Letters to the Editor
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@OliverA
I don't see those wars as anything but attempts to keep the war machine fed. I see them as successful programs to distract the public while the war machine adjusted its diet, not as attempts to let off any dissent-related steam. After all: WHAT dissent? Has there been viable dissent (mass, organized) in the US since 1968?
As for the question of civil war---no, not yet, and probably never. I can't say it's worth a war until I myself have the gun in my hand.
We don't normally expect to have to take matters into our own hands. That's what the political system is for. I won't be ready to risk my life or livelihood until it is already at risk. That means the bodies of middle-aged white guys will have to start turning up with signs of torture. Then, and only then, can I commit to taking matters into my own hands.
Fawnlust is right. This would be an excellent example of the administration hanging itself, if they waterboarded a white guy, maybe a journalist.
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fawnlust
The fact that our press has become dominated by television news, which is in turn completely owned and controlled by corporate interests, which are in turn almost exclusively beholden to the most conservative Republican ideologies, not only feeds into the supremity of the neo-conservative movement in dictating our laws, but (in my opinion) has been more detrimental to any attempt to rectify the Bush admin's excesses than simple Dem uselessness has been.
Yet the Democrats had a landslide victory in '06. Poll after poll shows that the majority of Americans are sick and tired of this war and want it to end. So how come so little noise comes from the Democrats? Are they just weak? I would say not. Like somebody else pointed out, it is probably way more complicated than that. What is infuriating is that despite all the crap that comes from news, a good portion of the US has ignored it and wants this war to end. So what is holding up the Democrats? The support of the people is there, now it is their job to get it done. If they cannot get it done, quite a few people will be angry. Those people will not automatically flock over to the right, but they will also not flock automatically to the Democrats.
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Thanks for your patriotism
Glen,
Thank you so much for speaking out against the steady, breathtaking evisceration of our civil liberties and democratic institutions by "the current power elite" in Washington. As many of us are belatedly realizing after these long years into our national nightmare, "current administration" no longer suffices to describe the breadth of corruption that threatens our republic. We common citizens have been bewildered by the audacity of the attack and the impunity with which it is being carried out. It can mean only one thing: "we are all in on it" Your summary of our condition is a much needed reminder to me of what a dangerous time this is.
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Baldie McEagle
So even though our government seems to act despicably towards people over there, since they are not really bothering us, we can just mosey along and use the political system to affect a change in course. Of course, we seem to have some issues here such as health care, poverty, unemployment, disaster cleanup, etc, but these are not really enough to try to hurry up the process. Well, until the despicable actions get used against us. Somehow, in an weird and crazy way, this logic seems insane (and I'm part of it - so I'm really totally insane.)
BTW, inequality needs to be added to the list of things that are happening here (were not killing here, ok, just some nice and dandy incarceration and prejudice at work, well for now). But once more, since this doesn't really affect us white gentlemen and women, it's not enough of a bother for a faster change in our policies.
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On Patience and Perseverance
No one here said we should be patient with Congress, the Executive, or the Courts. Virtually everyone agrees that it is good and necessary to apply constant steadily increasing pressure to those institutions for the purpose of creating change.
When we invoke patience, we mean that the results of our constant steadily increasing applications of pressure take time to achieve results.
[We also have to find a way to alter the power dynamic in the corporate sphere, where media and manufacturing have served the right wing reactionary cause by fueling consumerism and dulling discourse (mutually reinforcing tactics). ]
When we counsel patience, it is not to say: "Oh, don't worry about it; it will take care of itself." We mean that the absence of clearly identifiable dramatic results must not lead to despair.
When we say patience, we mean Perseverance.
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What faster way?
There is no faster way to change policies.
You can mobilize a third or fourth political party. It will take decades to get results.
You can start a private paramilitary "securtity" firm to force a coup domestically (or simply mobilize one yourself), or to mount a mission to rescue the victims suffering In Our Name overseas. Either way, it will take years to start up a company or a movement like that and get logistics in place for Ops.
There is no use in misleading ourselves: Humans are butes.
Though our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution are couched in some humanistic and compassionate language, mainly they are documents that functionally recognize the brutish tendency of human political power constructs.
The fastest way to facilitate change is what we are doing now:
* Steadily gaining seats in Congress
* Steadily asserting a place in the national discourse via radio,
TV, and internets* Working with some apparent success at electing a Democratic President
These are not panaceas. We shall have to maintain vigilance on new congresses and presidents and judiciaries as well. Most Democrats in congress are as you say: spineless. They are being replaced until a needed critical mass of group courage is reached. that's just reality.
If you know of a faster practical way to get things done, please specify. I see no faster way to either save lives or salvage our Republic.