I need an upper thread. Reasons for hope, please. Bleever and others?

[Amaryllis]

The nuclear option thing and what it means for election reform is getting to me.

Please post all the reasons you can think of to be hopeful, and post the ways we are making progress, and anything else encouraging.

[EFerrari]

1. Hey, I bleeve, Amaryllis

We're still here.

[SteppingRazor]

2. Hmm... lemme think...

Nah, I got nuthin'. I've been fairly certain we're all doomed for quite some time now, what with election stealing, the loss of civil rights and what not. Even when the good fight is a loser, though, it is still, after all, the good fight. Even when you're not going to win, do the right thing because it's the right thing to do.

And like Studs Terkel said, "Hope dies last."

And like Hunter Thompson said, "Bush is a raving human sacrifice."

[helderheid]

3. You aren't alone

We're the majority. Smile. :);):D:toast::hi::hug::grouphug::pals::patriot:

[EFerrari]

4. Okay, I'll hijack this thread.

Andy's surgery date has been moved up to tomorrow. And although today he's not feeling very well and has to fast and although after the thing, he'll be in considerable pain, YOU ALL made that possible.

So, I'm kicking this thread for Andy, because he needs our thoughts, prayers and wishes and because we need him back to work.

Kick for Andy.

:kick:

/spillin'

[Amaryllis]

6. What forum will have the update thread on how he's doing tomorrow? I

assume you will post one? Can you put a link in here to the main thread so we know where it is?

[EFerrari]

8. Sure. GD when Skinner gives the go ahead.

Skinner has all the docs he needs. And after he can verify, I assume we can post a thread. Too bad because Andy could use some support today.

Thanks for asking.

[Amaryllis]

9. You mean verify that Andy has had the surgery? WHat does Skinner need

to verify? Are you referring to all the bruhaha about whether the surgery was legit? I thought that was all cleared up?

[EFerrari]

10. I think we better leave that one alone or I'll get your thread locked nt

[FogerRox]

12. self delete

hmm opps

[FogerRox]

13. Thats great I talked to him monday and he said the 1st

so this is a week ahead--of that date great.
----------------------------------
heres my upper thread
Its about the Kids-----

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x372210

[shifting_sands]

5. Nu-cler Option

I think if I hear that phrase one more time I will go screaming into the night.

While the confirmation of the three "god awful" judges are a down, it keeps the door open for other judges and the Supreme Court. Bush has to come to the Senate and if he shuts out the Dems he puts the situation into the "unusual case." This keeps one part of the Constitution alive because without saving the filibuster the GOP majority can slam anything they want through including Social Security and a complete gutting of the "New Deal" plus more. The filibuster option covers more than judges. In time if the judges prove as bad as we think, an entire court can be removed and then there would be no need for those judges at all. A new court can be re-formed and a new President can reappoint. We will have to see about the Supreme Court.

The other good thing is part of the base of the GOP considers this a loss just as the far left considers it a loss. The left has had a lot of losses, the right has not. This weakens their mystique and the mystique of Bush, as have many things have weakened it the last few months, and it's not over.

This is a good thing in the long run

[blue4barb]

7. When I'm feeling down about election fraud, I try to think of people

like John Conyers who is really trying to get the truth out about elction fraud and so many other issues that this admin is lying about, covering up. Barbara Boxer is another one that eases my mind.

I also listened to Clint Curtis on bradblog raw radio and know there are possibilities out there for the truth to come forward.

And I play a Bruce Springstein song.

[kster]

11. I'll bite

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1806515

[Peace Patriot]

14. Nelson Mandela spent 30 years in prison--and lived to be set free, and

to become the first black president of South Africa.

So, we can hang in there a bit, too--and keep a steady pace, and keep believing in democracy, and be heartened by the 62+ million Americans who saw through all the B.S., and voted the Bush Cartel out, and the nearly 60% of Americans who still oppose the Iraq war, as they did before the invasion, and the 63% of Americans who oppose the torture of prisoners UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES--no scaredy-cats they, easily spooked by Bush boogieman.

This is a people worthy of our hard work and of our idealism. We need to help this progressive majority get its will enforced. Inform them. Help them find the solutions. They are feeling helpless and powerless--and they don't even yet know what is wrong.

And remember those who went before us, who faced intolerable oppression, and worked for change against overwhelming odds. Remember them. Honor them. Live up to their shining examples of courage and patience and abiding faith in human progress.

We are at the heart of darkness now for a reason. Our votes as American citizens are extremely valuable. They are the key to a better 21st century. We hold the potential power to reign in global piracy, to promote workers' rights and justice for the poor, and to save our planetary environment from predatory capitalism. That's why they took our right to vote away. They know that the majority of Americans want peace and justice, and are generous, tolerant, progressive people, who will vote for these higher values against the interests of the greedy and the war-makers. We are at the center of power for the war-makers and the greedy. We, and we alone, can reign them in. That's why they must thwart the will of the majority in this country.

Bear that in mind. This is the most important struggle for democracy ever to take place--right here within the birthplace of modern democracy, the U.S. of A.

And we election fraud/election reform activists are at the leading edge of this struggle. It may go on for generations--as did the struggles for black civil rights and women's rights. We may lose this year and next year and for years to come. But one thing we can say for ourselves is this: We did not let it die here. We kept the dream of democracy alive.

What happens in Congress is irrelevant. It can all be undone by an empowered, democratic people. That's what we must work for. Day to day. Step by step.

Whatever the Bush Cartel does is not representative of the majority in any respect. They are a junta. They do not have the consent of the governed--as has been made overwhelmingly clear by numerous opinion polls over a long period of time, and most especially today, and as is made clear by the overwhelming evidence of election fraud.

We have no control over what they do--we have no say in it. We have to concentrate on our main lever of power--our vote--and work diligently to get it back, as long as there is any chance of doing so. And we do have hope of that, at the state/local level.

Take a break, Amaryllis! Even just a little one. Renew yourself. Don't let the height of the mountain defeat you. One step at a time. A collective effort, toward the rebirth of American democracy.

[Melissa G]

15. Amaryllis. You Love, are a reason for hope! That you show up at

this forum almost every day fighting for the cause, spreading the news, and Never Giving Up is another handful of pebbles, dug from under the Boulders.... that is gonna cause an avalanche that will sweep the Neocons away!:loveya: We, are a whole lot more of you doing the same thing... Avalanche coming soon..:popcorn:

[MelissaB]

16. Here is encouraging news.

Dems must be talking about impeachment.

"Conyers says some have called upon him to push for impeachment, but he avoided the term in conversation with RAW STORY. The congressman was a member of the Judiciary Committee in its 1974 hearings on the Nixon’s impeachment; he suggested that details of the Iraq deal might trickle out as they did with Watergate under President Nixon."

Link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x372264

It at least means some discussion has occurred.

[denese]

17. Reasons to hope

Even though I sometimes think hope is a silly thing to have, things being the way they are, I still do hope with all my heart that one day we will have justice.
I hope because I love my children and all the children of the world really. And to give up on hope would be a crime against them.
When hope for a better tomorrow is all you have, you would be wise to hold on to it. Tightly.
When you can't just remember there are lots of other people out here, still hoping. And we all have days when we find it difficult to hope.
If we give up, they win.
That's a very good reason to hope.
Denese

[snot]

18. "For I hope"

That is the meaning of the name, Prospero--the central, magician figure at the heart of Shakespeare's last play, The Tempest.

Because we cannot afford to give up. And the most magnificent accomplishments do usually require sustained, coordinated effort. (This is not to say we should not be considering Plan B's.)

Because all that is necessary for the bad to prevail, is for the good to do nothing.

Because we've got nothing better to do than to try to make the world better.

[Carolab]

19. I'm making progress with my state legislature.

How's that?

[Fly by night]

24. Likewise here in Tennessee ...

Yesterday, a Republi-Nazi effort to prevent any more voting rights legislation from being considered here in Tennessee until 2007 was soundly defeated on a 3-to-1 vote, with some Republicans voting against the motion also. We even had legislators using arguments that we had shared with them over the past few weeks.

We also had a Republican-owned paper (in Chattanooga) cover our presentation on VVPB and MRMR to the legislature last week, which was quite a surprise. Those incremental steps have really made our day here in the Orange State.

[Carolab]

26. Excellent, fly!

I have forwarded some of your comments on MRMR on to mine as well.

[Peace Patriot]

20. "...our ongoing national election scandal." --John Conyers

kster posted a link to this yesterday--discussion at...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x372266

John Conyers praises Bradblog, Raw Story and Air America for their coverage of "our ongoing national election scandal" in his opening statement for his forum on "Media Bias and Freedom of the Press" yesterday (5/24/05). See paragraph 4. He says he himself learned of the Bush/Blair "smoking gun" Iraq memo (the Downing Street memo) at Daily Kos (making the point that the news monopolies buried it). Although he doesn't credit DU (boo-hoo) on election fraud (and I also wish he had mentioned FreePress.org), I am profoundly impressed with the man's grasp of the two essentials of freedom--transparent elections and a free press--and how imperiled they both are right now.

His analysis deserves widespread quotation and praise--and is reason for hope. We are blest with this brilliant, lion-hearted champion in the halls of power!

Here are some key paragraphs of his statement on the media:

-----

"In the lead up to the Iraq war, every minor leak supporting the Administration's contention that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction was trumpeted on page one. Stories challenging these assertions and discussing the final reports of weapons inspectors concluding there were no such weapons, however, were banished to a few paragraphs in the middle of dailies. Such incidents have become the rule, not the exception, during the Bush Administration, particularly after 9/11 and in the face of a massive consolidation in media ownership.

"Can you imagine the media uproar ten years ago if the Clinton White House had given a fake journalist operating under a fake name unlimited access to the White House? Does anyone think for a minute that the Washington Times would have ignored stories about paid propaganda coming out of the Clinton Education Department, or if a Democratic Secretary of State had turned tens of thousands of Republicans away at the polls in a critical swing state?

"Would most of the major papers have buried stories detailing secret agreements to invade Iraq, billions of dollars in missing reconstruction funds, or fantasy war stories spun by the Defense Department if a Democrat were responsible? Consider what Bob Novak or Bill O'Reilly would have said if Mike McCurry had browbeaten them about their use of anonymous sources, or the Secretary of Defense had warned the press to 'be careful what you say' as Donald Rumsfeld had done. You know the answer as well as I do.

"There are a few alternative sources willing to speak truth to power. I first learned about the now infamous Downing Street Memo on Daily Kos. Bradblog, Raw Story and Air America have been at the forefront of our ongoing national election scandal. But these voices are too few and too diffuse to overcome the blatant biases of our cable channels and the negligence and neglect of our major newspapers.

"Thomas Jefferson wrote 'our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.' Let me remind those in the media, by failing to exercise your rights and duties to challenge authority, you risk losing not only your integrity, but the nation's trust and respect...."

http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00001414.htm

[Peace Patriot]

21. Amaryllis, I've been meaning to ask you...

You said, "The nuclear option thing and what it means for election reform..." Could you explain you think it means for election reform?

[Amaryllis]

27. If the courts are loaded with judges who take the side of corporations,

what does that mean for cases such as Arnebeck's and Land Shark's?

[AtLiberty]

22. Here's an upper...

Five minutes ago I received an e-mail from someone I've never met who lives in the area thanking me for fighting for election reform and her liberties.

That'll sustain me for at least two weeks -- ;)

[autorank]

23. We're right, we have the facts, much smaller movements have

succeeded with much less, we're not giving up, we're not going anywhere, we make converts when we just get a chance to state a little of our case, the American public is disposed to believe this (they know who the crooks are), and my favorite, "management" will use our truths when it comes time for * to go because he's just to damn dangerous (which will be soon).

The Senate compromise was like the compromises before the Civil War, it won't last long. The * will hit the fan, the Democrats will have to stand up, and the fight will be on.

It will be exciting and we'll win.

[merh]

25. Believe in the power of DU

Andy is having his surgery right now. We helped make it happen with our love and generosity. :grouphug:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3724871

:patriot: I DU Believe :patriot:

[Doohickie]

28. I personally think the Dems messed up

on the nuclear option compromise. I think they should have let the Repubs paint themselves into a corner and forced their hand. In the end, I honestly believe several moderates would have abandoned the right wing and voted against ending the filibuster. That would have forced a splintering of the united Repub front and exposed the cracks in the party (and believe me, the cracks are there). The upper hand is swinging away from the Repubs and I think the Dems need to exploit this. Maybe they are being too conservative in their estimates of power; maybe they'll go for the jugular next time.

[snot]

29. Quote for the day

(found on Voters Unite site):

"The most common way people give up their power
is by thinking they don't have any." ~ Alice Walker

[Amaryllis]

30. THANKS, Guys. Many of you have posted things that made me smile!