CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS WATERS RISING FAST

Perfect timing .. thank you, Dick and Karen!

Just thinking how Eugene McCarthy was my inspiration and about how we do need to continue to be inspired by something.

This is the next thing I came across:

Former President Clinton eulogized the late Minnesota Sen. Eugene J. McCarthy on Saturday for helping to shift momentum against the Vietnam War with his 1968 presidential campaign.

``It all started when Gene McCarthy was willing to stand alone and turn the tide of history,'' Clinton said at a memorial service at the Washington National Cathedral.

McCarthy, who died last month at 89, mounted an anti-war challenge to President Johnson for the 1968 Democratic nomination, leading to Johnson's withdrawal from the race after the New Hampshire presidential primary.

About 800 people, some wearing McCarthy campaign buttons, attended the memorial. A bagpipe procession started the service, and Peter Yarrow of the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary sang ``This Land Is Your Land'' and other songs.

The audience was filled with friends, family members and lawmakers, including Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass. Kennedy's brother, the late New York Sen. Robert Kennedy, rankled McCarthy by jumping in the '68 race after McCarthy's strong showing in New Hampshire. Vice President Hubert Humphrey won the nomination that year and then lost to Republican Richard Nixon.

Clinton recalled meeting McCarthy as a young man in the early 1970s. The future president was having trouble locating a pair of large shoes to wear to a black-tie Washington dinner, and a friend said he knew someone with even bigger shoes.

A couple of days later, Clinton said, McCarthy came by with a pair of shoes to lend.

``That night, I stood in Gene McCarthy's shoes,'' Clinton said to laughter. At the dinner, he decided to pass up a receiving line for President Nixon.

``It just didn't seem the right thing to do wearing McCarthy's shoes,'' Clinton said to more laughter and applause.

Clinton Eulogizes Eugene McCarthy
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-5546377,00.html

Something needs to be done to coalesce the Democratics--this is a call to order! Thanks Dick. Thanks Karen.

http://tinyurl.com/9le7x

I don't know if this has been posted or not, but now the US is admitting that the attack on the Pakistani village yesterday did not get al-Zawahari.
And, they're planning to test the DNA of the villagers that WERE killed in the attacks, though the government has admitted that it has no DNA to identify al-Zawahari by anyway. I suppose they're trying to tell if they got any other high named terrorists, because if they didn't, they just killed off a village of people for no reason whatsoever, again.
How much more of these fishing expeditions that kill whole villages full of people will the american public tolerate? Evidently, no one seems to care so far.
We're just creating more and more terrorists in that area every day we're there.
We need to get out, let the civil war happen, and watch what vermin it breeds when it's over.
And see if the 40% of Americans that still support Bush are happy once they find out we STILL don't control the oil fields, and their gasoline prices are as high as they ever were.
Mass killing of innocent civilians needs to stop.We are never going to live this down as a nation. History is not going to be kind.

Posted by: Linda Enterkin at January 14, 2006 06:22 PM

Gen. Gard and Dr. Cortright talked about this very situation at our "Moving Forward on Iraq" town hall forum and how this bad US policy of "search & destroy" using our military's sophisticated technology & indiscriminate airpower that kills innocent civilians will only worsen the situation.

Gen. Gard, who is an artillery expert, went into details about how a 500 lb. bomb (which is the smallest one we're using!) has a casualty producing radius of 400 metres. 10% of those bombs do not land within the 20 foot probable error of circle, due to electrical & mechanical failures.

He also talked the social aspects of bombing and striking innocent civilians, especially ones who belong to tribal societies that have a tradition of revenge when you kill or humiliate a member of that tribe. They feel duty bound to get revenge.

That's why the insurgency is only getting stronger. And now, thanks to this latest news, more Pakistanis will join the ranks of the insurgents.

You're right, Linda. We need to get out. And we need to pay to fix what we've broken. (I know money can't replace lives, but we owe it to Iraq to provide funds for reconstruction and ecomomic stability, just as we promised we'd do.)

In reference to our previous thread about Murtha http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-john-murtha/questions-about-my-record_b_13759.html

Murtha strikes back at the swift boaters...

This afternoon, CNSNEWS.com ( http://tinyurl.com/crz4m )published an article entitled "Murtha's War Hero Status Called Into Question" on its website. The article questions the validity of my purple hearts. This is my response:

"Questions about my record are clearly an attempt to distract attention from the real issue, which is that our brave men and women in uniform are dying and being injured every day in the middle of a civil war that can be resolved only by the Iraqis themselves."

"I volunteered for a year's duty in Vietnam. I was out in the field almost every single day. We took heavy casualties in my regiment the year that I was there. In my fitness reports, I was rated No. 1. My record is clear."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-john-murtha/questions-about-my-record_b_13759.html

Positively Orwellian ..

The Swift Boaters specialize in trying to convince us that people who weren't in the military were (Bush) or are experts anyway (Cheney), and that those who were in the military and did heroic things (Kerry, Murtha, McCain), didn't!

I remember posting this on here before, but the purple heart does not have to be earned by a direct enemy hit.
My brother earned one by bumping his head on a bunker at Bien Hoa airbase during the Vietnam conflict. The base was under attack, and he was literally jumping for cover.
My boyfriend during the 1967 war between Israel and the arab world, won one when, after the attack on the USS Liberty, he tried to pick up a small artillery shell off the deck as a souvenier. He burned his hand, won a purple heart, and got a promotion.
Congressman Murtha's injuries may have been a cheeck laceration and a forehead laceration, but those would have earned him purple hearts during the Vietnam war. That's just a fact.
The Swiftboaters know that. They're just full of s--t.

DiAnne:

Don't forget that war is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength...

http://tinyurl.com/aya5

where are you winston smith,
Otter

Eh? Howzat, you say? The Swiftboaters are full of -- why, I never! I am shocked, *shocked*, I tell you, to find that there is dissembling going on in this Establishment!

say it ain't so joe,
Otter

Just saw a cute magnet:

"Jesus called and he wants his religion back".

May be interesting for some of our historians here at DCP to reflect on what happpened during the early seventies regarding religion. I seem to recall (albeit fuzzy) that religion was real big then - Jesus freaks and all. Then: not so much. Not sure how we got through the seventies and I don't remember much about the eighties (a lot of us don't). Who can relate mid - to - late seventies history?

abq- The mid to late seventies were Jimmy Carter's era, and religion was large then. It was a big deal when Jimmy Carter said he "lusted in his heart" in an interview in Playboy magazine, if you remember. The early 70's weren't all that much about religion, if I remember right. No one voted for Richard Nixon out of religious beliefs, or for Gerald Ford either, though Ford was considered an extremely honorable man that would restore the White House to honesty. He did a much better job of that then George W Bush has, obviously. But I don't think the 80's were much about religion either- I don't think Reagan's victories were as much about religion as they were about strength. After Carter's presidency and the failure to rescue our hostages in Iran, that's what Americans were looking for- strength. Carter's religion didn't matter much anymore.
So, I'd probably have to flip-flop with you on the early and late 70's. I think the late 70's were the Jesus freak era, if that's what you choose to call it, not the early part of the 70's.

Linda:

Better flip-flop back again, then. I remember having to interact with so-called "Jesus freaks" back when I was in junior high school, which tallies well with Wikipedia's notes on the subject also:

"'Jesus freak' was originally a derogatory term applied to those involved in the Jesus Movement of the 1960s and 1970s who were often considered overzealous in their passion for Jesus. It was used most often in relation to members of the Children of God movement. The term came into existence within the context of the so-called Freak scene of that era."

your W decal won't get you into heaven anymore,
Otter

I remember much ado about religion early in high school (1970 - 1974) but not so much after that. The eighties were a time which some of us don't remember or, in my case don't want to remember. My reflections of the early seventies are that I have seen this religious ferver before and it faded away over time - I was curious if anyone else among us (because we are all about the same generation) had the same reflections.

(In reference to which, note the second verse to the following classic ditty, which Brewer & Shipley released on their 'Tarkio Road" album in early 1970...)

-----

Oh mommy
I ain't no commie
I'm just doing what I can to live
The good all-American way
It says right there in the Constitution
It's really A-OK to have a revolution
When the leaders that you choose
Really don't fit the shoes

Oh mister
I ain't no sister
I believe in the bill of rights
Come on don't you start a fight please
I like to wear my hair long
How can there be anything wrong
When you already accused me twice
Of looking like Jesus Christ
Hallelujah

I'm only gettin' tired of playing Punch and Judy
I'm really half a mind a go and do my duty
Like Mr. Patrick Henry said
I got to be free or dead

Mr. Nixon
I ain't a fixin'
To speak Spanish on a plane or
Polish off the Liberty Bell
I just want to sit here on the shelf
And watch you finish off the place by yourself
Please let me do what I wanna
I'll just lay around the house and smoke marijuana

It says right there in the Constitution
It's really A-OK to have a revolution
When the leader that you made
Just don't make the grade
Oh mommy
I ain't no commie
But I hate to bust your bubble cause
There's gonna be some trouble soon

-----

one poke over the line,
Otter

Berlin admits giving US bombing targets in Iraq :
Chancellor Angela Merkel's fence-mending visit to the United States is being overshadowed by a growing scandal over reports that German intelligence had fed America key information about military targets in Iraq before the US invasion.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11565.htm

VERY in-ter-es-ting...!

Otter I seem to remember a song from the mid 70's about a dash board Jesus.. I don't remember enough of it to search for it..
As I recall it was a satire on the religous movements of the times..
Am I wrong? (and if so record the moment for dcp history :>

OH, I don't care if it rains or freezes, long as I've got my plastic Jesus
Sitting on the dashboard of my car...

ANd LT, now that is going thru my head over and over, and I may never forgive you...

Well, I don't care if it rains or freezes,
Long as I have my plastic Jesus
Riding on the dashboard of my car
Through all trials and tribulations,
We will travel every nation,
With my plastic Jesus I'll go far.

{Refrain}
Plastic Jesus, plastic Jesus
Riding on the dashboard of my car
Through all trials and tribulations,
We will travel every nation,
With my plastic Jesus I'll go far.

I don't care if it rains or freezes
As long as I've got my Plastic Jesus
Glued to the dashboard of my car,
You can buy Him phosphorescent
Glows in the dark, He's Pink and Pleasant,
Take Him with you when you're travelling far

{Refrain}

I don't care if it's dark or scary
Long as I have magnetic Mary
Ridin' on the dashboard of my car
I feel I'm protected amply
I've got the whole damn Holy Family
Riding on the dashboard of my car

{Refrain}

etc.

Guantanamo prisoner records horrors of detention
WASHINGTON: A man now detained at Guantanamo has given a harrowing account of his treatment at the hands of his captors and keepers, reported Amnesty International.
http://tinyurl.com/77cst

Be sure to read to the last paragraph.... It gives one a tiny ray of hope that not all the guards are monsters. However, it does not mention if the nice one spoken about was regular military or a mercenary....

Very Good Karen!!

I'm only 16, got a ruptured spleen & I always carry a purse

(Who can complete that?)

Re Jesus Freaks - they were often people who had done too much acid and decided to "get high on God" - sometimes people that were considered not the most stable.'

Otter- maybe I don't remember the Jesus freak reference during the early 70's because I'm from a different part of the country than a lot of you guys, and NO ONE in this part of the country would have used that term in public.
As a matter of fact- I'd be afraid to say it in a convenience store down heah even now.
I remember it being a derogatory term used by the left and by comedians in the early 70's, but I don't think it was ever a very popular term with the majority of the public. At any rate-I don't think that religion played a serious part in the election of the president (except for Kennedy-Nixon in 1960) until Jimmy Carter's election in 1976. And it did play a very significant part in that election, which was carried by Democrats angry over Nixon's pardon, but also by Baptists voting for Carter in huge numbers from all over the country. Carter's religion was , and still is, part of his make-up, and couldn't be ignored as a factor in the election.
But , we can agree to disagree on it.
I do remember the moonies surfacing at the same point in time that you're talking about, and they were pretty unpopular everywhere. But they certainly weren't "Jesus Freaks."

I distinclty remember the "Jesus Freak" references because I was a HIBA - complete with notebook, "underground magazine", and materials for my peers. I may even have the notebook given to me at that time.
Bottom line is that I was asking what happened after the religious fervor?

I was raised Catholic, married at high mass ceremony in the late sixties. I had no history of instability, but did have religious relatives on my mother's side of the family.

One day some people from the Jehovah's Witness denomination came and knocked on my door, and unknowing what I was about to hear, I invited them in to my house. After they told me I would for sure "go to hell", or "perish" (can't remember which now) if I didn't convert to the Jehovah's Witness religion, I remember thinking how much their views differed from Roman Catholic's views. I sat down and read the bible myself, and loved what I read. To me it was a story about how much God loves man and how he wants us to care for one another and treat one another.

My husband and I left the Catholic church after that and visited various Protestant denominations, before settling at a non-denominational church, where we went on to a decade of leadership within the two non-denominational churches we attended.

This was all during the early 70's to the mid-eighties.

I have no idea what was going on outside my realm of reference. I was so into it that I cannot remember an objective viewpoint of what was happening to the population in general as far as the "Jesus movement", or "Jesus Freak movement".

During the mid seventies to the mid nineties I was the mother of baby boys who grew up to be strapping young men. That also consumed alot of my time.

Up until the last couple of years, I hardly had time to think about politics. I have researched and studied and learned alot in the last year and a half.

Of course I am appalled at what the neocons have done while teaming up with the religious right, and the division that has occurred because of it.

I give thanks every day for you guys.

United States of Fear:
A new doc on Peru chronicles how fear of terrorism was exploited to undermine democracy. Sound familiar?
http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/30801/

Posted by: marianne at January 14, 2006 02:52 PM
[from previous thread]

Marianne, you are NOT stupid, probably not naive either. I respect your intelligence and your opinions. Perhaps, however, you are projecting your wishes on the "leaders" of this country in hopes any of them will act like normal human being who was born with an active conscience who will regret the lies and the illegal, unjust, immoral, and unethical decisions and behavior. They won't. It's just not going to happen. That's a reality as final as death. Quite frankly, at one time in my life I would have given more credit to this administration than they deserve (back in the days when I assumed everyone was born with a conscience), and I envy you the ability to think more highly of The Cretin than he deserves. I sometimes wonder if members of Congress project their wishes (and the assumption that everyone is born with a conscience) on to the administration and expect some kind of moral and ethical turnaround in the minds of The Cretin and the Vice Cretin and the Criminal Cabal. IMHO, after five years, I believe it's an unrealistic expectation or hope, and only neoCon spinmeisters on weekend political commentaries who think they can interpret any 'good' intent on the part of The Cretin and his administration engage in that sort of wishful thinking.
As things stand right now, today, I believe that if the Criminal Cabal in WA is not stopped, they will lead the globe into WWIII, and that's a fact I really do not want to grapple with, but that is, in fact, the direction they are currently heading on a greased slippery slope, and if that happens, a real war (not that stupid fake "war on terror" - a spin-off of the cold war - that scares the sheeples spitless and witless) will come to this continent, and unlike WWI or WWII, it will not stay on other continents, but it will come to our doorsteps - thanks to The Cretin and his Criminal Cabal and the members of Congress who have not seen fit to stop him in hopes The Cretin and the Vice Cretin and the Criminal Cabal (and PNAC) will change and suddenly regret their errors in judgement and illegal, unjust, immoral, and unethical actions or decisions, or decide that they don't want to control the world and the oil reserves after all. If The Cretin and his Criminal Cabal are not stopped in their insane desire to keep on invading other countries on false premises and more LIES, I believe we will be in WWIII by the fall election of '08....

We need leaders who have a conscience, and nothing in the last five years has led me to even dare sort of hope any more that they are capable of doing anything other than pursue their own selfish aims (per PNAC). The first year they were in office, I held out some hope until I finally figured out that even the most vocal Dems were not going to raise their voices in protest. There was/is such ominous silence from the majority of Dems (the ones who have not openly supported this mockery of a president and administration), it's been depressing beyond my wildest imagination. Every time I heard a sound byte that sounded like a bleat of protest or remotely like common sense (from some Dems and a few Repubs), they have failed the citizens of this country every blasted time by caving in to The Cretin's demands. Every time I've thought The Cretin and his Criminal Cabal couldn't do anything worse or more damaging to the people of this country (and to the citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere), they prove me wrong and do something worse. Every time!!! I'm sick to death of being disappointed over and over and over and over.....

I've vacillated with all the stages of grief over the political situation the last five years (bargaining was my biggest hope every time I heard a bleat of protest from any legislator), I've gone through denial and depression repeatedly, anger is always with me, and I've just finally come to Acceptance. There is no other choice than to deal with the reality of Acceptance (for me).

True, I still take inspiration from a few people, and admire them (within limits on certain politicians - some have disappointed us all, and I hold them accountable for their waffling and their bad decisions and I'm still waiting to hear apologies for their first bad decision in giving The Cretin war powers). Writers such as Bill Moyers, William Rivers Pitt, Ray McGovern, et al., are particularly inspirational at this time, and Cindy Sheehan's actions were inspirational. They are consistent, they each have a conscience, they seem just as horrified and depressed as I feel over the war and the torture, and the rest of the exceedingly long list of lies and horrors, etc....

But, with accepting reality, I'm done grieving. The normal grieving process lasts one year. When each of my parents died, even though their deaths were each expected, the first response was denial ('No!' was my first word on hearing of their expected deaths), then I cried off and on for a year, and now I 'only' still miss them after all these years. Every danged time The Cretin or the Vice Cretin or any other politician mentions 9/11 I feel like they are manipulating this nation backward into morbid grief (any grieving that lasts more than a year tips the scales to morbid grief and people should seek counseling, or so said one of my hospice trainers who was a nun and a nurse in an oncology ward).

When The Cretin or the Vice Cretin mention 9/11 it's pure hypocrisy and it reminds me of that first week after 9/11 when The Cretin told people to go on with their lives, go shopping, travel, go to NY to see plays (I can't describe how appalled I was to hear that just days after 9/11!!!)... he quite clearly was NOT in shock or in mourning at that time immediately after 9/11 when the whole nation was in shock and he didn't expect anyone else to grieve for their losses (people from 82 nations lost their lives that day, not just people from the US). But as soon as The Cretin wanted to illegally invade Iraq, wow, did he bring up 9/11 - over and over and over and over and over they have clung to that mantra, and The Cretin and the Vice Cretin are still mentioning it. That's manipulation!!! That manipulates people into bandwagon patriotism and bandwagon warmongering as a knee-jerk reaction to the memories of the horror of 9/11 and the subsequent grief. It's more than a year since 9/11 and I'm done grieving about it. I still respect and honor the memories of the people who died that day, and the cops and firefighters and rescue personnel and others who tried to help and died for their efforts, but I refuse to be manipulated into a state of morbid grief. Honor and respect their memories, yes; grieve, no more!

And, I'm done grieving over the "lost" (stolen!) election over a year ago. One year of grieving is enough. It's time to stop the Criminal Cabal in *our* White House. If our elected officials can't stop them (starting with refusing to vote in favor of Alito who favors an all-powerful dictatorship in executive power), it's up to us to push them to do so (or "un" elect them in '06 and '08!!!).... It may take a million or more people marching on WA DC to stop them (jeez, ya think that many people marching on DC against The Cretin and his Criminal Cabal and/or asking for their impeachment and investigation into the huge number of LIES they've told would make the evening infotainment snooze?), and concerted efforts to get our media to wake the hell up and start reporting FACTS (not more media spin and infotainment - I'm not satisfied with bread and circuses in Lamestream Media), and emailing legislators until their inboxes are full of protests (for those of us who are physically incapable of going to DC to register our dissatisfaction with the Bu$hCo regime), and emailing Lamestream Media, jamming their inboxes with questions and asking for facts and details and hard questions until media wakes up to the fact that they are part of the problem for why criminals are still in charge of this nation. The Criminal Cabal who are leading this nation to another world war for the sake of controlling all the oil in the world for the sake of money and power must be stopped in favor of restoring some semblance of balance and common-sense perspective, in our nation and globally. We all know it's way past time for reason to be re-introduced to our nation's branches of government!!! Out politicians MUST be held to account for all the missed opportunities to tell the truth since the Selection of 2000, starting from the top down!!!

My road to disillusionment about politics has been long. It started with the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy on 22 Nov. 1963 when I was a senior in high school. Then I lost school chums in Viet Nam (family members came back intact). Then the Nixon era. Then I watched all of the Iran-Contra hearings on TV in the 80s (TV networks used to pre-empt soaps for real news back then - people were more politically aware back in those days, in some cases). Then the first Gulf War when my honors seminar in college studied Media Manipulation (the first night of class was within an hour of the war being declared, and I still remember the caller on C-SPAN who asked the question that never got an answer: "I wonder how many people realize that the first company to drill for oil in Kuwait belonged to President Bush?" [i.e. Bush 41] after the vote was done in Congress (remember Congress, the only ones who are authorized to declare war?!?). Then the idiocy of this nation in 2000 and '04.... And now it looks like The Cretin and the Vice Cretin and the Criminal Cabal are ratcheting up the warmongering rhetoric to get us into WWIII by getting a "coalition of the willing." Yup, I do believe they are insane in ways we don't have any clues about yet because they do everything in secret, behind closed door.

So, while my grieving has been a process, I've finally arrived at the only realistic conclusion about our current political situation: Acceptance. If I don't accept reality, then the only recourse is madness. (Believe it or not, I was the one who was noted for always smiling and being optimistic and seeing the good side of things when I was young! Scary, but true!) I accept the fact that The Cretin and his Criminal Cabal will do the worst: LIE, steal, cheat, manipulate, coerce, harangue, bully, bribe, intimidate, murder, blackball, torture, illegally spy on allies and alleged enemies alike, dominate, illegally jail people, extort, forge, gerrymander, rape, hector, warmonger, profiteer, harrass, fix/steal elections, heckle, badmouth (swiftboat), kill, deprive us all of our Constitutional rights and responsibilities.... and, in short, do everything we can think of and things we have not thought of yet that is illegal, unjust, immoral and unethical in their power to control us, our media, and the world. If I accept the fact that they will always do the worst to us (and anyone else in the world), I will never be disappointed with the Bu$hCo administration. I already expect they will do their utmost to make the world a horrible place to live in, and America a bad country to live in under their occupation of *our* White House. I fully expect that at some point (if the bam dastards are not impeached) to be called an American will be the equivalent of being called a profoundly profane name in other countries.

Acceptance is the key to dealing with reality. But acceptance does not mean resignation. As I noted, anger is always with me, so I'm operating now from the two stages of grief: Acceptance and Anger. Anger is the motivating force to keep me researching and at the keyboard and writing to my legislators and the media.... Will they listen? Maybe; maybe not. I don't care. I'll still write.

So, while I know I sound like I'm throwing a bucket of ice water on everyone, it's the only way I have of dealing with the political reality in this country. Anger that focuses my attention and Acceptance of ugly reality of The Cretin and his Criminal Cabal. Besides which, just the right amount of anger makes my sentences shorter and to the point. Rage is pointless because it makes me speechless. ;-)

Many years ago (maybe 20 yrs ago) on some dippy talk show (don't remember whose) a guest said she was a pessimist and that her definition of a 'pessimist' was "an optimist with experience." I resemble that definition.

This is an image rather than an article so I can't quote from it, but it's actually on topic for the likes of us anyway:

http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20060114

I don't care if it rains or snowses long as I got my plastic moses,
Otter

abqjohn:

'What happened after the religious fervor' was a slow steady buildup to modern-day Puritan politics in America, which as we know all too well has worked in favor of the Republican Party for quite some time now.

I remember being aware of this process fairly well myself -- apaprently I was either more involved and/or less, um, distracted than a lot of other people were during the '80's and early '90's -- but since there's a good article about this subject on Wikipedia that summarizes things better than I can, I'll just quote from and link to it instead:

"As a modern political force, the Christian Right began in 1974 when Dr. Robert Grant founded American Christian Cause to advocate Christian moral teachings in Southern California. Concerned that christians overwhelmingly voted in favor of President Jimmy Carter in 1976, Grant founded Christian Voice to mobilize Christian voters in favor of candidates who share their values. Grant involved national conservative leaders including Gary Jarmin, Howard Phillips, Terry Dolan, and Richard Viguerie in his movement and made national headlines when Christian Voice-backed candidates including Ronald Reagan, Steve Symms, Dan Quayle, and John East defeated entrenched incumbents in the 1978 and 1980 elections.. After Grant ousted Phillips, Dolan, and Viguerie several years later, the trio went on to recruit Jerry Falwell to build a new Christian Right organization, the Moral Majority. Grant's movement was said to have played a significant role in the election of President Ronald Reagan in 1980 and dozens of immitators were founded including Concerned Women for America, Coalition for Traditional Values, and Christian Coalition."

More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_right

who would jesus elect,
Otter

So, while my grieving has been a process, I've finally arrived at the only realistic conclusion about our current political situation: Acceptance. If I don't accept reality, then the only recourse is madness.

Posted by: NonnyO at January 15, 2006 12:46 AM
__________________________________________________________________

Nonny, I have come to accept that today's reality is madness.

Posted by: NonnyO at January 14, 2006 11:08 PM

Nonny, I found this via the link you posted. Somebody help me here, as I might be wrong. Did the Buscho administration send anybody to tour the earthquake damage?

Kerry due in Pakistan today

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\01\14\story_14-1-2006_pg7_38

Posted by: oncall at January 15, 2006 01:43 AM

I don't know the answer to that question. I have ignored Lamestream media today.

Or..., was it the corporations who sent them to keep them from the Sunday morning talking heads shows so they don't say anything against Alito, whose nomination and hearings will surely be discussed???

Posted by: oncall at January 15, 2006 01:29 AM

I agree that today's reality is madness, and I accept that. I simply choose to ask questions of that perceived altered reality that's been fostered on us as "normal". If I apply the logic of my college prof of A+B=C I come out with the wrong conclusion because the A and/or B premises are wrong, so the wrong conclusions make me ask questions....

Truth, you'll probably appreciate this.

It's a link to the First Existentialist Congregation of Atlanta -- which it just don't get much mo' non-denominational than that, ahem -- where I was a semi-active member from the beginning of the '80's until I left Atlanta in the mid-1990's, and where the current minister was and still is one of my best friends from those years: http://tinyurl.com/765u3

You'll probably also appreciate author/musician Kinky Friedman's references to a NYC-based religious order called the Jehovah's Bystanders -- their motto is, "We admit that there probably is a God, but we just don't want to get involved."

(Kinky Friedman is also running for governor of Texas in 2006, and he ain't just whistlin' Dixie about it either. His home web site is, amazingly enough, http://www.kinkyfriedman.com ... and here's a current article from the San Antonio Express-News explaining the seriousness of his campaign: http://tinyurl.com/cwlqo )

Now as far as Jehovah's Witnesses go, when their tag-team proselytizers happen to knock on my door, I usually just tell them that I'm a Druid and I've been washed in the blood of a tree, and they shake their heads in dismay and move on to their next target.

A couple of weeks ago down in Chesapeake, Virgina, somebody apparently let their reaction to an uninvited JW visit get a bit out of control, though: http://tinyurl.com/8lgmg

(A coincidental side note here is that my young nephew Joel got his first teaching job after graduating from State Penn last year down in Chesapeake, which is a fast-growing suburban-sprawl area south of Norfolk. He teaches 12-grade government and political science classes there, and is loving every minute of it. We had some great conversations about the teaching of politics and vice versa over his Christmas break last month, as well you might imagine.)

That part of Virginia is predominantly religious-conservative by makeup, which explains a lot, and there's a strong contigent of Southern Baptists down there. I've always figured that the problem with most of the Baptists I've met is that they don't hold 'em under the water long enough when they do that full-body baptism thing of theirs. But whenever I find myself thinking too much about Baptists, I just visit this website until I feel better again: http://www.landoverbaptist.org/

As for myself, well... whenever anybody asks me about my own religious affiliation, I just tell them that I'm a devout Frisbyterian. We believe that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and you can't get it down.

now go ye forth and spin no more,
Otter

Oh, yeah, and while we're on the subject of religion and politics... it is devoutly to be wished that these people will throw their, um, hats in the ring again in 2008. Why settle for voting for a lesser evil every time? Might just as well go for the real deal in 2008:

http://www.cthulhuforpresident.com/

an' do what wilts thou shall be the law of the whole,
Otter

If I can be permitted - another movie.... Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The scene in the bathroom when the troll picks up Harry by the leg and Harry yells to Ron "Do something!" "What?!?" says Ron. "Anything!" yells Harry as he's being flung around upside down by the troll who's trying to hit him with a club but fails, although at one point Harry is on the troll's shoulders and his wand is jammed up the troll's nose. Ron, who had just that day learned how to pronounce the new magic spell word while he is supposed to 'swish and flick' his magic wand, said the magic word, swished and flicked his wand, the troll dropped Harry, the club landed on the troll's head and knocked him out, and Harry and Ron and Hermione were safe.

For years I've been mentally yelling at our legislators "Do something! Anything!" My emails to legislators have so far yielded idiotic political replies full of meaningless rhetoric (if they bother to reply at all - when they're not asking for money).

My analogy: The troll is The Cretin and his government, the American people are Harry dangling upside down in the troll's hand. Just before that scene, "Trolls are really stupid" said Ron as they were trying to figure out who let the troll in, and Ron figured it was someone playing a trick (it happened on Halloween). The troll couldn't have gotten in to Hogwarts unless someone let him in, and it turned out to be Voldemort in his disguise as Professor Quirrel (sp?), the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Our Voldemort who let the troll in is a combination of Rove and Chinkster and PNAC and the SCOTUS decision in 2000 and whoever rigged the voting machines in 2004.

The magic word is "impeachment." We need a Ron who will wave the magic wand and utter the magic word (out loud and often enough that media begins to pay attention - out of shock value, if nothing else).... Obviously, our Congress is collectively too stupid to figure out they have the power to utter the magic word loud and clear, or shout the magic word from the rooftops, or via email or on talking heads' shows, and they could swish and flick legislative papers to get impeachment proceedings started....

The Harry Potter books and movies are quite good. Standard plot, good vs evil, the good guys win in the end after much trial and tribulation.

Ah, fiction. So much better than reality...!

... I'm a Druid and I've been washed in the blood of a tree, and they shake their heads in dismay and move on to their next target. ... I'm a devout Frisbyterian. We believe that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and you can't get it down.
Posted by: Otter at January 15, 2006 02:02 AM

Would you mind if I steal your lines and use them on the next JWs or LDS's who come knocking two by two?!? ROFLMAO!!! (Why do they always come knocking when I'm in the bathroom or half dressed getting ready to go somewhere? I usually just yell through the door asking who it is, and when they tell me I inform them I'm a neo-pagan... dead silence with an exclamation point hanging in the air as I sense them looking at each other..., thank you, they leave...)

Well, Otter, looks like you had fun writing those last two posts!

Existentialism. I exist, therefore I am. That's what I remember from Philosophy l0l.

As far as Baptists go, I believe there are over 5,500 splinter groups within the Baptist denomination general. And, of course, each one insists it is the only one who has it correct.

After those years in non-denominational churches, I tried a couple that were denominational because of family ties. Bad news both times. I think I learned to enjoy and grow in the freedom of non-denominational gatherings and what I consider silly rules don't seem to do it for me.

Humans are a funny lot. Every group is just sure they are the only ones who have the ticket to the after life. As I have said before, I was attending one gathering where the people didn't believe you should play a musical instrument in church, because there was no evidence in the bible that the first century Christians did so. I looked around at that gathering of fifty families and thought: If these guys are the only one's who know the truth and practice it, heaven is going to be awfully empty.

Humans have a tremendous need for one-up-manship.
In society, religion, politics, and within political parties and support groups. It's the nature of the beast.

MI5 will get new powers to bug MPs
Furious cabinet revolt as Blair gives green light for security services to spy on elected representatives

By Francis Elliott, Whitehall Editor
Published: 15 January 2006

Tony Blair is preparing to scrap a 40-year ban on tapping MPs' telephones, despite fierce Cabinet opposition, The Independent on Sunday can reveal.

He is expected to formally announce to the Commons within weeks that MPs can no longer be sure that the security services and others will not intercept their communications.

Until now, successive administrations have pledged that there should be no tapping "whatsoever" of MPs' phones, and that they would be told if it was necessary to breach the ban.

But that convention - known as the Wilson Doctrine, after Harold Wilson, the prime minister who introduced it - is to be abandoned in an expansion of MI5 powers following the London bombings.

MPs should be treated in the same way as other citizens and will be given the same safeguards against wrongful tapping, the Prime Minister will say.

The decision provoked a furious row in the Cabinet just before Christmas, when the Secretary of State for Defence, John Reid, voiced his opposition.

His outburst surprised other ministers, since he is seen as one of Mr Blair's closest allies and not known for his support for civil liberties.

"Reid demanded to know why on earth we were going down this route," said one government colleague. "It was all the more surprising since you would have thought the MoD is one of the departments most in favour of increased surveillance powers."

A Downing Street spokesman last night said: "The recommendation has been received and will be considered in due course." Mr Blair was last night put on notice that any attempt to tap MPs' phones would be bitterly opposed in the Commons. Andrew Mackinlay, Labour MP for Thurrock, said it was a "hallmark of a civilised country" that its state did not spy on elected representatives.

"This goes to the heart of what is to have a free Parliament not some privilege enjoyed by MPs. Constituents, pressure groups and other organisations need to know for sure that they are talking to their elected representatives in complete confidence."

He is to press for the Commons' Committee on Standards and Privileges to urgently investigate the Downing Street plans to ditch the convention.

Professor Peter Hennessy, the Whitehall and constitutional expert, also called on MPs to question Mr Blair's intentions. "It seems pretty odd to me that they should be doing this," he said.

There has been a marked expansion of surveillance in Britain since 1997. New technology and new laws mean that Britons are among the most spied-on citizens on earth.

Sweeping new powers to snoop on emails, texts and other communications were included in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, while satellite technology offers multiple new surveillance opportunities for the secret state.

Mr Blair has confirmed at least three timesthat his government observed the Wilson Doctrine, most recently in 2003 when it became clear that MI5 had been bugging Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams, who has not taken his seat and so is not formally an MP.

Tony Blair is preparing to scrap a 40-year ban on tapping MPs' telephones, despite fierce Cabinet opposition, The Independent on Sunday can reveal.

He is expected to formally announce to the Commons within weeks that MPs can no longer be sure that the security services and others will not intercept their communications.

Until now, successive administrations have pledged that there should be no tapping "whatsoever" of MPs' phones, and that they would be told if it was necessary to breach the ban.

But that convention - known as the Wilson Doctrine, after Harold Wilson, the prime minister who introduced it - is to be abandoned in an expansion of MI5 powers following the London bombings.

MPs should be treated in the same way as other citizens and will be given the same safeguards against wrongful tapping, the Prime Minister will say.

The decision provoked a furious row in the Cabinet just before Christmas, when the Secretary of State for Defence, John Reid, voiced his opposition.

His outburst surprised other ministers, since he is seen as one of Mr Blair's closest allies and not known for his support for civil liberties.

"Reid demanded to know why on earth we were going down this route," said one government colleague. "It was all the more surprising since you would have thought the MoD is one of the departments most in favour of increased surveillance powers."

A Downing Street spokesman last night said: "The recommendation has been received and will be considered in due course." Mr Blair was last night put on notice that any attempt to tap MPs' phones would be bitterly opposed in the Commons. Andrew Mackinlay, Labour MP for Thurrock, said it was a "hallmark of a civilised country" that its state did not spy on elected representatives.

more... http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article338691.ece

Ok, so I'm a different generation...I miss these guys:

Separated, I cut myself clean
From a past that comes back in my darkest of dreams
Been apprehended by a spiritual force
And a grace that replaced all the me I've divorced

I saw a man with a tat on his big fat belly
It wiggled around like marmalade jelly
It took me a while to catch what it said
Cause I had to match the rhythm
Of his belly with my head
'Jesus Saves' is what it raved
in a typical tattoo green
He stood on a box in the middle of the city
And he claimed he had a dream

(chorus)
What will people think
When they hear that I'm a Jesus freak
What will people do when they find that it's true
I don't really care if they label me a Jesus freak
There ain't no disguising the truth

Kamikaze, my death is gain
I've been marked by my Maker
A peculiar display
The high and lofty, they see me as weak
Cause I won't live and die for the power they seek

There was a man from the desert with naps in his head
The sand that he walked was also his bed
The words that he spoke made the people assume
There wasn't too much left in the upper room
With skins on his back and hair on his face
They thought he was strange by the locusts he ate
The Pharisees tripped when they heard him speak
Until the king took the head of this Jesus freak

(repeat chorus 2x)

People say I'm strange, does it make me a stranger
That my best friend was born in a manger
People say I'm strange, does it make me a stranger
That my best friend was born in a manger

(repeat chorus 2x)

What will people think
[What will people think]
What will people do
[What will people do]
I don't really care
[What else can I say]
There ain't no disguising the truth
[Jesus is the way]

Karen and Dick,

Thanks for this thread header. It's gotten a phenomenal response over at dailykos. It's currently #1 on the Recommended Diaries list.

I think that response is because of the truth and hope that it offers. And unlike the proposition that some have offered, I believe that you and Marianne were right in saying that we must reject cynicism and pessimism and continue to build our capacity, whether through big efforts or little ones like "a suggestion, a small check, a networking moment, a hug of encouragement."

As you said above, "History shows that we can do what we need to do; the biggest obstacle is persuading enough people that all is not lost, and that by working together, as our ancestors have done repeatedly, we can win this fight."

"As one of the spirituals would have it, 'Freedom Is A Constant Struggle.'"

"In practice, we need first to keep on keeping on with what we have been doing; second we have to be ready to act boldly and seize the opportunities that we know are coming..."

All I can add is Amen.

dawhzon: Koz link for the masses, please?

as ye sew so shall ye rip,
Otter

Here ya go Otter

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/1/14/205211/848

post by mhpine at tpmcafe:

John Dickerson, writing in Slate, hypothesizes that Team Bush's apparent concession to hearings related to the NSA Wiretap Scandal is based on a calculation that the issue is a net political winner for the GOP:

But that's precisely why George Bush wants hearings on domestic spying. He's inviting Democrats to another round of self-immolation. In 2002, the Republican Party used the debate over the Department of Homeland Security to attack Democrats in the off-year election by arguing the Party was soft on terror. The president and his aides hope the NSA hearings will offer the same opportunity in 2006.

read the entire article here...
http://www.slate.com/id/2134206/

"And unlike the proposition that some have offered, I believe that you and Marianne were right in saying that we must reject cynicism and pessimism and continue to build our capacity, whether through big efforts or little ones like "a suggestion, a small check, a networking moment, a hug of encouragement."

Posted by: dwahzon at January 15, 2006 09:03 AM (and Karen & Dick)

I think this is so true. There are many people on the "right" side of my family who are totally cynical and believe that this is the way all politicians behave, and so there is nothing we can do about it, and who cares.

I think Marianne's thread header yesterday was what we should aspire to. Will we ever get there? Probably not. Would the world be an incredible place if we did? Absolutely.

The current administration is full of bottom feeders. We can not accept this as the norm, as what is expected or acceptable. We have to demand more. We have to expect better, and accept nothing BUT better. Otherwise, what hope to we have?

Jonathan Alter has an interesting entry in Newsweek this week. The statement that caught my eye was this...

Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Russ Feingold ably raised some of these [checks and balances] questions last week; Al Gore is about to weigh in, too. But the Democratic Party as a whole cannot stay focused on the issue. Some activists keep jumping ahead to the remedy for the president's power grab, which they say is impeachment. But that's a pipe dream and a distraction from the task at hand, which is figuring out how to reassert Congress's institutional role. This must by necessity involve Republicans, who control Congress. Unfortunately, most have so far shown little concern about being defenestrated by their president.

But "Snoopgate" is already creating new fissures on the right. The NSA story is an acid test of whether one is a traditional Barry Goldwater conservative, who believes in limited government, or a modern Richard Nixon conservative, who believes in authority.

[snip]

...Sen. Arlen Specter will hold hearings in early February on presidential power. Watch them, please, even if you're tired of this cast of Judiciary Committee characters. Our whole system is on the line.

the whole article is here...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10854374/site/newsweek

Dr. Miller, who is the head of the religion department at Lake Forest College and a noted author & scholar of interfaith studies had this to say as his closing remarks at our "Moving Forward on Iraq: How do we leave & when?" town hall meeting. I think it relates very well to the discussion here the last couple of days about pessimism vs. optimism, right vs. wrong, how our actions are a reflection of our conscience...

Dr. Miller...
"The major contribution of the great religious traditions is consciousness and conscience. And conscience follows consciousness. The way we act in the world depends on the way we think about the world. As Americans, I think we have a tendency sometimes to be overly pragmatic - to do first and to think later. I think it would be helpful to us to focus a little bit on our consciousness. How do we put our mind around these issues? How do we name them? How do we frame them? How do we speak about them? I think that with this kind of patient reflective examination of consciousness is an important preliminary step to the actions of our conscience. And in that sense, I would encourage that sort of examination on the part of all of us."

http://tinyurl.com/ap6es

The pakistanis are really angry. And why not. We think it's our right to blow up entire villages in their nation in order to quell our blood lust for one man. They have a right to their outrage.

ABQ - I think what I was trying to say last night is that though I do remember the Jesus Freak reference back in the early 70's, those people weren't the beginning of the religious ferver that started in the middle 70's. Like I said, we didn't even respect those people, because, as Wikipedia says, they were converted hippies who still refused to align with any organized religion. And I'm speaking of We in the sense of being a member of a Southern Baptist convention, mainstream church, which I was in the '70's. (Still am, in fact.) And it was the Baptists, Presbyterians, and Methodists to some degree who helped put Jimmy Carter in office. When that happened , the realization hit that religious organizations, such as Focus on the Family, the Christian Coalition, etc, could really be a influence on politics in America, and that's when the real fervor to mix politics and religion began.
My own church was a part of it. I don't think that the "Jesus Freaks" started anything- they weren't organized enough to do that.
Anyhow, that's why I contended that the whole thing started with Jimmy Carter's election. But it's really not that important, is it. We're stuck with it now.

I appreciate ALL of the visions offered on here.

And BTW-not to ABQ but to everyone- I know that's not the way it was intended, but to somehow imply that the movement of Christians into politics today, which I really do resent, is basically "Jesus Freaks in action," I find offensive.
It's no more freaky to call yourself a Christian than it is to call yourself a Buddhist or a Muslim or a Shinto, or a Pagan, or even a "Devout" Athiest.
They're all religions, and in a sense, so is the form of atheism that tries to convince others to believe the way they do.
It's just about what gets you through the night, that's all. And it's not freaky.
'Cuz, normal human beings have some problems getting through the night all alone.

And Truth- It's my teenie sect of the Southern Baptist Convention- not all of it, just my sect of it that's going to heaven.
There's only about 3 or 4 of us.
I'm sorry.
You did SEEM like such a good person.
But it's just my sect.
Everyone else is just SOL. :-)

Linda Enterkin
That is a pretty sad stereotype .. I wouldn't take anything like that personally (about Christians). I am used to hearing Liberals defamed, since the Reagan era, and by now I ignore it because they don't know what they're talking about. (I am a proud Liberal for decades). & in my era, being a "freak" was a compliment, though maybe not meant that way!!

Dick, Karen
I read all the comments after the diary over on Kos and really enjoyed it! I read over there sometimes, but not usually the comments. I got a couple of good ideas from doing so. Great and well-timed outreach and good diary!! I also sent the link to some local Kossacks.

I've spent the last couple of hours, and will spend at least another three at this rate, emailing and occasionally cross-posting plugs for this excellent thread-header essay to all of the appropriate blogs and newslines I can think of.

Yeah, it's that good and it's that important to get people talking about it everywhere we can. So get off your asterisks and help spread the word, too! *grin*

(BTW... in the course of which so doing, I noticed that despite our recent co-sponsored activities and such, we are not listed on a blog roll or as a Coalition Member over on the AfterDowningStreet.Org site. What's up with *that*, huh?)

make sure they heard the news today oh boy,
Otter

Kos diary by Bert in Mpls:
Paul Bremer releases Republican playbook

Paul Bremer III was interviewed on Meet The Press today about his new book titled "My Year in Iraq: The Struggle to Build a Future of Hope." Tim Russert questioned him about several discrepancies between behind-the-scene concerns and Bremer's public statements. One was Bremer's private request to Rumsfeld for additional troops and Bremer's op-ed piece in the NY Times where he stated that troop levels were sufficient. This op-ed piece refuted presidential candidate Kerry's position, based on quotes from an earlier speech by Bremer, that more troops were necessary.

The big surprise and most shocking statement of the interview was in response to a question about the Iraqi insurgency. Privately, Bremer was concerned that the insurgency posed a dangerous challenge for the US. His public statements at the same time on this matter, though, described the insurgency as a small group of "dead enders." When asked about this by Russert, Bremer said that government officials need to be honest when dealing with the president. He implied that officials need to resign before they can be honest with the public.

We have known for years that this represents the Republican playbook - never admit a problem and present a united public front, one that presents a rosy picture even in the face of bad news. The constitution describes a government for the people - the republicans present us with a government for themselves.

Don't worry folks, Iraqi troop training is harder than we thought, but it's coming along just fine.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/1/15/11146/6433

Specter Skeptical About NSA Spying Program
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-5547611,00.html & uses the I word!!

Delay Losing Support in Own District
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-5547258,00.html Only 1 in 5 support him.

(FWIW: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/5769#comment-32975 )

hey what's that sound everybody look what's going down,
Otter

FOCUS | NYT Warns of Unrestrained Bush Powers
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011506Y.shtml
The New York Times flashes red lights on President Bush's unprecedented powers and the theory behind "signing statements," by which he hopes to trump the intent of legislation written by Congress.

Rumor has it a Republican named Bob Barr is going to speak tomorrow, as well as Gore.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Barr

There will be abook written about the Bush presidency(s), it will be titled something along the lines of "the Marketing of a President"

This Nation underwent a superior marketing campaign focused on divisive issues that democrats were unable to overcome. Blame does not matter, that is what occurred.

We were not able to overcome it because we did not stand together and face down the assault on the Constitution and everything that document stands for. If this party is going to win another election, in 2006 or 2008, it will need to set Itself aside.

The "Hook" in the republican campaign was never the conservative movement, or the Republican party. It was always the welfare of the people, the security of the nation, outreach to anxieties and concerns of the everyday person. Most americans do not have the luxury of time to research truth, or friends in government that can explain it.
That is our job, and we did not do it well.

``It all started when Gene McCarthy was willing to stand alone and turn the tide of history,'' Clinton said at a memorial service.

It does not matter democrats are in the Minority, if you believe you cannot change the destiny of the Nation, you never will. It is that simple. Mr. McCarthy believed he could, he stood alone and he did. One day we will see courage again. Maybe next week, maybe next year. But when it comes we need to be ready and set ourselves aside.
It really upsets me when i see people state we are in minority and cannot do anything. That thinking is WHY we are the minority. We need to see courage from leaders, or we need new leaders.

The people that created this site believe they are able to effect change, and they Have. They did not list reasons why they were not able too, they simply did it.

The democrat party must do the same or it will find itself permamently relegated to the political and social sidelines until it sees the light.
The mindset that we cannot change government is mystifying to me. That is exactly what the Consitution provides for, the periodic change of government.

It was OK to drag the CLinton Administration into Impeachment proceedings for lying about a tryst with an Intern...but lying about evidence provided for the invasion of a foreign land that reulted in thousands of dead, tens of thousands wounded, spying on Americans without a warrant, and the myriad other actions this Administration has commited is not impeachable....

We need courage from our leaders, or we need new leaders.

DiAnne:

What? Me? Worry?

Also, everybody:

I like the theme of this header. Let's start getting focused again, everybody. I know I've been a bit distracted lately myself -- well, the holidays and all. Let's remember what we're in this for and remember that slow and steady wins the race. This is a long haul, this democracy project.

Keep the Faith and GOTV 2006!

Chuck in Doha

Freedom.

Responsibility.

Stewardship.

Toolmaker

I do not think those in Montgomery and Selma had the luxury of worrying that they might be in the minority or advocating for minorities. They just marched on.

As I noted on this very blog back on 1/3/06...

"Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite" (French for "Liberty, equality, brotherhood") is the motto of the French Republic.

The slogan of the French Revolution was "Liberte, egalite, fraternite, ou la mort!" ("Freedom, equality, brotherhood, or death!"). This slogan outlived the revolution, later becoming the rallying cry of the activists, both militant and non-violent, who promote democracy or overthrow of oppressive governments.

Now we, as small-d democrats in the United States, are searching for our own identity as the New Patriots of our country in the 21st century. We need our own rallying cry, to reflect the realities of where we stand and what we're up against.

Might I humbly suggest paying homage to the revolutions of thought and principle that came before us, by making this the touchstone of our own calls to action:

"Honnetete, Integrite, Fidelite!"

We can and should demand that all the actions of all of our elected representatives live up to those three simple words:

Honesty.

Integrity.

Fidelity.

Nothing less than that can be acceptable in those we select to represent us. Not any more.

no liberty no justice no peace,
Otter

Linda E.,

Think of me whilst you're riding around on a cloud. Me and all the other billions who are just S.O.L.

Ha ha.

RE: Karen and Dick Bell wrote: "the internment of Japanese-Americans in WWII,..."

Did Karen and Dick Bell forget, or did they not know that almost 11,000 German Americans and 3,300 Italian Americans were interned during World War II? In addition, thousands including US-born infants and children were deported to a Germany under siege.