I have the feeling that change is in the air. Do you?

[theophilus]

Or at least the POSSIBILITY for change. I think that the NeoCon/Repubs are on their heels. What we need is for the Democrats to stand up and speak the truth and offer an alternative. I sense they are opposing the Gopers a bit more but I don't think that they are offering much of an alternative. Now, the about 30% firm fundy Bush force will not be swayed but there ARE moderates out there. We have many friends who hold many Democratic values and even voted Dem most of their lives. They go with Bush for Abortion, Gay Rights, and Gun reasons. We talk to them and they are not happy with the situation but feel compelled to go with the Repubs on these "moral" issues.

Democratic heavy weights (leaders?) need to take these issues and speak to moderates that really don't like the Bushistas. It CAN be done, but it will require some rethinking of methodology. I wish that Howard Dean would become very audible and visible right about now as the Nuclear Option and other gambits are being put forth. Does anyone have a good E-Mail addy that would possible actually reach Mr. Dean? I would love to offer him a little advice.

I feel that the abortion issue is far and away the most serious stumbling-block to many moderates who would vote Democratic otherwise. I feel that it is time for Democrats to stand up and say that we will seek to get the number of abortions as close to zero as is humanly possible --- not by making abortion illegal but by intense education on birth control and self esteem, etc. By free health care for young ladies you become pregnant unintentionally and by good day care and job training. In other words, put a wide range of social programs in play. This would sound good to many moderates if they understood that abortions would go down in number. This is just a thought but there is a way to use this as a great opportunity. We know that simply overturning Roe v. Wade will not end abortions. Good policies and planning can effectively really lower the numbers. As has been often said here, no one "likes" abortion.

Oh, well. What are your thoughts? And, if anyone has a good e-mail addy for Mr. Dean please share it with me. Thanks.

[3waygeek]

1. I felt the same way...

a year ago.

[Melodybe]

4. Whatever, we were kicking Bush's ass until they stole the election

nothing was looking good for Commander CooCoo Bananas, then they stole the election and all of a sudden he had a mandate.

We just have to make sure they can't steal '06.

Sign the petition:

www.verifiedvoting.com

[KoKo]

2. No....I think that we have ups and downs....but the chart seems to say

the "trendline is down."

I'm glad to hear from optimists, though. :-)'s

[rigel99]

3. OH YES...

something feels like it's about to blow bigtime...

my friend has dean's email.. have asked her for it...

if it's REEELY important, I have another way to reach him that may be more direct... PM me with what you want to say to him......

[Deja Q]

5. Martial law will change us first.

[kevinmc]

6. Yes, Time to get rid of the Party of WAAAAAAA

American's Are Sick of the Republican's and Their Agenda. In 2006 American's Want Democrats Incharge

Voters dissatisfied with Bush, Congress NBC/WSJ poll reveals 'angry electorate'

WASHINGTON - As the Senate marches closer toward a nuclear showdown over President Bush’s judicial nominees, the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that the American public is dissatisfied — with Congress and its priorities, with Bush’s plan to overhaul Social Security and with the nation’s economy and general direction. Moreover, a majority believes that the Senate should make its own decision about the president’s judicial nominees, rather than just generally confirming them.

“The public is exceptionally displeased with the Congress,” Hart said. “It is lowest set of numbers since May of 1994,” the year when congressional Republicans defeated their Democratic counterparts in the midterm elections to take control of both the House and Senate. According to this poll, by 47 percent to 40 percent the public says it would prefer Democrats controlling Congress after the 2006 elections

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7899754/

[Al-CIAda]

7. Fuck no, Americans are STUPID and obliviously unaware.

[Horse with no Name]

8. It seems to me

that the further down the pugs get--the quieter our elected Dem's get.
This is the time they should be out pounding the streets with the truth--yet they are strangely silent.

[BobRossi]

9. re: Change in the air

When I think back to the sixties, (yes I know), it took a huge movement to bring about change. It wasn't just one or two issues,it was Vietnam, the draft, Watergate, civil rights, equal rights for women, the environment, and on and on.

It was a time before Rovian science, before Swiftboat Liers, before consolidation of the media.
It was a time when a journalist would salivate if handed a lead like the Downing Street memos.

I believe that if what is happening now would have happened in the sixties shrub would be dragged from his throne and lynched from the Washington monument.

It was a time when people were so moved by their convictions that they formed the Weather Underground, SLA, the Black Panthers, and SDS.

Today you can scarcely get two people to have coffee together.
I think blogs and forums are great, but we are just an armchair resistance movement today.

[Beam Me Up]

13. Hello. Welcome to DU. I disagree with this part:

I believe that if what is happening now would have happened in the sixties shrub would be dragged from his throne and lynched from the Washington monument.

I don't agree. This is one of the problems. We all know that Bush is a figurehead, a puppet. We say this all the time, but I wonder how many of us really let sink in just what that means. Bush is where he is because some very powerful men behind the scenes WANT him there. Apparently, for them, he is doing a pretty good job.

As far as what the American people would do had they thought the government was involved in high crimes and treasons, I'll remind you that the 60s saw the assassinations of a President in broad day light; followed within a few years by the assassinations of two other boldly outspoken and charismatic progressive social leaders, RFK and King. We may agree or disagree about the details, the point is that the real Powers That Be got away with murder, no matter who pulled the triggers for them. Yet, we didn't see anyone "dragged from his throne and lynched from the Washington monument."

The closest we got to anything like that, I suppose, was the resignation of Nixon. But what we didn't learn about that episode was just how close "the Cubans" involved in the Watergate break-in were to what Nixon coded in the tapes they so desperately fought to keep from being released as "the Bay of Pigs." Worse, the rage felt by the right wing by this "adjustment" in the political landscape ultimately lead to the enthronement of Rony the teflon Raygun.

In those days we still believed electoral democracy worked--and it did in a fashion. Kennedy money had a LOT to do with the JFK win. In other words, there may have been a real opposition. I'm no longer sure that is the case. Granted, those who might offer an alternative vision to fascism are seldom given the favorable spotlight of corporate owned and operated media attention. Or, to the extent that controversy is not only allowed but spirited, it is done so to contain it within what Chomsky calls an "acceptable" range. Anyone who goes otuside that range is immediately suspect within "informed" circles by both right AND left.

For all practical purposes we have a chimpanzee in the White House. He is so self absorbed and delusional he probably believes he is running the Executive branch and, to be fare, I will consent that he probably does have his own sphere of influence. But the real big decisions and choices--these aren't made by him. He is where he is because he knows his place among them and he plays his role far better than Reagan ever could. It's easy. He truly is a spoiled, selfish, narcissistic whiney little alcoholic brat unencumbered by any subtlety of thought. No acting required. You may love him, you may hate him but so long as you don't take your eyes off him and look behind the "Brick Wall," nothing will ever change. He's perfect!

They are getting away with murder and have been for a long long time.

[Imagine My Surprise]

10. No, Probably just gas.

[The Gunslinger]

11. Newsweek

It looked like things were going in our favor, The Bsh memo, The Shivo debacle, Repugs in all kinds of scandals, but unfortunately the newsweek scandal came just at the right time for the repugs. They have their new start and their control of the media will be greater than ever. They have the elections rigged, and hell even if a dem wins in 08 it will be the Clintons, who are in the Repugs poctet anyway. I think its going to take something big, maybe a third party (most dems are too tied to the corporate $$$) to make great changes for the good.

[Melodybe]

12. Things are pilling up, but that doesn't mean that they are forgotten.

If we can get to the elections in '06 with out too many more drastic changes, we might be alright.

sign the petition:

www.verifiedvoting.org