america has changed so drastically in 4 short years, it's unbelievable

[mopaul]

i am shocked, and in awe at the amazing and devastating change that bush has brought to the nation and the world in such a short time frame. i would not have believed it 5 years ago if someone had told me this is what america would be like in the year 2005.

but, i fear like many others, that we ain't see NOTHIN' yet. in 4 more years, you absolutely won't recognize the place. i know that this often happens to the very old, who have seen a long lifetime of changes, but to see it all happen in such a small space of time is staggering and horrifying beyond imagination.

no optimism from here.

[Arugula Latte]

1. It's like the old question about Nazi Germany --

how could that have happened?

Well, now we see more than a glimmer of how it happens. Disasters. Fear. Manufactured threats. Propaganda. Greed. Corruption. Corporate takeover of government. Religious insanity. ... It all snowballs ...

[EnfantTerrible]

Wasn't it Mussolini

who said that another name for Fascism is Corporatism?

[Telly Savalas]

2. Thanks for the morale boost!

[graywarrior]

3. Feel the same. It's like walking around in a shroud of heavy

hopelessness. Lots of anger, hate and suspicion.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

4. The only optimism...

...I can muster is in the belief that our nation will be rebuilt one day. Sadly, it appears all but certain that it must crumble from within first.

[TexanDem]

5. ever think about this...

...it's almost like they have tried to destroy this country on purpose! If somebody really wanted to destroy this country on purpose, what would they have done any differently?

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

13. It is most certainly by design...

...courtesy of the fine folks at PNAC and here's their model:

http://www.crisispapers.org/Editorials/germany-1933.htm

[TexanDem]

22. Wow - thanks for link,,,

my son is a historian and has been saying the very same thing. I've bookmarked it and will read it tomorrow. Thanks!

[evlbstrd]

6. This was predicted by Alvin Toffler in "Future Shock."

And he wrote it in 1984.

[walldude]

11. I believe Future Shock was written in 1970

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Shock

[evlbstrd]

14. Crap.

That's what I get for clicking on the Amazon.com link!
And now that I remember, I did read it in high school.
But the main point, of course, is that Toffler saw the rate of change accelerating. Losing the 1984 metaphor for the fact that he wrote it 35 years ago makes it even more impressive.

[Talismom]

7. I feel the same way and am further oppressed by being surrounded

by people who, whether from effective propaganda or heavy duty denial seem totally oblivious! For them, life seems to be going on, business as usual. I just can't fathom it!

[Hissyspit]

8. Two Words: Supreme Court

It will be three justices possibly picked by Shrub??? The primordial reason for telling people - yes, and my Nader-voting friends, "Please do not help these people get into office!"

And still many Americans don't have a clue. Even with these low numbers.

[Justyce]

9. I haven't been the same since election night....

what hope I had died that night/next morning. The only glimmer of hope I hang onto is that Reagan/Bush had the country pretty far down & Clinton did a 180 on it & got it back on track in a fairly short time, only to watch all his work destroyed in record time. I just hope it can be done again & to a greater degree since the damage is even worse. I finally think I fully understand the saying "ignorance is bliss" because the only ones not getting ulcers over this shit are the ones who have no clue what's going on...

[orpupilofnature57]

10. Shrubs Legacy !!!!!!!

[nonconformist]

12. May you live in interesting times...

Seems like a curse, doesn't it?

I remember reading about all of the remarkable events in history and part of me always thinking that it would have been interesting, if nothing else, to experience some of those things.

Now we're living through some very strange and disastrous times ourselves, and me no likey.

I just said to my husband the other day... amazing the things we are witnessing in our lifetimes isn't it? Some of the things happening right now will be talked about for centuries - if we haven't blown ourselves up by then, of course.

It is phenomenally amazing how quickly Bush managed to wreak his havoc.

[FlemingsGhost]

15. The best we can do is use it as a catalyst for personal change.

Evolve past the outdated models that are imploding before our very eyes.

When the illusion of fear is quieted, I am strangely optimistic.

[zalinda]

16. I knew it was going to happen

I've been damning Nader ever since.

And, why not Bush? It's because of the scorpion story........it's his nature.

zalinda

[drmom]

17. The thing that mystifies me...

...is that the republican "sheeple" don't seem to see it. I'm not talking about the super rich or the corporations here, but all those millions of working folks who are blinded to the evils of this administration. It really makes one wonder if the way to win elections is to aim for the lowest common denominator.

[mmonk]

18. I can tell you one thing

I'll never feel the same about the future until something familiar returns. With the supreme ct and court of appeals stacked with undemocratic radicals my optimism is very low. What bothers me the most is that either I or bush reporters aren't living in reality. Wish it were me that wasn't but I'm afraid it's them.

[lucca]

19. It is sad and frustrating.

What is happening to our country!

I feel such a sense of loss.
A loss of our freedom.
Corporate greed.
Illegal war.

The pain, and suffering experienced by so many from this horrific hurricane, (and horrific non-action from our government and president), should never have happened.

[Bouncy Ball]

20. So 10 years ago, back in 1995, if I had told you that

we'd wage a full-scale war on a country that did nothing to us and posed us no threat, you wouldn't believe it?

If I told you that tons of people in the US would be left to die for days while the federal government piddled around and the president strummed a guitar and ate cake, you wouldn't believe it?

If I told you that huge surplus would be gone and we'd have the largest national debt EVER, you wouldn't believe it?

$3 a gallon gas?

Higher prices on almost everything?

Almost universally hated in the world?

I wouldn't believe all that either.

:-(

And there's so much more I left out...

[killbotfactory]

21. Bush has been worse than anyone could have imagined

And the inability to believe he is as horrible as he really is has only helped him.

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

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

[niyad]

24. illegitimati non carburundum--"don't let the bastards grind you down"

although things seem to be spiraling rapidly toward utter extinction, I think we have to keep believing and trying to make things better, otherwise extinction is exactly what is going to happen.

one of the traits I have noticed in empires and various totalitarian states is the loss of hope--a handy way of keeping the oppressed behaving like lobsters in a tank, or else just too weary and depressed to feel like they are capable of changing anything.

do you ever wonder what they are putting in the water? in the sublims on tv, etc?

[osaMABUSh]

25. How can anybody still support this guy?

I still see W and Bush/Cheney stickers a lot. What is wrong with these people?

[Skittles]

26. it absolutely boggles my mind, osaMABUSh

it's like some kind of national psychosis

[Melodybe]

27. Mopaul please go read my thread on pessism

I like you, it makes me sad that you are so hopeless.