en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/659588 Comments by Scott_Johnston http://biggovernment.com/mikeflynn/2009/09/21/taxpayer-funded-propaganda-the-abcs-of-the-nea-conference-call/#IDComment35461288 Aren't there laws against members of congress using postage stamps from their congressional offices (paid for by the taxpayers) for political campaign purposes? Haven't there been scandals in the past where members of congress have inappropriately and illegally directed their congressional staffers (paid for by taxpayers) to do work for their reelection campaigns? It seems to me that this, ethically speaking, is the same sort of seedy, corrupt situation except far worse. Taxpayer-paid White House employees are pressuring artists to essentially campaign for Obama's pet ideas. But, instead of stamps, the taxpayers are supporting these artists' projects through NEA grants. In other words, the White House says to the artists--"Create some great propaganda for us!" And the unspoken, but undoubtedly universally understood implication is that this is a win-win situation because the artists will benefit by continued, and/or additional NEA grant money. So, taxpayer-funded political propaganda, arranged by the White House, with money filtered through the NEA. This is what we have here. We are paying artists to indoctrinate us into Obama's political point of view as per White House instructions. Outrageous. This sort of thing shows a blatant disregard for the Constitutional ideals of fairness and equality in our political process. Here we have the government favoring a particular sort of political speech disguised as art. Pathetic, despicable, fascistic. Who do these bozos think they are? Tue, 22 Sep 2009 10:48:08 +0000 http://biggovernment.com/mikeflynn/2009/09/21/taxpayer-funded-propaganda-the-abcs-of-the-nea-conference-call/#IDComment35461288 http://biggovernment.com/emaloney/2009/09/19/acorn-kanye-west-and-the-hierarchy-of-multiculturalism/#IDComment35131189 When I was in college for the first time (in the late 80's) I attended some sort of a workshop intended to help people become more sensitive and understanding of racial issues. In that workshop, a view of the world was put forth in which it was claimed that simply by the fact that I am white, and for no other reason--I must be racist. People of color cannot--by the mere fact that they are not white--possibly be racist. The way a person behaves in real life has nothing to do with it, you see. Some of us are born racist and some are born incapable of racism, simply because of the color of our skin. Of course, I vehemently disagreed with this absurd point of view and was shocked because I had never encountered this before. It was insulting and irrational--degrading to the authentic dignity of every human person. Evey individual human being is responsible for his or her freely chosen actions. The color of our skin alone cannot make us immune from being blameworthy of a certain category unjust actions, for this does not force our wills. The large majority of elite media seem to be duped by the above sort of irrational approach. They don't seem any longer to understand that every human person has free will, that each of us is personally responsible for our own acts, and that the pigments in our skin (or lack thereof) do not have power over the authentic freedom of our human wills. Sat, 19 Sep 2009 23:38:40 +0000 http://biggovernment.com/emaloney/2009/09/19/acorn-kanye-west-and-the-hierarchy-of-multiculturalism/#IDComment35131189