***BRING THIS TO A HALT! *** Oct 5 Mobilization

[meganmonkey]

Announcing a Day of Mass Resistance:

OCTOBER 5, 2006

BRING THIS TO A HALT!

Mass Resistance
October 5th 2006
No school! No work! Be there!

YOUR GOVERNMENT, on the basis of outrageous lies, is waging a murderous and utterly illegitimate war in Iraq, with other countries in their sights.

YOUR GOVERNMENT is openly torturing people, and justifying it.

YOUR GOVERNMENT puts people in jail on the merest suspicion, refusing them lawyers, and either holding them indefinitely or deporting them in the dead of night.

YOUR GOVERNMENT is moving each day closer to a theocracy, where a narrow and hateful brand of Christian fundamentalism will rule.

YOUR GOVERNMENT suppresses the science that doesn't fit its religious, political and economic agenda, forcing present and future generations to pay a terrible price.

YOUR GOVERNMENT is moving to deny women here, and all over the world, the right to birth control and abortion.

YOUR GOVERNMENT enforces a culture of greed, bigotry, intolerance and ignorance.

People look at all this and think of Hitler - and they are right to do so. The Bush regime is setting out to radically remake society very quickly, in a fascist way, and for generations to come.

We must act now; the future is in the balance.

Millions and millions are deeply disturbed and outraged by this. They recognize the need for a vehicle to express this outrage, yet they cannot find it; politics as usual cannot meet the enormity of the challenge, and people sense this. There is not going to be some magical "pendulum swing." People who steal elections and believe they're on a "mission from God" will not go without a fight. There is not going to be some savior from the Democratic Party. This whole idea of putting our hopes and energies into "leaders" who tell us to seek common ground with fascists and religious fanatics is proving every day to be a disaster, and actually serves to demobilize people.

But silence and paralysis are NOT acceptable. That which you will not resist and mobilize to stop, you will learn - or be forced - to accept. There is no escaping it: the whole disastrous course of this Bush regime must be STOPPED. And we must take the responsibility to do it. And there is a way. We are talking about something on a scale that can really make a huge change in this country and in the world. We need more than fighting Bush's outrages one at a time, constantly losing ground to the whole onslaught. We must, and can, aim to create a political situation where the Bush regime's program is repudiated, where Bush himself is driven from office, and where the whole direction he has been taking society is reversed. We, in our millions, must and can take responsibility to change the course of history. Acting in this way, we join with and give support and heart to people all over the globe who so urgently need and want this regime to be stopped.

This will not be easy. If we speak the truth, they will try to silence us. If we act, they will try to stop us. But we speak for the majority, here and around the world, and as we get this going we are going to reach out to the people who have been so badly fooled by Bush and we are NOT going to stop. The point is this: history is full of examples where people who had right on their side fought against tremendous odds and were victorious. And it is also full of examples of people passively hoping to wait it out, only to get swallowed up by a horror beyond what they ever imagined.

The future is unwritten. WHICH ONE WE GET IS UP TO US.

http://www.worldcantwait.org/

Mass Resistance
October 5th 2006
No school! No work! Be there!

[meganmonkey]

1. The Limits of the Internet or The Silence Of the Streets REQUIRED READING

(excerpts - please click the link and read the whole thing!)

The Limits of the Internet or The Silence Of the Streets
by Brigitte Schön


While we're all sitting comfortably at some desk looking at our computer screens, reading articles by people whose opinion we cherish, celebrating the feeling that we might be able to change whatever we want to change by just writing the kind of highly opinionated piece I am about to write, I have lately been giving this complacent feeling of mine a thorough cleansing which led to the following musings:


What if the world, this world of TV images we know, still was pretty archaic at heart and what if it still primarily reacted to centuries-old images and trigger patterns after all? In other words: What do political campaigns and articles via the internet really manage to accomplish? And: Does this mean that I still ought to brave icy winds or pouring rain instead and hold up some banners in demonstrations in order to really achieve anything, and does this mean that all these thoughful articles on the net don't have as much influence as all of us couch revolutionaries would like to believe?

Let me lead you through a little time machine experiment. All I'd ask you to do is imagine that there was an internet around when any of the following occured (there are thousands of cases to choose from; I just randomly picked a few):

The British are occupying India. Instead of rallying hundreds of thousands of Indians in peaceful marches, Mahatma Ghandi launches an internet campaign against the Raj (=British rule of India). Your best bet: Do you think that the British would still be ruling India?

---snip---

Fine. Now you might be ready for what I am really trying to get at: As long as there aren't any massive NUMEROUS and VISIBLE protests against the present US administration's machinations, forget the idea that any well-meaning five-people-vigil in your home town or any irate article on the net will change anything.

---snip---

At some stage the pent-up wrath of many Americans against their government would have to be expressed in long-lasting mass (we're talking millions) protests in American cities if people really want to make a difference. They have to be prepared to stand up and be counted.

more...

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0305-29.htm

[Cyrano]

2. The big question is still: How do we stop them from stealing it?

They've stolen the last three elections and we know they'll try to do it again. This question has been asked thousands of times, yet no one has come up with a solution.

They own the machinery of voting and counting those votes. The Democratic party has been silent for six years now and continues to remain so. So do we take to the streets, only to give them a reason to shoot us down?

We know what we're up against, we're the majority, yet, when it comes to getting a fair election, I've still heard no satisfactory, practical answer.

[meganmonkey]

6. This isn't about elections and voting and Dems and Repubs

Because, as you say, elections and voting are broken. The people in power don't want it fixed because it keeps them in power, and it keeps the people OUT of power.

Our democracy is broken. The prescribed solutions for citizens to control their gov't are not functioning anymore.

Well, we have the right and the responsibility to TAKE IT BACK. That is our duty.

Until we demand it back, we'll never get it. And it will only get worse.

If we don't do it now, it will get worse.

:patriot:

[midnight]

7. But why does the Dem. party remain silent?

[meganmonkey]

14. Why does DU remain silent?

:hide:

[countryjake]

19. Same reason these always drop like lead...keyboards are comfy...

doing something real might threaten one's "position", lol!

I think the internets have seduced folk into some sort of passive acceptance of the state we are in. Essaying on a blog or making an impassioned post now substitutes for what used to be actual political action.

[marmar]

3. Let's go!

To quote Prince:

Now's the time 2 find a rhyme (yeah)That's got a reason and frees the mind (yeah)From angry thoughts, the racist kind (yeah)If we all wanna a change then come on get in lineNext time we march (whoa)We're kickin' down the doorNext time we march (whoa)All is what we're marchin' 4

[Jim__]

4. Thanks for posting this.

I hadn't heard about this and its definitely something that needs to be done.

[mom cat]

5. It is time to hit the streets!

[midnight]

8. Speciefically would be talking about the steets in front of offices

like Diebold?

[mom cat]

11. Good choice.

[rodeodance]

9. "No bill of attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed."

Well worth the read:---and send to all you know


http://existentialistcowboy.blogspot.com /

Monday, September 18, 2006
Congress is powerless to absolve Bush of capital crimes and torture charges

Bush is in a heap of trouble. The US Congress should be impeaching Bush —NOT conspiring with him to cover his backside!

Whatever torture compromise may work its way through an intimidated Congress, it cannot help Bush. The US Constitution requires nothing less than a Constitutional Amendment to relieve US obligations under the Geneva convention; and, at least one Constitutional provision means that nothing legal can get Bush off the hook for the crimes that he has already committed.

Let's take the second one first. Bush seeks an ex post facto law that will make legal —after the fact —his violations of the Geneva Convention having to do with torture.

No bill of attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.

—US Constitution, Article I

That means that Bush cannot commit crimes, possibly including having ordered summary executions and brutal tortures, only to have them made legal later on. The Constitution flatly states that it doesn't work that way! I've been screaming about this for a long time now. Maybe the time has come to be vindicated:

George Washington University Professor and Countdown resident Constitutional expert Jonathan Turley joined Keith tonight to discuss the legal implications of President Bush’s proposed changes to Article III of the Geneva Conventions. Keith raises an obvious yet seldom mentioned point: Is the Bush administration trying t

[file83]

20. You should post that under your own original DU post - that was GREAT!!!

:thumbsup:

[Jcrowley]

10. K&R

The revolutionary upsurge in Mexico marks a new and dramatic stage in the Latin American revolution. On the very doorstep of the most powerful imperialist state in the world, the masses are moving into action on an unprecedented scale, posing a direct threat to capitalism and imperialism.

Mexico has not seen a movement like this since the expropriation of petroleum in the 1930s. The masses have shown an impressive level of militancy, organizational skill and discipline. Overnight, millions of workers and peasants have been brought to their feet and are fighting for their rights.

What an inspiring sight! What a marvellous example for the workers of all countries!

The demonstrators blocked the banks and also the tax offices. When the journalist interviews the white-collar workers of the tax office, they refer in contemptuous terms to the demonstrators as "ignorant people with a low income". "An Obrador supporter sees me talking to the office workers, 'People are against us because they have everything at home,' he says. 'They don't need anything. We are here because we have a need in my village. Do you understand, they pay 600 pesos Monday to Saturday, from eight am till six pm, 600 pesos!' the man exclaims, 'That's why we are here!'"

"No sage or savior has ever endorsed greed and gluttony as a path toward social justice or personal fulfillment. These sane and enlightened people come to us from all cultures and all eras, sometimes knowing of each other but more often not. Socrates and Jesus, Lao Tzu and Tolstoi, Gandhi and Martin Buber -- no one can find in their lives and words a jot of support for a political and economic regime that encourages the acquisition of wealth far beyond what is needed for the necessaries -- or even the restorative pleasures -- of life while consigning the masses to live and work in squalor."
-Stephen J. Fortunato, Associate Justice, Rhode Island Supreme Court.

"Music is prophecy, its style and economic organization are ahead of the rest of society. It makes audible the new world that will gradually become visible."
-Jacques Attali in his seminal text "Noise"

[meganmonkey]

12. Thanks for adding this perspective

I think it is vital that we learn from our neighbors to the south.

We are at a point that this is no longer about Dems vs Repubs - this is about all the people. Corporations essentially run our gov't. This is not how it is supposed to be. Elections don't work, writing our congresspeople doesn't work, the executive branch has so much power now that the other branches can't 'check and balance' even if they want to...

If we don't do something soon to drastically change the course we are on, it is only going to get much, much worse. And ultimately, the people are the only ones who can change it. So if we don't, then WE are responsible for what happens next.

Peace and solidarity!

mm

[meganmonkey]

13. Kick

[jokerman93]

15. IF NOT NOW, WHEN? n/t- k/r

[Jcrowley]

16. Kick

[DoYouEverWonder]

17. Time to make a stand!

Enough is enough.

[countryjake]

18. Be there! k&r!

The world really can't wait, torture is being made legal and not one person in our government is hustling to stop that. Silent submission.

[leftchick]

21. "the world can not wait'

:)

[Generic Other]

22. Sounds like an important day too many will ignore

Damn. We need a nationwide strike!

[meganmonkey]

24. A nationwide strike indeed

Nothing else will work at this point, IMO. We can wait till it gets worse, till we are all struggling, but why should we?

:patriot:

[countryjake]

23. I cast my ballot in the street from here on out!

This sounds alot more effective than voting these days. People are trashing a guy who calls a duck a duck and then gives away free heating oil to those who are left to the mercy of a cold winter...I'm not blind and I ain't stupid!

[tavalon]

25. Thing is

many of us do both. Also Ive met a number of people at those rallies who had never been to a protest who heard of the one they were at through the internet.

[JNelson6563]

26. Great idea!

And, I must say, a hell of a lot easier than finding decent candidates to run and working their campaign to help them win!

Not to mention, look at all the added time one might have to pontificate on the internets!

Oy.

[meganmonkey]

27. I reckon there is a little sarcasm in here?

First off, I must point out that mobilizing on October 5th in no way infringes on people's ability to campaign for candidates and vote in November.

Next, regardless of one's loyalty to the Dems (or whatever party/candidate of their choosing), it is easiy arguable that they are not fairly representing their constituents as a whole - of course there are few exceptions - but for the most part the Dem voters I know are frustrated with the lack of responsiveness of their Reps and Sens (even my dear parents, who are visiting, feel that way, which shocked the hell out of me, frankly). They are tired of writing letters and making phone calls and getting no real feedback, they are tired of hearing speeches saying one thing but votes saying another...

Additionally, I attended a rally last week featuring U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (MI), U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln (AR), U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (CA), U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu (LA), and U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski (MD). During this very important election year, in this very Democratic town where I live, you'd think it would have been festive and inspirational and jam-packed with supporters, right? Well there were only about 150 people there. If candidates and campaigns are truly the answer, then where were all the other loyal Dems? Why weren't they there supporting their candidates? Five of the most powerful women in the country on a campaign stop and almost no turnout. I've seen 3,000 people in that square for peace rallies. The crowd was embarrassingly small. Doesn't this tell you something? Maybe your instinct is to think it means that people are lazy or whatever, but it tells me that people are frustrated and uninspired by mediocre candidates whose votes contradict their rhetoric.

Btw, before you go hurling veiled accusations about pontificating on the internets as opposed to real action, you may want to slow down on the assumptions. You have no idea how many hours a week I (or anyone else here) spends on political action/activism. You obviously feel like you are doing more than others or you wouldn't make such loaded comments, but you may be surprised someday at what the people (who you likely regard as ignorant or apathetic) who choose a different path to political change can accomplish.