Social Experimentation...

OK, time to bring back the "We Are Fucked" Time cover!

I'm always trying to figure the angles on what's coming down, but sometimes it seems like it may all be as simple as an ant farm on a dusty shelf in the bedroom of some green giant kid...ho ho ho. When the kid is tired of this he might just shake the whole thing up and start again. In the meantime we bury our dead, build our tunnels. fight our wars, and wait for whatever this illusion is to wind down.

The mind fuck manipulation of the Bush regime has become so blatant, so obvious, that it has reached some sorta comical apex. Soon I'm gonna have to start crying or laughing hysterically and pounding the ground....You may find me sitting in the middle of the street at some point before the end of this thing.

Chris Matthews just made a little appearance via phone on Don Imus's spotty morning radio/TV program, and he is incredulous that the administration has been lying to us. No shit, Chris. Even Chris, the 4th most popular correspondent among conservatives, is starting to sort through the MSNBC tapes and find where Cheney said this, but they have it on tape when he said that. Well, DUH! For Christ' sakes, Chris, a child could research this stuff. Why is it that you've waited to actually report on these things?

Maybe its because I'm a rabid Air America Radio person, and I daily get to hear Rachel Maddow, Al Franken, Sam Seder and the like, play the actual tapes of the original lie and then the next lie side by side, that I know about this stuff. But, it just seems unlikely that people don't even suspect anything. Even in my exhausted and overwhelmed state I can remember Bush et. al... Saying things and then contradicting themselves.

Some of this might be disbelief that anyone would lie. My son's karate instructor is a sort of liberal Republican, and he has been saying all along "why would they lie?"..."Oh yeah, its all a big plot...." Alot of that comes from Fox News, Limbaugh, and O'Reilly, to name just a few, and the laziness of most Americans about seeking out the truth. The implication is that I'm a hysterical liberal because I would even suggest that maybe some of this was a plan. Well get out your tin hats boys because this one has been in the works since pre-Reagan.

Also, this karate guy has anger at the "liberal media," and even CNN makes him mad. He views Matthews as a total liberal. But when you talk to him about the issues he is opposed to alot of what Bush is doing. He just wanted the best war president and bought the line about the liberal media making up the lie thing. Of course he didn't do the little bit of research that it would have taken to prove that those charges were actually true, but some people just want to have been right in their choices. The same people quickly embraced the Clinton lie as an impeachable offense, and still bring it up as if lying about things that actually effect people's lives and kill people can compare.

The problem with all of this nonsense comparison of lies and the damage they do is that it acts to distract from the policies being put in place now that are serious and longstanding. The damage being done to the environment is so time sensitive that we may actually see geographic change in the world during our lifetimes, and we may also see some sort of social destruction along the lines of the Great Depression. All signs, scientific and social point to this being true, and that's not tin foil hat stuff, its fact. I never thought I would ever say it, but looking at things now, and seeing a continuation in destructive behavior by these guys for 3 more years, I have to be realistic about what is going to be left and how long the new administration will have to spend in fixing things...What can be fixed. I'm scared....And I'm sorry for my kid and all of the kids of the world, because we have allowed this thing to get out of control and now its the worst ever. I keep hoping for a cyclical analysis of this to come out in one of the scientific journals to temper what we're hearing, and I soothe myself with thoughts that the world made it through the fall of the Roman Empire, the inquisition, and the world wars, but this element of destroying the environment, world diplomacy, and the government, all at the same time, adds something that leads me to...Tipping point!

I've come to the conclusion that rather than religious fervor or megalomania, this could easily be a bunch of guys who just want to see how far they can go. How asleep are Americans? If you wave a piece of bacon under their noses will they wake up?
Well, Chris Matthews seems to have suddenly found it advantageous to "discover" what was in front of him the whole time. I hope that at some point someone asks him and every one of these fuckers, "where were you when this was happening?" "What did you gain from not talking about it?" "Was it worth it?"

I've been around people who tried to make me think that it was all me and that I was the crazy one. The way this administration operates and the way that the neocon press hacks have spun things, there is this smug attitude that they know something and we're the hysterical crazies out here in the minority. Even if the majority is represented by a mere point or two, its still a smug majority. And that point or two translates into an imbalance in the government that has conspired with circumstances and lies to put us in a situation that is truly new and different.

Its only when the house of cards starts to fall that buffoons like Matthews start to chuckle and act all surprised. They get right into the act of realigning themselves so as to keep their power base in place even as they have to let go of the collaterally damaged pieces in the structure. Its the wide eyed regular guys, who supported something to make their families safe or to get a tax refund or whatever, who hold tight and cant seem to let go, and then slowly but surely they have to face it. They were fools. We all were fools. Things don't come around anymore. Its no longer a matter of making it through a bad time because things will get better. Three more years of this is too long without rendering them so totally lame that nothing gets done!

When I think of how complacent I became during the Clinton years. Though I railed against welfare reform in the way it was going down, and though I thought NAFTA was going to be a very negative thing (and I was RIGHT,)I was not too concerned because the balance wasn't so off yet. It is this crazy making onslaught of who said what and "of course it is that way...that's what I said right?" that really disturbs me. I get a certain amount of satisfaction from being right because I was someone who put myself out there with a button and bumpersticker on since the first term. I called it as I saw it, and I felt like if I was gonna put myself out there, I had to know what I was talking about, so I learned what was really happening...And thus my downward spiral.

The thing that really disturbed me in all of this time was not the neocon asses who would say this or that and act like I was a tin foil hat conspiracy theorist, but the liberals who kept their mouths shut because of fear of reprisals. Look where we are now! Suddenly everyone wants to talk about Bush and Co. And how horrible they are, but before this I was often twisting in the wind. I know I'm not crazy and I see what I see in front of me. I'm happy that people are finally seeing it and starting to speak up, because the culture of fear that this administration has nurtured is something that has done incredible damage to our world.

Our kids probably wont know the same simple pleasures that we did as kids. Hell, you cant eat a hamburger anymore because the government wont allow testing for disease and the industrial farms are destroying the environment. There is no secure job or career and you cant trust the government to take care of you if you're sick or injured, there is no recourse for people of little means who get into too much debt for whatever reason, you can easily lose everything to one sickness and then you wont be able to declare bankruptcy....I could go on...But at least we know that the CEOs are in good shape!

Its very sad....And I'm sorry that I didn't do more and try harder over the years to stay involved. The Republicans have been planning this economic and social shift for years, and it started really taking shape with Reaganomics. At that time, homeless people suddenly started popping up all over NYC, sleeping on the streets. You had to step over them to get into your apartment building. AIDS was denied as thousands of people were dying and the crack epidemic was at full tilt. Reagan told the cities to fuck off and proceeded to deregulate everything he could. The line back then was the same as always, which is, "why would you distrust us to police ourselves?,""of course, we will police ourselves," and, "we don't need any federal regulations when we have internal regulations already!" If that was true then who would have cared if their were federal regulations on the books? It was the insistence that they weren't necessary that was the tip-off. And look, they bided their time, shifted the economy away from the workers and towards the top guys, raided their own coffers while sending jobs overseas, and now this country has little to offer people who don't have a chunk of cash in their families.

Through this all the liberal voices at Air America Radio have made me feel sane-ish, because I'm just out there alone with these ideas(and my family doesnt count because they are crazy enough in their own right.) I strive to find smart people who are liberal because I cant understand any other way to be and up close, I spend alot of time puzzling about why people think what they think. If someone cant have empathy for others and understand the give and take of a free society then what sort of person are they? Maybe its the natural survival instincts that lead to greed and selfishness...The "whats in it for me?" mentality. I guess that the problem is in taking taxes and not giving enough back to people. It seems like the things that you get, like good education and a chance at a good life, get more remote, and the tax cuts are only for rich folks. What good is $300 or $600 to someone who has a pile of real bills...And they just keep coming?

The problems with this system are less due to big government bureaucracy and "programs" than due to deregulation and the raiding of the system by CEOs and other higher ups to the detriment of the balance of society. So one guy has a solid gold shower curtain and all of the workers from his company are ruined; their lifetime savings gone.
The government may be big and may work slowly but at least with a New Deal sort of mentality there is some security there. It is also something that everyone can work on if our representatives remember that they represent us!

The November mid-term elections are going to be a big wakeup call to the whole system. I believe that Americans are tired of this crap and want a change. If we are able to elect a change, then will come the patience part, because we will still have this President. That is when we will see Matthews and his ilk completely shift around into attack mode....We can make some popped corn and watch them eat their own. Lets bring back the Roman coliseum and make a day of it!

So, besides the obvious, I'm not crazy afterall. People stop me to talk about my LIAR button and everyone loves my bumper stickers. If they don't, they certainly aren't saying anything anymore. The divide is obvious and it makes it clear as to who is who and what kind of person I am, you are...And, everyone else is.

We are only as good, moral, and ethical as the example set not only by how we treat the least in our society, but in how we feel about it! Its hard not to grumble at tax time, but if things are running right then we should be able to feel proud to give to a country we love to allow it to continue growing and doing what it does. And if something is wrong we need to get involved and fix it! So, all of the abdicating of responsibility has to stop. We have to get straight with who we are and move ahead, past this horrible experience.

Holocaust...

What can we do?
I think that any simple gesture means something now. From calling and writing your representatives and your senators, to giving directly to aide organizations that are on the ground and helping there. Doctors Without Borders is the only medical help there right now and they can use help, and finding any way that you feel that you personally feel comfortable helping from sending an email with this information to your friends to selling bracelets or car ribbon magnets for donations. If you have a church or group, get them involved...The Save Darfur Organization has so many ways that you can take action. Please take a minute and take action!

Listen to what the Holocaust survivors museums and networks are saying!

March 19, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist
The Silence of Bystanders
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
ALONG THE CHAD-SUDAN BORDER

I saw a lot of heartbreak on my latest visit to the fringes of Darfur: two orphan boys living under a tree after their family was murdered, a 13-year-old girl shot in the chest and a 6-year-old boy trying desperately not to cry as doctors treated shrapnel wounds to his leg.

But the face of genocide I found most searing belonged to Idris Ismael, a 32-year-old Chadian. Mr. Idris said that a Sudan-sponsored janjaweed militia had attacked his village, Damri, that very morning. He had managed to run away. But his wife, Halima, eight months pregnant, could only hobble. And so she was still in the village, along with their four children, ages 3 to 12.

"The village is surrounded by janjaweed, with civilians inside," Mr. Idris said. "There's no way for people to escape. The janjaweed will kill all the men, women and children, take all our blankets and other property, and then burn our homes. They will kill every last person."

"The janjaweed will rape and kill my family," Mr. Idris added. "And there's nothing I can do."



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Video: The Captured Raider
An excerpt from "The Genocide Spreads," Nicholas D. Kristof's Op-Ed special report. Watch the complete report.



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Elie Wiesel once said, referring to victims of genocide: "Let us remember: what hurts the victim most is not the cruelty of the oppressor but the silence of the bystander." And it's our own silence that I find inexplicable.

In Darfur, we have even less excuse than in past genocides. We have known about this for more than two years, we have photos and eyewitnesses, our president has even described it as genocide, and yet we're still paralyzed. Part of the problem is that President Bush hasn't made it a top priority, but at least he is now showing signs of stirring — and in fact he's done more than most other world leaders, and more than many Democrats. Our failure in Darfur is utterly bipartisan.

Mr. Bush met recently at the White House with Mudawi Ibrahim Adam, an authentic Sudanese hero, to get advice on Darfur, and he seems engaged — though still not ready to leap into the issue publicly by making a major speech on Darfur, or by welcoming refugees for a photo op at the White House. Alas, Mr. Bush is far more timid than the American people.

A new poll by Zogby International that surveyed 1,000 Americans a few days ago asked about Darfur. Sixty-two percent said that "the United States has a responsibility to help stop the killings in the Darfur region of Sudan"; only 24 percent disagreed.

In response to another question, only 24 percent said that "the U.S. has done enough diplomatically to help end the crisis." In contrast, 59 percent said that more could be done.

One measure we could take would be to enforce a no-fly zone from the air base in Abéché, Chad. The president of Chad says he would be happy to have Americans do this, and it would be easy: instead of keeping airplanes in the air, we would simply wait until a Sudanese plane bombed a village, then strafe that plane on the ground afterward. (The first time, we would just damage the plane; we would destroy any after that.)

Asked about such a no-fly zone in the Zogby poll, 70 percent said they supported the idea, and only 13 percent opposed it.

So Americans are, I think, better than our national policy. How do we align our government with our hearts? The only way is to push our leaders, whether by calling the White House or members of Congress, or by attending the rally in Washington on April 30 planned by the Save Darfur Coalition (www.savedarfur.org).

Darfur is not hopeless. We need a new peace initiative, focused on the sheiks of the region. We need a well-equipped U.N. peacekeeping force and a no-fly zone. We need a public pledge by France to use its military forces in Chad to stop any invasion from Sudan. And we need Arab leaders to speak up for the Muslim victims of Darfur: where are you, Hosni Mubarak? With those measures, Darfur might again be a place where children play, rather than one in which they are thrown into bonfires.

Among the few heroes in this genocide are the ordinary Chadian villagers. They are desperately poor, but when 200,000 Darfuris escaped into Chad, these villagers shared water, forage and food with them.

Now these same Chadians are themselves becoming victims of an ever-expanding Sudanese genocide. In the town of Borota, I talked to Fatima Adam, 15, who described being gang-raped and beaten by six janjaweed a few days earlier. As often happens, the men had used racial slurs against blacks to justify the attack.

"The same things they were doing in Darfur," Fatima said, "now they are doing to us."



Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company