Well, we got our Vietnam, and I feel like shit

[SweetZombieJesus]

Back in high school, I remember having conversations with my friends about how royally our generation got screwed, and why we're so cynical and apathetic because there's no real evils to fight against, and how our parents were "lucky" to have grown up during the Civil Rights struggles and Vietnam.

Well, now we've got both of those unfolding, and we've got it much, much worse than our parents did, because EVERYONE is against us, including them. We have no Walter Cronkites left, all we have are a bunch of Geraldos at best. Where are our Abbie Hoffmans? Where are our Huey Newtons, Malcolm X's, and MLKs?

The Bush Administration makes Nixon's administration look like FDR. His presidency has been nothing more than an all out assualt on everything we hold dear. In the span of two years, he's flushed our security, our economy, our civil rights, our environment, and our standing in the world, however tenuous it was before, down the toilet, and he's wiped his ass with the Constitution.

And yet we keep screaming out in the Wilderness, and the media is only tentatively voicing our concerns, and even then they do so in such a vague, non-threatening way as to make it almost completely pointless. They're so fucking scared and cowed by this administration that they're careful not to even say the word "lie".

We should be out in the streets right now, but what are we doing? We're waiting for some mythical Messiah to deliver us, some deus ex machina to descend and save us from Bush.

It's all well and good for us to sit here and carp about the neverending stream of lies that they strafe us with, but why can't we organize and make these things happen?

If I had half a chance to go back in time, I'd slap the shit out of high school me, and tell myself what a stupid wish I'd made.

[wtmusic]

1. No don't go and get all superstitious SZJ

GWB woulda done it anyway

And by the way, Cronkite is back Aug. 1 with a syndicated column. Can't wait to hear what he has to say. Limbaugh has already been spinning him as being "senile".

[SweetZombieJesus]

3. I don't think I made it happen by any means

But I feel bad for ever wishing such a self-centered thing as that. I mean, I always feel the government is crooked and always have, but I never in a million years thought it would be carried out to such an extreme.

[Devlzown]

2. I couldn't agree more.

The elections next year are very important, but the elections won't solve everything. That's a year-and-a-half away, for Chrissakes! Who knows what kind of goodies are in store for us between now and then. As we've seen, a lot can happen in a day! There's no doubt that protests and speaking out are dangerous, but there's no reason they can't be fun and empowering as well. They made the best of things in the 60's, why can't we?

[TheReligiousLeft]

4. Only choice we have is to stand up as best we can

Yeah, I keep wishing for the days when I had my '88 T-bird and when I turned on NPR and the worse news of the day was that the stock market only went up 33 points.
Now I drive a '03 Sunfire, and skip the news because it is either depressing or deceptive and listen to KRS-One on my CD player (a CD player in a car, who'd a thunk it) at least I get better milage, of course the oil comes off the blood and sweat of our boys in Iraq.

[Frances]

5. I agree that Bush is worse than Nixon

and I am so frightened about our future that I have become addicted to DU.

But I think the 60s were very hard times indeed. I've been to the Vietnam memorial several times just to pay my respects to the young people who lost their lives there. Also I have been to the exhibit of the things that people left at the memorial.

And you have to remember that we saw so many leaders murdered: Medgar Evers, the 3 young men in Mississippi, the Kennedy brothers, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X--all come to mind immediately.

There was so much sadness for me.

[SweetZombieJesus]

6. At least you HAD leaders

Where the hell are ours? As much as I love Dean, he's the only one I've seen that makes me feel inspired and optimistic. The rest (except Kucinich) make me feel exactly what I feel when I see Bush, only to a much lesser degree. Where are our actual leaders when we need them?

[Erika]

8. We Need to Start Yelling

And so far Dean is the only democrat with enough guts to yell. We need to quit acting like the GOP do (victims) and start demanding our reps represent us. And we need to open our pockets to democrat candidates! Bush has the corporate world donating, let's us show the individual donations to the democrats.

[are_we_united_yet]

7. I'm actually a little surprised

Initially, watching Bush and Rummy take shit was very gratifying as they formerly seemed invincible. But I get queasy every time I hear of a US casualty. If only Bush hasn't won the election.

....wait he didn't!

[Erika]

9. No... Bush was Selected

More people voted for a democrat than they did Bush. Don't forget that. It shows you the wisdom of the American people.

[are_we_united_yet]

11. They are scary aren't they?

[madrchsod]

10. we had the streets

but we lacked communication.the internet is our street now..there`s been alot accomplished by this network. there is no way that there could have been the masses of people n the world all at once taking to the streets. never in any old 60`s protesters mind could we imagine that this could happen.. also the ablilty to access all the information at our finger tips from everywhere across the world. we never saw a overseas newspaper unless you lived in a big city.. now i can read as many as i want anytime i want...of course all this info has to translate into action and it has been in many different ways and levels..i use this knowledge to form my replies to those who wonder what the fuck is going on..i use one on one discussion to try and show people what`s happening..others use this medium for taking it to the streets..and it seems we`re better than the 60`s street actions. one major difference or two i suppose is that this time there was everyone out in the street, during the 60`s we were`nt a diverse group. and more important there was a draft ,that`s one reason the klan is so careful not to bring that up..all hell would break loose if they reinstated the draft. there`salot of us oldies who fought against the war or fought in the war who won`t let their kids fight in this war.
in someways i wish the youth of this country would get off their asses and really do something about their schools but maybe that`s wishful thinking or maybe someday they will..that`s where the real revolution must start...

[Blind Tiresias]

13. Im not too worried....

but Im pissed. I seriously dont think bush will win in 2004 for 2 reasons. The good reason is that voter turnout is going to be much greater in this election with the vast majority of the new voters going against him. In order for this to happen the Democratic party officials must inspect and verify the efficacy of electronic machines with no paper trail.
Secondly, and this sucks, the war in Iraq is going to get worse. The biggest lie this administration has told is the whole "major combat operations" are over. His publicity stunt on the USS Lincoln is going to bite him in the ass. This was is NOT over, and will not be over for a long time. In fact, its going to get worse. Im just waiting for the one day the Iraqi resistance pull a barracks bombing or some sort of attack that takes scores of lives. They almost hit a C-130 with a SAM missle today. They are painting themselves into 2 separate corners. The first is my suspicion, that the bush junta are a gang of war criminals. The second is that the leader of the free world is an idiot, who cant properly screen his most important speech, who taunts our enemy like a junior high bully, and finally is too damn incompetent to lead this country. Neither is appealing...

[ConsAreLiars]

12. Look forward to to the good fight.

My son (a flower-child in the best sense) once lamented that he wasn't living in the 60's. At that time I told him that I understood his wish to be a part of such a life-affirming movement, but the horrors that called forth that rebellion were part of that picture. Unfortunately lately I've been able to reassure him that he now faces the same challenges.

You want MLK or Ghandi? Read Arundati Roy. You want a truthteller? Listen to Mike Malloy - or Mike Webb - or Guy James - or Randi Rhodes .... NOW, in contrast to then, we have some control over some segment of the media. See DU or Buzzflash or TakeBackThe Media or OurOwnMedia or WhiteRose or TVNewsLies or MWO or or Truthout or Bartcop or ....

Back then we started with ditto or (if lucky) mimeo machines capsble of producing a few hundred or thousand leaflets. We built up the tools we needed over time, we built printing presses and publishers and magazines, and many of these still exist and still serve.

You want Walter Cronkite? Peter Jennings is doing just as well, telling a little more of the truth than others, but then as now most newscasters let a bit of reality pass through. Enough for . But now we also have Robert Scheer and Robert Fisk and Indymedia and WorkingForChange and and Democracy Now! and hundreds more. Not to mention Michael Moore or Jon Stewart or the producers at WorldLinkTV or Free Speech TV.

You want a counterculture? Shit, there is no comparison. We've got every variety, from zen teachers to herbal healers (my son). Edward Abbey and Rachel Carson were (until recently) quoted in plaques on nature walks in national parks and monuments. We have the GLBQY (my daughter) and instead of being invisible as they were then, we now see mediawhores debate whether or not "they" are getting "too much" (as if that were possible) in the way of human rights. We have drum circles, we have the whole anti-WTO alliance, we have natural alliances of all sorts. We include a collection of oldsters (my generation) who are far more savvy and well-connected than those few survivors of the purges of the 50's who were able to serve during the 60's.

Back then we started with nothing. Nothing but outrage at the lies and the venality and the killing.

Don't fret about our capacity to organize. The streets are only one forum. We are far more organized and powerful than the few truth-seekers of the 60's even imagined possible.

And we will win.