We need to wake the US up from its coma,,

[Harry Monroe]

..and get the message out that Keith Olbermann so eloquently stated the other night. I sent the following "Letter to the Editor" to my local "hometown" newspaper, the statewide newspaper (Clarion-Ledger of Jackson MS) and to USA Today. I don't claim to channel Keith Olbermann, but I raised the points of his dead on commentary on MSNBC that has electrified and united us. I suggest everyone do the same, get the word out in every media possible. No less than the future of our country is at stake:

"From the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: fascism n. “A philosophy or system of government that advocates or exercises a dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the merging of state and business leadership, together with an ideology of extreme nationalism.”

On August 29th, in a speech in Salt Lake City, Donald Rumsfeld compared the war on terrorism with “fascism” and accused those of us who are questioning the war in Iraq as being “morally or intellectually confused”. Furthermore, he compared those that are questioning this war with the “appeasers” of the British government of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in 1938 in its acquiescence to Adolph Hitler.

We must remember that Rumsfeld and this Administration have always held that they had the “facts” and were correct in their “moral certitude” that we must invade Iraq in our continuing struggle in this “war on terrorism”. The “facts” have, one by one, been since discredited and all this Administration has left is to try and question the average American’s intelligence, patriotism and to play on their fears.

Mr. Rumsfeld sorely needs a history lesson. In 1938, it was Chamberlain’s government who was sure they had the “facts”, were “certain” that Hitler posed no real threat. So sure were they of the “certainty” of these “facts” that they went to Munich, positive and “certain” that Hitler could be appeased by granting him the region of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia, in exchange for his demand for the whole country. History has since shown this to be an obviously false assumption.

Flash forward to 2002-2003. The Bush Administration is “certain” that Saddam was linked to Al-Qaeda and had a hand in 9/11. The Administration is “certain” that Saddam possesses weapons of mass destruction. So, “certain” was this Administration in their “facts” that they chose to launch a pre-emptive war in Iraq, opening up a completely unnecessary front in their “war on terror” based on their “facts”, facts that have been completely and utterly since been proven false. This new “front” in Iraq has fermented the organization of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, where they did not previously exist. It has caused Iraq to be fragmented along ethnic lines and has caused the country to explode to the brink of civil war. None of these conditions existed before we invaded. We have removed a ruthless dictator who has “terrorized” his own citizens, but at what cost?? All the “facts” and the whole rationale for Bush’s war have collapsed like a house of cards, and we are left in Iraq holding the bag with no end in sight. The real architect and mastermind of 9/11, the one who so brazenly dared attack us, is in a cave somewhere on the Afghani-Pakistani border laughing at us in derision. He is laughing at the Bush Administration’s own ineptitude and incompetence. He is laughing at us now because he realizes that this “war on terrorism” is laughably easy for him; let this Administration do his bidding because of this Administration’s own stupidity and supreme arrogance in continuing to “stay the course” in Iraq; a course which is clearly not working, a course which recruits new fanatics to Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda’s cause each and every day.

BTW, another little history lesson for Mr. Rumsfeld. One of the most vocal opponents of the Chamberlain government’s “ moral certitude” of having all the “facts” on Hitler, one of the most visible of those who were “morally and intellectually confused” about these so called facts, was a man by the name of Winston Churchill. History has since proven Mr. Churchill correct in both his “morality” and “intellect”.

We who oppose this war do not suffer from some “moral and intellectual confusion” as Mr. Rumsfeld suggests. Quite the contrary, it is this Administration that is clearly suffering from this malady and is now grasping at straws by questioning our morality and intellect and has nothing to offer now but fear mongering and divisiveness. It prefers to live in a “reality” bubble of its own making, still stubbornly clinging to its “facts” and “moral certitude” and pathetically suggesting that we dwell in this bubble with them. As far as this war being compared to being a war on “fascism”, I’ll let the definition of “fascism” speak for itself and be the last word. It should certainly speak volumes to the American public that what we have now is “an extreme right wing Administration that has continually been merging state and business leadership, together with an ideology of extreme nationalism”

“We have met the enemy, and he is us” Walt Kelly, creator of “Pogo”"

[Amy6627]

1. I think people are waking up. But what can we do to change what's

going on or to stop it. People are too scared of losing the little they do have or going to jail for protesting, myself included. If everyone took to the streets I would follow, but my family is too important to me to risk loosing them for me to lead people to the streets. I am very active in safe organizations, I'm the VP of my local Democratic Club, local coordinator of Clean Money, member of Secure and Acurate Elections. I stopped going to anti-war demostrations because of fear. I don't know what the solution is. In Mexico and the Ukran those people were so down they have no place to go they could aford to take to the streets, and the average American is not there yet. I hope and pray I'm wrong.

[CrispyQ]

2. I don't think you are wrong, Amy.

The majority of us are still too comfortable to risk what we have.

Hmmmm, I have never thought to check if there is a local chapter of Clean Money. Thanks for the post! :hi:

[Amy6627]

3. Here is a link to find a clean money group in your state:

http://www.publicampaign.org/clean-facts

I noticed you have a Reclaim Democracy link on your sig line. Have you ever heard the founder of that group speak? His name is Jeff Melchen, he and his wife are fabulous! Working with them to form a local chapter of RD (and listening to Thom Hartmann) lead me to Clean Money.

Have a great weekend!

[CrispyQ]

7. Great link!! Thanks! --nt

[Marrak]

4. We've spent the last week...

navagating the projectile chunk hurling by Bush's War Admin. People are fed-up with it. How many of these empty B.S. campaigns have we endured by these criminals so far this year alone? Well, it's been five long years since 911, and what we got to show for it with these liars? ...they can't even explain Bush's War with their illogical and demented propaganda constructs! A week ago we had a presser, a what an insightful presser that was! This week Bush and Williams in New Orleans! Then to the American Legion they paraded, one-by-one, to implore over and over for patience the nation's and understanding...while for five years they been rewarding us with incompetence and bile. I'm thinking consequences too...as in impeachment. These guys are now scared to death of their own shadows and will think, do, and say anything at this point to save their asses. They've proven that much.

<>

[clark08]

5. Amen thanks for

posting this!

[leesa]

6. They keep pulling the covers over their head. They are willfully

closing their eyes and blinding themselves to the crimes of their government. They are awake. They know.

[ooga booga]

8. Lie by Lie

Have you guys seen the timeline of the Bush War Lies in Mother Jones magazine? It's pretty cool. The online version is even cooler.

http://www.motherjones.com/bush_war_timeline/index.html



(BTW - I'm a long time DUers starting a new psuedonym.)

[alvarezadams]

9. As of just a couple of weeks ago

51% of Americans still thought that WMD's had been found in Iraq. I don't even want to speculate as to how many swallowed the adminspin tying (through non-sequitor caveats) Saddam and 9/11 and Al Qaeda.

We who lurk the web (and don't do so to read Town Hall) are simply more aware than the "Deep America" voters, the one-issue voters, the fundie-voters and the cogdis brigade. And we're a minority that an Olbermann speech isn't going to make any bigger. Olbermann said it once, Faux, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC et al say the opposite every single fucking day.

I don't mean to be pessimistic. But what we cannot expect is to change the minds of the cretinous rubes who swallow talkingpoint pablum memes as ideology and take their news in 20 minute-a-day servings (written for 14 year-olds). It ain't gonna happen - you can't speak to children as if they were adults. And you can't deprogram cultists with a pamphlet.

The only thing that can be done, IMHO, is to reframe arguments, values and platforms to fit the reduced cerebral capacity of the rubes. 'Cos against the $billion/year rw indoctrination machine a speech isn't going to cut it, no matter how many letters to the editor are written and even (in a moment of editorial weakness) published.

Ultimately, who reads the papers? Just look at any given local rag and international news is in section D (occupying a half page above the mattress sale advert), US news little more, community news even more, sports one helluva lot, and a whole funny page section (plus the help wanted ads with piss-poor jobs).

Message? Any marketer knows that you need to adapt your message to your market, pick your media as per your segmentation, and go from there.