You know, I don't usually talk about being violent and this is only an exercise in what may happen

[Ecumenist]

in the VERY unlikely event that the worst of the pinheaded GOP were able to complete the the assault against humanity they seem so bullheadedly determined to implement. I was talking with Baby about this very subject. We just finished watching "A Handmaid's Tale" again and I was saying that before I allowed ANYONE to enslave me or one other person, ANY OTHER PERSON, I die fighting in the streets...

I wonder, do you think that it will ever come to the situation portrayed in "A Handmaid's Tale"? Would you be willing to fight to save your fellow human being from being enslaved, imprisoned, disenfranchised, etc... Honestly, I don't think it'll ever come to that but sometimes, when I read things like were posted on FB, where people were greeting one another with Happy N*gger Day and they didn't even cover their faces, I wonder.


I'd like to think that we've come along way, that we've learned fom the mistakes of our forefathers, that Dr King gave his life for a grand reason and then, oh Lawd Help me, the other side grunts and then grunts louder when their miinions cheered, I wonder, are we losing the gains we made?

I know that I will NEVER willingly allow another human being to go through anything anywhere near what was portrayed in that movie AND BOOK , not on my watch. What about you? What would you do?

[Zalatix]

1. That movie pissed you off, too? Same here. Unlikely as it is to ever happen, I'd fight, too.

[BOHICA12]

2. So are you will to die for the cause like Dr. King ...

... or are you willing kill for your beliefs? A big difference.

[Ecumenist]

3. I'm willing to die and if I had to kill someone to save the life of another innocent, you bet

your sweet bippy, I would. BIG DIFFERENCE. I'm not a pacifist because there are cases that call for violence. Not too often but to save your life, for instance, from a nut, I'd lay his ass out, yes maam.

[BOHICA12]

7. The choice may not be so clear .....

... you are a Polish Jew in Warsaw ghetto - who do you target, you are a black man in Jim Crow South - who do you target, you are a Dutch Commander in Srebrenica - who do you kill?

We all hope we have the courage & judgement to do the right thing, but the way is often not clear.

[Ecumenist]

11. I'm mixed race..TRUST ME, people had to AND DID make those choices.

It's alot clearer than you might think, Bouhica. I've basically black all of my life, trust me, IT AIN'T THAT HARD. My GGrandfather stood down the KKK with a a few shotguns and 6 sons. It's not an abstract to me.

[Cleita]

4. This may happen sooner than you think.

Thom Hartmann mentioned on his show today a bill that was passed that allows our military to be used in the streets of America. He posited that the industrialists are afraid that our police won't be able to protect them from angry protesters so they made it easy to use the military against fellow Americans instead. Welcome to our new police state.

[Ecumenist]

6. Cleita, I don't think that our military would as a bloc fire on us and I don't

think they'd be prepared fo the firearm that ordinary Americans have on hand. Perfect recipe for a NASTY civil war.

[Cleita]

8. They have to follow orders and those corporatists know that.

The police don't have to as you saw in Wisconsin because they were on the side of the protestors as were the firemen. The only way the military can do that is to go AWOL and join the protestors, who by this time will probably become the resistance. I have been feeling we are close to civil war for a long time now and it seems we get closer and closer.

[Ecumenist]

15. Do you honestly think that the military who took oath to uphold and defend the constitution

from all enemies, FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC? Do you know how seriously so many of them take that oath? I'm not saying that some won't start fiing but it would quickly dissolve into other troops and/or paramilitary firing on them. Again, perfect recipe for civil war.

[sabrina 1]

5. I'd like to think I would do what is right. I hope so.

I know I would want to, but sometimes people have the will but not the courage. And then again, seeing injustices against others can imbue people with courage they didn't know they had.

Re that page on FB? It was sickening and does make you question human nature. But then I looked at the responses. The overwhelming reaction to that pathetic ignorance was disgust? I hope THEY saw it.

So, I don't think Dr. King gave his life in vain.

[Ecumenist]

10. That's nice to know Sabrina

[quinnox]

9. in terms of the police state its already happening

I'm afraid the republic is most likely dying with a whimper instead of a bang. Indefinite detention with no trial doesn't seem to overly concern many Americans. I'm sure there are more things along this line to come, slowly but surely transforming the society to one with hardly any privacy. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the people feel there is nothing wrong with a Orwellian style big brother police state, its just a few, relatively speaking, who object. After all, like all good sheep would think, if you haven't done anything wrong, why worry?

[T S Justly]

12. I'd advise against any individual broad daylight lethal offensive ...

Until the individual is trained, armed, and ready. Or, until two, maybe three divisions of our people, equipped
in the same manner, make their existence known. Spectacularly, one would expect and hope.

[Ecumenist]

13. TS, without saying too much, let's just say that there are people who train for things like this

FOR FUN and some of them are-GASP! PROGRESSIVES.... You'd be surprised.

[T S Justly]

14. I wouldn't be surprised, my friend. (nt)

[greyl]

16. You're just talking about in the HandMaid's hypothetical in the OP, right? nt

[T S Justly]

20. Lol! Are you prosecuting? (nt)

[greyl]

21. No, clarifying. nt

[T S Justly]

22. Lol! (nt)

[RZM]

17. I read that book and saw the movie

I also read 'Alias Grace' by the same author. First of all, all these stories are about Canada, so there's relatively little depiction of the US.

Second, Romney and co. are a far stretch from the reproductive crisis depicted the novel, which has more to do with general world trends than any political persuasion. I don't support the Republicans for office, but I also scoff at accusations that they would unleash a post-apocalyptic world on us. It would be 4-8 more years of center-right, as opposed to center-left. We shall endure either way.

[emilyg]

23. +1

[RainDog]

24. Margaret Atwood wrote the book b/c of the rise of the moral majority

She explicitly stated this - Jerry Falwell, et al, was her inspiration for the book.

When Sarah Palin came upon the political scene, I said... Serena Joy!

[xfundy]

18. The good news is --

-- that the smart and creative people are on our side. Those of us who relish meeting, working and socializing with people different from us; sharing our knowledge and being open to learning from others whose life experiences may be completely foreign to us, and ours to them.

Understanding that Heroes like Dr King did what they did for all humanity, not just for a select group—realizing that who we may have been taught is the "other" is actually US in a slightly different wrapper — and that we can learn from each other – is something the cancervatives and authoritarians will never experience.

[Ecumenist]

19. I was always taught that he worked and died fo ALL OF US

You're right BTW, about the intelligence and creativity being on our side. And although I know it long overdue, I want to welcome you to DU..I spent the last year in and out of hospitals, (cancer) but I'm back and here to stay.