Let's Go Back Through the Listening Tube October 20-24

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Let's go back through the listening tube for this week in history.

SPEAKER_02 0:10

I'm Bob Woodley from the Listening Tube. This week in 1774, the first display of the word liberty on a flag raised by colonists in Taunton, Massachusetts, in defiance of British rule in colonial America. America has always stood for liberty, even before there was a United States of America. The United States is the result of liberty, not the cause of it. There are forces working within the borders of the United States to deny people of liberty, and it's not hard to spot them. They're the forces that instigate in the name of oppressive policies like rent control or government control of manufacturing. Some other examples of liberty being oppressed might be having the government mandate your health care, or being forced to cover most of your body with approved garments, or to follow a religion that has laws that deny people of liberty. A lot of people who espouse those anti-liberty policies and laws are running for public office right now. If you value liberty, vote wisely. If you wish to keep the right to express your opinion at all, vote for candidates who value freedom and liberty. Candidates who push universal health care and guaranteed income and social programs for every cause under the sun may promise a lot, but never tell you the cost. The cost is liberty. This week in 1781, the patent of toleration, providing limited freedom of worship, is approved in Habsburg monarchy. By limited freedom of worship, it only applies to Christians. Those who were not Roman Catholic. It was Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II of the Austrian Habsburg Dominions in Central Europe who granted the new freedom of religion to the people while maintaining the posture of the Catholic Church. Emperor Joe wasn't done there, though. In January of 1782, he also freed Jews in the territory from restrictions based on discrimination. What caused the Holy Roman Emperor's enlightenment? Perhaps it was the success of the relatively new United States of America, where liberty, including the liberty to practice your religion, led to an army that was able to defeat one of the most powerful militaries on the planet at the time. With a little help from the Emperor's next door neighbor, France. More on France in a bit. This week in 1917, Vladimir Lenin calls for the October Revolution, and thus was born the first communist country. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics had a very centralized government that kept control over just about everything. That included the economy. From production to distribution to who was allowed to buy what. The Soviet Union would last until 1991, when it could no longer keep up with the success and advancements and superiority of Western-style capitalism. Yet somehow there are still those who think communism and socialism policies are a good idea. I think it was Albert Einstein who said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

SPEAKER_00 4:26

Hey, if he says something smart, you can support the show from the homepage.

SPEAKER_02 4:31

This week in 1945, women are allowed to finally vote in France. Have you seen video from France lately? At first, the premise was students protesting learning conditions, but that's all been left behind in the ashes created by all types of left-wing extremists and causes. I wonder what the women of France will be voting for in the next election.

SPEAKER_01 5:07

Send email to thelising tube at Outlook.com.

SPEAKER_02 5:14

This week in 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee begins its investigation into communist infiltration of Hollywood, resulting in a blacklist that prevents some from working in the industry for years. A few days later, Walt Disney testifies before the House Un American Activities Committee, naming Disney employees he believes to be communists. Today we don't need an investigation to determine who the communists are. They proudly proclaim it. They don't call it outright communism, but socialism inevitably leads to communism, which is the goal of socialism. You can call yourself a social democrat, but it's just a gossamer veil that's easily seen through. If you look closely enough, there are people who champion socialist policies, but anyone who looks through the veil won't want to live under a socialist government.

SPEAKER_00 6:21

And you can hang your hat on that.

SPEAKER_02 6:23

This week in 1962, United States President John F. Kennedy, after internal counsel from Dwight D. Eisenhower, announces that American reconnaissance planes have discovered Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba, and that he has ordered a naval quarantine of the Communist Nation. Thus began the Cuban Missile Crisis. Some say this was the closest America ever came to a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. Kennedy created a wall around Cuba and warned the Soviets that any offensive weapons and associated material would be confiscated. Soviet ships on their way to Cuba changed course. Talks began between Kennedy and Khrushchev, the Soviet premier. Kennedy insisted there would be no Russian nukes just 90 miles off the shore of Florida. Khrushchev backed down. The missiles would be returned to the Soviet Union. The Russians didn't back down without a compromise, though. Kennedy vowed that the United States wouldn't invade Cuba and agreed to remove US nukes from Turkey. Kennedy is remembered as a great president for his actions around the Cuban Missile Crisis. He protected the United States from the threat of a nuclear attack and isolated a communist island just off the coast of the country. Does that sound familiar at all? Because today, President Trump is taking measures to prevent our sworn enemy of the last half century from getting a nuclear weapon. Iran was close. Too close, as determined by security experts. Iran has been threatening the United States since 1979. Death to America is a common call to action in the Islamist state of Iran. Don't think for a moment that if they had the capability to drop nuclear bombs over America, they wouldn't. It's precisely what they've been working toward. Now you might be thinking, but Bob, I thought we were talking about Cuba. We are. President Trump has also added pressure to the government of Cuba to abandon their expectations of communist success and wake up to the advantages of capitalism and an elected government that represents the best interest of the people who live there. Trump is essentially doing the same things that Kennedy did in 1962. Isolating a communist nation just off the shore of the United States and protecting the United States from a nuclear attack. Today's political left supports the Cuban regime and the communist ideology. They've even gone there to provide support and encouragement to the dictatorship. Two members of Congress went there as recently as April. Pramila Jayapal and Jonathan Jackson, both Democrats, are quoted by U.S. News and World Report as saying they wanted to see the suffering that is happening on the ground. They call the president's embargo of the island an illegal blockade of energy supplies. You would think lawmakers would have a clearer picture of what's legal and what isn't. The raw truth is that Cuba cannot sustain itself without being propped up by any regime that wants to get a close up view of the United States shoreline. And they are inevitably other dictatorships that started out as socialist and became communist and then became dictatorships. The Soviet Union and Russia, Venezuela, North Korea, and China were all vying for partnership with the Cuban dictators for a front row seat to the U.S. Trump's energy blockade is Kennedy's weapons blockade. And when it comes to economic blockades of communist or dictatorial governments, capitalism is the only way out. Follow the listening tube at thelisteningtube.com where you'll also find not the headlines and interviews with interesting people. Click the green subscribe button while you're there. Thank you for putting your ear to the listening tube. I'm your host, Bob Woodley, for Thou at Infinitum.