The news headlines – accurate or not – tell us an intriguing (even terrifying) story.

Society may or may not be worse – due to the actions of individuals – than in the past. But we certainly know a lot more about how much madness is afoot. Not just in these Fifty States, but in the world. A large portion of this is a matter of extremism in various points of view. Social, political, religious, and moral.

This is nothing new. Americans have always been divided in all ways and directions over political, religious, and moral issues.

It was Barry Goldwater, ancestor of both the modern highly-conservative Republican movement within that political party AND (according to many) ancestor of modern political Libertarianism, who famously said “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice.”

The problem, of course, is how you define “extremism” and how you define “liberty.” Or perhaps we should say “WHO” defines these terms. AND who their target audience is. And how THEY (the target audience) define those words.

(There is another element involved: the rapidity with which news is spread these days is important. As is who first finds and distributes that news. There are fewer gatekeepers around these days. Unlike the period between 1920 and, say, 1990 or so. When the networks controlled what was and was not flung across the Forty-eight (or Fifty) States. And when the giant newspaper and magazine publishers had little competition from local (or even regional) publications.)

Let us look at some examples:

VOTING Consider the vicious attack on Georgia for daring to pass this recent elections bill. It would appear that the spirits of George Wallace, Strom Thurmond, and probably Nathan Bedford Forrest have possessed a majority of the legislators and Governor Kemp. This is, actually, a totally bogus attack. There are multiple states which have very similar and even “tougher” requirements for voting, and have had them for years. Among them is one of my home States, South Dakota. But other States, according to reports including Uncle Joe’s home State of Delaware, have tougher rules. But that, of course, doesn’t fit the narrative. Nor does it help them push their goals.

One of which seems to be the total takeover of the election process by the FedGov. In complete disregard for Constitutional provisions, of course.

HISTORY Another, much older, false narrative is found in regards to the War Between The States. Long a target of SJW and the FedGov in general (both Dems and GOP), it is now more than ever subject to a massive revision of history. Even the propagandized versions presented by the FedGov for a century.

One key item is the claim that the “War of the Rebellion” (official DoD/US Army name) was only about slavery, and of course, perpetuating “white supremacy.” Let us ignore the total lack of logic in this claim, when you consider the vast foundations of blood, shed mostly by white people, for what was pushed (and still is) as a war to end slavery.

But answer two questions: if the War Between The States was all about protecting white supremacy and its “key features,” then why did ANY AmerInd tribes (in today’s Oklahoma) and AmerInd leaders join the Confederate States Army? And why did both free blacks AND some black slaves VOLUNTEER and serve in the Confederate States Army? Answer another question, as well. If the War was about ending slavery, why did Honest Abe’s so-vaunted Emancipation Proclamation NOT free slaves in “loyal” States NOT rebelling? States like Maryland and Uncle Joe’s home State, Delaware? And Missouri and Kentucky?

Because Lincoln, and the scum Radical Republicans in DC were just that: scum. Absolute pieces of political garbage, more interested in enslaving already-free Americans (NOT just in the South) than freeing black slaves. Slavery was and is the excuse for the War Between The States.

Today, the growing insanity uses the lies and twisted rewriting of history about that event, more than 150 years ago, to steal away still MORE liberties from Americans. And as an excuse to destroy MORE history. Even for those who bought the original lies about the crusade to end slavery.

ABORTION A third example was brought to mind by one of L. Neil Smith’s commentaries. Now, Neil and I do NOT see eye to eye on when a human becomes a human. He believes it is when a fetus becomes sentient. I believe it takes place at conception, when it becomes a fetus. But we BOTH agree that such disgusting practices as partial-birth abortion and related “procedures” are nothing more than murder. But today, the so-called liberal left: the social-justice warriors and their allies (or masters) in Congress and the various Statehouses, and now in the White House, have proclaimed the NECESSITY of killing partially-born children. Their pushback against anti-abortion efforts has resulted in madness: not just acceptance of abortion but an insistence that abortion is some kind of holy ritual to be done right up to – if not even past – birth.

These are just a few examples of many of how the “overreaction” and propaganda war in these Fifty States is ramping up. Madness, insanity, indeed, threatens to overwhelm society.

Why? Because some people – the controllers, the enemies of liberty – see this as a way to achieve their goals of control, power, and wealth at the expense of others. The only way to fight this effectively, in the long term, is to push for MORE liberty with responsibility.