It HAS Happened Here.

[TheWatcher]

These people can do whatever they want, and it is getting to the point we had better pray that don't take an interest in the rest of us for whatever their schemes desire.

The Latest Accomplishment in this Bizarro World seems to be that now, after many months, The Plame Leak Probe is now going to be considered "Closed."

Whoever is responsible for this High Crime is going to walk away SCOTT FREE.

This is one of the biggest, most corrupt Cover-Up's in history.

We now have Senator's saying violence against judges is "understandable"

We have Tom DeLay claiming that if we "created the courts, we can uncreate them."

We have Bill Frist ready to use The Nuclear Option any day now in The Senate, and it WILL be used. We need to stop kidding ourselves.

We have multiple wars going on, one of them started based on complete fabrication and with intentions that have nothing to do with democracy or any greater good imaginable.

Torture is now sanctioned, deemed legal, and encouraged.

People are getting arrested and led away in leg irons for no other crime than paying for something with LEGAL TENDER CURRENCY.

We have out of Control Fundamentalists in Florida, protesting a HOSPICE, completely disrupting it's operations and all but terrorizing it's inhabitants, accomplishing little more than keeping a woman from being at her Grandfather's Side at his Time Of Death.

And yet if YOU show up at a Bush event wearing something as innocent as a John Kerry T-Shirt, you are arrested on the spot.

We Have a Cold Civil War that could go Hot any day.

We have Stolen Elections, Fraudulent, Hackable Voting Machines, Free Speech Zones, and all the STILL unanswered questions and suspicions about 9/11.


We have legislation and maneuvering, sometimes occurring in the wee hours a night, robbing you as you sleep, that is chipping slowly away at ALL remedies available though legislative and judiciary, that could still reverse all of this nonsense and return us to a sane existence.

Someone Tell Me Again how we still have LEGITIMATE rule of law and representative government in this country.

And still some people want to say "It Cannot Happen Here....."

It HAS Happened Here.

And it is going to get worse.

Forgive The Rant Late Nighters.

This is one of those nights I simply lie awake and wonder what to do.

[Vektor]

1. I'm so scared for our country.

I really cannot believe we have come to this.

[TheWatcher]

6. Neither Can I.

One of my friends half jokingly told me the other day he longed for the "Salad Days of Mai Lai, Agent Orange, Kent State, Watergate, The Night Of The Long Knives, The Energy Crisis, And Tricky Dick's Secret Plan To End The War In Viet Nam. Times were so much more simple and relaxed then."

What Have We Become?

[Vektor]

7. Amen -

I'll bet all that seemed positively scandalous, but it was small potatoes compared to now. At least back then, the MSM reported Nixon's shortcomings, he impeachment proceedings ensued, and he resigned without incident.

They were more accountable back then.

Right now, we are living in a fascist, theocratic nightmare.

[suegeo]

27. I'm also afraid

I saw the movie "Downfall" recently (it's about the final days of the third reich.)

Here's what I don't get: one of the morals of this movie, revealed toward the end, is "Pay Attention. It is up to you to figure out what is going on."

Well enough.

But I HAVE been trying to pay attention. And I have been to protests, I have written my congressmen letters of disapproval about the fascist tactics of the government, I voted, and so on.

So I have this to say about the "Pay Attention" advice from previous generations: THANKS, but, WHAT GOOD DOES THAT DO?

Better advice would have been Pay Attention and then do X,Y,Z so you can stay out of trouble. Paying attention isn't enough, and if we get out of this mess, I hope we can leave some better advice for future generations.

But right now, the proverbial camp site looks like the smoldering aftermath of a bear attack. Sorry kids.


ON EDIT: To your list of atrocious crimes of the Bush junta, I will add the following: They are using want they learn about our psychology AGAINST us. They knew an attack would rally the people behind the furher. So they had an attack. I thought (naively) that they would use their knowledge of our psychology to BETTER the human condition, and to help people. But not these assholes. And it pisses me off.

Oh, and they used their knowledge about Iraqis being afraid of dogs, their fear of being naked, etc. against them too, in their various torture chambers such as Abu Ghraib (SP?). Asshole republican Nazis.

[Momof1]

2. Stressin?

Do you have kids?

Look what we have done to the kids.

In the 70's I learned about recycling, and conserving. Now Hummers are everywhere. SUV's...just kiss your child if you have one and apologize.

Cause they are screwed....

[TheWatcher]

4. A Very Valid Point

And one I think about often.

As bad as things are now, if this continues the young ones coming after us are going to be living in the 9th Circle Of Hell.

It is very sad.

[freebird1]

3. A man was arrested while Christmas shopping with his son in 2003

He was wearing a tee-shirt saying "Peace On Earth"

[ashmanonar]

12. WHAT THE FUCK?

was this reported?

i wasn't on DU in 2003, but christ...

[freebird1]

18. It happened in Albany, New York

I wasn't a member of DU then.

But it pissed me off enough to become politically active again.

[ashmanonar]

23. i bet.

that's just fucking ridiculous!

[freebird1]

56. I seem to remember when we all wanted Peace .

I'm not at all pleased about what is going on around me.

Too much violence - in everything ! :rant:

What the hell happened to - love your brothers and sisters ?!?!!!

[Bluebear]

5. I nominated this. "We have to stop kidding ourselves"

[TheWatcher]

8. Thank You Bluebear

And you are correct.

We MUST Stop Kidding ourselves about what has happened here, and what continues to happen.

Someone Posted this link today, and although there is nothing in this that we do not already know, it is a powerful presentation that illustrates very vividly that history IS repeating itself.

Remember, you never Market A Product the same way twice.

But I urge EVERYONE to follow this link and WATCH the presentation.

Then Tell me that this is not the same product from 70 years ago dressed up in a new package.

I still get a kick out of the OTC Pharmaceutical Industry's re-marketing the age old Antihistamine Medicines as something new and exciting by simply re-naming the same thing "Histamine Blockers."

This is The Same Thing.

Watch.....

http://www.bushflash.com/14.html

[LosinIt]

9. I don't get this one....

"People are getting arrested and led away in leg irons for no other crime than paying for something with LEGAL TENDER CURRENCY."

??

[ashmanonar]

13. yea, i'd like to see a news link on that.

seems TOTALLY off. wouldn't surprise me, but it does seem weird.

[HeeBGBz]

17. Here's the link

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=3434424&mesg_id=3434424

[ashmanonar]

25. that's just insane.

it amazes me the kind of idiocy the people in our country are capable of now...

[slaveplanet]

14. read the $2 bill thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=3434424&mesg_id=3434424

[ClintonTyree]

15. A mystery to me...

as well. I haven't heard about this one. :shrug:

[tkmorris]

16. Not sure what he meant but...........

In our new ultra-security conscious nation it has become common to assume that anyone conducting certain sorts of transactions in cash might be a terrorist. It used to be assumed that anyone buying say, a new car, and paying cash for it, was likely someone who had earned that money bt dealing drugs or in some other illegal manner. That attitude has spread and all sorts of transactions conducted with cash have become grounds for Homeland Security investigations.

The thinking is that anyone who insists on using cash (in some circumstances) is hiding his identity. Cash is untraceable you see, unlike credit card or debit transactions. Things like getting pilot lessons would be closely scrutinized. Try renting a truck or cargo van and insisting on paying cash. Be prepared for a game of 20 questions. And so on.

[passy]

10. I have hope.

This will not last much longer, but the changes that will take place after wards will be hard work, but at least we will be free.

[mmonk]

57. They have the power right now

to lock this in place. Nice to think about though.

[slaveplanet]

11. I thought this was common knowledge

since late 2000, Amarica's been took

and If you think it will change in 2008.....you got another thing coming..

This slippery slope ends in slavery , and we are already very very close...it would take a miracle at this point.(mass wake up of police & military, for they too will be turned out at the opportuned moment)

[laylah]

19. EXCELLENT!

I have sent this far and wide!

Jenn

[liberal N proud]

20. Let's face it, our country has been overthrown by the radical Reich

These clowns have no respect for the constitution or democracy, in fact they rather loath it. They will stop at nothing now that they were able to steal a second election.
Prepare for more of the same type of attacks on our civil liberties and the freedoms we all once thought were what made America, America.
This must be what the early days of Hitler Germany felt like

[Peace Patriot]

21. What most strikes me about the situation we are in is that the majority

of the American people do not agree with anything Bush is doing. Opinions polls are consistently showing disagreement with every major Bush policy, foreign and domestic--way up in the 60% to 70% range. The Iraq war, torture of prisoners, Social Security privatization, the deficit--you name it--Americans overwhelming disapprove of Bush policies--and are giving him dismal general approval ratings as well (and have been since before the election).

We therefore have to look real hard at election fraud--the massive evidence that has now been accumulated that Bush lost the 2004 election, and Kerry won it by a margin possibly as high as 10%, but most certainly by a margin of 3% to 4%. This is consistent with what the opinion polls are showing.

And then, we have to fight, fight, fight for election reform, at the state and local level. We have to get rid of paperless voting and the privatization of the counting of our votes with secret, proprietary software, owned and controlled by major Bush supporters. That seems like a no-brainer. But some of our Democratic politicians seem literally to have no brain--on this matter.

As usual, the Bush Cartel is a hundred steps ahead of us. They've already pulled off a coup in California, and have gotten rid of our very good and vigilant Secretary of State, Kevin Shelley, who got on to the electronic voting scam very early, decertified Diebold machines and sued their assess, and provided Californians with a paper ballot option for 2004. Why do you think Kerry did so well in California, beating Bush by 10%--which, in reality, was probably closer to 20%, the margin by which the very progressive US Senator Barbara Boxer beat her opponent this time? The answer: We had a more secure and honest election than many other states, due to Shelley's strong guardianship over election integrity and voter rights. But corrupt county election officials, corrupt Democratic Party state leaders (the new crop), and corrupt news monopolies--with Schwarzenegger and the Bush Cartel unquestionably behind it--recently drove Shelley from office on trivial, unproven charges, and he resigned this February, reportedly because he didn't have the legal funds to defend himself (tells you something about Shelly).

We now have a Schwarzenegger patsy appointee as Secretary of State in charge of elections (replacing our duly elected Democratic Sec of State Shelley), who has packed his "transition team" with Schwarz operatives (one of whom actually has Diebold as a client!), and their plan is to force a special election this year to redistrict California (a la Tom Delay in Texas), prior to the kickin of the paper trail requirement in all counties (that Shelley insisted on). (Note: Schwarz was "elected" --the 2003 recall--with a highly insecure new electronic voting system with no paper trail. It was that election--the recall--that alerted Shelley to the huge problems with electronic voting.) Schwarz and the Cartel want an unverifiable election to destroy the power of the Democrats in this state, through an untimely redistricting. And, just as nationally, some of the Democrats in this state are colluding with their own demise (some probably thinking they can kiss Schwarz's butt and possibly stay in power, and others probably just plain old "bought and paid for".)

My purpose is saying all of this is both to inform you of it, and to warn you that we are having a deadly battle in this state over election transparency. THIS is where the future is being determined, in these state and local battles over election reform, all over the country--with this one being particularly ugly.

We have one hope left, and that is to get back our right to vote! It can't be done nationally. The BushCon Congress will never remedy the election system. They set it up this way on purpose. We still have some power locally--but, in California anyway, it is fast being taken away.

So...if you want to do something to stop this fascist coup--one of the few things we CAN do to stop it--educate yourself on your local voting system, and get active, and get mad NOW.

There is a big election fraud/election reform conference this weekend in Nashville. Go to freepress.org for info. (They've got a dozen video crews taping it--and there may be a realtime blog here at DU in the 2004 Election Forum. I don't know about other coverage. Possibly some Pacifica and other public stations will be covering it.)

-------

For some of the recent polls, see:

"WISING UP: PUBLIC SKEPTICAL OF BUSH PLANS
NEW POLL FINDS BUSH PRIORITIES ARE OUT OF STEP WITH AMERICANS" -NTY, 3/3/05

(requires registration)
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/03/politics/03poll.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1109912880-9FJIlEsrSmsZ/Plcuih5Vg

Or search this site: http://207.44.245.159/article8191.htm

Findings of these polls:

NYT/CBS poll 3/3/05

--63% disagree with Bush domestic policy
--58% disagree with Bush foreign policy
--4 out of 5: government should insure decent living standard for elderly
--50% (vs 31%) say Democrats are right on Social Security
--63% (inclu 48% of conservatives) disapprove of Bush on the deficit
--90% say deficit is very serious or somewhat serious problem

Other recent polls (Feb.)

--57% oppose war in Iraq
--63% oppose torture under any circumstances
--asked, was Iraq war "worth it"?: 44%-yes (Oct '04), 39% yes (Jan '05)
--Bush approval ratings have hovered around 50% since before the election, and sank to 48% on his Inauguration Day—unprecedented disapproval for a recently "re-elected" 2nd term president.

[cthrumatrix]

22. corproate media protects the agenda of the elite....shrub is a puppet

[passy]

28. Elections are so 2004.

I think election reforms won't change anything.
The earliest you can vote to change things is 2006, which is probably to early for any reform to be implemented.
By 2008 the US will be a fascist dictatorship where elections won't take place anyway.
Talking about election reforms to change things is like covering your eyes before you get shot in the head. You won't see coming but you will get killed none the less.
Since * and Co have shat over the Constitution again and again, I think that only anticonstitutional means of regime change will do the trick.
We have to learn to play dirty, to be worse than rove, lets learn a bit from reality TV and humiliate these people like they deserve.
The best thing is that you don't even have to make things up to make these people look bad.
I wouldn't mind watching a daily half hour of * bashing.
Reading DU is almost like that just that it's not that funny.

[FreedomAngel82]

41. Texas was just the beginning

It was the stepping stone and now Schwazeneger (sp?) is using the same things as Tom DeLay has in the past. I did notice this time around that California was less blue then it has been in the past. I was really surprised at that and it all makes sense.

[amber dog democrat]

24. multinational corporations have allot to do with this

I am thinking we are like the Roman Empire after Julius Caeser, or the early years of the 3rd Reich. Its going to get a lot worse, I fear. I am thinking of 1984.
Events are moving faster than I can keep track of.

[Beam Me Up]

26. Wise as serpents, gentle as doves

I've posted this before but it seems appropriate here, too:

...knowledge brings responsibility. If we acknowledge that an inner circle of ruling elites controls the world's most powerful military and intelligence system; controls the international banking system; controls the most effective and far-reaching propaganda network in history; controls all three branches of government in the world's only superpower; and controls the technology that counts the people's votes, we might be then forced to conclude that we don't live in a particularly democratic system. And then voting and making contributions and trying to stay informed wouldn't be enough. Because then the duty of citizenship would go beyond serving as a loyal opposition, to serving as a "loyal resistance"—like the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War, except that in this case the resistance to fascism would be on the side of the national ideals, rather than the government; and a violent insurgency would not only play into the empire's hands, it would be doomed from the start.

Forming a nonviolent resistance movement, on the other hand, might mean forsaking some middle class comfort, and it would doubtless require a lot of work. It would mean educating ourselves and others about the nature of the truly apocalyptic beast we face. It would mean organizing at the most basic neighborhood level, face to face. (We cannot put our trust in the empire's technology.) It would mean reaching across turf lines and transcending single-issue politics, forming coalitions and sharing data and names and strategies, and applying energy at every level of government, local to global. It would also probably mean civil disobedience, at a time when the Bush regime is starting to classify that action as "terrorism." In the end, it may mean organizing a progressive confederacy to govern ourselves, just as our revolutionary founders formed the Continental Congress. It would mean being wise as serpents, and gentle as doves.

It would be a lot of work. It would also require critical mass. A paradigm shift.

Paranoid Shift

Edit to add: Resistance is not futile, but it must be both nonviolent and intelligently done. And this reminds me of something else someone once said:

There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can’t take part; you can’t even passively take part, and you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus and you’ve got to make it stop. And you’ve got to indicate to all the people who run it, to the people that own it, that unless you’re free, the machines will be prevented from working at all.

-Mario Savio, December 2nd 1964

[DerekG]

34. Hasty's essay is among the finest to elucidate on the nature of the U.S.A.

Thank you. I've been searching for this piece for quite some time. Few essayists have really identified what we're up against; and few seem to realize how far back the seeds of totalitarianism were planted.

That a significant number of DUers think they can end this madness by depending on the Democratic branch of the War Party, or through petitions and peace rallies, reflects their naivete regarding the nature of the national security state.

[Beam Me Up]

53. E X A C T L Y

:thumbsup:

coud'na said it better me-self

I don't think these vipers will ever leave the offices they now hold peacefully. Why should they? Individuals may come or go, but the overriding Nazification of our society is now well established and that is what I'm referring to. They have gotten away with treason and murder, espionage, drug running, money laundering and pederasty--and not just recently, either. And it is WORKING for them. Why would they turn back now?

Like all criminal tyrants, they want it all--and all is what they'll take until we fight back. One or a few of us are doomed. It will take the entire nation, perhaps entire nations, to turn the tide. I do not expect to see the end of this in my lifetime.

[kaitykaity]

29. Only when they decide they no longer have to sustain

the bread and circuses that keeps most people
distracted and happy will anything you talked
about be of any consequence.

[lectrobyte]

31. or as Frank Zappa would say:

The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater.

[kaitykaity]

33. Right before they try to line you up

for the firing squad in front of it.

I don't think their control will be as absolute as
a metaphorical brick wall though. They might think
it is, and in their arrogance behave accordingly.

I think that will be their fatal mistake.

Great methaphor though.

[Horse with no Name]

30. People will realize it

Just as they did with Adolph Hitler--but it will be too late.
The only hope is that as materialistic as our society is, that enough people lose their possessions before the plan is completely in place and get them off their asses to fight the fascism.
Then and only then will people take to the streets.

[RBHam]

32. I'm with you, buddy, America had better wake the fuck up!

Time is ticking...the longer the truth is buried, the longer your servitude will be.

[ixion]

35. you are absolutely correct

thanks for putting it all together so succinctly.

We are in Bizarro World, and it will continue until we're all led away to the Rebirthing Camps to be reprogrammed or executed, unless we're able to vote these thugs out of office -- the sooner the better.

[Terran1212]

36. More extreme measures by Left?

Do we need to be more active in resistance to all of this? What kind of things can we do?

[RBHam]

37. self deleted

i've got to get a grip

[paula777]

38. Did I miss something? Why are you yelling at him?

Is it just because he's new?

[RBHam]

39. la de la

never mind

[paula777]

43. Ahhh man, I missed it, did you yell at me this time ? lol

[RBHam]

45. no - i came to my senses

self deleted

i have to show more forbearance...

vigilance is fine - i went over board...

[paula777]

47. You know what, I thought maybe you were just being paranoid but I just

read some of the signatures on that Howard Dean/Jon Stewart petition that is going around on the general discussion and saw that HALF of them were from freepers making fun of DU (and us) and they found the petition on DU. I now totally understand your paranoia - there are hundreds of 'them' here.

[leftofthedial]

40. you say all that like it's a bad thing

[TNOE]

42. Really good post

so simply put I don't know how anyone could not connect with what's REALLY happening.

[DemExpat]

44. You said it so well....

:cry:

DemEx

[callous taoboy]

46. Xlent post, sir.

I wake up with my stomach in a knot often. A lot of it has to do with my job, but what you listed above invades my thinking often.

[robertpaulsen]

48. Do you have a link on the Plame Leak Probe considered "closed"?

There are still a number of posters here who believe Patrick Fitzgerald is slowly but surely working on bringing the perpetrators to justice. Personally, I am running out of patience and would not be surprised if the Rethugs didn't get to Fitzgerald so this would be swept under the rug. But I'd like to see some proof first before I give up.

Does anyone have a link to that?

If there's anyone out there who still doubts what really happened with the outing of Valerie Plame, read my signature.

[robertpaulsen]

50. Kicking this to flame.

And see if anyone has a link to the closing of the Plame Leak Probe.

:kick:

[Pachamama]

49. Your right, it HAS HAPPENED here and will continue to happen...

It feels an awful lot like 1937 Germany to me....My family escaped Nazi Germany in Early 1939, just a few months after KristallNacht....

Wonder when our KristallNacht comes and in what form? Will it be the Gays that are attacked? Muslims? How long before Americans wake up and figure it out?

Fortunately for my family, they recognized after KristallNacht that it was time to go...they up and left the country leaving their homes and belongings behind....will it ever get to that point for any of us? I know many here on the DU say no way that they would ever leave, but what about those of us with children and who want to protect them? If I didn't have children, I'd not even consider it...but just like my Grandparents with my father as a young child, they knew that they had to leave to protect their family....

I'm afraid that if things keep up, many of us will be facing the same type of decision and times here in America within the next 2 years....:cry:

[donheld]

51. We need to see more rants like this not less

Our country is just about sold.

[JohnOneillsMemory]

52. The DU front page stories just respond to the Repub agenda. Yikes.

I encourage you to be one of those of us who post with passion and say the things which aren't being said enough.

And keep encouraging others to do it, too. Right on. (Fist in air)

[lala_rawraw]

54. You know, up until yesterday...

I actually had hope. It might be PMS, but I am ready to pack and go. It was Rove via hooker and paid journo-smell, nothing else needed. If I were Wilson, I would take this to the Supreme Court.

[Maraya1969]

55. I thought the Nuclear option bill had to be voted on!

Why do you think 2/3 of the Senate will approve it? I've committed some time at a local flea market for the local Democratic club to educate people and get them to sign petitions.

[RBHam]

58. kick

it was just sitting there...