The slide towards totalitariansm ends Jan 20, 2009 if we can get our shit together.

[Perky]

There is nothing that has been done that can not be undone. Nothing.


But it will take Democrats working together to take the White House and hold Congress.

We need to stop shooting ourselves and eachother in the foot.

That starts with us opposing third party interventions to "save us"

[Crankie Avalon]

1. Geez, I hope the tide turns sooner than that...

...there'll be even more to undo if it's put off till 01/20/09.

[Mme. Defarge]

2. Wish I had your confidence that we have

that much time.

[regnaD kciN]

3. I think it has to happen sooner...

If we don't at least attempt impeachment, it will be a de facto statement that a president is able to take all of the steps taken by Bush (everything from warrantless surveillance and torture to blatant obstruction of justice) and no one can, or will, stop them. It will make it all the more easy for a future president -- any future president -- to take the same steps or ones even more extreme. For, after all, if Bush could do these things and still serve out his full term and retire as a respected ex-president, without even an attempt to remove him from office, what right does anyone have to complain if someone else in the future does the same things?

[zonmoy]

6. assuming he does step aside and doesn't simply

cancel the elections and end democracy forever.

[NewJeffCT]

11. The only thing I think that would prevent that is

that Bush is too fucking lazy to "work" at being president. I mean, you have to meet with "furners," and you have to sometimes stop in Washington DC when shuttling back and forth between Crawford and Kennebunkport, which is right inconvenient.

[zonmoy]

14. at that point he wouldn't be president anymore though

he could do whatever evil deeds he wants and see whoever he wants. just like every other tyrant in history.

[dkofos]

4. I just can't imagine the next prez giving up all that power.

Except maybe for Kucinich.

[mmonk]

5. Let me tell you something about some of us.

Some of us refuse to wait. Some of us have studied the development of western democracy from Plato's republic to current day western democracies. Some us are here to say we can't just wait. Some of us are here to say we must be active in trying to convince our newly elected majority to move aggressively against the sustained attack against our democratic republic. Some of us are here to say that this country since 2000 has been going steadily against everything we have ever learned and stood for. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

[zonmoy]

7. some of us have also noticed that the only time that a country

has given up on being democratic and had democracy restored was when an outside power restored it for them. considering that we are probably more powerful than the rest of the world combined we cant count on that to happen. so we need to keep from letting democracy die.

[mmonk]

13. Yes. It's up to us.

[The Stranger]

8. At this rate, everyone will be in camps on January 20, 2009.

[AndyTiedye]

9. Either That or It Will Shift Into High Gear

Depending on whether or not there are actual elections next year.

They could call them off by staging another Reichstag Fire, or they could have pretend elections that will install someone like Thompson.

[Firespirit]

10. I'm coming to the conclusion that

America is already screwed and we should get ready for "run for the hills" or "hunker down" mode. We need to think about how we, individually and as families (define family however you choose :)), will take care of ourselves and survive what's coming our way. I don't trust Our Fellow Americans(TM) to give enough of a damn when the real hammer drops and the government starts rounding up its own. Between a population that's dumbed down, easily swayed, in dire financial straits, and disgusted with every single American institution that exists, it's just a matter of time before a "charismatic leader" takes advantage of this feeling.

The exclamations that "the Republican Party is finished for decades" ring hollow to me. They are spoken by people who have been Democrats for decades. Outside the bubble, people don't have long-term memories. If we get a Dem into the White House by 2009, and if that person gets re-elected and survives their terms (and yes I mean that literally), I wouldn't be surprised if another neocon gets elected afterwards. They will not go anywhere. This is a very common pattern of history, for the notoriously brutal, fascist regime (that usually brings down the entire country) to occur after a brief respite from a prior nasty regime. That first one, in retrospect, is regarded merely as the precursor, and that's where we are now with Bush.

I'm soon going to get a passport and would strongly recommend anyone else who doesn't have one to do so.

This country is too big, geographically, for its own good. We were able to pull off the American Revolution because it took place in a relatively small area and because the patriots of that time didn't have a monopolistic media with a deliberate mission of creating bullshit distractions.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

12. I'm in a quandary about the passport thing

Mine expires in April, and I know there's a backlog - I don't know whether to surrender it for weeks upon weeks for renewal or wait. I think it would be stupid to wait, but I hate the thought of not having it.