Tuesday, May 29, 2012

America is like Orwell's 1984 on steroids

Daily Kos: Which side are you on, boys and girls?:

'via Blog this'


"Let me make this clear, I do not condone instigating violence against anyone, police or otherwise. It just find it odd, that a progressive community can be so quick to defend a justice system that has become so militarized, so discriminatory, and so unaccountable. Our right to assemble and our right to free speech has been under assault since 9/11. Police and the state have increasing power to detain us without telling us why. Hell, we can even now be strip searched for the smallest infraction.
And now we witness the violent assault on peaceful protesters by heavily armed police, not just in Chicago but across the nation.
After more than forty years we still tolerate the beating of our children in the street. The brutal beating by heavily armed and organized police of (mostly) young people with the temerity to protest the madness and exercise their 1st Amendment rights. From My Lai to Kent State, from Sand Creek to Memphis, we've apparently learned nothing at all from our own tragic history.
What could be sadder than that?"


            • SAT MAY 26, 2012 AT 10:31 AM PDT

              Which side are you on, boys and girls?

              byOne Pissed Off LiberalFollow
              Share171  
              All is not right in America. There is a nasty class war going on, one which amounts to a struggle between the status quo and a progressive and sustainable future. And the difference between those two things is enormous. All of humanity is hurtling toward a bad end, and our so-called leaders don't want to do anything substantive about it because they are blinded by greed and corruption. One thing that should be clear to everyone by now is that without massive change, we're all screwed.
              Twenty years ago, Severn Suzuki had this to say to the delegates at the first World Summit:
              We're a group of 12 and 13-year-olds trying to make a difference ... We've raised all the money to come here ourselves, to come 5,000 miles to tell you adults you must change your ways. Coming up here today, I have no hidden agenda. I am fighting for my future. Losing my future is not like losing an election or a few points on the stockmarket. I am here to speak for all generations to come. I am here to speak on behalf of the starving children around the world whose cries go unheard. I am here to speak for the countless animals dying across this planet, because they have nowhere left to go. I am afraid to go out in the sun now, because of the holes in the ozone ...
              Did you have to worry of these things when you were my age? All this is happening before our eyes, yet we act as if we have all the time we want and all the solutions. I am only a child and don't have all the solutions. I want you to realise, neither do you... If you don't know how to fix it, please, stop breaking it.
              If only she had been heard our circumstances might not be so dire. But she wasn't, and they are.
              Our democracy is crumbling into a cesspool of corporate corruption, state secrets, militarized police, mercenary armies, private prisons, extrajudicial 'due process' by predator drone and high-tech government surveillance of each and every American citizen 24/7/365.25. The freedom we claim to cherish is all but gone forever. But who cares? As long as we have law and order, right? In the 60s we understood 'law and order' to be a euphemism for fascistic control from the top enforced by brutality and police violence. Well not much has changed - and those are hardly liberal values.
              Kent-State_OILS
              Don't look now, but it's happening again. Suddenly, or so it must seem to many, America is like Orwell's 1984 on steroids. From legislatures throughout the land comes an outpouring of new laws that restrict or outlaw what have long been cherished civil rights. It's the same trend we see at the Federal level. Habeas Corpus? What's that? 1st and 4th Amendments? Who needs 'em? Nuremberg Principles? Never heard of 'em. Anti-picket laws, papers on demand laws, draconian reversals of women's rights, obligatory body-cavity searches, free speech zones, no-fly lists for journalists and activists, organized police violence against peaceful protesters, all war all the time, never-ending tax cuts for billionaires and laws against feeding the hungry.
              And now we witness the violent assault on peaceful protesters by heavily armed police, not just in Chicago but across the nation.
              Please watch this video:
              MSNBC on NYPD Police Brutality - No Conceivable Justification
              As dotdot put it in her diary the other day:
              Let me make this clear, I do not condone instigating violence against anyone, police or otherwise. It just find it odd, that a progressive community can be so quick to defend a justice system that has become so militarized, so discriminatory, and so unaccountable. Our right to assemble and our right to free speech has been under assault since 9/11. Police and the state have increasing power to detain us without telling us why. Hell, we can even now be strip searched for the smallest infraction.
              After more than forty years we still tolerate the beating of our children in the street. The brutal beating by heavily armed and organized police of (mostly) young people with the temerity to protest the madness and exercise their 1st Amendment rights. From My Lai to Kent State, from Sand Creek to Memphis, we've apparently learned nothing at all from our own tragic history.
              What could be sadder than that?
              pepper-sprayed
              little-old-lady-sprayed
              scott-olsen-II
              Oakland Mayor Jean Quan let slip in an interview with the BBC that she had been on a conference call with the mayors of 18 cities about how to deal with the Occupy Wall Street movement. That is, municipal authorities appear to have been conspiring to deprive Americans of their first amendment rights to freedom of assembly and freedom to petition the government for redress of grievances
              Likewise, A Homeland Security official let it slip in a phone interview that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security had been strategizing with cities on how to shut down OWS protests. The FBI is said to have advised using zoning ordinances and curfew regulations, and to stage the crackdown with massive police force at a time when the press was not around to cover the crackdown.
              Wonkette suggests that the PATRIOT Act is implicated here, but I’m not sure how that works. Actually the techniques discussed are standard for US police forces in dealing with peaceful protests (the only routine technique missing is that of putting saboteurs among the protesters who cause destruction and create an image of them as violent.
              What these two reports show is a high-level conspiracy to deprive Americans of their constitutional right to protest peacefully.
              And now the Security State wants to know who you're chatting with...and about what.
              And don't you dare be a dissident, or a protester, or a peacnik, or God forbid...a Quaker. You could find yourself in big trouble with a very mean and nasty organization...your own government - your own government in harness to an insane and evil 1% of the population. Yes, I said insane and evil. I can bury you in the evidence. You can bury yourself in the evidence if you never go anywhere but dailykos. Heroic people are working their asses off for nothing to bring it to you every day. And still, even here in this bastion of liberalism, if you dare say anything that is real you stir the hornets nest.
              It's time to forswear the Stockholm syndrome. It's time to quit clinging to the status quo and the powers that be. They are not our salvation. They are the problem. In their greed and blindness they are driving humanity toward extinction. And they must be stopped.
              It's time to quit being submissive and afraid. It's time to be resolved. It's time to take a stand.
              There is a nasty class war going on in this country, right here and now, and it's as real as it gets. People are finally standing up to that insane and evil 1%. People are putting it all on the line to stop our descent into madness and ecocide. OWS and those who protest need and deserve our support. No one protecting the status quo is your friend or mine – for the status quo sucks. It pampers the rich, punishes the poor and is killing us all.
              This is not a time to be confused about which side you're on.
              Sorry-for-the-inconvenience

              ORIGINALLY POSTED TO ONE PISSED OFF LIBERAL ON SAT MAY 26, 2012 AT 10:31 AM PDT.

              ALSO REPUBLISHED BY OCCUPY WALL STREET, PROTEST MUSIC, TEAM DFH, THE REBEL ALLIANCE, DKOMA, CLASSWARFARE NEWSLETTER: WALLSTREET VS WORKING CLASS GLOBAL OCCUPY MOVEMENT, AND INVISIBLE PEOPLE.

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              579 COMMENTS | PERMALINK


               Your side. Our side. (75+ / 0-)
              The side of the true path of human beings.
              by Diane Gee on Sat May 26, 2012 at 10:33:33 AM PDT
              [ Parent ]




                  •                      I've been thinking about Pink Floyd lately as well (3+ / 0-)
                    Too many songs to mention. I revisited Pigs and Welcome to the Machine only yesterday. I maybe be comfortably 50 but my inner child still rages against the insanity. Tear down the wall! Including the literal wall 3 miles away from me. While we are at it, lets ground the drones patrolling it (and us). XTC - Melt the Guns. . . now.
                    by AZ Sphinx Moth on Sat May 26, 2012 at 06:47:38 PM PDT
                    [ Parent ]
                •  Dropkick Murphys version (14+ / 0-)
                  "It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said." "The War Prayer" by Mark Twain
                  by Quanta on Sat May 26, 2012 at 03:24:45 PM PDT
                  [ Parent ]
                •  Love you. (17+ / 0-)
                  Thanks for reminding me which side I'm on.
                  I was super-involved with OccupyCleveland back in October and November, but was pushed out by members of a small group of anarchists (that was ultimately revealed to be led by an FBI infiltrator) because I was preaching too much about OWS needing to be a non-violent movement and adhering to MLK's Principles of Nonviolence.
                  Because of this, I cannot, for many reasons, support the local OWS group, having been spurned and ostracized. But I still believe in the cause, and support the national movement. I do so by bucking the system and fighting against the corporate takeover of our food systems at our non-profit sustainable Urban Farm -- because if there's one thing I learned, it's that you need to take the fight to them on EVERY level, not just on the streets in the financial district, but in the homes of the urban poor, the aisles of the local megamart, and at suburban and urban city halls.
                  I used to be depressed. Now I maintain a positive attitude just to piss off my demons.
                  by Timroff on Sat May 26, 2012 at 05:06:48 PM PDT
                  [ Parent ]
                •  Your side, OPOL, our side. (3+ / 0-)
                  There 's so much more I want to say....
                  by Bisbonian on Sat May 26, 2012 at 05:48:44 PM PDT
                  [ Parent ]
                •  So that's your solution? Support OWS??? (0+ / 0-)
                  I must say you have laid out the problems quite nicely, even if more dramatically than I would have..
                  But, after all that, you provide no direction.. no solutions.. no political direction..
                  It's time to forswear the Stockholm syndrome. It's time to quit clinging to the status quo and the powers that be. They are not our salvation. They are the problem. In their greed and blindness they are driving humanity toward extinction. And they must be stopped.
                  It's time to quit being submissive and afraid. It's time to be resolved. It's time to take a stand.
                  Very vague.. purposely so?
                  Say what you mean.. grab a gun?  Take over violently?
                  Quit being submissive?  How can you not be submissive and stick to OWS's pledge of non-violence?
                  I get a lot of mixed signals from you on this diary.  It's a nice rant, but if you are trying to call people to action, you better have a better plan than "support ows".
                  by Jerry J on Sun May 27, 2012 at 04:42:52 AM PDT
                  [ Parent ]
                  •  That's not (11+ / 0-)
                    what I heard at all.  Are you really saying that you have never heard of nonviolent protest?
                    "Justice is a commodity"
                    by joanneleon on Sun May 27, 2012 at 05:14:50 AM PDT
                    [ Parent ]
                  •  I advocate non-violent revolution. (16+ / 0-)
                    You don't have to be armed to rise up.
                    It's a nice rant, but if you are trying to call people to action, you better have a better plan than "support ows".
                    How about don't support the police beating our children?
                    Wear Your Love Like Heaven: The Hippie Diaries
                    by One Pissed Off Liberal on Sun May 27, 2012 at 05:15:56 AM PDT
                    [ Parent ]
                    •  Non-violent revolution will get you nowhere. (0+ / 0-)
                      You and the other OWS folks are simply kidding yourselves that camping out in a park or on some government building steps is meaningful or productive.  That is not "rising up".
                      OWS has fizzled anyway..
                      by Jerry J on Sun May 27, 2012 at 05:33:07 AM PDT
                      [ Parent ]
                        •  Correct O P O L - I'm living proof of a man who (4+ / 0-)
                          should have shot someone (7 dead in my case and kidnap of my daughter - destroyed my life)
                          These men and the highly restrained Malcom X - taught me not to become violent - except in self defense (though Gandhi did not even do so then)
                          ---
                          However, Marc Dreier in jail 20 years, Tom Petter in jail 50 years, Okun in jail 100 years. A resigned AG, Colm Connolly failed to become a Fed Judge. Kronish Lieb law firm disbanded, Dreier LLP bankrupt, 2 Chief Justice's Now no longer Chief, Deputy Director of DOJ (Lawrence Friedman) Resigned from EOUST, DOJ Public Corruption Task Force shut down and career Asst US Attorney's actually threated by their US Attorney (Tom O'Brien) to keep their mouths shut as to the reasons why.
                          And now a homeless indigent is in a battle to bring down a Presidential wannabe.
                          All because of 1 thing.
                          That they, the nefarious hordes can never arrest, destroy or handle.
                          The immortal, inflexible
                          Sword of Truth!
                          I've been Occupying for 11 1/2 years and just found out the name of what I've been doing in October 2011.
                          Mitt Romney was CEO of Bain until Aug 2001. Proof of Bain & Romney Fraud
                          by laserhaas on Sun May 27, 2012 at 07:35:18 AM PDT
                          [ Parent ]
                      •  History 1A (6+ / 0-)
                        Try telling that to the disciples of Nelson Mandela, Mohandas Gandhi
                        and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr..
                        And while you're at it, try reading a whole lot of 'History Books'!
                        ! The swinistic greed and racial hatred of the American ruling elite is abysmal !
                        by joe wobblie on Sun May 27, 2012 at 06:05:56 AM PDT
                        [ Parent ]
                    •  There are many, many more options (2+ / 0-)
                      than violence...
                      Violence is only one option. It's the option for those who lack intelligence, tolerance, creativity, compassion, historical awareness, humor, humanity, insight...
                      Don't support the state taking money from the workers and giving it to the wealthy
                      Don't support taking funds away from public education
                      Don't support taking funds away from fire fighters, police, and health care providers
                      Don't support propping up corporations which (NOT "who") have taken money in doubtful circumstances due to blind greed
                      Don't support a media that is based on making money from distractions--Don't play their game, don't buy their stuff, don't watch their programs, don't buy their processed food, don't send your children to their wars
                      Don't support violence! Ever. Anywhere.
                      Love your children.
                      Respect your community--the whole, entire community: the young, the aged, the infirm, the disabled, the "other".
                      Act on these values.
                      There are so many alternatives to violence!
                      Peace, my Brother.
                      "Do your best, and keep your sense of humor."--My Mom
                      by mainely49 on Sun May 27, 2012 at 03:19:19 PM PDT
                      [ Parent ]
                  •  It's weird (7+ / 0-)
                    that you would go straight to violent means.
                    Weirder still is your implication that OPOL would engage or condone such a thing.
                    I'll chalk it up to you not knowing him well enough.
                    Here is the truth: The Earth is round; Saddam Hussein did not attack us on 9/11; Elvis is dead; Obama was born in the United States; and the climate crisis is real. It is time to act. - Al Gore
                    by Burned on Sun May 27, 2012 at 05:22:20 AM PDT
                    [ Parent ]
              •  We don't have a party on our side (58+ / 0-)
                44 years after '68 that remains the case and we still haven't figured out what to do about it and they are more brutal, ruthless, and effective now.  The security state is 100% bipartisan and Obama is as proud of that as anyone.
                by greenbell on Sat May 26, 2012 at 10:45:21 AM PDT
                •  One party I can work with (however hard it is)... (23+ / 0-)
                  ...the other has declared war on everything I care for.
                  We have a two party system. We need to change one or get ready for armed revolution.  The other party has been taken over by zombie mutants that want the last 100 years of progress be canceled.
                  Daily Kos an oasis of truth. Truth that leads to action.
                  by Shockwave on Sat May 26, 2012 at 10:55:52 AM PDT
                  [ Parent ]
                  •  Just pointing out (49+ / 0-)
                    That we have totally failed to change the Democratic Party.  My Senator Klobuchar is running for reelection bragging about getting body armor for the police.  Hello?!  In Minnesota?!  She thinks they need armor in Sleepy Eye?  But don't ask about Social Security.  She can't tell you where she stands on that.
                    by greenbell on Sat May 26, 2012 at 11:04:21 AM PDT
                    [ Parent ]
                    •  Don't get me going (22+ / 0-)
                      I am involved in the campaign to elect Paul Butterfield for CA-Senate.  The California Democratic Party has endorsed his blue dog (more like red dog if you ask me) opponent who is a very bad person (let alone one of the 6 blue dogs that derailed single payer SB810).  
                      Why?
                      Because he is a freaking "incumbent".
                      Brain dead decision by the Democratic Party.
                      But we have to keep fighting.  It's this or armed revolution.
                      Daily Kos an oasis of truth. Truth that leads to action.
                      by Shockwave on Sat May 26, 2012 at 11:56:48 AM PDT
                      [ Parent ]
                    •  sleepy eye (10+ / 0-)
                      Is a very subversive little town....just the name almost lulls you to sleep, then BAM!  Insurrection. I mean, did you see Little House on the Prarie? Pa was a goldurned Marxist if there ever was one.  The Olsens?  That's right, the good guys fighting against evil, and they need body armor.
                      If you haven't earned my vote when the time comes, don't blame me when you lose.
                      by Nada Lemming on Sat May 26, 2012 at 12:27:15 PM PDT
                      [ Parent ]
                    •  I can't Amy Klo. I have listened to her interviews (12+ / 0-)
                      on MPR. Every other sentence she either sings about the joys of bipartisanshit. Or it is "Minnesota, Minnesota, Oh my Minnesota".  And our lamestream media hasn't done a good job of deconstructing her voting record - support for all war funding, attacks on civil liberties, voting for Obama-Boehner billionaire bailout - extension of Bush tax cuts for the rich that is. And every time I call her office to find out what her position on an issue is, I get the standard answer " she hasn't commented on it. And waiting to see what comes out in the evil".  
                      And Rachel Maddow loves Amy. She once did a puff piece throwing her softball questions (of course she is never interviewed on real controversial issues) and bragging how Amy has never sponsored a bill without a Repub co-sponsor.
                      "The word bipartisan means some larger-than-usual deception is being carried out”. - George Carlin
                      by Funkygal on Sat May 26, 2012 at 01:50:29 PM PDT
                      [ Parent ]
                •  40 Years Ago the Rightwing Had No Party Either. (17+ / 0-)
                  They figured out to use the Republican Party as a host and fill it up with their own pols and issues. That's what we have to do with the Democrats.
                  We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for victims of our nation and for those it calls enemy.... --ML King "Beyond Vietnam"
                  by Gooserock on Sat May 26, 2012 at 11:05:15 AM PDT
                  [ Parent ]
                  •  Centrism (appeasement) won't do that (11+ / 0-)
                    The strategy of the party has been unconditional surrender on national which is now one and the same with domestic security.
                    by greenbell on Sat May 26, 2012 at 11:09:49 AM PDT
                    [ Parent ]
                  •   day late and a dollar short. (21+ / 0-)
                    For the last 40 years we've accomplished little to nothing to change the party.  Even if we started this minute,which we won't, nothing will survive another 40 years of this relentless rightward march into facism.  
                    so if liberals are so smart and conservatives are so dumb, why are they the ones winning?
                    "bin Laden's dead, and GM is alive" ~ Biden









              by dkmich on Sat May 26, 2012 at 01:03:59 PM PDT
              [ Parent ]
              •  Because they are ruthless, relentless, and never (15+ / 0-)
                admit that they are wrong. Oh, and they have more money than god.
                "The pump don't work 'cause the vandals took the handles." Subterranean Homesick Blues, Bob Dylan
                by psnyder on Sat May 26, 2012 at 02:04:58 PM PDT
                [ Parent ]
              •  Corruption is King in the United States. (23+ / 0-)
                They door opened by the rightwing who are ensconced in the military since the complex was created after World War II. As well as our various State and Secret Police agencies.
                Starting with the mid-90s, there's been a constant stream of scandals which, previously, would have ruined the careers of any public figure, and for good.
                The media started taking the corrupt and turning them into pundits, instead.
                Everybody, or close to, in our political class is now in it for the bribe-money and the cushy jobs and speaking fees after they leave office. Damn near everybody.
                Look at that creep, Clinton. Best estimates put him at worth between $80 to $150 million. This a guy who wasn't worth a mil before he became President.
                While President he pushes for, and okays, bank deregulation and within weeks he gets speaking fees for over $100,000 from... bankers.
                Corruption is King.
                The Internet is just the tail of the Corporate Media dog.
                by Jim P on Sat May 26, 2012 at 02:26:39 PM PDT
                [ Parent ]
              •  messaging -- or not, in the d's case -- (3+ / 0-)
                has a lot to do w/it.
                you'd think by now SOMEONE at hq would have picked up on that fact, but nooooo, the d's let karl rove & roger ailes play them everyfuckingtime.
                & they want $$$ from me for more of the same . . . i don't think so.
                by bluezen on Sat May 26, 2012 at 05:23:43 PM PDT
                [ Parent ]
              •  Because they didn't abandon the Republican (0+ / 0-)
                party when they didn't get everything they wanted 20 years ago..or 10..or 30. They stuck with it and kept working on public perception. They came up with ideas that made themselves sound reasonable and fair..like lower taxes and cutting governmental waste. Things that appealed to mainstream people.  They successfully painted liberals as entitled or violent. They were constantly aware of the image they wanted to project and stayed on-topic.  They recognized that image and public perception was more important than the truth so they manipulated it.   And it worked for them.  The biggest problem for them is that to win elections they also needed the crazy emotion-filled right wing. And they pandered to them on social issues. On the other hand the left has never been able to have a consistent message for more than eight years (if that).  We infight and accuse and abandon each other over single issues. We start to look at the people on our side as the enemy unlike conservatives who never forget who they are really fighting. Until we learn to fight together and compromise they will always be more successful.
                “You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don't make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can't take their eyes off you...” - Maya Angelou
                by stellaluna on Sun May 27, 2012 at 06:01:38 AM PDT
                [ Parent ]
          •  If parties were going to save us... (40+ / 0-)
            one or the other would have already, or at least demonstrated a serious commitment to do so. I think we need to think bigger, and outside of that specially designed box. I believe it to be a trap, one that we keep falling back into. I think Occupy has a better chance of saving us, maybe not a good chance but a better one. Voting for the lesser of two evils is not cutting it. And that's the only choice we're ever given.
            Wear Your Love Like Heaven: The Hippie Diaries
            by One Pissed Off Liberal on Sat May 26, 2012 at 11:31:12 AM PDT
            [ Parent ]
            •  This has been my belief off and on for years (21+ / 0-)
              :
              Voting for the lesser of two evils is not cutting it. And that's the only choice we're ever given.
              DailyKos actually brought me back to caring more about the Democratic Party, and I signed on to the dream of More and Better Democrats.
              Now?
              Action link: Sppt Single Payer w MadAsHellDoctors.com
              by divineorder on Sat May 26, 2012 at 11:49:07 AM PDT
              [ Parent ]
            •  They've been planning for OWS for 44 years (19+ / 0-)
              And we paid for the guns, spray, armor, cameras, wiretaps, prisons....
              You are right about the parties but they own the police state so I fear that a street movement plays to their strength.
              by greenbell on Sat May 26, 2012 at 12:03:02 PM PDT
              [ Parent ]
              •  You may be right. (26+ / 0-)
                There's no guarantee that things will work the way they have in the past, but it's all we have to go by.
                What often happens is the brutality ends up outraging enough of the public that the backlash overwhelms the dictators. The cops or army unleash holy hell but it comes back to bite them. When the people become sufficiently aroused, there is no stopping them. Something along these lines has occurred in most every uprising or revolution in history. Look at Egypt, Libya and Syria for recent examples.
                So, they will either wipe us out, or themselves. I guess we'll have to wait and see. The only certain thing is that big changes are coming.
                Wear Your Love Like Heaven: The Hippie Diaries
                by One Pissed Off Liberal on Sat May 26, 2012 at 12:26:36 PM PDT
                [ Parent ]
                •  I agree, the revolution will not (15+ / 0-)
                  really start until the reality of what is going on at the protests sinks in to enough minds. And a better understanding of what the 1% is still doing.
                  Bobswern's series on the further shenanigans of JPMorgan Chase probably just supported the suspicions many of us have about what lies ahead in the financial meltdown and restructuring to come.
                  The clear effort of the police and PTB to control videotaping of the protests to limit the documentation needs to be central to protest plans. If we have enough videos, can get and keep them on the Internet, the backlash will build.
                  I want to keep promoting the idea that wearing protective sporting gear to protests where police violence is possible, is quite legal. If it incites the police to pick on people wearing bike helmets, the backlash could be worse than seeing folks with blood running down their faces. Protecting video cameras would be good too.
                  How long it will be before the triggers happen that get enough people to lose their "it can't happen here" (or worse, we can control it) mindset is limbo at it's worst.
                  Although preaching to the choir comes to mind, I find your posts to be really helpful in reinforcing that those of us who can see the emperor has no clothes are neither crazy or alone.
                  At some point, I believe the answer to the political party problem is instant recount voting (IRV). It allows people to vote their conscience on the best candidate without risking getting the worst. Better candidates will be more willing to attempt to run and the parties will have less power to interfere with the selection process.
                  Thanks for all your inspiration OPOL, it really helps.
                  "People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed and redeemed; never throw out anyone. " Audrey Hepburn "A Beautiful Woman"
                  by Ginny in CO on Sat May 26, 2012 at 04:24:23 PM PDT
                  [ Parent ]
                  •  They made some protective gear illegal (11+ / 0-)
                    in Oakland just recently.  Under the guise of it being a tool of violence.
                    There revolution will not be televised. But it will be blogged, a lot. Probably more so than is necessary.
                    by AoT on Sat May 26, 2012 at 04:31:32 PM PDT
                    [ Parent ]
                    •  I was expecting that eventually. (8+ / 0-)
                      It will be interesting to see if it stands, spreads, expands.
                      Suggests the protesting will have to involve far more people than police. At which point the LRADs will be used as something other than loudspeakers...
                      "People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed and redeemed; never throw out anyone. " Audrey Hepburn "A Beautiful Woman"
                      by Ginny in CO on Sat May 26, 2012 at 04:52:55 PM PDT
                      [ Parent ]
                    •  Do you know what gear? (5+ / 0-)
                      First search I came up with
                      As soon as people show up with in line skates and skateboards, in state law mandated protective gear, the lawmakers will pass one making the skates and boards illegal. (rolling eyes)
                      "People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed and redeemed; never throw out anyone. " Audrey Hepburn "A Beautiful Woman"
                      by Ginny in CO on Sat May 26, 2012 at 05:00:14 PM PDT
                      [ Parent ]
            •  The election is already won (24+ / 0-)
              by the military/national security complex. Both candidates are promising more and more to their expansion . Therefore no matter what candidate actually wins, the military/national security complex comes out on top.
              So sad when we need to be "on guard" for the planet.
              ❧To thine ownself be true
              by Agathena on Sat May 26, 2012 at 12:57:20 PM PDT
              [ Parent ]
              •  The 1% promotion of war (6+ / 0-)
                predates the US military, industrial, congressional, financial, corporate, national security complex by millennia. What is encouraging is how many Americans now want the Pentagon budget cut by 20%.  
                Can we make our elected reps vote as we want rather than as their wealthy owners want? Depends on how long it takes the critical mass to understand and do what it will take to make them listen and defy the 1%.
                I think that takes us back to a revolution.
                "People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed and redeemed; never throw out anyone. " Audrey Hepburn "A Beautiful Woman"
                by Ginny in CO on Sat May 26, 2012 at 04:47:25 PM PDT
                [ Parent ]
                •  Wonder if mandatory voting would help? (5+ / 0-)
                  Some countries require all adult citizens to vote in elections.  Brazil is one example.   They have a far more populist government than the US.  
                  Voting is part of a good citizen's duty.   However, many poor people, feel hopeless and powerless and don't vote.  So, being required to vote would greatly increase the number of poor people voting.  
                  I'm sure that the idea scares the Republicans.  
                  I wonder what it would take to have mandatory voting here?
                  Bush hijacked the US with lies about 9/11 and crashed it into Iraq, killing over 500,000 human beings. So far, he's avoided arrest and prosecution.
                  by Zydekos on Sat May 26, 2012 at 07:07:37 PM PDT
                  [ Parent ]
                  •  Australia does that too. (3+ / 0-)
                    It's a very interesting thought. Game that shit. (Of course they'd probably find a way.)
                    Wear Your Love Like Heaven: The Hippie Diaries
                    by One Pissed Off Liberal on Sat May 26, 2012 at 07:23:56 PM PDT
                    [ Parent ]
                  •  That's part of the game though - keeping people(4+ / 0-)
                    AWAY from the polls. The GOP only wants their folks to vote...and who needs the opinions of poor people - or all those durned "minority" voters...mandatory voting would never pass muster with the one percenters running the place.
                    "one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress" -- John Adams
                    by blue armadillo on Sun May 27, 2012 at 04:46:51 AM PDT
                    [ Parent ]
                  •  I'd prefer to start with IRV. (2+ / 0-)
                    Partly because we would need it with mandatory voting too. Diluting the power of the major political parties would be a good thing IMHO. There are a lot of people who would probably get active in the other parties if they believed the candidate had a fair chance.
                    Instant recount voting gets a candidate that a majority voted as their 1st or 2nd choice. Which helps third party candidates with a combined dissatisfied Dem and Indy voters. Could also bring back some decent, moderate GOP candidates (although I have some doubt the GOP will survive the backlash of hell bent on ideology period for long).
                     We will also need public funding of at least national elections. Should go all the way to the city clerk offices.
                    Mandatory voting.  There are people who don't vote due to various mental issues. People who self medicate a lot and those who just don't believe in the system. (Election reform - IRV, public funding, etc. - could get some of the non believers to vote.) I would rather not spend money enforcing the right on those who chose not to exercise it.
                    Lets try carrots before we go to sticks. Election day should be at least a half holiday. Or changed to Saturday. Four hours of paid leave to get to the poll and cast ballots would especially help 12 hour shift workers. More mail voting could also help.
                    "People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed and redeemed; never throw out anyone. " Audrey Hepburn "A Beautiful Woman"
                    by Ginny in CO on Sun May 27, 2012 at 11:38:15 AM PDT
                    [ Parent ]
        •  I am on this side... (51+ / 0-)
          I am on the side of the American worker seeing his wages shrink day by day and who has to go to sleep at night wondering if he can put food on his family's plate tomorrow.
          I am on the side of the single mother who works three jobs to simply pay her rent.
          I am on the side of all the skulls and bodies that were bashed by heavily armed police, simply because they sought justice and fairness.
          I am on the side of Yemeni mother who cries at the funeral of her child, killed by a drone strike.
          I am on your side OPOL! The side of conscience.
          by Shawn Russell on Sat May 26, 2012 at 10:45:22 AM PDT
        •  this goes way way back .. way back.. (22+ / 0-)
          let's not forget the Romans letting the Goths in.. promising to feed them and make them citizens only to sell them as slaves for less than dog food..the nerve of the Goth to rise up.. those barbarians!
          of course the stinking poor French... how dare they rise up against the bourgeois ..
          let's not forget those commies either.. I mean the tzars were just so benevolent..
          yes... palaces and hunger.
          the technology has changed a lot.. sword replaced with gun. Trebuche with Aircraft Carrier..
          man?.. not so much.
          by AnotherAmericanLie on Sat May 26, 2012 at 10:45:46 AM PDT
          •  George Santayana (12+ / 0-)
            "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it"
            With the dumbing down of America, one could bet that humankind will indeed be condemned to repeating the mistakes of the past.
            With the nation dumbed and numbed, will we ever hear the alarm clock?
            "We can either have democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." Louis Brandeis
            by wxorknot on Sat May 26, 2012 at 01:29:32 PM PDT
            [ Parent ]
        •  Left side, Strong side. I know my side. (15+ / 0-)
          "The Global War on Terror is a justification for U.S. Imperialism. It must be stopped."
          by BigAlinWashSt on Sat May 26, 2012 at 10:46:29 AM PDT
        •  Occupy Wall Street or the banksters. (29+ / 0-)
          The poor and minorities or the voter suppressors.
          The people of Wisconsin or Scott Walker.
          People who are driven to bankruptcy or death or the healthcare profiteers.
          We are in a historical moment where the future of America is being defined on the streets and in the closed rooms of the power structures that would take us back to a time that never existed.

          Daily Kos an oasis of truth. Truth that leads to action.
          by Shockwave on Sat May 26, 2012 at 10:50:08 AM PDT
        •  choosing "sides" (5+ / 0-)

          is the language of warfare, you realize.

          Who is issuing the uniforms?

          Where is the next battleline to be drawn...
          What is the ultimate Mission, Sarge?

          What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself.
          -- Maslow ...... my list.
          by jamess on Sat May 26, 2012 at 10:52:23 AM PDT
        •  There's a flag on Dad's grave today (57+ / 0-)
          Did he fight WWII so they could read my mail, have surveillance on every corner and infiltrate peaceful citizen's organizations even in sleepy towns in the Midwest?
          by greenbell on Sat May 26, 2012 at 10:54:12 AM PDT
        •  WE THE PEOPLE (8+ / 0-)
          Again.
          We The People
          July 4th is (was) my favorite holiday.  I usually start singing all the mushy patriotic songs by June 14th (Flag Day) and continue until that day when I relish the idea that I live in the 'land of the free, home of the brave.
          But I refuse to be a hypocrite.
          Land of the free?  Where?
          Home of the brave?  Who?  Other than our brave military and those wonderful OWS marchers who put their lives on the line every day.
          What our Founding Fathers envisioned for our country is not the country I live in today.
          I have vowed now (and will continue to vow until November) to GOTV.  To preach if I have tot he importance of WE THE PEOPLE taking our country back from THEM THE PRIVILEGED FEW>
          Growing old is inevitable...Growing up is purely optional
          by grannycarol on Sat May 26, 2012 at 10:59:31 AM PDT
        •  Get One Thing Clear--The REST OF US are Screwed (20+ / 0-)
          without massive change.
          They'll be just fine.
          We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for victims of our nation and for those it calls enemy.... --ML King "Beyond Vietnam"
          by Gooserock on Sat May 26, 2012 at 11:00:59 AM PDT
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