Mission Accomplished: America Is Fucked

[filkertom]

Three years ago Monday, an emotionally stunted, barely literate boy king, a man who has never succeeded at anything he's ever done but has always been bailed out by his family or friends, invaded a sovereign country under false pretenses.

We're still there.

We're not getting out any time soon.

We have enabled the incorrect fantasy of that country being a terrorist haven to come true because the people we invaded are so desperate to get us out that they will take any help they can get.

We have killed thousands of people and maimed tens of thousands of people.

We have lost thousands of people. Tens of thousands of our people have been maimed.

We have filled secret prisons and tortured the people in them.

We have bankrupted the treasury, broken the military, and destroyed our good name around the world.

We have squashed dissent at every turn.

The punditry, deeply beholden to the puppet masters running the country, still cries out over TV how beloved the boy king and his policies are, even though the people know the truth. More than half want him to be censured. Almost half want him to be impeached. But the press, an enemy almost as vile as the boy king and his minions, refuses to go after him, because they are socially, politically, and especially financially in his back pocket.

Awhile back I wrote a big, long, scathing diatribe about how, if you support and protect those who do evil, you are yourself evil.

I would say nothing has changed, but something has.

It's gotten worse.

We must take our country back.

Besides the obvious of winning back the House and/or Senate in the fall, what else should we do right now?

Comments

[emiofbrie.livejournal.com]

Revolution....by those who have the means...

The only problem is that currently most of those who have the means are Bush *supporters* :(

[popefelix.livejournal.com]

Revolution? That word has come to mean a variety of things over the years, so precisely what do you mean by that?

[emiofbrie.livejournal.com]

we need another 1776

[pocketnaomi.livejournal.com]

While I agree that the press is not going after him, I don't see them trying to claim he's popular. Every couple of weeks there's a headline talking about how much further his popularity has gone downhill.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Go to http://www.mediamatters.org. On second thought, don't -- it'll jack your blood pressure up at least twenty points.

[omimouse.livejournal.com]

If it keeps going in this direction, chances are high that there will be an armed revolution, out of sheer desperation. That, and survival instinct. The Far Right is rather fond of advocating death for anybody that they don't like.

To keep it from getting that far, we need to start at the roots. Local office first, then work our way up. Grass-roots. Get folks involved in what's going on. Pay attention to the national level, yes, but don't forget about what's going on in your home town or county. Get involved, get out there, and try to get other folks involved too. Don't shut up; don't let them shut you up. If it comes down to it, peaceful civil disobedience on a large scale worked for getting attention for a cause at one point.

[ericthemage.livejournal.com]

If it keeps going in this direction, chances are high that there will be an armed revolution, out of sheer desperation.

Not likely. Too many people think that the next guy, from the other side, will save them. Things will calm for a while.

[wookiee71.livejournal.com]

Definitely a grass-roots uprising, where the truly dedicated and less fervent to specific notions and causes are elevated to the forefront specifically to uphold only those notions and causes.

Introduce stronger checks and balances for those who go beyond their stations, work with those they shouldn't or uphold things that are not relevant or are beyond the position they hold. Make the punishments for breaking their oaths to office much more effective and disallow *anyone* from being excused from being put to task for their misdeeds. We can't have those in charge parlaying and excusing others who conducted mischievous actions, hoping to sweep the whole thing under the rug.

We need to trust our government again. We need to know that there isn't so many nationally kept secrets and hidden agendas, specifically to serve causes we know little of and we need those who violate their office with those causes and agendas to face the truth for their actions.

We need to keep the rich out of the offices and from buying members of government for their own support. The rich are the ones who benefit most from governmental changes, as long as they control the change, and that basically puts them in control of the company. Government needs to return to the people, by the people and for the people. Not for just these people over here and not for those people over there.

[kshandra]

Print this.

Send it to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

[james-rayner.livejournal.com]

You know, for every person who starts to scream revolution, I simply shake my head with a sigh. Armed revolution wont work here. Too many conflicting elements, and if YOU want to be the one responsible for spilling american blood on American Soil, then you will quickly be labeled the "American Taliban" and a Terrorist And the entire cause is already lost. I have no intention of sacraficing everything. The Kent State students learned it the hard way. The Confederacy learned it the hard way. Bullets dont change politics in America unless you're going to do assassinations.

A House Divided against itself CANNOT Stand. I still believe ol' Honest Abe and his wise words on the subject. He should have known, given what he was presiding over.


You want to change everything? Get the Moderate Repbulicans and conservatives to come join the good fight. Put down your differences, Stop bitching about the details and admit there are bigger things at stake here than a few social issues. You wanna take back the country? You can only do it with -their- Help. We dont have the numbers, the intelligence, or the candidates to do it otherwise. In order to win, you're going to need the conservative south. The little states. The ones that always seem to add up to repub victories. Send up the Truce Flag, Kick the extremist liberal Socialists out, Have them kick out the Fundies, declare Bi-Partisian co-operation and you'll have everything you need.

Hillary has buried herself. Get Clark and Obama in there to do damage control for the whitehouse. Tell Teddie Kennedy to take a long walk off a short beer stein.

We can win this. But we cant do it ourselves. We cant do it with bullets. You try that, you're becoming no better than our enemies.

[popefelix.livejournal.com]

Hear, hear!

[hiddenkrypt.livejournal.com]

right on.

[nomaddervish.livejournal.com]

We cant do it with bullets. You try that, you're becoming no better than our enemies.

Although I agree that violence would almost certainly be futile today, I reject the claim that violence automatically makes you wrong. The American Revolution was an armed revolt, after all.

[emiofbrie.livejournal.com]

The original revolutionaries of 1776 were considered like terrorists to the British as well....the stigma didn't stop them, why should it stop a new group?

And you know the Kent State students were unarmed and just gathering in protest, right? Please tell me they haven't revised the story to say the kids were armed. That event was still considered recent history when I was a kid.

And "A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand" -- that's the whole point, to tear down that "house" and build a new one!

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

Get out in front of the planned invasion of Iran, and preclude it. I don't know how it can be done, but the invasion, planned for right around the midterm elections (thus reinforcing the FUD policies of this Administration, as well as allowing them to trumpet "War Presidency" some more) would be a disaster.

I'm open to ideas, beyond writing to and calling one's Congresscritters and Senators.

[tigertoy.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, in Iran, unlike in Iraq, we actually have a terrorist government that is actively trying to develop nuclear weapons to use on us. I don't want Bush to use attacking Iran as another political excuse to prop up his administration, but I also don't want to see the left to stop us from doing anything about Iran and eat the blame when we get nuked.

[patoadam]

If the American people understood how the invasion of Iraq has benefited terrorism around the world, they would vote Bush and his supporters out on their asses.

Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda were enemies of each other, because al Qaeda believes in rule by the clergy according to holy Islamic law (Shari'a), whereas Saddam Hussein believed in rule by Saddam Hussein according to secular law. Saddam's police state did a wonderful job of keeping terrorists out of Iraq. At the time we invaded, there was exactly one terrorist camp in Iraq, in an area that S.H. did not control. The S.H. regime was not itself a terrorist threat; the last time the S.H. regime had attempted a terrorist act against the U.S. was 1993.

Our invasion of Iraq has fueled anti-American sentiment throughout the Muslim world, leading to electoral gains for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, unrest in Pakistan, and the election of a theocratic president in Iran who wants to wipe Israel off the map and is developing nuclear power, and possibly nuclear weapons, as fast as he can.

References:
Against All Enemies, by Richard Clarke, who was the top expert on terrorism during Bush's first term; and
Squandered Victory by Larry Diamond, who was appointed by Condoleezza Rice to assist in the reconstruction of Iraq.

Re: Wellstoned?

[magicaltrevor.livejournal.com]

I'm going to refer first to the, er, extensive debate at the top of the replies. Then we'll get to my opinion. I have plenty of them, and I'm willing to share :)

Okay, I'm not a big fan of conspiracy theories. But what I'm seeing up there is bitchy bloggers bitching on a blog at another bitchy blogger for bitching on blogs. (Try saying that ten times fast). Basically, I've seen a lot of liberals lately trying to prove their superiority over other liberals. This saddens me.

Everyone's got valid points; I sincerely doubt anyone should feel the need to prove themselves here. Instead of asking aomeone who's anti-Bush to prove him/herself, why not take a moment to ask a Bush-supporter to prove him/herself? It is not one another for whom we should be feeling disdain, nor is it one another at whom we should be taking aim. (If that sentence was grammatically correct, then I'm a potato).

It is safer to take our anger and frustration out on our fellow liberals, who are always up for debate and are never frustratingly short of outrage. They don't laugh nervously or change the subject when you start a fight. But don't let's get divided. I' got a better idea, if we just think past our own faults for a moment.

During a time in which many of us are considering severe government overhaul with differing levels of seriousness, we must first consider our surrounding populus. We cannot ethically make decisions against which our fellow population reflexively rails, nor can we haphazardly make decisions which they do not understand.

I agree very much with the statements in the above argument referring to education. The masterminding (is that a word?) of the "conservative coup" perpetrated on this nation was at once insidious and ingenious. See, it's not bad people who are the enemy. It's regular people, and their confusion and misunderstanding. Your homophobic parents. Your anti-choice sibling. Your sexist co-worker. Your racist friend. People whom you love but for their slight intolerance. People whose faults we selectively ignore, while at the same time professing to hate the same traits in our media and in our politicians.

It's not about forcing Fox News to level with us. It's about the false sense of the general populus that their way of thinking is "default"; that no one within earshot would contradict them, that everyone thinks this way. So it's not about catering to the middle ground. They are catered to enough already, and that, my friends, is the root of the problem.

So it's not about keeping your mouth shut and making sure people like the liberals. People don't even think about the liberals. It's about telling your racist friend you will not tolerate the n-word in your presence. It's about telling your co-worker you don't find the new girl's cleavage an acceptable conversation topic. It's about telling your sister that you feel that calling the twelve-year-old incest victim who wants an abortion a "slut" is cruel and judgemental. It's about telling your parents that your gay friend is a human being, and when they speak to you about him, they will speak about him with respect.

It's about being visible and on-call to defend your political views, even if it's against the wishes of those you love, even if it creates awkward social situations, even if makes someone feel ashamed at his or her own bigotry. Being liberal in this country has been reduced to being not acceptable in conversation; a shameful burden to be hidden and avoided in polite company. How, then, are our views to be visible enough even to be considered as an option?

Speak up in class, at work, around the table. Don't allow hate speech in your space. Send the message that you are outraged, and that it's okay. We do not belong in the American society, according to most of the population, who find our ways "un-American". But what are we, then, if not Amercians, for surely we would not be so concerned with the politics of this country if we were not its citizens? We are American, and our identity as American, even if not necessarily mainstream, is legitimate. The formation, therefore, of a visible liberal identity is crucial.

Re: Wellstoned?

[james-rayner.livejournal.com]

Hear, freakin, hear. Amen, my brotha.

[palenoue.livejournal.com]

Yes, there are thousands of reasons to topple the Bush regime, but how to do it? I don't see how any single strategy could work, we'd need a multi-pronged approach.

1) information. Sure, there's thousands of reasons for a serious change in the way things work, but how many do you know? How many facts can you rattle off the top of your head? Become an expert in Iraq but ignorant of global warming and you'll lose half your audience. Best thing to do on this score is to start an easily accessed, easily searchable database, _with_ discussions, and use those discussions to provide more facts. Dealing with a disagreement (or ignorance) there will prepare you for later challenges.

2) boycott and endorse. Yes, us trying to boycott Exxon is futile, but Exxon can't bankroll everything. Organize a list of smaller businesses (or corporations that live and die on public relations) that advertise on Fox news, or buy commercial time on Rush or even Clear Network. Even if you could pressure 25% into pulling their ads, that's a big blow to their revenue. On the flip side, support places that tell the truth. If a local newspaper prints headlines about Bush falling in polls, then honestly explains why, either subscribe or take out a small ad. Use the coupons from that paper, which will promote more businesses to place big ads there.

3) keep fighting locally. Yes, there are a lot of big nasty people running things now, but most of them started small, and usually only suceeded because locals didn't know they were scumbags. Actively campaign against any city official that wasn't intelligent design taught in school, support any candidate that wants to toughen environmental zoning or wants to keep Wal-Mart out. If there's nobody to support, then either run yourself or find someone who will. And don't be afraid to support someone outside your area. There are a few organizations I've seen who are calling for donations for people who are running for congress against republicans in several states. If you've already got a democrat, or it's totally obvious the republicans are going to win, then help replace a republican elsewhere.

4) keep the debate alive. If you read a newspaper article that's wrong, or an editorial that's misrepresenting the facts, then write in to complain and set the record straight. If they continue to skew the facts and ignore public feedback, take them to court. More than a few TV/radio stations owned by big media conglomerates have been toppled because of this, and newspapers have been sued before for distorting the news. If someone repeats a Bush lie, correct them, usually the best way is to challenge their info. I've found that when someone says "They found WMDs in Iraq" just saying "Where? The pentagon admitted last year that they couldn't find anything even remotely associated with a WMD. Where did you read this? Where did they say they found it? What were their sources?" 9 times out of 10 they'll shut up, and that 10th time they usually respond in such a way as to make everyone listening know they're clueless. Of course, if that person is your boss you'll probably end up unemployed.

[emiofbrie.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, it has been ruled in Federal Court that the media does have the right to lie. They are not legally bound to tell the truth, and according to the decision, they never were.

Because of that precedent, a media con-huge-co can no longer be sued for lying.

[palenoue.livejournal.com]

Ran out of room, here's the second half of my rant.

5) write letters, sign petitions, wave signs, whatever you can to add your voice. You may think that signing an on-line petition is meaningless, but if enough people do it then it makes a difference. it gives the people your supporting something to wave around and prove that the people are behind them. Our representatives need to know what they're representing, and if they ignore the outcry, then they'll be easier targets to topple.

6) try to formulate a plan. Sure, you want Bush out, but what then? Okay, let's say you manage to get half of the corrupt republicans in court for their crimes, but how are you going to prevent it from happening again? You need to get a plan, or find a group with a plan, and discuss it, argue about it, get offended by a small part of it even, and work on it until you have something feasable. For instance, one person here said "Prevent rich people from getting into office." That's like saying "No minorities in office" or any other such bias slogan. There are plenty of rich people who are against Bush, who are against tax cuts for them while strangling social services, and there are many who supported the republicans in the past but are disgusted by Bush's drunken orgy of throwing money away. Now after much debate, arguing and heated name calling, you might come up with a better rule, such as "only public funds can be spent on campaigns" and/or "no office holder, or their staff, can be involved in legislations that directly affects their private business concerns."

7) have some patience. The republicans worked hard to corrupt the system to this extent. They started long ago, putting obviously right wing and corrupt judges in smaller courts so 10-20 years later they could be promoted to the big courts. They slowly stocked partisan hacks into positions in lower management so a decade later they'ed have a stranglehold on the various departments and could hire/promote like-minded people (just ask anyone who worked for NASA over the years). And the democrats are almost as bad, they've practically institutionalized the losing mentality so badly not even Dean can get them to take a stand. So you've got to keep in mind this isn't going to be easy, or quick, but as long as you keep at it it will grow. Rove & company still believe they can lie all they want and get away with it, but they forget it builds up. Screw over 1% of the population with each fiasco and before long half the country sees them as the arrogant incompetents they really are. The same works in reverse, keep doing little activisms and before long it will influence a large number of people.

8) institutionalize the Silly Hat rule. I'm serious! It works! it's been my observation that the pricks who cause the most damage (Cheney, Rove, DeLay, Frist, etc) are so full of themselves they _have_ to look powerful all the time (these are the people who create tortuous dress codes, after all) Impliment a law that states in order to present a bill or call for a closed door session or to even debate altering the freedoms of the constitution, regardless of the current crisis, they must wear a silly hat. They won't do it. They _can't_ do it. They'd view it as showing a sign of weakness. Meanwhile, those who can bring themselves to wear a silly hat while discussing serious fiscal resoloutions will be reminded that, even though they're head of the house budget committee and fifth in line to the presidency, they're still standing there on national television wearing a fluffy pink bonnet with brightly colored hummingbirds on springs bouncing around the rim. Keeps their ego in check. I've seen things like this work numerous times, and the results are always the same.

9) and finally, when you're part of an organization with lots of money, strongly suggest they hire someone to write protest songs, lyrical ditties to chant while getting out the vote, and memorable tunes to hum while writing letters to representatives. And when they say, "Good idea, but who could we hire to write such music?' you just grin and slip them Tom Smith compilation CD ;-)

Ready, aim, sing!

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

Shame the devil--it's amazing how many people don't know, and the more we can reach, the better. I suspect the basic reasons Bush has lost popularity are: (1) we're losing the war in Iraq and (2) the job market is doing poorly. The first is entirely the Bush administration's fault; the second...isn't, but many people blame them for it anyway.

And tell the story in a particular way: most people will want to hear positives; they want to believe in the good of god before shaming the devil does any good. (This from a non-religious man, but it's true.) The biggest positives, I think, are the genuine improvements in society in the last three generations, mostly supported by the Democrats and opposed by the Republicans. This is of course a vast over-simplification, but we don't have to say that--it's campaigning; we get to make our own case. It is important to keep to the truth; while we're singing the true praises of the Democrats, we can also sing the true failures of the Republicans.

As Cornwallis observed on the loss of the American colonies, "There is a great deal of ruin in a nation." We aren't going to turn the USA into a utopia anytime soon. On the other hand, we aren't bankrupt, though we are spending profigately. Our freedoms have been dented but are still mostly intact. Running secret prisons and fighting wars for no good reason is awful, but after all not new--I hate it, and it's doing us more harm than previously, but the USA has done it before and survived. The reality is we've had a century of improvement behind us, despite all fears and horrors. So tell people what we can ask for and tell them to ask for it. The more people we can reach, the better.

I would like to talk about more immediate things to do, but I fear all else is long-term. Maybe one thing: let's hold the Democrats feet to the fire--remind them to take the side of their public. This is partly their failure and I would like to get them off their butts and moving.

"Freedom road, is a long haul/But it's worth the ride/Even if you never get there at all!"

Re: Ready, aim, sing!

[emiofbrie.livejournal.com]

Well, the second is the fault of neo-conservatism as a whole, where the bottom line is more important than anythign else.

For example, would Wal-Mart still make money by hiring garment-makers from the USA? Hell yeah, but not *as much*, and that's the problem. these corporate types want more profit and more profit so they can line their own pockets more...after all, it just wouldn't do for the CEO if Wal-Mart to NOT have the private jet, 100-foot yacht, and jewel-encrusted mansion -.- basically, they want more profit so they can simply appear more powerful and richer-than-thou, even though they would be able to get along JUST FINE with lesser profit, but "OMG" they'd have to live like standard upper-class instead of high-class elite! -.- And to increase profit, they have to pay their workers less, and if the floor of minimum wage stops them, no matter, just hire overseas so they can pay less... -.-

And the neo-cons keep passing more laws, or keep other bills from passing, to let them get away with this shit

This is why the neo-cons (of which the Bush admin is a HUGE part of) are responsible for the job market being poor.

[nagasvoice.livejournal.com]

Posted some ideas on your later entry.
Thanks for speaking up, for getting folks to think about effective things to do besides writing it all off and allowing everybody's grandchildren to live like the whole world is Darfur.
We better get our act together pretty quick. I think the environmental conseqences could easily overwhelm out fragile system, and then the political interest rate we've earned in the world is going to come due with a big, big vengeance.