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Free and Strong America

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

The Left Squashes Life's Little Pleasures


In case there was any doubt about the veracity of this segment's title, Larry Prager names a few examples in a recent article to help drive the point home. First, the latest outrage concerning a Burger King commercial.


"Burger King's ad was innocuous and innocent. It featured the company's royal mascot running through a building, knocking a person over and crashing through a glass window to deliver the new Burger King Steakhouse XT burger. Called "crazy" by those present, he was finally tackled by men in white coats. "The king's insane," the ad noted, for "offering so much beef for $3.99."

This has triggered a storm of criticism from activists (a term which, unless otherwise specified, means liberal or left).

Michael Fitzpatrick, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, called the ad "blatantly offensive ... I was stunned. Absolutely stunned and appalled," he said. David Shern, president and chief executive of Mental Health America in Alexandria, Va., echoed this assessment. And reporters from the Associated Press to the Washington Post all agreed."



The article goes on to point out that a father of a man with a mental disorder wrote to Prager stating that he saw nothing wrong with the ad. Other examples of the Left characteristically knocking the air out of anything deemed "fun" mentioned by Prager...




  • "Smoking: No one opposes educating the public about the dangers of cigarette smoking. Cigarette smoking shortens the lives of up to a third of smokers, often in terrible ways, and that is what public health organizations should be saying. But the battle against smoking and tobacco has become a religious crusade for anti-smoking zealots, who are almost invariably on the Left. If the Left hated Hugo Chavez or Fidel Castro as much as it hates "Big Tobacco," the world would be a better place.

    But because the Left hates the fact that people smoke (tobacco, not marijuana, which the Left defends) it uses totalitarian (I use that term with no exaggeration) tactics to eliminate it. Just as the Soviets removed Trotsky from old photos, anti-smoking zealots have forced the removal of cigarettes from old photos -- from photos of FDR, from the famous Beatles photo -- and from movies whenever possible. Torture and murder are ubiquitous in films, but smoking is all but banned -- even cigars are now banned from James Bond films.


  • Cars: For most Americans, the car is not only a source of much pleasure, it is also rightly identified with individual liberty. But here, too, to the extent the Left is able to, it will tell you what kind of car you can drive and, if possible, get you out of your car and into mass transit.

  • Kids Games such as Tag, Dodgeball, Soccer, Touch Football, Monkey Bars: Until a few years ago, just about every American boy, and many girls, played dodgeball. No more. This joy, too, has been eliminated from American life. "We consider it inappropriate to use children as human targets," said Mary Marks, physical education supervisor for Fairfax County, Va. And it may hurt the feelings of kids who are eliminated. For the same reason -- potential hurt feelings of those eliminated -- musical chairs is no longer played in some schools."


And on it goes. Why bother letting kids know that in life, there will be winners and losers and competition between their peers wil determine where they end up? Far better to shelter them and then throw them to the wolves when their school days have ended.






14 comments:

Tracy said...

I get so frustrated with this attempt at "managing" me and everyone else. There are many things I choose not to do; eating at burger joints, smoking, buying gas guzzeling cars - but I'm making those choices. I don't want input limited, and reality changed, to force choices on me.

With regard to your specific examples here:
* As you know from reading my blog JD, I have a paranoid schizophrenic sister & ran secured psychiatric facilities for 9yrs. I did NOT find that ad offensive in the least. It's just a goofy ad.
* I so agree about the cigarette thing. It's as if smokers have become public enemies. I concur that public education should include the facts that smoking shortens the lives of up to 1/3 of smokers and the effects can be devastating. But people who smoke are NOT the enemy. Nor do we need to remove cigarettes from historical photos of famous people.
* As a mother of 3 sons I've listened to my boys rant about this "sucking the joy" out of fun, competitive, physically aggressive games. In the case of my sons, and their friends, these are the type of games that delighted them most as young children. I also want to note that I raised these boys mostly as a single mom through their young years and my oldest was not good at sports, but he's the biggest defender of the need for boys to be boys and just enjoy life. He's the first to say that it's a normal, healthy experience for children to experience losing at a game or being eliminated.

photogr said...

Considering some of the ads running on commericals, I don't find this offensive. We have to take this as an advertising that the king is insane for offering a burger for such a cheap price.But that doesn't mean I am going to buy the product much less eat it.

What is offensive is a photo of the Kardasian sisters posing nude except for body paint for their new line of clothing products. That might be a little to suggestive for the general public.

As far as the rest of what you mentioned: Kids games, I don't see problems with those games. I think it teaches the kids along the way that some times you fail and sometimes you don't. It is a way of life.

I used to race high powered cars in drag racing. There is a 50 % chance you are going to loose if you don't cut a good light or failed to syncronize your launch and make perfect shifts. I have had both. It is just a way of life. it didn't hurt my feelings. Just ticked me off for loosing.

ATVLC said...

Do you really want to get into an argument over whether the left wing or the right wing is more restrictive socially?

J Curtis said...

I guess a case could be made re: dodgeball. Maybe some kids arent cut out for it. If they had a couple of options open for the kids then maybe the less athletically inclined could opt out of it for something else.

But musical chairs? C'mon, give me a break.

Do you really want to get into an argument over whether the left wing or the right wing is more restrictive socially?

I think it would be on-topic. If it floats your boat, fire away ATVLC.

feeno said...

King got game

peace, feeno

ATVLC said...

It's called "Hungry Jack's" in Australia.

Anonymous said...

Notice how the U.S. version of the store is more right-wing - It identifies with "Kings". The Australian version of the store is more left-wing - It identifies with the average man - "Jack" and he's hungry. Hungry for what? Social change with a view towards creating a more egalitarian society? Almost certainly.

But seriously, is the left-wing of politics or the right-wing of politics more socially repressive? Well. Someone on the left is working towards patrons knowing how much salt is in a meal and someone on the right is working to make sure homosexuals can't marry.
One man on the left may be trying to censor displays of cigarettes, men on the right are trying to censor textbooks, movies, and publications.
Maybe someone of the left is trying to improve air with car regulations as compared to someone on the right and the men on the right are working to remove choice from women.
The left may be advancing air-fairy laws but the right are literally arming themselves, shooting people they disagree with, etc, using threats, terror and violence to get what they want.

I want to be on the side of progress not repression. "Conservative" just means repression of progress. It's right there in the name.

As it is often said: the right is not oppressive - as long as you're a white heterosexual Christian man.

J Curtis said...

Someone on the left is working towards patrons knowing how much salt is in a meal and someone on the right is working to make sure homosexuals can't marry

Not quite correct. homosexuals are lookinfg to change history and have what even the debauchery of the ancient Romans and Greeks would not allow. Homosexuals are looking to change the social order, cram it down your throat, and call you a bigot if you disagree thus stifling rational discussion.

One man on the left may be trying to censor displays of cigarettes, men on the right are trying to censor textbooks, movies, and publications

What exactly is the right censoring?

Maybe someone of the left is trying to improve air with car regulations as compared to someone on the right and the men on the right are working to remove choice from women

So I guess killing a viable, late-term fetus is somehow a woman's "choice" and not "barbarity"?

The left may be advancing air-fairy laws but the right are literally arming themselves, shooting people they disagree with, etc, using threats, terror and violence to get what they want

This by far is the most uninformed of your above statements.

1) Three arrested in GOP headquarters vandalism

2) The bullett riddled Bush/Cheney HQ

3) A group of protestors stormed and then ransacked a Bush-Cheney headquarters building in Orlando, Fla., Tuesday, according to Local 6 News.

4) Heck, when they arent attacking the right, they are attacking their own institutions. Link

And these are just off the top of my head.

Anonymous said...

4) ? The guy from "Queers against Obama" broke some windows?

Here's some actual terrorism:

http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/publications/terror-from-the-right

photogr said...

And I thought we were talking about the Burger King Icon being insane.

ATVLC said...

We should be talking about burgers.
So how does the Hungry Jack's Whooper compare to the Big Mac?
I've seen a Big Mac lately, it didn't remotely look like edible food, but the Whooper looked edible. Not that I'll be eating fast food anytime soon.

J Curtis said...

deemo,

I plan to make a detailed entry on the link you provided. There's a special being aired on television in the near future and I have been thinking of writing about something about the bombing that has been on my mind for awhile.

ATVLC said...

Deemo's link contains dozens of examples not just McVeigh.

J Curtis said...

If you could cite an instance in which The Southern Poverty Law Center ever defended the rights of anyone associated with conservatism, that would go a long way towards debunking the decription of them as a politically minded, leftist organization.