If your erection lasts more than 4 hours, consult your doctor; if your illegal war lasts more than 4

[omega minimo]

If your erection lasts more than 4 hours, consult your doctor; if your illegal war lasts more than 4 years, consult your strategist; if your unelected, criminal president lasts more than 6 years, consult your conscience.

:hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi:

The Reaganist “Morning In America” idiot smilie face,
taken to extreme lengths


If your erection last more than four hours, there is a sense of urgency. You know it. You and anyone in the immediate vicinity are affected and can’t ignore the facts, the concern-- even the Emergency-- of the situation. It’s personal, it’s painful, it's frightening-- it’s right there, right now.

If your illegal war lasts more than four years, it may be easier to ignore the facts, the concern and urgency of the situation, unless you have family or friends caught in the crosshairs, lives destroyed by IEDS and minds destroyed by what they’ve seen up close and personal. Otherwise, it’s out there, somewhere.

If your (twice) unelected president lasts more than six years, the distance from events and decisions made at that level are easy to ignore-- we’re told Americans don’t sit up and take notice until gas prices start rising. It’s just not our problem, until it is...

The national propaganda-induced erection continues, as do the illegal war deaths and destruction; as do the lies and games and pomp and circumstance in the White House and on The Hill. The impeachable offenses pile up like Gulf War coffins and yet somehow the Congress and the American people are strongarmed into pretending that there is not enough EVIDENCE, that the case and the votes aren’t STRONG enough-- pretending that the Emperor’s Clothes are OH SO FANTASTIC.

Where is the sense of urgency?

Unfortunately, those that feel-- directly and personally-- that sense of urgency, who choose to exercise their (alleged) rights as American citizens, who act on the promise of freedom of speech and of assembly and their right to petition their government, on behalf of themselves, their families, their communities and even of the future of this nation......... those who KNOW how urgent the situation is and are MOTIVATED to ACT, to act BECAUSE of that urgency, are ctiticized by the spectator patriots, the comfy/cozy smilie face Enzyte addicts, who're happy if they can fill the gas tank and keep up appearances, no matter who it hurts.

During the 1996 California Democratic Progressive Caucus Impeachment Forum hosted by Mike Malloy, it was clear that the disconnect between the American people and elected officials in Congress IS the problem.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=1069705

After her introduction (and an impressive list of committee memberships, including Judiciary, Representative Maxine Waters pointed out that she is also the Chair of the House Out of Iraq caucus. She said that she was in Congress during the Clinton impeachment “infidelity pales in comparison to what this president has done.” All the primary reasons for impeachment-- violating FISA law, using torture and using detention/rendition-- are high crimes and misdemeanors.

Rep. Waters said that after 9-11, this administration “fashioned this phony war on terrorism.” After 9-11, people were afraid and that fear was used. “People are afraid and they are being taken advantage of.”

When she discusses why Congressional Democrats are “not moving aggressively to resist this president,” she hears a lot of “He’s the president” and “He’s the commander in chief” as an excuse for inaction. So, Rep. Waters says, “Let’s impeach Cheney!”

Rep. Waters pointed out that members of Congress are used to being “organized into the possible and impossible” and they “view their work in terms of possibility of success.”

Rep. Waters acknowledged that if we “educate and explain and engage” the public, impeachment can serve as a “vehicle by which you can remind people” of the way government works.

It seemed that from the perspective of Congress, they don’t understand what the public really thinks. “I would think that people are so........”

The crowd filled in the blank during the Congresswoman’s pause: “OUTRAGED!”

“.....outraged, I would think people would be out in the streets...”

ARE MANY IN CONGRESS WAITING FOR THE PUBLIC TO DO SOMETHING WHILE MANY IN THE PUBLIC ARE WAITING FOR CONGRESS MEMBERS TO DO SOMETHING?

************

The disconnect between We, The People and our elected representatives is dangerous, it is deadly. It is something else, maybe not deadly, but sickening, when clueless Americans criticize those Americans who GET that this is an EMERGENCY, this is RIGHT NOW... It is reprehensible that smug and artificially enhanced Americans are pissing on the very citizens who are fighting for ALL our rights and for the future of this nation-- and the planet.


"The Gutless Mini-Politics of the Congressional Democrats" --Lindorff
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=494469&mesg_id=494469

Modus Operandi
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=492352&mesg_id=492352

“Time for the Iraqis to step up to the plate”
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=480598&mesg_id=480598

[unkachuck]

1. exactly....

....and I for one don't believe for a minute that the Dems couldn't sweeten strong anti-war legislation with as much pork as it took, to end this war now....

....if they wanted to....

[omega minimo]

2. thanks unkachuck

too bad pork trumps peace.............

[unkachuck]

4. your welcome....

....and what doesn't respond to money in this system?....you could get 100% of the repugs to vote to end this war tomorrow, if you were willing to throw enough pork at it....

....and who controls the purse?....

[htuttle]

3. "If your Boehner lasts over 4 months..."

[Robbien]

5. that would be officially classified as an embarrassment

n/t

[MaggieSwanson]

6. K&R

:patriot:

[Gregorian]

7. You're description is perfect!

Comfortable pricks.

I tend to say the reason for the apathy is the extreme comfort that is provided in this American society. I happen to have everything one would want. Everything. And yet I'm extremely uncomfortable with this society. I've just finished moving from property to property over the last fifteen years. I've bought, been digusted, moved. Over and over. Until now. I sold my last property, and am just renting a house. And I've identified what the problem is. I can't stand American society. I'll spare the individual stories. The stupidity is not confined to conservatives. It spans the whole spectrum from progressives to rednecks. I didn't realize it until I made the full circuit.

I still say that comfort is a large part of the cause of apathy. After all why would anyone need to care if they have everything they want. But I have everything, and I do care. But still I say that it has been a driving force toward the distancing and separation from each other and from participation in society.

Our values are skewed. We've been taught to be this way. To keep consuming. To think of ME.

You know, I saw a Model T the other day. It was being driven by an old toothless white bearded man. A very rare sight. I couldn't believe it was not fixed up, and was just a daily running car. I had to look for myself to see that it was actually stock. The old four banger. This thing got up and blasted up to 50 mph in no time flat. So why do we need cars with 40 profile tires, and black boxes full of electronics, and dual overhead cams, and electronic sensors for interior temperature, and electric windows and sunroofs. And why did the electric trolleys in our cities back in the 20's get bulldozed? We actually had it good. But not good enough for the corporations. And they pushed their ads. And we bought. And bought. And bought. We bought it all. Including the hype.

I'll tell you what I see. I've lived in the country for the last ten years. I went to the grocery store once a week. Now I live on a road that was essentially silent up until the latest real estate boom. People left the city for places like this, and built houses. So this little road is nonstop cars. And nobody lives here but a few people. But they can't do a thing without their cars. Drive, drive, drive. It's insane!

In 1976 my first girlfriend was from Tehran. I had this really cool car I built. I wanted to show her. We went for a ride, and the first thing she said was "You people are car crazed in California". I actually didn't know what she meant, at the time.

So that's my long winded story about who we have become, and how we got there. And how it has affected us as a society. I've only described one of the symptoms.

We're faced not only with a Prick in the White House, but a monster in our planet's future. Some articles say it's the ships, others say it's meat production, and other things. But it's us. We are doing it. Not Bush. And Gore isn't going to wave a wand and fix it. A leader can help or hinder the progress toward reversal of the situation we are aiming toward. But it's up to each of us, and no one else. The same applies to this as applies to the topic of this original post. Where is the outrage? Where is the concern for the pending catastrophe?

It's time to think "WE" rather than "ME".

[IChing]

8. Good rant too.

nominated thread

[Gregorian]

9. Thanks. And that's another day down the drain.

Good night DU!

May tomorrow bring answers.

[omega minimo]

14. Great post and important points, Gregorian.

:hi:

"It's time to think "WE" rather than "ME"."

Thom Hartmann talks frequently about the demise of the concept of the Commonwealth and the rise of Reaganism, which occurred over the same period. htpp://www.thomhartmann.com

"But still I say that it has been a driving force toward the distancing and separation from each other and from participation in society....Our values are skewed. We've been taught to be this way. To keep consuming. To think of ME."

"We actually had it good. But not good enough for the corporations. And they pushed their ads. And we bought. And bought. And bought. We bought it all. Including the hype."

It's true that the consumerist pressures have intensified since the "Greed is Good" decade-- but it has been fairly recent. And you point out the direct connection b/w that and the "the distancing and separation from each other and from participation in society."

Not everyone has bought into it. Like you. LIke the people who have been thinking about "Made In China" and what's in the pet food since way before this recent scary wake-up call. Like the people willing to stand up and be active, at the risk of offending the priggish sensibilities of the mallrats.

"So that's my long winded story about who we have become, and how we got there. And how it has affected us as a society. I've only described one of the symptoms."

Ah, you've put your finger right on it, though. It is a symptom and it is also a cause, tied directly into what the OP was commenting on and trying to cut through-- the DISENGAGEMENT. It extends from those vehicles racing up the country roads, to The Hill where the "decorum" and pageantry of American politics are at toxic levels of delusion. I have been willing to watch the hearings and investigations bring things to a head slowly and deliberately, knowing that an unexpected revelation can bring the house of cards down...... however, the hollow justifications for additional funding for this war and the personal attacks on those who are trying to wake up the sheeple-- it's too much. It's too little, too late. Bush struts around in his invisible robes and all the fawning and pretense continues-- as does the death and destruction.

Hearing some Democrats repeat "time for Iraqis to step up to the plate" and similar arrogant bullshit from the comfort of their leather-walled offices in DC really damaged their credibility. Knowing that progressive Demcrats who speak for millions of us and are on the RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY were being strong-armed at the same time that this administration is under investiagation and eligible for impeachment.................. :evilfrown:


"And Gore isn't going to wave a wand and fix it. A leader can help or hinder the progress toward reversal of the situation we are aiming toward."

Check out Pat_k's thread in the OP link for Senator's comments on the "magic wand." :thumbsup:

"But it's up to each of us, and no one else. The same applies to this as applies to the topic of this original post. Where is the outrage? Where is the concern for the pending catastrophe?"

That's the danger in the disengagement. It's time to connect the dots.

Maybe the petfood scare will make more people start thinking about the big picture.

[Gregorian]

17. Since posting this I've begun to open my mind a bit.

I love it when I actually make sense. It happens once in a while. I'm a bit different.

Tonight I began to feel a sense of optimism about what I normally felt regarding apathy in this society. In replying to a post, I realized that we've been a society without feedback. Without a media. And with a false media, even. It's no wonder many have dropped out. Not all have. And some of them have been working like mad to be the new media. I don't know where we're headed in the next HOURS. But even if the worst thing happens, and they derail things via an attack on Iran, I believe we have achieved the goals we set out to accomplish. We unburied the truth. And in such a way that there is no denying the truth.

I have a sense that in reality a large number of Americans are not fooled. But they haven't the resources to express themselves. And for a variety of reasons, just are not able to be honest. But they know. If we can get back to an honest level of discussion I think we're going to find that most people can distinguish between lies and honesty. I don't think anyone was actually afraid of WMD's. But most people are weak. I am. Shy and easily embarrassed. I remember feeling nervous about saying "no blood for oil" the day Bush sent troops in 1992. Little did I know how right I was.

It may be time for an awakening. Actually it's long overdue. And global warming has a factor in this as well. There is no time to waste. So I've not been more optimistic in a long time. But then it couldn't get much worse anyways.

Time for bed. Let's hope for answers tomorrow.

[omega minimo]

18. I hear ya

Funny-- I replied to that other post you mentioned before coming here.

Same answers as over there. People have to not go to sleep again.

:hi:

[whoneedstickets]

10. Viraqua...the little poison pill.

That will choke the republicans.

[Jcrowley]

11. Bump and rec

[BlueIris]

12. Hee. And blech. nt

[Swamp Rat]

13. Exactly!!

:D :puke:

:kick:

[omega minimo]

15. If your military- congressional- industrial complex lasts more than four decades.........

consult your stockbroker.

What would it take for some accountability to the will of the people from our elected representatives?

[Kelly Rupert]

16. That would require will of the people.

We have elections every two years. The people decide who they want. The will of the people, unfortunately, is rather superficial and contradictory.