Quick note to banjoman: Those polls and surveys have been taken, and American troops are overwhelmingly opposed to what is happening in Iraq, to Bush's plans to spread the war into Iran, not the mention the disgraceful way our own government essentially discards soldiers when it is through with using them.

Most of America's poor are white, yet we talk only about the black poor. I read that most of us think our own poverty isn't really "that bad"; it is. Maybe if we also believe that poverty is confined to black urban areas, it makes it seem much smaller, less threatening. If we can believe that poverty is a racial, not economic issue, then we can conclude that they are poor as a matter of choice or "culture". We can believe that it couldn't happen to us, and we'll feel no obligation to care, much less help.

The rural poor outnumber the urban poor, but we almost never acknowledge them. Before President Clinton defunded welfare and eliminated programs, the rural poor received the lowest allotments (allotments varied between counties, not just between states) and few had access to education, job skills training, child care and other services vital to working one's way out of poverty. They rarely had the money or means to move. Stringent time limits were put on aid, regardless of circumstances. People still don't have access to jobs or child care, can't afford to move, can't afford a car (or gas). They're stranded. They aren't "moved from welfare to work", as Obama likes to recite; they are simply written off the rolls when they reach the time limit, dumped, without any options.

My point here that poverty is an economic, not a racial, issue. Ir is also a result of the draconian social policies that have evolved since 1980. We can't address poverty, much less find solutions, until we know who is poor, why they are poor, and what they need to be able to work their way out of poverty. That isn't going to happen as long as we restrict the discussion to the urban black poor.

Then again, I suppose we need to keep the poor divided to prevent a critical examination of modern US poverty. Much more importantly, the last thing we want is for the poor masses, regardless of color, to unite, demanding social justice (fair wages, equal treatment under the law, etc.) and fundamental human rights! It would be like the 60's, with thousands marching in the streets to demand equal civil and human rights.

Listen workreno,
If you've ever watched shows like FSTV, you should know these people love to take a vet who may be a bit disgruntaled like you for some reason and showcase him, only to solidify their agenda. You're being used; that's what it earned you! I hope you stop and think what all YOUR brothers in arms are going through right now, so YOU can post YOUR messages here.
Take a poll; ask how many of these bleeding hearts are veterans of our military. I'm afraid you'll find out that you and I are in a very miniscule club when it comes to this place. I'm just looking out for you, buddy. Time to wise up.
Go to Lejune or Pendalton----start talking this stuff there and see how far you get. I served with many fine Marines...Were you discharged under less than honorable conditions? Huh? Something's up with you, Marine, that's for sure. Semper Fi

Banjoman
I'm a 45 year old Marine veteran but what in the hell does that have to do with anything?

What did it earn me?

The right to put up with ignorance like yours?

It's a small world and a navy man should know that there is no where to hide.

Mr. Banjoman - Please do not judge Amy by the color of her hair, but by the content of her commentary.

Just a quick aside to address brontoburger and his (her?)critics. Planned Parenthood's mission of family planning help was a godsend to poor women in the days when birth control information and assistance was verboten. However, like everything else in this country, it was sometimes tainted by Population Council type eugenic ideology. It was a mostly positive, but mixed, bag. Unethical experiments were carried out on women receiving free family planning help in poor neighborhoods. I know because I was an unlucky participant in one such study.

But Mr. burger, can you not repeat the same posting over and over again.

Oh by the way Amy, this has nothing to do with this article, but equally important. I've seen you on FSTV, and like it or not, TV is a 'visual' kind of thing. You'd come across ALOT better if you took a bit more time on your 'appearance'. A little makeup, i.e., eye liner and mascara for example, would make you seem a bit more 'appealing' to your viewers. Right now you come across as one of these 'man-hating' females who are mad at the world and don't care about their appearance. I'm sure you don't watch FOX news to overly often, but try turning it on and see how their female journalists present themselves. Just trying to help you out, Amy. Don't get mad; just try it.

I'm really getting a little sick and tired of all these 'America Haters'. Sure, this country has it's problems, but I cannot think of any other place I'd want to live. I'm a 50 year old Navy veteran. There still is no fence to keep you loons in. Time to grow up…oh…you're STILL living here? I'm sure France will take you!! If you can read this, thank a teacher; if you're reading it in English, thank a veteran!

Enn
I just returned from a trip.Thanks for the link and your opinions.
The McCain add seems a little out of place.
Peace to all..and quit buying all the bullshit your government and MSM keep peddling.

@ Willameon - That's a good poem. If you have a website as a poet/writer (and they're easy to get) go to Free Articulator.com, read the Peace March 20 article, download the banner, link and send an email as requested. That's the sort of work can change minds and bring Peace.

@Mainstay - thanks again, what you say carries great weight with me.

Hierarchical positioning sounds like an interesting term and I pretty much agree if I understand the concept. I'm more for building consensus. However, I think the American Mythology concept is a valid one and a good tool to use to break through the Apple Pie Mentality that holds the corruption of America in place. Crack that pie and the rest will begin to sort itself out. ("The daze of bait-and-switch and bullshit are over. This is the 21st Century. Apple pie will kill you." - Enn)

Crack the crap that is fed to American minds, the American Mythology, and you will finally have a more truthful perspective on what is happening in America and why your country is such a mess.

Power is a difficult concept that great leaders learn how to manage so effectively that you see how they give it away with wisdom, and of their generosity comes good. Power in itself is not a bad thing, we all have some, learning how to use it effectively is one of the greatest challenges we each face, and some choose not to use their power at all. Others, offered some, also refuse. I believe that on some levels this is a weakness, for what you eschew can hurt you. The myth is packaged and served from the cradle to the grave and it is apple pie. But it is a myth, not a reality. If Americans truly want to wake up America and restore their nation then the first thing is to start getting honest and straight about the myth of America as sold with apple pie to Americans.

Mainstay, I cannot remember what I have never experienced. I grew up in a farming community in Central California where being liberal was demonized, and supporting our troops meant cheering for whatever the government decided to do with the U.S. military. I did not experience any of what you mention. It's a shame many Americans never experienced it either. By the way, my mother, grandparents, and great-grandparents never experienced that either.

Tell me has any thing actually changed ? Political correctness still hides the evil hate. Why is the government so stuck on stupid?

Amy you are a clear voice for FREEDOM.

lilcheese,
What should we "remember"?... I was raised in a time and by folks that believed that being Americans meant we were part of an ongoing experiment in self determination and integrity. Though there have always been injustices and deceptions by those "in power". I remember a time when it was not "liberal" to care about those less fortunate, when working toward being more compassionate and less grasping were goals of every church/spiritual gathering, where diversity was celebrated as interesting and worth exploring rather than suspect and alienating. Where the community was the common ground of every person. I know that was not ever completely realized anywhere - but it was what we(I?) were brought up to believe was what being an American was about.
I do not believe there is (or ever was) a Government on this good earth that personifies the ideals of it's people. Religions have tried to address that imbalance - but it is the nature of "power" to corrupt, which is why great leaders have always preached for active oversight by the people.

Enn,
The United States of America is a Political entity that has trouble upholding the standards of "America". A million people will give you a million reasons for why - in my opinion... that is what hierarchal positioning always delivers.
As one from a tribal background, I believe that when the final step of the Iroquois Confederation (the governing concepts that the American Constitution was patterned after) was eliminated - it failed to understand what had made the confederation work. While a congress and senate of various articulate souls improves ideas and policies as they hash out their differences - the completing step of giving the grandmothers final say over what is best for the people - ensures that "power" is not the ruling perception. Power is innately myopic being fleeting at best - whereas nurture is a dominating principle that always gives a finer result.

I could (and have in the past) written of all that is wrong about America today. I am disgusted that we are living in the time of "little men" and women who emulate flawed leadership practices. I am deeply offended by the abuse of the earth that is endemic to short sited concepts of economy. I am saddened beyond measure that the young do not have the clean food, air, and water, that nature provided me in my own childhood.

I do not believe that changes will come via the political spectrum. The people must decide that they are individually determined to change their own personal course. They must choose what to support with their labor and it's compensations. They must prioritize their values then follow through on those priorities with awareness. Jesus' admonition to "render unto Caesar..." suggests to me that government is a minor part of what drives the degradation of nations... the people must first surrender their ideals for their communities to fail. Therefore I resonate with leadership that builds on ideals and do not find alliance or community in problems.
The goal of a clean water source is more compelling to me than the punishment of the polluter. The polluter must indeed be addressed - but first there must be a love/appreciation for the water. What the people commit to value - none will abuse.

Where do we go from here?

This is a Dead system.
Infected by Viruses.
This is a Monarchy.

Democracy died an untimely Death
In the Sixties

In a hail of Fire
From an Assassins Gun.

Everyone watched the Funeral on TV.

It was flawed then.

Now it is totally corrupt.

That DREAM is over.

Let's pick up the pieces and move on.

Start over.

A kinder, gentler, inclusive, association.
Benefiting all instead of the Greedy Few.

Free and Independent

from

King George II evil rule.

SHUT IT DOWN!

SURGE

PURGE

REBOOT!

Hey Siouxrose: I often resonate with yours also. Thanks. Where do we go from here?

it's time to blow the American Mythology wide open. Unpack it. Examine it. Realize that it's given a corrupt twist that serves your corporate masters.

Then, you'll restore the nation to the full glory of its potential and America can truly be a force for good in the world, but no longer at the point of a gun, or mass production metholology that kills and disenfranchises people from the land we need to be connected to.

This is the 21st Century bait-and-switch and bullshit no longer works. Stop eating apple pie; it will kill you.

Peace March 20. Create peace. End war. Fix planet. Priorities for survival.

@Mainstay: your clarifications have swayed me, thank you. The challenges you have answered are good ones. Now I know you're who you seem to be. But you misunderstand me. I do not vilify the American people where it is not justified, some of my best friends and colleagues are Americans.

However, any vilification of the current state of the nation is surely deserved in part as Americans are supposed to be in charge of their government; an active part of it, yet until recently as I understand America had the poorest voter turnout of any democratic nation and I'm not so sure that has changed.

I still will insist until I see otherwise from America's actions in the world that America, from a worldwise perspective, is coming up 'D's as I have described. For the citizens of America to separate themselves from government still earns them a 'd'.

From Abhu Graibh and water torture in Gitmo and rendition, to the yellow cake baking of Valerie Plame-Wilson and so on, and so forth. To SICKO and Merchants of Cool. To Columbine and other massacres and to Louisiana. To the Trail of Tears, and the breaking of the 400 year(!) Great Peace of the Six Nations, to the use of blankets to spread smallpox, to the stealing of elections by a 'president' who is the epitome of a corrupt culture..., to the 80+ wars America has been engaged in, and the excessive consumptive deathstyle of Americans, ah, man.... Need I go on? It is a roll of shame and few nations can boast such lists in the Western world that call themselves free democratic nations.

My criticisms are meant to goad and drive some outrage that will lead to action. And if you read enough of my posts you'll see that I am mostly fairly balanced and offer many constructive ideas for solutions in an effort to be constructive.

I have a great love of American Ideals, but they have to be REAL and not just empty hollow words.

Mainstay, I do appreciate your delight in America, but please do also voice your disgust at the duplicity of your nation. YOUR nation. So I know you're not simply eating too much apple pie.

I know too that life is not black/white though there America has often striven to make it so, or Martin Luther King and others would not be now famous names championing the change of infamous practices of what I'll call Liberated Oppression. And slavery has not disappeared from America, it has just changed its form and become incredibly sophisticated in terms of economics and in terms of little out-of-the-way places like US Saipan where a documentary, Garment Workers of US Saipan, and another made in China, called 'China Blue' (also a documentary of American Corporate Oppression by its most fashionable and favorite labels).

Then too, to say I vilify Americans is untrue. If you read carefully I do not vilify Americans but rather it is the practices of America and Americans I have vilified, for what Americans say and what they do are different things. Native Americans called it right when they said hundreds of years ago those immortal lines "You speak with forked tongue." And wars are fought and people die, including Americans based on that same forked tongue doing its work in the White House and the military industrial complex today.

If Americans do not wish their practices to be vilified then they must change them. That is the point. And by all that's human, and decent and good, that is all my own exhortations are about. Make "time for a change" mean real change for real government and not just more glove puppets leading your land where the bucks are paying the way for their own profit.

You said, "The idea of what is America is bigger than the misdeeds of those who believe that power is leadership."

You know I wish that idea fit today, in reality. But I see the world reeling, financial institutions, 13 of them have collapsed in my own country in the last 2 years because of their ties to American financial institutions and practices. Because of America overextending itself and practicing unsound fiscal policies it is sending the world into an economic catastrophe that will effect millions. Think about that when you think of American leadership. Personally, I think American leadership is summed up like this: Bad example.

Ah, Mainstay, we are not so different as you may think.

If America is a great idea, then the American people need to live up to that great idea or they are not who and what they pretend to be, and that in the end, is the whole idea behind my attack on American Mythology. If you dig into Apple Pie with some determination you'll find it's full of sugar and sugar makes you need insurance companies who won't pay your medical bills because they really want to own everything you worked your life for - that's the American Mythology crudely, rudely and abruptly exposed for the fallacy that it is. The mythology has taken over, and the people are disengaged from the reality, and so to attack America's ideas is to vilify the American people? How does that work? If the ideas and the words of America are proven to be wrong, continuously over a long period of time spanning not just the last decade but almost the entirety of American history...what then of the power and strength and greatness of the American people?

A civilization built on a lie will die unless it gets honest and straight.

The daze of bait-and-switch and bullshit are over. This is the 21st Century and apple pie will kill you.

The greatness is counted in terms of the dead, the debt, the degradation, and the decadence of decayed ideals. How is this greatness, how is this not worthy of anything but outrage and vilification?

I love the ideals, but they are not American alone. America too often claims this position of leadership as the "Leader of the Free World" and I ask myself, "When did the election for Leader of the Free World take place?" and why didn't I get pointed in the direction of the ballot box?

Re: Battle Cry - good. Understood. Again, it was a challenge to make you clarify your position, and also to make a point about the American Mythology that must be broken, shattered so that Americans can see what's really going on, and how that mythology has in fact trapped you, and now that you're trapped, you're being exploited by the very ideology you love so rightly. The ideology is okay, how it's being used is not.

Re: Quantum Physics - fair cop. The only reason I challenged this notion was because such notions are often introduced as intellectual arguments that offer a bum steer, whose point is missed. I challenged, demanding a clarification, and you have given it. Cheers! :) (Not many people get past the word 'Quantum' - I knew what you were saying, I wanted you to explain it so others grokked your point, which was a good one)

Re: Logical outcomes - I am holding a ball in my hand. I stretch out my arm. I turn my palm down. I uncurl my fingers. What happens?

If you say, "A Vegan Spaceship flies past, shoves out a tractor beam, pulls the ball into its multidimensional cargo hold where it is instantaneously passed through warp space to the planet Vega where it is converted into consumable healthy vegetables..., I will laugh, cos that's what I was thinking. ~ ~ ~

Re: Controlling the Global Experience
Interesting concept. I have no such [corporate] aspiration. However, I think that Globalization has been coopted and that it is a particularly American notion, backed up by bases and weapons manufacture, terrifying Hollywood Productions backed by Pentagon Props, that leave people without the ability to pursue to the fullest extent of their natural born life happiness because their limbs have been blown off by American Landmines (gee I think America had a treaty on that) and unexploded cluster bombs.

In the end I know it takes a great love of humanity to point out the ways that are wrong and that slings and arrows will accompany derision, no matter how deserved such derision may be.

In the end, Mainstay, your words are good, and I know you do truly embrace the higher ideal, just please don't label it American. That's part of the problem out here on the receiving end of the American way.

Mainstay, I have a question. You said, "Claiming a Higher ideal is America is absolutely NOT a "battlecry" - it is a call for remembrance." What should we, as Americans, remember? What ideals are you speaking of? When has America ever really lived up to its creeds?

Enn, I hope you put as much effort into your activism as you do into dissecting and surmising what another person's words mean.
For clarity's sake I must respond that your synopsis assumes an exclusionary position I do not share with you.
Life is not black/white, With us/against us, Good/Bad or Right /Wrong.
There is no "logical outcome" for humanity - there are as many possible outcomes as there are fears biases and hopes for humanity.
Quantum physics can indeed suggest - as anything in the physical can suggest a "law" of nature or supposition of reality.
Claiming a Higher ideal is America is absolutely NOT a "battlecry" - it is a call for remembrance... and it certainly does NOT negate that other nations may have equally high ideals. A statement that celebrates an attribute does not exclude other attributes!
As to thinking you can control the global experience, I can only assume you are young.
You may affect the world if you live your truth in and among the many smaller spheres that define your life - but no one can control the way others respond to the world they perceive.
IMHO America is none of the things you accuse. America is an idea of freedom, an experiment in self governance, and an evolving community. As such it is unfair and short sited to vilify it for not having the answers that mankind has been seeking since civilizations created the first "governments". America's present leadership may be unrivaled for myopic self interest - but they are not America and certainly not the sum of Americans! While it may be the new fad to diss the United States, it is absolutely not a declaration of truth to vilify it's people - they are no better and no worse than any other humans living anywhere. The idea of what is America is bigger than the misdeeds of those who believe that power is leadership.
You can take my words to mean whatever you understand, but you are missing something innate to my delight in America in your equations - that is the love of this land, and the belief that love will indeed sway the equation toward something better. Politics do not have that power, but love of neighbor, love of land, love of peace has unrivaled power to transform - being our best selves locally and individually is the most good one person can ever do - to the extent that the community of caring about one another expands and hope flourishes ... true leadership emerges.

ENN: I resonated with your post. Thank you for validating the phrase I so often use in my own postings: This nation reflects rule by Mars and Mars' rules!

Where do we go from here?

Leadership from Democracy Now! which has not shied away from announcing the truth, are touching more Americans, just as Barack Obama is with his speeches, and challenging all of us to look within and stand up for what we say we believe in. Not all of us can do it all of the time, but if some of us can do it some of the time, we can pick up momentum and succeed beyond our wildest dreams to a more democratic and just country and world.

I get my real news from Democracy Now every day on satellite TV and/or the internet. I try to spread the word about this great program and hope that a Pacifica affiliate station will created in San Antonio in the not too distant future.

The evils King enunciated and their path of destruction are greater than ever. The difference is there are also more of us. This vile system has done everything in its power to corrupt, dumb-down, and dis empower us. It has noting left to offer humanity but destruction. This system is reaching the point where it can no longer sustain itself or the illusions of freedom and prosperity. We are a nation of slaves but as we slide into desperation and poverty, that nation can still turn on it's straw-bosses. The The struggle continues.

@Halcroves: "His specifics are often inaccurate"? Pray tell?

Black oriented "thug music" is spreading like wild fire globally. Every member of the american black community will be able to get rich off the production and distribution of the 'rap'.

The 9/11 Mukasey column, 10 or so of us tried to use Gener#l STR5ke in the correct spelling everyone that used GENE%AI S$RIKE
in its proper spelling were never posted, CD has Us, go try it

I agree with Mainstay. Too many conspiracy theorists, doomsayers, whackos, and purveyors of half-baked ideas. Too much unwitting misogyny from guys who think they are revolutionaries--I always imagine guys with gray ponytails.

I'm a fan of Emma Goldman--I've read a lot of her work--but tell the families of dead Americans & Iraqis that the election of GWB didn't matter.

Too many trolls who put down the writer without saying anything of substance themselves. Too much cynicism. We don't live in a perfect world. With people like you in it, how could we?

As for Howard Zinn, he's good in some ways but his specifics are often inaccurate. If you want to voice opinions about the debates on the Constitution, go to the Library of America site and get the two-volume set of debates. They have a special. Only $5 for two beautiful hardbacks.

To the conspiracy theorists: that something seems obvious doesn't make it false. that something isn't visible on the surface doesn't mean it's really there. It may make you feel clever to believe in the latter but it doesn't make you right. Check out Ockham's Razor:

"The principle states that the explanation of any phenomenon should make as few assumptions as possible, eliminating those that make no difference in the observable predictions of the explanatory hypothesis or theory. The principle is often expressed in Latin as the lex parsimoniae ("law of parsimony" or "law of succinctness"): "entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem", or "entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity".
This is often paraphrased as "All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best." In other words, when multiple competing theories are equal in other respects, the principle recommends selecting the theory that introduces the fewest assumptions and postulates the fewest entities. It is in this sense that Occam's razor is usually understood.
Originally a tenet of the reductionist philosophy of nominalism, it is more often taken today as a heuristic maxim (rule of thumb) that advises economy, parsimony, or simplicity, often or especially in scientific theories."

Just wanted to say thank you for Arise 257's answer to the fervent "black genocide" comment and resounding praise for Mainstay's testament of Hope. I can be as cynical as any of these doom predictors but I see no point in it. We must act as if we CAN bring about change or there is no chance at all.

These days, Common Dreams' comment section reads like a high school cafeteria. Ridiculous and sophomoric claims of doom; the catastrophic consequences of voting for any of the candidates, vilifying anyone who runs for public office... this is not progressive ideology - it is pure, unmitigated foolishness.
Like getting the majority of Americans behind the idea of "Not-Paying-Taxes" as a way to protest the war... pretending that 3rd party candidates have even a ghost of a chance of winning an election is unrealistic. (though I love the issues and concerns they bring to the conversation!)
While I prefer Barrack Obama to the other two, I don't begin to imagine he can solve our nation's problems. THAT is the task of Americans - NOT their representatives. A President is a leader not a legislator - having the abilitiy to open the process, establishing the tone of negotiations and policy rather than establishing actual legislation. If the Senators and House Reps were held accountable in their own states - rather than allowing local politics to be run by the same tired handful of people because of the apathy and lethargy of the majority - we might actually see the changes we say we want. You get the government you invest in - and while corporations may have the deep pockets to invest CASH in the equation, Don't underestimate the power of an informed and active community.

I believe that the best we can hope for politically is a Progressive Democracy. We are however, miles from realizing those ideals. First we have to:
Stop bemoaning the plot against humanity.
Stop predicting devastation and decadency.
Quantum physics suggests that reality mirrors expectations ... Be Creative. Think about what peace means to you.
How can you create peace in your locale?
Be part of the solution.
There are no points for being "right" about it all being headed for DOOM.
Create the nation you believe we can be. Head for the High Road.
Yes We Can - Imagine a world where we would BE what we say we want our leaders to be! THAT IS AMERICA!

@workreno

Yes, support all those and support Peace March 20 [2009].

http://www.freearticulator.com/news/2008/create-peace-end-war-fix-planet-march-20-iraq-war/

By sending every artist, writer, poet, songwriter friend you have that link.

@David Grayling

The sentiments are worthwhile but in reality you cannot have the world act as you're suggesting. To move overtly like that would lure a psychotic eagle out of its cage and it will start crushing with massive weapons. The only way you can really gut American power is economically, and by denying resources, which is the credible part of your suggestion.

Thankfully, their financial system has pretty much done that to them, and simultaneously as all the eggs of their defeat have begun to hatch, America has reaped the rewards of the deathstyle that is its preoccupation, revealing it to be not a nation of magnificent ideals but in fact a deceptive, duplicitous, dangerous, undemocratic corporatocracy bent on domination, destruction and death. It is in three words: a corrupt nation. In one, Fascist. And in another, not a superpower, but a duperpower.

This is not to say that it is the only corrupt nation, there are none who are 'squeaky clean.' But America's duperpowerness is more dishonest than that of say...Cold War Russia. At least with the USSR you knew who and what they were, their position was at least honest and they openly declared their opposition to capitalism (Heh, Are you American enough to think maybe they were right?). But, one cannot say the same of America in the world today, particularly post-Cold War. The lies are well documented so I will not list them. I'm simply saying an honest enemy is preferable to a deceitful friend, for at least you can respect such an enemy, if enemies you must have.

Along with America's now well-known imperialist war-mongering and the lies they have uttered to carry them out, America has demonstrated itself to be the MOST untrustworthy nation for it pretends to be wonderful while covering the most despicable behavior. America signs treaties it never ratifies, for example.

America comes up "D" for duperpower in just about every area.

All while pretending to hold to the ideals of Christianity as an expedient political convenience used to polarize and justify war (not difficult for an ideology that has been responsible for more death and destruction than any other 'faith'). The true god of America is the God of War, Mars and that is obvious in America's long list of wars, let alone its excessive military budget which outstrips all other nations...combined!

America demonstrated its willingness to use devastating destruction on any nation when it dropped atomic bomb_s_ on Japan, creating a legacy of horror that no nation can ignore. These dates too are infamous days, and there are far too many of them, American.

Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States" is one remarkable account of truth and gives the people's perspective. His article "The End of Empire?" http://www.alternet.org/audits/81005/ is also very interesting and demonstrates very clearly that America is an imperialist nation, the very thing it originally formed to combat, it actually IS. How deceptive is that? How corrupt is that?

It's enough to say: It is corrupt. It is deceptive.

And it is a consistent behavior demonstrated over several centuries now. The veneer is the mythology of Americanism, "apple pie", "picket fence", "Uncle Sam", "Marines", "Superbowls", "cheerleading" "flag-waving parades" tempered here and there by some show of embodied ideals, as in the civil rights movement and by people such as Howard Zinn whose honesty shows American ideals and principles are not completely dead in its people.

There's a good video at that link (above) that narrates the excerpt too.

But it is individual Americans who will need to work from within to correct the imbalances and restore ideals and they cannot do it by vote alone.

That is painfully obvious, but enough Americans are not yet aware of the corruption of their voting system's corruption, though there are signs that a few Americans such as some of those at Common Dreams are at least communicating about change. That at least gives some hope.

But carry out actions that will unleash the weapons of madmen, who have already taken Executive Powers unto themselves in violation of their founding document?

No, that is folly too. Here's why...

There are real weapons of mass destruction in the deserts of America, which is currently lead by a tyrant who corrupted democratic process and stolen an election twice (among many other apparent crimes) in order to solidify the power of the Academic Military Industrial Mediaplex that now runs America, and which obviously wants to run the world.

The world knows these real weapons exist.

We also know that the current administration (and no doubt the next one too) will have no compunction fabricating any pretext to bring about the destruction of any overt moves to destroy it.

Be comforted, however, that America is destroying herself. Liberty is no longer standing proud at the entrance of New York harbor, she is a wretch, stretched and nearly naked in rags of once modest robes across the continent of America. The palms of her hands pierced by oil derricks, one plonked in Alaska, the other in Newfoundland. Her legs are spreadeagled with one ankle pierced by an oil derrick that anchors her left ankle to Florida. The other is anchored, bone-pierced by derrick, to California. She snivels and whimpers with the piteous cries of the drowning victims of Katrina, abandoned by 'their' president to the breaking of the levees, spilling from her parched mouth and cracked lips.

Around her gather the Mainstream media, taking photographs and hoping to get shots of a wardrobe accident that they can use to refocus attention, away from the abuse Liberty suffers at the hands of her masters, irony bound. While the military hold her, and she is treated like a whore by America's hired CEO who uses the constitution to aid him in his degradation of her reputation all the while pretending it is the instrument of her pleasure, her very freedom. Her cries of pain and humiliation are interpreted as pleasure by this madman.

A corporate 'H' is burton her thigh demonstrating that Liberty is property to be used and abused at will. A bespectacled maniacal face leers with the confident arrogance of unconscionable power as Blackoil guards stand by ready to shoot any who should come to her aid, and to protect those who carry out the repeated rape of decency and hope as they wait their turn to take advantage of Liberty bought low.

This is how America looks today, and it gives me no pleasure to depict her so shabbily. Liberty is a lady who should be adored, admired and respected, not treated as a common whore by those who love war.

This edit feature SUCKS. I meant to say put my NO WAR button on my jacket before the Iraq invasion.

kathyodat

Laffing out loud! (not at you, k-o-d, but at your all too familiar frustration).

Where do we go from here?

Well it seems as though many fellow Americans have been raising this question since day one.

"When the subject has refused allegiance,and the officer has resigned his office,then the revolution is accomplished."

Henery David Thoreau

"You really haven't been a virgin for so long
it's ludicrous to keep up the pretext...

You've slept with all the big powers in military uniforms
and you've taken the sweet life of all the little brown fellows...

Being one of the world's big vampires

Why don't you come out and say so like Japan ,and England,and France

And all the other nymphomaniacs of power."

Langston Hughes addressing fellow Americans

I for one feel we must find the TRUTH.

"In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act."

George Orwell

Let's start with the truth.

Support :We are Change ,Code Pink, IVAW, 911 Truth Movement,and others like them, gather in the streets ,scream from the mountaintops,post a sign in your yard, or at the very least teach your children the TRUTH.

Who knows it may even set you free...

ARISE257: Excellent, honest, informative post.

Thanks Amy for reporting on the Orangeburg Massacre on today's "Democracy Now!"

Barn Burner asked on April 3rd, 2008 3:59 pm: "I apologize for being off-subject but anyone know anything about Cindy Sheehan's campaign to unseat Pelosi?"

Everything you need to know is here: http://www.cindyforcongress.org/

I'm sorry to say that no eloquent leader can save America today. The only way to get rid of the malignancy that is controlling America is through pressure from other nations both economic and military.

I call for a six billion strong march by the citizens of the world against escalating American Imperialism and military brutality.

I call for a boycott by six billion people against all American products.

I call for all governments of the world to boycott America and American politicians, to cut off all links with the White House and the Pentagon.

Further, I call for those governments to unite to form a powerful block to counter American imperialism and aggression.

It's time the world moved against America otherwise we'll have no world left.

www.dangerouscreation.com

arise257 said: "In this country, if you aren't white, you are a target for marginalization, disenfranchisement, under-education, under-compensation, and incarceration."

THAT, my friend, is the ENTIRE premise the United States of America was founded upon... Rich White landowners running the show and EVERYONE else marginalized and preyed upon... and it's not just minorities... it's the POOR of all races. So yes, WHITE is a key term in this, but not the most important of them. RICH means so much more than WHITE, because really, these old rich white bastards hate the poor white folks almost as much as they hate the minorities.

Look at part of what's happened since Martin Luter King delivered that fantastic, historic speech from the pulpit of Riverside Church in 1967. As Amy Goodman reminds us, in that address Dr. King openly labeled Uncle Sam "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world", and Time magazine responded by accusing the Nobel Peace Prize laureate of "demagogic slander that sounded like Radio Hanoi."

Here we are, just over 40 years later.

Another African American preacher, a man with far less national reputation or moral stature than King, declares from his pulpit white racism is still alive in the land, and that just perhaps the 9/11 attacks were not simply a matter of evil jihadists slaughtering innocents, but might have been linked somehow to America's foreign policy actions in the Muslim world.

For this, far tamer criticism of the United States government, not only is Reverend Jeremiah Wright denounced as a bigot and perverse Christian heretic by the entire mainstream media spectrum, but all those in the pews - and those who weren't even there in the pews but who may have heard about the comments later - are immediately called upon to publicly rebuke, and promptly disassociate themselves, from any and all further contact with this crazy, rabble rousing black pastor who's out there stirring up trouble.

So much for separation of church and state, and the ban upon injecting religious tests into the secular, electoral campaign process. To qualify for holding high public office nowadays, I guess you'd have to reject and denounce Reverend King.

Bill from Saginaw

kathyodat,

The edits feature works, but only after an annoying delay.

And that goes for 9/11 too!

If there is any chance to open the secret files on MLK, JFK and RFK and knowing that it takes a president to do it, I will take a chance on Obama. If anybody can, together We can.

Thom Hartmann, Air America, noon to 3, said that tomorrow he is having someone (didn't catch the name) to be interviewed and discuss some explosive information on the MLK assassination.

I apologize for being off-subject but anyone know anything about Cindy Sheehan's campaign to unseat Pelosi?

Amy Goodman performs an invaluable service every day. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the very very good.

Thanks Amy for your voice of truth.

THANK YOU ARISE 257.....very succinct and clear enough even for the sort of madman who elicited your response....Too bad us paleskins probably feel less qualified to speak, since as a culture we still adhere to outmoded and irrelevant classification systems (skin color) which continue to divide us.

YES, Amy G. is almost part of the mainstream now, and we are seeing a reduction in reporting of issues which might divide the so-called progressives (911 truth for instance).....as my ex-congressman said recently "if the nation had the full truth on 911, Iraq, etc., the country couldn't withstand the shock".... although it is sad to say, it looks more and more like we need an actual re-convening of a Constitutional Convention, an above-board "transition parallel government" which might at least give us a blueprint for survival as a nation. At present only the Greens have even a clue about how bad the situaton has become and what must happen if we are to try and save the country from itself.....

You tell me? The whole Obamarama makes me extremely nervous; his believers have no autonomous organization. MeetUp? Facebook? Let's see how they deal when Obama doesn't save the world? They'll flash mob? Sounds exciting!

WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER

I have had this sign in my front yard since before this war started - I live 7 miles from Central Command. I wear a WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER button everyday. People ask questions, want to talk... this is an invitation to talk with neighbors, store clerks, friends, strangers about change, about fear, about war, ABOUT PEACE. I carry extra buttons to share with those who want to wear one too. Some have children in the military, some are retired military, some are active military, some are just folks but all are sick with concern. Even those who disagree don't necessarily think war is the answer..they just haven't thought much about what is.

Go to FCNL.org ask for a button to wear and one to share and speak out.

Yeah, sorry brontoburger, planned parenthood isn't a nefarious scheme to "murder black babies in the womb." The reason why they concentrate planned parenthoods in minority neighborhoods is because those places are where they are most demanded. Did it ever occur to you that teen pregnancy rates, and STD infection rates are disproportionately higher among minorities than among whites? Go ahead, open up a new tab and Google it, I'll wait.

Got some facts? Ok. Now let's talk about why they're higher. It's because minorities are less likely to grow up in homes with two parents (I'm black, and the son of a single mother). Minority households tend to make less money than their white counterparts. Minorities tend to rent property, or own low-value property. This means that the tax revenue generated from minority neighborhoods is lower than those in white neighborhoods. This adversely affects the funding of schools in minority-rich neighborhoods, which in turn affects the quality of education.

To sum up those facts, it is accurate to say that in general, minorities live at lower socio-economic and educational strata then their white counterparts. Guess what the two greatest predictors of high teen pregnancy rates and STD proliferation are? Low socio-economic status and inferior education.

First of all, only 6.5% of American women are black, because Blacks are only 13% of the American population. Remember that unwanted pregnancies are more common among those with low socio-economic and education levels (regardless of race), so doesn't it make perfect sense that more abortions are common among black women? And you know what, I'm not at all outraged that these women chose abortion over raising a child they aren't ready for. That option costs society far less than the state having to take care of the child from welfare right on up to incarceration, which is also more likely for minorities than whites.

In this country, if you aren't white, you are a target for marginalization, disenfranchisement, under-education, under-compensation, and incarceration. One thing's for sure though - Planned Parenthood isn't behind any of it. Point your angry fingers at the "judicial" system, at gerrymandering, at public education based on property taxes, but don't point at organizations that provide vital services at reduced costs where they needed.

I will gladly play the old coot role on CD. I have lived too much to be intimidated by anyone, including people who want to call me over the hill.

What I am tired of is people with complaints but no ideas and also people who get into inintelligible obscurantist gibberish that passes as spirituality. But I can scroll past you all.

If you have a valid criticism of Amy Goodman's article, please make it. Be the fresh voice you want.

It seems we are back at the same square as in 1968 - except that the environmental outlook is worse and the balance of power has tipped even more toward the powerful.

Martin Luther King's 1968 statements are so needed now... we still have the same relationship between racism, impoverishment, and an insane, brutal, optional war.

By 1968 many of the poor white people in my neighborhood and family had begun to catch on - they had been promised job training in the army, signed up and then been betrayed and shipped off to Vietnam. Some had already suffered mental or physical trauma from being there.

After MLK sanitation strike speech several of my older white male relatives, one of whom was a sanitation worker himself, came to me to say that I had been right about MLK. He was someone worth watching and following. Poor white people, who are close to African-Americans in lack of respect and power, were waking up in numbers. I think that probably happened all over and that is why he had to be assassinated.

I hope that we do not let MLK's memory be diluted. He was truly a brave man, a warrior and a prophet. Since we do not necessarily have one leader of his caliber, each of us has to be a leader.

I'm a little tired of Goodman and her ilk. We need more fresh voices these days. These old coots (and cootettes) of the "left" really are out of ideas. They're too close to the old democrats and they've quite the contrary, in my opinion, done nothing for democracy. Thank god for CD and the other voices it offers.

maybe if we just stop trying and kill all the unborn black babies with the $300 million in Federal and State funded Planned Parenthood clinics situated in minority neighborhoods.

In America today, almost as many African-American children
are aborted as are born. A black baby is three times more likely to be
murdered in the womb than a white baby.

Since 1973, abortion has reduced the black population by over 25 percent.

Twice as many African-Americans have died from abortion than have died from
AIDS, accidents, violent crimes, cancer, and heart disease combined.

Every three days, more African-Americans are killed by abortion than
have been killed by the Ku Klux Klan in its entire history.
Planned Parenthood operates the nation's largest chain of abortion clinics and almost 80 percent of its facilities are located in minority neighborhoods.
About 13 percent of American women are black, but they
submit to over 35 percent of the abortions.

of course we shouldn't be surprised...this is exactly what was expected by Margerat Sanger and her 'Planned Parenthood' organization.
http://www.blackgenocide.org/negro.html

I thought it was only I who had a problem with the edit feature. ___ LOL, it double sucks Kathy.

Where do we go from here? Well if and when the depression hits us, and it will. A depression caused from our gold and Chinese loans being used to fight an unjust and illegal war in Iraq. A lot of us, several hundred million I suspect, will go to one of two places.

That will inlcude millions of innocent kids, who never will have a chance to vote on important issues, or to have a fair chance and live a life. Sort of like the innocent kids who have died, or will die In Iraq.

"A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death."
-- Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1967

Approaching? I think we have arrived.

Um women are black people too. Just in case anyone forgot.

This edit feature SUCKS. I meant to say put my NO WAR button on my jacket before the Iraq invasion.

kathyodat

JohnR, now that's grim. A young man believing he would have a better chance of survival in Iraq than his own neighborhood in the US. What have we become?

I remember how hard King got slammed for speaking out against the Vietnam War. And I remember that when I put my NO WAR button on my jacket before the Iraq invasion it was a very unpopular thing to do. Americans do love war, as long as they think they're winning. Sad but true.

kathyodat

Yesterday I read an article by Tariq Ali on Z NET. He quotes from a conversation with a young veteran just returned from combat overseas. The young man "volunteered" for the military because he assumed he would be killed if he stayed in his violent, impoverished neighborhood. Where we go from here must involve an end to the socioeconomic drafting of soldiers to do the dirty work of the "greatest purveyor of violence in the world today."---to kill off the poor and desperate in other countries whose only real crime is standing in the way of hegemony.

The war machine will devour anything or anybody that gets in its way.

The system of divide and rule works very well in the 2 party system.

Things will continue to get worse for the majority until these 2 things, the military industry and the 2 party system, changes in very fundamental ways.

The Dept. of Peace couold be a very good start. How about seating the Green Party at the table???

re 11:55am

the apostle of lesser-evilism attempts to hijack another thread with another annoying pitch for the democrat du jour: "elect...and re-measure...8 years from now."

and do what in the interim, cross our fingers and wish very, very hard?

"if voting could change anything, it would be illegal."

---emma goldman

Where do we go from here? We elect Obama, if we're lucky, and re-measure the racial divide and the wealth gap eight years from now. Things in that regard may not get better, but they WILL get worse if we elect McCain as the 3rd and 4th term of Bush.

Perhaps "Democracy Now" should now examine the question of who was actually responsible for the assassination of Martin Luther King and air some more 40th anniversary interviews with folks like William Pepper, for instance?

It's not just the black people that are suffering. It's everyone who is trying to make it in this slanted society. People of all colors are able to relate to the plight of the black man more now than ever. I've never seen such a class war as I have in these last years. It's the elite against the rest of us!