Mitt Romneys of the world! Are you putting yourself in his category? 🙁
Not a word about this, correct? ( http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/01/07/obama-campaign-fined-big-for-hiding-donors-keeping-illegal-donations )
“Barack Obama’s presidential campaign has been fined $375,000 by the Federal Election Commission for violating federal disclosure laws, Politico reports.
An FEC audit of Obama for America’s 2008 records found the committee failed to disclose millions of dollars in contributions and dragged its feet in refunding millions more in excess contributions.
The FEC says the Obama campaign failed to disclose the sources of 1,300 large donations, which together accounted for nearly $1.9 million. Election Commission rules state campaigns must report donations of $1,000 or more within 20 days of Election Day.
Obama for America was also fined for “untimely resolution of excessive contributions,” according to the conciliation agreement, FEC says. The campaign accepted more than $1.3 million in contributions that came from donors who had already given $46,000—the maximum allowed by FEC rules. The campaign eventually refunded the excess cash but did not do so within the 60-day window allotted for resolving such cases, FEC said.
In addition to failing to report big donors and excess donations in a timely manner, the Obama campaign incorrectly dated the filings dealing with $85 million in funds, the FEC claims. ”
So all they get is a miserable fine? Of course! That’s what happens when corruption reigns! And since we have a complicit subservient media that constantly gives a pass to the “Teflon”, “I don’t know I wasn’t there”, “I found out by the press” President, he is never ever held accountable for any of the crap that goes on in his administration. Why they even portray him as fighting all this! As if he wasn’t in Washington in charge of all this corruption.
Plus large portion of the dumbass clueless electorate that voted for the “anointed one” doesn’t even know what the hell is going on in this country! ( http://www.mrctv.org/videos/watters-world )
( http://www.mrctv.org/videos/do-americans-know-who-eric-holder)
Yet the IRS, coincidentally goes after Bachmann but never after the Obama campaign or any other Soros funded leftist group. How could they when the IRS union is in the tank for the Democrats and Obama? Totally disgusting. There should be no public unions. They are all crooked thieves. Taxpayers pay public employees salaries and then part of that money goes to Pro-Democrat Unions and then to the Democrat Party. Despicable. Meanwhile, the IRS — not to mention the FBI Domestic Terrorist Unit, OSHA and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms — are in hot pursuit of American citizens like Catherine Engelbrecht of Houston, Texas, Morton Blackwell and the venerable conservative Leadership Institute,Frank VanderSloot of Idaho, Bill Williams of the Ohio Liberty Council or Kevin Kookogey at the Linchpins of Liberty group in Tennessee. Not to mention Bill Donohue of the Catholic League, the target of a Soros-funded group that tried to both bully Donohue off CNN when not having the IRS do their dirty work for them, as Donohue himself has documented. Not to mention all the other almost 500 Tea Party groups who have been subjected to the same treatment. This is the most disgusting hypocritical lying and treacherous administration Americans have ever voted into power.
Opportunity my ass! What the Democrat Party has done to minorities in the last 40yrs was destructive! You have destroyed generations after generations of minorities through the lousy education system which you leftist control, and have destroyed families with the welfare state and dependency mindset. There is no opportunity for minorities with the left, it’s all a hypocritical lie.
If you hate corporations so much, well, just don’t be a hypocrite, hand over your smart phone, cut your cable and internet, do away with your computer, walk don’t drive to work, don’t use the AC, wash you clothes by hand in any river nearby, go hunt for your food, use smoke signals to communicate (if the EPA lets you), and if you are sick, go to a witch doctor, forget the CAT Scans, blood analysis, X rays and oh yes walk don’t drive to the doctor in the hut” ! You guys are unbelievable, you guys really deserve to live in the dark ages.
Hello Professor,
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, the crazed, extremist woman, has been the object of repeated, wholly justified criticism throughout her entire tenure.
From her fanatical embrace of the government-hating Tea Party, to her exhortation that angry taxpayers should descend upon the nation’s Capital “armed and dangerousâ€, to her insensitive call for the abolishment of the minimum wage, to her claim that administration of the HPV vaccine could cause mental retardation, to her ridiculous assertion that homosexuals could “pray away the gayâ€, to her allegation on network TV that many members of Congress were engaged in “un-American†activities and should be investigated…well one could always depend on this fool to make insane and untrue statements, and then claim she was misquoted afterward. Yet video tapes do not lie, and they revealed her to be an unthinking liar on many occasions!
Truth and fact never mattered much to Bachmann as long as a statement was outrageous, controversial, or attention-getting, that was good enough for her. It is criminal to think that taxpayers have wasted nearly a million dollars on her salary over the years. Clearly, it was a very bad investment!
The vast majority citizens of this country should also be overjoyed to find that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is in deep political trouble with Kentucky voters and may well be defeated in his bid for reelection in 2014 by a Democrat.
This massive liar looks, acts, and talks like a man who is severely constipated. He is hyper-political and has become the godfather of Republican obstructionism. He has proven time after time that the only word he really knows how to utter is a loud, defiant “NO!â€
Evidently Kentucky voters are justifiably fed up with a man who once described his primary goal was to make Barack Obama a one-term President, rather than tending to the wants and very real needs of concerned Kentucky citizens. For a recent Public Policy Poll showed present Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes in a virtual dead heat with him. Ms. Grimes and her family have very longstanding ties and deep roots with the Kentucky Democratic Party and she is regarded as a very formidable challenger. Should she decide to run, she has an excellent opportunity to replace McConnell, who has spent many, many years working on behalf of wealthy bankers and the Wall Street crowd, while neglecting the needs of the everyday Kentuckian and vilifying all his perceived political opponents.
Kentuckians, who have blown MILLIONS over the years on his congressional salary and have received very little for that expenditure, would do very well to replace him too.
@Engineer, @Maggie, @Professor
Guano’s and Dave’s theme song –
*sung to the tune of “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf” –
Who’s afraid of the little black helicopters….
Lulz!
🙂
Extremely amusing to read that a particular party has the corner on odd characters the dems are a literal rogues gallery of oddballs .
Oh wow, I LOVE this back and forth! Engineer Of Knowledge, your discussion of Bachmann and McConnell is brilliant, and you are DEFINITELY on a “roll” today!
LOL Princess Leia, I laughed at what you wrote too, so thanks! 🙂
And Dave, I suggest you come up with a list of loonies in the Democratic Party that MATCH the loonies in the GOP! Sure, there are a FEW, but not the long list of GOP lunatics and conservative talk show hosts. I want to hear what your list is, as you bristle at what Engineer Of Knowledge and Princess Leia say about you, which is, of course, totally true, if you only had the common sense and intelligence to recognize that fact! Sadly, you are clueless!
Juan,
Did you ever comment on my question with any disapproval to the corporations closing the “Value Added” manufacturing here in this country only to open up in Communist China, Viet Nam, etc. You hate Communism right? But no unkind words for companies who embrace the values that Communism labor provides to them. Interesting….
You mentioned Smart Phones…..you know they are manufactured by a company called Foxx well within Communist China and using economic enslavement labor to produce this product. Workers in this three story manfaucturining facility, working 12 hours on and 12 hours off with two people sharing the same bed….(it is called “The Warm Bed Syndrome”)
Desperation to escape these horrid Communist conditions, the workers was trying to commit suicide to the tune of one per day minim.
Where I fought to stop Communism, so many corporations embraced and LOVED Communist China’s labor force and rules.
Well McConnell in my opinion hasn’t said NO loud enough! NO is the only response this corrupt and twisted administration deserves. This despicable administration did and achieved what it wanted without any debate (because elections have consequences) during the first 2 yrs. Well so far the American people put a stop to this by electing the opposition to Congress , to say NO! ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES! And don’t come with this gerrymandering bull, Democrats are the masters at it! So tough luck! It’s your turn now. I repeat, the NO SHOULD AND MUST BE LOUDER! Why even Boehner should step down and someone with guts to say NO should take his place. So far Obama is lucky that the cowardly Republican establishment still has control. After 2014 they will be wiped out! Enough of this Democrat corruption and deceit. Bipartisanship? Hell no! As for Rubio and his ridiculous Immigration plan, he could go to hell too! “Pendejo” thought he could outsmart Chucky Schummer and the rest of the rotten establishment, McCain and Lindsey Graham included! No way! The Democrats are salivating for this reform,and the dumbass Republican establishment is going along with it. The Democrats want it so they could then take Texas and after that they can say game over! Well NO! We won’t let that happen.
Juan, Oh Juan, you sound like a true lunatic today, such anger and fury, you had better stay away from your wife and son until you cool off! Such hate and venom and poison, not good for one’s health, and by losing your temper, you totally negate anything you say! You think screaming and yelling loudly will change intelligent people’s minds, but it does just the opposite!
So you hate unions, and you hate even Marco Rubio, who is actually your best hope for the future, unless Jeb Bush ignores his mother! LOL Neither can win the White House, but anyone else will lose in a total landslide, which maybe is what needs to happen, so that your hateful Tea Party crowd is wiped out completely by massive defeat!
I hope you do not teach hatred of our President to your son, but rather respect for the man, even if one does not agree with him, as your image of him shows you are totally delusional, and maybe need a forced psychiatric examination to make sure you are not dangerous to others with your obsessive behavior! Make sure you take your medication, Juan, and I am serious, not fooling! And any more tirades like this, and you will be silenced on here, as I have just about reached my limits of tolerance! 🙁
Engineer: As Karl Marx said, capital has no country nor flag! You should know that.I am not as stupid as to think corporations are patriotic in any way, nor should they be. They exist to make a profit for the benefit of the shareholders PERIOD! Which in many cases are pension funds, that is your grandma and grandpa. They provide services and products , that are available to those who wish to purchase them. No one is forcing neither you nor me to give them money.It is a voluntary exchange. Unlike the government that takes our money without asking for it. So I don’t love them nor do I despise them. Furthermore corporations nowadays are truly multinational, and multicultural in nature. They are really globalized.
I know China is a menace, and I know how they treat their people. But worse than corporations going over there, is the fact that the Federal Government has indebted us and future generations with the Chi-cons. That’s unconscionable! Finally if the people of China don’t rebel, are we to do so for them? Now if they ever do we should aid them if and only if it is in our national interest.
Amusing to watch the progressives grasping close to the most corrupt presidency of my life time.
Dave, you sound as if you are a senior citizen or close to it, and to say Obama is the most corrupt Presidency in your life time is another example of your being delusional!
What about Richard Nixon, heh? What about Ronald Reagan, considered the FOURTH most corrupt Presidency in history after (chronologically) Grant, Harding, Nixon–all Republican Presidents, by the way!
And what about George W. Bush, heh?
You obviously do NOT know history, and in fact do not know much about what you talk about, sign of ignorance!
Oh Ron oh Ron, you throw a stone and get offended when someone replies. Actually I am really calm today as always. You remind me of those kids at school that bug you, steal your lunch, insult you and when you turn around to whack them, they call on the teacher crying like babies and then accuse you of being a bully. Ron we are grown ups, so cut it out. Just as you throw “punches” you should be able to take mine. Figuratively speaking. Furthermore, my caps where not intended to signify any screaming or yelling but just to make a point that is all. As for my contempt for the Obama administration, it is justified. They are bullies and crooked corrupt thieves. I know the type and they disgust me, sorry. I don’t fall for the so call “cool laid back” image he tries to give. I don’t fall for the external layering or the mask any politicians use. I try to see what they do. As for Rubio, he is making a huge mistake. He is still in time to correct himself. But if he doesn’t I think he will politically regret it. And with regard to Jeb Bush, he should stay home, the Bush family did enough damage already! Time to move on and get out of the way.
Juan, you always manage to rescue yourself from the brink of the cliff! LOL But one day, you might go over the edge without warning! Meanwhile, you are entertainment for me, Princess Leia, Maggie, D, and Engineer of Knowledge! LOL
If the media had done their work
1 a second rate community organizer would not be senator much less president
2 if the media had done its job Obama would be on permanent vaca
3 if the media was doing its job Obama would be on his way to a deserved impeachment.
A community organizer is a low life, right, but a corporate guy like Romney is not, heh? Helping the poor in the ghetto is despicable, but robbing people in the corporate world is just fine, heh?
Bush and Reagan did nothing to deserve impeachment, but of course, Clinton deserved it, and Obama deserves it, because they are Democrats, heh?
You are proving, Dave, that you have delusional behavior, as there is no other explanation for your ridiculous statements!
Obama’s IRS scandal widens. http://freebeacon.com/irs-crosses-green-line/
The ruling class and its mouthpieces really hate Ted Cruz, which is why we like him. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/05/30/ted-cruz-is-turning-out-to-be-a-very-effective-demagogue/?hpid=z2
Editorial nerds at WSJ wrong, again.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323855804578511441999295924?mg=reno64-wsj.html?dsk=y
When they’re no pushing for debt ceiling increases, bailouts, and open borders, and attacking tea party activists and other conservatives, the WSJ editorial nerds are dishing bad advice about, well, in this case, investigations. So, if there’s no special prosecutor, exactly what office in the Obama administration will enforce obstruction or perjury allegations by Congress? The nerds write they don’t trust Holder; ok, great. Then how can they trust any criminal investigation that Holder oversees directly or indirectly? There is both a legislative and criminal component to the IRS scandal. They each require aggressive attention and enforcement. To dismiss the latter as political posturing is pretty dumb.
Lawless Obama.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-27/obama-s-dangerous-contempt-for-the-rule-of-law.html
A Tea Partier threatened to assassinate Senator Susan Collins: http://thinkprogress.org/immigration/2013/05/30/2076221/tea-partiers-call-for-assassinating-senator/?mobile=nc
Ted Cruz is the front man for the extreme right wing, capable of promoting gun violence, and willing to condemn both the Democrats and the Republican Party which elected him to the US Senate in Texas! I am not surprised by Cruz, who has, like Bachmann and Allen West, used the Communist card, and is, as I have said earlier on this blog, the Hispanic Joseph McCarthy, a loose cannon who is very dangerous, and will need to be disciplined in some manner by his colleagues over time, just as Joseph McCarthy was in 1954!
Juan, Ramesh Ponnuru is as propagandist for NATIONAL REVIEW, and a person who I have seen on talk shows, and is not very impressive in any fashion! To use him as a reliable source is preposterous!
The radical left’s protection racket and their corporatist financiers: the screwing of America
http://freebeacon.com/the-h-street-project/
“H Street is the home of the Center for American Progress (CAP), founded by former Clinton chief of staff John Podesta in the fall of 2003. Originally conceived as a think tank to match the conservative Heritage Foundation and American Enterprise Institute, CAP quickly dropped the thinking and became, simply, a tank. Its objective was to overpower conservatives and Republicans, to devastate them with a fusillade of government activism, to pulverize their fortifications with ammunition loaded into the progressive echo chamber.
Good weapons don’t come cheap. CAP requires considerable stimulus to acquire, track, and destroy its targets. Podesta’s fundraising methods, as one might expect from a Clintonite, were ingenious. He incorporated two entities: The Center for American Progress as a tax-deductible nonprofit 501(c)(3), and the Center for American Progress Action Fund as a tax-exempt 501(c)(4). Donations would not be disclosed, allowing contributors the protection of anonymity even as CAP called for transparency in political giving and government regulation of political speech.”
HYPOCRITES!
The Republican party did not elect Cruz to the Senate. Quite the contrary, the establishment worked against him, the people of Texas elected him. As long as the media and the left despise him, he is therefore great for the country and us of course. It’s not that hard really, who ever you guys hate must then be doing a good thing.
The Free Beacon is another right wing propaganda organ, unreliable, Juan!
Princess Leia, not surprised that Tea Party radicals would target one of the FEW decent Republican Senators, Susan Collins of Maine. The answer is to hunt down and prosecute that person on the phone, who made that threat against a government official. There is no other answer than to arrest and imprison all terrorists within our midst, and when threats are made, that is NOT freedom of speech, when it involves any government official at any level!
Sure Ron, agreed, no one should threaten anyone. No I ask, what do we do when the government threatens us, our livelihood, our privacy, and violates the First Amendment?
Juan, you watch as Ted Cruz self destructs, with his egotism, cockiness, arrogance, and lack of respect for fellow Senators, and really, the American people! He is the most dangerous demagogue in a long time that we have seen in the US Senate, a greater theater than the House of Representatives!
Ron: Are you denying the facts put forth by Ponnuru? Are you denying that The Center for American Progress is as a tax-deductible nonprofit 501(c)(3), and the Center for American Progress Action Fund is as a tax-exempt 501(c)(4).? Instead of instantly disqualifying why don’t you refute what the say point by point? Because you can’t I guess. Smearing is easier, right?
When one reaches the conclusion that the government threatens us, our livelihood, our privacy, and violates the First Amendment, Juan, it is then clear that you or whoever it is, is not qualified to practice law, as he or she is delusional, and needs a forced psychiatric exam as a threat to civil order! Is that clear enough? 🙁
Or are you advocating revolution? You would not like what revolution would bring, as it would bring about a police state very similar to Fascism! And small d democrats who believe in our government and Constitution will not permit it in any form, so even threatening revolution is highly dangerous, particularly for a lawyer! You should be ashamed for even suggesting such a thought on this blog! 🙁
Juan, you are the expert at smearing, so maybe I can learn from you the techniques of the right and use it for the left! LOL 🙂
– Antonia Zerbisias wrote in April of 2009, “Forget the Marxists. I wish the marksmen would take @MichelleMalkin. I’m thinking Dick Cheney. He’s such a great shot,†Zerbisias wrote on Twitter. http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/commentary-toronto-star-columnist-wishes-conservative-michelle-malkin-were-
– “Scotty Walker is dead. So are you. We know where you live.†The woman then recited the Mackinac Center’s address and said, “We are coming up to destroy you.†In another message, a female who left her name said: “You are on Main Street. You are the first place to be bombed.†In another message, a female voice said: “We are going to destroy everybody. We are going to destroy all of you. All of you die. Midland, Michigan. Get ready. We are going to destroy all of you.†http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/14846
-@sEaTtLe_MeTrO Death 2 Palin family them retarded hillbillies take teabaggers w/ you hateful bitch https://twitter.com/crazypeople2/status/11061644262
– We cant expect gov to intervene we must shoot Gen. Palin on site be 4 her troops strike again! https://twitter.com/crazypeople2/status/11001059519
– @Palin360 you need 2 b assassinated soon we ll settle 4 one of the family if not u! https://twitter.com/crazypeople2/status/11003436594
– I cant wait till someone serious hurt that bitch Palin or one of her children soon she out of control! https://twitter.com/crazypeople2/status/11002690583
– #hcr proof that Palin targeted Va. rep. w/ her map and someone followed up we have 2 stop this terrorist name Sarah someone please kill her! Damn violent teabaggers!
https://twitter.com/crazypeople2/status/11000803954
– Tea Party Couple Battles Vandalism, Death Threat & Molotov Cocktail to Defend ‘Vote for Romney’ Sign. http://laist.com/2012/10/03/tea_party_couple_battles_death_threat.php
And the list is endless. Yet one stupid comment on a conference call gets all you attention. Unbelievable.
The Center For American Progress is a wonderful organization, just as for your side we have the Federalist Society, the American Enterprise Institute, and the Heritage Foundation, which came up with the outline of ObamaCare 20 years ago, with the backing of Newt Gingrich! Imagine that! 🙂
No Ron, I am advocating that the government get under control and stop harassing us! When innocent people have to spend thousands and in some cases millions of dollars to defend themselves because the happen to disagree with the current administration, then we have a government that is out of control. When we have an Attorney General that wants an “off the record” meeting with the press, then we have a government out of control. Got that? So stop acting dumb, you know very well what I am talking about.
I do not advocate violence, but let’s be honest, Sarah Palin is a moron, and Scott Walker is the most anti labor Governor in modern times, and they should be denounced, but of course, not in the way these quotes above indicate. But do you realize how many death threats there are every day against Barack Obama, more than any President in American history?: Do you realize how Fox News Channel and talk radio show hosts promote conspiracy theories that poison our political climate? Is that to be ignored, and nothing said in response by supporters of the great progress we have witnessed in the past four years? It would be a right wing fanatic who could cause death and destruction, not the left, despite what you might claim!
Juan,
Wow you guys are quite prolific in posting today.
I will give you a quote from someone years ahead of your Karl Marx (May 1818 – 14 March 1883) quote, “capital has no country nor flag!”
Mine would be and along the same line:
Thomas Jefferson’s letter to John Adams, on Christian scriptures (24 January 1814).
“Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains.”
But I did ask what you thought and not Karl. I can Google him anytime…:-)
By the way, I did like your following statments on that post. Because I saw and lost three whom I served with…I find it hard to accept / deal with those who take from citizens in this country only to bennifet Communist countries population.
I would like to talk with you sometime and your time in Argentina.
I thought I was clear, I don’t hate nor like corporations. I understand why they exist and that is legitimate.
What would you like to know about my time in Argentina?
Juan,
Oh I don’t know…anything in patucular. How old you were, why were your parents there, what you saw first hand and remrmber during that time.
Just saw on PBS a program dealing with contemporary art. One that stood out and caught my attention was photography art of one man’s classmates at the age of 13 to 15 who spoke out against the tirant rule of the Junta, were picked up and never seen again. The other classmates fled to other countries. The were both boys and girls and the photos were school class photos.
I do want to pass on that I am not trying to set you up for anything, but more in the line of living history of this time. I would be glad to share with you my memories to the point that I can.
I would like to chime in here, and say I like the idea of Engineer of Knowledge and Juan being able to demonstrate diplomacy and tact in the manner suggested above. It is so much better than the alternative, and I hope it can be the beginning of a different approach to disagreement on political discourse, which I would certainly prefer, so I thank both gentlemen for that! 🙂
Engineer: I was 16 yrs old when I moved to Argentina. I had visited before a few times, even lived a whole year in 1975 and went to school there, then returned to the US in January of 76. In 75 I was a kid but I remember the contradictions of having lots of fun , playing in the streets and at the same time being aware of the bombs the terrorist were putting everywhere, of the hijacking of trains and buses, of the assaults on military bases. I remember during Christmas of 75 as our family together with my aunt , uncle and cousin, were preparing to go to Mar Del Plata for the holidays, the terrorist mounted an attack on the military base of Monte Chingolo that evening, and we could see the choppers flying into the base from our building. Nevertheless we, as well as thousands of others, just continued with our lives and hit the road for Mar Del Plata that same morning, road which passed along the Monte Chingolo base where the fighting occurred.
Well in 83, I arrived in January and it was the last months of the Junta that was in power since March of 76. The defeat in the Falklands war happened a few months before and everyone was excited about the elections of 83, with the return of Democracy.
It was odd for me as a teenager, because believe it or not , as a kid, I had more “freedom” to go out and about in Buenos Aires than in Los Angeles. And Buenos Aires you know is a huge cosmopolitan city. Different culture and laws I guess. I mean imagine a 16yr , out an about in the streets with friends up until 6 – 7 a.m. in the morning. It was summer and with my cousin we could hit the streets at about 10 pm and go out, all night, shoot some pool, go dancing, or what have you, all evening with friends. And of course we had no problem drinking beer. No cop would ever stop you because you were under aged out an about at 2 am with friends. I remember in LA we couldn’t be caught walking alone in the streets after 9pm without a cop stopping you and asking where your parents were. I guess that was better, and I realize it now, but then, when at 16, I was amazed and loved my new found “freedom”, to the dismay of my poor mother. Anyway, all this was the way people lived even during the end of military rule which disappeared thousands. So it was very contradictory indeed. In any even, my finals years as a teenager were really cool, from a teenagers point of view. Living the night life and the streets teaches many lessons that one cannot learn in school, for better or for worse. Now as one becomes an adult, goes to college, etc, real world issues affect you more, like finding a job, inflation, economic crisis and the rest. Which is another chapter.
Juan, I am really fascinated by your story!
Ron:
I have uploaded some videos that were part of a presentation I made a few years ago at the UM during a Democracy and Human Rights Seminar. Since you are a historian this might interest you, about the history of military coups in Argentina, the “Desaparecidos”, the return to Democracy and the Trials to the Military Junta. During these last two episodes I was a direct witness to history. As a matter of fact I followed law school inspired by this trial and how then candidate Alfonsin, who later became the first democratically elected President since 1973, would always end his campaign speeches reciting the Preamble to the Argentine Constitution.
First Coup 1930: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0LfH6O_Nw8
Second Coup 1943: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm9226bOwEY
Bombing and Coup 1955: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgKMlza1RkQ
Leftist Terrorism 1966-76: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO-4whgToeQ
1976 Coup, Desaparecidos, and Democracy 1983 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flZ6SIUyjbQ
1984 CONADEP report on Desaparecidos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esx53QF4YCM (this is a very interesting presentation by Sabato)
1985 Trial of the Military Junta: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvbitXne3fc (Prosecutor Julio Straserra closing statement is known worldwide within Human Rights sphere)
Juan, I am truly impressed by your presentations of these videos, and I applaud you for it! 🙂 We may not agree on a lot of things, but despite our fighting, I have respect for you, as I hope and believe you have for me! 🙂
Of course I have personal respect for you, though I hardly agree with you on politics. I wouldn’t be posting here if I didn’t. Even though, to tell you the truth, sometimes I cannot even finish reading some of your posts because they affect my blood pressure! LOL!
HAHAHA! 🙂 Actually, I think my blood pressure goes up too at times LOL, and I am older than you, so be considerate please in what you say on here! LOL HAHAHA!