Are we really screwed?

[seaj11]

I can't help but feel down every time a piece of news about the Bushies' Nazism comes in. From the recent posts, it seems that lots of DUers think that the country is going down the toilet fast, and there's little or nothing we can do about it. We're tempted to leave the country, but it wouldn't really help, since America's actions affects all nations. So we must stay here and fight. It's our civic duty.

Yes, our rights are being challenged or stolen, we're stigmatized, labelled, name-called, and our opinion is moot. And what can we do, with a Republican-controlled government, a newly empowered Christian Dominionist minority, and the 22nd amendment being attacked?

Are things really worse than they were when Bush first came to power? Liberal-to-moderate Democrats, Independents, and moderate Republicans have managed to prevent anti-environmental legislation from being passed, and the FMA was lost in the Senate by a noticeable, albeit slight margin. We still have power. It may not be in great amounts, but we do have power. Yes, we must keep each other informed of recent activity in the legislatures, courts, and the Oval Office, but let's not lose hope, and let's not be fatalists. Say I'm being too optimistic, or that it's wishful thinking, but the old cliché is true: Hope makes anything possible.

Just my 2 cents. Happy holidays, all!

[Cary]

1. It's hard to imagine things being any worse.

We have to regroup in some places, and keep places we have. That way we have some hope for 2006 and 2008. Until 2006, things are grim.

Yet we live to fight another day. We have not been annihilated, despite the rightists' hubristic chest beating. We know, from Sun Tzu, that if you don't completely crush your enemy your enemy will regroup and attack you again. Usually even stronger than the first time.

So that is what we must do. Go forth and conquer.

[SmokingJacket]

2. I suspect we *are* screwed...

You know how a ship can tip a certain number of degrees before it tips over? But then after a certain amount that baby's going over, nothing will stop it.

We're tipping pretty far. Stuff is sliding off the deck into the water (separation of church and state, free and fair elections, libraries).

Who knows, maybe the storm will pass and the ship will right itself. Maybe the will of the people will keep it upright.

I'm going to keep fighting, I'm protesting, I'm writing and talking. But I think there's a good chance this boat's going all the way over.

(I don't usually allow myself so much cyncism, but hell, I'm tired.)

[JaneDoughnut]

3. IF we are

At least in four years there will be no question which drunken fratboy and his friends drove the country into a ditch. We may be in for a rough ride, but it will improve.

[ChloeForKerry]

4. Our children are

Debt and wars. No, the future isn't too bright for our kids.

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[tabasco]

9. Why aren't you in Iraq!

Or do you just troll message boards to display your patriotism?

[seaj11]

13. What? (scratch head)

I'm not trolling.

[tabasco]

18. I replied to the short-lived troll lwrachel ...

who has since been tombstoned.

[seaj11]

20. I thought there was something funny

about lwrachel.

[blondeatlast]

11. Gone, and you weren't even fun, either. nt

[passy]

6. Way past screwed and carrying the unwanted child.

The last 4 years have been a quiet gestation period.
The fourth Reich has begun, his struggle (+) was "hard work" but now he is ready to embark on a new American era.
(+) mein kampf in German.

[Mountainman]

7. Here is my take on this. I'm sort of glad the people will get what they

asked for. It's sad that we will also have to get screwed but so will those middle and lower class fools that voted for him. The very least we can say is that we didn't ask for it.

Freepers need social security as much as anyone. We all need clean air and water. We all need decent paying jobs and a sustainable economy. None of us want our kids sent to war for dubious reasons.

Bad things will happen to the left and the right. My hope is that more and more of those who asked for this will see the error of their ways and join us. I know it will happen but I don't know how long it will take.

In the short term we are screwed and if those in power don't become dictators, the people will change things.

I am also convinced that this tilt to the right was inevitable seeing how things tilted to the left in the past. The pendulum has to move to it's farthest most position before it can begin to move back the other way. I feel what is going on is a natural progression of things.

[CrispyQ]

8. I agree.

Eventually, all the lying & incompetence of Bushco will come home to roost. If the Dems had office the next 4 years, everything would be blamed on them. In 2008 there will be no question about who fucked everything up. Although I worry that the sheeple will not see it even then!

[pretzel4gore]

10. it's so screwed they're going to have to rename the

United States of America The United States of SlamBamThankYouMa'america!
;)

[prof_science]

12. Yes, we're screwed...

...if we don't get a strong voice of leadership to reform the way elections are carried out and votes are counted. Forget about 2006 and 2008 if this problem isn't fixed.

And, since I don't anticipate things changing at all (because I'm a cynical MF), then yes, we're screwed.

[firebee]

14. We're pretty screwed... check that... really screwed.

[CrispyQ]

21. So my question to you,

will you continue to vote? I've considered this question alot the past month. Like you said, if the process isn't fixed this time, the fix will be in on all future elections. I am dismayed that we have reached this point in this country.

I think it was Ben Franklin who said something like, You've got a democracy, now can you keep it?

[prof_science]

23. Yes, I'll continue to vote...

...by absentee. No way in hell will I EVER trust BBV.

[Cleita]

15. All the progress made in the nineties has been tossed on

the trash heap and we are going back to the world of Hitler and the Great Depression. Now they are talking about screwing old people out of their Social Security. They already screwed up the drug benefit. Yes, it's a wonderful benefit for the pharma companies. Every commercial you see for viagra and adult Ritalin is being paid for by seniors.

Not only that they are already installing the Star Wars missiles that Reagan wanted. These multi-billion dollar anti-ballistic missiles don't even work but they are installing them in Vandenburg Air Base here on the coast of California according to the local news.

Yes, we are truly screwed. We have to stop these robber barons, because that is what they are, before we really do have Armageddon.

[hyphenate]

16. We also had a fairly balanced Senate

that would keep things a little tiny bit more equal. That advantage is now gone.

The fact is, 1/2 of the people in this country are scared little sissies who want their president to run over, kill and do away with the "baddies" in Iraq.

Nevermind that the war was waged on a lie, nevermind that the whole piece of shit was a scam right from the start. The remaining fact is that we ARE at war--a war that makes Vietnam and Korea look wholly justified in comparison. The 1/2 of this country that put the chimp back in the white house are terrified, and it's all a result of master manipulation by the right.

Yes, we're screwed. But it's been going on a lot longer than most of us can ever guess, and we're in WAY too deep now to ever extract ourselves without destroying our entire way of life. And how many people in our country are willing to go that far to bring back some honesty and competency to the government?

[Cleita]

17. If we don't start to turn the tide then we will destroy our way of life.

Just because the dominoes falling havn't reached us yet doesn't mean it won't happen unless we stop them. I really hope that we will have some leadership in the future who will inspire our camp to turn the tide, who is up to the challenge of facing up to these very bad people. This BFEE consortium wouldn't hesitate to kill any hero and their families like they did Paul Wellstone. I think this is why our Dems are running scared.

We need a Messiah, a Ghandi, a Martin Luther King. Unfortunately all those heroes were killed for their beliefs, so a hero would need to know that this could be their fate.

[SharonAnn]

19. We ain't seen nothin' yet! He's got plenty of time to do lots more damage

[BernieBear]

22. ummm, yeah we are n/t