We, the People, are still in charge, Mr Bush....

[kentuck]

Yes, you are experiencing your Andy Warhol minutes in months, but that too, shall pass. You are insane if you do not fear the wrath of the people. When the people awaken, they cannot be help back by a few bodyguards or the propaganda of your favorite "newscasters". They will storm over your carcass like a cyclone over the Texas desert. It is you that will be spinning and searching for a place to plant yourself on steady ground. Don't disrespect the people, Mr Bush. The price is higher than anything you might have to put on the table. There's a time to show respect and this is it.

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. He isn't going to show any respect. His will be a awesome

descent, truly a historic decline and collapse.

[babylonsister]

2. kentuck, he will fall mightily, in no small measure to

your attention to this. You are wonderful and have fueled many fires. I love you!

[kentuck]

4. Thanks, babylonsister...

We are all a part of this....moreso than many of us yet realize.

[Booster]

3. Yes, he will fall and fall hard, and just maybe because he's such

a bad representative of this great nation, just maybe we will get some kind of mental test put in place that presidential candidates have to pass before they can run, just to make sure they aren't insane. I said we needed this when Pat Robertson ran for President; think about it - it's needed.

[Kerrytravelers]

5. We, the People haven't had a chance since rover realized he had a puppet

in 1999. Their mission was clear the day * decided to have his second "I converted to Christianity" story.

[bigmonkey]

6. "Not Insane"

The comedy group the Firesign Theatre had that as the slogan of their fake candidate in the middle 70s. "Vote for our guy because he's not insane." It seemed funny at the time, now it's tragedy becoming farce.

[wli]

7. I'm a bit skittish about mass demonstrations

I think Bushler, Cheney, Rummy, et al are more likely to bomb such things and pull mass arrest and mass imprisonment stunts than to be swayed by them (localized declarations of martial law would even provide "legal sanction" for such).

The stormtrooper assaults on demonstrators at the anti-WTO/etc. demonstrations suggest this to me. I think the more people show up, the more he'll escalate the force used.

So I think it would be a far better idea to hit them in the pocketbook and remain heavily distributed than to put bodies in harm's way. Things like boycotts, buycotts, sick-outs, going on strike, and so on. I'm not sure, though, since those can be countered in similar ways (e.g. multinationals offshoring their entire US workforces in retaliation for being involved in strikes and/or boycotts etc.)

[Kerrytravelers]

8. Mass demonstrations are necessry to show our force... even if the

corproate media refuses to show up. We know there are millions of people behind us. There are hundreds of thousands of people at the protest, and each of us represent several people who couldn't be there.

[kentuck]

9. A natural anxiety...

But your suggestions make it all that more important. This is about more than Bush or Cindy Sheehan. This is about the constitutional right to free speech and the right to peaceable assemble. These folks are fighting for all of us.

[mwb970]

18. Mass arrests would work for our side.

Clearly, the people are in no mood for it.

[wli]

19. I'm not so sure. They've prepared for such since Vietnam

ISTR it's much of what REX 84 was intended for: smashing riots and protests.

[mrmonarch]

10. The People is not in charge

The older dictators fell because they never could supply their subjects with enough bread, enough circuses, enough miracles and mysteries. Nor did they possess a really effective system of mind-manipulation. Under a scientific dictator, education will really work - with the result that most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution. There seems to be no good reason why a thoroughly scientific dictatorship should ever be overthrown.

(Brave New World, Huxley)
The sooner you can rid yourself of the idea that "you" are in charge, the sooner you can have a chance of doing anything that will have any impact whatsoever. "You" are not in charge, and probably never have been.

If you effect a "revolution" against Bush, getting some democrat elected instead, you will still be living in a lie, because Bush is not the real problem - the scientific dictatorship, which the so-called US democracy is a variant of, is the real problem. You will have switched from one form of slavery to another, and this time you would ENJOY it, because you FOUGHT sooo hard to get to it! Ah, the irony.

I have no doubt that the lower levels of the democratic party contains many decent people, but if you believe that this extends up to the top you are making a big mistake. And even if they are (for arguments sake) decent they can still be "handled". Take Lewinsky for but one example, what a great blackmail project she was.

As long as you are living in reasonable comfort, with food in stores, and you can walk on the street without being shot, you will most likely continue to believe the lie of your current state. It will take too much effort to do anything real. The problem is that once you get to the state where there is no food in stores and you can't walk on the streets without being shot, it will be too late. And that day is approaching fast.

Have you been paying attention to the economy? No? Rising oil prices, decoupled Yuan and home-owners going bankrupt by the thousands. When ordinary americans can no longer sustain themselves, when they get to the point where desperation sets in, isn't it just great that there are terrorist laws in effect that allow the president to put them in camps for any time period without trial. This isn't the future, kids, this is tomorrow we're talking, so get used to it.

Sorry about the gloomy vision, but you folks need to wake up, like, now. The rest of the world depends on it! Thanks for listening.

[wli]

11. I'm not convinced I can save myself, much less anyone else.

I have no idea where all these mindless stormtroopers came from nor all the gear that suddenly materialized, but it really does look like they can crush all the dissidents completely. I'm shaking in fear of the Homeland Offense Gestapo kicking in my door and torturing me to death for being "insufficiently pro-war" pretty much all the time.

The big hangup that's kept me from bolting ASAP is my longtime live-in girlfriend not wanting to leave the country. If she dumps me I'll probably sell my car as fast as I can for whatever I can get for it, haul the contents of my apartment to a landfill, and hop on the next flight to anywhere it looks like I can get past immigration.

ON EDIT: If/when the brown and sticky really hits the rotating blades, I'll probably just unceremoniously get on the first flight I can out of the country.

[mrmonarch]

13. Stormtroopers and safe places

Well, mindless stormtroopers can be created quite easily if you know how. All it takes is time, money, power, and a firm conviction of its success.

As for safe places, you may have noticed recently that Europe (assuming that all countries close to the US are out of the question) is heading down the same slope, only a little later. The recent bombings in London did the trick to get their legislation up to speed. Other countries are following suit, because noone dare say that the emperor has no clothes. Not yet anyway. So, where are you gonna go?

Are you beginning to see the terror of the situation? You can't escape hell if hell is all there is. Sucks, doesn't it?

[wli]

14. that is incredibly scary

So there is nowhere to go to escape this? This is really bad.

[magellan]

15. Escape isn't the answer

I came back to the US because I didn't want to watch the revolution on tv. This is my country and I'll be dad-gummed if I'm going to abandon her now. I'll stand and fight to restore true democracy here, if that's what it takes, no matter what, to honor our Founding Fathers' hope for this nation.

Progress is nature's way. The PTB are anti-progress and anti-humanity. They may win, but it won't be without a fight! Don't let them intimidate you. Our individual lives are nothing in the grand scheme of things. This is about the future and which way mankind is going to go. Stay, stand with the rest of us!

Thus concludes my 'one for the Gipper' speech. :)

[wli]

16. well, I personally can't do anything, so saving my own butt is #1

I hate to say it, but I'm a coward.

[magellan]

17. You might surprise yourself

I often think I might be a coward when the time comes too. But I've gotten to the point where I'm so angry at what the lunatics in power are doing that no one on the Right gives me guff anymore without them knowing they're messing with the wrong lady. The rage just flies out of me where I used to avoid confrontation. So I regret to say that if I have to go it won't be quietly. ;)

As for what you can do personally, you have more power than you think! Just your presence here proves that you want to do SOMETHING. Are you signed up to the DU Activist Corps? It might not seem a lot, but one letter or email can make a difference when it's tallied up with others of the same sentiment.

Try not to doubt yourself. (Said the pot to the kettle! :))

[stevietheman]

12. And Tell Mr. Bush...

No on attacking Iran. Or else.