I'm not as mad or upset as I am a bit scared-DID YOU GET THE MESSAGE?

[underpants]

I have posting this great Ted Rall article all over the place (I was reading it when the news broke about Edwards quitting/dropping out ) Who's afraid of John Edwards? . Have a read if you like.

The chill that went up my spine must have cooled the white hot rage I should be feeling right now.

DID YOU GET THE MESSAGE?

There can no longer be any doubt about how and who controls the information in this country and how you WILL follow as ordered. Alternatives will only be available for a amount of time sufficient to provide the illusion of choice.

DID YOU GET THE MESSAGE?

There clearly are no longer governments only the corporations and what they allow to see the light of day.

DID YOU GET THE MESSAGE?

The message is, you will sit and wait for the message.

DID YOU GET THE MESSAGE?

Okay, then comply.



NOW I’m pissed.

[yardwork]

1. Yep.

[elehhhhna]

2. Chilling.

[SammyWinstonJack]

3. Pissed and disillusioned, both.

[n2doc]

4. Ted's last 2 toons sum it up....

And yes, I am pissed. I never even got a chance to vote for him.

[dchill]

73. I'm still going to vote for him ...

in the PA primary. I'm pissed, too, though.

[wundermaus]

98. Me, too in CA

[blondeatlast]

165. Here, too, in AZ. nt

[knight_of_the_star]

112. I didn't either

Still am going to in California.

[frylock]

123. i did..

dropped my absentee ballot in the mail on Monday with a vote for Edwards. I'm not very happy about this turn of events.

[peace13]

5. First they came for my neighbor and I said nothing....

Why are people so surprised that the media snuffed Edwards. Did you learn nothing from the exclusion of Kucinich. Oh I see, Kucinich was not your candidate so it meant nothing. Well we get what we deserve.

[underpants]

8. You are right

DK had the advantage of being right about everything but even I didn't allow him, in my mind, a chance because I was told that he had no chance.

That stuff works. Sad to say.

[tnlefty]

19. Actually I was pissed about Dennis during this past run and

the one 4 yrs. ago. It's not just the media who marginalizes him the party also does it. He was my first choice, but he'd already dropped out by the time that I voted, so I voted for Edwards.

[ROTC Teecher]

86. Are you surprised?

All Parties suppress those they fear.
And the political parties are no better than any corporation out there. Possibly worse as all the real power in the nation flows through them.

[mqbush]

168. "And the political parties are no better than any corporation ..."

A week or so ago I ranted about how candidates should stand on their own arguments (publicly financed) instead of being allied with parties, because these massive organizations can amass vast power and act as destructively as armies as they subvert true democratic choice. Generally, I was reamed for this.

[redqueen]

28. Untrue. I'm not surprised they ignored Edwards. I'm surprised so many don't care about why.

You have to not care, to not see it... and so many refuse to see it.

I fought back so hard when Kucinich was ignored both this time and last... I supported him 100% in 04 and you wouldn't believe the work I did trying to raise his visibility.

This time around I switched to Edwards, and look how easily they did the same thing.

No, I'm not surprised at that.

I'm am surprised so that many Dem voters still don't see it, though. That does surprise me.

[xxqqqzme]

79. no, he wasn't but I got it the first time - when CMC

eliminated Howard Dean.

[surfermaw]

104. I am with you on DEAN

I think the republican party has a hand in who our candidates are and are funding one..better wake up, they can't wait to get him in the G.E agains McCain

[juno jones]

116. Thing is, is that I can see the repubs setting Mc Cain up for a fall

They've stabbed him the back before. If this is all true, and corporations trump the political process, they might well just be as happy getting a pro-corporate dem in there from time to time to continue the illusion of choice. "See, it's not rigged, your guy won so shut up." And how many here are overlooking irregularities because their candidates are unharmed, perhaps benefited by them?

I see two candidates being set up for us to duly vote for. Neither are particularly liked, both are expendable. They will toy with Hillary from the deep pocketbook and they'll play senile yes-man Mc Cain for every sappy bit of dementia in his tiny little brain because he actually BELIEVES this shit (... if Huck squeaks in, they'll do the same, but I don't think Huck's gonna make it, 'cause they can't win with only the fundies voting for him, they need a more generally acceptable candidate.). I think we're screwn, ladies and gentlemen. I was excited about this election a year ago. Between the comatose congress and this nightmare of a primary season, I don't know what to say, I'm just about done with it.


Sorry about Edwards. Now we're down to the propaganda of either/or again. Always two choices. Cola A or Cola B. I suppose that makes it easier to market and sell. It is the buisness of corporations to sell and our society is being streamlined for the convienence of advertising.

[DS1]

6. Yeah, look on cnn.com. Crappy picture of him, then a link that says "Who is John Edwards"

fuckers

[IndyOp]

7. Suggestion: Wait until we hear from John at 1:00 p.m. (n/t)

[Turn CO Blue]

9. I have this fantasy that all the progressives get together and

through coordinated blogging, diaries and posting, buy up a few shares each month for a few years of NewsCorp and ExxonMobile and etc. etc. and then we all scream "fire" in the theater by posting "sell, sell, sell" all over the nets, and cause those companies to crash to the ground.

In my fantasies, I'm much meaner and capable of coordinating things like that! In real life, not so much.

I am sincerely mourning Edwards' dropping out this morning. Woooooe. Woooooe. Woe is I. Woe are we.

[Fresh_Start]

10. I'd believe that there was major armtwisting by big dems

to force him out: my guess is due to the "spoiler" language.
The establishment wanted him gone.

[Virginia Dare]

15. I keep going back to the private meeting he had with Hillary..

after the last debate. I would dearly love to know what was discussed.

[unc70]

21. Both Clinton and Obama have been courting Edwards

Obama last night on ABC was almost smirking when he responding to a question about Edwards.

[Virginia Dare]

23. I was told by somebody..

who "would know" so to speak, that Edwards was given access to some potentially damaging info on Hillary. It wasn't about her personal life either. Obviously he or his people chose not to take it. Why? I guess we'll never know.

[unc70]

27. Both Clinton and Obama have potential problems

I will vote for either of them before any Repub.

I find it interesting that we are now down to graduates of Harvard Law, Yale Law, Harvard Law/MBA, Naval Academy.

[Virginia Dare]

32. No skull and bonesers though right?

you're right though, it's Obama or Hillary for me now, I just hope whoever it is doesn't fuck it up this time.

[Hatchling]

36. Skull and Bones?

One has endorsed Obama, if S&B stuff matters to you.

[defendandprotect]

66. Who's "one" . . . ???

[Andrea]

93. It was Kerry n/t

[defendandprotect]

67. Who's "one" . . . ???

[unc70]

83. Only two Presidents since Nixon not Yale or Harvard

The four options I showed included Romney and McCain.

Nixon was Duke Law. Every president since Nixon, excepting Carter and Reagan, attended Yale or Harvard. Most of the losing nominees of each party also attended Harvard or Yale.

Both Bushes, both Clintons, Kerry, and Ford attended Yale.

Obama, Gore, Dukakis, Romney, and W attended Harvard.

[flyarm]

48. ahh i would refute that..it was info about OBAMA...eom

[Vilis Veritas]

62. There are certain truths that are verbotten and

quickly result in someome being labeled a CT'er or stupid or insane or...etc...

The Corporate Government Media Complex is very successful in creating memetic nullifiers that are very effective at stopping the spread of truth.

Perhaps the information, if true, contains just such memes...

Peace.

Yep, my tin hat is firmly in place today...<--that phrase is one such memetic nullifier.

Peace Redux...

[NashVegas]

63. LMAO

Maybe he didn't want to do someone else's dirty work?

[NikolaC]

90. The High Road

That is probably what. He, most likely, did not want to get down into the mud with the other two.

[pop goes the weasel]

11. sums it up pretty well

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. This old Democrat has no faith in the party anymore. I'll still vote for the Democratic candidate, but only because, while the Democratic Party will serve us conservative corporatists, the Republican Party gives us bat-shit crazy conservative corporatists. It's pretty damn depressing.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

16. YOU ARE RIGHT

[redqueen]

29. Well said.

*sigh*

[defendandprotect]

68. If you think you have no other options, then it is depressing ---

and, that reality certainly doesn't put pressure on the DLC - the Republican wing of the Democratic party - to change their "blue dog" ways, nor upon the candidates --

so, you're in a downward spiral ---

[Dhalgren]

81. This old former Democrat has no faith in the Party, either,

that's why I won't vote for the Party. You are either part of the problem or part of the solution. The Democratic Party has shown that it is part of the problem. When the Whig Party faded away, it was only after many, many Whigs left to join the new Republican Party. Well something similar needs to happen now. You can't say that the country is worse off now than it was in 1860 - you can't use that as an excuse. No we need a change. We need something better...

[LynzM]

12. Good article, scary subject matter.

I'm baffled by anyone who doesn't understand the control that the media exerts. When they control both who we're allowed to see and how much, how does anyone think that that doesn't affect the race? :banghead:

[underpants]

42. What, who controls the liberal media?

They have effectively diverted attention away from themselves with that lie meme

[KoKo]

13. Yes...it's clear now.

don't even need to wear a :tinfoilhat:

[OneGrassRoot]

31. No shit. I've learned much to my dismay...

how many supposed democrats/progressives/liberals are drinking their own brand of kool-aid. At the country's expense. Shame on everyone for not having the courage to face this corporatocracy and call it out, as John has been doing.

I don't know what I'm going to do, as I am...devastated. I sure as shit know I'm staying away from the joke that is GD:P.

[SammyWinstonJack]

14. This should concern us ALL! Who will they drown out next? Who will they

set their sights on now? Wait for it.

[Virginia Dare]

17. We really have no idea how much information is filtered out..

by the corporate media. It would be staggering to know the truth I'm sure. How can we continually let ourselves be manipulated by this crap?

There must have been 50 threads on that stupid snub clusterfuck yesterday. Our voice is gone, it's been drowned out, little by little.

:grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:

[underpants]

20. There are only two ways the Republicans could hope to win the White House

or more aptly make it seem plausible when the voting numbers flip again

1-Apathy. Either create themselves a rainy day so that (as we are told) only the ever so determined and dedicated Republicans will go to the polls or muddy up the waters to get the "they are all the same" meme going making it about personalities (always one of the top two influences on Republican voting decision making)

2-A divided house. The media pits the Dems against themselves either pissing off half of our party into not voting (see numbers flipping above) or souring everyone on the whole process (see #1).

BTW- We are falling for #2 hook line and sinker.

[AndyTiedye]

46. 3 Ways, And They Are All Happening

Your #1 and #2 are already well under way.

#3 is for the Democratic party to choose an unelectable candidate, and that is now inevitable.

[Andrea]

94. You are forgetting way #4

Just steal the vote. It worked in '00 and '04.

[suegeo]

108. You're forgetting 2002

georgia
minnesota

what other states am I forgetting

[BeachBaby]

133. or #3....

another 9/11.

[defendandprotect]

70. If you want truth and information, go to your libraries for non-fiction . . .

preferably BEFORE the neo-cons close them all down!!!

AND, turn off the TVs --- !!!

[Leopolds Ghost]

174. Whats scary: I live in a VERY blue area, "neoliberal technocrats" ALREADY say libraries are obsolete

I have personally read shit (all those articles about Osama Bin Laden that appeared in the newsmagazines in the late 1990s, for instance, remember how we came to know who the hell he is?) that no longer appears in the on-line electronic archives. And of course the newspaper graveyards no longer exist. We have electronic technology, we don't need libraries or even bookstores any more. I have been told that by neoliberal, wealthy technogeeks, in my area. The libraries and schools will eventually be converted into health clubs and Starbucks internet cafes. They are already doing this, I can cite examples.

[warren pease]

169. It's not too hard to fact check these pricks...

...for distortions of both commission and omission. All you really need to do is be diligent about reading the international papers online, following the news on some of the US blogs like OpEdNews and a few others, then find stories you see in both sources but that never appear in fucko US mass media.

The Sibel Edmonds saga is a classic example. So is the Blackwater trespassing trial that Scahill reported on but which will never, ever see the light of day in the US press. A third will probably be (should be) the latest Rove scandal, where he's implicated in steering the 9/11 faux investigation in the approved directions and telling Zelikow how to proceed.

I should mention that I literally haven't seen a US TV news show, a TV pundit show, a TV round table discussion or anything else like that in several years -- probably since the 2000 selection "coverage." I only know how awful it must be now because I used to work in MSM 25 or so years ago and it was obvious even then where things were heading. The whole emphasis was slowly shifting from relatively objective news gathering and reporting to propaganda and corporate shilling.

I still have several friends from that time and we talk now and then about "the good old days" and how corporate American fucked up everything it touched, including our jobs and lives.

The other obvious indicator is the incredibly inept and/or purposely obtuse garbage passing for reporting that shows up here and Buzzflash and ZDNet and on other news/info sites linked from mass media sources. Some papers still value decent writing and the ability to tell a story, but most would rather have a compliant idiot who writes what he/she's told than a good reporter who's tougher to control.

Back in the day (and I really hate that "when I was a lad..." construct, but), reporters and editors had actual skills and a decent level of professional pride. Plus, the ones who survived J-school and, particularly, the dozens of verbal ass-kickings by hard-line editors who hated sloppy work, they either improved or they didn't have a job. It was literally impossible to remain in that career and write the kind of unfocused, rambling, vanilla copy you see everywhere today. But that was then.

What's happened is the corporate communications types have thinned the herd and gotten rid of the rebels and the independent thinkers and the highly motivated people who actually still believe in the traditional role of a free press.

They've been replaced with feather-headed androids who are hired almost exclusively for their looks (TV, of course), usually have little or no journalistic background or training, love the glitz and the status of big-time US TV news, love their salaries even more, know how to take orders and keep their mouths shut and wouldn't jeopardize their plum positions for anything -- least of all some quixotic urge to practice actual journalism. They're hopeless and, although it doesn't seem possible, getting even worse.

If you haven't already compiled your own, here's an amazingly comprehensive list of links to non-US media, along with just about anything else you could want. Here's another good list, with some good research sites linked as well. And here's a few personal favorites:

Le Monde (English)

The BBC

Times of India

Scoop New Zealand

Al Jazeera


Happy scrounging.

wp

[slackmaster]

18. Relax, underpants, there's always Ron Paul

:sarcasm:

[underpants]

26. out standing in his field

[biermeister]

56. thanks- almost forgot to send more $ to him today

[cascadiance]

22. Amerika is no longer a leader for democracy in this world now!

[wolfgangmo]

88. but to tell the truth

It hasn't been a leader FOR democracy for many decades, if ever. Remember that this was the country that sat on it's collective thumbs for 2 years while Hitler was raping Europe. It's not like we suddenly STOPPED giving a shit. We never did.

What has changed is that the guns of oppression are now aimed at us. Kind of an uncomfortable feeling, isn't it?

Signed,

An actual Canadian living in the excited states of amerika

PS - to any freepers commenting to me with some variation of " 'Merica! Luv it er leave it - FU too!

[Andrea]

95. Yep. Canada here I come. n/t

[redqueen]

24. Hope? Yeah... right.

You're damn right I got the message.

[Blue_Tires]

25. ttt n/t

[Summer93]

30. Sadness.....

It is on Yahoo

"John Edwards is exiting the presidential race today, according to reports."

[lisainmilo]

33. Yeah, I get it....NOTHING IS GOING TO CHANGE THE BUSH AGENDA!

That is why nothing has so far! The current Dems that have been elected last Novemeber have done NOTHING to stop the madness with exception to DK and Wexler. The others STATUS QUO! Our country is FOREVER CHANGED! We are a train on a fast track with no brakes!

[wolfgangmo]

89. NEWS FLASH - CANADA ERECTS A FENCE ON THEIR SOUTHERN BORDER

Dateline, the near future ... As the economic and political crisis worsens in the former USA, Canada has announced that they will be building a 6000 mile southern border bridge to keep out the rising tide of "Yankbacks" who are flooding their country with "homeless, lazy slackers who can't even play hockey, fer cryin' out loud, eh." The fence will be guarded by Mounties and vigilante groups , dubbed the defencemen, who will repel Yankbacks with hockey sticks.

"It seems to me," said Stuart McStuart, "that these southerners made their bed and they need to lie in it. And if they don't I'm just the guy to high stick 'em, eh." McStuarts' comments are typical in Canada where the overwhelming sentiment is that by ignoring rampant voter fraud, voting against their own interests, giving tax refunds to the Uber-wealthy, ignoring global warming, dismantling their social safety net, screwing up their health care, decimating their public education, and pissing off everyone on the planet all the while watching Britney Spears and American Idol blithely, that they deserve all the shit that is happening to them now.

Canada's Prime Minister, John "Where the Tim Horton's" Francois said of the crisis, "they said FU to everyone for decades. Payback is a bitch, eh."

[Kurovski]

34. K&R. (nt)

[Indenturedebtor]

35. Yep

Well said. And sadly as time goes on the next generation won't remember what a somewhat unbiased media looks like.

[donkeyotay]

37. Message received. The republican revolution and the dems playing me-too

have irrevocably delivered us into servitude. The coup is complete. Even Conyers has made his excuses about how the nation isn't worth defending and the coup can not be opposed or undone. Hell, we can't even investigate the multi-billion dollar fraud called Iraq because the Unitary Executive made a signing statement. It's really hard to see how this isn't over.

[reggie the dog]

156. i agree

that is why I left the USA.

[pleah]

38. K&R

[BrklynLiberal]

39. I am broken hearted....

[Phillycat]

40. I forwarded that article to my husband when you posted it...

He read it and replied, "Hey, that's what you've been saying all along."

DAMMIT. x(

[underpants]

43. Hiding in plain sight

well the vacuum of coverage was right there all the time but that is the beauty of it, from their perspective.

[Beam Me Up]

41. H E L L O -- You're just now getting this message?

You thought politics was about working for your candidate, making contributions and VOTING??

What planet have you been on?

Politics is all about WHO CONTROLS THE MESSAGE.

Look who CONTROLS the 9/11 Message, for example. Who did it? Osama bin Laden and his marry band of lap dancing islamofascists. Why? Because they hate us for our freedoms.

Sound like a credible message to you?

Qui bono.

Everywhere I look, I see DEAD PEOPLE.

BRAIN DEAD.

[underpants]

44. I know I know

but it is days like this that really make it come to a head, so to speak.

[Beam Me Up]

47. Yes. Some people are waking up, rubbing the sleep from their eyes

and beginning to get a clue.

Written four years ago:

Perhaps the biggest hidden reason people don’t make the paranoid shift is that 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.

But as a paranoid, I’m ready to join the resistance. And the main reason is I no longer think that the “conspiracy” is much of a “theory.”

Source: http://www.onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_203.shtml

[bpeale]

50. but by the time they do, it will be too little too late

[NikolaC]

99. The sleep was gone from my eyes in 2000

and it has been a living nightmare ever since. I got so tired of being called a tin foil hatter and trying to get people to open their eyes and minds to the truth. Now, I feel no joy in saying, "I told you so", because there is no joy in the pain, suffering and death that has been allowed to happen due to ignorance and apathy.

[Leopolds Ghost]

175. There is so much more to this article. Sometimes I feel like we're dealing with the Antichrist here

Paranoid shift
By Michael Hasty
Online Journal Contributing Writer

Jan 10, 2004, 20:33

Just before his death, James Jesus Angleton, the legendary chief of counterintelligence at the Central Intelligence Agency, was a bitter man. He felt betrayed by the people he had worked for all his life. In the end, he had come to realize that they were never really interested in American ideals of “freedom” and “democracy.“ They really only wanted “absolute power.”

Angleton told author Joseph Trento that the reason he had gotten the counterintelligence job in the first place was by agreeing not to submit “sixty of Allen Dulles’ closest friends” to a polygraph test concerning their business deals with the Nazis. In his end-of-life despair, Angleton assumed that he would see all his old companions again “in hell.”

The transformation of James Jesus Angleton from an enthusiastic, Ivy League cold warrior, to a bitter old man, is an extreme example of a phenomenon I call a “paranoid shift.” I recognize the phenomenon, because something similar happened to me.

Although I don’t remember ever meeting James Jesus Angleton, I worked at the CIA myself as a low-level clerk as a teenager in the ‘60s. This was at the same time I was beginning to question the government’s actions in Vietnam. In fact, my personal “paranoid shift” probably began with the disillusionment I felt when I realized that the story of American foreign policy was, at the very least, more complicated and darker than I had hitherto been led to believe.

Unless I’m paranoid, it doesn’t make any sense at all that George W. Bush, commander-in-chief, sat in a second-grade classroom for 20 minutes after he was informed that a second plane had hit the World Trade Center, listening to children read a story about a goat. Nor does it make sense that the Number 2 man, Dick Cheney -- even knowing that “the commander” was on a mission in Florida -- nevertheless sat at his desk in the White House, watching TV, until the Secret Service dragged him out by the armpits.

Unless I’m paranoid, it makes no sense that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld sat at his desk until Flight 77 hit the Pentagon -- well over an hour after the military had learned about the multiple hijacking in progress. It also makes no sense that the brand-new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff sat in a Senate office for two hours while the 9/11 attacks took place, after leaving explicit instructions that he not be disturbed -- which he wasn‘t.

In other words, while the 9/11 attacks were occurring, the entire top of the chain of command of the most powerful military in the world sat at various desks, inert. Why weren’t they in the “Situation Room?” Don’t any of them ever watch “West Wing?”

Why can’t we believe James Jesus Angleton -- a man staring eternal judgment in the face -- when he says that the founders of the Cold War national security state were only interested in “absolute power?” Especially when the descendant of a very good friend of Allen Dulles now holds power in the White House.

Prescott Bush, the late, aristocratic senator from Connecticut, and grandfather of George W Bush, was not only a good friend of Allen Dulles, CIA director, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, and international business lawyer. He was also a client of Dulles’ law firm. As such, he was the beneficiary of Dulles’ miraculous ability to scrub the story of Bush’s treasonous investments in the Third Reich out of the news media, where it might have interfered with Bush’s political career . . . not to mention the presidential careers of his son and grandson.

Recently declassified US government documents, unearthed last October by investigative journalist John Buchanan at the New Hampshire Gazette, reveal that Prescott Bush’s involvement in financing and arming the Nazis was more extensive than previously known. Not only was Bush managing director of the Union Banking Corporation, the American branch of Hitler’s chief financier’s banking network; but among the other companies where Bush was a director -- and which were seized by the American government in 1942, under the Trading With the Enemy Act -- were a shipping line which imported German spies; an energy company that supplied the Luftwaffe with high-ethyl fuel; and a steel company that employed Jewish slave labor from the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Nor, finally, is it in any way a “theory” that the one, single name that can be directly linked to the Third Reich, the US military industrial complex, Skull and Bones, Eastern Establishment good ol’ boys, the Illuminati, Big Texas Oil, the Bay of Pigs, the Miami Cubans, the Mafia, the FBI, the JFK assassination, the New World Order, Watergate, the Republican National Committee, Eastern European fascists, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, the United Nations, CIA headquarters, the October Surprise, the Iran/Contra scandal, Inslaw, the Christic Institute, Manuel Noriega, drug-running “freedom fighters” and death squads, Iraqgate, Saddam Hussein, weapons of mass destruction, the blood of innocents, the savings and loan crash, the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, the “Octopus,” the “Enterprise,” the Afghan mujaheddin, the War on Drugs, Mena (Arkansas), Whitewater, Sun Myung Moon, the Carlyle Group, Osama bin Laden and the Saudi royal family, David Rockefeller, Henry Kissinger, and the presidency and vice-presidency of the United States, is: George Herbert Walker Bush.

Michael Hasty is a writer, activist, musician, carpenter and farmer. His award-winning column, “Thinking Locally,” appeared for seven years in the Hampshire Review, West Virginia’s oldest newspaper. His writing has also appeared in the Highlands Voice, the Washington Peace Letter, the Takoma Park Newsletter, the German magazine Generational Justice, and the Washington Post; and at the websites Common Dreams and Democrats.com. In January 1989, he was the media spokesperson for the counter-inaugural coalition at George Bush’s Counter-Inaugural Banquet, which fed hundreds of DC’s homeless in front of Union Station, where the official inaugural dinner was being held.

[bpeale]

49. me too

<<Everywhere I look, I see DEAD PEOPLE.>>

you see DEAD PEOPLE. everywhere i look, i see STUPID PEOPLE.

[redqueen]

52. It's not JUST about those things... but it doesn't hurt.

You should be welcoming those who have only recently noticed, not castigating and insulting people.

Fucksake.

[Beam Me Up]

84. I get your point.

My frustration gets the better of me.

I think underpants knows no offense was meant.

[xiamiam]

45. the most amazing aspect is how many do not get it...even here.one of the most progressive dem site

we're in trouble..choices have been made and we dont have a damn thing to do with it..and after the media completes the choice for all americans...the diebold machines et al...will complete the final choice...we are doomed...its over kids...no matter what you think, it doesnt matter anymore...

[rucognizant]

61. And as a counterpoint to this disappointment.............

In my own personal life I have come up against a brick wall of corporate greed/profitablility!
I have been working on a children's book to submit for a grant, to support my time working on it.
Deadline day tomorrow.
My fancy Canon Printer is crimping paper instead of printing..........It'a NOT YET A YEAR OLD! My old cheap HP stilll works just fine since 2001!
I purchased a new compact flash, for my Nikon digital camera. I waited months to do this, all the local Radio Shacks were out of the size (256 MB)I was using that worked! Finally I had the money to go for the more expensive one I G cool right?.............
No, doesn't work with the camera or card reader, have to go out and buy newer, bigger, better, ones....... THEY NO LONGER CARRY THE LESSER ONES! Hoping maybe the San Disk Company could send me one direct........ WHICH PRE REAGAN COMPANYS DID. Customer service USED to make the business world go round......
SO I got a hokey foreign person I couldn't understand on the phone, who tried robotically ( corp trained) to take me through a lot of tech hoops to assure HER that it didn't work. I already knew that! I put the old card in the camera took the picture loaded it into the computer NO PROBLEM! Except that it won't print out Now I have to spend time with the Canon tech!
Needless to say.I am progressively for reducing the corporate chokehold on our lives and incomes!
If you work for someone, you have a different set of problems.......telling like it is from the geriatric entrepreneur viewpoint!

[defendandprotect]

74. Right--!! The old things which we threw out worked better than the new crap ---

TEFLON pans, for instance ---

And, yet, there's no rebellion from the public.
STOP giving out your SS# --- stop giving your dollars to these corporations ---

Capitalism and democracy are NOT synonymous --

Capitalism is a "ridiculous King-of-the-Hill System" ---

[ConservativeDemocrat]

51. Oh please...

Edwards practically lived in Iowa for the last 4 years. He had time to knock on every single door. No undue media influence there.

Yet he didn't win. Not even in the caucus system which tilts towards only the most extremist, most committed, voters.

Edwards' problem wasn't that the media was biased against him. (Although they were.) If he'd won, he would have been covered no matter what. His real problem is that his message was one of anger and divisiveness, and that is just frankly not appealing to American voters.

Hell, even George Bush pretended to be a "Uniter, not a Divider" when running for office. What makes you think that someone who goes out of their way to demonize large portions of the American public is going to get elected to anything?

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

[redqueen]

54. WTF are you talking about?

If he'd won, he'd have got coverage? What, like Hillary who finished third?

Sell it somewhere else... we weren't born yesterday.

And "demonizing large portions of the American public"... what portions are those?

[gaspee]

87. The ones who matter

To conservatives - republicans or democrats - the RICH ones. The ones who make jobs (bullshit) for the rest of use peons. The ones who control everything in your life. The ones who think you were born to be cannon fodder or slave wage workers - the ones who indebt you to their banking and big business ways.

Those people. Oh gosh, Edwards was *angry* at them. Oh Noes!

I am so sick of the anger meme. If you're not pissed off, you're not paying attention!

[ConservativeDemocrat]

96. Hillary was massively ahead in the national polls

Her poor showing in Iowa, with its caucus system, was rightly seen as a skewed by the fact that only the most committed voters would show up to be counted. In New Hampshire, with a more traditional ballotbox system, she won. Edwards, on the other hand, dropped like a stone. And no, it wasn't because people in N.H. didn't know who he was.

Quit blaming the media. People heard his message. They didn't like it. He lost.
It's as simple as that.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

[Cooley Hurd]

129. That reality-based community of yours - is it full of ostrich heads and sand fleas?

:eyes:

[truedelphi]

153. Has someone pointed out to you that this is a board of alternative Dems?

You want Centrists who think that the 'Eww, they are so-o angry" meme is valid and means that those of us who understand what is going on all die on the spot rather than vent the frustration over losing our country to Corporatists, then please go to Centrist Underground.

[ConservativeDemocrat]

170. No, it's not

It's a board for all Democrats. Not just people who agree with you. You don't get to exclude anybody - especially those who, according to both polls and election results, represent the vast majority of the Democratic party.

Don't believe me? Then alert this message and see if it gets removed.


And yes, quite clearly, you are filled with counterproductive anger. Rather than trying to persuade people that Edwards would be better for everybody, you create phantom enemies - the cooorporatists - who you blame for everything that is wrong in the world, including Edwards' not so mysterious failure to connect with average voters.

This primitive tribalism is just another incarnation of "the bad people theory of everything", which posits that the world would be wonderful if only a nebulous group weren't conspiring to mess it up. We've seen this before. The Nazis did it with the Jews. The communists did it with businessmen ("capitalists"). Religious nutcases of every political persuasion do it with infidels/"secular-humanists". At best, it leads nowhere. At worst, it leads to war.

And Democrats rightly reject it. We are not the party of demonization. We are the party believes that things work better when everyone works together. Replacing one form of division with another accomplishes nothing. So if you insist on always running against people, instead of for everybody, prepare yourself to always lose.


- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

[truedelphi]

171. Look if Edwards had Hillary's money and was mentioned in the M$M as often as

Hillary and Obama, the voting results would have been very very different.

It is amazing that Edwards was outspent by both H. and O by a ratio of six to one and yet remained viable for as long as he did. he was mentioned on the media about one thirtieth as often.

BTW are you saying that the Nazis didn't mess up the Jews? Or that communism didn't mess up freemarket Capitalism?

Please explain.

[ConservativeDemocrat]

172. Edwards *moved* to Iowa

He had enough time there to meet every voter who wanted to meet him.
He had enough money to get his message out.

If it had resonated, he would have won, MSM or no MSM.

He didn't. Period.

The MSM didn't have a vote. The Democratic voters did.
The majority of Democratic voters want change, not confrontation.
Hillary isn't for much change. Edwards advocated confrontation.
That's why Obama won.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

[Leopolds Ghost]

176. So you're only a Democrat because you don't like "religious nutcases", then.

Well, I guess I'm your worst nightmare, being a member of the traditional religious left and all.

[frylock]

126. i can't wait till your conservodems finally splinter the party..

it can't happen soon enough.

[Leopolds Ghost]

177. A Conservative Democrat, will be equanimical if the Dem loses and the party splits.

Like Lieberman, he will say "oh well, at least there are still viable conservative candidates to vote for -- and the American people are fundamentally conservative. we tried to give them a choice by convincing that outdated ex-New Deal party to provide a conservative alternative to the conservatives we don't like for various peripheral reasons, like religion or tax policy, so as to maintain the illusion of choice."

[lyonn]

135. Hell yes I wanted our Dem politicians to get mad

This is why the people voted for Dems in 06, they wanted things to be different. They didn't expect our Dem Leaders to say impeachment is off the table, for instance. They hoped Congress would at least make a real effort to get change, put pressure on the President. Nope.

[tom_paine]

53. Sadly, I've got the message. The Old American Republic was dead and remains so.

We are pissing on the graves of the Founding Fathers.

Maybe Edwards would have taken up their banner, maybe not, but he was the only one left who even had a possibility of it being so.

[Z_I_Peevey]

55. We're riding this train all the way to the last stop

and there's no way to halt it or get off.

[MissDeeds]

57. We are in deep trouble

They fed us the lies that led us into war and did not question or doubt the authenticity of the information. They made fun of the Dean scream and made him the butt of jokes. They marginalized Dennis and portrayed him as everyone's eccentric cousin. And they kept John and his important message out of the media in favor of two candidates who are unique and novel.

We are being had, and the general public doesn't know it. They still think we're free. They still think this is a democracy.

[Vilis Veritas]

58. Corporate Will replaces the People's Will. K & R

What? Wait a sec...Geraldo is on CNN and I think he is talking about Britney...what were you saying?

:sarcasm:

Excuse me while I don my Tin Hat...it comes in black and blue...



Peace and nice post...

[2rth2pwr]

59. Edwards will be going back to 1 of the 2 Americas.

I wonder which one.

[Yael]

60. And the old ignore list keeps growing

[Binka]

159. Thanks For The Heads Up

That poster is a real piker. And that is putting it nicely.

[Two Americas]

82. the problem

I fear that your attitude is representative of the direction that the Democratic party is moving.

So you have "won," but at what cost?

I would never have mocked or ridiculed the supporters of another candidate under similar circumstances.

[MuseRider]

64. Don't comply

you will be amazed how good you feel even though you will still get screwed. At least you did not participate in your own screwing.

[huskerlaw]

65. That's the message I got.

:cry:

[harmonicon]

69. and is anyone surprised by this?

of course there's only an illusion of choice. Difference is tolerated and celebrated, so long as there isn't any real fundamental difference.

[Cleita]

71. Yep, it's curious he really didn't offer a reason. Very interesting.n/t

[OzarkDem]

72. Oh yeah, I got the message

loud and clear.

[defendandprotect]

75. The message was there all along for anyone to read --- inevitable!!!

[defendandprotect]

76. Btw, did any Democrat ever reply to the Chamber of Commerce's threat to anti-corp candidates--????

[defendandprotect]

77. And, btw, it looks like the "SPOILER" msg to Edwards did it ---

Hartmann says . . . "he didn't want to divide the Demcoratic party" ---

LOVE YOU, JOHN EDWARDS & ELIZABETH
AND THANK YOU FOR TRYING SO HARD ---

[defendandprotect]

78. Re messages: Let me say that there are people here NOW describing things

that we have been told about over the past 20 years --- !!!!

Why is all of this now such a surprise to you --- ???

You've simply proven it for yourselves . . . while the reality of the experiences was there
for anyone's guidance from totally reliable people.

What did any of us learn from "Katrina" --- ???

It happened right before our eyes -- and those people are still being betrayed!!!

[Desertrose]

146. Betrayed and ignored.

I am still reeling from the calculated cruelty of all that.


Our country should be so ashamed...for SO many reasons, but Katrina has to be just about at the top of that list ...and then there is the Iraq invasion......

[dchill]

80. But now that he's out...

they can talk and talk and talk. What a great guy, what a great campaign, what a great wife...

Talk, talk, talk.

[lyonn]

136. Wouldn't it be funny if there was a big voting group for Edwards

Feb. 5th after all this attention John is finally getting. He should still be on all the ballots. For sure he is getting my vote.

[calimary]

85. I would say - make your anger work for you.

Put it to work. Let it push you forward to make sure this shit does NOT happen!

Savor the thought of the people who pissed you off - sad, desolate, disheartened, splintered, licking multiple wounds, AND SET BACK BY A FACTOR OF DECADES on the day after the election.

Visualize...

[RoccoR5955]

91. I got this message a long long time ago...

When JFK was assassinated.
It was not the Mafia, or the Cubans, or the CIA, or Lee Harvey Oswald. It was the FEDERAL RESERVE BANK, which he wanted to get rid of. Money from 1963, with the swipe of a pen, Kennedy eliminated this bunch of bankers who get a piece of our money. If you look at some of the currency from 1963, it will say on it UNITED STATES NOTE, not Federal Reserve Note. Though both are printed by the US government, the Federal Reserve Note is issued by the bank, not the treasury.

There also isn't a whole lot said about this, which is why, I suspect, JFK was eliminated by the Federal Reserve. They lost a whole lot of influence, power and money when he eliminated them. Think about it.
Not a theory, but a conspiracy.

The corporations rule this country. Not WE THE PEOPLE. I am sure of that now.

[debbierlus]

92. Beware the corporate media candidate

Yeah, Obama, YOU.

Just what we need. A new polished up image with the same ol' fucking criminal policies.

[L0oniX]

97. So now were down to the two that the corporations have no problem with.

How nice for them. ASSCARROTS! Too bad we don't know where you CEOs live because we could put some controls on you too. You better hide you bastards because we are on to you.

[mdmc]

100. its been 1984 for some time

perhaps we will be able to forget under president HRC...

[DutchLiberal]

101. Everybody who supported Kucinich already got the message long before.

[rosetta627]

103. Perfectly said DutchLiberal

And if I'm going to vote on principal I'm going to vote for Dennis Kucinich.
Not John vote-to-invade-Iraq Edwards.

[DutchLiberal]

105. I'm so sad Kucinich got marginalized as a 'far left-wing kook', because

he would be a mainstream candidate in my country, and in most European country. What is strange about health care for all? What is strange about gay marriage? What is strange about renewable energy?

But until the media consolidation is broken and the two party system is torn down, he will never get elected.

[rosetta627]

110. It was a media murder

They successfully conspired to keep him off the airwaves so that his progressive agenda wouldn't pollute the purity of the corrupt process.

If the other democratic candidates had any integrity they would have objected to the media selecting our candidates, but then Clinton and Edwards were recorded at a very early debate conspiring to exclude other candidates. So they got their way.

Kucinich is simply the most courageous and principled politician in congress.

[Individualist]

115. Precisely!

[defendandprotect]

138. The nation is much poorer today without the input from Kucinich + Edwards . . .

Many here still don't understand that --- !!!

[Desertrose]

143. Too damn many still hung up on the bs the media fed them

about unelectable, too far left,blah blah blah.


They're gonna get it...when its too damn late.

If its not already.


I am angry and sad to see such voices of truth silenced......fools.


They had a good man and they ridiculed him and shunned him...but he was only the first.

[defendandprotect]

147. IF . . . we didn't have the pressures of GW . .. in my opinion we would

finally win all of this --- we could beat the corporations ---

IMO, we have too little time ---

But . . . I'll keep hoping --- !!!

[Hydra]

102. I got the memo a lot of years ago

People have been trying to convince me that the memo didn't say what it did. It's clear that I read the memo correctly, while they were cruising on faith.

[pacalo]

106. It's been pre-determined before any candidacy announcements were made, imo.

Backroom deals between the two parties, who represent the corporations. The Rethugs had nothing but liabilities on their eager-to-run list, so a deal was made to give the Rethugs a handicap. The Democratic leaders leveled the playing field for the Rethugs by selecting a freshman senator, who happens to be African American & whose name sounds eerily similar to the names who the Bush administration has drummed into our heads want to do us harm.

I can't come to reasonable terms that the Democratic frontrunner with those characteristics got where he is by his ambition alone. He was handpicked. There are too many other more qualified, more experienced Democrats that would have been a shoo-in where the people -- the voters -- are concerned. But then, do the people really have a say in who gets elected at the voting booth?

John Edwards saw the handwriting on the wall. Or someone "convinced" him to drop out. Remember, he was in this 'til the end.

For the first time ever, I'm going to vote for someone who is no longer a certifiable candidate. If his name is on my ballot, I'm voting for Edwards. Enough is enough.

[DianaForRussFeingold]

107. Hold on a second

Complicity is not an option...

I made my choice and it's NOT an American idol or the status quo!

I'm voting for John Edwards, anyway!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

109. Yes, when even Edwards' relatively mild brand of populism is considered

poison by the media, we are screwed.

It's all a big charade from here on in.

[defendandprotect]

139. Well, it certainly gives a clear picture that the corporate-media's POISON

will be very potent --- !!!

Total control ---

They tried this at least once before --- if not more often ---
and they've been practicing for decades in Europe/Japan, etal to keep liberals out of
government.

They've used every bit of violence you can think of to dominate people all over the world ---
and it's OUR turn now --- !!!

[LibraLiz1973]

111. Error: You've already recommended that thread.

[amborin]

113. i do read the foreign press

the manchester guardian, for starters, a respectable left wing rag

fact is: you are perpetuating a baseless conspiracy theory

the media simply saw Edwards for what he was: an also ran with little traction

he bombed out big time as Kerry's VP candidate....while Kerry was being attacked, Edwards was mute, no where to be seen...VP candidates are supposed to come out swinging, but not pretty boy, he folded

Edwards is super thin on international affairs

one-term senator,with ho hum record

worked for a hedge fund and provided an embarrassingly lame reason for doing so (wanted to learn about the economy)

profited financially from one of his 'non-profit' help the poor organizations

constructs a 7 million dollar mansion on 100 clear cut acres

spent $400 on a haircut

added two more kids to the global over population boom, all the while expressing unease over global climate change

had pitifully little experience fighting political battles (sorry, suing corps for medical lawsuit plaintiffs does not qualify for much.....every tom,dick, and harry attorney is doing that, doesn't mean they're qualified to be prez)

doesn't walk his talk (the way Kucinich did.....e.g. .lives in beat out house in low SES area of Cleveland)

[defendandprotect]

140. The Chamber of Commerce $60 Million THREAT to Kuchinch + Edwards isn't . . .

a baseless conspiracy theory

Nor is the corporate-media's control over candidates --
and their interest in corporate agendas.

If you just simply heard Nixon's/Haldemann's comments long, long ago re Dick Cavett and the
damage he was doing to them and the efforts they were making to shut him up, get him off the stage, censor him .... you might have a clue on this.

[ClericJohnPreston]

114. This is

the only truth of this Election, CORPORATISM.

CORPORATISM underscores all events from the most benign appearing to the obvious cancers.

I have no faith in either party, to the extent that each is ruled by the same or similar corporate masters. The rest is bread and circuses for the masses from football to American Idol. Most people here are not discriminating enough to realize that they are being played like a harp. They get so caught up in the minutia of a campaign, they miss the larger picture of CONTEXT.

Anyone looking at events from ANY degree of historical perspective will see the hands of CORPORATISM gone wild in everything. Unfortunately, as the saying goes, "those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it".

Unless some widespread deprivation based insurrection takes place, we are in the hands of masters for the indefinite future.

The irony is that even those who will celebrate a victory, are already losers too.

[Yavapai]

134. Are you saying that the only way we will get a French style

medical system, is the way the French got it? By a French style revolution!

[defendandprotect]

142. I believe the American Revolution set off the revolutions around the world . . . didn't it ???

1789-1799 ---???

http://www.sparknotes.com/history/european/frenchrev/summary.html

Unfortunately, Feudalism was succeeded by Capitalism . . .


American Revolution . . .
1775-1783 ---


Russian Revolution . . .
1917 --- and perhaps a bit earlier one in 1905?

[bluescribbler]

117. I'm pissed too

:mad: :puke: :grr:

[Canuckistanian]

118. Yup, it was pretty obvious, wasn't it?

The corporate world feared Edwards' message.

And the American people never got to find out exactly WHAT that message was.

[liberal N proud]

119. No doubt

[toadzilla]

120. check. got it.

fuck....

[Phred42]

121. A year ago the MSM prediction was Hillary and McCAin

....and here we are

[bagrman]

122. (V)

[williesgirl]

124. I'm going to vote for him in VA primary 2/12. We all should to send them a message. rec'd

[Zorra]

125. Loud as clear and present danger. n/t

[Highway61]

127. I read this before

I went to work this afternoon. I am pissed and angry. I am afraid we are getting to the point that we have become somewhat a herd of cattle or sheep....powerless.
That being said, I do want to make a statement about the handful (maybe more) here on DU who have said some very negative comments as well as poked fun at Edwards and Dennis. I find these folks to be despicable and in my opinion do not belong on this board. Having an opinion is one thing but some of what I read is downright mean-spirited and slanderous. What we need is UNITY in the democratic party. When "they" see scathing remarks within a group and insults thrown amiss...it is precisely why they can get away with controlling the media (and just about everything else) the way they do.
And don't tell me it's an occasional freeper...there are far too many and I know most of you have seen the posts I am speaking about.
Just my opinion.

[FirstLight]

137. I wholeheartedly agree, Highway61

I am new to this type of political forum. John Edwards is the one who brought me out of my shell, so to speak because I felt I could get more info from groups like this than from the MSM.

I am shocked to see the petty name calling and meanness - people who HAVE to be RIGHT, no matter who they insult or how they insult them. I understand that someone here wil cry "free speech" but that doesn't give us the right to be abusive in our own party, even across party lines. if our goal is a true unity in the country, and "justice for all" then we have to stay on the clean and grownup side of debate.


Personally, I still have every intention of writing in John's name.
The other candidates have yet to convince me of anything - and their supporters have been really a turn off here as well.

IN RESPONSE TO THIS THREAD- IF we all agree that there is something "stinky" about this suspension (NOT withdrawal) then how can we investigate? can we unite here and draft an inquiry? If it's more than the MSM, and someone threatened him, shouldn't we be able to trace that somehow? I am naieve, I admit...but I ust think there has to be a way to find the leak...

Or am I just asking for the SS to come and take me in the night?

[Highway61]

163. Welcome to DU

:hi: Stay on board here, we need folks like you. :hug:

[Generic Brad]

128. So exactly which corporations are running the show?

The one I work for sure as hell isn't running the country.

[Ron Green]

130. Disney, Halliburton, GE, McDonalds, Time-Warner, Nike, Nestle, Chevron.....

one could go on and on. Collectively, they ARE the government. Any illusion of choice by ordinary persons among these players is just that - an illusion.

[defendandprotect]

144. And it doesn't belong to any corporate organizations, have interlocking

Boards of Directors --- ?

Maybe it's up for purchase --- ?

Or is it a non-profit?

[Generic Brad]

173. We're Fortune 500

I really don't think the people in charge of my company are illuminati or steering the country the direction they want to take it. They are just decent people trying to do the best job they can.

Not every large corporation is trying to run the world or is inherently evil. Some of them are just trying to make an honest buck and do right by their employees and their shareholders.

[pauldp]

131. I got the message in 2004. The M$M is the ENEMY of the people.

Even NPR sad to say. They didn't just drop the ball time after time. Forget trying to get them to cover a decent candidate, or the next Downing Street Memo, or the next Sibel Edmonds story, or the next explosive story about Neo Cons enabling Pakistan's nuclear black market.

They are the fucking ENEMY!! They are ACTIVELY WORKING AGAINST our best interests.

[eridani]

132. I got the message when Kucinich dropped out

It was reinforced with a vengeance today.

[Desertrose]

141. Got it when * was elected.....

Got it again w/Kucinich in '04 and again this time w/DK then JE....I am really sick of it.

I'm sick & tired of people who try to blow smoke up my butt saying a candidate is unelectable.

I'm sick of people thinking this primary is anything more than a political version of the latest reality show...about as "real" as one, too.

Makes me wonder what the hell its gonna take to wake people the hell up.

Welcome to the Corporate States of America.

OH yeah... don't forget to SHOP!!

[defendandprotect]

145. * was simply the NOISY election --- the computers were put in during the mid-1960's . . .

think about it . . .

[Desertrose]

148. Yeah, good point.

* was the one that actually got attention...the rest just quietly moved into the WH.

[McCamy Taylor]

149. We have known about this for years. So do something about it already.

[balantz]

152. Any suggestions?

I'm new to the rudeness of this awakening.

What on Earth can be done?

[McCamy Taylor]

150. And this isn't as scary as when they get us fighting each other. THAT is what they

really want. Right now we all know that the corporate media is a lying sack of shit. If Al Gore were to start up this news network he keeps talking about, tens of millions of Democrats would sign up for it, based upon what the BFL--the Big Fat Liar that is the MSM did to John Edwards.

A united angry Democratic Party with a martyred John Edwards is the last thing that the Republicans wanted. Pat Buchanan and Karl Rove are probably shaking their heads, wondering how did it all go so terribly wrong.

[gulfcoastliberal]

151. It's all rigged... (nt)

[John Q. Citizen]

154. They say it can't be won, the way the game is run. But if you choose to stay,

You wined up playing anyway.

[cornermouse]

155. If he's on the ballot, I'm checking his name.

If he isn't, I'm looking for a slot to write his name in. It's that simple.

[Tennessee Gal]

157. The message is damn nauseating.

Sick to my soul.

[subsuelo]

158. Anyone keeping an eye on Kucinich got the message awhile back

(ok anyone with half a brain of course)

[and-justice-for-all]

160. "the illusion of choice. " EXACTLY! nt

[MadHound]

161. Yep, welcome to the two party/same corporate master system of government

Each year these people become ever more obvious, yet surprisingly intelligent, rational people are blinded by the simple addition of D's behind the candidates' names.

[Tyler Durden]

162. Felt that way for YEARS now.

FUCK THE MESSAGE. I'm not some corporation's drone, and I'm sick of being treated like their cash cow.

In the distant background, the Marseilles and the Internationale are playing again.

Maybe. Just Maybe.

[a kennedy]

164. and I think a lot of shirt tail dems, repubs who are pissed at * ,

will now vote for mccain because they CAN'T vote for an African American or a Woman. :cry: :cry: :cry: I think it's going to be a very close race again between the dem and repub candidates.

[Joanne98]

166. I see the corporations as nothing less than a threat to the survival of the human race.

They've waged war on us!

[FATCATs]

167. Regardless, The Dems WILL Win

We will overcome these things. Have faith, work had and do not forget
that we are coming out in numbers never seen before.

Hunter S Thompson lamented after the 04’ election that “The little bastards let us down”
about the youth vote. We know now that they are coming out in droves.

Keep the faith brothers and sisters, The promised land is in sight, Don't be discouraged.:toast:

[Leopolds Ghost]

178. Five corporations

http://www.tsrocks.com/f/fugazi_texts/five_corporations.html

moves so slowly
grows so smoothly
takes so neatly
takes completely

it's as if they
belong and they've
been here all along

(this one's ours
lets take another)

check the math here
check in ten years

clusterfuck
theory

buy them up
and shut em down
then repeat
in every town

every town will
be the same
five corporations
there's a pattern

--Fugazi, "Five Corporations"