I'll look into the site...

We certainly are, Tib old boy, we certainly are.

But not the way you think we are.

A lot of people don't pay parking tickets. Democrats don't hold Bush administration officials accountable for violating federal laws on torture and unwarranted electronic surveillance for the same reason. It's a scofflaw situation. The Bush administration isn't torturing any Democrats. They aren't holding any Dems in secret prisons, and they're not denying them habeas corpus. They also believe that the Bushies aren't listening in on their phone conversations. Or maybe they think that they have nothing to hide anyway. So what's to get upset about? The only time the Democratic Party held a Republican administration accountable for breaking laws guaranteeing our civil liberties was when the Republicans burglarized the Democratic Party headquarters at Watergate. Then the Dems got alarmed because their institutional power was in jeopardy and their chances of winning the grand prize--executive power--was threatened. The Democrats will prosecute for torture when a high-ranking Democrat is tortured. Then and only then. Laws get enforced only when they're recognized as important.

you don't think we are in a state of war then you follow glenn hook, line and sinker.

I'm one hundred pages into Charlie Savage's book and went ahead to section on the McCain amendment and am wondering if the signing statement attached to that law was based on these secret findings.

Have you checked out the Down With Tyranny blog? It is another small but effective advocacy group. Among its purposes is identifying and financially supporting candidates to oppose entrenched Democratic incumbents who too often toe the Republican party line. They also help focus resources on especially vulnerable Republican incumbents and especially viable Democratic challengers in order to realistically exploit factors in the electoral game. It is just one other example of concrete ways we can reform our country.

I believe that our anger, sadness, anguish, and grief over the monstrous US policies executed In Our Name are actually good motivators to action. Our emotions drive us to seek rapid gratification; the facts on the ground and the historical record reveal that there is no immediate stimulus that will turn tides. Bush benefited from 9/11, but the way things were going, the Neo-cons would have ultimately achieved their goals anyway. They had too much organization, discipline, money, and deceitfulness working in their favor, unopposed by a liberal counter thrust. Maybe we will soon be able to exploit a similar deus ex machina in the form of an expose on 60 Minutes revealing that all the major Republican players are perpetrators of some horrible scandalous activity or secret recordings in which they divulge their contempt for the average American suckers who enabled the neocon bellicosity and treasury-raid. It's not likely, though. I agree with you down the line about the weakness and the sins of the Democratic establishment. I am a strong believer in the value of assessing strategies and tactics in terms of what is useful based on the situation immediately in front of us. Let's continue to work together to clean it up.

• I suppose apologies are in order to rollotomasi for my contribution to the "eharmonyization" of the UT comment threads. However, for what it's worth, I thought I was engaging in some lighthearted banter designed more to recognize a longtime and valued contributor to these threads who has given me much to think about than any actual sort of trolling for love, and I expect the others who chimed in had similiar thoughts. There are some amazing minds that gather here and I respect and admire many of them. They are why I bother to read the comments here rather than just the articles. If the anonymous commenter hadn't started the lovefest, I probably wouldn't have done so on my own, but I personally see nothing wrong with recognizing someone in this sort of community whose contributions I find to be of particular value.

hrh, I was purely kidding about that. The title of my comment and first paragraph were my just an attempt to lighten things up a bit from all the frustration I was reading - probably about the same as what you were doing, only apparently not as successful. I also enjoy reading the thoughts of the astute minds that gather here, and being a firm believer in lightening things up on occasion, more lame or undetected humor will probably emanate from this keyboard.

The prevarications by Rabbi Cooper are strategic at best. He works for an organization which relies on the eyes and ears of thousands of individuals to alert him when the image of Hitler or the Holocaust is used inappropriately. He does not need to watch Fox himself. So there are only two ways to read this. One, Rabbi Cooper must have been on a very long vacation to not be fully aware of what is really going on over at Fox -- which, by the way, is one block away from the Museum of Tolerance. Or two, he knows better. Three guesses which is the correct answer.

And do Murdock and Fox contribute to his organization? Of course they do. Again, Rabbi Cooper should be fully aware of this.

What I believe we have here is a rabbi who takes it as his mission to ensure accuracy in history, and yet cannot figure out how to tell the truth himself.

think: a century.

every time somebody comes with good will to the national stage to warn us of something, it is kindly ignored and the sophisticates go back to what they were doing, nursing their pet illusions.

when good people warned that forming a private bank to run the US treasury is wrong, they were laughed at

when well meaning people warned that WWII was started deliberately by a president who knew Pearl Harbor was coming, they were given the brushoff

when a sitting US president warned everyone to beware the military-industrial complex, they all thought he was kidding

when good people warned that getting off the gold standard is not a good thing, the theorists were shown the door

when good people told us all that Oklahoma City was an inside job, thay all thought the good people were crazy

when good people warned that Ruby Ridge and Waco are government incursions on all our rights, everyone just looked and laughed and went back to their busy distractions

when a billionaire presidential candidate stood up there with charts explaining exactly what hell this country was headed into, they made fun of his voice and demeanor.

...ahh these sophisticates. you know who you are, hiding behind your ivy walls or behind your plasma screen.

when good people warned that 9/11 was another event nursed by forces within our government, the sophisticates waved their hand

when good people said in 2006 a Dem congress will do nothing that is not already on the agenda of the new world order, they were scoffed at

today, a man of good conscience sits in front of all of you, Ron Paul, telling you this country is achieving hell on earth, and all you ignore him as if he is a disease.

continue nursing your mojitos and coddling your prozac and changing the channel til you hear something that pleases you.

because, now, it is too late. Darwinism at WORK. You Berkeley eggheads ought to know what that means. Remember, the elites all have their golden parachutes.