I tortured those prisoners, and I'm damn sorry I did.

I want to offer my profound apologies to my victims and to the Arabic people.

This should never have happened on MY watch, and I will do my level best to bring all of my fellow torturers to justice.

Geez, why do they hate us?

That's us over there--they don't read DU or hear AirAmerica.

I did it just as much as the scum (won't back down there, either) in the pictures. Not just to the Arabic people, but in my own heart.

How can I make restitution? How can you?

They were wearing the uniforms we paid for. They were being paid by us. They were sworn to act in our interest and defend our nation. We are responsible.

Tell me why the White House is not currently surrounded by protestors? Why are the phone lines not being flooded? Why is his stupid bus allowed to progress undaunted through our streets? This outrage must be stopped for it is being done in our name.

This is THE Iraq war issue now--can we EVER hope to recover?

Bushit's "apology" turned my stomach.

WE did it.

WE resorted to evil.

WE must accept responsiblity for the actions of our representatives.

WE must see to it that justice is done.

We need to be hardliners on EVERYONE implicated in this.

It won't help our standing in the ME--we need to do it because we need to do it.

Of course, it'll never happen.

for every atrocity my tax dollars pay for. If I did, I would have committed suicide by now. And there are not protestors for the same reason there were not riots on the streets when Bush was "selected" or "slavery was okay" Ashcroft was appointed, as a nation, we're in the ether.

How much responsibility do you choose to take for the actions that your government takes in your name. On the one extreme you could have already lashed yourself to the front gates of the White House and been arrested. On the other extreme you could turn off the TV tune out and ignore the world. We all have to find our lives somewhere in between those opposites. But it is a choice none the less.

It is up to you to determine how you will oppose Bush and Co. But make no mistake. The only way they can continue to do what they are doing is with yours and my continued permission. If you, me, and a few million of our friends showed up on the White House lawn things would change. So as long as we are not there demanding that things change it is going on with our permission.

I occasionally see some real inspiring shit in my organizing work, I also feel like things are getting worse, not better. It seems like more people are starting to wake up, but it's not enough, and everyone else has gone from an afternoon nap to a permanent coma.

This is part of why I detest the DLC so. They have a sleeper hold on the liberal left. We sit in quiet submission hoping they can win a few seats. We give up our voice. We slumber. And we die while they continue to morph the party into images of Lieberman and Zell.

The left has forgotten the reason behind its charge. We are all adrift in our own particular pet causes. Few understand the nature of what we defend beyond our own personal courts. No leaders stand up for anything real in our midst. Not if they want to get elected. The left has become a muttering horde. No direction. No understanding. Just shadows of ideals left over from when giants walked amongst us.

Some would say the entire Democratic Party is an impediment to progressive reform. As a union man, I think the leaders of the AFL-CIO and most national unions play this role in preventing the workin-class from taking more radical action.

The leaders of the AFL collaborated with employers in the early 1900s to squash IWW radicalism. The leaders of the CIO and the New Dealers collaborated with the racist Dixiecrats to hold the Democratic coalition together and keep the labor movement from spreading South. The NAACP played a similar role in the Civil Rights movement.

I think what is different now is the objective, material conditions under which we are living. The level of corporate social control is greater due to the mass consumption of media such as TV, and we have an entire generation that only knows TV as the unifying cultural glue in our suburbanized, atomized society. We also have a financial system that allows even the poorest of working class people access to expensive toys to keep them sated.

Now I'm not saying the left has made some HUGE strategic errors during this time, while the right wing carried out a visionary and effective organizing strategy. Nor am I saying this isn't correctable. I'm just saying a left resurgence will be more difficult than ages past, in my opinion.

As our society has increased in complexity our dependence on the structure has been increased with it. Various social entities have taken advantage of this dependence and attempted to place themself in control of the path we are on. To this effect we have created a new feudal society. With CEOs instead of Kings.

The entire system has turned into one of ratchetting up the pressure on We The People instead of building up We The People. With all this pressure on us we struggle to maintain what little grasp of control we believe we have on our lives. But this ensnares us all the more. For the very things we cling to are the baubles these feudal lords dangle before us.

Unfortunately we have built up the pedestal of our society so high that nothing seems to compare as an alternative. Its too far back for people to possibly see turning around and looking for a new path. But the path we are on does not serve us. It is a path to disaster. The proverbial rock and the hard place.

I recall an allegory about a donkey (coincidence?). It found itself between a bale of hay and some nice succulent grass. But because it was equal distance to both the donkey could not decide which way to go. It would have starved to death if it wasn't for a passing child that tossed a rock at it and caused it to move to one side.

Inaction is fatal. It allows others who are active to do with us as they will.

"As our society has increased in complexity our dependence on the structure has been increased with it." Excellent analysis, Az. You're a pretty smart guy for someone who believes in gun control. Just fucking with you, I have no interest in resurrecting that debate.

To take responsibility for something and work to change it is not the same thing as being guilty of it. No, I am not guilty of the torture of those Iraqi's, yes, I am responsible for it.

No blame without guilt, so no, you're certainly not to blame.

When we travel, what can we expect to hear as we enter a pub in a Foreign Land. "Here come the Torturors"

Bush has made it easy for us Americans to take hits. He has not apologized nor does he seem to be convincing in terms of explanations re this torture incidents.

That said, I agree with you about Protests... I was saying this last night to my husband, WE NEED to take to the streets... and I think you will see it

Because I didn't write more often of my contempt for the people in this country who feel they are superior to other people on this planet.

Because I didn't write more often to warn enough people about the vile objectives of the people in this country who through greed, fear, and need to control believe they can walk into a country and connive to remove a leader and tell the people what is good for them

Because I didn't write more often to expose the hypocrisy of religious moralists and religious warlord plunderers and those who have gone way beyond what this country should do to support and condone Sharon.

Because I barely wrote to speak out against the crusade mentality of my fellow citizens, who through fear despise other people. I didn't write enough to expose their fear.

Because I didn't write about the anti-christian conduct of the citizens who consider themselves the perfect christians.

I agree that we have to act to put an end to this. But how? Marching in the streets doesn't seem to have much effect. If enough people are dead set against it, we can stop it. How do you wake people up? How do you make them see what is going on?

product. They are literally fighting to be able to feed us shit. To be sure it will be processed such that we will not taste the shit. But we will be eating shit. Its time to wake up and realise that our comfortable seeming way of life is made of shit. The system has run afoul and is no longer serving us. It is now forcing us to serve its needs. Improvements for corporations and not people? The point of our government is to create a system of the people, by the people and for the people. Its been derailed. And like a frog in heating water we have become cooked without even realizing it.

You are comfortable with some aspects of your life. You threaten that comfort by acting out against a system that you recognise is increasingly dangerous. React too much and our lives will become uncomfortable. Our jobs demand an increasing slice of our lives. Shouldn't it be going the other way. Shouldn't the society we build be increasing the quality of life instead of increasing the toil of life. We are not building a better society for us. We have become ensnared in something elses plans. Will it become too late to turn back or is it already too late?

What can we do to be effective? I don't know. But the water seems to be getting a little warm around here. Its kinda relaxing. Maybe I will just take a nap.

Yes, I will step forward and claim responsibility. Whether I voted for them or not, it is my government which has gone out of control. I want to express my deepest apologies to all the people of Iraq for these acts, as well as the entire mistake that is this war.

Those currently in power in our country,who ironically claim to be members of the "personal responsibility" party, will attempt to pass the buck on this issue, however, I will not.

I too had become one of the complacent masses, happily watching "reality tv" and ignoring the reality of what our country was becoming while I was lulled into complacency along with the rest of the masses. Never again.

All I have left to say is that the US has a lot of goddamn gall to try and go "clean up" someone elses yard when we have neglected cleaning up our own for so long.