Hey, Remember the days/weeks/months leading up to the Iraq 'war'?

[G_j]

the hundreds/thousands of calls, letters, vigils, office visits, the "virtual march" the huge demonstrations?
I wrote/called every Congress-critter and visited and held vigil outside of (our Senator) Edwards' local office, I helped organize local demos, one where over 2000 ppl. attended, I took buses to DC, I wrote every member of the UN SC multiple times, signed a hundred petitions, wrote dozens of LTTEs, not to mention the efforts to educate, organize and research in a place such as DU.

The day after the Iraq invasion I watched over twenty people get arrested for simply marching in the street at a local rally. We held vigil at the jail. In the next week over forty people were arrested protesting in our town.
High school students chained themselves to the railing at the Federal building. Where were our "leaders" then?

of course disappointed again, but not surprised today.
"when you ain't got nothing, you got nothing to lose"

They allowed the maniac Ashcroft and then a torture-happy psychopath (Gonzales) to head the Justice Dept. Now look at the consequences!
How about Porter Goss? The bankruptcy bill.. bla bla bla..

I still kept calling, writing, protesting and will continue to.
I have no hope in the system, the politicians...NONE!

BUT KNOW THAT I AM GOING TO CONTINUE TO LET THEM KNOW I AM HERE!
I AM NOT GOING AWAY

Because it about us not them. We are the people. Just don't let them ever forget it.


edit: I feel I could have said all this better but listen, isn't it better to know where we stand than not to?
Power does not concede willingly.
We are going to have to push and kick and scream and suffer great discomforts and sacrifices to turn the tide on fascism.
For comfort perhaps read some words from MLK and imagine what it was like for them.

[wiggs]

1. That's the first step:

realizing that we have been expecting help from the wrong places. Relying on these particular dem representatives to behave like an opposition party with all the vigor, anger, creativity, righteousness, and justice commensurate with the outrageous misdeeds of this administration has clearly been an error. That was misplaced trust.

They have all the issues, all the resources, all the exposure, and all the public support they need to do the right thing, yet we are constantly disappointed. There is no possible excuse, except that they lack the will to behave differently, as a group, than the GOP.

Once enough people realize this, then we can strategize differently.

It is mind-boggling to me that any congressman, let alone a democratic one, would not be enraged into action daily over any one of dozens of examples of incompetence, neglect, abuse of power, corporatism, secrecy, wrong-headed empirialism and tyranny. Since they are obviously not outraged....what can WE do without them in the loop?

I think it's questionable (not hopeless though) to pin all hope on 2006 elections...most House seats are safe....any number of national events could "happen" to sway voter opinion between now and then...election reform has not happened...MSM media are showing no sign of fairness...ongoing investigations and commissions can stall forever if they want...redistricting still exists.....

...so I ask again: what can we do IN ADDITION TO PREPARING FOR 2006 ELECTIONS?

[G_j]

3. I think we have to act as "The People"

we the People

Instead of giving up, we need to become ten times as as loud!
Not just on blogs but in the streets.
I believe we should do intensive study of Martin Luther King and imagine what it was like for him. If the "leaders" won't do it, that leaves only the people. It seems like we will need to make far greater sacrifices and suffer much greater discomforts.

[AlamoDemoc]

2. Well said...Well done...and thanks for never giving up. n/t

[G_j]

4. this is just the beginning my friend! n/t

[G_j]

5. What do you get for pretending the danger's not real

Sheep

Harmlessly passing your time in the grassland away
Only dimly aware of a certain unease in the air
You'd better watch out--there may be dogs about
I have looked over Jordan and I have seen--things are not what they seem
What do you get for pretending the danger's not real
Meek and obedient, you follow the leader
Down well trodden corridors, into the valley of steel
What a surprise! A look of terminal shock in your eyes
Now things are really what they seem, no this is not a bad dream
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, he makes me down to lie
Through pastures green he leadeth me the silent waters by
With bright knives he releaseth my soul
He maketh me to hang on hooks in high places
He converteth me to lamb cutlets
For lo, he hath great power and great hunger
When cometh the day we lowly ones
Through quiet reflection and great dedication
Master the art of karate, lo, we shall rise up
And then we'll make the bugger's eyes water
Bleating and babbling we fell on his neck with a scream
Wave upon wave of demented avengers march
Cheerfully out of obscurity into the dream
Have you heard the news? The dogs are dead
You'd better stay home and do as you're told
Get out of the road if you wanna grow old

Pigs On The Wing (part two)

You know that I care what happens to you
And I know that you care for me too
So I don't feel alone, or the weight of the stone
Now that I've found somewhere safe to bury my bone
And any fool knows a dog needs a home
A shelter from pigs on the wing

All lyrics by Roger Waters

[wiggs]

6. There's a reason why this happened today

It's the same reason why:

Voinovich cried on the senate floor, expressing fear about his grandkids' future, only to support Bolton later upon further thought

No one in congress really wants us to know what Sibel Edmonds knows

Kerry didn't out-debate the least-skilled president ever who also has the worst record ever

No one in congress is demanding an immediate stop to the use of white phosporous in Iraq

No one stopped the medicare bill, even after they knew the WH lied about the costs and a congressman was bribed

Even those who have seen the missing Abu Ghraib photos won't talk about them

Election reform won't happen, even though the GAO says that the 2004 election was probably compromised

Dems will vote for things like the bankruptcy bill

Dems will vote for a partisan head of the CIA, even though CIA failures can be traced to partisan influence

We still don't have a phase II WMD report

Energy policy was created in secret

No one in congress is standing up against rape and pillage of the environment even as the public expresses its concern that we are passing a point of no return

Wolfowitz is in the world bank

Tax cuts get passed during war for the first time in history and in the face of huge deficits

Congress gave away its war powers knowing, as most people did, that evidence for imminent threat was extremely thin

The number of washington lobbyists have doubled in the last 5 years. Doubled.

The amount of debt owned by foreign countries doubled in the last 5 years

Iran is bad and the time for talking is over

Exxon and Shell just posted record profits

There are more millionaires and also more going under the poverty line

Venezuela is bad, a "destabilizing influence" on Latin America

...and more


There's a common thread: concentration of wealth and power. Alito is for it and so are many of the dem leaders who live in that world.

[G_j]

7. true

The priorities of the powerful are not those of the rest of the people.
This is what the founders knew and tried to protect against with the document that has now been dismantled.


~~~~~~~


A man can't ride your back unless it's bent.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.
Martin Luther King, Jr.