Regressive Is The Opposite Of Progressive

Commentary....and Some Necessary Ranting

I just got done listening to the latest rant of a particular commentator on that news network that sounds like "lox"....you know, the crazy guy who's last name rhymes with "______ wreck" (insert "train" in the blank) and his latest salvo against "the progressive agenda". I used to get angry about this stuff, but instead, I had an eureka moment.

To be against something or a particular concept, it stands to reason that an individual must stand for the polar opposite, or forever hold his piece.

I got this idea from watching an old episode of THE TUDORS, from the trial of Sir Thomas More. Rather than take an oath making Henry VIII the head of the church in England, More maintained silence, neither for or against. His silence, More maintained, implied his consent rather than making him take an oath that he believed would have condemned his soul to hell.

Forget that it really didn't work out for Sir Thomas....he was found guilty anyway and beheaded (if the jury found More innocent they would have all been drawn and quartered at Henry's behest). It was a brilliant concept employed by More.

Silence would indicate "just go with the flow"....things are just great, thank you. No need for a change.

However, to be vehemently and vocally opposed to a certain movement, theory or doctrine should indicate that the protester has must have a better idea; as going in the other direction.

Therefore, to be against "Progressivism" one must therefore be in favor of "Regressivism".....going backwards instead of forward. If you desire neither "regression" or "progression", one must maintain silence to imply consent to the status quo- you believe things are alright the way they are.

By extension....opponents of Progressivism who merely like things the way they are should just shut up. And those who view Progressivism as a "cancer to the moral fiber of this nation" and want it destroyed must stand for its polar opposite....let's go backwards.

(Readers....if a certain commentator can get on the air with a chalkboard to sell his theories of the evils of progressivism with circles, arrows, pictures and his peculiar stream of consciousness thoughts, just bear with me....OK?).

So....that being the case, Tea Party protesters who see Progressivism as a danger and must be stopped must be in favor of going in the opposite direction; they are indeed true Regressives.

So....what do these Regressives really want?

Well...here's what I think....

THE REGRESSIVE AGENDA!!!!!

They still want to have 500 channels on television- but would demand all stations be in black and white instead of color.

And speaking of "black and white".....why should the government spend money on those pesky inner city schools?

They want what Herbert Hoover wanted for America, with a twist...."A chicken in every pot....and a 44 Magnum under every pillow". You can't be sure when a deer, bear, or some kind of wildlife might break into your home. Or maybe even somebody who's name ends in a vowel.

All males who do not wear an American flag pin will be exiled to San Francisco.

Every school in America will have the official photograph of Jesus writing the Constitution of the United States. To say that photography didn't exist in those days is another progressive lie.

Ronald Reagan will be pictured on the $100 bill....and also on the $1, $2, $5, $10, $20 and $50. FDR, JFK, LBJ....on the nickel, dime, and quarter. Small change. An American Indian returns on the penny, and an oil derrick will be on the silver dollar- however, it would now be worth 99.9 cents.

There will be no more talk of gay marriage....nor of civil unions. Or any unions at all, for that matter. Who needs them? Unions I mean.


Global warming? With all of these snow storms this winter....in The South? Are you kidding me?

All pubescent girls will be encouraged to attend one of President Palin's Abstinence Camps.

Olbermann, Maddow, Moor, and Letterman....subject to "reprogramming" (See A CLOCKWORK ORANGE).

Healthcare reform....take you vitamins, wash your hands, avoid too many SNICKERS...above all, don't get sick.

Military service.....Regressives have better things to do than serve in the armed forces, like complain about taxes, and hip hop, and those Godless Progressives. There's enough high school dropouts and minorities out there... let them deal with deserts, road side bombs, Stop-Loss, and the apathy of too many of our citizens.

Taxes....Regressives prefer a flat 10% income tax. But they really DON'T want a tax at all. Jesus never talked about taxes when He wrote the Constitution. I know that's true; because the Bible- and Pat Robertson- told me so.

If you've read all of the above and got mad as hell....you've just been punked! But if you laughed, you just may be a Democrat.

There may be one or two of you who read this schtick so far and don't "get it"....well, its just my way of trying to make a point. When the Becks, Hannitys, Limbaughs, Bachmans, and Palins of the world rail against this imaginary "progressive agenda" to destroy America, its just as ridiculous and laughable as the stuff I said about conservatives, Tea Baggers, and "Regressives"....its painting "The Others" with a broad brush and making them the enemy. That's what people like them do to maintain power and control.

They use division and the hatred of their audience towards individuals or concepts to exercise power. Its as American as Joe McCarthy- and what makes what these people are doing worse is the tacit endorsement from the power structure that employs them, the Republican Party or Fox News.

It wasn't always that way....when Joe McCarthy went on his Red baiting witch hunts in the 1950's he had people in his own Republican party who stood up to him- namely Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine, and President Eisenhower, who despised McCarthy for his attacks against his comrades in the Army. When McCarthy went after General George Marshall, Ike started working behind the scenes to expose McCarthy...and Edward R. Murrow of CBS News ultimately took him down on an episode of SEE IT NOW.

Maybe I'm just getting older...but putting on the tube everyday and watching otherwise good people going crazy because some irresponsible political or media demagogue has them whipped into a frenzy in order to maintain their little fiefdom of control is starting to wear on me a bit; probably more so than at any time in my life.

Maybe the only way to fight that kind or recklessness is to mirror it, and throw it back it the faces of those who dished it out.

A heavy doses of irony is their just desserts.