lucey wrote on Thu, 04 November 2004 07:24 |
Get off your ass and drop the "it's hopeless" cynicism and DO something. Arguing about how much it's a lost cause is pathetic and a total waste of everyone's time.
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I seemed to have touched a nerve.
I really admire your spirit here. It's admirable that you still feel the election process here in the U.S. is open, fair and balanced enough to actually allow unscripted change. It's not.
As a country we've turned a very dark corner in the past several years. The general media no longer exercises (or protects) its 1st Amendment rights. They only report what is acceptable to their corporate parents, or what the government clears them for. To even get an inkling of "the other side" of most current issues you have to tune into the likes of the Daily Show or Bill Maher.
We now vote (for the most part) with machines that,in most states, do not have an audit-able paper trail. These same machines have proven to be quite hackable, the votes changed, with absolutely NO TRAIL of the hacking left behind. How can you possibly think we can change ANYTHING in the voting booth? Not te mention the unbelievable conflict of interest with Diebold (the maker of many of these machines). The CEO is a very vocal supporter of Bush's administration. He even PROMISED to deliver the votes in Ohio for Bush. Come on, step away from the bong long enough to let the smoke clear!
You talk about it only taking a few individuals to reach across the isle to accomplish change. Which individuals would this be? Do you mean the ones who don't have any corporate backing, no pork to spread, and no personal agendas? Please let me know when you find one of those, I'd like to shake their hand.
Everything that goes on in our government is bought and paid for by PAC money, corporate "gifts" and favors. If you really feel those things don't affect how unscripted or honest change is stifled, I think you're missing the big picture standing behind your activism.
It's one thing to say "quit complaining, just vote them out". How would you recommend doing that? You site the changes in the 60s and the build of the conservative movement as proof that change can happen. The dark side you're missing is that no one who was a demonstrator or vocal activist in the 60s could just be labeled an "enemy combatant" and thrown in jail for an indefinite period with no representation, and for no reason. That can happen now. It has ALREADY happened to some of our citizens.
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Stop talking like an ingrateful American, like democracy should just work without you fighting for freedom and justice, like it should be easy ... stop acting like losers and act like citizens ... like fighters ...
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Hmmm... an ingrateful American, huh? First time I've ever been called that. I guess I should've put on my superhero cape before I came in here.
You may think my point of view is defeatist and that I'm acting like a loser, but I think my point is quite relevant. You think things can change? From the dawn of time NOTHING has changed. There will always be a group of individuals in power and they will do anything they can to maintain that power. They will lie, they will cheat, they will even kill, to maintain their stranglehold on the their power, and on the people they control. That's ALWAYS what it's been about. It always will be what it's about. To quote George Carlin, "Fuck Hope!"
So, pardon me if I don't get up and sing a fight song with you. I have seen NOTHING from this administration that indicates to me they have any thought of listening to "the other side". They rule by fear and division. Their right wing evangelical agenda will be so entrenched by the time they leave office that I truly believe it will take a civil war to give the government back to the people. It surely doesn't belong to us now.
For the record, I voted (always have). I also was the head of our precinct's democratic primary committee, a delegate to our state's primary, worked at several democratic rallies for Kerry (supplied the sound system and labor at no charge), along with other things like making "get out the vote" calls, etc.
What did you do?