Is this some weird national version of the Darwin Awards?

[leftofthedial]

We allow a coup to overthrow our democratic republic. There is no substantive civil or political response.

We allow a gang of Texas conmen to loot the national treasury and to destroy the national economy.

We allow this same criminal gang to get away with the worst attack on US soil since the Civil War--and then reward them with the destruction of key constitutional guarantees of civil liberties.

We allow this gang to disastrously invade a sovereign nation in the most volatile part of the world based on lies and greed and lust for ever more power. Millions protest, but nothing changes.

We allow the international reputation of the USA to be destroyed.

So, after disaster piles on disaster piles on blunder piles on outrage---thousands are killed, millions of jobs and livelihoods are lost, trillions of dollars of surplus are turned into trillions of dollars of deficits with the money going into bushgang pockets, a complete meltdown in Iraq threatens to turn into widespread regional religious conflict, 2.5 years of "war" increases the danger from terrorists . . .

--the bushgang still has the support of 43% to 51% of the American people?

This is like reading the story of some clown who decided to ride his skateboard from tower to tower on power lines or strap rocket engines to his car to make it go faster. Some countries, like some people, are just too frigging stupid to survive.

[Selwynn]

1. Congratulations for adding more rhetoric!

For a response, see my February 23 (it's at the tope the last time I updated) at http://selwynn.blog-city.com/

[leftofthedial]

3. no mas?

Is it really true that there is no hope of winning back the nation that we once had?

Is it that the world (through population growth, technology, socioeconomic trends and the like) has simply outgrown the USA's system of government?

Is the power of the current corporate and oligarchical masters truly unassailable, or are they merely transient opportunists?

Is there a new, better system that could emerge from this struggle? If so, what does it look like?

Is it that you (and to some extent I) have just burnt out on the struggle?

Is it that the fight is just way harder than we once thought it would be?

Is it equally pointless to even read this stuff or participate in these discussions?

Is the whole notion of freedom and social justice just a masterful illusion--a facade, like religion, that the powerful have built to keep the masses entertained and distracted from the real "man behind the curtain"? In other words, is this the Matrix?

Is what we are doing, just "swatting flies," or can we fight to make small iterative improvements in our political situation, call those victories and hope that others build on them?

[Selwynn]

10. Answer: there is no hope from the "top down" only the "bottom up"

[specimenfred1984]

5. Making People Aware isn't a Waste of Time

You and I may be aware already but many people are still badly brainwashed and not even aware of what the problems are, much less what the solutions are.

Communication on all levels is required for people to learn. Screaming rhetorical comments about being rhetorical is rhetoric itself. I understand your frustration, I feel it daily. There are way too many people who simple won't do a thing to change anything.

So, the poster is at the first step of change in recognizing problems. You could suggest some actions they could take like giving money to dem underground or moveon.org.. Voting is another great idea if votes will even be counted. Boycotting holes like Wal-Mart is doing something too, albeit small.

The impact of propaganda and brainwashing is massive, a daily assault on every aspect of our lives. Shocking people out of it is only one of many ways to get the real message across.

[leftofthedial]

8. true words

I (the poster) am pretty far beyond the first step.

It just seems to me as more and more truth comes out that many of our worst fears were in fact reality. As the stink hits the light of day, it just gets weirder and weirder. Like some ridiculous blunder from the Darwin Awards, it's almost harder to believe the truth now that it is proven, than it was to suspect it in the first place. Also like the Darwin Awards, a huge chunk of our society (the "unaware" to whom you refer) are utterly divorced from reality and reason, that is, unfit to survive the process of natural selection.

They would drink the neocon kool aid if asked. Frighteningly, I believe they have been asked.

[Selwynn]

9. Everyone here is aware, pal.

[Paradise]

2. What did those famous 'founding fathers' have in mind for this debacle?n/t

[leftofthedial]

4. they tried to protect us from the overwhelming corruption

that is the core of capitalism.

they succeeded for over 200 years, but the unrelenting force of money, rapid changes in technology and mass communication, the rise of a disaffected leisure-addicted culture, and the disconnection of the populace from reality (we now experience the world primarily vicariously through media rather than directly) made it possible for capitalism to finally subvert our society.

There always has been a tension between capitalism and democracy, between good and greed, but the tension gave way in December of 2000 and greed won. Most Americans don't seem to care or they even actively believe that this is a good thing.

[Paradise]

6. Touche'!

Wish I had the knowledge, insight, and expression you possess. Nonetheless, I think I've got it:
We were, and many still are, ripe for the pickin'.

[leftofthedial]

7. done been picked

I fear