Tough topic - "American Unity" - Please comment

[Must_B_Free]

How do I say this...

I know %98 of us are progressives who want to build a better world. Right now the Dems appear to be on our side... Yet, I am not naive enough to believe that we aren't also being played by a fiddle, just like the freepers are being played like a fiddle.

At some point, we just become some gullible easily manipulated mass. The wolves will put on our clothing and use us to make fortunes for themselves. For this reason, I am extremely receptive of political discussion. I relish ideas that seem foreign to me.

They have propaganda and we have propaganda. Are we really arrogant enough to believe that ours is "the one right way"? I am inclined to believe that we are more open.

And another detail - we have become strikingly similar to the freepers in our reactionism.

Maybe the answer is to find a way to embrace the freepers and find a way for them to embrace us and together cast off this dread of financially driven political leeches. I.e. a joint project for America.

I don't think that we are all that apart in the big picture. We are alll americans who are basically misled by the competing propaganda of our "sides", who are playing us for power and profit. Taking america back means including everyone and making everyone happy, or at least reapecting everyone. I am not willing to hate anyone.

<steps off soapbox>

comments?

[EstimatedProphet]

1. I do agree that we should have unity

I do agree that we should reach out to everyone, as Dean said during the campaign.
There's just one thing: what if "they" don't want to have anything to do with us?
See, we have one advantage in the scenario that you talk about. We are aware that the government is using the citizens. Freepers simply can't accept that fact. Only The Evil Clinton can use people, in their opinion (or so it seems to listen to them). Since we can see through God's Own Self-Appointed Representative, in their minds that makes us evil for opposing God. any attempt to bring in a progressive government is going to turn them away, because the people that give them their brainwaves will insist that anything progressive is unholy. This reinforces their hold on the freepers and keeps them from seeing for themselves how they would benefit from a more progressive environment.
We are all Americans. And in particular, the people that tend to be Freepers would benefit from the ideas we propose. But they're not allowed to see that.

[lastknowngood]

2. devide and conqure they have been doing it for years by

ensuring only two political partys the powers that be mantain contorl of the sheeple and push them closer and closer to cogs in the machine. Futureama

[hexola]

3. Agreed - we have the same sort of knee jerk, name calling stuff

But I think we are already doing it...here.

I really think FreeRepublic is dwindling...the problem/reality is...they HAVE to come to our turf to engage in debate...since dissent and debate are not permitted on FreeRepublic. Even they know it. There have been a few theads at FR recently questioning the rapid ZOT policy. They know it makes thier site boring. Most of the posts there are "ping" or bump" or "kill them all."

Should DU capitalize on this...should DU have a "War Room" where we invite/tempt Freepers in for debate? Clearly there are some here now. Pretty soon they will be over here more than over there. They are listening to AirAmerica...just as many of us listen to Limbaugh...but I think there are a certain core group that will be unmoveable.

And pheww...the guy (JimRob) had his DNS record pulled and was virtually offline for 2 days...thats bad news in the web biz...I wonder how much of his audience he lost to that outage...

[FloridaPat]

4. We the people need to get off our asses and stay current.

We need to run the country. If we don't, the people in Washington are just going to keep on doing what they've always done. I think the government has always been like this. They've constantly lied to the population to wage war, take over lands, and keep people in the dark.

And I have to admit - it was hard to keep track of what these clowns do in Washington until the internet came into being. I rarely read newspapers or watch news on TV, and yet I was one of the most knowledgable person I knew. That is very scary. Now with the internet and places like DU, WhatReallyHappened and Buzzflash, we can get a good idea of what's going on. But they still sneak stuff past me. I spend 2 hours a day going through all this. When would the average person find the time between their jobs, the soaps, and reality TV to keep informed?

Until the people take over the government like it says int he Constitution, it will continue. But Bush & CO are the absolute worst.

And think of the wars we have been in - Gulf 1 was based on a lie, WW2 - the government knew there would be an attack but kept quiet about it; Vietnam - we were lied to. I wonder if one would find lies behind all the wars we've been in.

[Broadslidin]

5. Not Having A Universal Single Payer Health Care System Proves........

Unlike the rest of the modern world,
We are a nation of people that has been trained to only
lookout for ourselves.

Our philosophy simply reads,
whats in it for me and can I make a fast buck off it.

With scalia and his ilk on the bench, proves,
The words, "Equal Justice Under Law" above the entrance of the
U.S. Supreme Court building are nothing more than a sham.