i would have hoped that we had changed our government enough since jan 2009

[SwampG8r]

that we wouldnt have people using 9/11 to justify whatever they wanted to do, constitution be damned.
and i hoped it wouldnt be on DU if it did happen but i guess i will change that expectation.
and i had hoped that it would not again be wrapped up in patriotism but lately thats changed too.
and i hoped that it would not be accompanied by calling people traitors and cowards but i had to change that idea out.
i have a serious feeling a lot of people think they are less conservative than they actually are
when calls for drone deaths are cheered on on a progressive board.........
makes me shake my head and wonder

[FrenchieCat]

1. I know that Iowa Happened in January of 2008......

That I am for certain about.

[SwampG8r]

2. fixed the date thanks for the heads up!

[McCamy Taylor]

3. Yeah. Too bad about the capital strike and Citizens United and the global recession

and all those things that Obama could not just wish away.

[SwampG8r]

4. you are off topic here

this isnt about obama it is about a US policy that allows the ordering of murders being cheered on
like they were for 8 years under bush

[Gregorian]

5. You aren't alone. I've just had a particularly difficult weekend over this.

Not just this, but Troy Davis. And even the murderer who just faced the bullets yesterday (Aron Bassler). (He was literally in my back yard.) People cheering it on like it's some big football game.

This speech should be required reading-

http://www.mlkonline.net/enemies.html

When the opportunity presents itself for you to defeat your enemy, that is the time which you must not do it. There will come a time, in many instances, when the person who hates you most, the person who has misused you most, the person who has gossiped about you most, the person who has spread false rumors about you most, there will come a time when you will
have an opportunity to defeat that person. It might be in terms of a recommendation for a job; it might be in terms of helping that person to make some move in life. That’s the time you must do it. That is the meaning of love. In the final analysis, love is not this sentimental something that we talk about. It’s not merely an emotional something. Love is creative, understanding goodwill for all men. It is the refusal to defeat any individual. When you rise to the level of love, of its great beauty and power, you seek only to defeat evil systems. Individuals who happen to be caught up in that system, you love, but you seek to defeat the system.



History unfortunately leaves some people oppressed and some people oppressors. And there are three ways that individuals who are oppressed can deal with their oppression. One of them is to rise up against their oppressors with physical violence and corroding hatred. But oh this isn’t the way. For the danger and the weakness of this method is its futility. Violence creates many more social problems than it solves. And I’ve said, in so many instances, that as the Negro, in particular, and colored peoples all over the world struggle for freedom, if they succumb to the temptation of using violence in their struggle, unborn generations will be the recipients of a long and desolate night of bitterness, and our chief legacy to the future will be an endless reign of meaningless chaos. Violence isn’t the way.


I just want to add that when reading these lines from MLK's speech, I can hear people saying that it's different now. It's about bombs, and terrorism. I'm sorry, but those are excuses to be weak. It's all the same. And the basic and weak instinct is to gratify the ego, and strike out in vengeance. But in this country it's even more complicated since killing is profitable business.

[SwampG8r]

6. i saw troy davis being used as a support for

this drone attack
shamelessness

[Gregorian]

7. The revolution is in our heads.

People are looking outside for the problem and solution. Each one of us is part of this. We can stand on the outside looking in, as passive observers, or we can participate.

I liken this whole thing, whether it's the Wall Street/banker robbery, or the impeachment of Bush, or voting integrity, to being physically healthy. It takes effort. And we're all so used to jumping in our car and flipping a key, without giving the slightest thought to what makes it all work, that we've become numb to the way this world works. It's not easy. But the easy way out, like cheering on the Shock and Awe, is the unconscious way. The way that helps the wealthy gain more power and wealth. The hard way is growing up and realizing that Fox is hype, and turning it off. The hard way is saying that the most important thing is a government that is based upon...well, as Thoreau said it- "There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly."

And that isn't going to happen until we're strong and bright enough to assert it for ourselves.

[SwampG8r]

8. soon i pray

[truedelphi]

9. What an amazing post.

Thank you for taking the time to post it. n/t

[Gregorian]

13. Thank you. It feels good to get positive replies.

I'm not perfect. I find myself in rage quite a lot. I see the potential that is unfulfilled. It makes life difficult. But I'm trying. I want to be strong. I want this world to be a good place for all. It's hard enough just exerting oneself against gravity every day. Haha.

[truedelphi]

15. I know all about that last obstacle you mention.

If only I'd known when I was fifteen that someday, due to aging and gravity, I would possess boobs size "D".

Though my fifteen year old self would be a lot less tickled about my future if I knew how much gravity would keep those boobs at floor level!

[sabrina 1]

10. Thank for posting that beautiful speech. He was truly a strong

man who did not need to use violence to show it. That is real strength. But we live in a society that has been falsely led to believe that violence is strength despite the fact that it is cowardly. That twisted thinking is destroying this country.

Still, there is a lot of hope that this may be about to change now that ordinary people, not politicians, are taking the 'bull by the horns' themselves, sick and tired of our failed system.

[ixion]

11. yeah, talk about cognitive dissonance

to call oneself a progressive and at the same time cheer on the corporate police state and endless war, well, that's just bonkers. :crazy:

[SwampG8r]

12. they are just trying to coopt the term progressive

and make it an ugly word that means conservative

[defendandprotect]

14. kr