now that all of the hoopla is over surrounding the elections- perhaps we can get on with what we need to do. i have been talking for quite awhile about america being at a crossroads- will we remain an open and free republic? or will we be a nation of people who cede our civil liberties in the name of safety from an unknown threat?
i continue to be amazed at the sheer number of people who deliberately choose not to participate in life unless it directly effects them. they deliberately don't want to know about ugly things because they live in a fantasy world bubble. we all know people and places in this country that believe this way. that is a choice and it is a choice that we, the people, have made. it matters little whether democrats or republicans are in charge in the grander scheme of things- what matters is that the neo cons are not in control. they have single mindedly destroyed america in 12 short years. what we have enjoyed for over 220 years- our constitutional way of life- they have taken away from us with a few short strokes of a pen. for what? for control and power.
we are not so different from iraq these days- and i said as much in an apology email to riverbend of baghdad burning. i apologized for being an american and for what my country has done to hers. apparently, 600 or more folks in the armed services agree- and have signed a petition against rumsfeld. sadly, america is in such a mess, it is difficult to know where to start to clean it up. sadly, there are many in this country who don't care about that or actually agree with the direction that this country is headed in. that is what saddens me the most. we have americans spying on other americans and we have a government with the power to intern people- citizens and non citizens alike- indefinitely without regard to civil liberties. we now have a government that can post troops wherever and whenever they feel like it- without checks and balances. so much for the bill of rights.
we have folks in this country who continue to believe in the ted haggards and the george bushes and the rick santorums, et al- why? because they back single issues. they believe in a brand of religion that teaches bigotry, war and hatred for their fellow man- in the name of god and country of course. time and again- scandal after scandal- they remain loyal because to think independently is a foreign concept. these are the same folks who accuse the militant muslims of being mired in the 7th century- and are the same folks who believe in rolling back civil rights era legislation- that protects the most vulnerable folks in america- in order to allow their bigotry to run rampant. these are the same folks who want white folks to have more babies in order to keep the status quo. these are the same folks who want women relegated to menial jobs or to stay at home altogether. these are the same folks who sit next to you and hand you the offering plate at sunday services.
so- what do we do? where are we going? what is going to happen? no idea. cheney told stephanopolous last week in an interview- that he doesn't really care about public opinion- they are going to keep on keepin' on in the same vein. the president will veto any legislation that the congress puts out that he doesn't like- and life will go on as usual. we have lost the glue that has held us together for over 220 years- our constitution. without that- we are just different ideologies living together. we have lost our ability to compromise and to want to compromise. we have begun to disrespect each other and become repressive to folks who are different than ourselves. usually when that happens- the nation is on a path towards the end. one only has to look at ancient civilizations to see that- mongolia, persia, greek, rome, britain- and germany. we are a decaying way of life. will we be the world's superpower again? i personally don't think so. globalization will see to that. all of these folks who fear change and want to go back in time are in for a rude awakening i predict. shit's going to get worse before it gets better.
we have a very real opportunity here- the voters of america have spoken in a decisive midterm election. we can change the course our country is taking and we can make america a better place and the world a better place too- if we keep fighting. it is a committment- not a fly by night- oh i voted and now things will be fine- kind of deal. the neo cons are not happy about losing. they have already started gearing up for the next election hoping to take back their power. the dirty tricks of this election may be behind us- but make no mistake- the negativity and nastiness of the previous few weeks will continue. they haven't gone away- they have just faded into the background and joined a think tank or lobby group to continue to push for the same agenda. please don't be fooled into complacency again. they haven't gone away and they are just as dangerous as ever. now, we have two groups to hold accountable- the ones we voted out- and the ones we voted in. be vigilant and continue the fight.
15 comments:
Excellent post. I am still amazed that the elections went this well.
Take a deep breath, lay the mouse down, and slowly back away from the keyboard.:)
The myriad of questions you ask will not be fixed in two years. As much as we gained in this election, let us not forget the 36 traitorous Democrats who voted for Bush's immunity bill. If, in two years, we can find a way out of this war, we will have accomplished a mammoth task in and of itself, and should give us the White House in 08.
The course we as a nation embark upon, will depend solely upon us, the people, for both parties have proven themselves to be unreliable at one time or another.
That means we have to tell them exactly what we want, and threaten them with our vote, just as happened yesterday. A lot of professional politicians lost, because they misjudged us, the people.
The largest task facing us today will be maintaining that anger, that disgust, with the status quo. If we can do that, then we ultimately will get people in office who will listen, and your questions will be answered favorably.
i have no problem maintaining my anger and disgust. the dems have disgusted me almost as much as the neo cons. i am not at all thrilled with pelosi- and some of the dinos who are in must be cleaned out- as well as the liebermans. i just worry about folks not realizing that this was just one rung on a tall ladder to fixing what ails this country and that we can't rely on others to do it for us. lazy is not an option.
Well said ! !
I worry about Pelosi, Reid, and Dean wrecking yesterdays good work by the American people.
We have to drive the final stake into the neo-cons!
You're absolutely right! This is only the beginning.
The neoconservative agenda is dead. What remains is cleaning up their mess.
Actually, I am happy about Lieberman, the Vermont senate race and even DINOS like Nelson. I am not sure I would have voted for Lieberman, but unlike the Republicans, the Democrats are truly a big tent party. That tent should not be so big as to embrace arrogance, bigotry and unchecked nationalism, but those were factors that killed the GOP majority.
The Democrats have to be a national party. We cannot survive on the coastal and Great Lakes states alone.
We won. We need to move on...and out. Out of Iraq, out of this debt, out of this mentality of fear this administration has pushed on too many of us. Let the Republicans hop in bed with their base like the lapdogs that they are; in 2006, they ignored moderates and independents, but moderates and independents did not ignore them.
Dean's strategy, it would seem, may not be a bad idea after all.
Have faith guys. Take a deep breath. Tuesday and Wednesday were great days. His Majesty got his dick knocked in the dirt.
I am as happy as you are, b.
And I agree with you 100% that we have to watch both sides.
I will be so pissed if the Dems allow themselves to be corrupted the way the GOP was.
Notice how Pelosi stressed how ethical they would be. Methinks she hath read the exit poll surveys. Good. They better behave because I don't think we can stand another 12 years of GOP Congressional rule, no matter who is in the big house.
we won
what fun
the gop is
on the run
and chuck, very well put, but I am not sure he has one (and I REALLY don't want to find out.)
=)
Betmo,
People not participating bothers me too. I've been thinking alot a bout it and I think all I can do is influence the people that are in my life. My children, my family, my friends. If I can get them interested then maybe they in turn can get people interested.
mary- that's all you really can do- whether it be family and friends or working for the dnc in this case. you can try to inform and educate but unless folks are willing- well- you can't force them to do the right thing.
Really great post betmo. The ending was right on.
then your, "i have no problem maintaining my anger and disgust." was like taking words right out of my mouth. Musta been while you were kis.. er I mean blogging with me.
Still a lot of work to be done! The election was just the first step.
Now that our side has a majority in both houses they need to actually USE the subpeona power and launch a REAL independent investigation into 9/11.
One thing that struck me as odd in the days after 9/11 was Bush saying "We will not tolerate conspiracy theories [regarding 9/11]". Sure enough there have been some wacky conspiracy theories surrounding the events of that day. The most far-fetched and patently ridiculous one that I've ever heard goes like this: Nineteen hijackers who claimed to be devout Muslims but yet were so un-Muslim as to be getting drunk all the time, doing cocaine and frequenting strip clubs decided to hijack four airliners and fly them into buildings in the northeastern U.S., the area of the country that is the most thick with fighter bases. After leaving a Koran on a barstool at a strip bar after getting shitfaced drunk on the night before, then writing a suicide note/inspirational letter that sounded like it was written by someone with next to no knowledge of Islam, they went to bed and got up the next morning hung over and carried out their devious plan. Nevermind the fact that of the four "pilots" among them there was not a one that could handle a Cessna or a Piper Cub let alone fly a jumbo jet, and the one assigned the most difficult task of all, Hani Hanjour, was so laughably incompetent that he was the worst fake "pilot" of the bunch. Nevermind the fact that they received very rudimentary flight training at Pensacola Naval Air Station, making them more likely to have been C.I.A. assets than Islamic fundamentalist terrorists. So on to the airports. These "hijackers" somehow managed to board all four airliners with their tickets, yet not even ONE got his name on any of the flight manifests. So they hijack all four airliners and at this time passengers on United 93 start making a bunch of cell phone calls from 35,000 feet in the air to tell people what was going on. Nevermind the fact that cell phones wouldn't work very well above 4,000 feet, and wouldn't work at ALL above 8,000 feet. But the conspiracy theorists won't let that fact get in the way of a good fantasy. That is one of the little things you "aren't supposed to think about". Nevermind that one of the callers called his mom and said his first and last name, more like he was reading from a list than calling his own mom. Anyway, when these airliners each deviated from their flight plan and didn't respond to ground control, NORAD would any other time have followed standard operating procedure (and did NOT have to be told by F.A.A. that there were hijackings because they were watching the same events unfold on their own radar) which means fighter jets would be scrambled from the nearest base where they were available on standby within a few minutes, just like every other time when airliners stray off course. But of course on 9/11 this didn't happen, not even close. Somehow these "hijackers" must have used magical powers to cause NORAD to stand down, as ridiculous as this sounds because total inaction from the most high-tech and professional Air Force in the world would be necessary to carry out their tasks. So on the most important day in its history the Air Force was totally worthless. Then they had to make one of the airliners look like a smaller plane, because unknown to them the Naudet brothers had a videocamera to capture the only known footage of the North Tower crash, and this footage shows something that is not at all like a jumbo jet, but didn't have to bother with the South Tower jet disguising itself because that was the one we were "supposed to see". Anyway, as for the Pentagon they had to have Hani Hanjour fly his airliner like it was a fighter plane, making a high G-force corkscrew turn that no real airliner can do, in making its descent to strike the Pentagon. But these "hijackers" wanted to make sure Rumsfeld survived so they went out of their way to hit the farthest point in the building from where Rumsfeld and the top brass are located. And this worked out rather well for the military personnel in the Pentagon, since the side that was hit was the part that was under renovation at the time with few military personnel present compared to construction workers. Still more fortuitous for the Pentagon, the side that was hit had just before 9/11 been structurally reinforced to prevent a large fire there from spreading elsewhere in the building. Awful nice of them to pick that part to hit, huh? Then the airliner vaporized itself into nothing but tiny unidentifiable pieces no bigger than a fist, unlike the crash of a real airliner when you will be able to see at least some identifiable parts, like crumpled wings, broken tail section etc. Why, Hani Hanjour the terrible pilot flew that airliner so good that even though he hit the Pentagon on the ground floor the engines didn't even drag the ground!! Imagine that!! Though the airliner vaporized itself on impact it only made a tiny 16 foot hole in the building. Amazing. Meanwhile, though the planes hitting the Twin Towers caused fires small enough for the firefighters to be heard on their radios saying "We just need 2 hoses and we can knock this fire down" attesting to the small size of it, somehow they must have used magical powers from beyond the grave to make this morph into a raging inferno capable of making the steel on all forty-seven main support columns (not to mention the over 100 smaller support columns) soften and buckle, then all fail at once. Hmmm. Then still more magic was used to make the building totally defy physics as well as common sense in having the uppermost floors pass through the remainder of the building as quickly, meaning as effortlessly, as falling through air, a feat that without magic could only be done with explosives. Then exactly 30 minutes later the North Tower collapses in precisely the same freefall physics-defying manner. Incredible. Not to mention the fact that both collapsed at a uniform rate too, not slowing down, which also defies physics because as the uppermost floors crash into and through each successive floor beneath them they would shed more and more energy each time, thus slowing itself down. Common sense tells you this is not possible without either the hijackers' magical powers or explosives. To emphasize their telekinetic prowess, later in the day they made a third building, WTC # 7, collapse also at freefall rate though no plane or any major debris hit it. Amazing guys these magical hijackers. But we know it had to be "Muslim hijackers" the conspiracy theorist will tell you because (now don't laugh) one of their passports was "found" a couple days later near Ground Zero, miraculously "surviving" the fire that we were told incinerated planes, passengers and black boxes, and also "survived" the collapse of the building it was in. When common sense tells you if that were true then they should start making buildings and airliners out of heavy paper and plastic so as to be "indestructable" like that magic passport. The hijackers even used their magical powers to bring at least seven of their number back to life, to appear at american embassies outraged at being blamed for 9/11!! BBC reported on that and it is still online. Nevertheless, they also used magical powers to make the american government look like it was covering something up in the aftermath of this, what with the hasty removal of the steel debris and having it driven to ports in trucks with GPS locators on them, to be shipped overseas to China and India to be melted down. When common sense again tells you that this is paradoxical in that if the steel was so unimportant that they didn't bother saving some for analysis but so important as to require GPS locators on the trucks with one driver losing his job because he stopped to get lunch. Hmmmm. Further making themselves look guilty, the Bush administration steadfastly refused for over a year to allow a commission to investigate 9/11 to even be formed, only agreeing to it on the conditions that they get to dictate its scope, meaning it was based on the false pretense of the "official story" being true with no other alternatives allowed to be considered, handpicked all its members making sure the ones picked had vested interests in the truth remaining buried, and with Bush and Cheney only "testifying" together, only for an hour, behind closed doors, with their attorneys present and with their "testimonies" not being recorded by tape or even written down in notes. Yes, this whole story smacks of the utmost idiocy and fantastic far-fetched lying, but it is amazingly enough what some people believe. Even now, five years later, the provably false fairy tale of the "nineteen hijackers" is heard repeated again and again, and is accepted without question by so many Americans. Which is itself a testament to the innate psychological cowardice of the American sheeple, i mean people, and their abject willingness to believe something, ANYTHING, no matter how ridiculous in order to avoid facing a scary uncomfortable truth. Time to wake up America.
Debunking Popular Mechanics lies:
http://www.lookingglassnews.org/viewstory.php?storyid=6880
someone else debunking Popular Mechanics crap:
http://www.serendipity.li/wot/pop_mech/reply_to_popular_mechanics.htm
still more debunking Poopular Mechanics:
http://letsroll911.org/ipw-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?t=5505
and still more debunking of Popular Mechanics:
http://www.reopen911.org/ericreubt.htm
Poopular Mechanics staff replaced just before laughable “debunking” article written:
http://www.reopen911.org/hiddenhand.htm
another neo-con 9/11 hit piece explodes, is retracted:
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/august2006/180806hitpiece.htm
Professor Steven Jones debunks the N.I.S.T. “report” as well as the F.E.M.A. one and the 9/11 commission "report":
http://www.infowars.com/articles/sept11/wtc_buildings_collapse_steven_jones.htm
N.I.S.T. scientist interviewed:
http://www.teamliberty.net/id235.html
F.B.I. says no hard evidence linking Osama bin Laden to 9/11 which is why his wanted poster says nothing about 9/11:
http://forum.afghansite.com/index.php?showtopic=9349
Fire Engineering magazine says important questions about the Twin Tower “collapses” still need to be addressed:http://fe.pennnet.com/Articles/Article_Display.cfm?Section=OnlineArticles&SubSection=Display&PUBLICATION_ID=25&ARTICLE_ID
Twin Towers’ construction certifiers say they should have easily withstood it:
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/november2004/121104easilywithstood.htm
USA Today interview with the last man out of the South Tower, pursued by a fireball:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/sept11/2001/12/19/usat-escape.htm
Janitor who heard explosions and escaped has testimony ignored by 9/11 whitewash commission:
http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/ignoring_9-11.html
Janitor starts speaking out about it and his apartment is burglarized, laptop stolen:
http://kurtnimmo.blogspot.com/2005/08/apartment-of-nine-eleven-hero-william_28.html
Firefighters tell of multiple explosions:
http://www.wnbc.com/news/1315651/detail.html
Eyewitnesses tell of explosions:
http://research.amnh.org/users/tyson/essays/TheHorrorTheHorror.html
Interview with another firefighter telling of explosions:
http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/Banaciski_Richard.txt
Firefighter saw “sparkles” (strobe lights on detonators?) before “collapse”:
http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/Fitzpatrick_Tom.txt
Other eyewitnesses talk of seeing/hearing explosions:
http://georgewashington.blogspot.com/2005/11/more-proof-911-inside-job-witnesses-to.html
Surviving eyewitnesses talk of multiple explosions there:
http://www.thememoryhole.org/911/veliz-bombs.htm
Cutter charge explosions clearly visible:
http://www.rense.com/general63/cutt.htm
The pyroclastic wave (that dust cloud that a second before was concrete) and how it wouldn’t be possible without explosives:
http://st12.startlogic.com/~xenonpup/physics/
Detailed description of the demolition of the Twin Towers:
http://gordonssite.tripod.com/id2.html
Freefall rate of “collapses” math:
http://www.911blimp.net/prf_FreeFallPhysics.shtml
More about their freefall rate “collapses”:
http://www.serendipity.li/wot/second_wave.htm
Video footage of the controlled demolition of the Twin Towers:
http://www.plaguepuppy.net/public_html/video%20archive/
Video footage of the controlled demolition of WTC # 7 building:
http://911research.wtc7.net/talks/wtc/videos.html
More
http://www.wtc7.net/
Photos of the Pentagon’s lawn (look at these and see if you can tell me with a straight face that a jumbo jet crashed there):
http://www.911blimp.net/cached/HuntTheBoeing!.htm
More photos of this amazing lawn at the Pentagon:
http://cryptogon.com/docs/Introducing%20the%20amazing%20Penta-Lawn%202000!%20(9-11).htm
Very unconvincing fake “Osama” “confession” tape:
http://welfarestate.com/wtc/faketape/
More about the fake “Osama” tape:
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/osamatape2.html
Fake “Mohammed Atta” “suicide” letter:
http://www.welfarestate.com/wtc/fake-letters.txt
Commercial pilots disagree with “official” 9/11 myth:
http://www.prisonplanet.com/september_11_us_government_accused.htm
More commercial jet pilots say “official” myth is impossible:
http://www.masternewmedia.org/2001/10/31/commercial_jet_pilots_analysis_of_the_twin_tower_attack.htm
Impossibility of cell phone calls from United 93:
http://www.physics911.net/cellphoneflight93.htm
More about the impossible cell phone calls:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO408B.html
Experiment proves cell phone calls were NOT possible from anywhere near the altitude the “official” myth has them at:
http://physics911.ca/org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=9
Fake Barbara Olson phone call:
http://www.vialls.com/lies911/lies.htm
Where the hell was the Air Force?
http://www.welfarestate.com/wtc/af-scramble.txt
More about the Air Force impotence question:
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0331-11.htm
Sept. 10th 2001, Pentagon announces it is “missing” $2.3 trillion (now why do you think they picked THAT day to announce it? So it could be buried the next day by 9/11 news):
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/01/29/eveningnews/main325985.shtml
Unocal pipeline-through-Afghanistan plan:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0513/p05s01-wosc.html
Unocal pipeline-through-Afghanistan plan mentioned:
http://thetyee.ca/Views/2006/05/19/OutOfAfghanistan
More on Unocal Afghan pipeline:
http://www.newscentralasia.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1031
The attack on Afghanistan was planned in the summer of 2001, months before 9/11:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1550366.stm
Pentagon deliberately misled 9/11 Commission:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=EGG20060802&articleId=2887
9/11 whitewash Commission and NORAD day:
http://fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/071204_final_fraud.shtml
The incredible fish tales of the 9/11 Commission examined:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=%20GR20051213&articleId=1478
Jeb Bush declares state of emergency 4 days before 9/11 for Florida, saying it will help respond to terrorism:
http://www.eionews.addr.com/psyops/news/jebknew.htm
Steel debris removal from Ground Zero, destruction of evidence:
http://911research.wtc7.net/wtc/groundzero/cleanup.html
Over two hundred incriminating bits of 9/11 evidence shown in the mainstream media:
http://thewebfairy.com/killtown/911smokingguns.html
Tracking the “hijackers”:
http://www.welfarestate.com/911/
“Hijacker” patsies:
http://911review.org/Wiki/HijackersPatsies.shtml
“Hijackers” receiving flight training at Pensacola Naval Air Station:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0208/S00085.htm
No Arabs on Flight 77:
http://www.sierratimes.com/03/07/02/article_tro.htm
Flight manifests (tell me if you find any Arabs):
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/trade.center/victims/AA11.victims.html
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/trade.center/victims/AA77.victims.html
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/trade.center/victims/ua93.victims.html
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/trade.center/victims/ua175.victims.html
Thirty experts say “official” 9/11 myth impossible:
http://911fraud.blogspot.com/2005/06/us-governments-offical-911-story-is.html
“Al Qaeda” website tracks back to Maryland:
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/alqmaryland.html
Al Qaeda videos uploaded from U.S. government website:
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/july2004/140704governmentwebsite.htm
Operation: Northwoods, a plan for a false-flag “terror” attack to be blamed on Castro to use it as a pretext for America to invade Cuba, thankfully not approved by Kennedy back in 1962 but was approved by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and sent to his desk:
http://www.prisonplanet.com/us_terror_plan_cuba_invasion_pretext.html
As much as we gained in this election, let us not forget the 36 traitorous Democrats who voted for Bush's immunity bill. If, in two years, we can find a way out of this war, we will have accomplished a mammoth task in and of itself, and should give us the White House in 08.
Very good points. Perhaps a concrete thing to do: write Pelosi and remind her, look, you represent a heavily Democratic district where almost 200,000 people turned out on the streets to protest the then planned Iraq invasion, and you didn't have the ovarios to vote against it. How is it that all of these people knew it was a bad idea, had access to information on the fake reasons for going to war, and she did not? Some reminders of this type could be useful.
Betmo - of all the links in the post, the one that disturbs me the most is the one about those Quiverfull families. Chilling, sick, etc., what can I say.
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