Let's face some realities.

[Cyrano]

Many of us assume that most human beings are similar. That we all have similar hopes, wishes and desires. That we want to live good, fulfilling lives without harming others.

Well, it's time for us to wake up. We are under a lunatic right-wing assault in this country that makes McCarthyism look like nothing more than grade school bullies run amok.

And we are under attack from right-wing "Christians" intent on making the Salem Witch Trials and the Inquisition look like a Halloween prank. They're after every school board, textbook, library, TV show, book, idea and thought around which they can wrap their ignorant, dark-age tentacles.

These people are deadly serious about their goals and are hard at work to attain them every second of every day. We, on the other hand, are trying to figure out how to get a Democratic senate or house majority in 2006.

We must, must wake up. There isn't going to be any 2006 election if these fanatics attain their goals.

And what's so incredibly frustrating is that, given that they have all the power, I'm damned if I know what the hell we can do. We Dem's are good at ideas and suggestions and they are all welcome. But please think seriously before answering this question. What can we REALISTICALLY do to stop them?

[InvisibleTouch]

1. Go to the "Economic Activism" DU Group

You're right that we're seriously lacking in political power these days. But we have a huge amount of economic power. We just have to coordinate it and apply it in a focused way. We have to get our people back into positions of influence from the ground up, starting with the local school boards, but that's a long-term project. What we can do, realistically, right now, is undercut the Republican power base - which is money, pure and simple. Every little bit helps. And as a diversified effort on millions of fronts (every one of us is an individual element of power), they can't stamp us out.

BTW, I agree with your assessment of "how the other half thinks." It's not a mindset that rational, decent people can easily wrap their minds around, because it's so alien. But you're absolutely right - it exists. And we have to realize what we're up against. Not a demographic that's going to respond to logic, reason, friendship, or empathy. It's a demographic that responds to only one thing - when they're hit where it hurts. In the pocketbook.

[Cyrano]

6. InvisibleTouch

I appreciate your thoughtful response. The issue I take exception to is that the other half will respond to issues that hit them in their pocketbooks.

It's impossible to tell how many people voted against their own pocketbooks this year. But any economic evaluation of the south and the plains/mountain states which went to Bush indicate that we're looking at people who are incapable of grasping what is best for their own well being.

[InvisibleTouch]

8. Voting against their own interests....

This is true, as a great bumper sticker has said: "A working person who votes Republican is like a chicken who votes Colonel Sanders." And yet, they do it. My "targets," if you will, aren't the individual voters who are too stupid or too duped to vote for their own best interests (clean water? clean air? health care?), but the mega-corporations that keep the rethugs in power. If the support structure tumbles, the opportunity is open for us to move into the empty niches and clean up the mess.

[knowbody0]

2. we are all awaiting the investigation of fraud

but you are right, we need to collectively remain pro-active. we are up against insane hubris. you notice george going around the world telling countries he is the boss and they better do as he says. his receptions are laughable, george in a poncho-give me a break! gringo metal detectors. my point is this guy is delusional and on fast forward with his mandate.
the most difficult task is patience and i have none,we definitely need to stand against the theft of our nation.

[radwriter0555]

3. This is the dawn of the New American Naziism.

I don't believe there is anything we can do to stop it.

[Cyrano]

9. I wish I could disagree with you, but I don't know how.

I live in an area where there is a dwindling population of people who survived the concentration camps.

I know some of these incredible people and some of them are still very much with it. And they believe that they see it happening again. They fear for their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

[Malva Zebrina]

4. I agree with what you have said

but don't have an answer. What was done in the past, when the Christian religion performed theocracy by violence and repression and had virtual control over all the people?

The Purtians split and dissolved after a hundred years or so and why? What was happening that changed the outlook of the children and the grandchildren and caused them to outgrow that repressive religion?

Growth,trade, capitalism, a huge influx of people from other parts of the world, and commerce.

In other words, the way of life changed, and the descendants saw it to be better

The Bible did not change and it hasn't since then.

Still the same old stuff in there as was then and as was during all of the violent events and immoral undertakings of the followers.

Martin Luther bucked the hierarchy of the church and it's corrupted ways. He was successful, but why? The bible was certainly the same as always. Could it be the arrival of the printing press and other changes that affected society?

I know that probably is simplistic, but it is my conviction that in order for these extremists to be dealt a blow, there needs to be a major shift in some other aspect of society.

The Bible is and will still be the same and it begs the question that if it is indeed the same, how is that so much can be extracted from it as to cause violence, chaos, murdereous instincts to be sanctioned under it at any given time, under any interpretation any self proclaimed minister can put forth.

[K-W]

5. We can stop them by organizing to win elections.

We have to do exactly what they did, influence elections.

[Cyrano]

7. "Influence elections?"

Sorry, but I take exception with the word "influence."

There's enough documentation to show that the 2000 election was stolen in Florida.

And there are enough questions being raised about this year's election (by Bev Harris, not the main stream media), that we have a pretty good idea that we've been screwed again.

Stalin said, "It doesn't matter who casts the votes. It's who counts the votes."

The Republican party has been "counting" the votes for quite a while now. And, pardon the profanity, there's not a fucking thing we've been able to do about it.

[PurityOfEssence]

10. Cold-bloodedly take the House in '06

Great post, incidentally.

They couldn't even muster 1%, even after the gerrymandering of Texas.

It's as simple as this: you can't win if you're unwilling to vilify your opponent, especially when he/she has no compunction about calling you a traitor, god-hater or degenerate.

All energies should be concentrated on the House: find competitive races and tar the incumbent Republican as a greedy freeloader on the poor, a pro-torture, pro-war, anti-worker, corrupt, economic monarchist and hound them on every little nuance of their votes. The simple truth is this: when fighting against an incumbent legislator, the cobbled-together bills provide many incidences for selective representation of their actions. Nothing shows this as more obvious than Zell Miller's screed at the Republican Convention: Cheney followed this hatespew with a smug homily about his righteousness, even when virtually everything Zell misrepresented about Kerry could have been said about Cheney's voting record, and even worse things could have been said.

When you say someone votes against the F-14, it sounds like they've tried to kill the project, when they've only allocated less money than asked for for that system. (The F-14 was operational before Kerry became a Senator, he never tried to kill it, and he never tried to marginalize it through funding; he voted against some appropriations bill that heaped this together with other systems) Cheney, on the other hand, tried to kill some of these major systems, and THERE'S EVEN VIDEO FOOTAGE of him trying to do so when he was Secretary of Defense.

Learn from the Bad Guys: slag the enemy with emotional attacks that are "factually correct", regardless of the overall dynamic.

We're whipped and cowed right now, but it'll only take a change of something like 17 seats out of 435 to take back the House. There are many weak people, even in red states, who can be defeated with some simple CLASS WARFARE. Why did you back giving Bush a half-million dollar break in his personal taxes while defunding school lunches and other school programs? This must be used to tar vulnerable individual Congresspeople.

It can work.

The Republicans made huge gains in the House in '94, they lost seats in '96, '98, '00, won a paltry 7 seats in '02 even with all their fear mongering and vote theft, and did poorly this last election. They are very vulnerable, and this would be a major shift of power.

Although I harbor gleeful hopes of impeaching Scalia, this is the most important avenue to pursue.