"Live Free Or Die" Morphs into "What About Me?"
By daveinboca Posted in 2008 — Comments (47) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Cross-posted at THE MINORITY REPORT
I was listening to the re-run of an obvious spinster-to-be named Jenny Ballantine on Rush Limbaugh's radio show as she was kvetching and whining in New Hampshire in front of the Edwards "Couple" and I thought of that flag with the snake that said "Don't Tread on Me." It's still on the license plate, if I'm not mistaken.
Whatever happened to the rock-ribbed New Englanders that Norman Rockwell immortalized back in the day when Life Magazine and Saturday Evening Post covers portrayed a different reality, one of a nation that worked out its difficulties through grit and gumption? Here are Jenny's immortal cries for posterity:
Read on . . .
I have no idea what I want to do when I grow up. I don't know what I want to be when I'm an adult. But I'm 22 right now, so people are like, "Honey, you are an adult." You know what? It's about me. It's about me voting for you or supporting somebody who's going to be the next president. So it's all about me right now. Just give me something.
"JUST GIVE ME SOMETHING!" could be the last bleat/motto of the baby boomers as they begin to subside into the defirmities of age and decrepitude. They want guarantees.
Remember the independence, the self-sufficiency, the idea that hard work and keeping your shoulder to the wheel might bring success? We all got along with a little or a lot of help from friends and solace from religion, but now folks like Jenny look to government, BIG government, to fill in what family, the consolations of religion and friends can't provide. Not that big government works very well, as one might notice if one notes the discrepancies between media portrals of incessant ubiquitous bureaucratic foul-ups and the media hue and cry that more bureaucracy is the answer. But one doesn't notice those things if one asks what one's country can do for one and not vice-versa.
Even the Edwards family knows tragedy, but read the link to the transcript and bathe in the bromides of John's reply as his hirsutely-perfect head nods in recognition of Jenny's plight.
There's another version of how to face adversity that fits for most of the people on the planet outside the USA, Europe, Japan and some oil-rich enclaves in the Middle East: "Life's a bitch and then you die."
Pray and trust in a higher power, because you ain't got much chance to live forever.
You might note that most of the GWB Administration is Boomer Aged, as is Rush, as is most of the Conservative/Republican leadership. Most Boomers got over the Sixties and went on with productive life, but if you were in a field where you went straight from college like government, teaching, academia, some aspects of the law, non-profits and NGOs, you could keep the same stupid ideas you had smoking dope in a college dorm in '69 and make a pretty good living. Those people are a pestilence on the Earth.
In Vino Veritas
"if you were in a field where you went straight from college like government, teaching, academia, some aspects of the law, non-profits and NGOs ... Those people are a pestilence on the Earth."
Doctor's without Borders and The Salvation Army. All those NGOs and non-profits. What a pestilence - with there charitable giving and microcapital to poor people. Bill and Melinda Gates can take their foundation and shove it. He's not that accomplished anyway.
Gates is anything but the "self made man" of his legend; big money Democrat entitlement just gave him the money to develope something that several others had as well. To the rest, I stand by my statement and you can feel free to go back to Dkos.
In Vino Veritas
Ta.
Moe
PS: Sadr City is in Iraq, Sparky Skippy. al-Sadr is currently holed up in Iran. Try to keep the names straight in your next incarnation, 'kay?
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC.
here's what I'll give you...
[think inappropriate picture of an old man mooning the camera with one finger on his right hand extended]
____
Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't.
Think that 12 of them seemed very tranquil with their unlawful detention and violation of their Geneva Convention rights.
Think that this is the future of our society as well.
Think how Iranian or Chinese military would behave if we detained them for even lawful reasons.
as it was mind-numbingly stupid and depressing. This young woman has gone through the educational system and grown up in our culture without receiving any kind of real-world grounding. Missing from her conversation and consciousness were the foundations of any American's character: family, faith and country. No awareness of the greatness of America and her own good fortune to live in a society in which she is free to make her own destiny.
No what she had was self-esteem aplenty (despite uttering such howlers as "the racial divide is getting worse" and "the 1940s and 1950s were terrible times in our country"), ignorance of how the world works (she wanted someone to take care of her dog while she also wants a guarantee of an internship in DC which will pay her a lot) a great sense of entitlement even though she has no career in mind (hint: the art history major isn't going to help, that's a major people take to have something to do while waiting for the trust fund to kick in).
What she wanted was for Edwards to tell her she matters, and of course Edwards, who can outsmarm Clinton (BJ) any day (something I would not have thought possible) was happy to oblige.
This concept of leadership, the therapeutic role, does seem to be on the increase.
in my opinion, and the people she was asking her question to are some of the worse of the group. Just change the wording to reflect a non-gender specific identity and there is no need to say more.
" This young woman has gone through the educational system and grown up in our culture without receiving any kind of real-world grounding. Missing from her conversation and consciousness were the foundations of any American's character: family, faith and country. No awareness of the greatness of America and her own good fortune to live in a society in which she is free to make her own destiny."
and no insults intended to grown-ups on this thread who technically were born between '45 and '59, but managed to transit to adulthood.
But the downside of feminism is projecting a former dependency on men into a dependency on public help to get ahead---most women avoid this trap, but some morph from angry wives to angry politicized "feminists."
And the Cold War grew government, as did healthcare and civil rights and educational programs meant to ease US society into a "Great Society."
Like most of LBJ's jiggerpokery, the Great Society was a sham and a scam, meant to make parts of society dependent on BIG government handouts and thus vote Dem automatically to keep the good times rolling. But dependency begets generational decline, and people in decline don't bother to vote, not even if they're paid [as I used to give out sawbucks to voters in St. Louis when I was a Dem activist there.]
But I digress. The latest Gen-Next is called grown-up and responsible in contrast to their Boomer forebears, Jenny to the contrary notwithstanding.
more to do with it, I think, when you get out of the "Victim" classes. Over the years, I've dealt with lots of intelligent and otherwise grounded Boomer Aged women who simply could not be made to trust their and their mothers' judgement in raising children, and they sure weren't going to trust any stupid, brutal man. To a one they surrounded themselves in all the "self help" books about raising kids, being mommies, and getting along with husbands/SOs. It goes without saying that 50% and change marriages failed in that period.
Wife 1.0, b.1951, was simply a terrible mother and I am indeed fortunate that she and I split up as my daughter reached her teenaged years and I raised her myself. Wife 2.0 is a very intelligent and organized, even driven, woman who is absolutely incapable of rational thought when it comes to her children. No excuse was ever too far-fetched for her to accept; her children could do no wrong, and if they did, it was somebody else's fault - usually mine. She wouldn't raise them, she was their friend after all, and wouldn't let me. But I'm a "persistent cuss" and managed to thwart most of her and their more stupid ideas and got them to more or less adulthood alive and without a felony conviction or an unwanted child - the true measure of parenting success in today's world.
The mommies enable, the schools enable, and men, ignorant, brutal louts that we are, aren't even to be considered except when a woman just really needs to get her toes curled. Like the saboteurs that urinated in the glue that the Germans were using to make airplane wings in WWII, the "social scientists" have urinated in the glue that holds families and, thus, society together. Got any ideas about how to put it back together again?
In Vino Veritas
Just a thought...
There are those who look on Dresden and Tokyo and Hiroshima as some of the greatest evils ever perpetrated by man. I look on them and thank the perpetrators for saving millions.
on my boat need to be replaced this spring because they've gotten pretty ratty looking. So, I'll have three 25' x 5/8" and one 40' x 5/8" ropes, high quality three strand nylon. They're available to anyone who wants to put on a "first class hanging."
In Vino Veritas
I was reserving it for Kerry, but I'll donate it to a good cause.
I can by more for JOhnJohn.
____
Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't.
and a conviction at trial. I'm long on record about that. Heck, even I don't approve of lynching.
____
Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't.
Coined the term "sociology" in 1838.
A dark day in history.
“Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the Democrats believe every day is April 15.”
-Ronald Reagan
...along with the audience response.
From: http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110009901
Here is how the Edwardses responded:
Mr. Edwards: God bless you. If I were choosing a president, uh, that's what I'd be doing. I'd be looking for the specifics of what they want to do, because that matters, but I would also be judging them personally, because we need to trust our president.
Mrs. Edwards: I want to say something, too. I was really impressed with you, Jenny Ballantine, and I think probably everybody in this room was, and I want everybody in this room who believes that Jenny Ballantine is going to be able to do it to give her a round of applause.
According to Foster's Daily Democrat of Dover, N.H., the audience gave Miss Ballantine not only a round of applause but a standing ovation.
The whole exchange was embarrassing.
This "child" demands guarantees that she will not have to deal with things like “hate and prejudice and racism”. She wants the world to focus on HER, making her feel like SHE matters, SHE is what is important. She doesn’t want to be bothered with other people and their petty little issues.
So she’s going to school and has a part time job working 25 to 30 hours a week…and she has a dog.
Woo
When I was her age I was married, going to night school, had a full time job and a daughter to support. I never stopped to wonder about what someone else was going to “ do for the people that are in my situation”.
This helpless little twit is freaking out about being “hit with the loans”…
Yo… Babe… Can you say… MORTGAGE PAYMENT?
And the priceless line… “uh, I have no idea what I want to do when I grow up.”
YES she does!
She wants to be a dependent!
And she wants someone to promise her she won’t have to worry about scary things like “responsibility” or, “growing up” in the first place.
And Mrs. Edwards… “was really impressed” with Jenny’s courage to stand up and demand that she be able to remain a child in Never Never Land forever… encouraging everybody in the room who believed “…that Jenny Ballantine is going to be able to do it to give her a round of applause.”
… and when life’s hurricane hits this child’s world one day… just like her democratic “give me/do it for me” brethren (and sistren?) in New Orleans, little Jenny is going to be sitting on her roof top waiting for her "keepers" to come and save her.
Jeeze… they ALL want to live in a world called “The Big Easy”, don't they?
"Even when you fall on your face, you're still moving forward."
She does Not know what she wants to do when she grows up. In fact, she just doesn't want to grow up at all. At 22, she should already BE grown up (she may still not know what she wants to do, but she should be taking the steps neccssary to find out and be prepared for when she does). But, no. Instead she turns to Nanny Government to ensure that she never has to grow up at all...
There are those who look on Dresden and Tokyo and Hiroshima as some of the greatest evils ever perpetrated by man. I look on them and thank the perpetrators for saving millions.
From your post, Raven, we seem to be on the same page all the way around.
... and something tells me you aren't the sort who ever sat around and waited for someone to "do it for you" either.
What is so frightening about Jenny (and her entire entitlement generation) isn’t so much the words they spout but rather the righteous indignation with which they SAY them.
They demand independence without the responsibility that comes with it.
They believe they have the right to have their happiness handed to them, simply because they “didn’t ask to be born” and were “dumped here” with no road map.
Funny… as old as they are, these words from The Declaration of Independence sum it up quite nicely…
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—
Notice the wording there regarding the “unalienable Rights (and “Rights” is indeed capitalized)… It never says we are endowed with the right to HAVE happiness. It says we have the right to, “the PURSUIT of happiness”.
Jenny’s generation doesn’t seem to understand the difference between “pursuit” and “give it to me”.
Scares the B-Jesus out of me to think this country's future is heading toward the hands of a generation who will never outgrow their need for diaper changes.
"Even when you fall on your face, you're still moving forward."
Those losers think the voting needs done for them. They think their thinking needs done for them. Makes for a whole bunch of non-registered, non-voters...
There are those who look on Dresden and Tokyo and Hiroshima as some of the greatest evils ever perpetrated by man. I look on them and thank the perpetrators for saving millions.
I don't mind that there are a bunch of lazy, mindless twits out there who have no ambition to make something of their lives... But what chaps my behind are the ones who say it's everyone elses responsibility to give them some of ours.
The Bible says, "The Lord provides for the sparrows."
But, have you noticed how it doesn't say, "The Lord provides for the sparrows by bringing what it needs to the nest."?
Yep... "SEEK and ye shall find."... not, "Sit thou there on thy behind whilst UPS bringeth it to thy front door."
... and the congregation said, Amen.
"Even when you fall on your face, you're still moving forward."
Patricia C
Thanks for your great comments. They couldn't be more on the money. Our (America) society is falling apart and we wonder why? It's all about what can you do for me.
Having had to relocate to CA for work has shown me where a lot of this is coming from. My daughter (adult) calls CA the self-indulgent wiener lifestyle capital. Car, house, cloths, phone, toys, etc.
Where will it end?
"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety". Ben Franklin, Feb. 17, 1775
Well, Mike... society sure has changed since I was Jenny's age. Back then, kids her age appreciated more because their parents taught them responsibility... but more importantly, the sense of self-worth and pride that comes along with accomplishment.
Part of Jenny's problem is she never learned her own value... or how to achieve, or elevate it. More than likely she grew up listening to her parents gripe about whose fault it was that THEY failed in life... so, Jenny knows no other recourse to her own struggles than to blame others.
Jenny doesn't think she matters because she was never taught HOW to matter.
Sad.
So sad.
"Even when you fall on your face, you're still moving forward."
Oh yes Patricia, things have changed in the 30+ years since I was her age as well. Based upon what I see and hear today American's sense of self-worth emanates from the accumulation of wealth to the exclusion of all else. The core moral values once learned at home have either been forgotten or are considered passé in our secular society. Sadly I think Jenny is indicative of what many her age think and feel. We are now, in big part thanks to our liberal courts and ACLU, the "blame someone else for our mistakes" society. Couple that with a lack of values and Jenny's missing self-worth is not a big shock.
Some days it is hard to keep moving forward.
"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Ben Franklin, Nov 11, 1755
...John Edwards has proven without a doubt that he has what it takes to be a very successful game show host.
Ladies and gentlemen, former Senator and failed VP and Presidential candidate . . . Wink Martindale!
--
"We want great men who, when fortune frowns, will not be discouraged." - Colonel Henry Knox
Oh God. Now that is TOO funny...
Mostly, because I can picture it with little effort.
Thanks for the visual!
I will see it when he takes the stage in the debates.
(too bad we can't have a big spinny-wheel behind him)
"Even when you fall on your face, you're still moving forward."
numbers. The pointy-thing stops on a number, the host opens a numbered envelope with a question.
____
Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't.
... and the game show could revolve around contestants who act out past or existing political scenarios and the other team tries to figure out which democrat said what when...
They can call it... "Whose Lie Is It Anyway?"!
"Even when you fall on your face, you're still moving forward."
...to how the Democrats concoct their policies.
Reid: "The pointy-thing stopped on 'Children'. What does that mean?"
Boxer: "We need another spending program focused on the children. Come'on, Harry, pay atention."
Edwards: "I want everybody in this room who believes that I am going to be able to craft a presidential platform out of this spinny-wheel to give me a round of applause!"
--
"We want great men who, when fortune frowns, will not be discouraged." - Colonel Henry Knox
Fine. Join the Service.
There are worse things, you know.
Two words after reading this story: Jesus wept.
"History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it"-Winston Churchill
They usually grow up during their first term...
And those that don't get thrown out...
There are those who look on Dresden and Tokyo and Hiroshima as some of the greatest evils ever perpetrated by man. I look on them and thank the perpetrators for saving millions.
For probably about four days...
____
Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't.
masquerading as a man asked the Republican to help stop the bickering because "we have our needs to". Yes Baby, come to Mama Governments nipple and take your fill.
Jesse Ventura caught something similar from an unwed mother as she whined among other things,"we are the future'.
The whiners may be closer to the truth then we dare to think.
Say what you will infantilism in politics works and is assiduously cultivated by the left as well as some in the GOP.
The womb sells.
"a man's admiration for absolute government is proportinate to the contempt he feels for those around him". Tocqueville
The New Hampshire state motto -- at least what's on the license plates -- is "Live free or die", not "Don't tread on me".
I'm here working on a contract. From this article and what I've seen, they should change their motto to "Live free or cry!"
This is still on the license plates but because of all the MA residents leaving the state (to flee taxes, high property values and corrupt politicians) the Granite State is well on the way to become MA-lite and removal of "insulting" language from the state slogan isn't to far behind .
I thought NH would be my safe haven when my kids got out high school but now I will leave this area for the southern part of the country.
and that she can do anything (and everything) if she doesn't sit around and wait for the government to give it to her. She seemed to have believed that at one time, appearently until she got to college.
For example, Rush told her racism isn't part of America's nature and that it has gotten MUCH better since the 60's. She kept responding something along the lines of "that's not what I learned in race relations class".
Rush was trying to build her up, but I don't think she was accepting what he was telling her. This is a great country, mostly when the government DOESN'T take care of us.
My response is similar to Rush's only a bit more blunt. Yes honey it IS about YOU. Get off your but and work for what you want like the rest of us. The government isn't the key to your happiness, it's more likely to cause you misery than bliss.
Socialism doesn't work. It looks nice on paper, but it's been tried and it's failed miserably every time (usually accompanied by widespread death and suffering).
Proud member of the V.R.W.C.
Yes, what About you? What are You doing to make this nation greater? What are You doing to earn everything that you have already been given? What are You doing? What About you?
There are those who look on Dresden and Tokyo and Hiroshima as some of the greatest evils ever perpetrated by man. I look on them and thank the perpetrators for saving millions.
Remember when Vermont was a solid God-fearing part of the USA? Now infected with restorative justice and a pedo-philia epidemic? And a party-switcher like Jeffords whose perfidy was rewarded with two years of nothing much.
NH has a way to go before generational decline hits it as hard as Vermont, but Jenny offers a window on how bad things will be.
When taunted by a Liberal in Parliament that he was going to die "on the gallows or of a vicious social disease," Disraeli replied "That depends on whether I embrace your principles or your mistress."
No longer do bold, exciting, gritty things -- they watch them on television and complain about how the government isn't taking care of them.
But I digress.
When I heard this yesterday on Limbaugh, it really brought home to me one of the reasons Democrats think the way they do: their elected officials really *do* believe that they're taking care of "the children." They're the en loco parentis representatives of the federal and state governments. And they have every reason to believe that, especially when women like this make statements like that.
At 22 years old, my grandmother had already had two children and helped her husband build a house in New England. The extended adolescence of today's Democratic voters leaves them in a continual state of existential crisis -- they're not adults, and they'll never be adults as long as they continue to ask their politicans to "just give them something."
But on a very deep level, this is what the Democrat Party deliberately inculcates in its victimssupporters -- a neverending condition of dependency. At 22 years old, this "woman child" is utterly rudderless and prepared to believe anything her politicians tell her -- literally anything!
And that is precisely the kind of mentality they'd like to see extended to everyone in the United States.
on the US by hypertrophic bamboozler LBJ, who envisioned grateful black folks getting welfare and voting Democratic to keep the spigots of free checks. Unfortunately, a crime wave without precedent ensued. To save his sorry butt, Bill Clinton did Welfare Reform in '96 and spent ever Dem dime to get re-elected, which happened. But Billy Jeff did the country a double favor, by ridding the welfare rolls of scammers and by personally lying under oath, proving he was a scoff-law.
But I digress.
that the media likes to cover.
...a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right...
---Thomas Paine---