I hear our leaders poo poo conspiracy theories, but I believe they are completely tuned in to what Naomi talks about. They know what is happening and are preparing for it…preparing for their own survival. They are putting tools in place for their own survival. Iraq is a great big trial run (even coincidentally) for what will happen here in the usa when the frogs leap out of the hot pot. The frogs will have a steep learning curve at being effective patriots, while the administration will already be up to speed, given their training at rooting out other patriotic movements in Iraq and around the world…in their war on terror (or freedom). How ever you want to put it.

Fly-by and I don’t think it’s OT–just got a call from my daughter who took my 4-yr-old grandson to Bee Movie this afternoon. Right in the middle of the previews was–wait for it–a music video called Citizen Solder. Targeted to the kids touting the National Guard. Apparently also available on the NG website.

Targeting 4-year-olds. Daughter Sunshine told her son not to bee-bop to it, it was govt propaganda. A couple of mothers bundled up their kids and left. Much muttering in the theatre.

Right up there in the Hall of Shame of BushCo ideas.

As Daughter Sunshine said, Canada’s lookin’ better and better.

We are in endless war with EastAsia. Thank you Naomi, for your voice!

Here is a YouTube of that Citizen Soldier

I would really think thatit would have a restricted rating for the violence in it. Lots of hard-core right wing supporters commenting on it in the YouTube comments section that fail to understand the History of the National Gaurd and how it has eventually become just another part of the Army….even to the point where Governors and State Legislatures have no control over their assignments.

Naomi, wasn’t Hitler popular when the NAZIs assumed power? Isn’t that a key difference, that most Americans despise Bush and Cheney? They would have to stage a coup before the election in 2008 and they have very little support. I don’t see how they can get away with it at this point, unless there is another major terrorist attack or a major recession.

There could be a substitute by another, more popular, individual. One who believes that military and police power should be ustilized domestically against certain “dangerous” internal forces. One that is populist, but only towards certain sectors (not women, immigrants, unions, those with pre-existing health problems, those that use public facilities like public schools or libraries, etc.).

People often say “follow the money”…but equally important is to “follow the movements” that associate with a charismatic figure. These may serve as the machines that are granted privekleges in the cabinet or government for their support. For example, Bush created a whole Office of Faith-Based Initiatives to dispense largesse to those that came out during his political campaigns. Blackwater got contracts in exchange for Erik Princes political contributions.

So look at the “supporters” too!

perris @ 33

I would also like to ask naomi if she thinks pakistan’s suspension of the constitution was under direction of cheney’s office as a trial balloon to see what they would face if they tried it here in the states

You know I was not inclined to think any such thing until this morning. I saw a piece that seem to `explain’ that the crackdown was in RESPONSE to `activist judges.’ And this of course is not a Pakistani phrase, it is a Bush phrase. And I thought, well who is spinning Musharraf to this reporter? Not until that point had there been any hint of sympathy for the dictator. Also important to note: they rounded up hundreds of lawyers and activists right away. How is that possible? This is why I am so flipped out about the watch list — no at 775000 americans: when they are preparing for a crackdown they keep these people on a list. I read IBM and the Holocaust recently that showed that IBM colluded with Hitler in providing data punch technology to identify everyone so fully that when it was time to round them up it went like clockwork.

And who would have told Musharraf about Abraham Lincoln suspending habeas corpus, and other Civil Liberties during the Civil War? Musharraf used this example to indicate that he was justified in his actions IF it protected the nation.

It’s almost as if John Yoo was a consultant!

You hear the same thing when right-wingers say that the Constitution isn’t a suicide pact. In other words fear trumps freedom.

The challenge for Liberals is epitomized by Donna Edwards’ campaign supported by FDL’s particpants. Vote out Bush Dogs and machine politicians of any stripe; vote in those willing to pursue change for the better, not just their own pocketbooks or power.

Bushistas tolerate hypocrisy. They thrive on it when it comes accompanied by pandering to their prejudices. Hence, the Rove model of feeding red meat to the 24 percenters.

Liberals loathe hypocrisy, lying inconsistency, and the politicians who sell it. They won’t fund it, vote for it, or support it.

perris @ 33

I would also like to ask naomi if she thinks pakistan’s suspension of the constitution was under direction of cheney’s office as a trial balloon to see what they would face if they tried it here in the states

I would not be surprised at all.

To that I’d add Katrina as a trial experiment of the public’s response to abandonment by the federal government in a crisis.
Or was that event just pure ineptitude on the Neocon Republicans’ part? Same end, different means.

I would also like to ask naomi if she thinks pakistan’s suspension of the constitution was under direction of cheney’s office as a trial balloon to see what they would face if they tried it here in the states

I would not be surprised at all.

I like the underlying optimism which you must have or you wouldn’t have bothered to write a book instead of moving to the South of France and washing your hands of the whole disaster.

That’s the same feeling that I get when I come here every day, to vent and complain but to recharge with an optimism that Americans have a revolutionary DNA and we just need to tap into it again.

As Churchill reportedly said “Americans will always do the right thing – after they’ve exhausted all other alternatives”
Thank you Naomi, you are a true patriot!