Month: December 2005

by Patrick Lang (bio below()

Chalabi Reborn?

As a fuel crisis deepened in Iraq, the government replaced its oil minister with controversial Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Chalabi, whose poor performance in the Dec. 15 elections was a setback in his recent attempt at political rehabilitation.

The oil minister, Ibrahim Bahr Uloom, was put on a mandatory, month-long leave. He had previously threatened to resign over the government’s recent decision to increase gasoline prices sharply, a move that has outraged motorists and sparked attacks on gas stations and fuel convoys.” Washpost

Rising like a phoenix from the ashes of his electoral debacle, “The Ahmad” as he is affectionately known in the Pentagon and the Old Executive Office Building (NSC staff) marches on like a beacon of looming economic difficulties, bearing a torch for someone or other.

Iraq’s petroleum production is in decline due to persistent guerrilla attacks and menaces against refineries and distribution nodes, but “The Ahmad” will fix this in spite of his not having won a seat in parliament. Oh! Sorry, I forgot that they are not through “counting” the votes. He may yet…

This appointment is supposed to be temporary. We will see. Bankers across the world are licking their chops in anticipation..

Pat Lang

+++++++++++++++++++

Khaddam – Chalabi Wannabe?

Khaddam was an important adviser to Hafez Assad and later to Bashar Assad before he resigned at the Baath Party congress in June. He visited Hariri’s grieving family the day after the slaying, calling the assassination an “earthquake” that would reshape Syrian and Lebanese politics.

Despite his public break with Assad’s government, which he attributed to internal corruption and the slow pace of reform, Khaddam said in the interview Friday that he left Syria on good terms with Assad, although the two had “differences of opinion.” Washpost

Subtext – “Consigliere abandons son of “The Boss,” seeks his own way in the world.” … continued below …
There really is no honor among thieves, despots, and despot wannabes. Abd al-Halim Khaddam was a favored henchman for Hafez al-Assad for many years, serving in a variety of ministerial posts and ending as a vice president. He is from the Sunni faction of the Syrian Baath Party. He has always resented the new Assad. It was hoped by those on the Sunni side of the Syrian Baath that it would be possible to ease the young man out of the succession, but that failed in face of opposition from the largely Alawi leadership of the army and security services. This was a great disappointment in Sunni Arab circles across the Middle East and especially among the moneyed oil people. Bashar has proven unable to master his difficulties, unable to reform the political, economic and international challenges facing the country, and so he is vulnerable.

Oil country money and influence backs the idea of removing him. The United States has followed the “leader” in this matter. Rafik Hariri? He has become an interesting symbol of the possibility of reforms which he never really favored. He, too, was a more or less faithful ally and subordinate of Hafez al-Assad for many years.

Now the Sunni, US and French pressure applied to Syria is beginning to look serious. “Regime Change” as a policy now seems to be an open prospect. Up until now, no serious candidate has been located to take the doctor’s place.

This man is a little long in the tooth, but might serve.

Pat Lang

Col. Patrick W. Lang (Ret.), a highly decorated retired senior officer of U.S. Military Intelligence and U.S. Army Special Forces, served as “Defense Intelligence Officer for the Middle East, South Asia and Terrorism” for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and was later the first Director of the Defense Humint Service. Col. Lang was the first Professor of the Arabic Language at the United States Military Academy at West Point. For his service in the DIA, he was awarded the “Presidential Rank of Distinguished Executive.” He is a frequent commentator on television and radio, including MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann (interview), CNN and Wolf Blitzer’s Situation Room (interview), PBS’s Newshour, NPR’s “All Things Considered,” (interview), and more .

Personal Blog: Sic Semper Tyrannis 2005 || Bio || CV
Recommended Books || More BooTrib Posts

Novel: The Butcher’s Cleaver (download free by chapter, PDF format)


“Drinking the Kool-Aid,” Middle East Policy Council Journal, Vol. XI, Summer 2004, No. 2

Well, they say all good things must come to an end and “Political Animals” is no different.

I started drawing the strip in 2004 as a way to vent my frustration with the ways of the world and as a creative challenge.  Putting a message into a three-panel cartoon is like making a haiku poem: you have to say what you want to say with an economy of words within a very rigid structure.  Making it humorous on top of all that makes it very challenging indeed.

It’s been fun, but lately I’ve noticed that it’s becoming a lot more difficult to avoid repeating myself.  Maybe it means I’ve said all I had to say, I don’t know.  In any event, I wanted to stop while it’s still fun and the new year seemed like an appropriate time to end things and say a heartfelt “thanks” to everyone who’s taken the time to read my work.

Thank you so much for reading and I wish you all the best in the coming New Year!

Political Animals – Featuring an All-Nude Cast!

Two parts gasoline, one part Tide detergent, an empty glass bottle.  Mix well, top off with a rag.  Light, ignite, and throw.
I was happy, coming out of a party meeting earlier of the Democratic Socialist Party (PDS)-Germany.  A gathering of new members for the new year.  A Stammtisch and singing the Internationale.  My first meeting and made some new friends and Komrades.  I volunteered for some committes and pamphleteering and we have a demonstration in a couple of weeks against racism for refugees by the governmental bureaucracy.  A successful meeting all around.

Then I come home to see so many atrocities, including graphic images of people tortured and boiled in Uzbekistan in the name of the war on terror.  In the name of the country that I grew up in.  In my name.  And I can tell you that I am past outraged, my bullshit meter broke and the warantee ran out.

I want to throw molotov cocktails (NSA, are you listening?)I want to, well Henrik Ibsen put it best: “If I had a submarine during the flood, I would’ve torpedoed Noah’s Ark”

Yes, I am now asocial, and I am ready for revolution, how long and how many more offenses before the masses catch up?

Ugh!!!!!!!!

Cross-posted from The 10,000 Things

UPDATE:
Firedoglake and SCOTUSblog have more.

An article today in the New York Times, “Padilla Lawyers Urge Supreme Court to Block Transfer,” shows the Bush administration on the run before the U.S. Fourth Circuit Appeal Court and the Supreme Court. A preceding article, “Supreme Court Is Asked to Rule on Terror Trial,” provides more information on the pending status of this case.

Jose Padilla, an American Citizen, incarcerated by Bush’s government since May 8, 2002, was declared an “enemy combatant” in June 2002. This dubious extra-legal status was created by the Bush administration with claims of sole discretionary authority of the President outside of American law, international law, the Geneva Conventions, and the clear legal guidelines set forth in the Constitution (see Article III, and the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th amendments.

An excellent compilation of the Padilla case (Bush administration v. All rights of all American Citizens) can be found at Human Rights First.

Key points are:

1. On December 18, 2003, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that the executive branch does not have the constitutional or statutory authority to indefinitely detain U.S. citizens seized on American soil.
2. Rather than release Padilla, the government appealed the case to the Supreme Court.
3. On June 28, 2004, the Supreme Court shirked answering the question of Presidential authority by ruling on narrow technical grounds that the case of Jose Padilla should be heard in a federal court in South Carolina, rather than by a federal court in New York.
4. During the same month, the Supreme Court also ruled in Hamdi v. Rumsfeld that a U.S. citizen captured in Afghanistan and labeled an “enemy combatant” could not be held indefinitely at a U.S. military prison without the assistance of a lawyer, and without an opportunity to contest the allegations against him before a neutral arbiter.
5. In February 2005, the federal district court in South Carolina held that the Government could not hold Padilla indefinitely without access to a court, and must charge or release him.
6. But in September 2005 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit overturned the district court, ruling that Congress had authorized his detention.
7. On November 22, 2005, after holding Padilla for more than three years without due process, the federal government indicted him on charges of conspiring to kidnap, murder, and injure people abroad. No charges were made relating to terrorist plots within the United States.

The Times article of Dec. 29, states:

“The administration, in declaring him an enemy combatant and jailing him in a military brig without access to a lawyer, initially accused him of plotting with Al Qaeda to detonate a radiological “dirty bomb” on American streets and plotting other attacks within the United States.

But in bringing criminal charges for the first time against Mr. Padilla last month, the administration reversed course and accused him of working to support violent jihad causes in Afghanistan and elsewhere overseas from 1993 through 2001. The criminal charges make no mention of the dirty-bomb plot or other American attacks.”

The Times reporting on the recent ruling of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals:

“In last week’s ruling, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in Richmond, Va., refused to allow Mr. Padilla to be transferred to civilian custody to face charges in Miami that he had conspired with Al Qaeda to commit terrorist attacks abroad.

The appeals court said that the Bush administration, in charging Mr. Padilla in criminal court in November after jailing him for more than three and a half years as an enemy combatant without charges, gave the appearance of trying to manipulate the court system to prevent the Supreme Court from hearing the case. And it warned that the maneuvering could harm the administration’s credibility in the courts.”

There are reasons why we have rules and procedures in our legal system. Following these rules and procedure guarantees the right to a fair trial so that innocent people are not railroaded into jail and guilty people aren’t set free by the illegal actions of the government and prosecutors.

The Bush administration has almost guaranteed that Jose Padilla will go free due to their circumvention of the rules, the law, and the Constitution. They have boxed themselves into a corner. It seems likely at this point that the courts will rule that the President does not have the power to designate American citizens as enemy combatants (see the lists of organizations across the political spectrum submitting Amicus briefs in support of Padilla at the Human Rights First website).

In an attempt to keep the Supreme Court from ruling on this issue they want to move Padilla to the civilian court system. Should this happen then it seems to me that his lawyers will immediately move for dismissal of the case on the grounds that his 6th amendment right to a speedy trial and 8th amendment right to not suffer cruel or unusual punishment (3 years in a military brig without even being charged) have been violated.

If indeed Jose Padilla joined with al Queda and took action against the United States then The Constitution provides for the proper course of action regarding citizens that take action against the United States. Article III, section 3 states:

“Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.”

The Bush administrations power grab has endangered the nation. If Jose Padilla did in fact join with Al Qaeda then the administration has completely bungled his case. Jose Padilla should go free. This administration is rendered incompetent by their own hubris and attempts at absolute power.

The good news is that this case is showing the strength of our democracy. Slowly perhaps, but it is showing none the less. The Appeals Court and likely soon the Supreme Court will show that it is The Constitution of the United States of America that is the law of the land and not George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

this diary is dedicated to all who suffer because of war and other disasters

we honor courage in all its forms

cross-posted at DailyKos, Booman Tribune, European Tribune, and My Left Wing.

two images and poem below the fold

Firefighters carry the bodies of six men, who had been blindfolded, shot and dumped, into a van at a sewage plant in southeast Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday Dec. 31, 2005. Two more U.S. soldiers were killed in Iraq as the year wound down, putting the American military death toll at 841 so far, just five short of 2004’s lost lives despite political progress and dogged efforts to quash the insurgency. Violence continued on Saturday. Gunmen raided a house near Iskandariyah, 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Baghdad, killing five members of a Sunni family, according to police sources, and a roadside bomb exploded in Baghdad, killing two policemen, officials said.
(AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

The Center of Attention
by Daniel Hoffman

As grit swirls in the wind the word spreads.
On pavements approaching the bridge a crowd
Springs up like mushrooms.
They are hushed at first, intently

Looking.  At the top of the pylon
The target of their gaze leans toward them.
The sky sobs
With the sirens of disaster crews

Careening toward the crowd with nets,
Ladders, resuscitation gear, their First
Aid attendants antiseptic in white duck.
The police, strapped into their holsters,

Exert themselves in crowd-control.  They can’t
Control the situation.
Atop the pylon there’s a man who threatens
Violence.  He shouts, I’m gonna jump–

And from the river of upturned faces
–Construction workers pausing in their construction work,
Shoppers diverted from their shopping,
The idlers relishing this diversion

In the vacuity of their day–arises
A chorus of cries–Jump!
Jump! and No–
Come down! Come down!  Maybe, if he can hear them,

They seem to be saying  Jump down!  The truth is,
The crowd cannot make up its mind.
This is a tough decision. The man beside me
Reaches into his lunchbox and lets him have it.

Jump! before he bites his sandwich,
While next to him a young blonde clutches
Her handbag to her breasts and moans
Don’t   Don’t   Don’t   so very softly

You’d think she was afraid of being heard.
The will of the people is divided.
Up there he hasn’t made his mind up either.
He has climbed and climbed on spikes imbedded in the pylon

To get where he has arrived at.
Is he sure now that this is where he was going?
He looks down one way into the river.
He looks down the other way into the people.

He seems to be looking for something
Or for somebody in particular.
Is there anyone here who is that person
Or can give him what it is that he needs?

From the back of a firetruck a ladder teeters.
Inching along, up up up up up, a policeman
Holds on with one hand, sliding it on ahead of him.
In the other, outstretched, a pack of cigarettes.

Soon the man will decide between
The creature comfort of one more smoke
And surcease from being a creature.
Meanwhile the crowd calls Jump! and calls Come down!

Now, his cassock billowing in the bulges of Death’s black flag,
A priest creeps up the ladder too
What will the priest and the policeman together
Persuade the man to do?

He has turned his back to them.
He has turned away from everyone.
His solitariness is nearly complete.
He is alone with his decision.

No one on the ground or halfway into the sky can know
The hugeness of the emptiness that surrounds him.
All of his senses are orphans.
His ribs are cold andirons.

Does he regret his rejection of furtive pills,
Of closet noose or engine idling in closed garage?
A body will plummet through shrieking air,
The audience dumb with horror, the spattered street . . .

The world he has left is as small as toys at his feet.
Where he stands, though nearer the sun, the wind is chill.
He clutches his arms–a caress, or is he trying
Merely to warm himself with his arms?

The people below, their necks are beginning to ache.
They are getting impatient for this diversion
To come to some conclusion.  The priest
Inches further narrowly up the ladder.

The center of everybody’s attention
For some reason has lit up a butt.  He sits down.
He looks down on the people gathered, and sprinkles
Some of his ashes upon them.

Before he is halfway down
The crowd is half-dispersed.
It was his aloneness that clutched them together.
They were spellbound by his despair

And now each rung brings him nearer,
Nearer to their condition
Which is not sufficiently interesting
To detain them from business or idleness either,

Or is too close to a despair
They do not dare
Exhibit before a crowd
Or admit to themselves they share.

Now the police are taking notes
On clipboards, filling the forms.
He looks round as though searching for what he came down for.
Traffic flows over the bridge.

the poet reads his work
– – –
put a meaningful magnet on your car or metal filing cabinet

read Ilona’s important diary at MLW – Returning Vet PTSD – One Soldier’s Story as well her comprehensive series on PTSD and Iraq War vets.

view the pbs newshour silent honor roll (with thanks to jimstaro at booman.)

take a private moment to light one candle among many (with thanks to TXSharon)

support Veterans for Peace
support the Iraqi people
support the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC)
support CARE
support the victims of torture
remember the fallen
support Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors – TAPS
support Gold Star Families for Peace
support the fallen
support the troops
support Iraq Veterans Against the War
support Military families Speak Out
support the troops and the Iraqi people
read This is what John Kerry did today, the diary by lawnorder that prompted this series
read Riverbend’s Bagdhad Burning
read Dahr Jamail’s Iraq Dispatches
read Today in Iraq
witness every day

by Patrick Lang (bio below)

All you news junkies out there!! Count up on your fingers and toes the number of times this week you have heard anchors and “guests’ from the media mention the “White House Christmas Party for Journalists.”

Off-hand comments about what the president joked about, what Laura was wearing, who was there, little knowing smiles and insider smugness, that’s what we have been treated to this last week. Corporate media people and the “newsies” themselves evidently would throw themselves under the wheels of a Metro bus if they did not get an invitation. After all, how else would anyone in Washington, New York or Atlanta know they were important? Is that what happened to Hemmer and poor Aaron Brown? No invitation? Clearly, the money spent on that (or those) party(ies) is one of the best investments that any White House could ever make.

Amusing, but indicative of the incestuous relationships among the “power elite;” the “newsies,” lobbyists, members of Congress, West Wing types, PR people, and major financial interests. As the situation in Washington has developed (and now set into concrete) these groups are all really ONE group, and the way they barter, buy and sell the government and the information that provides a backdrop has become so solid that they can’t imagine any other way to “do business” (or bidness, if you prefer).

We now have major broadcast journalists sniggering on the air that “after all, this is how things are done” (meaning bribery of congressmen).

It will be interesting to see what happens to Abramoff. We should not feel too much personal animus toward him. He should be seen as merely a symbol of the continuing evolution of the journalistic/financial/lobbying/congressional/executive branch complex.

Pat Lang

Col. Patrick W. Lang (Ret.), a highly decorated retired senior officer of U.S. Military Intelligence and U.S. Army Special Forces, served as “Defense Intelligence Officer for the Middle East, South Asia and Terrorism” for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and was later the first Director of the Defense Humint Service. Col. Lang was the first Professor of the Arabic Language at the United States Military Academy at West Point. For his service in the DIA, he was awarded the “Presidential Rank of Distinguished Executive.” He is a frequent commentator on television and radio, including MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann (interview), CNN and Wolf Blitzer’s Situation Room (interview), PBS’s Newshour, NPR’s “All Things Considered,” (interview), and more .

Personal Blog: Sic Semper Tyrannis 2005 || Bio || CV
Recommended Books || More BooTrib Posts

Novel: The Butcher’s Cleaver (download free by chapter, PDF format)


“Drinking the Kool-Aid,” Middle East Policy Council Journal, Vol. XI, Summer 2004, No. 2

Friday Random 10s Playlist … created at the Froggy Bottom Cafe (look in the diaries to join in on the latest open cafe) … and here’s a screen capture of my own iTunes playing the list:

Friday Random 10 Playlist

P.S. Thanks to IndyLib for taking suggestions and creating a list for the group. Everyone’s welcome to create one. If you need help, Cabin Girl and I have the instructions. She included my beloved Jim Morrison, who I saw many times at the Fillmore — when we weren’t busy protesting the Vietnam war — and was captivated by in a way I can’t describe. I’d go to Paris just to visit his grave.)

Update [2005-12-31 13:20:54 by susanhu]: For now, the link isn’t working. It seems to be a problem at iTunes’ end. I’ve auto-generated the links twice, just like I did for Darcy’s playlist, which works (left column). I’m sorry! Update [2005-12-31 14:44:52 by susanhu]: I asked Darcy to try to bring up iTunes on her own computer. She got the same error message. Then she tried to open the iTunes music store, and it’s down too. We think that iTunes itself is down for a bit.
(At first, I posted this as Cabin Girl’s list because she mailed it to me… but it is indeed created by a group of regulars in the cafe! Thanks!)

I had spent my whole adult life talking about negative situations, but never doing anything about them and going on about positive ideas but never doing anything about them, either. But I found the actions of this Administration to be so outrageous, and the war in Iraq to be so wrong, that they evoked feelings of anger and frustration so overwhelming that I HAD to get into action and create the peacepositive Peace Dove magnet, start peacepositive.net and donate as much of the proceeds as possible to charities that support peace, our veterans and their families.

From the start, response was overwhelming. People showered us with positive comments and support.  I especially received a ton of support from the communities at Booman Tribune, Daily Kos and My Left Wing.

It’s with great joy that I announce that our year-end donations to charities totaled over $500. Instead of the projected 20% of the net proceeds, we were able to donate 25% of the gross (that may not seem like a lot, but peace magnet businesses don’t exactly gross what Halliburton does). And it’s all thanks to you. Not to mention there are now hundreds of Doves flying an all-important message of peace on vehicles and fridges all over the country.

To keep the positive momentum going, we’ve decided to extend our holiday donation policy through the end of January. So instead of our minimum of 20% of the net going to charities, we’ll pass on 100% of the net until January 31st. So if you know of any peaceful procrastinators, let them know.

Thanks again for every thing and here’s to the safe return of all our troops as soon and as safely as possible.

Happy New Year and Peace positive always,

Mike and Lori

Click on the dove or right here to go to peacepositive.net.

(Crossposted at Daily Kos)

The thought just occurred to me that if W wants us to continually throw in our faces that “9-11 changed everything,” we have the perfect means in our power to de-fang this meme in 2006 and throw it back in his face.

Follow me over the jump.

Consider how the words “nigger” and “queer” have been handled by the black and gay communities.

Every time Bush or one of his minions does something evil, we respond with “What do you expect?  9-11 changed everything!”  Do it often enough and the phrase loses any punch it has with the public and conservatives.  It’s already evolved on this site into shorthand for the arrival of Big Brother.  We need to carry that concept to our conversations with fellow citizens in the real world, especially conservatives that are already starting to have cracks in their worldview.  It can be the tool with which we return responsibility and freedom to America:

Abu Ghraib?  9-11 changed everything.
Domestic wiretapping?  9-11 changed everything.
Horrendous deficits?  9-11.
Cuts to aid to the poor and student loans?  9-11.
Inept, criminal, racist Katrina response?  9-11.

Connect the dots for them.

It’s not cynicism, it’s pointing out their cynicism in running the country into the ground on the graves of the victims, their dishonoring our soldiers’ ultimate sacrifices by the way they started a war of choice for no damned good reason, their raping of the constitution at every turn.

9-11 changed everything?  Damned right it did.

9-11 was the day the thugs came out of the shadows and hijacked our nation for their profits and power grab, while in their shock and grief our countrymen were unaware.

9-11 was the opening the vipers at home were waiting for to strike.

How DARE they tell us 9-11 changed everything and then abuse it like that?

9-11 changed everything can be the petard upon which justice arrives.

As the crimes unfold in the coming new year, just throw it back in their faces:

Abramoff revelations?  Fitzmas?  Enron?

9-11 changed everything.

Too many have paid too high a price for business between the rich and the powerful to go on as usual.

They all are going down in 2006.

9-11 changed everything…
Changed everything…
Change…
Change is gonna come.
It’s on the way.
Hear the roar?
That’s a nation arising from somnolesence,
the scales falling from its eyes,
finding out it’s been had.
And it’s mad as hell.
And it’s not gonna take it anymore.

9-11 changed everything.

Happy New Year to everyone at the pond!

And it’s gonna be a happy new year.
We’ve been waiting for it, praying for it,
aching for it.

Some have died for it.

It’s coming.
It’s almost here.
You can see it now, dawning over the horizon.

And when the sun rises
then the frogs will sing.

Ribbit.
🙂

You know who you are.

You, George Bush, with your sick psyche and delusions of  grandeur.
You, Powerful Neocons, with your dreams of empire and global domination.
You, Far Right Religious Wingnuts, who make a mockery of faith to gain control over others.
You, Greed Driven Rich, who lurk behind facades of self created “corporate entities”
You, The Elected Ones that we chose to serve us, the people,  who have sold your souls to the highest  bidders in the halls of all branches of Government.  

To all of you who choose to shamelessly exploit the vulnerabilities of the people, the Rule of Law, the Constitution, the  Bill Of Rights, and the resources of this country, for your own selfish ends, with no concern for the common good or the principles on  which this country was founded, I tell you this:
You cannot take away our freedom.

You can take away our money, our jobs, our health care.
You can take away our homes, our privacy, our civil rights.
You can take away our protections and safety nets.
You can buy off and control our media.
You can feed us fear and terror as a daily diet, and use it to control us.  
You can twist, turn, mold and mutilate truth  and control all the information we receive.

But you cannot take away our freedom
Because we’ve known it.
We’ve had it. We’ve lived it. We know it’s taste, its shape, it’s substance.
We’ve taken it into our hearts and minds,  internalized it as our own, and  we are NOT  giving it up.  

You cannot take away our freedom,  because you cannot wire tap our hearts and minds.
You cannot control the contents or resilience of the human will and human spirit.
You cannot avoid underestimating the power of ordinary people because you cannot recognize a power than comes from anything other than wealth, privilege and position.

We exercise and strengthen  our power single every day we get up and choose to go on about our business , in spite of you and what you are trying to do. We gain strength by  continuing to stand by and support each other, by continuing to love and care for our families, do our work, and whatever else we can do in our own circles of influence, to wake up those still not ab le to see clearly.

We’re gaining power by learning to resist the siren call of materialism as the only “proof of success” and we are embracing simpler, truer values that allow more  freedom from corporate control. .

We gain power every moment we search for  and seize opportunities to speak truth to power in  influential places like the internet, that can reach millions, and by every conversation we initiate in coffee shops, grocery stores, Laundromat and bars.  

You are powerless to stop any of this.  
Because we ARE  free and we damned well know it.

Because we  have the power of freedom within us, and we are in process of mobilizing our own troop strength every day that goes by. You are aiding us  greatly by the fact  that you can no longer hide the wormy underside of what you are doing in the name of “democracy”, and it is becoming ever more visible to all of us.

So, good luck, because you are going to need it. You may succeed in surface ways, some beloved structures may fall, and there may be more chaos to come, but you can never ever reach the core of genuine freedom that lives in the ordinary citizens of this country.  Never.

You are going down.