How we FIX it.

[SoCalDem]

It starts with another Dem sweep in '08.. (A REAL one this time)...and to DO this, our candidates must NOT be timid. They must yell it from the rooftops.. use the real words..

LIAR
LIES
TOXIC CRONYISM
WANTON INDIFFERENCE TO HUMAN SUFFERING (think New Orleans)
CORRUPTION
THIEVERY
ILLEGAL INVASION
BUNGLED WAR
MISTREATMENT OF WOUNDED VETS
INCOMPETENCE
OBSTRUCTIONISM
ELECTION FRAUD (not "voter fraud")

Our candidates cannot be "polite and deferential"

EVERY part of our governmental system has been tainted as badly as the pet foods that are killing our beloved pets.

Right wing nut-cases have been STACKING the decks for 30 plus years. they took over media first, so that no message that was antithetical to theirs would reach the public.

They have methodically placed "their people" on school boards, town councils, state & local governmental boards, state legislatures.
they have strategically placed people within the Sierra Club, Planned Parenthood, PBS...you name it... they understand espionage, and they embrace it.

in other words, they have BUILT AN INFRASTRUCTURE.

That's how we ended up where we are now.
They KNOW cronyism.. It works well for them, and they know business.. they have a well-oiled (no pun intended) machine working behind the scenes for them.. and they have had it in place for YEARS!

Who spoke out vehemently?..Howard Dean.. Look how he was rewarded for speaking the truth..

The little victories we have won along the way are nice, but they will not win the war.

SCOTUS is stacked for at least the foreseeable future.

Every court in the nation is well-stocked with toadies, ready and willing to do their bidding.

Even the '06 election was dodgy. Look at how angry the public "seemed", and yet the dems only "won" a slim majority. How is that even possible? I am glad it happened, but I fear it only happened because the "fix" was not as good as they expected.

IF we manage to not shoot ourselves in the foot in '08, the FIRST thing that has to happen is for a MASSIVE "clean-up" to occur in EVERY organization possible.

Each secretary should immediately undertake a SERIOUS investigation into the regulations and laws that *² changed..and immediately changed back to a sensible level.

and when that is done, it needs to be PUBLICIZED.

People need to KNOW how corrupt these thieves were/are.

If possible, there needs to be ACCOUNTABILITY/PROSECUTION for the deeds of this crew. They simply cannot be allowed to wander off into the sunset and retire happily on the money they stole from us all.

Rumsfeld is a prime example. He is singlehandedly responsible for thousands of people's deaths, due to his ridiculous "planning" (or lack thereof), and he just resigns, gets his medal and poof! he's off the hook..out of the loop..unavailable for comment.

Foley's a small fish, but look at how that "ended".. he left for re-hab, and was never heard from or about again.

and yet, we hear daily on every "snooze show" about "corrupt\possibly corrupt dems...from decades ago.".. Even Rostenkowsky has once again become a household name..

Which brings me to another important point. Dems HAVE to clean their own closets..and do it quickly and openly and get rid of any lingering "trash" that is just waiting to be used as "cover" for the really bad things that may come out about the right wingers. If we plan to attack them (and rightly so) for their illegalities, we CANNOT have similar offenders in our own ranks.

The republicans who remain, MUST be reduced to a minority once again. they mucked up their big chance, and they need be chastened, rebuked and cast off to the sidelines, where they belong.

Apparently they all have the memories of a banana slug, so perhaps they won't even remember when they ran things.

If we have any "dirty-tricksters" in our ranks, they need to be unleashed against some of these ridiculous old coots who have stayed at the party too long. (Think Domineci, Hatch et al)

Whoever wins in '08 needs to air the place out, and must make careful appointments to key positions. they must also use the opportunity to try and restore some faith in the system.

It will take bold actions and a lot of serious effort, but it has to be done. We cannot go back to business as usual, and end up doing the same things we despised when "they" did it.

the challenges we face are too serious, to NOT pay attention to them and give them the respect they deserve.

We have to restore our reputation with the whole world, while trying to combat terrorism, and participate in perhaps saving the actual planet.

Serious stuff....We cannot afford any more screw ups.

[DaveJ]

1. I'd add "Trampling on the Constitution"

But maybe that is inherent in everything else they do wrong.

[lapfog_1]

2. Ahh, the huge amount of taint in DC...

http://movies.crooksandliars.com/com_tds_helms_republican_taint_060117a.wmv

Nothing like a little soap and water and clean sunlight to clean up the taint.

[SoCalDem]

3. And all the Clorox™ in the WORLD !!!

:)

[Jawja]

4. Add

RACKETEERING to the list. We don't have a GOVERNMENT, we have a RACKETEERING enterprise.

[mmonk]

5. Good luck with that.

We have an opening now we must take. We can't keep waiting for future events.

[ms liberty]

6. I agree. 100%...K&R n/t

[Gregorian]

7. Yes. And we need to also build a culture of heroes.

If you saw the Daily Show last night, with the Stanford psychology prof., then you saw one of the better interviews they've had. And they touched on something that I've always always known was true. I've spent my life observing evil and good. I can hear you groaning now. But I have. I've watched good people turn into monsters. And I've seen monsters turn into good people.

What we are seeing is that evil (and good) is a flux. It's not just getting rid of Mussolini in the White House. It's not a war on any physical entity. As I've always said, there must be five people in the whole world who actually should be in jail. And I have to laugh, because my favorite group of people where I just moved is the "chaingang" of guys who work the forest here. Minimum security, orange jumpsuits, working on downed trees, and stuff. I ride my bike by them every day. All I get is "What's up bro?", and peace signs, and smiles, and just a bunch of great people. They stole a car. They beat up a wife. They did really bad stuff. But THEY are good people. In fact, even Dick Cheney is a good man. I know it's hard to imagine.

We're in need of proper laws, common sense laws. And this is where I don't know. Because it's proper oversight that doesn't let Abu Graihb's (hm, spelling?) happen. Does a three strikes law work? I think it's too far down the road of badness, evilness, to do anything. I think it must come from within an entire society. Parents on down. Presidents on down. This truly is a trickle-down concept.

But we've valued money and things over people and beauty and silence. Silence? How did that one get in there? And not just phony values. But something that the whole society values. We don't value shit! We're afraid! We're weak and scared (to use a tortured metaphor from a Twisted Sister lyric). We must be awarded (valued, not rewarded) for being GOOD. I think we all know what good is. It isn't starting wars. It isn't cheating. It isn't snickering at Carla Faye Tuckers.

I know it's incomplete and vague. But it's the right direction. And it almost requires dismantling modern society. It might even mean we have to stop consuming and driving around like rats in automobiles. It might. It might not. But we have to be open, and be willing to sacrifice, if we want this thing to work.

[SoCalDem]

8. The only problem I see with "heroes", is that our schlocky media

cannot be trusted to present true heroes, and so often the people we think are heroes, turn out not to be.

False hero worship is what got us into many a mess :(

[Gregorian]

9. I totally agree.

I am so foreign to the kind of mentality that so many people sustain.

It's a slow process. I don't see the need for Hellraiser. But who am I to say what's good or bad?

I will say without any hesitation that the automobile is poison to society. It gives great power to anyone. It separates us. Not only from others but from nature. I could write a book on that one alone, from the perspective of a bicycle rider. Dump the fucking car, and you'd not only have fewer people dying of heart disease, but fewer willing to smoke. That alone would go a long way toward bringing us together.

And from that daily show interview, it was accountability that keeps people from being corrupt. If you can't get away with something, you don't even try. If you can, it's worth a shot.

Then education. Hey, you know b3ta. That group of Brits (primarily British) have a much greater vocabulary. They know French, German. History. Politics. Science. They're educated. Many of them are phd's. And look at how well behaved that group is. Obscene and crazy, but solid individuals.

[Jim Sagle]

10. Declare w's regime illegitimate and void every law or regulation they passed.

Fire every federal employee they hired.

Eject from the Supreme court the five treasonous scumbags who appointed w.

And do it by excutive order. In the very first hour.

[porphyrian]

11. Let's stop them now. Impeach the fuckers already. - n/t

[mmonk]

12. Yep.

There are no legitimate excuses not to. Time has given us this window. There might not be one tomorrow.

[IChing]

13. I think the "new world order" globalization crowd is a huge problem.

Many are naive on their real power over governments and the political process.
The Bilderberg group, the DLC (which I don't really include) and the Carlyle Group
for example, and their attendees and members are an entity that help structure
and guide the dialogue and direction of discourse of the populace almost without
their knowledge.

Some may think that this is pure
hyperbole and conspiratory in nature but the question arises
that even the PNAC was not looked at first for what it truly was.
I remember here on DU, years ago, people totally unaware and in disbelief
that it was real.

Luckily the internet has enabled more access to information and analysis
since 1999. If the internet was as strong as it is now back then
the coup would not had happened in the United States.

I think we are seeing a world change in consciousness and awareness
of this problem as witnessed in elections of socialistic governments in
Europe and South America. The United States is the power-base in the
world for the media corporatist, military industrialist, and financiers that control
with their massive wealth and power the structure of the problems that we
are witnessing.

The power behind the real politics is always to follow the money.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilderberg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Bilderberg_attendees
http://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2006/06/hillary-in-ottawa.html