# This is Why we are Doomed **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 5, 2017, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-are-doomed/790543 "2017-07-05T14:36:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-are-doomed/790543/1 "2017-07-05T14:36:39Z")
> **[NPR Tweeted The Declaration Of Independence, And Trump Supporters Flipped Out](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/npr-declaration-of-independence_n_595c6525e4b0da2c7325bd50)** > > They didn't recognize the words and thought NPR was calling for revolution. Apparently, when NPR tweeted the declaration of independence, as it does every year\*, a fair number of Trump supporters didn’t recognize it and took it as an attack on Trump and were quite upset. Seriously, this is Onion-level nuts… I really had to check I wasn’t being fooled by satire. Even Trump’s supporters recognized that the ideals in that document run contrary to him… They just had to be tricked into acknowledging it. \*some (all?) years they read it on the air, as Twitter is more recent than this tradition ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-are-doomed/790543/2 "2017-07-05T15:09:29Z")
This is why Twitter is ruining our society. Users are so used to the 140 character limit they can’t think beyond it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-are-doomed/790543/3 "2017-07-05T15:14:56Z")
We’ve been domed for a while then. Something like this has come up every few years, drop a phrase like “americans don’t recognize the constitution” into google if you don’t believe me. Yes, it’s very sad that many Americans are unfamiliar with the founding documents. It’s unfortunate that most of us get a single semester of civics around the age of 12. But how can we change either state-run education or individual interest-levels? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-are-doomed/790543/4 "2017-07-05T15:43:18Z")
You need a flashy game show: _Who Wants to be a Millionaire from Answering Constitutional Trivia Questions?_ ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-are-doomed/790543/5 "2017-07-05T15:47:38Z")
Just goes to show you how intent the right is on finding things to be offended about. Anger brain chemicals are addictive, and their dealers have been feeding them those drugs for nearly 40 years. Now even when they control the government, they can’t stop feeding their irrational anger, because they’re addicted to the chems that come along with it. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-are-doomed/790543/6 "2017-07-05T16:23:11Z")
These flag waving phonies are angry about the words in the Declaration. I seem to remember a poll form a few years ago, where they didn’t think much of the Constitution either (they were given the words but not told the source). Patriots? Bullshit. Loyal? Bullshit. It’s tribalism pure and simple. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-are-doomed/790543/7 "2017-07-05T16:34:43Z")
And notice how many of them from the south wave the Confederate flag. As I feel about it; **Honoring the Confederacy Is honoring TREASON.** ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-are-doomed/790543/8 "2017-07-05T16:45:06Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > And notice how many of them from the south wave the Confederate flag. > > As I feel about it; > > **Honoring the Confederacy > Is honoring TREASON.** It’s not just about honoring treason. There is the fine tradition of slavery that they are honoring holding that flag. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-are-doomed/790543/9 "2017-07-05T16:48:53Z")
Right, slavery was the reason for the treason. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-are-doomed/790543/10 "2017-07-05T16:53:45Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > These flag waving phonies are angry about the words in the Declaration. > > I seem to remember a poll form a few years ago, where they didn’t think much of the Constitution either (they were given the words but not told the source). > > Patriots? Bullshit. Loyal? Bullshit. > > It’s tribalism pure and simple. Some of them aren’t exactly clear what words are or are not in the Bible they supposedly follow literally, for cryin’ out loud. But yes, take the words of the DoI and the Bill of Rights without identifying the source and people will refuse to sign them as liberal bull. To be fair, Messrs. Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Washington and Madison WERE subversives… ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-are-doomed/790543/11 "2017-07-05T17:43:12Z")
> [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](#): > > We’ve been **domed** for a while then. Not all of us. [my bold] ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-are-doomed/790543/12 "2017-07-05T17:55:55Z")
It is possible that some folks may have recognized the words as coming from the Declaration of Independence but interpreted NPR’s playing of them now as an attack on trump by comparing him to George III. Here’s the difference: One is a crazy man in a funny looking wig. And the other, well, he was King of England. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-are-doomed/790543/13 "2017-07-05T17:56:44Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > To be fair, Messrs. Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Washington and Madison WERE subversives… It’s ironic how conservative originalists claim they’re following in the footsteps of these men - and miss the big picture so completely. These guys were revolutionaries who wanted to change the government. The last thing any of them would have done is insist on following some authority from two hundred years before. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-are-doomed/790543/14 "2017-07-05T18:15:27Z")
Yam supporters prove D students make great Republicans. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-are-doomed/790543/15 "2017-07-05T18:44:38Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > It’s ironic how conservative originalists claim they’re following in the footsteps of these men - and miss the big picture so completely. These guys were revolutionaries who wanted to change the government. The last thing any of them would have done is insist on following some authority from two hundred years before. This is incredibly stupid and incredibly ignorant. The Founding Fathers were HEAVILY influenced by ancient Greece and Rome. Here’s a partial list of minor examples. > **[Fasces | United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasces#United_States)** > > Since the original founding of the United States in the 18th century, several offices and institutions in the United States have heavily incorporated representations of the fasces into much of their iconography. It’s the modern-day liberals who miss the big picture. The whole reason for the Revolution was that the Founding Fathers wanted to get out from under the thumb of big government who insisted on trashing their rights. As a matter of fact, if you go around quoting the Founding Fathers without telling people the source of the quotes, liberals will think that you’re a very dangerous person. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-are-doomed/790543/16 "2017-07-05T18:45:40Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > This is why Twitter is ruining our society. Users are so used to the 140 character limit they can’t think beyond it. Listen, if the America-hating fuckstick didn’t have the 140-characters Twitter allows him, he’d have no character at all. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-are-doomed/790543/17 "2017-07-05T18:50:33Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > As a matter of fact, if you go around quoting the Founding Fathers without telling people the source of the quotes, liberals will think that you’re a very dangerous person. Lol. No. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-are-doomed/790543/18 "2017-07-05T19:04:40Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > As a matter of fact, if you go around quoting the Founding Fathers without telling people the source of the quotes, liberals will think that you’re a very dangerous person. Liberals will recognize the quotes and laugh in your face. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-are-doomed/790543/19 "2017-07-05T19:42:38Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > This is incredibly stupid and incredibly ignorant. The Founding Fathers were HEAVILY influenced by ancient Greece and Rome. Here’s a partial list of minor examples. > [Fasces - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasces#United_States) So, they weren’t planning a revolution? > [@](#): > > It’s the modern-day liberals who miss the big picture. The whole reason for the Revolution was that the Founding Fathers wanted to get out from under the thumb of big government who insisted on trashing their rights. No, they wanted to get out from a govt that did not give them a say in it. They wanted to create their own government in which they could have a say. > [@](#): > > As a matter of fact, if you go around quoting the Founding Fathers without telling people the source of the quotes, liberals will think that you’re a very dangerous person. This, actually, is not entirely false. Alt-right conservatives love to take founding father quotes out of context and completely change their meaning, then use those quotes to justify their anti-societal desires. That’s not saying that we don’t recognize the quote, and who said it originally, and the context it was in, and the meaning of it in that context, and we don’t think that they are particularly dangerous when you use their words out of context to justify their ideologies, just stupid. But, stupid can be dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-are-doomed/790543/20 "2017-07-05T19:53:02Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > The whole reason for the Revolution was that the Founding Fathers wanted to get out from under the thumb of big government who insisted on trashing their rights. Well, they’d probably have been satisfied if they could have been _part_ of that big government, i.e. set up a House of Commons of the Americas (HCA), with some kind of Viceroy/Governor-General as nominal head of state, and (like Scotland and Wales) guarantee the Americans a number of seats in the House of Commons of Great Britain (HCGB). Independence was likely inevitable around the time the American population started to rival the U.K. one (circa 1855 in the real world, the population of each was about 28 million). There are any number of historical crossroads, like whether or not the HCA would have approved the Louisiana Purchase circa 1804, or how the HCA would react to the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 (i.e. would the American members of the HCGB vote against, or threaten to secede). For all the rhetoric about freedom and such, I can picture a few historical tweaks (i.e. if the concept of “responsible government” had taken root a little earlier) mollifying the colonists and the U.S. would now resemble a bigger Canada - parliamentary system, appointed Governor-General, some leftover ceremonial monarchist trappings, etc. Their “independence day” wouldn’t be linked to revolution and war, but the civilized passing of some early version of the British North America Act that formed the Dominion of Columbia, more casually known as the U.S.A. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-why-we-are-doomed/790543.md?page=2)