American citizens, our fellow patriot Kathryn Smith has it completely right.

And the answer to "But how did we get into this mess?", is, "it's our fault!" Wake Up. Yes, if we all got involved in the guiding of our ship, rather than being content to have high definition seats in the Colloseum, the deal wouldn't be going down this way.

Funny, if your burger at a fast food joint is not to your liking, you'll have no problem reading the counter person the riot act. Yet when the tangible results from the lion's share of your life's energy are snatched from you (I'm talking about cash) and then grossly misappropriated, you're less vocal than a church mouse!

When the rights granted to you in our Constitution, and the guiding principle that "governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed" as stated in the Declaration of Independence, are literally denied you by the very people who have taken an oath to support the Constitution, you simply refuse to believe it - and you call those who make the claims of such facts "conspiracy theorists".

Would you care to know why? Sorry, I'm going to tell you anyway. You feel empowered to complain at the fast food joint because you haven't been railroaded into thinking that they were privy to some esoteric knowledge that you weren't invited in on. Why do you think you're less likely to act the same way in a super fancy restaurant?

Or toward those to whom you have relinquished all control over the fiscal, moral, educational, medical, judicial, and entertainment-based decisions that affect your life?

The complaints that you can't make a difference or that there's no way to find out what's really going on are more pathetic than this administration's human rights record.

Start watching and supporting your Public Television stations and C-Span, instead of constantly ingesting the silage offered up by the powers that be. Read a book whose premise doesn't revolve around sorcerers, spaceships, or sex. Join one of the many groups already in existence that are putting their energies into what you idly claim to be important.

If not for your children who are in the midst of their apprenticeship to oblivion, do it for the blessed memory of those whose hard work we've tarnished by building hollow monuments to their courageous achievements, rather than paying them the legitimate respect of carrying, and fortifying the torch that their efforts ignited:

* The "Revolutionaries" who braved northern winters with literally no shoes on and no food, because they were tired of getting banged in the ass by their government;

* The dead and wounded soldiers of every war we've ever fought in an attempt to continue and expand upon our supposed life of liberty and pursuit of happiness;

* The great minds whose intellectual curiosities led to discoveries that increased our life span and comfort level to unprecedented heights, etc.

You'd be peeved if some ingrate blew out the match you were trying to light your cigarette with; think of how these giants of human potential realized must feel when they see what we've allowed to happen during our stewardship of their combined sacrifices.

Are you kidding me?

by Raphael Sidelman (6 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 40 comments [16 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Sep 7, 2008 at 12:40:15 AM

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However, I have some reservations about depending on NPR.  I do watch and listen to some of their programmiing, but I apply the same skepticism as I do when I watch or listen to the corporate media.  NPR accepts corporate sponsorship and these sponsors do color their productions. However, there are a number of good PBS programs such as Media Matters and Left, Right and Center that seem to present a balanced perspective.

CSPAN is a good alternative, but it is not the only alternative.  The Pacifica network produces Democracy Now  and a variety of other good shows and they are entirely independent of corporate financing.  Their local affiliates produce some truly great programs as well.  

For additional links and suggestions for ways to listen to these programs very conveniently, see my article, Liberate Yourself from the Mainstream Media.  

by PrMaine (13 articles, 13 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 510 comments [22 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Sunday, Sep 7, 2008 at 9:59:57 AM

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My apologies, the link above is wrong.  The correct link is

Liberate Yourself from the Mainstream Media

by PrMaine (13 articles, 13 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 510 comments [22 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Monday, Sep 8, 2008 at 8:13:17 AM

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Raphael, thank you so much for your proactive spirit and unfaltering footsteps for our freedom.

I will confess to you and to the readership here, that I have been sickened by the lack of responsiveness and proactivity. Now wait a second, let me qualify: People here are very knowledgeable and "with it". Very, very sharp and clear-sighted. For that, I am truly grateful. And many here are also very proactive, just as you are yourself.

However, I must say that so many people on this forum (Which never means everybody) simply refuse to help.

"Calling Congress won't work"
"The newspapers won't print my letter" 

"SO WHY BOTHER?" is the underlying theme.

Well folks, to those of you who think that way, all I can say is that we are paved into the sidewalk and our graves of oppression have been dug. Not only by those working to undermine our freedom of speech and even our freedom of thought, but by those of you who help it along.

Edmund Burke said it very well:

"Sometimes the greatest evils are committed by the silence of good people".

I can understand the discouragement but I must say that we have to continue plugging along. I maintain continually, and will do so here again, that it is probably because Americans refuse to participate in democracy that politicians are literally getting away wiht murder, en masse, and hacking the Constitution to firewood.

Thanks a lot, folks. It is MY Free speech which is on the line and MY freedom to travel. Above all, it is MY VERY HARD work, VERY HARD, which you are not supporting and you are indeed undermining with your silence.

I resent the hell out of the idea of police gunpointing us in our own homes based on suspicion of appearing to be MIddle-Eastern, on suspicion of thinking differently than our murderous President, and on suspicion of having any agenda other than their violently controlled own.

And I resent the hell out of anybody who supports that cause by their silence. Tianenmen Square in America? Yup That's thanks to those silent among you. THink about it. What is your responsibility here? Lots.

by Kathryn Smith (110 articles, 2 quicklinks, 43 diaries, 542 comments [23 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Sep 7, 2008 at 10:51:50 AM

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Comment from Ratings:   Hits the nail right on the head.

by Debra Mott (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Sunday, Sep 7, 2008 at 12:59:52 PM

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Comment from Ratings:   I believe we must develop community watchdog or congress watchdog groups to hold our leaders' political futures hostage until they comply with our demands. We also must employ a media reform and justice agenda. All of this cannot be done without knowing the police understand our intentions are not meant to promote domestic terrorism. We intend to empower the people to take control of government and their lives and improve this nation for future generations. Let's talk with firefighters too. Firefighters receive a mention in Scott Ritter's book "Waging Peace", a book I wish more movement people would read and incorporate into organizing that they do. Firefighters stood up for those who challenged the WTO in Seattle in 1999. They did not wish to go after a people who were righteously protesting a policy change that would and has greatly damaged this country. Thanks, Kathryn. "To know and not to do is not to know." It's that simple. We can bay at the moon forever. Why not stop baying and work to create a world we can be happy to live in?

by Kevin Gosztola (302 articles, 146 quicklinks, 81 diaries, 1082 comments [77 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Sep 7, 2008 at 2:18:52 PM

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