"DENYING THE TRUTH" from my friend, JEREMIAH

Anyone who's read George Orwell's "1984" is familiar with the tactics that forced dictatorship, stiffling of dissent or debate, and basically controlled people with fear and torture.

I swear, what we see in the Federal Government these days, Karl Rove confirmed with his mouth on Wednesday, that he's not a brillant strategican or political advisor - he's merely borrowed the play strategies from Orwell's book. Remember the key rule:

"LIES ARE THE TRUTH".

My scriptural reading for today came from the sixth chapter of the book of Jeremiah, the weeping prophet. During the time of Jeremiah's ministry, he was often known as "the Weeping Prophet" because he shed a good deal of tears over his people because he loved them and saw them heading on the path to certain destruction. Specifically, Jeremiah knew that God was going to put things in order, but there was chaos going on, and the rulers kept saying that everything was rosy. Kind of like Cheney telling us that the Iraqi insurgence "was in it's last throes" and those who are actually engaging in combat saying it's not letting up anytime soon, and that the "insurgents" seemed to have gained a second wind.

Jeremiah 6:14-15 states: "They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown," says the LORD

Everything the Bush Administration has touched is crumbling around them. What you are seeing are wounded animals being cornered. If you ever cornered a wounded beast, because they are wounded, they lash out. At anything and with anything. For years, the Bush Administration got away with lies, stiffling of dissent, discouragement of debate or questioning their motives and methods.

They soothed us with words, while their actions screwed us over royally. And they were not ashamed that they were committing treason, creating increased poverty, ruining the environment, and placing America in debt slavery to China. But now, just as you read in Jeremiah 6:15 - "Therefore, they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown..."

I said in my blog on Thursday that Rove seemed to be on the edge of a Meltdown. I still stand by my assessment. But in the meantime, those of us who have remained vigilant, crying out to our friends and loved ones that Bush wasn't what he was portraying himself to be, and getting cursed out or told you weren't "Christian" for trying to warn them not to get taken in - we still have to cry these development out, as loud as we can; as often as we can. America is starting to sober up from the Kool-Aid and just like a person who wakes up from a hangover and finds you have been ripped off, her citizens are angry and growing angrier by the day.

Do not get distracted by Rove's pronouncements. Use the anger his words invoke to continue demanding answers. To continue demanding that this Administration come clean with American citizens about Iraq, and everything else they have lied about. To continue to demand that Congress take back their authority and draft up articles of Impeachment, or removal per the 25th Amendment of the Constitution.

Jeremiah cried out the truth long and hard. Often, he was jailed or stuck in a mudpit to get him to shut up. But he didn't. And after a while, people began to wake up from their Kool-Aid induced haze to hear what he had to say. Like Jeremiah, I've cried out, too, ever since January 20, 2001.

You should have heard my Christian friends. They were soooo happy that a real "Christian" got the White House through "God's Intervention". Now, five years later, after watching their jobs go overseas without them; after elimination of money for those social programs they depended on; after watching the elimination of money that would have paid for healthcare; after watching Congressional involvement in the Terri Schaivo deal, and constant revelations that the President lied to the country to facilitate support for the Iraq quagmire, you don't hear jack from my friends. When they complain and I remind them who they voted for, I get either, "Shut up, Tisha" or "I don't want to talk about it."

Ladies and gentlemen, I was called a "heathen" when I did my "Jeremiah" act. The more I kept quoting scripture, such as Romans 12:14 ("In as much as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone"), and challenging them to show me where Bush's actions lined up with the Bible, they pulled a "Rove" on me and switched up the arguement altogether.

One day, I managed to stop that, though. When I said, "You know, when I ask you to show me where the Bible justifies Bush's actions, you always pick a tidbit of something he's said and run with it. You need to stop that and give me a clear, direct answer."

The silence I heard was deafening. I nailed it home when the tsunami hit the day after Christmas and it was revealed that the Sri Lankans had to convert to Christianity if they wanted relief help that was being flown in.

"Where is it in the Bible where it says that 'You can get this help, but only if you become a Christian?' "

The look on my friends' face said it all. "The Bible doesn't say that. It says 'If any man believes.' They don't have to believe; but we show Christ's love when we freely help them."

"So, why isn't Bush denouncing that?" I asked. "Why isn't he encouraging Dobson and LaHaye to take their butts over there and help with no strings attached?"

It's very painful to see the scales drop from a deluded person's eyes, and they face a reality they may have suspected, but wanted to deny it's existance. But, that only strengthened my resolve to continue speaking the truth to power. What we are seeing from Rove and crew is their continued attempt to deny the truth to the rest of America.

When you know the truth, you can take any ridicule, any harassment, any attempts to shut you down or off. Because you will be motivated to keep speaking up and speaking out. The truth can't be shut up, shut off, buried or denied. She always has a way of making herself known.

The truth is making herself known to the Bush Cartel. And they want to deny her, so they can continue the runination of America. But Truth won't allow that; she is too powerful, too factual and too accurate to be ignored or denied.

THE LETTER THAT SHOULD BE SENT TO KARL ROVE

Let me just get to the point; my friend, David Sirota, sent this to all in the blogsphere who subscribe to his website, which suggests that Rove should be swamped from mail from all 535 members of Congress. Read more here:
http://www.davidsirota.com/2005/06/letter-democrats-should-send-to-karl.html

I particularly liked the following comment:

"Clearly, if you support forcing others to risk their lives for your ideological beliefs (without even providing them proper armor and weapons), you will no doubt be willing to risk your own. And I am sure you would not argue that your responsibilities as a partisan political adviser to the president is more important than fighting in combat for your country.Please let me know when you fill out the enlistment form, and drop me a line when you get to Iraq to let me know if your still believe we should be sending troops to die for a war you lied about."

Don't take my word for it. Go read his blog...(his pic is verry easy on the eyes)

ROVE ON THE EDGE

What can one say about Karl Rove? We call him the "Puppetmaster" who controls GeeDubya, and next to Dick Cheney, the American public has endowed him with powers that the Wizard of OZ was never credited with.

But in light of the remarks Rove made, saying that the liberals don't understand what happened on September 11th; that liberals are unpatriotic and want the soldiers fighting in Iraq and elsewhere to die - well, those remarks don't sound like a person who has been portrayed as a brillant Orwellian strategist, does it?

In fact, I would say that these are the remarks of a person coming unhinged from the moorings of reality. Face it, the Bush Cartel has been operating within a reality of their own making since January 20, 2001. But not in your wildest imaginations, would one consider Rove to put himself out, front and center, with ramblings like the ones he made yesterday. His strength has always been to operate out of sight in a stealth-like manner. His very deviousness lies in his ability to get things done out of the spotlight. So why is he stepping full frontal into the media glare?

I would say that he, like the rest of the Bush Administration, are drunk with their own perceived power. Rove has read the media statements about him; he's heard the political pundits pontificate on what a good strategist he is, and now, he's succumbed to believing his own press. In believing his own press, Rove is emboldened to step out on the world stage and make the ludicrous statements about liberals wanting American soldiers to die in a war that, by tacit admission, was fabricated on a cowdung pile of lies and innuendo, not to mention playing on the very real fears of the masses that look to, and trust the Federal Government to keep Americans safe.

A monster created is one that sooner, or later, feeds on it's power until it self-destructs into oblivion. And the master who created the monster, soon has to kill his own creation, or risk getting destroyed by the very thing he created. Is it too soon to suggest that maybe, just maybe, the monster, which is known as the Bush Administration, has started on the slippery and treacherous path to self-destruction? And is Karl Rove doing the driving?

Is Karl Rove finally on the edge of descending into a madness that we lay people cannot even begin to fathom? Can we admit that maybe his remarks are a clear signal that he is faced with destroying the monster he created? Or is Rove just drunk on power and is finally ready to step out of the shadows and run amok freely and openly?

Only time will tell. While we have met the enemy and the enemy may have been us, for allowing Rove to ever darken the White House with his presence, we may be witnessing the monster having to destroy himself, in order to save the lives of the rest of America. He cannot save himself, and Rove's speech may be the beginning of his own self-annihilation.

It couldn't happen to a more deserving person.

WHAT WOULD JESUS DO ABOUT A GAY TEEN?

This isn't my usual type of post. But, then again, a 16 year old teen named Zach, is not your usual teen-ager.

At a time when you are going through attempts to transition from child to adult, the most important support and unconditional love a teen-ager needs is from his parents. Apparently, Zach, a teen from Bartlett, Tennessee, has parents who may have lost the concept of unconditional love.

Let me be clear: as a Christian, I know first hand and full well what the Bible teaches about homosexuality, and as such, I don't have a personal opinion about homosexuality. But as a Christian, I'm troubled because there are those who espouse Christianity and believes they have a license to pronounce judgement and condemnation upon others who are not like them. These individuals give Christianity and those of us who strive to truly reflect Jesus' teachings, a bad name.

It is not for me to determine whether or not Zach's parents love him unconditionally. But I am troubled that at the point where a child should be able to fully trust their parents to protect them and allow them to express who and what they are, without fear of rejection or condemnation, Zach's parents let him down in the most egregious way. By sending him to a camp intended to "reprogram" Zach from homosexual to heterosexual, Zach's parents have conclusively stated to him, without words, that they don't unconditionally love him as he is. They have effectively sent the message that as long as Zach is unwilling to "get with the program" they will not love him, and he is not the son they want.

Zach's parents would not be the first to attempt to mold or live their lives through the lives of their children. However, we are reminded that we don't bring a child into this world to fulfill some latent fantasy that we didn't take on ourselves; we bring children into this world to allow the world to continue, however and whatever contribution our children make in doing so. Our children are extensions of us, but they are NOT US! They are their own person; with their own uniqueness that they bring for the world's enjoyment.

What Zach's parents, and the parents of other gay children who are sending their children to "de-programming" camps in the name of religion and Jesus, is that they want their children as long as their children do things their way. They abdicate their responsibility as parents and foster that responsibility onto others, who, in essence, are given vast opportunities for the tyrannical in the name of Jesus. What these parents are saying is that they don't want to have to do the hard work of providing unconditional love for their child, free of any expectation of return on investment of time, money, nurturing and yes, love. A child doesn't ask to be conceived or born, and since they don't ask to be conceived or born, the parents' role is to provide love, nurturing, and guidance - but once a child has mastered the capability to think for themselves and make their own decisions, the role of the parent is to continue to provide unconditional love towards their child. In my opinion, Zach's parents have been given a unique opportunity by God to demonstrate the unconditional love that Jesus showed towards the rejects of society. It's too bad they are willing to abdicate such an opportunity to the hands of would-be cultists who are not going to be facilitating Zach's "free will" in loving and serving Jesus.

When a person is forced to serve Jesus, this is considered blasphemy, because the Bible clearly teaches that Jesus wanted people to come to Him freely, and without any coercion or force, because if coerced or forced, the witness and relationship with Jesus is based on phoney foundations that will not withstand any type of challenge, at any time. It is the reason why God created us with free will - there is a desire that our worship of Jesus be heartfelt, genuine and from deep, inward motivation free of any superficial influence. Unfortunately, neither Zach's parents, or the camp, "Refuge", have mastered this concept. If they have, forcing a gay teen to become "straight" is a peculiar way of showing it.

I am not God - therefore, I cannot condemn or pronounce judgement. But apparently, "Refuge" is providing nothing by condemnation and judgement, which contradicts the scriptures that state in Romans 8:1 - "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." So why is "Refuge" and Zach's parents engaging in condemning Zach for his sexual orientation by trying to deprogram him? At this critical point in Zach's life, he doesn't need to be locked away in a "camp", he needs people who unconditionally love him, period. Everyone involved needs to look beyond their own personal comfort zones to reach the summit of unconditional love, and if Christian, look to Jesus as the basis for being guided as to how to deal with homosexuality.

For me, I am charged to love unconditionally whomever I have to deal with. That means I treat them with dignity, respect, courtesy and honor befitting any human being; regardless of race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. I honor their uniqueness as I would hope they honor the characteristics that make me unique. We all live in this earth, for better or for worse; in sickness and in health, until death do all of us part. Those vows are often spoken in wedding ceremonies, but how much more meaning do they have for us all, single, widowed, married, or in partnership.

I know I will catch flack for what I've said here, because I don't sound like Jerry Falwell, or Fred Phelps. I know I am a Christian; I am also a Progressive Liberal - and that means I treat every person with the dignity and respect they deserve, whether I agree with them or not.

My prayer is that Zach continues to receive the unconditional love that he so desperately should receive from his parents, and that his parents look to Jesus to demonstrate to them that they need to love their son and not condemn him.

APOLOGIZE...FOR WHAT?

Given the furor that erupts from the GOP when Democrats fight back, I am continuely amused that the GOP begins to whine like spoiled babies hollering for mama. So when Illinois Senator Dick Durbin took the President to task for, well, everything, GOP Senators, whether under rocks on sitting on a rock and sunning themselves like a snake on the road, rose up to denounce Durbin's "Nazi" remarks and demands he apologize.

Apologize for what?

I'll say this: Dick Durbin should apologize when Bush apologizes for being the worst President ever, and when Cheney apologizes to Pat Leahy for telling him to go and "F" himself.

Chris Bowers at MyDD (www.MyDD.com) also has some points about apologizing, as well:

As Mathew Yglesias reports, conservative pundits are falling all over themselves to try and punish Senator Durbin for his Nazi-themed comments. He must be censured! He must resign his leadership post! I think we should call them on this, and introduce a bi-partisan concurrent resolution to censure all elected officials who have made comparisons between Americans and Nazis. In addition to agreeing to conservative demands, this resolution would see both parties agree to all of the following:

Ken Melhman must also resign as chairman of the Republican National Committee for defending a Republican ad that compared Democrats to Hitler.

All Republican elected officials must refuse and return any money from organizations associated with Grover Norquist for directly comparing Democrats to Nazis.

Senator Rick Santorum must step down from his leadership position within the Senate for his comments comparing Democratic use of the filibuster to Nazis.

Senator James Inhofe must step down as Chairman of the Committee on Environment and public works, for his likening of the Democratic supported Kyoto treaty to Nazism.

Senator Jeff Sessions must be censured for his likening of a Democratic sponsored bill on stem cell research to Nazism.

Representative Steve King must also be censured for comparing those who support abortion rights to Nazis.

A sense of the Senate resolution rebuking former Senators Tim Cole and Phil Graham for their comparisons of Democrats to Nazis must also be passed. Any Republican action to censure Durbin must take place simultaneously with all of these actions. That is, of course, unless Republicans think some of these Nazi-related comments are okay, and others are not. Oh wait---that is what they think.

I will add the following: Durbin should apologize when the 11 Senators who are still refusing to sponsor or sign off on the resolution that has the Senate apologizing for failing to pass anti-lynching legislation gives their apologies. Until then, and I mean this as nicely as a Christian Progressive Liberal can, the GOP and their DLC enablers, should drink their tall glasses of STHU.

You see, boys and girls, this is what happens when you get drunk on the GOP Kool-Aid...

"I DIDN'T KNOW" vs. "I KNOW BETTER NOW..."

I got a chance to watch the hearings on the Downing Street Minutes that was held by Rep. John Conyers yesterday. Ray McGovern reminded us that only a year before, at the Annual Correspondent's dinner in Washington, DC, and at that time, with five hundred dead soldiers to his credit, GeeDubya proceeds to put on a skit mocking those lost WMDs. At the time, everyone, including the Washington Post's faux comedian, Columnist Dana Milbank, were laughing at the joke of missing WMDs. I bet those dead soldiers' families find it equally funny that since the beginning of this war, Bush has yet to honor these dead soldiers with his presence at their funerals or memorial services. People like Cindy Sheehan don't find lying about a war that got their sons, daughters, husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, killed - very funny. But you wouldn't know that by watching the President, or Congress, save for a few exceptions like John Conyers.

Fast forward to the DSM hearings of Thursday, June 16th, and we have the same Dana Milbank ridiculing the hearings, and Conyers had to "go postal" on him in response. One would think that Mr. Milbank would have learned from the facts that the DSM is literally confirming Congress' worst nightmare - that they were lied to in order to gain support for a war that was not warranted. Instead of reporting on the gravity of the American People being lied to by the President of the United States, Milbanks decides to ridicule the process that uncovered the lies and spoke the truth to power. Now, I've read Dana Milbanks' columns, and at one point, believed him to be one of the few jounalists that was providing fair, unbiased and objective coverage of the Bush Administration and their policies. One diarist at DailyKos suggested that Milbanks did his "about face" with the DSM piece in order to preserve his seat on Air Force One, and his beat coverage of the President. In other words, Milbanks was another journalist threatened by the Bush cartel and he caved. Is nothing sacred anymore, even for journalists that were once thought as objective and couldn't be bought?

As Ray McGovern said: the families of dead soldiers don't find Mr. Bush's parody or Mr. Milbank's attempts at humor regarding the attempt to downplay the DSM hearings very funny.

Yet Congress has to own some of the blame here as well, when they literally abdicated their responsibility to require Bush present a concise reason for initiating war in order for them to declare war. They abdicated their responsibility when they didn't require Bush to have an exit plan once war was initiated, and now they are beginning to realize that Bush never had an exit plan because he never intended to start a war that he could actually end during his "regime".

Now, we hear Congressional members talking about how they "didn't know" that Bush lied to them. Now, we hear Congress critters whining about how "I know better now, and I will join with my colleagues to do better." Yeah, right. Just in time for the 2006 elections (snark, snark here).

Now, we have Congressman Harold Ford, Jr., a long time supporter of the Iraq war, starting to broadcast campaign ads in his bid to join Barack Obama in the United States Senate, singing the "Let's Bring our Troops Home" theme song; which I find to be quite disingenious, considering that Ford not only voted to authorize war in Iraq, he's also continued to vote to send more money to be poured into that "black hole" of a war that no one ever wanted. You wonder what could $170 billion dollars could have paid for in this country in the way of education, the economy, improving global warming and other matters of the environment; universal health care for the 45 million Americans that don't have it, and other things to improve life on the domestic front.

There is a saying; "When you know better, you do better". So, let's consider what Congress now knows, versus what they are doing better, shall we?

1. No WMDs. This was learned in late 2003, yet Congress voted to send another $87 billion dollars to fund the war when Bush demanded it. What we don't know is why no one in Congress demanded Bush give an accounting of what happened to money already authorized, and what would be done with additional money. We also learned that at least $8-10 billion was wasted and no one can account for how that money was spent. Can you say "Halliburton" or "Kellogg, Brown & Root"?
2. DSM - plans to attack Iraq before September 11th occurred. When known acts of treason are discovered, Congress has a constitutional duty to demand articles of impeachment and initiate the impeachment process of the President and Cabinet members involved. With the exception of the Conyers' hearing, dead silence from the MSM and Congress themselves. NO mention of the "I" word and I'm not talking about Don Imus, either.
3. Abuse of Prisoners in Gitmo. But we are treated to Rep. Duncan Hunter demonstrating what the prisoner's menus are and how well they are eating. Does the fact that a prisoner eats well hide the fact of mental, emotional and physical torture? The fact that Amnesty International has gone public with their findings that Americans' engaged in torture, which is direct violations of the Geneva Convention, is what we do know. What we are also learning is that the Bush Administration is condoning torture, per VP Dick Cheney.

I want to stop there, because these are pretty big issues. We know all of these things, and there are signs that the American people are not going to be silent on these issues. Yet the Bush Administration tends to "poo-poo" anythng that smacks of dissent, disagreement, or hard cold evidence of the truth. They spin how the information was found, or they attack, smear and discredit the messenger. But we know better. And how long are we going to allow our members of Congress who made ill-advised votes on legislation, after being presented the truth, to continue claiming "I didn't know"? We send these individuals to Congress to represent US. To be our VOICES. This is not to say they know what's best for us; if they did, they would have done their jobs, and demanded Bush be held accountable for every known and unknown acts of treason, war, and lying to the American Public by the betrayal of the trust placed in him.

I'm waiting for a member of Congress to be brave enough to admit he or she was wrong when they voted for the authorization for war in Iraq. I'm waiting for the apology that "I know better NOW, and I'm committed to helping develop an exit strategy to bring our troops home and end this mess." I'm waiting for their actions to match their contriteness about the situation America finds herself in, by taking action that indicates they know better and have learned their lesson.

Some Congress critters are demonstrating this, like Rep. Walter "Freedom Fries" Jones. After attending a funeral of a dead soldier from his district, Rep. Jones did some soul-searching. "Freedom Fries" were trite, when contrasted with dead American soldiers being buried in your district. Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel is denouncing the White House as being "out of touch" with the realities of the war. Other bipartisan groups are demanding exit plans from Iraq; they are backing off Social Security Privatization, and doing hasty retreats from the President altogether. They either "know better now" or, in cynical fashion, trying to preserve their politcal careers by trying to position themselves to answer to angry constituents about their votes on Iraq, Social Security, the Bankruptcy Bill or, in some Southern Senators case, their refusal to apologize for the lynching of African-Americans and their refusal to pass anti-lynching legislation that might have saved Emmitt Till's life in 1955.

Congress needs to stop singing "I didn't Know" and sing a new tune called "I know better NOW..."

THOSE WONDERFUL GOP "FAMILY VALUES"

Everytime I read about how the Democrats lost the White House and both houses of Congress to the Republican Party because of their lame inability to articulate the "family values" they represented, I want to hurl the last meal I've eaten. However, upon learning that the GOP doesn't mind entertaining porn stars at dinner, I wonder just what type of "family values" and "morals" they presume to possess, considering that one of their spokespersons (Neal Horsley, in case you forgot) has already told Keith Olbermann that his first sexual experience was with a mule, and that it was quite natural!

Excuse me, but there's a biblical scripture in the book of Leviticus that would definately refute the, ah, "naturalness" of having sex with an animal. In fact, the Scripture is very specific; have sex with an animal and get caught, both the person, and the animal were to be put to death (Leviticus 20:15).

Gee, I wonder what explaination Dr. Dobson would come up with to explain Horsley's attraction to his mule. Oh, my bad; that would be "before his conversion" wouldn't it? {sarcasm}.

Now, here comes porn star Mary Carey, courtesy of my home state of California. Actually, she made headlines when she was one of 150 candidates who campaigned for Gray Davis' old job as Governor of the state, during the recall election. At this point, I personally think Ms. Carey is far more qualified for the job than the current governor, who answers to the nicknames of "Gropinator", "Governator" or my personal favorite, "the Boob-in-grabber".

Thank God for John Aravosis of Americablog. He gives us a run down of Ms. Carey's interview with Keith Olbermann, during which Ms. Carey treated those of us who tuned in, to her personal fantasy of...wanting a threesome with the Bush twins, Jenna and Not-Jenna. Read about it here:http://www.radarmagazine.com/web-only/politics/2005/06/theres-something-about-mary.php and here: www.americablog.com

You gotta give it to the GOP regarding those "family values". Speaking of which, can you hear that defeaning silence coming from Sen. Frist (and when I say "Frist" I mean "Dobson") Pat Robertson, Hannity, Limbaugh and O'Reilly? Why is that? Why is it that we were treated to aspects of Bill Clinton's blowjob through an impeachment hearing because he spilled his DNA on a blue dress, but when a porn star shows up to supper with GeeDubya, it's okay, and I'm not supposed to protest? What's with the silence from MSM - I forget, they are doing their jobs, by whoring for the Bush Administration. Pardon meeeeee....

Now, the Runaway Bride is getting a book deal for running away from her wedding. I understand there's a movie deal in it too. From Judith "I had sex with Bernie Kerik in an apartment over Ground Zero" Regan, no less. Stop with these Family Values - thousands of dollars were spent looking for this skank, and Nancy Grace all but had Ms. Wilbanks' fiance, John Mason, convicted of her murder.

More of those GOP family values in action - Wilbanks gets to profit from wedding jitters. But you know if an African-American, Latina, Asian or Native American woman had run out on an opulent wedding, would there have even been an organized manhunt for her? A few years ago, in New York/New Jersey, a beautiful Latina woman was gunned down by her ex-boyfriend on her wedding day. Caught on film, too. No MSM coast-to-coast coverage for her, a lovely woman who was the epitome of "pull-up-by-bootstraps" success story in America, named Evelyn. Thanks to the GOP - stories like Evelyn's don't get the coverage it should - and her story reflect those "family values" that the GOP espouses to embrace; a wedding, a marriage, and what should have been the beginning of family life together that included a couple in love and committed to one another.

The "family values" are to beat up people who tell the truth by other family members. The "family values" are to rip off as many hard working people as you can and drive them into the poorhouse. The "family values" are Democrats acting like Republicans, while they deny it. Well, if we don't know that the GOP's main "family value" is "how to be a hypocrite", then we're as drunk on the kool-aid as the kool kids who want to kneecap Howard Dean (read DLCers...)

Your wonderful "Family Values" in action .

POLITICAL "BLINDNESS"

Sometimes, my blogs include a good deal of political commentary, but little emphasis on the "Christian", which would fully represent my label in the blogsphere. Today, while not being "preachy", yet in keeping with political commentary, I humbly submit the following for your consideration.

This morning, I was reading my Bible and the reading for today was the ninth chapter of the Book of St. John. You may wonder what does biblical scripture have to do with the title of this blog entry, "Political Blindness". For those of you who are Christian, you're probably half-way, if not 3/4 of the way to the meaning of today's entry. For the rest of you, I have patience that you will understand what I want to say here.

The ninth chapte of St. John chronicles the miracle that were performed by Jesus. As you may know, Jesus healed the sick, fed the hungry and gave generously to the poor. At every instance, He met people who were in need of something, and He met them at their level of need. Likewise, unless we've become cynical in our regard for our elected officials, we want them to meet some of our needs, and at the point of our needs. You would have to be buried under a rock or drunk on political kool-aid to realize that's not happening and probably stopped around 1980. But what caught my attention as I read the ninth chapter of St. John, was that Jesus performed mighty miracles, and instead of the masses being happy about it, they sought to discredit both the miracles and Jesus at the same time. They didn't want to acknowledge God among them. Specifically, in John 9:25, after He healed a blind man, the Pharisees immediately wanted to diss Jesus for healing the man on the Sabbath, instead of looking at the fact that the man, who had been blind from birth, could now see, both physically and spiritually.

It is the same with our elected officials. Instead of the Democrats prasing DNC Chair Howard Dean for telling the truth about how the GOP has been hypocritical in their representation, some Democrats, really prominent ones, like Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden and Harold Ford, all took to the airwaves to immediately "distance" themselves from Dr. Dean's remarks. Never mind that he was telling the truth - these individuals took excerpts from Dr. Dean's remarks and placed them in a context he never intended. The miracle, had they stopped from their rush to "distance" themselves, was the fact that for once, a Democrat did not accept the lies being perpetrated by the GOP about him. He called them out on it. The miracle for long-suffering members of the Democratic Party, was that someone finally gave voice to what we have been waiting for from those who purport to "speak for us".

The "Downing Street Memorandum" is another "miracle". For years, many of us suspected that the President and his Cabinet flat out lied to get the American Public to support going to war with Iraq. But we didn't have any concrete evidence of the lies. Then someone in Britain, known only as "C" leaked the document which proves beyond a reasonable doubt, that both the President and Prime Minister Tony Blair, looked the American and British people, not to mention the whole world in the face...and lied to us about the reasons for attacking Iraq. While they were telling us they hadn't considered it, it had already been considered and was actually priority #1 for the Bush Administration. So how is the memo being received, here in America?

It is being received with very little silence! Almost no media coverage at all. When asked about the memo in public, Bush and Blair "poo-poohed" the memo and blew it off. The miracle that was missed was two-fold:

1. Neither one denied that the contents of the memo were accurate; and,
2. Neither one denied the memo's existance, or claimed it was a forgery.

Let me be clear about my personal belief here: God answered the prayers of the downtrodden, and when I say "downtrodden", I'm talking abour people who can't make their voices heard, because some trash-talking individual is shouting them down, calling them delusional or "over the top" and implying that the individual has no one that loves him but his mother. In other words, I'm talking about people like you and me.

We've already had five years of having unqualified and rabidly ideological judges crammed down our throats; we've had five years of the most horrible and Orwellian legislation forced onto the masses without so much as a whimper of protest from those who should be shouting the loudest: OUR DEMOCRATIC LEADERS AND THOSE WHO ARE PERCEIVED AS BEING THE NEXT GENERATIONS OF LEADERS! We've endured increased poverty and the ruinination of our environment, while the corporate minorities are getting bulging bank accounts in exchange for the duplicity on the parts of our elected officials. While John Conyers is trying to get a hearing for the Downing Street Memo, he's told by Sensenbrenner and other Republican thug leaders that no Democrats can call for hearings in the Rayburn, Cannon, Longsworth or other Capitol Hill facility. When Stephanie Tubbs-Jones stood with Barbara Boxer in objecting to the certification of the Ohio voting results (and I really expected Cheney to drop an F-bomb here), John Kerry was missing in action.

When evidence of wrong-doing on the part of the Bush Administration continues to surface from whatever forum, all you see are GOP gadflies beating it back into the closet from which it spilled, with assistance from a stenographer's pool that used to be the MSM, and cheerleading and spin from the likes of the usual suspect's: "Falafel" O'Reilly, Hannity, "Oxycontin" Limbaugh and Pat Robertson. Why aren't they protesting that the President had dinner with a porn star last night? Because she's a registered Republican, and that makes it okay?

Is it any coincidence that, upon examination, most of the Bush Administration have criminal records, yet hold very high political positions that have the potential for committing treason by their very employment? All of these examples are miracles, in the sense that they are revealed, despite the GOP's best efforts to keep them hidden and buried. No wonder they dissed FBI informant Mark "Deep Throat" Felt for doing his civic duty and ratting out Nixon's attempt to hijack democracy. The real miracle came that people accepted Felt's actions and dismissed the commentaries from those who got sent to jail behind Felt's information: Charles Colson and G. Gordon Liddy - known felons, thank you very much!

The miracle is that the efforts of the GOP to lie, cheat and steal democracy from us; or to steal, kill and destroy democracy, continue to be revealed on an almost hourly basis. Yet our elected Democratic Leaders are still looking for miracles when the miracles are already in front of them if they chose to renounce being politically blinded by power, prestiege and corporate campaign donations in order to see that their support for such legislation, while cutting off the leader of the Democratic Party at the knees, borders on treasonous blasphemy.

Our leaders refuse to look at the evidence before them; and the evidence of wrongdoing on the part of this Administration being revealed is a miracle. They refuse to acknowledge that the President is a liar and a hypocrite - both in thoughts, words and deeds. They refuse to realize they have been hoodwinked, bamboozled and the GOP is running amok on their behinds. So, when will they admit they admit to political blindness, and apologize to us for not seeing the miracles they have been given to unite and take back our country?

PIMP YOUR CONGRESSMEMBER

There's a show on MTV called "Pimp My Ride". It's basically about how class-A mechanics turn jalopies into classic/cool cars by giving them the vehicle equivalent of a cosmetic, and mechanical makeover. This is followed by massive requests from viewers trying to show up with rides a dead person wouldn't want to be seen in, begging for their ride to be "pimped".

If you've ever had a physical makeover (new makeup, clothes, hairdo), you know how much better you feel afterwards. You look better, you get massive compliments, and you're motivated to keep on looking good. In thinking about the concept of a makeover, I've decided that the members of Congress who believe it's easier to trash the Chairman of the DNC in public for speaking the truth, or distancing themselves from him as if he is "Typhoid Mary" ("I won't have him with me on the campaign trail in Tennessee..." {a guess as to which spineless DLC member made that remark on "Imus in the Morning"}) are crying out for makeovers. As in POLITICAL MAKEOVERS.

Every time I bring up the search for any redeeming quality in such wimpy, any-way-the-wind-blows elected officials, I am continually "shot down" by the people who care about me and don't want me wasting my time on political rehabilitation for those elected officials who don't know they are in an addiction to corporate cash and business as usual inside the Beltway. They won't settle for anything less than complete obliteration of said elected official from anything in the public eye. I guess my Christian side tends to appear when I continue to hold open the door for political rehab for some of these elected officials. One can certainly say if the Al Gore we are seeing now, was the Al Gore we needed to see in 2000, he would be "President Gore" and serving his second, prosperous term in the Oval Office right now. I think when Gore had the 2000 election stolen from him, when he vanished from sight, I think he went to take personal inventory of himself; thinking about what he could have done better in order to provide voters with a clear-cut choice between him and GeeDubya. For all the mangling of the english language, his inability to know anything relevant to politics, and basically acting like a spoiled little boy, there's no way that Bush should have won in 2000 (because he was largely unknown outside the state of Texas) or in 2004 (because he had a failed economy, an unpopular war, and generally everything in America turning into a dung heap) without rigging elections or having the Supreme Court demonstrate they're a gang of partisan gulags.

So, Gore disappears and returns within two years. He's speaking and he's breathing fire! He automatically rules out running in 2004, but backs the current DNC Chair Howard Dean immediately. Where ever Gore speaks these days, he's flaming angry and doesn't mind letting you know it. He's decisive and to the point. He speaks with a conviction of the truth. He's more animated. He lays his soul open to you to see who the real Al Gore is. And that's why there's talk about encouraging him to take up the mantle in 2008 for the Democratic nomination. Because he's made himself over into a progressive Democrat; one who's not going to be afraid of offending anyone with his positions, or not being partisan, or always being willing to compromise in order to get along. He's willing to be distinct, set apart and unique from the masses.

One of the first things I remembered Gore saying in the early public speeches was the expression of regret he had for conceding the Presidency to Bush in 2000. He said he did it for the sake of the country. He also said he instructed Senators who wanted to challenge certifying the election results in Florida not to make the challenge, because he believed the nation had been held in abeyance long enough, and, because he wanted to be gracious in defeat. He now says if he'd known that his actions of concession would have resulted in putting a certifiable individual in the Oval Office, one who has us on the brink of a nuclear war, a busted economy, millions without access to health care or quality public education, and a screwed up economy, he would have fought all the way through Congress and the Supreme Court. He would have allowed a challenge to the election results in Florida. Everything would have been different.

These are the results when a person undergoes a makeover. In Gore's case, a political makeover. He's "pimped" himself as a believable progressive. The DLC has to take a walk now - he listened to them to the point of marginalizing his own Campaign Manager, Donna Brazile. And while we're on the subject of Ms. Brazile, she allowed that political makeover she underwent during the 2000 campaign to the point, that she needs another "pimping" in order to regain credibilty in the political circles going into 2006. I hope she gets it.

For those who decided to trash the DNC Chair, it may be too late for you to get "pimped" because all that dirt you have wallowed in at the corporate trough all these years, has so far removed you from reality, you need to crash and burn, before you can even entertain a political makeover. You are still drunk on the corporate cash and DLC kool-aid; wanting to continue your membership in the Kool Kids Klub (reminds you of KKK, doesn't it?) thinking that your DLC method is going to produce different results. You will need to crash and burn before you wil even entertain that you don't look good as an elected official at all - that you really need a political makeover in terms of rebuilding your character, determining your true morals and values, and in that when you open your mouth, you really are speaking for others like me, because you have been there, done that like the rest of us.

We need to "pimp" our Members of Congress. And those who resist, show them the door in 2006.

WHAT IF CLINTON HAD SAID "YES" TO PNAC

As always, now that crap has hit the fans these days (www.Downing Street Memo.com) when all else fails, blame former President Bill Clinton for the mess. The GOP thugs and Republican-Lite, card carrying DLC members do this all the time (memo to DLCers and other Dems who trashed Howard Dean for doing his job and returning fire with fire, you need to blow it out of your horses' rear end and grow up, please!).

Now that it's been known that Bush acted in concert with the Project for a New American Century (PNAC), I wonder what would have happened if Clinton had said "yes" to what the PNAC gang was offering at the time (which was attacking Iraq back in 1998). All the war casualties, all the economic deficits, all the ill will of the global community...would have been squarely blamed on Bill Clinton. But then again, because the GOP hated his ass, maybe not. They were not willing to cooperate with anything that reeked of Bill Clinton, to the point they actually shut down the Government because Newt Gingrich thought Clinton snubbed him on Air Force One as they were traveling to a dead diplomat's funeral back in 1995.

The MSM would be all over Clinton's involvement in PNAC like Woodward & Bernstein was all over Nixon in Watergate. The Monica Lewinsky affair would have been icing on the cake, instead of the impeachable offense that it really wasn't. When Clinton asked Congress for the money to keep surveillance on Osama Bin Laden, he was told, "No, No, and Hell, NO in the Ground!" by the GOP led Congress.

But we've already seen the complicity of the MSM - look at how jack was said about Reagan and Bush, Sr.'s involvement in Iran-Contra. Ollie North is a media darling. Not to mention that the players from Watergate; G. Gordon Liddy, Charles Colson and Pat Buchanan all have media positions from which to trash Mark Felt for disclosing he's "Deep Throat".

Yet because the President who is responsible for the mess 'o'potamia that we're in these days, is named Bush; because he acted on the plan which was wrong; because he lied this country into the war that the chickenhawk/draft dodgers wanted but are unwilling to fight it; because he's generally screwed up this country and everyone walking in it, Bush is given a free pass, while the GOP tries to continue to blame Clinton. If you saw the "Daily Show" last night, Colin Powell is still singing the "Blame Clinton" theme song, and wonders why the last vestiges of credibility he had is shot to the curb.

Did anyone see the press conference where British Prime Minister Tony Blair said he asked America for $25 billion dollars to aid Africa, and Bush announces that America will give up $675 million dollars? That's less than 3% of what Blair was asking for. Blair should look at the facts; that for all his pandering to Bush, his steadfast loyalty while the British were literally calling for his head for supporting the Iraq war; his re-election to his post while being considerably weakened in his position as Prime Minister because of his steadfast loyalty to Bush - when he went hat in hand to beg Bush to help out Britain with Africa, Bush basically rewarded such unstinting loyalty by spitting in Blair's face with the offer of money that is less than 3% of what Blair was begging for.

That's the legacy that Tony Blair will be known for: loyalty to Bush that got him trashed and tarnished a legacy that no amount of political silver cleaner can ever remove. Blair's wife knows this...which is why she has publicly stated she hates Bush; because of how he treats those who are supposed to be his "friends". So you know Bush's enemies stand no chance of survival...

And while referencing Africa, did anyone notice how Bush alluded to Condi Rice about what to do in helping Africa, and she's sitting on the side of Laura Bush, blushing and giggling like a mindless idiotic school girl? As if to say, "He's mentioning me in his speech...!!"

Ewwww, gimme a break. Better yet, I need to go to Driftglass' for that drink I've been saying I need, LOL.

What if Clinton had said "yes" to PNAC? We would have the truth, but only because they GOP hates Clinton's guts, while they love a known liar and war criminal who will never see the inside of jail, because elections may be rigged by Diebold for the next five to ten years to make sure the Democrats never get a majority again to bring forth justice. Yeah, Newt Gingrich thought this way, too, and I comfort myself with the knowledge that in the cycle of life, you cannot keep taking because sooner or later, the universe demands a return of what you took, and she does not care how she gets it, as long as she does get the return.

For now, I must comfort myself with those thoughts.

SEE DICK RUNNING THINGS...

From my fellow bloggers at Atrios and Driftglass - really brilliant!

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Dick, what's wrong with Old Yeller?

This little bit of cake tucked far away from prying eyes made me want to go out, sling a case of beer over one shoulder, a libidinous liberal lass over the other and celebrate in a way that’d make God say, “Dude, close the blinds already. Jeez.”As we fight, so should we always remember to raise a glass, a skirt and little hell when we score a victory. Good for morale.Thanks to Atrios for pointing it out…

W backs way off on Soc Sec plan
Kenneth R. Bazinet

WASHINGTON - President Bush has all but conceded his plan for private accounts for Social Security is dead, admitting privatization won't save the federal retirement system."You can solve the solvency issue without personal accounts," Bush said in an interview with the Radio-Television News Directors Association.…

Here's Driftglass' comments...

Wow. I wonder who told him?I’m betting Cheney.I’m betting it went something like…

“Where’d Private Accounts go, Dick?”
“Well George, sometimes Evil Policy gets sick and then it has to go to a special place…”
“What’d you mean, Dick? What’d you mean ‘sick’?”
“Sometimes, George, all the smearing and the lying, the cooked-books and the paid-off whore journalists in the world can’t help.”
George’s lip trembles a little.
“Private Accounts were old, George. Old and tired.”
“But…but…”
“And when things get too old and too tired, sometimes that have to be, um, uh…”
“Private Accounts cain’t be dead, Dick! They cain’t be dead!?”
George begins to sniffle.“Oh no, no. Don’t worry, little man. They’re not dead.”
“Not…dead?”“No, not dead”“Really, Dick? Really truly?”
“Really truly, George. Cross my heart.”
“Cross your heart, like ‘We’ll be greeted as liberators’-cross-your-heart, or really, really, really Cross your heart.”“George, I swear by all that is Halliburton, that Private Accounts are just fine.”
“Oh thank God!”George bursts into tears. He had been hold back, but now his relief overwhelms him. Such a brave ‘lil soldier.
“There, there, George. Of course they’re OK. They’re on a big farm out in Colorado where they can run and run, and play all day long in the warm sunshine with Iraqi mobile weapons labs and Niger uranium.”
“Thank you, Dick. Thank you…for being so strong. For taking care of these things.”
“Just doing my job, George. Cheer up. Everything’s great. Better than great! Come on, lets go find some of those anti-American tree-hugger laws and have ourselves a bonfire.”
“And after lunch, can we maybe dig up George Wallace and appoint his smelly corpse to the Supreme Court?”
“You bet we can, little man! I bet we can even make that funny Mr. Frist kiss it on the mouth.”Laughing, they both exit, stage right; an empty suit and the poisonous gasbag that keeps it inflated.

Driftglass is nothing short of friggin' BRILLIANT! Cheney probably wasn't this doting with his own children, but to mollycoddle the POTUS...even Stevie Wonder can see this...

"BUYER'S REMORSE"

For anyone who's read my posts, you know how garrelous (talkative) I can be most of the time. So today, I'll spare you and make this brief. According to that bastion of information known as the Washington Post (or WaPo), 58% of Americans belive that the President is ignoring the issues that matters to them, and is focusing on issues of little, if no importance at all. Well, maybe the judicial nominations have relative importance (especially if it's a civil rights or liberties issue and your case winds up in Janice Rogers Brown's court). But the public is turned off by Congress, the bitter partisan fights and Bill Frist's continued attempts to reniege on the negotiated agreement to save the filibuster.

Read about it here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/07/AR2005060700296.html?referrer=email

I'm wondering how many of that 58% are willing to be honest enough to admit you voted to re-elect Bush out of fear, or not knowing what John Kerry stood for. Well, you can't have "buyer's remorse" now - but you can deal with your decision by taking the actions to correct it. Those of us who didn't drink the brew or decided to become a kool kids' klub member (KKK = KuKluxKlan, perhaps?) while it's nice to have your views vindicated, you never want them vindicated at the expense of the pain of others.

WaPo opened the door. We need to call the President out on why he's choosing to ignore the needs and concerns of the people he purports to represent. Oh, wait a minute...he's not into representation, but DICTATORSHIP. That's something we ignore at our own peril...

Remember...while we think the loss of democracy can't happen here, the WaPo article is a clear reminder of how easily democracy can be eliminated if we don't take action. Let's not linger on "buyer's remorse" but use that remorse to galvanize into action to take back democracy and reclaim true freedom - and true freedom comes when we give up our fear.

"Buyer's Remorse" indeed...

CRITICAL ASSESSMENT - PART I

Okay, I've had some time to observe and reflect on some things going on with the Congressional Critters these days. You might not like my observations; you may have different information that should have been considered by me, and that's fine. I'm all for discourse and debate - two factors that contribute to the concept of DEMOCRACY...as long as we still have democracy in this country. After reading Sinclair Lewis' "It Can't Happen Here", where I'm virtually watching 1935 morph into the year 2005 as a result of the antics of the Bush Administration, one can't be too sure...

(1) The "compromise" to save the filibuster. Okay, I was waaay disapointed that the DLC members of the Senate were allowed to rear their heads again. While all 10 nominees won't see the floor for a vote, the three worst jurists ever (Priscilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown and William Pryor) will get the vote; in fact, Owen has been confirmed and Rogers Brown will get her opportunity to infect the DC Courts of Appeal with her ideaology. So, who won here? The filibuster, as far as I'm concerned, is still on the table for getting it's neck chopped, because Bill Frist says so. There needs to be some form of "retribution" for those seven Democrats who crossed the aisle to provide cover for the seven Republicans who know the longer they hitch their wagon to either Frist or DeLay, it spells trouble for them in 2006.

In fact, there needs to be some party "discipline" for any wayward member not willing to forgo their own personal interests in support of party unity and keep this infighting out of the public eye. They hurt the party more than they help it. For heaven's sake, you don't see the divisions within the GOP, do you? They know what will happen if they break ranks (see the former Chair of the ethics committee, because he actually did his job and disciplined Tom DeLay). Pelosi needs to implement some discipline of her own, and do it under the radar, please.

(2) Senator Obama's voting record - Many of us, whether we live in the state of Illinois or not, have, or had, high hopes for this guy. His votes to confirm Condoleezza Rice; the Bankruptcy Bill, the Tort Reform Bill, and his statements on the filibuster, not to mention a form letter sent to a constituent that essentially "pooh-poohed" their concern about prison abuse in Gitmo and Abu Ghraib, is sending messages that I'm not confortable with. Messages that say this guy is a DLCer trying to fly under the radar and hopes we are so enamoured of his charisma that he can peddle snake oil that we don't notice he's peddling said snake oil. I'm told to hold off my critique of Mr. Obama, because he's new to the Senate and still learning - I'm okay with that, but he needs to send another message. How about "INDEPENDENT PROGRESSIVE THINKER".

Better than DLCer for life...

(3) Okay, we all know that Sen. Joe Biden is a known GOP whore; the only one who's a bigger GOP pro is his fellow senator, Joe Lieberman. Having said that, when these guys, in addition to John Edwards taking pot-shots at DNC Chair Howard Dean, there's a "bright line" they have crossed which communicates that we can't trust them to truly watch out for the core values of interest to Democratic voters, because they have shown an inherent willingness to sell out these values to the highest bidder and at the first opportunity to further their own personal agendas, instead of the agendas of their constituents.

Messages to all - just quit the damn party, please. While I support "big tent" gatherings and diversity in opinion, there's a bright line between differences in opinion, and flat out selling out to the opposition. You have crossed it. If you want to cross back over, please tell us when you plan to get there; otherwise, just get the hell out of the Democratic Party and turn GOP. While there may be strength in numbers, all your actions do to the party is continue to weaken it, and dilute the core values of what the Democratic Party stands for. Our party has demonstrated we can do more with less...of you GOP lite Democrats.

(4) John Kerry has mentioned the "I" word. As in "Impeachment" of the President. Here's my thoughts on that.

Senator Kerry is not being brave or principled. What he is doing is seizing an opportunity to place himself in a good position to run for the Democratic nomination in 2008. By initiating articles of impeachment to be drafted up against the President, Kerry positions himself as the only member of Congress with guts to stand up and call out the President on how he's running the country. Sound noble in concept; except we have Kerry's previous campaign record to recall in considering him for the job:

• He voted for the war in Iraq before he voted against it;
• He wimped out on the Senate resolution to object to the certification of the Ohio election results (he should have been standing next to Barbara Boxer, but was MIA that day);
• He vowed that there "would not be another Florida" - recount. He caved in less than 24 hours later, and over the objections of his running mate, Edwards.
• He never articulated why he would be a better President than Bush (you think we all needed to go to www.johnkerry.com to find out what his plans were?
• He didn't fight back against the Swift Boat Liars for sliming him. 'Nuff Said.

If he's successful in pushing for impeachment hearings; even if the President is exonerated (and you know Frist and the Fristdamentalists {and when I say "Frist", I mean, "Dobson"} will vote to acquit the POTUS of all charges) what candidate is going to go up against him riding the "I impeached George Bush" bandwagon? No matter how clever Hillary Clinton is, she would not be able to withstand Kerry's riding the impeachment horse. All I see is opportunity knocking for Kerry, and he knows he needs something to overcome the lame campaign, and the wimping out on those depending on him and campaigning their butts off for him - to convince us to give him another chance. We got burned by Kerry, and we won't forget it that easily, nor will he be forgiven that easily.

The critical assessment, Part I - from a concerned citizen. Feel free to add your own thoughts and feedback.

IT IS "HAPPENING" HERE

Sinclair Lewis is considered a very good satirical writer. But could he have been trying to warn Americans about the delicate balance of democracy, and how easily a nation can slip into a dictatorship almost without it being realized until it's too late to stop it? Was he warning us to start paying attention to the signs, and learn how to take action should it start to happen?

Consider that Sinclair Lewis wrote "It Can't Happen Here" in 1935. Seventy years ago, Lewis warns America, through satire, about how precious democracy is, and how to not take it for granted that we would always have it. How valuable democracy is, to the point that we should always be ready to fight for and defend it. For those of you who didn't get this book as assigned reading in high school, it's an absolute necessity now (you can purchase it as a premium on Buzz Flash). It is the story of how a candidate for President of the United States, seemingly a "man of the people" was elected to the highest office in the land on the basis of slickly packaged snake oil that hoodwinked the masses, while appealing to the basest instincts of personal needs and avarice. Once elected, he proceeds to reverse every law under the Constitution, kill or imprison any dissidents and remove those who had jobs, homes and businesses and place them into mass slavery, while further facilitating mass poverty when the people didn't get the money they were promised (think "a chicken in every pot" here). There were no more states, but regional territories with Commissioners and Militia Troops; private institutions were eliminated and state schools became institutions for the dictatorship propaganda. Media was government controlled; any signs of dissent and the media outlet was shut down, and publishers either swore a loyalty oath or got thrown in jail after trial in a Kangaroo Court.

Could Sinclair Lewis really have known just how fragile democracy is? Was "It Can't Happen Here" a warning for all of us in this country to be alert and vigilant to such insidious coup d'tat?

It is easy to take for granted something or someone you always believe and trust will be around. But what happens when that person, place or thing is gone? If the person dies? If the place is decimated? If the thing is destroyed? You begin thinking "If I get it back, I will never act so foolishly or rashly ever again." If we get a second chance, some of us are wise to be ever cognizant of what was nearly lost; we remember how foolish we were and are too scared to be that foolish again. The rest of us, well, sometimes, we don't make good use of second chances and then what we value, or say we value, is completely and irrevocably taken from us, and we are totally devastated. Espically when the opportunities for another chance are dried up.

We have taken democracy for granted; that the concept and practice will always be here. But with a government that stifles dissent; ignores any event or news report that paints them in an unfavorable light; creates additional hardships for those who can't take any more; promised to keep us safe while continually exposing us to the danger of terrorists - willfully dismisses what is the truth while dressing up lies and telling us that the lie is the truth - we, as Americans, have taken democracy for granted, and it totters on the brink of mass destruction. It has taken five years of the Bush Administration to wake up the rest of America to the fact that our democracy crawls on spider's legs and can be eliminated with one legislative act.

Throughout history, it has been reported how devastating facist governments and dictatorships were to entire populations and their effects on a global scale. As we read about them in history books; Russia, China, Italy, Germany, South Africa - the rise of charismatic leaders like Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Benito Mussolini; their atrocities recorded in the eviceration of entire races of people, or dissidents being imprisoned or executed - those of us in America felt like we had bragging rights as we claimed to be the heralds of democracy and gleeful in our desire to spread what we had in America to countries abroad. We looked in facinated horror at the atrocities commited in the name of leadership by the leaders of foreign lands. We shook our heads, while thinking, always thinking, "It Can't Happen Here".

Fast forward to 2005 - where we have an Administration that essentially forced a national publication to retract a factual report because it painted the Administration in an unfavorable light regarding the abuse of Iraqi and Afghani war prisoners. We don't get to find out what has really happened in the prisons in Gitmo or Abu Ghraib, because the sources are always discredited. We can't tell the President how we really feel about the attempts to privatize Social Security, or wrecking Medicare, because the Secret Service has orders to throw protesters in jail and deny them due process of the law. The news that anyone receives is information that is running through the spin and rinse cycles of Fox News, Hannity & Colmes, Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh. How dare you say you don't support the war in Iraq - why, "that's being un-American and unpatriotic", you are told! This, from despots who belong in what Kos refers to as the "101st Fighting Keyboardists" - and used any and all excuses to avoid going to fight in Vietnam. This, from the same group of infidels that slimed Sen. John Kerry, a man who could have used the same excuses to defer serving in Vietnam, but went and fought for his country. Thank you, Swift Boat Liars, for the trashing of Kerry's war record - talk about the truth being turned into a lie for a good sound bite and the purpose of confusing people when election time came.

Just when you think our democracy's safe, along comes Bill Frist with his "nuclear option" to eliminate the last constitutional option to facilitate debate and engage in lawful dissent, and he has the President, James Dobson and Pat Robertson as cheerleaders; egging him on to blow up the last element that keeps our fragile democracy in place...the filibuster. While the band of 14 Senators who brokered a deal to sustain the filibuster (for now) recognized that this faction of democracy needed to be protected, just how well does their brokered agreement does that? Three of the worst jurists ever, will still get consideration; one (Priscilla Owen) has actually been confirmed. The attempt to turn the Federal Courts into Kangaroo Courts didn't just happen; it's been in the making since 1984. It is being manifested 20 years later. Send the Gipper a "thank You" card, why don't you?

While all of these attacks to eliminate democracy are going on, some poor soul, working at Wal-Mart on a minimum wage job while applying for welfare to ensure his family's survival and supplement that check, is still believing that the elimination of democracy can't happen in America. Corruption, in today's Congress, is the norm and not the exception - so much so that the House of Representatives passed a rule to stack the ethics committee with supporters of the Bug Man to give him a free pass. It also allowed for retaliatory investigations of House Members who have issues with the Bug Man, or punish those in the GOP who discovered they have a spine and a conscious when they vote against the shill he's pushing.

We really want to believe that the horror that is America, as described by Sinclair Lewis in 1935, couldn't possibly happen here. It is really to frightening to contemplate, and it makes my head hurt, not to mention my heart. We can't continue to think that "It Can't Happen Here" when the reality is, it's already "Happening" Here as I write this.

Our democracy is valuable, and we must fight to preserve it with everything within us. Otherwise, what Sinclair Lewis perceived satirically; It Will Happen Here.