No, I won't calm down.

[Control-Z]

I can barely breathe I’m so upset. I just can't stand another second of quietly listening to, to - all of it. There's so much shit I can't put "it" into one comprehensible sentence.

What the hell is wrong with us? How much longer are we going to quietly put up with "it", brush "it" all off, act as if "it's" not happening, turn our backs because "it" doesn't concern us? Why aren't people screaming? I'll tell you why. People are too afraid of losing what they think they deserve. Money and power are far more important. And for the people who would scream, if we did scream - if we actually stood up in front of real people and screamed we would be publicly stoned. We’d be ridiculed, laughed at, kicked in the gut. We would suffer. Our families would suffer. And what would we have accomplished? Some of our lives are already bad enough. Why would we want to make it worse?

But the more pressing question is what will happen if we don't scream? We're stuck between a rock and a hard spot - exactly as planned, exactly where they want us and it's killing us. As I quietly stuff my rage I am dying inside. Shit is flying at me from every direction and I don't know what to do about it. I know if I get one more patronizing "calm down" from my future-ex I'll kick him in the nuts right in front of my kids. I swear. He tells me to stop investing so much of my time in something I can't do anything about. He tells me to stop being so “angry”. He calls me crazy, paranoid and dramatic. He has made me feel like I’m the sick mental patient for speaking up and becoming emotional and he calls himself a democrat! He’s one of us and he’s using the same sleazy right wing tactics to control his world - to control me so I don’t upset his world.

I don't know if our country was this filthy 20 years ago - that I was just too young and stupid to see or if we've reached the pinnacle of disgust. I don't know if it's my motherhood that is making it so utterly painful for me or if maybe I am overly emotional like the ex says but I know I can't calm down.

Things are so bad that we look at what yesterday was a crime as just protocol today. Why aren't people demanding that their votes be counted? Why? Are we all going to meander on down to cast our votes in the next election with the assumption that someone else has magically fixed the problem or that stealing votes is just okay? Have people forgotten the shock and tears of the 2004 election? We were taken for a fucking ride. I held my tears back for days only because I was too busy being strong and trying to explain a world I no longer understood, myself, to my 18 year old who had campaigned and voted for the first time in her life. Trying to console her while she wept openly over the phone the next morning unable to face all the repukes at her job.

This young woman got out and did more than most of America even thinks of doing. She got my ass on a plane to DC for the March for Women's Lives which, for the uninformed, was the biggest March in American history - the very biggest – over 1,000,000 strong and very much about the shrub. I got my first "Anybody But Bush" button there - before most had ever seen one. It was a monumental event - it was huge and most of America still has no clue it ever took place. The fucking Promise Keepers made headline news for days with their pathetic march. The Promise Keepers! The March for Women was written up in just a few papers and covered only by C-span. That's it. That's all.

And after that march my daughter came back home and put her ass on the line again and again. She held her head high and never wavered. She carried the message to her college campus - to her work place. So bright - so intelligent - so courageous - she stood up and spoke out about what she knew in her heart to be truth and the fuckers kicked her in the teeth. They kicked us all in the teeth. But that's history now isn't it? And there are bigger injustices to ignore.

I see the tiny hand sticking out of the rubble. My heart bleeds. I've never understood "bleeding heart liberal" so well. Yes, I am one. I can't help it. I see the bloodied limp body of an Iraqi child and without thought I see one of my own children lying there and I weep. I see the faces of a mother and father whose son or daughter has come home in a flag draped casket and I feel their horrible despair in my heart, the pain I've known in my own life after losing someone I've loved so dearly. And the soldier who was forced to torture and kill families in Iraq? I think of my son. Would my little boy be able to stand up to such evil? His life would forever be destroyed. Who, in their right or even insane mind could even think of slaughtering any family, of any race or color, in any country? And what sick fuck would force a child to do their evil, sick work for them? Who would do that to an innocent young man? I imagine being that boy's mother and I rage! I feel like a wounded, screaming animal right now. What the fuck are we doing? Where is the media? Where is the outrage? What has happened to humanity? Who gave us permission to turn off our hearts?


If I had forced a boy to torture and then slaughter a family I would be in jail now, awaiting trial – bail denied. Why is the pig in the white house free to walk and talk and spread despair? I ask you, why? I’m tired of excuses for his every evil whim. He is our Commander in Chief. He is guilty of murder. He needs to go straight to jail. Now. No excuses. No more chances. No more trying to convince ourselves that black is white and wrong is right. No more. We’re becoming immune to ever bigger atrocities with each one we brush off. And he smirks.

I’m sorry for going on so long. I’m just so very angry and there are a thousand more injustices I want to scream about. I know I’m preaching to the choir and I just thank you, Choir, for listening and understanding.

[Scoody Boo]

1. For God's Sake! Calm Down!

Just kidding. I hate the "Calm down, you're scaring people" shit also.

[leftyladyfrommo]

25. I think we have always had a pretty corrupt govt.

It has always just been less corrupt than a lot of other governments around the world.

There are times when the dark underside of our govt shows itself - like with Nixon and Hoover. And those times may be very healthy for all of us. We actually get to see what is going on under the rocks. We get to see how corrupt our politicians can be. How hooked on power and greed they are.

It allows us to make corrections. And this coming election will be a correction.

Hopefully people will get out and vote for better people. We need smarter people running the govt than the ones we have now. Smarter in all kinds of ways.

[Tesha]

29. The difference is the media is now fully corrupt as well.

> I think we have always had a pretty corrupt govt.
> It has always just been less corrupt than a lot
> of other governments around the world.

The difference is the media is now fully corrupt as well.

Much of the media had always been partisan, but it used
to be that there were partisans on both sides and at least
a few organzations that tried to hold to the middleground.

This is no longer the case. There is only one side represented
in the media and that's the "Corporate" side. You saw the Million
Man March beacuse it serves corporate interests to keep us scared
of Brown people 'cause that keeps us voting for the Corporate
party so they'll save s from the likes of Louis Farrakahn. You
*DIDN'T* see the March for Women's Lives because the last thing
the Corporatists need is a bunch of uppity women demanding things
like equal rights.

This complete failure of all balancing media is the difference
between now and any previous time when the Republicans were in
power, and I'm not sure it's reversible.

Tesha

[Control-Z]

48. You gotta wonder how the men

and women who work for these organizations sleep at night?

[Control-Z]

46. I agree, it's always better

to know thy enemy than to have him lurking in the dark. I can't help but wonder, though, if the current corruption isn't much larger and the players far more sinister than any other in history. I was too young during the Nixon era to get a real feel for how it all went down so it's difficult for me to judge. I sure hope you're right and that we have what it takes to make the necessary corrections. I want my America back.

[electropop]

87. I'm old enough to remember Nixon and this is much worse.

I hated Nixon, and hated Reagan even more. But they were amateurs. This regime is the biggest threat America has ever faced.

[Control-Z]

91. That is how it feels to me.

It's like we are being raped in broad daylight - again and again and again - and no one seems to notice.

[Mojorabbit]

2. I feel the same way

I just do not know what to do anymore. I was bummed yesterday to see more posts on a racing horse than that the media was being tapped on this board. I feel hopeless.

[Name removed]

82. Deleted message

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

[feelthebreeze]

3. I don't have enough time to respond properly...

You are being heard, you and your daughter are not alone, and we wil not quiet nor calm down. There are so many quiet ones who side with us. Stay true to your self and your beliefs. Your letter deserves so much more response but I am out the door. Never Give Up...NGU. Do not fall into despair, and realize your own personal victory for standing to this power.

[boobooday]

4. If more people were like you - and let themselves feel the injustice

This shit would have been stopped long ago.

Carry on.

Love,
Second Alto from the left, third row

:grouphug:

[Stinky The Clown]

10. "..... feel the injustice"

Great phrase! Can I steal it?

[boobooday]

13. You go right ahead!

Who feels it knows it. :-)

[Control-Z]

49. Thanks, Second Alto from the left, third row.

That made me smile.

[beth_riley]

5. I share your rage

My family tells me the same thing. "Why worry about things you can't change" or "if you're so smart why don't you run for president". My brother tells me not to be critical of the president because "do you think you could do a better job?".

I'm told not to read so much; who cares what the truth is now eat your burger before it gets cold. My brother and his wife are educators with my sister-in-law being in administration. She blames the liberals and democrats for no child left behind.

At our family BBQs when I try to correct the enormous amount of untruths being spouted around the table then I'm the bad one. Ignorance is Strength - The Riley family motto I guess.

But I too am angry. I hope my impression of the collective consciences of the country is propaganda – I hope others are as angry as I am.

[GoneOffShore]

8. We're out here Beth

And we're just as angry.

Keep speaking up.


And Welcom to DU!!

[kahleefornia]

14. I can't stand the "why don't you be president" thing

We elect someone to do that job because it takes someone very very special to do it. No, I don't think I could do a better job. But I damn well expect the person who is there to do a good job.

Do you see what I mean? It's like saying "well, if you have a bad appendix, why don't you become a surgeon and take it out yourself??" That's not a good idea! It doesn't mean that I can never be critical of doctors, though.

[beth_riley]

16. When asked

Do you think you could do a better job.. I said, 'Yes'.. Because I would have the good sense to resign and admit I was in over my head.

[Mad_Dem_X]

19. Good answer - and welcome to DU! n/t

[Mad_Dem_X]

18. What I hate is being told:

"Like him or not, we've got to live with him for another two years." So we should just be complacent, just roll over and take whatever this adminstration gives us? Not protest, not try to change what we think is wrong? FUCK NO! We have to start NOW, not in two years! NOW!

[windbreeze]

24. my favorites are...

"America, love it or leave it"...
"IF you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear"....either of those two sentiments, spoken out loud, can get me off on one hell of a rant...
windbreeze

[Autonomy]

31. My fave:

'You're either with our narrow-minded plan for undermining democracy and accountability via threats of force and the slaughtering of innocents for the purpose of establishing a fundamentalist theocracy, or your with the terrorists."

That one really resonates with me.

[tavalon]

77. My answer to those are

"I'm beginning to forget why, but I do love America, that's why I'm fighting the fascists who are trying to destroy her"

and

"Wow, are you really that stupid, or just pretending to be for my benefit?"

Luckily, I choose for liberal in my circle, so it's a rare thing for me to hear those stupid ass things. But I give that shit no quarter.

[femrap]

57. I believe anyone on DU could do a better job

than *.

Shit, my cat could do a better job than *.

[Control-Z]

51. Oh, wow , Beth.

I always thought that the "don't read" comments were just jokes - a poke at someone's intelligence, at least in our modern society, but more and more I am realizing that these people are serious. Our pResident doesn't read and admits to it. Hell, he brags about it.

I've taught my children to read everything they can get their hands on. It's almost funny at our house when we're all hanging out reading next to each other or when we have three computers going and each of us is lost in our reading. It makes a happy quiet in the house.

It takes a strong person to do what you are doing. It's hard to stand alone especially in the presence of your own family. I don't have to do that too much and wouldn't want to. My sister is republican, I believe. That's how little I converse with her. She lives on the other side of the country so I really don't have the opportunity but I know how much trouble I would have standing up to her. She's the older one and roles do not change much over time. She still speaks down to me like she did when we were kids. I admit I avoid it.

I'm glad you have the intelligence to see through the derogatory comments. I'm glad we both found the DU. The people here are wonderful and a great source for strength and support.

[Stand and Fight]

65. The "don't read" sentiments/comments are very real...

My first foster mother was strongly against the amount of reading I did as a young boy. She said that it was "unhealthy" to be so pre-occupied with reading the news instead of playing outside. She was a fundamentalist Christian -- Holiness, Pentecostal -- who once said to me, "That is just how the devil gets in your head -- through too much reading." Insane. Unfortunately it is not a poke at someone's intelligence, save the person who would say such moronic things.

[Control-Z]

90. I had some of those, myself.

Foster mothers. Strange life, huh? I didn't get any religious types though. My second one did collect foster kids to do her work for her - custom window shades. We did the "customizing" while she sat on her fat ass.

[Stand and Fight]

94. No surprise there...

I was a ward of the state in Nevada. Most of the foster parents I had were -- to say the least -- almost as questionable as my birth mother.

[Control-Z]

95. I'm sorry to hear that.

But I understand, at least a little.

[Stand and Fight]

97. And you stay strong...

I assure you -- you're not dancing alone. :hug:

[Wheezy]

52. welcome, beth riley. n/t

[femrap]

56. I have begun to think of my anger as my best friend....

it has helped my mood considerably. Anger is a Goddess-given emotion that tells you that you're facing injustice! And that's something I am quite willing to fight.

[bluethruandthru]

6. Great Post

But, don't despair. Most of us often feel the same way, but unless we all keep working to defeat these SOB's, nothing will ever change..except for the worse. Welcome to DU. You'll find that this is a good place to vent and to learn more ways to make a difference. Together, we can do it!

[i miss america]

7. You are not alone in your rage and frustration

Mine simmers just below the surface, but I work hard to stay too busy to think about it. And I try never to miss an opportunity to hug my hubby and kiss my kiddies.

Sooner or later, the treasonous bunch of bastards who stole our future will get their karma kickback. Until then, we've just got to find a way to deal with the nightmare that has overtaken America.

[Dhalgren]

9. Welcome to DU.

My heart is in a constant broken state. I can't deal with all of this fascist crap anymore. People ask me, "What's wrong?" But they don't really want to know. Because a couple of times I have unloaded about "what's wrong", not as well as you just did in your moving post, but with the same passion. They tried to calm me down, too. Are you kidding me, I yelled. There is no way to calm down, to deal with it. We are faced with a "Patrick Henry moment" and have been for years! We must choose between freedom or death and slavery. Most of the country, it seems, is choosing slavery. This breaks my heart all over again...

[quaoar]

11. Try throwing something against the wall

A coffee mug perhaps. Something that will shatter into a gazillion shards.

Me, I'm very calm -- unless I hear Bush's voice over the TV because I left CNN on.

I'm calm because I believe in cliches.

Two favorites:

1. What goes around comes around.
2. Revenge is a dish best served cold.

In other words, Bush is fixin' to reap what he has sowed. Time to stock up on popcorn.

[babylonsister]

12. You are dancingAlone no longer, and welcome to DU.

I feel your rage and pain, as do most of us here. Your daughter sounds lovely, and you've taught her well. We are all tired, full of outrage fatigue for there's so many injustices. I just have to believe that what goes around comes around, and that this admin will get their just rewards for dragging our country down so low.
Here, have a hug. :hug:

[peacebuzzard]

15. My ex used to tell me to "relax".

I feel your rage. Welcome to DU.

I came to this board sometime after 9/11 while the koo laid was being distributed for the Iraq war.

I personally have worked myself into a lather so many times and done so many spontaneous impromptu actions (many of them irrational--and some I regret deeply). As a result and to make a long story short, I personally and unwittingly mistreated myself to the point of becoming unhealthy. I am on the road back right now of trying to retain my sanity. This board here has been a lucky find for me--where I can say and discuss anything and ask whatever I want.

Congrats on an outstanding daughter.

[chrisbur]

41. Had an argument with my wife on this subject this morning. n/t

[Control-Z]

53. I have gone to the other extreme -

stuffing my feelings - out of fear of saying or doing the irrational, and that has been equally unhealthy for me. I can't tell you the amount of courage it has taken for me to post here. To allow myself an opinion and to ask questions. This board is a life saver for a lot of us, I think.

I'm glad you're on the road back to retaining your sanity. I appreciate that statement more than you know. And thanks, my daughter has made me proud.

[femrap]

60. Be careful.....

if you keep that anger inside it turns inward....and that is one big ugly case of Depression....not fun.

Better to spout off to those who understand. Given our culture, men are 'allowed' to release and display their anger like big fat strutting peacocks. Women aren't supposed to show anger....fuck that.

[tavalon]

78. What Femrap said below

Anger turned inward becomes depression. They don't deserve to suck the life out of you that way.

[chrisbur]

86. We need to find someplace in the middle.

I've been ALL anger since Nov. '04. I almost never stop ranting and the people in my life are pretty tired of it. Funny thing is, most of them totally agree with me.

[gordianot]

17. I have a hint as to why he is still here, it happens there not here.

When I went to DC on a school sponsored trip I expected to see people upset. We saw only one protest at the Capitol and it was not directed at GOP criminality. The sole protester outside the Whitehouse could have been there for any recent administration in the last 60 years.

We have no News Media, even though his constituent popularity is spiraling downward they are not hounding him or his criminality

[hootinholler]

20. "I am overly emotional like the ex says"

HA! Me too! That's what my ex says to me, and: why do you torture yourself with this? I wish she would get a clue.

:hug:

-Hoot

[windbreeze]

21. I understand....but...

think of how you'd feel, if, like me, you were still trying to wake your family up...mine think I am nuts....while I keep waiting for the next shoe to fall, and am sure I know how much worse it can get...I keep wondering when the revolution starts, when do we march to our house, and arrest the criminals...or do we just sit around and console each other as they come get us, and drag us off to one of those detainment camps...trust us, you are NOT alone....
windbreeze

[Senator]

22. Impeach or Appease: That is the question

Not only for elected officials, but for each and every (former) American.

Impeachment is only the first difficult step to the Redemption of Our National Soul.

There is no other moral, patriotic option.

--

[femrap]

61. Or maybe a little coup d'etat....

maybe we could get the French to intervene and take * to The Hague to face war crimes...doesn't that sound just wonderful?

[Senator]

83. The "coup" is what we must undo

Which is why we must impeach now. Let them have Pres. Hastert now (as opposed to Pres. Pelosi later).

This is beyond party politics.

But yes, the cabal must face the war crimes charges. And if we can't get it done here they risk international fugitive status.

That's one reason why impeachment is only the first step.

--

[zonmoy]

92. just taking * to the hague wouldnt do a thing since

the rot in our system and both parties would still be there untill we render ourselves and all other life on the planet extinct.

[femrap]

101. So are we shooting ourselves at dawn?

I still have faith in the American people....well at least the small group of dedicated ones that Margaret Mead talks about.

[Apollo11]

23. Without clean and fair elections, we are all screwed.

dancingAlone wrote:

Why aren't people demanding that their votes be counted? Why? Are we all going to meander on down to cast our votes in the next election with the assumption that someone else has magically fixed the problem or that stealing votes is just okay? Have people forgotten the shock and tears of the 2004 election? We were taken for a fucking ride.

AMEN to that! (and I'm not even religious)

Without clean and fair elections, nothing else matters.

If people don't have confidence that their vote will be counted - why would they take the trouble to go and vote?

Let's keep putting this question every chance we get to every candidate running for office at every level of government.

dancingAlone ... you are not dancingAlone. You are dancing with millions of people who are working for a better world.

The good news is that only 31% are still swallowing the crap! :)

[lucca]

36. Yes: Clean and fair elections!

I can't imagine *bush and his cronies giving up power, and thus exposing ALL of the lies, corruption, obstruction of justice, bribery..(and the list goes on and on with their despicable actions).

But, I am not going to give up.
I know that this madness has to end, and I do hope that it starts with the next elections.

It's about time that *bush, cheney and the rest of them, are held responsible for their crimes.

[Control-Z]

54. You are so right.

"Without clean and fair elections, nothing else matters."

It almost seemed out of place to voice my election concerns right next to those for the death and annihilation of human life but one is the direct cause of the other. I was not able to articulate that as well as you. I hope that people are aware and angry enough over 2004 to insist their votes be counted.

[NV Whino]

26. I'd kick him in the nuts

You'll feel so much better afterwards.

[Autonomy]

27. Great message

I won't tell you to calm down, but I do hope that you take care of yourself. If your anger at the gross injustices in the world harms you in any way, then you become another victim of the injustice.

I learned this the hard way during the Clinton framing in the 90's, and I tell my mom this today: you can be angry in a healthy way. Don't let the anger turn to hate. You can be joyfully angry. You're not in this alone. Now let's kick some ass!

[Apollo11]

33. Very good advice

Not always easy for us to put into practice.

But good advice nevertheless.

[Cosmocat]

28. Howard Cosell ...

A quote I hold dear to my heart ...

"what is right is not always what is popular. What is popular is not always what is right" ...

Stick up for what you know is right despite the resistance ...

[Apollo11]

32. Bush ain't right, and he ain't popular either

Not if you look at recent polls.

[info being]

30. Ah the "Sacred Feminine" wisdom that is so lacking in our world...

...I hope it rises up through more beautiful, intelligent women like you.

[Control-Z]

96. Your kind comment

tells me you must be one of those beautiful, intelligent women. Thank you.

[grace0418]

34. You're not alone. It may feel like it sometimes but you're not.

I know every ounce of frustration you're feeling. I could've written much of your post myself. I marched up Lake Shore Drive in Chicago before with easily 15,000 people marching with me, only to be treated like criminals and portrayed on the news as a small group of loony liberals. Oh, and the group of *maybe* 40 counter-protestors got all kinds of coverage naturally. I know that frustration well. Anyone who's ever experienced it will never trust the media again, I guarantee it.

But the flip side of that is, because the media lies, distorts and ignores reality, you don't have a sense of just how many people feel the same as you do. There are a LOT of us. Really. And the pigs will pay. They will. I feel strongly about it. They will pay the price for their greed and corruption. He won't be smirking when he's hauled off to the Hague.

[katinmn]

35. Great post!

So many of us go through each day feeling the same outrage, the same despair.

It's the insane or brainwashed ones who are ok with the status quo.

Peace and a :hug:

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

37. K & R. I think you're voicing what...

...many, many, many of us are feeling. Living in north central Texas, I feel like I've been literally sucked in through the front of my television set to become a bit player (a powerless citizen) in an interminable Twilight Zone episode where Orwell's 1984 has come to pass, and I'm the only citizen who seems to have a problem with it. When I try to call attention to the government's death grip of total control over every aspect of our lives, people just look at me like I'm an escapee from the local asylum. Try as I might, I can never locate the secret portal that would let me crawl back out the front of my TV into the safety of my living room to rejoin the real world. Every day I wake up, confident it was all just a bad dream, only to be greeted with a radio alarm recording of "Top-a-the-mornin' to ya," from Rod Serling--just like fuckin' Groundhog Day (I really loved that movie BTW).

There will be no waking up from this nightmare. It won't just go away and no John Wayne hero is going to ride in and save the Republic for us. Free and fair elections are no more, and it appears that our FBI and federal judiciary are so influenced by fascists Neocon interests they simply cannot be relied upon to bring this horrible, crooked regime to justice.

As you so rightly suggest, we're left between a rock and a hard place. We, as a collective citizenry, either organize and take our country back through tactics built around massive noncooperation, or we don't. There's no in between and time is not on our side.

[Zodiak]

39. I was raised in North Central Texas

and every time I go ome, it is like walking into 1984. However, I have at least gotten through to my parents, just not anyone else in the extended family.

My parents were easier because they were apathetic Democrats, not kool-aid drinkers. The rest of the family has taken so much kool-aid that their lips and tongue are red with Republican bullshit.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

43. It's great you were able to reach your parents. nt.

[BoneDaddy]

38. It bristles like an animal beneath my skin

It is the rage I feel when I think of the utter hypocrisy of this administration.
I hear ya, understand your anger and got your back.

[lividtiff]

40. I am sobbing at my desk!

what a wonderfully worded piece! I feel the same rage. It breaks my heart to think of what our service men and women are going through, and the emotional scars they will carry for the rest of their lives.

[femrap]

62. Welcome to DU....

and I've cried at my desk as well....many times.

But look at it this way.....only 29% of Americans agree with *! That's fabulous. We must have faith in the American people. I think our neighbors care about our Democracy and Constitution.....maybe they've just taken it for granted for too long.....we just need to remind them that it's hanging by a thread. I enjoy SCARING THE FUCKING SHIT OUT THEM myself....and it's damn easy to do.

[peacebuzzard]

98. I pray the service forces make it home in one piece.

and that this madness ends.
Welcome to DU Lividtiff.

[chrisbur]

42. I'm waiting for someone to run on the...

"What are we? A nation of pussies?" platform. Of course I know that we'll be attacked hard as soon as the Constitution shredding slows down. Peace takes courage.

[femrap]

63. A nation of pussies would never have allowed W

to do what he and his neocons have done.

Honey, pussies are the strongest pieces of equipment in the world....they give birth. W declared War on Women (pussies) the day he entered the WH in 2001. The media has been told to not cover that war.

It's the cowards who kill.

[chrisbur]

88. Ummmm. Exactly!

Read it again please. I sense a knee jerk reaction to a common pejorative possibly originating from the well known skittishness of cats. We are pussies for letting them shred the Constitution. I love vaginas and alway treat them with the utmost respect.

[librechik]

44. another great newbie rant

welcome to DU--we all have a story like yours to beeatch about.

That's why we're here.

[grasswire]

45. in at least two other times in American history, people grappled...

...with the same kinds of panic -- the American Revolution and the Civil War. Choices were made that split families and destroyed friendships. One path was liberty for all, even if it meant giving one's life, one's fortune, one's sacred honor. The other path was allegiance to power and privilege.

This is our moment. The reality is beginning to sink in. Families will be ripped apart by the choices. Americans will be jailed. Fortunes will be lost. Life will not be the same as it has been. The truth is that "normalcy" is slipping away. The choice is forced upon us.

We are panicked because we don't know what to do; how to protect our loved ones. I believe there are four steps.

1. Name the evil. Face it. Call it what it is. We live under an elite oligarchy with increasingly tyrannical intent. Define it as you will, but name it truthfully.

2. Find your particular task in the struggle. Some can only roll bandages. Some can be leaders and speak in the public square. Some can raise dissidents. Some can make tea and provide comfort. Find your task and devote yourself to it.

3. If you cannot be on the front lines, provide support and comfort to those who are. Offer your resources and energies to prophets and warriors for truth.

4. Come together with likeminded people. Commit to the possibility of raising each others' children, sharing your home, offering passage, whatever is needed. Think back to the models of the Underground Railroad and the Sons of Liberty. Americans will protect liberty with solidarity.

It's a new day. We're needed.

[femrap]

64. Great words....

thank you. Yes, I think we're facing quite a battle....but never underestimate the power of Justice and the strenght of Love.

[Greyhound]

67. Hear, hear. Thanks for posting this response.

It is rare that practical answers are put forth, as there are still far too few that are willing to look at where it is all going. I'd like to emphasize your 4th step:

"Come together with likeminded people. Commit to the possibility of raising each others' children, sharing your home, offering passage, whatever is needed. Think back to the models of the Underground Railroad and the Sons of Liberty"

It is absolutely vital that we form these associations, privately, with each other while we still can. "They" are deadly serious about what they're doing and if we hope to survive, we had better be too. It can happen here.

[tavalon]

80. Please post this as a separate post

It needs to be seen on the Greatest page, or even the front page.

[Control-Z]

84. I often think about this kind of action.

More and more I think it's time to start organizing. One of my most immediate fears is coming here and finding this site shut down. If you've ever gone to a site that has disappeared you probably have an idea of how quickly it can happen. The internet in dybya's worst enemy which makes it a very likely target.

[gcolvin]

47. Keep Screaming, Keep Fighting, Keep Doing Anything Till Someone Notices

I feel like I'm surrounded by a sea of morons here in Ohio. I ask my coworkers what they think about "it" and they could care less. They know the ERA's of most of the pitchers in the Major League Baseball, but they don't give a damn about what Ken Blackwell is trying to do to our state. I asked my wife to read your post but she saw how long it was and said "I'm not reading all that!" She doesn't go with me to DFA meetings, but lets me go because she thinks it'll keep me happy. I put more and more obnoxious anti-Bush bumper stickers on my car and no one seems to notice, and I'm trying to piss people off.

Until people can be torn away from sports and American Idol and whatever other drivel is on TV and be made to realize the importance of what they are allowing politicians to do to our society through their apathy and complacence nothing will change.

I take heart from your post. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who wants to rip my hair out by the roots (what's left of it) and scream till I'm blue in the face. Please keep it up and I'll keep it up and we can all give each other courage and strength.

[femrap]

68. hey gcolvin...I'm stuck in Ohio as well...

I have a bumper sticker, 'Fascism Sucks.' It's my favorite. I'm now putting the candidates for '06 on my car....got Brunner, Brown and Strickland.

Your co-workers and others may just get a shock soon and realize that 'American Idol' ain't gonna cut it....this upcoming financial disaster is going to get a lot of people's attention and then they will be looking around for someone to blame...make sure you're there and showing them that it is * and his neocon cabal!!!!

I don't know if people are so much enthralled by 'American Idol' as that they NEED a diversion....they don't want to think about how bad it is...or maybe they can't.

I think often of Jack Nicholson in "A Few Good Men" where he says....'You can't handle the Truth.' Maybe they're afraid. Or suffering from the new disease that I have named "HUA Syndrome." Head Up Ass! lol.

[stevedeshazer]

50. I get it and agree on every point.

[femrap]

55. I love and admire your anger....

Anger is a valuable emotion....it tells us that we have been treated unjustly. Use that anger to motivate...just don't let it turn inward, OK?

Don't you just hate it when someone says....'Wow, you take things way too seriously.' I usually tell that asshole to move to China since they don't seem to appreciate our Democracy or Constitution.

I was at the March for Women's Lives as well.....wasn't it just fucking magnificent? I have a sick little joke I tell people when I see fit...'W is having problems with his war in Iraq...but it should cheer him up that his War on Women is going well.'

And don't for one minute think that this War on Women isn't consciously planned and being executed with precision. I'll fight in that war.

[Control-Z]

73. You were there!!

Yes, the March was "just fucking magnificent" and the most amazing trip of my life. I went there with no expectations other than that I'd be lost - I had volunteered myself into a position that was way over my head and had second thoughts right up to the last minute. I had no idea it would be the event it turned out to be and I thank my darling daughter for forcing me onto that plane.

Do you remember that feeling of unity - of knowing that whatever direction you turned the person standing beside you would be of like mind? How you could say what was on your mind and there would be no name calling or fighting - just understanding? I have never in my life been treated better or been in the company of more kind and compassionate people.

It is the absence of that unity - not having people around to reach out to and connect with that makes the battle so tough at times but the war on women is personal for me and I will fight it to the bloody end. Being able to come here and finally talk about it is helping to keep my anger where it belongs. It's been a long time coming and you don't know how good it is to hear your voice today. Thanks.

[femrap]

79. My pleasure....I have some great photos of the March.

I have goosebumps right now just thinking about the camraderie I felt with everyone there. I chanted and yelled until I was hoarse!

Always remember how many of us that were there....! Our numbers are in the millions and our strength is infinite.

[Control-Z]

89. Are your photos on-line somewhere?

I would love to see them if they are. I didn't get very many myself - the one thing I regret. We were so busy running from one place to the next and trying to figure out that metro system (which we loved and met some great people on) that I forgot to take a lot of pictures.

Did you go there in a group or meet up there with people? My aunt from New Hampshire, my cousin from Boston and my second cousin from Ct. all met us there. They came in groups at different times and on different days which was very strange but very cool all at the same time, if you know what I mean. Gives me goosebumps too, just thinking about it.

[femrap]

100. No, my photos are packed up in storage right now.....

I went to the March on the spur of the moment. About 3 days before, I got online and said to myself...'if I can find a hotel room that's reasonably priced, I'm going.' Well.....found a 3 star hotel with an indoor pool on the Metro line for $79. I called a friend and we went! Hotels are cheap on the weekends....during the week, the room went for $219!

I love DC...if we get a majority in the House or Senate, I would love to move there and help them investigate all the crimes of the W regime!

[Control-Z]

102. I'm a California gal

and have never considered living anywhere else - until I fell in love with DC. My daughter and I have talked about moving there a number a times. My future-ex has no idea that every time he opens his mouth he pushes me one step closer.

You really did luck out on your hotel room - and right on the metro line! Nice. We booked months in advance with priceline.com and did have beautiful accommodations but at the end of the line. The price was pretty fair though and the March sponsors picked up part of the bill so I can't complain.

With all of our planning I neglected to tell my family that we were going until the day before we left CA. Two of them had already planned on going. My Aunt Leona decided to come that night and drove down but another cousin checked prices and the airfare alone would have cost her $800.00 so she couldn't go. I still feel badly - I should have told her sooner but I was wishy washy about even going...Hopefully she's not holding it against me.

[femrap]

106. I love California....I live in Northern CA for

about 15 years...the Bay Area. I miss the liberal and tolerant atmosphere so much. I'm back in Ohio....ugh. But I'm doing all I can to turn this damn state BLUE!

[specimenfred1984]

58. Well Said

I'm sick of apologizing for being so "aware" myself.

[Steely_Dan]

59. Amazing Rant...

...will you marry me?

-P

[Control-Z]

99. You do dishes?

;)

[LincolnMcGrath]

66. Top Shelf

:yourock:

[Greyhound]

69. We are here too and besides, the choir has to practice to stay sharp. n/t

:hi:

[AusGail]

70. My sentiments exactly

I read all the replies and found myself agreeing with everyone 100%. I think the common denominator in all this is greed, and the extents that some people will go to, to take something that is not rightfully theirs. Iraq used to be a country that had a valuable asset (OIL). Maybe they didn't have the best of governments but I'm sure there are a lot of other countries that don't either. Chile didn't have a very good one in the 80's when it was run by Pinoche, but you don't see the British or American Administration bring him to trial. Oh, thats right, wasn't it Nixon who installed him (on Sept 11). How ironic.

It seems like a lifetime since impeachment proceedings were taken against Clinton, just because he was a serial bonker. That seems heaps less harmful than what Bush and his criminal buddies are doing now. Imagine how many lives they have destroyed. I'm not only talking about the ones who died. What about the soldiers from both sides that have lost limbs etc. Have you noticed that they don't use the term collateral damage these days.

I'm not a religious person, but I do have a conscience and I know what is being done in the name of your country and mine is WRONG. If there is a hell, I hope Bush and his criminal buddies and that sniveler of a Prime Minister I have, spend eternity there

[RDU Socialist]

71. people who replied to this, be honest

did you actually read this whole post?

i didn't.

[tavalon]

81. Every frickin' letter

Twice!

[katinmn]

93. Absolutely. It's how I feel.

[Greyhound]

107. yes

:patriot: :hi:

[Placebo]

72. I couldn't get past the first 2 sentences.

I don't know if I'm heartbroken...or my IQ just dropped a few points trying to navigate that tangled labyrinth of manic senseless goo.

[peacetheonlyway]

74. great honest writing

it's all very real and written from the heart..

it made me weak to read her words.. I felt her pain as if I saw thru her eyes the world crumbling, our same once better off than now world, just crumbling....

good for you for screaming "I'm mad as hell and I"m not going to take it anymore"

good for you...

speak out.. get angry.. scream.... do it all...

cause every ounce of your feelings are 1000% better than the apathy of others I see around me...

thank you for this post...

you validate my own similar feelings with your words of wisdom.....


i hope you find someone to dance with... deserve at least that much and then some....

[The_Warmth]

75. I'm Sorry

Never give up, never surrender.

[tavalon]

76. Oh, my goodness, yes

I was told over and over again in 2004 that my sigline was "overly dramatic".

It said: It is not 2004, it's not even 1984, it's 1934, and I am NOT a good German!

I felt so much rage and anger on that November day in 2004, first directed at Kerry, then at the fuckers who stole it, AGAIN!

We are going down a path already taken by other countries, the most famous being Germany. I am horrified and I am screaming and it takes so much to not pop the eye-rollers in the mouth. But I do it, over and over again but I don't shut up. I won't shut up.

I went to the September 24th march in DC and watched 600,000+ people get disappeared.

I get you. I hear you. I scream with you.

[Name removed]

85. Deleted message

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

[Name removed]

103. Deleted message

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

[newspeak]

104. there is still HOPE

approximately one hundred years ago the progressive populist movement was born. At that time, the Republicans and Democrats were wheeling and dealing together, more for the robber barons than for their constituents. Many people saw the out right corruption and nepotism among both parties and acted. California and Wisconsin were two states that supported progressive legislation for worker's rights and education. In California, the progressive education system, especially college, was still in effect until a Republican Governor, Pete Wilson, brought it down. Yellow journalism has always been around-yellow journalism started the Spanish-American War with it's distorted sensationalist accounts, usually fabrications. The escalation of Vietnam can be blamed on that same yellow journalism. And history spirals, we're spiraling back to that time in history before the populist progressive movement. Will Americans react as our families did then, or will we comply this time? For every step forward, we take two steps back. Will we take that step forward again? We, as American citizens, have been here before, maybe not as pervasive, but the schematics are the same. It is the American people who will decide the fate of this country, not the corrupt, Straussian led idealogues, but the American people. It is the American people who will create the reality of this country. I still believe in the American people, and when the majority realize they have been duped-"no fury hath a people scorned." Now, the powers that be, attempt to divide us with bogus issues(personal individual issues)-gay rights, abortion, religion-to direct focus away from their agenda and corruption. However, I will agree with Studs Turkell, that I still have faith in most of the people of this country. We have traveled this rode before and we shall overcome.

[Greyhound]

105. You (and Studs) are right, and IMO wrong.

There are a few differences this time around that are unique and will possibly make it harder than before.

The first and biggest is that the nature of the citizenry has fundamentally changed. We are much less self-reliant, and are far more willing to follow anybody that claims to know the way, than we were in the 30's and before.

Corporations have achieved a level of control approaching absolute, whereas the last time around the means of production was, at least partially, in the hands of private citizens.

We have no Huey Long type of rabble-rousing outsider, that I'm aware of, that can get the air-time to force the "do-nothings" into action out of fear of losing their phony-baloney jobs, and thanks to the absolute corporate control of the media, it is highly unlikely we will hear of this person if they do exist.

One point, while it was the re:puke:s, it was Deukmejian that let the California education system fall from envy-of-the-world status to global laughing stock, Wilson just conducted the funeral.

[newspeak]

108. well, I was in college at the time

Wilson started increasing on college classes. I remember my philosophy professor who sat in Wilson's office with other teachers to plead with Wilson not to raise fees on classes. Wilson refused to meet with them. He came to class the next day with tears in his eyes pleading with us to not drop out. He knew that many of the students at that Jr. College were working and trying to go to school. It is up to the American people to change the course of our country, it only takes about twenty-five percent of a population to accomplish a paradigm shift--it can still be done. We'll see. For it was only about twenty-five percent that started the American revolution, movers and shakers, the others were loyalists or apathetic.

[cpamomfromtexas]

109. Be patient, just a little longer and EVERYONE will wake up

Then these sorry excuses will be chased out of Washington with pitchforks.