Our 21st Century Civil War

[Mythsaje]

Any DUer is perfectly aware of how unreachable some people are. They will support the President and this administration come Hell (Iraq) or high water (Katrina). They question our patriotism because we dare to question their Great Leader's.

Just a few short years ago we watched them tear into a sitting President like a pack of starving hyenas, for nothing more than a human failing. Was what he did wrong? Of course. Was it the worst thing a President could have done? Hardly.

Now we are looking at perhaps some of the worst crimes ever perpetrated against the American People by a sitting President and many--too many--are willing to shrug and overlook them, because they foolishly believe he's keeping us safe. A complacent, complicit media huddles in the corner, only speaking out when it's deemed unavoidable.

I don't feel safer than I did. Quite the opposite. I'm fairly certain that his actions have emboldened those he wishes to subdue, and we are in much danger, if not more danger from his rabid followers than from foreign terrorists. There are voices on the radio and on TV who are calling us 'traitors' and worse. Again, simply because we dare to point out that, despite the rhetoric, there is no reason to believe we're any safer than we were.

Have not the right wing radio hosts called for our imprisonment? For our deaths? Has not the rabid, emaciated creature known by some as 'Annthrax' called for our extermination? For the alleged crime of having a different viewpoint and having the nerve to speak out about that viewpoint?

We live in dangerous times, my friends. When people who have the ear of a large segment of society are (not so subtly) trying to provoke their listeners into violent actions against another segment of society, we stand on the brink of a whole different kind of conflict.

Am I worried? You bet. Not necessarily for myself, however. I fear for my fellow liberals who live in the hinterlands among those who would hate them, not in the city as I do, surrounded by people who either feel similarly, or who do not believe I'm an enemy because of my political views.

Be vigilant, friends. For I fear that the first shot of the 2nd American Civil War will not even be recognized for what it is. And that scares me more than I can say.

Be vigilant.

[HockeyMom]

1. I am far more afraid of the enemy within

(Bush and his followers) than the enemy without (BinLaden and his followers).

That is a very dangerous situation for a country to be in.

[JeffR]

2. Consarn it, Mythsaje

And there I woke up feeling pretty chipper this morning...

[yourout]

3. The first shot has already been fired......

only the bullets are words and images thrown upon us by a propagandist arm of the government and a complicit media.

[Danieljay]

4. the bad thing about living safely in a "liberal" city...

is which "liberal" city will be on the next (who sent that anthrax) hit list? If you aren't reading between the lines, I'll be blunt. I was actually thinking the other day that this administration might actually be capable of conducting a 'terrorist strike' on a city to further their agenda. Now, I'm not a big conspiracy type or paranoid. That being said, i'm saddened that this country has come to a place where usually level headed people (myself and others) could even 'entertain' this thought. I'm not so sure any more. I wouldn't put anything past this administration.

I live in Portland Oregon. I love this city. I moved here from the conservative midwest (Kansas) just under three years ago. I love being a progressive city that I feel safe talking about my political views without reprisals (graffiti, key scratches down the side of my car for a bumper sticker, etc.)

I also know that this is the same city that Bush Sr. called "little Beirut" because of its political progressiveness. I have a creepy feeling sometimes that such a city would be a prime target, not by terrorists, but from our own government to sway the polical views of a majority and instill fear to promote their agenda.

I hope I'm wrong.

[Mythsaje]

5. I can understand that fear, actually...

though I think this administration has built itself something of a box. They use the need to protect us to justify warrantless searches, and suggest these are the reason we haven't been hit again, yet, should something like this occur, it would be obvious to anyone that these methods didn't work.

Catch 22.

If they were to do something like that, it would probably be a series of bombs like in London. Even a nuke would be unlikely. And as far as the rest, I strongly recommend THIS thread.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=700081&mesg_id=700166

[Minnesota Libra]

6. Very frightening but TRUE - the enemy within is ALWAYS the worst nt