Why We Are Screwed

[Dirty Hippie]

We will not Leave Iraq in my Lifetime –
I think Greg Palast has hit the nail on the head in his recent article.

“the five largest oil companies, pulled in $113 billion in profit in 2005 -- compared to a piddly $34 billion in 2002 before Operation Iraqi Liberation. In other words, it's been a good war for Big Oil.”

The bases we are building in Iraq are permanent. The Bush administration does not give a rat’s behind what the poll numbers say. As long as Bush and the Repubs have the support of the rich corporatists WE ARE SCREWED.

Republicans aren’t Jumping Ship -
There is a huge difference between opposing this war and even this president and actually switching sides and voting Dem. As I heard one Bushbot say on NPR “ we don’t always agree with the president but we still support him.” Folks, WE ARE SCREWED.

They Only Have to Steal Votes in a Few States-
Florida and Ohio. Enough said... WE ARE SCREWED.

Too Many DINOs-
With a few notable exceptions the Dem’s are sucking the corporate titty too. Very few in Congress have the people’s interest at heart therefore WE ARE SCREWED

Climate Change will not be Stopped –
Reducing CO2 emissions is not profitable. Jesus will clean it all up when he returns anyway. WE ARE SCREWED!

The Budget Deficit is Part of The Plan –
The goal is the destruction of all social programs. The Repubs would like to eliminate all social safety nets so we can be more like um… Bangladesh. WE ARE SCREWED

[Virginia Dare]

1. Unfortunately, this is all right on the MONEY....EOM

[porphyrian]

2. All the more reason for us to go down fighting.

We have nothing to lose.

[Pale Blue Dot]

3. I guess the only logical step is to give up.

Let's just shut this whole website down and get on with our screwed-up lives.

[cantstandbush]

4. DUers among the brightest people on earth. I hate when we are so right.

about what is wrong.

[pstans]

5. You forgot about Peak Oil

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_Oil
http://www.globalpublicmedia.com
http://www.peakoil.net
http://www.peakoil.org

Peak oil is the point in time when extraction of oil from the earth reaches its highest point and then begins to decline. We won't be able to say with certainty when we have reached peak oil until after the fact. Many experts say we have already reached the peak. Others say not yet, but within the next few years.

What does Peak Oil herald? It heralds the end of cheap energy. In just a short 100 year period our civilization has built a high reliance on cheap, abundant energy.

[Savannah Progressive]

6. I love those who will reply about needing a majority in Congress

Even if they are DINO's, especially if they are DINO's, because then we can try and convert them. Oh, we can convert Satan's helpers?

It won't matter soon, because with our party acting like, voting like, and talking like Repugnik Conservatives if we do get a majority, they will keep voting for bigger military budgets on the backs of the poor.

About the only issue we haven't given up in Washington is tax increases for the Poor, yet I predict that is about a month away. I can already see the DLC deciding that is the final piece of the puzzle they need to get the Far Right Wingers support.

Our campaign this year seems to be a smarter version of the Nazi's. We will fight the war on terror smarter. We will slaughter innocents in a more efficient manner? We will invade innocent nations in a more intelligent manner? We will bomb women and children after thinking about it a great deal? :wtf:

The war is a stone around the Repugniks neck, and the public is waking up to it. Yet most here have opposed it for years. Instead of the good chance that they others should join US, we are now supposed to join them? The Repugniks are just mad that we are tied up in Iraq, and can't bomb Iran and invade there until the Iraqis settle down.

[femrap]

11. DLC has got to go....NOW. nt

[wiggs]

7. Good points. Three more reasons

Republican judges installed during the last 6 years will be in office a long, long time

After 20 years of concerted, coordinated effort, radio and TV ownership and control has been consolidated into the hands of fewer and fewer right-leaning companies

Dollar worries, baby boomer mass retirement, outsourcing, pension axing, and personal debt escalation may lead to stock market face plant. There's more than one reason why the administration has been trying to privatize social security and health care coverage.

[hopeisaplace]

8. that's it, I need a drink.

:beer:

[leftchick]

9. yes we are so screwed

:cry:

[MADem]

10. Abandon hope, all ye who enter here?

I'm not taking my ball and going home, thanks anyway.

I intend to continue to stand and deliver as long as I have breath.

YMMV.

[Hissyspit]

12. Of course.

(To the GP with you.)

[wiggs]

13. Being realistic does not mean giving up

There is value in understanding where we stand so that we can stop utilizing useless strategies, stop approaching issues with dogged insistence on old politics, stop replaying political losses with Bill-Murray-Groundhog-Day type repetition.

We are in a deep hole and the first thing to do is realize that we're in a deep hole.

[pat_k]

18. When Democrats invoke "realism" or "practicality," Beware!

"Realism" is a dangerous trap that Democrats are particularly vulnerable to.

When action is being contemplated by a group, the person who invokes "realism" is usually about to enumerate reasons not to act. Rarely do they offer an alternative action, so realism = immobility.

We rarely, if ever, hear "realism" or "practicality" invoked to persuade someone to stand up and fight for principle.

We do hear "Realism" is invoked when someone is predicting an outcome that no human can know. (How can it be "realistic" or reasonable to believe we know the unknowable?)

The "realism" label is almost inevitably applied to the most pessimistic view of any given situation; it is rarely, if ever, applied to a rosy scenario. (Life is full of victories and defeats, so how can it be "realistic" to always assume the worse? How can it be realistic or practical to focus on potential risks to the exclusion of potential benefits?)

We like to think of ourselves as reasonable people, but all too often we fall victim to "realistic" thinking that is anything but.

The "realists" assured us (even mockingly) that we would never get a Senator to stand up and object to the Ohio electors on January 6th. Individuals and little groups took up the fight anyway.

And we got a Senator.

No mainstream good government entity even considered joining the fighting to make this happen until late in the game, when it became clear that the effort itself was energizing people in a way they might well capitalize on. Until the end of December, they were too busy "facing reality" and whipping themselves for losing, when in fact, Kerry had won, (But, of course, we couldn't "realistically" do anything about that.)

There are so many other examples. When we ignore the "realists" and act, we prove them wrong time and again.

Of course, realistic assessment of risks and benefits is possible, but sadly, we rarely see balanced analysis from Democratic prognosticators. Impeachment provides a classic example. We rarely hear the potential political benefits discussed. I took a shot at address the omission.

On the Eve of Battle: Unfounded Fears and Realistic Rewards

When principle demands action, outcome expectations, positive or negative, do not enter into the decision to act, but a realistic assessment of the risks and benefits can make it easier to take the necessary action.

Discussions of impeachment typically focus on dire predictions of "backlash" or other negative consequences that have little basis in reality. Rarely, if ever, do we hear that taking up the fight to initiate impeachment proceedings will benefit any leader who does so. This omission is mystifying, particularly because there is solid evidence that fighting for impeachment is a political winner. . . More

[pat_k]

14. Outcomes are never assured until events are behind us

Outcomes are never assured until events are behind us. There are many stages, composed of innumerable actions. The possibilities are infinite.

To see the real possibilities before us, we must resist predictions of futility or doom.

Whether goals are personal or political, the principles are the same. Ruminating about potential pitfalls and chances of achieving overarching goals is a great way to kill motivation. Big goals are achieved by focusing on immediate tasks that take you a step closer to the goal.

The best way to take our minds off images of doom and futility is to DO SOMETHING. Hook up with others and contribute an effort to achieve some manageable, immediate goal. Take action -- large or small, it doesn't matter. Just find something you'll do this week. If you decide on something, then find you put it off, you probably picked something that's too big. Find something smaller.
Our immediate, collective, goals are clear:

• Censure and ultimately Impeach Bush and Cheney (link).


• Reject the results of suspect elections (link).

Countless actions, large and small, will make these goals a reality. Give $10 bucks to ImpeachPac. Leave a copy of the Harpers "Impeachment" issue with other reading material at your Laundromat or your doctor's office. Call your Senator's office. (link).

For too long, we were trapped in a Vicious cycle of inaction=>hopelessness=>helplessness=>inaction, but things have turned around and a Virtuous cycle of action=>hope=>engagement=>action=>hope... is taking hold and gathering power. Unforeseen forces can derail the process, but there's as much reason for hope as for despair, so why not pick hope?

It is impossible to know the ripple effects of a single action, so each time you do something, anything; the only thing you can be sure of is that you are feeding the positive feedback loop.

The numbers can only go one way. When people learn the truth about the fascists and our stolen elections they do not unlearn it. Our numbers are growing every day.

Transformation begins invisibility -- across fences, around tables, in small pockets of activity. For observers of the phenomenon, it is impossible to get a handle on the multitude of actions taken by countless people. Every time you act, you can trust that others are out there doing the same.

We don't need a movement. We just need to move.

[MadHound]

15. But there will come a point in our history

Where even the most brain dead freeper will finally wake up. And when they do, when the great slumbering masses finally realize how screwed they are, boy howdy, it's going to be a fine revolution.

[EFerrari]

16. Nah. We will leave Iraq, the Republicans will slither away

and the voting machines are failing all over the country.

DINOs will see the whole country is moving back to the center (aka known as "the left", lol), and solutions for climate change are being developed.

Take a walk, get some fresh air. We have work to do but we are NOT screwed. They have just worked for 40 years to lose it all because of the Bush arrogant incompetance. It is and will continue to be pathetic.



:hi:

[Rainscents]

17. Only way we can stop from blood thirsty OIL company has to come

from Russia, Europe and China rally against us and tell us to leave!

[RBHam]

19. 9-11 is the key...

Spread the love...

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8260059923762628848

Awareness.

Ask questions.

Demand answers.

http://www.911truth.org/
http://infowars.com/
http://www.cooperativeresearch.net/
http://globalresearch.ca/
http://madcowprod.com/
http://www.konformist.com/illumilink.htm
http://www.jimmarrs.com/
http://willthomas.net/

It's our only chance.

[Theide]

20. If this goes on....

Big Oil, Big Money, Big Media, Big Power.

Let's not kid ourselves. Our country has been controlled by Oligarchs practically since it's inception. The founding fathers didn't want it that way (mostly), but they still were members of the monied and powerful classes. It was, at the time, considered better to let business have it's way than to let the Crown have it's way. Things have changed, and not for the better.

We are now confronted with a political structure which has sold it's soul to the Oligarchs. Only a few of our elected officials actually represent the people who voted them into office. Mostly, they are subservient to their monetary masters because the purse wins at the polls.

We need to grow a brain, as a nation. Americans are so used to having things fed to them that they don't bother taking the time to find out whether what they just heard on the news is actually true. It is our civic duty to vote our own ENLIGHTENED self interest, not to just vote out of greed or on the basis of who we have been told to hate.