I suppose the media have to report Bush’s avoidance of anybody resembling a thinking human being as if it were something knew, because otherwise they’d have to admit that it’s been going on since, oh, about January 2001 and they enabled it by blithely ignoring it. Protestors were calling him “Back Door Bush” from the very beginning, but they blithely ignored the existence of protests, too.

I don’t know how I posted two copies of the same thing. My apologies

I think this… The experiment in democracy, started near the end of the 18th century by a group of aristocratic, but disillusioned former British gentlemen, has run its course in the guise of the United States of America. The once bright and shining upstart of a country brought a lot of good to the world, but even from the beginning, there was infighting, corruption, slavery and the practice of genocide wrought upon the First People’s of this continent. But there was a spirit of goodness in the people, and Americans – separate from their government – were well liked in much of the world. The world followed the cultural experiments and outright audacity of the young nation. But eventually corporatism was allowed to advance in the name of industrial profits, and it overwhelmed the nation with a mighty form of friendly fascism, to borrow a book title.

All of the character seems to have disappeared, along with things like family farms, mom and pop enterprises, spunky style, and Hollywood hedonism. It is all looking like a great grey mass of militarism controlled by an extremely fallible leadership. Yes, I believe America is over, at least the America most of us over 40 grew up with. Maybe it was disco, I don’t know. But there is a terrible wanting in this place, the population is warring with its better instincts so that traditional liberal values of family, charity, compassion and all the rest have been forced underground, surfacing only in times of most dire need, like tsunamis and hurricanes.

There is hope that a significant percentage of Americans have now seen what evil rests behind the facade of so-called neo-conservatism. If the trend of awakening minds continues, there is hope that a kinder nation will re-emerge. But the neo-cons are not resting for a moment, they take no time to reflect upon their mistakes and misdeeds because they either do not recognize them as such, or they know exactly what they are doing and don’t care. Either way, they could still engineer another national travesty that would jump start their base, and scare the rest into giving over any remaining rights they have in order to be “saved” from the “heathens” who they are convinced want to destroy “our way of life.” If they can get everyone lined up in rows of fearful, terrorized citizens, then they will have the freedom to proceed with the clearly stated agenda of spreading democracy through force, and eventually being a true hegemonic dynasty on Earth.

I believe all of this, but I also think there is hope for a much better future. However, that future will only happen if the people become so repulsed that they become unified for peace and justice. It might even result in civil war. Don’t flinch, we have already had two major bloody conflicts here; a revolution and a civil war, plus several smaller actions like the war of 1812, and all of the “Indian Wars” or genocide. This land is no stranger to blood, and I pray that we never go down that path. But the rascals have to go, without question!

I think this… The experiment in democracy, started near the end of the 18th century by a group of aristocratic, but disillusioned former British gentlemen, has run its course in the guise of the United States of America. The once bright and shining upstart of a country brought a lot of good to the world, but even from the beginning, there was infighting, corruption, slavery and the practice of genocide wrought upon the First People’s of this continent. But there was a spirit of goodness in the people, and Americans – separate from their government – were well liked in much of the world. The world followed the cultural experiments and outright audacity of the young nation. But eventually corporatism was allowed to advance in the name of industrial profits, and it overwhelmed the nation with a mighty form of friendly fascism, to borrow a book title.

All of the character seems to have disappeared, along with things like family farms, mom and pop enterprises, spunky style, and Hollywood hedonism. It is all looking like a great grey mass of militarism controlled by an extremely fallible leadership. Yes, I believe America is over, at least the America most of us over 40 grew up with. Maybe it was disco, I don’t know. But there is a terrible wanting in this place, the population is warring with its better instincts so that traditional liberal values of family, charity, compassion and all the rest have been forced underground, surfacing only in times of most dire need, like tsunamis and hurricanes.

There is hope that a significant percentage of Americans have now seen what evil rests behind the facade of so-called neo-conservatism. If the trend of awakening minds continues, there is hope that a kinder nation will re-emerge. But the neo-cons are not resting for a moment, they take no time to reflect upon their mistakes and misdeeds because they either do not recognize them as such, or they know exactly what they are doing and don’t care. Either way, they could still engineer another national travesty that would jump start their base, and scare the rest into giving over any remaining rights they have in order to be “saved” from the “heathens” who they are convinced want to destroy “our way of life.” If they can get everyone lined up in rows of fearful, terrorized citizens, then they will have the freedom to proceed with the clearly stated agenda of spreading democracy through force, and eventually being a true hegemonic dynasty on Earth.

I believe all of this, but I also think there is hope for a much better future. However, that future will only happen if the people become so repulsed that they become unified for peace and justice. It might even result in civil war. Don’t flinch, we have already had two major bloody conflicts here; a revolution and a civil war, plus several smaller actions like the war of 1812, and all of the “Indian Wars” or genocide. This land is no stranger to blood, and I pray that we never go down that path. But the rascals have to go, without question!

Does anyone else worry that the Preznit might be going a little Michael Jackson on us?

I thought it was funny when someone referred to his ranch as Neverland recently.

I am really not a pessimestic person. I can’t, however, look at all the damage that has been wrought by this administration and not be somewhat dismal.

This morning my wife commented to me about a conversation she had with a coworker yesterday. She had mentioned to him how I read a lot on the internet and that, quite often, what I read about (and tell her about later) thereafter often becomes “true” by being reported in papers or on TV news. She specifically mentioned a recent set of conversations we had about Peak Oil and its implications. This co-worker responded by asking if or how I was able to sleep at night with all this stuff. I sleep fine. Though all the damage being done environmentally, socially, and politically by BushCo and its minions are nightmarish, I responded to my wife, only half-jokingly, that my military training leaves me with the ability, if necessary, to survive in the sticks on leaves, roots, berries, and insects. Even if the (nearly) worst occurs, I can get by (and by extension, so can my wife, dogs, and horses – there will be NO leaving them behind).

Though I do sometimes despair at what oft seems to be coming, I know I can get through it (almost) no matter what. JUST IN CASE I have also taken a few preliminary steps here and there to ease the pains: learning how to make biodiesel at home (suprisingly easy), building a still, reading up on the interesting topic of natural medicine (medicinal plants/herbs), reviewing survival techniques (I am still military), a bunch of things that serve as both interesting diversions/hobbies AND have potential practical value.

All empires fall eventually. No country is forever. Though I do not wish to be personally experience the fall of the US experiment, widespread civil unrest, or even civil war, no matter what, I can get by. There’s not much that is more miserable than military survival school. Get through that (and remember what you learn) and you can get through virtually anything.

Tim, I think you hit the nail square on the head with “Back on the sauce.”

ItÂ’s too bad they donÂ’t have a vaccine for the brown bottle flu

On bubbles and great leaders:

It’s surprisingly little-known that Hitler suffered from dementia, starting at least in the 1920s. He experienced severe night terrors, during which he believed he was being visited by a demon that would hover in his bedroom (he could “see” and point at it). During these spells, his female companion and a nurse would be awakened by his shrieking and would find it necessary to comfort him for hours. They sought medical help, and secured means of sedating him. Sedation put him to sleep but didn’t do the world any favors, and the bubble point is that German society willingly enabled Hitler’s madness, not vice-versa.

I might’ve first come across this in “The Nazi Seizure of Power,” but it is fairly well-recorded. A quick web search on “hitler night terror” yields the following:

“Alice Miller provides a dramatic description of Hitler’s night terrors as witnessed by his followers when der Führer would wake at night with convulsive screams, yelling for help like a frightened child, hallucinating that “he” was there in the room (p. 174).”

Bush’s micro-expressions, by comparison, do little to reassure. We’ve got a man with big problems at the helm, and a system that’s enabling him.

Late in thread, early in AM on West Coast, but…

Norske, thanks for mentioning “Friendly Fascism,” it’s the political roadmap for this terrain and was absolutely prophetic. Here’s an excerpt from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reade…..UmtwA%253D

Sorry to disappoint some of you but Mr. George W. Bush isn’t going anywhere. If necessary his henchmen will embalm him and prop him up in a chair behind his desk in the oval office until January 2008. From the get go, he has been a Barbie Doll (spelling?) dressed in presidential drag. It’s frightening that the media did not call him and his henchmen out on their scripted so-called town meetings and all the rest of the propaganda blitz we have witnessed and still are undergoing.

A poster pointed out that Hitler isolated himself at the end. An apter comparison is Saddam Hussein himself, the devil incarnate, who reportedly moved daily from palace to palace in a motorcade which was replicated moving in different dirrections through Iraq, and who took the added precaution of changing cars within the motorcade he was traveling in. The Boy King is a good way along the same road.

The possibility, as suggested by a preceding poster, that Snowcroft and Wilkerson’s ‘revelations’ have been orchestrated by the Boy King’s Daddy, George, to cover for his son by putting the blame on others is fascinating.

Yahoo News has a good take on McCain: he embraces Georgie Boy like a friendly protector to make himself seem the salvation of the imploding GOP, and the bucks are flowing in. What a slimy slug! He is painting himself as the heir apparent. May he be deceiving himself.

BobbyG

they only know one strategy
fear fear fear

tinhat warning
two abductions in iraq yesterday after none for a while
and one group is Christian Peacekeepers
sounds like good grist for the base
just sayin’

OK, the great Bush “Victory in Iraq” Speech is soon to be on. The released a 35 page document ahead of it.

http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/ms…..rategy.pdf

“terrorists” “terrorism” “terror”

over & over & over & over & over & over & over & over & over & over & over & over …

—

I think I know the last time Bush ventured out of the bubble. I saw video of it during which he ‘interacted’ with the owner and an employee, to whom he ’splained how the economy worked – saying much more than the following excerpt from the White House Website reflects. His banality, stupidity and smugness was beyond belief.

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
January 22, 2004

Remarks by the President to the Press Pool
Nothin’ Fancy Cafe
Roswell, New Mexico

11:25 A.M. MST

THE PRESIDENT: I need some ribs.

Q Mr. President, how are you?

THE PRESIDENT: I’m hungry and I’m going to order some ribs.

Q What would you like?

THE PRESIDENT: Whatever you think I’d like.

Q Sir, on homeland security, critics would say you simply haven’t spent enough to keep the country secure.

THE PRESIDENT: My job is to secure the homeland and that’s exactly what we’re going to do. But I’m here to take somebody’s order. That would be you, Stretch — what would you like? Put some of your high-priced money right here to try to help the local economy. You get paid a lot of money, you ought to be buying some food here. It’s part of how the economy grows. You’ve got plenty of money in your pocket, and when you spend it, it drives the economy forward. So what would you like to eat?

Q Right behind you, whatever you order.

THE PRESIDENT: I’m ordering ribs. David, do you need a rib?

Q But Mr. President –

THE PRESIDENT: Stretch, thank you, this is not a press conference. This is my chance to help this lady put some money in her pocket. Let me explain how the economy works. When you spend money to buy food it helps this lady’s business. It makes it more likely somebody is going to find work. So instead of asking questions, answer mine: are you going to buy some food?

Q Yes.

THE PRESIDENT: Okay, good. What would you like?

Q Ribs.

THE PRESIDENT: Ribs? Good. Let’s order up some ribs.

Q What do you think of the democratic field, sir?

THE PRESIDENT: See, his job is to ask questions, he thinks my job is to answer every question he asks. I’m here to help this restaurant by buying some food. Terry, would you like something?

Q An answer.

Q Can we buy some questions?

THE PRESIDENT: Obviously these people — they make a lot of money and they’re not going to spend much. I’m not saying they’re overpaid, they’re just not spending any money.

Q Do you think it’s all going to come down to national security, sir, this election?

THE PRESIDENT: One of the things David does, he asks a lot of questions, and they’re good, generally.

END 11:29 A.M. MST

OT

a little off point, but i find it curious that so many hawks are yalies: lieberman, clinton, kerry, woodward, not to mention the bush klan and others. i’m surely not the first to notice, nor am i a conspiracy person, but sometimes i can’t help thinking that there is some incestuous bond afoot that arrogantly places greed and power above the (and i hate the expression) greater good.

For someone who was challenged to make all of his required appearances while serving in the Air National Guard during the Vietnam War era, the President certainly has developed a perverted propensity of presence on military bases.

I was wandering around the internets yesterday and read something that completely took me by surprise because it was the first I had heard of it since Katrina came blowing through New Orleans.

Remember when Bush first came into office they were saying that if you had been convicted of a crime, you could not be eligible to live in public housing or if you were already living in public housing, you could be thrown out.

I remember it was right about the same time that Jeb Bush’s daughter got arrested for that fraud RX deal and libbberals were saying that perhaps Jeb should not be living in public housing, the mansion….anyway, I assumed that due to Jeb’s daughter this law probably suffered from a Vanna White Veto so I forgot all about it.

Then, yesterday, I read somewhere that all Katrina victims who had prior arrests have not been helped by Fema.

Anyone else hear anything about this rule?

george: fuck you

Simplest answer, four words:

Back on the sauce.

At least Michael can boogie.

G Dub canÂ’t do anything well except act like a frickin idiot. Maybe he is actually MichaelÂ’s fake nose prosthesis running around the country. That thing is pretty friggin stupid and it probably stinks too.

TheyÂ’ll know Bush is going Jackson if they pull an inspection on the Midshipmen and find lipstick stains on the MidÂ’s skivvies. If we could just get Dubya to take Cheney out to the balcony and drop the son of a bitch over the edge.

Talk about a bubble heÂ’ll be at the Academy with around 4400 Mids and the place will be in total lock down. Most of the Mids, the Plebes for sure, will probably be sleeping during the speech. I donÂ’t know, but I think the guy could just face a wall in his office, read the damn thing and achieve a similar result for a hell of a lot less money.

I just wish Michael would teach G W to friggin moon walk the hell out of my life, maybe all the way to the ladies room in Dubai.

Mrs. K8, re: my name, i’ve been told that I tend to have a little bite in my words…LOL.

RAR-Hawk, didn’t Bushie say that God told him to invade Iraq? Scary.

When I listen to the news, I hear more and more that ppl don’t want to know about the reasons why we went to war….they just want to know what do we do now. Batterers, drug-addicts, alcoholics…they all want you to forgot the past and not dwell on the shiat that they did.

This is so dysfunctional. How can ppl go forward if they don’t look at the actions that got them where they are. How can anything be corrected?

So sad.

EPU — wow. I thought that, but didn’t have the term for it: anomic breakdown. Could explain why Bush has surrounded himself with the strong women in his life, ones who appear to set limits for him; his distant father figure never set adequate boundaries for him and Rover isn’t a substitute. Cheney has probably been the father figure who set boundaries, but is now preoccupied with self-defense (gee, wonder why) and has abandoned Bush just as Poppy did emotionally. The mother figures aren’t adequate, though; they are either constructs (Condi, Hughes) or were never really up to the job of reining him in (Bar-bar). Bush has also gone “walkabout” at a certain point in each venture he’s undertaken in his life; let me guess he rarely made the 3-year mark without skipping out physically or mentally. Perhaps we’re dealing with someone who has a serious case of ADD paired with ODD, someone who self-medicated these conditions with alcohol and now has no resources except exercise (endomorphins) as a fix.

Further, I suspect it’s not Bubble Boy who’s developed the insulation; it’s a system, those closest to him enabling him, keeping him at arm’s length from the public who might otherwise discover that Bush is not a normal human being.

[p.s. Billmon — he covered Lincoln Group this past year in a fabulous, detailed post, just asked my Senator this week about Rendon AND Lincoln in Iraq. Looks like Billmon has more work to do now that Lincoln is back in the press.]

Rummy’s been breathing the rarified air of the bubble too: http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..01405.html

I’ve observed lately, that there are some disturbing things about Dubya’s behavior that parallel Hitler

We can only hope we’re getting close to the final bunker scene. But what if we’re really only at about 1940?

Has anyone else noticed the developing meme that “Bush was misled” on Iraq intelligence.

Absolutely. I have suspected for weeks now that Wilkerson and Scowcroft are just the forward part of Poppy’s cabal, coming out to save the Idiot Son, and perhaps more importantly the Bush name, as best they can.

Poppy’s in full bail-out mode again, and the best he can do this time is try to make it seem like it wasn’t W’s fault. Yeah, OK, that means painting him as a moron led around by the nose by the Cheney cabal, but better to have an Idiot Son than a War Criminal son, I guess.

The Wilkerson and Scowcroft ‘revelations” really just piss me off. A) Where were they when it might have mattered for the country? and B) this seems like such a naked ploy to try to deflect the blame from Bush and push it all off on Cheney. Not that Cheney doesn’t deserve his huge share, but Bush should NOT get a pass on this.

I smell ‘Poppy droppings’ everywhere.

I’ve observed lately, that there are some disturbing things about Dubya’s behavior that parallel Hitler (and no I don’t think he is a hitler) The isolationism at the end, the belief that he is ordaned from God as a justification for his actions) the seperation from reality, the complete indifference to the suffering of people (his nation and others)

p.s. the hawk in my name is because I am A Hawkeye Fan

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200…..wh/us_iraq

The pre-speech document has been released to the press.

Wow arbo – wow

billmon is back in business:

http://www.billmon.org

absolutely not to be missed…

jane
bush is not ‘going’ a little MJ on us
his bubble has been impenetrable from day one
oh, and pacha’s observations on remote diagnosis and dry drunks are spot on

i used to think that the Dem’s weakness was the inability to lower themselves to their opponents’ level to get elected
since spending some time in this company i no longer feel that way

besides, IMHO, the CIA is doing that for us
(i am not uncomfortable with that tin hat)

well said me
this speech is being hyped as a major statement
(what content could possibly of consequence is only scary)

response must be swift and decisive
and i am not certain Kerry can cary that load alone

Has anyone else noticed the developing meme that “Bush was misled” on Iraq intelligence.

But you see the inherent conflict? How can he be the all powerful man in charge, the in-control commander and chief…. If people are misleading him? And if he is misled, and he is in control, the all powerful commander in chief… Why hasn’t he fired anybody for it?

I want to remind people that today is going to be a big press day. We need to be right on top of it with the ongoing letter campaign. I know people get tired, bored, etc., of doing the letter routine day in and day out. But I want to emphasize how important this is:

First, there is a real war on, not just a war with words, people are dying. Real blood, real wounds, real torture.

Second, nobody else is going to speak for you. Only you can speak for yourself. YOUR VOICE IS IMPORTANT IN THIS, IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE!!!

Third, you are reading MSM news stories and editorials coming from the very same people who are on the Media Resources List. You are not just blowing wind out your arse… This media campaign is focused, targeted, your letters are going straight to the mouthpieces.

Lastly… This campaign has been incredibly effective. We have sent many, many highly intelligent and informed opinions to the powers that be. The response can be found in any daily paper, any on-line news source. Our media campaign is directly responsible for a great deal of the leftward movement you are seeing across the country. Now is not the time to stop pushing.

http://fusioner.proboards60.co…..1131129004

It takes less than an hour to write a letter and hit every media resource on that page, including both your Senators and your House Representitive. Today is a big day, a major speech and a major opposition press conference. Get involved. As soon as Kerry is done speaking, don’t wait for the media to tell you what he meant… You get on-line and you tell them what you think!!!

I’m reminded of the last days of Nixon, when there was serious discussion about his “suicide option”. His paranoia and persecution complex had so crippled him that many journalists had started wondering aloud if Nixon would “push the button” as the last resort of a desparate and broken man.

The farther down Bush’s disastrous administration plummets, the clearer the comparisons to the Nixon years become. I can almost picture W pushing Rove to his knees in the Oval Office, forcing him to pray with him for guidance, ala Tricky Dick and Kissinger.

I only hope the nukular war button isn’t hardwired directly to the missles anymore…because if W doesn’t get the help he needs from the Almighty, he might just decide to have a hand in bringing on the Rapture himself.

But where do you find a fresh audience when you’re the leader of the free world? radish

In Hell. There are swarms of demons there that have never met the man.

Has anyone else noticed the developing meme that “Bush was misled” on Iraq intelligence.

Mrs. K8,

There was a book published in 1979 (1 year before Reagan’s election) titled “Friendly Fascism” by a Socialogist from NYU (maybe CCNY). The author predicted a “new” brand of distinctly American fascism would ascend legaly thru contested elections and a new “social-geographic-political” breakdown in US geo-politics…He was right.

I studied early American Political history (”all but disertation” from a Jesuit school) and I believe we have the exact same political dynamic at work that existed in 1858 and led ta the Civil War. The resulting failure to complete Reconstruction, and the reenfranchisement of the unregenerate confederate elites led to the same “minority rule” of the solid south (with a handful of Midwestern states today) that existed in 1858-60. The combination of the senioritysystem in congress and the disenfranchisement of blacks thru state sanctioned terror led us to where we are over the last 25 years…with unrepresentative national governments.

I know how much our demographic has changed as well as the economy…however, our political-economy and the structure of political power and social control has not changed at all since 1877.

We are in for VERY bad times here…I am committed to staying here also, primarily because I owe it to my children. But things are gunna get much worse before they get ANY better.

Keep the faith and pass the ammunition!!

P.S. Yes I did read yer posts of yesterday and before…yer a peach!!

OT (i’m usually OT, what with the time difference), but is this new news or totally yesterday’s news? The Guardian of course rocks with its headline:

Cheney ‘may be guilty of war crime’

it’s about Lawrence Wilkerson speaking to the BBC yesterday:

Asked whether the vice-president was guilty of a war crime, Mr Wilkerson replied: “Well, that’s an interesting question – it was certainly a domestic crime to advocate terror and I would suspect that it is … an international crime as well.” In the context of other remarks it appeared he was using the word “terror” to apply to the systematic abuse of prisoners.

Mr Wilkerson better watch his back!

CrunchyGirl –

True, that. Like George, some folks won’t or can’t grow up.

OT — If it’s not too nosy to ask, how did you choose your online name? It’s unique! Makes me smile.
—————

And now, good night. Thanks to Jane and all others here for letting me engage in late night rambling. :-)

Sleep well, peaceful dreams!

I think there is great potential in this country for all things necessary ( great people, ideas, dedication, etc.). I do feel cheated that instead of being able to achieve other goals, we have to fix things that should never have been broken. There are some silver linings. The horrid social divide, the lack of preparedness, etc laid bare by Katrina, hopefully, wll put some clarity into the thoughts about what we should focus on as we go forward. I could site more examples, but I’m getting too tired and making too many mistakes typing and thinking. Thank you Mrs. K8 and to all at fdl.

It takes courage not to drink the “Kool-Aid”.

KoolAidaholics want someone to rescue them. They don’t want to think…they want someone to think for them. They just want to lean on someone who they perceive as bigger, stronger, smarter, or saintly, etc. in hopes that they will be taken care of. KoolAid keeps ppl in a delusion.

It takes courage to stand on your own two feet and think for yourself.

pb –

My great-great-great grandparents fought to preserve the Union in the Civil War. I try to imagine what it was like at the end of that horrendously bloody war. How hopeless must they have felt upon hearing of Lincoln’s assassination? How to begin to bind up the wounds?

Some would argue that the same war is being fought today, again. There is some merit to the argument I suppose. But the country is in a number of ways very different now. Most people know, from their own lifetimes, that a healthy middle class existed and fueled the economy. People saw real progress made in their own lifetimes (only to have it in danger now of being snatched away). Whole segments of the population have moved around the country, so that urban areas of the south have been filling up with “Northerners.” Where I live in Arizona, what was once a population of extremely conservative-minded libertarian types is giving way to a “purple” state — conservative business types gave huge taxbreaks to companies to move here, and who poured in on the heels of the new companies, but lots and lots of Democrats? [That’s probably why there are so many angry voices calling our progressive radio station, they feel threatened by very real changes — our Democratic governor gets approval ratings in the high 60’s, lots of “moderate” Republicans starting to vote with/for Dems here.]

Demographics are nowhere near so static and rigid as was once the case. The youngest generations are the ones least infected with homophobia and racism.

None of this is meant to suggest things will be easy in any way.

It just seems to me the country has been through very horrible times in the past, and survived. [In addition to Civil War, think also: Great Depression/Dust Bowl.]

Does anyone else worry that the Preznit might be going a little Michael Jackson on us?

Seems he’s one step away from going Howard Hughes on us.

Mrs. K8–
I am really not a pessimestic person. I can’t, however, look at all the damage that has been wrought by this administration and not be somewhat dismal. Just how long will it take this country to repair the damage and recover our good name and regain some prosperity. That cannot even begin until Bush, Cheney, et al are gone. I pray we do not have to wait the full three years.

Hey, Norske! Hope you caught my earlier msgs to you.

Do you really fear that they will have enough power to enforce such a thing? I was nervously eying my passport for a while, but once I saw that the vast majority of the public are NOT embracing their fascist dreams with open arms, I’ve been committed to sticking around for the long fight.

Now, I can see a phenomenon like bands of hate-groups perhaps creating violent havoc if possible (like the KKK), but I think the majority would reject such a thing.

I have great fear for our future and dread for our near future. This community gives me hope.

pb — That’s the thing, we need a realistic view of the whole picture.

On the one hand, now that it seems doubtless the Bush administration is doomed, one way or another (no way can they “pull it out” to claim the public’s approval), that’s cause for great relief and hope and renewed determination for reclaiming our Constitution.

On the other hand, it’s going to be messy, that’s for sure. Lots and lots of work will be necessary. All hands on deck!

Let me make sure I don’t give the impression from the tenor of the posts above that I’m in some sort of state of bleak pessimism. No, not at all.

It’s just going to be a very bumpy ride, and I hope everyone who loves this country and cares about the future of our democratic Republic knows it will take digging in for the long haul, possibly through very difficult economic times, to pry the hands of fascists and wannabe despots from the controls — and keep those hands off!

thanks, meow, can you provide a list of “must see tv” including reality shows as I’m way behind on Brit, Jessica and Nick, and all the other important to our democracy people.

That was me Mrs. K8

Mrs. K8,

Yes indeed, we now can empathise with those folks in Germany in 1933 who found themselves swallowed up by the Thrid Reich…The “eliminationist” rhetoric from the far right is real…these folks have always been capable of muder, our history is replete with it…I’m convinced we’re gunna need a government of national unity and reconcilliation in ‘08 and the threat of concentration camp like detentions is very real. We’re in some very deep shit here.

Mrs. K8–
Radicalism, in all its forms is dangerous–Muslim radicals seem little different these days from Christian radicals. I have great fear for our future and dread for our near future. This community gives me hope.
Thank you…

What does it say about “We the people…” that he is still in office & we (and the rest of the world) are “taking it” ?

*real sad*

But what the hell is going on with Paris Hilton these days? And did you hear about Jessica and Nick breaking up? And really, when is Britney going to wake up and get rid of Federline? Aren’t these the real issues facing young people today? Yes, it is sickening. I just want to yank some peple up and tell them to wake up. We are letting this country go to hell with this bubble boy and his evil partner in crime, Cheney.

Smokestack,

“Where slippery Clinton found ways to weasle out…” Bill Clinton never “weasled out” of any matter of state or policy. He was (and is ) a very bright man and was constantly having to “weasle out ” of accusations of rape, drug-dealing, murder and he did deal very “slickly” with most of the stuff. See the action in Kosovo or better still, Somalia, for examples of Clinton’s ability to stand up for and behind his policies (even when they didn’t work)…don’t swallow anymore a the koolaide Smokestack, it’ll damage yer brain.

CrunchyGirl –

Crazy, that’s for sure. Near where we live in Arizona, a radio station’s management decided to switch its format to progressive programming; they became an Air America affiliate, and in addition they hired some local people to do local political programs with a decided progressive slant. Some of the local programming is quite good, and the station rapidly developed a loyal following.

However, when the radio station set up a “listener comment line” in the early days after the switch (from what was country music and some religious programming), the number of pure hate calls coming in from irate radical right Arizonans was astounding.

In a brilliant move, station management used a collection of snips from these phone calls, put together in a rapid montage of angry voices, to use as station advertising. The background music for the commercial was the old novelty song, “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha Ha.”

At first we found these commercials hilarious. People shouting at the top of their lungs, “how DARE YOU come into our beautiful state and spread your LIBERAL FILTH!” and “Get out now! Like all godless commies you will FAIL!” “Traitors!!!” etc. etc. etc.

Upon further hearing, Mr. K8 and I both felt very uncomfortable about those voices. What we heard was not just anger, but pure hatred. Those are people who live among us, and who are deeply committed to delusions.

They need some sort of de-tox program. What will happen to them now that their “right hand of God” President sinks below the waves?

Good post, Mrs. K8. I agree Bushco is in a world of Bubbles, and the supporters are as well. It’s hard for me to understand how ppl can STILL support Bushco. The only thing I can come up with in my mind is:

“You can’t understand CRAZY”.

No way, no how.

Jane –

This is an important topic, and not just because George himself is wrapped up in a delusive bubble.

I’m sure all of us remember the scary Suskind article about how Bushco will *create* their own “reality,” and how we, the “reality-based” people, will constantly have to catch up with them because they’re way ahead of us, creating new “realities” left and right. This was stated to the reporter arrogantly, as though it were something so clever, to be proud of, rather than a form of cult-like mental illness.

George and his Bushbots impose their bubble everywhere they go, with predictable effect.

The USA, in terms of its “foreign policy,” is now trapped in a bubble of delusion. Think of Karen Hughes on her mission to teach Arab cultures of the wonderfulness of the American bubble. She got an earful from Arab women about their own “reality-based community.” Condi marched through Central and South America some months back, attempting to lay down the economic and political law of life according to the Great American Bubble. Response? “Uh, no thanks, Condi.” George the Bubble Boy himself got his bubble pricked by the South Koreans, who told the world they were backing out of the Great Iraq Adventure Bubble, and didn’t even bother to tell Bubble Boy before they announced it. John Bolton’s been attempting to wrap the United Nations in the Great American UN Reform Bubble — and it was the UK, expressing what numerous other countries see as reality, who pricked that fantastic dream (or as Steve Clemons called it: “US Ambassador Gets Spanked by Great Britain”).

George and his bubble pals have helped impose Bubble World Mass Media, a teevee universe where almost all unpleasant and contradictory realities (especially those concerning the rest of the world) have been shut out. You still see it in the almost audible/visible relief evident on the part of cable bobble/bubble heads whenever they can escape into another missing white woman or mysterious murder of an attorney’s spouse, or another airplane with malfunctioning landing gear. Katrina was initially envisioned as a lovely Bubble World distraction from the intrusion of the Cindy Question (”what noble cause?”) — and that bubble blew up in everyone’s faces, especially Bubble Boy’s.

Never will the Bubble World Mass Media tell us what real life is like — (not even here in the U.S. where the Katrina dead are hidden) but especially not what real life is like for human beings who live in other nations.

So what happens now, when all the bubbles insist on bursting?

Although I look forward to mass delusion being dispelled, these are scary times, indeed.

Hold onto your hats!

While the object of action should be Bush — right now the real targets of pressure ought to be some of the critical Republican Senators — in particular, John Warner and Richard Lugar — Armed Services and Foreign Relations respectively. Pressure needs to be brought on them to attempt extended conversations with GW Bush all with the understanding that in their chairmanships they have a role in determining the competence of this President. Is he informed, can he answer in some detail, real questions?

I am very interested in making sure that the Republican Establishment feels the hot breath of being “Responsible” for Bush — and if they are not obviously talking, how can we be sure they are supporting with appropriate oversight.

I am not surprised Bush has come to the Bubble Solution — never forget that back in 2001 during his inaguaral parade he had the fear og a wrathful god on his face when he confronted a few hundred convinced protesters during his ride to the White House. Ever since that moment he has been shielded from the opposition. He can talk a good game in China about dissidents, but in this land, he spends a pretty penny to never see it. He reminds me of my little India trinket of the three monkies.

But it is not enough to depict Bush — he needs the Context of his Political Assets on the Hill.

In all fairness to Bush, it’s quite an accomplishment to make Nixon, Reagan and Bush Sr. look good in retrospect. I wouldn’t have thought it possible.

I don’t think we’ll see a public psychotic break or anything. What we’d be more likely to see is a man on increasingly large doses sedatives and antipsychotics. It would be a bit like Reagan in the later years, but through chemicals.

Thanks to EPU we now know about Anomia

There is a lot to be said about the culture of corruption in light of the inability of society to regulate the insatiable appetite for money and control. This could be the key to understand Lord ActonÂ’s maxim Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

What guides thought? Culturally implanted goals, social momentum and finally unlimited desire for continuity of consciousness as expressed in the notion of immortality.

HereÂ’s a snippit from the professors:
The individual however has no way of limiting his own needs, so it must be done by a force exterior to him. To Durkheim, it is the central task of society to play this regulating role: “for it is the only moral power superior to the individual, the authority of which he accepts. It alone has the power necessary to stipulate law and to set the point beyond which the passions must not go”.

Imagine the dilemma of being the so called leader of the free world – you have all the power, all the attention and no insurmountable social (political) counterweight.

WhatÂ’s next for the Alpha Cowboy? Disneyland? (Been there.) The world? (Done that.) Deification? (Well gosh, maybe Rover can make a few phone calls!)

Just read the new Hersh article, found it truly ominous. A chill air blowing out of every paragraph.

There’s no doubting it now — something is seriously wrong with Bush. The spine and the brain no longer connect.

The reservoirs simply aren’t there. Where slippery Clinton found ways to weasel out of whatever, the stubborn Bush only knows to augur ever-deeper, as the stakes grow higher.

So what happens when unhinged stubborness confronts a self-made world-wide disaster? How far can one president augur? And one nation?

Three more years to find out, barring some sort of intervention, divine or otherwise.

Following Enigma, this is from Democratic Daily on Kerry’s surprise Wednesday morning:

Senators John Kerry and Jack Reed will also be holding a press conference on Iraq tomorrow – Wednesday, November 30.

Earlier this month, Kerry introduced his Strategy for Success in Iraq Act (S. 1993) – a comprehensive new strategy to complete the mission in Iraq and redeploy the vast majority of American combat troops as specific benchmarks to transfer responsibility to Iraqis are met, beginning with the draw down of 20,000 U.S. troops after successful Iraqi elections in December.

The goal of KerryÂ’s plan is to undermine the insurgency by simultaneously pursing a political settlement and the military draw down of American forces linked to specific, responsible benchmarks. If followed, the process will be completed in 12-15 months.

TomorrowÂ’s Kerry/Reed press conference will be held in the Mansfield Room at the U.S. Capitol, S-207, between 11:00 – 11:30 a.m. est. C-Span schedule notes that they will be broadcasting the press conference live, after BushÂ’s speech. This should be very interesting

I seriously wonder if he has presenile dementia, he is not functioning within Normal Parameters for a human or a prez. There is a level of paranoia that is acting as his shield that is disturbing and at some point the Congree and House should confront this administration that HIDES from the Public. ALL the time….Maybe we should blog beat it and call the Reps and raise hell. They are letting him get away with it….on another note Kerry has a little Suprise for Bush tomorrow – press conference planned for RIGHT after Bush’s…hmm, popcorn anyone?

W the Howard Hughes president.

Well that’s good to point out that W is afraid of Americans. Let’s keep repeating this and the slow as molasses Mainstream will pick up on it in a couple of months. Then a couple of months of W’s spokespeoples (all white) stating that he isn’t afraid, W will appear in a totally canned spontaneous event with real Americans. Someone in the audience will get a chance to poke fun at the President for favoring blue ties.

Or something.

All really real.

Andrew, Reagan didn’t “pull off” much because he was mentally incapacitated (oh, wait. So is Bush), but his puppeteers did, and they’re the same people still wreaking havoc in Bush’s admin. I don’t believe Bush will “walk away.” He could become a dead man walking, and one can only hope that it will be in a smaller and smaller circle of space.

>just give up and get the hell out of town

Some of you may have seen (and if you haven’t, you should) the blog-linked mpeg of Bill Maher’s take on the Katrina fiasco. Bill said something to this effect: “just do what you always do when you screw up a job: lose interest and walk away.”

After I was done laughing, I had a moment of dread; “that’s exactly what this guy is going to do,” I thought.

Dana, although I was appalled at Reagan’s administration, he never would quite have pulled a Katrina, or an Iraq. You may be able to get something on the Able Archer exercise on Wikipedia; that happened on Reagan’s watch, and it was a bit like a quiet Cuban Missile Crisis. I shudder to think how it would have gone if our W. had been placed in the White House then.

As far as W going reclusive, I’m reminded of Hitler (and no, I don’t think W is Hitler), who stopped making public appearances after the invasion of Russia.

sorry – one more OT – and an old one but I had missed this and given some recent news (the mercenaries film, etc) …. I can’t even type ….
(thanks to Moon of Alabama for the link)

a Jan 05 story from Newsweek about “The Salvador Option” in which not only do official type folks confirm that they were behind the death squads in Latin America but they think we should try them in Iraq too! (my guess is that we are doing precisely this – hence recent tales of Iraqi military disappearing people and that this tactic plays a big role in the growth of the insurgency):

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6802629/site/newsweek/

W can only survive in the darkness. As soon as any light is shone on his purported beliefs or ideas, they have to run and hide like a horde of hideous roaches. At some level, he knows that’s true.

You should head on over to uggabugga and check out their handy-dandy tabulation of Bush’s recent speaking attempts over the last year or so…

http://uggabugga.blogspot.com/…..-were.html

Dominantly at military venues, and overwhelmingly at “controlled access” venues.

Not only is the public “never welcome,” but neither are the dissenting officials. Bush doesn’t suffer “from being so sheltered.” The rest of the country and the world does. Every time I mention that we can’t possibly get through another 3 years with this administration, my husband says we got through Reagan’s. It takes my husband only 5 minutes in any argument to connect the dots to Reagan. But really, is it possible to keep going like this for another 3 years?

Ayuh. Having witnessed up close the results of a narcissistic personality under stress I suspect this ain’t gonna be pretty. This is exactly what happened with an executive I worked with when reality started getting too real, and if that experience is any indicator (has been so far) Bush is ready to just give up and get the hell out of town right now. Get away from all the disloyalty and history and totally start over with a fresh crowd of potential seductees who know nothing about him.

But where do you find a fresh audience when you’re the leader of the free world? It wouldn’t surprise me at all if we’re treated to a meltdown of some sort before this is all over.

OT but Raw Story has several interesting headlines – one a link to a story on Hilary’s letter explaining her Iraq posture now – interesting to note that they say this letter was sent out in response to all the emails she’s getting asking for her position (ME … is that you?) (and this is why I’ll never vote for her)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200…..aq_clinton

and a link to an LA Times story about Lincoln Group and their work (for the usual tons of cash) to place stories in the Iraqi press without attribution to their DoD authors – (sheesh, at least the Iraqi media charges for the lies they republish)

http://www.latimes.com/news/na…..-headlines

and finally an NYT piece about how the EU is pressuring Condi on the secret prisons … and Condi’s people are answering that everything they do is legal, consitutional, etc but they are not denying it … sounds like the EU has found the angle for going after W and crew …

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11…..38;emc=rss

they mention that WaPo agreed to not name the countries involved … they are just so obliging, eh?

“Froomkin: What does it say about the president of the United States that he won’t go anywhere near ordinary citizens any more? And that he’ll only speak to captive audiences?…”

What does it say about “We the people…” that he is still in office & we (and the rest of the world) are “taking it” ?

*real sad*

“There’s this peculiar asymmetry in time which is that you can know
everything you want about the past and you can’t change a bit of it
and you can know absolutely nothing about the future but what you
do changes everything.” – Stewart Brand

“What does it say about the president of the United States that he won’t go anywhere near ordinary citizens any more? And that he’ll only speak to captive audiences?”

I have so many responses that I just keeled over in an apopletic fit…must…try…to…type…a…response…

Tonight I listened to the recently re-released Springsteen CD ‘Born To Run.’ It was originally released in 1975. The second cut titled ‘Tenth Avenue Freeze-out’ caught my attention. The lyrics are prophetic:
“Teardrops on the city
Bad Scooter searching for his groove
Seems like the whole world is walking pretty
And you cant find the room to move
Well everybody better move over, that’s all
Cause I’m running on the badside
And I got my back up against the wall.”

The last stanza is even better.
“When the change was made uptown
And the Big Man joined the band
From the coastline to to the city
All the pretties raise their hands
I’m gonna sit back right easy and laugh
When Scooter and the Big Man bust this
city in half.”
Hmmm, Bruce as a modern day Nostradamus?

Pretty sure it was Graham Parker who said that – irregardless, the quote fits.

OT, but Jane or Redd, have you ever checked up to see just who’s visiting this blog? I’m quite curious.

Bubble Boy is suffering an ANOMIC BREAKDOWN. Psychoanalyze him all you want, doesn’t change that fact. To once more quote the Graham Parker (who is a genius): “There is nothing to hold onto when gravity betrays you.”

Yeah, I am redundant on this point. But, I also am pretty sure I am right.

Nitpick, because urban legends are a pet peeve of mine: While Michael Jackson is extremely weird and pathetic, he never slept in an oxygen chamber. He briefly got into one while touring a hospital burn ward, someone evidently took a picture, and the rest is fake history.

Fitz!