From "The Nation"..."Anger should lead to action"

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

First, we grieve for what was lost--the opportunity, which flickered for a moment early on election day and then died, to steer the nation onto a more reasonable and less destructive path. At the same time, we salute the efforts of those many millions who mobilized themselves to achieve a better outcome.

Next, we are angry about what the election of George W. Bush portends for the country. Bush's victory will tighten the grip of the Republican Party's virtual monopoly on the institutions of the federal government. The checks and balances on presidential power contemplated by the country's Founders are in tatters. Bush's election gives him the chance to shape the Supreme Court to his purposes: two branches of the government possibly lost in a single election. Roe v. Wade and a host of other protections of basic human rights are at risk. Bush is bound to try to assist the Christian right in its fantastical efforts to "Christianize" public institutions. Further inroads into the liberties of Americans are likely, through a "Patriot Act II" and other legislation as well as by executive fiat. In the near term, a terrible acceleration of the violence in Iraq may be in the offing. In the longer term, new aggressive wars may be launched. The transfer through regressive tax cuts of hundreds of billions more from the poor and the middle class to the rich and the super-rich has been announced.

Anger should lead to action. TV anchors and the candidates themselves call for a new civility and ask the public to "come together" as one people. Pay no attention. The progressive movement in this country has suffered a huge reversal. But the struggle for the country's future--and its very soul--was anything but settled. It will be renewed at a higher level of intensity, and for higher stakes. There must be a fierce, protracted resistance in defense of democracy. The Nation dedicates itself to this cause. As a journalistic institution unbeholden to and uninfluenced by any economic interest or political power, we will continue to provide truthful information not available on a timely basis--or sometimes at all--from the mainstream news media, which too often during the campaign took slanders and pumped them up into running news stories while failing to hold the Administration accountable for its exaggerations and outright lies.

Events are likely to create new chances for opposition and resistance. At home and abroad, Bush has inherited his own messes. The sputtering American economy is now Bush's to repair. A much larger threat to his presidency is the deepening crisis of the global economy, now burdened by swollen US trade deficits and towering indebtedness to foreign creditors, including major trading partners like China. The establishment in both parties avoided this subject throughout the campaign, perhaps because they know it will mean a very painful economic reckoning.

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20041122&s=editors

[bullimiami]

1. FORGET IT. the time for action is now. or never.

there is no playing the game by the rules anymore. it is rigged and getting riggier. why pretend that this is a democracy.

[mdhunter]

2. "From "The Nation..."We stopped being relevant 15 years ago.""