Why are you here?

[UdoKier]

Why are you here?


Personally, at this point, I'm just killing time till it all hits the fan...

[SteppingRazor]

1. I voted for the first option....

Like Jim Morrison said, "I just want to get my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames."

[DrDebug]

8. LMAO

There is one thing about the Bush administration. It has lots of interesting topics to bitch about. Clinton was actually pretty boring in comparison.

[bryant69]

2. Hmmmmmmm

You know who really likes it when we all give up? President Bush. Karl Rove. Rush Limbaugh. Dick Cheney. Bill O'Reilly. Tom Delay. Ann Coulter. Bill Frist. Michael Savage. James Dobson. And so on and so forth.

But, you have to be honest about how you feel, I guess.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[SteppingRazor]

4. Hey, nobody's giving up...

Do I think we even have a vote in this country anymore? Probably not.

Do I think, then, that there's nothing we can legally do about Republican takeover? Yeah, more or less.

Do I keep fighting? Sure.

Why? It's the right thing to do. Whether or not winning is impossible, that's all there is to it.

(Figured I'd respond to that one in the classic Rumsfeldian ask-myself-questions-so-I-can-answer-them fashion) :)

[UdoKier]

6. It's not so much that I've given up, just that the game is over.

I'm just waiting for the next game to begin, IE the struggle that will take place to determine what form of government or governments will take the place of the former United States of America.

Looking at a totalled car and accepting that it's totalled and moving on to a new one is not "giving up".

[bryant69]

7. Yeah but looking at a non-totalled car

declaring it totalled and insisting we all go with you car shopping might be, at the very least, a bit indulgent.

[UdoKier]

9. I'm hardly insisting that anyone do anything.

Keep going through the motions if it makes you feel better.


But that junker's broke beyond repair. The engine and drivetrain have been sold off to chop shops by GOP scavenger scum....

[bryant69]

12. It must be nice to be so certain

A lot of my conservative friends have similar certainties - and I always wonder how it feels.

I mean you could be right. Maybe I would be just as effective devoting myself to a life of pleasure or gardening or doing local charity work, while watching America crumble. Or alternatively, maybe it's time to get serious about revolution, about tearing down Amerika.

Of course if you are wrong, and America is redeemable, well, you are doing your part to see that it doesn't get redeemed.

Bryant

[UdoKier]

15. I still vote, and I even gave money to Dean & Kucinich last year.

But I wasn't fooling myself then, and I'm not fooling myself now.

Maybe if we still had a democratic party, it would be different, but we have a washed-up, weak-kneed corporate shill party that only makes an effort on "issues" that don't threaten corporate power or profits.

But go ahead and blame ME, whatever.

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

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

[UdoKier]

19. In your own rude, insulting way, you may have a point there.

God knows Dean squandered way too much of his war chest unwisely.

And I'm not the one with his panties in a wad, calling people names. I can deal with the strong possibility that a lot of my effort may have been wasted. Can you?

[bryant69]

23. I'd like to think I could

But I don't buy into your analysis of the situation. Particularly such since analysis largely consists of saying "We're fucked" and leaving it at that.

Obviously I like the suggestion that the reason I still believe in the possibility of America is that I'm weak minded.

[UdoKier]

26. There were people calling me foolish for supporting Kucinich & Dean...

...over more "viable" candidates like Kerry.

Wow, they sure proved me wrong.

I don't think you guys are weak-minded. But your optimism is not well-founded in light of the last 30 years of US history. I've been listening to dems predicting a sea change for decades now, and I've watched year after year as it has failed to happen.

[Selatius]

20. Yeah, I fully agree with what you say

People are put into these types of situations constantly. They fight even though they know they will be crushed in the end. Why? Why bother getting up after each blow lands? Why bother fighting? What's the point? And the only real answer is because they can. Yes, it's possible to be a fighter and a realist (or maybe a nihilist?).

At least a person can go down in flames comforted by the fact that he didn't lay down to die but struggled. That's something to be proud of, if everything else is lost.

I voted other. I think the damage is beyond the point of no return if you ask me. The ship's on fire, and she's going to sink, but if it's the last thing I do, I'll make sure I'll ram this burning wreck that was once the mighty US of A into the folks who ruined it in the first place and take them down with us.

[MemphisTiger]

3. To antagonize you

what is up with this stupid poll :mad:

Just kidding

[hippiegranny]

5. I voted the second option

but actually they both apply - depends on the day!

[ktowntennesseedem]

10. I'm somewhere in the middle.

I'm not certain that the death spiral is irreversable; it may not be corrected in my lifetime, and what comes next may be so different from the America we now know that it would be unrecognisable. And I also am of the opinion that my protests, if they are to make any difference, won't be all that peaceful.

[SteppingRazor]

11. Bingo!

We may very well have no vote, and peaceful protest is useless. Fill in the blanks.

[HughBeaumont]

13. Mostly one, but a little of the two.

[GreenPartyVoter]

14. I'm a troll

:silly: :crazy:

[H2O Man]

16. Other !!!

I know that every action that people of goodwill take makes a difference. Nothing "quaint" about it.

[deacon2]

18. I have no idea, but

I was pleased to see that even this innocuous little poll started an argument at DU. This site reminds of the Murphy Brothers sometimes - they'd get in loud, drunken arguments that soon became violent and when we tried to intervene, they'd join together and beat the crap out of us for interfering. Oh well, as Don "Torquemada" Rumsfeld said, "Democracy is a messy thing."

[Zorra]

21. To gather information and analyze the views of

intelligent, concerned individuals who like myself are dedicated to regaining genuine democracy in the US and making our nation and world a better place for everyone.

And then, hopefully, to translate this information into effective action. It would be almost impossible to make informed political choices if my only news sources were TV, radio, and newspapers. In fact, if that were the case I might be almost as stupid and uninformed as a Fox News republican.

I love the disparate opinions here on DU and constantly learn new things by reading stuff that I would not normally consider written by folks that have different points of view than my own.

[understandinglife]

24. Very well said. Ditto. (nt)

Peace.


]b]www.missionnotaccomplished.us - how ever long it takes, the day must come when tens of millions of caring individuals peacefully but persistently defy the dictator, deny the corporatists cash flow, and halt the evil being done in Iraq and in all the other places the Bu$h neoconster regime is destroying civilization in the name of "America."

[KamaAina]

22. Billions of years ago, carbon atoms combined in such a manner

as to create long, complex molecules, which eventually combined to create life. Life then evolved through various forms such as amoebas and repukes, on up to higher forms such as mammals. Finally a mammal named Al Gore invented the Internets, so we could all get on DU.

edit: speling

[sweetheart]

25. Because of the power vacuum

Ironically, those who claim to wield power in the USA are actually
extremely weak, and this has created a vacuum for goodwill. In that
sense, i'm here to inject my 2 cents of goodwill and ideas in to the
debate, so that when intelligent persons come to power, that they have
some support to draw on.

As well, i believe that the democratic part lacks a coherent manifesto,
as the clinton republican-lite manifesto is not a winner, and as well,
after the WT0 protests of seattle, the old paradigm will never quite
be what it was. In that sense, i contribute (i hope) to debate that
will help a new generation of leadership emerge that will have to
seriously re-think what the american empire stands for, when goodwill
comes back after this republican dark age.

One other "reason" if you call it that, is that these republicans have
crossed the line, and when i've been happy to be a silent worker bee
all these years, i can no longer be quiet. I do not accept murderers
and filth in my life... i shout to have them arrested, and in this
regard, am shouting out to any remaining intelligence in the universe
a prayer to come give us a hand, as they have declared war on me and
my kind, and i can no longer take it lying down.

[TimeChaser]

27. Death Spiral! Death Spiral!

It's comforting to know that there are others who fear for future of America.

[applegrove]

28. All of the above and more. n/t

[JanMichael]

29. To recruit potenti...er... nothing...Option #1.

That's all.

[Danmel]

30. I need someplace else to vent

My husband, though he hates Bush and the whole cabal as much as I do, is tired of my ranting. SO you all have to put up with it!

[BlueIris]

31. I know this is a bit pathetic, but:

this is one of the only places in my world where I can post about my issues or opinions, particularly those connected with social or government policies and be almost assured to get a supportive, intelligent response from someone. And I live/work with liberals! There are just a lot of nice, thinking conscientious folks around these parts.

[omega minimo]

32. Totaled Cars, Sinking Ships, Battered Constitution, Spoiled Brats

Whatever you do will be insignificant but it is very important that you do it.

[eridani]

33. I prefer to act as if this were still America

Every black box recovered from a plane crash shows the pilots systematically doing everything they were trained to do in order to save the situation. Sometimes the plane gets down safely, and sometimes not. You just have to keep giving your best, regardless.

[omega minimo]

34. Black Box voting sent the Plane of State into this death spiral

the kind of Black Box that erases or misrepresents the record.

However, "You just have to keep giving your best, regardless."

[LSdemocrat]

35. Other: purely to discuss politics with reasonable people

I don't come here for activism (I do that in my community).

[davekriss]

42. From a list server I used to use...

"Get off the internet; I'll see you in the streets!"

[Crowdance]

36. Addiction

I voted Other. I'm here because I can't stop coming back.

[Orsino]

37. To have an inch hemmed up on these pants.

What? Am I in the wrong line?

[Pepperbelly]

38. to meet chicks ...

:smoke:

[paineinthearse]

39. Truth and art will win out -

See what Code Pink did yesterday. Tasteful and IT MADE RICE SHAKE!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3743356

[UdoKier]

40. Medea certainly puts her money where her mouth is.

She must have more arrests than Martin Sheen under her belt.

[davekriss]

41. Sound the alarms! All hands on deck!!

The illusion of freedom in America will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way, and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theatre.
--Frank Zappa, 1977

They're moving the furniture away and the curtains are being pulled back. The illusion of our democratic republic will cease and the reality of authoritarian plutocracy will be clear to all. There is no reversing this.

The question will be, what will that placid audience do in response? Fight? Engage in massive, non-violent civil disobedience? Or agree with O'Brien that one plus one equal five before meekly shuffling off to our jobs at the Ministry of Truth?

I am here, and on other boards, to sound the alarm!