You know what scares the crap out of me?

[Mythsaje]

That too many prominent Democrats are taking this last round as politics as usual, as if we didn't dodge a bullet with regards to how the Republicans are trying to take final control of the country, our resources, and the direction this country is going to take in this century.

Scares the shit out of me. There just seems to be too many factions who are willing to overlook some of the worst abuses not only of this President, but of the Republicans who were controlling Congress, and go on as if nothing really really bad ever happened.

They don't WANT to share power any more. Not with the Dems, and not with the PEOPLE. They want to make all the decisions, at the suggestion of their corporate partners, and leave everyone else out in the cold. And they came DAMN close to pulling it off this last time around. Face it, people. We lucked out. We had the internet to help us fight them off, but if we damn well don't take it seriously, the next time around, it's not going to be that easy.

They're going to turn on George W. Bush and do their damnedest to make him the scapegoat, even if they have to take down some of their insiders with him. The fault won't lie in their bankrupt ideology, but in the way these jokers implemented it. And unless we ride our Congress like we've never done before, they're going to get away with it. The corporate media is going to help them spin it and the American people, barely roused from its slumber, is going to fall back into complacency and it'll all be over but the weeping.

We need to attack corporate personhood. We need SERIOUS campaign reform, not some "feel good, do nothing" crap that the corporatists are BOUND to try to implement. We need a breakup of the media monopolies, and we NEED net neutrality.

Yeah, we need to put an end to this war, and that may be the end result of the Republican Party turning on Dubya, but we cannot become too complacent ourselves. A raise in the minimum wage is GREAT, if they can get it through. But we can't lose sight of how close we came to final disaster here. Raising the minimum wage now isn't going to do us any good at all if they manage to turn it into a moot point the next time they gain control. And if we let them weasel out of their responsibility for what's gone wrong, let the media play it off as if it was a rogue element rather than a revelation of how fucked up their agenda really is, they WILL reassume control. And then we're FUCKED.

That's all this talk of "bipartisanship" really is, after all. A way for the Republicans to try to placate the Democrats and keep things from getting too hairy for them. Any real attempt at investigations, not only of the Administration, but of the Republican Party and Republican Congress, forced out into the open through the reluctance of the corporate media, will reveal them for what they really are. The D.C. Mafia.

Of course I wouldn't mind seeing Dubya impeached, but if he's the target of everything, it'll leave FAR TOO MANY of these malicious motherfuckers smirking into their martinis, able to slip away from the stain that should be painted on each and every one of them. They'll throw Bush and even Cheney to the wolves in a second if it allows them to escape unmarred by their involvement in this catastrophe.

We can't afford to let them off. We can't afford for our elected Dems to be nicey-nice and play it off as if it's just another political game. It isn't. Nothing short of the future of our country and maybe even the world is at stake. If they're not exposed this time, we may well NEVER get another chance.

It's not politics as usual. It's deadly serious this time. And anyone that doesn't get it shouldn't even BE in office right now.

[byronius]

1. I heard Louise Slaughter talking about her plans for the Rules Committee.

That woman is magnificent, and a powerful spirit. Sam Seder was interviewing her, and she talked frankly about how the Republicans had co-opted constitutional government, and how important it was to repair the damage and restore sanity. She didn't sugarcoat a thing, in fact she sounded damned level-headed and really mad.

John Conyers. Henry Waxman. Barbara Boxer. Leaders.

You're right. But there are some who have always been vocal, loud and proud, and now they have the megaphone.

[Mythsaje]

2. I hope they use it well...

They're not the problem. It'll be those who are trying to get them to be a little quieter, not to say what they don't want said. "Shhhh. You'll rock the boat, screw up a good thing."

I'm hoping they'll realize they'd be screwing up a BAD thing.

[madokie]

3. No truer words ever spoken

or in this case typed. The criminals responsible have been at getting to where they are now since ike's days if not before. The person they use to gain their sought after all power is the only thing that changes, not the principles and not the ideology. I suspected it with the assination of Kennedy then I seen it with the Democratic convention of '68. President Carter came along and derailed them momentarily as did the Big Dog. They are relentless in their pursuit of all encompassing power

[cascadiance]

4. Well stated!... Some of these issues there's tons of oppostion on...

... from the politicians and corporatocracy's point of view, but is something that the public simply doesn't understand. Like public campaign financing. That is something that we HAVE to do in the grassroots Democratic Party. If we can find those to run to support it, or our existing congress people to support it, find out what the tipping point is for them to want to publicly make it an issue for them to sell too. We have to do a lot of the ground work first. Many candidates don't want to touch it now (even if they might want to), for fear that they'd get beaten up about this issue that few of the public understands, and they themselves don't have the time selling it to them. We have to find SOME way to make a massive education process for public campaign financing so that people are out DEMANDING it be implemented. Once we're to that point, and once the congress starts listening to those appeals and does something about it, that's the point when I think we can start feeling a little more safe from the fascists.

[veness]

5. Nominated/recommended! Thank you sooo much, Mythsaje. n/t

[rock]

6. The republics set a bad example

Let's hope the Dems don't do the same thing.

[Laelth]

7. K&R

We stood on the brink of fascism, and the American people took a step back from the brink on November 7, but the chasm is still looming right in front of us.

Well said, Mythsaje.

:dem:

-Laelth

[lostnfound]

14. Amen. nt

[FogerRox]

17. Bingo, if he DEMs trip, we all fall . . . .

[Bjorn Against]

8. Thank you mythsage, you are absolutely right

As much as I want them to go after Bush hard, we can not lose sight of the fact that every last Republican in Congress was a Bush enabler. They knew he was commiting all these crimes, and they protected him and commited many crimes themselves.

We can not allow them to simply throw Bush under the bus and move on, they knew Bush was up to and they did not care. They need to be held accountable as well.

Screw bipartisanship, at this point that is like the prosecuter working together with the defendent. We need to go after these people and go after hard, and we can not quit until the Republican Party goes the way of the Whig Party.

[ms liberty]

9. Yes. You've expressed what's in my head quite well...k&R n/t

[MattSh]

10. So true,

But the American people have even more to be scared of. Just because the tide has turned doesn't mean the upcoming economic tsunami isn't going to do a lot of damage. The national debt, the deficit, the hollowing out of the American economy. Outsourcing manufacturing and knowledge labor alike. No economy has ever survived a deficit this large intact, so America is living on borrowed time.

I have long been of the notion that the only way to truly effect change in the tide of creeping fascism was for a lot of people to feel a lot of pain.

Be ready for the Greater Depression. Then maybe, true change can occur.

Sorry to be so pessimistic.

[blues90]

13. I have to say I do agree

Some americans have woken up but I fear many just jumped to the other side hoping those who put in all the effort will continue to fight and guide them to safety .

If this murder brought on by this admin has taken this long and the down fall of the economy has not brought people to the shocking reality then all that may well do so is an economic crash .

It has been brought up that a draft may spark reality even well before the elections this idea was brought up many times in order to get the youth to get involved .

I am not so certain most of america has woken up to the true horrors of what is now a sort of hidden reality that many may allow this to pass through their minds but without letting it hit home or sink in as a passing flirt with the idea we are close to a facist controlled society , ie , it has'nt affected me yet so I'm ok .

I really have to wonder just how many realize this and just how the state of this economy is in true danger of a collapse .

[femrap]

15. I think you're being realistic....

* has bankrupted this country. And the financial collapse will awake the citizenry...I just hope people will realize that it's the Corporations causing the financial pain and not some scapegoat like immigrants or women who are accused of taking jobs away from the supposed 'entitled.'

Corporate Welfare and Personhood is Unlawful!

[southerncrone]

21. I firmly agree

Even though is does tend to come off as pessimistic, when you encounter the incredible gutting of our way of life, the Constitution, our monetary stability & founding principles, one can expect nothing other than a deep and dangerous down turn.

We humans learn best by experience, and when a group refuses to be self-regulating, then the forces of the universe prevail, forcing them to fall into line for the sustenance of the planet.

There are many countries who secretly wish this upon us, although they know they will be effected by the results of our economic problems. We simply gorge ourselves at the world buffet at the peril of our brethren in the rest of the world. A correction is in order & long overdue.

I suggest you buy a plot of tillable land & learn to grow your own food. :scared:

The Greater Depression is ahead. :yoiks:

[EstimatedProphet]

11. I agree with you. One thing that might turn things around is coming:

Congressional investigations. I think the reason this keeps going on is because people don't understand the big picture, and that is because most of them have only seen little bits of the whole. however, the investigations are going to be very busy indeed (if they keep their word), and it WILL get media attention. It'll be a lot harder to bury the investigations than it has been day-to-day politics.

[Usrename]

12. Yes.

If we demand justice, will they listen?

[On the Road]

16. Earlier in Bush's Presidency,

a naked power grab might have worked. Bush had too much support from too many quarters, including a lot of Democratic politicians and citizens.

Now, Democrats are pretty much united against GWB and many Republicans and independents have turned against the president. The latest split is in Bush's rejection of the Iraq task force recommendation, which I am sure is alienating many pragmatic members of the establishment and others with influence in DC. Bush is on a short leash now.

Personally, my greatest fear is that Bush will start to feel hemmed in and wag the dog just in order to prop his numbers up. I doubt it would work, but it is not out of the question.

[Nite Owl]

18. You said what has been on my mind since the election

Raising the minimum wage and other things that are planned are all good things and should be done but I sincerely hope that they aren't intended to placate the masses and then more business as usual. The only way to stop what nearly happened from happening again is to make them all accountable. Make the President and every one under him answer for what they did and tried to do. Daddy Bush got away with Iran contra, he shouldn't have, it wasn't too much for the country to bear. Nixon was left to a quiet retirement and because he was never truly held accountable for his actions the right wing grew and grew into the monster we have today. They saw that they were free to do their evil, that the leaders would let it all be to 'heal the country' but we never healed from anything, not Viet Nam either. I want the dems to hold them accountable, I want people to know what has happened and what it all means and not sweep things under the rug. It's the only way we can truly become the America we are supposed to be. And it has nothing to do with revenge, with getting even, it has to do with the rule of law, with protecting the Constitution.

[ConsAreLiars]

19. Quite right. Chimpy is the front man,

the PNACers are the ones who implement this version of imperialism, and the Corporate Hegemonists are the ones who put them in power and are responsible for the slaughter, chaos deprivation that have followed.

(recommended)

[krispos42]

20. k&r

[me b zola]

22. k&r

This should be on the homepage

[tom_paine]

23. K & R!

[puebloknot]

24. I agree. We have to remember that GW is a puppet...

...and one who needs his strings adjusted. We have to be careful that we don't get cooperation from the Repugs on impeachment and/or removal, only to see them spring back into power. We didn't take care of business with Iran/Contra, and now we're facing something infinitely more serious.

This is a great article. THanks!