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Shades of an American Kristallnacht?
Watching the spectacle of the Republican primaries evokes deep sadness over the unavoidable truth that now, in the wake of Citizens United, it has become totally legal for rich people to run politicians the same way they might run horses or greyhounds. Just like that.
Maybe that’s what provides the eerie, zombie-like atmosphere in politics these days. You really have the sense that most politicians, especially the ones at the top echelons of power, are like old-fashioned Kabbalistic golems, animated out of clay by skilled magicians who can control them from afar.
Of course, that’s been going on for a long time. Remember George Bush, a wind-up man getting remote control instructions through his earphone in the 2004 Presidential debates?
But it’s getting worse and worse. That’s why I can’t stand to watch Gingrich and Santorum and all the other Republican wax model men mouth their lines on the stage these days. You know they’ll say whatever they’re told…whatever they think it will take to win.
Democrats, pay attention! You may be feeling dispirited and grumpy, not much in the mood to get all fired up about yet another election, but meanwhile, the Republicans are rabid to take back the White House. They’ve been busy as hell redistricting and installing those sketchy electronic voting machines all across the country.
It’s very possible that Mr. XY Zombie Republican could seize power in November, with the backing of endlessly deep pockets like the Koch brothers, Big Energy, and Big Finance, and the blessing of the Supreme Court.
What then?
If the Republicans controlled all three houses of government, they could ram through the legislation they’ve been concocting during the past decade or so: legislation powering up the assault on the environment, on health, on social services, destroying any kind of safety net for people, animals or the environment.
They could escalate the war on dissidents who dare to oppose their plans. In short order, the United States could turn into just another big banana republic, with a military-backed regime of elites governing through the indiscriminate use of fear tactics, with violence applied as necessary to keep the people in line.
It happened not so long ago in many countries in Latin America—think Chile, Argentina, Guatemala, El Salvador—in the 1970s, when wealthy politicians wielding military power and complete control over the ballot boxes ruled their countries with iron fists, “disappearing” anyone who might remotely be a threat, including thousands of innocent students. Often the shift from democracy to fascist dictatorship happened literally overnight.
Lately I have been re-reading Margaret Atwood’s marvelous sci-fi novel The Handmaid’s Tale, and finding it chillingly prophetic. In Atwood’s dystopia, environmental catastrophe has rendered the elites infertile, and pushed them to withdraw into gated communities where food shortages are common, and people are regularly hung in the public square to keep everyone fearful and docile.
The narrator remembers how just before her world fell apart, there were signs of repression: books being banned and burned, identity cards being issued and required, mobility restricted, media censored. All of a sudden, one fine morning, it was no longer possible for her and her family to get in their car and drive away to seek safety in Canada. All of a sudden, they were trapped in a nightmare that went quickly from bad to worse.
As in Germany before the Kristallnacht, none of us here in the U.S. wants to believe that anything could happen to destroy our cherished freedoms, our vaunted “American way of life.” We don’t want to admit, even to ourselves, the extent to which our freedoms are already being encroached upon, day by day.
Just last week, for example, there was an outrageous episode in Arizona, where the government declared a whole long list of books to be unsuitable for school use, and went so far as to direct the school librarians and teachers to pull them from the shelves, box them up and put them into deep storage.
Among the authors banned are some of my favorite writers—Gloria Anzaldua, Elizabeth Martinez, Paulo Freire.
Yes, that Paulo Freire, the famous Brazilian educator and free thinker who wrote Pedagogy of the Oppressed, a brilliant analysis of the way that traditional education indoctrinates students into conformity and submission to authority.
Freire proposed that instead of a banking style of education, where knowledge is deposited into students, who are then required to spit it back upon demand, education worth its salt should empower students to think for themselves.
Such a simple idea, but so powerful, too. Education should teach people to think for themselves, and to work with each other to come to consensus on issues of importance to the larger society.
Isn’t that just what the Occupy movements have been trying to do? If Freire were alive, he would be out there in the thick of the Occupy action, inspiring the young to shake off the false animation of Zombiland, and insist on dancing to their own authentic beat.
This reminds me of another beloved science fiction book, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, where the sinister IT controls all the inhabitants of a city by forcing them to conform to ITS rhythm. Their hearts pulse to ITS rhythm, their eyes twirl to ITS rhythm, their thoughts are entirely subsumed by IT. The only way to break ITS control is to think for oneself, to be creative, resilient and determined.
The children Meg and Charles Wallace succeed in rescuing their father from the clutches of IT by dint of their own powers of creativity and love, with a little help from some eccentric and freethinking guides.
Will the science fiction we’re living through now have that kind of happy ending?
Oh right, this isn’t science fiction, is it.
152 Comments so far
Show AllIt would appear to me that the republicans are not serious about winning. They are quite happy with the banker's grandson.
I am not. If this is the only choice I am given I will vote for one of the alternatives, no matter how "clownlike". I will not subject myself to four more years of the same with a vague promise that he just needs more time. GW and Cheney were given eight years. I don't want to see another replay of that. It's bad enough I've watched Obama extend their policies for his term.
As to ramming through legislation, doesn't appear to be any ramming necessary even under a democrat. The corporate masters are getting exactly what they've paid for and no surprise they've invested in all of them. By not voting for an incumbent, at least they'll have to spend more ensuring the new guy will support their wishes for the four years he's granted.
gardenernorcal, one would have to be seriously unbalenced to vote for anyone who self identifies as a Republican for reason of animus toward the current occupant, don't you agree.
I read this blog in the "Reader" mode, which doesn't give the writer's name and didn't pay attention to it when I selected. I hade to form an impression of the writer from the content.
Kristalnacht is not an accurate comparison to the old fashion book burning that occurred in Arizona ( sans feu). Also, I noticed that there was no mention of Democrats. Also, mostly female writers who were mostly Latino were referenced. Also, there are very few novels out there that are worth rereading, except Don Quixote and some of Vonnegut's.
" I noticed that there was no mention of Democrats..."
The author possibly identifies as 'Democrat', possibly because of their one-time stand for minority rights in an action to pander votes.
" Also, mostly female writers..."
Relevance? Or are you hinting at an anti-feminine/anti-feminist bias on your part?
"... who were mostly Latino were referenced."
Again, relevance? Or are you showing your hand on racism as well?
"Also, there are very few novels out there that are worth rereading, except Don Quixote and some of Vonnegut's."
More personal bias. Thank you. For my own personal example, I have re-read Frank Herbert's 'Dune' every year since I was sixteen. Many novels I have in my collection are like old friends I don't see very often, and re-reading them is like catching up with them.
Hint: Democrat = Republican. One monster, two heads.
You are absolutely correct. It appears that the Republican field was created to make sure we, who are true progressives, do not seriously consider a protest vote for fear of being saddled with the "greater of evils". To call this lesser-of-evils system we use in America, with its easily manipulated caucuses and primary systems, and its centralized electronic winner-takes-all elections a true democracy is laughable.
Reagan precipitated our decline and Bush 1 ramped it up with the Gulf War and Savings and Loan Bailout. Clinton pulled the rug out from under our economy by hiring Larry Summers and Bob Rubin to assasinate the Glass-Steagall Act and pull the veil over the backroom casinos on Wall Street. Bush 2 robbed the Treasury first with $3 trillion in fat cat tax breaks, then with two unfunded multi-trillion $ wars, and capped it off with a $7 trillion FDIC/Fed gift to the robber barron banks that destroyed our economy. So what does Obama do? He rehires Summers and Bernanke, adds Tim Geithner, and together they engineer another $10 trillion in free money to the banksters and financial fraudsters. So tell me again, the difference between Democrats and Republicans.
Jennifer Browdy reminds me of another science fiction writer - the beloved curmudgeon Doris Lessing. Examining the examined life moving through conventions of love and loyalty - an acute and penetrating vision couched in stunning works of fiction.
I can't remember in which forward to which story in the Canopus in Argos trilogy, she made the observation that 'Armies of angels could rise up out of the waves, but if you're looking for a one-eyed giant you could sail right through them without feeling so much as a freshening of the breeze'.
When the future is presented in the public/policy sphere as something to be feared, you can be sure that the powers that be are coveting a power based on lies of historical omission. When there are calls to attention, respect, accountability, creativity and love, you can be sure that alternatives for healthy public engagement are at hand for consideration and action.
So Madonna is a Kabbalistic golem? I knew it! The common theme on Commie Dreams is that we are just "this close" in the breakthrough we need to achieve social nirvana. This is fantasy folks. Get Real. They have the men in black with guns and we have diddlysquat. In twenty years we will not recognize our planet because climate change is exponential. World shortages will ensure the jackboot heel of the militarized police state is stomping out the dying embers of our dreams. We need practical survival strategies, not more whacked out fantasy from the left side of the equation.
Since it's not about what kind of world we want to create, it's about surviving in a dystopia, why don't you become a jackbooted thug for the militarized police state? They'll be the last guys eating save for the plutocrats.
There. Perfectly pragmatic. Your problem solved. Now fuck off.
Thank you for that.
"We need practical survival strategies, not more whacked out fantasy from the left side of the equation."
Okay. You want practical survival strategies? Here they are: Learn to garden. Scavenge, scrounge and repurpose whatever you find because buying new will no longer be an option. Get a knife (or several). Learn to like eating rat and other small game. Stay low and out of sight. Learn how SODIS works. Know a tradable skill. Make do or do without.
"Learn to like eating rat and other small game."
Yeah, way off base here. But, the rest is quite good. Papaya, melon and other plant foods are healthier.
I don't agree with everything you say but the tone is definitely appropriate. (In twenty years there are many reasons the planet will be quite altered.) And we do have diddly squat, even our precious rose colored glasses are subsidized by the police state.
People, don't be discouraged just because someone says that the path you were told to walk by your enemies is not leading anywhere good. Become encouraged that your precious time was saved, your life possibly as well... and now, you can think more realistically and see what else might be possible.
The very best "practical survival strategy" is: love, compassion, mutual joy, penetrating analysis and understanding, wise action, complete responsibility and accountability to all life. But we can't really develop these values unless we take time every day, through study, meditation, and ethically grounded choices and efforts, to systematically cultivate them. While these values are our very nature, we are--I know I am--usually far too distracted and pained to focus on them. If all our problems are the result of our own actions--those of our entire legacy of humanity and perhaps of all life and even all existence--then we cannot make a real change without at least cultivating awareness of this very depth and breadth of causality, this perhaps infinite ocean of unhappiness. What is the root of the problem? Just because perhaps the root is way bigger and more intimidating and more apparently hopeless than we want to face, is that any reason to turn away? What if we don't turn away, we keep looking, until we can say we really, truly are satisfied that we've found the root of the problem? Because if we find the root--and that's what radicals are supposed to do, right?--we could actually pull it up, right?
Root cause:
Murdering other creatures. Tearing apart their families. Torturing them. Imprisoning them. Destroying their habitats. Killing trees. Destroying whatever we can of the earth.
How do I know? Looked for that cause... kept thinking a human would have (or had had) the answer... nope, a cow told me, "What you do to me, you do to yourself for we are one and the same; life, person, consciousness, intellect, sense of self."
Yep. It's true. All consciousness is the same consciousness. Yours, mine, we aren't even a different being. Differences perceived are because different perspectives (circumstances/experiences) lend themselves to unique interpretations of what life is all about.
"I am the way and the light", said Nature when she designed each position within the complex interplay called life to respond and contribute in a particular manner.
What should we do?
Step outside our conditioned empire mindset. Then try to reconnect with Nature... any part that will connect with you.
And, demonstrate your determination, willingness, etc. by respecting your human herbivorous design. That's the one you were made to express. If you want to enter the dance of life, and move spontaneously and freely within it, you'll have to first learn some Natural moves.
Good stuff on this topic here: http://allinharmony.org including how to approach the natural world: http://allinharmony.org/from_empire_to_ecology/attuning_to_nature
I've been saying for years that anyone who thinks it can't happen here is either delusional or not paying attention to what is happening here. And the reaction is usually along the lines of "Oh don't be ridiculous! This is America." And then they'll go cheer for the politically depraved politicians like Gingrich and Santorum who would lead us directly back to the Thirties, if not the Nineteenth century, or in Santorum's case the Middle Ages rule of a corrupt and rotting Church of Rome; or for elites like Romney who would destroy the social networks and programs for people whose lives he has no clue about and doesn't give a damn about, while building his supermilitary and trashing the economy in the process.
You're right lady. It's not fiction, it's not science fiction: it's a horror story being penned by Republicans.
"it's a horror story being penned by Republicans."
I believe you misspelled "politicians".
It's being penned by the financial elite. Make no mistake and they contribute to both paties equally. It's considered "hedging" their interests.
Very astute comment.
"They could escalate the war on dissidents who dare to oppose their plans. "
How so? Obama has done a pretty good job of remaining silent while citizens engaged in peaceful protest were rounded up, pepper sprayed and had other means of assault used against them, just to clear public spaces so that corporate sensitivities weren't impacted. He's allowing police departments to deploy drones...how much worse can it get? You think republicans are going to use live ammo? If so say it outright.
You need to step away from the Young Adult Sci Fi section of the library and look realistically at both parties. Obama represents Goldman Sachs every bit as much as the republican party.
The corporate duopoly that now controls Amerika is under one management. The media, that is a subsidiary of the multinational corporations continues the charade with the "horse race" hype that lets them rake in hundreds of millions of dollars. Meanwhile the public is left with the choice of tweedledee or tweedledum.
The solution to the international crisis that afflicts workers is the worldwide unification under a Socialist banner that rips the corporate grip from our throats. There can be no political equality without economic equality.
Exactly. But it's going to take a much bigger incident similar to "Kent State" to awake most citizens to this necessity. I don't wish that, in fact I pray against it ever happening, but in my gut I know it's what it'll take. It's too easy to buy into half measures that never work. Promises made by the very people that are holding the rest of us down.
There is no 'silver bullet' - rather than 'half measure', I'd characterize it as being a populous awakening exponentially and responding on many fronts - many of which are not counted and detailed in the media. All of those fronts need attention and the health of local and regional communities emerging from the monoculture of domination is not going to look like the domination model.
Your point about the corp controlled duopoly [the Repugs but also the Dims] is key to understand whats actually going on & which the author glosses over [its all about those bad & wacky GOPers]. The recent passage of United Police-States of America Act was a bi-partisan effort [sponsored by Dim Carl Levin & Repug John {Bomb, Bomb Insane} McCain- Thats why when when they talk about bi-partisanship, Expect the people to get screwed over]- w 140+ Dims along w 235+ Repugs voting for it & Dim O-Bomb-em signing it into law. Dim Obama put Social Security & Medicare on the cutting table, & he rolled out his version of Repug Bush Jr's NCLB profitization of Public Schools & assault on the teaching profession under Arne Duncan's RTTT. Dim O-Bomb-em has continued Repugs Bush / Cheney / NeoCONs phony War on Terror & attacked Libya & Somalia & has continued their threats to attack Iran [It's called COG = Continuity of Gov't = The Same SOS Prog- NO matter if a white conservative Repug or a Black so-called 'liberal' Dim is in the White House!]!
Thus this author whole screed boils down to- 'Progressives you better back Obama & the Dims because of those wacky Repugs will bring Fascism to the US'. So Where the hell was she on Dec 31 2011 when O-Bomb-em signed that 'Authorization of the US as a Police-State Act'??!!
Appealing to democrats to do something is just not enough - they won't. The real powers are just giving us the choice between a slow decline or a fast one. I think it is time to vote green and let the republicans have the fast track to destruction.
At least one will have voted for a sensible alternative. An alternative that can be put in place sooner after the crash. It is so obvious that the ruling elite is suicidal, having lost any sense of community.
You can vote Green. I have. But I also learned a third party candidate will never win. The system doesn't allow for it. For now I'll be happy just keeping the two main parties off balance. I'll register for one party and vote for the other. I'll lie when polled. Individually that's the most I am allowed to do at this time. It's not right, but it's all we have right now.
No, we have more: civil disobedience, war tax resistance, etc. etc. Of course most of us (myself included) cower in conditioned fear at the thought of being as action-oriented as Bradley Manning.
As for keeping the parties "off balance" please check out the Justice Party and Rocky Anderson: www.voterocky.org. I am honestly surprised that his very progressive candidacy is not discussed more here on CD.
The Justice Party seems to have dropped in from outer space = top down.
At least the Greens have had a few years of trying to organize and get the word out.
Rocky running seems to me no different from a certain pizza guy - where is the groundwork?- the long slog??
Makes one wonder what's up with R. Anderson. Why the disappearing act and why is it that the progressive press hasn't done much to bring him to the public's attention.
"In short order, the United States could turn into just another big banana republic, with a military-backed regime of elites governing through the indiscriminate use of fear tactics, with violence applied as necessary to keep the people in line."
There's that slippery word 'could' again.
This should read "The United States HAS turned into just another big banana republic with a regime of elites governing through the indiscriminate use of fear tactics, with violence applied as necessary to keep the people in line."
The battle to prevent the US becoming a totalitarian Police State was lost in 2000, when the US populace meekly allowed the corrupt SCOTUS to dictate who was selected and installed as President, when the black box voting machines stole the next election in 2004, when the Tea Party forerunners 'swiftboated' John Kerry, when John Kerry stood by and did nothing while an innocent student was TASERed before his eyes, when the Police in Pittsburgh used LRA sound cannons on then Constitutionally protected lawful protestors. I could go on. And on. And on with example after example of the egregious abuses inflicted on the people of the US, who have chanted, and waved placards, and protested and engaged in peaceful civil disobedience.
All of these battles have been lost, yet the Class War rages on.
And the Elite are winning.
Not because they have access to more instruments of violence, not because they have the trained manpower to commit acts of violence, not because the people don't have passion or commitment. But because the the average person has been thoroughly indoctrinated and inculturated into the Corporate Consumer pseudo-culture, regurgitating platitudes of non-violence in the face of deliberate and determined suppression of their rights and freedoms, sitting and watching 'life' on the Corporate Dominated TV wasteland instead of actively participating in life, in allowing the obvious criminals of the financial Elite to commit these acts of repression and brutality, bemoaning that nothing will change until the next election, or the next... or the next. Passive. Domesticated. Enslaved.
This is going to get very, very ugly before it gets even remotely better, and a lot of people are going to have the truth of the matter, the obviousness of the corruption they have deliberately ignored will be undeniable any longer. There will be disruption, destruction, violence and yes, even deaths, probably many of them, and most of them utterly innocent of any crime other than wanting to believe in even the illusory, limited 'Freedom(tm)' they were promised by the Elite.
I'll leave you now with an old adage: "When it's time to pay the piper, the Devil calls the tune."
Coulda, shoulda, woulda! All day long that's what I sing...
Once more with useless non-comments, eh?
filling the emptiness within
Right you are. I've been trying to 'educate' family and friends to no avail since shortly after 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq.
The corpora-fascists and banksters have been working hard for the past 50 years to dumb down the populace, take over all the media, usurp the financial system and control the whole electoral system. And, they're not just doing it to US - the world is their oyster.
Absolutely correct, Galenwainwright. The average American is utterly indoctrinated with lies, ignorant of history, oblivious to the obvious assaults on civil liberties, oblivious to the blatant and quite obvious lies being foisted upon them daily by the smiling talking heads who dare to call themselves "journalists."
This is nothing new. It was true 30 years ago, and a lot longer. I screamed bloody murder back in journalism school at the notion that the American press was in any way "free" or anything but a pawn of the powers that be. I took a beating at times, then and through the years. "Paranoid," "delusional," "a kook," the insults went on and on.
Who wants to be able to say "I told you so" when the stakes are so high? I am sickened by the likes of a Gingrich or a Romney, or the pallid, chickenshit non-alternatives, but I am even more sickened at what has become of the American people over the decades. They are among the most duped, soft, fearful, uninformed, naive people on the face of the planet.
Fascism has been knocking on the door since the end of World War II. That war may have seemingly seen the defeat of the fascist powers, but Nazism merely dispersed to other locales, like the United States (see, for instance, Project Paperclip.) The media puts a glossy disguise on the ugliest, meanest and most vile atrocities imaginable.
And now, a word from our sponsor, sig heil.
Please, Scotty, please, beam me up.
From the article:
'If the Republicans controlled all three houses of government, they could ram through the legislation they’ve been concocting during the past decade or so: legislation powering up the assault on the environment, on health, on social services, destroying any kind of safety net for people, animals or the environment.
They could escalate the war on dissidents who dare to oppose their plans. In short order, the United States could turn into just another big banana republic, with a military-backed regime of elites governing through the indiscriminate use of fear tactics, with violence applied as necessary to keep the people in line.
It happened not so long ago in many countries in Latin America—think Chile, Argentina, Guatemala, El Salvador—in the 1970s, when wealthy politicians wielding military power and complete control over the ballot boxes ruled their countries with iron fists, “disappearing” anyone who might remotely be a threat, including thousands of innocent students..."
What I don't get is how the writer makes this exclusively about IF the Republicans get into office. Where is the mention that Obama's team
gave the legal nod to both torture, and the illegal wars of aggression
executed by Bush? Where is the mention of his going vigilantly after
whistle-blowers? And where is any mention of the insidious NDAA being
signed into law on the night no one was home to pay attention?
These things ARE taking place and with rare exceptions, both parties are on those same puppet strings and supporting the very things Jennifer writes about
as potential objectives.
What looks to be happening overnight is only the mirage. A lot of palms get greased, laws changed, and "security" put in place to make the agenda SEEM to happen in the flash of an eye, as if behind-the-scenes planning has not been underway for some time. The so-called Democratic president has set the way for the things Jennifer speaks about; and at one point, he had a majority in congress... but his sell-out policies sent the public back towards the seeming other polarity. Trapped animals will do that, rush from side to side in recognizing no other way to escape their cages.
Although NDAA will seem far uglier under a belligerent oath like Newt Gingrich, it is what it is. And you can be sure, that without big money behind that grotesque caricature more fit to the Court of the Middle Ages, Newt would never have a chance. Big money could christen a chimp (I mean, didn't they?) through the right manipulation of celebrity gossip and the infinite echo chambes of our now Captured MSM.
GALEN: Many excellent insights in your post. I see we were seeing this article's commentary largely eye to eye.
Many on the left still speak in futuristic terms about the crisis that exists in Amerika and the world. They speak of what will happen instead of what has happened. As Galen and others here have written, Amerika is already a totalitarian police-state. The bloodless coup d'tat that occurred in 2000 was the final gasp of a so-called democracy that was in a death spiral since its inception. Unfortunately, the only solution that remains is a revolution that takes down the fascism that gobbles up everything in it path.
SR: You've echoed my comments above. This author is likely a Democrat apologist or even a Dem operative. It ain't just the Repugs alone, the Dims are also actively involved in bringing Fascism to America.
When the DEMOCRATS controlled the 2 branches of government which pass legislation (which is rather more to the point) of course we've gotten "fast-track NAFTA" and a trillion $ Wall St bailout, just to name a couple of items. Of course it was Clinton who "ended welfare as we know it."
Something in the 1930s and 1940s! No I'd say some people about a half dozen to a dozen millennia ago created the despotism of the dark ages we're now in. With it starting in Europe, maybe with some who had mated with Neanderthals, not really human in the first place and exclusive to Europe. Who knows the details.
Guaranteed though! Those who took power over others did so as part of secret plans or did so alone as people who rule themselves as was the case for at least 88 to 90 millennia of modern human existence wouldn't have allowed it otherwise. A free people don't just give up the power just to be giving it up. Think monarchies, oligarchies, and every other kind of malarky.
maybe with some who had mated with Neanderthals, not really human in the first place
--------------------------------
The Neandertal branch of h. sapiens loved beauty, hoped for a life beyond this one, and cared for the members of their communities who were disabled by nature, injury, or age, sharing everything they had. They did their best for them. Would our ruling classes come even close to that, do you think, were they not worried about lampposts?
More of the CD crypto-support of the Democratic Party. It's an interesting insight to the blindness of the Obama-bots. "It’s very possible that Mr. XY Zombie Republican could seize power in November, with the backing of endlessly deep pockets like the Koch brothers, Big Energy, and Big Finance, and the blessing of the Supreme Court " Am I supposed to forget the last 3 years, the sell-outs of HCR, Finance reform, the escalation in poor, helpless Afghanistan, the (continuing) illegal imprisonment of Brad Manning, the war against other whistle-blowers, Obama's continued support of Big Nukes even after Fukushima...?...etc. The only way to make the 2 bankers' sock-puppet parties look different is to ignore the crimes one party commits and concentrate on the other's transgressions. Third parties are the only non-wasted vote this election.
A third party might work if a candidate from one of them could actually catch the national imagination and favor. Who's the third party candidate this time around? Anyone? There's not enough time during this election cycle for any of them to do that.
For me four more years is not an option. Four years has to be the limit. I can't take eight years of any of the candidates ever again.
There never is" enough time this election cycle". Funny, that's what Senator Diane Feinstein DEMOCRATIC Senator said when she was chairing the committee overseeing election and voting reform in the wake of the stolen 2000, 2004 elections and about 2 years prior to the the 2008 election. There was a chance then to get rid of electronic voting and go back to verifiable paper balloting. I don't remember her exact quote, but it was something to the effect that changing would be too disruptive to the upcoming election (which at the time was more than a year and a half into the future).
It is now 2012, and last I checked, electronic Diebold type voting systems are proliferating like a cancer throughout the country, rendering the legitimacy of US elections increasingly questionable.
The time for a third party is NOW. Believing that is the first step into bringing it into existence. Have we not seen many examples throughout the world these last two years, that when the people are awakened, enormous changes can happen swiftly, despite the power of the ruling elites? We vastly outnumber the elites, that is what they fear. As long as we continue to swallow the Democratic versus Republican meme, they will maintain control.
Two small notes:
1) Diebold and other makers have had their 'black box' voting machines operating code taken apart line by line, and it was demonstrated that '0' didn't always equal '0'. It was also demonstrated that the machines were very easily hacked from outside, and that one common key would open ALL machines from a particular maker.
2) Given that the Corporations have effectively locked any third party out of the nomination and electoral process, and have successfully co-opted not only the Democratic and Republican parties, and the electoral process (gee, thank you US Supreme Court and your 'Citizens United' ruling!), but the Government itself, why on earth would you even attempt to 'repair' an utterly corrupt and dysfunctional system, that co-opts the very people who are trying to reform it from within. Reform isn't going to work, and revolution requires a level of danger and commitment the US population isn't willing to commit to. So get used to wearing that collar.
So, maybe we are all toast, got jelly?
We were all toasted back in 2008 when we all lost our retirement savings, homes and jobs. No one wanted to spread jelly on us. Instead they stuck us in the food processor and made bread crumbs out of us. The 01% that can still afford meat or fish will use us to encrust their entries at a later date.
Kristallnacht: "On the nights of November 9 and 10, rampaging mobs throughout Germany and the newly acquired territories of Austria and Sudetenland freely attacked Jews in the street, in their homes and at their places of work and worship. At least 96 Jews were killed and hundreds more injured, more than 1,000 synagogues were burned (and possibly as many as 2,000), almost 7,500 Jewish businesses were destroyed, cemeteries and schools were vandalized, and 30,000 Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps "
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/kristallnacht.html
the political system has always been very corrupt in this country - maybe all countries, or most countries
as leonard cohen sings:
everybody knows the war is over
everybody knows the good guys lost
everybody knows the dice are loaded
everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
our awareness of this brazen undermining of our understanding of democracy has risen a bit and we now stand back to look at the beast
and we ask - how bad is it and how bad is it going to get...
good question
a lot of people compare amerika to the nazis. in israel the parliament is moving to make it illegal to compare the government to the nazis. how ironic s that
"the penalty for comparing an individual or multiple persons to the radical ideology would be up to six months in jail, a $25,000 fine for actually using the word “Nazi” or for utilizing Holocaust-related symbols for anything other than teaching, research or documentation.
Already, the legislation has been approved by Cabinet ministers."
"The push to criminalize these actions comes after protests by ultra-Orthodox demonstrators. These individuals dressed young people like Nazi concentration camp inmates — something that would carry a major penalty under this proposed bill. The police in Israel were also likened to Nazis during these protests."
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/israeli-bill-would-outlaw-comparisons-to-nazis/
so much for freedom of speech in israel
let's look at nazi legislation and amerikan legislation, the parallels are obvious
germany:
"The Reichstag Fire, February 1933
A new Reichstag election was scheduled for early March 1933. Only a few days before the election, on February 27, the Reichstag building was partially destroyed by fire. The Nazis may well have set the blaze, but they blamed the Communists, charging that the Communists were plotting to seize power. Hitler convinced Hindenburg to take strong action against the supposed Communist threat, and the president suspended freedom of speech and the press and other civil liberties."
can you say 9/11
"The Enabling Act, March 1933
On March 23, 1933, the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act, which gave dictatorial authority to Hitler's cabinet for four years. Armed with full powers, Hitler moved to eliminate all possible centers of opposition. His policy is known as Gleichschaltung, which translates literally as coordination. In this context, however, it meant more precisely subordination, that is, subordinating all independent institutions to the authority of Hitler and the Nazi Party."
can you say: homeland security
"he Nuremberg Laws, 1935
The campaign against the Jews was intensified following the adoption of the Nuremberg Laws of 1935. These laws defined a Jew as any person with at least one Jewish grandparent. Some 2.5 million Germans, in addition to the 600,000 who regarded themselves as Jews, were affected by this definition. The Nuremberg Laws deprived Jews of their rights as citizens, and Jews were barred from marrying non-Jews."
can you say ndaa
you get the picture
we are moving along a road and everyone knows it - despair and disillusionment are everywhere and our country has been greatly degraded with little to no hope in sight
is obummer hitler
or will it will be oromney
i suspect it will be gingrich
obummer seems to be a spent force - a nothingness, an empty vessel who has turned his back on amerika from day one. go back and listen to his campaign speeches and compare them to his actions in power
2 different human beings - at least
gop will not vote for a mormon and his rhetorical ploddings seem to lack conviction
not so with newtie - look in his eyes and it is scary. a lot of folks reject him but an increasingly crazy gop has a lot of folks who like him. his promise to kick the shit out of obummer goes a long way for a lot of folks
and unlike romney newt has the verbal skills to do it
one of the things that hitler did in germany was to put the workers back to work - 6 million of them
if newtie got to be president and the launched a massive work program giving work to millions of people (god knows there is a lot to do with roads, infrastructure etc) he could pretty much do what he likes after that
especially when so many amerikans have so much contempt for politics these days, so little regard for the politicians...
cleaning house would make sense to a lot of alienated amerikans
president gingrich, pipa, sopa, homeland security, the war on terror - now there's a very scary buffet option if i ever saw one...
wish i could write and think that clear and cohesively
robert c - my best bud - how are you bro' - hope all is well
"president gingrich, pipa, sopa, homeland security, the war on terror - now there's a very scary buffet option if i ever saw one..."
How is it scarier than what we have? You have to remember Gingrich had to step down from being speaker of the house for ethics violations. Perhaps if he's elected president he'll prove as effective as Nixon and have to resign? In which case we should pay a lot of attention to who his vice presidential candidate is or by default we could be left with an appointee like Ford as president.
Ask yourselves this: how is it one of the current presidential candidates is someone who had to step down from the Speakership of the House for ethics violations? There is no one else in politics today that would make a credible candidate? Who selects and funds these idiots?