I cried myself to sleep for my country. (a bit of a rant or a lament)

[BiggJawn]

Maybe I heard the wrong things this week, or perhaps this really is the end, but I honestly think The American Experiment is in its twilight.

First, one of our "DU family" relates how her OB-GYN opined that breast cancer could be "God's punishment for Abortion". That was shocking. 25-plus years of school, and some guy in the sky is gonna give you a disease because he's pissed at you? Isn't that like Jerry Foul-well's "AIDS is GAWD'S wrath on Sodomites"? sounds like one of those doctors who'd come out and tell the family "She's in GOD'S hands, now..." (Fine, get back in there and help Him out)

Then I hear sound-bites from the convention of the National Association of Evangelicals. These people are still battling Bill Clinton, and he's been retired for almost 4 years now. Incredible. I heard stuff like "It's great to have a President who's concern is Public Policy instead of Personal Conduct" and "This country WAS founded on Christian Principles, you know..."... Chimpy Bush is these people's darling, because he mouths all the right words. So, The most important qualification for the office of President is the inability to get an erection?

Melissa Ann Rowland is under pain of losing her freedom in Salt Lake City because she refused a doctor's opinion that she needed a C-Section or her unborn babies were in danger. This was a doctor's ADVICE. Doctors are people mechanics, for crying out loud, when did THEY become omnipotent? I saw on Olberman's show last night that Doctors have crossed the line before, in one instance getting a court order to C-section a woman who had Cancer and "was going to die anyway, so let's save the baby"...If they had done this surgery on Rowland and the baby had died anyway, would the DOCTOR be charged with Murder? I think not.

Gay Marriage. The most popular argument seems to be that to allow gay marriage would allow people to marry their pets or farm animals, or NAMBLA members could marry their Chickens (I doubt that. Chickens grow up and become men. NAMBLA'ers don't do men) But there's no mention from the Fundy Right about such glowing examples of how to conduct a "Holy" marriage, like Britney Spears, or Liz Taylor, ot for that matter, ME.

Congress discusses raising the fines on "obscene" material on the airwaves. After losing their cool upon being told that $2700 isn't much of a deterrent, they puff themselves up and say "Oh YEAH??? Well, Mr. Smarty-pants Broadcast Owner, how much of a deterrent do you think HALF-A-MILLION DOLLARS would be? Not laughing now, are you, Smart Boy? Congress has Spoken."

But they still can't agree on what constitutes "obscene" or "Indecent". it's still up to "Community Standards"...Whatever THOSE are....

And the Election this fall. My girlfriend thinks The Chimp will win it again. By hook or crook. I think that if it looks like there is one IOTA of a chance that Rove will be defeated, first, they will haul out Osama-Bin-Forgotten (live or dead, I won't speculate)on Halowe'en. If this doesn't push the Chimp numbers into the Iopnosphere, Then we will have some kind of LIHOP/MIHOP event that will bring about the prophecy of General Tommy "I directed the Afghan War from a Florida Country Club" Franks as elucidated in "Stogy Suckah Monthly" that the Murkan Sheeple will BEG to have Martial Law enacted upon them.....And Bush will go on the air from AF-1 (as he flits from rabbit-hole to spider-hole) and intone "Mah fella Murkans, the unthinkable has happened. Agin, we-uns have bin hit at home. Ah am, in th' intrest of National Security, suspendin' th' Elections until further notice. Oh, I almost forget, Go Shopping, an' Gawd bless Murka..."

And thus the Wish of Bush, "This'd be easier if I was a Dictator" will come to pass.

And then, with his position firmly entrenched, because, even though we can't see nekkid titties or hear "The EFF Word" on our Tee-Vees, we will still have "Reality Tee-Vee" and greasy snack food to keep us in line ("Bread and Circuses", anyone?) Everything you ever saw on the PNAC website will come to pass. Our young men will get their "Greetings!" letters, Sadam's weapons will be found in Syria, OBL will somehow magically re-incarnate in Iran, and the World will shun and embargo us, thus plunging our already weak economy into ruin. Young people will find that only the Army is hiring, old farts like me will starve because there is no work.

What has happened to this country? Have we (collectively)lost our minds?
If you made it this far, thanks.

(furkin' typos. My brain runs faster than my fingers)

[Bronco69]

1. Great post!

I really wonder what the rest of the world will do if bush* gets another 4 years.

[wolfgirl]

2. I hear ya...

I'm worried as well mostly for my children (all children).

Bush's statement on the Russert show haunts me..When asked about the election, Bush said I will be elected. Without doubt, hesitation, or pause. Something very, very tiny but electric hit me and I've not been able to really get it out of my mind.

It's not just Bush tho', we have a people all throughout this country, from local school boards up to Congress that wield terrible amounts of power that go virtually unnoticed and unhampered.

It's going to take much more than replacing Bush to get our country back...and I worry...for all of us.

HOWEVER...I have a strong faith that justice and truth ultimately prevail. It may be a very long, hard struggle and it may not occur during my lifetime..but it will happen.

Hang in there - you are not alone!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. Get active!

And you've taken a good first step by reading/posting at DU! Welcome!

Get involved in the local races. That is where you can see the candidates face to face and where individuals have the most clout. If you have a whacko school board member, go to meetings, record his statements, and distribute them to neighbors. Run for the board yourself, or support someone who is willing, and vote the rascal out. It usually doesn't take that many people to do it-it's more a matter of organization. Remember Tip O'Neal said "All politics is local."

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. Don't be fooled by illusions

The Chimp wants you to think he will win. The media whores agree with him, of course. But they are not the people. I've been doing informal polling, and even among Republicans, Chimp is in trouble.

The junk about indicting a woman for murder because she refused a C-section will galvanize the women's movement. I predict that even some conservatives will say this is going too far.

Remember that MoveOn right now has more members than the Christian Coalition. Sure, they can bluster and shout and make a lot of noise, but that doesn't translate into power unless we allow them to grab that power.

The best thing to do is to take action. Talk to people, starting with those you know. Find out what they are really thinking. Then start some political action. Print out Bush's lies and distribute them. Have discussion groups, encourage folks to register to vote. Counter every bit of garbage thrown at the Dems with facts. Show these right wing nutcases for what they are-out of touch extremists.

We can take our country back.

[BiggJawn]

5. But Bush wields the "Executive Order"

"Will of the People" be damned. If he doesn't want to go, he will enact Martial law and suspend the elections until sometime in his 70's. Then he will enact more Executive Orders to keep the line of succession in the Bush family.

That is my darkest fear.and it won't do any good to resist. Why? just search the archive for threads about Resistance, you'll see the "cooler heads" who tell us that "they" have tanks and airplanes, "Resistance is Futile"....

[atreides1]

9. Resistance Is Never Futile....

...it just takes time.

BushCo does not have all of the military in its pockets, some of them are just as pissed off at this administration as we are.

There comes a time when talking is just a waste of breath, and a choice has to be made. To fight for what you believe in or to lay down and die.

For me I prefer to fight, I will not become an "enabler", like some,
if the cost for my freedom is my life, then so be it.

Many here have tried to play by the rules, but when the rules are changed to favor the tyrants and dictators, then in my opinion we
are no longer required to play by their rules.

Our Founders resisted the British, and won, the French resisted the Germans, the Russians at Stalingrad, the men at the Alamo, the Spartans at Thermopylae, the soldiers on Corriegador and the Marines on Wake Island, the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto, and Sobibor.


True not all who resisted won, but they did resist.

And the one advantage that we here in the US have, is the fact that almost everybody owns a gun, not all, but close to it.

My take is if we are not willing to give our lives to keep our freedom, then perhaps it's not worth having

[BiggJawn]

17. Yeah, but I'd rather it was THEM who "water the Tree"...

Hope I'm not called upon to do it myself, but if so, well, I was looking for a life when I found this one, I guess.....

[mopaul]

6. great rant

stay frosty

[AP]

7. And don't forget the lawless, aggressive push for neoliberalism abroad

not only in Iraq, but in the last couple weeks in Haiti, Venezuela, South Korea, and all over Africa.

The bad guys are really turning the heat up a notch.

[wtmusic]

8. Media media media

It all boils down to one thing: most people accept being told what to think.

Reregulate the media, pulverize conglomerates, and "the public" will magically come around.

[lostnfound]

22. I think you might be right..normal 'human sensibilities' will take over

if more diverse voices and real human emotion could get across the airwaves.

[davsand]

10. I'm afraid and have been for a while.

I hear ya, BiggJawn. I feel like I'm some kind of nutcase--but I've been afraid for a while now. I'm actually afraid of my government for the first time in my life and I hate this feeling more than I can put into words.

I keep flashing back to the stuff on here a while back about the guy who claimed to be from the future, and that the US is headed for a complete and total breakdown--fueled by a civil war between the fundies and the rest of us.

At the time, I dismissed it and walked away thinking that somebody needed more Prozak or possibly even some Thorazine--ya know? But I keep coming back to it mentally when I see the stuff you describe. Tommy's little thing about Martial law just sent cold fingers down my spine at the time, and it grows worse every day.

I used to salve my fear with the rationalization that "the people" would never accept anything like martial law--that they'd rise up and actually BE Americans. I honestly can't say I expect anything like that any more. I'm afraid everyone is just gonna dope up on Gawd a little bit more and shuffle off to servitude.

I see the lack of action or even interest on the issue of electronic voting--with all of its dangers and flaws, and I start to wonder just how far we really ARE from realizing Atwood's vision in the Handmaid's Tale, or even becoming the third world--complete with local dictators-- all over again.

I've always vowed that I was a an "American, by Gawd" and that I'd stay here and fight for the ideals that created this nation. In recent months, however, I look at my young daughter, and I question the wisdom of my past words. I'm actually beginning to see this as a matter of her SAFETY rather than some issue of ideals. I can only wonder if mothers in Germany felt this same sense of panic immediately before all hell broke loose.

I'm still going thru the motions--working the elections here in Illinois, and working for candidates that I feel are good ones--but increasingly there is a feeling of dread that it isn't gonna be enough.

I've begun making plans to get us out of the US if the elections get as screwed up as they were last time. I'm thinking we can be over the border in a matter of hours, and sometimes I almost think that will be enough. Almost.


Laura

[seabeyond]

11. looking at the whole

is a sense of being overwhelmed

and we cant fix the whole. but we can start with us. i am seeing so many people doing what is right and care. and the more people think feel they have the right the obligtion to create their world, the more will willingly jump in

this morning my almost nine year old. i shared the video of chronilogical time of bush and 9/11 with him. he is a fast reader and had me run it thru another time. i work hard on telling them, they have to gather the info, from all sides and it is their responsibility to find the truth in it without agenda and without conditioning. the world is into conditioning, in all ways, would suggest the strong majority condition.

he put it together in watching. he started sounding like those on the board, worried about scarying the children, why wasnt he getting planes in hte air to take them down. and talking the decisions, and loss and greater loss and responsibility

so how is the world gonna change. right here with our children,. and since my children were young with 9/11 and sat in their little bodies seeing the horror and since bush lies and war and the destruction of, they are the ones that have had to put it in place, to create a safe enviroment for themselves and not live in fear. they are digesting the 11 year old girl being kidnapped and murdered as they saw the video.

i have basically truned tv off since my 6 year old watched that video, cause the news was on.

the parent is the most influencial what will be in the decades ahead

we have a job to do,. and it isnt that hard, it is to love and teach love and be example of love. and that can be in anger at bush for his lies, incompetence, and arrogance..........yet always in love. this gives the security to our youth.......

and so much more.

start with your enviroment, and if enough create lite, heaven on earth, that is what will grow. to look at the whole, it is just an macro, of our micro, the lessons are there in every dimension of life, so consistantly clear

[opihimoimoi]

12. To fix the whole we start with the small. ... us

we learn to discern BS from good truth,

the liars from the TRUE Leaders;

etc etc.

[seabeyond]

14. it took a lot of years to create

an enviroment where we handed all rights and power over to schools and governments and police and our neighbor. the media, lobbyist. where is our responsibility in this. i have never been one for another telling me what to do, a gift and a challenge to be sure. so it is easy for me to see when another is conditioning me, or dictating to me. i have the youngest child since birth screamed and still does whenever anyone does this with him. and have learned to give him the facts punishment included and allow him to make the decision to make a good choice. or suffer.

i encourage this cause he is courages. and he will challenge. and has yet been disrespectful or punished when he has. someone tells him halloween is evil and unchristian, he sees the fun and laughter and family and candy after all and looks at adult in, are you crazy. lol

we have to allow our children, and the only way we can do this is to do it ourselves. and that is being aware in life., not a sheep, and having courage to speak out, in respect and love, again i say

cause it was not a good thing du was branded die ashcroft die. did no one any good. some may have felt better saying it, k so a higher in all, but as far as this board, didnt enhance it,.

the video i hate republicans ..........it was cool all over the place, and then i hate republicans. that one i cant share with son cause that one is of hate, and it isnt how we resolve in this house. if i did use it , would be in example of how people go away from love creating enemy in darkness, and is not how it really is, we know. our dad is a republican after all and we love him

[seabeyond]

15. the robertsons and flawells

deciding to go beyond christianity for power and control over the sheep teaching them hate is godly it says so

[Mari333]

13. if they can drag my kid off to a fraudulent war they can get yours

believe me.

[Auntie Bush]

16. I pray for your son and all America. n/t

[lostnfound]

18. But you didn't mention Haiti.

Not much is as depressing to me as the thought that torturers and killers will be returned to power, by force, to prevent the poor from keeping hope alive in their own land; AND that mostly, my countrymen, including my friends and acquaintances, couldn't care less.

[BiggJawn]

19. Sorry....AND Chile, AND Gitmo, AND Madrid....

No slight was intended.
Internal safety valve's gotta kick in SOME time, y'know....

It's ALL fucked up. Just plain FUBAR.....

[Robbien]

20. And since you are mentioning Haiti

may as well mention the two other attempted US funded coups this month

Venezuela
Equatorial Guinea

If either one of these would have worked, they would be in the same bad situation as Haiti. Even with the failed coup attempts these two countries are in a world of hurt from what we are doing to them through our foreign diplomatic policy.

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

21. "Pleasantville" in reverse?

Or maybe the Truman Show, with the right wing/corporate leadership playing the role of "Christof"

(who actually reminded me a bit of the Dutch architect Rem Koolhass)