To Lurkers and the Undecided:

[radfringe]

On Tuesday, November 7, 2006 we go to the polls. Most election years, be it mid-terms or presidential, the general consensus it that there is no real choice between the candidates. People shrug and cast their vote for whomever they perceive to be the "lessor of two evils". Twiddle-dee or twiddle-dum - same thing.

However - this year - we do have a very real and clear choice. We can vote for "more of the same" or we can vote "for change".

Direction of Country RCP Average:
Poll Date 10/20 - 11/04
Right Direction 31.5%
Wrong Direction 63.3%

Based on the above numbers - it appears the majority of Americans want change. DISAPPROVAL of Congress is at 63.8%, and DISAPPROVAL of the Bush administration is at 56.6%.

Bush recently dumped the "stay the course" catch phrase. This does not mean he has dumped the 'stay the course' attitudes and policies. Since dumping "stay the course", by indications in his and Cheney's campaign stump speeches - it's still stay the course. Bush is staying the course with Cheney and Rumsfeld. Cheney has stated public opinions will have no influence, it's full steam ahead.

While Iraq is a major issue in this election - there are other issues which need to be looked. Those issues involve the future of our country, our freedoms and rights.

Habeas Corpus has been shredded. If you think it just applies to "terrorists" - think again. It applies to ANYONE (including you) who the Bush Administration deems to be an "enemy combatant". Broad term - ENEMY COMBATANT. This could mean someone sniping at our troops in Baghdad, to someone's letter to the editor which is critical of the Bush Administration.

Bush is also in the process of "revising" Posse comitatus.

In the past year - we learned our phones, internet and other forms of communications are being monitored by the Bush Administration. Many have shrugged it off as "I have nothing to hide." It's more than having nothing to hide, it's about our RIGHT TO PRIVACY. Recently, the administration of the Democratic Underground informed us the Secret Service is requesting information regarding a couple posters (now banned).

Yes, the Democratic Underground is an open and public website and therefore we shouldn't expect our Right to Privacy. However, it's chilling to think we are being monitored. It's a reminder to WATCH WHAT WE SAY.

We have also been told by the Bush Administration and it's choir to WATCH WHAT WE SAY. Laura Bush told us the same thing recently - we have to watch what we say because criticism emboldens the enemy.

And thus our Freedom of Speech has been muffled.

Among the variations of multiple reasons for invading Iraq, (and most likely an invasion of Iran), is the "desire" of the Bush Administration to spread freedom and democracy in the Middle East. We do have loose ideas of what constitutes a dictatorship or a tyrannical regime. It's one where the state controls everything and everyone. Speaking out against the regime most likely will find you imprisoned or killed. WATCH WHAT YOU SAY.

Public demonstrations against a regime often end up being beaten back by the regime's military. Anyone arrested has no or little access to legal assistance, may not even be brought before a court and even know what the charges are against them.

As much as President Bush rhetoric professes to bring freedom and democracy to Iraq. To transform Iraq into a version of America - his actions indicate a transformation of America into a Saddam-like Iraq.

In past times, the Congress would have provided a CHECK to BALANCE such a power-grab by a president. It's one of the fears of our founding fathers in which power would be consolidated into a one-person reign. However, call it kool-aid drinking or rubber-stamping - this Republican Congress has refused to do it's duty. This Republican Congress has put it's own party's interests before the interests of America. This Republican Congress has lined it's pockets with special interest money and has no interest or concern for the American people.

Many of us will go to the polls on Tuesday. We will cast our vote (and hope it counts) for a Democratic Candidate because we realize it's time for change. It's been argued that we do not know if or how that change will occur or the form it will take. However, if we do not CLEAN THE HOUSE AND SENATE of the rubber-stampers, we do know it will be stay the course - more of the same, and more erosion of the principles and American values that we cherish.

[sce56]

1. Too late for Posse comitatus it has already been gutted

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2499710

Bush Moves Toward Martial Law
Frank Morales


The historic and ominous re-writing of the Insurrection Act, accomplished in the dead of night, which gives Bush the legal authority to declare martial law, is now an accomplished fact.

October 26, 2006

In a stealth maneuver, President Bush has signed into law a provision which, according to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), will actually encourage the President to declare federal martial law (1). It does so by revising the Insurrection Act, a set of laws that limits the President's ability to deploy troops within the United States. The Insurrection Act (10 U.S.C.331 -335) has historically, along with the Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C.1385), helped to enforce strict prohibitions on military involvement in domestic law enforcement. With one cloaked swipe of his pen, Bush is seeking to undo those prohibitions.

Public Law 109-364, or the "John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007" (H.R.5122) (2), which was signed by the commander in chief on October 17th, 2006, in a private Oval Office ceremony, allows the President to declare a "public emergency" and station troops anywhere in America and take control of state-based National Guard units without the consent of the governor or local authorities, in order to "suppress public disorder."

President Bush seized this unprecedented power on the very same day that he signed the equally odious Military Commissions Act of 2006. In a sense, the two laws complement one another. One allows for torture and detention abroad, while the other seeks to enforce acquiescence at home, preparing to order the military onto the streets of America. Remember, the term for putting an area under military law enforcement control is precise; the term is "martial law."

October 17, 2006,Will be remembered as the Enabling day of the 21st Century!
"The government will make use of these powers only insofar as they are essential for carrying out vitally necessary measures..."
~Adolf Hitler, March 23, 1933, before the German Parliament (Reichstag) as he urged them to pass his "Enabling Act"


Got Fascism Yet?


http://www.georgewalkerbush.net/bush-nazilinkconfirmed.htm



Fascism Accomplished!

[radfringe]

2. thanks wasn't sure if it had been gutted

or was just hanging in the meat locker waiting to be gutted

[ClintonTyree]

3. This isn't so much an election............

it's more like an intervention. Our country has been hi-jacked by desperate, right wing lunatics and it must be stopped. We have to send a message to those in power, that "business as usual" is NOT what we want. We want a change in direction, we want to swing the pendulum back in the other direction because it's swung WAY TOO FAR to the right.

[radfringe]

4. kick