There Is A Serious Left! – Moon of Alabama

April 27, 2007

There Is A Serious Left!

by annie
(excerpt lifted from a comment)

It all seems like we are headed into a major trainwreck and nothing can turn it around regardless of impeachment or pulling troops out or whatever. It’s huge, it’s like the corporations are running the damn place and we are going to be all swimming in shit before anything is allowed to happen in some healthy way. I have no idea.

But there are millions and millions of people here and I think it is foolish to assume we are all just clueless because you can’t hear our voices all the way in Europe or the ME, or Asia of Africa or any of the other places we are screwing over. We need leaders who are going to pull us out of this crap and we aren’t fighting a foe like ‘republicans’. We are fighting a foe like massive corporate power who will fight tooth and nail to hold onto that power.

Who’s drinking the koolaid? If the MSM doesn’t tell you the people are fed up, does that mean we aren’t? There are millions of dissatisfied voices that aren’t being heard.

There are no serious left voices on the talk shows. Period. None. They throw up some luke warm piece of crap like Joe Klein and call him liberal. The serious left in Congress are harassed and degraded, like McKinney and Kucinich. You will not be seeing any serious left in the MSM. There is no way they are going to give us a platform unless somebody starts screwing dogs or otherwise f’s up. Then it will be sliced and diced and regurgitated into a Dean scream.

It is simply an insult to the serious left in this country to even imply anyone that our enemies would showcase, would be considered the serious left.

We exist. And we have more to say than I’m sorry.
Do me a favor, get your media to front page that project censored story.

It takes serious money SERIOUS money to compete w/the global foes.

We’re here. All over the country in little towns and big cities. Not recognizing us doesn’t mean we don’t exist. Having our votes destroyed doesn’t mean we don’t exist. Most people don’t know how to make our voices heard. I don’t. But were here, and a lot of us are screaming. Every single f’ng gd day

Posted by b on April 27, 2007 at 17:25 UTC | Permalink

Comments

cross post from Moyer’s: belongs here.
Right on rant annie. I wish you had have delivered to the House Speaker in Vermont on Wednesday when we 300 or so gathered to persuade her to at minimum put it on the table in the House. She did. It didn’t pass but it did the Senate last week. I hope Washington will now be first but whoever, just fuck’in do it.
Yes, there is a movement that is beginning to swell from the ground, from the earth that is ultimately our support and source. And We the People are starting to again influence it’s direction.
JFL, from you’re vantage point you’re missing this but that’s ok. It is real and you will begin to hear that from the likes of annie and I.
I don’t trust the dem’s: “we’ve got investigations going. Give us time. Don’t dilute our effort.” They are at best disingenuous but certainly inept. Besides they are part of and fully support the non-stainable enterprises that are denuding our earth and despoiling her gracious beauty. She is our sustenance but the entitled in this world are unable to see through their rose colored lenses to this essential reality.
Even die hard libertarian Justin appreciates socialist Moyer’s documentary:
As the editorial director of Antiwar.com, my job is to make sure that we cut through the government propaganda and get at the truth about what is really going on in the world, and during the run-up to the Iraq war we had quite a time of it. The lies were coming so thick, and so fast, that it was all we at Antiwar.com could do to continually refute them, and yet that is precisely what we did. Moyers takes us through the lies, and shows how the “mainstream” media failed to make any critical analysis of the administration’s allegations. That job, sadly, was left to us.

Posted by: Juannie | Apr 27 2007 17:33 utc | 1

watch the video, pass it on, sing along , this saturday is national impeachment day all across the nation.
also, if you scroll down you can watch State Senator Eric Oemig announcing to his constituents his intent to introduced the resolution (it failed btw). as you can see, these are not hippies. he represents the relatively conservative (for seattle) area of the 45th district. redmond, kirkland.. the eastside. the audience as you can sort of see at the beginning are very regular folks.
do i think this is going to lead to impeachment? no, i do not. do i think it is going to raise awareness the majority of us want bush impeached, as the polls show? yes. it is important for us to know we are not some fringe element. it is important for the world to know americans realize we are getting screwed over. we’re in this together, whether we like it or not.
thanks b, it drive me crazy when people act like we don’t exist.

Posted by: annie | Apr 27 2007 18:31 utc | 2

Gravel says what needs to be said: link
annie, I’m about to make some stickers. We need to be on this every minute of every day. Get it in front of everyone’s faces.

Posted by: beq | Apr 27 2007 19:17 utc | 3

What’s all this talk of government by the people?
The American government is a direct and immediate expression of the American economy. That economy is wholly dominated by international financing, multi-national (effectively stateless) corporations, and unbelievable military might globally projected.
This is not a peaceful nation. This is a nation on permanent war footing. A bare knuckles, fight at the drop of hat, “anytime, anywhere” nation. Even outer space , even the bottoms of the oceans, even the moon, are all just theaters of war to our government. Our goal in every theater of war we can reach is to “get there firstest, with the mostest.”
“We, the people,” is a quaint term for voters, who are endlessly massaged and marketed to by the same mass media that sells us our toothpaste, cars, foreign wars, and opinions. They select and sell us our candidates, too. That’s why every election turns out to be a choice between lesser evils, every time.
No, this is government by money and violence, whether threatened or expressed, and it governs people’s lives all over the world.
And it is actively expanding to “incorporate” Canada and Mexico into the shiny new North American Union, by 2010. (see SPP.GOV)
The hard work of integrating government agencies and regulations and laws is already being done, and the marketing campaign for the NAU starts right after January 20, 2009, no matter whom among the lesser evils is elected, no matter whether DEM or GOP.
That’s where the money is taking America. We’ll even get a shiny, new currency called the Amero, bringing you back a dime for every dollar you may save between now and then.
You’ll love it. You will.
You see, when money talks, people listen. If they don’t, there’s always violence.

Posted by: Antifa | Apr 27 2007 19:58 utc | 4

well what are we going to do antifa???
we can’t just sit around forever, throwing up our hands at the impossibility. is the whole world waiting for americans to make this happen? where’s the global element in stopping this beast of aggression.
If they don’t, there’s always violence.
if it comes to that it will be beyond nightmare.
Immigrants Used to Justify a Homeland Security Police State another excellent project censored report.

Posted by: annie | Apr 27 2007 21:25 utc | 5

What to do?
First, let’s look squarely at what we face. The very cornerstones of our nation have been illegally removed. The law is gone, because the very basis for American law is gone.
Right now, our American President can declare martial law at his own discretion, and he can put anyone he deems an enemy combatant in the gulag forever. No recourse under current law to either of his whims.
We are stuck in Iraq as long as we wish to remain a superpower, which means no American politicians are going to fully withdraw American forces there, or close our permanent bases there. Ever. We’ll always have fifty or sixty thousand troops training the natives. Iraq may as well be our 51st State.
And we cannot stay in Iraq, or dominate the Middle East, with Iran still standing independent of our persuasion. If America is to remain the sole superpower on Earth, Iran has to be smashed, overturned, and brought into our close orbit so that they do not overshadow our freedom spreadery in the region, in the form of oil contracts for us, and democracy for everyone else.
Seeing all this, and how inevitable it is, if we are to pursue our mad economic course upon the world stage, there is only one way to stop it.
That is to move beyond the law just as surely and forcefully as the neocon pirates in charge of our government have moved beyond the law.
As Martin Luther King put it, “Fill the jails.” By the million. Stand in the streets. Block the highways. Do no work. Do not cooperate. Stop the nation in its tracks until this madness stops as well.
Working within the system will get us only what the system has brought us so far — a highly militarized, corporatized society intent on harvesting and controlling the resources of the lesser nations, and consuming 25 times what those nation consume, as our right. As if it is our right.
I firmly believe the solution now lies outside the written law. The cure for this madness lives and breathes in our original Declaration of Independence. We have the right to shake off, and remake our own government.

Posted by: Antifa | Apr 27 2007 22:20 utc | 6

Call it “Family Values Week (Month)” and stay home for quality time with the kids

Posted by: jcairo | Apr 27 2007 22:46 utc | 7

While watching C-span Thursday. one call-in lady suggested that it might be enlightening IF they would accept calls from only the parents of servicemen/women in Afghanistan/Iraq. The premise~ Get the views of those folks most directly involved in the fighting/paying the price of these wars.
I watched for an hour+ and my non-scientific (seat of the pants) count was 2 to 1 (2-1) in favor of leaving Iraq NOW (post haste). I believe that my observation was a fair ratio………… today, during this time frame. Make of that what you will.

Posted by: SoandSo | Apr 27 2007 23:23 utc | 8

“Justice Dept Official Resigns Over Investigation Connected with Abramoff” (April 27, 2007)
The Abramoff Scandal Documents Center
The Motherlode – Down a dark hole in the US Attorney purge scandal
Withheld Sampson Emails: Mainline to White House
CNN has no coverage
MSNBC has no coverage
Reuters has no coverage
Faux probably has no coverage, but I refuse to click them.
No wonder the American people do not “get” the significance of the US Attorneys scandal nor the The Abramoff Scandal. A senior Justice official resigns, deputy chief of staff of the criminal division, and it does not break on the big “news” sites. Both CNN and MSNBC have video of two deer going beserk in a nursing home…
Anyone want to take bets what page, if any, this story winds up in WashPo or NYT?

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Apr 28 2007 0:30 utc | 9

What you can do:
the Senate has a toll free number:
1-866-808-0065
Call Obama every day.
Call Clinton every day.
Call McCain every day and whap him.
Call every Senator who runs for national office. Make them understand that you are there and you are tired of BS. Call your own senators, too. Let them know their jobs depend on you.

Posted by: Scorpio | Apr 28 2007 0:41 utc | 10

Addendum:
Senior Justice Dept. Official with Abramoff Ties Resigns
Ahhh, perhaps now we know why the Abramoff investigation took so goddamned long…
Jesus H. Christ, that Fredo is doing a “heckofa job” managing DOJ!

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Apr 28 2007 0:43 utc | 11

Jon Stewart tells the truth

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Apr 28 2007 0:56 utc | 12

Ahhh, Scorpio that’s about as good as calling 1-866-355-8176
Pay2Play Phone Sex Only
1.99/minute
10 minute minimum (19.90) or It’s only $25 for 30 min, No PayPal but very Discreet 😉
at least the above is honest about it…

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Apr 28 2007 1:04 utc | 13

uncle, as i mentioned in the intro to this post (don’t know why i had to break it in two, it wouldn’t post otherwise), i’m watching that tonight on pbs..
btw, there is a good link on the post under check this out that mirrors another story b and i both posted yesterday. it is a fairly good little home made video and i hope crispin keeps up this form of media.
also, thank you everybody for the response. i am feeling a little boost as i just got back from the bakery where quite a little heated discussion started around the cash register.i was ease dropping on this fairly old little lady saying similiar things my mom has been saying about america not being what ut used to be, the cashier, a middle age hispanic woman was saying how it was worse than watergate and then i chimed in and joining me another customer and before you knew the whole line was chiming in.
this is fairly unusual, this being an ordinary day old bread place, no sitdown coffee or anything.
scorpio 10, i do that stuff. generally we have some decent representatives here w/mc dermott and murray but people like cantwell won’t budge on their aipac votes. i’m kind w/antifa an uncle somewhat in terms of what i think it will take to actually make decent change although i have not backed out of the system altogether. this is going to take a sea change and i don’t see the parties as evolved although i do see how there is hardly anything right now that could be as effective in congress as getting the damn elections back which is going to take busting open the election fraud which this DA and abromoff scandal seems on the precipice of.
uncle, thanks for your link. i ran into another there abramoff crime catching feeney from florida. he’s the guy that ask for the election fraud software, remember that old story? i was doing some hunting around yesterday and noticed both tidewater and dci are on his ‘contribution links, straigh outta pheonix.
it very well could be that both conyers, who is a real election hawk and led the ohio 04 hearings and waxman are more prepared than we give them credit for just needing that scab to peel to pry open festering wound of corruption. ir is these little steps that engage the locals and there are more and more communities getting pulled in.
faster please. big changes come when we least expect it. we need some sweeping movement. anyway, i live it everyday. i do not look forward to it packing jails before it breaks.
thanks again for posting my rant b.
for everyone of you who hasn’t sang the lennon song w/the new words ‘bush is over if we want it’ on my link @#2, i swear, it makes me cry. that chorus of kids.. our future, damn, i hope they save us. otherwise they are going to have hell to pay.

Posted by: annie | Apr 28 2007 2:16 utc | 14

Well I certainly am in favor of any sort of action, as opposed to smarmy, blase cynicism.
I am not opposed to impeachment. Hell, impeach them all! I just think that although Dick or George may be impeached neither will be found guilty. But, do it anyway if you want to, it can’t really hurt. It might help raise the American conciousness.
All of us are part of the renewal. It goes forward at a glacial pace. Sometimes it stands still. Yet it is better to talk the talk and to push, push, push at the edges as individuals than to let loose a torrent of clever, florid cynicism and to snort at the efforts of those who do exert themselves.
My own sphere of activity is pretty small. I try to exert what little pressure I can on “my” senators, to make them feel like the regime is an albatross they needn’t be wearing around their necks, to make them think it is their own self-interest to start thinking about how to end the war, to start thinking about reinstating the Constitution of the US, because their core constituency wants both of those things.
They are both Republicans. You go to war with the senators you have. But frankly I think the Republicans are more amenable to pressure at this point. They need to know that they are going to be decimated because of this war, and that it’s every one of them for themselves. Goodbye George Bush.
The DLC has convinced the Demoplicans that the longer the war continues the better for them.
I think that there is one party to battle not two, just two poses affected by that one party and that one pose is more vulnerable, balancing on a “wing and a prayer”, than the other at this point in time. But what do I know?
I do believe the problems of the US’ foreign policy cannot be solved without ending US support for Israel’s aggression toward the people and expropriation of the land of Palestine.
I do believe the problems within the US cannot be solved without replacing the present, corrupt corporate political class with a class of politicians representing the people.
In my view both these problems are the logical result of the “campaign finance” system of legalized bribery. In my view trying to play the game in these terms, a la Huntingon Post, is doomed.
The rules must be changed. To change the rules requires a massive democratic renewal.
Ralph Nader just gave an alternate commencement address at Brigham Young University in Provo, UT. This was accomplished by a definite minority of the students at perhaps the most “conservative” religious institution in the country, in the most reactioanary district of the most reactionary state in the union.
I think that there are holes wearing through the curtain, that the monstrous fraud perpetrated by the msm, not to mention by the regime itself, is peeking out at nearly everyone at this point and that nearly all Americans can see the bare, hairy ass of the ape we’ve let run the machine.
When I said that Moyers’ pbs show was for the pundits and msm pros, I didn’t mean it wasn’t the truth or that it was somehow not for ordinary people as well. I meant that most ordinary people who keep up with “the news” at all are already in possession of the information in his show, and that it was more of a meta-media milestone, a point at which the authors of the fraud are confronted with their own past acts and challenged to draw the line in the sand or continue to hew to the one drawn by the regime. Someone said there was a stir in the beltway. Well… I hope there was and is.
I hope that we are coming to an epochal inflection point in American politics. Was it Stephen J Gould who popularised the idea of a punctuated equilibrium as the mechanism of evolution?
Nader at BYU gives me real hope that a third party might be successful in 2008. In the meantime I’ll keep pushing at the edges.

Posted by: John Francis Lee | Apr 28 2007 2:24 utc | 15

This was accomplished by a definite minority of the students at perhaps the most “conservative” religious institution in the country, in the most reactioanary district of the most reactionary state in the union.
do not underestimate utah!
IT IS A MORAL IMPERATIVE
they got a rockin’ mayor in salt lake. he went to DC and gave a kick ass speech.

Posted by: annie | Apr 28 2007 2:38 utc | 16

Posted by: annie | Apr 28 2007 2:41 utc | 17

Yeah… I used to live in Wendover, so I know a little about UT. The state was mostly Mormons, but there was silver in Park City and those folks were not Mormons. So there’s still a fine tension in SLC between the two.
Rocky is a jack Mormon. He is great ain’t he? He wants to impeach George too.

Posted by: John Francis Lee | Apr 28 2007 3:01 utc | 18

tomorrow is IMPEACHMENT DAY. anything happening round your parts? in my email there have been action alerts from codepink (to wear pink to form the “c” in the central park huamn impeachment mural), from progressive democrats of america to join them in forming the “p” in central park and at coney island, and from democrats.com and worldcantwait.org an update on these two events and many other cool stuff going on in the nyc area. the pooch and i will go to central park (can’t take her on the subway out to coney island) and spend the afternoon helping to form whatever letter we are asked to form and build a little solidarity with others. my hat is off to those who organized the events – got the permits, sent out the action notices, hired the plane to fly with an IMPEACH banner, organized photographers, etc., etc. i have had a killer week of work and school projects so have not been able to follow this or other discussions and must pose the question to others more up to date – does this action make us the serious left? if it garners media attention and raises awareness does it represent a serious action? and if it doesn’t? i don’t believe anyone out there tomorrow fully expects impeachment to come from the action, but i do think that it will raise awareness and build solidarity. and as i have said before, to me, that act of engaging with and joining with others is what can make a difference in this world.

Posted by: conchita | Apr 28 2007 3:08 utc | 19

also, annie and b, thanks for writing and posting. sometimes people need something to rally around.

Posted by: conchita | Apr 28 2007 3:09 utc | 20

This is a question I believe numerous societies have had to ask themselves throughout history: when other means fail, at what point do I draw the line and resort to civil disobedience in order to change the course of my leaders? It’s not an easy one.
Unfortunately I’m inclined to agree with Antifa in that real change will not come through anything short of that. And I don’t see it happening on a large scale unless we suffer an economic collapse. This country was founded by people who thought ideas like liberty, justice, the rule of law, and representative government were more important than their possessions and even their lives. Unfortunately, the number of these citizens has dwindled over the past 200 years and they are now a small minority.
Most of our people are busy trying to make ends meet. Our standard of living is still obscenely high compared to much of the rest of the world, but it’s supported by massive amounts of debt on both personal and national levels. The federal government has done an amazing job of keeping people quiet, despite outrageous encroachments on their liberty, by keeping taxes low and borrowing money from the rest of the world to keep our economy going.
Surely this can’t keep going on forever. And when the average American realizes there is no hope of maintaining their current lifestyle, things will change rapidly. I just hope it’s for the better and that we’ve actually learned something. Time will tell.
In the meantime, I try to get the people around me to think for themselves rather than just accepting whatever the media or even I tell them, and I do my best to live like a self-reliant free person instead of a corporate consumer/government subject. Not sure what else to do at this point. I come here pretty often for ideas.

Posted by: Chemmett | Apr 28 2007 3:14 utc | 21

Irish Peace Laureate Shot By Israeli Troops at Non-Violent Protest – Why Isn’t This News?

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Apr 28 2007 4:12 utc | 22

for those in the u.s. who would like to get involved in a local impeachment action or start one, find like-minded folks on the map at A28.org.

Posted by: conchita | Apr 28 2007 4:23 utc | 23

Watching the depredations this Administration has made upon bedrock American ideals over the past six years has been a creeping nightmare. I’ve lost my country.
On the other hand, it’s been very revealing of who we are, as a nation, that we put up with it. It seems a great many of us are chasing simple survival, and those who do have survival in hand merely move on to chasing comfort. The astonishing apathy toward genuine political participation in America is the true cynicism — the bulk of the citizens know that the game is rigged, and the outcome is always the same shit, different day.
I don’t know about others, but to me it is a great comfort to occasionally stop staring at the daily crimes of the Beltway elites, and look instead at where it’s all heading. It matters. I have a 13-year old son, who is going to live in “interesting times” well beyond the roller coaster ride my generation has enjoyed. I’m not about to prepare him for the world these Beltway bozos have in mind for him — they won’t mind at all sending him to die in the sand in some oil-heavy foreign desert shortly after he turns eighteen.
He’s grown weary of me reminding him that George Bush wants to kill him in 2012 or so. He assures me that ain’t gonna happen, no way no how, nope. Simply hearing that from him lets me know that I’m not raising another Ron Kovic.
I.F. Stone said the rich march on Washington every day. It workds. Income inequality in America is back to where it was in the latter days of the 19th Century, when robber barons ruled the Gilded Age, and widows and orphans went begging for crumbs, and foreign wars could be whipped up by newspapers on demand.
I’m ready to do some marching.

Posted by: Antifa | Apr 28 2007 4:32 utc | 24

confession, just to let you know how out of dorts i am, i misplaced my hairbrush a few days ago. no big deal, i assumed i would run into it around the house, i never take it out. but having long hair, it starts to dread. so today i buckled under and decided to shop for one (drug stores, yuk). i meandered into barkells, a seattle stronghold, avoiding walgreens etc,(still, i did not want to leave the neighborhood to venture farther to the wholefoods, i am gutless, traffic yuk). standing there in the aisle i ask the youngster w/her cell phone to take her conversation to the other aisle so could concentrate (she didn’t even give me a nasty look and seemed to understand), and proceeded to examine the selection. forgot my glasses. they were all from china. every single one. even the ones from “america”, they were actually made in china(i had to ask for assistance w/one brand the script was so small). i thought, one world, china needs me too.
i settled on a small cheap (5 bucks or so) version. went to the cash register and mantioned, ‘they are all from china’ she said, ‘i know’.
another thing. the grocery stores here all have these ‘specials’ that are actually the normal price, but in order to get the ‘sale’ you have to produce your ‘card’, which tracks your purchase.
everytime i check out, i make it a point to say.. “why do i have to show my ID to get the sale?’
a few years ago, they used to say things like “it is just for the marketing’ or, we just need to track how much to order, or some clueless excuse.
i sometimes don’t use my card, you can punch in your phone and it does the same thing..but i use weird phone numbers, and get new cards in the name of jane smitherines or jackie off or martha shoe or whatever. i give an address like 17 bimbo lane or 69 firth street or 007 mistery roadblock.
then i lose the card in case they feel like tracking my sour cream.
i am so predictable because i always eat the same food. i swear if mexicans can be happy w/beans , rice, salsa, why does anyone need or desire some huge variety of food? i could be happy w/the same ol same ol. and i am. so if all hell breaks loose, ll they would have to do is find the lone buyer purchasing massive amounts of lettuce!
sorry. way diversion. it friggin sucks they monitor, or could, us, thru the food we eat. face it, if you want the deals, you gotta show the ID’s.
and be subjects to this immense marketing that could, if we become a police state, identify you.
most people have at least a decade of purchase history and it takes conscious effort to avoid the trace thru only using cash, switching consumer ID’s, shopping at homegrown stores.. it takes an effort.
anyway, now.. when i mention at the registers, the kids bagging the goods give me a sideways glance, like they know exactly what i am talking about. the cashiers, they don’t make excuses, it is like they know, there is a sense of solidarity i sense that was not there a few years ago, a permeation that has set in.. a rejection..
when will it materialize? it takes each and every one of us, to constantly express the wierdness.

Posted by: annie | Apr 28 2007 4:46 utc | 25

I’m ready to do some marching.
tomorrow its forming human impeach on madison beach or a sign on the freeway,
i will do something. it won’t make a difference, but why not?

Posted by: annie | Apr 28 2007 5:05 utc | 26

Annie, your luck may vary, but if I find a sympathetic cashier and/or act like I’m in a hurry, some stores will give me a card and a blank application to “fill out and bring back later”, which of course, I never do. 😉
It’s mostly about money… grocery stores in particular operate on razor thin profit margins and if they can cut costs or boost sales even a fraction of a cent by tracking purchases and running studies on the data, they’ll do so. We don’t have to like it or put up with it though. I seem to remember stores staying in business just fine when I was a kid (not very long ago, mind you) when they put paper price stickers on everything and had genuine sales instead of just overcharging anyone who wasn’t a “preferred customer”.

Posted by: Chemmett | Apr 28 2007 5:26 utc | 27

great post and discussion. thanks annie. thanks all.

Posted by: Hamburger | Apr 28 2007 9:41 utc | 28

For some reason, annie’s # 25 reminded me of
The Panopticon God

The panopticon as larger metaphor is nothing new. Michel Foucault was one of the first to suggest the panopticon as a model for contemporary (post-Enlightenment) society, emphasizing the power asymmetry inherent in many of our institutions.
Jensen reflects on the God we’ve subsequently created in our own image. His first paragraph sets up the spiritual dimensions of surveillance:

more at the link, excellent article/blog-post food for thought etc…

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Apr 28 2007 10:17 utc | 29

annie, i’ve been marchin’ for a long time now & perhaps my anger at the left – the left here as well as your country – is that the left is a part of my dna
but we have made errors, enormous errors – in the west ever since thatcher. for all our talk of militancy – when their revenge cycle began & it really began with thatcher & reagan – some of us were demolished – unions, citizens organisations, watchdogs etc & i think we were all struck by the venality of their vengeance
as i have sd here often – when some poster has pissed n us from a great height presuming we do little outside of the moonofalabama – i have defended our community because it is as sclear as day that tthe great majority of us are engaged in day to day actions in our lives & work. i’ve always presumed that the lifeblood of the left – the people – are still pumping
except whereverthat left live – they have been made to fear – fear, the same fear that affects the general community & specific fear & let me be even simpler – the construction of the institutions of fear have been the main business of the elites – they cannot do what they have done – from lootiung pension funds to inititiating illegal & immoral wars – without that fear
the only way, as people here allude to – to demolish that fear – is to act, to resist at the level you are capable of & to risk – to be resolute & courageous – remembering that old maxim that it is better to die standing up than living on your knees
but there are lights – the lights of central & latin americas – there is light in the movements in the third world
but this will be a long march because it has been going for some time & even erstwhile social democrats have been tainted by it – the parties of ‘opposition’ especially the social democrats have furthered the plans of the elites -enhance & furthered them – there is no clearer example than blair – who any real labour movement would have terminated at birth

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Apr 28 2007 12:50 utc | 30

the serious left, is that the one that isn’t full of idiot activists? 😉

Posted by: jcairo | Apr 28 2007 15:53 utc | 31

heh great annie warms me heart.
Lets hope. Act, in any way we can. Hope is sweet but ultimately bitter…
I’m just so depressed about the French elections, again a sort of roller coaster of deja-vu, so scripted, so planned, so dismaying. And this from..France! (We Swiss – I count myself as Swiss now, partly, as I finally got ‘my papers’ tend to idolise the debates, the awareness of issues, the ppl who write, plan their TV time properly, fight, demonstrate…in France…)
Antifa is right though. Within the system, forget it.
The most vulnerable spot is ‘the economy’, because to make the system churn ppl must work, produce, administer (eg. Gvmt.), deal (eg. globalisation, banking) and enlist (or work for ‘defense’..) The power of Bush or Clinton rests on the shoulders -hands, minds and hearts- of millions of American workers, farmers, soldiers, immigrants, and stay at home moms. (Not different in many other places..)
How many are, or will be, willing to give up paid employment, a place in society, a home, even if precarious, a future for their children? That is how they see it. Reasonably so.

Posted by: Noirette | Apr 28 2007 16:36 utc | 32

– remembering that old maxim that it is better to die standing up than living on your knees
oh my i do not want to die. not yet anyway. today i will be standing on the beach. i have called some friends who are coming along.
“hey, did you know today was national impeachment day”
“impeach who?” (joke)
“all of then”
“wanna go stand on the beach”
“what difference will it make”
“none, maybe it will land on page 6”
“why not the front page”
“because, anyway it will be fun, we can all stand around together and see how many of us there are”
“ok, why not”
i’ll report in later guys..just one little grain of sand i am i am

Posted by: annie | Apr 28 2007 16:49 utc | 33

I think you have it backwards

Posted by: jcairo | Apr 28 2007 17:13 utc | 34

well, based on my new york impeachment experience, i would say that there is not enough of a serious left. the new york organizers did an amazing job – ran string lines to delineate the letters, passed out flyers, organized the bodies into letter shapes, had a plan b and c when plan a did not work out, were tireless in their enthusiasm. but the truth is that the turnout was better than sparse, but given the population of new york city, i could only think “where is everybody?” i am hoping they all went out to coney island. we formed the letters of impeach by following the outlines and photos were taken and then following plan b we all packed into each single letter, one after the other, and a composite will be done. the smallish crowd was goodnatured and down for the cause. the real conchita received lots of doggy love and reveled in being allowed to just lie around in the grass. the organizers think they could have/should have done better promotion and better work with the media. they see this as a kickoff event and have many more planned for what they are calling the “summer of impeachment”. i have to admire their energy and their commitment and am considering getting more deeply involved.
but i think beyond the media there is a bigger nut to tackle – getting more people out there and involved. one of the organizers told me that she thinks people are afraid and do not feel empowered. i noticed that the crowd was nearly all 40 and over and many subtantially over. perhaps it is this generation that remembers watergate and believes in the power of the people and the possibility of impeachment whereas the younger generation doesn’t have the benefit of experience. by comparison a couple of weeks ago i participated in a “step it up” climate action and was struck by how youth driven that experience was. there were several teenaged speakers who revealed remarkable maturity, knowledge, and commitment in their words. and the crowd was predominantly young. there are those who believe that the environment/energy is the paramount issue. perhaps because it hits closer to home rather than continents away, perhaps because it is something that each one of us can do to make a difference rather than trying to fight government (although that is obviously a part of that battle), perhaps because green has become a media watchword, people become more involved. or maybe it was just because it rained yesterday and no one wanted to sit on soggy ground, but there clearly was a shortage of particpants in central park today.
annie, i will be watching to hear about your experience and i sincerely hope that seattle represented better than nyc. because at the moment i am inclined to think that while there is seriousness of purpose on the left, there reality may be that there is not a serious enough left in the u.s.

Posted by: conchita | Apr 28 2007 20:40 utc | 35

very meager crowd. my friend and i arrived 20 minutes late and they were taking the last photos. they said it took ‘forever’ to get everyone organized. we were out of there by 12:30. drove over to the overpass @UW and a younger very sparse crowd.
jeez

Posted by: annie | Apr 28 2007 20:53 utc | 36

cool, the video i linked to above is linked @ raw story and apparently getting lots of attention ‘Happy Springtime, Bush is Over’ embodies spirit of Lennon

This week, the non-profit organization Justice Through Music, in conjunction with the musical group Op-Critical and the Harmonic Angels children’s choir, released the song “Happy Springtime, Bush is Over,” a plea for peace amidst the war in Iraq and the looming influence of the Bush administration.
Using the John Lennon song “Happy Xmas, War Is Over” as a starting point, the musicians composed new lyrics to fit present-day issues, but were careful to retain the music’s original message. “Like Lennon more than 30 years ago, we are hoping for a quick end to an era of darkness,” said Storm, a member of the band Op-Critical. “So we are psyched that Justice Through Music worked with us to get this song out so quickly.”
In promoting and working with active musicians to relay their message, Justice Through Music attempts to educate and activate young people about the importance of civil rights and voting. “We are making a statement with this song that we will not live in fear and by imagining peace we will create peace,” said Craig Gillette, spokesman for the organization. “This is a real tribute to the message and spirit of Lennon, and we want every person on earth to be inspired by the song and video.”
Since being launched, the video has received over 80,000 views on YouTube and enthusiastic support on the band’s MySpace page.

Posted by: annie | Apr 28 2007 22:04 utc | 37

a friend and I went down to the local airport and put up IMPEACH BUSH signs along the road – we were expecting Rove in town – but not sure of when he was arriving.
Anyway, we got LOTS of positive honks and thumbs up and two idiots who were angry with us. One lady (I swear she looked like Kathleen Harris) told us that we could not put up signs without a permit on the right of way – I told her I thought it was permissible to do that. She said she was going to call the police, which if she did they never came. She did come back, but we were getting ready to leave at that point.
We left the yard sale and house for sale signs up the whole time.
Actually, it was fun. We talked to a women in the airport who was retired Air Force, and she totally supported impeachment. And another ex-military who had a MARINE bumper sticker and now has IMPEACH bumper sticker too.
I think some people are afraid to speak out. I don’t know why, because right now, we are still allowed to do this. Of course, that could change.
But I think the main problem is people are wrapped up in their lives and don’t realize the seriousness of what we are facing. And what extra energy they have they spend on the upcoming primaries, which in my mind is beyond silly.

Posted by: Susan | Apr 28 2007 22:22 utc | 38

digby writes about ex msnbc correspondent Ashleigh Banfield
She may have been hoping for a future in cable news, but you can’t help but feel she knew she wouldn’t after delivering those remarks. (Read the whole thing at the link if you’re interested in a further scathing critique of the government.)
Perhaps someone with more stature than Banfield could have gotten away with that speech and maybe it might have even been taken seriously, who knows? But the object lesson could not have been missed by any of the ambitious up and comers in the news business. If a TV journalist publicly spoke the truth anywhere about war, the news, even their competitors — and Banfield spoke the truth in that speech — their career was dead in the water. Even the girl hero of 9/11 (maybe especially the girl hero of 9/11) could not get away with breaking the CW code of omerta and she had to pay.

Posted by: annie | Apr 28 2007 23:26 utc | 39

You know some professions are not for honest people.
Not for people who are interested in earning the livelihood rightly. The TV infotainment business is one such profession.
There are still journalists. B brings together much of their work right here. We all manage to find it.
The thing to do with your TV is to turn it off.

Posted by: John Francis Lee | Apr 29 2007 6:51 utc | 40

We all manage to find it.
totally, billmon was on top of mcClatchy early on. tons of us knew.

Posted by: annie | Apr 29 2007 7:41 utc | 41

The thing to do with your TV is to turn it off. – jfl
or as old rock stars once used to do as a matter of style – throw it out the window

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Apr 29 2007 13:30 utc | 42

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