I don't think I am a democrat anymore....

[Brundle_Fly]

Don't freak out though, I am not a republican.

I no longer know who I trust anyone in the government or infrastructure of those who support it.

The Alito hearings were SO disappointing, how can they have 4 days of intense questioning of a nominee, if he can simply avoid answering the questions given to him?? I didn't see the rancor of democrats, I saw a bunch of older men, who's balls were cut off by the the less than clever ruse & fakery of a wife's tears.

I can listen to the current administration argue they have power beyond that granted them in the constitution, and I hear a few days rumblings of "hearings" that quickly fade away, whilst the apologists do the rounds on the propaganda box, stating he is right, and to question is unpatriotic, and dangerous. To this point, Bush after admitting he is breaking the laws he swore to support, has said he has no inclination to stop, and he wont, and no one is stopping him either.

Speaking of breaking the law, Iran just cut the seals on their Nuclear program, and once again, the Administration has claimed they have the right to go to war, without going to congress, because they are already at war. They are making the complementary informing of the UN, but seriously, who is going to stop them...

Listen, There should be no debate, this War Powers standpoint is clearly illegal. Yet, knowing this, it still goes essentially unquestioned, and I guess we'll just have to figure it out, in 8-20 years as we are all scratching our heads trying to figure out what the hell happened.

There will be no filibuster, get real. No matter how many letters you write to your senators. We didn't make a case against the right to avoid his own questioning, and by doing so, lost, before we began. Alito will be confirmed and executive power will become unquestionable.

I don't know about abortions, because I don't think these conservatives give a shit either way, and it's just another smokescreen to avoid the real plans they have.Without Roe, it is conceivable the republicans would have "no other issue" to keep getting the religious right to elect them, therefore disposing of it, is like playing a card, before the last round is dealt.

What does it matter anyway, regardless of how much we promote and market, the election system is broken, I think it is stolen, but even if you don't, the reports of the intimidation, and harassment and computing "glitches" on election day to minorities in battleground states isn't the stuff of a tinfoil hat. It is proven and repeatedly documented. It isn't stopped, and it gets maybe 2 news stories before getting shoved into the grinder that engulfs all relevant news these days. LOOK! someone lied in a book they wrote, Oprah was duped!!

As for the electronic voting, the Gems program is written in Visual Basic, for those of you that work on computers for actual clients, writing software, tell me... tell me if you would ever consider writing something that even has to have the most basic security in VB.

I am not talking about dot net, although arguments could be made that has it's own holes, I am talking about the 1999 software from micro-soft, imagine giving a client software that has to be secure and transport information on the internet that's written in MS Access. You wouldn't do it, not if you wanted a return client. It is not a trusted way of securing information. The fact there isn't more people freaking out about it, amazes me. Regardlessly even with all the good work going on here towards this end, the media will not report it, not nationally, you might get the odd local news writing a byline, but it is NEVER going to go mainstream.

I still think there is some good honest fighters in the Left, Howard Dean, Barbara Boxer, maybe Kerry, I really don't know anymore... but there is lots of questionable flunkies out there too, people who just play the game, and get a good paycheck. You think Lieberman is working on the side of the left? Think again. I wonder who will Zell Miller us in the coming years. I think it is becoming apparent to the member of government, that you are either with us or against us. I figure this fact is clear to most of our elected officials, and other than a little grandstanding they are allowed from time to time, most of these guys are already on board with the new neo-con agenda.

I hope I am wrong....

I love you all here at DU, I hope you are all ready to fight for what you truly believe in.

[bananas]

1. Remember Walter Jones of "Freedom Fries" fame?

He became anti-war.

Howard Dean, Barbara Boxer, and Kerry are not on the left - they are moderates.

They play politics, but they still act with respect to their beliefs.
When Walter Jones was pro-war, he really believed it.
When he became anti-war, he really believed it.

[Brundle_Fly]

2. It's not a question of pro war anti war.

Firstly thanks for responding, its late and I am obviously feeling defeatist.

Barbra Boxer is a moderate? I had no idea.

[bananas]

4. I was hoping to dispel some of the cynicism

but I'm pretty cynical myself :)
Bernie Sanders from Vermont was a Socialist,
he'd be considered a leftist.
Opinion polls show that on most issues, Americans agree with the Democratic positions, so yes, the Democrats are moderates.

[EST]

3. Your malaise can be a powerful tool, if you wish.

We are winning, hard as it is to perceive and measure.
All of this crap we are going through is absolutely necessary. In an ideal world, all it would take would be for you to tell the truth one time, to one person and, shortly, that truth would reverberate through all the wonderful, intellectually honest people, the wheels would turn and all would be right with the world.
This is the real world and people won't move until the shit gets deep enough that they can't breathe. It may, probably will, have to get a bit worse before it gets better, but keep shoveling.
At the risk of sounding trite, it is easier to ride a horse in the direction he's going. Don't resist-push! keep pointing fingers and yelling.
It's a one way street-thugs are incompetent managers, they really are, so keep flagging traffic on this street in the direction it's flowing!

[Brundle_Fly]

5. advice....

well received.

ME: 6'7' 235 pound, Scottish immigrant

where do you need me. I will be the one scariest one screaming the loudest.

[EST]

6. Good team, you & me.

me=6'4" over 1/8 ton (280lb) Part injun part lotta uddershit.
All ya gotta do is keep laughing at these incompetent losers, pointing to their idiocy, on the widest stage you can find.
People will enroll themselves.
After all, the crooks are losing credibility, their lies becoming threadbare, their ethical, imaginative and creative challenges becoming the topic of speculation, everywhere. All over the world, good people are finally being empowered to tell the truth, loudly, fiercely, that under these thieves and murderers this country is, and has been for some time, THE rogue nation, perhaps not as bad as some, but worse than most, especially given our muscle.
All this enlightenment is happening, amazingly, even though those bastards control everything!
Pretty damn impressive, I'd say.

[Brundle_Fly]

7. insomniacs.

:evilgrin: :evilgrin: :evilgrin: :evilgrin:

[suigeneris]

8. You leave the party you weaken it.

Stick around and work for reform,

[KittyWampus]

9. "balls were cut off"? didn't bother to read the rest of your post

[applegrove]

10. Please take a break. Nobody can go through one crisis after another

without loosing hope - it takes a bit to build up strength. In the next year there will be more losses (Bush holds almost all the power). But there will be the odd win. Look at what we accomplished in the last year. A few wins. A dozen maybe? Lot's of it because truth is finally getting out.

So don't leave us. We have to hang together. We need each other. If not for idealogical exactly matching beliefs in what the bottom line should be - then because we need the support. We need to laugh. At the situation we are in. To grieve the loss of the way the world used to work.

Try re-balancing your life. Give time to a sure thing like volunteerism. Nobody can last through one loss after another - without some balance. Take care of you.