Amen.

It does look pretty bleak. The only relief I get is in the understanding that history repeats itself in cycles. Eventually, this tyranny will be answered with some equal and opposite reaction. And it's not just a matter of Democrats winning a few seats in Congress. It's going to take a massive movement among the people to change every level of the government before our freedoms can be re-realized. Sad to say that I don't see nov. '06 or even '08 as enough time for that to happen. Still...we can get it started.

To: every single member of the Rethuglican caucus (with the exception of Senators Chafee and Snowe)

You so called Ladies and Gentlemen, by violating your oaths of office, have show yourselves to be unfit to server as dogcatcher let alone makers of laws.

To: Sens. Carper, Johnson, Landrieu, Lautenberg, Lieberman, Menendez, Nelson (Fla), Nelson (Neb.), Pryor, Rockefeller, Salazar, and Stabenow.

The above goes double for you. You are deserving of nothing but derision and scorn. Expect primary challenges until you are finally removed from office.

To: the remaining members of the Democratic caucus as well as Sen. Chafee and Sen. Jeffords

Thank you for at least having the stones to stand against this travesty.

To: Sen. Snowe

You get a pass since you weren't in attendance due to the funeral of a close family member.

Should you feel so inclined, let your senators know how you feel about their votes today.

Thoughts like these, though not nearly so well ordered or eloquent, have been running through my head with ever-increasing urgency and sadness as the months pass. Thanks for putting it all together coherently, and though I really am frightened for the fate of this country almost to the point of wanting to stick my head in the sand and hope for it to go away, it's always nice to know I'm not alone in what I think.

Today's events make me more sad than angry. I'm about burnt out on anger at this point, one can only keep it up for so long before it just turns into mindless, undirected rage that will eat you up inside.

I'm sad mostly because of what these people have done with a truly unique, brililant, hopeful experiment started 230 years ago. Some of the most brilliant minds who have ever lived collaborated to come up with the US Constitution, a document that enshrines values and morals in a way that has grown and adapted to completely different times because of its inherent capacity for balance and change. It has expanded Western culture's ideas about what constitutes liberty and justice and who deserves it, and it's served as a beacon to people all around the world for the possibility of a better life. And it's being destroyed, piece by piece, by small, narrow minded, self-serving politicians who wouldn't be fit to shine the shoes of the people who originally drafted it, and all while mouthing the empty rhetoric of patriotism and the shallow threats of foreign attack.

It's the barbarians pounding on the gates of Rome all over again, only this time they're already inside, and I just hope the damage isn't irreversible.

They're coming to take you away.
You will not be seen or heard from again.
You have no rights.

I wish I were joking, but they can now use their law against anyone who speaks their mind.

Maybe you should send this to the president.

Not that it would make a difference.

Great article.

Wil, I commend you on your statement. I feel like joining the rant.

Dear Resident Bush,


I have had my fill or your greed, your pettiness, your disregard for human life, and your even worse disregard for what our country stands for. You claim to be a uniter, yet divide our country at every turn, implying that those who don't side with you side with the terrorists. The world is not black and white, the world is various shades of gray; except for you. Yours is the blackest soul I have ever had the misfortune to witness. You lie to our faces to cause the death of thousands of our soldiers and over a hundred thousand Iraqi civilians, oh, and to cause the enrichment of your rich skull-and-bones- buddies. You claim to make tough decisions...I've had to decide between paying my rent and buying my diabetes mediaction.

And to the Banana-Republican controlled Congress; shame on you. Shame on you for following this madman's every whim in a desperate struggle to maintain power. Shame for encouraging fear as opposed to open dialog. Shame for allowing this war to be started, and shame from cutting taxes on the rich so that it comes out of our payrolls for years to come. Eleven million dollars a minute...you can almost hear it being sucked away. Shame for sending our soldiers to die and get wounded and cutting VA benefits. Shame for decimating the Constitution you are sworn to uphold. Shame for encouraging torture, incarceration without proof, secret trials, and secret wiretaps. I've lived in Eastern Europe, and was thanked in proxy for helping to free them from that kind of tyranny. It sickens me to my soul to see it taking place here at home. Shame for a third of our nation being without medical insurance, when most of Europe and Canada manage to do it just fine.

And to any Democrats who collaborate in this mockery of our nation, double shame. Are you that desperate to hold on to your jobs that you forget why you have them in the first place? You are here to represent us, to fight for us. Not for yourselves.

I guess my biggest issue is people who refuse to own up for their mistakes, to blame others or to claim they weren't mistakes in the first place. I've had little patience for this for years, and I'll tell you why: I'm an ex-con. Some 8 years ago I irreparably bollocksed up my life, not to mention helped to steal thousands of dollars from people who didn't deserve it. The now-deceased judge, "Maximum" Jack Tanner, (rest his soul) went out of his way to make me understand the depths of my mistakes, then gave me a second chance, as such. It's a limited second chance, I'm in debts I won't be able to pay for another 20 years or so, I have very limited employment opportunities, and until my debts are paid, I cannot vote. Because of the debts, I will probably never own my own residence, won't marry (as my spouse would then have her wages garnished), and will most likely never have kids. All for cashing a handful of stolen checks. And to a large extent, I deserve it.

This administration seems incapable of admitting any mistake. They slander those who question them, or worse put their lives at risk. Mr. President, didn't your own father say that outing a CIA agent was treason of the worst kind? I have little love for your father, but he shows bouts of integrity.


I'm spent for now.


Led (not just a clever name) Lawless

Such passion, hope you translate it to political action, is everyone registered to vote?

Don't worry the US has survived previous scrubs like Bush Jr. and it even survived other suspensions of Habeas Corpus. As you said it is simply theater, just in time for November elections. There won't be a sudden rush to torture OBL and his main men, mainly because they haven't been caught. What better way to divert attention from the question - It's been 5 years since 9/11 why haven't you caught these guys? Instead we get theater of who is being the true American - the Repubs who will torture OBL as soon as they catch him or the Demos who will read him his rights - posers all.

Oh yeah, that's another thing. He's much more use to them free...those terror threat levels keep the voters in line.

And, unfortunately, if you read carefully, my right to vote has been permanently revoked.

+1 well said.

But while you're all reading this I'll pose the next question. How *do* we who are paying attention and care about the situation effect change? Does it take marching on Washington and who will organize the event? Can we flood the nation with bumper stickers that say "Erosion of Liberty is Un-American - replace the Administration" and where can they be produced? Would they have an effect? Is there a forum wherein we can raise our individual, small voices sufficiently often to move the mindset of more people who are less attentive or too busy or more economically stressed or racially threatened or targeted by other bias or prejudice and have not the resources or time or strength to otherwise call for action? Do we line the highways with signs and banners proclaiming the need for "Truth, Justice, and a Return to the American Way"? How do we - and others like us - encourage, teach, cajole, tease, argue, lecture, write, shout, or march to cause other people to come to the realization that this is their life, their legacy, their children that are being affected by these changes? We must find a way to move more people, normal people - people oft times focused on single issues with which we may not agree but who are better served by looking at the big picture.

Will, thanks for providing what I wish will become a catalyst - take your piece and make it larger - wider - deeper to touch the core of America.

"It is only by attempting the absurd that we can achieve the impossible."

Yeah a free OBL serves a lot of peoples' agenda but I can't say I saw the part where your right to vote was permanently revoked. Could you help me out by spelling it out?

Federal felon. When I pled guilty, I had to sign a piece of paper permanently giving up my right to vote, run for office, and a few other things until such time as my civil rights are restored. And without about $35000, that won't happen.

Most states, you commit a felony (even drug charges), you can't get your right to vote back at all. Funny, this seems to disproportionately affect the poor.

Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.
- Napoleon

well said, sir.