As a Nation, as an assembly of citizens, We Must Halt, Reflect & Mourn

[understandinglife]

We need to hault all our ordinary activities.

We must look at what has happened and not allow anyone to prevent us from access to the facts.

We must think about what has happened.

We must mourn the dead.

We must look at ourself.

We must look at one another, in large and small gatherings, in stadiums and in churches and in our neighborhoods and we must talk to one another.

We need to each read our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution and Bill of Rights and a few statements from wise and compelling past American leaders. We need to read each of those documents to our children and to those who do not know how to read.

For one week, beginning on September 11, 2005 we need to come together as a Nation and look each other in the eye and ask the questions we so sorely need to ask one another -

"What can I do to help you?"

"How can I lessen your pain, your suffering?"

"What can I do to begin to restore compassion, ethics and accountability to OUR government?"

No State-sponsored parades -- just citizens alone and in groups grappling with where we have been and what direction we now need to steer our Republic.

Bush took a five week vacation that extended through the largest disaster to ever strike a community of American citizens, and a vast segment of American infrastructure.

We The People ... can certainly take one week to assess what our Nation is and what we want it to be.

We The People ... can take one week to bring our full attention and empathy to all those who have suffered because of Katrina and because of Iraq. We can mourn together and we can begin to heal, together.

We The People ... can take one week to determine what each of us is going to do.

That week could well be remembered as the most important week in American history.

In the comment, below, I have attached links or the text of each document that I think we all need to read, alone and together. Let us understand the America represented in those documents and let us understand that it is entirely up to each of us to begin restoring that America.


Peace.

[understandinglife]

1. Who are "We The People ... ", my fellow Americans

http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/declaration_transcript.html

http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/constitution_transcript.html

http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that "all men are created equal"
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it, as a final resting place for those who died here, that the nation might live. This we may, in all propriety do. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow, this ground -- The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have hallowed it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here; while it can never forget what they did here.

It is rather for us, the living, we here be dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that, from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here, gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve these dead shall not have died in vain; that the nation, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people by the people for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Farewell Radio and Television Address to the American People by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, January 17, 1961.

My fellow Americans:


Three days from now, after half a century in the service of our country, I shall lay down the responsibilities of office as, in traditional and solemn ceremony, the authority of the Presidency is vested in my successor.

This evening I come to you with a message of leave-taking and farewell, and to share a few final thoughts with you, my countrymen.

Like every other citizen, I wish the new President, and all who will labor with him, Godspeed. I pray that the coming years will be blessed with peace and prosperity for all.


Our people expect their President and the Congress to find essential agreement on issues of great moment, the wise resolution of which will better shape the future of the Nation.

My own relations with the Congress, which began on a remote and tenuous basis when, long ago, a member of the Senate appointed me to West Point, have since ranged to the intimate during the war and immediate post-war period, and, finally, to the mutually interdependent during these past eight years.

In this final relationship, the Congress and the Administration have, on most vital issues, cooperated well, to serve the national good rather than mere partisanship, and so have assured that the business of the Nation should go forward. So, my official relationship with the Congress ends in a feeling, on my part, of gratitude that we have been able to do so much together.




II

We now stand ten years past the midpoint of a century that has witnessed four major wars among great nations. Three of these involved our own country. Despite these holocausts America is today the strongest, the most influential and most productive nation in the world. Understandably proud of this pre-eminence, we yet realize that America's leadership and prestige depend, not merely upon our unmatched material progress, riches and military strength, but on how we use our power in the interests of world peace and human betterment.



III

Throughout America's adventure in free government, our basic purposes have been to keep the peace; to foster progress in human achievement, and to enhance liberty, dignity and integrity among people and among nations. To strive for less would be unworthy of a free and religious people. Any failure traceable to arrogance, or our lack of comprehension or readiness to sacrifice would inflict upon us grievous hurt both at home and abroad.


Progress toward these noble goals is persistently threatened by the conflict now engulfing the world. It commands our whole attention, absorbs our very beings. We face a hostile ideology-global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose, and insidious in method. Unhappily the danger it poses promises to be of indefinite duration. To meet it successfully, there is called for, not so much the emotional and transitory sacrifices of crisis, but rather those which enable us to carry forward steadily, surely, and without complaint the burdens of a prolonged and complex struggle-with liberty at stake. Only thus shall we remain, despite every provocation, on our charted course toward permanent peace and human betterment.

Crises there will continue to be. In meeting them, whether foreign or domestic, great or small,there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties. A huge increase in newer elements of our defense; development of unrealistic programs to cure every ill in agriculture; a dramatic expansion in basic and applied research-these and many other possibilities, each possibly promising in itself, may be suggested as the only way to the road we wish to travel.

But each proposal must be weighed in the light of a broader consideration: the need to maintain balance in and among national programs-balance between the private and the public economy, balance between cost and hoped for advantage-balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable; balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual; balance between action of the moment and the national welfare of the future. Good judgment seeks balance and progress; lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration.

The record of many decades stands as proof that our people and their government have, in the main, understood these truths and have responded to them well, in the face of stress and threat. But threats, new in kind or degree, constantly arise. I mention two only.



IV

A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction.

Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peace time, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea.

Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence-economic, political, even spiritual-is felt in every city, every state house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.

Akin to, and largely responsible for the sweeping changes in our industrial-military posture, has been the technological revolution during recent decades.

In this revolution, research has become central; it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government.

Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been over shadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.

The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded.

Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.

It is the task of statesmanship to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system-ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society.




V

Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into society's future, we-you and I, and our government-must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.




VI

Down the long lane of the history yet to be written America knows that this world of ours, ever growing smaller, must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.

Such a confederation must be one of equals. The weakest must come to the conference table with the same confidence as do we, protected as we are by our moral, economic, and military strength. That table, though scarred by many past frustrations, cannot be abandoned for the certain agony of the battlefield.

Disarmament, with mutual honor and confidence, is a continuing imperative. Together we must learn how to compose difference, not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose. Because this need is so sharp and apparent I confess that I lay down my official responsibilities in this field with a definite sense of disappointment. As one who has witnessed the horror and the lingering sadness of war-as one who knows that another war could utterly destroy this civilization which has been so slowly and painfully built over thousands of years-I wish I could say tonight that a lasting peace is in sight.

Happily, I can say that war has been avoided. Steady progress toward our ultimate goal has been made. But, so much remains to be done. As a private citizen, I shall never cease to do what little I can to help the world advance along that road.




VII

So-in this my last good night to you as your President-I thank you for the many opportunities you have given me for public service in war and peace. I trust that in that service you find somethings worthy; as for the rest of it, I know you will find ways to improve performance in the future.

You and I-my fellow citizens-need to be strong in our faith that all nations, under God, will reach the goal of peace with justice. May we be ever unswerving in devotion to principle, confident but humble with power, diligent in pursuit of the Nation's great goals.

To all the peoples of the world, I once more give expression to America's prayerful and continuing inspiration:

We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their great human needs satisfied; that those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full; that all who yearn for freedom may experience its spiritual blessings; that those who have freedom will understand, also, its heavy responsibilities; that all who are insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity; that the scourges of poverty, disease and ignorance will be made to disappear from the earth, and that, in the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love.

Inaugural Address President John F. Kennedy


Washington, D.C.
January 20, 1961

Vice President Johnson, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, President Truman, Reverend Clergy, fellow citizens:
We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom--symbolizing an end as well as a beginning--signifying renewal as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forbears prescribed nearly a century and three-quarters ago.

The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe--the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.

We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans--born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage--and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

This much we pledge--and more.

To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided there is little we can do--for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.

To those new states whom we welcome to the ranks of the free, we pledge our word that one form of colonial control shall not have passed away merely to be replaced by a far more iron tyranny. We shall not always expect to find them supporting our view. But we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom--and to remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.

To those people in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required--not because the communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.

To our sister republics south of our border, we offer a special pledge--to convert our good words into good deeds--in a new alliance for progress--to assist free men and free governments in casting off the chains of poverty. But this peaceful revolution of hope cannot become the prey of hostile powers. Let all our neighbors know that we shall join with them to oppose aggression or subversion anywhere in the Americas. And let every other power know that this Hemisphere intends to remain the master of its own house.

To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace, we renew our pledge of support--to prevent it from becoming merely a forum for invective--to strengthen its shield of the new and the weak--and to enlarge the area in which its writ may run.

Finally, to those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request: that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.

We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.

But neither can two great and powerful groups of nations take comfort from our present course--both sides overburdened by the cost of modern weapons, both rightly alarmed by the steady spread of the deadly atom, yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of mankind's final war.

So let us begin anew--remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.

Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.

Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and control of arms--and bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations.

Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths and encourage the arts and commerce.

Let both sides unite to heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah--to "undo the heavy burdens . . . (and) let the oppressed go free."

And if a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion, let both sides join in creating a new endeavor, not a new balance of power, but a new world of law, where the strong are just and the weak secure and the peace preserved.

All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.

In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.

Now the trumpet summons us again--not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need--not as a call to battle, though embattled we are-- but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation"--a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.

Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility--I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it--and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.

Rev Martin Luther King Jr. "I Have A Dream"

August 28, 1963 (42 years later and Katrina teaches how far we are from the "Dream")

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, When we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Peace.

[hiley]

4. thank you

I can not thank you enough for this UL.

[all.of.me]

11. what a fabulous compilation! thank you.

[Time for change]

18. A terrific assortment of reading material!

I wish that Eisenhower was alive today -- in the hope that he would have a few words to say about the current Administration.

Here is the quote of his from his farewell address that really struck me: "We face a hostile ideology-global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose, and insidious in method". That is just as true today, the only difference being that now that hostile ideology is right here in our own country, attempting to consolidate its power over us.

[Land Shark]

19. Thank you, I had never read Eisenhower's address in full before!

[hiley]

23. I am sending this out to others

and posting on blog.
Everyone should reflect on all of this and the meaning.

[understandinglife]

29. Hon. Ron Paul: "Why We Fight" (and why we must change) -- August 8, 2005

Adding this to the reading list:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4700547&mesg_id=4703179


Peace.

[Marnieworld]

2. This will never happen

All last week I kept waiting for everything to stop like it did after 9/11. I could barely keep it together last Tuesday at work as flood waters were rising and by Wednesday and Thursday the suffering and devastation was almost unbearable and hard to compartmentalize away from my normal day to day responsibilities. I kept waiting for everything to stop but it never did.

Baseball games, the US OPEN, pre-season football the fall TV schedule, everything has just been humming along. Putting flags at half staff was an afterthought brought about by Renquist instead of the thousands of citizens perished. Yet life doesn't miss a beat.

There are people still dying of thirst and yet no National Prayer Service. No somber attitudes. No flags outside people's houses and cars. The only good thing about 9/11 was the national unity afterwards until we started dropping bombs. For these citizens dead or displaced and its impact on all of us we deserve a moment of mourning. If it hasn't happened yet will it ever?

[understandinglife]

3. "What country is that? Is it far away?"

What country is that? Is it far away? We absolutely MUST intervene! (Cartoon: Plantu / Le Monde France)


Just who is that "We"?


Peace.

[all.of.me]

10. that is great. thanks for the laughs. too bad it is so sad!

[understandinglife]

5. "an image of poverty and social disarray that tears away the affluent mask

... of the United States.

Yet the problem is much deeper. For half a century, free-market purists have to great effect denigrated the essential role that modern government performs as some terrible liberal plot. Thus, the symbolism of New Orleans' flooding is tragically apt: Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal and Louisiana Gov. Huey Long's ambitious populist reforms in the 1930s eased Louisiana out of feudalism and toward modernity; the Reagan Revolution and the callousness of both Bush administrations have sent them back toward the abyss.

<clip>

None of this is an oversight, or simple incompetence. It is the result of a campaign by most Republicans and too many Democrats to systematically vilify the role of government in American life. Manipulative politicians have convinced lower- and middle-class whites that their own economic pains were caused by "quasi-socialist" government policies that aid only poor brown and black people — even as corporate profits and CEO salaries soared.

<clip>

Given all this, it is no surprise that leaders, from the White House on down, haven't done right by the people of New Orleans and the rest of the region, before and after what insurance companies insultingly call an "act of God."

Fact is, most of them, and especially our president, just don't care about the people who can't afford to attend political fundraisers or pay for high-priced lobbyists. No, these folks are supposed to be cruising on the rising tide of a booming, unregulated economy that "floats all boats."

They were left floating all right.

From The real costs of a culture of greed by Robert Scheer on September 6, 2005

Link:
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-scheer6sep06,0,7611861,print.column

Maybe Oprah will bring the Nation to a hault, a time of mourning and reflection and purpose. Maybe no one will.


Peace.

[DemReadingDU]

8. It is indeed sad

that so many of today's Boomers, GenXers, and EchoBoomers have become so self-absorbed...the I see it, I want it, I buy it, and buy it Now, usually with credit. They will not be able to cope if our Nation grinds suddenly to a halt.

[fooj]

6. Excellent. I'm with you, UL!

Peace and nominate!

[northamericancitizen]

7. Dear understandinglife, I am mourning with you and all

the American People not only for this big disaster but also for the crumbling of your once Great Nation's values and principles.

As I was reading the words of MLK, Kennedy etc. tears started rolling down my face. The more I read, the saddest I felt.

What happened to the commitment of past American leaders toward peace and justice for all ?



Today and for the last week I could not go about my life as if nothing happened and I am angry at some Canadians who say that we can't do anything. I saw the same indifference when Bush was reelected.

Many Quebequers and Canadians don't grasp that everything happening in the once Great US of A is or will soon be affecting us too.

Even thou I would like to help in a more direct way, I am spending a lot of time at my computer sending articles and letters to friends and family members.

Hoping to raise awareness with stories about real people being treated worst than animals, stories about people being "deported" as the Acadians were deported.

Hoping to wake up people about the need to help and support each others any way we can.

Peace and thank you.

lise

a northern neighbor

[understandinglife]

9. Your touching letter encompasses what we have lost and offers ..

... the spirit by which we can regain it.

We can only restore the values and dignity of the Republic if we extend empathy and sustenance and service to those most in need.

We simply need to read the words of our great leaders and have those words guide our actions.

Thank you for your kindness and for all you are doing to inform others of the crisis of "America" - Iraq and New Orleans being icons of how vast and already destructive the crisis is.


Peace
UL

[BamaBecky]

13. my church has started a disaster relief center here

I donated all the food that I had stored up thinking Bush was going to start WWIII, then went and bought more. I have donated furniture, beds, tables chairs. I have donated yard sale type stuff from the kitchen and bedrooms. It's been a lot of work, but I'm not through yet......my husband is in the hospital getting his heart rhythm fixed....so I have had to slow down some.
Bama

[understandinglife]

12. Senator Obama: "We had nothing before the hurricane. Now we got less ...

... than nothing."

But a conversation I had with one woman captured the realities that are settling into these families as they face the future.

She told me "We had nothing before the hurricane. Now we got less than nothing."

We had nothing before the hurricane. Now we got less than nothing.

In the coming weeks, as the images of the immediate crisis fade and this chamber becomes consumed with other matters, we will be hearing a lot about lessons learned and steps to be taken. I will be among those voices calling for action.

<clip>

But what must be said is that whoever was in charge of planning and preparing for the worst case scenario appeared to assume that every American has the capacity to load up their family in an SUV, fill it up with $100 worth of gasoline, stick some bottled water in the trunk, and use a credit card to check in to a hotel on safe ground. I see no evidence of active malice, but I see a continuation of passive indifference on the part of our government towards the least of these.

And so I hope that out of this crisis we all begin to reflect - Democrat and Republican - on not only our individual responsibilities to ourselves and our families, but to our mutual responsibilities to our fellow Americans. I hope we realize that the people of New Orleans weren't just abandoned during the Hurricane. They were abandoned long ago - to murder and mayhem in their streets; to substandard schools; to dilapidated housing; to inadequate health care; to a pervasive sense of hopelessness.

That is the deeper shame of this past week - that it has taken a crisis like this one to awaken us to the great divide that continues to fester in our midst. That's what all Americans are truly ashamed about, and the fact that we're ashamed about it is a good sign. The fact that all of us - black, white, rich, poor, Republican, Democrat - don't like to see such a reflection of this country we love, tells me that the American people have better instincts and a broader heart than our current politics would indicate.

We had nothing before the Hurricane. Now we have even less.

I hope that we all take the time to ponder the truth of that message.

Link:

http://obama.senate.gov/statement/050906-statement_of_senator_barack_obama_on_hurricane_katrina_relief_efforts/index.html#more

Yes in_deed, Senator Obama, we must take the time to ponder the truth of how little remains of "America"; how much we all must commit ourselves to doing to restore "America."


Peace.

[understandinglife]

14. "words for this troubled time" from DUer BigBearJohn

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4685799&mesg_id=4685799


Peace.

[struggle4progress]

15. "Don't waste time mourning. Organize!" -- Joseph Hillstrom

[understandinglife]

16. First, we need a reason to organize and that requires much more ...

... deliberate recognition of the scale of the tragedy, the scale of the lack of societal infrastructure, the general understanding of our Constitution, than most occupants of the USA than currently exists.

If we are unwilling to focus, to think, to mourn those lost because of a system that did not care for them -- then what are we organizing?

My point is that very, very few people have begun to confront the scale of the loss of an entire major city,

the loss of an entire coastal region,

the loss of thousands upon thousands of lives,

the displacement of 100s of thousands of people from their homes, their jobs, their schools, their families, their friends ...

It is beyond amazing that the entire Nation is not in mourning, the entire Nation is not wearing black arm bands, the entire nation is not repulsed by the thought of 'going to the ball game' ...

WE HAVE A MAJOR COLLAPSE OF SOCIETY HERE. GET IT?

Think about it.


Peace.

[struggle4progress]

17. Clearly we have had a major collapse of society. Many Americans ..

.. will spontaneously regard events this way; of those not yet convinced, some will change their minds if educated.

Mourning is natural and human but what could it possibly mean to organize around mourning? Such "organizing" simply convinces large numbers of people that the alleged organizers are more concerned with their own feelings than realities.

Meanwhile, the noise machine blares out its usual nonsense, trying to construct a false mass consciousness; I say that delays now only helps the current criminally inactive powers.

The appropriate issues around which to organize are, rather, the issues of remedy: what is to be done? In order to accomplish such organization, of course, one might begin with an ongoing concerted effort to get the truth out: who did (or didn't) do what when? That can keep people in motion.

[understandinglife]

21. We The People ... can take one week to determine what each of us is going

... to do.

Per the OP.

That's the point of urging a halt to the ordinary; reflection and mourning; and then planning and commitment.

As Howard Dean rightly surmised - our ethics are in desperate need of repair as is our psyche.

Here is just one of many statements of why we need to halt and reflect and decide if this is how we want America to continue being:

Many Americans reacted with shock and indignation to the sight of desperate fellow citizens trapped in New Orleans and in danger of dying because of a lackadaisical response by the federal government and the Bush administration. The embarrassment that many felt that the chaos in New Orleans made the United States look like a Third World country betrays a massive public denial about what has been happening in this country for many years. For several decades now, a Third World within has grown and developed as a product both of economic trends and government policies. This made-in-the USA Third World made up not just of immigrants but mainly of home-grown minorities and working class whites, was especially large in New Orleans, a city with a huge population of African-Americans and low-wage workers of all races, the groups most adversely affected by the reactionary socioeconomic policies of Reagan and the two Bushes (and, to a lesser but significant extent, by Clinton’s opportunist social policy concessions to the right).

The fact that so many in New Orleans did not have the means – working cars and money for meals, gas and hotel rooms – to escape the monster storm bearing down on the city reflects not only the high rates of poverty in one city but also the huge economic inequalities in the country today.

<clip>

The results of the Bush administration’s relentless politicization of the government and its nearly obsessive focus on Iraq and homeland security to the neglect of preparedness for natural disasters now have become obvious. With FEMA receiving a minuscule part of the budget for homeland security and the National Guard and the military more than fully committed to the Iraq mission, it would have taken an extraordinary exercise in political leadership at the very top to quickly mobilize the necessary resources to respond to a catastrophe of the magnitude of Katrina.

That kind of leadership was not forthcoming from President Bush, who failed to overrule the obvious resistance of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld early on to engage the only entity in the country capable of responding quickly and effectively to avert a great human tragedy: the U.S. military.

From Tragedy in New Orleans, torpor in Washington: Katrina exposes ugly aspects of Bush and America

By Max J. Castro on September 8, 2005

Link:
http://www.progresoweekly.com/friendly.php?pdr=Sep0814_05&progreso=Max_Castro

Bush and Rove and their neoconster gang are not keeping the truth from flowing. We have an ever more aggressive system of gathering, analyzing and spreading information.

What we need is to have responsible leaders call a 'time-out'.

We need to call the entire Nation to focus on what has happened, why it has happened and either determine we want to begin living and acting in accordance with the honorable and just principles described in the core documents of our Republic, or not.


Peace.

[Karenina]

25. Back to One.

Even if only for a moment...

[struggle4progress]

27. 1. Within two weeks, the Republicans will probably be pushing their ..

.. old agenda again, having spent the intervening time spewing lies about what a wonderful job Brownie did etc etc. Spend a week now "reflecting and mourning," and the next week "planning" and the Republicans will have two more critical weeks without real public opposition -- during which time, you may be sure, they will have done everything possible to control the further development of mass consciousness, by locking down the avenues for any possible future investigation (for example).

2. And what DO we need to reflect about? Isn't the real problem obvious, aren't its symptoms clear, and don't we already know the remedy? The current symptom is, of course, that the federal government, under the control of the wealthy elite, simply couldn't be bothered to help some of the poorest people in the country -- and didn't even bother at first to track their plight. I simply can't imagine a worse time than the present for philosophical contemplation: whether people begin living and acting in accordance with good principles will be determined by their lives and actions, rather than by their contemplations.

3. You say the Bush gang cannot keep information from flowing. While I fervently hope that you are right, I have no faith that the spine shown by the media this week will necessarily be there later this fall: long experience suggests we would be foolish to rely on the corporate media to push interests other than corporate interests. The spigot turns on, the spigot turns off. By the end of September, the administration's shills will be proclaiming that this issue is dead, that the survivors must get on with their lives, that the President's hand-picked commission will produce an analysis of the lessons from Katrina by January 2007.

Strike while the iron is still hot.

[understandinglife]

28. Simple.

1. Is the reason for what is suggested in the OP;

2. Most folk in this Nation are not "you" and philosophical contemplation is only a portion, but a very necessary part, of what needs to be done -- See: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4700547;

3. The information that has been flowing has had very little to do with 'the media' in this Nation.

And, the comprehensive nature of what I am urging is not just 'striking while the iron is hot,' it is forcing the accountability issue -- not just for the failed executive and legislative and media in this Nation, but of every one of us - see Ron Paul's speech as I've posted it in the Lakoff thread referenced above.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.


Peace.

[struggle4progress]

30. Lakoff is, of course, a talented commentator upon linguistics ..

.. in general, and I have read his materials on political linguistics with interest. Despite that, he does not seem to be a talented political strategist, a point which may be worth remembering when reading his political advice. In particular, Lakoff does not appear to have considered in any depth at all the nonlinguistic economic forces that constrain individual behavior and often lead to self-serving political fantasies. It is certainly enjoyable to read Lakoff's material, but it is an entirely different question whether the material actually provides good strategic advice.

I suppose I have made it clear enough that I think you are headed pointlessly into a swamp. Since I am unlikely to change your mind, I of course naturally hope that I am wrong. Best of luck O8)

[understandinglife]

31. Good of you to be concerned where you think I might be headed.

And, I truly appreciate that. That is a genuine statement.

I just happen to consider your perception of a walk into a 'swamp' as, instead, an ascent to high ground. And, your responses are confirmatory of that perception.

We need to stop making excuses. We need collectively to face the obvious and that is the strategy I am proposing.

We The People ... Have No Clothes.

That is the reality of America, today.

I'm calling everyone out, and it is obvious that many people are going to resist that calling.

That is not a failing of my strategy; it is an indication that the premise of my strategy is accurate.

A day, which to be fair to as many as possible I've suggested by a week, of reckoning is what this Nation needs.

Scurrying, being glib, pretending, assuming, denying, avoiding, ...., are all symptomatic of the reality that most people in this Nation already know what they are seeing and are desperately trying to avoid it.

I'm suggesting a strategy that makes it almost impossible to escape it.

If people can observe the destruction of a vast stretch of American territory, the death and desolation of thousands of their fellow citizens and not stop on their own accord, and refuse to stop if those in leadership positions encourage them to do so; encourage them to see the facts, to mourn, to reflect and change -- then "America" is dead.

My strategy makes it short and simple to reach what is inevitable.

Those who want to avoid a National 'time-out' are only delaying that inevitable - they are going to get a National 'time-out' and it is going to be permanent and cataclysmic.


Peace.

[understandinglife]

20. Howard Dean: "restore a moral purpose to America. Rebuild America's psyche

Yes, that is the message of this thread.

The Democratic National Committee chairman, Howard Dean, said this could be a transitional moment for his party. "The Democratic Party needs a new direction," he said. "And I think it's become clear what the direction is: restore a moral purpose to America. Rebuild America's psyche."

"This is deeply disturbing to a lot of Americans, because it's more than thousands of people who get killed; it's about the destruction of the American community," Mr. Dean said. "The idea that somehow government didn't care until it had to for political reasons. It's appalling."

Link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/08/national/nationalspecial/08democrats.html?ei=5094&en=c0cf273fae6bd7fa&hp=&ex=1126238400&adxnnl=1&partner=homepage&adxnnlx=1126205501-jVkRhA3JmzJlnKpV3WiY5g&pagewanted=print

Peace.

[understandinglife]

22. Bushville, DC being built beginning on Sept 11 2005 ....

.... perhaps this event could be used to catalyze the Nation-wide 'time out' proposed in the OP.

http://www.bushville.org/

The action of founding Bushville, DC on Sept 11, is an excellent counter to the State-sponsored militaristic display that Bush and the neoconsters are planning for that day.


Peace.

[Just Me]

24. I've mourned so much under the rule of the BushCO/neoCON regime.

I think I must jump right into the healing this time because my heart just cannot bear any more mourning. My brother left for Iraq this morning. I have no tears left.

:hug: Let's focus on healing and strengthening ourselves. We're going to need our strength to get through so many unecessary tragedies. :hug:

[understandinglife]

26. Lakoff: "a failure of moral and political philosophy — a deadly failure."

It is impossible for me, as it is for most Americans, to watch the horror and suffering from Hurricane Katrina and not feel physically sore, pained, bereft, empty, heart-broken. And angry.

The Katrina Tragedy should become a watershed in American politics. This was when the usually invisible people suddenly appeared in all the anguish of their lives — the impoverished, the old, the infirm, the kids, and the low-wage workers with no cars, no tvs, no credit cards. They showed up on America’s doorsteps, entered the living rooms, and stayed.

Katrina will not go away soon, and she has the power to change America.

<clip>

This was not just incompetence (though there was plenty of it), not just a natural disaster (though nature played its part), not just Bush (though he is accountable). This is a failure of moral and political philosophy — a deadly failure. That is the deep truth behind this human tragedy humanly caused.

From The Post-Katrina Era by George Lakoff on September 8, 2005

Link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-lakoff/the-postkatrina-era_b_7034.html

This is a necessary read and the essay contains specifics worthy of action, now.


Peace.