WHEN ARE WE AS CITIZENS GOING TO TAKE A STAND?

[Drew Richards]

WHEN ARE WE AS CITIZENS GOING TO TAKE A STAND?

First they came for my cash and property (Reagan, illegal FORFEITURE LAW...without required proof of violation! for PROFIT! by police forces on the "WAR ON DRUGS&quot

All I could do was cry unfair.

Then they came for my protections from Wall Street corruption and repealed Glass-Steagall (Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act).

All I could do was cry unfair.

Then they came for my job and enacted free trade with no safeguards (NAFTA).

All I could do was cry unfair.

Then they came for my Democracy and overturned a Presidential Election. (Bush V Gore).

All I could do was cry unfair.

Then they came for my bill of rights and privacy (Patriot Act).

All I could do was cry unfair.

Then they came for my rights to a fair election, free from corporate influence (Citizens United).

All I could do was cry unfair.

Then they came for my right to Unionize (Walker Collective bargaining law).

All I could do was cry unfair.

Then they came for my right to collectively sue (Walmart vs Dukes).

All I could do was cry unfair.

Then they came for my Social Safety Net (Republican blocking of all Democratic appointments and Bills to Blackmail Congress for privatization or reductions in Medicaid and Social Security).

All I could do was cry unfair.

Then they came for my rights to DEMOCRACY as a form of government! (Michigan Emergency Manager laws and suspension of ALL elected officials!)

All I could do was cry unfair.

Then they came for my Right to Vote (13 states voter disenfranchisement laws)

All I could do was cry unfair.

Then they came for access to our Public lands and Resources to sell to the highest bidder.

All I could do was cry unfair.

Then they came for women's equal pay rights (Walker Wisconsin)

All I could do was cry unfair.

Then they came for my rights against self incrimination and illegal strip search for minor offenses (suspension of Miranda Rights and orders of invasive strip searches. United States vs Albert W. Florence)

All I could do was cry unfair.

Now they have come for Women's rights to EQUALITY and self determination (defunding planned parenthood, draconian anti-abortion laws, pelvic rape exams, repeal of equal pay rights for Women.

I CAN CRY NO MORE,

I have nothing left, my 401k is empty, the hospital has all my money, the banks own everything I have, even if they don't actually have the paper work, and there are few chances of employment at a reasonable salary since the corporation wish to wipe out the American standard of living and make us all Third World Part Time slave laborers with no chance of rising to self-determination again.

It has been reported that all three of the unverifiable and easily hackable computerized ballot systems are solely owned by Republican supporting companies therefore, there is no verifiable Democratic Vote Left...that is, if you are allowed to vote at all...But Still...We Must try...we must VOTE if for no other reason to prove the corruption within the ballot system.

There are (2011 census) 207,643,594 registered voters in the US with 51% of the voting population being WOMEN.

NOW IS THE TIME, NOW! for Women all over the Country, to stand up and say "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO MY RIGHTS OF SELF DETERMINATION: It's time for you misogynistic pigs to go the way of the DODO.

***When even the Supreme Court is partisan-ly, misogynistic-ly and Religious-ly corrupted, and proud of it, there is no Equal Justice, there is no Democracy left...

My County is now in Anarchy with the Corporations and the Wealthy waiting for us to eat ourselves and decrease the surplus population of the Nation.

When are we going to push back?

When are we going to fight back, to stop these millionaire politicians, corporations, religious fundamentalists and billionaires from turning this Democracy of WE THE PEOPLE into an Autocracy of WE THE WEALTHY?

When is it time for Revolution?

This is our last and final chance,

I BEG YOU,
I BEG YOU ON MY KNEES,
I BEG YOU PLEASE,

REGISTER TO VOTE AND VOTE ALL REPUBLICANS AND "DINOS" OUT OF ANY AND ALL OFFICES! FROM PRESIDENTIAL DOWN TO LOCAL TOWN COUNCILS!

Get these 12th Century, misogynistic, GREED Worshipping, hyper-religious, unholy crusaders out of our Democracy, out of our Schools, and out of our Lives; and return us to the rule of Constitutional Law and Social Justice.

May you always find water and shade,

Drew.

[MrSlayer]

1. About half of the people that vote are all for this shit.

If we rise up they'll be right there to take the other side. We need to do something collectively but that will never happen as long as the other half of us agrees with the facsists. We need general strikes but we won't get them. And then there are the people who don't care at all, a large portion of eligible voters. This is all by design. What to do? I have no idea.

[TBF]

13. Why do you say we'll never have general strikes?

The only chance we have is to withhold our labor.

[MrSlayer]

26. Because we need a unified effort for that to happen.

And we are not unified, the Republicans and the indifferent will not participate. The republicans want these draconian policies to continue, they don't see themselves being screwed. By the time they finally figure it out it will be way too late. I have very little hope anymore that it can be turned around. No one represents us in washington anymore. The democrats are now what the republicans used to be and the republicans have gone insane.

The bad guys won and we as a nation let them more than 30 years ago.

[TBF]

32. Never underestimate conditions -

because that is what will dictate. When folks are given no choice (lack of work, shelter, etc) they will resist. It has already started with Occupy.

Most folks I know are still voting, but it is not escaping them that this economic system is only benefiting the top 1%. I largely agree with what you're saying, but I guess I'm still hopeful of resistance rather than a deep slide into fascism. I admit I may be naive in that regard.

[Drew Richards]

2. Whew! I feel better...

Sorry all, sometimes I just got to let it out.

What has been occurring for the last 30 years to our nation is starting to make me a little umm upset.

Sorry for the rant.

[woo me with science]

3. Don't ever apologize for what you just wrote.

Ever.

[Drew Richards]

5. Thanks WMWS

[Plucketeer]

24. You're NOT alone

with your frustrations, Drew. I'm approaching 70 - ain't as flexible as I once was - and have daily responsibilities to exotic animals that I CAN'T comfortably just turn over to someone else. But it's gnawing at me as if I'm being eaten alive by some beast whilst fully conscious. I give to the OCCUPY movements and other upswells, but I KNOW I have to do something other'n watch from afar as our democracy is converterd into a Mockracy!
I don't resent ANYone who's well off - UNTIL they use it to swindle me. I don't - and WON'T have a gun to tote as a threat. I don't - haver a notion to go around bustin' windows and burning cars. That's just plain STUPID and only justifies the constabulary locking down on us.
I write to the president at least once a week, and to some of our useless "reps" on a regular basis. But I KNOW most of my 44-cent missives likely end up in the circular file.
So what's an old fart like me supposed to do?

[TBF]

15. + 1 nt

[LadyHawkAZ]

10. ^What WMWS said

The revolution starts when we stop apologizing for being right.

[Zalatix]

12. You should feel sorry.

For calling your OP a rant, that is.
I call it a rallying cry.

[cyglet]

22. Honestly, I wish more Americans

were that upset.

[indepat]

4. Wow, just wow. The politicians seem willing to take away every thing but our guns. That they know

won't fly short of turning the vast arsenal of advanced military weaponry on we the people.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

7. It's not your guns that they want, it's your collective voices.

[aspieextrodinare]

6. Most of that had bipartisan support sadly

[Drew Richards]

9. Not even close to being true but thx for playing.

[aspieextrodinare]

20. The three I most readily recognize

Clinton signed NAFTA into law (as he did the GLB Act) and I believe the Patriot Act was passed 99-1 in the Senate. Do you want to try telling me that those didn't have bipartisan support.

[Drew Richards]

23. Why sure I will play lets look at those 3

The Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act

Financial Deregulation

This was a bipartisan fire sale started in 1999 of our protections from corporate entities and their greed. Specifically under the Clinton Presidency PROPOSED by the REPUBLICANS Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act, repealing the "Glass-Steagall Act" 1999 and accepted in total by the Republican chair of the Finance Committee Jim Leach and unopposed by Democratic members of the committee. The Democrats in congress could have filibustered or President Clinton could have rejected this bill but surprisingly this did not occur.

During this time Clinton was being threatened with impeachment over the Lewinsky affair and it has been reported that there was a quid pro quo that if the democrats passed it forward and Clinton would sign it then the Senate would drop impeachment proceedings...that didn't happen now did it...

NAFTA

Facts from the glorious Right wing Heritage Foundation...

The NAFTA was the Brain Child of Republican Ronald Regan.

“ Ronald Reagan first proposed a free trade agreement between the U.S. and Mexico in his 1980 presidential campaign.”

This information about Regan’s “Free Trade Agreement” vision can be found here.

http://www.heritage.org/Research/Tradean…

NAFTA FACT 2)

NAFTA was in fact spearheaded by Republican George H. Bush. The information below is only part of the facts found on Wikipedia's information on George H. Bush. The rest can be read by following the link and scrolling down to NAFTA. You will notice that the Democrats even then questioned NAFTA and the loss of jobs in the US.

"Bush's administration, along with the Progressive Conservative Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, spearheaded the negotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which would eliminate the majority of tariffs on products traded among the United States, Canada, and Mexico, to encourage trade amongst the countries.[51] The treaty also protects intellectual property rights (patents, copyrights, and trademarks), and outlines the removal of investment restrictions among the three countries.[51]
This came under heavy scrutiny amongst mainly Democrats."

NAFTA FACT 3)

In 1993 when NAFTA was signed By Bill Clinton it was approved in Congress lead by the Republicans to out vote the Democrats to approve NAFTA.

Here is the results from the vote in Congress to approve NAFTA.

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/1993/roll575.…


NAFTA FACT 4)

Now the Republican President George W. Bush has had NAFTA for 8 Years and did nothing to change or fix the situation. Here is a video of what he recently said about NAFTA and saying we need to keep it in place.

…

DON'T BE A MUSHROOM,EDUCATE YOURSELF BEFORE YOU VOTE.

"Be a thinker not a Kool-Aid drinker!" "

The Patriot Act

This one was simple...Bush and Cheney frightened the entire county using typical fear mongering tactics similar to propaganda tactics Goebbles used against minorities in 1929-31 Germany.

Remember Bush went on TV multiple times and declared you are either with us or against us and that makes you un-American... I would have had a hard time not voting for it then myself.

So there are the three you try to defend and try to Imply, i guess..."see see you're just as bad as us"...

Sorry aspieextrodinare it doesn't work that way...the republicans are trying to destroy democracy and institute a corporate autocracy even if some Democrats are complicit in their actions does NOT negate the fact that it is wrong.

[bvar22]

36. *Bill Clinton "CAMPAIGNED" on NAFTA,

....and signed it with a joyous victory ceremony.

*Your excuse for Clinton's signing of Glass-Steagall doesn't hold water.


*Where is the Democratic Party leadership and support for fixing our Privately owned Voting Machine problem?
You would think that after the stolen election in 2000,
and the questionable election in 2004,
that working for transparent, verifiable elections would be a priority.
But, no.
Sadly, only silence from our Party Leadership on this most fundamental of all issues.




You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their excuses.
[font size=5 color=green]Solidarity99![/font][font size=2 color=green]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/center]

[Drew Richards]

37. no in the end I think we will find on those two taht corruption was a shared meme.

Clinton was pretty corporate loving as well...

There is whitewater, savings and loan gate, travel gate, foster gate ect...

There are many many Democrats that have done questionable things but it doesn't matter their political affiliation which the previous poster before you was trying to derail the OP from. The point of the matter is, that most of this draconian legislation is Republican in origin and yes some Democrats are complicit in enacting similar legislation...

What is a common thread is that these are mostly millionaires influenced by religious fundamentalists, billionaires and corporations; making decisions that are destroying the lives and the RIGHTS of the middle class for YEARS to come.

This has to stop, no matter the party affiliation.

[woo me with science]

21. Way too much of it does, indeed.

Every day there is a new example - the signing of NDAA, support of TSA groping and police strip searches, bank settlements, austerity budgets, internet censorship/ACTA, supply-side tax policy, warrantless domestic surveillance, free trade agreements.... On issues of war, economic policy, and the police state, the levels of bipartisanship and collusion are chilling.

It's no longer a simple red versus blue game anymore. it is the one percent against the rest of us.

[Marley01]

8. Sooner than later

It is said when you back a dog into a corner he will bite. Once some of these laws stripping us of our rights are enacted not just on the books maybe we will fight back. Where are the massive protests like in the 60's. OWS maybe the beginning of our start or our end if people don't speak and demand what I right to be done. Always believe in what is right not just the party because this will dome us all.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

11. 4 priorities:

get rid of the Koch bros influence
get rid of ALEC influence
fix the damn voting machines and undo voter ID disenfranchisement laws
undo Citizens United

And yes, vote and DEMAND that this stuff happen. PUSH IT RELENTLESSLY AND MERCILESSLY from the bottom up. It will require an attention span of more than 48 hours though - and that is a problem.

I watched Koch Bros Exposed tonight (http://kochbrothersexposed.com) and I'd recommend that too. Invite neighbors, friends, family to watch. Esp those "independent" voters or those who may be on the fence. While some Dems may support Koch / ALEC legislation, much of the support for it (last year known as "Tea Party" legislation, now we know it's Koch/ALEC libertarian extremist crap) much of the support comes from Repubs. Buying legislation is cheap and the payoff is grand. When it isn't anymore, they'll stop.

EDIT 2:

"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." -Will Smith

Get off your ass. And stay off of it longer than 48 hours. This will take YEARS.

[Drew Richards]

17. Now that is a great list of highest priorities thanks for posting it.

I would add one more to the top priority list.

Get rid of Murdoch and family influence and dissolve his Republican noise machine.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

19. Oh yea. That is a very important one!

Make it five priorities. Definitely.

[TBF]

33. You could instead cut to the chase by getting rid of Capitalism -

it is not just "bad actors". There are always going to be Koch Bros. if we keep propping up a system that rewards greed. Change the rewards and we may see a change in behavior.

[Initech]

14. I've been saying "enough already" for a while.

The GOP does absolutely NOTHING to benefit us and instead are playthings for the uber elite to do whatever they want. The stolen election is just what could quite possibly be the worst thing to happen to us and it's truly fucking disgusting what they've been able to get away with. And I've got to the point where I can't take it anymore.

[YOHABLO]

16. I'M WITH YOU 100%

I feel the same as you do my friend .. and there are thousands like myself who are ready to take our anger toward the Right to the next level. If only we can figure out what that is. People are f**king lazy. They will not register and they will not vote .. simply because they do not think it will make any difference. Granted our voting system is completely broken, with the ability to hack in and reverse votes on electronic voting machines. I live in a red state and know my vote will hardly be counted due to the electoral college. But I still go to the polls. A National Strike would be fantastic .. but they have the sheep so indoctrinated to the point that they're too paranoid to do so. Everyone is worried they'll lose their jobs. It has come to the point where people just simply ignore politics .. they just have better things to worry about. They simply do not know where the CAUSES of there worries are coming from. Totally ignorant. Totally oblivious to what is going on. I don't know if we can stop this Fascist Regime .. we can go down with a huge fight though. We have to put pressure on Obama now to stop dealing with these bastards and start governing for the people. Now is the time.. not after the election.

[Drew Richards]

18. I agree NOW is the time.

With all their attacks against equal justice, the rule of law and attacks against women's rights NOW is the time to start hammering them in all forms of media make their stink so prevalent no one can sit by and let it continue...everyone will have to take a side...

[TBF]

34. Have faith - people are starting to resist.

As more and more lose their jobs they have no choice but to resist. I agree largely with what you've written except I think we can do both. Resistance puts pressure on the president, along with the rest of the 1%.

[Doctor_J]

43. The only resistence is against people trying to help

the teabaggers screamed, ranted, threatened, and waved guns at representatives during 2010 and got 50 members elected to Congress. Occupy is a sort of feel-good stationary movement whose major accomplishment so far has been to get some authority figures to pepper-spray them in the face. There won't be any general strike on May 1 or any other time. Need to start thinking of more noticeable actions.

[chervilant]

45. Please,

stop saying that "people are f**king lazy." Some are, but many more are depressed, and disenfranchised. Blend the two together and it becomes near impossible to 'fight' for anything.

Add to this the fact that most of us must work for such meager wages, we can ill afford to lose our jobs. We are so enmeshed in this perverted economic system that most of us lay low, like Brer Rabbit.

Let's add a dollop of icing to this pathetic cake: most of us are shaped by the magic picture box that beams hours of propaganda into our zombified brains. Actually, I might ought to call this the Bernays sauce on the rotting carcass of our nation.

(I've recently relocated to a rural part of north Arkansas. Not a single person I've met has a clue about politics beyond what they see on FOX, and many are determined to vote for whichever sock puppet the Republicans nominate--just to keep Obama from getting a second term. Despite ALL of what I've written hereinabove, I agree with those who've posted that we WILL act in solidarity to rescue our democracy--#Occupy is just the beginning.)

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

25. Another question is, at what point does it become self defense

to defend our rights against being locked up indefinitely and not charged with any crime?
That law was the National Defense Authorization Act, signed into law on Dec. 31 2011.
It's hard to fight back when your in jail, but not accused of any crime.

[RobertEarl]

27. Soon

The sooner the better. And we better do it sooner, if we don't, things will not get better.

Occupy seems to be the better and the sooner way to take back our country.

[TBF]

35. It's a start - a bit bourgeoisie

could use the strength of labor unions to power it to the next level ... but I agree that at least we have a start at resistance now.

[fascisthunter]

28. I'll pass on the Sentiment

especially to rid the Democratic Party of corporate garbage.


pssst... I'm involved locally.... oooops to the faux dem leadership.

[cr8tvlde]

29. Hear! Hear! Great style and information

Kind of left me speechless...but it's a keeper.

[Luminous Animal]

30. We are taking a stand. It's called Occupy.

[Zorra]

31. Occupy has called for a May 1 General Strike. We are taking a stand.

Please stand with us and join in the strike.

[Skidmore]

38. But, wait, I thought that we did this with the Occupy movement.

And elections have not arrived yet.

[Drew Richards]

39. As I am sure you agree Occupy is an excellent start but we must never stop guarding our rights and

making our voices heard.

It is obvious with the corporate Noise machines controlling most of our access to media that our voices are being silenced, our proofs of political corruption and degradation are not being heard, or are being filtered to make us seem like just a few extremists rather than a large disproportionate amount of the population.

Before the elections happen I would like to see Occupy grow to tens of millions protesting in the streets, organizing walkouts, work stoppages and most of all, and most importantly to me...Organizing and promoting "Getting out the vote" to remove the neanderthals in our midst. To vote in what I like to call "HUMANISTS" that believe in science and have a concern for our fellow humans and our closed environmental system called Earth.

[99Forever]

40. In all honesty I fear that..

.. participating in the corrupt system will never make a real difference. I abhor violence, but understand that it's likely to be the only real agent of change that will get it done.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

41. The problem with violence is, that it doesn't advance a right way

of solving a problem, all it proves is who has the better fighters, killers or superior fire power.
Nonviolence, with everyone doing nothing, is a very powerful tactic.
You can grind the country to a standstill if it's organized correctly.

[99Forever]

47. Although my heart is..

... with you, my experience and brain tell me something very different. Those that have their boot on our throat have no qualms about beating us down by whatever means necessary and no conscience about who gets hurt or killed in the process. There will be violence, cripes, there's already BEEN violence, just perpetrated on us, not by us so far. At some point that will change. There is a growing cancer of desperation eating at the very core of this Nation. Desperate people do desperate things. Do not mistake me, I DO NOT advocate it in any way, shape or form. But I do know what nasty storm looks like as it brews in the sky and we've got a huge one coming.

[Doctor_J]

42. Never

It hasn't happened yet...not going to. We have had voting rights stripped, 1st, 4th, 5th, 8th amendments withdrawn, torture and secret prisons re-codified, elections stolen, corporations given human rights, our health care handed to blood-sucking insurance companies, and our treasury handed to a few billionaires and arms dealers. And anyone who even suggests fighting back is told that, "oohhh...don't do that...then we'll be as bad as them". In a way we're worse than the Germans in the 1930's. They didn't realize their country was being taken over by fascists.

[Thinkingabout]

44. Democrats will bring sanity back to

This great nation. We do have to vote, the path back to sanity. The "conservatives" went crazy and you must have to buy their output. God bless this nation again.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

46. We should have a meeting with all Dem congress

many of them voted for these items to occur. We need to sit them down and talk business.

We need to also take on the media as they are the 'voice of the people.' If you took away the media the GOP would die on the vine.