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We have the numbers, but we do not have the coalition.

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EbenezerMcIntosh Donating Member (154 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-16-08 10:17 PM
Original message
We have the numbers, but we do not have the coalition.
Democratic Party constituents, The ACLU, MoveOn.org, The Green Party, Veterans Against The Iraq War, even Ron Paul supporters and old-style conservatives, the Libertarian Party (gawd I hate Bob Barr) the Constitution Party and many, many more that I am leaving out (please name them): All are against the Iraq war, against torture and illegal detainment, for preserving habeas corpus, against the divestiture of Constitutional rights and evisceration of the First and Fourth amendments, against the Bush executive branch power-grab, and against the corporate control of Congress, to name a few.

Yet, all of these groups are splintered. Of course, they have profound differences on important issues.

Is it so impossible for these groups to come together for common causes? Could this ever happen?

Do not the chasms that separate these diverse groups serve the purposes of the neocon agenda by making their differences roadblocks to meaningful exercise of power by the people?

Yea, I know. I'm crazy.
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billyoc Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-16-08 10:19 PM
Response to Original message
1. You're not crazy, but those groups aren't going to come together.
Half of them are my mortal enemies, for shit's sake.
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EbenezerMcIntosh Donating Member (154 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-16-08 10:23 PM
Response to Reply #1
2. You're right.
I am merely tickling a steel door with a feather.
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readmoreoften Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-16-08 10:24 PM
Response to Original message
3. If the Nationalists and Communists could unite in China to fight Japan...
If the communists, liberal humanists, and Islamic fundamentalists could unite to fight the Shah in Iran in the 1970s...

Certainly we can find a way to find a tactical alliance to get rid of the Police State Right.
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EbenezerMcIntosh Donating Member (154 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-16-08 10:26 PM
Response to Reply #3
4. Yea I almost mentioned the police state thing.
Wasn't sure about the crossover aspect of that.
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readmoreoften Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-16-08 10:51 PM
Response to Reply #4
6. The working-class "right-wing" movements are radically far left at times but they don't know it.
What they are calling for really comes straight out of Lenin's "State and Revolution" but they misunderstand the left as big state Stalinism. (To be fair, so does most of the so-called "left" in the US.) For instance:

Lenin called for the abolition of standing armies and the arming of every working class citizen. Working class right wing on board.
Lenin called for a series of armed communes (autonomous communities) working together and electing a central government to merely serve the people and not impose their will on said communities. Working class right wing on board.
Lenin even called for the abolition of the fusion between the clergy and moneyed interests and a return to a revolutionary Christianity! Working class right wing either is or could easily get on board.

So what's the big problem with the working class right wing? Racism, of course, but many Democrats are as racist as the right wing working class. Homophobia and sexism are the most cited rifts today. My bet is that if we bracketed these issues and agreed to disagree we'd win over huge numbers of the so-called right wing working class. It's funny how homophobia stops when you know and love and are invested in someone who is gay. Being a lesbian, I've seen this happen in my life personally on too many occasions to count. Sexism is a harder issue, but right wing males fighting side-by side with leftist females can't hurt feminism.

Most Ron Paul supporters I know have no idea that Paul is anti-abortion or anti-gay or wants to privatize education. They know he wants to end the war in Iraq as well as the police state and fights corporate interests in favor of the little guy. Many of his supporters are pro-choice males who generally don't care one way or the other about LGBT people.
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Muttocracy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-16-08 10:48 PM
Response to Original message
5. maybe not a real coalition, but they may join together for one big anti-McCain vote. nt
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napoleon_in_rags Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-16-08 11:17 PM
Response to Original message
7. They would have to recognize a fundamental problem bigger than the divisive issues.
Which you and I know is there, but the net folks are often WAY ahead of the curves on these things.
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EbenezerMcIntosh Donating Member (154 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-16-08 11:21 PM
Response to Reply #7
8. I remember reading about a time when the government feared the people.
Lost brains, guts and dedication to freedom.
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napoleon_in_rags Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-16-08 11:28 PM
Response to Reply #8
9. Its the brains I'm most confused about.
Where did they go???
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