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Tag(s): American Foreign Policy; Bush Admin; Right Wingers Endangering America
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May 1, 2008 at 15:24:29

Headlined on 5/1/08:
Our Long National Nightmare: Thoughts about Now and 1974

by Andrew Bard Schmookler Page 1 of 1 page(s)

www.opednews.com

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Back in 1974, Gerald Ford famously began a speech, "Our long national nightmare is over."

Boy, he had no idea what "long" could be. Try seven and a half years (compared to Watergate's less than two).

He had no idea how scary a "nightmare" could be. (Try not just a few illegalities but an all-out assault on the Constitution and the rule of law.)

I realize that there have been many nations whose nightmares have been longer and more nightmarish than ours has been these seven-plus years. We've still got it pretty good compared to people living in Idi Amin's Uganda, or Hitler's Germany, or Stalin's Russia, or countless other long national nightbares throughout the history of civilization.

But still, to put ourselves back into the mindset and gut feeling of Gerald Ford and of America in 1974 that led to his touching a chord in the nation by saying, "Our long national nightmare is over," we can see how far we've fallen, how grotesque and frightening America has become being under the rule of this Bushite regime.

And it is not yet over.

And more than that, it is not clear how much of this nightmare will be over any time soon.

Andrew Bard Schmookler's website www.nonesoblind.org is devoted to understanding the roots of America's present moral crisis and the means by which the urgent challenge of this dangerous moment can be met. Dr. Schmookler is also the author of such books as The Parable of the Tribes: The Problem of Power in Social Evolution (SUNY Press) and Debating the Good Society: A Quest to Bridge America's Moral Divide (M.I.T. Press). He also conducts regular talk-radio conversations in both red and blue states.

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3 comments

August Adams is a CPA and holds a Masters Degree in Psychology. He is an activist striving to create a fair and just world for all.
August AdamsAugust Adams is a CPA and holds a Masters Degree in Psychology. He is an activist striving to create a fair and just world for all.

No End in Sight

Unfortunately, there seems to be no end in sight to the current American Nightmare.

by August Adams (10 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 442 comments) on Thursday, May 1, 2008 at 9:59:09 PM

Wolfie

THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL.

IT IS A SMOKING MUSHROOM CLOUD. Just ask Condi. Where is Colin when

we need a good fairy tale!

Wolfie is blinded by the Electric Light Orchestra.

by Wolfie (8 articles, 0 quicklinks, 32 diaries, 1189 comments) on Thursday, May 1, 2008 at 11:58:10 PM

KEVIN STODA has been blessed to have either traveled in or worked in nearly 100 countries on five continents over the past two and a half decades. He sees himself as a peace educator and have been a promoter of good economic and social development--making him an enemy of my homelands humongous spending and its focus on using weapons to try and solve global issues."I am from Kansas so I also use the pseudonym 'Kansas' when I write and publish. I...

to see more of bio, click on member name
ALONEKEVIN STODA has been blessed to have either traveled in or worked in nearly 100 countries on five continents over the past two and a half decades. He sees himself as a peace educator and have been a promoter of good economic and social development--making him an enemy of my homelands humongous spending and its focus on using weapons to try and solve global issues."I am from Kansas so I also use the pseudonym 'Kansas' when I write and publish. I...

to see more of bio, click on member name

Democrats need to get new leadership so the takeover can be

Democrats need to get new progressive leadership so the takeover can be smooth this 2009.

If they don't have that chutz pah, then the Democratic party is lost.

The demos in both houses should be carryingout impeachment and other hearings left and right.

The question is how to make sure progressives take power and cleanup the nightmare's entrails--even if we have to leave Democrats behind (for real democrats and heroes).

by ALONE (130 articles, 1 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 286 comments) on Friday, May 2, 2008 at 1:31:40 AM