Our Pain MUST STOP Being Their Gain

[Totally Committed]

I always lived by what I felt was the most important part of The Golden Rule: "... and do unto others as you would have done unto you." As I have said here many times, I am not a religious person. These days I must confess I rarely find the strength to even hope there is a God, let alone believe He/She/It is out there somewhere. But, I try and keep a part of myself that is as abidingly spiritual and loving as I can manage at any given moment. My wishes and hopes are those of World Peace (or, these days, peace of any kind, actually.) My heart is broken for the hungry, the displaced, the chronically hopeless, and those in war's way with no hope of getting out. I believe in equality for everyone, regardless of sex, color, nationality, or sexual preference.

I know there are so many here who believe these very same things. And, yet, we are called "Godless", "unpatriotic", "disloyal", "unAmerican", and many other epithets too numeous to mention by those on the other side. The candidates we support and work hard to elect are smeared mercilessly, and maligned by the likes of "Swift-Boaters". We are villified daily by those on RW Hate Radio, like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, and the like. Our values are spat upon by the Ann Coulters, the Michelle Malkins, and their ilk day in and day out. It's not good enough for them to simply disagree with us on our beliefs, but they have to hate us, too, and they have to convince as many as they can to hate us, too. Not to get too New Age-y on you, but I do believe that any energy attracts like energy, and so this hate only builds on itself. We can argue that all day long, but at the end of the day, we have only to read the news, or watch it to know things are not going well on this Planet at the moment. So... maybe I'm right. Hate begets hate, war begets war, intolerance begets intolerance.

By now, you're probably wondering where I'm going with this. Well, as I drank my morning cuppa, I went (as I usually do) to BuzzFlash to check out the real news. Their headline this morning really got to me: "God, the Bushies are so transparent in their naked abuse of terror attempts: 'White House officials said Friday that the fallout from the discovery of the British bombing plot could help the administration advance its agenda in Congress. The officials cited in particular battles over supervising the program of eavesdropping without warrants and how to try detainees held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.' And Don't Forget That They Want to be Retroactively Protected Against War Crime Trials and Convictions."

So, that's how low they've sunk. People's suffering has now become a tool for furthering their political agenda. I'm not saying that hasn't always been true, but now they don't even bother to hide it. It's right there... in front of our faces... for all Americans to see. It's like they're so convinced that none of us can or will do anything to stop them anyway, that they aren't even going to bother with secrecy at this point. My heart died al little as I read the NYT story that went with that headline:

Bush Aides Foresee Gains on Eavesdropping and Guantánamo

CRAWFORD, Tex., Aug. 11 — White House officials said Friday that the fallout from the discovery of the British bombing plot could help the administration advance its agenda in Congress. The officials cited in particular battles over supervising the program of eavesdropping without warrants and how to try detainees held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Taking the White House’s lead, Republicans throughout the country used the arrests of terror suspects in Britain to go on the offensive against Democrats for the second day in a row. They accused Democrats of failing to understand the nature of the terrorist threat facing the nation.

Aides to House Republican leaders said they believed that the arrests would help them make their case on other issues that will allow them to keep the focus on national security, including the call for tighter control of the border with Mexico.

Democrats promised to engage strongly in the newly energized debate on national security, saying they would not cede that ground. They said they would argue that the White House and the Republican-led Congress had failed to provide the money necessary to protect Americans fully from the threat of terrorism and that President Bush had pursued a foreign policy, especially through the war in Iraq, that has fueled Islamic radicals and created more potential terrorists.

Entire Article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/12/washington/12bush.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

They have no shame about it. None. In the past couple of days, the following posts echo this sentiment:

Your pain is their gain
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/BobcatJH/129

GOP Caught Using Terror News To Fundraise…
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1890391

Cheney accused of politicizing terrorism
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2451654

US Public has ADD - MSM enables it, Rove knows/uses it.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1894157

NYT editorial: "When leaders use nation's trauma for political gain"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1883389

As Defined By Others
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/NanceGreggs/70

WH Official: "Weeks before September 11th, this is going to play big"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1877057


I am of a generation that grew up believing I'd never see this day in the United States of America. I watched as they assassinated JFK, MLK, and RFK, all men of peace. And, it wasn't just here... Gandhi was assassinated for his belief in peace on this planet as well. Even against this backdrop, I felt that there were enough of us to carry on the work of those great human beings. I don't know what the answer is, but I do feel we have come to the perverbial line in the sand, my friends. This is where the Neo-Con agenda for America and the World must stop. I don't want to think of my family or my friends living on after I've gone in a world of perpetual war, global environmental disaster, religious persecution, or worse. Corporations don't care about our plight, just their bottom line.

Time to start winning elections again. And, that means nominating those we know can win, fixing the system so our candidate can win, and pulling together for the common good. Are you with me?

TC

[Totally Committed]

1. Unaplogetic and Shameless Kick #1...

:kick:

TC

[buff2]

2. That is a wonderful and powerful post,tc

You said everything I've been thinking since those evil thugs stole office.Everything they do is so "in your face"......they DON'T try to hide it,and when the truth is proven and out there,they will deny it no matter what.I get up every day sickened at what is going on and no one even making an attempt to stop them. What has happened to all these people who just a few years ago would be out there raising hell? Where is the NAACP,Rainbow Push,Naral,NOW,Louis Farrahkan's million men who marched a few years ago,Answer,the G&L groups? Where are all these people who have fought for decades for their civil rights? Why isn't there massive protests like other countries do to over throw their fascist governments?

Everyone thinks there is nothing we can do because the DICK-tator is in charge,but believe me,with millions of people joining together we could get rid of all the skank and stink that occupies Washington. Everybody is too accepting as to what is going on and it's a shame.GOP......the FEAR AND HATE MONGERING party.That's the thing that really upsets me. How can so many people vote for and support that kind of trash? How can so many "christians" go along with what those evil people do? Haven't they learned ANYTHING from going to church every Sunday? It blows my mind at how blind and stupid these people are.

[Totally Committed]

3. Thanks!

That's a pretty great post you just wrote, too!

I agree with everything you wrote!

TC

[Totally Committed]

4. Unaplogetic and Shameless Kick #2...

:kick:

TC

[Stinky The Clown]

5. This gets a clown kick and clown nom.

[Major Hogwash]

6. Great post.

You should write more of these more often.

[Eurobabe]

7. Amen, vote #5 for greatest, and to K&R

[MissWaverly]

8. Great post

why should this be used as defense of GITMO and wiretapping, these individuals are not in the
US. Terrorism will only be fought by acting like a responsible memeber of the world community
and earning the respect of other nations and their cooperation, which Bush had after 9-11
and threw away. Wiretapping and GITMO are not reducing the global threat and neither is
our current policy in the Middle East. And what does "fighting them over there" so we
won't have to fight them over here have to do with reducing the threat of terror. It only
took 19 hijackers to pull off 9-11, you can fight a terror war with only a very tiny force.

[Totally Committed]

9. Another article on this subject:

Tom Ridge admits DHS raises levels based on flimsy evidence

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2773612&mesg_id=2773612

And, a pretty good thread that sort of belongs with this thread... sort of....

Not everything is a conspiracy. Not everything is the genius of KKKarl

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2775570


TC

[Totally Committed]

10. Another good article and thread:

Democrats Assail GOP Fundraising Effort (repuke email use terrorism kudos)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2775738

TC