Now is the time for us to exploit that uneasy survival instinct keeping our friends and neighbors awake at night. We could start by talking about insurance. Will the flood and disaster insurance pay? When you have an Administration and a Congress that are in the pocket of the insurance industry, at what point does bribery become cheaper than paying out fair claims? Pretty early on, is my suspicion.
No geographic area is safe. There are twisters in the plains states, hurricanes along the coasts, mudslides from torrential rains in California, and droughts in the west. Worse, global warming will lead to outbreaks of disease, which, in our interconnected world, can travel around the world almost instantaneously. Do you trust this guy in a catastrophe of any type, even in a red state? Do you want Blackwater thugs “securing” your property after a disaster?
How many of us truly believe we can weather the uncertainties of dangerous and unpredictable climate change under a brutal, elitist, every-man-for-himself regime? It’s an assessment that might make even the staunchest (or richest) Republican blanch.
Time to put aside bogus political divisions. When someone who is willing to diss Bush says the Democrats aren’t any better, don’t disagree. They’re right.
We have to start making some noise, and the first thing we should scream about is busting the Katrina diaspora out of their illegal refugee camps. These people saw what happened. They can’t be talked out of it. They are living witnesses to the murderous intentions of the Bushitters toward American citizens. Like Cindy Sheehan, they have lost everything. They can speak outside the MSM because they are real.
I personally believe there are still quite a few halfway decent human beings in this country, if they can just get their heads out of their asses. The polls prove it.
Patricia Goldsmith is a member of Long Island Media Watch, a grassroots free media and democracy watchdog group. She can be reached at plgoldsmith@optonline.net.
While I find much to agree with in Patricia Goldsmith's comments, I will focus on the part that disturbs me, the idea that "there’s no difference between the two parties." This notion --heard so often from the further-left-- dangerously obscures the most central fact of our times: that from the right have arisen forces unprecedentedly dark and dangerous. Whatever the failures and weaknesses of the Democratic party in the face of the rise of these forces --and they are considerable-- the impotence of the liberals should not be equated with the evil of these Bushites. To those who are wedded to a perspective in which the two sides appear the same, I would ask: what then do you make of the testimony of this country's traditional friends around the world? Look at the poll numbers from Europe: the peoples of other democracies see America under Bush in a fundamentally different way from how they have seen America in previous generations. Sure, there's been anti-American feeling in greater or lesser degree in all these countries, but the change in their perception and feeling has been dramatic. They see a very different face on America now-- not the country that was more trusted than virtually any previous hegemon, but an arrogant bully that's seen more as a threat than as a source of security or leadership. Something unprecedented is happening in America today-- something darker and more dangerous than any previous leadership. We've had plenty of evils in our history, like any other country, but never has so much power been in such hands. Those who do not realize the special nature of the threat are surely unlikely to perceive correctly the special strategies that will be needed to combat it.
by
Andrew Bard Schmookler (314 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 146 comments)
on Tuesday, September 27, 2005 at 4:52:44 PM
Liberals like Ms. Goldsmith, I believe, are a primary reason why the Democrats so timid. Republicans can count on a huge number of fierce loyalists, but I rarely find a Democrat who isn’t griping about Democrats. I often find liberals to be angrier at their friends for being imperfect than they are at their enemies. Most of what Ms. Goldsmith is true, but do we really need a call for us to be even less supportive of the elected Democrats in government? Perhaps she'd like it if they all resigned in protest?
Even worse is the apparent failure to appreciate the more important reason for Democrat weakness, the corporate media, which is providing the Democrats with “the death by a thousand cuts.” Sure, they report on Bush mistakes to some degree, but usually with the effect of making a molehill out of a mountain, while they do the opposite to Democrats. In 2000, every news station had a poll on whether or not Gore should concede, but I never saw one poll on whether or not Bush should concede, even though Gore had more uncontested electoral votes. This sort of thing happens constantly, but they are certainly clever enough to do so in a manner too subtle for most people to grasp. When Tom Delay gerrymandered Texas, the media coverage I saw said absolutely nothing about the issues, prefering to make fun of the Democrats who “ran away.”
Ms. Goldsmith and all liberals should read Media Matters to get the details on the daily anti-Democrat deceit in the media. Even the New York Times and Washington Post cover for the Republicans at times. Perhaps they are intimidated but it’s more likely that they’re fearful of appearing “liberal” because liberals can’t be counted on to stand up for them. If Democrats in office really started criticizing the media’s coverage as it deserves, how would the media report on this to the public? I think they should declare war on the media now anyway, because after another fraudulent election or two, they may not get another chance, but would Democrat voters see through the smear they get and rally to their support?
We liberals pride ourselves too much for our independence, laughing at simplistic ideas like “my guy right or wrong.” I feel the same way, but such niceties often permit the ruthless to win. We are like the Roman Senate arguing and parading our intellectualism while the barbarians simply build up their strength.
by
Contextnow (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments)
on Thursday, September 29, 2005 at 1:01:33 PM
2 comments
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