Take the power back!!

[JohnnyCougar]

My ancestors were persecuted for their religion in Europe, specifically in the region that is now Austria and Germany. They were put to death for expressing their religious beliefs where they lived, so they moved to North America. Living without a Church killing people who disagreed, they helped found the United States of America. They were pacifists, devoted to self sacrifice and God. They forged this land and established peaceful relations with the natives. They came here not for economic opportunity, but for freedom from tyranny. It was with their beliefs and the beliefs of ones like them that founded the USA.

This nation was founded by anti-fascists. It was founded by leftist libertarians of the same political outlook as Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. The work ethic and the devotion to moral values of our founding fathers created a nation that no one could parallel. The nation that we created sparked envy around the would. People everywhere wanted to live in true freedom. Religion was NEVER to take part in the weak federal government that my ancestors established.

So when did the fascists start to take over? The answer is that it was a long, drawn out process. Fascists were always here, they just didn't achieve control over the federal government until Hoover took over. Look what happened. FDR held them off for 12 years, and Truman another 4. Even Eisenhower, as a moderate Republican, was anti-fascist.

The fascist revolution started when JFK was shot. No one can say for sure who was behind it, but we all know it was supported by fascists of some level. The corporate wannabe government wanted a war in Vietnam, and they had to remove Kennedy to get there. Nixon continued the war, but the fascists did not think of the backlash that was the late 60's/early 70's. Carter held them off until Iran Contra launched the fascists into power again.

Now they have complete control, and are unabashedly flaunting it. They took over my country. This country belonged to those seeking religious freedom, and those that were one with themselves and nature. The fascists taught us to buy cards on Valentine's day, they taught us materialism on Jesus' birthday, and they taught us that Easter is about chocolate covered bunnies instead of the eternal life of the most influential anti-fascist in the world: Jesus Christ. Corporate culture has penetrated every nook and cranny of our world. I am here to ask for the power back. I want the power to demand freedom for all, not just those who believe in a specific god and lifestyle. I am here to demand that this nation be returned to its rightful inhabitants, the religiously free. I am here to demand that all inhabitants of this nation be returned the freedom granted upon them when this nation was founded.

I demand that we take our government back! I demand that we TAKE THE POWER BACK!!!!

[fooj]

1. Truth is our most powerful weapon! NGU! Ever.

Peace!

[coloradodem2005]

2. .

Bring that shit in! Uggh!

Yeah, the movement's in motion with mass militant poetry
Now check this out...uggh!

In the right light, study becomes insight
But the system that dissed us
Teaches us to read and right

So called facts are fraud
They want us to allege and pledge
And bow down to their God
Lost the culture, the culture lost
Spun our minds and through time
Ignorance has taken over
Yo, we gotta take the power back!
Bam! Here's the plan
Motherfuck Uncle Sam
Step back, I know who I am
Raise up your ear, I'll drop the style and clear
It's the beats and the lyrics they fear
The rage is relentless
We need a movement with a quickness
You are the witness of change
And to counteract
We gotta take the power back

Yeah, we gotta take the power back
Come on, come on!
We gotta take the power back

The present curriculum
I put my fist in 'em
Eurocentric every last one of 'em
See right through the red, white and blue disguise
With lecture I puncture the structure of lies
Installed in our minds and attempting
To hold us back
We've got to take it back
Holes in our spirit causin' tears and fears
One-sided stories for years and years and years
I'm inferior? Who's inferior?
Yeah, we need to check the interior
Of the system that cares about only one culture
And that is why
We gotta take the power back

Yeah, we gotta take the power back
Come on, come on!
We gotta take the power back

Hey yo check, we're gonna have to break it, break it,
break it down
Awww shit!

Uggh!

And like this...uggh!

Come on, yeah! Bring it back the other way!

The teacher stands in front of the class
But the lesson plan he can't recall
The student's eyes don't perceive the lies
Bouning off every fucking wall
His composure is well kept
I guess he fears playing the fool
The complacent students sit and listen to some of that
Bullshit that he learned in school

Europe ain't my rope to swing on
Can't learn a thing from it
Yet we hang from it
Gotta get it, gotta get it together then
Like the motherfuckin' weathermen
To expose and close the doors on those who try
To strangle and mangle the truth
'Cause the circle of hatred continues unless we react
We gotta take the power back

Yeah, we gotta take the power back
Come on, come on!
We gotta take the power back

No more lies
No more lies
No more lies
No more lies
No more lies
No more lies
No more lies
No more lies

Uggh!

Yeah!

Take it back y'all
Take it back, a-take it back
A-take it back y'all, come on!
Take it back y'all
Take it back, a-take it back
A-take it back y'all, come on!

Uggh!

Yeah!

[FlemingsGhost]

3. You talk the talk. Do you walk the walk?

" How long? Not long! 'Cause what you reap is what you sow ... "

[tkmorris]

5. Damn I miss them ...........(nt)

[wideopen]

16. Funny we mention them

I've got them in the 5 disc changer right now at home.

[BigBearJohn]

4. OH I only wish that there were more people who thought like you

I'm ready to leave this country. It's too fucking dumb. End of story.

[JohnnyCougar]

6. Come on and stay!!!!! Take the power back!!!!!

[hootinholler]

15. Leave? No fucking way!

This is my Country. Yes it's Mine.

My Mother's family has been on this continent since the F&I war. One of them was a General in the Revolution, President of the Continental Congress and Governor of the NW territories when that meant Ohio. When you see a place name of StClair, that's who they were honoring. He died destitute, but what a legacy.

They were subject to the first use of military force against US citizens.

They were racist while fighting slavery, go figure.

They didn't always welcome immigrants, while recognizing that immigration gave our nation strength, go figure. They worked in mines and mills and farms until the 1970's when the mines and mills shut down.

I too would have been racist if the 60's didn't happen, go figure.

Leave? My ass I will. I'm sick that I allowed this to go on without noticing it earlier. Literally, physically, sickened I am. The farther back I learn it reaches, I understand more how insidious this is.

As legacies are passed on generationally, this is my country now and I'm willing to share it with any person who wishes some of it. So that makes it your country too.

I'm not willing to sell it to GE or Sperry or Exxon. I'm not willing to shed one drop of blood in pursuit of the temporal, but I will gladly lay down my life in pursuit of an idea.

I thank God(ess) that I'm not still the frog in the pot. My prayer is that I can get the other froggies out before they become soup. Everything else will follow when that happens.

They done pissed off the wrong redneck.

-Hoot

[BigBearJohn]

18. Thanks! I needed that.

[hootinholler]

19. Ok, now as pennance,

Go print out that legacy thing and pass it around.

Oh, and welcome back, I might need you to do the same thing for me soon.

Peace,
-Hoot

[Enquiringkitty]

7. People like Bush don't really want people to be free!!! They want to

control. Look back in history and you'll find that the way countries have been taken over and abuses have been gotten away with was through speaking of people's deepest beliefs, drawing them in, making them feel comfortable and assured. When they are lulled into a feeling of confidence, then you can make your enemies their enemies by making it sound like they are a threat to the security of the country and a threat to you kids. They dig at emotional issues and marry them with political issues and before you know it, social abuse is in full swing. Already, if someone is arrested for something they didn't do....like being a terrorist.... people will say, " Well? If there wasn't a reason, they wouldn't have taken them in.". We have a man who has been held for 2 years and congress has just told Bush either charge him or let him go!

[CindyDale]

8. IMO, we can take the power back anytime we want

There are still pacifist communities in the United States, living a more modest way of life, so it's possible.

I don't know whether your ancestors were Anabaptists or not, but there are still Anabaptist communities in the U.S., both liberal and conservative. Check out the Mennonites, for example (Mennonite pacifism is only symbolic pacifism, of course, because Nennonites pay taxes to and benefit from a government that is not pacifist). Mennonite culture also values the conservation of resources, so it would be an interesting model to study. There are some Mennonite groups on the Internet:

http://www.mcc.org/

Here is a link to an environmental publication:

http://www.mcc.org/us/washington/environment_guide.pdf

[JohnnyCougar]

9. My ancestors were most certainly Anabaptists.

They were Mennonites, and remain to this day. My aunt and uncle are preachers. My dad left the faith, but I may want to rejoin it some day. I'm not gonna sit back and peacefully let my nation be raped, though. My dad has lost touch with reality. I haven't.

[CindyDale]

10. Are you on Mennonet?

It's a Yahoo group with people with links to or who are interested in the Mennonite Church. It tends to be a liberal group, although not everyone is.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mennonet/

[JohnnyCougar]

11. I am not. I was baptised as a Catholic, my mom's religion.

I know some of them are conservative. Those are the ones with mental problems.

My cousin was a missionary in El Salvador when Negroponte's fascist armies were taking over in Central America. He was imprisioned for siding with the poor. He is safe now.

Bush's appointment of Negroponte is personal with me. That corporate slut has spread his legs to the fascists for far too long. Bush and Negroponte are a threat to both freedom and democracy, and there's no two ways about it. Both are war criminals. Both need to be tried and punished.

[CindyDale]

12. Well, IMO, taking power will involve taking control of ourselves

at a grassroots level, starting with lifestyle changes and conservation of resources. That's the only thing that will work. The corporations will pander to us as long as we consume.

That's terrible about your cousin. I'm glad he's safe now.

[JohnnyCougar]

13. Thanks for your concern!

He actually married a woman from El Salvador. They have a great family now. My aunt and uncle are both preachers, and my great grandfather Menno was a preacher.

Hopefully someday I will have the opportunity to become more of an activist and a leader. It's in my blood.

[CindyDale]

14. Glad to hear that

Best wishes to your family and for your future

[JohnnyCougar]

17. Kick!

[hue]

20. Guest post from your brother Jeff

Hey Johnny, it's Jeff. I think we can learn something from the nonviolent movements that opposed dictatorships in Eastern Europe during the Cold War and elsewhere. People in countries like Poland had to live in constant fear of being disappeared, killed, imprisoned, kidnapped, censored, tortured, and so forth.

So what they began doing is creating their own *civil societies,* where they could practice the democratic ideals that were taken away from them by the oppression of their fascist governments. People knew that they could form a civil society, at the very least, with themselves. They could live civilly and respect others even if others were not doing the same to them. But they also formed small communities that practiced democratic ideals in spite of the official fascism that threatened to stifle their lives. These civil societies grew and eventually formed into successful nonviolent movements that overthrew the dictators in power.

If we Americans adopt a similar mindset, we can begin to take the power back. Or, more accurately, realize the power that we always have had. If the Bush administration doesn't want to play by the rules of a truly democratic and open society, then we can fall back to our state governments. If they too feel it convenient to shun democratic ideals, then we can fall back on our local governments. And if even our local government fails to live up to their proper function, we can form small, non-government community or neighborhood groups that do.

An example is Minnesota. The silver lining for Minnesotans to the tremendous cloud of Bush's election was that Democrats did really well at the state level, picking up over 10 seats or so in the state legislature. And I found hope from my neighborhood, which is a progressive, peaceful, and wonderful community in which to live. There are co-op grocery stores, community events, a community newspaper, and so forth. It gave me hope that, governance fails us on the national level, there is always the power of the local level. As we all know, that is the best level on which to found national-level change.