What are we going to DO??

[Fireweed247]

I see so many people complaining, writing about things that make us mad...but what are we going to DO to stop the bullshit going on in this country?

I have been suggesting electing a new Congress that will uphold the Constitution, does anyone else have a better idea?

As we keep blogging away here, Bush and his mobster friends continue to get away with murder, the corporate media continues to lie, Congress continues to enable them.

There must be something(peaceful) we can DO that will stop them!

[ColbertWatcher]

1. What we can do...

1. vote democratic.

2. talk to our stupid neighbors, family and friends who won't vote democratic and try to convince them not to vote republican, or not vote at all (LOL)

3. watch your local politicians carefully. Especially the school board and state reps. That's where they start before they go national.

4. make sure your city, county, state do not privatize anything. Fight every move toward privatization.

That's what I got off the top of my head.

[lonestarnot]

26. excellent do suggestions!

:toast:

[ColbertWatcher]

2. Also, FYI...

...make sure you add this to your diary, so you can find it later.

[Juche]

3. Talk to your friends

Spread the word, even if it is just showing 10 people info they have never seen, if a million people do it that is 10 million opinions affected.

A million people donating small amounts of money also helps. Almost everyone can afford $30/month from now until November. A million people doing that will really help out.

Also do what the religious right did in the 70s, start working hard on local & state elections. The religious right took over the GOP and built a massive base which they used to affect the national GOP. Progressives can do the same thing. In fact we'd be better at it since we are generally more educated and we have better technology at our hands.

But I lose hope too. I wrote Evan Bayh a long letter full of statistics, arguments and facts as to why he should stand tall in opposing Iraq only to get a form letter back. It is demoralizing. But we can affect our small corner.

[mac2]

5. We gave all we could in 2006 and look what happened

Na Da.

[Juche]

6. I don't agree

That is one election. The progressive movement is something that requires a decade or more to build.

And there have been some accomplishments with the congress. Some investigations, a min wage hike, attempts at passing SCHIP and bills to fund soldiers healthcare and education.

If in 2008 we have 57 seats in the senate and a dem president, we may see something. If not by then, then I'd start to worry.

[Fireweed247]

7. yup

so we are supposed to believe them now? The Dems are still acting like the minority party, but if we win in 2008..then they will do something?? WE need new Dems that care.

[mac2]

9. They need to allow Progressive Democrats to run who appose

the war and corporate power.

[datasuspect]

17. i agree

once the democratic party takes "anti-corporatism" as a policy plank, we can at least assume they are working in the right direction.

[datasuspect]

13. a workable solution that could include working within the system

would involve ejecting the hacks, shills, cronies, and oligarchs from the democratic party and replacing them with populist candidates who take no support or any shit from corporations.

[mac2]

14. We thought we did that in 2006

When all was said and done they were the same ole oligarchy types. Are those Progress Internet groups just fronts to get money for Dems period? Now I have no idea who to support or trust. They know we are angry at our own party leaders.

[SammyWinstonJack]

30. Worked out well, didn't it?

:silly: I had such high hopes after that election. I no longer have any "hope" that anything will "change".

[mac2]

4. They count on silencing us and us not protesting to the point

of violence yet they are pushing people to do just that.

[warren pease]

8. Some thoughts on fighting back...

How do you push back and who do you push back at? How about the corporate slimeballs whose money has propelled these snakes into power and kept them there? And the return on that investment shows that they supported the right vipers, since their stock prices have climbed into the stratosphere -- recent "corrections" notwithstanding.

Maybe now would be a nice time to get into the streets, shut down what's left of the wheezing economy with a general strike, stop paying credit card bills, drag mortgage payments out till the last day before penalties set in, refuse to pay medical insurance premiums and use the ER instead like the rest of the poor have to do, and generally screw up these vampires' revenue streams for a couple of months or so...

Appeals to decency, benevolence, fair play and cutting people a little damn slack fall into the void. However, they're pretty serious about anything that might cut their quarterly earnings per share by a penny. Using this pressure point as a guideline, why give them anything at all until they give you something in return?

So pick maybe a dozen corporations whose execs and shareholders have gotten insanely rich (or richer) off of BushCo wars, surveillance obsession, propaganda spewing, energy price fixing, environmental destruction and... the list of BushCo sleaze is nearly endless.

But you can narrow it down by going after the old stand-byes; companies like GE, Time Warner, AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Viacom, Northrup Grumman, BofA, Citicorp, Blue Cross, Aetna, Standard Oil, ExxonMobil, Lockheed-Martin, Dynacorp, Blackwater, Disney, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch... Hell, just look up McCain's top 20 campaign contributors. There's a bunch worthy of a little disciplinary action.

Then call the communications or PR or investor relations departments at the corporations you've decided to mess with and tell them exactly what you're up to and why you're doing it.

Tell them that their CEOs, board members and major investors need to contact their political stooges in the House and tell them to impeach these demonspawn or they'll cut off their allowances. And until impeachment hearings begin, they'll not be getting a single penny from you or any of the tens of thousands like you who are taking the same actions.

This will get their attention, I guarantee you, particularly if there are, in fact, tens of thousands more doing the same thing at the same time. Even giant corporations need a reliable revenue stream to keep things running smoothly. Cut that off for a couple of months and they're going to feel the pinch.

Nobody listens to the peasants, and nobody ever will unless they're forced to. But when the heads of these autocratic fiefdoms threaten to stop bribing their political dependents, I have a sneaking suspicion that H Res. 333 might find its way back onto Ms. Nancy's table.

Or maybe not, but it'll be a hell of a lot of fun just fucking with these brazen bastards for a change.


wp

[datasuspect]

10. the oligarchs of both parties fear the action of masses in popular uprising

it has been that way since they called us "the mob" and "the vulgar."

[mac2]

11. That's why they are removing our rights to protect themselves

not the country from "terrorists". Well the Bush gang profits too.

Who could be more vulgar then they who lie, steal, and murder in our name for power and wealth?

[datasuspect]

12. they neutered "we the people"

long ago. our natural instinct to create, be free, to live free as free people in this supposedly free country has been chipped away bit by bit over time.

-indoctrination in schools

-forced compliance in the workplace

-naive belief that our government has our best interests in mind

-50+ years of unending television "programming" and advertising

-the narcotizing effects of consumerism

-the transition from human beings to line items on spreadsheets reduced to mere metrical components of some arcane statistical risk analysis formula

so many aspect of our daily lives alienate us from anything truly human. our dehumanization makes us look at our neighbors or dark "OTHERS" with hostility and suspicion.

[Greyhound]

15. You and mac2 are exactly right.

When we surrendered as citizens and accepted the mantle of consumers, we lost everything. I wonder if we even have the spirit to stand up any more...
:kick:

[datasuspect]

18. that will is obviously not there

-1 in 10 of us are in prison

-gas is perilously close to $4/gal.

-food prices are becoming astronomical

-most jobs want to pay anywhere between $6-10/hour when it takes at minimum $15/hour to just get by.

-people are being dispossesed in record numbers

and still no popular movement. they give us an American Idol primary race, two shills and a psychopath for candidates, and no real substance.

[Fireweed247]

20. There has to be a way to turn it around

For the Children...

[Greyhound]

22. As far as I know, and history bears it out, we will only come to consciousness

when things are so bad that life becomes unbearable for a large minority and it is too late. It also shows that, more often than not, once the flock does react, they will run the wrong way and make it even worse.

Please believe me when I say that I desperately hope I'm completely wrong.

[Stinky The Clown]

16. Yeah .... huzzah ..... elect a new Congress ...... who's with me?

[opihimoimoi]

19. VOTE BLUE...thats whot we do...vote BLUE

[Greyhound]

23. To what end? n/t

[opihimoimoi]

27. 1. get rid of the GOP....2. Clean the DINOs from the DEM Party. 3. Altruism works BEST

[Javaman]

21. I find screaming and running around in circle with my arms flailing in the air works pretty good. n

[Fireweed247]

24. Interesting

How long have you been doing this? So far it is not working.

[Javaman]

25. that's what gets me. It doesn't seem to be working at all.

Maybe I need to flail more?

[Fireweed247]

28. Maybe you should increase the screaming

outside your Congressmember's office or perhaps on the phone
Iraq Call-In Day Thursday
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=3135266&mesg_id=3135266

[Javaman]

29. Well you see, I send them photos of me screaming and flailing

and, go figure, I haven't gotten a responce yet?

I mean, what the hell?