“What we are seeing is…the fall of America”

Harold Bloom, Yale literature professor and cultural critic, is one of America’s most prominent and provocative intellectuals. Unabashedly, he has always spoken up for what he calls “the fight for truth and beauty” making a lot of foes in the process, but also some friends. As one of the first critical voices against the Bush administration and the war in Iraq, Bloom landed in the hot seat with the satire “MacBush” in 2004.

“I am 77 years old and I have never seen this country in such a bad state. It is madness. What we are seeing is the fall of the Roman Empire, only now it is the fall of America, the glory of our Empire. This war is what Parthya was to Rome.

“The horror of what is taking place in Iraq exceeds my worst fears five or six years ago (after Bush came to power). I am horrified at the disastrous mistake involved. Imagine the complete madness in trying to occupy a large Arab country in the middle of the Arab world, a culture we know precious little about, and who speaks a language only a handful of our specialists can speak, with armed forces which we have limited control of and with a large army of private soldiers… The whole thing is a scandal…a series of lies. I don’t understand the motivation for the war, but suspect the real reason for the war, which one would suspect of a country which is a third oligarchy, a third plutocracy and a third theocracy, is that it simply is a profitable machine.”

“We have caused a monstrous mess. We don’t even count killed Iraqis. God knows how many Iraqi women, children and men have been killed by our accidental shootings, which we are such experts at, or by other Iraqis. No, ‘Benito Bush’ (Bloom’s pet name for President George Bush) deserves, if we had a functioning civil law in the world, to be condemned for crimes against humanity. Bush is ultimately responsible for this war,” Bloom says pointing angrily with his index finger in the air as his dark eyes burn below a pair of thick dark eyebrows and a crown of unruly white hair.

“It is bleeding our nation, and I can’t see a solution in the near future. We are obviously so deeply involved concerning blood, money and the situation on the ground that it will be very hard for us to pull out.”

If the war in Iraq is the most palpable example of the decline of America under Bush’s reign, Bloom cites the U.S. media as another casualty.

“’Media-ocrity’ is what I call it. It is awful what kind of media we have today. Nobody dared to stand up and criticize Bush when he unlawfully went to war on Iraq. It is depressing, and shows what direction this country has taken since he came to power - a power which did not rightfully belong to him. The media is not playing its role. The Bushites are bullies and for a long time nobody dared criticize them and just swallowed their propaganda and lies. People have become scared. In this kind of climate, nobody is interested in the critical voice. You ask about the role of the intellectual in America today and I have to say: What role? What intellectuals? There is no room for them in the simplified and dumbed down world of today’s media. We used to play a role, and there are still a few left, but we are a dying breed. Nobody seems to be interested in nuance anymore.”

Full article:

http://www.thewip.net/contributors/2008/01/according_to_harold_bloom_what.html

in the WH to turn it around.

... the damage is systemic

I'm afraid there's no way out - we'll have to suffer the consequences of both our action and our inaction. Let's hope that what gets rebuilt from the ashes is something much better.

I think most people don't realize how much of our system is geared to do just what it did.

We'll just have to do better next time...assuming there IS a "next time"

Based not on money but on barter and familial connections. Of course, when I say familial, I don't mean by blood. Chosen family. If something terrible happens, we come together, each with our strengths, our gardening skills, our medical skills, our hunting skills, our bio-diesel making skills, etc. We go back to tribal, but damn, I will miss my internet.

In 2006, Starkraven and myself sold everything, left the Big City, moved to a Super-Rural part of the country with warm climate, protected water supply, surrounded by National Forrest.
We planted an organic veggie garden, fruit trees, and established several honeybee colonies.

We will have free range chickens, and a small herd of goats by the end of this Summer.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=246x5729

Hopefully, we will be near energy independent in 2 years.

We are old hippies and are attracted to this lifestyle. We have always talked about doing this. We are not survivalists and don't hope for a collapse of America, though we fear one is coming.

After the debacle of Election 2004, and the complicit SILENCE of the Democratic Party, we looked at each other and decided that "Its time to go". The performance of the Democratic Party (and vapid "excuses") since regaining "The Majority" in 2006 has assured us that we have made the right decision.
Looking at the heir apparent most likely to be foisted on America by the Democratic Party in 2008 only reinforces our commitment to the changes we have made.

We are still registered Democrats, but will NOT cast a vote for a Corporate Nominee in 2008 (Hillary or Obama).
We are still On the Net, and have Sat TV, but everyday we are closer to giving up "The Corporate Noise".

We participate in the already established barter system (200 years old) that is common in these hills. I fixed a neighbor's computer yesterday, and was "paid" with a dozen fresh, free range eggs!:)

Some of our neighbors are surprisingly Liberal. We have run across several Liberal Democratic (Kucinich-Edwards) families who have recently moved here for the same reasons as ourselves.

Life is GOOD. My blood pressure has dropped.
We are surrounded with Beauty and Wonder.
We are enjoying LIFE.

We miss the excitement and inspiration of a multicultural urban life, especially the variety of Ethnic Restaurants and Street Festivals, but are happy with the Trade-Off.

We refuse to be Good Consumers any longer.
We refuse to be Good Democrats any longer.


The Democratic Party is a BIG TENT, but there is NO ROOM for those
who advance the agenda of THE RICH (Corporate Owners) at the EXPENSE of LABOR and the POOR.

Why do you want to live in the stone age? I love technology. I love the future. Why not change the present rather than retreat to the past?

The train running off a cliff.
There is nothing I can do to stop it.
I'm jumping off.

Have a nice flight.

is a straw man article. the current system is a monolithic structure, corrupted, and working against us... to turn away from it and start anew is not quitting, it is in fact progress. it is like in cooking... if you put too much salt in a soup, you cannot go in and try to remove it. the soup is ruined, so you pour it out and start afresh .

...five years ago. I used to sit on my couch in my apartment in the Los Angeles suburbs, reading books and magazines about organic gardening and building straw bale houses. At one point, I was crazed enough to think of putting a barrel composter on my small patio!

Now, my daughter and I are learning about gardening in a small back yard and in pots on a patio. You've inspired me to try square-foot gardening for this next season!

I agree that you don't have to be a "survivalist" to want to live a simpler life, in harmony with Nature. I sometimes sort of laugh when I read "Collapse" articles, advising people to have their freezer stocked with vegetables and meats, and have a good supply of DVDs on hand. That's good advice, but there's also a need for something to plug that freezer into -- a municipal power supply, or some kind of generator.

Your other life choices are admirable. Have you given any thought to the Supreme Court? Will another two Conservatives on the Court make you happy? I am Kucinich fan would decided to be pragmatic and back Edwards. You should rethink your vote.

My curiousity is peaked though... Where is this shangrila.

Google Gang of 14.
These judges would NOT be sitting without the help of "Centrist" Democrats (DLC)
The two candidates you mention aided the installment of Alito and Roberts, if not by their direct participation, then by their passive silence and refusal to support a filabuster.

The biggest problem with the judges that Hillary and Obama helped install is not that they will overturn Roe. The BIGGEST problem is that they support the Unitary Executive, and their support of the Ownership Society over Working Americans.

I have no confidence that Hillary or Obama will appoint judges who are strong on LABOR/Human Rights because I KNOW who is financing their campaigns.

The DLC recently endorsed either Hillary or Obama.
That should tell you something.

If the Democratic Party nominates another conservative ProWAR/AntiLABOR "Centrist" candidate, they will do so without my help or support. I will NOT vote for someone who promises to keep combat troops in Iraq indefinitely, or someone who will NOT take a firm stand on the withdrawal of American troops or the criminality of a "preemptive WAR Policy".

I am not alone.
Nominating a conservative "Centrist" will provoke the departure of many AntiWAR/ProLABOR Democrats to a Populist 3RD Party.
This is NOT the fault of the voters.
This will be the fault of the Democratic Party.


The Democratic Party is a BIG TENT, but there is NO ROOM for those
who advance the agenda of THE RICH (Corporate Owners) at the EXPENSE of LABOR and the POOR.

:mad:

Your gripes are the same as mine. What you have bought hook line and sinker is what Ralph Nader has been lying about for years.... There is no difference between the parties. While at times it can look that way I do not believe it to be so. Yes Clinton & Obama have made poor decisions but not nearly as bad as another 4 years of Repiggy rule. You are throwing out the baby with the bath water. I am no fan of the DLC either but if we are left with their stoolies they still are better than what the other side has.

:mad:

Get off your high horse and realize what another 4 years of Neo-Con agenda will bring to America. Repiggies everywhere love your twisted logic.

that is a very good idea. i think that at the community level (your friends, neighbors, etc.) you can likely find people who can do something and other people who can do other things. so you trade effort for effort, service for products/or/services.

It doesn't appear that the Democratic Party Front Runners have any intention of Ending the WAR.
I don't like being forced to fund it.

By owning our property, engaging in barter, producing our own essentials, and severly reducing our consumption of "Consumer Products", we should be able to live comfortably on a very low Taxable Income.

Conspicuous consumption can't last forever! Say it isn't so!:nuke:

this could in fact be hell and we are just doing the same thing over and over... just philosophizing for a moment;)

I've learned that hell isn't just a place, it's a state of mind. When you are trapped and have no good options, you are in hell.

Maybe destroyed beyond repair. When the leader of the House of representatives protects the criminals in the white house with a statement like "impeachment is off the table"...we know its broke and we know there may be no way out. Sickening.

in Latin America are working on what I think we have to work on --- local groups with many, many leaders --- that's how they saved Chavez/Venezuela!

There has to be a mouth that works --- connected to the people ---
but they've found that killing the leaders off puts us in shock for a few decades and we're paralyzed.

Clinton turned over a nation at peace --- with a huge surplus --- and a strong economy.

IF Bush leaves office, he'll be leaving the Dems with a near Depression ---
and the bankrupting of our Treasury!!

We cannot expect a "leader" to come and save us. This election is important but it isn't a fix all. I'm afraid a corporatist such as Hillary will only slow the bleed. She is too compromised to make any real change occur. The corruption is in every branch of government. We have to lead ourselves once again. There is no other way.

system of our democracy.

It will literally take a miracle to save this country now.

BushCorp is doubtless strong, but they are wrong.

The strongest Dems are not willing to be radical enough to force this country onto a new, ocrrect course, and the correct-enough Dems are too radical to be strong players.

I truly believe the Bush pResidency will the the pivotal moment in our history were historians go "see, right there, that's where it all went to shit".

The Democracy Train jumped the tracks during the Reagan administration.

The Clinton administration did very little to repair the damage done under Reagan, though they had a Golden opportunity to do so.


Bush 43 is merely the logical extension of Reagan.

None of the others will exercise the changes necessary to save... a Nation. :think:

We're going to need heroes at every level. Including us.

K&R!

And I thank him for saying this.

he's the only one willing to talk straight about the problem. the others are hired by the problem

but will Corporate America allow it?

...and take our country back from them.

Corporatocracy IS the problem, their very bottom line stands in the way of their being a part of the solution. Did any of the major corporations back down enough to prevent the Great Depression? Nope, they cheerfully gobbled up the insane tax breaks given them by the repuke administrations of that time. (The same thing the cons advocate now, more tax breaks and a loosening of restrictions). The corporations who are aware of the the second Great Depression are leaving our country so as to continue their mad agenda's beyond We The People's control. (Halliburton for example is now based where???? America's wealth is going where????? We the People are left with what????) No, the corporations will not allow it and the cons have removed We The People's abilities to stop this. The one candidate who might have done something is currently being checkmated by the MSM, (another corporate conglomerate).

Has just been dismissed by the likes of AL From at the DNC, & Harold Ford, who couldn't even get enough votes in his district to be a COngressman, AGAIN, the last time around!
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/dlc-leaders-cut-edwards-out/?ex=1200718800&en=a6496113633697f3&ei=5070&emc=eta1As would be expected, the two gentlemen from the

Democratic Leadership Council on a conference call today told reporters they’re very confident in their party’s chances of reclaiming the White House, they’re happy that substantive issues are being discussed…

And then Al From, the D.L.C. founder, said he was “very happy about the two candidates” Americans are considering.

Only two candidates?

Our ears perked up as we listened on.

“This is a really hard choice, really, for Democratic voters because they like both candidates,” said Mr. From. “For me, I don’t see that going to be a problem. I think in the end, Senator Obama’s appeal that he’s made very firmly and directly to independent voters, and Senator Clinton’s appeal to the forgotten middle class are going to add up to a very smashing Democratic majority in the fall.”

“This is not uncommon in primaries to see this kind of passionate support for one’s candidate,” added Harold Ford Jr., the D.L.C. chairman and a former Tennessee congressman.

Well, O.K. But what about John Edwards? He beat Mrs. Clinton in Iowa, as one reporter pointed out, but Mr. From still doesn’t think Mr. Edwards is viable.

I’m not going to speculate where the Edwards people go because I don’t know, to be honest with you. I think Edwards has run a hard, tough campaign. It’s not a, you know, he doesn’t take the tack that necessarily I agree with. What we’ve seen so far in this campaign is optimism. …

I think what you’re saying is that this is moving into a two-person race and that people in the race have been optimistic and hopeful, and I think that bodes well for the party because in the end, as long as I’ve been in politics — and I’m a lot older than 37 — the optimism always beats pessimism.

During the rest of the call, the two men said they were pleased that none of the Democratic candidates supports a single-payer health care system, that they are all taking the environment seriously, and that they’re focusing on national security — a strength that Mr. From admits, “we’ve not always had.”
:wtf: :nuke: :scared: :tinfoilhat: :cry:

the DLC is nothing more than the Republican Arm of the Democratic Party. There quite literally is only one REAL TRADITIONAL DEMOCRAT even in the running (and it ain't Edwards), but of course he was marginalized by the media for the feeble minded voters long long ago. Lament that the true messenger of REAL Democratic American Values had only had a handsome face. We are doomed.

and the saddest thing is that the vast majority of the population is too stupid to care.

Most are too busy and stressed----just trying to survive in their own little corner of the world.

Because someone is not as informed as others hardly makes them stupid.

call it well-intentioned-but-ignorant if that makes you feel better, but the fact is that 90% of the population is only one step out of the cave. They don't care about intellect, and in fact scorn it whenever confronted with it. They can't stand the Truth, and couldn't care less about the Qualitative Ideal.

Again, I must concur with Professor Bloom on this.

Only people who keep themselves stupid are stupid.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Bloom to say the least.

media who pushed the attack on Iraq and pushed bush and enabled him and his thugs to do what they have done . The media is packed full of adds that continue to lie and sell crap . If you ask me people are so dumbed down and so easily sold only what is offered whether a vacuum or candidate they never question it . All it takes is a good salesman in a fine suit or someone who appeals to the BBQ sports fan and makes then feel part of some sort of twisted reality .

You want to discuss the end of the current form of US government, that's fine -- we need real change.
I wouldn't mind in the least leaving the post of international police to some other
nation state so we can take care of our own people. Let Europe do it, they seem to think they can do
the job better than we do ... maybe they can, let them try. I doubt they'll have any more success
than we had pre-Bush.

What has happened to our government has been a conscious, premeditated murder carried out by Bush and
their globalist buds. America can't fall because America is her people. My first American ancestors
came here from Great Britain when Shakespeare was still trying to figure out how to spell his name. I
have no other culture but this one. So no, America isn't going anywhere, despite the fervent wishes
of some. We may even turn out to be a better, fairer nation than we've ever been before. Leave the
world power crap to somebody else.

At this point what you would get is fascism with a layer of theocracy over it (to keep the people in line) replacing what is left of our democracy.

We most certainly can fall. If the appetite of our misleaders for war and conquest cannot be checked, it is only a matter of time before our beautiful country is reduced to radioactive rubble.

WW III, if it comes, will be us against the rest of the world.

It won't just be America.

My point is the empire breaking up isn't necessarily a bad thing for the real America which is its people. And that what is real about us as a country won't disappear. The reason there has been such a struggle for control over us is due to the wealth and resources. Once those are gone, no one will care enough to enforce fascism.

space exploration for different resources? NASA

You live in the Republic of California!

Hey, why don't you take a road trip down south to the belt buckle of the bible belt. I'd offer to take you, but I think we'd kill each other (that, or without the infernal internet between us, figure out we're best friends). We could go visit a megachurch together - heck, Reverend Hagee's comes to mind (been there - the size is mind boggling and that's just his voice!) and we could visit east Texas too! The people are so nice, they really are. Dumb as turnips, but nice*. Then we could head over to South Georgia (North Florida) via Interstate 10, there are some wonderful stops along the way there! Then we could go visit the people I graduated from high school with. They are so nice, just ignore those silly flags they all like to hang in the back of their pick up trucks - some people have a hard time getting over past disagreements, you know? Anyway, they are so nice but well, likely to drown in a rainstorm from looking up.*

Ah, real America. Yep, that's........................well, ya know.....

*generalization, folks, and as with all generalizations, generally not always true.


ps once all the wealth and resources are gone, we have far worse things to worry about than fascism and in fact, fascism, especially the kind that gets the trains running on time might not be the worst thing for a while. "Real Americans" will be the ones to worry about around then.

The SHEEPLE time and again ALLOW this to happen. Sure, there are a FEW of us who try - unsuccessfully so far - to prevent the current situation, but there are still TOO MANY OF THESE "GOOD GERMANS" of American origin, who not only tolerate what should be LOUDLY scorned and ridiculed, but actually DEFEND and outright SUPPORT such CRIMES...

If we STILL haven't been able to restore our country - WHAT WILL IT TAKE?

If we STILL "don't care" enought to change things - WHEN?

It CAN "happen here" - and IS NOW!

Look around!

A rational, deductive and reductive examination of the evidence shows that to be emotional hyperbole.

But if you want to believe it, be my guest.

... and ignorance is no excuse.

Instead of sitting on the couch, stuffing their fat faces with chips and taking an enema with Fox News, one could easily find out what is going on.

Most Americans are too lazy to bother. Most Americans didnt' even have the intellectual rigor to figure out that Iraq had nothing to do with the "war on terror".

There will be a time, in the not to distant future as our economy has bitten the big one and folks are suffering big time when everyone will be asking "how did this happen?".

And I will happily tell them, "you elected a moron, what did you expect?"

And Sunday I heard it on an NPR show out of Tallahassee, FL called "411 Teen", a locally produced program created with teen input for a teenage audience.

One of the teens talked about how Americans "should forgive Iraq for 9/11" and "for killing Americans".

The producer Liz Holifield kept silent and did not correct the kid when he made that statement.

I was floored because it was NPR... but that is a common belief around N. Florida and S. Georgia... that
Iraq is responsible for 9/11.

It's awfully sad really.

Step back, look at it, and make plans because this country isn't going to look anything like it looks now or 10 years ago in 10 years from now. Please don't subscribe to the hubris that the Americans are as a whole, going to do anything but happily bleat their way to the slaughterhouse. They have thusfar and there is nothing on the horizon that makes it look any different. BTW, if I remember correctly, I'm on your ignore list. If you just can't stand not to look to see what I said, I suggest you put Mr. Bloom on your ignore list as well.

That said, I don't see the point in responding to anything I say or my responding to anything you say
as you clearly refuse to see anything to sway you from your black-and-white Aristotelian perspective.
I drop my ignore list on Jan 10th every year, however you just made the list again. Happy New Year.
Mr. Bloom has said nothing to make me ignore him.

I'm not placing you on my ignore list. I did forget that you self project a bit (well, more than a bit). Hyperemotional? Cute. Me rational? Never! Great Goddess, my life would be so much easier if it were black and white. Not happier, mind you, but easier. I didn't sign up for easy this lifetime around. I'll respond to your stuff if it amuses me. I know I'm not going to sway someone such as yourself, so it will really just be a Socratic practice. Everyone needs practice once in a while, don't you think?

You might want to consider a communications course.

Which power should get it?

I'm sure there are one or two who don't deserve it under any circumstance... maybe others if their record to the global economy wasn't so disasterous (I mean, "Thanks for the melamine, poison, lead, and pieces that fall apart when you blink so have some legal computer software at an unfair advantage because you'd otherwise pirate it, DVDs because you steal them, and real power in return for your nobility!"

Which is all proof we're not as global as some might claim. Transitions are never easy, I'll agree, but something is clearly wrong.

What we DO need is a United Nations that does more than swindle and scandal... the idea is sound and fairly global in scope...

I don't care. I'm more concerned about this country which everyone seems to blame for everything.
If they think the next hundred years will be better off under another country, let them try. Meanwhile,
we can stop running the world and care for our own.

him to be, the whole point of the article is that the corruption is systemic. One person cannot pull us out of the inevitable pit we're headed toward. It would take brave men and women in the government and an overwhelming voice of the populace to even begin to be able to reverse this. But what we get is a complacent, rubber-stamp Congress, regardless of party, and a populace who is just fine as long as they have their Cheetos, iPods and American Idol. We've been involved in an illegal war since 2003, the current Administration is there by fiat, the Supreme Court is packed with hackneyed partisans and the press is owned by the same corporations that bought and paid for our current Congress and Administration.

Do you not understand that this whole "election" is nothing but a farce? I can't believe people, especially DUers who tend to be far better informed than the general populace, still believe there is actually a legitimate election process in this country. There's not. You, a John Edwards supporter, of all people, should be able to see how this whole thing has been rigged from the beginning. The DLC doesn't give a shit whether the nomination goes to Obama or Clinton -- THEY'RE THE SAME CANDIDATE. These people are interested in power and money and We the People aren't even a consideration with the possible exception that feed them tax money.

No, we are Rome in the final throes.

I may sound pessimistic, but looking at all the damage Bush and fiends have done to the structure of government I think it will take more than a generation to undo said damage. He's packed the federal government with ideologs, many fresh out of right-wing fundamentalist institutions like Liberty University. His economic policies have widened the gap between the ultra-rich and the rest of the country. Schools are falling behind. Defense has been largely outsourced to Haliburton. The environment is being neglected. I see 50 years to recovery, if ever.

I too blame Congress for a lot of what the current administration has done. They had to approve it.

I merely contend he's the only one of the three addressing the problems of all Americans.

The people will remain, which is my point. What would you rather have after "Rome" falls, all of our people
to perish so it can make your point?

well said. Sad, but true.

Thanks to Bush we now have a Unitary Presidency! Clinton can come in and do the same things that Bush can do! BY LAW. We are allegedly a country of rule by law.
I don't think she's a psycopath, but, it has been my experience that unless you have lived through it, YOU REALLY CAN"T FEEL IT. Empathy only goes so far................

MY OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCE!
I was doing well financially in the 70's ( yes under that "incompetant" Carter) A friend's husband tried to kill her, so she and her 3 year old moved in with me for about a year. She was struggling as a Sect. paying me rent ( I'm ashamed to say, today I wouldn't accept that ) and ultimately went to nursing school, ( I did give her some money toward that)
In 1990, the first sub-prime disaster forced me to sell my house. ( I bought it after the highest income year I had ever had, for only $47,500,but the costs kept escalating, tripling, and the income didn't keep pace.) I was able to sell it and buy something more modest, in an isolated rural area, away from my well healed buyers,making it difficult to contact them for work!)
( The Regan years........ neocons were beginning their filthy subversion of our society on all levels. The economic model shifted from Kensyan, to Damn Miltlon Friedman, the Hayek model! ( Hayec was declining, bankrupt. until they embraced him!)
Since then with an average of $5,000. per year income, ageism in hiring, I now FEEL what it is to do without. ( Almost everything, make-up, air freshner, those items the coupons offer a price break on, NOT NECESSITIES!) Now on SS income, which is double those years, it doesn't stretch nearly as far!
It's the Pits!

All subsidiaries of Corporate USAmerika, Inc.

The "let's-just-give-him-what-he-wants-he-is-leaving-office-soon-no-need-to-hold-him-or-his-administration-accountable" attitude and atmosphere in the Congress and the Senate have allowed this rapid decline to continue. Allowing the administration and their helpers in the media (including a few of our so-called progressive media outlets) have their way time and again, without ANY accountability, has led to many DEATHS, illness, poverty, homelessness and a rise in incarcerations in the US and around the world. The dumbing down of American citizens was just the first step and they did it very well. Another big reason that I believe we are in the hole is corporate greed and their sickening appetite for money and power. They were able to achieve this with a lot of help from their servants in the government and media. They now own America and the country is suffering mightily to sustain that greed. I want to believe that America will rise from the ashes of the complete failure it seems to have become, but that will take good, principled, strong leaders who believe in action, not "leaders" who like to slowly appease to get us out of this mess while crawling on their hands and knees to their corporate masters and rolling over for the likes of Bushco. :grr:

All that being said I think that there is some hope. It will be a long, painful and arduous journey, but America can rise from the ashes, she just needs to be woken up one citizen at a time.

...says it all the time.

When it comes to pure evil, Hoover's crowd is not in the league with the Bushitler crowd.
She expects a depression any day now. My sisters think she is crazy, and it's all my fault. I have poisoned her mind against the great republican messiah they worship.

Never ever this bad.
What I'm wondering is who's going to "play" US of A this time
and rescue US.

to rescue us? Perhaps they will want to destroy us instead.

Welcome to DU, whoopingcrone! :applause:

Great name. Welcome to DU. We need desperately need your wisdom around here.

I see you've actually been here for quite a while... glad you've decided to start posting! :applause:

Watched the burning of Dresden...

and she sees it all happening again in USAmerika!

up to Hitler.

She saw it right away -- starting the year Bushler went into power.
What astonishes her more than anything is that everyone cannot see it.

he was pro war two years ago and an advocate of an attack on Iran. Only recently has he changed his tune. It may be a different guy, but if not, he's got no room to talk.

On edit: Oops it's Howard not Harold

Oh, but, Sinclair, it IS happening here.

It is not HAPPENING here.

It has HAPPENED here.

The majority of the country has not yet taken The Red Pill, and the mask has not fully come off yet.

"The American people won't stand for it." Only to see them stand and watch things happen that were far beyond the pale. :grr:

It's just that under Bush, the rate of descent has become a lot quicker. But frankly this decline has been happening since Reagan and beyond. This is what happens when you let corporate America have ever expanding control of our government.

I imagine that this probably won't end pretty either, sadly enough.

http://www.joebageant.com/joe/2006/12/somewhere_a_ban.html

How about this excerpt? The figures relating to the customary rates of extortion from public taxes for the ever-present war machine beggar belief don't they? Totally insane.

from your link:

"...seventy cents of every income-tax dollar goes to pay for past, present, and future wars. Education gets two cents.

"As Michael Parenti has pointed out, the cost of military aircraft parts and ammunition kept in storage by the Pentagon is greater than the combined federal spending on pollution control, conservation, community development, housing, occupational safety, and mass transportation all put together. And the US Navy spends more money in its never ending development of a submarine rescue vehicle than is spent for public libraries, occupational safety, and daycare centers combined."

That's just...sobering and chilling!




              Edwards '08 tees!

The McCarthy Era was also an "attack on the ideals of democracy" ---
and mvoed us closer to where we are now ---

Coup on JFK --
and other violent coups of the 1960's etc.

It's been political violence and stolen elections all the way ---
computers since the mid-1960's!!

NWO agenda

:shrug:

(adapted from Wiki)


Parthia

Parthia was an Iranian civilization situated in the northeast of modern Iran, but at its height covering all of Iran proper, as well as regions of the modern countries of Armenia, Iraq, Georgia, eastern Turkey, eastern Syria, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Kuwait, the Persian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, and UAE.

Parthia was led by the Arsacid dynasty (Middle Persian: اشکانیان Ashkâniân), which reunited and ruled over the Iranian plateau, after defeating the Seleucids, beginning in the late 3rd century BC, and intermittently controlled Mesopotamia between about 150 BC and 224 AD. It was the third native dynasty of ancient Iran (after the Median and the Achaemenid dynasties). Parthia was the arch-enemy of the Roman Empire in the east.




Roman Civil Wars (88BC-28BC)

Roman civil wars Conflicts that afflicted the last century of the Roman republic (88 BC–c.28 BC) and led to the inevitable institution of the unchallenged authority of one man, the Principate. Political life in Rome was unsettled from the period of SULLA's dictatorship and the Catiline conspiracy (64–63 BC).

Rivalry between the republican military leader Julius Caesar and POMPEY began after the collapse of their alliance. Caesar defeated the Pompeian army in Spain at Ilerda (49 BC) and Pompey himself at Pharsalus (48 BC); he won further victories in Asia and Africa. Cato's suicide in 46 BC signified the collapse of the republican cause. On his return to Rome, Caesar was made dictator and virtually sole ruler. His plans for funding the empire by military expeditions against Dacia and Parthia were cut short by outraged republican traditionalists who murdered him in 44 BC. Further civil wars followed.

Caesar Assassinated at the Senate (44 BC)


Initially Octavian (AUGUSTUS), supported by the republican party, struggled against MARK ANTONY. In 43 BC Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus formed a coalition whose forces defeated the republicans led by Brutus and Cassius at PHILIPPI. Antony meanwhile joined forces with Cleopatra and was defeated by Octavian at ACTIUM. The Roman world was united under the sole leadership of Octavian, who annexed Egypt.

In 68 AD civil war broke out in the empire in the struggle for succession after NERO's death. Galba was proclaimed emperor from Spain; he entered Rome in September but was murdered and succeeded by Otho; meanwhile Vitellius was proclaimed emperor in Germany and Otho committed suicide. VESPASIAN then invaded Italy and took the throne, making 68–69 “the year of the four emperors”. This crisis period was followed by the settled rule of Vespasian.

Rome Burns

especially about Harry Potter. :hide:

that make me a great intellectual?

lmy point being there are thousands and at this point millions if not billions around the world who agree with Dr. Bloom.

& House will not cease the US Occupation of Iraq or Afghanistan.

The Gates of Hell have been opened & no one will close them.

But I don't believe America will be smart enough to safe itself by nominating and electing him.

with whom I recently had a battle over a full of BS e-mail she forwarded to me (and who, coincidentally is now in Sweden on a business trip with my brother--her husband).
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2648402

But she won't read it. She already dismissed my objections to her e-mail with the comment she wasn't interested in a history lesson, she just agreed with the point of the message, which was 'love it or leave it' for Muslims.

Sigh. This is a real problem.

The media was wanting this war from the beginning. They love war and the news it generates.

A big part - they are the (supposed) to be a Objective / Report the news! Facts?

Not much anymore - unless its under 30 Sec, spot - and there? boss says water it down, or just shelf the truth altogether and run the Brittney Story (or whatever)

Sorry some? (not going to bash some now) on are side are conplicet....

But John could be a big problem for them = very to little coverage.

Go Johny Go

an intellectual says what I already believe to be true. Makes me sad.

"The truth is that Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Hoyer and the other Democrats who lead the Congress Party in the Senate, are far too cunning. They will talk about wanting to end the war and so on, but the truth is that they know they can’t do anything about it and it suits them as they can blame the Republicans for the war in the upcoming elections. But the ugly truth is that we can’t stop the war now. We are responsible for Iraq now. We have crushed it so now we own it. I have never seen this country (America) in such a bad state. But how big a percentage who actually cares, I don’t know.”


... They have the power, it is called power of the purse, nancy used to brag about it. Also Iraq will do just fine without the US. The ossupation needs to end. Period.

and the "dems" were wrong for wanting to end the war. Heard it on Complicit News Network, can't think of the guy's name - he does the aptly named "This Week at War" show. Went on and on about the deafening silence from the dems in the face of success in Iraq. Of course, he attributed the success to the surge, and ignored the fact that if it goes badly this year, bushco will return to claiming no accountability just has there was none for starting and mismanaging it.

Then there's the piece where George says we're staying forever - or until the oil runs out. We paying the Israelis more because we were going to sell to the Saudis, Abu Dhabi is buying banks thereby preventing the embarrassment of admitting our banks are bankrupt, we paid for democracy in Lebanon and paid Israel to bomb it, we are paying India for mangoes and Pakistan for... well, I don't know what we bought with $10 billion in Pakistan - not much... it goes on and on. The only people who can't get any value out of our government is US. The dems have really screwed up. The party is shredding, and anything that could be of any help to the American people is strictly off the table.

the neocons, dems and pukes alike, never wanted democracy. Just bases and a puppet government to steer their oil to Western Corporations' way. Democracy is a device to them that people fall for. Over and over again.

It may have been for the Romans.
It isn't any more.
I just don't think the fashions are the same as in ancient and early modern times.
So when are going to trash this dated outfit and be a real nation for once?

:hi:

It's high time the people that inhabit this globe need to call a halt to the whole "empire" idea. It's soooo 6 centuries ago.

or hell, let's look at Pearl Harbour- did America need to be personally attacked to join in the global battle against fascism? What is it about jackbooted thugs kicking in editor's doors at 4 am did not the American people understand? Or was it that kicking in doors/cohersion was a necessary tool of lawn'order? What about the nazi funding by certain respected banking interests- Presott bush to be specific? What about betraying the Spanish Republic- shades of Chile 30 years later? What about the glorification of columbus, child molestor extrordinaire, as schoolbook hero of the American myth?
How dare Bloom talk about bush wrecking the imperial pig empire (where others subsidise fat pigs comfort and ease, the poor in africa moreso then the workers in Cleveland, but hey, that's being taken care of) especially when way back in the Black Panther days the pigmedia tried to portray activism as threatening moms apple pie, and they were lying right to our fukking faces when i was 13 years old, about almost everything, it was obvious, even to us kids, and bloom can go to hell, playacting like he just figured it out

war/disaster can be.

Two books that have helped me with insight into this issue are "The Long Emergency:Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century" by Jame Howard Kunstler and "After the Empire: The Breakdown of the American Order" by Emmanual Todd. They both expect the US to break apart and form smaller units on a regional basis. After reading them I am torn between wanting it to happen and fear that it will. I look at the damage we are doing in this world and know that it has to end and that will most likely require our fall and some combined disasters that will break the hold of the corporations.

BUT that leaves we the people very vulnerable. I and my family are working on survival plans now also. Gardens, small animals, health care where it is possible (I am diabetic so there is most likely nothing that will help me in the long run.), heating etc. Even if we turn out to be wrong about the big picture these moves make us more secure personally.

That's today's front page Stars & Stripes headline, not unlike what other military communities here in Europe have experienced over the years, what with the multiple deployments. For small military subcultures, losing so many people that soldiers and families know and work with intimately is draining and stressful, and this loss happens over and over, with family members not knowing when it will be their turn to pick the "short straw."

After their overseas tour, the U.S. gets them, and our government had better be prepared.

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=51596

a link to any articles that document hugely longer tours, and more of them, in Iraq as compared to WWII, the Korean War, and Vietnam? There was an article on this way back that I can't seem to find now (my google skills aren't very good).

This morning:

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - President Bush said Sunday that Iran is threatening the security of the world, and that the United States and Arab allies must join together to confront the danger "before it's too late."

on the IWR.


In fact...he was the only one (of the current candidates left running) who spoke against the Bush Media Empire since the first days.

Maybe America has to fall before she can wake up.I really hope not......

DR

is saying exactly what we're saying here. Somehow, there is no joy in it. I do wonder now how it felt to be a roman citizen watching your empire destroy itself? I wonder if they were as painfully aware as we are?

I've always said I love my country deeply and that I would fight to the end to save her. Thing is, the America I was talking about doesn't exist anymore, she's just a tired husk of a woman who went for empire and destroyed herself. Perhaps it would be better to remember her fondly than to try to save her. I'm not sure how much is left to save or if it's even savable.

I think though, that I will reserve judgment on that until at least my first cup of coffee.

The American Empire needs a general in the White House.
by HAROLD BLOOM
10/03

http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110004161

If Wes Clark had been elected in 2004, we just might be on the way toward healing some of the problems. He's not nearly liberal enough for me, but I believe he understood only too well what Eisenhower was warning us about concerning the military industrial complex, and I think he would have taken some strong steps toward veering us off in a different direction.

well on our way toward healing the problems caused by Bush, and we would have avoided the consequential damage we and the world are experiencing.

Partly because Wes was rarely asked about anything but foreign policy and military matters, many people don't realize how liberal he actually is, how knowledgeable about economic and financial matters, and how innovative in addressing all problems.

I'm taking this opportunity to say that the failure of Dems to select him as their candidate is maybe the worst decision they've ever made, and now they're following up by failing to give Senator Biden a hearing.

Sorry, I don't mean to lecture, but I feel very strongly about these matters, and I'm desperately concerned about our future and that of the world now.

I was a HUGE Wes supporter, all the way 2004 primary season until two weeks ago, when I found out he was supporting Hillary. Well, I guess I still am a Wes supporter, and I guess he's supporting Hillary because they're old friends from Arkansas/the Clinton 1 administration. But it hurts to see him there, unless Hillary plans on asking him to be her running mate should she win the primaries.

Like he says, we have a FIGHT on our hands. Well goddamn it let's fight! We won't be able to do anything but roll over some more if we don't get him elected. I know John ain't perfect, and I know Dennis is a populist too, but Edwards is our best chance right now for us who want our country back to make a stand!

- Edwards, GO!

we allowed them to wage an illegal war in all our names. we have put up with atrocities, simply because they didn't affect our comfortable lifestyles. we happily bought the products made by slave labour in china to provide us with that comfortable lifestyle; and since it wasn't OUR countrymen that were working in slavish conditions, that was OKAY.

but it wasn't okay.

and now it's time for us to pay the piper.

we wouldn't be accused of hating America by Sean Hannity and the like. I was hoping to find a democratic forum to have more optimists committed to change.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

fascist agenda, love America. Unlike Hannity and the neocons that want a dictatorship.

Hannity has no degree and never gives sources for his outlandish accusations. Ooops am I using words too big for you?

Hannity and his followers are small minded idiots.

Who said I like Hannity? Hannity is a small-minded prick who supports bush in everything he does, even stuff other people like him won't support.

I'm a liberal progressive, that is why I came to this forum. I'm just saying I am dismayed to find you all so cynical. In the end it is the cynical "won't vote; what's the point" attitude that will be the end of America.

In your first post on DU you criticize us and you dare to mention Sean Insanity and think we won't react. You basically said if we here at DU behave ourselves then maybe Sean might approve of us and think we don't hate America.

In time, you will see, just from the Late Breaking News forum, just how gamed the system has become.

BTW welcome to DU. :)

And a word of advice: develop a think hide. DU is not for the faint of heart. LOL

Cheers!

...

is a gift...

USAmerika is the WORST example of rampant, metasticized capitalism on the face of the Earth and must die -- soon!

There are much better models in parts of Europe but they're being corrupted.

The best models are in the South -- Venezuela, Chiapas, Peru, Bolivia, etc. The Bolivarian Revolution is the best hope at this point.

I pray that the Bolivarian Reforms migrate to El Norte.
When things get bad enough here, they will.

The political and social changes sweeping across South and Central America inspire hope.
I don't believe that the Mexican Oligarchy will get away with stealing another election.


The Democratic Party is a BIG TENT, but there is NO ROOM for those
who advance the agenda of THE RICH (Corporate Owners) at the EXPENSE of LABOR and the POOR.

Either America elect the robbers, or they steal the election.

Good grief.

Why vote? Why bother? Let's all go kill ourselves...or try to get citizenship elsewhere.

Abandon hope, all ye who enter here! This shit is UNFIXABLE...the glass is half empty...life as we know it is ENDED!

:eyes:

to get all the neocons/rethuglicans bureaucrats out of the govt positions they've been placed in.

Personally I'm for citizenship elsewhere. Whoever could imagine that Americans would be fleeing like refugees we have watched on television fleeing their countries.

Civil war cometh along with global warming, Mother earth rebelling,the collapse of the world economy, and myriad other disasters both natural and unnatural - all converging at the same time.

For once the guy in the sandwich board shouting "prepare, the end is coming" is right.

...if anyone has noticed. Dickie and Georgie won't get their war with Iran, our overlords in the east will pull the economic plug first. They could make life for us veeeery difficult if they wished.


...notice that everything is "Made in China"?


ed to add:
check out this article:
http://elainemeinelsupkis.typepad.com/money_matters/2008/01/two-strange-imf.html

with Iran is precisely because China will slap us down hard.

Then he can blame the recession / depression on China.

Have you any idea how many countries are already divesting themselves of the U.S. dollar?

every interest rate decrease devalues the dollar a bit more. Wheelbarrows, anyone?

"The Bushites are bullies and for a long time nobody dared criticize them and just swallowed their propaganda and lies. People have become scared. In this kind of climate, nobody is interested in the critical voice".

People refuse to believe the truth or even the facts that show them they are being lied to. I sometimes throw up my hands, when if truth it would be far better to remain silent. I feel caught up in the downward spiral of political discourse, being the loyal opposition is now the disloyal opposition. God we need a change, a change that rattles the hallways of our own psyche.

I mean, he's right, we're toast. And it's true there is no longer any such thing in this country as a public intellectual. But Bloom's been complaining about how American culture is going to hell in a handbasket ever since the emergence of feminist criticism. And if you ask me, his own hellspawn Camille Paglia played a not insignificant part in the Jerry Springerization of the public intellectual.

C ya,

The Plaid Adder

otherwise the US economic empire will go the way of past ones, Spain, Netherlands, Great Britain.

Too much wealth concentrated in the few at the top brings this about.

"You can have great wealth or a democracy, but you cannot have both"--Louis Brandeis

Edwards is the only candidate who has any kind of clue about what to do !

Money is like manure: When you spread it around it makes things grow, but when it piles up in one place it starts to stink

The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot by Naomi Wolf.

It's not looking very good for us. I have serious reservations that any of the candidates will turn it around. Why would they want to, considering the expanded "unitary executive powers". Power corrupts and who wouldn't want to be king (or queen)?

death note, then so be it. I cannot say we deserve any better than the people we allow to run our country.

On a lighter note - I don't think that will be enough.

at least.

scratching around for something --- anything!

*Applauds*

Harold just said what's needed to be said along time ago.

The MSM is a total laughingstock, thank god there's still critical thinking to be found in Comedy Central and HBO's Bill Maher.

Let's see how high oil gets this year, and how much the dollar is going to keep falling.

In the history of the world, Gold has never been that high - and the worst of
the subprime disaster is not at bottom yet - minimum another two years, maximum - who knows. How long did The Great Depression last? 6 -7 years ? They say it really began in 1928 but the whole crash didn't come til 1929...something to look forward to if you're one of the little people. The Germans have a word for it, Schadenfreude. Glee at the others bad fortune, and in this case the other is the robber barons of the Stock market and CEO's of the Corporations with their multitudinous tock options which will be good for wallpaper.

Gold is going to go a lot higher..some have said $1500, but if its already at
$912.40 - oops it just went up another dollar - then $2000 would not be out of the realm of possibility.

Funny thought - Bin Laden's goal was to ruin the USA financially. Bush's goal has been to ruin the USA financially in order to deprive the little people of
FDR's safety net programs. Both had the goal of war to accomplish their ends.

Gee- you don't think they were/are still partners do you?

It doesn't matter if you vote or not. The corporations and rich asscarrots are going to get their way no matter who is in office. Keep in mind that not a few DU'rs make over 6 figures a year and work for corporations. I know people who put their kids through college because they built MX missiles for Honeywell. I know others who did the same building neutron detonation devices for GE. It comes down to your job so you can support your family. Employment and the health you need to stay employed is what matters. Corporations are controlling these issues, not whoever we vote for. Edwards won't make it to the primary and you all know that and if you don't then you are ignorant of just how much control these corporations have over us and our country. IMO we need to bypass the government so to speak, and collectively go to war against the corporations who are controlling and destroying us and our country.

I think we are past the tipping point. Not just our country but the entire poisoned planet. Mankind has gone too far. I'm so glad I chose not to breed. I don't have to worry about leaving any children behind in the train wreck that is fast approaching. I'm almost fifty so I may be gone before the entire thing comes to a screeching halt, or a fiery end or however the hell it's going to go down. We had a good thing and we ruined it through technology, greed and capitalism. This is hugh, we are screwn, I'm series.

.

but if it stands and is controlled by fascist then we are slaves to their whims and all the survival plans in the world will not help. My father used to remind me that the government could take even our homes away from us if they so chose.

This is OUR COUNTRY. We can take it back at any time, and we are ingenious enough to address its challenges.

it's what makes a nation strongest. They don't want that. They want a weak government with weaker people so that they can maintain their wealth and power.

It's refreshing to read someone who truly gets what's going on in this country. I feel this election is the most important election of my lifetime. I'm so outraged over corporate America and MSM controlling this election with their black out and media smear of the greatest defender of our Constitution, and the ONLY candidate not beholden to corporate interests: Dennis Kucinich.

He is the only candidate that voted against the iraq war and it's continued funding. The only candidate the voted against the Patriot Act. And the only candidate that has the courage and foresight to impeach Cheney before we are taken into a war with Iran!

His single payer *not-for-profit* health care plan will cover every American, and fund itself by kicking the insurance middlemen out of the equation. The other candidates want to keep the insurance companies in the middle and INCREASE their profits by making every American buy health ins. Private insurance bureaucracy and paperwork consume 31 percent of every health care dollar spent. Over half of bankruptcy filers cite medical reasons. Yet people are being sucked in by "universal health care" platforms by Clinton, Edwards, and Ob ama, that are keeping the status quo.

Kucinich wants to get out of NAFTA and the WTO which would threaten the GE empire. That is the obvious reason NBC disinvited Kucinich from the debates. I'm so angered by the FCC not protecting the rights of the public airwaves that belong to the people, not MSM. This blatant media manipulation in our election process should have every American outraged!

We need campaign finance reform NOW! We also need to not let lobbyist and special interest groups poison our Congress and presidential candidates with large donations. Corporate America is running our democracy, and "We the People" are allowing it to happen. That's why my moniker is "idiocracyhell." It best describes the mental state of this country. I can blame MSM and corporate America for manipulating the public during this election year, but if the public allows this manipulation, and doesn't vote for the candidate that's so threatening to the powers that be, he's marginalized, ridiculed and kept from debates, then we get what we deserve.

I always knew he was a great literary critic, writer and thinker, but I didn't know he was so outspoken on political matters. And, not surprisingly, he's right on target.

It's a safe bet that he's not very impressed with the way things are unfolding in our current presidential primary process. Our ability to think critically, echoed by Dr. Bloom, is fast in decline. I had said from the start of this election cycle that if America really wanted a good presidential election with the most qualified candidates generating the most productive debate, the Republicans would nominate John McCain and the Democrats Joe Biden. We'd finally have something politically healthy going on in this country. How deeply disturbing it is to me that the Republicans are appearing to have gotten this, but the Democrats didn't even come close. Suffering from the analytical malignancy referred to by Bloom, the Democrats can't decide between a man that is lacking any foreign policy experience, and little experience in general, and a woman with the highest negative ratings of any presidential candidate in decades, someone seen as divisive and too calculating. It's not just a coincidence that they also happened to be the two candidates with the most celebrity-like personas. The Democrats were too easily enamored by the packaging and sale's pitch, a product of our inability to think critically.

Of course experience isn't the only criteria one should look at when considering a candidate, and it also depends on the nation's priorities at the time of the election. But I can think of no better time in history, save perhaps during WWII, when experience should be such a high priority when selecting our next Commander in Chief. I hope it's not necessary to run down the list of reasons why, but being involved in two wars is reason enough. The Democrats didn't just shoot themselves in the foot. They've put a shotgun to their collective head and have gleefully pulled the trigger.

and yet they let the killings continue. Torture, rendition, lawless and criminal behavior condoned by most of those in positions of power. Even 20 years ago, when I was a much younger man, I knew when Reagan broke the Air Traffic controller's union, that was the beginning of the end. That was a defining moment in this country's start down a dark and deathly road.

It was that event which signaled to the corporate wolves they were more important then the individual American. It was that event which let those gathering together to gain a voice, they no longer had a voice. Remember, that was the time of the leveraged buy-outs, it was the time of the "ME" generation, it was the time of Ollie North (remember him?) and one of the first of the republican criminal/patriots.

Now, with Kerry's endorsement of Obama, I felt a cold chill run down my back. I was hopeful, I thought there was a chance for change. Now, with the MSM shutting out the two candidates who speak about real change, I know the die is cast and unless a major miracle occurs which includes enough people turning out to overturn what the machines give us, it's over.

This is now a subverted system. We The People no longer control this country. As in Germany, there were many people too afraid to speak out, too many people afraid, period. We have to get angry. We have to get pissed. We have to, or all is lost. My fiancé's 19 year old son said to me it no longer matters if you vote, "they" already have someone picked out to win. So, if that's the feeling from our youth, how do you fight that? They know what those of us in the thick of it refuse to acknowledge, the game is rigged.

I started talking about how the Germans went about their lives as they burned the bodies in the concentration camps. We walk in that same fear, because they knew it could just as well be their bodies burning in those camps.

The Generals. About a year ago I think we were within a hair of the Generals
retired and not taking over. Remember when they all were suddenly speaking out against the war and the decider's plans. That's when suddenly Baker showed up Rumsfeld was toast, and Gates was brought in- who doesn't seem to have the iron will to buck the war maker. The generals including ones who had resigned or been pushed out because they wouldn't jump to dumbo's demand?

If we were lucky it could be the good generals, who would take over temporarily and insure true election, if we were unlucky it would be the bad generals and then junior would get his wish, dictatorship - but at least he wouldnt be dictator.

...never really existed, except in the eyes of idealists and the mouths of propagandists.

The America behind this wonderful facade was built by and for the benefit of white "Christian" men and those who hitched themselves to those white "Christian" men's coattails.

From the pioneers to today's corporate robber barons, the underlying philosophy of America has been to take that which is not theirs to take, and hang on tight. And for those who lack the strength to fight back or to hold onto what they've gained: "Stiff f*cking shit."

Persevering in the face of hardship and adversity is no great virtue when it is a necessity, because the alternative is oblivion.