Power of the People v. Power in High Places

[AVID]

Fewer of my family members are calling me a conspiracy theorist these days. My brothers in rural Ga used to shrug off my complaints about corporate greed, media influence, the "dumbing down" of the US population, and corporate influence on politics, government, the courts - even things they felt secure were in there best interests, like the FDA and above all the SCOTUS. But lately, I've been getting a little more ear time.

One Talking Point I'm going to remember during the next four months is the consideration of power, who owns it, and/or who is in the position to use it. I probably won't convince a majority of the RW die-hards in my family and neighborhood - they have latched on to one particular ideal or another (abortion, homosexual lifestyles, or the WWJD crowd), but there are a few - and thats all I need - that I might be able to convince to just BE AWARE.

My family members back in GA are pretty simple - I guess the population that FOX attempts to patronize in their pathetic attempt at Reality TV - The Simple Life. I f I can just convince one or two to question their sources.

Be Aware of Power in the Media - PLEASE don't get all your news from single sources - and just switching from FOX to CNN is not enough, try BBC or seek CSPAN programming on particular subjects. Or read different opinions in newspapers.

Be Aware of corporate ownership and political influence. President Bush, the Republican Party, and the entire RW has power and wants to keep it. There are some mighty powerful individuals and corporations who have the power to manipulate, prices, events, court rulings and appointments, commercialism, news slant and lead stories, economical factors, world events etc. I am convinced and concerned about the next four months. I believe that those in power and those who support that power will go to extreme lengths to insure that that power does not shift.

This election, to me and my weekly discussions with my local neighbors and extended family back in GA, is about the power of people voting. The electronic voting is an issue, but not if there is a mass rejection of of the corporate, judicial, and media manipulation that is occurring and will intensify in the following months.

To my sister-in-law who still makes anti-abortion posters and spends one Wed a month on the corner at Planned Parenthood, I am still a liberal wacko/conspiracy theorist. But to my younger brother struggling to get by with his small trucking business, I may have a chance. He actually called me about F9/11. His preacher had told him to avoid the media /liberal bias propaganda. I challenged him last year to call me the first time he felt any political pressure form his church. That qualified and he just wanted my view of the movie.

So, my part in the next four months is to get four extra votes for Kerry that he might not have gotten. Two of my neighbors and two family members.

[RubyDuby in GA]

1. don't lump people together

This Georgia Peach (Covington, GA to be exact) sees right through this Administration and can't wait to see them gone. There are a lot of progressive individuals here, but we get drowned out by the idiots. I, for one, read 8 different newspapers a day, and am constantly looking for updates on the internet at work, and there are countless others here just like me.
Most of the people I've talked to are very concerned about the voting machines for this fall's election. Our normally good Sect. of State, Cathy Cox (a very good Democrat) is acting like these Diebold machines are the greatest thing since sliced bread, despite Diebold's promise to hand this election to Bush. We're getting nowhere in trying to force the state to have a paper trail because we have an idiot Republican governor (1st and hopefully last since Reconstruction) and thanks to 4 Benedict Arnolds who switched parties in the Senate, we lost Senate control. They've been plotting this takeover for a long time, and just like on the national scale, the Republicans have totally screwed things up here in Georgia in a matter of 2 short years. I never thought I'd see the day when I say that I miss the good ol' boys network here. At least they were all Democrats.

And where does your sister-in-law protest? I'll go protest her being there with my own signs.