Lt. Rob Polans ret.

Take away from the rich, soon they are the middle class. The middle class becomes the poor, the poor who knows homeless beggars I guess. Bitem's economy. One reason I don't want Trump to fail. Another is I hate commies. We'll all die soon by their hand and mine.

eden

Take away from the rich? They are being tasked with a return to a slightly higher tax bracket if they make over 400k and you make it sound like a Bolshevik mob will kick down their gilded doors and drag them into the street. When you have Billionaires like Warren Buffet and Bill Gates saying they could/should pay more in taxes we need to pay attention to unequal wealth distribution bought about by a tax system that unfairly rewards entrenched and inherited passive income wealth.

billy a Loc: South Florida

Certainly a thought-provoking post. Merry Christmas, Manning. I was born in '55, and looking at the "Big Picture" of history, these have surely been interesting years to be alive. These remaining years promise to be pretty sparky, as well...I've been treating my life as if there will be a quiz when I get to the "Other Side".

crazylibertarian Loc: Florida by way of New York & Rhode Island

The 1950s have been disparaged since they ended as a time of stultifying conformity under a benign but lackluster Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower. In fact, it was a time of roiling creativity.

The Beatniks were pressing at the envelope with their new free form poetry. Jack Kerouac released his landmark On the Road, the definitive American and Mexican travelogue.

West Side Story debuted on Broadway.

Pop art debuted.

Some white guys named Bill Haley, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, a couple of brothers named Don & Phil Everly and others were messing around with race music that people called Rock & Roll that would come to dominate American music for decades.

That president, Eisenhower, brought the most recent Democratic war to an end of hostilities to a stalemate that exists to this day. In late 1956, Israel, coordinating with France & England, invaded the Sinai peninsula to take control of the Suez Canal from Egypt. 'Ike' Eisenhower to them to get out and out they got.

That lackluster president and cultural 'backwater' decade were replaced by the glamorous John F Kennedy and his promises of a New Frontier that led to Viet-Nam, ghetto and civil riots.

Eight years of peace within which we could prosper.

skyrider

If it were possible I'd go back there in a nano second. For me those years were literally the Norman Rockwell pictures. What a fantastically great time.

JW

Grow up!

eden

Well at least you didn’t cry “fake news” like the orange parrot.😁

jwrevagent

I am sorry your life was so awful-really. Mine was no picnic, with a mean drunk for a father, but when sober was the nicest kindest wisest man on earth-confusing for a kid? You bet! And then he believed in "spare the rod, spoil the child" kind of parenting, as did my mother-so my childhood was not exactly fun and games. Having been born in 1943, I remember the 50's well. With all the negatives, it was the best time to be a kid. You did not have to be afraid to walk down the street, police were there to help, athletes simply played their sport, and said nothing about their politics, nor did they disparage the country that made their fortune and fame possible. I could and did ride my bike all over-anywhere we wanted to go we either walked or biked. If I had asked for a ride from my parents, they would have asked if I broke my leg and was unable to walk. We did not have computers, cell phones or electronic games, so we played outside a lot, ran around, got plenty of exercise, and we actually had to study for an education. Teachers were not afraid to flunk you if you did not do the work, and parents agreed. If you got into trouble at school it was certain you would be in trouble when you got home. Our education included actual math, that we had to work out, and know all the functions and tables of those functions, spelling was important, history was taught separately from geography and no one heard of or cared about "women's studies" or Black History. If you were black and an American, your history was covered in American History, unless of course you were an immigrant. Illegals were rare, that we knew of anyway, because it was not so easy or such a political game to be played.

Children may not have had respect for adults, but knew better than to show it-mostly adults pretty much ignored what we had to say-there were some bad things and attitudes in the 50's of course. Women were only supposed to be mothers and homemakers, or if they worked outside or were single, they had the choice of nurse, teacher, or secretary or waitress or maid. Pretty much it-though some women did not care what others thought, and became tax accountants or joined the military. They had to work harder and be better at their jobs to get any respect from their peers or their boss. Sexual harassment and rape were deemed to be the female's fault for dressing provocatively, or walking down the wrong area at the wrong time. So there were some real problems, but nothing like we have now. Some women who were career minded were looked down upon as upstarts, rebels or whores. We believed all the hype about Hollywood and the stars, and it was a more innocent time-polio was about to be eradicated with the Salk vaccine, and later mumps and measles vaccine came out.

We were more free, we looked for a brighter future, thought we could have a better life than our parents, and worked to make it happen. If you were on welfare for life, if you were not disabled, it was a disgrace, sex outside marriage was discouraged, and unwed mothers were looked down on by many. As I said there were some things not so great. Work was expected, frugality was the word of the day because the war was just over, and before that the depression-which most people had lived through back then, so they were glad for the prosperity the war brought. Marriage was between one man and one woman, and living together was met with total rejection. We had morals and standards, and while some needed to be eased, it was a good time to live. When you were old enough, you were expected to get a part time job-to save for college, or to buy and maintain your own vehicle, or your own place to live. So, it was not easy, some of it was grossly unfair-like I would never have felt comfortable telling my teacher or any other adult about my home life-just was not done-you dealt with it whichever way you could. But I learned a great deal, and would not want to be a young person growing up in the US in the 2000's. No thank you.

GmanTerry

Amen a million times...

Semper Fi

JohnCorrespondent

What conservatives often tend to do is to preserve the status quo, even when, sometimes, the status quo is not good.

"enormous speculation about extraterrestrials contacting us" ? Where is this enormous speculation?

Fairness and harmony would be good things.

JohnCorrespondent

My thumb is up.

The interesting words are: "unfairly rewards entrenched and inherited passive income wealth."

debeda

I think when people talk about conservatives wanting to go back to the 50s it's because conservatives are demanding social mores and civility, which is sadly lacking nowadays...

manning5 Loc: Richmond, VA

Yes, that is the core of it, for sure! I would add a return to Christianity and adherence to natural law, commandments, virtues, values, and spirituality. The rise of agnostics and atheists in our midst has signaled the shift towards collectivism as the one and true path. That is, anything but freedom and capitalism.

debeda

Absolutely!!!

eden

Agreed. On a side note if there are extraterrestrials watching us they may be waiting for a level of collective maturity before showing themselves.