There's an anger in the land.

[chieftain]

It does not match the rage, alienation and disaffection of the 60's but it is growing. The emotional outburst of Representative Stark, protesters at Bill Maher's show and the woman who waved her red hands in Condi's face are only the most recent examples of a rising tide of hopelessness.
When any government thwarts the will of the governed it puts itself in peril. We can believe the Republicans at their word. Their reaction to an ever more dangerous world is to increase the use of violence not reduce it. It is to go it alone rather than to seek accommodation. It is to destroy rather than to build.
I truly believe the future of our democratic way of life is dependent upon the Democratic Party. But it appears that fear and timidity are our leadership's guide stars. I do not discount the need to be aware of the xenophobic and defamatory lies that the RW will spew at us if we aggressively resist the tyranny that is the Bush regime. But time may not be on our side, delay until we can elect a sane president may not be the prudent approach.Every day brings a new travesty. Every day the damage done to our Constitution, our reputation and the physical and emotional well-being of countless Americans and Iraqis is incalculable.
I am convinced by Polosi, Reid ,et.al, that we cannot stop the funding of the war. But do we have to be complicit in the shredding of the Constitution by helping pass a FISA Bill acceptable to Dick Cheney? Do we have to be complicit in turning over a devastated Department of Justice to a man who believes the president is above the law and water boarding are acceptable practices? Do we have to rubberstamp yet another wasteful corrupt funding for the war?
Our Democratic Leadership is in a very difficult position, I will grant them that. But they seem to think that by going along with Bush's outrages we will be insulated against the Republican smear machine. To truly believe that, we would have to wipe from our memory the shameless attacks on Max Cleland, the lies about a real war hero to elect a deserter, the obscene exploitation of Clinton's moral failures to effect a coup against a duly elected government.
There is no way to protect ourselves from the avalanche of lies about our patriotism, steadfastness and sanity. Our best hope is to resist the RW's cynical effort to lash the Democratic Party to their failed policies. At a minimum, we should reject their nominee for AG, refuse to pass the most recent request for additional war funds, refuse immunity for the telecoms for their aiding and abetting crimes against American citizens. Finally, if we do not yet have the votes to stop this insane and immoral war, we should not be deluded by the happy talk that is being bandied about. Even if things are getting better on selected battlefields, we still need to get out as soon as is humanly possible. That should be our mantra, that should be our goal.
There is an anger in the land. Our timidity will fuel it. We cannot afford another generation that comes to believe that the will of the people is irrelevant and that our democratic institutions are a sham. The future of our Republic is at stake.

[dbonds]

1. I'm not so sure we can put humpty dumpty back together again.

I think we maybe so broken we can't get back to the country we thought we had. Is it more plausible to fix humpty or get a new egg.

[chieftain]

13. I don't know that it can be done. But I lived through the

Vietnam War Era and saw some fiends embrace drugs, some radicalism and some leaving the country or dropping out. I saw what had been a wonderful relationship between myself and a WWII generation father degenerate into cheap sloganeering on the part of the commie pinko son and the fascist dad. Both appelations could not have been further from the truth in a sane world, but were what came to pass in the bizarro world created by an unwinnable war and an unbudgeable government. And so now we are reliving the nightmare. I hate it and fear that as long as our leadership temporizes the consequences for our country will be worse than what I saw in the 60's and 70's.

[Dhalgren]

2. That is very well written and very moving, but i am afraid that

it is already too late. I truly believe that the only way, now, to regain our freedoms is by invoking Jefferson's solution. It is going to get much, much uglier and much, much bloodier before we can pass on to our children a nation worth belonging to...

[cali]

3. Sounds like you're itching for bloody civil war

I find that despicable.

[silverlib]

5. A coup does not have to be bloody...

[Dhalgren]

8. I don't really care what you find, one way or the other.

I am not "itching" for anything, I am just looking at things realistically. I do not believe that we can change the course this country has been placed upon by simply electing Democrats who seem to be "on board" with the power in this country. I hope I am wrong - I fear I am not...

[cali]

15. and i think you're indulging

in secular apocalyptism. but whatever floats your boat.

[txaslftist]

18. Of course you do.

[cali]

20. gee, imagine that; i don't want to see a bloody civil war

shocking, ain't it?

[martymar64]

21. Nobody wants a bloody civil war

But civil war may be just what can happen if this country doesn't turn around 180 degrees. I see the anger out there and no visible solutions. If a democrat gets into office, we may see more Tim McVeighs and Eric Rudolphs coming out of the woodwork, forcing a harsh repsonse and beginning a fresh cycle of violence. If the Rethugs stay in office, we stay on the present course and people on the left will start taking matters into their own hands.

It would be nice if people would just get a long and avoid a violent outcome, but the window for that is getter a little smaller every day with each new outrage.
As ordinary citizens, we don't have much control over events. These events just might overtake us whether we want them to or not.
Like we agreed about recently, nothing is ever easy or simple. Turning around our country is no different. Creating this country was an ugly and violent affair. Preserving it may end up being just as ugly. We've been through one civil war already, It can happen again.
You're a smart person Cali, I trust that you'll know the turning point when you see it and keep yourself safe and free.

[cali]

22. the truth is i've had a sense my entire adult life

that society itself is an inherently fragile thing and the continued limping along of this globe is held together by no more than the prayers of some obscure holy man in a cave somewhere. and that's one reason i live where i live and how i live, but i can't live as if the world is doomed. for all i know we have reached some tipping point and the world is in imminent peril or our society is, or whatever. i also believe on some gut level that pouring negativity out creates more negativity, but again i base that on nothing tangible.

[martymar64]

23. You touched on an important point here

Society is inherently fragile. I've personally seen it crack before (L.A.1992). We may be doomed, but then again it may not end up that bad. It's an uncertainty that is tough to reconcile within ourselves. People crave certainty in life more than anything, some sort of glue that holds everything together. Many people seek it in religion, some in other ways. But certainty is ultimately an illusion. What matters most is how we deal with that uncertainty on an individual level, we can fall apart, get wasted, sell our souls, become complicit, or we can rise above, fight back, provide hope and comfort to others. We may not be able to control events but we can control how we face those events. Uncertain times will bring out the worst in some people while in others it will bring out their best. It's times like these when real leaders emerge, the Lech Walesas, the Vaclav Havels, the Thomas Jeffersons. But it can just as easily bring forth Hitlers and Pol Pots and George Bushs.

I believe that we shouldn't live our lives consumed by fear. When that happens, they've already won. If they line me up against a wall, I'll go out with a song in my heart. Like Gandhi said, they may have my body, but they won't have my obedience.

[Tesha]

24. Despicable or not, it becomes more likely with every passing day...

Despicable or not, it becomes more likely with every passing day
that the current despicable status quo is maintained by the
Dem/Repub/Corporate oligarchy.

Tesha

[cali]

29. That's way simplistic

And what I said was despicable was what appears to me as the eager forecasting of bloody civil war. I see that as just another variation on the theme of secular apocalyptism.

[Tesha]

30. As you wish.

> And what I said was despicable was what appears to me as the eager
> forecasting of bloody civil war.

As you wish. Me, I'm *STRONGLY* in favor of New England
seceding from these "United States". I'd also like to see
Ecotopia or Cascadia secede. I think the United States is
broken beyond repair and the Band-Aids applied after the
Civil War are no longer containing the hemorhaging.

But don't worry -- we'll take Vermont with us when we go!

Tesha

[cali]

31. magical thinking n/t

[Tesha]

32. And you, as usual, have nothing but insults.

I wonder if Tito or other pro-Yugoslavian folks
used to say the same thing?

Tesha

[cali]

33. That's not an insult

I do it too. I think most of us do. But I don't think the comparison between the former Yugolslavia and the U.S. works at all.

Have you read 'Black Lamb and Grey Falcon' by Rebecca West? It's an excellent book about Yugoslavia, and explains why the comparison doesn't work.

[Tesha]

34. You say many things that you believe are "not insults" but in fact are.

> Have you read 'Black Lamb and Grey Falcon' by Rebecca West?

Regardless, I will look for that book; thanks.

Tesha

[cali]

35. I'm sorry you took it that way. I should have phrased it better.

You will love Black Lamb. It's a phenomenal piece of literature as well as being informative.

[kenfrequed]

36. You really need to explain it

"secular apocalyptism"

Your use of this term needs to be explained.

I say this because I have seen economic conservatives use a similar term to describe those who believe in the "shakey science" of global warming.

[aquart]

6. That's not how it will happen.

We've wasted our resources and now each region is going to have to fight for them. Because Bush now treats the National Guard as his personal cannon fodder, the states are going to need something else to protect them in the increasing emergencies...like reconstituting the state militias. Which will be under the command of the governors. And THAT's how it will happen.

Not in protest for lost rights or righteous rage over lost innocence or any of the noble abstractions or even mournful concern for our cruelties in foreign lands...but in hard desperate fighting for water and arable land.

Good luck with that.

[Dhalgren]

9. Damn! That's grim. Not saying you're wrong, just saying that's grim.

I hope that we are both wrong...damn...

[chieftain]

14. Thanks, but I hope you are wrong about the future.

[txaslftist]

17. They're working on making what you just said illegal to say.

So be careful.

[Didereaux]

4. Engrave that and hang it on the wall of every home in the USA..EXCELLENT!

[chieftain]

26. Thanks for a wonderful comment.

[dflprincess]

7. Perhaps it is not a "rising tide of hopelessness"

but a rising tide of "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore."

Whatever the cause, it would behoove the Democratic Party and in particular elected Democrats to pay attention.

[chieftain]

27. During Vietnam both anger and hopelessness were afoot in

the land. The anger often led to self-defeating radical violence. The hopelessness was a leading cause of tremendous number of bright minds being overdosed with hallucinogens to shut out the pain of despair. I fear that a terrible anger and hopelessness will again plague the land unless we can return to our best instincts. To paraphrase George mcGovern: Come home America from the madness of George Bush. Come home Democratic Leadership from the temporizing inertia which allows this regime to shred our Constitution and moral standing.

[FREEWILL56]

10. I too have thought that way about our present circumstances.

I do hold onto a string of hope that whatever happens does so with as little blood as possible with preferably no blood(impossible being our soldiers are already spilling theirs because of bushco) and that we get back to the way our country should be with more safeguards for our country from external threats and internal threats without violating us in the process. (it can be done and should be or there's nothing worth going to war for) I don't want to word this badly or have it misinterpreted so I'll conclude this with a wish for us all to peace and goodwill against all odds.

[The Backlash Cometh]

11. The understatement of the week.

[bobthedrummer]

12. There's been fascism in the land for long enough-that anger is going to remove it eom.

[Bitwit1234]

16. Protesting about bombs blowing up the Twin Towers

instead of airplanes flying into them, which happened, to me is not legimate protests. They are and no one will convince me other wise a bunch of nuts.

[Stevepol]

19. Thwarting the will of the people is business as usual now.

"When any government thwarts the will of the governed it puts itself in peril."

Bush lost in 2000; then he lost again in 2004 by about 4 1/2 %. That's really thwarting the will of the American people, but since only a few in places of power question the authenticity of the elections, people assume the American people voted for this administration.

They didn't. Not once.

They also didn't vote for many of the members of Congress: Chambliss in GA, e.g., or Coleman in MN or Allard in CO.

[chieftain]

37. As much as I admire Chuck Hagel, I think there were some

Diebold type questions raised about the vote count in Iowa which sent him to DC.

[tomreedtoon]

25. Think of America as an addict.

Addicts do not change their lives until they hit bottom. I can't say what the bottom will be. Maybe it'll be when gasoline costs $6 a gallon and milk $10 a gallon. Maybe it will be when the economy crashes and all of us are living in cardboard boxes. But that bottom will be hit, and everyone will revolt.

The elite and the elected have always believed their lives are insulated from all that. Not when the bullets start flying, and when none of the little people are outraged when the bullets start flying.

It took the despair of 1929 to get someone like Franklin Roosevelt elected. Right now Bush, the Republicans and the elected Democrats are just like Herbert Hoover, insisting "the conditions of society are fundamentally sound." They have to find out otherwise.

[chieftain]

28. There is a lot of truth in what you say. The status quo is hard to

change absent a crisis large enough to affect substantial portions of the populace. The prospect of being drafted fueled the anti war movement during Vietnam. Now that we have an all volunteer army the actual impact of the war's carnage is limited and the opposition muted.

[amandabeech]

38. I remember the '60s, too.

There was a lot of anger, and it hasn't gone away.

From what I hear, anger is afoot again.

Two things that kept the country together in the '60s, IMHO, were short-term economic prosperity that was spread more evenly in society (caused in part by war manufacturing and strong unions) and hope for the Civil Rights revolution.

Now, we have neither, and we are facing serious problems in the areas of energy and the environment.

You can call me anything you like, but we could be in for some serious "interesting times," in the meaning of the Chinese saying starting with "may you live in."

But before the Civil War, violence erupted in the halls of Congress. I don't see that, yet, so there's still time.

Thanks, OP.

[chieftain]

39. Good points and now rather than taking hope from a powerful

Civil Rights movement, we are watching a parade of racists donning the black robes of the judiciary rather than white robes and hoods which would be a more fitting expression of their true selves.